U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive to attend the 80th United Nations General Assembly, in New York City, New York, U.S., September 23, 2025. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper
President Donald Trump is "constantly bungling" the all-important peace talks with Iran, and many of his other major goals, due to one character that has proven too overwhelming for his presidency, per a new analysis from MS NOW.
In a piece published Tuesday, MS NOW's Hayes Brown highlighted a recent answer from Trump, in which he told a reporter that he "couldn’t care less" if peace talks with Iran were currently over, and added that they had gotten "very boring." This, Brown argued, was a "good summary" for why the president is "uniquely ill-suited" to carry out the peace talks, as "his short attention span constantly bungles his political aspirations."
"Trump’s claim that he doesn’t care about the state of negotiations is theatrical nonsense — there’s no question he needs to sort out a deal with Iran to conclude his disastrous war and bring down sky-high oil prices ahead of the midterm elections," Brown wrote. "But I would venture that his dramatics can be explained in part by his irritation with how talks had started to get very boring.' Trump is saying aloud what reporters from The New York Times and The Atlantic have been documenting in interviews with his inner circle: The negotiations are testing his short attention span. That’s an ominous sign for any future peace deal."
Given that such peace talks are "inherently tedious" and fraught, Brown argued that "very little about Trump’s time in office has prepared him for this moment."
"Most of his presidency has revolved around an instant-satisfaction style of governance," he added. "Passing a major bill through Congress requires sustained focus and grueling hours of persuasion. It’s no surprise that Trump has shown relatively little interest in crafting major legislation and instead focuses on ramming through whatever he can by using his powers in the executive branch — from tariffs to escalating immigration enforcement to dismantling federal bureaucracy."
Evidence of this attention span issue is prevalent all throughout Trump's administration and public life as a whole. Whereas most presidents "typically read countless policy memos and intelligence briefings," Trump avoids as much reading as possible, with aides reportedly encouraged to keep briefings to one page, pepper them with pictures and to mention him within them as much as possible. In speeches, Trump is well-known for throwing out prepared remarks and riffing once he becomes too bored.
In many ways, this defect has actually allowed Trump to succeed in the modern media landscape, Hayes admitted, though he has now run up against a harsh reality that he lacks any of the skills to handle.
"Trump has mastered — and has been rewarded by — the attention economy throughout his political career, and his political identity as an entertainer was key to his rise," Brown concluded. "But those same qualities also make him worse at getting things done. Tearing systems apart, bullying people with lawsuits and reconfiguring federal agencies is not the same as accomplishing lasting legislation or negotiating extensive international peace deals. The war with Iran is Trump’s biggest test yet. And his proven lack of focus, interest and patience is a weakness the global community can ill afford."