With Iran, confusion is the point

If you find world events and American politics confusing, then welcome to 2026. Confusion is the brand, and its chief salesman lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the heart of Washington, D.C.

Donald Trump, the so-called “president of peace,” is here to overcome the “stupid and naïve” deals of previous presidents, he has said, by waging war with those countries that won’t make a deal with us — after we broke the last deal we had with them.

On Wednesday Trump announced the U.S., in cooperation with Israel, had “completely obliterated” Iran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons “a number of months ago” and then, seconds later, told us we had to attack the Islamic Republic on Saturday “because in two weeks they’d have a nuclear weapon.” From obliteration to a viable threat in months. That’s a pretty impressive accomplishment — and is almost certainly a complete fabrication. Which part? It’s Trump, so probably both statements. We didn’t obliterate Iran’s nuclear capabilities months ago, and they likely weren’t two weeks away from firing a nuclear weapon when the U.S. and Israel attacked them on Saturday.

The administration still hasn’t told us what imminent threat actually prompted the war. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said we were dragged into it. Trump said we dragged Israel into the conflict because he had a “feeling” we were about to be attacked — so he acted first. In the Indian Treaty Room Wednesday afternoon, the president backtracked and seemed to support Rubio’s contention. 

The administration has laid out four objectives in attacking Iran: to stop the country from producing new missiles, eliminate its navy, prevent it from getting a nuclear weapon and ensure Iran “cannot continue to arm, fund and direct terrorist armies outside of their borders.” Trump called Iran the “world’s number one sponsor of terror,” but he also said he thought the U.S. and Iran would be able to negotiate.

“We thought we had a deal, but then they backed out,” Trump said. “Then they came back and we thought we had a deal, and they backed out. I said, ‘You can’t deal with these people. You got to do it the right way.'”

There is little doubt what the president meant by “the right way.” White House Pep Secretary Karoline Leavitt told us from the briefing room Wednesday afternoon that Trump is a president of “peace and diplomacy first” but also a “man of action,” and that the “specter of a nuclear-armed Iran ended” with Operation Epic Fury.

As she rattled off all the property that has been destroyed and the people that have been killed, Leavitt sounded like an anchor on “NFL Game Day” talking about game highlights. “Absolutely crushed,” she said of Iran, observing that the country was “paying in blood.” If it sounds like a cheap rip-off of the WWE, well, that’s how Trump rolls. Leavitt also leaned into her favorite antagonist — the press. There has been “a lot of misreporting and intellectual dishonesty” from the media, Leavitt said, before she once again engaged in intellectual dishonesty and provided disinformation to us as to why America is in an undeclared war with Iran. 

We really shouldn’t over analyze this. Donald Trump took action because he wanted to. And, as usual, whatever he says afterward is inconsequential and often irrelevant to the action he has already taken. He simply bombed Iran because he felt like it. He threatened Spain, our ally — like he did Greenland, which is also our ally — simply because he wanted to. Trump loves trying on his big boy pants and threatening anyone he wants. As Leavitt told us Wednesday, the president doesn’t bluff. He floats trial balloons and if no one pushes back, he pushes forward.

He broke a nuclear deal with Iran, crafted by the Obama administration, that ensured the regime could not develop nuclear weapons. Then he bombed them. Then he wanted to negotiate with the Islamic Republic and said they’re difficult to deal with. No one doubts they are difficult to deal with, and few want to. Leavitt said Iran’s leaders “lied, they delayed, they tried to string the United States along.” Or as my father, the car salesman, would describe it, “they were negotiating.”

No one wants to side with Iran, but the real question is why we would expect them to negotiate with us after Trump reneged on the last deal. What are negotiation tactics for one man is fodder for war to others — especially if one or both sides are spoiling for a fight.

Trump was certainly doing that. His decision to go to war is a clear effort to unite the country against a long-time foreign enemy. It has the effect of diverting attention from quieting the dystopian actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in many of our larger cities, the shooting and detention of American citizens, and the still-volatile scandal surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein files. 

---

Want more sharp takes on politics? Sign up for our free newsletter, Standing Room Only, written by Amanda Marcotte, now also a weekly show on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

---

After 47 years of Iran’s violent rhetoric and behavior, Trump said the U.S. has had enough. If you agree with the president — and on the face of it many will — then we should also hold our own country responsible for its past actions. The U.S., in partnership with Britain, overthrew a democratically-elected Iranian government in 1953 and supported the shah because of a J.R. Ewing “oil business” mentality that existed among America’s government, richest oil companies and closest ally.

Today’s Iranian leadership is the twisted child born from U.S. foreign policy at the height of the Cold War and the reaction of the radical religious movement that exploited and filled Iran’s power vacuum.

The White House tried on Wednesday to praise those who have given their life to this most recent and confusing horror show. The six American service members who died in this undeclared war were “heroes,” Leavitt said. “The best of us. They laid down their lives for their country.”

Who would say otherwise? What we all want to know is why? Why now? Despite the many stories told by Trump and his staff, those questions remain mostly unanswered. The administration’s inability to effectively convince the American people of the need for action has also deeply divided Congress, which is hardly a shock in today’s confusing political environment. Again, confusion is the brand.

The only thing that makes sense is that the reason for these and future casualties is because the president of peace, who “has solved eight wars,” determined that someone had to die — and their number came up.

Donald Trump said he hated war. He promised he’d keep us out of forever wars. He started one in Iran. His recent post on Truth Social said we had enough weapons to wage war forever and it would be productive in Iran. I guess he’s created a carve out. 

It is not a coincidence that on Feb. 11, Benjamin Netanyahu visited Trump at the White House. We do not know what was said between the two men, and while correlation is not causation, the Israeli prime minister didn’t travel to Washington and meet privately with the president to discuss the back nine at Mar-a-Lago. Those closest to Trump have hinted that they engaged in “very important” and “strategic” communications. It seems we may now know what that was about. 

Who dragged whom and where they dragged each other is irrelevant. They have opened Pandora’s box in the Middle East. It is a distraction and a stratagem. It sows confusion. It is Donald Trump’s brand.

The attorney general has been called before a subcommittee to discuss her handling of the Epstein scandal? Bomb Iran. The stock market took a dive? Bomb Iran. Trump’s immigration policy is tanking? Bomb Iran. Gas still isn’t at $1.85 a gallon? Bomb Iran. Trump is betting on several things, the key of which is keeping us so confused that we never notice what’s going on. 

Trump has already declared Operation Epic Fury an unqualified success. If it were to end today, maybe so. Few are mourning the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, even in his own country. But the creeping fog of war is messy, and beyond anyone’s control. The administration’s decision to bomb Hezbollah in Lebanon means the war is already spreading and could easily grow out of control.  

In a 212-219 vote, the Republican-controlled House on Thursday rejected a resolution that would have restricted Trump’s war in Iran. The Senate had blocked a similar war powers resolution the day before. “I hope this one doesn’t come back to bite us in the a*s,” a Texas GOP representative told me. “I don’t know if we have a handle on this yet.”

There is little doubt that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is a political lightweight incapable of passing a mirror without pausing to smile and preen. If things take a turn for the worse, it is doubtful he has the wisdom and gravitas to handle it.  

But Trump doesn’t care about that anymore. He just wants to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, for whatever reason that strikes his fancy at the time. And no one has yet stopped him.

The post With Iran, confusion is the point appeared first on Salon.com.