Donald Trump, Wrecker of American Empire

The president has done more damage to American power than anyone in history.

https://prospect.org/2026/04/08/donald-trump-wrecker-of-american-empire-iran-war/


President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, April 6, 2026, in Washington, as from left, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine stand by. Credit: Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo

Donald Trump is setting records. His war on Iran is certainly the stupidest war in American history—and that’s saying something—and Trump has now lost it more quickly than any previous war. It took 20 years to lose in Afghanistan, about ten years to lose in Vietnam, and two and a half years to lose the War of 1812, but Trump managed to get utterly dog-walked in a mere six weeks.

That’s the only possible conclusion from Trump’s announcement on Tuesday evening—after threatening to obliterate Iran’s entire civilization—that he had reached a deal with Iran based on an Iranian proposal. The ten-point plan includes acceptance of Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz and the country’s continued uranium enrichment, an end to all primary and secondary sanctions, war reparations, withdrawal of all American forces from the region, and an end to the Israeli bombing of Lebanon. (The last one is already being violated right now with a huge barrage by the Israelis, leading Iran to close the strait again, so the durability of this cease-fire is in deep question.)

Even if the Iranians come down somewhat, every one of these conditions is worse for American interests, at least as Trump would characterize them, than what existed before he started the war. Allowing Iranian control of the strait, complete with million-dollar tolls per ship, is particularly staggering; naturally, Trump said it was a “beautiful thing” when he thought of being able to get a slice of the tolling proceeds for himself.

It’s an immense strategic defeat—and one that knocks the legs out from under the entire American system of power projection and global predominance. Perhaps the most obvious, necessary-but-not-sufficient requirement for a global hegemon is keeping critical sea lanes open. Yes, we have air travel and the internet in our modern age, but floating key goods on water is still critically important to a global economy with long supply chains, and ensuring safe passage is one of those sets of modestly burdensome tasks for a global power.

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