Donald Trump’s anti-diplomacy failed in Iran and fails America
Dennis Jett, March 20, 2026
President Donald J. Trump is very, very angry. But don’t expect him to admit his approach to international relations, or to anything else, is responsible for his ire. Since that won’t change, his latest foreign policy debacle won’t be the last.
His tantrum was provoked by the reaction of NATO members and other allies to his request that they send their warships to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. About 20% of the world’s oil production passes through the Strait, which is only 35 to 60 miles wide and lies off the coast of Iran. What could go wrong?
A lot could go wrong
According to the Wall Street Journal, “Trump was warned Iran could shut the world's most important oil chokepoint — and went ahead anyway. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told Trump in multiple briefings that an American attack could prompt Iran to close the Strait.”
The president disagreed. “While he acknowledged that it was a possibility, Trump decided to move ahead with the operation. He believed that Tehran would likely capitulate before it could close the Strait or cause significant economic damage. And if it came to it, he told his team, the U.S. military would be able to handle it.”
But Iran has brought passage through it to a standstill. Trump’s military failure has also turned into a diplomatic disaster. He was in such a rush to go to war he did not bother to try to convince other countries, or the American public, that it was necessary. As a result, the conflict is as unpopular abroad as it is at home and none of our traditional allies are willing to put their ships at risk.
That left Trump steaming, threatening NATO with a “very bad future” and posting on social media that “Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer ‘need,’ or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea. In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!”
So, if we didn’t need help or even want it, why did Trump go out of his way to look like a petulant third grader? You can thank “America First” for making “America Alone.”
Some have said Trump’s unorthodox approach to international relations would shake things up and break longstanding deadlocks. But deadlocks last decades because they defy simple solutions, make amateur envoys look like fools, and don’t get solved by tactics that would embarrass a gangster.
Trump’s thuggish style of diplomacy will be one of the hallmarks of the worst presidential term since Herbert Hoover presided over the start of the Great Depression. That’s because Trump loves coercion instead of persuasion and throws a fit when it doesn’t work out.
A lot has gone wrong
The evidence of his contempt for diplomacy is as consistent as his ignorance of its importance to protecting America. Here are some of the ways he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have demonstrated that contempt to the world.
In January, Trump withdrew from 66 international organizations without having a clue about what any of them do. Rubio claimed this multilateral system had become “a sprawling architecture of global governance.” Who needs a system of rules when you are the most powerful country in the world to whom they never apply?
Trump’s plan to lower the cost of prescription drugs for Americans is to force Europeans to pay more for theirs. He has threatened countries that don’t comply with tariffs if they don’t raise the prices they have negotiated with drug companies. Apparently protecting the huge profits of big pharma is more important than have good relations with other countries.
His way to provide aid to Ukraine is to have European countries buy American weapons and give them to Ukraine. Did he not end that war in 24 hours, as he said he would, because he saw an opportunity to make money from it?
Trump has attempted to gut the Voice of America because he thinks it is the “voice of radical America.” Why explain what America’s intentions are to the rest of the world when Russian and Chinese propaganda can do that for us for free? (Thankfully, a judge has ordered over 1,000 VOA employees be brought back to work because the cuts are illegal and contrary to congressional mandates.)
How about the decimation of USAID and international assistance? A recent peer-reviewed study, published in the medical journal The Lancet, estimates that will result in 14 million deaths by 2030. What a great way to show America cares!
And more will go wrong
Finally, there are supposed to be over 200 American ambassadors representing us in countries and international organizations around the world. For the last half century, about 30% of them were political appointees and 70% were career diplomats.
In Trump’s 75 nominees for these jobs this term, 92% have been unqualified clowns seeking to burnish their resumes. And he has left over half of the positions vacant. But who needs experienced people to explain American policy when all those abroad need do is follow him on social media?