Letter to the editor: Trump's endless war

First published in the Brunswick Beacon, 07.30.26

On June 14, Trump gave himself an 80th birthday present — he proclaimed an end to his war of choice with Iran. “Congratulations to all!” Trump wrote. “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!”

Trump’s celebration was premature — Iran resumed blocking Hormuz and he resumed attacking Iran.

In 2016, Trump called Bush’s Iraq War “a big, fat mistake.” Trump railed against “endless wars” in his 2019 State of the Union: “As a candidate for President I pledged a new approach. Great nations do not fight endless wars.”

Now, he claims, “I didn’t guarantee ‘no war,’” adding “Sometimes you need a ground campaign.”

Trump’s about-face has former ally Marjorie Taylor Greene condemning the “bloodlust for a senseless war” that has cost 20 American lives and injured at least 583. The real cost could be higher — The New York Times reports that the Pentagon is concealing casualties from the American people, who hate Trump’s war.

A July 18 Washington Post-Ipsos Poll found just 28% of Americans think Trump’s Iran War is worth fighting. On July 19, The Economist reported: “The Iran War is America’s least popular since polls began.” No wonder — a July 13 Reuters/Ipsos Poll reported that 79% of Americans expect the Iran War to go on “for an extended period of time.”

Trump agrees. On July 19, a reporter asked, “You said at the start of the war it would be four or five weeks. Now it’s nearly five months?” Trump explained that the reason was his expansion of the war: “This is a far bigger job that we’re doing. We were doing a little job, stopping them from having a certain capability. Now, we’re just ending it. It’s really not the same thing.”

Fox News’ Brit Hume said Trump “promised to keep us out of endless wars — and now he’s in one.” With no end in sight, Trump’s own words are his most damning indictment: “Great nations do not fight endless wars.”

Eileen Farrell

Sunset Beach