Trump's 'Mixed Metaphors'

"[The United States is getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran, and Tehran] sort of [agreed to the terms]."

"We’re in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace."

“We’re getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this … there [are] two steps to doing this, there is a very, very nice step and there is the violent step, but I don’t want to do it the second way."

"[Iran] must stop sponsoring terror, halt its bloody proxy wars and permanently and verifiably cease pursuit of nuclear weapons."

"They cannot have a nuclear weapon."

"[The moment is ripe] for a future free from the grip of Hezbollah terrorists."

U.S. President Donald Trump

Trump is welcomed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday.   Brian Snyder/Reuters

 

Stunningly oblivious it seems, to reality while steeped deep in the belief that his pronouncements will have an immediate chastising effect on the world's most egregious human rights deviants, the American president has deluded himself into the belief that his singular influence, his very presence meeting one-on-one with individuals representing proponent regimes of conquest and terror will quake and quiver and submit to his grandiloquent gestures of goodwill and charitable belief that they are not motivated by evil, merely misunderstood. And he is the right man to guide them tenderly along a passage leading to peace.

 

It worked during his first administration with North Korea's little tyrant Kim Jong Un, did it not? Donald Trump's avuncular, but firm, and understanding presence persuaded Kim to surrender his dedication to perfecting missiles and launching nuclear warheads at any nation -- including but not restricted to South Korea and even !gasp! the United States -- that his febrile paranoid mind believes is hostile to his regime. Now, the unholy trinity of China, North Korea and Iran present a unified challenge to the man who believes he is the most powerful man on Earth, with an intellect to match.

 

That this impressively cerebral man cannot distinguish fact from fiction gives pause to wonder at the state of the world and its governing circles. That perhaps, after all, that mind with its explosive whims and dictates is lodged within a very small character with an oversized personality, and we should all be consumed with fear for the future. This deep thinker, describing the self-appointed new leader of Syria, Ahmad al-Sharaa -- an authentic Islamist terrorist -- with the confidence of a connoisseur of human traits, as a "young, attractive guy", with a "very strong past", dazzles with its shallow depth.

 

Donald Trump and Ahmed al-Sharaa met in Riyadh on Wednesday   Reuters

Even more spectacularly incredible, that Trump sparkles with enthusiasm and the true egotism of an entitled narcissist, chumming about with Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, an interlocutor for him with the Islamic Republic of Iran, as a trusted adviser. That both Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood have established themselves as highly respected representatives of Islam in the United States is mind-boggling to begin with, in myopic credulity. But Trump is delighted with pomp and ceremony, particularly when it is staged for his illustrious presence.

 

And he is even more impressed with ostentatious shows of great wealth. That Qatar can so readily impress Trump with the gift of a hugely costly Boeing aircraft for his use as Air Force One is certainly the way to his heart. And a revelation of the extent of his cupidity. And his depth of character: as in the characteristics he portrays: glibness/superficial charm; grandiose sense of self-worth; need for stimulation/proneness to boredom; pathological lying; conning/manipulative; lack of remorse/guilt; shallow affect; callous lack of empathy; parasitic lifestyle; poor behavioral controls; promiscuous sexual behaviour; irresponsibility; failure to accept responsibility for one's own actions.

Ah, well; he is the president of the United States of America. And when his plane entered Qatari airspace Air Force One was escorted by Qatari F-15 jets, nearing Doha. That trumps a red carpet. And none other than Al Thani greeted Mr. Trump at the airport. At the administrative office of the emir, Trump allowed as how he was impressed with the "perfecto" marble, and the camels that were present during the arrival ceremony. "I know that you are a man of peace", Al Thani complimented the American President.

 

Who was somehow able to overlook the fact that Qatar is fully supportive of Iran and its search for nuclear weaponry. More to the point, the Islamic Republic's proxy terrorist allies, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, to name just the most notorious ones, are also promoted by Qatar through its Al Jazeera news network. That the stealth infiltration of these agencies of change for the West through the subtle byways of Islamic conquest is irrelevant to the president of the United States is more than a trifling matter of concern.

 

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (R) and US President Donald Trump sit side by side at the Royal Palace in Doha on May 14, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)