21 hours Ago
High Stakes, Murky Goals
In a televised address hours after he announced on social media that US forces were engaged in targeting three Iranian nuclear facilities, Trump described the operation as a "spectacular success." He said he wanted the action to encourage Iran to seek peace and abandon nuclear ambitions. Flanked by Vice-President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump threatened further strikes would be launched if Iran did not renounce its nuclear program.
The message from Trump was clear: "Many targets" are still in the pipeline, and the US stands ready to act with "speed, precision and skill." But Iran has downplayed the damage, especially at the Fordo facility, and has shown no indication of folding. The spectre of further escalation is a threat, with Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, having already pledged to lash out.
The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, warned that the United States strikes risked creating a "spiral of chaos." If Iran retaliates in kind, the United States could feel compelled to mount further strikes, setting off a cycle that neither side can readily control.
A Strategic Bet and Political Gamble
Trump had given Iran a two-week window to agree to the talks early in the week, but the strikes followed just two days later. CdThis has been a serious deadline, or whether secret talks did not succeed. Trump is much further along the path toward war with Iran, but Trump's hopes of simply bombing Iran in order to force it to the negotiating table now look dicey, especially since Iran would not negotiate even in the face of Israeli attacks.
Politically, Trump's move is fraught at home. Some Republican lawmakers lauded the strike, but others, such as members of Trump's own "America First" movement, expressed concern. "This is not our fight," Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene had commented previously, and in both parties, there were voices complaining that Trump acted without the requisite congressional approvals.
The public appearance of the president with his top advisers appears to have been an attempt to demonstrate party unity, particularly following statements by figures such as JD Vance arguing for a more cautious foreign policy. Trump's base may accept a one-time attack, but sustained operations could splinter his coalition and undermine his political standing.
Trump has long presented himself as the president who ended "endless wars." But this hawkish action could be the action that sucks America into another, in a way that undercuts his brand as an anti-interventionist." For now, Trump has made his move — only the results of that move are not necessarily in his hands.
