Trump Accidentally Admits to Epic Iran Blunder as War Takes Worse Turn

As Trump blurts out a striking confession about his Iran fiasco, a foreign policy expert explains why the latest developments in the war are so unnerving—and what to expect next.

Donald Trump’s war on Iran appears to be a fiasco, and speaking to reporters, he made a surprising claim: He insisted no one anticipated that Iran would attack other countries in an effort to widen the war. But this was widely expected, and amusingly, in saying that, Trump revealed that he didn’t anticipate it. That’s a striking admission about his own lack of foresight. Which captures something broader: On many fronts, Trump didn’t prepare for eventualities that most experts fully did anticipate. Now Trump is lurching in all directions: First he threatened to bomb Iranian electric plants, then backtracked while claiming that “very strong talks” were underway, but Iran then flatly denied that. We talked to foreign policy expert Matt Duss, author of a piece on the intellectual failings behind this debacle. He explains why the latest developments are unnerving, how Trump’s personal and ideological shortcomings are working against America, and what he really revealed with that odd admission of failure. Listen to this episode here. A transcript is here.

TNR’s Greg Sargent takes a critical look at the day’s political news and the stories leading NewRepublic.com, and speaks to leading journalists and newsmakers.

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