{"id":4973,"date":"2026-08-18T22:08:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T22:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4973"},"modified":"2026-08-18T22:08:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T22:08:46","slug":"trump-faces-backlash-as-clown-crew-policy-hits-a-brick-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4973","title":{"rendered":"Trump faces backlash as ‘clown crew’ policy hits a brick wall"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

After President Donald Trump\u2019s military campaign against Iran failed to achieve any of his stated goals, his strategy shifted to emphasize economic pressure that he hopes will force capitulation. But according to new reporting from Politico<\/u>, his plan has resulted in little more than mockery from the Iranian regime, and it\u2019s unlikely to achieve anything more. <\/p>\n

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\u201cTrump is waiting for Iran to cave to his economic pressure,\u201d Politico explains. \u201cTehran may be willing to wait even longer. Even as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent promises a level of economic isolation \u2018never seen before,\u2019 former Trump administration officials, U.S. ambassadors and other Middle East experts are skeptical that tightening the economic vise will force Iran to relinquish its desire to toll ships passing through the State of Hormuz and make the other concessions Trump is demanding to bring an end to the war.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an attrition campaign, and I am sure Treasury tweaks this or that to fill gaps or expand coverage of sanctions,\u201d former ambassador James Jeffrey \u2013 who served in the Middle East during three presidential administrations, including Trump\u2019s first term \u2013 told Politico. \u201cBut, it\u2019s hard to believe [there will be] something decisive after 20 years<\/u> of U.S. sanctions and Iranian experience of going around them.\u201d<\/p>\n

His statement highlights the asymmetry of the stand-off. As Politico explains, \u201cThe Trump administration is staring down a consequential midterm election amid an unpopular war that has sent oil prices back up to roughly $90 a barrel and helped push long-term borrowing costs to their highest level in nearly two decades as hope dims that a peace deal is near. Iran\u2019s leaders, meanwhile, see the conflict as existential, giving Tehran reason to absorb the extraordinary economic pain rather than accept terms it believes could imperil the regime \u2014 especially as U.S. inflation remains elevated.\u201d<\/p>\n

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According to Politico, former administration officials warn that Iran has an outsized incentive to muscle through the pain, making the success of Trump\u2019s blockage strategy dubious. \u201cI think the economic pressure would need to hit them in new ways we haven\u2019t seen so far to change the mindset of the regime,\u201d one former Trump administration official told Politico. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, Iranian leadership has been bluntly dismissive of Trump\u2019s plan, and publicly mocked U.S. efforts to sanction them into submission. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran\u2019s parliament, posted, \u201cAmericans think squeezing Iran harder will win concessions that were never part of the agreement.\u201d He added, \u201cBessent and [Defense Secretary Pete] Hegseth are way out of their league. Stop waiting for the clown crew to pull a rabbit out of their hat and clean up the mess you made.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Iranian economy has undoubtedly taken a severe hit, according to Politico, \u201cthose who have worked on previous Iran negotiations say that\u2019s far from enough to get the regime to cave, especially after six months of U.S. bombing that has killed, by Tehran\u2019s own measure, more than 3,000 Iranians.\u201d As Ali Vaez, the International Crisis Group\u2019s Iran project director, who helped work to bridge differences between Iran and world powers during negotiations over the 2015 nuclear agreement, explained, \u201cIt\u2019s undeniable that there is economic pressure. The question is whether there is a breaking point, and I would say for a regime that is fighting for its life and has never hesitated to transfer economic pain to its population, there is no breaking point.\u201d<\/p>\n

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After President Donald Trump\u2019s military campaign against Iran failed to achieve any of his stated goals, his strategy shifted to emphasize economic pressure that he hopes will force capitulation. 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