Trump Is Shaking in His Boots

Donald Trump always gets ahead of himself. The little credibility he had as commander in chief is easily slipping away and has been trashed with a matter as dangerous as the capacity to inflict military intimidation. We already knew that the enormous destructive power of the United States rests in the hands of an irritable and erratic individual, informed by gut feelings and temperament. But this week, we have witnessed the most terrifying scenario: Trump vacillating about pushing the button.

Once he gave the order, this dangerous generalissimo called it off, justifying it on the grounds that he did not like the possibility an estimated 150 people would die. Had he suddenly discovered his conscience? It’s doubtful, because that same day he continued to threaten Iran with war that would obliterate the country. So 150,000 deaths, or 1.5 million deaths instead of 150?

Washington is not a trustworthy partner. The concept of acting predictably is foreign to Trumpism. This crisis proves it. The real estate magnate has been creating crisis all by himself since he won the 2016 election. Encouraged by his Saudi and Israeli friends, Trump proposed destroying the Persian country, which would prevent it from engaging internationally and being tossed into the hands of radicals. It started with the unilateral rupture of the 2015 agreement that headed off construction of an Iranian nuclear bomb, which prompted Tehran to employ its next available weapon, control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a third of the world’s commercial oil circulates. Iran also announced it would resume its nuclear program.

This crisis caught up to Trump when his acting secretary of defense resigned, leaving no available military in the area and a complex and deactivated state of diplomacy, along with intelligence agencies such as the CIA and FBI which were openly disregarding the Oval Office. This is all a test for the empire of chaos that the president’s family has created in the White House.

Trump is playing two contradictory cards. On the one hand, making military threats to North Korea, Venezuela and now Iran, and on the other hand, dealing with an aversion to military commitments abroad. He does not want to approach the 2020 presidential election with the burden of a third world war in the Middle East following Afghanistan and Iraq. Neither is it in his interest to create the image of a president who is undecided and capable of losing a war before it is declared.

Anyone facing this dilemma would grow weak in the knees, including Trump.