Trump Suffers a Political Loss

Chethana Janith, Jadetimes Staff

C. Janith is a Jadetimes news reporter and sub-editor covering science and geopolitics.

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A growing number of observers assessing the consequences of the US-Israeli war against Iran are concluding that Donald Trump has seriously miscalculated this time.

Donald Trump / Associated Press

Some observers believe that the US President resorted to this gamble to distract attention from the Epstein files, which reveal that nearly the entire Western elite is implicated in this pedophile’s sexual crimes, and under the influence of Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Jewish lobby, which funds the election of approximately half of all members of Congress in America.

Expectations that the bombing of Tehran would lead to regime change in that country, that the Iranian leadership would cease active resistance and refrain from closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s crude oil passes, have proven illusory. The American leader’s reckless actions not only threaten to destroy the Middle East but have also caused turmoil within the United States and around the world. Notably, Trump has become increasingly frustrated with the media’s coverage of these events and has been unable to explain why he started this war and how he plans to end it. His arguments are falling on deaf ears among a public concerned about the deaths of American troops in the conflict, the sharp rise in oil prices, and the collapse of financial markets. Even some of his supporters are questioning his plans (if he has any), and his overall ratings are falling.

Trump has increasingly complained about the media’s coverage of the conflict - on March 14, he wrote, “The media actually wants us to lose the war.” Following this, the broadcasting regulator threatened to revoke their broadcast licenses unless they corrected the situation. Iran has announced plans to continue attacks on energy infrastructure and use the virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz as leverage against the United States and Israel. Trump was forced to admit that America lacks the power to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, so he declared that other powers should send warships, along with the United States, to the area – “it must always be a team effort.”

However, Washington’s allies are in no hurry to help: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the US-Israeli war against Iran reckless and illegal, Martin Pfister said the American attack violated international law, and Dominique de Villepin, former French Prime Minister, considered the American war “illegal, illegitimate, ineffective, and dangerous” and called for sanctions. On March 15, The New York Times described Trump’s actions as a step toward turning the United States into a pariah state.

A New Wave of Polarization in American Society

Besides the enormous damage to the global economy, which is suffering from rising oil prices and the disruption of supply chains for many other goods, the war against Iran has led to a new surge in politicization within America. Even prominent Trump allies like Ted Carlson and Michael Kelly have sharply criticized the president, while the Democratic Party has seen this war as an opportunity to defeat the Republicans in the November 3 congressional elections - people simply need constant reminders that Trump promised to lower prices, but they’re still rising.

Polarization in American society has reached unprecedented levels. The New York Times wrote on March 15, 2026, that “the perpetual return of President Trump is a symptom of our national illness, and a recent Pew Research Center study shows precisely what that illness is: we hate each other, and demagogues rise when hatred intensifies.” A significant portion of Democrats and Republicans view each other as narrow-minded, dishonest, immoral, and unintelligent, and these figures are worsening with each passing year. The German newspaper Bild reported on disagreements within Trump’s team: while the vice president advocates a swift resolution to the conflict, the secretary of state supports continued military action.

The Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, emphasizing that Trump’s policies have upset the world, concluded that “two weeks after the start of the war with Iran, Trump has suffered a political defeat.”

The American Washington Post calls the Gulf War “a strategic folly: for roughly 15 years, many American leaders, including all three presidents of that period, believed the country was too deeply involved in attempts to reshape Middle Eastern societies.” They considered rebuilding America’s industrial base and countering China’s rise more pressing priorities, but now America is once again waging a war to rebuild society in the Middle East, just as it did in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, and this war is unlikely to end as its supporters hope.

The coming days will reveal the enormous damage to global politics and the economy that US and Israeli aggression against Iran has inflicted.