Trump believed coming across as 'unstable and insulting' in controversial posts could 'bring the Iranians to the table'
Source: The Independent
Sunday 19 April 2026 05:44 EDT
President Trump reportedly adopted a strategy of intentionally acting unstable and insulting towards Iran, in the hopes that it would push the U.S. adversary to negotiate an end to the war.
The unorthodox tactics were reportedly behind a string of controversial posts the president made this month about the vital Strait of Hormuz, administration officials told The Wall Street Journal.
In one post, on April 5, the president ordered Iran to open the F***in Strait, you crazy b*******, or youll be living in Hell, and ended the post with Praise be to Allah.. In another message, this one on April 7, the president threatened that a whole civilization will die tonight unless Iran agreed to open the strait.
A two-week ceasefire was announced that night, less than 90 minutes before Trumps deadline. Still, the comments alarmed critics from both parties, with members of Congress and faith leaders reportedly contacting the White House to inquire about the presidents striking comments, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-post-iran-deal-easter-b2960486.html
Full headline: Trump believed coming across as unstable and insulting in controversial posts could bring the Iranians to the table, report says
twodogsbarking
(18,997 posts)Vinca
(54,144 posts)OldBaldy1701E
(11,292 posts)barbtries
(31,320 posts)one of the most malignant, severely damaged humans on the planet. THIS STORY is what his propagandists have come up with to continue avoiding taking any action with regard to his behavior.
travelingthrulife
(5,355 posts)LeftInTX
(34,554 posts)He underestimates Iran and assumes Iran is unstable.
Chasstev365
(7,939 posts)Justice matters.
(9,908 posts)That's what "the uneducated" elected... thanks to FAUX NOI$E.
Lovie777
(23,226 posts)that is his pattern and in the past it has worked. He has already threaten to obliterate Iran.
MissouriDem47
(426 posts)It was Trump just being Trump
EarthFirst
(4,183 posts)This is the worst attempt at walking back non-existent policy Ive ever witnessed.
The more than likely scenario is an effort to stuff more gauze into a gunshot wound on cratering polling numbers in advance of the mid-terms to hoodwink the base.
What you see is what you get.
Hes losing badly and equally as bad; floundering the efforts to rebound.
Shockingly pathetic low effort; even by recent standards.
FalloutShelter
(14,533 posts)Whip-poor-will
(339 posts)In your guts....
Irish_Dem
(81,859 posts)Justice matters.
(9,908 posts)"your base is cracking... sniff sniff, they think you're insane and blasphemous"
LymphocyteLover
(9,950 posts)the idea is fucking insane
Irish_Dem
(81,859 posts)John1956PA
(5,007 posts)chia
(2,824 posts)displacedvermoter
(4,752 posts)wandering around in the streets in a bathrobe while running the Genovese Family.
Except Trump really is fuckin' nuts!
no_hypocrisy
(55,079 posts)The Madman Theory
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madman_theory
dalton99a
(94,712 posts)Deminpenn
(17,547 posts)Last edited Sun Apr 19, 2026, 06:59 PM - Edit history (1)
Is he s bully? Yes. Is he diagnosably mentally ill? Yes. Is his mind showing the effects of being 80 years old? Yes
But we shouldn't make the mistake of thinking or believing Trump is still not capable of cleverness or cunning, because he is. His social media posts are just a new iteration of the "mad man" theory.
Walleye
(45,093 posts)Its desperation, he always does this. He knows he fucked up and hes trying to find somebody to blame.
Wonder Why
(7,145 posts)Baitball Blogger
(52,488 posts)BattleRow
(2,579 posts)His insanity is incontinent...
displacedvermoter
(4,752 posts)BattleRow
(2,579 posts)Could explain a lot..on many levels.
displacedvermoter
(4,752 posts)People also note "I Have Had a Belly Full", or " I Can't Stomach It", or a fear that is in "The Pit of My Stomach".
That second brain thing makes good sense.
Javaman
(65,871 posts)agingdem
(8,919 posts)Last edited Sun Apr 19, 2026, 09:45 AM - Edit history (1)
Like this is supposed to bring the Iranians to their knees when we know and the whole world knows Trump really is a deranged shit for brains bloviating impulsive toxic clown well Im convinced!
Goonch
(5,289 posts)
travelingthrulife
(5,355 posts)I expect this is in response to that.
YodaMom2
(202 posts)Because hes also got Sadism covered.
ToxMarz
(2,988 posts)NoMoreRepugs
(12,156 posts)twodogsbarking
(18,997 posts)BattleRow
(2,579 posts)Just grab em by the p--y......
Justice matters.
(9,908 posts)"easily accessible to any skilled spy" mold-infested restrooms and never held accountable with the proper punishment written in the criminal code... oh, and while on the subject, the same with plotting to overthrow an election by inciting his stupids to go murder his Vice-President!
Yonnie3
(19,526 posts)or perhaps the man is actually unstable. Occam's razor might be a good fit in this case.
IronLionZion
(51,422 posts)FakeNoose
(41,952 posts)... however he has happily taken credit for it these past 40 years.
Escape
(487 posts)to be unstable and insulting. Thats a couple of his core personality traits.
Botany
(77,546 posts)Last edited Sun Apr 19, 2026, 09:45 AM - Edit history (1)
He had to go to military school to avoid going into a juvenile detention facility after putting
a smaller child in a hospital and trying to throw a teacher out a window. Besides anybody
who makes himself look like he does and looks into the mirror and thinks that is a good look
Is batshit crazy. If his daddy had bought his way out of all kinds of things he would either
have died in Vietnam or been in prison for any # of things.
If we had an honest media he wouldnt be in the White House right now. Thiel, Musk, Russia,
crypto boys, fossil fuel billionaires and companies, and others assured the outcome.
llmart
(17,658 posts)Botany =
delisen
(7,398 posts)twodogsbarking
(18,997 posts)BootinUp
(51,474 posts)mwb970
(12,155 posts)For one thing, trump is unstable and insulting all the time.
xuplate
(214 posts)niyad
(133,114 posts)infrastructure?
Come on, little blood clot.
mwmisses4289
(4,424 posts)Hope the universe hits you with this clue by four and hits you with it hard- Nobody believes a fucking thing you say!
underpants
(196,841 posts)The old excuse line by MAGA.
Now hes added IT WAS A STRATEGY!!!
🙄
Ocelot II
(130,842 posts)Somebody is trying to make him seem like he's sane and acting deliberately. But now that the insanity and instability shtick clearly isn't working, he's doing more of it because he doesn't know how to do anything else. It isn't a shtick, it's just him.
travelingthrulife
(5,355 posts)If we can get it past the anti-American Republicans, it is a pathway to get rid of him. He has also demanded an answer about his mental status from Trump's doctors.
I think this is a response to that
LeftInTX
(34,554 posts)I think he thinks Iran is Venezuela or Greenland...
It's not even anything like Iraq or Syria. (I kinda think he thought it was like Iraq.."Oh just go in there. Kill their supreme leader and the government structure will collapse".)
Ocelot II
(130,842 posts)He has just enough shreds of sanity left to know that he can't bully Russia or Israel. But he's always been a bully and now he's just crazier about it.
Stpaoulboy
(53 posts)That's all.
NorCalBlue
(53 posts)Even if this were true, and I dont believe him, how stupid does he have to be to teletype this tactic to Iran before this war is over? What is the point even? To gain back support from people who thought hed become unstable? Too late. It doesnt explain the Jesus meme or half the other shit he posted.
Goonch
(5,289 posts)
Bristlecone
(11,135 posts)This tells me that those around him know damn well that he is batshit crazy and are trying to spin his nonsense as strategy. Again, what a load of shit.
Wounded Bear
(64,438 posts)He wants to act like it's something new, but he's always been an asshole.
malthaussen
(18,594 posts)(In paraphrase). A reporter quotes the dictator du jour of some country or other, and somebody asks him "How do you know when the Great Leader is making a statement and when he's just mouthing off?" The reporter answers: "He says 'quote that, suckah.'"
So, how do we know when DJT being "unstable and insulting" is a policy decision, and when it's just DJT being his usual self?
-- Mal
Prairie Gates
(8,304 posts)They're truly slipping.
BumRushDaShow
(170,705 posts)So it takes one to know one.
travelingthrulife
(5,355 posts)Mr. Mustard 2023
(363 posts)acting so ridiculous and incoherent.
Justice matters.
(9,908 posts)from any potentioal Legal CONSEQUENCE of his war-criminal threats (to get away scot-free again).
Response to BumRushDaShow (Original post)
Ponietz This message was self-deleted by its author.
PSPS
(15,347 posts)Of course it's ridiculous and just another wild attempt at slavishly sanewashing.
Fla Dem
(27,685 posts)he's said / posted were a genius ploy to scare the Iranians into a peace deal?
58Sunliner
(6,358 posts)So tired of his toxic, corrupt shit show.
2na fisherman
(341 posts)Remember this term when he rambles incoherently? He had to make up this term for it to seem like it was his brilliant way of threading together many random elements mixing various subjects to finally arrive at a key point of emphasis. And this was supposed to show his vast breadth of knowledge and intellect.
BTW, when he speaks he also does that accordion thing with his hands. I believe this is a tell which he displays as a kind of subconscious defensive barrier to help him dispel any expected criticism of his obviously untruthful and insane statements.
BattleRow
(2,579 posts)He's doing a rob and weave..
And regarding Iran,he's woven a spider's web of intractable proportions,imho.
Hugin
(37,909 posts)Is utter bullshit. Sanewashing.
Pathetic.
AllaN01Bear
(29,673 posts)BlueWavePsych
(3,392 posts)
3catwoman3
(29,580 posts)How silly of us not to discern the subtle sophistication of this novel approach.
That's some real creative writing there.
hay rick
(9,651 posts)Obvious corruption. Stock and oil futures manipulation takes place in broad daylight. Multi-billion government contracts are steered to weeks-old companies infested with relatives and cronies and offering no relevant, qualifying experience. If leaders want to enable and participate in looting their own country, Kushner and Witkoff are always available to arrange the bribes.
Talitha
(8,082 posts)Baseheads are always full of shit.
chowmama
(1,106 posts)But there's no 'acting' about it. He is insulting and unstable.
I don't know when it's going to be forced home to him that he's now completely unable to make a deal of any kind. Everything he says is a known lie and he can/will change his mind within days, hours, or minutes. Nobody sent to negotiate for the US can guarantee that TOFU will do anything other than whatever he feels like at the moment. Once everybody knows that, he's done. And everybody knows that.
I believe that behind the scenes at the WH, he's in a complete panic, flailing around trying to find something, anything, he can win at. Maybe the bomb, maybe Cuba, maybe... You can't possibly keep ahead of imagining it, because there's literally no scheme crazy enough that he would rule it out. He's sure that there has to be something that'll bail him out of being the loser that he is.
And there's nothing.
YodaMom2
(202 posts)Im so relieved. For a minute there, I was concerned
City Lights
(25,919 posts)He just spews more trumpshit on top of trumpshit.
Karma13612
(4,992 posts)I cant stand what Iran and Sharia law stands for, but I know damn well their leaders arent as mentally incompetent as Trump.
GenThePerservering
(3,500 posts)only they're pitifully bad at gaslighting.
Figarosmom
(12,476 posts)It's no "strategy". This is his people making excuses because he is really a lunatic. He is unstable and insulting, no question about it, that's him in a nutshell and always has been him.
Grokenstein
(6,375 posts)"I was just pretending to be a flatulent angry lunatic! It's all an act! A strategy! Those times I pissed and shit myself? A strategy!! (promptly voids bowels into pants) I really am a stable genius!"
ananda
(35,291 posts)I didn't know the Independent was capable
of such bad journalismm.
jeffreyi
(2,582 posts)Bargain basement.
Nasruddin
(1,281 posts)Someone's trying to normalize and deflect a little here.
You'd think, "Oh, maybe he has another strategy: he could be kind and empathetic; or business like and goal-oriented; or ...."
Nope. This is his one strategy, and he always starts out this way: Norm-busting, bullying, and making an outrageous ask.
He's probably done this since the beginning of his life, but I expect he learned it clearly from, and was refined in its use, by Roy Cohn a long time ago. If he's truly impaired, it might be all he has left and is kind of instinctive (ie, it's his real self).
It's followed closely or intertwined with a big bluff, and then carpet-bombing with lies (never truth - ever give anything away for free).
Wall Street seems to have gotten wise to this (or most of it) - TACO.
You know what? It's easier to lie if you're mentally impaired! And you can really believe it, which might make your act even more convincing!
thought crime
(1,676 posts)"...a strategy of intentionally acting unstable and insulting..."
Yeah, Trump intentionally acts that way - because he's an unhinged nut.
maspaha
(748 posts)That is trump unstable and insulting!
Karasu
(2,030 posts)ruet
(10,309 posts)shit. Testbook sixth grade tactics.
50 Shades Of Blue
(11,435 posts)But I guess it's all they got even though it's utter BS.
Qutzupalotl
(15,835 posts)BigmanPigman
(55,305 posts)RockRaven
(19,555 posts)He's not crazy like a fox. He's just an immoral pig.
And even if one were to accept that "oh, he was using madman theory" spin as true... That is tremendously unflattering spin because inherent in that explanation is the unavoidable implication that he is extraordinarily ignorant and stupid -- because that "madman theory" stuff is totally ineffective bunk and everyone knows it.