On Trump’s gilded stage, history has no worth – even if he understood it

March 7, 2026 — 1:00pm

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Donald Trump, you are free to surmise, takes little sustenance from the study of world history, let alone Winston Churchill’s use of the language of Latin to justify his invasion of Iran almost 85 years ago.

Still, you might have imagined a president of the United States of America – even one as vain as this one, enthroned amid meaningless glitz in an increasingly trashy White House – could have had an aide google his nation’s behaviour during the early years of World Wars I and II before running off at the mouth and insulting historical allies.

Instead, Trump boorishly lambasted Britain and damned Spain and other unnamed European nations for being “uncooperative” towards his current days-old, plans-free war on Iran.

Britain initially hesitated before giving permission to allow US warplanes to use its bases to attack Iran, and Spain flat-out refused to hand over its soil for America’s military adventure.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned “unilateral military action” and added “it’s unacceptable that some presidents use the fog of war to cover up their failures and in the process, line the pockets of a select few – the same ones as always who profit when the world stops building hospitals and starts building missiles”.

Trump raged, threatening dire retribution to Spain, though you can be sure Britain and Spain are not the only European nations unimpressed with Trump’s dubious explanations for waging war. They, like Australia, need only recall the US-led fiascos in Iraq, Afghanistan and from a distance, Vietnam.

While he’s frothing and a quick victory........

© The Sydney Morning Herald