With his tail tucked between his legs, President Donald Trump signaled early Wednesday morning in a post on his daily diary Truth Social, that the U.S. may concede Iran has the upper hand on blocking the flow of trade through the Strait of Hormuz and pull American troops out of the war he started.

Trump will attempt to spin his retreat by declaring “regime change” was achieved, Iran’s nuclear capacity “obliterated,” and that he eliminated an “evil” in the world — but everyone knows it’s not true.

The fact is that while Israeli forces largely decimated Iran’s leadership, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and clerics remain in control and, if anything, will be more militant and anti-American. Its nuclear fuel remains intact and without a treaty to keep it from making a nuclear bomb (Trump killed that initiative in his first term), Iran has a greater incentive to become a nuclear power as soon as possible.

The reality of Trump’s war of choice is that we created deeper hostilities with Iran, angered and insulted U.S. allies throughout Europe and the Middle East, weakened NATO, strengthened China and Russia, hurt Ukraine, and greatly diminished America’s image as a respected world leader.

Domestically, Trump’s war has needlessly wasted tens of billions of dollars, sent oil prices soaring, raised global inflation, harmed America’s farmers as diesel and fertilizer prices skyrocketed, and will deny America’s shipping fleets access to the Strait of Hormuz — making American exports less competitive, which will likely cost Americans manufacturing and farm-related jobs.

Other than Trump’s initial euphoria from bombs exploding on Iranian territory, which Trump recklessly called “fun,” there is seemingly no upside for America.

And in a worst-case scenario, with Iran now demanding that any shipping access through the Strait of Hormuz will be paid to Iran in Chinese yuan (and many countries already acceding to that demand), it could be the catalyst of an historic shift away from the dollar as the international currency — a financial and symbolic blow to America’s image of financial stability and global leadership.

Trump’s incompetence over the past 18 months was already leading the nation toward this demise, but his unjustified and strategically bereft war with Iran could well be the historic marker.

This will be doubly true if Trump makes any move to pull America out of NATO and further weaken what has been the world’s strongest international alliance since WWII. Fortunately, only Congress has the power to pull the nation out of NATO, and if there’s any substance left in congressional Republicans, they’ll have the backbone to refute him.

What’s most shocking, however, is the continued Republican support of Trump even as the rubble piles up around him. The facts are stark: ICE’s immigration enforcement has been a disaster; he inherited low inflation and he’s made it worse; health insurance costs have skyrocketed for millions; with fewer laborers, costs for housing will continue upwards; manufacturing jobs have dropped by 108,000 since Trump took office in January 2025 despite promises that his tariffs would spark manufacturing job growth; his conservative Supreme Court ruled his tariffs illegal and now the federal government has to refund much of the money Trump once boasted would reduce the deficit; and, of course, the deficit has surged under his horribly misguided “big ugly bill” that cut taxes on the super-rich, while cutting benefits to the 90% of Americans who need them more than ever.

That any American citizen can look at his record and think the country is better off is grossly misinformed, drinking the Trump propaganda shamelessly spread on Fox News and other conservative outlets. Furthermore, Trump’s desire to create a cult-like following has left his MAGA supporters incapable of critical thinking — another symptom of the nation’s sharp decline under Trump.

The only positive news, if Trump announces an imminent pullout from the Iran war in his Wednesday night address to the nation (after this paper’s deadline), is that he wouldn’t have made it even worse by committing ground troops to the war. The flip side to that one optimistic note is that with Trump ruling by whimsy, and Congressional Republicans shirking their responsibility as an equal arm of government, it can always get worse.

Angelo Lynn