Trump's Speech: He Declared Victory, But Admitted Defeat.
What last night's speech revealed about Trump's war and his presidency.
Typically, presidents follow a decision to go to war with a nationally televised address to explain the decision, call for shared sacrifice, and define what victory looks like.
When Trump started the Iran War, he did not do that. Instead of addressing the widest possible audience, Trump posted a hastily edited video of himself speaking to an empty room while wearing a baseball cap — presumably because he couldn’t be bothered to comb his hair.
Despite 13 American soldiers losing their lives, hundreds more being wounded, global economic chaos, and growing opposition to his regime-change war of choice, Trump refused to take the basic step of explaining the war to the American people.
Until last night.
One month into the war, Trump finally gave a nationally televised address — but instead of offering clarity or rallying the country to the cause, he delivered an overlong, low-energy, rambling speech that served no strategic purpose.
Not that anyone should be surprised, but at the moment of greatest need for the country and greatest peril for his presidency, Trump failed to deliver.
He waved the white flag on his war and his presidency. It’s possible we will look back on last night as the moment we knew Trump’s presidency was functionally over. He’s still in office and can still do great damage, but the momentum is gone. All but his most committed supporters have tuned him out. It’s all over but the shouting.
1. The White Flag of Surrender
Because the speech was so poorly written, it’s hard to identify any strategic rationale for giving it. To the extent there was a purpose, it was to declare victory. Instead, it read as an admission of defeat.
