Long-time journalist Dan Rather warned President Donald Trump in a new Substack essay on Tuesday that the president faces a "humiliating" loss in Iran, one that would leave "irreversible damage" in its wake.
Trump has claimed on multiple occasions that the U.S. is winning the war in Iran because the country's bombing campaigns took out Iran's top political and military leaders and have decimated Iran's nuclear weapons infrastructure. For instance, Trump claimed on Truth Social on April 9 that he had achieved a "real victory" in Iran because Iran "will never have a nuclear weapon."
However, Rather argued in his essay that Trump's explanation of how the war is going is "insulting your intelligence," referring to his readers.
"Anyone who claims victory in this disaster is insulting your intelligence," Rather wrote. "If — and this is a very big if — the United States can somehow return to the pre-war status quo, it would be a stunning reversal of present realities."
Since the war began, Iran has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz to international trade. The waterway accounts for about 20% of the global energy trade, and energy prices across the U.S. and Europe have increased significantly over the last 12 weeks of war.
"Significant and near irreversible damage has been done," Rather wrote. "The Middle East is forever changed because of Trump. Our allies now look upon us with suspicion at best, derision at worst. Relationships are strained to the point of breaking throughout the region and Europe. Allied trust is gone, while in Iran the regime remains in control."
World leaders seem to be "grinning" because of the war, Rather argued, and the war has also seemed to embolden Iran's regime to stall as long as possible.
"Iran looks to be very much in control, and therefore, much of the world will see this as an embarrassing if not humiliating defeat for Donald Trump. Russian and Chinese leaders are grinning," he wrote.
"At this juncture, Trump is trapped. He has no good options. Nonetheless, he will try to spin a win," he added.