It’s pretty clear by now that our “president” has not the thinnest clue of what he’s doing with regard to this Iran War. And quite frankly, it’s making me feel pretty annoyed.
Trump keeps talking about conducting these imaginary “serious discussions” with Iran as if anyone is going to believe him when it’s crystal clear he’s lying. It’s like you or me dreaming about the Easter Bunny delivering colored eggs to children and, upon awakening, insisting this actually occurred.
He does it to manipulate the Dow Jones and artificially/temporarily prop up the market. This isn’t a terribly savvy strategy. By about the fifth time he makes the claim, “No, really this time, I’m talking to these people I can’t name in a location that doesn’t exist,” it doesn’t even register on our cerebral cortex. We all just yawn and move on.
Because I mean, Trump himself has admitted he’s already bored with this whole Iran thing. It’s the one thing that comes out of his mouth we can believe. I mean, come on. There’s no gold in that country to speak of, no ballrooms to save. What’s there to care about?
We’re only weeks into the war, and Trump’s instinct is to look for the nearest exit and concoct whatever story he can to rescue his reputation (such as it is). Tellingly, Mr. “The Art of the Deal” seems suspiciously short on actual negotiation skills.
Trump clearly thought he was dealing with a country that would get on its knees and cower at the first sign of American bombers. But that turned out to be a gross miscalculation of the enemy’s fighting skills. Iran is hardly Venezuela.
Now that Iran is nowhere close to surrender and has no intention of joining Trump and his merry band of morons (I’m talking about you, Pete “We Do It For Jesus” Hegseth) at the negotiating table, this is how our Bully In Chief sees as his best strategy over Truth Social:
“If for any reason a deal is not reached shortly, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalination plants!), which we have purposely not yet ‘touched’.”
This is actually an outright threat of a war crime, as any attack on civilian infrastructure (including plants that make seawater drinkable) is prohibited by the Geneva Convention. Not that Trump has ever let the law get in the way of doing whatever the hell he wants.
What’s the motivation for Iran to make a deal with Trump when he and Israel are actively looking to kill the people they say they want to come to terms with? “Say yes or I’ll blow you away” is never found to be terribly effective. It’s right up there with, “Give me your lunch money or I’ll beat you up.”
It’s all part of Trump’s and Hegseth’s approach of treating this war like a video game. Hegseth seems to think he’s on a mission from God, invoking Christ and Christianity at every turn. Note: I have it on good authority that our Lord is sleeping this one out.
If it weren’t so disastrous for its impact on the oil barrel and gasoline prices, it would be hilarious just how clueless Trump has been in miscalculating what the gargantuan impact of Iran’s closing of the Strait of Hormuz would be.
It seems the Pentagon took the Iranian military for fools. But they ain’t. They are instead setting the rules and dominating the battlefield because the country is controlling traffic at the strait, where fully a fifth of all the world’s oil passes through.
What’s next? Our sending in ground troops seems increasingly likely, since Trump sees no moral issue risking the lives of American soldiers to help him save face. And that’s already where we are. You know he’s going to try to create the illusion of victory no matter the cost, since it’s never not about him.
Why are we bombing Iran? Why did we go in there in the first place? These questions remain mysterious and unanswered. There were only vague promises of the need for regime change. But that was achieved weeks ago. Now, Trump is simply fighting a war to achieve conditions that existed before the war started – namely, going through Hormuz.
Nice going there, Einstein.
My guess is that Trump will make some sort of deal with Iran that will reopen the strait to U.S. traffic and get Iran to spout some gibberish about capitulating to his demands, in exchange for all sorts of secret goodies.
The reason is, of course, that this war is already proving disastrous to Republicans. Oil has zoomed well over $100 a barrel. The cost of a gallon of gas now exceeds $4.00 nationally and, in California, it’s closer to $6, at minimum.
After 14 months in power, we’re seeing just how effective this guy is at president-ing. He’s embroiled us in a war of choice, not necessity. He’s created the worst global energy crisis in nearly half a century. He’s overseen rising inflation and declining job growth. He’s intimidated Republicans into abdicating their authority to provide guardrails. And he’s cemented a partial government shutdown that looks like it’ll go on for months more.
Oh, and Trump has so alienated our allies in Europe that they won’t raise a finger to help us, fearful not only of getting dragged into a fruitless conflict but of lending assistance to a madman.
One thing Trump has successfully managed to do is make America less popular on the world stage than even Russia, his number one frenemy. Casting Putin as calm and reasonable by comparison is indeed a feat worthy of attention. But it’s nothing to be proud of.
Ray Richmond is a longtime journalist/author and an adjunct professor at Chapman University in Orange, CA.