When the actual details of the terms of the temporary ceasefire deal with Iran were released to the public, it seemed to explode any lingering belief that Trump is some sort of master negotiator.
Indeed, many people are saying that Iran got pretty much everything that they wanted, while the United States simply made concessions. When you look at the facts, Trump launching the war worsened the situation in pretty much every way, including for the United States. There are images of Iranians celebrating on the streets, and why not? The popular perception is that they won. Iran managed to dictate the terms of the ceasefire agreement, and they also showed that they possessed leverage which we never knew they had by making the Strait of Hormuz impassable. Trump and the American military did not dare enter.
Many people are declaring victory for Iran, and yet another defeat in yet another war in the Middle East for the United States. This time, they are arguing, it irreversibly portrays Trump as a clear loser in a conflict which, frankly, he himself created.
Alex Shephard recently wrote an interesting article, in which he wrote about the extent of this defeat for Trump. Here is a snippet of his article:
Even if the U.S. agreed to just a few of Iran’s 10 demands, or even if the demands were significantly watered down, a peace deal based on that framework would lead to an unmistakable conclusion: The U.S. has lost yet another war in the Middle East. The reality may in fact be much worse. The Iran war increasingly looks not only like another shocking humiliation but perhaps the greatest strategic blunder in American military history.
Yikes!
This might qualify as the "greatest strategic blunder in American military history?"
Certainly, a lot of people agree with that assessment, at least if social media is any measure. Many people clearly portrayed Trump as the big loser in this conflict, although it should be noted that the conflict is, in fact, not fully over. Not yet, anyway.
When you compare what the situation was before Trump tore up the Iran deal and, eventually, started the war with Iran, versus what we have currently since Trump's ceasefire plan was put into place, it sure looks like a defeat. A major one. An embarrassing one for the United States, and especially for the Trump White House.
Yes, Iran got pretty much all that it could want. Under Obama, they were forced to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for free. There were limits to Iran's uranium enrichment and Iran was not to pursue nuclear weapons. To that end, they were forced to allow international inspectors to investigate and ensure that this remained the reality, that Iran stayed true to these terms. Now under Trump, Iran will get a stunning $2 million per ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz (the funds are to rebuild infrastructure that was destroyed during the recent war), and Iran is not forced to limit their uranium enrichment or pursue their nuclear program. And Iran is no longer obligated to allow international inspectors into the country.
Some deal, eh? Is this the "Art of the Deal" that we have heard so much about from Trump?
That is why the perception is, clearly, that Trump lost. That he swaggered his way into a war with the Middle East (the month after the Venezuela invasion) after specifically promising not to get involved in foreign wars and, now, he rushed a deal - a terrible one - in order to make it look like Iran complied with his demand to open the Strait of Hormuz. By all appearances, if things stand as they are, it appears that Trump secured a third time in the 21st century that the United States has had a disastrous war in the Middle East, with the popular perception being that the United States lost these three wars. We went into Afghanistan specifically to oust the Taliban and, after twenty long year (the longest war in American history), we left in full retreat (with unforgettable images from that final day) as the Taliban once again took over that country. We invaded Iraq under the promise of quick victory and, indeed, seemed to many to have succeeded with "regime change." But then Iraq fragmented into warring factions, with a takeover of much of it's territory by ISIS. We left with the country nowhere near stable, and the perception was that it could hardly be regarded as a victory on our part. And now, this seemingly disastrous war with Iran, where Iran now dictated the terms of the ceasefire deal and proved to the world that it could successfully stand up to the biggest bully in the world and, in the process, showed that it controlled the Strait of Hormuz, and apparently there was nothing that Trump and the United States could do about it.
Is this all of that "winning" which he promised us?
Now before I get into mockery, fueled as it is by memory of his over-the-top promises and complete failure to deliver on them, I am also worried about something else. Those social media posts, which seemed to paint a picture for the entire world of a completely unhinged Trump with his finger on the nuclear button and ready to wipe out an entire country for a war that he started to distract from the Epstein Files, I worry that too many people are posting about Trump having been clearly and utterly defeated. We all know what sensitive orange skin he has, and I suspect that part of the reason for his mad behavior of late is all of the criticism that he is getting. Of course, that criticism is deserved, but that does not change the fact that it seems to be driving him crazy, literally. And if he gets the idea that the popular perception is that he got his ass kicked, that this war with Iraq, and his glaring inability to open the Strait of Hormuz, specifically, was his Waterloo, then he might go back to some ridiculously unhinged threat to try and change that narrative. Perhaps, then, this time, in order to come out the "winner" (or at least appear to in his own eyes), maybe he actually will launch a nuclear strike, or launch similarly horrific strikes. In short, to make it appear to his lunatic eyes that he is the clear winner, that this time he will actually make good on his insane promise to at least partially destroy an entire civilization. With those tweets promising death to Iranian civilization, it sure seems like this man is unstable enough to do something like that. And my suspicion is that he is only too aware that the public perception is that he led us to a defeat which pretty much ended all of this "tough guy" talk. In short, in his eyes, the only way that he might recover that "tough guy" appearance which so many MAGA members believed in and loved about him is to do something drastic and tragic.
So I for one am going to hold off on the mockery, which Trump so richly deserves. At least until this damn war - which nobody but Trump and "Bibi" wanted in the first place - is over, once and for all. Because my suspicion - and I hope that I am wrong about this - is that the war with Iran is not yet over. That this chapter in history has not yet fully been written.
Ellen Hochberg Facebook page, April 8, 2026:
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10163162568583143&set=a.10150967830053143
Historic Defeats: Trump’s Staggering Humiliation in Iran by Alex Shephard / April 8, 2026:
Desperate for an off-ramp, the president is setting up the U.S. to lose another war in the Middle East—even if the ceasefire doesn’t hold.
https://newrepublic.com/article/208799/trump-losing-war-iran-staggering-humiliation?utm_medium=social&utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=SF_TNR&fbclid=IwY2xjawREApJleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEebceYhJ30epxsOiB1cZWdhBTbVr00e4IDAdkNiowLeX9Bi0QZzI3P8gvC0RM_aem_LgFfgUXpsrtsSHiqi1MXnQ
Trump’s Staggering Humiliation in Iran | The New Republic
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