The Trump Clown Show

The United States is in a strange situation in the U.S.-Israel war against Iran. Militarily, the U.S. and Israeli militaries are dominating the fighting. However, none of the stated goals have been accomplished. For instance, a moderate government willing to accommodate the two nations has not been installed in Iran. Iran's missile and drone capabilities have not been eliminated. Iran has not renounced its nuclear program. Iran appears to be continuing to support its proxies in other nations. Moreover, new objectives that hadn't even been considered before the war have been added. Now, what might perhaps be the most important goal of the war is securing freedom of navigation of the Strait of Hormuz. Cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump didn't expect Iran to close the strait. Now, opening it is probably the number 1 goal of the war. Trump has also expressed surprise that Iran retaliated against Arab Gulf countries. But the problems with Trump's leadership of the war go beyond his unrealistic expectations. Trump's entire approach to the war, as well as that of most major figures in his administration, is to treat the war as a public relations battle rather than a military undertaking. The administration simply does not take the war seriously.

Trump tends to view reality through a television screen, especially by what appears on Fox News. Trump will never sit through an hours-long briefing on battle damage assessment or current weapons capabilities. That would put him to sleep. What interests him are nightly clips on TV news. Importantly, what he sees should be captivating. Trump doesn't want to be informed; he wants to be entertained. He didn't choose his cabinet members for their subject matter expertise, but rather based on how they present themselves on television. It is no accident that several cabinet secretaries have television experience. Trump has often bragged about how those he hires look like they were sent by central casting. In Trump's world, image is more important than substance. The result is that Trump, and many of those around him, see the war as entertainment rather than the brutal, horrifying, and often devastatingly inhuman experience that it is in reality.

One of the first examples of Trump not understanding the realities of war but rather viewing it as entertainment came after the sinking by the U.S. Navy of the IRIS Dena, an unarmed Iranian Navy frigate that had just participated in a friendly naval parade in India. Sailing harmlessly in international waters, far from any military action, the IRIS Dena was torpedoed without warning by a U.S. submarine. The submarine then abandoned the survivors. The Sri Lankan Navy was able to rescue 32 crew members, but nearly 150 members of the crew were either dead or missing. This was an unnecessary attack on non-combatants who presented no immediate threat. It was just the wanton killing of 150 individuals. But to Trump, this was entertainment. Speaking before an audience, Trump told of asking "Why didn't we just capture the ship" and being told in response that "It's more fun to sink them." This generated laughs from the audience, but should the killing of 150 unsuspecting and unarmed people really be considered "fun?" Trump seems to have enjoyed this story and he has told it multiple times.

Trump's tendency to view the war through video clips was demonstrated today by an article published by NBC News. According to the article:

Each day since the start of the war in Iran, U.S. military officials compile a video update for President Donald Trump that shows video of the biggest, most successful strikes on Iranian targets over the previous 48 hours.

The video apparently lasts only two minutes or so and generally only shows the largest and most successful U.S. strikes. As the article puts it:

“We can’t tell him every single thing that happens,” a current U.S. official said. The official noted that Trump’s briefings tend to draw better feedback from his aides when they focus on U.S. victories.

Trump tends to get very little information about Iranian actions. As a result, Trump often doesn't know about Iranian attacks. The article says:

One example came this month when five U.S. Air Force refueling planes were hit in an Iranian strike at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, according to one of the current U.S. officials. Trump wasn’t briefed about the strikes, and he learned what had happened from media reports, the official said.

What we have here is a president who eschews traditional briefings and instead watches what is essentially a daily snuff film. Trump is fed a steady diet of U.S. forces blowing things up, something that he seems to enjoy. No wonder he is convinced that every Iranian target has already been destroyed and the war has been essentially won. He is not being fully informed.

Another example of Trump's administration viewing war as entertainment came in the form of White House social media postings. A video posted on the official White House X account intermixed scenes from the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas video game with video clips from the Iran war. This was presented with a video game soundtrack. Another one combined Nintendo Wii gaming with war footage. Apparently, the White House sees war as nothing more than a game.

Trump attended the dignified transfer of the remains of service members killed in Kuwait while wearing one of the baseball hats sold by his campaign. He did not remove his hat during the ceremony and was filmed in the hat peering over the top of a coffin. If this were not bad enough, Trump used a photo showing him at the dignified transfer wearing the hat in fundraising materials. Trump was raising money on the bodies of dead U.S. soldiers.

If Trump thinks in terms of television clips, his Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, sees himself as a character in a drama. Hegseth is a hero in his own mind, but his every utterance reveals his deep-seated insecurities over his masculinity. He is a classic overcompensator. He routinely takes to a microphone to emphasize his version of strength, which involves bragging about lethality and warrior ethos. But if Hegseth did have a role in a movie, it would be as a villain rather than a hero. One of Hegseth's proudest achievements was getting rid of "stupid rules of engagement" and stressing the need to kill violently. The result, on the first day of the war, was the targeting of a girls' school and the killing of over 150 school girls. Hegseth has not been man enough to accept responsibility.

The Iranian leaders must wake up every morning and thank Allah that they were blessed with a caricature such as Hegseth as an enemy. Hegseth is tattooed with a Crusader Cross and the Crusader battle cry, "deus vult." Another tattoo is Arabic script saying “kafir," which means "infidel" in Arabic. "Kafir" has been weaponized by Islamophobes to mock and vilify Muslims. Hegseth routinely talks about Christianity from the podium when giving press conferences. In early March, he claimed that Western nations were "Christian nations under God." The implication is that non-Christians are not part of Western Civilization. If the Iranian regime has had any trouble convincing others that the U.S. and Israel were waging a war against Islam, all they need to do is point to Hegseth. Trump has occasionally suggested that the Iranian people rise up against their government. Meanwhile, Hegseth is reading from a Bible covered in Crusader imagery. I am not sure that will be inspiring to the Iranian public.

Besides Hegseth’s buffoonish behavior and appearance, he views reality as soundbites. Like Trump, he is fixated on television video clips. Watching him is like watching an untalented actor imitate what he believes a tough guy should act like. Or, as someone in one of my social media feeds said, he looks like he is imitating Colin Jost imitating Pete Hegseth.

Finally, let’s consider Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rubio is literally walking around in shoes that are several sizes too large because Trump bought them for him, and Rubio is afraid not to wear them. That is exactly the trait that I want to see in a leader. But, frankly, Rubio doesn't have much to do with regard to the Iran war. Diplomacy has been turned over to Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and potentially, JD Vance. None of them report to Rubio, who is apparently confined to his office dreaming about invading Cuba. Foreign policy in the Trump administration is run by Trump. That means that it changes several times a day, has no overriding principles, and generally makes little sense. Witkoff and Kushner handle negotiations with Iran but spend as much time trying to enrich themselves as they do worrying about Iranian nuclear enrichment.

With this clown crew in charge, we get developments such as those that occurred over the past few days. Trump went on TV and said that Iran had agreed to 15 points, and talks between the U.S. and Iran would happen shortly. Witkoff scurried off to Pakistan in hopes of a meeting but couldn't find any Iranians with whom to meet. He then sent a list of 15 points to Iran through intermediaries, where all 15 points were promptly rejected. This is a problem because Trump said that Iran had already accepted the 15 points, and it is his administration's job to make reality conform to whatever Trump has said rather than adjusting Trump to reality. Witkoff will probably resort to hitting up the Pakistanis for a business deal and using AI to produce a news clip that can be shown to Trump of Witkoff standing next to an Iranian leader with a signed agreement. Trump will be on TV by the end of the week talking about having solved his 9th war.

You could not have created a more ridiculous cast of characters to lead the nation to war if you intentionally set out to do so. Trump is getting briefed by two-minute videos of the Pentagon's greatest hits. Hegseth sees himself as manning a wall in Jerusalem while the Muslim hordes attack. Rubio stares at the 1 1/2-inch gap between his heel and the back of his shoe while Witkoff and Kushner line their pockets. Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz is still closed, and the price of oil is going up. But don't worry, the Trump brain trust has stumbled upon a solution. They lifted sanctions on Iran's oil. Now even Americans can buy Iranian oil. It is a perfectly normal activity to fund your enemy during a time of war. Just ask Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who claimed, "We are ju jitsuing the Iranians."