Make no mistake, America’s triple strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities was President Donald Trump’s ultimate act of brinkmanship.
There is, of course, a very real possibility that Tehran will decide the risk to their country is too great to take on America’s might.
Power through strength has, after all, been Trump’s mantra.
The president has blamed much of America’s ills on the weakness of his predecessor, Joe Biden. And Trump has clearly staked his future on being the world’s strongman.
The message to Trump’s perceived enemies is clear. He will back up his threats with action.
But what if Iran calls Trump’s bluff?
Trump’s presidency is based, in part, on his insistence that the United States would not become embroiled in any more forever wars. “America First” is the theme of an administration that owes a high degree of support to American isolationists.
Just a few weeks ago, Trump was hinting that the Iranian conflict was the one he would solve. Now the two nations are at war. Trump’s War.
It is the hill that his presidency will live or die on.
Every American must now be looking over their shoulder. Retaliation attacks could happen anywhere.
There are approximately 40,000 U.S. troops stationed at bases and warships throughout the Middle East.
An Iranian attack on the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s vital marine passageways, could choke up trade and cause an international flashpoint.
Sides are being taken. Countries that Trump’s MAGA followers see only through the lens of immigrants they want gone suddenly have their sights set on Israel’s ally-in-arms.
“This is not our fight,” wrote Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of Trump’s most fervent supporters. She is not alone. The only way the president will appease the likes of Greene is if his gamble pays off.
Just last week, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran, warned: “The Americans should know that any U.S. military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage. The U.S. entering in this matter is 100 percent to its own detriment. The damage it will suffer will be far greater than any harm that Iran may encounter.”
On Saturday night, Tehran was ominously silent.
It was aiming its missiles at Israel. America could be next.
Iran does not yet have a nuclear weapon. Not yet. But its allies do.
As often as Trump likes to insist he has a friendly relationship with Vladimir Putin, Russia is a strategic ally of Iran and it will see Saturday night’s strikes as a challenge to its authority in the region.
China is another key global ally of the Iranians. As is Pakistan, the only Islamic country with a nuclear arsenal. Pakistan offered its solidarity with Tehran after Israel’s “unjustified and illegitimate” attacks on the country. Russia and China also condemned Israel’s strikes.
By taking direct action against Iran—the strikes on at least one of Iran’s nuclear sites could not have succeeded without U.S. technology—the United States is making a statement.
Trump was irritated at the TACO—Trump’s Always Chickening Out—jibe. The world’s leaders largely called his bluff when he threatened them with punitive tariffs. He felt they were making fun of him behind his back.
The war in Ukraine continued apace. The Israel-Hamas conflict has not eased. The tough guy president needed a win.
Trump is gambling on Putin and Xi Jinping stepping away from the tethering regime in Tehran. Trump’s “Art of the Deal” relies on a negotiation strategy where one party’s strength, whether real or perceived, influences the other party to concede or compromise.
His cards are on the table. He has revealed his hand.
Trump’s future depends on the response of his opponent.
If the Iranians blink and hold, the president will have the winning hand.
If they see the United States and raise the stakes, we had better hope they don’t have an ace up their sleeve that we never saw coming.
The post Opinion: Trump’s Shocking Gamble to Prove He’s Not a TACO President appeared first on The Daily Beast.
