Trump, EU, Nato and Iranian mess

Now, Mr Trump is not so sure anymore. Not only has Iran crippled the economies of the Gulf States, countries which pandered to the US president's every whim, believing him to be their indomitable protector, the Persians have also dared him to continue his decapitation spree, assuring him that they could stomach far bigger losses. It has grown much worse. Unable to police the Strait of Hormuz, he of the 'most powerful military the world has ever known' has begged the European Union and Nato countries to join him in reopening the Strait. But he was impolite in asking for help, and the would-be helpers thundered with a resounding No.

If he had weighed his options carefully, if his Defence secretary Pete Hegseth had not been infatuated with war rhetoric, if Mr Trump had considered the remonstrations of his Gulf States allies before he leapt into the void, he would have been less gung-ho about furnishing himself a war. Now, he has broken the Gulf, let him own it. It's his mess, let him clear it. After this war, win or lose, Mr Trump is demystified, weighed in the balance and finished. There is no coming back from this debacle. So, too, the Iranians. The only gainers? Why, of course, the Chinese, Russians, and every country Mr Trump had ridiculed and insulted – like the more contemplative Canada, Greenland, and even Cuba. Lying spirits obviously lured the supercilious Mr Trump to his ruin, and there was no one around him to prophesy differently, except perhaps Joe Kent, his former director of the National Counterterrorism Centre, who resigned his position in protest and is now been viciously assailed by the vindictive president.