Has Trump dragged the US into a forever war in Iran? | Mohamad Bazzi

He decried endless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now he may be stuck in one of his own making

As Donald Trump launched a war of aggression against Iran nearly five months ago, he insisted Washington would achieve a decisive victory within weeks.

Trump and his advisers scoffed at any suggestion that they were breaking https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/08/politics/fact-check-trump-new-wars">repeated campaign promises not to start new conflicts, and to end America’s legacy of forever wars, especially in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In early March, a week into the war, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/06/us-israel-threaten-major-escalation-airstrikes-iran-lebanon">Trump declared he would only agree to “unconditional surrender” by Iran’s theocratic government. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/read-trumps-full-statement-on-iran-attack">He vowed to destroy much of Tehran’s military, called for a popular uprising and https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/world/middleeast/trump-regime-change-iran.html">touted the overthrow of the regime that rose to power after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

Of course, Trump’s grandiose promises turned out to be the latest chapter in a long history of American imperial hubris.