Donald Trump has a unique skill that is largely unacknowledged and it may be his greatest asset as a politician.
He creates a problem – frequently a crisis – then blames the situation on someone else, then fixes the situation while touting his own genius in settling the issue. Usually, a bit of humor can be found in the sequence, but not this time – not with the possibility of extensive armed conflict with Iran. It is just not amusing, because, as his own appointed Director of National Intelligence has pointed out, he is messing with nuclear armaments and nothing can be more deadly.[1]
It would not be apparent by watching the popular media since the commentators either have lapsed memories or are afraid of triggering the President’s volcanic wrath but the possible terror was already eliminated. The potential for conflict was settled, negated.
Is it me? Did I dream it? Am I deluded?
No!
It was called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and ensured “that Iran’s nuclear program will be exclusively peaceful.” July 14, 2015! Not quite a decade ago.[2]
It enlisted the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States – along with Germany and the European Union. The terms were verified in a 159 page document.[3] According to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, “Under the agreement, known as the Iran nuclear deal, Iran significantly reduced its nuclear program and accepted strict monitoring and verification safeguards….”[4]
Donald Trump could not let that stand. During his first term, he pulled our country out of that arrangement, explaining, in typical Trumpian fashion, without any specific rationale, “It is clear to me that we cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement. … The Iran deal is defective at its core. If we do nothing, we know exactly what will happen.”[5] It is doubtful that Mr. Trump appreciated the foreboding double entendres in his use of the words, “decaying” and “core,” but I digress.
In truth (not that the Trump administration has ever taken an interest in the concept), prior to the initiation of the JCPOA, Iran, after catching the attention of the International Atomic Energy Agency, consistently installed advanced centrifuges each and every year. Almost immediately after the plan was finalized, the installation stopped in its entirety (meaning there was none – 0) until such time as (you guessed it!) its cancelation by Donald Trump. The Iranian nuclear program then surged more aggressively than ever.[6]
It does not take a very stable genius to realize that Mr. Trump hated the terms negotiated with Iran and the other entities because he despises anything associated with former President Obama. The same prejudicial reasoning was employed by his erstwhile flock of obedient aides who first denied the existence then later discredited the carefully constructed playbook for effectively mitigating a pandemic while Trump himself coupled his hatred for Mr. Obama with his distaste for science to disband the Global Health Security and Biodefense unit in the National Security Council.[7] We all saw how well those decisions worked out but, again, I digress.
A little more than two months ago, Donald Trump started another round of talks with Iran with an arbitrary final date for settlement determined to be 60 days.[8] The deal reached by the international coalition during the Obama administration had taken two years to negotiate.[9] One day after Trump’s capricious completion deadline Israel bombed facilities in Iran under the pretext that Iran was enriching uranium with the intention of manufacturing atomic armaments.[10] Needless to say, the bombardment by Iran’s chief enemy condoned by the USA forestalled further negotiations.
The man who co-wrote Art of the Deal gave Israel full reign and by so doing, assessed Iranian intentions for nuclear proliferation by relying on the word of an indicted war criminal, Benjamin Netanyahu.[11] In essence Mr. Trump determined that Netanyahu’s interpretation of the situation was more reliable than the assessment of American intelligence agencies.[12] Netanyahu had previously warned that Iran was close to developing nuclear arms in 1992, 1995, 2002, 2009, and 2012, and, of course, over the last several weeks.[13] Yeah, it’s the man who cried, “War!”
Our chief executive resorted to force to resolve the exaggerated situation by authorizing an aerial assault upon Iran early Sunday morning, June 22nd.[14] Referring to them as strikes (a term preferred by legacy news outlets) understates the severity. At least 30,000 pounds of Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs – commonly called “bunker buster” bombs) were unleashed on one facility and more on another. Fourteen MOPs were directed toward those two targeted facilities alone. In addition more than two dozen tomahawk missiles were fired from a submarine to hit a third site.[15] Iran proclaimed that the United States had crossed “a very big red line” and that country’s United Nations ambassador “told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that the U.S. ‘decided to destroy diplomacy.’”[16]
For his part, ever the braggart (even if it means accentuating second-hand accomplishments), Mr. Trump announced that the “Islamic Republic’s key nuclear sites were ‘completely and fully obliterated.’”[17] His eternally obsequious Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, was equally positive the following day at a press briefing, even repeating the word “obliterated,” before going on to say, “Many presidents have dreamed of delivering the final blow to Iran’s nuclear program and none could.”[18] Well, except for that other president with the funny name who did so through diplomacy without relying on a proxy war through Israel or resorting to an unprovoked military offensive contrary to Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. Details, details, besides that was over ten years ago, ancient history.
Considerably less effusive were intelligence and military officials with intimate knowledge of the attack along with the actual damage assessment who stated that, at most, the Iranian venture to attain weapon grade uranium (if there truly is such a quest) was set back only a few months.[19] Expert analysts (those troublesome naysayers who keep insisting on facts and logic) agree. Ernest Moniz, the 13th U.S. Secretary of Energy, expressed an opinion that essentially echoed the determination by the government sources.[20] Laura Holgate, former ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, said of Iran, “They have the scientists. They have the supply chain to the centrifuges that’s entirely domestic. They have the capacity to rebuild. That’s why so many people all these years have been arguing that a military attack will not end the program forever. The people and the supply chain still exist.”[21]
In contravention of Article I, Section 8 of The Constitution and of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 there has not even been the pretext of seeking Congressional authorization or, for that matter, informing representatives. The administration postponed briefings and, not too surprisingly, that postponement has been, to date, just fine and dandy with most lawmakers.[22]No doubt the administration will claim it was necessary to act swiftly and there was no time to be hampered by the irritating precepts of participatory democracy especially if Congress insisted on the production of trivialities like actual evidence of irreversible danger.
“This is a classic war of choice. … It was not an act of pre-emption. What Iran had was a gathering threat, not an imminent threat,” remarked Richard Hass, former Director of Policy Planning for the U.S. State Department and President Emeritus at the Council for Foreign Relations.[23]
As the atmospheric debris of war began to clear on Monday morning pundits and officials alike were optimistic, almost jubilant, that Iran’s retaliation had been limited to bombing an American military base in Quatar and there was even the possibility of a cease fire between Iran and Israel.[24]
Notwithstanding the perpetual jingoistic partiality of reporters, commentators, and policy-makers it is way too early to declare a lasting truce. If there is one global lesson that should be as glaring as the desert sun it is that national memories in the Middle East, especially with regard to conflict, are generational. Indeed, if it were not for the cellular recall of grievances that are decades, even centuries old, the possibility of Iran becoming an atomic power would not be nearly as worrisome.
Let’s hope our blustering president can settle this manufactured predicament quickly without further violence even though it may result in one more false pretense for him to pleasure himself by fantasying an imaginary victory over his predecessor while self-stroking his own personal pride, which, ironically, according to Stormy Daniels, resembles a mushroom cloud.[25] At least we won’t be at war. Or at least not until Mr. Trump fantasizes another crisis and determines that he needs to ride in on his white horse to save the world again. With such an impulsive egotist as America’s Commander in Chief, it is only a matter of time until that steed is the one accompanied by three more ascribed to the Apocalypse.
[1] Times of India, “San Francisco Bombed, Golden Gate Bridge Explodes in Shocking Video Posted by Tulsi Gabbard,” video, YouTube, posted [June 12, 2025?], https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zDRcYZaRUU.
[2] U.S. Department of State, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, archived content, https://2009-2017.state.gov/e/eb/tfs/spi/iran/jcpoa/.
[3] Meredith Deliso, “What Was in The Iran Nuclear Deal and Why Did Trump Withdraw The US from It?” American Broadcasting Company (ABC), posted June 19, 2025, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/iran-nuclear-deal-trump-united-states/story?id=123020009.
[4] Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, “Iran,” 2025, https://armscontrolcenter.org.
[5] Deliso, “What Was in The Iran Nuclear Deal?’
[6] David Albright, Sarah Burkhard, and Spencer Faragasso, Analysis of IAEA Iran Verification and Monitoring Report – May 2025 (Institute for Science and International Security, June 9, 2025), 10, fig. 2.
[7] Victoria Knight, Kaiser Health News, Obama Team Left Pandemic Playbook for Trump Administration, Officials Confirm,” Public Broadcasting Service News (PBS), posted May 15, 2020, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation /obama-team-left-pandemic-playbook-for-trump-administration-officials-confirm; Reuters, “Partly False Claim: Trump Fired Entire Pandemic Response Team in 2018,” posted March 26, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article /world/partly-false-claim-trump-fired-entire-pandemic-response-team-in-2018-idUSKBN21C32C/.
[8] Kelsey Davenport, “Trump Sends Iran Letter Amid Military Threats,” Arms Control Association, posted April 2025, https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2025-04/news/trump-sends-iran-letter-amid-military-threats; Betsy Klein, Sarah Ferris, Katie Bo Lillis, Kylie Atwood and Alayna Treene, “‘We Fight Or We Die’: How Days of Frantic Diplomacy and Dire Warnings Culminated with Israel’s Attack on Iran,” Cable Network News (CNN), posted June 14, 2025.
[9] Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, “Iran.”
[10] Klein, Ferris, Lillis, Atwood, Treene, “‘We Fight Or We Die.’”
[11] International Criminal Court, Press Release: Situation in the State of Palestine: ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I Rejects The State of Israel’s Challenges To Jurisdiction and Issues Warrants of Arrest for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, November 21, 2024, https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/situation-state-palestine-icc-pre-trial-chamber-i-rejects-state-israels-challenges; Donald J. Trump and Tony Schwartz, The Art of the Deal (New York, NY: Random House, 1987).
[12] Steve Benen, “As Trump Weighs Iran Strikes, His Abandonment of the JCPOA Looks Even Worse,” MSNBC, posted June 20, 2025, https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-iran-strikes-jcpoa-nuclear-deal-rcna214131; Ring of Fire, “Tulsi Gabbard Flips Out After Trump Calls Her a Liar,” YouTube, posted June 23, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0Bn4OV8Xtg; Patrick Wintour, “Is Iran as Close to Building a Nuclear Weapon as Netanyahu Claims?” Guardian, June 13, 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/13/is-iran-as-close-to-building-a-nuclear-weapon-as-netanyahu-claims.
[13] Al Jazeera English, “Benjamin Netanyahu's 33 years of Iran Nuclear Warnings,” video, YouTube, posted June 17, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzmtdwsef8s.
[14] Thomas Mackintosh and Nadine Yousif, “What We Know about US Strikes on Three Iranian Nuclear Sites,” British Broadcasting Company, posted June 23, 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg9r4q99g4o.
[15] Commentary by Fareed Zakaria, Global Public Square, CNN, June 22, 2025; Mackintosh and Yousif, “What We Know about US Strikes.”
[16] Jon Gambrell, Farnoush Amiri, Cara Anna, David Rising, and Aamer Madhani, “Alarm Grows after the US Inserts Itself Into Israel’s War against Iran with Strikes on Nuclear Sites,” Associated Press, updated June 22, 2025, https://apnews .com/article/israel-iran-war-nuclear-trump-bomber-news-06-22-2025-c2baca52babe915e033ae175ce8b2687.
[17] Keir Simmons, “Trump Said Iran's Nuclear Sites Were ‘Obliterated,’ but Questions Remain about Enriched Uranium,” National Broadcasting Company News, posted June 23, 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/world/middle-east/trump-claims-obliteration-iran-nuclear-sites-missing-uranium-rcna214439.
[18] WCNC Charlotte, “Live press conference | U.S. military strike on Iran,” video, YouTube, posted June 22, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHQPVSvOanA.
[19] Natasha Bertrand, Katie Bo Lillis, and Zachary Cohen, “Exclusive: Early US Intel Assessment Suggests Strikes on Iran Did Not Destroy Nuclear Sites, Sources Say,” CNN, updated June 24, 2025, https://www.cnn.com /2025/06/24/politics/intel-assessment-us-strikes-iran-nuclear-sites; The 11th Hour, narration, MSNBC, YouTube video, posted June 24, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUy23KGh-YU; National Public Radio (NPR) News, summary of comments by unidentified United Sates military official, June 24, 2025.
[20] Statement on NPR News, June 24, 2025.
[21] Interview with Boris Sanchez, CNN, June 24, 2025.
[22] Mary Clare Jalonick And Kevin Freking, Trump Administration Postpones Classified Briefings For Lawmakers on Iran,” AP, updated June 24, 2025, https://apnews.com/article/iran-strikes-israel-congress-trump-nuclear-facilities-8cbb969ff7056addc110d11af0cddf0a, Michael Waldman, “Congress Sleeps Through a Military Strike on Iran,” Brennan Center for Justice, posted June 24, 2025, https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion /congress-sleeps-through-military-strike-iran.
[23] Interview with Zakaria, Global Public Square.
[24] Barak Ravid, “No Casualties Reported after Iran Missile Attack on U.S. Base in Qatar,” Axios, posted June 23, 2025, https://www.axios.com/2025/06/23/iran-retaliation-trump-israel-war; David Rising, Jon Gambrell, and Melanie Lidman, “Trump Announces Ceasefire between Iran and Israel after Iran’s Missile Attack on US Base in Qatar,” AP, updated June 23, 2025, https://apnews.com/article/israel-iran-war-nuclear-trump-bomber-news-06-23-2025-9e78510c88ccc5e262341f41550609c5; Anthony Zurcher, “If Iran Retaliation Ends Here, Trump's High-Risk Strikes May Pay Off,” British Broadcasting Corporation, posted June 23, 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news /articles/cdr3yxgjd6ro.
[25] Stormy Daniels, Full Disclosure (New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 2018) as reviewed in Joanna Rothkopf, “Stormy Daniels's Detailed Description of Donald Trump's Penis Explains a Lot,” Esquire, posted September 18, 2025, https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a23301515/stormy-daniels-donald-trump-penis-mushroom/.
