U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the Port of Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S., February 27, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
A military expert flagged the "most troubling" part of President Donald Trump's decision to coordinate an attack on Iran with Israel on Saturday.
Mark Hertling, retired commander of the U.S. Army Europe, argued in a new article for The Bulwark that Trump's "campaign" to bomb Iran's ballistic and nuclear missile facilities has an "apparent gap between strategy and action." That makes it hard for Trump's domestic and international allies to line up behind the decision, he added.
"Hope is not a method," Hertling wrote. "A regime-change strategy without a phased-action plan is not a strategy at all. It’s an aspiration untethered from reality, and it will quickly lose support, either from the rest of the government or our citizens or both."
Early Saturday morning, Trump posted a more than eight-minute video on his Truth Social account where he described the action against Iran as a "war" that sought to topple former Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a brutal dictator who had ruled the country since 1989. Khamenei was killed in the assault, but what comes next appears less clear, Hertling argued.
He added that the move could cause foreign nations to trust the U.S. less than they already do. A report by the Washington Post revealed that Trump's decision likely came at the behest of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"When U.S. policy appears driven by another state’s security priorities, even an ally’s, it complicates coalition-building," he wrote. "European partners may question whether they are being drawn into a regional conflict that does not align with their threat assessments. Gulf states may cooperate tactically while resisting deeper political alignment. In the long term, perceived policy capture—however inaccurate—erodes confidence in American strategic independence."