TRUMP, IRAN, AND THE ART OF THE SPOTLIGHT: IS ISRAEL'S VICTORY JUST A BACKDROP FOR THE DONALD'S NEXT ACT?
As Israel’s military campaign edges closer to what many observers are calling a decisive victory over the Iranian-aligned forces arrayed against it, the world watches with a mix of awe, apprehension, and fatigue.
The stakes are high, and the implications are global. But amidst the smoke of continuing air strikes and shifting regional alliances, a familiar silhouette looms in the background, waiting for the moment to step in and reshape the narrative—Donald J. Trump.
Because if there’s one cardinal sin in the Trumpian cosmos, it is this: allowing anyone or anything other than Trump himself to dominate the global spotlight for too long.
When War Becomes a Stage
To understand Trump’s likely calculus, one must remember that, to him, history is not a tapestry of complex international affairs; it’s a television drama, and he must always have top billing. The Israeli-Iranian conflict may be a theater of war to others, but to Trump, it’s just a theater, one from which he must emerge, somehow, as the conquering hero.
So, while Israeli forces engage in strategic operations that may shift the power balance of the Middle East, Trump is likely wondering how best to insert himself into the narrative. After all, he’s done it before. Remember when his administration unilaterally exited the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) in 2018, branding it the “worst deal ever?” That move created the very vacuum that arguably contributed to the current escalations. But Trump doesn’t do nuance. He does drama. And drama needs a comeback.
The JCPOA, Reimagined — Trump Style
Which brings us to the curious question: Is Trump intentionally stalling U.S. support to Israel in the form of advanced bunker-busting munitions and aircraft delivery systems, not out of strategic caution to avoid U.S. involvement and domestic turmoil, but to manufacture a moment?
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Trump team proposes Iran talks this week on nuclear deal, ceasefire The White House is discussing with Iran the possibility of a meeting this week between U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to four sources briefed on the issue. The objective would be to discuss a diplomatic initiative involving a nuclear deal and an end to the war between Israel and Iran. <Source> [OCS: Why would you stop before the total destruction of Iran's deeply buried nuclear facilities?] Iran Calls on Trump to Force Israel Into Cease-Fire Amid Aerial War A top Iranian official on Monday called on the U.S. president to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Iran. Iran called on U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday to push Israel to engage in a cease-fire to end a four-day-long aerial war between the two nations. “If President Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote in a post on social media platform X. <Source> |
It’s not unthinkable. Trump may very well be orchestrating a scenario in which Iran is brought to the negotiating table again, but this time with a key precondition: the deal must be his. Not Biden’s. Not Obama’s. Not even a multilateral compromise. It must bear the Trump brand, gold-plated and media-ready, announced from Mar-a-Lago or perhaps a new Trump-branded hotel in Jerusalem. In short, Trump expanded the Abraham Accords, which restrict Iran’s nuclear ambitions and normalize relations between Israel and all Arab nations in the region.
In this script, Trump’s goal isn’t to deny Israel victory, it’s to delay its final act until he can hoist the curtain himself.
Spotlight Politics and the Cost of Ego
What makes this plausible is Trump’s deep-seated instinct for narrative control. He doesn’t just seek relevance; he demands exclusivity. Whether it’s taking credit for Middle East peace deals he didn’t broker or casting global summits as extensions of his campaign rallies, Trump’s political style requires that everything loop back to his image.
So if Israel’s military achievements threaten to monopolize headlines without his involvement, rest assured, he will find a way in. Perhaps by claiming that none of it would have been possible without his past decisions. Perhaps by teasing a “new, better, Trumpified” Iran deal just as tensions crest. Continuing to accuse Obama and Biden of bungling a situation that he, Trump, would have solved over dinner with Netanyahu and “a very strong letter” to Tehran.
Bottom Line
In the coming weeks, as dust settles in the region and the geopolitical chessboard is rearranged, don’t be surprised if a freshly rebranded Trump initiative suddenly emerges, offering “peace through strength,” and, conveniently, dominating headlines just in time for the 2026 mid-term election season.
Because in Trump’s world, victory is only real if he’s the one claiming it on live TV.
We are so screwed.
-- Steve
“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it!
"Acta non verba" -- actions not words
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw
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“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius “A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell “Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar “Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS