***. “A reputation once broken may possibly be repaired, but the world will always keep their eyes on the spot where the crack was.” [ Joseph Hall ]

This post is the 8th in a series examining the conduct of Donald John Trump, unfortunately president of the United States. His character has often been declared deficient; and by some, “unfit for office.” He is often described as being “transactional.” He is a known liar. He is THE. anti-George Washington.

This post discusses the damage Trump has done, is doing, to America’s international reputation. He is damaging, if not destroying, decades of international good will felt toward America because of our generosity, our support of democracy, our “soft power.” It presents excerpts from: “America is depleting a more powerful weapon than its missiles” [ Max Hastings; St. Paul Pioneer Press; 4/5/26 ]:

10] “Truth is not merely a virtue. It is a weapon, which this administration has wantonly broken with its own hands, even as it wages a shooting war in which scarcely anybody save the Israelis sees merit or reason.”

2] “..[it matters]..for a great nation to lose its reputation for trustworthiness, as the U.S. has done under Trump. It is impossible in the midst of a war to tell the whole truth. but it is worth a lot that “our side”. – whatever that might be. – should be more credible than the enemy.”

7] “…how low America’s standing has fallen. Yet this matters very much, not just for now or even the balance of Trump’s term, but for the future of the U.S. If it chooses to speak and behave in a way that is morally indistinguishable from that of its rival superpowers, why should other nations not choose China or Russia as partners, rather than America?”

1] “..my longer-term concern is the depletion. – indeed, exhaustion. – of another American weapon, which I think is more important than mere hardware: belief in the truth of what the leader of the U.S. tells the world about the war, peace and everything else.” [NOTE: lies on the international stage count for more than his 30-40,000 domestic lies, fabrications, half-truths, mistruths, etc.]

*** “National honor is national property of the highest value.” [ James Monroe; 5th U.S. President ]

3] A handbook given to U.S. soldiers landing in Britain during World War II told G.I.s: “We can defeat Hitler’s propaganda with a weapon of our own: plain, common horse sense; understanding of evident truths.”

4] “The gloating tones..[of Lord Haw Haw]…were not unlike those of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth describing the fate of Iranians under American bombardment.”

5] “Today Trump is assaulting the organs of truth, while peddling obvious lies, for instance his claim that a Tomahawk missile that apparently hit a Tehran school was Iranian….the head of the Federal Communications Commission, a Trump lackey, is threatening to withdraw the licenses of U.S. outlets that fail to broadcast t he administration’s fictional narrative of the war.”

***. “A reputation for good judgment, fair dealing, truth, and rectitude, is itself a fortune.” [ Henry Ward Beecher ]

6] “The White House’s standard-bearers would say. – privately at least. – that we now live in a post-truth world; that their MAGA people neither expect to be told what is real by their leaders, nor mind that they are lied to.”

8]. “It is extraordinarily dangerous for any country, however rich and dominant, to base its entire polity on a belief that it will forever enjoy military and economic superiority; that might alone can sustain its hegemony.”

9] “America is no longer seen, especially in Europe, as worthy of trust. To quote again that 1942 U.S. serviceman’s handbook: “It is militarily stupid to criticize your allies.” Even superpowers need friends yet America has few left who, after enduring so many insults from Washington, sincerely respect those in charge there, or believe what they say.”
[NOTE: read this again; then reflect on America’s conduct during WorldWar II and during the “Cold War.” America was on the winning side – BECAUSE. we made, had friends. America was on the winning side BECAUSE its “soft power’ attracted people. America rebuilt Europe, rebuilt its former WW II enemies – because it was “the right thing to do.” ]

*** “A transactional foreign policy is not what convinces people around the world to stand with America.”
[ Tom Malinowski ]

*** “Foreign policy is effectively the assertion of many individual countries interacting on the global marketplace. And you have to figure out how to get your interest served in a way that meets the interests and needs of these other folks.”
[ John Kerry; former Secretary of State ]

This post is the 4th in a series examining the conduct of Donald John Trump, unfortunately president of the United states. Many, who scientifically examined him and knew him closely have said he was, is, unfit for this office. On Friday, 4/10/26, a very serious discussion occurred on the PBS “News Hour” about Trump’s mental state. Given Trump’s erratic, and, often un-presidential conduct – YOU can expect more of this, not in “hatred of Trump”. but in serious concern. Even if Trump is “normal,” he is THE anti-George Washington, THE anti-Abraham Lincoln.

This post presents excerpts from: “An Unjust War Without Plan or Purpose”. [ Phil Klay; New York Times; 3/22/26 ]:

11] “Power does not grow out of the barrel of a gun, cruelty is not the same as strength, and a politics built on such ideas promises ruin, delusion about the limits of our power and a betrayal of the promise of our founding.”

5] “American leaders have sought to justify our wars as having objectives in keeping with our founding political philosophy. This isn’t simply rhetoric, but about a fundamental view of power and its relationship to violence that filters down to strategy.”

10] “Without a clear moral or political purpose, we’re left with what the military analyst Franz-Stefan Gady calls the “strike-as-strategy” paradox, in which we substitute tactical prowess for comprehensive strategic design. this tendency, he writes, ‘is reinforced by a political culture that demands televised displays of military prowess.”

***. “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” [ Proverbs 29: 18 ]

1] “The justifications for the war have been stunningly incoherent. maybe the war is about regime change, about Iran’s nuclear program, about the narrow military objectives of degrading their ballistic missile and drone capabilities, or perhaps it was because Israel was about to attack and we’d be at risk, or because the United States was under imminent threat from Iran, or to achieve peace in the Middle East, and so on. Maybe it’s not a war at all…Maybe we want “unconditional surrender,” but maybe “unconditional surrender” is a thing that happens inside the president’s mind…Maybe the war is “quite contained,” but maybe Americans throughout the region need to leave. Maybe there will be ground troops and maybe not.” [ follow al of this? got it all figured out???!!!???!!! ]

4] “What these men don’t seem to realize, or care about, is that their language of brute force represents a fundamental break with American traditions around war going back to the Revolution.” [ as in 1776 ]

***. “Donald Trump tells us that he is very smart. I’m afraid that when it comes to foreign policy, he is very, very not smart.” [ Mitt Romney ]

2] “..as I watched a video posted by the White House in which a group of angry, rifle-wielding bowling pins labeled “Iranian Regime Officials” are struck by a Stars and Stripes bowling ball that turns into an airplane, followed by actual combat footage of U.S. airstrikes, I realized how one rationale for this war has remained clear and consistent: the administration’s delight in displays of violence and domination.”

3]. “The men who want to Make America Great Again are searching for a clean break from the Global War on Terror. That conflict was launched with lofty rhetoric about democracy and freedom but led to years of civil war, chaos, swollen ranks of terror groups, genocide, a refugee crisis…”

6] “When Stephan miller talked about our troops not fighting with their hands tied behind their backs, he was referring to a popular conservative myth about the Vietnam War, that we might have won had we only exercised less restraint…perhaps if we’d really gone scorched earth and killed a million more, the Vietnamese would have loved and embraced the rulers we foisted upon them…a particularly vile form of folly. And yet, that attitude seems to be guiding the current administration.”

***. “Wooden-headedness consists of assessing a situation in terms of preconceived, fixed notions while ignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting to wish while not allowing oneself to be confused by the facts.”
[ Barbara Tuchman ]

7] “A reliance on brute force can be blinding. In one of the more telling comments from the defense secretary, Mr. Hegseth claimed that because we’d taken control of Iran’s airways and waterways, “we control their fate,” and “the terms of this war will be set by us at every step.” a veteran of Iraq like Mr. Hegseth should know better. The enemy always gets a vote..”

8]. ‘..the U.S. energy secretary, Chris Wright, suggested that “Trump’s energy dominance agenda” meant that America need not worry about disruptions to the oil market if war broke out with Iran. Now the president is trying to claim that high gas prices are good for Americans, while urging oil tankers to “show some guts”. and sail through the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran, whose ships can get through, is selling more oil than before the war.”

9] “Robert Pape, an expert on strategic bombing campaigns, has argued that air power without subsequent ground troops has never resulted in a positive regime change.”

***. “War is, at first, the hope that one will be better off; next, the expectation that the other fellow will be worse off; then, the satisfaction that he isn’t any better off; and, finally, the surprise at everyone’s being worse off.”
[ Karl Kraus ]

So – in judging the work of ANY American government – use the Constitution’s Preamble as THE test. “We the People”. created the U.S. government to. “..establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare..”

So – ask YOURSELF. – how does Trump’s war of choice against Iran accomplish these goals? How does ANY Trump DICTATORSHIP policy accomplish these goals [in real life, not rhetoric]????? WHY. – are virtually ALL of America’s traditional friends and allies refusing to enter Trump’s war [do they all ‘hate’ him?]????? WHY did Pope Leo condemn Trump’s war?

***. “Character matters. Leadership descends from character.” [ Rush Limbaugh ]

***. “The imponderables and the unforeseen cannot be ignored in formulating foreign policy. That is why a preventive war should always be regarded as an act of criminal folly.” [. Sumner Welles ]

This post BEGINS to examine the American, and world, tragedy of Donald John Trump as the leader of a major world power in a war. That he is a deeply flawed person is beyond debate. That he seems to operate almost exclusively on whims, grudges, delusions, self-imposed lies is also seemingly beyond debate. Psychiatrists have said, written books, on his unfit mental state to be a U.S. president. That he is THE anti-George Washington, anti-Abraham Lincoln, anti-FDR, is also seemingly beyond debate. That he has surrounded himself with people who are “loyal” IS beyond debate.
And, now, this person has embroiled the U.S., thr Middle East, the world, in a war against Iran. – not for what they have done, but for what they COULD do. That Iran has fomented much evil. – in the name of religion. – is beyond debate.
Thus. – THE question: does Iran’s recent 46-year history justify a preventive war?

***. “War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses.” [ Thomas Jefferson ]

This post presents excerpts from. “Impulse and Ultimatums” [Erica Green; New York Times; 3/29/26]:

5] “THe war, like everything else that comes out of the White House, is a reflection of Donald Trump’s very unique personality and leadership style,” said Steven M. Gillon, a historian and the author of “Presidents at War: How World War II Shaped a Generation of Presidents,” “It’s focused on him as a great man. It is vague. It’s undisciplined. It’s unfocused.”

1]. “At 7;44 p.m., the president made his frustration known with an extraordinary ultimatum: if Iran did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours and allow much of the world’s gas and oil to flow through, he would bomb Iran’s civilian power plants. It was the kind of attack that could constitute a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.”

2]. “The disconnect underscores just how much the Iran war is testing Mr. Trump’s usual strategy for dealing with a crisis: imposing his own reality and disregarding inconvenient truths. “He thinks everything is transactional, he can deal with the deal one step at a time and see how things unfold, but war is fast, uncontrollable, unpredictable and deadly,: said Julian E. Zelizer, a Princeton University professor… “He’s doing the same techniques he always does – threatening people, insulting people, seizing attention to what he wants to say – he’s learning that it doesn’t always work,: he added. “He’s doing the art of the deal in a way that’s just creating chaos.”

3] “Mr. Trump’s cavalier attitude has shown cracks. When he was pressed about the deadly Tomahawk missile strike on an Iranian elementary school on the opening day of the war, Mr. Trump first blamed Iran and then claimed he did not “know enough about it.” [President Truman: “The buck stops here.” !!!!!]

4] “The president, who was granted five deferments from being drafted to fight in Vietnam. including for a diagnosis of bone spurs, has often mused that he would be a “good general.” [ delusional ego ??? ]

6] “Aside from the question of congressional approval, Mr. Trump has failed to provide any evidence that Iran posed an “imminent threat”. to the United States. And he has repeatedly moved the goal posts for success…”
{ But. – when you are a DICTATOR. – you don’t have to explain yourself. }

***. “War is the business of barbarians.” [ Napoleon ]