Stupidest President in History Gets Played and Plays Himself
We All Pay the Price When Ego Trumps Facts
In a spectacle of geopolitical malpractice so profound it borders on performance art, Donald Trump has once again proven that the most dangerous threat to American national security is his own pathologically fragile ego.
The recent bombing of Iran wasn't the result of a sober assessment of intelligence or a coherent foreign policy strategy. Instead, it was the predictable climax of a drama starring two men: one a master manipulator, the other a master of self-sabotage.
In a stunning turn of events that surprised absolutely no one with a functioning brain stem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu played Trump like a fiddle, while the president, in his desperate need for the spotlight, played himself.
The Ego Has Landed (and Crashed)
To understand how the United States was dragged into a unilateral act of war, one must first understand that Trump cannot bear to be ignored.
While attending the G7 summit, Trump was reportedly seething that he wasn't the principal shot-caller in the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. Being kept out of the loop was a slight his gargantuan, yet paper-thin, ego could not withstand.
The world stage was focused on Netanyahu, and Trump was relegated to the role of a supporting actor. For a man who lives for the narrative, this was unacceptable.
His response was a tantrum of epic proportions. He abruptly left the summit, but not before firing off a typically hyperbolic and ill-informed Truth Social post warning Iranians to “immediately evacuate Tehran.”
As if a city of ten million people could just pack up and leave on his command. This wasn't a serious warning from a world leader; it was a carnival barker’s desperate attempt to insert himself into the story.
It was the same lack of foresight he showed with his disastrously attended military parade, a flop that apparently bruised his ego so badly he felt the need to compensate with actual military force.
His need to be seen as a tough guy, especially after being branded with the nickname "TACO" (Trump Always Chickens Out), outweighed any semblance of rational thought or diplomacy.
Bibi's Perfect Puppet
While Trump was busy nursing his wounded pride, Netanyahu, a man fluent in both English and raw ambition, saw his opening.
For decades, Bibi has perfected the art of seducing and exasperating American presidents, but with Trump, he found his most pliable subject yet.
Netanyahu understands Trump’s most elemental weakness: his all-consuming need to be praised and admired.
After a brief period in the doghouse for correctly acknowledging Joe Biden’s 2020 election win, Bibi masterfully wooed Trump back. He sang songs of Trump’s "courage" and "unmatched friendship," flattery that works on Trump like a dog whistle.
Netanyahu understood that Trump has no patience for the tedious, collaborative work of a G7 or NATO summit. Instead, he is deeply susceptible to the performance of power.
Netanyahu knew that a man who would rather watch a flashy drone demonstration than read a one-page memo would be putty in his hands.
Bibi didn't give him homework; he gave him a show, feeding his ego and making him feel like the star warrior-in-chief.
He calculated, correctly, that once Israel initiated strikes, Trump would not want to lose face by appearing out of control of his "ally."
It worked. After a week of trying to distance the U.S. from the "unilateral" Israeli attacks, Trump caved completely, joining the fray to prove he was still in charge.
Netanyahu, who has staked his legacy on stopping Iran, maneuvered the world’s foremost military power into doing his bidding, all by stroking the ego of one deeply insecure man.
A War Built on Feelings, Not Facts
The most galling part of this whole fiasco is that it was entirely unnecessary. The official justification for the attack was the imminent threat of Iran’s nuclear program.
Yet, this was a threat manufactured in Trump's own mind, directly contradicting his own administration's intelligence.
His Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, had testified to Congress in March that the U.S. intelligence community's assessment was clear: Iran was not building a nuclear weapon.
But Trump, as we know, doesn't listen to experts, even when they're his own hand-picked loyalists. When confronted with Gabbard's testimony, his response was a masterclass in executive petulance.
"I don't care what she said," he snapped, later telling reporters that his own intelligence chief was simply "wrong."
Gabbard, in a spectacular display of political gymnastics, quickly scrambled to social media to insist the "dishonest media" had taken her words out of context and that she and the President were, in fact, "on the same page."
The truth, however, was plain: Trump didn't listen to his experts. He looked at the intelligence and simply concluded there was a threat, a decision likely aided by the Adderall he was probably snorting at the time.
Prime Time Payoff for a Reality Show President
Ultimately, this entire affair was produced for an audience of one: Donald J. Trump. His actions were pure reality-show theatrics.
From sticking extra flag poles on the White House lawn for a press gaggle to his coy "nobody knows what I’m going to do" routine, he was building suspense for his big reveal.
IMO, the Saturday night bombing aimed to achieve a prime-time payoff, a chance to play Commander-in-Chief on television and generate a fresh wave of MAGA memes celebrating his "steely leadership."
He couldn't care less about the millions of lives at stake, the potential for a wider regional war, or the global economic fallout.
He will soon become bored with this storyline and move on, just as he did with Ukraine, leaving others to clean up his mess — probably Netanyahu and the Israeli people.
Trump sold his followers the illusion of power with the reality show optics to go with it. He has taught them to celebrate brutality, and they will dutifully cheer on this cheap, dangerous patriotism.
We are now living in the latest chapter of his political drama, and we can only pray we are spared the season finale.
It’s time to cancel this show.
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Remember to get into “good trouble,”
samuel
Insanity vs. Malignant Narcissism
This whole boondoggle KILLED how many people? To assuage the ego of an insecure old man? Now, how will Congress react to rein in this crazy old man?