The United States has resumed offensive strikes against Iran, as supposed peace negotiations between the two nations once again collapse.
On Wednesday, U.S. Central Command announced that at the direction of President Donald Trump American forces had begun
“conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”
The announcement came on Wednesday, just hours after the president claimed during a NATO press conference that “one hundred and eleven” missiles had been shot yesterday by the “Islamic Republic of Japan,” against an American aircraft carrier.
The president presumably meant to say Iran, but the new round of strikes caps off several days of turmoil during which the president clashed with American allies over the future of NATO, and declared the haphazard ceasefire with Iran “over.”
“I’m not happy with NATO because of what they did with Greenland, and I’m not happy with NATO because of the fact they didn’t want to help us with the number one state sponsor of terror — that’s Iran,” Trump said during a joint event with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, before admitting that “in fairness” he didn’t speak to Rutte about it.
In a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — where he touted an agreement to finally allow Ukraine to manufacture patriot missiles — Trump referred to his Ukrainian counterpart as “President Putin.” It was the exact mistake former President Joe Biden made at the same conference in 2024, which at the time escalated criticism that his age was affecting his ability to govern.
NATO is a defensive military alliance formed by the western powers in the aftermath of WWII primarily to check the influence and reach of the U.S.S.R. and later Russia. It does not exist to serve the military whims and expansionist impulses of the American president. Yet Trump arrived at this year’s summit with a clear expectation that fellow NATO countries would bow and scrape in the manner he most enjoys.
The president gushed that Turkish dictator Tayyip Erdoğan had “rolled out the red carpet” for him the last time the two met. He also called Spain a “waste.”
Spain is “a terrible partner in NATO. They don’t participate, they don’t pay. Cut off all trade with Spain — including visits […] they’re hopeless, bad people.”
Spain has been vocally critical of the Trump administration, and its efforts to intimidate fellow NATO members. Spain has, in fact, increased its contributions to the alliance’s military operations over the last two years, and Spanish president Pedro Sánchez reiterated that Spain and the United States continue to have “very, very strong ties that have endured regardless of the ideological leanings of the governments in power.”
It’s concerning that Trump has similar criticism of Spain as he does of Iran. “To me, I think it’s over,” Trump said when asked if a ceasefire remained in place on Wednesday. “I don’t want to deal with them anymore; they’re scum.” He launched some bombs to really drive the point home.
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