{"id":449,"date":"2026-05-23T17:06:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T17:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertyrelocationusa.com\/?p=449"},"modified":"2026-05-23T17:06:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T17:06:26","slug":"trump-reaches-critical-juncture-and-looks-to-be-walking-into-biggest-trap-yet-expert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertyrelocationusa.com\/?p=449","title":{"rendered":"Trump reaches critical juncture \u2013 and looks to be walking into \u2018biggest trap yet\u2019: expert"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

As President Donald Trump appears to inch closer<\/u> toward authorizing a major U.S. military operation<\/u> this weekend, renowned international security expert Robert Pape warned the president on Saturday that he may very well be walking directly into what he called \u201cthe biggest trap yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Blanche \u2018looks miserable\u2019 because he \u2018refuses to say no to Donald Trump\u2019: NYT reporter<\/a><\/p>\n

Reporting suggests that the Trump administration is actively preparing<\/u> to launch a new wave of strikes against Iran, and officially end the ongoing but weak<\/u> U.S.-Iran ceasefire. The president teased<\/u> a full U.S.-takeover of Iran Saturday morning, and later said<\/u> there was a \u201csolid\u201d chance he decides to blow Iran \u201cto kingdom come\u201d by Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe administration may be approaching a dangerous decision point. And the real danger is not simply another round of strikes on Iran,\u201d wrote Pape, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, writing on his Substack. \u201cThe real danger is that Trump may be approaching the biggest Smart Bomb Trap yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cSmart Bomb Trap,\u201d as he called it, was the notion that a quick resolution to the U.S. war against Iran could be achieved with \u201cone precise strike\u201d targeting Iran\u2019s new supreme leader or senior leadership. As noted by Pape, the U.S. war against Iraq began with a series of strikes targeting former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, similar to how the ongoing U.S. war against Iran began with strikes targeting former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei.<\/p>\n

With the U.S. war against Iran hammering<\/u> Americans\u2019 pocketbooks both at the gas pump and elsewhere, and with the GOP\u2019s midterm outlook growing more dire<\/u>, such an option would be hard to resist for Trump, Pape argued.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe possibility that one precise strike could suddenly end the crisis, collapse the regime, restore deterrence, and produce a dramatic political victory,\u201d Pape wrote.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Likely decide by Sunday\u2019: Trump gives \u201850\/50\u2019 odds that he blows Iran \u2018to kingdom come\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFor any president under pressure, that possibility becomes extraordinarily difficult to resist. Especially for Trump, whose instinct in crisis has repeatedly been to search for decisive demonstrations of strength through precision force.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the unique and asymmetrical circumstances<\/u> that have allowed Iran \u2013 which has military spending roughly 130-times less on its military \u2013 to block the Trump administration from achieving its stated war objectives<\/u>, Pape cautioned, could very well backfire spectacularly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIran would still retain dispersed missile capability, underground infrastructure, asymmetric escalation pathways, and \u2013 most importantly \u2013 the ability to widen economic disruption across the Gulf faster than Washington could stabilize it,\u201d Pape wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially if the US attacks Iran\u2019s leaders, retaliation could well include Saudi, UAE, and Kuwaiti leaders \u2013 the leadership of countries that Iran would surely like to weaken decisively as US allies crucial to future basing of more military power against Iran in the future. That is the key asymmetry in this war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Ex-Gov. Kasich pours cold water on GOP senator keeping Ohio seat and withholds endorsement<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As President Donald Trump appears to inch closer toward authorizing a major U.S. military operation this weekend, renowned international security expert Robert Pape warned the president on Saturday that he may very well be walking directly into what he called \u201cthe biggest trap yet.\u201dReporting suggest…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump reaches critical juncture \u2013 and looks to be walking into \u2018biggest trap yet\u2019: expert - Property Relocation USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/propertyrelocationusa.com\/?p=449\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump reaches critical juncture \u2013 and looks to be walking into \u2018biggest trap yet\u2019: expert - 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