But now, it has become clear that this explanation was generous. John Bolton, a radical conservative but with a brain, has often said that Trump is incapable of even articulating a clear policy set for him by someone else, let alone devise one and think through it with some due diligence.
His cowardly approach to his - and Netanyahu's - war with Iran is such an example of the Great Moron's propensity at spewing hogwash gibberish out of his oral cavity like a gushing sewer pipe. Behind the demented language of an ignorant illiterate moron is, however, one certainty: His sole guiding light, his sole quest, his sole mission in life is how to exploit anything and everything, including people's lives and livelihoods, to make money. The only thing that matters to him in life is making more and more money, every which way he can, legally or illegally, not only to indulge himself in golden trash but to use that money to sue anyone who disagrees with him or whom he doesn't like. Money is a weapon in Trump's hands. Such is the power of that drive in the man's mind that he doesn't mind lying to himself to get what he wants, something he learned from his mentor Roy Cohn.
Trump's war on Iran is a textbook example of America's failure at enforcing what it claims to be its ability at "projecting power". Most often, the US is perceived as a braggard thug or cowboy who knows how to start a bar fight but almost always fail at ending it in a satisfactory manner. So, one wonders why don't Americans learn from their own experiences.
Like his republican predecessors, Trump swaggers and grandstands about winning a war but cannot overcome his own wimpish reluctance at doing what it takes. Which is why Americans almost always lose the wars they wage, despite the trillions of dollars they spend and the advanced killing technologies they develop. The US is a teenager of a country with acne and temper tantrums who refuses to listen to wiser advice. Watching Trump make a fool of his country is like watching a teenager who doesn't know what he wants to do when he grows up. He's got the muscles, but his brain is still in its infancy.
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How Trump has deceived himself on Iran
President Donald Trump prepares to board Air Force One after leaving game 3 of the NBA Finals in New York on June 8. - Samuel Corum/Getty Images
How Trump has deceived himself on Iran
President Donald Trump prepares to board Air Force One after leaving game 3 of the NBA Finals in New York on June 8. - Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Analysis by Aaron Blake, CNN
Thu, June 11, 2026
President Donald Trump is nothing if not studied at crafting elaborate alternate realities.
But for the last two and a half months or so, he conjured one that seemed primarily aimed at deceiving himself.
He painted Iran as desperate to cut a deal, which always seemed to be right around the corner. And he repeatedly gave Tehran the benefit of the doubt, relaxed his own deadlines, walked back his threats and downplayed Iran's provocations and apparent ceasefire violations.
The pattern played out again Thursday, when Trump yet again backed off on threatened attacks just hours after saying he planned to take over Kharg Island. As he has before, he cited supposed progress in negotiating an agreement.
The problem with this approach is that it has made it pretty clear that Trump lacks the will to go back to war — that he prefers to just be done with it all, even as Iran plays on his reluctance.
And it increasingly appears as though Trump hoping against hope just delayed an inevitable return to the kind of hostilities that have resumed this week.
Trump's fanciful treatment of a potential deal with Iran appears to have mostly prolonged the war and its economic pain — and brought the situation closer to the 2026 midterm elections, which increasingly loom as a major leverage point for Iran.
Even as hostilities intensified over the last 24 hours — largely in the wake of Iran downing a US Army Apache helicopter whose pilots had to be saved — Trump was almost begrudging about being dragged back in.
In a Tuesday social media post, he downplayed the severity of Iran downing the helicopter while saying, "Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack." He told the Wall Street Journal the same day that Iran's attack "wasn't a big deal." While talking about retaliation, he said Wednesday, "I guess we have the right to do that."
Trump has also mixed in some very tough talk about how hard he would hit Iran — even saying on social media on Thursday that the US military would soon "be taking Kharg Island," an operation that would likely require ground troops and could risk significant casualties.
But just minutes later, there he was on Fox News downplaying that possibility by repeatedly citing Americans' lack of "appetite" for such military action.
"I'm not sure the country has the appetite for it," Trump said.
"I'm not sure the country has the appetite for it," he soon repeated. "And that's okay, I understand that."
"I don't want to have boots on the ground, but if I wanted to, we could put a small group of soldiers and take over the whole place," he said.
The president later added: "I don't know that America has the appetite to do what I would really much prefer doing."
But it often looks like it's Trump who lacks the stomach.
Early in the war, he repeatedly set deadlines for Iran to capitulate or else, only to relax them despite Tehran not meeting his demands. (This is also known as bluffing.)
Trump on April 7 announced a hastily assembled ceasefire whose terms nobody seemed to agree on. Then the administration tried to keep the appearance of the truce going even though Iran didn't do the one major thing Trump insisted it had to. He initially said the ceasefire was "subject to … the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz" — which never happened.
And when Iran seemed to violate the ceasefire in other ways, Trump and his administration repeatedly strained to downplay it.
Trump has also sent signals that he'd very much like to avoid going back to war. Last week, for example, he twice cited the cautionary tale that was Jimmy Carter and the Iran hostage crisis.
"I don't want to put men in that kind of danger," Trump said on June 3. "I remember Jimmy Carter had some bad problems in Iran with the hostages. I don't want to ever put our people in that kind of danger."
He added the next day, while downplaying the possibility of sending in troops to recover highly enriched uranium: "I didn't want to be Jimmy Carter, you know — I didn't feel like being Jimmy Carter."
In other words, Trump's reluctance to go back to war hasn't been subtle.
A picture taken on March 12, 2017, shows an oil facility on Kharg Island. - Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images/File
Allies might fancifully view Trump's position as posturing or some strategic play. But it seems to have only encouraged Iran to hold out for more favorable terms from a peace deal.
Indeed, that's the problem with Trump telegraphing what he wants to do and repeatedly giving the other side a pass: It gives Iran leverage.
That doesn't mean Trump won't ultimately go big in restarting the war.
But it begs the question why the administration didn't respond more strongly, for instance, when it became clear Iran wasn't satisfying Trump's demand that the ceasefire include reopening the strait.
That seemed a pretty big violation, but the administration basically ignored it.
And the US trying to accommodate Iran for two months has not been without a cost. One of Iran's biggest assets is the passage of time. While Trump might view the US blockade of the strait as bleeding the Iranian economy, he's on the clock too.
As the midterm elections approach, Republicans will likely be putting more pressure on Trump to wrap up what looks like a potential political albatross for them thanks to still-spiking inflation. That could force some very difficult decisions — i.e. whether to go back to war or to cut a suboptimal deal in the name of bringing this ugly chapter to a close.
And that's a real potential choice Trump increasingly can't ignore.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Thu, June 11, 2026
President Donald Trump is nothing if not studied at crafting elaborate alternate realities.
But for the last two and a half months or so, he conjured one that seemed primarily aimed at deceiving himself.
He painted Iran as desperate to cut a deal, which always seemed to be right around the corner. And he repeatedly gave Tehran the benefit of the doubt, relaxed his own deadlines, walked back his threats and downplayed Iran's provocations and apparent ceasefire violations.
The pattern played out again Thursday, when Trump yet again backed off on threatened attacks just hours after saying he planned to take over Kharg Island. As he has before, he cited supposed progress in negotiating an agreement.
The problem with this approach is that it has made it pretty clear that Trump lacks the will to go back to war — that he prefers to just be done with it all, even as Iran plays on his reluctance.
And it increasingly appears as though Trump hoping against hope just delayed an inevitable return to the kind of hostilities that have resumed this week.
Trump's fanciful treatment of a potential deal with Iran appears to have mostly prolonged the war and its economic pain — and brought the situation closer to the 2026 midterm elections, which increasingly loom as a major leverage point for Iran.
Even as hostilities intensified over the last 24 hours — largely in the wake of Iran downing a US Army Apache helicopter whose pilots had to be saved — Trump was almost begrudging about being dragged back in.
In a Tuesday social media post, he downplayed the severity of Iran downing the helicopter while saying, "Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack." He told the Wall Street Journal the same day that Iran's attack "wasn't a big deal." While talking about retaliation, he said Wednesday, "I guess we have the right to do that."
Trump has also mixed in some very tough talk about how hard he would hit Iran — even saying on social media on Thursday that the US military would soon "be taking Kharg Island," an operation that would likely require ground troops and could risk significant casualties.
But just minutes later, there he was on Fox News downplaying that possibility by repeatedly citing Americans' lack of "appetite" for such military action.
"I'm not sure the country has the appetite for it," Trump said.
"I'm not sure the country has the appetite for it," he soon repeated. "And that's okay, I understand that."
"I don't want to have boots on the ground, but if I wanted to, we could put a small group of soldiers and take over the whole place," he said.
The president later added: "I don't know that America has the appetite to do what I would really much prefer doing."
But it often looks like it's Trump who lacks the stomach.
Early in the war, he repeatedly set deadlines for Iran to capitulate or else, only to relax them despite Tehran not meeting his demands. (This is also known as bluffing.)
Trump on April 7 announced a hastily assembled ceasefire whose terms nobody seemed to agree on. Then the administration tried to keep the appearance of the truce going even though Iran didn't do the one major thing Trump insisted it had to. He initially said the ceasefire was "subject to … the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz" — which never happened.
And when Iran seemed to violate the ceasefire in other ways, Trump and his administration repeatedly strained to downplay it.
Trump has also sent signals that he'd very much like to avoid going back to war. Last week, for example, he twice cited the cautionary tale that was Jimmy Carter and the Iran hostage crisis.
"I don't want to put men in that kind of danger," Trump said on June 3. "I remember Jimmy Carter had some bad problems in Iran with the hostages. I don't want to ever put our people in that kind of danger."
He added the next day, while downplaying the possibility of sending in troops to recover highly enriched uranium: "I didn't want to be Jimmy Carter, you know — I didn't feel like being Jimmy Carter."
In other words, Trump's reluctance to go back to war hasn't been subtle.
A picture taken on March 12, 2017, shows an oil facility on Kharg Island. - Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images/File
Allies might fancifully view Trump's position as posturing or some strategic play. But it seems to have only encouraged Iran to hold out for more favorable terms from a peace deal.
Indeed, that's the problem with Trump telegraphing what he wants to do and repeatedly giving the other side a pass: It gives Iran leverage.
That doesn't mean Trump won't ultimately go big in restarting the war.
But it begs the question why the administration didn't respond more strongly, for instance, when it became clear Iran wasn't satisfying Trump's demand that the ceasefire include reopening the strait.
That seemed a pretty big violation, but the administration basically ignored it.
And the US trying to accommodate Iran for two months has not been without a cost. One of Iran's biggest assets is the passage of time. While Trump might view the US blockade of the strait as bleeding the Iranian economy, he's on the clock too.
As the midterm elections approach, Republicans will likely be putting more pressure on Trump to wrap up what looks like a potential political albatross for them thanks to still-spiking inflation. That could force some very difficult decisions — i.e. whether to go back to war or to cut a suboptimal deal in the name of bringing this ugly chapter to a close.
And that's a real potential choice Trump increasingly can't ignore.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
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