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In an earlier, more innocent era of Donald Trump post on social networksone can still laugh a lot in his year 2017 declaration that his view is “not Presidential – it’s MODERN PRESIDENCY.” But as Iran’s war drags on, its communications have gone from mysterious to downright irresistible. When Trump feels isolated, I have writtenhe reprimands more strongly—which may explain the negative statements and actions coming from the White House in the past few days.
Nadir (for now) was the Social Truth of Easter morning to be wrong in which Trump threatened that “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all rolled into one, in Iran. There will be no such thing!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to God.”
Trump reiterated that threat during a press conference this afternoon, saying, “The whole country could be wiped out overnight, and that night could be tomorrow night.” Targeting civilian infrastructure such as power plants and bridges is likely illegal. Trump would not be the first president of the United States to violate international law, but he would be the first to announce it ahead of time on the social network he owns. The threat is also strategically questionable. Establishing a more pro-American regime in Tehran would require the presence of some authority that can govern and be willing to work with Washington; these types of strikes, or even threats, make that possibility less likely. (Trump insisted that he has heard pleas from inside Iran for continued bombing.) And using the threat of genocide to intimidate the religious zealots currently in power seems counterproductive.
Leading that post will be difficult, but this morning the president tried. In a new, vague and terrifying post, he shared a short video of the crowd of shoppers—many of them people of color, some of them wearing hijabs. They were minding their own business and indulged in a modern capitalist American hangout at what appears to be the Mall of America in Minnesota, followed by Gary Jules’ “Mad World” from Donnie Darko soundtrack.
These explosions come as the regime realizes that military power alone is not enough to win the war. Trump is now threatening to attack civilian infrastructure, because nothing else has forced the Iranian government to shut down. At the beginning of the war, he seemed to feel down, encouraged by his quick success in Venezuela, but any feelings of happiness quickly disappeared. Last week, the president gave a White House speech in which he could try to end the war or otherwise define what victory would look like. Instead, as my colleague Tom Nichols wrote, Trump did nothing.
America’s wars in the Middle East have backfired, but the negative effects of this have been felt at a record pace. US and Israeli attacks have killed many senior Iranians, but the rule remains to be concluded-and its control of the Strait of Hormuz suggests that Iran may actually be in a stronger strategic position than at the start of the war. (Iranian leaders today rejected a cease-fire proposal.) The US Army is burning through its ammunition reserves. The next step, Thomas Wright argued Atlantic last week, it is ground war.
The frantic search for the downed F-15E pilot in Iran ended happily yesterday, with a rescue. But the operation resulted in the destruction of two MC-130J transport planes and some MH-6 helicopters, as well as an A-10 that was shot down—an expensive tab, especially since the Trump administration claimed to be. destroyed Iran’s air defenses.
These restrictions may have humbled other presidents, but instead they have led Trump to rebuke. His confusion may even cause him to imagine things. Last month, he claimed that the former president had privately expressed his regrets for not striking Iran. This seems unlikely. Trump said his predecessor was not George W. Bush, and three other living presidents—Democrats Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden—have all been publicly hostile to Trump; New York Times information that almost all three people denied that they had spoken to him recently. This makes Trump’s claim reminiscent of a different former president: Richard Nixon, who had controversial conversations and pictures on the walls of the White House when his presidency collapsed.
Shock is penetrate into other areas of administration too. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth dismissal the head of the army and the high priest (among others) in the middle of the war. Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi last week, shortly after she attended a Supreme Court hearing in which the justices she appointed expressed skepticism about the outlandish claims Bondi’s Justice Department lawyers were forced to make in defense of Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship.
The president’s behavior calms down a bit when he no longer feels cornered. Predicting when that might happen is a challenge. Trump has shown that he doesn’t have a good answer for getting out of the conflict with Iran, and even if he does, he may find—and apologize to Trotsky—that even though he may no longer be interested in war, war still interests him. The US and global economy seems to be faltering. Each week brings new polls that suggest a poor outcome for Republicans in the midterm elections. Trump can stay in the corner for a long time, which means a rough ride for everyone else.
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Today’s news
- President Trump he said in a press conference at the White House that the American plane crashed over Iran was hit by a shoulder-fired missile, while he was detailing the weekend rescue of the American plane. He also warned Iran that it could face strikes on critical infrastructure if it failed to meet Tuesday’s deadline.
- Iran rejected a US-backed proposal for a 45-day ceasefire linked to reopening the Strait of Hormuz and issuing a permanent settlement that Trump said was “not good enough,” although it was an “important step.”
- Four astronauts aboard NASA’s Artemis II mission he traveled further from Earth than any other human being in history and are scheduled to pass behind the moon later today.
Dispatches
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Evening Read
Wrestling’s Newest Superstar Is Big, Bearded, and Ready to Collect Ice
By Jeremy Gordon
If you attend a wrestling fan show, the first thing you’ll notice is that many of the fans are wearing t-shirts of their favorite wrestler. On March 25, the Roy Wilkins Hall in St. Paul, Minnesota, held an unofficial poll on All Elite Wrestling (AEW), one of the biggest wrestling companies in the United States. Many of the talents announced that night—names like Swerve Strickland, Kenny Omega, Orange Cassidy, Darby Allin, Thekla—were represented on the assembled torsos, allowing one to instantly glimpse crowd favorites.
But many shirts were worn to support a wrestler who was not on the evening’s schedule: Brody King. The actor, whose name is Nathan Blauvelt, is a handsome man, billed at 6-foot-5 and nearly 300 pounds, with a long beard and a body covered in gnarly tattoos. You can imagine him hopping around a motorcycle bar or throwing strangers into a mosh pit. King has been a good guy, and he’s been a bad guy, but he’s often a tough guy—someone who always seems like a threat.
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Rafaela Jinich contributed to this magazine.
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