War, politics, and rising global tension define a chaotic week for Trump’s America.
A whirlwind of a week in Donald Trump’s world has swirled expectations in global relationships, in economics, in politics and in any sense of personal security. Every conversation now is filled with public dread over uncertainty and private desire to shut the noise.
Apart from watching a war develop seemingly uncontrollably, we’re seeing prices rise yet more, jobs and immigrants disappearing before us, health care and social services being declared optional at best, and Americans fleeing late from the Middle East.
We are getting a constant barrage of messaging that if we complain, we’re being told we are unpatriotic, even if those messages change by the day or hour. As an example, Trump’s call for “unconditional surrender” by Iran faded after a day to “when Iran can fight no longer,” just as quickly as “war” was being described as a “limited combat opportunity.”
Iran’s president said Iran would halt unprovoked attacks on neighbors except Israel, only to have reports in the hours that followed of more Iranian missiles landing.
At his recent State of the Union, Trump demanded that people stand if they agree that “The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.” It prompted Republican legislators to rise while Democrats, who see that statement riddled with illegal tactics and randomly unwarranted deportations remaining seated and expressionless.
Even in the moment, it smacked of political grandstanding for partisan gain. But a week or more later, it feels an empty gimmick worth re-applying.
In the name of “protecting American citizens,” Trump has launched a preemptive strike against Iran, acting apart from all allies but Israel, and leaving many believing that Trump remains under the sway of Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu towards an expensive, open-ended conflict towards ends that even the administration has trouble encapsulating.
When War/Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the military objectives are clear, he’s probably right. The U.S. and Israeli military commands have long-established lists of specific targets to wipe out nuclear and missile capacity, weapons manufacture, Islamic Revolutionary Guard command and control and the like. More than a week after the launch of daily sorties against hundreds of targets a day – and on the brink of committing some “limited” ground forces — the ultimate political, economic, security goals remain uncharted, and unaddressed.
All week, there was continuing talk of one Trump move trying to distract from the previous one, whether the war was a “wag the dog” move about slumping polls and election setbacks, the ever-present Epstein mess or immigration roundups seen as gone out of control. It feels as if there always is something from which we need distraction.
War-Torn Week That Was
In this single week, the Congress has sought, and failed, to pass resolutions to assert its Constitutional right to declare war amid arguments from Republicans who avoid the use of the word “war” to elude the requirement. By the day, Iran shows no sign of concession and is bombing – and drawing response from Israel and a growing number of Gulf nations – in ever-widening circles to make this conflict much wider.
Rather than American dominance, what we are witnessing is a flailing America working out of sync with allies to demand obedience from a world that is growing increasingly uneasy with the U.S. and its promises, and with Trump’s government. Using brute force is usually not the best way to win hearts and minds, whether in Iran or in the many historical cases that have proceeded it.
None of this has to do with the “rightness” of acting against Iran’s bad behavior over five decades, but everything to do with the ham-handedness and egocentricity with which Trump seems to have blown a unique chance to build and lead a coalition of nations towards a common goal.
As a result, even within a first week of war by whatever name, we are already seeing ill economic effects building, further undercutting the Trump arguments that he is presiding over an American “golden age.” The week was concluding with unexpected downturns in job numbers, oil and energy prices rocketing around the world as shipping through the Gulf is halted, and even questions about available weaponry for a sustained conflict.
It was a week that opened the U.S. election season, amid solid gains and enthusiasm for Trump opponents even in deep-red Texas, scandals that further threaten the thin Republican Congressional majorities, and the firing of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over her botched public relations handling of a $220 million ad campaign at a time when Homeland Security is threatened by possible Iranian cells.
Court rulings continue to declare Trump policies illegal over tariffs and the proposed prosecution of political foes, while federal agencies are focusing on control over what comedians can say on television and what merit badges earned by Scouts may violate Trump’s sense of horror at diversity and inclusion concerns.
Trump and Hegseth were taking heat for dismissive comments about the first troop deaths as something to expect, and saying Americans should expect there will be more to come. Those fleeing the Middle East only after the start of these preemptive strikes are hearing from the White House that they should have known the area was dangerous from its previous travel warnings.
Trump and Hegseth insist that U.S. weapons supplies are ample enough for multiple global military deployments but had defense contractors meet in the White House to agree to speed production of replacement missiles, drones and explosives.
Trump is making a point of greeting the coffins of six U.S. soldiers killed, but has dismissed casualties as something that happens in war.
Who is ‘Crazy’?
Together, it makes one question whether Trump is rising this week to say that his primary mission is to “protect American citizens.”
He’s not protecting against increasing prices or war-fueled inflation. He is not protecting against a diminishing respect abroad from international institutions and our expected allies. He is not protecting in any systematic manner against the sexual abuse exposed by the Epstein Files, and there are serious questions about whether his anti-drug campaign is effective by any practical measure.
He is protecting Americans against his “feelings based on fact” belief, as the White House tells it, that Iran wants to reconstitute its nuclear weapons development and continue to harass Israel and the Gulf with missiles. But we have yet to see that there was anything “imminent” about those plans. The Omani go-between official who was shuttling between Iranian and U.S. negotiators said Iran was ready to accept most terms that Trump had wanted about nukes, but that other missiles were not discussed.
On the other hand, we have seen much reporting this week saying that the Israelis wanted to strike Iran while it was down after the previous U.S.-Israeli bombing run on nuclear labs and setbacks for Hezbollah and Hamas, Iranian proxies. The “imminent” danger seemed concern for U.S. personnel in the region being endangered by expected Iranian response to an Israeli strike.
Now that the political season is open, we can expect to see Republican ads about who was standing and who was not at the State of the Union, as if that showed who is loyal to Trump and who is “crazy,” in Trump’s label.
Trump now argues that Democrats back both unending illegal immigration and a nuclear-armed Iran.
Who is “protected” in all this. It feels as if it is Team Trump that is protected, not Americans, citizen or not.
Just who is crazy here? If backing the Constitution for its process guarantees for individual rights for citizens and migrants alike and a belief that we ought to know what the goal is before sending thousands of U.S. airmen, sailors and troops at Iran, count me as one of the loons.
This week was not about disagreement. It was about trying to stuff “crazy” into political packaging.
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