Trump resumed bombing Iran without plan and ignored Congress, Tisdall wrote
Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall argued in a column published Friday that President Donald Trump, not Iran, is the world’s greatest danger, calling Trump a “one-man weapon of mass destruction” and describing the U.S. war in Iran as a “limitless fiasco” and an “economic quagmire.” Tisdall wrote that Trump’s “self-love” is the principal reason the conflict is escalating, and that the president has no strategy to end a war he started without consulting Congress or U.S. allies.
Tisdall wrote that the U.S. military is again pummelling Iran and its civilian infrastructure, “as before,” and that Trump’s belligerence has closed the Strait of Hormuz. He wrote that the White House’s objective has narrowed to controlling the strait, while the larger war aims — eliminating Iran’s nuclear program, degrading its regional militias, and achieving regime change — “are less attainable than ever.” Tisdall attributed the U.S. military’s inability to achieve its stated objectives to what he called Trump’s “craven leadership.”
The column pointed to a June “memorandum of understanding” that Trump hailed as a personal triumph. Tisdall wrote that the agreement is “fatally flawed” because its fifth paragraph appeared to legitimize de facto Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz, and that Trump is now reversing course. Tisdall wrote that Trump vowed to impose maritime tolls in the strait and then reversed himself within 24 hours.
Tisdall wrote that Congress has told Trump to halt the war or seek official authorization, and that Trump is ignoring it. Polls show a majority of Americans oppose the conflict, which Tisdall said had cost $100 billion and fueled inflation. At the NATO summit in Ankara earlier this month, Trump criticized alliance members for not supporting the U.S. campaign, delivering what Tisdall described as a “tongue-lashing.” Tisdall wrote that allies “dare not check him for fear of permanent rupture.”
The column also argued that Trump’s pattern extends beyond Iran. Tisdall wrote that Trump’s 2025 Gaza peace plan remains stalled — Hamas has not disarmed, Israeli forces have not withdrawn, and more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed since October’s ceasefire — and that Trump has mostly lost interest. Tisdall wrote that Trump’s interventions in the Ukraine-Russia war favored Vladimir Putin and amounted to an attempt to bully Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into “quasi-capitulation.”
Tisdall wrote that Russia, China, and other adversaries are benefiting from the U.S. entanglement: Putin is “only too happy” to see the U.S. divert resources into a Middle East forever war, while China last week tested a submarine-launched long-range missile in the South Pacific and is “already a huge beneficiary” of the turmoil. Tisdall concluded that Trump’s presidency has made America “smaller, meaner, unhappier, more divided, isolated and unloved” and called for a “2026 declaration of independence from Trump.”