If Trump really is 'bored' by his war then at least the chance of him using nukes is at least reduced to negligible. He'd be more likely to just declare victory- for the howevermanyth time- and tacitly leave the mess to everyone else. Then invade Cuba; or Canada or Greenland. Given it's Trump those ors could easily be ands instead.

If he decides to send in the troops there's a decent chance he'll take the inevitable fp drone videos of marines getting gibbed very personally* indeed. At that point things may get interesting.

*not on behalf of the dead soldiers of course, but because it's politically embarrassing for him and will inflame both the pro and anti war sides of his voter base

12 hours ago, rjshae said:

During the first term, the redacted cabinet was not quite as fawning, so it seemed like they were able to provide a filter on some of his more extreme decision making. This term his cabinet is mostly bobbleheads, agreeing with wherever his meandering ping pong of thought takes him. That's why we're seeing more bat-sh*t crazy decision making based on his irrational beliefs. I can only hope that doesn't lead to a decision to use nukes. The more frustrated he gets with his inept direction of the war, the greater the urge will be to nuke. Once that happens, all bets are off.

Nukes?

Where did that come from, why would you ever think he would want to use nukes?

That makes no sense. There is absolutely no chance Trump will use nukes in Iran. Its completely illogical and doesn't align to any military objectives that are inextricably tied to the economic fallout of this war

Can you imagine what nuking Iran would do to global energy prices? Trumps arrogant, capricious, petulant and obsessed with his legacy and current popularity . But he is not insane

Only a truly demented person would ever use nukes in this regional conflict

Another bunch of refueling planes and an AWACS (! total loss, couldn't have been done cleaner with a Ginzu) appear to have been hit at Prince Sultan Air Base by Iran. This is separate from the incident a while back where half a dozen were hit, and separate from the collision (or 'collision') that killed one of the plane's flight crew. That's as much as 10% of the total fleet out of action now, and even though they're being replaced a completely unsustainable rate of loss.

(one might opine that it was highly incompetent leaving a dozen or so planes in a beautiful ordered formation on the tarmac after the experiences of Russia and Ukraine... but it probably isn't. If you don't have hardened shelters you don't have them; and they're big planes. Does make you wonder if a site as well defended as Prince Sultan is getting hit what other places are as well that we aren't seeing)

8 hours ago, BruceVC said:

Nukes?

Where did that come from, why would you ever think he would want to use nukes?

That makes no sense. There is absolutely no chance Trump will use nukes in Iran. Its completely illogical and doesn't align to any military objectives that are inextricably tied to the economic fallout of this war

Can you imagine what nuking Iran would do to global energy prices? Trumps arrogant, capricious, petulant and obsessed with his legacy and current popularity . But he is not insane

Only a truly demented person would ever use nukes in this regional conflict

Do you really still expect redacted to apply reason or logic to problems at this point? He has an undisciplined mind and can't even properly communicate his reasons for going to war. We know he has immense difficulty accepting a loss, and nuclear weapons are the ultimate trump card for when events go badly wrong.

"But he is not insane"

Are you sure about that? He satisfies all criteria for "narcissistic personality disorder" in the DSM-5. There may be other co-morbibity conditions present, but narcissism explains most of his behavior.

Edited 11 hours ago11 hr by rjshae
Typo fix

Participated in the Together Alliance (anti-far-right) march in London yesterday. The numbers were higher than the fash march last year (500K vs 100K). I did not stay for the speeches, as the bloc I was in (LGBTQ) was at the tail and moved slowly.

13 hours ago, BruceVC said:

Nukes?

Where did that come from, why would you ever think he would want to use nukes?

That makes no sense. There is absolutely no chance Trump will use nukes in Iran. Its completely illogical and doesn't align to any military objectives that are inextricably tied to the economic fallout of this war

Can you imagine what nuking Iran would do to global energy prices? Trumps arrogant, capricious, petulant and obsessed with his legacy and current popularity . But he is not insane

Only a truly demented person would ever use nukes in this regional conflict

You still seem to think Trump is sane or rational. Hint: He isn't. Intellectually challenged and used to bully his way through life thanks to daddy Trumps inherited billions, he has no mental processes for dealing with adversity. He has the empathy of a cobblestone, the intellect of of a jellyfish and the cognitive abilities of a chimpanzee (although that would be an insult to some 4 year olds, who are smarter than chimps)

If he can't have his way with something, his preferred option is to 1) break it and 2) pass the blame on someone else .All because he is a genius and a businessman without peer (trying to add the US to his list of major bankruptcies). But the worrying part is the tendency to destroy things he can't have. He has no concept of tomorrow, much less consequences of the destruction he orders done everywhere.

Hypothetical speculation: Lets say the US somehow miraculously survives his presidency, how many years (and billions of dollars) do you think it would take to fully renovate the White House and turn it into a classy, stylish residence again. I mentioned it previously, half in fun, half seriously, he is the type of person that would blow up Mount Rushmore to make room for a new statue of himself. The biggest and the bestest statue the world has ever seen! So big and so best even the Colossus of Rhodes would turn green with envy, that's how best and biggest it will be!

On a more lighthearted note, Denmark and Canada are not the only countries with a knack for sorting out borders

There is no border weirder than Oman and the UAE. Two Omani enclaves*, one with an Emirati enclave inside it. Whoever came up with that must have been taking the mick.

The most likely scenario for Trump using a nuke is so he can claim he's 'destroyed' any Iranian nuclear material. By distributing it and a bonus amount over a large area of Iran, but still, it's Trump.

Tactical nuke, not a strategic one. Plenty of people around who think they're fine [for their side] to use, and it's very likely Trump and Kegseth are two of them. Which is why it might be an actively good thing if Trump is bored.

*as demanded of a true pedant: one is technically an exclave, since it borders the sea.

12 hours ago, Zoraptor said:

Does make you wonder if a site as well defended as Prince Sultan is getting hit what other places are as well that we aren't seeing)

Quoting myself as I forget to mention: also rather begs the question that if that AWACS is just 'damaged' what other stuff labelled as 'damaged' is, well, missing the equivalent of a third of its fuselage and all the equipment essential to its role. Labeling that as 'damaged' is actively damaging to PR, since it's very obviously destroyed to all practical purposes.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/tanker-carrying-russian-oil-enters-cubas-exclusive-economic-zone-ship-data-says-2026-03-29/

Well that's good news for Cuba, the powerful nemesis to the US.