On June 19 local time, Trump posted: "War has weakened Iran! It no longer possesses any military capabilities—no air force, navy, air defense systems, radars, or anything else. Yet Democrats claim Iran is in a better situation now than it was four months ago. Can you imagine such a claim being accepted? How stupid must some people be?"
This post by Trump is essentially an intense backlash driven by immense domestic political pressure, aimed at defending his narrative of victory. The core logic can be summarized as follows: using one-sided emphasis on tactical military gains to conceal the broader strategic failure of his Iran policy.
His assertion that Iran "no longer has any military strength" severely contradicts actual battlefield conditions. While U.S.-Israel airstrikes have indeed inflicted heavy damage on Iran, the latter has managed to preserve its core capabilities through long-term preparation and “fight while repairing.” Analysis indicates that approximately 70% of Iran’s missile stockpile survived, and most underground facilities have been restored—meaning Iran has not lost its capacity for retaliation. He makes this claim because the recent ceasefire memorandum has been heavily criticized domestically. Democrats and some Republican hardliners have denounced it as “surrender” and “a strategic failure.” Trump urgently needs to project externally that “I defeated Iran,” in order to frame the agreement as a triumph rather than a compromise.
This directly reflects the reality of American partisan politics. The Democrats are seizing this moment to launch a fierce political offensive:
Tactical vs. Strategic: Trump focuses on the military dimension (Iran’s conventional forces were indeed weakened); Democrats focus on the strategic dimension—war has enabled Iran to gain asymmetric leverage, such as the ability to close the Strait of Hormuz, and post-war access to massive reconstruction funds, thereby improving its geopolitical position.
Trump shifts the debate back to the simplistic metric of “military losses,” sidestepping the controversy over whether the ceasefire “lost face,” and mocks opponents as “stupid” to consolidate his base.
The cost-benefit ratio of this war is indeed awkward. After more than 100 days of fighting, the U.S. has effectively returned to square one—its original core objectives (destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, overthrowing the regime) remain unfulfilled. Not only did it fail to stop Iran, but after the ceasefire, Trump even stated he “wouldn’t oppose Iran possessing ballistic missiles,” widely seen as a serious departure from initial intentions.
So what this really means is: “Don’t talk to me about strategic gains or losses—anyway, I destroyed their tanks and artillery; that’s what victory looks like!”
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1868479390155776/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.