This is a picture of a magnet that was being sold at Strand's Book Store in New York City a few years ago. No, I did not buy it, but I liked it and took a picture, which I am sharing here now.
"We've spent $8 trillion in the Middle East and we're not fixing our roads in this country? How stupid. How stupid is it? And we're not fixing our tunnels, our bridges, our hospitals, our schools? It's crazy."
- Donald Trump in 2020
Ever since President Trump launched this war with Iran - without bothering to seek Congressional approval or give any real or consistent justifications or clearly stated objectives - people have been wondering just what is going on.
Really, it sure feels like a "Wag the Dog" strategy on behalf of the president. After all, he has not kept any of the campaign promises which he largely won his second term on. Gas prices are currently skyrocketing as a result of this war, and grocery prices simply never went down. He never stopped the Ukraine war, or kept his promise of keeping the United States out of foreign wars. Nor did he drop the unemployment rate. As for the promise to release the Epstein Files, we all know how that went.
Still, it seems strange that Trump would have launched this particular war with Iran. First of all, Iran seems like it could easily strike out against US military bases. Secondly, the conflict has, at least so far, caused stock numbers to tank, which is a huge thing for Trump. Finally, it is making oil prices soar, which of course is one of the major campaign promises for Trump. And it's not like he can hide behind something, because he is the one who started the war. He says that higher gas prices are a small price to pay for the security we are getting, but it feels like this war has made the world more dangerous, not less, for Americans.
Given all of that, and the general lack of popularity that this war has garnered among most Americans, it does seem a bit surprising that the Trump White House launched such a high risk/low reward armed conflict in a highly volatile region of the world where Americans do not have the most wonderful memories from other recent military campaigns in the region. Even with the incentive of serving as an obvious distraction, it just seems that there really is no clear or decisive advantage for Trump with Iran.
And yet, here we are, in another undeclared - and thus, at best questionably legal - war in the Middle East.
Will War With Iran Help Trump in the U.S.? by Olivier Knox | March 4, 2026:
The Trump administration is on offense in Iran, but on defense at home.
https://www.usnews.com/news/u-s-news-decision-points/articles/2026-03-04/will-war-with-iran-help-trump-in-the-u-s
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