Leaving the G7 summit in the western Canadian province of Alberta yesterday, Donald Trump said that his early departure was necessitated by an urgent meeting of the National Security Council in Washington concerning the rapidly escalating Israel-Iran conflict.

In his typically belligerent, “I am the boss” style, he wrote on social media that “Our patience is wearing thin,” and that

“He [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] is an easy target, but is safe there [in hiding] – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.”

“At least not for now” . . . ??!!!

Later, aboard Air Force One — he added, “I’m not looking for a ceasefire, we’re looking at something better than a ceasefire.” [RFE/RL, June 17, 2025.]

He also warned on his Truth Social site: “Iran should have signed the ‘deal.’ I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT [sic] HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again. Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” [Id.]

A serious threat, for sure. But in a region — just in terms of modern times, and leaving out its ancient history — that has been in conflict since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, is it really likely to be enough?

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Unfortunately, Trump’s hasty return home caused him to miss the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky . . . although popular opinion is that it would not likely have been a happy meeting, in view of Trump’s recent statement that the former G8 had been wrong in ejecting Russia following its 2014 annexation of Crimea. Trump called it a “big mistake,” and said he believes Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine would never have occurred had the G8 not taken that action eight years earlier.

Trump then added:

“Putin speaks to me. He doesn’t speak to anybody else. . . . He’s not a happy person about it. I can tell you that he basically doesn’t even speak to the people that threw him out, and I agree with him.” [Id.]

Well, of course he agrees that Putin shouldn’t be speaking to the other G7 members. That positions Trump as the sole interlocutor between Putin and the others, affording him the sort of control he thrives on.

Clearly, the newest Middle East conflict hasn’t made the Russia-Ukraine war go away . . . and with Putin’s continued stalling, and his increasingly devastating attacks on Kharkiv, Kyiv and elsewhere, that’s not going to happen in the immediate future either.

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It all makes me wonder, not for the first time, why anyone would ever want to be president. But then, I’m not a power-crazed tyrant.

In the hilarious 1981 film, History of the World, Mel Brooks famously boasted, “It’s good to be the king.”

But I’m thinking that today, in 2025, it must be lonely as hell . . . unless, of course, standing by yourself on top of a rubbish heap is your idea of happiness.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/18/25