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Trump’s Iran Speech Showed the Desperation of a Loser

The president’s war is an ever-escalating disaster. He is increasingly reviled. And his speech won’t change either of those things.

Narcissist that he is, Donald Trump needs an audience fawning over him at public events. Otherwise, he gets bored. When he has to read a prepared speech without the aid of an audience, his soul seems to leave his body.

Thus, when Trump addressed a group of supporters and regime-friendly media in a press conference on Wednesday, he was ad-libbing, relaxed, and animated. But there was no adoring crowd on Wednesday evening, when Trump gave a much-touted prime-time speech on the Iran war.

Polls show lagging support for the war, and Trump’s approval rating is hitting historic lows. If there were ever a time when the president needed to bring some energy and focus to his communication with voters, this speech was it. Instead, we got the version of Trump that always emerges when he has to read from prepared remarks and pretend to be a dignified holder of his office: groggy, droning, and disengaged. Anyone looking for a coherent explanation of why the US is at war and where the conflict is headed would have been left badly wanting.

In the press conference, Trump was asked about what he planned to say. He replied, “Basically, I’m going to tell everybody how great I am. What a phenomenal job I’ve done.” This got a laugh from the MAGA fans, but it was also quite revealing.

Despite Trump’s loud, shameless tooting of his own horn—always a go-to for this most self-obsessed of men—he must know that his war of choice is damaging his presidency.

Everyone can see that the war is not the quick victory Trump promised. As he himself admits, he “predicted” the war “was going to be over in three days.” In fact, the war has gone on for a month and is increasingly looking like a major failure.

The US and Israeli military have inflicted massive damage on Iran, assassinated many of its leading politicians, and killed thousands of civilians. But this carnage has served little strategic purpose. The Iranian state has proven remarkably resilient and has retained the capacity to inflict damage on Israel, US troops, and US-allied Gulf states. Most importantly, by blockading the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has demonstrated that it possesses a potent economic weapon. Iran’s ability to close the Strait has led to rocketing oil prices, sinking stock markets, and the possibility of a global recession.

Trump desperately needs to explain to people why any of this bloodshed and hardship is necessary. But instead, he keeps inadvertently showing Americans........

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