WAR

By Elijah J. Magnier – 

As the Middle East plunges further into turmoil, one reality is becoming increasingly unavoidable: the so-called “peace president” is laying the foundations for global disorder if he implements his menace. Under Donald Trump, U.S. foreign policy has morphed into an explosive mix of economic coercion, military escalation, and selective diplomacy—presented under the banner of maintaining global stability.

Trump has delivered contradictory signals. On one hand, he sends messages of mutual respect and cooperation to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. On the other hand, he intensifies bombing campaigns in Yemen, backs Israel’s military operations across multiple fronts, tightens oil sanctions on Russia and Venezuela, and ramps up pressure for a confrontation with Iran. This fragmented strategy threatens to collapse maritime trade routes, destabilize global energy markets, and unleash far-reaching geopolitical consequences.

His “peace through strength” doctrine has not de-escalated conflict but escalated it. U.S. daily airstrikes in Yemen have worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis and further disrupted Red Sea shipping lanes. Meanwhile, growing tensions with Iran risk closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply flows.

With new sanctions targeting Iranian oil layered atop an already stressed global economy, the danger of economic blowback is accelerating. Without a safety net, Trump is tampering with the essential arteries of international commerce—energy, food, and logistics.

Yet amid the rising drumbeat of war and regional mobilization, reports have surfaced that Iran and the United States are quietly engaged in secret backchannel talks. Despite public saber-rattling and Iranian missile readiness across its vast geography—poised to absorb and respond to any U.S. strike—both sides appear intent on keeping open a narrow path for de-escalation.