When it comes to foreign policy, Donald Trump is neither hawk nor dove. He’s a dealmaker who plays differing sides off each other. In so doing, he ends up disappointing warmongers and peaceniks in equal measure.
Rather than blaming Trump for a bad deal, his pro-Israel supporters will tie its shortcomings to Vance
On 28 February, when he launched Operation Epic Fury, Trump’s more dovish supporters felt betrayed. The president who had campaigned against regime-change wars began a new conflict by channeling George W. Bush. “To the great, proud people of Iran I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand,” he said. Many America Firsters, including former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and media star Tucker Carlson, accused Trump of sabotaging his movement and his presidency by fighting a war for Israel that would hurt America’s interests, cost thousands of lives and plunge the world economy into recession. Joe Kent, the counterterrorism director, quit in disgust. Tulsi Gabbard, his Director of National Intelligence, resigned soon after.
Now, after four months of missiles and strategic muddle, Trump has struck an initial peace agreement with the Iranians and it is the War Party’s turn to feel aggrieved. Insider Washington this week has been buzzing with rumors that members of the President’s inner circle – including CIA director John Ratcliffe and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth – “may pay a personal price” for opposing the deal.
