During his presidency thus far, Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the nuclear deal with Iran signed in 2015 by his predecessor, to the point of pressuring intelligence officials to find Iran in violation of the agreement in order to justify walking out on it. In Trump’s mind, the deal is facilitating a nuclear-armed Iran, giving its leaders breathing room as they trick the international community and secretly accelerate the production of a nuclear weapon.

But if Trump is concerned about Iran reneging on the deal and obtaining a nuclear weapon — or any other governments getting their hands on and stockpiling WMDs — there’s something else that is much more likely to hasten that along: attacking North Korea.

US foreign policy over the last few decades has essentially served as one long, multi-decade advertisement for why a government — particularly one with a history of animosity with the United States — ought to acquire nuclear weapons as a deterrent, or at least a bargaining chip.