In 2018 Trump withdrew the US from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), otherwise known as the “Iran nuclear deal.” Under the terms Iran limited its nuclear activities in return for the lifting of various economic sanctions and opening of some markets.
As is well known, the International Atomic Energy Agency regularly conducted inspections concluding that Iran was complying with the deal. The US (including the Trump administration) regularly certified Iran’s compliance.
Trump canceled it. And what was the result? Unsurprisingly, the (odious) Iranian regime immediately redoubled its efforts to manufacture highly enriched uranium (U235). By most accounts they are weeks or even days away from nuclear breakout — an event which will destabilize Israel, the Middle East, and the world, for years.
In other words, Trump gave Iran the bomb.
In my opinion this action, largely ignored by both parties and by the media, represents the single greatest betrayal by the United States of any ally — in this case one of our closest and most valued allies. To be clear: an Iranian bomb is an existential threat to Israel, and, for that matter, to the US and the West as a whole. Even a successful test — i.e., an explosion — of an Iranian nuclear weapon will send shock waves through the word: militaries will mobilize, stock markets will crash, and the world will have become a far more dangerous place.
Instead, conservatives change the topic: they laud the move of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — incidentally one of the few foreign policy decisions by the Trump administration that I agree with — but purely symbolic and largely meaningless in terms of the larger policy goal of bringing stability to the region.
Allowing Iran nuclear capability is a shameful and thoughtless action that, frankly, epitomizes Trump and his ilk: no regard for consequences, no real understanding of world affairs, just a big dumb angry male stomping about the world.