> At this point Iran is just trolling Trump

Pro Tip:

The President of the U.S. and The Dumbest Motherfuqer In The World should not be the same person.

Malcolm Cockwiggle wrote:

How many times has Trump won the war?  87?  88?

Six or seven?

Confused by Trump’s Zigs and Zags Over Iran? Read His ‘Art of the Deal’

Everyone is confused about President Trump’s Iranian strategy. Is his policy to seek the full blown devastation of Iran regime or to simply seek a compromised deal? Were the thirteen days of air attacks on Iran only pin pricks or devastating strategic hits?

Are Trump’s threats just empty talk? Or will the conflict end with Iranian surrender, the defeat of its proxies, the full, unfettered opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and regime change?

Except for early in the war, talk of regime change has disappeared from virtually all of Donald Trump’s goals. His main public advocate appears to be his Secretary of State Marco Rubio who has not publicly advocated regime change for a very long time.

Rubio said at a news conference in Manilla this week, if the administration is forced to attack Iran again, it will be a “head for an eye.” This takeoff of the Biblical law that one should take an “eye for an eye” served as good theatre. But is this a real policy or just bravado?

Now, after a major new surge of unprecedented offensive U.S. military assets into the region, nightly American air strikes have suddenly ended.

More confusion.

Further, the Israeli Prime Minister is leaving Israel to meet with the President on Tuesday. It is inconceivable (but not unprecedented) that a Big War would begin with Israel’s Prime Minister outside of his war-torn country. So, the tea leaves suggest that if there is a new, expanded war, it will occur near the end of this week.


To understand all of this direction and misdirection, we should turn to Donald Trump’s operational Bible: “The Art of the Deal,” a number one bestseller when it was published in 1987.

By the way, Trump isn’t fighting one war. He’s fighting against many fronts: the Iranian regime and its proxies, Middle East terrorist enablers such as Turkey and Qatar, European feebleness, as well as the menacing machinations of China and Russia.

Here are some of his key thoughts on combatting difficult and entrenched opponents. We’ve seen all of these ideas in play throughout this conflict.

Think Big: “I like thinking big. I always have.”

Maximize Options: “I never get too attached to one deal or one approach…I keep a lot of balls in the air, because most deals fall out, no matter how promising they seem at first.”

Use Your leverage: “The worst thing you can possibly do in a deal, is to seem desperate to make it. That makes the other guy smell blood and you’re dead.”

Fight Back Very Hard: “In most cases, I’m very easy to get along with. I’m very good to people who are good to me. But when people treat me badly or unfairly or try to take advantage of me, my general attitude, all my life has been to fight back very hard.”

This partly explains Trump’s initiatives, and his reversals, his diplomatic talk and his war talk.

We should take his philosophy into account as the United States enters the next phase of fighting with the Iranian regime.

Confusing? You bet. But that’s Trump’s way. Keep everyone guessing.

wrote:

Confused by Trump’s Zigs and Zags Over Iran? Read His ‘Art of the Deal’.

I hate to break it to you, but Trump didn't write that book, or any book.

wrote:

Confused by Trump’s Zigs and Zags Over Iran? Read His ‘Art of the Deal’

Trust the plan.
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wrote:

Confused by Trump’s Zigs and Zags Over Iran? Read His ‘Art of the Deal’

Trump didn't write it.  He's too stupid to write a book.  And the only book he has read in the last 30 years is a book of Hitler speeches that he kept by his bed.

And, most importantly, "How To Make Crooked Business Deals" has nothing to do with fighting a war.  Thinking that you can just "make a deal" with Iran is another example of his stupidity and complete lack of understanding about .... everything.

AI Overview                 

President Donald Trump’s "Art of the Deal" strategy approaches the conflict with Iran as a high-stakes, transactional negotiation—alternating between maximum military pressure and sudden pauses—to force a breakthrough.

Core Tactics of the StrategyMaximum Pressure: Using sudden military strikes and economic blockades as leverage to jolt the adversary into negotiations.

Publicly signaling that a grand deal is imminent while frequently pausing or threatening to walk away from the table.

Performance-Based Carrots: Offering conditional economic relief—such as unfreezing assets or lifting port restrictions—only upon visible behavioral results.