Iran is breaking Trump's spirit

Iran is breaking Trump’s spirit
The war is getting in the way of the president's race-baiting and revenge campaigns

By Amanda Marcotte
Senior Writer
Published April 6, 2026 10:30AM (EDT)


(Salon) Donald Trump‘s address to the nation last week was supposed to be a big rah-rah moment, his chance to rally Americans behind his war on Iran. Instead the president sounded like a whipped dog, barely able to summon the energy to make false promises about ending the war “very shortly.” Thick layers of make-up were unable to make Trump come across as anything but a tired old man, even though the speech centered heavily on his two favorite topics: inflicting violence from afar and whining about how everyone misunderstands his unique genius.

Seeing him in such a defeated posture came as no surprise. The president was having a no-good, very bad week. On the morning of his speech, Trump had been at the Supreme Court in what appeared to be an elaborate effort to intimidate the justices into ruling in favor of his demand to end birthright citizenship. From the first few minutes of argument it was already becoming apparent that even this far-right court doesn’t seem ready to simply nullify the 14th Amendment, and a mere 13 minutes into the defense of birthright citizenship, Trump left in a huff.

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There is no telling how bad the war and the economy will get, but one thing is starting to become certain: The war in Iran and the escalating economic damage from it is getting in the way of Trump’s true love, which is waging culture wars that stir up the ugliest impulses within the MAGA base. The president desperately wants everyone to stop talking about oil prices, bombed schools and the Strait of Hormuz, and get back to stoking racist hysteria and leading revenge campaigns against his perceived enemies.

Trump’s desperation to refocus attention on his obsessions and grievances was on full display over the weekend. For nearly two days, the White House avoided press questions about the downed fighter jet, presumably to shut down any discussion of the rescue mission that was underway. Instead, the president bellowed a few of his incoherent threats at Iran on Truth Social, but largely focused on his usual obsessions: complaining about ABC News and the New York Times, posting misleading polls to convince himself he’s popular and repeating white nationalist slogans about non-white immigrants. It was only after both Air Force servicemen were recovered that Trump deigned to acknowledge the situation — and of course, to take credit for their rescue. .....................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/04/06/iran-is-breaking-trumps-spirit/