Donald Trump
The Pope and the President
Six months before the midterm elections, Pope Leo called President Trump’s threat to destroy Iran “unacceptable” and urged Americans to call on their representatives to oppose the war. Trump’s enraged reaction has since proved useful to the Vatican. The first American pope will not back down.
It’s Still Fake to Me!
Trump’s turn from wrestling to mixed martial arts suggests he is done pretending the performance is for his supporters’ benefit. MAGA thought they were in on the con. Instead, Trump put them in their own signature hold and called for the bell.
Friend, Rival, Trap
In his recent summit with Donald Trump, Xi Jinping invoked the “Thucydides trap,” framing China’s rivalry with the United States in terms that serve Beijing — and laying an actual trap for the U.S. president.
The Strange (Future) Death of Christian Zionism
The rise of Christian nationalism and isolationism poses a direct challenge to Christian Zionism. As the Iran war alienates much of the MAGA-verse and pushes many young conservatives into more extreme orbits, a breaking point is coming in a GOP already fractured over the Trump administration’s “Israel-first” foreign policy.
The Last Temptation of Trump at the End of a Failed War
Trump has backed himself into a corner with Iran. Any deal risks appearing, in his eyes, like a humiliating failure, one his opponents will mock. He knows this. His opponents know this. The weight of that constraint presents a dangerous equation as the president threatens escalation.
The Iran War Is What ‘America First’ Actually Looks Like
Segments of the MAGA base, the Western left, Global South solidarity networks and the Iranian regime itself have converged, improbably, on the same talking point: This is not America First. They are all wrong. The Iran war is actually the purest expression of America First, its direct consequence.
The Uncanny Echoes of Iraq in Trump’s War With Iran
There are uncanny similarities in how Bush spun and justified the Iraq War and how Trump is spinning and justifying the war in Iran. Yet Trump administration officials are trying to combat the perception that the two wars are at all similar, no doubt to avoid any association with a generational U.S. foreign policy failure.