CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Trump’s Nightmare is Now Ours

Screengrab from Trump press conference on Iran.

A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” – Donald Trump, Truth Social, April 7, 2026

A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

– Donald Trump, Truth Social, April 7, 2026

Donald Trump has started a war with no plan, no strategy, no end game, and it has become increasingly clear that he has no ability to end it.  The United States and its allies are already major losers in this unnecessary and illegal war, and U.S. adversaries are the major winners.  The U.S. relationship with key European allies will suffer greatly, and our Asian allies will encounter great costs to their economies.  The global economy will suffer from increased costs, with Russia and Iran notable exceptions as they earn increased profits from  sales of oil and natural gas.

For the past week, Trump has boasted about U.S. military power and his willingness to use it.  He is practicing a form of military coercion and terrorism, and his boasts regarding the use of military power raise serious questions regarding the need for such power and why America has to be as powerful as it is.  Trump campaigned on the promise to bring endless wars to an end, but instead we find a commander-in-chief who boasts of his willingness to use military power and to secure America’s armed dominance in the global community.

Trump and his ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claimed to use force against Iran because it represented an “imminent threat.”  In reality, the Israeli leader convinced Trump that military force could be used successfully not because of Iran’s strength, but because........

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