The war in Iran has shown that President Donald Trump’s foreign policy has gone terribly wrong, writes Jennifer Rubin in a Substack for The Contrarian.
The result has left the U.S. in a difficult position, now and in the future, as "Trump blew up five key aspects of his foreign policy."
“War against Iran has underscored that his preference for wars of aggression for specious reasons, mistreatment of democratic allies, genuflection toward Russia, economic illiteracy and forfeiture of America’s moral standing in the world have been disastrous for the United States and for his presidency,” Rubin writes.
The five missteps:
- Trump’s war shows the limits of hard power. Trump has “pulled us into a dangerous quagmire,” Rubin writes. “Trump, better than any critic, has proved that America’s military cannot solve all its problems and its indiscriminate use may create far more serious dangers.” Now the Iranians are emboldened and will continue to reign missiles on its neighbors and the U.S. is tied to Israel’s needs in the conflict. “Regime change is not coming,” Rubin notes.
- Trump’s Russia fixation looks even worse now. "Russians give intelligence to Iran to kill our troops and rake in more oil money, thereby humiliating their puppet in the Oval Office.” On the other hand, Ukraine has emerged as “the foremost authority of drones and counter-drone operations, the Washington Institute of Near East policy explains.”
- Trump’s bluster that “We don’t need anybody; we’re the strongest nation in the world” has backfired. Now, Rubin writes, “he is left to beg pathetically for help, which will not be forthcoming. If Trump thinks America can go it alone, our allies have responded: Just try it.”
- Trump has put the economy in trouble. “Inflation is rising; U.S. consumers are still paying tariffs) also has come home to roost.“ Surging oil prices will raise costs across the economy, Rubin says, citing the New York Times.
- Trump has made the U.S. “a pariah." Rubin writes the president has “given our enemies the perfect rationale to discredit the U.S. as a selfish, colonialist power. And he has given democratic (as well as quasi- or undemocratic) countries precisely no reason to choose the U.S. model/alliance over China’s.”
Rubin concludes, “Trump’s aggressive strikes prove that his sadistic embrace of war, contempt for allies, infatuation with Putin/antipathy for Ukraine, economic illiteracy and disdain for America’s moral standing are disastrous for him, MAGA and the country.”
