Trump’s candour exposes his foolery – and Netanyahu, like Putin, plays him for a sucker

March 29, 2026 — 10:30am

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Among the many things that make Donald Trump such an unusual politician, one of the most striking is the way he communicates. A Trump speech or press conference is typically a weird steam-of-consciousness rant; an unpleasant melange of sarcasm, abuse, exaggeration, and falsehood. But once in a while, there comes an unguarded moment of shocking candour which, in its very spontaneity, is more authentic than the disciplined lapidary eloquence of a president like Barack Obama.

There was such a revealing moment on March 16 when Trump held a press conference at the Kennedy Centre – the Washington performing arts hall erected as a memorial to the slain president and now, grotesquely, re-named the “Trump Kennedy Centre”. The war against Iran had entered its third week and the Iranians had broadened the conflict by attacking America’s allies among the Gulf States. “They weren’t supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East. Nobody expected that. We were shocked.”

If, among the flurry of inconsistent explanations of American policy, there is a single statement that reveals the administration’s strategic incoherence, surely it is that. America (and Israel) attack Iran with relentless fury. Iran counterattacks against nearby American allies, many of which host US military bases. Who would have thought?

Trump’s remarks were swiftly followed by anonymous........

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