Trump drops f-bomb as Israel and
Iran face accusations of ceasefire violations
On Monday afternoon, Donald Trump published a bold, six-word
declaration on his social media platform: 「CONGRATULATIONS
WORLD, IT』S TIME FOR PEACE!」
The missive was soon followed by a series of follow-up posts in
which the president not only touted a 「Complete and Total CEASEFIRE」 between
Israel and Iran, but also proceeded to take credit for the
breakthrough.
In the early evening, the president went even further during an exclusive phone
interview with NBC News, in which he not only said he personally
made the ceasefire happen, but he also made related predictions about the
likely success of the developments. Asked how long the ceasefire would be,
Trump said, 「I think the ceasefire is unlimited. It』s going to go forever.」 He
added that the war is now completely over, saying he does not believe Israel
and Iran 「will ever be shooting at each other again.」
It』s not like that』s a quote that could ever come back to
haunt him, right?
The following morning, amid reports that Iran and Israel
were being accused by the other of ceasefire violations, the American
president』s tone started shifting. He published new online items, for example,
urging Israel to show restraint — effectively trying to apply the 「Vladimir, stop」
approach to a different crisis.
Soon after, Trump spoke briefly to reporters at the White
House, where his frustrations appeared to boil over. NBC News reported:
Trump said that both Iran and Israel violated the ceasefire
he announced yesterday. 『I think they both violated it,』 he said. 『I』m not sure
they did it intentionally. They couldn』t reign people back. I don』t like the
fact that Israel went out this morning at all, and I』m going to see if I can
stop it.』
The Republican added, 「We basically have two countries that
have been fighting so long and so hard that they don』t know what the f---
they』re doing. Do you understand that?」
As part of the same Q&A, Trump accused both countries
of behaving in a 「ridiculous」 way.
So to summarize, roughly half a day after the American
president said the Israel-Iran ceasefire would likely 「go forever,」 and there
was no reason to believe Israel and Iran 「will ever be shooting at each other
again,」 Trump was reduced to dropping an f-bomb on the White House South Lawn
as his frustrations boiled over.
The point is not to chide the president for having a potty
mouth. Rather, the point is that he really ought to understand by now that
premature triumphalism is folly, and assuming the complexities of Middle East
conflicts can be resolved through the force of his will is absurd.
Even The Proud Boys Are Turning On Trump After The Iran Strikes,
And That's How You Know MAGA And The Far-Right Are Panicking
Chuck Todd tears into Biden's family-man image, questions if we
'were sold a 40-year bill of goods'
ICE Barbie Has Dystopian Message for Americans Fearing Iran、Or put another way,
Trump is getting a timely lesson in 「Middle East crises are complicated,」 which
seems like the sort of thing he should』ve already known.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com