{"id":559,"date":"2026-06-23T13:10:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T13:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=559"},"modified":"2026-06-23T13:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T13:10:13","slug":"trump-is-desperate-for-a-big-win-after-the-iran-debacle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=559","title":{"rendered":"Trump is desperate for a big win after the Iran debacle"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

If there\u2019s one big no-no in international diplomatic negotiations, it\u2019s for one of the players to physically threaten the envoys. The negotiators are there to try to reach an agreement, so when they are threatened with death by the leader of the opposing side, it can be a bit of a poison pill. But such rules are designed for mature adults who understand how international relations work. America, unfortunately, has a leader who sees the world through the lens of gangster movies and can\u2019t keep his mouth shut.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s MAGA brand is fading \u2014 and that makes it dangerous<\/a><\/p>\n

We saw this illustrated over the weekend when President Donald Trump <\/span>threatened the Iranian envoys<\/span> in Switzerland with death if the Islamic Republic closed the Strait of Hormuz again, which the country had threatened to do if Israel did not stop bombing Lebanon. The president issued the warning in his usual classy fashion: \u201cYou close it and you won\u2019t have a country. You won\u2019t even make it back to your f**king country.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For the record, the first paragraph of the memorandum of understanding he and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed <\/span>reads<\/span>:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, and their allies in the current war, by signing this MoU, declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and undertake from now on not to initiate any war or any military operation against each other, and to refrain from the threat or use of force against each other, and ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon. The final Deal will confirm the permanent termination of the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and other provisions of this paragraph.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

By failing to enlist Israel in the agreement \u2014\u00a0and by threatening the use of force against Iran \u2014\u00a0it would appear the United States violated its terms. (Trump also threatened to take the Strait himself and charge fees for a profit. There\u2019s bad faith, and then there\u2019s bad faith.)<\/span><\/p>\n

But then, as everyone has learned, the president tends to talk a big game; he is only willing to bluster and bomb to the point where it costs him something, and then he backs down. Case in point: Following Trump\u2019s threat, the Iranian delegation briefly left the talks, but they returned after being reassured he wasn\u2019t serious.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the smoke from the agreement clears, a <\/span>consensus<\/span> has emerged \u2014\u00a0<\/span>even among MAGA media<\/span>, as Salon\u2019s Sophia Tesfaye has explained \u2014\u00a0that the U.S. has suffered a profound defeat. This is largely because Trump had no strategy beyond assuming that bombing Iran and killing some members of the nation\u2019s leadership would instantly lead to unconditional surrender and new leadership, which would then welcome Western businesses eager to build resorts on the Strait of Hormuz. For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apparently assumed that once Trump was committed to the war, he would not back off and would instead escalate as necessary to achieve the goal of regime change. Neither of them understood who and what they were dealing with, and the result is that the U.S. is weaker, Iran is stronger and Israel is even more isolated.<\/span><\/p>\n

With peace talks having <\/span>concluded in Switzerland<\/span>, American delegation\u2019s leader, Vice President JD Vance, <\/span>proclaimed<\/span> them a \u201csuccessful foundation\u201d for a comprehensive agreement. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent <\/span>announced waivers<\/span> so that Iran could immediately resume selling its oil. But will any of this really mean anything? Both the U.S. and Iran know that, at this point, neither country\u2019s signature on a treaty is worth the paper it\u2019s printed on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Trump will need to bag himself a \u201cwin\u201d as soon as possible to erase his defeat in the minds of the MAGA faithful \u2014\u00a0and to quiet the voices in his head screaming that he has screwed up once again.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s crackdown on ICE protesters already shows signs of backfiring<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

For his part, Trump has already declared victory. He is clearly eager to move on from what is undoubtedly the worst foreign policy failure of his presidency \u2014\u00a0and one of the worst in U.S. history. But since his psyche is so fragile, he will not be able to admit that to himself. Trump will need to bag himself a \u201cwin\u201d as soon as possible to erase his defeat in the minds of the MAGA faithful \u2014\u00a0and to quiet the voices in his head screaming that he has screwed up once again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s next on the president\u2019s list? Well, it\u2019s pretty clear that it\u2019s going to be Cuba. He\u2019s been talking about the communist nation quite a bit lately, even <\/span>telling reporters<\/span> in March, \u201cI do believe I\u2019ll have the honor of taking Cuba,\u201d and asserting \u201cI can do anything I want\u201d with the country. He clearly sees it as an easy victory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As Salon\u2019s Andrew O\u2019Hehir <\/span>pointed out<\/span> in an historical analysis of the Cuba-America dynamic, \u201cMiami-expat monomania remains a curiously powerful force within Republican politics,\u201d and Trump is a Florida man now. He is also listening to his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose politics were fermented in that anti-communist petri dish \u2014\u00a0and who tells him that this one will be easy. One can\u2019t help but wonder if, after the Iran mess, Trump is listening to anyone who tells him that these days. But he will likely take the country because he knows that Cuba is no Iran. It truly doesn\u2019t have any \u201ccards\u201d to play, and its people are currently being starved by the siege being waged by the U.S. <\/span><\/p>\n

And let\u2019s talk about beachfront property: Nothing would thrill Trump more than to fulfill the Mafia dream of a gambling resort on the island 90 miles off the coast of Florida without all those pesky laws and regulations. He saw \u201cThe Godfather Part II,\u201d and he knows he could pull it off, unlike those losers JFK and Michael Corleone.<\/span><\/p>\n

If he does, it\u2019s pretty clear that he\u2019ll anoint Rubio as his successor, even over his own vice president. (Vance made the mistake of being right about Iran, which Trump will find unforgivable.) According to \u201cRegime Change,\u201d the new book by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, when Trump was asked if he thought his successor would keep all the gilt trappings in the Oval Office, he replied, \u201cCubans like gold.\u201d Rubio, it appears, is already on track.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But in the unlikely event that things don\u2019t go well, Trump will need to find a win somewhere else. According to the New Yorker\u2019s Ben Taub, the United States is still engaged in what the magazine <\/span>calls<\/span> the \u201cridiculous, deadly serious plan to take over Greenland.\u201d They may have ways of doing it without a full invasion or a literal takeover of the country, but it\u2019s pretty clear the latter is what Trump is really after. In his January <\/span>interview<\/span> with the New York Times, he said that it\u2019s \u201cpsychologically important\u201d for the United States to actually<\/span> own<\/span><\/i> the island. It\u2019s very big, you see, especially on the map.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Will he do it? Who knows. But at the recent G7 summit, Trump was caught on a hot mic, cryptically saying to European Council president Ant\u00f3nio Costa, \u201cYou understand \u2014 Greenland.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more \u201cHuge grab of power\u201d: Trump is defying Congress on foreign aid<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The president is eyeing Cuba and Greenland to erase the sting of defeat<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4,161,5,273,842,134,105,42,43],"class_list":["post-559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-commentary","tag-cuba","tag-donald-trump","tag-foreign-policy","tag-greenland","tag-iran","tag-iran-war","tag-jd-vance","tag-marco-rubio"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump is desperate for a big win after the Iran debacle - Relocation Across America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=559\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump is desperate for a big win after the Iran debacle - Relocation Across America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The president is eyeing Cuba and Greenland to erase the sting of defeat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=559\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Across America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-23T13:10:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=559#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=559\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\"},\"headline\":\"Trump is desperate for a big win after the Iran debacle\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T13:10:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=559\"},\"wordCount\":1266,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=559#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1e5b100ac03875fa1c12bb39be1903fa.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Commentary\",\"Cuba\",\"Donald Trump\",\"Foreign Policy\",\"Greenland\",\"Iran\",\"Iran War\",\"JD Vance\",\"Marco Rubio\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=559#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=559\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=559\",\"name\":\"Trump is desperate for a big win after the Iran debacle - Relocation Across America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=559#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=559#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1e5b100ac03875fa1c12bb39be1903fa.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T13:10:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=559#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=559\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=559#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1e5b100ac03875fa1c12bb39be1903fa.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1e5b100ac03875fa1c12bb39be1903fa.jpg\",\"width\":1692,\"height\":1128,\"caption\":\"WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 20: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) depart the White House on their way to Florida on March 20, 2026 in Washington, DC. 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