A political analyst warned on Sunday that President Donald Trump appears to be "sleepwalking toward a real catastrophe" in Iran after his latest threat.
On Saturday, Trump posted on Truth Social that Iran has 48 hours to reopen the Strait of Hormuz "without threat," or else the U.S. would strike Iran's largest energy facilities. The threat came about a month after the war in Iran began, which has caused energy prices to spike globally. Iran has also effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for 20% of global energy trade, to U.S. trade ships since the war began.
Andrew Egger, White House correspondent for The Bulwark, discussed Trump's new threat in a new episode of "Bulwark Takes" with Sam Stein, the publication's managing editor.
"Maybe he's bluffing. Maybe he's just sort of putting a brave face on it and behind the scenes he's shaking [Defense Secretary] Pete Hegseth by the lapels and saying, 'Find us a way out of this thing immediately,'" Egger said. "I kind of hope he is, but it's possible too that he is actually just sort of sleepwalking us toward a real catastrophe."
Stein noted that Trump's threat to obliterate Iran's energy facilities would come with a significant human toll.
"This is really all kinds of messed up," Stein said.
But Vance's hesitancy to criticize Trump publicly suggests that the war in Iran has put the Vice President in a bit of a pinch.
"He's trying so hard to signal that he wasn't all in on this war. But also, as people have briefed, he told Trump to go big, and he owns everything they're doing," Vietor said. "It's not working, buddy."
Rhodes, a former national security advisor in the Obama White House, added that Vance's shifting stance on the war in Iran shows he's "full of s---."
"He owns this, and he's never going to be able to come out and fully-throated say he was wrong because he depends on Donald Trump for his political survival," Rhodes said. "So, you're watching JD Vance's diminution as a political figure in real time because his identity doesn't work without opposition to forever wars. It's central to him in a way ... And so, the air of the JD Vance balloon is rapidly running out."
CONTINUE READINGShow less
Similarly, Trump threatened to attack Iran's power plants if the country did not allow U.S. ships to begin passing through the Strait of Hormuz again. Iran has effectively blockaded the passageway, which accounts for 20% of global energy trade, since the U.S. and Israel began bombing the country.
Paul Krugman, who won the Nobel Prize in 2008 for his work on trade theory, said in a new video on his Substack on Sunday that Trump's moves make it look increasingly likely that the U.S. will lose the war in Iran. He argued that the U.S. is giving Iran significant leverage by allowing it to dictate trade through the Strait of Hormuz.
"That’s an admission, implicitly, of enormous weakness," Krugman said. "It’s an admission that the Trump administration is not willing to accept sustained pain as part of this war. They’re willing to drop bombs and all of that, but they’re not willing to accept economic pain in the United States, even enough to shut off the revenue flow to the Iranian government."
"And this war is fundamentally about who can stand the pain," he added. "It’s the United States doing lots of damage to Iran, but the Iranian government seems to think it can handle that. And the Iranians trying to inflict enough pain through hurting the world’s supply of oil that the United States ceases and desists."
CONTINUE READINGShow less
The vote also happened at a time when Democrats are refusing to support a bill to reopen part of DHS that has been shut down for more than a month. The shutdown has disrupted operations at the Transportation Security Administration, causing security lines to grow at airports across the country.
President Donald Trump has threatened to deploy ICE agents to airports to address the growing security lines. He wrote on Truth Social that he is prepared to deploy the agents as soon as Monday.
Democrats have said they want to secure reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement after agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens during a recent surge in Minneapolis, Minnesota. However, the Trump administration has been hesitant, at best, to reform the agency.
CONTINUE READINGShow less
