The war is becoming the ultimate test of an operating principle that has guided Trump for decades: building a narrative, proclaiming it as truth, and imposing it forcefully on the world. It has worked in Manhattan boardrooms, on reality TV, and even in the heart of power in Washington. But in Iran, Trump’s “real hyperbole” has collided with real truth.
“Let’s just say, we won,” he said at a rally in Kentucky on March 11. “I think we won,” he said on the South Lawn of the White House on March 20. “We won this war. The war is won,” he said in the Oval Office on March 24. “We’re winning so much,” he promised at a fundraising dinner on March 25. Donald Trump continues to declare victory in Iran. But saying it over and over doesn’t make it true. While the US president insists that his military campaign in the Middle East is a historic success, the world is bracing for a conflict that continues to spread and could wreak havoc on the global economy.
The war is becoming the ultimate test of an operating principle that has guided Trump for decades: building a narrative, proclaiming it as truth, and imposing it with force on the world. It has worked in Manhattan boardrooms, on reality television, and even in the heart of power in Washington. But in Iran, Trump’s “real hyperbole” has collided with real truth. His field of reality distortion has hit a wall.
“This is a war, and you can’t just declare victory in existence,” said Tara Setmayer, co-founder of the Seneca Project, a women-led political caucus. “The American people are not okay with what’s happening because they can’t articulate a case for why we’re here or what victory looks like.” Trump has lived a life of privilege that has fueled his self-confidence. He grew up in a secluded suburb of Queens, New York, where his father, Fred, a wealthy real estate developer, reportedly taught him never to apologize or show weakness. Sundays were spent at church, where the pastor was Norman Vincent Peale, author of the bestseller The Power of Positive Thinking.
The book instructed: “Formulate and imprint in your mind a mental picture of yourself as a victor. Hold this picture firmly. Do not let it fade. Your mind will seek to develop this picture… Do not create obstacles in your imagination.”
Biographer Gwenda Blair said: “When he was at the military academy in high school, he told his roommate that his goal was to become famous, a public figure. He understood that fame allows you to distort reality, to escape from things, to be as big as possible.” This approach followed Trump into the family business. He opened hotels and casinos and became known for exaggerating his wealth. Trump advertised the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City as the “eighth wonder of the world,” but it went bankrupt a year after it opened. His businesses failed six times, although he never declared personal bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, he solidified his fame with the reality show The Apprentice and entered politics by falsely claiming that Barack Obama was born outside the U.S. During the 2016 campaign, his false statements, such as that Mexico would pay for the border wall, did not prevent him from winning.
During his first term, Trump made more than 30,000 false and misleading statements, according to a Washington Post count. His strategy collapsed with the Covid-19 pandemic, when hundreds of thousands of deaths could not be denied. He lost the 2020 election, but continues to insist without evidence that the vote was “rigged.” When his supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, he portrayed them as patriotic heroes and pardoned them on his first day back in office. He has distorted reality, calling the criminal investigations against him a “witch hunt” and accusing Democrats of politicizing justice. Many foreign leaders have also accepted his version of reality, making concessions on tariffs or praising his leadership in the war in Ukraine. But the war in Iran is shattering those illusions.
A month into the conflict, Trump is in trouble. The war has already cost 13 American lives and billions of dollars. Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz, causing a global energy crisis. Polls show the war is unpopular, and a ground invasion would be even more unpopular. There is no clear exit strategy.
“Iran has constructed the reality it wants its citizens to embrace. Trump has constructed the reality it wants its citizens to embrace. So it’s reality-constructing regime against reality-constructing regime. A battle of the titans,” Blair said. Joel Rubin, a former State Department official, added: “The problem is that the Iranians don’t have to submit to this. There are proven ways to win or end wars, by force or diplomacy, that don’t involve mind and will.”
Media reports suggest that Trump is “bored” by the war and wants to move on. But any attempt to portray it as an absolute victory is being viewed with skepticism.
Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Government at the University of Minnesota, said: “Iran is Trump’s Waterloo. This is the destruction of the Trump myth. He is sinking deeper and deeper into a quagmire. That much is clear to everyone. The fictional life he has followed for four or five decades has been revealed as a deadly drama. It will cost lives, it will destroy the American and regional economies, it will damage America’s standing in the world. It is a tragic moment.” (The Guardian)