Reporting from multiple sources suggest that President Trump may now realize that he was manipulated by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu into sustained armed conflict with Iran.
An article from The Independent tosses about phrases like “escalation management” and “mission creep” to describe the succession of U.S. mission objectives. Mr. Trump told Congress that the (original) objective was to neutralize Iran’s military capabilities. But now, a month on, some 10,000 troops are being readied to hold oil production infrastructure on Kharg Island and perhaps establish a beachhead at Larak Island near the Strait of Hormuz. 1
Trump objected to a suggestion of encouraging open revolt. Mr. Trump is quoted as asking Mr. Netanyahu, “Why the hell should we tell people to take to the streets when they’ll just get mowed down?”
Speaking of mowing, another idiom used in The Independent‘s article — “mowing the grass.” This actually refers to militarily controlling the opposition on a generational basis, like trimming a lawn every couple of weeks when the grass has grown too much. And like mowing the grass, operations like these happen on an ongoing basis. Read: forever war.
Middle East Eye (MEE) suggests Mr. Trump should have paid closer attention to what Mr. Netanyahu failed to achieve in Gaza: Dispatch Hamas — despite reducing Gaza to rubble and starving its population in complete disregard of the rules of war. Netanyahu was unable to destroy Hamas in a territory the size of Detroit despite a seemingly unlimited supply of U.S. munitions. MEE asks, “If Israel could not overwhelm Gaza militarily, why would Washington imagine the task of doing so in Iran would prove any easier?” 2
Iran’s objective seems to be holding the global economy hostage in retaliation for the attacks. It seems a smart move — create a pain point for everybody to get nations across the globe working to get the U.S. and Israel to stand down.
Israel, for it’s part, seems to be unwilling to risk a nuclear-capable Iran with the ability to affect the U.S.’ policy decisions. A nuclear capability metaphorically guarantees Iran “a seat at the table.” Netanyahu seems determined not to allow that to ever happen. And so, it has cajoled the United States into alignment with Israel’s goals. The matter comes across to me a bit like this:
The Biden Administration wisely viewed Israel’s vision of a “broken Iran” as not aligned with American interests. “It risked prolonged insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz, the collapse of the global economy, and a mass exodus of refugees from the region towards Europe” (Cook, 2026). And that exodus could upset the political appetites of policy makers in the EU.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the Trump Administration fired all the career analysts capable of providing insight like this.
- Fox, R. (2026, March 27). Finally, Donald Trump has realised he’s been played by Israel. The Independent. https://www.the-independent.com/voices/donald-trump-netanyahu-mission-creep-iran-b2946555.html ↩︎
- Cook, J. (2026, March 30). Israel is making sure Trump can’t find an off-ramp in Iran. Middle East Eye. https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-making-sure-trump-cannot-find-ramp-iran ↩︎
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