War in Iran, is this the beginning of the end for Trump?

Two weeks ago, Pete Hegseth, the U.S. Secretary of War, thanked Randy George, the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army along with two other generals, David Hodne and William Green Jr. The Chief of Staff, Charles Brown, had already been thanked earlier. Last year, Hegseth and the U.S. president had gathered all the generals and admirals of the army to encourage them to “mobilize against the internal enemy.” Translation: “we want a more politicized army, preferably one that embraces our objectives.” Those who did not share the president’s vision of MAGA (Make America Great Again) were respectfully invited to leave. Is the Trump administration engaging in a purge in the military like it did at the Department of Justice and in the civil service since returning to the White House? Apparently, yes.

However, it is a bad idea to empty the army of its best men in troubled times. Stalin purged the Red Army in the 1930s and was ill-equipped when the Nazis invaded the USSR in 1941. These Nazi invaders might have avoided this fatal invasion of the USSR if Hitler did not have yes-men in his army. French General Dominique Trinquand recently stated on TV5: “War is a dark room, you open the door and you don’t know what’s behind it.”

In this “dark room” that the war in Iran has become, there are certainly thousands of Iranian victims and considerable infrastructural damage. But there are also American losses: 13 soldiers and at least 4 planes, including a $700 million Boeing. According to TV5, the war has cost between 20 and 30 billion U.S. dollars so far. Each Tomahawk missile used to attack Iran, as well as to destroy Iranian drones, costs 3.5 million dollars. The Iranian drones hardly cost more than a few thousand dollars to produce.

The drone warfare combined with a visceral determination is what has allowed Ukraine to resist Russia after four years of war. So far, the Revolutionary Guard has shown the same determination against the most powerful army in the world, whose commander-in-chief has promised to wipe Iran off the face of the Earth.

While Iran fights for its survival in the Strait of Hormuz, the American president focuses on the price of gasoline and approval ratings. In addition, each day of war costs him a fortune not only in dollars but also in reputation. In addition to the salvos directed at the enemy, there are those he directs towards anyone who dares to criticize him, including Pope Leon XIV, the first American pope.

As he asks Congress for a whopping $445 billion increase in defense spending for 2027, 42% more than in 2026, he claims to no longer have money for health and social programs. Democrats are finally starting to act, believing they will win the midterm elections. How many Americans will want to see military spending increase by more than half while the already thin social safety net promises to be even looser than before?

Each additional day of this war is a disaster for Trump, and he knows it perfectly. And as shown by the incredible blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the American president desperately seeks a way out. He navigates according to his moods, improvising absurd messages in the early morning, insulting others without understanding what is really happening on the ground.

Getting rid of the mullah regime that condemns its population to poverty and obscurity is certainly a noble goal. However, an astute leader would have done so not through reckless war, but rather by pursuing or renegotiating the Vienna agreement on Iranian nuclear signed in 2015 (an attempt to reactivate it in a new form in the ongoing negotiations) and, above all, by relying on allies. An intelligent leader would not have put himself at the service of Israel (or given the impression).

A clear-headed leader would surround himself with the best minds and would keep his best generals, who would remind him of past mistakes in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam. But Trump being Trump, he prefers to surround himself with fanatics and sycophants who reflect the only image that is acceptable to him: that of a grand leader revered by all, his North Korean version of what a great leader is.

The American president likes to repeat that the United States needs no one, neither allies nor NATO, nor Europeans, nor Canadians, and that he has all the power he needs. But reality catches up with him every day when he sees the price of gasoline. However, to the planet’s dismay, he is fundamentally unable to understand the fundamental lesson of this mess.

The world he strives to create chaos in is a world of interdependence, where integrated supply chains force cooperation and collaboration, whether one wants it or not. In this world, a war that breaks out thousands of kilometers away will haunt whoever started it.

The most important global challenges we face, from nuclear to climate change to pandemic risks, drug trafficking, terrorism, or artificial intelligence, can only be resolved through strengthening international organizations, international law, science, and cooperation, all things that the real estate promoter hates.

Fortunately, I dare to believe, the era of Trump is ending. Every insult, every lie, every mystification, every demented staging where he pretends to be Jesus or God himself while insulting others brings us closer to the end. Americans will eventually, and that day is not far off, get rid of this president disguised as a dictator. It is now up to them to act. It is up to them to rid themselves of the cancer Trump before it is too late.