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Trump's Half War With Iran Is Already Backfiring On Him

Trump's weak and indecisive half war with Iran has already backfired as airstrikes aren't enough to topple the regime, but the US/Israeli airstrikes are creating a regional conflict.

Jason Easley's avatar
Jason Easley
Feb 28, 2026
∙ Paid

Donald Trump has misread Iran from the beginning. From the moment that he came into office during his first administration and ripped up the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran under the misguided notion that he could negotiate a “better deal” this president has been trying to force the Iranians to accept an agreement through military force.

When Trump withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal without Iran committing any violations to the agreement, he made it impossible to rebuild the trust with the Iranians that would be necessary to negotiate and implement a new deal.

Trump broke diplomatic trust with Iran and left America with only the choice of military action to force Iranian compliance and abandonment of the nation’s nuclear program.

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Donald Trump put the wheels in motion for this conflict, but within the military option, there are sub-options, and this is where Trump has set his policy up for failure.

The consensus among Middle East experts for decades has been that, outside of domestic collapse, the only military option to force the removal of the Iranian regime is through a boots-on-the-ground invasion.

Trump has refused for years to commit to a boots-on-the-ground invasion of Iran, which is why his half-measure of airstrikes will risk American lives, kill innocent people in the Middle East region, create a regional conflict, and fail to accomplish his goals.

Let’s talk about Trump’s flawed logic and why this operation is already failing.

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