Askia Wajd
Nobody has ever accused Donald Trump of being intelligent. Dishonest, a thief, liar and a fraud, he certainly is but even his deviousness has hit a brick wall vis-à-vis the Islamic Republic of Iran.
He had campaigned on the promise to lower gas and food prices and to reduce taxes. Gasoline prices have hit the roof, as have food prices. Inflation has soared. American consumers are angry. This is reflected in Trump’s approval ratings going south.
An NBC News Decision Desk Poll showed Donald Trump’s approval rating at 37% among American adults. The survey (conducted mid-March to April 13) revealed 63% disapproval, driven by concerns over inflation, the cost of living, and the ongoing war on Iran.
For a narcissist like Trump, this is extremely worrying. He is angry and thrashing about like a trapped wild beast. He is looking for scapegoats to blame for the disaster he got into by launching an unprovoked and illegal war on Iran.
He has accused Steve Witkoff, son-in-law Jared Kushner, War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for agreeing to attack Iran because it was allegedly about to attack the US. The one person primarily responsible for selling the war—the indicted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu—has not been named by him.
Doing so would reveal that he is a zionist puppet. He is, but a public admission would carry huge implications. His MAGA base is splintering. Important voices—Tucker Carlson, Candace Owen, Marjorie Taylor Green and Megyn Kelly—have questioned the role of Israeli Firsters in deciding US foreign and defence policies.
On February 11, Netanyahu had met Trump at Mar-a-Lago and tried to sell him the plan to attack Iran. The indicted war criminal then accompanied the sex predator of Epstein Files infamy, to the White House.
In the Situation room, Netanyahu sold the false notion that Iran had been badly weakened by the June 2025 war (see also here). All that the US and Israel had to do was to eliminate the top civilian and military leadership and the Iranian people, aided by zionist agents, will come out in the streets to overthrow the government.
The people of Iran did come out in the streets but not to overthrow the government. They came out to support it. They condemned the illegal and criminal war launched by the US and zionist Israel. They have done so every night despite the threat of US-zionist missile strikes.
Netanyahu also told Trump that as in Venezuela, the US would take control of Iran’s oil. This will enable the US to undermine China, America’s main rival for global dominance.
Important voices in the Trump regime expressed skepticism about Netanyahu’s plan. Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine warned that a war with Iran would be risky and could drag on for months. It would lead to attacks on US military bases as well as US allies in the region.
CIA director John Ratcliffe called parts of Netanyahu war plan “farcical”. Secretary of State Marco Rubio went further. He called it “bullsh*t”.
Vice President JD Vance also questioned the rosy picture painted by Netanyahu but said he would support any decision Trump made. After the war was launched, Marco Rubio said that Israel was going to attack Iran and Tehran would retaliate against US bases and personnel in the region, so Washington, together with Israel, attacked first.
Despite reservations from the top US military commander, Trump bought into Netanyahu’s diabolical plot. The Venezuela operation that had ended in a matter of hours was too seductive a comparison to pass off.
Iran was supposed to be a similar cake walk. Further, Netanyahu discounted the possibility of Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz because its military would be so degraded.
It did not turn out that way. Despite the assassination of its top leaders, the Islamic Republic did not collapse. Instead, it retaliated against US military bases in the region that even the New York Times admitted suffered massive damage.
More than the military setbacks, it is the economic costs that Iran has imposed on the US that has Trump by the throat. By controlling tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has unleashed the worst-ever global energy crisis.
While the US does not depend on oil shipments from the Persian Gulf, Iran’s blockade of the strait has resulted in surging energy costs hitting US consumers. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also warned of a risk of global recession adding to Trump’s woes.
Trump’s real dilemma is the congressional elections in November. Republicans are clinging to narrow majorities and there is a real possibility that the Democrats will take control of both houses.
Should that happen, impeachment proceedings against Trump may be initiated. The thought of spending the last years of his miserable existence in a prison cell terrifies Trump.
If it were not an election year, Trump would not care about high gas or grocery costs. He has never cared for ordinary Americans spending his entire life defrauding them. Yet the manner in which his MAGA hill-billies fall for his nonsense is astonishing. A billionaire fraud posing as champion of the average American is quite laughable.
The Islamic Republic knows where to hit the US. Resorting to assymetric warfare, Iran’s military strategists have not only degraded American military power in the region but the real blow has been delivered on the economic front.
High oil prices have affected fertilizer prices as well which have hurt US farmers, an important base of Trump supporters. That explains why Trump is so desperate looking for a diplomatic off-ramp from his war of choice.
His wild claims about Iran accepting all his terms have been repeatedly refuted by Tehran. When Trump claimed that the second round of talks were scheduled in Islamabad on the weekend of April 18-19, Iranian officials dismissed them outright. They said no date had been agreed upon.
Tehran acknowledged that new proposals were received from Washington and they were being studied but had not responded to them yet.
Iran is in no hurry to hold talks. It wants to make sure it gets iron-clad guarantees about what Trump pledges before it would agree to anything.
Trump’s optimistic tweets are meant to calm jittery markets but such antics have limited impact. The wild swing in oil and stock prices are reflective of this uncertainty.
On April 17, Iran announced that following its demand for a ceasefire in Lebanon, the Strait of Hormuz was fully open. Trump immediately claimed that as ‘victory’. At the same time, he said the US naval blockade of Iranian ports and ships would continue until a deal was finalized.
Tehran retaliated by declaring the strait closed. It said that no oil tankers or commercial ships will pass through the narrow strait without permission from Iran’s military.
Further, Iran has been charging transit fees in yuans. This is a direct challenge to dollar’s monopoly. Already, several countries are conducting trade in yuans or in local currencies.
Experts have warned that even if the war ends soon, the economic damage could take months if not years to fix. Coupled with the annual interest of $1 trillion piling up on US debt of $38 trillion, and its economic future looks grim.
If the petroyuan becomes a reality, that will spell the death knell of the US empire.
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