Delusional Trump thinks he can flip a war on and off like a light

U.S. President Donald Trump attends an event to honor "Angel Families" at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 23, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

President Donald Trump is rebooting his Iran war, hoping that turning it off and turning it on again will change the outcome, writes national security analyst, Joe Cirincione.

In a piece for The New Republic, the Council for Foreign Relations member makes it clear that it is possible to lose the same war twice, ushering in a fresh dose of "defeat and humiliation" for the president.

Less than ten days ago, Trump declared the ceasefire over, and announced military action "commenced on July 7." The message, sent to Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), was dated July 10. On Monday, Trump announced that he would reimpose the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. It came less than a month after the "memorandum of understanding" signed by both the U.S. and Iran.

Cirincione writes that Iran is far more powerful than it was before Trump got involved. The country's leaders have learned that they can "control the Strait of Hormuz and a demonstrated drone and missile force can cripple the economies of its Persian Gulf neighbors and wreak havoc on U.S. bases."

The expert then ridiculed the U.S. negotiators as nothing more than "New Jersey property managers" who even offered Iran $300 billion from the U.S. to rebuild its country. The "hapless Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner," Cirincione argues, negotiated a "surrender" that Trump then withdrew from.

Cirincione thinks that it goes back to Trump's tough-guy persona, thinking he can "bomb Iran into submission." The problem, however, is that if it were possible, "it would have worked the first time."

Now, he's trying to change reality altogether, attempting to convince Americans "he didn't lose the war ... he won it."

"As with his 2020 election loss, Trump now seeks to bend reality," Cirincione continues. With Iran, Trump has "achieved all his objectives, he says. In an absurd social media post Monday, Trump claimed that the Strait of Hormuz is 'OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran.'"

In reality, only a little over one dozen ships have made it through. On an average day, traffic was more like "80 ships to more than 130," before the war, according to The Encyclopedia Britannica. Trump said people can simply get their oil from Alaska and Texas, which have a higher overhead cost and vary in quality. Then, Trump claimed that the U.S. was taking over the strait, only to change his mind on Tuesday.

In so doing, Trump not only demonstrated the severe state of his delusions but undermined his own administration's repeated assertions that, as Marco Rubio said. No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway,'" recalls Cirincione. It means Trump is now violating international law. It only helps "legitimize Iran’s position on charging its own fees."

Before Trump decided to reboot his war, things were slowly getting back to normal, says Cirincione, only now it was "under Iranian authority." Then Trump tried to "assert an authority he does not have."

Cirincione closes by quoting Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wa.), who called on both parties to come together to "ensure the president finds a diplomatic solution to ending a war he never should have started." Cirincione hopes that with enough pressure, he'll do it.

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