By Philip Yeung
One month into the war, Trump is flying US paratroopers into the frontline, ostensibly to seize Kharg Island to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.
Massive anti-war and "no-king" protests have erupted across all 50 states and 16 countries, with US marchers alone numbering over nine million strong.
Trump's approval ratings among his once-solid white male, non-college-educated supporters have plunged 21 points. In this demographic, he is now 4 points underwater.
Meanwhile, Trump is set to lose 36 lawmakers to resignations before the midterms. Against these scary statistics, will he beat a quick retreat or will he double down on a war that he knows is unwinnable?
Iranians have promised to give the landing American troops a nasty welcome. Heavy US casualties, on top of the misery of skyrocketing gas and groceries prices, will tip the electoral scale against the warmongering president.
So far, he has little to show for all the bombs that he has dropped on Iran--nothing to let him claim the semblance of a victory or the dignity for an early exit.
The Iranians no longer trust the US to conduct talks in good faith, having been bombed twice amid talks—displaying America's utter contempt for the protocols of diplomatic conduct. They have flouted the rules of basic human decency. Who can blame the Iranians?
So, what is Trump's end game? How does he dismount from the tiger's back? If the war continues, the US is headed for a recession, as more than 10 US cities have drifted into unaffordability.
Trump has fumbled the war and mismanaged the economy. Both will come back to bite him during the mid-terms, as the most flawed leader in US history.
A pathological liar, Trump is widely deemed untrustworthy in international transactions. All he has left is his military hardware.
With no honorable exit in sight, he has boxed himself into a corner, abandoned by his allies and spurned by his adversaries. Diplomacy is out. Only military escalation or a fake claim of victory remains.
Quiet China appears on the horizon as the only credible go-between, the only neutral major power in the good books of the Iranians, besides being its largest oil importer. Trump, too, gushes that he has the greatest respect for China.
Trump has postponed his planned visit to China as it has been overtaken by the ongoing war. Scheduled to go to Beijing in mid-May, perhaps he should bring forth his state visit timetable.
Without a trusted intermediary, the Iranians are reluctant to sit down at the same table with bad-faith actors. Only China has the military and economic might to mediate.
The Middle Eastern countries are either disqualified as accidental belligerents in the conflict or otherwise lack the heft to play compliance-guarantor. Russia is out, tainted by the ongoing Ukraine invasion.
With massive US protestors breathing down his neck, overshadowing his political future, and oil at $112 a barrel, his options are severely limited. Trump is in turmoil, at home and abroad. The widening warfront looks like a sinkhole that might swallow him whole.
Trump needs a Houdini escape that only China can deliver. Don't wait until he must scramble out of the quagmire with his tail between his legs.
But he shouldn't go to Beijing empty-handed. How about gift-wrapping a zero-tariff package to keep your host sweet? And who knows, China might just cook up something deliciously sweet and sour to keep everybody in a talking mood. Bombs won't do it. Ground troops won't do it either. China just might.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
Read more articles by Philip Yeung:
Opinion | War of choice and chaos
Opinion | Reading Trump like an open book
Opinion | Wars, more wars, endless wars
Opinion | Democracy is broken—America's fall from greatness into the gutter
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