Donald Trump’s back and forth between assertions of victory and desperation to strike a deal about Iran is telling of a highly confused President who makes hasty decisions without concern for the aftermath. As if being unable to escape this quagmire is not enough of a source of humiliation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s defiance of Trump’s instructions to halt strikes on Lebanon demonstrates the subjugation of American foreign policy to Israeli interests.
In addition to this dismal situation abroad, Trump’s popularity is reaching new lows at home as well. A Harvard/IOP poll found that in 2024, 49% of men aged between 18 and 29 voted for Trump, but now only 28% approve of him. It is not only that Mr. Trump’s approval ratings are dropping among the people. His very own policy-oriented intellectuals have publicly expressed their disappointment with the use of MAGA as a pretense to gain power. For instance, Tucker Carlson — earlier a propagator for Trump — now publicly shows his disappointment and has withdrawn his support for the Trump administration by arguing that Trump has betrayed the MAGA ideal.
While hawkish supporters may redefine their ideal whenever reality falls short of their expectations, true supporters of the MAGA movement—who really want America to invest in its people to rejuvenate its waning glory—feel betrayed, like Carlson, whenever America under Trump acquiesces to Israeli paranoia against Iran or any other country for that matter.
To make matters worse for the President, many Republican Senators, in the words of the Left, have now gained a conscience in the absence of electoral consequences. For instance, lamenting the ruling party’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, Republican Senator Mr. Cassidy stated: “People are concerned about paying their mortgage or rent, affording groceries and paying for gas, not about putting together a $1.8bn fund for the president and his allies to pay whomever they wish.” Gladly, good sense prevailed in one of the highest echelons of the U.S. government. If the same standard were extended to the use of taxpayers’ money in unwarranted wars, America’s apparently declining hegemony might be reversed.
Further, it needs much stressing that Trump’s rise to power is not connected to his efficiency as a leader. It is owed to his Reynard-the-Fox-like craft, his exploitation of earlier administrations’ failures, his promises — which he has now reneged on — that there would be no wars, and his projection of machismo that the people favoured him. However, Iran’s strategic strength and Netanyahu’s not acceding to Trump’s directives cast a big doubt on the projection of him as a strong statesman.
These facts, presented logically, may appear rather simple, but they hold substantial power in impacting the popularity of Trump as a leader domestically; the severity of this might be realised in the mid-term elections in November.
The political misery for the US President aside, this conflict has also affected the world at large due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, an outlet responsible for 20-30% of the world’s total oil consumption. But before this furious entanglement between Iran and the US-Israel axis, the Strait of Hormuz was open. It was only after the initiation of attacks on Iran that the country started maintaining a chokehold on the maritime route. The prevailing uncertainty of this conflict could well hurt oil prices, as mere newsflashes have wobbled them before. While countries around the world may temporarily succeed in curbing demand, it must not be viewed as a long-term course of action. It follows, then, that had it not been for Trump giving in to Netanyahu’s extremist ambitions, the world would have been spared this crisis.
The President’s changing statements on social media platforms, wherein a “whole civilisation” dies and then resurrects to strike a deal with the POTUS, are a clear indication that he is stuck in a humbling situation. May this experience serve as a lesson to Mr. Trump and future American leaders: wars come with costs, and unwarranted ones come with even higher costs that linger for ages.
Thus, the onus is now on Trump not only to restore peace – peace lies clearly on the table; it is only a matter of sacrificing ego that it could be realised – but reclaim his persona that he cultivated through years of projection, which, in turn, would keep his deteriorating MAGA base intact. Doing so is simple: listen to the frustrated, infuriated, lamenting Americans whose tax money is being used to fund illegal wars and countless killings.
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