My guess is that Trump will continually give 60 day extensions of the negotiations while trying to keep secret what is agreed while shouting at the top of his voice that a GREAT DEAL FOR THE US AND ISRAEL!!!! is about to take place.
What? Trump utterly failed to achieve any of his patently stupid goals and at best burned through decades of good will and soft power, trillions of dollars, countless lives, weapons stockpiles, all to hide from the crimes he commited, which are outlined in the Epstein files, for a short time?
I'm 64, have followed American politics fairly closely (I'm an Aussie) all my adult life but I can't say I know US history that well. But if there's been a worst US President than Donald Trump....well he must be awe inspiringly bad!
No U.S. president has so uniquely combined the exhausting neediness of a malignant narcissist with a room-temperature IQ. One might say no one has ever seen anything like this before!
They might have been just as stupid and corrupt, but trump adds the unique flavor of severe mental illness. And trump has so much more opportunity to apply his mentally ill stupid corruption than Buchanan and Pierce could have ever dreamed of.
Buchanan might have been a good president under other circumstances. He was intelligent, a capable administrator, and not corrupt. He seems to have lacked an intuitive grasp of politics, and thus had no clue as to how to prevent the conflict over slavery from tearing the country apart.
Trump is a much better at politics than Buchanan, but he mostly uses that ability to divide the country rather than to bring it together. Trump seems to go from crisis to crisis, but except for COVID-19 (which he mishandled badly from the get go), the crises are of Trump’s own making. You can’t say that Trump might have been a good president under other circumstances. He would be a bad president in any era.
As with all trump’s “decision-making,” the “master negotiator” makes no consequential decisions whatsoever. He puts off taking an actual stand on anything even while he lies that he’s “winning.” He lets everything ride like a blackjack player constantly splitting fours, fives, and sixes, thinking he’s such a “genius” that he’ll find a way out without making any commitments. There are no tactics or strategies at play here, just a dumb guy who thinks he’s smart; no thought to improving his hand, or maybe waiting until he gets better cards. He’s always all-in on making zero decisions of consequence. And when the inevitable negative consequences of splitting two fives become clear, he passes the hand off to a fall guy like JD Vance or Rubio.
Agree 100%, of course. The worst strategic blunder by the US in the last 50 years at least.
Sorry to nitpick... Nice play on words in "Trump has devoted inordinate amounts of ordinance", except the last word should be "ordnance", not "ordinance" (totally different meaning).
"Ensure Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. That’s what the 60 days of negotiation is going to settle. If the reported terms are actually honored, the U.S. may have made some headway in this area — but no one thinks this will be settled anytime soon."
I think all your different opinion writers were very generous in their assessment of the deal. As I told some online friends yesterday. Trump just proved that there is nothing the U S can/will do to stop Iran from controlling shipping in the Persian gulf. The gulf states that rely on this water way are on their own. Look for them to do some major Ayatollah butt kissing in the next few months.
When I heard Trump as the guest speaker at one of our NJ Young President Organization's Dinners way back in the early 80's, my more experienced colleagues assured me that Trump was a lousy negotiator, likely to bankrupt his casinos, and generally a bloviating fraud. His M.O. is to threaten, sue, whine, and withdraw, declare victory, collect his extortion money where possible and stiff those he owes money to. Although he may give Iran the billions they want and need (as he's boxed in and has no choice), they may not be grateful for his generosity. And anyway, it's not his money.
You definitely nailed the main reasons why we lost, let’s hope this what they call a teachable moment! Another possible plus is that it might be a step in our long overdue breakup with Israel and a possible step towards the Iranian people to have the regime change they need.
My guess is that Trump will continually give 60 day extensions of the negotiations while trying to keep secret what is agreed while shouting at the top of his voice that a GREAT DEAL FOR THE US AND ISRAEL!!!! is about to take place.
What? Trump utterly failed to achieve any of his patently stupid goals and at best burned through decades of good will and soft power, trillions of dollars, countless lives, weapons stockpiles, all to hide from the crimes he commited, which are outlined in the Epstein files, for a short time?
I am shocked, shocked I say!
What a moronic jackass.
I'm 64, have followed American politics fairly closely (I'm an Aussie) all my adult life but I can't say I know US history that well. But if there's been a worst US President than Donald Trump....well he must be awe inspiringly bad!
No U.S. president has so uniquely combined the exhausting neediness of a malignant narcissist with a room-temperature IQ. One might say no one has ever seen anything like this before!
The 2 Presidents leading up to the Civil war probably have him beat, but not by much.
They might have been just as stupid and corrupt, but trump adds the unique flavor of severe mental illness. And trump has so much more opportunity to apply his mentally ill stupid corruption than Buchanan and Pierce could have ever dreamed of.
Buchanan might have been a good president under other circumstances. He was intelligent, a capable administrator, and not corrupt. He seems to have lacked an intuitive grasp of politics, and thus had no clue as to how to prevent the conflict over slavery from tearing the country apart.
Trump is a much better at politics than Buchanan, but he mostly uses that ability to divide the country rather than to bring it together. Trump seems to go from crisis to crisis, but except for COVID-19 (which he mishandled badly from the get go), the crises are of Trump’s own making. You can’t say that Trump might have been a good president under other circumstances. He would be a bad president in any era.
Buchanan knew what he was doing
As with all trump’s “decision-making,” the “master negotiator” makes no consequential decisions whatsoever. He puts off taking an actual stand on anything even while he lies that he’s “winning.” He lets everything ride like a blackjack player constantly splitting fours, fives, and sixes, thinking he’s such a “genius” that he’ll find a way out without making any commitments. There are no tactics or strategies at play here, just a dumb guy who thinks he’s smart; no thought to improving his hand, or maybe waiting until he gets better cards. He’s always all-in on making zero decisions of consequence. And when the inevitable negative consequences of splitting two fives become clear, he passes the hand off to a fall guy like JD Vance or Rubio.
Agree 100%, of course. The worst strategic blunder by the US in the last 50 years at least.
Sorry to nitpick... Nice play on words in "Trump has devoted inordinate amounts of ordinance", except the last word should be "ordnance", not "ordinance" (totally different meaning).
"Ensure Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. That’s what the 60 days of negotiation is going to settle. If the reported terms are actually honored, the U.S. may have made some headway in this area — but no one thinks this will be settled anytime soon."
What headway, compared to the JCPOA?
Heh. Poor Bret Stephens. He's so disappointed...
"Iran Found Trump’s Bone Spur"
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/16/opinion/iran-us-war-trump-cease-fire.html
So we've recently learned two more Trump lies:
(1) the Iran deal is not an actual deal. Apparently, it's an agreement to negotiate a deal.
(2) The ballroom financing that purportedly had no public money in it has public money in it.
It grows more amazing every day that anyone ever believes anything Trump and/or his toadies, opporunists, and RWNJs ever say.
I think all your different opinion writers were very generous in their assessment of the deal. As I told some online friends yesterday. Trump just proved that there is nothing the U S can/will do to stop Iran from controlling shipping in the Persian gulf. The gulf states that rely on this water way are on their own. Look for them to do some major Ayatollah butt kissing in the next few months.
Yet two 4 years from now, if a democrat is in power and things with Iran go pear shaped the media will forget who made Iran stronger
When I heard Trump as the guest speaker at one of our NJ Young President Organization's Dinners way back in the early 80's, my more experienced colleagues assured me that Trump was a lousy negotiator, likely to bankrupt his casinos, and generally a bloviating fraud. His M.O. is to threaten, sue, whine, and withdraw, declare victory, collect his extortion money where possible and stiff those he owes money to. Although he may give Iran the billions they want and need (as he's boxed in and has no choice), they may not be grateful for his generosity. And anyway, it's not his money.
"It is also super-weird for Trump to thank the leaders of Russia and China for their assistance."
Says so much about Trump.
You definitely nailed the main reasons why we lost, let’s hope this what they call a teachable moment! Another possible plus is that it might be a step in our long overdue breakup with Israel and a possible step towards the Iranian people to have the regime change they need.
MIGHT be a step? The last three years have seen a total inversion of public approval of Israel in the US