Trump's newly acquired 'strange habit' will hinder Iran war goals: analysis

A habit Donald Trump has picked up during his second term in the Oval Office will hinder his administration's war in Iran, a political analyst claimed.

The United States joined Israel in striking Iran earlier this month, and with constantly changing reasons for attacking the Middle Eastern country, the president is coming across as unfocused, according to Simon Tisdall. The political analyst, writing in The Guardian, suggested that Trump's lack of focus and inability to understand the weight of the war at hand will affect how he can end the war.

He wrote, "Ignoring facts on the ground, the White House continues to spew lies and bombast. Trump is plainly in denial, claiming regime change has already been achieved via assassination. He has this strange habit of behaving like a spectator, detached from the chaotic events he himself sets in motion.

"He acts as if the global energy shock, the US’s abject failure to defend the Hormuz Strait and its Gulf allies, Iran’s unyielding defiance under fire, and the absence of the predicted popular uprising in Tehran have nothing to do with him. He doesn’t understand Iran is fighting an asymmetric war, that even the biggest bombs cannot obliterate pride and ideology, faith and history."

Part of the problem, Tisdall argues, is who Trump is now surrounded by in the White House. Few allies remain for the president abroad, with the political analyst suggesting the president has been played by Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Trump is increasingly isolated and out on a limb," Tisdall wrote. "His wealthy Arab business cronies no longer trust him. US bases on their territory now resemble a liability, not a defence. When he demanded Nato’s help, Europe said: we’ll let you know.

"Likewise, Iran’s ethnic Kurds are less than keen to die for a muppet. Support for the war among the US public and the MAGA right, always weak, is a fast-vanishing mirage. Having egged him on, Netanyahu refuses to bail him out – or to stop bombing everyone in sight.

"Silly-billy Trump! He believed Israel’s assurance of quick victory. As for Iran, its surviving leadership, dominated by ultras, reckons it’s winning. Its hard line gets harder by the day."