The US Senate narrowly defeated a measure yesterday intended to crimp, if not terminate, President Trump’s ability to conduct hostilities against Iran. The 50-49 vote on a war powers resolution testified to the mounting hostility toward the military campaign among American voters, two-thirds of whom regard the conflict as a futile endeavour. The result is that Trump’s own popularity rating has plummeted to 32 per cent, edging out Joe Biden’s 33 per cent shortly before he declared that he was exiting the presidential race in July 2024. Presumably, this is one personal record that Trump will not be inclined to tout at his Maga rallies.

What is to be done? Two diametrically opposed camps have emerged on the right to advise Trump on Iran. The first camp consists of national security hawks, such as the Hudson Institute’s Rebecca Heinrichs, who are urging Trump to double down. A two-week bombing campaign, they argue, will force an already weakened Iranian regime to cry uncle. Failing to crush Tehran would be akin to ending an antibiotics regime prematurely, thereby helping to strengthen the original infection.  Exhibit A is a new op-ed by Marc Thiessen in the Washington Post, which lambasts Vice President J.D. Vance as a feckless appeaser when it comes to confronting the threat posed by Iran. According to Thiessen, Trump has already scored big victories against Tehran:

Trying to decode Trump’s views on Iran and Israel and Ukraine is akin to practising haruspicy

Trying to decode Trump’s views on Iran and Israel and Ukraine is akin to........

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