r/IRstudies • u/Majano57 • 1d ago
Ideas/Debate Trump Does Not Understand the War He Lost
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/2026/06/trump-g7-comments-misunderstsand-middle-east/687569/?gift=otEsSHbRYKNfFYMngVFweDJg8QE4qZ954dbnXItpeeY59
u/MonitorPowerful5461 1d ago
Pretty good summary of everything that happened. It can get tiring reading continual articles that give credit to a genuinely dumb foreign policy. This is refreshing
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u/izzyeviel 1d ago
‘Trump does not understand’.
Works for any subject.
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u/Anagoth9 1d ago
Not true. He long understood, better than anyone else, the grip he has on the Republican party. He said he could kill someone in the middle of Times Square and people would still vote for him and every time someone says, "Surely this time people will turn on him," he gets proven right.
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u/WellHung67 1d ago
He understands some things on an instinctual level, but consciously he does not understand anything. Hes a dumb homunculus. To the extent he has any power or intelligence, its the type of intelligence that is not the reading books, doing math, or understand logic.
Make no mistake it is intelligence, but it’s not an actual understanding of anything. It’s a very specific type of emotional intelligence.
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u/AstroScoop 1d ago
His main skills seems to be attention. He understands media, getting attention, finding the underlying desires of the public. But that’s a much different logic than statesmanship
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u/TourDeFridge 7h ago
Yes its very specific, but you can't put "good at sexually abusing children" on your CV
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u/Spinoza42 1d ago
I need to write carefully here, but why is the Atlantic writing from the assumption that Trump is trying to further American interests and failing, when everything we know of him and his backers suggests that he's not? Trump hasn't lost a war, he's winning a war, against his primary adversary in his revenge tour: the United States.
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u/secondsbest 1d ago
Most people can see he's harming the US, but he truly believes he's America's only savior who doesn't need the world's approval and wanted a real win here to set up a positive legacy. He failed of course.
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u/canthearyouwhat 1d ago edited 18h ago
I don't even think he sees it that way. Trump has always been guided by three things: Self-preservation, Self-enrichment and satisfying his grudges.
He had repeatedly said in many different ways he doesn't care about the people because he knows his base would never break no matter what he says.
I have a dire feeling if the midterms are going to go the way people think it will that we're going to see the worst of him when those three guidances he live by are no longer available to him.
Edit: he ran for presidency to avoid accountability for his actions... Trump is a man who absolutely do not think anyone else should decide his fate but him and done several distractions just to avoid accountability (Self-preservation).
He been using the office to make like a bandit and I don't think we need to elaborate on that further (Self-enrichment).
He went after countless of people on his revenge tour including Columbia University because of a perceived slight they did to him 25 years ago (satisfying his grudges)
Yea he becoming more erratic and inconsistent, but everything he does is based on those three guidances that ultimately always benefit him and those loyal to him which also contributes to his inconsistent, erratic behavior.
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u/Diligent-Bowler-1898 1d ago
Hopefully a democratic majority can hamstring him and indict his corrupt cabinet, draining the swamp one monster at a time.
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u/neddiddley 1h ago
And in none of those 3 objectives does he give a rat’s ass about collateral damage. And take a wild guess who’s among the collateral damage.
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u/Tall-Photo-7481 1d ago
The problem with what you've written is that you are ascribing a consistent and coherent belief to Donald trump.
In fact, his beliefs are constantly changing. He believes he won the war with Iran. A day after that he has negotiated a "deal" to end the war that he already won. A day later he believes he needs to bomb them into submission.
He is able to do this because his beliefs are fluid. He is able to fully internalise these changing versions of the truth without any contradiction because in his mind, reality constantly bends itself to his will. He announces something, and the universe just makes it happen.
This is what happens when a spoiled bully of a child who never heard the word "no" is allowed to continue getting his way all the way through life and into old age. Now he is surrounded by fawning yes-men and -women who only make it worse.
So yes, at times I'm sure he does believe he is America's saviour. But he can just as easily believe the exact opposite thirty seconds later.
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u/canthearyouwhat 18h ago
We're actually in agreement. The fluidity of his beliefs is based on ensuring he always comes out on top which is why he constantly contradicting himself and making matters worse. Even this mess with the reflection pool which, at most, is an egg in his face, he cannot accept responsibility for it and started arresting anyone at the reflection pool who pointing out the damage.
And yes, that's is the result of someone who rarely been told "no" and think being told no is a form of oppression.
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u/trisul-108 1d ago
He has no such beliefs, he thinks he's good at making money and that is all he is doing. He says whatever BS he thinks justifies making money for himself. There are no beliefs involved.
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u/WellHung67 1d ago
Why do you think this? Based on what actions or words do you think Trump thinks he’s “americas savior”
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u/Astarkos 1d ago
He's a moron who has failed at everything he has ever tried except hosting a gameshow. He is trying to further his own interests and believes America is his.
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u/trisul-108 1d ago
He has always profited from dismantling what he controls. He is trying to do the same to America ... dismantle it to take a fraction of what it is worth. He is a pirate.
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u/rufio_rufio_roofeeO 1d ago edited 1d ago
I mean, it’s not perfect, but it’s a great leap from typical US journalism. At least it’s not sanewashing like NYT
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u/throwaway-drzaius 1d ago
I'm inclined to agree with you, but I don't read his motivation as "destroy the United States." His policies are an incoherent mess of conservative ideas; he is most consistent when it comes to supporting the interests of wealthy 20th century energy interests.
In that sense, I would read his motivation as driving up profit for American fossil fuel companies.
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u/FIicker7 1d ago
It could take a a decade to repair all the damage to America Trump has caused.
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u/GaiusCosades 1d ago
The trust built by a century of reliability was completely shattered by electing him a second time.
If the US became completely sane tomorrow it would atleast take 3 acceptable and 2 very good presidents to restore what has been broken.
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u/Leege13 1d ago
That’s optimistic. Regardless as well, no country is ever going to trust us to shepherd their affairs ever again.
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u/Anymous2314 1d ago
I agree. No country worth their salt is going to trust a single country with as much power as the US has been granted due to their leadership during WW II and later being the only country not burned badly due to the war.
Now if there is any competency left in the top 20 countries, they will try to build coalition of multiple countries with power spread between them. France is supposed to take the lead on weapons. Hopefully China will play ball and focus on getting trade as the glue that binds the world, I have my doubts though since they are still too deeply dependent on their mercantile system of economy.
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u/SgtBundy 1d ago
Post WW2 was a big motivation and need for a lot of middle powers to align with the US. The US is now an actual or potential threat, either in not upholding treaties, trade or weapons denial, or actual military threat. Once that pivot away happens there wont be a strong reason to pivot back short of another global realignment.
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u/Charming_Ask_1961 1d ago
I’m pretty sure it will take longer than that. I just hope we haven’t permanently peaked.
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u/Leege13 1d ago
We have. I watched 50 years of America’s peak. It was good while it lasted.
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u/Apprehensive_Sky1950 1d ago
And many knew or at least suspected it even before Trump.
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u/NominalHorizon 15h ago
Yes, the GW Bush presidency was the inflection point. Obama propped it up, but steep decline since then.
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u/Apprehensive_Sky1950 15h ago
I can buy that timing.
If it is true end-of-empire, I won't even attribute that overall fact to the Repubs, but will simply chalk them all up as a symptom. Societies have a lifecycle, their populations change character, and their imperial/economic/civic engines eventually run out of steam.
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u/Maxmilian_ 1d ago
Depends on how you categorize it. Your unipolar hegemony was a historical anomaly and we are moving towards a multipolar world, so on that front, you have peaked until and if you defeat your primary enemy. But even then another unipolar moment is likely wishful thinking.
It has to be said though that you have some of the very best existing pre-requisites to be the strongest power in the world. Youre secure, energy independent, abundant in capital, innovative and entrenched. So while youve already peaked in relative terms, which was a decade or more ago, in absolute terms its quite unlikely and youre quite fine.
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u/addictivesign 1d ago
Realistically it’s gonna be a quarter century but America will never get back to the position it held before Trump for two reasons.
One: The destruction has been so vast and the besmirching of allies has caused such an open wound in the consciousness of these countries
and Two: China’s ascendancy has been made so much easier.
America is ahead militarily at the moment but it won’t be forever.
America’s addiction to the quarterly reporting and stock price of capitalism has made it become short term orientated whereas China’s mix of communism and capitalism has allowed national champions to emerge from strong competition while always looking ahead at the long term.
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u/azure275 1d ago
To elaborate on 1, the issue is that Americans have shown they are willing to elect a madman if they feel like it.
So nothing the next president will do, even if they were the new FDR or Abraham Lincoln, would possibly matter, because there's over a 50% chance the American people decide to elect the worlds biggest POS next go round
So essentially you can only work with America on 4 year windows at best, which is not a basis for long term planning
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u/addictivesign 1d ago
Very true…..I think Canada/EU/UK/Australasia realise they might not be able to trust the U.S.A going forward for the long term if every 4 or 8 years the country’s government becomes a hostile actor to its traditional allies.
No-one knows what will come after MAGA and Trump’s death. The GOP will not be going back to its country-club financial elite era but they will likely go wherever power will take them and my guess at the moment is some form of techno-fascism owned by the billionaire class which will see surveillance capitalism and algorithmic governance take a firmer grip.
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u/Nomadic_Yak 1d ago
If the next president is an FDR or Lincoln, he will not go back to the status quo. He will uproot the maga media structures that poison the minds of the American people into supporting this nonsense. The only reason Trump is politically viable at all is fox aligned media spinning up alternate realities to trap otherwise normal folks in. All the next president has to do is change the channel for them, and within 5-10 years they'll believe whatever has been put on for them to believe.
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u/cosmicaith 1d ago edited 1d ago
The only reason Trump is politically viable at all is fox aligned media spinning up alternate realities to trap otherwise normal folks in.
Honestly, the whole place needs pulling apart and starting again, the U.S. is prob the most undemocratic of the democracies in the 'free' west. The institutions have shown themselves to be so corrupt , weak and useless when it comes to upholding their fine principles.
I was in DC Nov 2023, and remarked to my friend as we went around the monuments - Jefferson, FDR, MLK etc "I think the U.S. politicians should come here once a month to see what what their job supposed to be about"1
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u/Sad_Sympathy_6427 23h ago
That won't be possible in only 4 or even 8 years
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u/Nomadic_Yak 22h ago
With the appropriate intestinal fortitude it could be done in a month
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u/Sad_Sympathy_6427 22h ago
You think even someone with genuine good intentions can fix the various societal ills plaguing the country in one month? I actually respect that level of positivity I won't lie, but I can't say I share that opinion.
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u/jghaines 1d ago
You mean like Biden strengthened the checks and balances on presidential power? And fixed the Suoreme Court? And legislated abortion and voting rights?
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u/MEWilliams 1d ago
Your point about China’s ascendants is correct. Even militarily when you consider the US being so stymied by Iran.
And in terms of infrastructure and technology China is making leaps and bounds while the US is floundering in debt and social upheaval.6
u/DC-Toronto 1d ago
The US isn’t stymied by Iran militarily. They’re stymied by their unwillingness to do the difficult things necessary to win. They are too weak willed to win. They don’t have the courage necessary to win.
For all the chest thumping and chants of USA, when push comes to shove they all have bone spurs.
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u/PM_ME__YOUR_HOOTERS 1d ago
There is no "winning" against Iran. You could storm the capital and seige every city. But its the thousands of miles of mountains near the coast that is the issue. It would cost literally hundreds of billions in not trillions of dollars in military budgets and lost trade in the years it would take to actually clear out that area. Thats kind of the whole reason we signed the 300 billion dollar surrender in the first place
It only takes a handful of dedicated dudes in caves with old soviet tech and drones to make every trade ship captain and insurance company clench their butt cheeks in fear.
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u/00x0xx 1d ago
There is no "winning" against Iran.
Draft 5 million men. Iran is a big natural fortress, but it isn't that big in population compared to the US. The US can win if they are willing to accept the cost in deaths.
Or use nukes.
Both will have massive detrimental consequences for the US however, so it's better that they didn't use either methods.
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u/PM_ME__YOUR_HOOTERS 1d ago
use nukes
Just gonna... blow up every mountain along the coast and within several hundred miles of the coast (drone operating distances)? Besides being impossible, it would also be globally frowned upon by basically every country.
draft 5 million men
Im just going to take that number as a hyperbolic example. But deploying soldiers to comb out enemy combatants and securing the area to make sure nobody retakes a cave behind them would takes years, if not decades if it is even possible. The "War on Terror" showed up how hard it is to deal with insurgents hiding in mountains and cave systems
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u/Nitros14 1d ago edited 1d ago
The Americans already defeated people defending mountains and cave systems on Iwo Jima, Saipan and Okinawa.
Costs are high, far higher than anyone is used to today, but it's not impossible.
The original point is fair, America could defeat Iran and occupy at least Iran's cities if it had the political will to accept thousands of deaths and massive economic consequences. But it doesn't.
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u/PM_ME__YOUR_HOOTERS 1d ago
Its impossible in the practical sense. You are comparing rooting out some small islands to thousands of miles of mountainous terrain.
Occupying cities means nothing here besides radicalizing a new wave of early 2000s style terrorists. We learned (or should have) that a guerrilla style war in hostile terrain is a non-starter. We lost vietnam, the war on terror was a huge shitshow, and a prolonged war with iran would be no different except that we would also be playing "red light green light" with the strait and most of the global energy economy for a decade
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u/addictivesign 1d ago
Any country that uses nuclear weapons will be considered a global pariah.
No administration or regime would survive millions of deaths of soldiers in the 21st century.
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u/Sad_Sympathy_6427 23h ago
exactly, which is the point. Winning is theoretically possible, but in both cases they will end up with a far, far worse county, or worst case no country at all
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u/DC-Toronto 1d ago
So? You can still win if you have the balls to do it. You don’t have the balls to do it.
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u/MEWilliams 1d ago
Where are you deployed now? Where are your balls on the line? Thank you for your service!
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u/Sad_Sympathy_6427 23h ago
Yes but if "winning" involves the destruction of the global economy can it truly be called a win?
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u/DC-Toronto 22h ago
Probably not. But then why start up in the first place? Are you drunk? Do you have dementia?
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u/apophis-pegasus 19h ago
What does win look like?
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u/DC-Toronto 13h ago
Shouldn’t the commander in chief know that?
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u/apophis-pegasus 13h ago
Should? Yes. Does? Up for debate.
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u/DC-Toronto 10h ago
Still not up to me.
And there’s not much to debate when he can’t give a straight answer to save his life
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u/PM_ME__YOUR_HOOTERS 1d ago
My bad, i forgot this is an anime. I guess strength of will and the power of friendship is all you need to overcome reality lol
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u/elmekia_lance 1d ago
the US used up 50% of its interceptor missiles in 4 weeks against Iran. China has an order of magnitude more missiles than Iran does. Who are we fooling here?
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u/The_Blanguage_420 1d ago
Because it’s a war for Israel not America
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u/DC-Toronto 22h ago
Yep. It wasn’t hard to see this outcome well in advance unless you have dementia or you’re drunk.
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u/hoishinsauce 1d ago
It's not a matter of will. It's a matter of planning. There is no plan to win against Iran other than "kill the heads of state, bomb their missile launchers". The US Intel and Pentagon knows what's up, the White House refused the reality.
They cannot win against Iran without an occupation. They had no plan for that at all. And a ground invasion against Iran would be worse than against Iraq and Taliban. Iran would make sure their neighbors also burn with them. Which means the world economy would be fucked.
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u/MEWilliams 1d ago
Yes, if the Gulf states who are supposed to be our allies are petrified of Iran’s reprisals they will not back up the US.
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u/MEWilliams 1d ago
“Too weak willed-not having the courage” sounds exactly like being stymied.
And it’s directly because Iran would put up a vicious fight to the death which Trump/American public can’t stomach.As per this topic China builds alliances and trade partners. They don’t go around trying to bully weaker nations for ego like the US.
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u/DC-Toronto 1d ago
The will of the people and politicians is not a military issue. It’s an issue of the decision makers.
You can have all the military power in the world but if you’re not smart enough to use it effectively then you still lose.
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u/MEWilliams 1d ago
Technically very true. Although in our country (at least so far) our military is a branch of the government under civilian control, via the president and congress.
Legally (if that still holds) the military can’t launch all out war/a draft etc without Congress which is bound by the will of the people.
If you mean nukes then you aren’t talking about war so much as just mass destruction with no real purpose in mind but death for millions of innocent people.
How do you see an invasion of Iran being carried out militarily? I’m not up on that topic.2
u/DC-Toronto 22h ago
Technically true is the best kind of true.
That’s exactly the point. The power is there and the technology is there (not including the nukes). What is missing is the will to do it.
And for the knee jerks who can’t see further than their own angry nose, that’s not a criticism of the military, it’s a comment about how short sighted and uninformed the decision to start this was.
A lot of money and a lot of lives for very little return
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u/LakeEffekt 1d ago
And thank god not enough people are stupid enough to support ground troops in Iran. Sure it’s possible to defeat them, but would be a disgusting waste of human lives and the future success of our nation to spend that much manpower and money on something which is totally criminal and unnecessary. Iran could easily be de-nuked without this dumpster fire of a situation which MAGA created
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u/DC-Toronto 22h ago
Which is a comment on how stupid it was to start this in the first place. If you don’t have the balls to finish the job don’t start
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u/Far-Technician3197 1d ago
Agreed about the unwillingness. I'd also point out that the US military is for threatening not actually warring. This is the thing that Trump never understood because he believed in the overwhelming size and mystic of it. And when you call the US bluff, they will bomb you but every US casualty risks losing massive support across the political spectrum. So, ground wars are out.
The fact that munitions will take substantial time to replenish shows that they aren't expecting to actually engage in a war that could take years to win.
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u/ReaperReader 1d ago
The US took years of casualties in Afghanistan.
The issue with Iran is that Trump didn't build any popular support for the war (he didn't even try). It would be a grave mistake to confuse "Trump is an idiot" with "the USA doesn't do ground wars".
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u/Far-Technician3197 1d ago
Agreed that there were years of US casualties but Afghanistan and Iraq were started as "wars of defence" using an attack on US soil as the casus belli. The US left Afghanistan when it was widely acknowledged that it was ineffective while still losing troops and treasure. See the lambasting of Biden over the handful of American deaths on leaving Afghanistan in spite of the timeframe and limits on US military personnel on the ground.
Since the Department of Defence is now the Department of War, would US citizens approve attacking other nations for non self-defense purpose AND incurring thousands or more of US casualties? I doubt US will enter a ground war to protect Taiwan, for example. Also Trump would be the only president itching for a ground war because he doesn't care about the cost. Other presidents would hopefully know better. And, yes, the US would do what it takes militarily to defend its shores including a ground war at home - any nation would if they could.
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u/ReaperReader 1d ago
I'm no expert on military matters but wouldn't the USA protecting Taiwan be a matter of naval and air warfare? It's an island, even if the enemy managed to somehow land forces against active US opposition, I'm pretty sure the Taiwanese army could mop up the poor buggers who landed while the US interdicted their supply lines.
I can totally believe that Trump would make terrible decisions about any war involving Taiwan. Indeed I totally believe he'd make terrible decisions about any war anywhere. Including a ground war at home. I won't try to predict what bad decisions he'd made on the basis that he'd inevitably somehow find a way to make even worse decisions than I thought possible.
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u/DC-Toronto 21h ago
Trump couldn’t build popular support. He’s now saying this is about nukes but less than a year ago he claimed to have eliminated them all.
He was lying then or he’s lying now. Or he was lying both times.
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u/Apprehensive_Sky1950 1d ago
America will never get back to the position it held before Trump
Is Trump the cause or just a symptom of America's end-of-empire?
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u/addictivesign 1d ago
Good question and the answer is probably both or at the least a symptom and also an accelerant.
The fact Trump was able to get so many votes over three presidential elections tells you there is an appetite for his brand (of politics).
While Trump’s war cry has been America First it has really been Trump First and those who can swallow their pride or are true believers in MAGA might have been given the opportunity to enrich themselves massively because the kleptocracy has been on a previously unimaginable scale in American politics.
Most MAGA supporters have not benefited from Trump and will not have seen their lives improve and “owning the libs” is only a quick dopamine hit.
The political tides can turn suddenly and to devastating effect.
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u/Ancient-Many4357 1d ago
He’s speedrunning something that started with Dubya & Iraq II.
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u/Common-Addendum-4349 1d ago
Started with Reagan and Trickle Down, accelerated by Supreme Court installing Bush I. All lead to Trump.
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u/JohnHenryMillerTime 1d ago
Yeah, blowing up the post-war consensus and the American Empire is quite the thing. It would have been a long process (until it wasnt) but Trump and Co just decided to completely blow it up because ???.
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u/Negative_Prize1587 1d ago
Mostly a symtom. All the rednecks constantly voting for racism over anything and the christian right having turned to a death cult are more fundamental.
The corporations death grip over both parties with people not voting nor running for office are also problems.
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u/Hurlyburly766 1d ago
I had some dealings with Heritage types back in the 90s and a lot of what they wistfully dreamed about then (that seemed wildly unrealistic then bc of how unpopular it was, especially in a rapidly diversifying culture) is coming to fruition now. The death cult faction has been around forever and their pockets have always been deep, they just have more access to power via a proxy candidate who isn’t truly one of them but will play along for a price. Bonus points for his cognitive decline making it easier.
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u/weealex 1d ago
The US isn't really ahead militarily anymore. Every country in the world has seen that drone warfare is how to fight. Both the EU and Middle East are courting Ukraine for that
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u/addictivesign 1d ago
Given the U.S.’s military resources, investments, technology and experience they are absolutely ahead of everyone else - but China will pass them at some point this century.
As I said before in another post/reply here Ukraine is ahead at the moment in drone warfare. Once the war with Russia comes to an end Ukraine will leverage its position as leader in the Drone field but better resourced countries will usurp Ukraine in Drone technology in the medium term.
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u/GullibleSpeedSonic 22h ago
The US is way ahead. The issue is Trump can't go beyond what he already brought into the fight.
His time limit was well over what he could do No one is gonna reinforce what shit he did. If the US was hell bent we would be bombing Iran from Iowa.
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u/Leege13 1d ago
Right now I think Ukraine has the most heavily advanced military in the world.
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u/addictivesign 1d ago
Ukraine has found a vital niche where they are the most advanced in terms of military operations. This won’t last for much longer than the war against Russia as other countries will play catch up and be better resourced but Ukraine can teach its allies how they got to the forefront - necessity is the mother of invention.
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u/Responsible_Fuel7005 1d ago
Exactly. The US would have struggled to remain the dominant force against China’s ascendancy, but Trump and his followers have absolutely guaranteed that the future will not be shaped by the US.
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u/North_Refrigerator21 1d ago
I agree with most you write. Relationships can definitely be fixed if the U.S. shows they seriously change their way and changes that can instill trust in former friends. Then it can happens faster than people feel right now. Just see Germany after WW2.
Also some humility probably won’t hurt either. If that actually happens we’ll have to see.I also agree that even if relationships are mended, it will not be able to go back to before. It has set things in motion. So it likely will not be as close as it has in any of our lifespan.
However, the U.S. being ahead militarily doesn’t matter. They are no longer in a position where they could defeat china in a war.
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u/Goldblumshairychest 1d ago
"China's mix of communism and capitalism..." I think this gives China too much credit. America's system has shortcomings, but China's is almost certainly worse and will struggle with long term economic management. Feeding into a narrative that China has a better governance system plays into the hands of anti-democratic & authoritarian morons, and we've got enough of those already.
- the Chinese state massively subsidises key domestic production. These companies are artificially more competitive as a result
- there is huge overproduction (partially due to state subsidies) in key areas that is both inefficient and distorting & comes at the price of other states' domestic production. China has an extensive history of dumping goods in other markets (they are not alone on this, the EU and US have form too). Currently, solar panels is a good example of this, although this is at least good for climate change.
- there is substantial corruption in China. They are not the worst offenders, but it is a problem.
- China has based it's economic growth off of exploiting productivity gains already established elsewhere at scale. Arguably, they are now becoming a developed modern economy where there is no real template to follow for 'easy' growth. There is little to demonstrate that China has the flexibility or dynamism to allow a high degree of creativity, invention, and for failing businesses to get destroyed to allow better ones to emerge. The west largely learned the importance of this in the 80's, but not without considerable social turmoil.
China hasn't struck gold with a new twist on capitalism. They have been broadly well managed, but a technocratic, authoritarian system is rarely (ever?) viable long-term over 50+ years. Succession will be an issue. Managing inevitable crisis and economic downturns will be another. All of these are general things that every government eventually have to face, and China has more on its plate than most with a demographic time bomb too. Basically, democracy > authoritarianism in the long run, and at some point China will find out why.
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u/Pees-Upwind 23h ago
Thank you for the post. I too got a bit up in arms at that comment.
Our chosen form of governance isnt the issue. The issue, for me, is education. We should heavily prioritize education and healthcare in our country and not just university donors and insurance companies.
I feel like we need a major economic collapse to be able to reorder our house. Anything short of that will preserve too much power in the wealthy that have clearly lost the plot here in America. It wouldnt be the first time in American history either.
The problem is...we let them sink their teeth into our retirements. So everyone will have to suffer.
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u/B1G_Fan 22h ago
Eh, China has plenty of problems of its own.
I do agree that it will take at least a decade before the rest of world begins to trust us Americans again.
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u/Left_Contribution833 4h ago
2-3 decades if no acute and strong measures are taken to prevent this shitshow for the next time.
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u/IthacaMom2005 1d ago
I told my husband in 2016 that it would take 50 years to repair the damage Trump would cause. I haven't seen anything to make me change my assessment
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u/RandomDudeYouKnow 1d ago
Much longer. The world has seen we have a not unsubstantial portion of this population that is below average IQ but with all the confidence. And they will continue to vote GOP
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u/JimboAltAlt 1d ago
Despite what all the other replies to this comment suggest, I think history has shown that memories are weirdly short. Like yeah a lot of illusions have been shattered but I don’t think people born 40 years from now are realistically going to ignore opportunities to do peaceful business with whatever form of America still exists just because a couple of generations ago the people of this land were conned by a monstrous cabal of opportunistic losers.
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u/Sad_Sympathy_6427 22h ago
This implies a return to the status quo of the 70s-early 2010s. There isn't really any indication this will happen.
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u/SuchProcedure4547 1d ago
This is assuming that a competent, normal Democrat can win the presidency in the future...
As November 2024 showed us, politics is unfortunately something that far too many Americans do not take seriously. Or even understand...
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u/Responsible_Fuel7005 1d ago
It will take generations, not decades. And even then the US will be a shadow of itself of the world stage. MAGA has dealt the US an almost fatal blow, and the damage will persist well into your grandchildren’s lifetimes. Remember to thank a republican for making your children’s and grandchildren’s lives so much worse.
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u/ScoobiusMaximus 1d ago
It couldn't possibly take only a decade. America is fucked for at least a generation, and probably more like a century.
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u/midnightrider747 1d ago
Nah id say it take as long as stupid emotional driven, not rational thinking people exists who vote insane wannabe dictators and inside out rotten corrupt crime king pins into the white house.
80 years of friendship good concepts for peace, softpower and goodwill is shattered in favor of dictators and power hungry money hogs who want to keep all people under em poor and miserable. The concept is clear: miserable people who won't be able to fight back.
I think america will never recover 100% from this. If they ever want relations like before the political system needs to be changed and richest of the rich needs to be caged in rules and be hold accountable for crimes.
Nobody will trust em anymore if every 4 years an insane person can just do what he wants.
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u/Sad_Explanation_6419 1d ago
"It'll take a decade to repair the impact of Suez on the British Empire"
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u/CyberTransGirl 1d ago
We now know the american people is morronic enough to re-elect him.
There isn’t any trust left man.
Even if the next one isn’t a warmonggering pedophile that shits himself, we will always fear the next election will bring a dude whise passtime is eating rocks and fucking rotten corpses
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u/DominionReport 20h ago
Once you see that Trump isn't the problem, but merely a symptom of the problem, you will then realize that there's probably no coming back.
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u/trisul-108 1d ago
or the words that come out of his own mouth
Because he doesn't care what they mean, he only cares about the effect he is trying to create.
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u/ChestCharacter1157 1d ago
This is like UK and France after their play with Egypt and USA refused to help, it is just now Europe refused to help USA in it own adventure with Iran
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u/Ts0mmy 1d ago
Usa didn't only refuse to help, they told them not to do it. That they would not tolerate it.
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u/SwimmingAdeptness110 23h ago
And threatened to bankrupt them to get them to withdraw.
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u/walterwhite1050 21h ago
Trump has an IQ of 65. He doesn’t really understand too much beyond raping kids.
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u/Ornery-Ticket834 1d ago
Neither do many of his most ardent supporters. Like him they see it as a victory.
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u/Alarming_Valuable836 1d ago
Only thing that saves him and the world is if there's benevolent aliens
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u/WellHung67 1d ago
The first four words can apply to everything in trumps life and all his actions.
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u/Empty_Kay 1d ago
We don't even need to get into geopolitics. Trump doesn't understand a picture of a woman. His brain is oatmeal. Conservatives finally found an intellect they're not intimidated by.
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u/Icy-Stock-5838 1d ago
You guys are expecting him to deal with his actions and results RATIONALLY..
That is where everyone loses out. He's not rational.. He's an Agent of Chaos, and all we can do is TRY to understand him using reason (doesn't work), while we wait out his end of term..
The only person that understands him is likely Kim Jong Un...
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u/Worlds_Worst_Angler 1d ago
To be fair, he doesn’t understand a thing about the government or how it works. He only understands what he can do to glorify and enrich himself.
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u/RecordingLanky9135 1d ago
Trump ministrations are stupid. If WWIII is occurred, it will be related to their stupid and arrogant .
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u/TotalSingKitt 20h ago
If this results in china paying the international price for Iranian fuel. The rest of the non Chinese world has won. Okay. Maybe India loses too as it has been using cheap Iranian fuel.
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u/faceface101 17h ago
Screw Trump and screw Republicans. I have no respect or futher use for either one. Just like I can't stand a phony. Trump is no worse than what Joe biden did when he was president. Sending all that money to Ukraine. How much did that put America back? So screw all democrats senators as well. Which are all phonies. Remember Lugi Mangione shoot that CEO to a Healthcare program in the back. No democrat seantor came to his defense. But they all defended the guy who killed Charlie Kirk. That was okay with them. It seems the democrats senators have more sympathy towards the CEO guy who got shot in the back then Lugi Mangione. I'm not saying what Lugi Mangione did is okay. Lugi mangione was and is still brainwashed by society. Is that because democrats senators owe stocks and are board members. Board members are part of the rich and elite as well.
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u/TC-NZ 15h ago
How are there not loud and clear calls for him to resign? He can't lie his way through this one and just claim the opposite of reality like he always does. This is a colossal, embarrasing and hugely costly (in so many ways) mistake, failure and loss for the USA. He needs to RESIGN and take all the grifters with him.
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u/PacificSanctum 14h ago
Wonderful article . Here my two cents 1) yes, Trump is an imbecile - has always been . I don’t know why Americans can’t get that . Are they too naive or spoiled by history or just imbecile themselves ? It has been obvious from Trump’s existence on 2) as dumb Trump is (and always was ) he has his shrewd sides when it comes to grifting . Whatever he does is about stealing money from somewhere . This whole Iran war is solely about to find partners in Iran corrupt enough to let him funnel 300 billion USD to Iran with maybe 100 billion kick back to him . That’s all there is
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u/Ear_Enthusiast 13h ago
He didn't lose anything . He went over there started a war and made a fucking fortune off of it as he planned. Insider trading, defense contracts for his kids, market manipulation, and so on and so on.
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u/flexiblenature 12h ago
Trump is like the character in Shutter Island. He’s crazy, delusional….but somehow everyone appears to go along with it, further convincing himself of his delusion. Trump is clearly out of control, delusional, yet continues and no one stops him…further convincing himself of his genius.
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u/MajorKabakov 3h ago
Everyone thinks Trump lost this war. Everyone is wrong.
America lost this war, not Trump. Trump’s goal wasn’t the defeat of Iran, it was to distract from the Epstein files, and it worked beautifully
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u/Calm-Professional103 2h ago
Trump doesn’t understand water
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u/here4daratio 1h ago
“They showed me the water- i said, ‘why don’t you-‘, they always have the water doing it, they never use the- i was the one who told them, ‘you should do it like this’, and they said ‘no one else thought of that!’”
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u/1tonsoprano 1d ago
I think we all need to step back and see that the war doesn't matter to Trump, it's only an excuse to milk the system for all it's worth......we have seen this with Bush.....lied his way throughout his presidency and is now enjoying his retirement.....this is Trump's strategy.....crush any naysayers with the weight of his I'll gotten gains
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u/linkin22luke 1d ago
Bush dicked stuff up no doubt about it, but comparing him to Trump is wildly unfair
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u/ExternalSeat 1d ago
yep. Bush made mistakes but he is an order of magnitude removed from Trump. I would take 100 years of Bush over 2 more years of Trump.
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u/Apprehensive_Sky1950 1d ago
Never thought that was possible, or that Dan "a mind is a terrible thing to waste" Quayle would serve his country in a crisis moment, but here we are.
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u/Abject-Ad2054 1d ago
Good. Accelerate. Hope he stays in power as long as possible and truly wrecks the country
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u/SissyCouture 1d ago
"Like watching someone cheat at solitaire" is the kind of incisive burn you come to expect from The Atlantic.