Trump Foreign Policy
March 15, 2026 — John Hinderaker
Events in Iran are going about as well as they possibly could, but the ultimate goal (my goal anyway) may remain elusive. The Jerusalem Post relates the current assessment from the IDF: The IDF has destroyed an astounding 2,200 Iranian regime targets, mostly in the Tehran and western Iran areas, which it hopes will weaken the regime substantially as well as the regime’s ability to threaten Israel, the military said
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March 13, 2026 — John Hinderaker
Of the three countries that President Trump has taken steps to liberate, the tyranny closest to collapsing is Cuba’s. Many of Cuba’s young people have left, its Communist government is utterly incompetent, and, with the supply of free or cheap Venezuelan oil cut off, the Communists can’t keep the power on. So I think the downfall of Cuba’s Communist Party, which has misruled that island for more than 60 years,
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March 11, 2026 — John Hinderaker
At the Middle East Forum, Jonathan Spyer writes: “Why the Islamic Republic May Survive This Campaign.” His discussion is worth reading in full, but his conclusion unfortunately mirrors mine: [O]verall, it is important to note that of the various components of Iran’s Axis, only one has so far permanently departed the stage as a result of the dramatic events in the region over the last two and a half years.
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March 11, 2026 — John Hinderaker
The FBI revealed today that it has warning of a possible Iranian drone strike on California: The FBI issued an urgent warning to cops across California of a potential Iranian drone strike on the Golden State. *** The FBI alert said: “We recently acquired information that as of early February 2026, Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles from an unidentified vessel off the coast
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March 10, 2026 — John Hinderaker
Iran is now effectively controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The current ayatollah, and any future ayatollahs, will be figureheads without real power. As Mao said, power grows out of the barrel of a gun. The IRGC, fearful of street demonstrations against the regime, reportedly is threatening to shoot protesters: An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander warned that anyone who takes to the streets in Iran will be
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March 8, 2026 — John Hinderaker
As the U.S. military carries out its flawless demolition of Iran’s military assets, the success of Operation Epic Fury seems obvious after only a week. But of course, the Democrats will not credit President Trump with success on any front. On Iran, their strategy is to move the goalposts. Toward that end, Deep State intelligence officials leaked information about a National Intelligence Council report to the Washington Post, which reports
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March 6, 2026 — John Hinderaker
Following our bombing of Iran, we are hearing the usual caterwauling from the Left about international law. Of course, no one invokes international law when Iran kills our servicemen, or when Hamas massacres Israelis, or when Iran launches missiles against the United Arab Emirates, and so on. There is a certain asymmetry in the invocation of international law. I took a course in international law when I was in law
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March 5, 2026 — John Hinderaker
Foreign Policy magazine is a mouthpiece of the foreign policy establishment that has been wrong about nearly everything for many years. It emails its content daily; today’s featured article is “The Iran War Is Jeopardizing the Entire Global Economy.” Spoiler alert: the global economy is going to survive. So why does taking out the mullahs jeopardize the entire global economy? It is easy to see why it might help the
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March 5, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Mark Levin invited Steve Witkoff to report on his experience negotiating on behalf of President Trump with the emissaries of the Iranian regime in Geneva and Oman before the current hostilities. It is posted with this written introduction on YouTube: Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff calls in to break down his stunning negotiations with the Iranian regime before President Trump made his decision to attack. These meetings
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March 3, 2026 — John Hinderaker
Has any cabinet officer ever had a better year than Secretary of War* Pete Hegseth? His department has pulled off three brilliant, flawless operations in a row: the devastation of Iran’s nuclear facilities, the apprehension of wanted criminal Nicolas Maduro, and now Operation Epic Fury. While Secretary of State Marco Rubio is being justly celebrated for his great work over the past year, Hegseth has generally not gotten the credit
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March 3, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Secretary Rubio went up to Capitol Hill to brief congressional leaders on our offensive against the Iranian regime yesterday. I’ve seen one snippet of his post-briefing press conference. Below is the whole thing. The whole thing should be seen and heard. Don't pay attention to the out-of-context snippets. If you want to know how Rubio explains the rationale for the war, watch the whole thing. https://t.co/pig4QCJip6 — David Bernstein (@ProfDBernstein)
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March 3, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Some say Israel has dragged the United States into the war on the Iranian regime. You know who they are, on the left and on the right. The Iranian regime has inarguably been at war with both Israel and the United States over the past 47 years. The combined American/Israeli response is overdetermined and overdue. So whose war is it anyway? In his Ask Haviv Anything podcast yesterday, Israeli journalist
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March 2, 2026 — John Hinderaker
Eran Ortal is a well-known Israeli military theorist. He gave an interview to the Jerusalem Post that coincides with my own thinking on Iran: “There is no precedent for regime change through an air campaign,” Brig. Gen. Eran Ortal told The Media Line. Which, however, is not necessarily a pessimistic evaluation: Ortal framed what comes next as two broad paths. In the first, he said, leadership losses and a communications
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March 2, 2026 — Scott Johnson
The Iranian regime has chosen to expand the war by attacking every Arab country in the vicinity. It seems like a desperate gamble. If the regime survives, the new boss is going to have to learn to share the neighborhood. That’s a phrase President Obama himself applied to Israel for some reason. When the offensive was intiated this past weekend, I wanted to say that Obama was hardest hit. Former
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March 1, 2026 — John Hinderaker
You may have seen a video clip of an announcer on Iranian state television, crying as he announced the death of Ayatollah Khamenei. My reaction was: why is state television still on the air? Given the pinpoint destruction of Iran’s military assets, we surely could have put it out of business. But there may have been a better alternative: IRAN STATE TV HACKED – NETANYAHU MAKES A GUEST APPEARANCE 😆
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March 1, 2026 — John Hinderaker
In recent years, various elements of the American establishment have been exposed as incompetent or worse. The foreign policy establishment is high on that list. It has frequently been inept, if not effectively anti-American. So I couldn’t agree more with Noah Pollak: One of Trump's greatest legacies will be how he blew up a half-century of western diffidence, restraint, and failure on terrorism. As the era of Islamic terrorism began
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March 1, 2026 — Scott Johnson
I’ve inadventently turned this into Doran Sunday. Below is an interview Andrew Klavan recorded with Michael Doran this past Wednesday, before the demise of Ayatollah Khameni. Doran just posted it on X, where I first found it this afternoon. The video is also posted on YouTube under the title “How Eliminating Ayatollah Khameini Will Change The Middle East.” I found it of interest. In this interview Doran is looking ahead
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