Republican and Democratic senators had a deal that would fund all of Homeland Security except ICE, but Trump said no.
Trump is paying a French company one billion dollars to stop a wind farm project and instead invest in oil and gas projects because Trump has an irrational bias against wind energy. He thinks they are ugly.
“The Trump administration will pay $1 billion to a French company to walk away from two U.S. offshore wind leases as the administration ramps up its campaign against offshore wind and other renewable energy.”
The US allowing Iran to ship its oil while Iran stops most others, except those it gives permission, is a sign of weakness from the US. Trump isn’t willing to face the pain of much higher oil prices. If Trump isn’t willing to take such pain, then why would Iran agree to any significant demands?
The 2k or so marines sailing toward Iran from the Pacific, leaving two weeks after the war started for some reason, are not numerous enough to take and hold contested land, like Kharg Island, without heavy casualties. They may be able to make a beachhead in the province of Baluchestan where: the land is further away from the Strait of Hormuz, further away from Tehran, the US has better air supremacy, a landing would be surrounded by open lands where an Iranian attack could be easily seen, and the locals may be sympathetic because they are a different ethnic group and religion than the Persians and already have separatist rebels.
Former US Colonel Peter Mansoor says Trump thought Iran would surrender just from air attacks and didn’t have a plan for if they didn’t. He also said the war is unconstitutional, and that while a part of him is happy to see Iran get pain after killing hundreds of Americans in the Iraq war, most of him worries that Trump doesn’t have a plan and has opened a can of worms.
Trump initially said he was a militaristic guy but that he was against dumb wars like the war in Iraq. He later shifted to a more peace-focused rhetoric when he realized that was popular. But, he never had a strong belief in peace and always believed in the use of leverage and military force.
Much of America is enthralled by a demagogue who never had policy competency or decent character, and who has staffed his administration with many unqualified people and some who previously pretended like they stood for something but are now sycophantic enablers.