Washington | March 13, 2026, 5:00 a.m. ET | 5 min read President Donald Trump has long described his decisionmaking style as relying on gut and instinct rather than lengthy deliberation with aides and experts. Almost a year ago, after first imposing and then pausing massive global tariffs, President Trump told reporters his decisions going forward would be made “instinctively, more than anything else.” By all appearances, the same modus operandi seems to have played out in one of the most momentous decisions a president can make: whether to go to war. When asked by a reporter last week if Israel had forced the United States’ hand against Iran, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio had implied, Mr. Trump offered a different explanation. “We were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first,” Mr. Trump said during an Oval Office appearance with the chancellor of Germany. “So if anything, I might’ve forced Israel’s hand.” Mr.…