Trump's unpredictability is on full display in the Iran crisis.

 In 2016, before he even became US president the first time around, Donald Trump delivered an address in which he said that "we must, as a nation, be more unpredictable."

 "We are completely foreseeable. We tell everything," he said at the time, in what was a thinly veiled swipe at the Obama administration.

 "We're sending troops, we tell them.  We are sending a different item. We have a news conference."

 He has upheld the principle throughout his first and so far second terms. As the US mulls jumping into the fray in Iran, that makes it impossible to say with any certainty what he might do.  US officials have made it clear that all options remain on the table.

 He faces a difficult choice.  He has repeatedly pledged to avoid costly foreign entanglements on the campaign trail and in the early months of this term, and he wants to be known as a "peacemaker." A significant portion of his MAGA base, with whom this message resonated, might be alienated if he participated in Israeli strikes on Iran. On the other hand, he has also made it clear that Iran can under no circumstances have a nuclear weapon - a belief that may force his hand if he feels that Israel cannot stop that on its own.

 This too, will be deeply unpopular with the many Iran "hawks" in the Republican Party.

 It may well be that we don't know which option he has chosen unless US weapons begin falling in Iran - or don't at all by the time the conflict is over.

 He made this clear in his remarks earlier.

 He stated, "I may do it." "I may not do it.  Nobody knows what I want to do."

Trump went on to say that Iran's negotiators suggested they "may come to the White House", although he said it was difficult.

 He also says he doesn't know "how long" the conflict will last because Iranian air defenses have been destroyed. He states, "Two very simple words: unconditional surrender." "I've had it."

 Additionally, he asserts that he is of the opinion that the Iranians are engaged in the nuclear program with "bad intentions." Trump went on to say that he likes Iranians and has met many of them in his career. He swiftly turned his attention to Russia and Ukraine.