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America learns about "personalist regimes" the hard way
Truth Social posts are no way to run a country (or war).
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Remember how there were endless fights over whether it was appropriate to say President Trump was a fascist? Well, that one seems pretty well-settled now.
But Trump’s second-term swath of destruction doesn’t only prove that the fascist moniker is apt. It also shows that America is living under a personalist regime, and it’s wrecking us.
Consider the whiplash of Tuesday’s genocidal threat to wipe out Iran’s entire civilization, one that hung in the air all day while everyone desperately hoped he’d reverse himself before his self-imposed deadline. Everyone knew full well that the outcome would be based completely on Trump’s whims, not part of any larger military strategy. It wasn’t going to be the product of robust, informed debate among cabinet officials. The world had to just wait to see where Trump’s vibes landed circa 8pm Eastern time.
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Trump’s agreement to a nebulous ceasefire, one where he doesn’t even seem to be sure what the terms are, was, of course, a vast, worldwide relief. But while everyone else was still reeling from spending 12 hours in a state of sorrow and worry and fear, he had already moved on.
A few hours later, Trump was already excitedly posting about how the United States would be helping with traffic in the Strait of Hormuz: “There will be lots of positive action! Big money will be made. Iran can start the reconstruction process. We’ll be loading up with supplies of all kinds, and just ‘hangin’ around’ in order to make sure that everything goes well. I feel confident that it will.”
What?
Trump’s sunny mood continued into Wednesday morning, where he floated that the United States would somehow co-administer the strait with Iran, presumably so he could get some of the $2 million per ship fee inexplicably given to Iran as part of the ceasefire: “We’re thinking of doing it as a joint venture. It’s a way of securing it — also securing it from lots of other people. It’s a beautiful thing.”
Again, what?
In 24 hours, Trump seesawed from being prepared to enact a literal genocide on the Iranian people to deciding the Iranian government was his business partner. This radical reversal makes sense in Trump’s head and really nowhere else, but since there’s no one stopping him and no guardrails around him whatsoever, everyone has to treat this as rational behavior and move on.
Except we just can’t. Anyone who isn’t in thrall to Trump isn’t able to turn on a dime and switch from “hell yeah, genocide” to “business partners.” But this is what it’s like under a