After the Israeli military launched a massive attack on Iran on Friday, the Trump administration had an unambiguous message: The United States was not involved in this offensive. As recently as Sunday, Donald Trump himself said in a message posted to his social media platform, “The U.S. had nothing to do with the attack on Iran.”
The president, however, has struggled to stick to this line.
On Monday, for example, as the Republican prepared to leave a G7 summit ahead of schedule, he published another online message that read in part, “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” Why should the residents of the Iranian capital evacuate? Trump didn’t say. How should a city of more than 9 million people immediately flee? And to where? The American president didn’t answer those questions, either.
A day later, he kept going, publishing this message online on Tuesday morning:
We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran. Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff.’ Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA.
His use of the word “we” was certainly of interest. If the Trump administration’s line on Friday was accurate and the U.S. was not involved in Israel’s offensive, then how exactly do “we” have “complete and total control of the skies over Iran”?
Just 24 minutes later, the American president kept going down the same path, again using words such as “we” and “our.”
We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
For good measure, three minutes later, Trump published a two-word message that simply read, “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
So to recap: until very recently, the White House’s position was that Iranian officials should work with the administration on a possible nuclear agreement. Evidently, the White House’s new position is that Iran should offer someone — he didn’t say who — an “unconditional surrender.”
Now seems like a good time to take a brief stroll down memory lane.
In early October 2012, Trump wrote on the platform then known as Twitter, “Now that Obama’s poll numbers are in tailspin — watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate.” Nearly a year later, the future Republican president added, “Remember what I previously said–Obama will someday attack Iran in order to show how tough he is.”
In November 2013, Trump similarly wrote, “Remember that I predicted a long time ago that President Obama will attack Iran because of his inability to negotiate properly-not skilled!”
As best as I can tell, the incumbent president has not yet commented on his prior observations on the subject more than a decade ago.
As for Trump’s ostensible political philosophy, plenty of Americans voted for the Republican because they expected him to pursue a foreign policy rooted in relative isolationism. That was before he began a bombing campaign in Yemen; announced his intention to annex Canada, Greenland, the Panama Canal and the Gaza Strip; made subtle threats toward a NATO ally; and claimed “total control of the skies over Iran” while demanding the country’s “unconditional surrender.”
Or put another way, if you voted for Trump because you expected foreign policy restraint, I have some awful news for you.
