Trump Bombs Iran, "TACO" Hardest Hit

Ten thoughts on the president’s decision to join Israel’s war

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers an address to the nation accompanied by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from the White House on June 21, 2025 in Washington, D.C. President Trump addressed the three Iranian nuclear facilities that were struck by the U.S. military early Sunday. (Photo by Carlos Barria - Pool/Getty Images)

I have lots of scattered thoughts but few sweeping conclusions about President Donald Trump’s decision to bomb Iran. So here’s a rare post from me that reads more like a list than a finely honed essay.

1. I really have no idea what’s going to happen next. I doubt anyone does. Will the government in Tehran lash out even more severely at Israel? Maybe. Probably. Will it strike back at the U.S.? I actually kind of doubt it. By joining Israel’s war and using powerful bombs to strike nuclear facilities in the country, Trump has shown he’s willing to use American power against Iran more broadly than he did during his first administration (when he authorized the killing of Iranian major general Qassem Soleimani during a visit to Baghdad). And our military is vastly bigger and more capable than Iran’s. Hitting us directly would hand Trump an opportunity to use that advantage to demonstrate just how far he’s willing to go to defend American interests and exact vengeance against those who would harm the nation (and his reputation as a tough guy). Iran’s leadership must know this, and so I suspect it will act cautiously over the coming days.

2. What about other, less lethal means of hurting us? Like, say, closing the Strait of Hormuz? I wonder: Would making such a retaliatory move really hurt the United States? Or would it, instead, be more painful for China and … Iran itself? And then there’s the chance that Trump would decide to champion the cause of global shipping by bombing Iranian ships attempting to enforce the closure. What would be more humiliating for the Mullahs than their nuclear program going up in smoke? How about attempting to close the Strait of Hormuz only to have the United States respond by destroying a sizable portion of the Iranian navy?

3. Note that I’ve been assuming Trump has no interest in expanding the war to include regime change in Tehran. I think that’s good. If the government falls as an indirect result of the war with Israel and its powerful friend and partial sponsor, that’s one thing. But directly targeting the regime? That would be extremely foolish and so I like to think it’s unlikely to happen, at least given where we are right now. From Afghanistan to Iraq to Libya, we’ve created a lot of failed states over the past quarter century. It would be a good idea not to extend the list further to include a country of ninety million people.

4. Can we please retire the epithet “TACO”?