The President's Busy Holiday

"Donald Trump spent the holidays drifting further and further from the "America First" doctrine he campaigned on. The president who once promised to disentangle the United States from foreign conflicts has turned his focus abroad: On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, respectively, the U.S. bombed a dock in Venezuela and struck ISIS militants in Nigeria. And this morning, just over six months after the U.S. struck three nuclear facilities in Iran, Trump threatened to deploy military force in support of anti-government protesters in the country. "If Iran shots [ sic] and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go," he wrote on Truth Social."

"Trump's statement about Iran included no elaboration or specific plan for military action. But with only a few short lines on social media, the president effectively put Iran's government on alert. "Trump should know that U.S. interference in this internal matter would mean destabilizing the entire region and destroying America's interests," wrote Ali Larijani, the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, on X. "The American people should know-Trump started this adventurism. They should be mindful of their soldiers' safety.""

Donald Trump moved away from the 'America First' doctrine and focused on foreign interventions during the holidays. The United States bombed a dock in Venezuela on Christmas Eve and struck ISIS militants in Nigeria on Christmas Day. Just over six months after strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities, Trump threatened to deploy military force in support of anti-government protesters in Iran and wrote that the United States was "locked and loaded and ready to go." The president offered no elaboration or specific plan for military action. Iran's Supreme National Security Council head warned that U.S. interference would destabilize the region and endanger American soldiers. The U.S. carried out a clandestine operation in Iran in June under the code name "Operation Midnight Hammer."

Read at The Atlantic