Crooked Donald and the Strait of Hormuz
It will soon be the 250th anniversary of this country and the Trump administration is already planning its own set of celebrations. In that context, let me be as straightforward as I can: amid his latest war (or do I mean peace?), there’s nothing strait about President Donald J. Trump, despite his recent bombing attacks around the Strait of Hormuz. In fact, his assault on Iran has been about as crooked as you can get, but all too sadly, not as crooked as Donald Trump and his pals (including, of course, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth) might still prove to be.
Let me start, though, by saying this: before he suddenly attacked Iran, more or less out of the blue, none of us would have had the faintest idea (including possibly him) that he might do so. And, of course, given the size and military power of the two countries, if you had paid no attention to American history since the Korean War began in 1950, you might (like “our” president) have imagined that, should he launch an attack on Iran, victory would be a given or at least a more than reasonable probability. As has indeed been true, however, since that war in Korea ended in a victoryless fashion in 1953, no such luck — not for the United States of America anyway — not even, I would bet, if he does convince Congress to increase the Pentagon budget to $1.5 trillion (yes, trillion!) a year.
And as for his full-scale air assault on Iran, as David Faris put it recently at the Nation magazine, it’s turned out to be “a long-overdue Waterloo for America’s decades-long project to topple the Iranian theocracy or force it to its knees.” A Waterloo indeed! And that, of course, makes Donald Trump the world’s strangest modern version of Napoleon Bonaparte. If only he could be exiled to the island of Elba (though, of course, that didn’t work out too well the last time, did it?) or, since I’m not picky, perhaps Long Island, not so far from the city where he was born.
And here’s the truly strange thing in the United States of America in 2026: none of us know what President Donald J. Trump will do two hours, no less two days, two weeks, or (yes, he’ll probably still be president!) two years from now — not even, I’m quite sure, him. And of course, there’s a simple enough reason for that. Donald Trump is a first-class mystery — even, undoubtedly, to himself. And so, while he and his crew have certainly issued militarized threats against both Cuba (”Make a deal before it’s too late”) and Greenland (“One way or another, we’re gonna get it”), that doesn’t faintly mean that those are the places he’s going to face off against and possibly attack next (as he did Iran).
Now, given his record the second time around, he’s not just a war president but PW or President War. And, of course, no one, including him, really knows what he might do next when it comes to this country’s war docket or just about anything else.
The other day, though, it crossed my mind that perhaps, if Iran doesn’t flare up too many times and manage to take the global economy down with it (proving to be a classic Trumpian version of that TV series of his childhood and mine, Victory — or, these days, of course, Defeat — at Sea), and he has a little time on his hands, maybe he might like to take us back to where it all began after September 11, 2001, and launch a new war against Afghanistan. I mean, why not change the subject, especially given how badly Iran has gone for him and the possibility of a war-induced global recession (among other things)?
And what could be a better change of subject than to return to the days after 9/11 by sending the U.S. military back into Afghanistan? I mean, honestly, what could possibly go wrong?
Now, of course, I admit that that’s a completely weird, off-the-wall prediction about our already all-too-strange Trumpian future, especially since, to give him full credit, he did begin the final American military withdrawal from Afghanistan before his first term in office ended (when he was, of course, a different Trump). But hey, why not? Or maybe he’ll just pull a Nicolás Maduro and try to kidnap Afghanistan’s Supreme Leader. (Wouldn’t having the two of them in the same jail cell in Brooklyn be cool?)
And by the way, let’s not forget that at any moment Donald Trump might also go back to war with Iran. Yes, it could certainly happen… or not, which is what you could say about almost anything having to do with him as president.
The thing about Donald Trump is you simply never know… and oh, while I was writing that sentence, I noticed this, in what then was the Guardian‘s latest piece of reporting on Iran: “Iranian negotiators have suspended high-stakes talks with the US in Switzerland in protest at a stream of threats issued by Donald Trump to bomb Iran, and even to kidnap the Iranian negotiating team unless the strait of Hormuz is reopened” or as the president of the United States so charmingly put it then, “You close it and you won’t have a country. You won’t even make it back to your fucking country.” (Of course, he’s also been threatening to blockade the Strait himself or to put all-American tolls on it. But that’s him for you. Nothing he ever says is the final word, not when Donald J. Trump is speaking.)
And give him credit for bluntness, too. Of course, by the time this piece actually comes out, all of the above will undoubtedly be ancient history and who knows where we’ll be, or rather where he’ll be taking us?
In short, on the 250th birthday of this country, he’s distinctly planning to give history new meaning. Think of it this way: When it comes to Donald J. Trump, there is nothing straight about the Strait of Hormuz or, for that matter, anything else and his crooked version of history and of the present moment, just couldn’t be weirder. Maybe — my final thought — sometime in the near future, he’ll launch an operation to kidnap himself. Really, when it comes to him, nothing is beyond the bounds of possibility, is it?
Let’s Leave the Strait of Hormuz Alone
President Trump was reportedly “shocked” to see many thousands of Iranians in the street mourning at the funeral of the country’s late leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, over the weekend. Khamenei was assassinated by the United States at the beginning of the February US surprise attack on Iran.
The US attack on Iran was sold to Trump by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and US neocons as an easy “cake walk” that would lead the Iranian government to fall and be replaced with a US-friendly regime.
“I thought they hated him,” Trump said of the murdered religious leader of Iran.
Not only did the Iranian people not rise up to replace their leadership with one friendly to Washington, but the society seems to have become even more cohesive and patriotic. This should surprise no one, as when similar tragedies occurred in the United States – assassinations, 9/11, etc – we also as a society came closer together.
In Soccer when you kick the ball into your own goal, it is referred to as an “own-goal.” That is what President Trump achieved with his attack on Iran on February 28th. In fact, it was not just one “own-goal,” but a series of them. The blunder will likely go down in American history as one of the worst foreign policy moves in our history.
The Iranians did not rise up and declare support for the US. American military bases throughout the region are so severely damaged by Iranian retaliation that most cannot be brought back online. Scores of US military equipment has been destroyed or damaged at a cost of tens of billions of dollars. Countries in the region are rethinking their decision to essentially become protectorates of the United States now that it is demonstrated that they cannot be protected by the United States. American military power suddenly looks less powerful.
But perhaps the most destructive “own-goal” of the US attack is the Iranian decision to establish control over the Strait of Hormuz. Even in the US/Israeli attacks of last June, the Strait was kept open by Iran. It is a vital trade route and in everyone’s best interest to keep open for business.
The February attack and Iran’s strong regional response led the country to embrace what some have called a de facto nuclear weapon: control of the Strait. Explaining why he signed the memorandum of understanding with Iran last month, President Trump mentioned the damage being done to the US economy by the closure of the Strait and the possibility that matters may even get worse without the agreement. The US economy desperately needed the Strait to be open.
Now, however, progress toward peace with Iran continues to be thwarted by the stubborn insistence on the US side that the Strait of Hormuz must not be controlled by Iran and that a fee system for passage through the Strait cannot be instituted by Iran and Oman. Several skirmishes have already taken place in the area, threatening to take the US back to war.
It is in the best interest of the United States to abandon claims on Hormuz – which is thousands of miles away – and live with the consequences of Trump’s mistake. Another war cannot win what two previous wars have lost. Let Iran control the Strait and let international trade and commerce be re-established. Let’s leave the Strait alone!
Ron Paul is a former Republican congressman from Texas. He was the 1988 Libertarian Party candidate for president.
