policy
“The administration is falling for it. How can you trust what the president says?”
President Donald Trump speaks at the Future Investment Initiative Summit Friday, March 27, 2026, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Washington (AFP) – Pres Donald Trump It says the United States wins War with Iran even if Thousands of additional American troops Spread it in the Middle East.
I have They mocked other countries Because he did not help the United States, only to later say that he did not need their help. He has twice Late deadlines Iran to reopen Strait of Hormuz. He has threatened to “wipe out” Iran’s power plants if the vital waterway remains largely closed, and said the United States was “unaffected” by the closure.
At one point this month, Trump said that one of his predecessors — who he strongly noted was a Democrat — privately told him he wished he had taken similar action against Iran. Representatives from every living former president He quickly denied it That such a conversation happened.
As the war enters its second month on Saturday, Trump’s penchant for embellishment, exaggerations and lies is being tested in an environment where the stakes are much higher than an isolated political battle.
A president who has long embraced menace and salesmanship to shape narratives and focus attention now faces the unpredictability of war.
Leon Panetta, who served Democratic presidents as Secretary of Defense, CIA Director and White House Chief of Staff, said he has “seen enough wars where the truth becomes the first casualty.”
“It is not the first administration that did not tell the truth about the war,” he said. “But the president has made it a very standard approach to almost any question, somehow another kind of lie about what’s really going on and basically describing everything as good and that we’re winning the war.”
Trump is “the first president of any party in modern history who has not restricted himself to living within rhetorical boundaries,” said Michael Rubin, a historian at the American Enterprise Institute who served as an Iran and Iraq adviser at the Pentagon from 2002 to 2004.
“And of course that creates a great deal of confusion,” he said.
The zigs and zags are the point
To his critics, Trump’s approach is a sign of a lack of a coherent long-term strategy. But for Trump, the zigzags and zigzags seem to be the point, the way he keeps his opponents — and almost everyone else — always on their heels.
The approach was clear this week in the hours before he announced the second postponement of Iran’s deadline to reopen the Strait. In response to a question about what he would do about the deadline, Trump said that he did not know and that he had one day before he made his decision.
The Republican president said, amid laughter from members of his government: “In the time of Trump, one day, you know what it is, it is an eternity.”
but Investors are unaffectedWith US stocks ending their worst week since the war began. For some on Capitol Hill, freewheeling is more frustrating than entertaining.
Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, lamented that Trump is “constantly going back and forth and contradicting himself.”
He said: “The administration is inclined to do so.” “So how can you trust what the president says?”
Republicans were not willing to go that far, but their concerns were evident as they approached a two-week vacation from Washington. Sin. John Kennedy The Louisiana governor said his voters “support what the president did.”
“But most of my people are just as worried or even more worried about the cost of living,” he said.
Republican Representative Chip Roy The Texas state lawmaker, who sits on the House Budget Committee and is a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said his constituents were on board with “blowing some crap.” However, he expressed reservations about the potential deployment of ground troops and said the administration had not provided enough details in briefings to lawmakers. He said that such sessions only reveal information that “you read in the newspapers.”
Roy said: “Eliminating the bad guys, eliminating conventional (weapons), eliminating nuclear capabilities or at least working to eliminate them, and pressing to keep the straits open, all of these are good things and I supported them and will continue to support them.” “But we have to have a serious conversation about how long this is going to take, and boots on the ground, and all that stuff, and push for more briefings and understanding where everything is going.”
Republicans support Trump, but there are risks
While Trump has maintained deep support among Republicans, a poll showed this week The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research This suggests that the president risks disappointing his voters if the United States becomes embroiled in a long-term war in the Middle East He promised to avoid that.
Although 63% of Republicans support air strikes against Iranian military targets, the poll found that only 20% support the deployment of US ground forces.
This reflects the political challenges that await Trump, who has not prepared the country for such a large-scale conflict abroad. If the war lasts for a long time or escalates. Pressure on Republicans They could build before the November election, when their majority in Congress is at risk. Some in the party said sending ground troops would be a red line Trump should not cross.
The administration will also likely need Congress to support an additional $200 billion to support the war. This amount of money, which Trump said would be “nice to have,” even as he said the war was “coming to an end,” would be a tough vote at any time. But it poses special risks for budget-conscious Republicans in an election year.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement that Trump “is right to highlight the great success of Operation Epic Fury.”
She added: “Iran desperately wants to reach an agreement because of the extent of the damage it is exposed to, but the president reserves all options, whether military or not, at all times.”
There may be some “logic” in Trump’s approach
Rubin, a former Iran and Iraq adviser at the Pentagon, said there may be some “logic” in the president’s evolving rhetorical approach to the war. He said Trump’s initial comments about the ongoing negotiations, which Iran denied, could “spread doubts and fear within regime circles.”
“Perhaps Donald Trump or those advising him simply want the Iranians to become so paranoid that they refuse to cooperate with each other or perhaps turn on each other,” he said. “But again, there is always a risk that Donald Trump will assume that his rhetoric is more than just shooting from the hip.”
representative. Adam Smith The Washington state lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said Trump will not be able to fully achieve his goals, including the complete elimination of Iran’s nuclear program, “on the current path.”
If that’s the case, Smith said, the president has the option of relying on his oratory skills to simply say the United States won — and end the war.
“As I joked, I have never met or heard of anyone in the history of mankind who is better at exaggerating his accomplishments than Donald Trump,” Smith said. “So go out and pretend this was a huge success.”