"Donald Trump and his minions are having a meltdown. On Saturday, Trump lashed out at the New York Times for an article saying the obvious — that many of his original war goals, whatever they may have been, remain unaccomplished."

~ Paul Krugman

#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #oil #gas
/2

https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/when-hyperglobalization-meets-chaos

"Just an hour later, he posted a threat to commit massive war crimes, saying that if Iran doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours — that is, today — he will order U.S. forces to begin bombing civilian power plants."

#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #oil #gas
/3

"Why the desperation? The answer is obvious. It’s turning out not just that regime change — if that was really the goal — is hard to engineer, but also that the world is a lot more dependent on the Strait of Hormuz than Trump and co. seem to have realized."

#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #oil #gas
/4

"The belief that Israel and the US could help instigate widespread revolt was a foundational flaw in the preparations for a war that has spread across the Middle East."

Mark Mazzetti, Julian E. Barnes, Edward Wong and Ronen Bergman

#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #oil #gas #Israel #RegimeChange
/5

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/22/us/politics/iran-israel-trump-netanyahu-mossad.html

"Instead of imploding from within, Iran’s govt has dug in and escalated the conflict, striking blows and counterblows against military bases, cities, ships in the Persian Gulf, and against vulnerable oil and gas installations.”

#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #oil #gas #Israel #RegimeChange
/6

"After more than two weeks of consistent bombing, new US intelligence suggests Iran’s regime is now consolidating power, unlikely to collapse, and led by a cadre more extreme than before."

~ Jon Hoffman

#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #oil #gas #Israel #RegimeChange
/7

https://www.cato.org/blog/strategic-failure-iran

"The president is under enormous pressure, as his war with Iran sparked Iranian officials to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s oil flows. This outcome was expected by previous presidents, but Trump seemed to think he could avoid it and now is stuck without an easy solution."

~ Heather Cox Richardson

#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #oil #gas
/8

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-22-2026

"As former defense secretary and Central Intelligence Agency director Leon Panetta told David Smith of The Guardian, '[I]f there was an escape here for Trump, it would be to declare victory and it’s over and we’ve been able to be successful in all of our military targets. The problem is he can declare victory all he wants but, if he doesn’t get the ceasefire, he’s got nothing.'"

#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #oil #gas
/9

"'And he’s not going to get a ceasefire as long as Iran is holding the gun of the strait of Hormuz against his head.'

'He tends to be naive about how things can happen,' Panetta told Smith. 'If he says it and keeps saying it, there’s always a hope that what he says will come true. But that’s what kids do. It’s not what presidents do.'”

#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #oil #gas
/10

"As unpopular as Donald Trump’s ill-conceived, incompetently managed war was when it began, it is now more unpopular with a key segment of voters. 'Trump’s net approval of -20 for handling the situation in Iran represents a drop from last week’s poll. Then, 39% of Americans approved of how Trump was handling Iran and 52% disapproved — a net approval of -13,' The Economist/YouGov reported last week."

~ Jennifer Rubin

#Trump #Iran #war #oil #gas #ApprovalRating
/11

https://www.contrariannews.org/p/trumps-disastrous-war-comes-home

"Several factors increase the likelihood that Trump’s support will crater.

First and foremost, a decomposing president, plainly out of his depth, is on display as the public increasingly grasps that this debacle was predictable and entirely avoidable. ...

Second, even if Trump wants to, it will become obvious that he has lost control of the timeline and the ballooning cost of the war."

#Trump #Iran #war #oil #gas #ApprovalRating
/12

"Third, unlike the Iraq War (when George W. Bush urged Americans to go to the mall to shop) or Trump’s first attack on Iran, virtually every American already has felt — or will soon feel — the war’s impact. The price of oil won’t come down anytime soon."

#Trump #Iran #war #oil #gas #ApprovalRating
/13

"Donald Trump is backing down from striking Iranian power plants, giving a five-day extension due to what he describes as productive talks with Iran. The problem is that Iran denies having any conversations with the White House or even through intermediaries."

~ Aaron Parnas

#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #oil #gas
/14

https://aaronparnas.substack.com/p/news-trump-backs-down-on-bombing