Washington, April 4: President Donald Trump did not equivocate in his first live address to Americans about the war in Iran.
“We’ve beaten and completely decimated Iran,” he said in a prime-time speech from the White House on Wednesday. “They are decimated both militarily and economically and in every other way.” He added: “Their radar is 100 per cent annihilated. We are unstoppable as a military force.” His certitude is now colliding with the uncertainty of war.
The American fighter jet that was shot down in Iran on Friday was a searing reminder of the dangers associated with war, prompting a search operation that resulted in the rescue of one crew member. Another US aircraft was hit by Iranian air defences, Iranian state media reported, days after Trump said Iran had “no anti-aircraft equipment.”
For the Republican president, who did not appear in public Friday, the developments were the latest example of his triumphal characterisation of the war appearing misplaced.
He has expressed surprise at Iran’s moves to strike its Gulf neighbours. He has struggled to respond to Iran’s move largely shuttering the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global oil supplies and sending pump prices soaring in the United States.
His overtures to world leaders to help him reopen the vital waterway have been rebuffed, with some allies waiting for the fighting to end before addressing that situation and others openly critical of a war that Trump chose to initiate.
Trump has long relied on unyielding self-confidence to propel him through the worlds of business and politics, boasting during the 2016 campaign that “I alone can fix it.”
That has often translated into a go-it-alone approach where only Trump has the answers in a chaotic world and dysfunctional Washington. This view of the presidency has justified his executive orders at home and tariffs that affect the global economy.
But the war with Iran, which he undertook alongside Israel and without consulting other allies or Congress, has provided a test like almost nothing before. For Trump, it is no longer “America First” but America alone, and he is the principal.
Some traditional allies speak out
As the war enters its sixth week, that reality is becoming more apparent. Trump spent most of the first year of his second term using trade penalties as a weapon that would force other countries to bend to his will. Today, in a time of war, some traditional American allies are becoming more outspoken.
French President Emmanuel Macron said this week that the United States “can hardly complain afterward that they are not being supported in an operation they chose to undertake alone.” “This is not our operation,” he said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has not budged from his refusal to be drawn into the war despite fierce criticism by Trump. France and the United Kingdom are leading efforts to reopen the strait once the fighting ends.
At home, even some of Trump’s fellow Republicans are reinforcing the need to maintain strong international relationships.
After the president threatened to withdraw from NATO this week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, said there were not enough votes in the Senate to support that. “We got an awful lot of people who think that NATO is a very critical, incredibly successful post-World War II alliance,” Thune said of past conversations among Republicans about the move. Trump made no mention of leaving NATO during his White House address.
John Bolton, a first-term Trump national security adviser who has since become an adversary, said the current administration made a “serious mistake” by not consulting allies before going to war. But he also cautioned European leaders against reflexively opposing Trump out of frustration with his lack of consultation. (AP)
