Biden brought with him a far more experienced team than Trump’s, one intimately familiar with the traditional U.S. foreign policy-making process. But since they took over on Jan. 20, Biden and his aides have been almost too predictable, often telegraphing their actions, several foreign policy observers told POLITICO. Some said the new team needs to show it’s willing to take unexpected risks. In other words, a dash of Trumpism.

One career U.S. national security official bemoaned how, in response to a rocket attack apparently targeting American forces in Iraq, Biden authorized airstrikes at a handful of Iranian-linked targets in Syria. The administration said the response was designed to be proportional and to prevent further escalation with Iran, a country it is trying to entice into new nuclear talks. In the days since, however, U.S. forces in Iraq have been the targets of a new attack suspected to be the work of an Iranian-aligned militia.

“The new team should be commended for acting quickly, but these perpetrators are terrorists,” the U.S. official said. “A proportional response won’t do much to deter them, and it sends a weak message to Tehran.”