President Donald Trump returns to the White House, after Israel and the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, in Washington, D.C., March 1, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
President Donald Trump's latest attempt to crush Iran has turned into another embarrassment, and one that a new piece from MS NOW argued has shown just how much of the world is "against us."
Steve Benen is a longtime contributor for MS NOW and producer for host Rachel Maddow, and in a piece published Tuesday, he broke down the recent news surrounding Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's attempt to launch an "economic D-Day" against Iran, as military options have largely failed to defeat them. The plan involved supposedly "crushing" sanctions on the Middle Eastern nations, as well as “TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences” on “ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran."
As Benen explained, these threats fizzled quickly.
"It quickly became obvious the president’s threat was largely meaningless, and the administration’s new policy amounted to little more than another underwhelming threat from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent a week later," he explained. The administration’s efforts, however, are ongoing. As part of this week’s controversial summit for finance ministers and central bankers from Group of 20 nations, Bessent issued a new declaration on Tuesday morning about his message to international attendees.
"We are telling people, either you are with us or against us," Bessent said at the summit, a remark which notably seemed to echo a similar comment from former President George W. Bush in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
This, Benen argued, was more evidence of Trump's belief that the U.S. "can simply bark orders, issue a few threats and isolate Iran," given its economic stature in the world. However, a Bloomberg report found that "countries with ties to Tehran had so far shrugged off the threat" by the end of the week, leaving many analysts and observers "underwhelmed" by the effort.
In fact, the move might have ended up handing more economic influence to Trump's nemesis, China.
"That was soon followed by a New York Times report noting that Iran had joined a handful of other countries, including China, Russia and India, for a meeting of the 10-nation political and security group known as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which Beijing dominates," Benen added. "The message to the White House wasn’t exactly subtle: Trump and his team demanded other countries further isolate Iran, at which point much of the world turned to the Republican administration and said, simply, 'No.'”