David Vance SubstackRead More
I have supported President Trump since 2015 and been vilified for doing so but I am not going to silently by as he completely loses it over Iran. His misjudgment has been going on for several weeks now but has now reached the point where I have to speak up.
You see the U.S. didn’t just lose the Iran war. It surrendered it, and Donald Trump is the one who handed over the keys. This wasn’t a battlefield defeat but rather a political collapse. Trump spent months threatening “all hell,” then blinked.
He promised maximal pressure, then blinked again. He called for blood, then blinked yet again. By the time the clock ran out, the United States has nothing but a fragile ceasefire, the Strait of Hormuz is now IRGC controlled, and a president who looks more like a frantic negotiator than a commander-in-chief. It is so sad to see.
Of course the absurdity in all of this is that Trump started strong. He talked tough. He threatened strikes. He mocked the Mullahs. He killed the Ayatollah. But then he made a fatal mistake by giving the enemy room to breathe. He handed the regime a chance to negotiate when it was still bleeding. He offered deadlines, then changed them. He warned of escalation, then paused. Every time he thought he was tightening the screw, he was actually loosening it.
And now he’s praising Hezbollah. Yes, Hezbollah!!
That is the same group that’s been blowing up American troops for 40 years, the same group that’s backed by Iran and the same group that’s been the terror army of the Middle East.
Trump has spent years calling Hezbollah a “terrorist organisation” but s now treating them like a peace broker. He’s calling them allies and giving them credit.
Trump’s Iran policy has become a masterclass in weakness. He threatens, then he negotiates. He escalates, then retreats. He promises victory, then delivers a ceasefire. The truth is that he’s not leading the war — he’s managing it. He’s not fighting the enemy — he’s talking to them.
And now he’s praising the enemy’s allies!!!
At the heart of this lies the harsh truth that Trump wants the wins without the blood. He wants to be the guy who “ended the war” without having to actually win it.
That’s not leadership.
The Mullahs know this. Hezbollah knows this. The entire region now knows this. Trump has shown them that he’s not a threat — he’s a negotiator.
And in the Middle East, negotiators don’t win wars. They lose them.
