The man who literally wrote “The Art of the Deal” is now reportedly offering to unfreeze $20 billion in Iranian assets to reopen a strait that was wide open before he started his war of choice, and the greatest business mind in human history is scrambling to buy his way out of a crisis he created. This is the same man who recently referred to the Strait of Hormuz as the “Strait of Iran,” which tracks, because at this point he basically handed it to them.
The staggering irony here is impossible to ignore. Under the Obama nuclear deal, the U.S. lifted sanctions on frozen Iranian funds and sent $1.7 billion to settle decades-old failed contracts, the very arrangement trump and Republicans spent years calling a national disgrace and a handout to terrorists. That deal came with real, verified nuclear limits and rigorous international inspections. Now the world’s greatest negotiator is looking at paying $20 billion for a deal that offers weaker protections and still has gaping holes, including on the Strait itself.
And as of today, even the definition of “open” is up for debate. Iran declared the strait open for commercial vessels while simultaneously requiring ships to follow a state-controlled route near Iranian coastline. trump hailed it as a win while keeping the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports fully in place. So the man who turned Atlantic City casinos into spectacular financial rubble is running the same playbook on American foreign policy: walk in with swagger, blow up what was working, and then pay more than you would have originally to dig out of the hole. The only difference is this time the rest of the world is holding the debt.