U.S. President Donald Trump with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 20, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
U.S. President Donald Trump's war against the Shiite fundamentalist regime in Tehran is primarily a conflict involving three countries: the United States, Iran and Israel. But Iran is firing missiles or drones against U.S. installations in a long list of Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Kuwait. Meanwhile, Israel and Lebanon's Shiite militia Hezbollah have been striking one another. And critics of Trump's Operation Epic Fury fear that the war could escalate to a much broader conflict.
One of those critics is Never Trump conservative Bill Kristol, who has become an unlikely ally of Democrats in recent years.
Kristol is known for having very hawkish views on foreign policy. But in an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on March 24, Kristol argues that the Iran war is going very badly and calls for Trump and his allies to be "discredited" because of it.
"The democratic opposition to the Trump administration has momentum," Kristol writes. "Trump's Iran war has turned out to be unsuccessful and unpopular. Yesterday morning, Trump signaled retreat. We don't know if we're actually heading toward a deal with Iran. We don't know if Trump will reverse course again this week. But for now, at least Trump has blinked. It's important to take advantage of the moment. It's important to hold Trump accountable for his reckless and incompetent war and to emphasize its human, economic, and geopolitical costs."
Kristol continues, "It's important to discredit its architects like (Defense Secretary) Pete Hegseth and (Secretary of State) Marco Rubio. And it's important to try to ensure that Trump can't reverse his reversal, and to work to prevent more such unilateral 'excursions.'"
Kristol argues that Trump also needs to be "discredited" because of the current federal government shutdown.
As the shutdown drags on, U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees are not being paid—and Americans are suffering very long lines at airports.
"It should go without saying that until the plane is landed, Democrats need to make clear that Trump is responsible for the chaos at airports," Kristol writes. "It should also go without saying that afterwards they need to continue to make clear that Trump was responsible for the chaos, and that if left unchecked, he’ll create chaos again. The key is not simply to pocket victories. The key is to take advantage of them, to build on them, to create more momentum out of them, to turn Trump’s retreat into a rout."