Donald Trump says he doesn’t need an Iran deal and has redirected JD Vance toward alleged wrongdoing in Democratic-run cities and states. At last, an exit strategy with a firm destination: a different assignment for the employee trying to find the exit strategy.

The Guardian reports that Vance had been working through intermediaries to restart talks. Now Trump wants his full attention at home. The war hasn’t acquired a settlement; the vice-president has acquired a new to-do list. Somebody in human resources is finally delivering measurable results.

You cannot end a geopolitical crisis by taking its meeting off JD’s calendar. That works for a quarterly sales presentation. Iran is not going to stop existing because Outlook says the organizer has canceled.

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There is less shooting than before. The Guardian describes months without major American strikes or Iranian missile barrages, a continuing US blockade of Iranian ports, and a mostly reopened Strait of Hormuz. That is a stalemate, not a peace agreement. Trump has defended starting the war while playing down the need for more attacks.

Fine. Fewer attacks are good. Now finish the part where the situation stops depending on whether the president wakes up feeling that the unfinished war is sufficiently finished.

Vance blamed the war for Republicans’ election losses. His next brief concerns corruption and crime that Trump alleges in Democratic jurisdictions. Those allegations aren’t findings; a presidential assignment isn’t evidence. Apparently the evidence can wait while the new enemy gets entered into the calendar.

The administration has moved one American official away from the Iran problem. Congratulations on the withdrawal. Shame it was only from his responsibilities.