WHAT A LOSER
You’re Donald Trump. You try to exploit a rogue Iranian attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, by assassinating one of the leaders of Iran. You’re widely criticized at home and abroad for the recklessness of your actions. Then all you can do is wait for Iran to respond, and hope it all somehow magically works out in your favor.
Then Iran does something pretty smart. It fires a bunch of ballistic missiles at an Iraqi military base where U.S. troops are stationed, but it makes a point of only hitting the Iraqi portion of the base. Then Iran threatens to attack other countries in the region if the U.S. does anything in response. Then after Trump does nothing, Iran announces that it’s done blowing up things unless Trump starts things up again. It leaves Trump in a position where no one wants him to take any retaliatory action, both because no U.S. troops were harmed, and because everyone just wants this whole thing over.
Just like that – assuming it really does end here – Donald Trump has yet another humiliating loss hung around his neck. He tried to look strong by taking on Iran, and instead he ended up looking more weak than ever. And yet Trump knows that if he does try to further escalate this, his odds of reelection will likely drop even further. No wonder Trump tweeted “all is well” last night and went to bed. What a loser.
