Trump thinks brute force will arrest the US’s decline. His heavy-handed actions in Iran are only accelerating it | Owen Jones

2026-03-19 - 12:19

From Venezuela to the Middle East, this is gangsterism fused with colonialism. It repudiates the moral language through which US power once justified itself Gone are any pretences about saving the Iranian people. “They really are a nation of terror and hate,” Donald Trump says of Iran. Asked if he would like to help its people, he replied: “I’d like to, if they can behave, but they’ve been very menacing.” Perhaps even he sensed the counterproductive ugliness of this, hastily adding that they are “great people ... smart, brilliant, energetic”. It gets worse. Trump wrote on Truth Social that Iran had “plans of taking over the entire Middle East” and “completely obliterating Israel,” adding: “JUST LIKE IRAN ITSELF, THOSE PLANS ARE NOW DEAD!” Pronouncing the death of a nation hardly screams liberation. Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...