PHOTO: AFP

CNN ONLINE

President Donald Trump’s recent reversal on his big red line for Iran is prompting some questions on what, exactly, is motivating his wartime decision-making.

On Saturday evening, Trump said Iran had 48 hours to either open up the Strait of Hormuz and unshackle the global economy or he would strike Iran’s biggest power plant. By Monday morning, he said he would give it five more days, citing improved negotiations with Tehran.

But Iran has denied any dialogue with Washington. And while there’s certainly reason to not take officials at their word, the diverging stories — and Trump’s own credibility problems — open the possibility that something else motivated him to back down. That includes possible fears that such a move could escalate the war and global economic pain.

Trump’s critics are calling it Trump’s latest TACO — an acronym for “Trump Always Chickens Out.” That’s difficult to prove, but the decision follows another undeniable Trump pattern: His announcements often seem conveniently tied to the open and close of financial markets.

And he’s repeatedly made these kinds of announcements at times that seem geared towards the markets — regardless of how substantive and lasting the declarations themselves turned out to be.

A major one was his “Liberation Day” global tariffs on April 2. The press conference was scheduled for 4:00 pm Eastern time, but after talking for a while, Trump announced the actual details shortly after markets closed at 4:30 pm.

He also said the tariffs wouldn’t start until shortly after midnight on Saturday, April 5 — when markets would also be closed.

A week later, after a historically rough week for the stock market, Trump posted minutes after the markets opened at 9:30 am Eastern Time, “BE COOL! The next day, after markets had slumped to their lowest level of the year, he announced a 90-day pause on nearly all tariffs over 10 percent — which then sent stocks to their best single day since 2008.

It also seems telling that there was still about 12 hours left for Trump to sus out just how serious Iran was about its purported interest in a deal. That might have been wise, given how much Trump has warned Iran can’t be trusted. Why not just wait a bit longer to make sure?

But now, Trump has conveniently delayed his own red line — as it happens, until after the markets are closed for the weekend.