Donald Trump projected himself as a peace President when he ran for a second term in the White House in 2024. The data backed him; he was the only President to not declare a new war during his first term after Jimmy Carter, though it’s a name he doesn’t want to be associated with.
But soon, Trump found himself in the middle of a war twice in a span of nine months, and against the same opponent as well, the one that is blamed for ending Carter’s presidency. Iran.
And while the Republican has put on a sort of bravado in public about the current US-Iran war that began on February 28, a report suggests that his appetite for risk had run out, and his fears were ramping up.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, Trump is dealing with his own fear about ordering troops into harm’s way. His fear is that some US troops will be injured and some will not return home, similar to other presidents who have been at war, the report quoted people familiar with the matter as saying.
Oscillating between Teddy Roosevelt and Jimmy Carter: Different shades of Donald Trump during the Iran war
Donald Trump’s biggest fears almost came true on a Good Friday afternoon when he learned that an American jet had been shot down in Iran, with two airmen missing. According to the Wall Street Journal, he screamed at his aides for the house, cursed the European allies for not helping and demanded the military rescue the two Airmen right away.
Gas prices averaged $4.09. Images of the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis—one of the biggest international policy failures of a presidency in recent times—had been looming large in his mind, according to the sources quoted by the Wall Street Journal.
“If you look at what happened with Jimmy Carter…with the helicopters and the hostages, it cost them the election. What a mess,” Trump had said in March.
Trump demanded that the military rescue the airmen immediately. But there was just one problem. The US hadn’t been on the ground in Iran since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, which led to the hostage crisis that the Republicans attributed to Jimmy Carter. And the US military apparatus needed to figure out how to get into treacherous Iranian terrain and avoid Tehran’s own military.
The report suggests that Trump was kept out of the room as they got minute-by-minute updates. According to a senior administration official, they believed his impatience wouldn’t be helpful and instead updated him at meaningful moments.
The pilot of the drowned F-15 was recovered quickly, but it wasn’t until the evening of the next day that Trump was informed that the weapons systems officer (WSO) had also been rescued, although the US paid a heavy price with multiple aircraft and helicopters lost.
Still, it wasn’t the Jimmy Carter moment that he feared it could have been.
But soon, Trump was back at his Teddy Roosevelt bravado. It was another audacious gamble to loosen Iran’s grip on its most powerful point of leverage, the Strait of Hormuz.
“Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell,” Trump blasted on social media Easter morning from the White House residence, adding “praise be to Allah” to the post.
He followed it up with a threat which, if carried out, would amount to a war crime. He said that “a whole civilisation would die tonight”, and threatened to take out Iran’s civilian infrastructure.
Unorthodox approach being tested?
Trump is known for his unorthodox, maximalist approach. He is veering between belligerent and conciliatory approaches and grappling behind the scenes with just how badly things could go wrong.
Still, he has made risky pronouncements without input from his national security team—including his post about plans to destroy the Iranian civilization—saying seeming unstable could help spur the Iranians to negotiate.
At one point, he even mused that he should award himself the nation’s highest military honour, the Medal of Honour.
Trump campaigned on ending foreign wars but wagered that he could solve, with American air and naval power, a national security problem that had bedevilled seven previous presidents. Now, a cease-fire is in doubt, a critical trade route has been closed for weeks, and Iran’s regime has been replaced with radical new leaders, all threatening to lengthen an operation that Trump has repeatedly said would only last six weeks—a deadline already missed since the war began on February 28.
White House officials said they believe a breakthrough in negotiations with Iran could be reached in the coming days, and they are eyeing more talks in Pakistan.
The US President’s impulsive style has never before been tested during a sustained military conflict. Unlike the successful operation in Venezuela, which buoyed his confidence, Trump is confronting a more intractable foe in Iran, which is so far unwilling to bend to his demands.
