U.S. President Donald Trump during a White House press briefing in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 20, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
When Donald Trump launched his 2016 presidential campaign, reporters often described his Patrick Buchanan-influenced "America First" views as "isolationist" and "paleoconservative." And his ideas on foreign policy were a major departure from the hawkish neocons of the George W. Bush Administration.
But Trump, since returning to the White House 13 months ago, has favored a much more interventionist foreign policy — from capturing former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to calling for Canada to become "the 51st state" (an idea that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney adamantly opposes) to wanting to buy Greenland and make it a U.S. territory (which a long list of European leaders are dead-set against). Now, according to Politico, Trump's next target appears to be Iran.
In a podcast and column posted on February 23, Politico reporters Jack Blanchard and Dasha Burns stress that Trump's apparent focus on Iran comes right after the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, struck down most of his tariffs as illegal.
"The dust has barely settled on Trump's seismic defeat at the Supreme Court last Friday — but attention is moving rapidly to the next crisis on the horizon," Politico reports. "The world is holding its breath as the president mulls air strikes against Iran as soon as this week. The stakes could not be higher, given the history of U.S. entanglements in the Middle East. This is a legacy-defining moment for Trump. And let's be clear:All the signs point to imminent military action…. Boat-spotters (yes, they exist) photographed the fully laden USS Gerald R. Ford entering the Mediterranean on Friday, meaning it should be within strike range any day."
Politico continues, "The simple fact is that America has never built up a military force like this and not used it. It's hard to believe they'll all be sent home without firing a shot."
Politico notes that Trump "warned Tehran last week he is 'going to get a deal one way or another' and suggested a 10-15-day maximum timeframe."
"Iran would have to come up with one heck of an offer now for Trump to be able to walk back all his threats and stand down all this military hardware without being accused of another damaging 'TACO' moment," according to Politico. "And the Supreme Court's decision last Friday to slap down the president's use of tariffs only makes an attack more likely, in the view of Trump's former commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross. 'I don’t think he can take this loss and then be seen as backing down on Iran,' Ross told the (Wall Street Journal)."