"There are many ways a country can decline. It can become poorer and weaker or lose its alliances or its technological edge.
But there is another, more insidious form of decline: a country can become stupider.
That is what has happened to American policymaking under Donald Trump."
~ Julie Roginsky
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #MalignantNarcissism
/1
https://saltypolitics.substack.com/p/the-stupidification-of-american-policy
"This is a very stupid man who imagines he can—not just bully enemies as military strategy—but abuse allies and they’ll keep coming back for more.
Consider: Poor Donald Trump got a no from the UK’s Kier Starmer about joining the initial strikes on Iran and hesitated sending aircraft carriers to the region."
Steven Beschloss
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #MalignantNarcissism
/2
"This very stupid man in the White House decided to make a public show of his contempt toward a historic ally who acted in the interests of his own nation."
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #MalignantNarcissism
/3
"It turns out that Trump’s 'feeling' he could pull it off was baseless, perhaps a function of untreated malignant narcissism."
~ Jennifer Rubin
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #MalignantNarcissism
/4
https://www.contrariannews.org/p/trumps-war-is-the-worst-conceived
"It’s difficult to select one of Trump’s Cabinet members as the stupidest. But Pete Hegseth stands out for sheer boneheaded ignorance.
Pray for America and the world."
~ Robert Reich
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #MalignantNarcissism #ignorance #BonheadedIgnorance
/5
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/trumps-stupidest-cabinet-member
"In the span of only sixty weeks, the military and economic alliances that shaped the 20th century, ensured relative* peace in the world, and signaled the arrival of a superpower unlike any the world had ever seen have been, functionally, broken."
~ Sam Osterhout
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #NATO #Canada #allies
/6
https://www.lincolnsquare.media/p/winners-and-losers-small-men-want
"A stunning poll from Politico — just released, but taken last month — confirms what I and other observers strongly suspected: America is now widely despised, despised like nobody has ever been despised before.
I don’t mean that we’re disliked, although that too."
~ Paul Krugman
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #NATO #Canada #allies
/8
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/no-america-is-not-respected
"But this isn’t a case of oderint dum metuant — let them hate so long as they fear. Instead, the world increasingly holds America in contempt. ...
What’s especially depressing about that Politico poll is that it was taken a month ago. That is, it reflects international attitudes before the debacle in Iran."
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #NATO #Canada #allies
/9
"The response to the Trump’s trial balloon of a global coation to provide escorts was decidedly negative. ...
Trump is just beginning to understand the ramifications of trash-talking our allies for the last year. Having been dismissed and demeaned, they are in no hurry to help the US fix the crisis that Trump created."
~ Robert B. Hubbell
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #NATO #Canada #allies
/10
"Donald Trump drew a backlash on Sunday for suggesting US efforts to protect the Strait of Hormuz were unnecessary – and that 'maybe we shouldn’t even be there at all' because his country has plenty of oil of its own."
~ Richard Luscombe
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #NATO #Canada #allies
/12
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/16/trump-backlash-iran-war
"The president made the contradictory comment to reporters on Air Force One after pleading with European and Nato allies to enter the war in Iran to help the US secure the strait amid the largest oil supply disruption in history."
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #NATO #Canada #allies
/13
UPDATE ON THE HORMUZ COALITION (Mon, March 16):
🇫🇷 France: REJECTED
🇬🇧 UK: REJECTED
🇮🇹 Italy: REJECTED
🇪🇸 Spain: REJECTED
🇯🇵 Japan: REJECTED
🇳🇴 Norway: REJECTED
🇨🇦 Canada: REJECTED
🇦🇺 Australia: REJECTED
🇩🇪 Germany: REJECTED
🇨🇳 China: NO RESPONSE
🇳🇱 Netherlands: NO RESPONSE
🇰🇷 South Korea: NO CONFIRMATION
~ News Eye
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #NATO #Canada #allies
/14
https://bsky.app/profile/newseye.bsky.social/post/3mh63vwfodc2m
UPDATE ON THE HORMUZ COALITION (Mon, March 16): 🇫🇷 France: REJECTED 🇬🇧 UK: REJECTED 🇮🇹 Italy: REJECTED 🇪🇸 Spain: REJECTED 🇯🇵 Japan: REJECTED 🇳🇴 Norway: REJECTED 🇨🇦 Canada: REJECTED 🇦🇺 Australia: REJECTED 🇩🇪 Germany: REJECTED 🇨🇳 China: NO RESPONSE 🇳🇱 Netherlands: NO RESPONSE 🇰🇷 South Korea: NO CONFIRMATION
"Today, as the country enters its third week of war against Iran, President Donald J. Trump was on the golf course, illustrating the observation of journalist E.J. Dionne in the New York Times that 'from the very beginning of this war, we got a sense that there wasn’t a great deal of serious thought put into it'" (continued in /16)
~ Heather Cox Richardson
William Lindsey 
Infoseepage