# Speculation About Trump's Underlying Reasons for Bombing Iran and Other Targets **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** iran-strikes-2026\ **Created:** [March 4, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209 "2026-03-04T21:58:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2026, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/61 "2026-03-08T02:08:41Z")
> [@Ancient\_Nerd](#): > > He thinks that a hot major war will give him an excuse to cancel the elections and remain in power. No, the elections are already underway. But he is hoping for that spike in popularity that Bush got. That hurt his huge ego- and the pundits are saying the Dems will win the House, and no more “Big beautiful Bills”. > [@wolfpup](#): > > No, the motivation for this war is not religious Only up to the point where many Americans hate and fear the religion in Iran. But if you are gonna gives lists about reasons, that might be down there at #10 or lower. They make a good target politically, is what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2026, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/62 "2026-03-08T07:43:23Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > don’t know how-maybe Netanyahu or MBS offered him a big fat bribe. Bibi may be corrupt, but it’s at a different scale than Trump and his milieu - he has an eight-figure fortune rather than ten or eleven. There’s no way he’d be able to afford Trump’s rates. Now, MBS on the other hand… ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/63 "2026-03-09T01:37:39Z")
I don’t really believe what I am about to say, but I throw it out there for your speculation. Apparently Putin has benefitted greatly since the countries in Europe that were trying to boycott Russian oil and natural gas now suddenly need it and even at a higher price. So could Trump have been egged on by his buddy Vlad? That said, I wonder if his outrage at the SCOTUS tariff decision wasn’t another motive. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/64 "2026-03-09T02:51:00Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > So could Trump have been egged on by his buddy Vlad? Could the sun rise in the East tomorrow? If it was not Putin directly, it was one of the Republicans that Putin controls. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/65 "2026-03-09T04:21:33Z")
I doubt that he started the war because somebody bribed him, just because Trump doesn’t return value for money. He’d happily accept a bribe for that or for anything else, but he’d just pocket it and not keep his side of the deal. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/66 "2026-03-09T05:01:34Z")
For those who had “We’ve always been at war with Eastasia” on their battle Bingo card, [you can blot that square now](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/waltz-shuts-down-nbc-anchor-210059534.html). > [@](#): > > United States Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz argued to Kristen Welker on Sunday that President [Donald Trump](https://www.foxnews.com/category/person/donald-trump) has not started a war with Iran, but that he is merely finishing it. > > Waltz was asked during NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether the U.S. is indeed at war with Iran, suggesting the conflict actually began in 1979 under then-President Jimmy Carter. > > Waltz had formerly been national security adviser to the Trump administration, but was moved to his current role on May 1, 2025, following the [SignalGate controversy](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mike-waltz-other-national-security-council-staffers-out-latest-trump-purge-following-signal-chat-leak). > > Welker shared clips of Trump referring to his current military actions in Iran as a “war” and reiterated her question, noting, “As you know, words matter. Does that front administration, do you, [describe this as a war](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/capitol-hill-debate-erupts-over-whether-trumps-iran-strikes-amount-to-war) against Iran?” > > “Well, I describe it as Iran has been at war with us, as I just said,” Waltz replied. > > He continued, arguing Trump is not starting a war, but “ending it.” ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/67 "2026-03-09T05:56:38Z")
If by “at war with” they mean “said mean things about us” then yes, I guess we’ve been at war for a long time. By any other definition, no, we haven’t been at war since 1979. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/68 "2026-03-10T11:38:54Z")
Gift link to an Ezra Klein (NY Times) audio interview and its transcript. [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/10/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-nadia-schadlow.html?unlocked\_article\_code=1.SFA.k4X9.XyBvrHjiCHJQ&smid=url-share](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/10/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-nadia-schadlow.html?unlocked_article_code=1.SFA.k4X9.XyBvrHjiCHJQ&smid=url-share) ### I Asked a Former Trump Official to Justify This War Nadia Schadlow, a deputy national security adviser during Trump’s first term, explains how the U.S.-Israel war with Iran fits in with an “America First” agenda. Sample quote from Schadlow: “I think [Trump] would put it as: In the four years that I was gone and I was out of office, certain key threats grew over time. The Biden administration watched these threats grow, and now that I’m back in office, I have to do something definitive about them.” …. “And part of deterrence, and I think part of what President Trump is doing now in his actions, or at least the effect of them, will be a seriously strengthened deterrent posture for the United States. No one is going to think that we’re not going to act when we say we’re going to act. I think he saw it as his mission to restore red lines that had not been respected.” ---
**Author:** ![Cmyers1980](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyers1980/32/11814_2.png) [@Cmyers1980](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cmyers1980)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/69 "2026-03-10T12:23:45Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I think he saw it as his mission to restore red lines that had not been respected.” A conservative writer in 1992 once said that every so often the US should pick a country and throw it at the wall to show the rest of the world how far it’s willing to go to enforce its will. It likely isn’t the main motivation but Iran is just the latest example of this and one that’s been targeted for attack since Reagan. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/70 "2026-03-10T13:54:05Z")
True. Here’s another relevant resource: a 20-minute interview by the always excellent Brian Lehrer (WNYC-FM) with a Wall Street Journal-ist about how Lindsay Graham may have coached Netanyahu on how to goad Trump into this war (and Graham warned that “Cuba is next”). Before the interview, Lehrer quickly runs through other rationales submitted by listeners, including “to please our ally Saudi Arabia, which always competes with Iran for regional dominance,” and “to satisfy the financial interests of the military-industrial complex.” > **[Did Lindsey Graham “goad” Trump into this war? | Brian Lehrer: A Daily...](https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/bl-daily-politics-podcast/articles/did-lindsey-graham-goad-trump-into-this-war)** > > Prior to today's war in Iran, the geopolitically powerful nation has been on the radar of certain hawkish US lawmakers. > On Today's Show:Sabrina Siddiqui, national politics reporter at... ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/71 "2026-03-10T14:09:54Z")
Trump latest attack on Iran and “plan” to attack Cuba are based on the same rationale he’s previously accused Democratic leaders of having - to distract attention from their failed policies and unpopularity. He thinks that he’s drumming up a wave of patriotic fervor that will carry his party to victory in November. The cult is uneasy and upset, but the hardcores will fall in line. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/72 "2026-03-10T15:11:31Z")
Today is supposed to be the _most intense day_ of Iran strikes. Now while that probably means that Trump has reached his TACO moment and figured out that gas prices are way worse for his political future than any scandal, it’s interesting to see what this day of bombardment coincides with: > **[New Mexico authorities search Zorro Ranch formerly owned by Epstein | CNN...](https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/10/politics/epstein-zorro-ranch-search-new-mexico)** > > Authorities in New Mexico launched a search this week of a sprawling ranch formerly owned by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which has come under renewed interest after allegations surrounding the estate were included in files recently... I wonder if Trump is planning on nuking Iran today. That’ll stop those nasty Epstein headlines for a day at least. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/73 "2026-03-10T16:32:35Z")
Probably planning on nuking Mexico. Or New Mexico. Whatever. /sarcasm. I think. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/74 "2026-03-10T19:39:07Z")
Michael Ledeen: “Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business.” Evil as that was, now they don’t even know what the hell it is they’re doing. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/75 "2026-03-10T19:51:16Z")
According to this substack, he attacked only because he was told to by Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and Pete Kegseth. > [@](#): > > And that wasn’t even the most alarming thing he said. When asked why he made the decision to go to war with Iran, the President of the United States gave us this: “The situation was very quickly approaching the point of no return and the United States found it intolerable, in my opinion, based on what Steve, and Jared and Pete and others were telling me.” > > Based on what Steve, and Jared and Pete were telling him. He didn’t say based on intelligence briefings he had reviewed. He didn’t say based on threat assessments from the Pentagon or consultations with military leadership or authorization from Congress. He said Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and Pete Hegseth told him it was time. And so America went to war. > > That sentence should be on the front page of every newspaper in the country tomorrow. The President just admitted, on camera, that the decision to launch a military operation that has now killed eight Americans, over a thousand Iranians, and 168 people at a girls’ school was made because his son-in-law, his personal envoy, and a former Fox News host told him it was necessary. These are not military strategists. These are not intelligence officials. These are loyalists. And they are the ones deciding who lives and who dies. > > And if you watched his speech earlier at the Republican Issues Conference, you could see exactly how they manage him. It was the same speech he has given for weeks now. The same talking points. The same applause lines. The same recycled grievances delivered in the same order. His handlers have figured out that if they load him up with familiar material and triggering words they know will set him off on his usual rants, he can fill the time and it looks enough like leadership to get through the appearance. They have turned the presidency into a playlist on repeat. He knows the songs. He can still perform them from muscle memory. But the moment someone asks him something he hasn’t been prepped for, everything falls apart. > **[Trump Told Us Who's Really in Charge](https://heatherdelaneyreese.substack.com/p/trump-told-us-whos-really-in-charge)** > > At 5:30 this evening, the President of the United States stood at a podium inside his own golf resort in Doral, Florida, and delivered what may be remembered as one of the most disoriented and disturbing press conferences of his presidency. During... ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/76 "2026-03-10T22:07:55Z")
As usual, I find the methodology of using his words to get at reality to be suspect. Why assume that 1. he is telling the truth about where he got his information; 2. he is telling the WHOLE truth about where he got his information; 3. he is remembering correctly where he got his information; 4. he actually did get information from sources who had a clear agenda in the first place I think it’s much more likely that those names are the ones he can remember off the cuff, and gives us a partial window into who feeds him information. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/77 "2026-03-10T22:22:32Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I think it’s much more likely that those names are the ones he can remember off the cuff, and gives us a partial window into who feeds him information. Certainly possible, but I think if he’d spoken with anybody with actual rank and gravitas he’d be bragging about it nonstop. And I’m doubtful that anyone military who’s not in his little toady circle would have approved of starting a war with Iran. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/78 "2026-03-10T22:48:59Z")
You mean Woman, Man, TV, Camera told him to attack? And he did? Yes, now you mention it, that is probably the case. And I mean that, this is not irony or sarcasm on my part. Netanyahoo, Kushner and MBS probably pushed a bit in that direction too. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/79 "2026-03-11T12:43:09Z")
I’m convinced this is all a continuation of the bombing started in June last year. Trump announced at the time that “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.” However, if you recall Iran had like half a day warning beforehand and it’s widely believed that in those hours they evacuated all essential personnel and some critical equipment. It appears their nuclear program was far from being ‘totally obliterated’. They had to do an intelligence assessment after the bombing and then they needed several more months to get all the assets in place to start bombing in earnest. If you look at the chessboard, the pieces were being moved towards this position the entire time. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2026, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/80 "2026-03-14T00:02:24Z")
Earlier today, news media reported, I believe via anonymous but authorized sources, that the U.S. was sending 2,500 Marines by ship from Japan to the vicinity of Iran. This would take two weeks. Widespread speculation was that they were headed to Kharg Island. Now Trump says we heavily bombed Kharg Island. It is hard to reconcile these other than by saying U.S. policy is in disarray. I wonder if the bombing is because Trump was frustrated about the two week timeframe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209.md?page=5)