A war without a mandate
Days after plunging his country into a war with Iran at the behest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump claimed that hostilities would be over in four or five weeks. Instead, the war is now in its seventh month, oil prices are up, US GDP growth is down, and inflation has erased all wage growth over the past 12 months. Meanwhile, the Iranians continue to show great resilience despite heavy losses, US military readiness has been significantly depleted, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has apparently fired a generation of senior military officers for daring to disagree with him on military strategy.
Hegseth touts himself as an expert on warfare, though his active military service consists of a year as a prison guard, a few months as an infantryman in Iraq, and a stint as an instructor in Afghanistan. The men he fired had dozens of years each of active service in war zones. Hegseth also bankrupted a charity after allegedly embezzling from it, barred from serving as a guard for President Biden because of his suspected white nationalist sympathies, and successfully lobbied for war criminals to receive presidential pardons. And since he is a Trump sycophant, it apparently makes him the only person qualified to run the US military.
But despite this, it appears the American public is finally catching on. Trump's popularity is currently at its lowest level, even among Republicans, and a clear majority of Americans oppose the Iran War. In response to the historically unpopular war, Trump has started a trade war with Canada - once considered America's closest ally. Unfortunately for Trump, it appears he is losing this one as well, as only 20% of Americans support his tariffs, and only 14% support his renaming of Lake Ontario to Lake America.
The president's refusal to ever accept fault and admit defeat means that Americans must force the decision in the November elections. But even if the Democrats - as predicted - retake control of Congress, the situation will continue to devolve until new members are seated in January.