> Has everyone already forgotten how badly trump fuqed up the COVID-19 response?

WASHINGTON—Before the U.S. went to war, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told President Trump that an American attack could prompt Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz.

Caine said in several briefings that U.S. officials had long believed Iran would deploy mines, drones and missiles to close the world’s most vital shipping lane, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.

Trump acknowledged the risk, these people said, but moved forward with the most consequential foreign-policy decision of his two presidencies. He told his team that Tehran would likely capitulate before closing the strait—and even if Iran tried, the U.S. military could handle it.

Now, two weeks into the war, Iran’s leaders have refused to back down, and the Strait of Hormuz has emerged as Tehran’s most potent leverage point.

The joint U.S.-Israel military operation has killed Iran’s supreme leader, targeted military headquarters and damaged or destroyed more than 90 Iranian vessels.

Yet, the price has been steep. At least 13 Americans have been killed, including six in a crash Thursday of an Air Force refueling plane, making the war in Iran the deadliest military operation of Trump’s two terms. At least 140 Americans have been wounded in the conflict. Roughly 175 people, mostly children, were killed in a strike on a girls’ school in Iran, which a preliminary U.S. investigation found was likely launched by U.S. forces.

The U.S. operation is costing billions of dollars a week. More broadly, the growing risk of a widening and drawn-out war threatens the American economy, raising warnings of stagflation, a quagmire of stagnant growth and high inflation.