The Whackiest Communiqué Ever Written by a U.S. President?
Trump expresses hope that China and other nations will send warships to the Strait of Hormuz
Napoleon famously remarked, “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” I was reminded of this maxim when I saw the following communiqué that President Trump just published on his Truth Social account.
Does President Trump know that Iran is permitting oil tankers destined for China to pass through the Strait of Hormuz?
Note that every military planner who considered what Iran would do if attacked by the U.S. has predicted it would close the Strait of Hormuz as an economic lever against the United States.
Trump writes of the “attempted closure” and the need to “keep the Strait open and safe” as though the Straight is not, in fact, closed.
He then expresses hope that China will send naval assets to the Strait to help the United States “to keep it open and safe”?
This is the same president who, on October 21, threatened to levy a 155% tariff against China.
Trump increasingly reminds me of the Emperor Caligula, who in 39 AD—according to Suetonius— built a gigantic floating pontoon bridge using hundreds of ships across the Bay of Baiae (part of the Bay of Naples) and rode his horse across it. He performed this feat to disprove a prophecy that he had “no more chance of becoming emperor than of riding a horse across the Bay of Naples.”
Organizing the flotilla to perform this stunt cost an astronomical sum and resulted in famine in Rome because it was necessary to requisition ships supplying grain to the city.
As President Truman put it, “The only thing new in the world is the history you do not know.”
Can someone send John Leake a link to The Conservative Treehouse so that he understands the current political theatre better? Please??
Another instance of an old guy, now under a whole lot of stress, who confidently walked into a corner, got lost, and now can't remember how to turn around.