Trump's Magical Thinking: He says he's winning in Iran. He's losing bigly. (R. Reich)

Trump's Magical Thinking

He says he's winning in Iran. He's losing bigly.

Robert Reich - Mar 31, 2026

Mr. Trump, may I have a word?

Bad enough for you to insist — in the face of all evidence to the contrary — that you won the 2020 election.

But it’s another thing for you to pretend — in the face of mounting deaths and injuries, ballooning expenses, and rising prices — that you won, or are winning, the war with Iran you began on February 28.

“Let me say, we’ve won,” you told a rally in Kentucky on March 11.

“I think we’ve won,” you said on the White House South Lawn on March 20.

“We’ve won this war. The war has been won,” you said in the Oval Office on March 24.

“We are winning so big,” you told a fundraising dinner on March 25.

“We’ve had regime change,” you told reporters three days ago. “The one regime was decimated, destroyed, they’re all dead. The next regime is mostly dead.”

Iran has now moved onto its “third regime,” and American negotiators are now speaking to “a whole different group of people” who have “been very reasonable,” you said.

You’re making all this up. In fact, you’re losing your war.

And so is America and much of the rest of the world.

After a month, your war has already cost 13 American lives, cost American taxpayers at least $30 billion, cost American consumers at least a dollar more per gallon of gas than they paid a month ago, pushed up food prices and mortgage rates, and pushed down the value of 401(k) retirement plans.

It’s mangled supply chains for industries that rely on items such as fertilizer to grow food or helium to make computer chips.

It’s also wreaked havoc across the Middle East with at least 1,574 civilians killed in Iran, including 236 children, and at least 50 killed in Iran’s attacks on other Gulf nations.

You assumed Iran would give up its nuclear program. Wrong.

After more than a month of bombing by the United States and Israel, you’ve most likely stiffened the regime’s resolve to produce a nuclear weapon.

In this respect, too, America is worse off — more endangered than we were in 2018 before you withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by Barack Obama.

In that deal, Iran agreed to restrict its nuclear program — reducing uranium stockpiles by 98 percent and capping enrichment at 3.67 percent, and allowing inspections — in exchange for relief from UN, EU, and U.S. nuclear-related sanctions.

Iran now holds a stockpile of approximately 970 pounds of uranium enriched up to 60 percent purity, according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. That’s close to weapons-grade. No one knows where it’s stored.

You thought winning this war would be as easy as abducting Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela and setting up a puppet regime there. Wrong again.

The old ayatollah is gone, but the new one and his regime are even more radical and hard line.

You assumed America’s military might would weaken Iran’s military capacity. Wrong.

They’ve embraced asymmetric warfare — using cheap drones and missiles and blocking the Strait of Hormuz — rather than take on America’s and Israel’s superior forces directly.

You thought the regime would soon cave. Wrong.

It’s been over a month and they’re the ones playing the waiting game.

They think they can withstand the mounting political and economic pressures better and longer than you and America can. They may be correct.

Reportedly, you’ve told aides you’re now willing to end the war even if Iran continues to block the Strait of Hormuz.

Maybe this is your best option at this point.

But it will allow Iran to decide in the future how much oil gets through and for whom, and could cause the economic damage to the U.S. to grow exponentially worse.

Mr. Trump, do you really believe you won this war?

Do you really believe America is better off than it was when you began the war?

Maybe the people around you are telling you that you’ve won the war and we’re better off because you punish the bearers of bad news and reward those who tell you what you want to hear.

Presumably you’re hearing the same fictionalized good news from Republicans in Congress, from sycophantic leaders abroad, from other assorted lackeys and suck-ups.

Or maybe you think that if you can convince enough people that you won and we’re better off, you will have won and America will be better off.

Because for you it’s always about public perceptions of reality rather than reality itself.

Everything depends on hype, spin, exaggeration, and outright lies.

For you there’s no truth, only belief.

Or maybe you think that if you keep saying you won or are winning, and America has come out on top, your magical thinking will in fact come true.

But this isn’t a game, and you’re not a magician.

This is real blood and guts. Real pain. Real deaths and injuries.

Real price increases at the gas pump.

Real hardships for real people — in America, in the Middle East, and elsewhere.

You can’t pretend, sir. This isn’t reality television. This is for real.

And the reality is Americans are worse off now and less secure than we were when you started this.

Reich said: "The old ayatollah is gone, but the new one and his regime are even more radical and hard line."

SituationPolitics.Com - Robert, you got one thing right: Donald Trump is a disgusting excuse for a human being who belongs behind bars.

Trump is a serial liar, a career criminal who surrounds himself with career criminals.

We're all suffering now because Democrats, Biden and Merrick Garland failed to put Trump behind bars, despite having had ample opportunity to do so.

Donald Trump is an unprosecuted war criminal - just like Biden and Bush.

I make the same claim you did but direct it towards Joe Biden and Donald Trump: Ayatollah Biden is gone, but Trump and his regime are even more radical and hard line.

Robert, you claim to be a student of history and law while ignoring history and law.

You accused Iran of being radical and hard line when the biggest radical group of hardliners are US and Israeli officials who have committed more war crimes, executed more wars, killed more men, women and children than any other group in recent history.

The U.S. and Israel don't have a history - they have the LONGEST RAP SHEET of any government: the Bush administration killing approximately one million Iraqis and Joe Biden illegally providing American bombs and weapons to Netanyahu for over two years - American bombs and weapons that Israel used to commit massive war crimes against the Palestinian people - American bombs that killed over 100,000 Palestinians.

U.S. Presidents are unprosecuted war criminals who violated federal law and int'l law to arm Israel's massive war crimes against Palestinians, Lebanese and Syrians.

The fact is the U.S. and Israel executed the biggest war crime any government could ever commit against a sovereign nation when the U.S. and Israel launched an unprovoked military attack against Iran on February 28, 2026.

You don't even mention the hardboiled fact that Israel executed illegal first strikes against Iran THREE TIMES, forcing Iran to defend itself each time.

Israel's first illegal strike occurred when Israel bombed the Iranian embassy in Syria.

Israel's second illegal strike occurred when Israel launched an unprovoked first strike on Iran that kicked off the 12-Day War.

Israel's third illegal strike occurred when Israel launched a first strike against Iran on February 28, 2026.

I hear warmongering, bloodthirsty Democrats complaining that Trump had no war plan, instead of attacking Trump for launching an illegal war on a sovereign nation.

Democrats silently acquiesce to all of Donald Trump's lies on Iran, because most Democrats support illegal regime change anyway.

The sad fact is both Democrats and Republicans violated federal law to provide the Israeli government with American weapons that Israel has used to commit massive war crimes.

The sad fact is both Democrats and Republicans support violating US and int'l law to impose illegal deadly regime change on non-white sovereign nations in the Middle East and around the globe.

Reich: "They’ve embraced asymmetric warfare — using cheap drones and missiles and blocking the Strait of Hormuz — rather than take on America’s and Israel’s superior forces directly."

Reich repeats Netanyahu lies that Trump and Netanyahu used to justify US/Israeli illegal, unprovoked attacks and war on Iranians.

If you haven't noticed, Iran doesn't need nuclear weapons to defend Iran.

Iran could have built a nuclear bomb long ago, but have no interest in building a nuclear bomb, precisely because Islam strictly prohibits the mass murder of human beings.

That's why the late Ayatollah issued a fatwa in 1993 prohibiting Iran from building nuclear weapons.

Furthermore, if you haven't noticed, Iranians don't need a nuclear weapon to defend Iran because Iran enjoys missile superiority over Israel and the U.S.

The Iranians had the good judgment to invest in hypersonic missile and drone technology during the past ten years, instead of investing in air forces and naval assets; while the Pentagon and Congress used bad judgment in investing trillions of tax dollars and the past 25 years into the failed F-35 fighter jet and U.S. Navy shipborne lasers that are virtually ineffective and of no use.

Netanyahu and the U.S. are shitting in their pants because Iran enjoys operational hypersonic and ballastic missile superiority RIGHT NOW, while the U.S. and Israel have little to no ability to stop Iran from striking targets at will.

Netanyahu and the western media are working hard to prevent Americans from finding out that Iran's hypersonic missiles defeated Israel's anti-missile systems during the 12-Day War, striking Israeli military bases and targets at will.

During the 12-Day War and even now Netanyahu and the IDF issued a written warning to Israeli media, DO NOT FILM ISRAELI MILITARY BASES or the skies above Israeli military bases.

Netanyahu didn't want the world finding out that Israel's Iron Dome, David's Sling and ARROW systems had been defeated by Iran's hypersonic missiles - but it's too late now for anyone with a pair of eyes.

Iran was negotiating the end of US sanctions on Iran by explaining to nincompoops Witkoff and Kushner that Iran OPPOSES building nuclear weapons and has no need to build nuclear weapons to defend Iran from the US and Israel.

So what did Witkoff and the US do? The US began bombing Iran during negotiations.

Reich warns Iran could build a nuclear bomb, insinuating that if Iran produced a nuclear bomb that Iran would surely nuke Israel and the USA.

Robert, did you know that Iranians enjoy and hold free and fair elections ever since the Iranian people booted the US puppet, the Shah of Iran from power?

Did you know that Iranians hold elections for virtually every local and national position in Iran, except for the religious leaders who are appointed by an elected council?

Reich lies again, shamelessly repeating Netanyahu's violent rhetoric, falsely claiming that "America is vulnerable to Iran-sponsored terrorism" and the risk now is greater than ever.

Netanyahu, Trump, Republicans, Democrats and the US legacy media love to claim that Iran is the Number One sponsor of terrorism in the world.

The fact is the U.S. and Israeli governments are the Number One and Number Two sponsors of terrorism on Earth.

Who mass murdered over one million non-whites during the U.S. "War On Terror?"

Who mass murdered over 100,000 Palestinians in Gaza?

How many people have Iran mass murdered?

There is no comparison and anyone calling Iran the Number One sponsor of terrorism opposes Palestinian freedom from US-backed Israeli occupation, mass murder and the mass imprisonment of over two million Palestinians.

You wrongfully accuse Iran of failing to take on America and Israel's "superior forces" directly.

Iran has already taken on America and Israel's "superior forces" directly and the US and Israel lost and continues to lose.

Iran directly defeated America and Israel's ability to stop Iranian missile and drone attacks.

Iran enjoys air dominance over the skies of Israel and US bases in the region by striking any and all Israeli and US military targets at will.

The U.S. and Israel are incapable of stopping Iranian missile and drone attacks.

Dial 1-800-ASK-BIBI.

Trump and Hegseth lied when they said the US and Israel had destroyed 93% of Iran's ballastic missile capacity, as evidenced by the Pentagon's latest admission that the US and Israel have destroyed only about one-third of Iran's missiles and missile production facilities.

Even that figure is wrong as battle damage assessment is based on above ground destruction of buildings that served as decoys for US-Israeli bombing runs.

Robert, you want Iran to take on US and Israeli forces directly?

That is exactly what you said and complained of.

You thirst for the blood of Iranians - just like Netanyahu and Trump the war criminals. You thirst of illegal regime change in Iran.

Why didn't Israel send Israeli ground forces directly into Iran?

Because Israel knows that Israel would lose such a direct confrontation with the Iranians.

Why hasn't Trump launched a viable ground invasion of Iran?

Trump just sent approximately 50,000 US soldiers to staging areas in the Middle East.

50,000 US soldiers are not enough soldiers to make any difference whatsoever, as Iran has one million Iranian soldiers, superior firepower and a solid strategic position.

I predict Trump will not launch any ground attack, but will cut and run after Trump claims US special forces located and confiscated Iran's enriched uranium.

A Trump type of false flag operation to try to save face for Donald Trump.

It is literally impossible for the U.S. to locate and confiscate Iran's uranium stockpiles hidden in Iran's mountains - an area much bigger than the State of Texas.

Even if Iran told Trump where Iran's uranium stockpile is located, thousands of US soldiers will not overcome Iran's one million man army.

If Trump is actually foolish enough to launch a ground attack on Iran - whether on Khar Island or anywhere in the Strait of Hormuz - thousands of American soldiers will be killed and will be forced to retreat out of Iranian missile and drone range.

You, Trump, American TV generals and legacy media pundits act like Iran is Baghdad and the year is 1993 - AS IF Iran won't be able to strike US forces as soon as they get in Iranian missile and drone range.

The U.S. and Israel are accustomed to attacking defenseless civilian populations and countries with weak or no defenses.

The U.S. and Israel have never attacked a nation armed with substantial ballastic, hypersonic, drone capabilities and a million man army UNTIL NOW.

Billionaire-funded warmongering think tank analysts and American TV generals talk about U.S. Marines and Special Forces taking and holding Kharg Island and establishing beach heads in the Strait of Hormuz AS IF those American soldiers and ships won't be hit with Iranian ballastic missiles, hypersonic missiles and drones the moment US ships or soldiers come into missile and drone range.

Netanyahu and Israelis love to execute blood sacrifices, such as the blood sacrifice Israel executed in Gaza.

Now Netanyahu and Israelis are proud of Donald Trump executing an American soldier blood sacrifice for Israel on Iranian soil and water.

IF Trump is stupid enough to actually send US forces into the Strait of Hormuz and to try to take Kharg Island, hundreds if not thousands of American soldiers will be instantly killed via Iranian missile and drone attack.

Kharg Island is only 15 miles from Iran, which is only 5 seconds from Iran as the Iranian missile flies.

Remember, Iran can attack US forces entering the Strait of Hormuz from ALL OVER IRAN, not just near the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. ground forces have no defense against Iranian ballastic missile and drone attack, much less evasive hypersonic missile attack.

Robert, you and Donald Trump are factually incorrect when you say the US and Israel have superior forces to Iran.

Netanyahu panicked during the 12-Day War when Iran defeated Israel's Iron Dome, David's Sling and ARROW systems, proving that Iran can strike Israeli military targets at will.

That's why Netanyahu started another battle with Iran, launching another first strike on Iran, hoping the U.S. military could completely destroy Iran's ballastic missile capability; but resulted in Iran again defeating Israeli defense systems, US THAAD interceptors and Patriot missile batteries, striking Israeli military targets at will.

Right now as we speak Iran is defeating Israeli anti-missile, anti-drone defense systems and striking Israeli targets at will - with no end in sight, as Israel and the US do not know how many missiles Iran has.

Most global security experts agree that the U.S. and Israel will run out of missiles in days, not weeks or months.

Yesterday the commander of Iranian military forces announced that Iran will have destroyed ALL Israeli and US interceptors within the next two weeks.

The U.S. and Israel are rapidly running out of gravity bombs and guided missiles, but in the meantime the U.S. and Israel are constantly committing vicious war crimes, bombing Iranian hospitals, schools and universities.

The New York Times reports the US hit another Iranian school using a precision missile untested for war on the same day as the infamous deadly Minab girls school strike, killing 21 civilians: read about the strike here in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/29/world/middleeast/us-precision-strike-missile-iran-lamerd.html

CNN, MSNOW, FOXNEWS, etc. are propaganda networks constantly repeating anti-Iranian lies hundreds of times every 24 hours.

Top Ten Lies Against Iran

1. Iran is the Number One sponsor of terror.

2. Iran funds and arms Palestinians because Iranians hate Jews.

3. Iran does not hold free and fair elections.

4. Iran executes people in the public square.

5. Iran murdered 30,000 Iranians for protesting.

6. Most Iranians seek regime change.

7. Iranian women are oppressed and hold no position of authority.

8. Iranian women must wear hijab everywhere they go or face punishment.

9. Iran cut off the internet to prevent Iranians from communicating with the world.

10. Iran canot be allowed to build a nuclear bomb because Iran will nuke Israel.

The truth is:

*U.S. and Israel are the top two sponsors of worldwide terror.

*Iran funds and arms Palestinians to help Palestinians stop Israel from stealing more Palestinian land and killing more Palestinian people.

*Every office in Iran, whether local or state is an elected position, except for regime clerics who are appointed by an elected government council.

*The U.S. executes more people than Iran. Iran only executes someone after trial and conviction.

*Iran stopped a Mossad operation to overthrow the Iranian government.

*A majority of Iranians support the their government.

*Iranian women are NOT OPPRESSED and do in fact hold leadership roles in government, business and society.

*Iranian women are NOT required to wear a hijab.

*Iran had to cut off the internet because the Mossad was using the internet to target and kill Iranian officials.

*Iran cannot be militarily defeated.

ALL OF THIS is happening precisely because Israelis refuse to live within their own borders.

Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the Israelis have consistently initiated conflict to steal more Palestinian land.

Israelis believe they own all the land from the river to the sea and Muslims and Arabs are just troublemaking squatters living on Jewish land and borrowed time.

The Israeli appetite for destruction, mass murder and land theft is insatiable.

The world will continue to suffer until America has regime change at home.

Democrats and Republicans will never self-correct, will never vote in 100% public funding of federal campaigns, never get rid of SUPERPACS and Big Donors.

It's going to take a new political party to overcome Democrats and Republicans in order to effect regime change here in America.

The longest journey begins with but a single step.

655,558 views Mar 1, 2026 #60Mins

In 1982, 60 Minutes travelled to Iran for a rare and exclusive access to one of the Shah's palaces, transformed into the headquarters of then President Ali Khamenei after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Ali Khamenei became Supreme Leader in 1989, and led the country until March 2026 when he was killed during an attack by Israel and the United States that hit his compound.

The 1982 60 Minutes program with George Negus remains the Ayatollah's only one-on-one TV interview with Western media.

The interview, conducted with a state-appointed translator, includes portions that have never been broadcasted previously.

Robert, interesting how you present US-Israeli government-sponsored rape of a sovereign nation as a contest featuring winners and losers.

Do you consider the Rapist a winner, and his victim a loser?

I realize part of your gig is to present Israel as victim at all times, but Israel started this calamity, executing unprovoked attacks three times - 3 first strikes on Iran, and each time Iran defended itself you and other like-minded, bloodthirsty warmongers sang regime change choruses with Donald Trump, Democrats and Republicans.

Regime change via use of raw military force is not only a war crime, it is the most serious war crime a government can commit against a sovereign nation, short of state-sponsored genocide.

So stop acting like the U.S. and Israel have a lawful right to execute a first strike on any sovereign nation; neither the US nor Israel has any legal right to launch first strikes on any sovereign government that Robert Reich doesn't like.

You and your magical thinking presents violent regime change as just, legal and necessary to defend the U.S. and Israel.

Why don't you talk about the real problem?

The real problem is Netanyahu and Israelis refuse to live within their own borders.

Netanyahu and Israelis religiously believe that Gaza and the Palestinian territories belong to Israel, and Palestinians are just troublemaking squatters living on Israeli land and borrowed time.

Netanyahu attacks Iran to destroy Iran.

Netanyahu and Israelis hate and attack Iran for helping Palestinians exercise their legal right under the Geneva Conventions to form and maintain armed resistance groups to defend the population from occupation and attack.

Netanyahu and Israelis categorically oppose Palestinian statehood, oppose int'l law, human rights and do not believe in Palestinians right to exist as a people or as a sovereign government.

Google "Clean Break Israel" and you will see Israel's plan and commitment to permanent opposition to Palestinian statehood.

On November 22, 1967, a few months after Israel invaded the Palestinian territories and occupied the Golan Heights and Gaza in June of 1967, the world community came together at the United Nations and issued U.N. Resolution 242 ordering Israel to fully withdraw from the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, back to Israel's original borders.

To this day Israelis refuse to withdraw back to their own borders.

Netanyahu gives speeches proclaiming that Israel will never, ever comply with U.N. Res. 242 under any circumstances.

Netanyahu and a majority of Israeli Jews believe in "Greater Israel" believing Israel is entitled to all the land from the Nile to the Euphrates River - and believe they have the right to kill to take control of "their land."

That's what the problem is, Robert.

Real life in Tehran, Iran November 2025

Rabbi explains Iranians have no hatred for Jews and there's a very old Jewish community living in peace amongst Iranians for decades.

Netanyahu demonizes Iran as much as possible, constantly presenting Iranians as violent, subhuman, Jew-hating animals.

The U.S. media presents Israel as little Miss Red Riding Hood and Iran as the Big, Bad Wolf

Ali Khamenei never-before-seen interview: "The West does not know the truth about Iran" | 60 Minutes Australia (1979)

The History of Iran and Winston Churchill Exposes How the Past Repeats Itself

On BBC Question Time, George Monbiot explains that the Islamic Republic was partly established in response to British and American imperial action.

In 1953, Western powers overthrew a democratically elected Iranian government in the process of nationalizing Iranian oil, paving the way for an Islamic Republic hostile to Western powers.