I feel like Trump and the United States are in a damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don’t situation. If the US doesn’t protect its ally Israel, then that’s a huge loss in credibility to American hard power and possibly the beginning of the end of the State of Israel, because Iran’s ballistic missile program is dangerously effective. If the US goes ahead with all-out war in Iran, this risks becoming another trillion dollar boondoggle like Afghanistan, except worse because Trump’s base is about less foreign involvement, low gas prices, and ending wars. A war with Iran could also go very badly because it’s not clear how to stop a ballistic missile program in a country the size of Iran (years of bombing even failed to stop the Houthis from lobbing missiles). And if war creates more instability in the Middle East - Israel will have much bigger problems if the Saudi Arabian monarchy for example collapses. No good options, and the Middle East is being completely reshaped regardless.
The scariest aspect to me is trumps unpredictability. He acts based on his psychological needs in the moment, I.e. need for narcissistic supply. He isn't ideological in the way that netanyahu and Putin are, so he is going to react based on how others are reacting to him. He clearly has learning difficulties and isn't able to grasp history and politics. He also isn't someone who asks for advice. It challenges his need for a sense of total competence.
mikeweiss · 1h ago
I mean he definitely asks for other people to help him come to decisions.... You just don't hear about it unless it doesn't work out and he's looking for a scapegoat.
squishington · 29m ago
I feel like his public disagreement with tulsi gabbard over Iran's armament situation exemplifies the tension between his psychological needs and the stability of his government. These kind of conflicts shouldn't play out in the public sphere.
bryanlarsen · 52m ago
You hear about it all the time. It happens most days. Trump has a meeting with person X, then announces something favorable to person X. The next day he has a meeting with person Y, then announces something favorable to person Y, even if it contradicts the previous day's announcement.
ipnon · 5h ago
Because the US has so many bases worldwide, it's always under some kind of attack. Iran for example has been aiding openly the groups that attack American bases in the Middle East for decades. The Beirut Barracks Bombing is a tragic example. This law is too vague in scope, and really just acquiesces Congress' constitutional power to decide who to wage war against to the President in a very limp way.
The Congress is also fundamentally a popularity contest, and wartime Presidents generally gain popularity in the short-term, for better or worse. So again, Congress digs its own hole and blames the Presidency for all the dirt on the ground. Grifters the whole lot!
For what it's worth, although Trump is famous for his strong Presidency, he's merely wielding a sword that FDR forged, and was polished and filed to a savage edge through successive presidencies. FDR really prototyped the obsequious wartime Congress that acts as a rubber stamp for creating the endless bureaucracy we now call "the deep state." And it is within this "deep state" that presidential fall guys are born and bred, Oliver North being a relevant example. This trend has continued unabated for the most part with Presidents from each party, reaching its zenith in the extrajudicial killing of American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki in 2011 by order of President Obama, a disturbing innovation in both constitutional law and drone warfare.
Meanwhile China quietly supports Iran: https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3314468/i...
The Congress is also fundamentally a popularity contest, and wartime Presidents generally gain popularity in the short-term, for better or worse. So again, Congress digs its own hole and blames the Presidency for all the dirt on the ground. Grifters the whole lot!
For what it's worth, although Trump is famous for his strong Presidency, he's merely wielding a sword that FDR forged, and was polished and filed to a savage edge through successive presidencies. FDR really prototyped the obsequious wartime Congress that acts as a rubber stamp for creating the endless bureaucracy we now call "the deep state." And it is within this "deep state" that presidential fall guys are born and bred, Oliver North being a relevant example. This trend has continued unabated for the most part with Presidents from each party, reaching its zenith in the extrajudicial killing of American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki in 2011 by order of President Obama, a disturbing innovation in both constitutional law and drone warfare.