The sad thing is that Trump inherited a long term mess and he is totally, TOTALLY out of his depth as to what to do about it. He was a pop reality television 'star'. Nothing more.
Now. absolutely way off his pay scale, he is surrounded by sycophants who are pretending they have the answers and if they suck up enough, he believes them.
We all know he is a pathological liar and will just shoot his mouth off, without really understanding the reality of what he is saying.
I just hope that we, as a nation, can survive until November 2020 and start the process of escaping from and repairing this nightmare.
4
Trump -- did anyone ever call him non-opportunistic? -- will do whatever he thinks it takes to get re-elected-- because if he isn't re-elected and refuses to vacate the White House-- well-- just maybe the SCOTUS would make him move out.
If it takes a war so be it. (Checking which direction the wind is blowing from.) Yes, the Saudis may well get hit if the US starts a war with Iran.. Nothing like the possibility of missile or drone strikes to make a person consider a "diplomatic" solution... -- but let me keep my war in Yemen and all my nice America supplied military equipment.
He did get yet another dumb FED Reserve chairman who wants to prop up Wall Street- to lower the interest rate.
The mess newly created in HUD housing with illegals living there will be an interesting one... Maybe Trump will direct HUD to build special housing for these homeless and in LA - all labeled with his name. (Like Mao Tse Tung -- I want the posters everywhere!!).
Will he write a little red MAGA book? (He needs to write a book--"The View from the Oval Office and the Eighteenth Hole." )
Good luck trying convince anyone with a lick of sense that you can be trusted, Donnie.
1
"Can His Word on Iran Be Trusted?"
No.
Not now. Not ever. It isn't ever going to happen. It is now beyond the realm of the possible.
Pompeo's recent behavior has made him just as poisonous. He spoke so soon, and so strongly, with so little apparent evidence, that nothing can ever get anyone responsible to believe him.
This is what they brought on themselves. It is simple and clear. No. Just no.
2
I continue to wonder why no one is asking the obvious question:
Why is an attack on Saudi Arabia...
- the country with the 3rd most expensive military in the world
- that was home to the 9/11 hijackers that crashed our buildings and murdered our people
- and most recently was in the news for torturing and chopping up the still-living body of a US resident and journalist...
... why is this OUR problem?
It's not. Surely the richest country in the ME can defend itself...
What? Our allies might not trust the word of a man who recently took a sharpie to an official weather service hurricane map, rather than admit he mis-tweeted?
I love America .
But I can't believe ANYTHING this government tells me .
If Mr Trump and Mr Pompeo say " Iran did it" , I can only believe that the Houthis are responsible .
Mr Stable Genius has made our Country un-governable , un-safe and indecent .
If he wins in 2020 , We're toast .
6
Sadly, I always have to ask, "what is Trump getting out of this, now or later?" I don't trust him as far as I could move him, and that's not at all, since he is far larger than I am. He must be angling to build a hotel in Riyadh.
2
David Sanger has written an analysis of the most serious matter to date caused by the Trump administration’s misfeasance. It is hard to stomach the thought of another Middle East debacle, harder yet to think of it in the hands of the junior varsity surrounding the man who cannot speak publicly about issues critical to the world without digressing to bragging about his imagined popularity and fictional successes.
It would be useless to hope they would seek advice from others who have acquired useful experience in the world arena from working in previous administrations, particularly the previous one.
Those who support him stand by as the rhetoric from the White House lurches between aggression and confusion.
Where are the Democrats?
2
I could show you the evidence that proves this was an attack from Iran, but then I would have to kill you.
Trump administration explodes another improbability meter.
1
Trump reneged on the international Iran nuclear deal without ever specifying why. The real reason was that it was working, and was negotiated by President Obama and our allies.
The one thing Trump has demonstrated for certain is that his word cannot be trusted on any subject. Whether it's dementia or calculated attempts to sow chaos, his behavior speaks for itself. He changes his mind, comes up with new lies, and denies he's said what he's said in front of cameras and microphones.
You write: "President Trump must now confront that problem..." But Trump never confronts problems, or proposes actual plans or policies to address them. He just tries to change the subject.
5
There is no way trump can convince the world he can be trusted. He simply cannot be trusted. The majority of people on this planet are well aware of that reality.
3
Trump’s Challenge: Can His Word on Iran Be Trusted?
- the word I was looking for in this piece was the word "lies" - I read all kinds of other words, implying lies, but none actually saying the word. There two main reasons that people will not trust statements on this situation with Iran. One, as the author mentioned, was the 'lies' leading up to the Iraq invasion. The other reason is the repeated 'lies' by this president [and his administration] again and again on everything from tariffs to the size of his inauguration crowd to the direction of a hurricane.
I would have prefered to hear lies being called out for exactly what they are.
5
Whatever credibility President Obama was able to restore after the Bush administration's Iraq fiasco, Trump has destroyed many times over. This unprepared, uninterested, shallow man only thinks of himself and what financial gain there is to be had.
His motivation in dealing with Saudi Arabia and Russia appears to be creating a "huge" real estate project he can put his name on in those countries after he's out of office.
Even if given solid advice by our State Department, intelligence agencies, and the Pentagon, Trump does not possess the ability to think of the long term consequences or what's in the best interest of the U.S. His abandonment of the nuclear agreement with Iran lit this fuse.
I'll gladly pay more to fill up my gas tank if it means avoiding the cost of American lives and treasure in another Mid-East quagmire.
5
The President lacks credibility and Congress is lazy. If The People want to launch an attack on another middle east country, we'll put it up for a national referendum. With the population still smarting from the 9/11 commission report that told them to doubt our own eyes, first choice is not going to be Iran.
1
What do you mean " Can Trump word on Iran be trusted"?
Trump "word" has no value on any matter whatsoever.
In fact he doesn'r know the meaning of such a thing.
He even brags about it.
Worse, know no only no one trust Trump word, be this distrust has tainted the word of the US as a country.
People all over the world wonder how the american people have fallen so low, as to tolerate and even follow such a man.
Trump convincing people he can be trusted? It's really too late for that.
The president’s erratic behavior; lying; flip flopping after pronouncements; general lack of good judgment have contributed to a massive lack of trust for everything he says. There is no trust or respect for him around the world. He earned this position and now he is friendless and weak internationally.
"Who would so knowingly follow a fool into battle? They that brave to die in vain glory, much worse than cattle. To be slaughtered and eaten by those already engorged on rage with maws dripping with the blood of those that have already been sacrificed."
Please see Glynweld's translation on Welch Leadership in Times of War.
The world is not disinclined to believe Trump because they're angry. They're disinclined to believe him because he's a liar.
1
He just made dog whistles for attacks on homeless people and you're asking if he can be trusted?
1
I wouldn't trust Trump if he told me the sun rises in the East and anyone who takes his word regarding anything is a fool. His honesty is fungible and with a total lack of morality, intelligence, common sense, civility and empathy Trump is someone to never be trusted.
3
The USA not only made up evidence in the case of Iraq. They also made up evidence in the case of Vietnam. Or Grenada. Or many other occasions.
Trump isn't US President by accident but because Americans love simplistic attitudes and resorting to violence.
I would call it a lack of civilisation.
11
@Ronald Grünebaum
The majority of Americans did not vote for Trump. He is the result of a flawed electoral college. And yes our corrupt politicians have gotten the US into many unnecessary conflicts. As usual follow the money...
1
This is another crisis of Trumps own making, yet here we are looking to him to fix. It’ll never happen. Both trump and MBS are bad actors with an absence of credibility. As far as I’m concerned, let the Saudis deal with this themselves. Lets remember, the Saudis are NOT our friends. We are their customers, nothing else.
8
I believe the oil processing facility was in Saudi Arabia, not America. Saudi Arabia has the third largest military budget in the world after the U.S. and China. Why does the U.S. need to get involved?
13
Trump, Pompeo and Bolton have shown a willingness to force a leadership change in Iran. Just how far have they been willing to go. Just because Bolton is gone does not mean he did not set something up before departing. Nope, I do not trust this Administration.
5
"Already, intelligence officials are hinting, in background conversations, that the evidence implicating Iran is just too delicate to make public."
Need to make the evidence public? Just brief Trump and tell him that it's really secret, no one can know we have the capability to gather this evidence, and he absolutely must not take pictures and tweet them.
5
Trump has now come face to face with the stark difference between authority and leadership.
The latter, of course, depends on credibility. Through his habitual and pathological LIES over the years, beginning well before he was elevated to president, Trump recklessly and completely decimated his credibility. Now world leaders and our own government officials don't believe a word he says. After his sick LIES about Hurricane Dorian, the vast majority of citizens don't believe what he says. And unfortunately, no one SHOULD believe his words.
But while Trump has wrecked the leadership role of the POTUS, he still wields presidential authority. World leaders, our own government officials, and citizens alike are now keenly aware of the grave danger of Trump as president, and are challenged about how to react when the mendacious boss orders them to take action.
I like the initiatives being taken by California, and by President Macron. Resistance has never been more appropriate or more urgent.
2
The first question any former allies should ask Trump is, "Why should we trust you?" He will immediately begin to lie as he tries to answer the question. It will be important that the question is asked on national TV with the press there to record it all. Perhaps then conservative minds will be swayed.
4
Saudi Arabia and Iran are perfectly capable of having a war all to themselves. There is absolutely no reason the US or any other country should be involved except diplomatically to try to defuse the situation. They are equally repressive regimes so it’s not like we have to fight for a beleaguered democracy facing invasion by a fascist power. For the sake of both peoples, I hope it doesn’t come to war, but outsiders who try to intervene in a 1500 year long Sunni/Shia conflict can only lose.
9
Trump has already chosen to start a war with Iran by withdrawing from the nuclear agreement with which Iran was in compliance and then attempting to destroy the Iranian economy.
If it becomes a shooting war, Trump will have no one to blame but himself and the world will be fully justified in either supporting Iran or remaining on the sidelines.
American foreign policy is now being driven solely by Trump's ego. The disastrous consequences are beginning to be apparent.
1
Like it or not, the world still runs on oil and gas, and permitting the Iranians to strangle supplies in Saudi Arabia will impact every country in the world. It would be best to have a coalition if action is taken, but it is not necessary. The Gulf States will constitute a coalition, and Europe is too smitten with the prospect of Iranian business to join anyway. The only people Trump needs to convince are the American people.
It seems that you are convinced.
Would you be willing to go and fight on the ground? Would you please demand that Trump’s sons and son-in-law, who are all profiting from Saudi relationship wear their boots and go to fight in S. Arabia.
Why do we need to sacrifice for Trump’s profit making machine?
2
Trust Trump...impossible. I would not trust him if it was Noon and he said it was light outside.
The only thing consistent in this looming fiasco is that the POTUS always distorts, exaggerates and outright lies. The only thing that would convince me military action is necessary is an observable and potentially dangerous to all attack on the US homeland.
1
Anyone remember the Bowling Green Massacre?
I had an intel-related job at one point. While Bush II turned out to be wrong, I've always been willing to cut him slack on the Iraq war, simply because I know that they don't tell us everything.
This president lies, almost daily, about trivial things that are easily proven false with a little research. He's proven himself to be vengeful and petty. His rambling monologues during the presidential debates led me to believe he may have some cognitive issues.
Did Iran strike the Saudis? Somebody did. I imagine it wasn't the Saudis themselves. Iran would even be a likely perpetrator, given past relations with the Saudis. But I stopped believing Trump's statements long ago. I'm guessing most if not all of the rest of the world has, too. Excluding the Republican base, apparently.
1
You can’t exclude the Saudis either. MBS is quite sharp in this kind of behavior.
Don’t know why the Saudi Oil Minister was fired. It is possible that he wasn’t willing to be a part of MBS’ machinations! Any thing is possible, when Trump Family’s profits are involved.
Can His Word on Iran Be Trusted? Can any of trump's words be trusted? NO. I don't believe anything he says, does, shows, demos - nothing is to be trusted. If we go to war and lives are lost - trump is the biggest war criminal of all.
1
On whether Trump can be trusted, that horse bolted a long time ago.
But I don’t think nor ever thought Trump would ever go to war over the bombing of oil refineries in Saudi Arabia. For all his faults, and there are many, Trump really is not a warmonger. He’ll rattle the sword (which he had fun doing in Saudi Arabia), but he’s not going to use it - especially not in defense of Arabs.
He’ll take MB’s money and give him cover, but that’s where Trump draws the line. If MB wants revenge, he’ll have to seek it himself.
Trump has lied so much that no one will believe whatever he says. We are in a sad way, getting sadder by the day.
1
Trump not only lies but also makes his intelligence agencies, environmental agencies, National weather forecast scientists to lie to fit his narrative. Amazing!
3
Why is the United States considering military action because Saudi Arabian oil fields were attacked?
Do we have some sort of treaty with them? Are they part of NATO?
Why did their citizens hijack airliners and bomb our country with them, killing our citizens in a terrorist attack in 2011 - we never considered this an act of war on us by Saudi Arabia?
Tell me again why any US troops or $$$$ should be spent in mililtary action against Iran.
5
Whoever did this can do it again, at any time. The Saudis had better accept the need to make some serious concessions. Stopping their murderous war against the people of Yemen would be a good start.
3
We have a president with severe credibility issues at home and around the world and a country with a chip on it's shoulder. We need to look for a silver lining in all this.
Maybe when all this is over, Trump will succeed in being deemed a war criminal and brought before the Hague.
The boy who cried wolf suffered a similar fate.
And that the weapons may have been made in Iran means little. Made in USA weapons are all over the place. It’s the crews that fire them and their location that matter.
2
It would not shock me one bit If Iran was directly responsible for the attack on the oil fields. Can Trump be trusted? Absolutely not. Why? Because he lies, he lies about small things, he lies about important things. He makes things up out of thin air. He sees a picture of A House Rep. dancing. She is a Muslim. So he tweets that she was celebrating the attack on 9-11 on 9-11. Small problem. The event was on 9-13. The event had nothing to do with 9-11. A complete bald face lie. And there are thousands of examples of Trump simply making things up out of thin air. The El Paso crime stats and the wall. These are not mistakes, or hyperbole. It is a conscious decision to make lies a central part of his political strategy. When someone lies so often how can anyone trust him.
2
The liberal Clinton reformed the welfare system. The conservative GW gave seniors prescription drug coverage. Trump will give us Universal Health Care. Vote for him. Trust me on this.
He has so often proved his word means absolutely nothing, so good luck with that, Administration.
1
Good luck with that! You'd have to be remarkably insular to have any hope whatsoever that Trump could be trusted with anything at all. Which is why every tinpot dictator is currently running rings around us. Trump cannot be trusted to make a decision and keep it. Cannot be trusted to have honor in his or his predecessors' decisions. Every decision the man makes is born from innate vindictiveness. Not exactly a winning strategy, is it?
1
i doubt that President Trump will ever be able to convince most people that he can be trusted to tell the truth. it simply will not happen. this is a tragedy because it means that other countries realize that the USA can not be trusted. maybe the actors playing indians in the old westerns were correct:"white man speaks with forked tongue."
Not so, Trump really doesn't care whether his political enemies trust him. He will always do what MAGA regardless of the biased media chatter.
Trust and Trump can be used in the same sentence,
since when?
Worse, Trump seems unable to understand what is true or not.
Congress must deny Trump the right to start a war with Iran until Congress can verify and present to the world the true facts and consequences of such a war.
Trump lies.
Of course he cannot be trusted about Iran, or anything else. He has proven over and over to be a constant liar about everything, from trivial matters like crowd sizes to globally important ones like climate change.
Nobody trusts Trump. He lies about everything. He’s More concerned on his rallies and bringing adoration on himself. Besides 15 of the 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.
they are not untruths,they are lies.
Donald Trump and Mohamed bin Salman don’t have a credibility problem- they are both known as world class liars.! It was widely predicted that this day would come-that sooner or later the credibility of Trump would be crucial.The media has fact checked him so we in the United States know when he is lying.The Republican establishment has supported him in his exaggerations and repeated falsehoods- they can now share the blame for the fact that the United States is not to be trusted or believed.America is not great again-America is diminished on the world stage!
3
I'm going to assume that the title of this article is tongue in cheek.
1
The cat has already eaten the mouse. (Truman) The mouse will be fully digested come November 2020. The next mouse will be hunting catnip. The good kind, fully tested, deemed worthy, by God and humankind.
.. The world will not believe a serial liar.. Or an accused murderer, Saudi Arabia's Mohammad Bin Salman.. Let them fight their own battles. Our soldiers should not be put in harm's way for the Saudis and Trump/Kushner investments.
4
He is psychologically incapable of being honest. It's a wasted effort to attempt to reason with him or even ponder his ability to change. He's locked into a kind of mental illness--one he chose. He is deeply cynical, more than he can ever say publicly.
1
Fill your gas tanks, stock up on fuel oil and your pellet stove bunker, it's going to be a rough ride.
Stocking the liquor cabinet and the first aid kit isn't a bad idea either.
Bibi,Trump,Bonesaws, and the Iranians are all desperate.
And none are believable.
1
Do the Yemenis blame the United States when we sell the Saudis weapons they use on Yemen? If so, it would only be a matter of time before Houthis start using weaponized drones on America.
How is this even a question?
4
They man-child who cried "fake news" is going to get anyone credible or worthwhile to trust him anytime soon.
You lost me at "trusted?"
2
I think this article addresses the matter of Mr. Trump's credibility very gently by noting that various authorities concede it to be "problematical." Talk about understatement! It looks like Mr. Trump may be about to discover what "What goes around, comes around" really means.
10
The answer is no, and why are we looking to an oilman as a reference in all of this?
His tenure as Secretary of State was a mess in and of itself.
2
Let’s not forget that DJT started this crisis by pulling out of the Iran treaty with no strategy in place. We are now dealing with 2 crisis of his own making including the trade war with China, again unclear of what success looks like for this administration. Please include these points in all future articles because we cannot forget the origins of these dangerous crises.
10
Much as blaming President Trump has a lot of appeal - because he’s always in there somewhere, tweeting bad to worse - the duplicity of the theocratic monarchies of the Middle East goes back thousands of years, even before there was Islam or oil revenue to fight over. As in so many things, Trump is an ill-prepared Johnny-come-lately, his only skill his world class lying. On his team are sycophants who need only show loyalty, not mastery. This isn’t lost on other governments through the world.
Amazingly - or luckily - no Saudis were killed or injured in the refinery explosions, but sufficient damage was done to possibly raise the price of oil by $10 - 25 a barrel.
Trump has recently taken many actions that can only benefit his oil and gas constituents, foreign and domestic, demonstrating where his true loyalties are.
Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United States all stand to make money by mechanically limiting the glut of oil on the world market, thereby increasing the price.
Any two bit paperback detective would see the most likely (or desired) suspect is probably not the real perp, and it will soon be time to gather all the suspects and interested parties in the drawing room, put on the squeeze, and get the guilty party to reveal himself.
Sometimes I listen to radio stations that aren't exactly the most progressive, but are somewhat in the middle, and I find it astonishing that they report, almost blindly, everything this administration tweets as a fact. When they stopped having press conferences, I was concerned because it seemed that this administration had finally decided that the one-way conversation of Twitter was the only way it would communicate - another authoritarian move toward rule by decree. But then the press conferences were just exercises in mendacity anyway so maybe it's not such a loss. Jimmy Breslin used to say the lying began with Vietnam. But the small lies and omissions are now on the level of catastrophic. I don't believe anything he says, even a word like, "hello."
6
Trump can create plenty more chaos around the world without having to build a coalition of allies. As he has demonstrated repeatedly, each new crisis diverts attention from his ignoring the rule of law and the Constitution. And that’s fine with Republicans.
9
Instead of this meaningless article on whether we trust Trump, why not focus on why the constant animosity toward Iran. Why not instead instruct your readers on why Iran supports Hezbollah, Hamas and the Palestinians, and Syria with their president Assad? You could explain how Hezbollah came to power and why Syria and Iran made an agreement to assist the other who was next inline for regime change. Maybe readers will come up with ways to solve this never ending and very costly dilemma. Wouldn’t that make for an informative and meaningful column?
3
@e.s.
There have been countless stories about Irans bad acting in the Middle East. I understand why you want to change the subject. Because Trump's constant stream of lies undermines his ability to be the leader of the free world. When the rest of the world see Trump constantly lying on small things and large things how can they be expected to trust him. I don't know for a fact but my guess is that Iran was behind the oil field bombings, directly or indirectly. But because Trump lies so often reasonable people first reaction is going to be distrust. How do you deal with Trump stream of lies.
NYT: Please stop saying fabrications or untruths. Please start says lies.
12
Can Trump's Word on Iran Be Trusted?
Please. That ship has sailed.
13
Sad to say but no, I do not trust Trump. Very little of his words speak truth. Insults, yes. Lies, yes. Nasty comebacks, yes. But truth never seems intended, even when it occasionally happens.
Did GWBush lie about Iraq? I think he was just wrong. Manipulated by Cheney.
But Trump lies in obvious ways all the time, like that silly map sharpie mark....what makes him think no one notices?
10
Sounds like the Times is trying to soften up the populace for another war. We should listen despite knowing that Trump and his administration are top to bottom are pathologically incapable of ever uttering one word of truth. For a start, maybe all those in his administration should return to Congress and fess up instead of stonewalling, the list of them is long. Perhaps he should immediately release his tax returns and come clean about his obstructions of justice and collusion with Putin. Trump is the national emergency, not Iran.
8
Unlike most of his actions, the Donald's dealings with international conflict has been consistent: scream at the top of your voice and carry a toothpick.
6
"Mr. Trump’s tweets, tirades and untruths could undercut the credibility..."
Seriously, why is it so hard to call Trump's lies, lies?
17
Trump is working hard to make "The Kingdom" look like an innocent, peace-loving nation that must be protected against evil.
Khashoggi is obviously forgotten.
13
Can Trump's word be trusted?? Which word? He's king of the flip-floppers. If he told me the sky was blue, I would check to verify. Short answer: no. He cannot be trusted. Just as with any addict, watch what the rage-oholic in the oval office does, never mind what he says.
9
Trump? his word trusted? Don't make me laugh!! he hasn't told the truth since he was 10 years old..
8
Can His Word on Iran Be Trusted?
No.
11
Why is Trump so concerned about Saudi Arabia? The Arabs can certainly take care of themselves and their oil fields.
70
Makes you wonder how much Saudi Arabia us paying him to give them arms and cover them for their deeds.
1
@pb
Who knows what his dealings with the Saudis are.
Why is he coddling them? Does he owe them something? Want or need something from them?
This is what happens when an unfit person occupies the highest office in the land. Seems like anything goes!
8
@pb. Yes, unfortunately we have sold them a ton of military weapons
2
For once in this presidency, can it discipline itself to hold back the bulster, and instead investigate mulitple, and not immediately obvious, scenarious as to who has the grievances and capabilities to carry out such an attack?
Perhaps the Chinese or Russian governments is behind these strikes. Putin's offer, made immediately after the strikes, to deploy Russian air defense systems is suspicious.
Yet I see China as a more probable cause. Their economy is being degraded by US sanctions.
2
The attack on the Saudi oil facility should be a wake up call. Time to be independent of fossil fuels, especially from the Middle East. We can do it, as of yesterday..
5
The Iran deal was a multi-lateral agreement with our Allies, before scraping the agreement, or re-negotiating the agreement it should have been done with the approval of all of our Allies. By all accounts Iran, was living up to their end of the agreement.
By Trump unilaterally withdrawing from the agreement and imposing sactions on Iran, without our Allies on board, left our Allies in the lurch. All of them have encouraged Trump to reconsider his decesion, and negotiate with Iran. President Marcon, even went as far as to invite the Iranian foriegn minister to the G-7 meeting. Trump refused to meet with him. So how could any reasonable person expect our Allies to join the U.S. in a Military conflict with Iran. They have nothing to gain from it. especially when they are being bullied just like Iran is being bullied.
The true antagonists in this potential military conflict has been Netanyahu, MBS, MBZ and Trump. If Israel, Saudia Arabia and the U.A.E want to fight Iran, let them do it themselves. Trump claims to be a "Great Negotiator", the only evidence of that has been his ability to negotiate his bankruptcies. If he was such a great negotiator, he would have known he needed to negoiate with our Allies first, but he didn't. Bullying is not negotiateing, and war is not the answer. Our Allies know that, and I think MBS, MBZ and Israel know it too. It's time to get to the table. If it is too late, then it is time to walk away without throwing any punches on the way out.
6
I will never trust Trump. How could anybody? He is at war with his own country on every front.
13
American credibility? Under Trump? Non-existent. It's difficult to believe him, or Pompeo, that it was Iran that attacked Saudi Arabia, especially given that Yemeni Huthi claimed credit for the attack. I'm no expert on the Middle East, but it seems to me that Iran has much to lose in the court of international approval if it did attack Saudi Arabia, while Yemen - not so much. It doesn't seem to make much sense to me - but again - not an expert.
At this point in the Trump presidency, given the 12,000+ lies and exaggerations he has told thus far, nothing but absolute proof will convince me, many Americans, and most foreign powers that THIS time, Trump is telling the truth. That's the thing about lying - when you prove yourself to be incapable of telling the truth, even about inconsequential things, nobody believes you when you really are telling the truth.
8
With allies like Israel and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, who needs enemies?
5
Thanks to Trump , his Administration and the Republicans in Congress we have lost all credibility with out allies and the American people.
Any President who has told more than 12,000 lies is not someone that can be trusted to tell us the truth or protect our country.
It is pretty bad when I believe the Iranians over our own Government.
The Iranians are free to sell their weapons to anyone who will buy them. That does not make them guilty of blowing up Saudi oil fields.
Anymore than our selling our American weapons to Israel makes us guilty of attacking the Palestinians.
Let's us have an Independent NATO investigate before we decide who is responsible.
By the way, don't we already know who did it. Didn't the Houthis claim that they blew up the Saudi Oil fields.
Can we just impeach Trump so he will no longer be in the position of blowing up the entire world? The man is obviously mentally ill.
4
I am fully expecting Mr. Trump to be laughed out of the room, again, at the upcoming UN meeting.
5
My guess is, he won't go. He'll claim this crisis keeps him in DC. He hates doing it anyway and his narcissism is keenly aware of the potential for humiliation.
Believe Trump? Like most who've read this analysis, we've listened to Trump speak in a manner that is juvenile, inarticulate, incoherent and hyperbolic. I'd have a hard time giving him a passing grade on government, much less accept his reasoning on world affairs. Just after his appointments and partners have appeared grudgingly before Congress, one openly admitting that he freely lies to the public on Trump's behalf, why would anyone commit to Trump's version of the truth?
Any evidence Trump holds up as proof about Iran has likely been doctored by his sharpie. If he can bully NOAA into revising its forecast, I'm convinced that he does the same with intel agencies now that he's purged them of what he viewed as deep state professionals under the sway of Obama.
So, in short, that's a nope for me. As for Saudi Arabia, they're no better. They had a journalist killed & dismembered and got Trump to lie for them and cover it up. Nope. Nope.
6
Trump set the United States on this path when he unilaterally decided to leave the agreement on nuclear weapons. If he had wanted to influence Iran's developing nuclear weapons one would think that sticking with the agreement and American allies would be preferred. Rather than do that he threatens other countries who try to maintain a dialogue with Iran. Is there a cohesive and articulate world view that provides direction for American policy. Sadly it appear not.
4
Of course Donald Trump can be trusted. He does what he says and keeps his promises. Trump may not be elegant with his "best words" but I can't recall one outright lie he has made during his time in office. We need to reach a peaceful agreement with the Mideast since we will be using more fossil fuels in the very near future. Now that California can no longer dictate pollution standards automobile manufacturers will now be able to produce more of those v-8 and v-10 gasoline engines that we all like.
@RS: Your comment leads me to believe any of the following:
*You are being exceedingly sarcastic.
*You have psychic powers (will the Yankees win their first World Series in 10 years?)
*You are a Trump supporter, who believes he really is, "MAGA," and he has the power to make Iran ask, "how high?" when he says "jump!" In which case, I ask, "can you be THAT gullible?"
Wow, so willfully blind.
The real question here ought to be can Trump's word be trusted on ANYTHING? -- which is a perfectly legitimate question given how quickly and how often he changes his mind and the story mid-stream, while often neglecting to embellish it with facts instead of what's convenient for him to call the "truth".
And given the particularly sensitive and potentially catastrophic conflicts in the Middle East, this president's heavy-handed approach on solving problems, and an established disdain of Iran while extolling the Saudis and their oil, there's every reason to be mindful if not circumspect when it comes to anything he says.
At this point, we can only be thankful that John Bolton is out of the picture.
7
In principle, I actually support Trump on many fronts but I have to say that it is fool's errand to expect truth or rigor in what he says, it's mostly a free interpretation of facts.
On this matter, since the damage is palatable, and since it is not going to be very clear what happened, please no military response, there is no need for that. Leave the medieval kingdom solve this puzzle, just stay at assisting them.
But Iran is also helping the Yemenis, just like we are helping the Saudis.
We have no moral imperative for interfering in this situation, since our President has already declared that we are not World’s policemen. Of course, if he has personal interest in Saudis because of his or his family’s friendship with MBS, then he should hire a mercenary army to help Saudis.
With Britain falling apart the only ally left who might desperately also need a war would be Boris Johnson because his BREXIT folly is on target to wreck the English economy and only the British military industrial complex could save it.
4
In response to Hamid Varzi:
A key Neo-con principle is that, for the US to remain an unmatched superpower, it has to attain mechanisms that allow it to exercise control over the world economy. One of those mechanisms is the US control over all world oil resources. Another one is the US currency remaining as the global currency, acting as the reserve currency for all major trades.
So, for the last 50 years, those in Pentagon have been spending their days planning for military take over of world oil resources . But, until now, the US has been reluctant to just go and take over other countries oil resources. To put those plans in place, right opportunities must come along!
The 9/11 terrorist attack was one opportunity. Although it was the Saudis who attacked the US, the Pentagon invaded Iraq.
Turmoils in Venezuela have given the Pentagon several opportunities so far. Many coup plots have been hatched; but to no avail! Any demonstration in the streets of Caracas becomes at once a US concern and Marines are dispatched to neighboring countries, just in case!
Now a country has attacked Saudi oil plants. That is an opportunity to attack Iran and take over its oil fields. Whether Iran has had any role in that or not, that is not the issue. It is an opportunity that Neo-cons cannot miss!
And, unfortunately, the love of humanity has nothing to do with it. Rest assured Mr. Trump will not talk about murdering "beautiful babies" when the US start bombing Iranian cities.
5
@Eddie B.
The long plan is to annex Canada to capture their oils as well.
The United States attained the greatest respect and admiration by rest of the world after World War II. A blatant lie by CIA about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction destroyed the faith in CIA around the world including USA. Adding insult to injury, our President Trump believes what Putin has to say over what CIA has to say. This followed by unilateral withdrawals from all treaties and perpetual lies by Trump made the world not to pay any attention to what comes out of White House. It is very hard to rebuild the reputation. Now, I believe Iran as much as I believe USA when it comes to Middle East, viz., I don’t believe either of them.
3
@Kodali, the rest of the world still wants to immigrate to the US. The best country in the universe.
This question is moot. A more foundational question is, can this US President fathom the idea of bringing a coalition of countries together to face a perceived threat?
Even if he could, I have my doubts that he would be able to focus his mind long enough to bring this from idea to realization.
6
No one believes Trump or the spokespeople for the US Administration. How can they after the 2 years of relentless lying and fabrication? No one believes Saudi Arabia after the brutal Khashoggi murder and the endless stream of lies about Yemen (repeated by Israel and the US). The US has form for telling whoppers in order to pursue murky strategic objectives (false claims by the Bush Administration about WMD in Iraq; equally false claims by Johnson over North Vietnamese attacks to justify full-on war in Vietnam). Any country would have to be led by an amnesiac or a loony to believe any US or Saudi claims not completely verified by independent parties. Alas the Iranians know this, too. Their version of reality isn't much more trustworthy.
6
Not only does Trump lie, he changes his mind constantly. Nobody can work with him.
6
@Roger I still love him.
Considering the terrible lies on the Gulf of Tonkin to initiate bombing N. Vietnam, and on Bush's "weapons of mass destruction" in to authorize the destruction of Iraq (which lead to ISIS) --and then adding in Trump's 12,000 lies since the beginning of his run for the WH, and Trump's 50 million lies since birth -- how exactly are you going to believe the US as it inches toward yet another war. On top of it hardly secret wars in Yemen and Africa?
We have to ask: Isn't America any better than this?
3
@Feldman
Better is as better does. And we have not 'done better' than slaughter people all over the world as we destroyed infrastructure and attempted regime change and world domination.
"Isn't American any better than this?" At this time in history the answer is, "No."
3
No. His word cannot be trusted. How is that even a question?
The rest of the world is waiting for next November as anxiously as we are. The only reason anyone is paying us any attention is the scale of our military. They consider us to be akin to a monkey with a chainsaw at this point.
124
A liar and a murderer walk into a bar... You can't make this stuff up.
10
No, he doesn't have to convince anyone of anything - his real job is to not start WWIII.
Do you really want to be involved in a war with Trump as our leader?
Anyone who encourages him to get us involved in a shooting match, is a total fool. He is the last man in the world you would want to be in a fox-hole with.
10
What a waste of ink.
8
Unless trump has a time machine to go back (at least to the 1980s) and relive his life without lying so much, I don't think he has a snowflakes chance in hell of convincing honorable people that he can be trusted.
10
It's worth pointing out that the administration of "The Great Divider" Trump faces a different problem from the last administration. When Obama said Russia was substantially aiding and abetting, if not sponsoring the Donbass rebels in Ukraine, he needed physical evidence to sell his point. Wise people believed him but wanted the proof he seemed reluctant to pursue with urgency.
Trump, as this article points out, is not believable and his claims for "outside" interference don't just need physical evidence. They need whatever moral support is lacking for whatever military and economic action he wants to take. Obama didn't necessarily want to take military action, just prove his point toward allied support of collective action of whatever type. Trump wants an excuse to justify his demonization of Iran.
11,000 provable lies since taking office. There is no way this is a dependable truth.
3
I'm a 56-year Republican. I don't know what Trump is but I know what he ISN'T.... TRUSTWORTHY OR BELIEVABLE!
12
@whiteathame - Does it bother you that almost every Republican in office backs him up and enables him?
Trump is not trusted by America's allies, nor taken seriously by her enemies. He is the worst US president in history.
And his two biggest headaches are about to get exponentially worse. Chinese supertankers are going dark indicating that China is buying oil from Iran. China's already committed some $400B in Iran, and Tehran is a critical step along the One Belt, One Road rail developing connecting China to Amsterdam. A long-term alliance between China and Iran would permanently transform Middle East politics.
The Iranian moderates who pushed for the JCPA would have been more inclined toward France and the EU for financing. The hardliners have already shown themselves more than willing to deal with China. Trump has inadvertently guaranteed as much by destroying any good will Iranians had toward the West.
5
I think we need to worry first about convincing Americans for a war. The credibility of our intelligence agencies is lower than used car salesmen after the Iraq war fiasco.
5
Whatever happened to Mitt Romney? At one time, he was trying to convince us that he had what it takes to be President. He has nothing to loose for speaking out now and condeming Trump, Netanyu, and MbS for colluding on an old time religious war on the eve of what could become human history's biggest "Look over there!". Ever.
4
We knew this was coming. Diplomacy by tweet, especially if you insult everyone, is not the best way to go about things. And after the Iraq debacle our credibility is quite low. Obama had increased it somewhat but now it's at an all time low.
5
Do we have any defense treaty with Saudi?
No?
Why bother we have a war with Iran?
3
Haven't we sold the Saudis billions in weapons and aircraft? Then let them fight their own battles. We shouldn't go to war in defense of a murderous Saudi dictator, Trump's and Jared's business interests, and defense contractors.
7
'Can his Word on Iran be Trusted'? I feel a bit like Beto: why do you ask questions you already know the answer to? Please stop analyzing Trump as a sane person. As well, he does not have any particular foreign policy agenda toward Iran or anywhere else except, of course, his own personal enrichment schemes - and we all have a good idea what those are by now. He barely makes the effort to hide it anymore. The only check on Donald Trump at this point is his fear of going too far and risking defeat in 2020.
1
Trump spent 3 1/2 years proving to the world that his word can NOT be trusted, and NOW he wants us to believe him. Uh, sure, ok... We knew this time was coming.
4
The question must be asked, the weapons being deployed in Yemen killing thousand of innocent civilians are America’s made. Is America responsible? American weapons are being used throughout the world, shall we condemn America for every death they cause?
Maybe these are Iranian drones, the point is they did not conduct the attack so why place the blame at their door step?
1
In looking at the big picture, doesn't all of this seem a little contrived? Trump, in an upcoming election, needs chaos to "help save the day", Pompeo, a known war monger, sees greatness for himself in any confrontation, the Republican party, will grasp at any straws to stay in power, the big oil companies, to keep their profits lining their huge pockets.
Who among us will want us to forfeit our sons and daughters to be killed in a war with Iran all for the benefit of Saudi Arabia?
4
Apparently, nobody read "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" to Donald Trump when he was a child. If someone had, he'd understand why nobody believes anything he says today.
2
Donald Trump shows that in the United States anyone can really grow up (?) and become President.
1
Trump has told over 11,000 public lies since he became President. No one believes this pathological prevaricator. He lives in a self contained delusional reality.
2
Sharpie Gate is evidence that trump has zero credibility
3
Trump has shown the world his incompetence from day one. Nothing will change that. Regime Change NOW.
2
Why would any reasonable person believe someone who lies as frequently and baldly as trump?
1
Good word cannot be trusted. Ever. Don't fall for it, world!
1
@Patricia HIS word cannot be trusted. Ever.
Also, in addition to all the lying it would have been nice if Trump hadn’t called all our NATO allies deadbeats and impose or threaten trade tariffs.
3
We all knew this day would come. Now it has.
2
It is so sad to say that I trust the words of Iran over those of our own leaders, those of Israel and certainly over anything the Saudis have to say; the last fifty years have proven time and again that we nor our allies in the Middle East, Central and South America and South East Asia are not to be taken at their word. We have been engaged in war after war fought for and paid for by American taxpayers for special interests, whether multinationals, big oil or to allow Israel to realize its ambitions, this while while woefully ignoring the needs of our own nation. This did not begin with Trump and has crisscrossed party lines with Biden and Clinton among others as enthusiastic supporters of continual war; in point of fact Bernie Sanders is the only one who has consistently voted against our excursions into other countries for the sake of wars for special interests and regime change to benefit our “ allies”, meaning who has the best lobbyists shelling out the most money to our elected officials, both Republican and Democrat, to dispute this is either disingenuous or naive.
59
@Ted
"There's bad on both sides..." doesn't really work in this particular situation. Democrats didn't unilaterally destroy the agreement that started this mess... and democrats were the ones that put the original agreement in place that had been stable until republicans got a hold of it.
14
@J By “ this mess” I assume you are speaking of the latest accusation that Iran is responsible for the drone attacks; the agreement being I presume is the Iran Nuclear deal Trump tore up: I am speaking in terms of not only that, of which I will repeat, after Iraq I don’t believe any of our “ fact findings”, nor our weapons of mass destruction claims designed to instill fear in the masses and beat the drum for war; this is not even mentioning the decades spent fighting the Big Bad Communist Threat during the Cold War, the domino effect we used as an excuse to bomb Vietnam for a decade( still Communist and doing quite well thank you), dirty work all over the lower America’s, overthrowing the duly elected presidents of Iran, Egypt, Ukraine etc. etc, etc. initiating coups around the world, imposing sanctions on whomever displeases us or our allies that have had the effect of creating hardships for everyday citizens of those nations and lasting animosity( more terrorism if you will) towards America and Americans, the vast majority of whom are as guiltless as the average citizens of the countries we destabilize or bomb to smithereens: there should be no confusion this is not a rank and file, average citizen, Democrat or Republican voter, caused problem, it never has been, it’s a problem conjured up by the rich and powerful so they may remain powerful and attain even more wealth.
3
It is absurd to suggest that trump needs to get the world to trust him. No one believes trump. Not even his own staff believes him. Saying trump must get the world to believe anything he says is like saying he must hold his breath for a year; it is as impossible as it is absurd even to suggest.
4
Is this article a bad joke? Trump has already demonstrated that Trump cannot be trusted in the Middle East, period, without getting into how much Trump can be trusted in either the US or the rest of the world. Trump is incapable of being trusted, except by his supporters, who are incapable of perceiving who should and should not be trusted.
5
This dilemma illustrates why the US should reduce its remaining dependence on ME oil. In fact, it would be good if the US reduced its overall dependence on oil for energy to zero. ME oil is the cause of much of the US policy mess in the region and has kept it from thinking clearly about its national interests there. We should not be in hock to any of the ME countries. If nothing else, that will make them more dependent on the US, which is a much better position for the US to be in.
2
Unfortunately, we have a leader whose word cannot be trusted--and is not trusted by most Americans (a majority do not support him nor believe his tweets and pronouncements). What he says today is changed tomorrow. Just a day or two before, he went through a "no preconditions" phase re: negotiations with Iran (seen on two different videos, loud and clear) and then a day later, "never said no preconditions"--again loud and clear and on video. His unreliability is constantly unfurled for the entire world to laugh at and sadly for Americans to see. Trump has taught me to doubt all Republicans ( maybe unfair to say "all" but I cannot believe anyone who says he believes Trump) and I cannot see why Iranians or any foreigners should believe anything he says.
2
There is no reason for the U.S. to lead the world into a regional war in the Middle East. The world can fairly quickly adapt to a much lower consumption of oil that will be over time beneficial for future generations by accelerating technological development that reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
3
Just recall the "weapons of mass destruction" that were in Iraqi. Except that they weren't. Colin Powell showed "proof", except that it wasn't.
Saudi Arabia & Israel both want the US to go to war with Iran.
We should be looking for diplomatic solutions and stop seeing Iran as the "bad guy" and Saudi Arabia as the "good guy". The Saudis are not good guys, and trump is most likely beholden to them.
5
Admittedly Trump has taken lying to a whole new level, but the fact is we have been lied to for so long by different world leaders (remember Iraq and thw WMDs?) I don't believe anything any of them say. I suspect these recurrent wars are just a way to refresh the armanents inventory and keep the weapons industry going. Since the army is all volunteers (i e poor people), soldiers' lives are easily expendable in the interests of corporations.
3
The Iranians look at Trump and see a leader who is trusted by no one and, perhaps to his credit, deeply averse to owning a war. They also know that the US military and most of the population don't want a war.
But they should be aware that weak and unstable leaders can be dangerous, particularly if they feel their grip on power loosening.
And they--assuming the Iranians or some faction within Iran is responsible for these attacks--have to ask themselves what the endgame is. Perhaps it is jolly good fun to annoy the Saudis, but is it worth the risk of war?
1
Saudi Arabia is prepared to defend itself to the last American, and it appears that Trump is prepared to help them do exactly that.
4
To answer the question posed by the article's title: No.
"the evidence implicating Iran is just too delicate to make public" Uh-huh, of course it is.
I don't actually think there's any question that Iran was behind this attack but so what? Saudi Arabia has intervened in Yemen's civil war and is bombing the heck out of the Houthis, killing lots of civilians. The notion that they can't be attacked in turn is absurd.
Meanwhile we're waging economic war on Iran. First they warned us with minor attacks on oil tankers. We didn't listen so they escalated.
Goes back to the absurd notion, held by all (or almost all) Republicans that we can get Iran to obey us without waging war. Nope.
Lindsey Graham would unhesitatingly choose war. Trump actually understands that such a war would be unpopular with voters, even Republican voters but he's boxed in because he accepts the notion that we must prevent an Iranian bomb and the notion that Obama's deal was utterly unacceptable.
There is no third way but Trump's inability to understand this probably means that he will allow the hawks to drag us into war.
2
The title of this piece is entirely rhetorical: “Trump’s Challenge: Can His Word on Iran Be Trusted?”
The answer is an automatic “No”, maybe with a sigh indicating resignation or disgust. At this point Trump cannot possibly be treated seriously, although he does inspire trepidation as he can and does make weird and erratic moves without notice or reason.
3
50-30 years ago maybe it made sense for the US to get into the problems of the Middle East, because we needed their oil. Then we stayed there not by necessity, but to make money, since our weapon manufacturers, with enormous political power, profited by selling the weapons we used to invade them and also those they used to defend themselves or to kill each other.
But that has no reason to be today because the US has managed to be self sufficient in the energy we consume and because it costs us more and more in lives and blows to the Treasury to get into the never ending problems of that area.
The truth is that we have ended not being the Judge, not even de Policeman of the area, but simply the security guards of Saudi Arabia and all the Gulf oil states, since we use our fleet to protect their ships, not ours, and the bases we have scattered around the area do not contribute to the safety of the US but that of Kuwait, of the Emirates and of Saudi Arabia.
We have to recognize our limits. Even the Roman Empire decided it was to expensive and totally unprofitable to send troops to Scotland, and so they got out.
5
Credibility of the United States is in bright red afternoon George W. Bush invaded Iraq with invalid intelligence. Trump administration has made it even worse.
No statement from Donald Trump is trustworthy.
Trump does not treasure and respect our allies. Trump and the nation has to face the challenges alone. Allies are all past tense.
3
According to the maps displayed by the Saudis, which were provided by the trump administration, the missiles most certainly came from Alabama.
4
Trump latest fail in foreign policy. Whoduthunk there'd be consequences to lying? It's refreshing to see the Saudis getting attacked as retaliation for their involvement in Yemen.
6
Even if solid evidence (highly unlikely) that Iran directly from their territory executed the attack, we have no business starting a war on behalf of Saudi Arabia. At least in the gulf war in 1991 one country, Kuwait, was actually invaded.
3
This isn't news. The world already knows trump lacks the veracity and judgment to handle ANY international crisis. The boy who cried Iran.
3
I thought only Congress could declare a military option....so where are the Congressional leaders on this? Is Trump even consulting them?? Or, are they on another vacation, or silly hearing again. Do SOMETHING productive Congress and stop Trump from running this country into the ground!!
3
If Trump can convince world leaders that he can be trusted, he might as well sell them the Brooklyn Bridge while he's at it.
2
This is just another "hey look over there" ploy by trump to distract people while the economy tanks. He needs a war for re-election.
The only group he has any credibility with is his "base" who by coincidence will be the ones to fight his fight unless the Democrats grow a spine and stop him.
2
All news outlets look like “the Onion” these days.
Living in alternative universe, a post reality world is not really much fun.
Apparently, about 40% of the country think that it’s great.
1
How can a man who proudly and thoughtlessly broke a treaty with Iran convince anyone to trust him?
What he now *says* means nothing
3
"On Iran, Trump must convince world his word can be trusted."
Sorry but that ship has sailed. With no credibility aboard.
3
Of course Trump's word cannot be trusted. Nor does he tolerate truthfulness in subordinates, even unpolitical ones like the National Weather Service.
Why not instead try to convince the world of something more likely to be believed, like that the moon rises in the West and sets in the East?
5
" angry at his tweets, tirades, untruths and accusations "
Is anyone else getting fed up and exhausted by the media's pathetic attempts to normalize this totally unfit president through a tsunami of euphemisms?
For example, his 'untruths" are mostly lies. His "accusations" are mostly false, paranoid and sometimes libelous. His "tweets" are petulant, angry and childish. And even the word "tirades" fails to capture the spirit of his incoherent, vicious and paranoid raging rants.
And the guy is completely over his head in foreign affairs, a true danger to us all. He is not up to the job of leading us through an international crisis, which, ironically, he is responsible for creating.
i truly don't know how our democracy can survive a second term of Trump, but the media seems bent on finding out.
29
@hark
You are soooooo right.
Why can’t the media call it what it is??
Or, why WON’T the media do so??
It is dishonest.
It must be because the media is a business. It’s more about the money than reality.
Money, unfortunately, corrupts everything.
In America, making money is more important than solving problems and being ethical and honest.
We are in trouble.
1
The title of this piece is interesting.
The issue is how does a habitual liar convince any one, let alone the world, that his "word" on anything can be trusted? What could a constant liar say to "convince" any one of anything other than a three year old child?
10
How is one who has no relationship with truth and honesty going to convince ANYONE that they are now being true and honest??
When one lies about the lies they unashamedly told to cover up the lies while trying to get us to forget about those other lies, no one will believe one scintilla that is said when is really counts.
Trump and his minions will find he cannot tweet and insult his way into and out of everything. Where is is roving golden son-in-law? He cannot fix this in 15 minutes?
The United States desperately needs wise, trustworthy, mature and knowledgeable leadership.
Please put it on your front page in red, white and blue when it arrives.. This sad debacle of a person and his minions sure ain't it.
Please register to vote and go to the polls.
10
The question should be edited,
'Trump’s Challenge: Can His Word Be Trusted?'
No, Never, Next
11
No worries for Donald Trump here. When the chips are down he can turn to his reliable, ace in the hole Middle East expert Jared Kushner to save the day. We will await the press conference announcing this. And please have the conference in the White House and not outside while the helicopter rotors are spinning away. The press would love to hear then who you are lashing out against.
4
The title of this piece is ludicrous on its face. Given his demonstrated mental illness, lack of eduction & intellectual curiosity and his emotional instability, I defy anyone anywhere to name one (1) subject -- from the weather, to what to have for lunch, to nuclear war to "what is your name, sir?" -- on which anything that issues from the president's mouth/brain/Sharpie could "be trusted."
9
Trusting the word of one known liar... who is waiting on and basing US engagement into a war with Iran on the word of a man who most evidence indicates lied about having a US journalist dismembered in the embassy of another country.... how low our standards have become, and how little things have changed when it comes to the US finding excuses to go to war.
12
Trump's lifetime of deceit goes well beyond the 12,000 and counting lies made during his presidency. Although MBS and the Saudi regime is mentioned here, the media seems to ignore a third leg of the odious triad - namely Netanyahu. The Israeli regime has been trying to provoke the US into a war with Iran and now has an administration willing to be duped by what could be a false flag attack. Clearly the Israelis have the technology to make such an attack, and their recent election makes the timing suspicious as well. Putting lives and treasure at risk for the likes of these men should cause serious doubt on the part of the world's security forces, including those in the Pentagon.
11
Too late for that. Those who read about trump for decades knew he was untrustworthy, a liar, a B.S.A then. He is unchanged and will remain the lying, know nothing he is now and forever. Abandon hope of ever trusting him on anything, you know he lies all day every. And abandon the GOP in its entirety, they applaud, smile, and support his lies.
15
Trump is Putin's most successful investment.
“If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer…….And a people that no longer can believe anything cannot make up its mind. It is deprived not only of its capacity to act but also its capacity to think and to judge. And with such a people, you can do what you please”. Hannah Arendt
15
@Jud Hendelman Great quote! Smart woman, that Hannah Arendt.
Q: "Can His Word on Iran Be Trusted?"
A: No! .. not on Iran. Or anything else.
8
Noting the headline, who remembers the infamous “alternative facts”? Or the many instances when Trump made negative comments about allies? Let alone the ridiculous number of fact check failures.
These things all have consequences - remember when Trump was laughed at by world leaders during his speech at the UN? When your credibility is that low, why would anyone trust you?
12
To answer the question posed in the headline: No. Trump has no credibility and never did. Every time he moves his lips, he spews an incoherent word salad of lies and nonsense that exposes his lack of intelligence. On a good day, he is merely embarrassing. On a bad day, which now comes almost daily, he is a threat to democracy and global stability.
11
Trump has no credibility and no honor and I don't think that he cares. What he does have is the loyalty of his base and the Republicans in Congress. He is their golden calf. In watching the childish antics of the Republicans yesterday in the Lewandowski hearing all aimed at protecting trump you had to wonder what is in it for these dupes. I doubt our allies in the EU will give trump the time of day. They know what a prolific liar he is and that he does not honor agreements, so why bother. We had a nuclear agreement in place with Iran and it was working, trump broke it because of his insane jealousy of Obama.
15
He knows he will never be what Obama is.. And never have what he has.
Obama is smart, analytical, classy, respected.
He has true admirers and had people in his administration who had working brains and would tell him the truth.. Not just what he needed to hear so he would not lose interest in 3 minutes or roll around on the floor and turn blue for not getting his way..and then send a nonsensical tweet at 3 am.
Trump cannot abide the fact that Obama and his administration are still fresh in people's minds. They were not perfect and did not always get everything right, BUT HE AND THEY WERE BETTER THAN THIS!!
People can say.. Remember when.. It was not that long ago.
5
Trump is absurdly late in trying to convince the world that his word can be "trusted". TOTAL FAILURE.
He doesn't know what that word even implies, let alone what it means.
6
Brain teaser: If Trump were to declare that everyone in his administration, including him, is a liar, would he be telling the truth? (A version of the classic conundrum known as the Paradox of Epimenides.)
7
Perhaps George Bush said it best:
"fool me once, shame on-shame on you. Fool me-you can't get fooled again."
4
Fortunately for Trump, him and his friends and his cult don't care what anyone else thinks, least of all the rest of the world.
1
Nothing out of Donald Trump's mouth can be trusted; why would anybody even ASK, anymore?
9
Re: "...Trump’s Challenge: Can His Word on Iran Be Trusted?"
Given Mr. Trump's well, documented history / habits of avoiding, honesty as if 'honesty' were an 'S.T.D.'...why is such a question even, posed??
7
It is absurd that after two years + of blatant non stop lying to the whole world, news media are now discussing that Trump needs to prove to the world that he can be trusted.
This NYT article is shows how little the media has been focused on the fully corrupt American presidency, no matter about the availability of a mountain of evidence that proofs that this corrupt man can never ever be trusted.
One wonders if the NYT can be trusted, when it took them over 2 years to make up their best corporate mind.
2
Many years ago a NYS politician said it best, "I wouldn't believe anything Trump said, even if his tongue was notarized."
And nothing's changed for the good; he's only gotten worse.
9
Deja vu anyone?
Why is this our problem?
The Saudis have the money and army to fight their own battles.
We need to focus on the thing killing the most Americans including children, and that's GUN VIOLENCE in the USA.
6
Looks like the missiles were well aimed, our military may inflict great damage, but we might also take some major hits and loss of American lives in a war and for what? I haven't heard a compelling argument as to why we should support the Saudi Kingdom, let them defend themselves with weapons they buy from us or elsewhere. Maybe they don't really care to fight and die for their King? Here's the other rub, since Trump is so ill equipped to lead anything, what makes anyone imagine he could manage Iran if we were to defeat them militarily? He just likes the theatrics of calling Hillary Crooked, Warren Pocohantas, and desperately trying to say Obama wasn't a hugely popular president. Managing a war torn country isn't a skill set he would ever possess in a billion years of training. He would have no idea where to start.
3
It’s not just the lies of this President, but the American history of perfidy when it comes to the Middle East.
- We oust Iran’s Prime Minister and replace him with the Shah, and pretend we’re friends of Democracy.
- We support a dictator in Saddam Hussein far worse than the Iranian regime, help him wage an endless war against Iran, and claim to not know why they don’t like us.
- We destabilize the region by invading Iraq on false pretenses.
It’s not just Trump who can’t be trusted; it’s the United States.
181
@Angelus Ravenscroft The most honest analysis I have seen.
2
Trump has two big problems here. First no one believes anything he says. Second, the American people will not support a war in defense of the Saudis. Trump and MbS got themselves into this mess and using military force to get them out of it is not an option. The American people and our allies have no stomach for another war in the Persian Gulf.
184
@Ferniez
I'm not sure we have any allies any more, but if we do none of them would put their soldiers under the command of Donald Trump.
31
@Ferniez
“The credibility of the United States matters every single day,” he added. “And when it is eroded in the eyes of our allies over time, it then ultimately makes moments like this even more difficult.”
I agree. Obviously Trump never read Aesop's fables, and thinks he can spin lie after lie about everything and anything.
"There is no believing a liar, even when he speaks the truth."
I have seriously wondered if anything that this president has ever said was true. I knew that someday, when it came time to explain a difficult policy decision to the American people involving the use of force, he would have a unresolvable credibility problem. It's ironic that he calls the press "fake news," yet the press is where we turn to to understand what's happening in the world. Certainly not Fox News or Trump's tweets.
What is needed is for the Trump administration to employ a committee of bipartisan members to examine the missile wreckage and present their conclusions to the American people with CIA and forensic expert witness corroboration. I would think the launch rocket plumes were observed by reconnaissance satellite so the launch point could be determined.
12
@Ferniez He doesn't need the approval of Congress any more. He will just do it and declare a state of emergency. He may even disband congress to enhance "National Security"
1
Good luck with that.
No way he can be trusted.
4
Two Islamic theocracies are in conflict, both based on a religion that is antithetical to enlightenment values of the enlightenment that theoretically underlie the United States.
We have gone to war before, but always it was against the principles of our enemies, be it fascism or communism. It seems that in this case it will be decided by the inarticulate impulses of our President.
He has a strange relationship with war, as illustrated in the words he used on the forming of a Space Command. "It's where our future wars will be fought." It could be he was thinking about aliens from a different galaxy, or perhaps manned earth based mega-weapons ala Star Wars.
Either way he seemed to revel in the anticipation of such cataclysmic events. His eagerness to bring this country into an internecine battle between two Muslim based autocracies illustrates this mentality.
1
Trump has as much hope, of getting the world to trust him, as he would in getting his heavily stiffed casino contractors to participate in any new Trump building projects. Why? Because his building projects have always been more about destruction than construction. And so the world turns ......
Trump is on his own. He has no friends in the civilised world. So he must decide, without the benefit of 'thrice bitten four times shy' Europe, to join him in any Middle East adventure.
The Saudis just declared the missiles came from the north, firmly implicating Iran, whereas satellite images published two days in succession by the NYT prove conclusively that they entered the oil tanks from the west. But the attack, thankfully, didn't boost Netanyahu's re-election chances. Maybe cooler heads will prevail.
I say this, not as a matter of national pride but as a warning: An attack on Iran will unleash irreparable damage on Saudi Arabia, Israel and U.S. sailors. For the love of humanity, don't do it. A war will benefit no one other than the U.S.-U.K. military-industrial complex. Millions of people will perish, and the reputation of the U.S. will be destroyed forever. Russia and China will reap enormous benefits from the military and psychological fall-out, if the U.S. once again shoots itself in the foot.
4
President Trump has made 10,796 false or misleading claims over 869 days
Source: WaPo article
Thinking this is a when He'll Freezes Over situation.
2
No credibility, none for Trump. Support SA - really? - how soon we forget...
1
Who in their right mind would believe anything that Trump says? May his supine GOP enablers weep for what has become of our nation.
2
Since it’s hard to undo 70 years of lying, and approximately 35 to the public, I’m going to have to say no, his word can’t be trusted. Just a guess, though. (Sarcasm.)
3
Every so often, a headline like this jars me back into reality. The headline begs the question, “can the president of the United States be trusted?”.
That’s a stunning question and a stunning reality. In just 3 short years, the President’s lack of trustworthiness has become “normal”. Few of us become outraged anymore; we just accept it, because we have to (for now). On top of that, Trump’s supporters still support him, even though many of them know that he’s a run on liar. If they don’t care about that, what do,they care about? What is wrong with these people?
In a few months, though, we’ll have the opportunity to scream that this is not who,we are as a nation. Take our Country back from this pack of scoundrels.
Kick Trump to the curb along with his Republican allies who hold office.
4
Years and years of lies and deceit cannot be overcome. Would anyone ever trust Trump about anything? Over 12,000 documented lies in past few years . No, the world leaders, even the dictators, know he's not someone to make a deal with. They will wait him out.
3
How to be trusted after a life-time of lying? That is one trillion dollar question!
3
It is truly amazing that we have come to this -- can we trust the president of the USA to tell the truth when proposing life and death actions? Sadly, we have a president who is totally bankrupt and who is a laughing stock to the world.
4
However Trump is unpredictable, I would like to thank him for following his instinct rather than a knee jerk reaction by responding to each provocation with military actions. Opponents such as Russia and China can't be more happy to see America sinks deeper into another infinity war.
BTW, disruption in oil supply from Saudi affects China and EU more than US - why do China and EU keep silent?
1
Did the NYT write that "much of the world...could be disinclined to believe"?
This kind of understating the danger Trump poses to world peace, our democracy, our environment, etc. constitutes colluding with him.
2
IF trump's reelection campaign founders with a shaky economy and more corruption developments, not to mention his incompetence, I'm wagering that trump will launch an attack somewhere... Iran is most probable although no doubt his "advisors" are looking for a Grenada like target (remember the great Reagan's "invasion" of that tiny island state). Who else recalls the corrupt Reagan administration's Iran contra debacle and its phony "hero" Ollie north (lately of NRA 'fame').
The Republican Party is an international disgrace and morally bankrupt. Since they can NOT win fair elections there's no end to republicans lying and cheating... and their efforts to limit the power of duly elected officials who are Democrats.
IF we don't rid the country of republican CONtrol of the senate and presidency OUR democracy may well be doomed. And to me this situation is WORSE than the height of the Vietnam protest era (which I was around for).
2
Is this satire? I hope so, because otherwise it means there are heretofore seeming sensible Americans who still don't realize that the world trusts Trump roughly as far as we can throw him.
3
Mr. Trump, as a result of his ridiculous narcissism, simply doesn't understand that all of the leaders of the countries that he's offended over the last 3 years are also elected officials who are attempting to look after their own citizens and are facing political opposition if they do something that displeases them.
As a result, Mr. Trump doesn't get that if one of theses leaders does succumbs to his bullying, that individual will look weak and drastically diminish their chances of being re-elected.
2
The question being asked, is right from the outset, ludicrous. Trump has alienated ALL of his "former" allies in Europe and elsewhere and to think he is going to get even the tiniest bit of support from those countries is laughable. Trump has made America the "lone wolf" on everything that is happening in the world including foreign policy, he just has no idea at all what he is doing.
Perhaps he can ask Russia or North Korea for help. Oh, wait a minute, they are allies of Iran.
4
RE: "Trump's challenge: Can his word on Iran be trusted?"
Simple answer: no.
Although the headline was worth a chuckle
2
All this animosity toward Iran is not “making America great again”. We should be trading with Iran
2
Of course his words cannot be trusted, specially if his allies about this issue against Iran are the saudis, and Netanyahu. This is all a lie.
2
If I were a foreign leader I would not trust Trump or any republican politician ever.
3
Really?! There is an investigation going on, and it's not Trump investigating; it's professionals. Even Trump said he was waiting to find out after investigations were completed when the media tried to get him to say it was Iran. Why can't we stop the daily sound bites of unsubstantiated claims and wait to see what is found? The NYTimes is not the news organization it was 10 years ago. It's become more of an 'Enquirer' arm of the far left. Sad.
2
@Ma - "Why can't we stop the daily sound bites of unsubstantiated claims and wait to see what is found?"
The media hoopla is intended to make everyone emotionally tired, depressed, or frustrated. That frustration often paves the way for creating "a national consensus" for the government taking action: in this case, starting a war.
"Mr. Trump’s tweets, tirades and untruths [could] undercut the credibility of any case he makes for responding to the attacks...Disinclined to believe...?"
What journalistic contortions did it take to concoct that ditty?
How about; " Trump's lies decimate the credibility of any case he makes..and world leaders will find it almost impossible to believe..."
1
Setting aside the obvious lies and lack of credibility of ANY REPUBLICAN IN OFFICE (they being the deniers of warming, domestic terrorism, systemic racism, corruption, immoral and illegal wars, fascistic authoritarian attacks of US democracy as Putin stooges, etc.) the simple reality that the acts of aggression began unilaterally with the US in withdrawing from the nuclear accord then compounded with the wholly immoral and illegal proxy war in Yemen through the Wahabi butchers and terrorists would be the more immediate and vexing problems for US security and the attendant politics of the life, liberty and happiness of we the people.
"Trump’s Challenge: Can His Word on Iran Be Trusted?"
Wrong question. We all know he can't be trusted. Right question: What is left for him to do, given that (a) nobody trusts him, (b) he is corrupt and has financial conflicts of interest vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, (c) he couldn't care less about traditional Western values including human rights, democracy, and racial equality, and (d) his administration has no diplomatic competence whatsoever? Killing the pretty good Obama deal was dumb. Iran was in compliance. He did it because he has a racist obsession with Obama. The Europeans are right. Trump's senseless inflammatory rhetoric and actions has caused this. The only way out is diplomacy. Trump et al. couldn't negotiate their way out of a paper bag. Most Americans don't trust him.
2
"Trump" and "Trust" are mutually exclusive concepts. Its just silly to even equate them together. How did we end up with this mess?
1
The chickens are coming home to roost. like the little boy who cried wolf, absolutely nobody will ever believe Mr Trump (except for his "base" and they will hang on to his every word, as though it is written in stone). Fortunately around the world, most people are far removed from the slavish devotion of Mr Trumps "base".
1
Credibility shouldn't be the issue here. I distrust the word of the President as much as the next man, but we should really be asking why this matters to the United States at all.
Saudi Arabia not really an ally of the United States; rather, Jared Kushner and the President are kleptocratic mates with MBS who seem willing to support him on anything. The KSA has been bombing Yemenis indiscriminately for years and if the Houthis can find a way with or without Iranian assistance to take a toll on the Saudi economy, I can't say I'm that bothered.
Frankly, Trump could be credible - he could show me a video of Hassan Rouhani personally piloting a drone into that refinery - and I still would not be convinced that America should be involved. Saudi Arabia hath made its bed, so let it lay. Just because they rent millions of dollars'-worth of Trump apartments doesn't mean we should leap to their oil industry's defence.
If anything, this should just highlight the strategic benefit of a greener economy and the liabilities of oil dependence.
8
Credibility shouldn't be the issue here. I distrust the word of the President as much as the next man, but we should really be asking why this matters to the United States at all.
Saudi Arabia not really an ally of the United States; rather, Jared Kushner and the President are kleptocratic mates with MBS who seem willing to support him on anything. The KSA has been bombing Yemenis indiscriminately for years and if the Houthis can find a way with or without Iranian assistance to take a toll on the Saudi economy, I can't say I'm that bothered.
Frankly, Trump could be credible - he could show me a video of Hassan Rouhani personally piloting a drone into that refinery - and I still would not be convinced that America should be involved. Saudi Arabia hath made its bed, so let it lay. Just because they rent millions of dollars'-worth of Trump apartments doesn't mean we should leap to their oil industry's defence.
If anything, this should just highlight the strategic benefit of a greener economy and the liabilities of oil dependence.
1
Iran is a large country it has 82 million people (2x Iraq, 2x Saudi Arabia). It has a distinct culture, the descendant of the Persian Empire, the inheritors of the Code of Hammurabi and a history of technological achievements and Iranians are proud of their culture. We have had cultural differences with Iran, and that persists. We have had cultural differences with many other nations, and yet there is admiration of the US secular ethic of prosperity and mostly fair play, if not just our materialism. We claim equal right for all cultures and for individuals. We have had real problems with Iran since 1976, but we did dishonestly interfere with their system and did not live up to our standards. We don't have to be at war with them, we can have rapproachment, and that would be a great help in the chaotic Middle East. We blew it in 2017.
4
Why should we trust him, why should anyone? Look at his actions, they tell the tale today, yesterday, tomorrow.
He condemns us all to a future no one should want.
4
Iran did not attack the United States.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are part of OPEC, not NATO.
And it really goes without saying at this point that Trump can't be trusted.
7
Mr. Trump “must then balance the need to protect sources and methods with the need to inform Congress and the American people about why he takes or doesn’t take any action.”
At this point, I’m absolutely convinced that trump is incapable of making a decision like this, which is exactly why he has no business being president. I want someone in office with the intelligence needed to deal with a circumstances like these, not someone who will put his profits first.
5
In Cuban missile crisis president Kennedy sent his emissary to see Gen. de Gaulle, president of France. Emissary told the general about Russian missiles in Cuba and took out maps to back up
his statement. de Gaulle told him he
doesn't need to see the maps: "the word of president of USA is good enough". We have come long way
from the trust in the words of US president to no trust in the last 25 years.Trump has elevated lying to the art, but messrs Clinton and Bush also
played their part. A very public
assertion of Iraq possess WMDs has
lessened the credibility not of only president Bush but also of CIA, British intelligence (yellow cake fame)and German Intelligence(the curve ball). Now Mr. Trump can shout from the podium but nobody believes.
2
"One theory gaining support among American officials is that the cruise missile and drone attack was launched from southwest Iran or in the waters nearby."
There is little Iranian military installation in the area from which US intelligence is suggesting the cruise missiles may have been fired. All major Iranian installations were removed from vicinity of Iraq's border after the eight-year Iraq-Iran war. So the key words in the above statement is "waters nearby."
The number of missiles are too many to be fired from an Iranian patrol ship. And patrol ships are typically too small to absorb the backlash due to a missile firing. Moreover, Iranian navy assets are under close, constant, watch of US navy radars, not to mention the US stationary satellites over Persian Gulf. So the fact that the US intelligence has been unable to produce any concrete evidence point to Iran rules out the possibility that the missiles were fired from Iranian ships.
The only remaining possibility for the missiles coming from "waters nearby" is they are fired from a submarine. But Iranian submarines (if they are actually operational) are too primitive to be able to fire missiles deep from Gulf waters. There is, however, other countries that have such submarines and have much to gain by having a war started between Iran and the US. Guess which countries have them!
2
Funny. It's 2 1/2 years too late for that. Anyone that's watched this guy since the 80s has long known his word is nothing. Nothing.
And this country has watched him tell over 12,000 LIES to the American people. It's way too late, and that's why his "foreign policy" is such a shambles. TRUST is key to establishing agreements with other countries, first with our allies, then whoever faces us at the negotiating table.
Our "president" has built MISTRUST. That's all he's good at.
He has publicly taken sides against all our intelligence agencies, and sided with russia, the same hostile regime who helped get him elected. Why? We must find out, and it's more than obvious he desperately wants to keep that secret. He cannot. And we've ;learned by his ACTIONS, that he cannot be trusted.
6
Even if the Trump administration proved beyond doubt that Iran attacked the Saudi oil fields, why would we expect the rest of the world to join us responding? The rest of the world already joined us one time to negotiate an agreement with Iran which this administration unilaterally pulled out of, causing the chain of events that has led us to where we are today.
204
@rs
I'm still betting the attack came from within the Kingdom. If it was Yemeni fighters of course Iran supplied them, they are allies after all. How does that make Iran culpable? Am I my brothers keeper?
I wouldn't put it past the house of Saud to do this themselves, or for that matter for some of our guys to be in on it just to get a war going with Iran. There are factions of the GOP whom have been gagging for a war with Iran for decades.
23
@rs Even if it was proven that Iran attacked the Saudi oil fields, why should America respond? Attacks on their soil are for Saudis to deal with. Not one drop of American sweat, blood or treasure should be wasted on these extremist countries.
24
@rs
Why should we respond?
1
He has zero credibility with anyone not wearing a MAGA hat. Not a good thing for statesmanship. Or war for that matter.
16
I’ve been waiting for Trump to implode in front of the whole world so we Americans can get on with our country and our lives.
12
No question. He is a proven liar. He'll tell people anything and do whatever he wants.
He has broken several international agreements with little justification (Iran agreement, Paris accords, ...) with a clear indication that he cares little about the credibility of the US as a country.
He maliciously misrepresented the intended winners for his major tax cut and he make a big deal about his inability to read a hurricane weather map.
Big or small issue, Trump will openly lie and then lie about his lies.
26
False in one false in all.
12
Well, let’s dig in to the facts on trustworthiness:12,000 plus lies since January, 2017 and many lies in his 70 history before that. Fraud at Trump Foundation.
Huh. I don’t think this one is too hard. We shouldn’t trust him.
20
@NJLATELIFEMOM Politicians lie. That Trump's constant lying has dramatically distinguished himself among them, past and present, is astonishing. That his supporters don't care that he lies constantly is nearly as common as his supporters who don't believe that he lies constantly. Its as if the next day after the election in 2016 has been one super-long episode of the twilight zone. And then, Trump does something to demonstrate that he can stoop even lower, in lies, in a lack of ethics, even humanity. If you would have told someone at any time in the past that something like Trump can happen to the US, they wouldn't believe you. Its that weird, that bad.....
When you have “little credibility,” you have no credibility. The question is whether any authoritative voices remain uncorrupted in Trump’s government. If so, that’s who we need to hear from regarding culpability for the attacks on Saudi Arabia. Don’t bother reporting what Trump says: we readers want the truth.
175
@JR80304
I agree - Don’t bother reporting what Trump says: we readers want the truth.
5
Before he was elected, everyone in America knew that Trump was an inveterate liar, con man, and buffoon. That includes everyone who signed up to be in his administration. Thus, there are NO others in his administration who have any integrity, reliability, or credibility.
Any facts that we get to assist us in analyzing world affairs (or anything else) must come from other governments or from the credible media - i.e., not State TV (Fox) and its ilk.
7
@JR80304 Who CAN we believe? Even the Air Force has lied about how many times and for how long they have put up flight crews at trump's golf resort. Now, trump is claiming he wants to "help" California with its "homeless problem". He really wants to sweep them off the streets because his rich cronies don't like looking at them. And a lot of people suspect he wants to dump them into warehouses run at exorbitant cost by other cronies, like the cages for the asylum seekers on the southern border.
In other words, be suspicious of ANYTHING this man or any of his agents say.
8
I wouldn't trust Trump if his tongue was notarized. He has lied thousands of times. I am 71 years old, have met a lot of people, and all of them combined did not lie as much as Trump has. Don't fall for it. My mother told me that if you lie once no one will believe you when you tell the truth. I don't even trust his advisors.
28
It is not only his lack of credibility but the way he projects the new USA as being a mercantile country with no moral values. This and the lying are making the USA loose its leadership position in the world. Military might is important but as he will hopefully experience during this crisis sometimes military might is not enough to lead.
10
Militarily impotent European countries doing business with Iran will never be satisfied with whatever evidence they are provided showing that Iran was responsible for the attack on Saudi Arabia. Just look at the efforts they have made to circumvent American sanctions against Iran.
So blaming Trump's lack of credibility as a reason for their not supporting us is nothing more than another cheap shot on Trump.
My solution to the Iranian problem to have Saudi Arabia provide Israel with bases and fund the US selling refueling tankers, bombers and other strategic weapons to Israel and let nature take its course.
1
No specific or formal US mutual defense obligation regarding Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are de facto at war evidence the brutal proxy conflict in Yemen now the scene of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
Trump’s decision to abrogate the Obama nuclear deal with Iran to halt their nuclear weapon program grew exclusively out of Trumps reckless campaign hyperbole rather than any coherent strategy for encouraging stability in the middle east.
Trump’s subsequent imposition of draconian sanctions on Iran following trashing the nuclear deal has been a powerful accelerant for even greater conflict centered on the Persian Gulf.
The farcical, fictitious Art of the Deal al la Trump predictably reaping more utterly foolish and extraordinarily dangerous outcomes.
13
That ship sailed a long time ago. In dealing with Iran, we are now faced with competing arguments from two equally untrustworthy leaders.
8
He can't. Trump lies about what direction the sun rises and sets.
8
That is absolutely the funniest headline I've seen in ages.
10
Trump ? Trusted? The two words are entirely inconsistent with each other.
13
Trump has been his own worst enemy. He does not tell the truth. He fabricates reality to match his ego. He will never be trustworthy, ever. Wow be to anyone lest they make the mistake of relying on him.
8
Yemen is taking responsibility for the attacks. But the media thinks Iran is responsible. Why is that?
4
@Oliver, Media is duty bound to
report every utterance of Mr. Trump
and other high officials. Remember
this newspaper reported WMDs
on its front page from its discredited
reporter Judith Miller.
1
What's the point of trusting Trump now? He's had many chances to prove he can be trusted, and blew them all to the wind. The answer is clearly no, and why we are in such grave trouble with this monstrosity masquerading as a 'leader.'
131
As good a chance as any, the Saudis blew up their own oil infrastructure to boost oil prices. What does Iran have to gain? They can't sell the oil they produce because of sanctions, they can't win a war with the west. One needs to think about who gains.
4
The public evidence clearly indicates that Trump cannot, in any way whatsoever, be given the benefit of the doubt on foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East. He is a national security threat, having been compromised by his deals with Saudi Arabia, UAE, Russia, Bahrain, Israel and Egypt. (See Seth Abramson's "Proof of Conspiracy"). He is not working in the interests of America - at all. Each decision he makes must be evaluated against that knowledge.
10
While agreeing with much of this article, I am not sure I understand one of its basic assumptions: that America should be defending Saudi Arabia.
We fought two wars in Iraq, we put a pro-western government in Iran (the Shah) and in Iraq (after Saddam Hussein fell), and none of this worked out well. We still have troops in the region and we don't seem to extricate ourselves.
Our support for MBS and the Saudi's seems to be pulling us further into their quagmire every day. Instead of letting us get pulled in further, we need to (a) divorce ourselves from the Saudi's and (b) divorce ourselves from oil by developing the alternative power sources of the future. When we are rid of oil, we will be rid of the need to get ourselves mixed up in Arab affairs and Arab terrorism directed at Americans will end.
10
Given that Trump's word cannot be trusted on anything, his word on Iran cannot, by definition, be trusted either.
There is no way that anyone with any judgment will ever trust his word on Iran. The only people who believe anything he says are those who at least purport to believe him as a matter of political expediency. But their belief has nothing to do with facts.
6
It was encouraging that this article suggests that our European "allies" have had enough of Trump's counter productive approach to Iran. The present situation is entirely of our making. How much abuse were the Iranians supposed to take before striking back? For the moment, the best that could happen is for the rest of the world to ignore us and try to restore normal relations, and the nuclear deal, with Iran.
10
The real question here is can Iran be trusted. And if it can't then what provisions should Trump and the US be making?
A common characteristic among bullies is that they, themselves often lack the courage of their "convictions". Looking at Trump's life-long record, this observation is borne out. Couple that with Trump's alienation of the USA's allies, and the lack of domestic support for yet another Mideast military adventure -- How do you "win" in this case?
3
Trump's inability to
a) think coherently and logically,
b) accept the advice of his national security team, and
c) tell the truth
have placed international order at risk. Will he acknowledge this? No, because he is so engrossed with his vain need to not look weak. It was only a matter of time before the reality of job of president would catch up with him.
7
Most of the world is well past trusting Trump's word on anything, and that alone is a major threat to diplomacy. That said, the issues with Iran are especially problematic, not to be solved with clumsy and ill-informed bullying. Even if Iran's "fingerprints" are found on the bombing of the Saudi oil fields, the Saudis should be able to handle this incident--we've sold them $millions upon $millions of arms. They are not our allies. As has been said, "the Saudis want to fight Iran down to the last American."
6
I think this says it all.
“Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, said on Tuesday that the best strategy for defusing tensions with Iran was for Mr. Trump to back down.”
America first has turned into America alone.
10
I appreciate the analysis, but the fact is No One can trust Trump's word. Ever.
5
The only thing Trump could say that I would believe is if he told us that everything he said was a lie. Of course, it would be the only truth he'd have spoken.
3
@M Alexander ...well, in truth didn't he both tell the truth and as he often does when the truth accidentally escapes his mouth project either his own actions or wish to act when he said he could shoot his supporters out on 5th Ave and they wouldn't desert him?
I don’t pretend to know what will happen in the future, but Trump certainly reminds me of Jonah Ryan in Veep. He’s in some sort of alternate universe, and if it were a sitcom, it would be funny. In real life it is not funny. He’s a sad, small man, being propped up by people who are truly evil and corrupt, like Moscow Mitch. The brazen lies and corruption on display yesterday with Corey Lewendowski were just one more instance of the type of people who Trump surrounds himself with. They are a motley crew of people, who no one trusts. Heck, they don’t even trust each other.
62
@Hector
So well said! Thank you!
5
No, Trump cannot be trusted, its that simple
38
How can he "convince" the world that he can be trusted, when he can't be? The one truth that does come from this Presidency is that he is (in)credibly untrustworthy. An inveterate liar, with a mad twitter problem.
23
Trump is absolutely untrustworthy. Just ask the hundreds of contractors and investors he has stiffed. He needs to be in prison instead of the Oval office. He will blunder and bluff us right into WW3 if we let him.
35
@OC
WW3 is humans v. the climate, and the blundering has been going on with increasing determination ever since Trump took office.
trump is squandering all the posture previous presidents have built. No one can trust him and they are fools if they do. He uses sanctions like they are a toy and never recognizes the damage he does with them. He doesn't care if people starve.
23
Any country that bounces out big business interests becomes the enemy of America just ask Cuba Venezuela and Iran.
6
Do not trust trump.
19
You reap what you sow, President Trump.
You can use bombast, vitriol, lies, obfuscations and convicence a segment of the US population who enjoys your fantasy land that you are the man for the job. But others, like most Americans and our allies, do not believe anything you say at this point.
I am going to enjoy the coming Schadefreude!
14
@Paul Hopefully nobody dies (if it hasn't happen already . . . it probably has). Regardless, the country suffers. Schadenfreude is tough in this circumstance.
2
How can anyone believe anything Trump says. He believes something one day and the next believes the opposite.
President Donald Trump has been caught making 12,019 false or misleading claims since taking office, according to the The Washington Post’s Fact Checker’s database. The tally was last tabulated on Aug. 5, the president’s 928th day in office, and includes 190 lies that the Mexico border wall is being built and 186 fibs about the U.S. economy being the best in history. The Post reports 20 percent of the false claims have been about immigration and, overall, 18 percent were made by “the least racist person there is anywhere in the world” on Twitter. The Post has also awarded the president 23 “Bottomless Pinocchios,” which are given when the claims have been repeated at least 20 times.
He has lost credibility with our allies and the American people. Trump creates his own realities that don't mesh with truth.
11
Trump can be trusted to lie.
30
“The credibility of the United States matters every single day,” he added. ( Michael J. Morell, the former deputy director of the C.I.A., )
“And when it is eroded in the eyes of our allies over time, it then ultimately makes moments like this even more difficult.” - NYT 9/17/19
That is right ...
This is no longer only about the credibility of Donald Trump, it has now become about the credibility of the USA.
Just like the credibility of the US was badly damaged by the non-enforcement of Obama’s “Red Lines” in Syria - and which ultimately led to the entry of Iran and Russia into Syria - to the detriment of the US and it’s Middle East allies ...
And just like the non-retaliation by Trump for the shootdown of the American drone ... led Iran to continue it’s malign activities - now resulting in the recent attack on the Saudi oil infrastructure- so too a non-or weak response by the US to this matter will result in the further deterioration of America’s credibility all over the World ...
... which will inevitability result in the further malign actions ( and probable mis- calculations) by Iran ... or N.Korea... or Russia ... or China ...
And that is an inevitable Recipe for a bigger War in the future...
“ Peace in our Time” ???
1
The only thing you can rely on Donald Trump for is to lie.
12
“Can his word on (fill in the blank) be trusted?” What an absolutely absurd question.
19
Whether the world will trust what Trump says is the wrong question. The answer is obviously no.
The real question is: If Trump chooses to attack, can he bully US allies into joining his folly? That is his only option.
13
@Ed At present, I don't think our disillusioned allies would side with the grifter.
5
Always believe the opposite to what your president says. He has no reality to the truth. He has no reality to anything.
11
He has destroyed all credibility that he never had in the first place.We are not "Sawdi Arabia's"keepers.Clearly if trump hadn't pulled out of the Iran treaty,solely because of his tortured feelings for Obama,he would'nt be in this mess.Yet another example of this president's ineptitude and running on his famous "gut"feeling rather than informed facts.
Why haven't you, the NYTimes,mentioned anything of Berke's take down of Gump Lewandowski,getting him to admit the Mueller report is correct.Berke should be hired full-time.Finally some light on obstruction!
17
@
susan mccall
Yes, of course Trump is to blame for the situation that is today. But there are few persons who make that statement, unfortunately.
1
So, Trump wants to attack Iran using US resources including our men and women in uniform to defend Saudi Arabia? Well I am in, if Eric and Don Jr. GO IN FIRST... Lead the charge so to speak. They know how to use high powered weapons to kill innocent animals, they should be naturals. I want to see Trump skin in the game and then I will believe President Trump. Don Jr. always looks like he is ready to do some damage.....Until then, let us allow Saudi Arabia and Iran deal with their own problems....
16
@Lady Jane I have suggested many times over the years that if politicians are willing to send many to a war, make sure the "fortunate sons" are included.
6
@Lady Jane
Love your comment. Thank you!
2
The framing of this article, sadly, reminds me of the framing in the lead-up to the Iraq War.
It's as if NYT has bought into several unproven scenarios, such as that Iran did the attack, the attack was not a false flag, the USA should fight the Saudi's battles for them, military response is good and needed, Trump has to make a case so we can do bad things to Iran...beyond that we are starving them with sanctions.
I recall having the same dismay reading NYT articles about W, Cheney, Rice, Powell and their fake "intelligence" that "supported" invading Iraq.
I respect the NYT tremendously, but sometimes, it seems to cleverly promote a pro-war, pro-interventionist ethos that isn't journalistic or helpful.
9
This just in, Donald Trump has a credibility problem.
In other news, scientists find that breathing is good for you.
16
Why would anyone ever believe Trump? I don’t think he even know what the concept of “truth” is. He lies and lies and lies and lies. And why would any of our allies believe the USA after the WMD debacle?
10
They’re not “untruths”, they’re lies.
14
The outside world sees Trump for what he is : a childlike amoral narcissistic bully eho can't help about absolution anything and probably doesn't know the difference between true and false. Hard luck US. You arenot even left with credible experts since we know Trump orders them to lie on his behalf.
10
You can't lose what you don't have. Who trusts Trump besides Republicans? Why should anyone? He lies so much it is impossible to believe a word he is saying. Trust is the key and Trump has none from our allies. I think Putin and Un think he is a fool who they can easily manipulate.
10
How can we think Saudi Arabia is our friend? Those of us who were thinking and feeling Americans on 9/11 want to know.
13
Trump does not have the savvy to determine if he is being fed false "slam dunk" evidence by those around him.
He has alienated the intelligence services by attacking them openly and often without cause.
He is surrounded by the Foreign Policy elite who have never acknowledged their wrong advice and have never been punished for it. There is a continuous revolving door between the various think tanks, whether Conservative or Liberal, and administrations, whether Republican or Democrat.
It is a shame that the President cannot get honest, disinterested analysis from the so-called experts in our foreign policy establishment.
Reading this article and others in NYT I am beginning to wonder if a case is being made for an attack on Iran.
4
Certainly an article that needed to be written. And the comments here, wow! 99% of us agree that nobody can possibly believe anything that comes out of the Trump administration, so when it comes to a threat of war? Ridiculous, but that's where we are now, a very sad and dangerous place to be.
10
Nope! The only people who believe Trump are those who cheer and chant at his rallies. Then there are those who support him in spite of all that ails him for political reasons. The rest of us are fed up with this nonsense and have come to the reluctant conclusion that as long as that man is your president, and is supported by the vast majority in his party, nothing he or his administration says or proclaims can be trusted. We can't afford to anymore.
Trump wants to turn the clock back to the time when America was great. Some of us remember it was also the time when "the ugly American," was on oft used moniker, not without some justification. Maybe those good old days are coming back complete with a quintessential example of that epithet at its helm.
We know you are better than this and hope this too will pass, but the damage is real and deep, and won't be solved with the speed at which it's been inflicted. This will take time. Those of us who thought we were your friends have been treated like enemies and those we thought were your enemies have been treated like friends. Consequences are inevitable.
12
He has not had one day in office where he did not tell a lie. Why would anyone believe him now?
He disparages the intelligence community all the time. Why would anyone believe him when he cites analysis from the intelligence community? (And the intelligence community has already earned our deep skepticism over the debacle concerning WMDs that plunged us into war in Iraq.)
He derides U.S. allies on an almost daily basis. Why would allies listen to him now?
And why would anyone in the "Free World" want to shed blood for a Saudi Arabian regime which is among the most repressive and misogynistic in the world? Don't send our kids into harm's way there Mr President!
14
Obviously world leaders will not trust Trump's word, there is no possibility of good faith with him. He lies at least six or eight times a day, to the public. He's famous for cheating on all three wives. And he constantly contradicts himself, having no awareness of what he said earlier or that he's saying the opposite now.
If Trump blames Iran and calls for a coalition to invade it, nobody will join. There is no reason for anyone to believe him, and at this point the only people who do are his witless supporters.
14
Of a neighboring farmer who only seemed to deal in sick/lame livestock, I remember my grandfather saying, “Sam would rather climb up on the roof of the barn and yell lies to the whole township, than simply stand here on the ground and tell the truth.”
When I asked Grandpap why that was, he pointed up to the roof of his huge bank barn.
“Up top, there’s no one Sam has to look in the eye.”
Don has that one covered. He’ll stare into the television cameras, look into the eyes of the citizens of the third most populous nation on Earth — and lie and lie and lie. No flinching. No conscience.
“Believe me. That’s the truth.”
Being an inveterate liar makes it nearly impossible for Trump to be an effective leader. How the Republicans live with this reality is a baffling mystery.
17
The U.S., and Trump in particular, have zero credibility on Iran. They have been lying about Iran for more than 70 years (at least!),
6
Gain back credibility? Not is his lifetime, he burned that bridge around 1995. Ask his ex-wives, creditors, bankers, employees and basically anyone who has had dealings with this guy.
22
Could? COULD undercut his credibility? trump has ZERO credibility!
14
The standard for truth had been set absurdly high by the Trump haters. Despite finding an Iranian cruise missile crashed in the desert and the shear scale and scope of the attack being impossible from Houthi rebels, the anti trump crusaders literally require an admission of guilt from the Mullah himself to believe Iran did it. Yes they would rather believe the Mullah than Trump.
1
No question I would believe Ayatollah Khamenei over Trump. The Ayatollah has not been caught telling thousands of lies in the last 3 years.
Come to think of it, I would believe him over Jerry Falwell Jr and many of the hypocritical American mullahs who claim to be religious leaders but demonstrate a slavish devotion to Trump as well!
5
@Kev
If I was an American, an Israeli, or a Saudi looking to start a fight with Iran, I'd use an Iranian made cruise missile to attack a Saudi facility, and pretend that the missiles' place of manufacture was evidence, rather than where it was launched from, and by whom. Most of the cruise missile parts lying around in the in the desert are American. What does that tell you?
1
World leaders remember the lesson of Tony Blair who ended his otherwise successful Prime Ministership with scorn and disgrace due to following Bush into war with Iraq.
8
Credibility is a tenuous commodity and once squandered, it's difficult to regain.
12,000 lies from Trump guarantees America has no credibility. Our word is worthless, subject to change based on how many burgers the malignant narcissist ate and how those burgers affect his "gut feel" decision making.
In my travels to cities abroad, the message is consistent. Trump has neutered America's ability to lead and establish any course of action.
And for those who think Trump will graciously depart when he loses the 2020 election, think again. If he leaves office, prosecution is guaranteed. Would Al Capone graciously give up the greatest criminal syndicate?
Neither will Trump.
9
He would be the second President to fail. After "Assad must go" and "not crossing the red line" no foreign leader took Obama seriously. Putin took over Syria, Iran took over Iraq
1
If most people in the US don't believe anything that comes out of his mouth then why should the rest of the world believe him? It's his own doing.
6
Never!
His word can never be trusted. The truth could be facts and even news that he cannot control and for Trump that is always fake. Like all con men and demagogues there is no truth, just propaganda and self serving advertisements.
Usually the truth is the polar opposite of what he tweets or utters! He is truly Orwellian!
7
Why do I feel like our country is in the center of a teeter-totter with Donald Trump at the helm?
4
THe answer of course, is NO, the president cannot be trustetd or believed. But the bigger question is can we rely on the NY Times to investigate who committed this attack? Let's start with a basic fact of geography. In order for the missiles or drones to have been launched from Iran, they would have had to travel over Persian Gulf waters. Sitting on these waters are many US naval vessels equipped with high technology monitoriing systems designed to monitor Iran. These missiles/drones most certainly would have shown up on naval screens. Did they? If not, why not?
1
There is a reason New York City didn't vote for Trump. Its because everyone knows someone who has done business with Trump...
And, no, its not because we are a bunch of liberals, just look at the party affiliations of our mayors.
10
Mr. Trump “must then balance the need to protect sources and methods with the need to inform Congress and the American people about why he takes or doesn’t take any action.”
You expect a Republican, and Trump in particular, to protect sources? You mean, like the way they protected Valerie Plame? Or didn't give away US Satellite capabilities with a tweet? Ha!
This was my best laugh of the day!
5
It was only 2 years ago when I still liked most republicans. The fact is, if you support or defend Trump, I cannot respect or trust you. I see nothing but entitled anger. And this is breaking up families.
For me it is an ethical thing. I can stretch on certain policy differences, but Trump’s rise is not about policy. It is about misleading rhetoric that promotes discrimination, misogyny and worst of all, ignorance. It would be like sitting down and laughing at the comedy version of a mass shooting. I cannot stomach today’s republicans.
12
When your "president" would change a weather map to conform to his world view - and is still not be censured by his own party - why should anyone believe anything that comes out - not only of his mouth - but from America?
...At least the Brits have some honour - as shown recently with the way the conservatives clipped Boris' wings...
I'm beginning to think that it is not just Trump, but a strong characteristic of Americans to be transactional... so if they want to bomb Iran (for the oil) ... they will just make up a reason... just like they did with Iraq...
... and then, of course, Iranian refugees will be someone else's problem...
9
Why can’t Saudi Arabia deal with the attack on its own?
7
Trump cannot be believed. His friends benefit from his lies. He has done nothing but lie and lie and lie.
Maybe someone should have told him the story about the boy who cried wolf...only it would probably be too subtle a story for such a "stable genius" (sarcasm intended).
Trump should only be trusted to do something that benefits HIM.
5
"This time -- this one time -- I'm telling the truth."
4
When Trump's lips are moving, he's lying, so obviously the World cannot trust him.
Also, wasn't Jared supposed to be solving Middle East peace?
5
Trump now understands what it means to go it alone.
5
Can His Word on Iran Be Trusted?
Of course not. The man’s a proven serial liar. He’s far and away the least credible president this nation has seen. And credibility is a precious resource in a crisis.
9
His word to be trusted? Laughable.
No.
The rest of the world knows he lies with every breath he takes.
5
a silly but necessary question considering trumps' past association with the truth. the answer is a resounding NO. he has attained a level of incompetence once thought impossible, aided by his choice of sycophants over competent, qualified advisors and diplomats. we now find ourselves in a very dangerous and increasingly difficult position, driven by nothing more than his ego driven me first attitude.
4
trump cannot be trusted, not his words, not his actions,
4
Funny how no one seems to be talking about "Red Lines" and enforcing them these days...
It will be interesting to see how Mike Pompeo gets treated when he appears before the U.N. and produces maps that have been doctored with Sharpies.
7
If trump said that the sky was blue, I'd run outside to check. And he has appointed so many vile toadies to high level positions, people who are willing to lie for him, that we can't trust them either. Watch out Alabama, for that mean old hurricane!
7
Trump would lie and alter a map to show that he was right about a hurricane, but he will never, ever lie about something serious like Iran...
1
You write that President Trump doesn't always tell the truth and how can others believe that Iran was the attacker of the oil fields. Well, what would happen if this was on Joe Biden's watch. He lies and makes up simple and complex stories all the time. This is the reason neither man should be president and only Sen. Warren would be the reasonable choice.
@Julia
To equate Biden’s gaffes with trumps habitual lying is nonsensical. They are not in the same universe.
11
@Julia
Well Julia, prepare for 4 more years of trump then.
Biden lies? Hillary supporters should have learned a lesson in 2016.
1
If you were a leader of a country, would you bet your nation's resources on the word of Donald Trump? No, I wouldn't either.
Trump has talked and tweeted himself into isolation among the leaders in the world. He failed to understand that isolationism can actually result in being isolated. He has accomplished that and now, the other leaders of the world will not join him in this venture, not because Iran is virtuous. Rather, because Donald Trump is not worth risking one's own country over.
10
With Donald Trump as president very few countries will support American military action except in cases where the justification is clear, the danger is great and there are no other options. Not only is there the question of whether to believe anything Trump says, there is also real doubt that Trump himself has any commitment to military action.
Things are the same with Trump as President as they were when he was in business, best course of action for anyone is to just stay away from the guy.
10
President Trump's best recourse is to continue ratcheting up economic sanctions on Iran and conspicuously ignore Iran's attempts to draw a retaliatory military action. It should strike everyone as odd that this paper, in its coverage, appears to be goading Trump into a military response. What happened to the mantra of using every option short of war?
There is something of a precedent for this policy of restraint, though applying the lesson to yourself is something of a novelty. During the first Gulf War, the US convinced Israel to absorb without retaliation an entirely unprovoked missile attack by Saddam Hussein in order to advance a greater collective goal.
Here, that goal would be to force Iran to enter into negotiations to cover a far wider set of priorities than simply halting Iranian progress toward a nuclear weapons capability. Those priorities include ending Iran's strategy of destabilizing a region critical to the world's economic stability and preventing its achieving hegemony over it.
The choice is clear. The Iranian people are, we are told, generally fed up with their leaders' corruption, mismanagement and preference to use its limited resources for grandiose foreign policy objectives at the cost of internal economic growth. While increased sanctions might further focus anger on the regime, a military confrontation would most assuredly have them rally round the flag. So let’s not rush to a military "solution" just yet.
1
Trump has repeatedly demonstrated that he has no credibility whatsoever in terms of his ability to handle foreign affairs or even understand what is going on in a world that doesn't revolve around the Donald.
His bungling of the Iran nuclear deal has led to this current impasse which came at a timely time, given the election just over the border. With the POTUS on a record 4th NSA since taking office, the USA's position on the world stage is in serious jeopardy, thanks in no small part to it's lead actor who can't even hit a mark or read a line he hasn't written himself.
6
Even if it proven that Iran is 100% responsible for the attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure, I don't see how that would justify, in a rational world, a war, or Military action that could well lead to one, between the United States and Iran.
The targeted attack (with no loss of life as far as I know) is part of the absurd and escalating tit for tat. Of course the two countries are coming from different ideologies but it is not a stretch to say the USA has much more leverage and instead of using that leverage in a productive way, it uses it to bully.
There are a lot of things wrong in the world and this is one of them.
2
Regarding the Saudi's billions in weapon systems, what about our vaunted satellite systems, early detection systems, drone surveillance, etc. etc.??
We spend literally trillions on defense, surveillance systems, and high tech weapons and we can't determine the origin of those drones and "cruise" missiles??
Meanwhile, the U.S. suffers mightily from a poor health care system, failing infrastructure, a failing education system, etc.
10
There is no reason why we should respond to a possible attack by Iran on Saudi Arabia. We do not buy much oil from Saudi Arabia.
3
Trump has done absolutely nothing to improve the viciousness that are the wars in the Middle East today. Syria and Yemen come to mind, as does Afghanistan. In North Africa, Libya remains a mess. Trump is no peacenik (and I mean peacenik in a positive sense here), but neither has he expanded US wars. Recall a time when the US depended on the use of diplomacy... that gave the world the Iran nuclear deal that the Trump administration has thrown down the drain.
Of course, we could all be "treated" to a premature October surprise because Trump is so mercurial when it comes to foreign policy and just about everything else.
1
Tillersonn's remark “I have no doubt that we will find Iran’s fingerprints on this,” he said, “but we may not find their hands on it.” is apropos but he failed to point out that American fingerprints are all over the weapons responsible for thousands of death in Yemen. Those fingerprints will also be all over the bombs that kill Iranian and American men and woman should our fearless leader decide to retaliate.
2
Our enemies don't believe anything he says. Our allies don't believe anything he says. Even his co-conspirators within the administration who may be inclined to take him "seriously" are reluctant to take him "literally." Plus, they know he's likely to change his mind on a moment's notice and leave them dangling in the wind with egg on their face (mixed metaphor alert). He's already forgotten John Bolton. But they haven't.
3
People don't change. They just become more of who they are.
--has he lied less?
--does he think more of minorities?
--would he dodge the draft today?
--if countries pay "cash" like Saudi Arabia, can they continue to murder journalists?
--has he cleaned up his act with women?
I will never trust Trump.
10
Good luck with that!
1
Truly Mission Impossible.
15
Trump can gain back some credibility by actually following through for a change with a threat to take military action. So far he has just announced some more sanctions against Iran. Not even close to being good enough.
3
@Jay Orchard:thank God that Russia stands in the way of US imperialism. All know it was the US of A that broke the agreement signed on by the US and the 5 other major countries. Too bad when the USSR vanished with US promises of peaceful world instead armed up to gain unwarranted advantage allowing for the Iraq disaster where the US disregarded the UN. We know what happened there and the misery it brought and still bringing to the area. US is only to blame not Iran, not Russia.
@Jay Orchard Trump would be blamed for any deaths and for the cost (which would be horrendous) by the majority of the US public and the rest of the World. After all, Iran was following a perfectly good treaty when Trump threw in out for purely domestic reasons.
That would render the country apart and the US from the rest of the World. Trump knows this and that is why he is very reluctant to follow through with military action. Iran knows it too....
3
@Jay Orchard
Why should the United States military act on Iran when it was a Saudi facility that was damaged and no Americans were involved?
Trump is clearly acting like the lapdog of the Saudi's and MBS. I guess that has been obvious since Donald never condemned MBS for Khashoggi's murder which should have been a political no-brainer.
5
I was traveling in Europe the summer before the 2016 election. Trump never had any credibility with the people I talked to. And the US lost a lot of credibility and respect when Trump was elected president. So Trump's not losing credibility. He never had it to begin with.
94
@Jeff but the US did have credibility....that’s gone now.
13
@Imperato
That's my point. We lost the credibility when we elected Trump. A young Italian in Prague told me that Trump's election was like finding out that Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward got a divorce. It's the death of hope. If we can't make democracy work in the US, then what hope do they have in their home countries?
2
After the Iranian revolution, the US backed Irak ( and a certain Saddam Hussein) in a nine year war against Iran.
Is this the same strategy? A Saudi Arabia - Iran war were the protagonists are backed by the US and Russia.
The conflict in Syria is ending so it’s obvious that there’s has to be a decent war going on somewhere.
Peace is definitely not good for business.
21
Trump pulls out of the Iranian nuclear deal because Obama negotiated it. He imposes intolerable economic sanctions on Iran. Surprise! Iran starts hitting back.
Why should any other country support Trump’s desire to escalate militarily? Why should any American citizen?
87
@woofer
Agreed.
The Great Deal Maker talks the talk but there is no evidence that he walks the walk. North Korea, NAFTA, new healthcare plan are just a few of the supposed tremendous deals forthcoming but none have surfaced.
Trump is a snake oil salesperson promising a great product then delivering nothing of value.
5
Donald Trump is a Republican. What more needs to be said?
Let me poise a few hypotheticals.
Suppose George W. Bush had not told the world over and over about the "irrefutable" evidence that Saddam Hussein had an arsenal of chemical weapons that he was preparing for use. Would Mr. Trump have more or less credibility today?
Suppose Barack Obama made the same announcements as Mr. Trump regarding this most recent episode. Would Mr. Obama be more or less credible than Mr. Trump?
Suppose this episode was being handled by President Hillary Clinton. Would she have more or less credibility than Mr. Trump?
America invaded Iraq in 2003 based on lies. We created ISIS by removing the last secular bulwark against Muslim extremism, then left an utter vacuum after the removal. We broke all the china in Iraq, then walked away rather than picking up the pieces.
America put a lying, ignoring, bullying misogynist and bigot in the Oval Office and then did absolutely NOTHING substantive about his treasonous actions since taking office.
If America cared about its credibility on the world's stage, America would have behaved very differently for the last two decades.
Of COURSE the world distrusts virtually everything Donald Trump says. Donald Trump has dedicated a lifetime to building his reputation as a liar.
America put Donald Trump in the Oval Office and left him there. What do we expect?
51
There is no reason for „the rest of the world“ to believe, or for that matter to extend the courtesy of listening to Mr. Trump and his Cabinet , I mean Fox News, no Bibi ... ah forget it.
And Trump earned every single bit of it, all on his own.
31
Afraid it is too late for anyone to trust this President given all the lies, exaggerations and behavior he has exhibited. It will be years before the USA is ever trusted again. He has ruined trust built up over decades by other Presidents.
37
@Philip W " It will be years before the USA is ever trusted again" I'm afraid that's overly optimistic.
2
Trump lies all the time, every minute of every day. It is far safer and more accurate to assume that whatever he says is a lie until some other source - not part of this corrupt administration or the corrupt GOP - proves it's not a lie.
49
Is the Yemenis' Iranian 'equipment' as good at killing Saudi oil fields as the Saudis' U.S. equipment is at killing Yemenis?
(I don't know what you did last summer … but I think I know why so few much care about Dead Yemenis, while all 'the big-shot voices' are heard to be so very bothered by the oil field 'interruptions.')
12
I dont believe this president or administration. I could care less that one enemy of the United States has struck another enemy of the United States in the Middle East.
This is a regional issue that doesn’t impact us, let them figure it out for themselves.
The whole region, including Bibi’s Israel can have it all to themselves.
33
Does anyone know anyone who believes anything Trump says? I don’t.
Even the diehard Trump supporters I know admit Trump is a nonstop liar.
Why would our allies around the globe trust a guy who lies about everything, big or small?
43
@John Adams This is not a matter of trust in what Trump says. The case for where the assult came from is overwhelming circumstantially - they came from Iran. Trump personally tore up the nuclear treaty because it was an Obama success story, and he bitterly hates anything Obama. He then unilaterally applied crippling sanctions. What did he expect? Peace and love? This is not a "regional problem", it impacts the world oil supply. Most of our previous allies now don't trust us and are not likely to be part of the solution. Thanks a lot, Trump.
2
Like so many of the problems now this is trumps doing. Lied to americans & our allies even before his election. trump & his adminstration has 0 crediabilty more lies than truth, trump is the one to back out of the pact with Iran (even though they were abiding to the nucelar deal) trump is great at destroying everything Obama did but never once comeing up with a solution after he does. 60% of americans dont believe a word he says the other 40% knows he lies constantly but still support him. This is what happens when the uneducated vote & to many others just cant be botherd. When the presdients word has no more crediabilty than our enemies whose fault is it his OR ours?
8
This is madness! Since when does the United States and/or its President have to convince the world of its trustworthiness? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Have we not done enough as the world’s police and peacekeeper to earn that trust regardless of who the President is? And as to this latest act of terrorism, why is there a need to place the burden of proof on us? Who shot down our drone? Who has armed the Houti rebels with all sorts of weaponry? Iran of course. Who has called for “death to the Americans and Israel? Iran of course! And isn’t Mr. Tillerson a fool? Saying that we may find Iran’s fingerprints on this Saudi attack but “not their hands”? Does he not understand that in a court of law fingerprints are enough! Photographs of the culprit aren’t necessary. And this Wendy person who is an Obama acolyte, her opinions of Trump’s credibility are totally biased of course and lack necessary gravitas.
Bottom line, one would have to be a total fool to shift burdens of proof into the United States in this situation. Even circumstantial evidence is enough to convict this rogue terrorist nation. The unfortunate thing about the constant criticism of the President by the left is that he may not pursue an appropriate military response to this latest Iranian terror attack thereby inadvertently empowering the Mullahs to continue their war against us and our allies. Critics of the President should consider the greater good rather than their narrow politically biased goals.
2
@Ross Stuart Sorry, but the majority of voters did not vote for the current President. If President Trump would stop with his Obama fetish of destroying everything Obama did and simply put his own policies in place we would all go forward. But no, he has to demean allies, Obama, democrats, and anyone who suggests that they think differently. He has created the current farce we see and claims he and the north Korea dictator are in "love" and exchange love letters, his words. So really, who could claim this as normal behavior?
3
@Ross Stuart
"This message has been paid for by the Re-elect Trump Campaign."
3
@Ross Stuart
When your president lies so much he actually ends up lying about the weather by modifying an official map with a sharpy like a little child caught with his hand in the cookie jar, it's natural for people to not take him at his word.
Not to mention the Iraq war, hundreds of thousands of deaths based on cynical lies. That also gives peoples pause, strangely enough.
3
Iran will insist on Trump being tied to the original treaty parties. They will not and do not trust Trump, nor will they ever. Nor should they.
Trump will only care about how all this is perceived by his base. He will conclude they will stay so long as gas stays under $2 a gallon.
9
There is no way Donald Trump can be trusted on the world stage, to suggest he can overcome his record of compulsive lying is a pipe dream. Furthermore, Trump doesn’t know truth from fiction since his every thought and pronouncement begins and ends with how he perceives it relates to him personally, It’s a waste of newsprint/space to pretend otherwise!
31
The American forensic analysis of "what happened" in Saudi Arabia is already suspect, because it is American.
Now, it is doubtful that the drones and missile were fired from Iran. Is this another "fake American set-up", like the invisible bombs stuck to the sides of oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz a few months back.
Europe's assessment is correct--there would be no breach of the nuclear accord had the U.S. stayed in it and kept their word.
The world has discovered that Trump, his administration and elected Republicans lie, and are not to be trusted.
Putin has extended his "services" to Saudi Arabia if needed. That's sly. His regime supports fracturing coalitions so they can slip in and gain a military toehold.
But Putin also sides with Iran on the nuclear accord. So does China, and Europe.
Trump loves Putin because Putin helped him be President. No concrete logic regarding his love of Saudis and hatred of Iran.
A U.N. forensic analysis of the drone strike would be best--too bad the U.S. has now "touched" everything, obliterating or falsifying evidence.
14
the options now being discussed include alternatives like retaliating against Iranian facilities outside of Iranian territory and conducting cyberstrikes.
These are acts of war as are sanctions and are being done with no proof. No one can trust this administration, not even the American people. They are forcing Iran to retaliate.
15
@Bill. Iran is not "forced" to retaliate. Its other option is to return to the negotiating table.
1
@Charlie in NY We are the ones refusing to negotiate. Remember we had a deal and your boy trump pulled out of it. How about a little honesty. There is no negotiating table unless they submit to us first.
My fellow Republicans... this is not about Party or Loyalty or ideological principal...
This is about an individual who has never been... is not ... and will never be fit to be President of the United States.
Another 4 additional years of a Trump presidency would be a disaster for this country.
We must see to it that that another suitable candidate be found who can lead this great country ...
20
With 12,000 lies to his credit, that's not possible.
14
Nothing what this man say is to be trusted. With 12,000 lies and counting YTD it's no wonder world leaders are uneasy.
30
"Trump’s Challenge: Can His Word on Iran Be Trusted?"
Let's put it this way: If the boy who cried wolf had done so 5,234 times more than was written in the fable, it would not make his "really, a wolf this time!" any more credible.
Habitual liars build that obstacle for themselves. It's a shame that this time, it affects the rest of the world.
13
@b fagan
Indeed. And “affects the rest of the world” is a serious understatement. This president is a disaster. We are in grave danger.
1
@b fagan “Trumps Challenge: Can His Word on Iran Be Trusted?” It doesn’t matter. Every sane person knows that Iran was behind this action, but the Europeans really want as little to do with Trump
as possible, and certainly are not inclined to help extricate him from the box he has built for himself. This tit for tat will likely continue and probably escalate. It’s another Trump “no win” situation. Iranian leaders, I’m sure, feel vindicated with their response to crippling sanctions while Trump, who “knows more than his generals” lacks the psychological capacity for admitting mistakes. What can go wrong?
1
No country in its right mind could believe Trump or Pompeo. Absolutely nothing they say should be regarded as true unless corroborated by non-American sources that can be trusted—maybe the EU or Canada.
Trump has undermined and sabotaged , perhaps for years, the good name of America, and putting one’s faith in anything from the Trump administration would be foolish and risky for the world.
17
How can the rest of the world trust him when a majority of Americans don't?
14
The predictable issue with having allowed a congenital liar and con man to take and remain in this office. In two and a half years, he has demonstrated to the world both his personal untrustworthiness and has endeavored to ruin the trustworthiness of the US generally by withdrawing from international diplomatic agreements and treaties. Now he is facing the need to have remained in those treaties and having to act like he can accomplish something on the international level that requires allies - both in the middle east and in asia. Too late for him, but hopefully not too late for the US. He is dumbfounded when he can't figure out how to make a quick buck and plant a future hotel in the middle of a negotiation.
11
How do lies become truth? Maybe by inserting those falsehoods parenthetically until they have been heard so often they are accepted without notice.
"...he may discover that, like President George W. Bush heading into Iraq 16 years ago, he is largely alone."
This may be news to Hillary Clinton and Tony Blair and a few others.
2
Can Trump be trusted? No.
Can the WH be trusted? No.
Can the GOP be trusted? No.
Can the Trump Crime Family be trusted? No.
Can “too delicate” evidence of Iran’s involvement be trusted as proof? No.
17
No, Trump's word cannot be trusted.
Even his supporters know that but for some reason refuse to believe it.
Vote Blue in 2020.
13
The only people gullible enough to believe Trump are the people gullible enough to buy Trump steaks and attend trump University.
10
@Robert K
Unfortunately, about 40-45% of USA voters are gullible enough to believe Trump. That's a lot of gullibility.
12,000 lies
how can this possibly be the truth?
don the con has absolutely no connection to the truth.
9
What goes around, comes around. Who would trust the word of Donald Trump? Apparently lots of right-wing republicans.
4
As the NYTimes, Washington Post and other responsible news sources have painstakingly fact-checked and documented the thousands of lies and misleading statements Donald Trump has spoken and tweeted as president, members of the GOP have publicly ignored this critical issue. They appear to be unconcerned about the president’s twisting of reality.
But, truth and trust go hand in hand.
In the event of an international crisis, the fact that our lying president hasn’t earned the trust of the American people, of other American governmental officials or of our international allies, may well lead our nation to disaster of the first order.
“Sooner or later all chickens come home to roost.”
Mr. Trump’s pathological lies are a plague from which we shall all surely suffer.
International alliances are built on interdependence, trust and history.
Who can trust a government headed by Donald Trump?
320
@Tom W
I wonder if Trump has ever read the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf".
Silly me. Of course he hasn't. Its longer than 280 characters.
41
@Tom W
Pretty long winded way of saying Trump is con man.
6
@Jon, It’s more powerful to say it the way that Tom did than just to say “Trump’s a conman”. More powerful and more persuasive.
In other words Jon, sometimes long-winded is better.
17
This president is concerned only with optics. He wants to be photographed in the Situation Room, wearing his windbreaker with the presidential seal, looking like a commander-in-chief. He doesn’t care about an international coalition. I don’t believe he even cares about Iran or Saudi Arabia. He just wants his photo op. His truthfulness or ability to build a coalition of allies is immaterial.
207
Re Saudi Arabia - trump mainly cares about his and Jared's potential personal enrichment and the appearance of making "great deals" on US arms sales to the Saudi's. The chief purposes are propping up trump's failing presidency AND enriching big republican funders aka defense contractors...
Trump is a world champion CON man and fraud.
33
@Janette Yandrasits
If you gave Tr. a blank map of the world and a Sharpie, with 10 seconds to put a dot on Iran and Saudi Arabia, he could not do it.
No foreign country trusts him for a second. Thus anything he says is doubted.
10
@Janette Yandrasit Spot on, he is every bit as shallow and self absorbed as you describe and in reality, more so.
3
There are political and financial forces behind Trump that have already provoked the disasters caused by the USA in the Middle East since 30 years .
Military and oil industries . Allied to political right wing lobbies still animated by crusaders ideologies .
A recipe for future other disasters authorized by the general ignorance of Americans for whom the rest of the world means nothing .
10
The obvious answer is "No".
A better question, the one the GOP asks constantly only when there is a Democrat in the White House and only in regards to non-war spending is: "How are you going to pay for that?"
Even better: "Why put Americans in harm's way for Saudi Arabia's benefit?"
The questioning needs to get a lot louder and a lot more plentiful.
18
It has long been established that Trump will say and do whatever is expedient at any given moment, and to that extent, he is trustworthy, but it doesn't give you any sense of what the future might bring. He will say what you want to hear, but then he might stab you in the back, depending.
At least when you buy a Lottery ticket, you can be confident that later on there will be a jackpot, and somebody will win.
4
Hopefully, too many people will remember George W. Bush, Colin Powell and Tony Blair's insistence that Iraq possessed "weapons of mass destruction". The WMD's didn't exist and led to years of war and destabilization and entirely too many casualties.
Even without that memory, I wouldn't trust Trump to tell the truth - even if he says "my name is Donald Trump".
14
Even if Trump was as honest as the day is long (in which there are few believers), anything he says and does is likely to be disputed. His track record - from demanding the death penalty for the Central Park Five, to the Obama birther conspiracy and most recently the Alabama Sharpiegate - will always leave the impression that he considers the truth a convenience rather than a necessity.
But there is a bigger problem: American foreign policy has always been cavalier with the truth. Count the wars which were sold on questionable premises: the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War, Vietnam and, most egregiously, Iraq.
Given that we have no treaty obligations with Saudi Arabia and that we sold them billions of dollars of state-of-the-art equipment, they should be expected to handle this problem themselves. Not to mention that they brought on this situation by their murderous policies in Yemen.
And whatever Trump and Pompeo do, it should be with the full consent of Congress and the support of the American people. Anything less will always be viewed as an election ploy.
6
before our president goes to war he has to convince americans and their elected representatives. doe he have any credibility with them other than some cronies? if not how will he have credibility with foreign countries? Iran knows it can take that advantage to engage USA - a bad policy for us though we have all war machinery and power.
1
So what would this lying administration do even if it could prove Iran is responsible and even if they could be believed? Striking back with a US drone is hardly going to accomplish anything and Trump knows he will lose support if he gets the US involved in any major conflagration. Mr. Only-I-Can-Fix-It finds his hands are miniscule in this misadventure, having burned all his bridges, abandoned all our friends and lied to everyone possible. What's left for him but to return to his modus operandi of Bloviator in Chief and blame someone else. And wasn't Jared supposed to fix this. Easy.
8
How can anyone ever believe anything Trump says about anything? He lies as easily as he breathes. He lies about everything.
15
Trump is a compulsive liar, one of the very things he really is great at. He will never convince any thinking person he is telling the truth about anything important. So, no, it won't happen.
14
@NLL Trump will "never convince any thinking person he is telling the truth about anything". Most of the world's leaders have seen the same Trump you and I have seen and believe nothing from Trump, but how they will act is another question. And then there are the MAGA-hat wearing Trump supporters who religiously believe or pretend to believe everything he says. What motivates them?
4
What is an "untruth?" When will the media stop coddling the president? There ought to be a running front page column entitled "Donald Trump, Liar" documenting his daily lies. Instead, we're informed, and defined by him as being fake, and ceaselessly repeated by the media. Shame on you.
10
Trump's sick need to lie about everything is not going to change and he cannot be trusted here in America and certainly not on the world stage. He has weakened us on every level and I can't imagine seeing a son, daughter, husband or wife in the armed services putting their lives on the line in a war approved by a coward like Trump.
7
Remember Bush’s and Powell? The liars and warmongers? Dejavú all over again... the United States of America wants to destroy the world as simply as that... Trump and Pompeo.
3
Trump has lost ALL credibility. That happened a LONG TIME AGO and increases with every lie, every obstruction, every illegal act.
This is a fake president who has destroyed the Presidency.
The Liar-in-Chief has alienated our allies, licks the boots of tyrants, stolen Trillions from our Treasury, destroyed our environment and corrupts the rule of law and OUR DOJ.
We don't have to worry about foreign terrorism - we have TRUMP! He will do for Putin what ISIS cannot.
15
To answer the headline: No
5
Credibility HA. trump is a liar. pompeo is a liar. The adminstration has ZERO credibility. Further all the “experts” cited in this article have no credibility. Recall the expert opinion regarding WMDs in Iraq or rumsfeld view that Iraq would pick up the tab. All rubbish.
6
Of course not. The White House ceased to be a credible source the moment Sean Spicer stood at the press room podium insisting that the sparse inauguration crowd was really the largest crowd in history. These people are fools and liars. Trump lies as regularly as breathing. Why would the nation trust him in a crisis? We don't. We don't believe him.
13
This would not have occurred ( if Iran was behind it), if trump hadn't melodramatically torn up the Iran nuclear deal. Now he'll have to rummage through the diet cola cans in the dumpster behind the White House hopefully dig it out and scotch tape it back together. What an utter fool he is.
11
The only sure truth is that Trump is a serial liar. He lies as he breathes. Se even if he is being truthful in his analysis of Iran, the only rational conclusion for Americans and our allies to make is that he is lying again.
12
Scientists set out to "test" hypotheses, not "prove" them. With the latter, one seeks out any scrap of evidence that would support the proposed "hypothesis". In this case, the Trump Saudi government is trying to "prove" that Iran launched the weapons. Clearly this is a defective "thought" process that will be used to justify action that could be erroneous and disastrously costly. Having a President who does not understand thought, but only deception and transactional strategy, will not serve our interests.
11
Convincing our European allies of the need to attack Iran is secondary. Since 2001, the overwhelming contributor to our Mideast interventions has been us. Britain, France and others have sent air, ground, and naval continents, but the majority has remained USA.
For Trump, not striking Iran is a losing proposition. Two key partners, Israel and Saudi Arabia, would object. Republican and Democratic hardliners would assail this “failure” to protect our allies and interests. It just might result in some loss of his base in the 2020 race.
Having gone rogue in withdrawing from the 2015 treaty, Trump responded to the extremists who sought a war with Iran. Trump, thereby, limited his options. As in Newtonian physics so in human relations, an action will produce an opposite and equal reaction.
Having surrounded himself with foreign policy aggressors, Trump will have fewer options. As much as he is to blame, Trump is a symptom more than a cause of our troubles in the Middle East. We are still at war in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Those policymakers who advocated these wars see success in our dominance of the region. So far, the cost has been somewhat hidden. Going to war with Iran, with or without our European friends, will be seen as one more triumph.
Perhaps someone in power should read Chalmers Johnson’s Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire. Just as there are no free lunches, there are no foreign policy actions without dire repercussions.
Convincing our European allies of the need to attack Iran is secondary. Since 2001, the overwhelming contributor to our Mideast interventions has been us. Britain, France and others have sent air, ground, and naval continents, but the majority has remained USA.
For Trump, not striking Iran is a losing proposition. Two key partners, Israel and Saudi Arabia, would object. Republican and Democratic hardliners would assail this “failure” to protect our allies and interests. It just might result in some loss of his base in the 2020 race.
Having gone rogue in withdrawing from the 2015 treaty, Trump responded to the extremists who sought a war with Iran. Trump, thereby, limited his options. As in Newtonian physics so in human relations, an action will produce an opposite and equal reaction.
Having surrounded himself with foreign policy aggressors, Trump will have fewer options. As much as he is to blame, Trump is a symptom more than a cause of our troubles in the Middle East. We are still at war in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Those policymakers who advocated these wars see success in our dominance of the region. So far, the cost has been somewhat hidden. Going to war with Iran, with or without our European friends, will be seen as one more triumph.
Perhaps someone in power should read Chalmers Johnson’s Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire. Just as there are no free lunches, there are no foreign policy actions without dire repercussions.
4
Any effort to build consensus for an Iran war will be halfhearted and quickly abandoned. Why? Because Putin's Russia has very close trade and strategic ties with Iran, and Putin is the actual current president of the United States.
4
The American oil industry benefits from reduced Saudi Arabia oil production. It’s not clear to me what American interests benefit from a retaliatory strike.
5
Pretty funny article. The answer is obviously no. The most lying public figure in recorded history per Polifact is not to be trusted, ever, under any circumstances.
11
There could not be a better time to tell the Saudi/trump coalition that they are not credible and we are not marching down that bloody road again.
What interest in the middle east do we have other than a desire for stability and humanitarian treatment of all civilians in the area?
We have attained oil independence at the cost of our own environment, let us at least benefit by no longer having to commit American lives in the service of Arab wars.
4
All jokes aside, even Trump’s most ardent supporters don’t use the term “trust”; rather, they “support” his perspectives. Mitch McConnell won’t make a move without Trump saying what he’ll “support” and it is the term most oft-used by journalists asking questions of Trump appointees. They know better than to ask about trust.
That’s because Trump himself trusts no one (and unlike some, I believe that applies to Ivanka and Jared) and views approbation as his mandate, not trust. Approbation means you like him; trust means he knows he got over on you, once again.
3
Has the Trump administration been working hard to end the US adoration of Israel and Saudi Arabia and rehabilitate Iran, much as Trump revulsion has fostered #MeToo . The current complexity of responding to the oil attack is often portrayed as a perplexingly delicate international situation, when in fact it is only the logical outcome of this avaricious president's blundering. Saudi Arabia has for so long been the darling of US military support that it is hard to imagine what could shake that reverence, yet here we are. The combination of the fiasco of invading Iraq, withdrawing from the Iran deal, remaining passive in the face of the Kashogi murder, and pushing to increase sanctions on and possibly invade Iran, have put Iran in a very strong bargaining position. We have long feared Trump's declaration of war against one of many countries as his ultimate distraction when the walls are closing in, but military intervention in Iran is harder to justify now than it has been for years. Also, curious how Trump has empowered Macron and Merkel as well as China, making them look like avatars of international order. I am aware that this view of a trapped Trump does not factor in Trump's well established record of doing the least expected, most unthoughtful, moves. After all, this is the guy who appointed Jared Kushner to arrange middle east peace while borrowing SA money. Will Trump forge ahead with an invasion of Yemen or Qatar? Whatever he does will be unexpected and distracting.
2
You asked the question "Can his word on Iran be trusted?". Since his presidency began, Donald Trump has publicly made over 12,000 lies and false/misleading claims. There is your answer and our burden.
12
The sad reality is that we live in a country with two irreconcilable truths. There are some that believe Trump is a liar and cheat and wholly inadequate in every measure for the position he holds, while others believe he is a gift from God. In the end the whole world will suffer because of this.
The only way back to a shared reality is to expose the perpetrators of distrust, reveal the decades of manipulation, and hold responsible those that preyed upon the weakness within us. Will it take another disastrous war or two where thousands of Americans lose their lives, destroy the life and livelihood of millions in foreign countries, and channel trillions of our tax dollars to those that perpetuate war before we realize that we have been duped?
After Iraq and Afghanistan there was a moment where we saw the lies and deceptions and suffered a great recession and voted out the people that damaged us so. But it took less than two years of renewed lies and deception that brought them back into power. Government is not the problem as Reagan preached - the Republican lawmakers are the problem. They represent the wealthy who have greatly benefited while convincing many of us that they are the only choice.
Democrats may have been wrong about things but I believe they honestly want the best for the greatest part of our country. They have been caught up in the storm the Right created and need to lead from strength and not get caught up in the Republican game. Or else another war.
6
The truth train has already left the station and Trump missed it. Not only is he a pathological liar, but he has shown very poor judgment in almost every way...personally, diplomatically, politically... you name it. My only hope where he is concerned is that he seems to want to avoid war. But since I don't trust him at all, I am not even sure of that. One can only imagine the conversations between Macron and Merkel right now.
7
He has done so much damage to American credibility that the title of the article has the feel of "whistlin' dixie". There is no
reason why his word can and should be trusted.
It's called just rewards.
What the implications are remain to be seen. My guess is that
there will be no "coalition of the willing" since they've already
been burned once, and trump is even less reliable than bush.
Does "partner" even come to mind when trying to think of a spoiled egomaniac?
Why would anyone, other than a PM of the soon to be broken up UK, want to sign on as sidekick to the nutcase? There is no incentive for doing so, nor reward.
Given a big fat zero on coalition building, he'll cave in and retreat per usual. The conflict will go underground and be fought both in cyberspace and by proxy with fingerprints missing. If the damage is impressive enough, then things might change. In the meantime, expect murkiness, manipulated spectacle, lots of heavy breathing and pontificating from gofers like pompeo, or former gofers like bolton who will be having a great time inciting from the sidelines of f-x for big bucks, and an occasional flare up just to see if anyone is still paying attention.
Iran is surely assuming he'll capitulate by doing anything to
avoid military escalation, which would not fly in flyover land.
3
"Can His Word on Iran Be Trusted?"
Never happen. He's proven over and over again that it cannot.
5
No no emphatic NO. Trump is obviously not trustworthy and lacks credibility asserting ANYTHING about the Middle East. Given U.S.' abominable history for the past 30 years in the Middle East, the massive drain on our deficit - no military action should be considered. The only reason this POTUS throws out a military response is his typical MO: smoke and mirrors to deflect from negative news of the economy / his reelection. All Republican leaders believe they will win reelection if the U.S. is involved in a "war."
22
This is how great powers decline. The credibility that this country won over a long time, at great cost in blood and treasure, has been squandered by the two most recent Republican administrations, through a combination of malice, incompetence and outright foolishness. It can't be fully recovered ever.
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@Richard Cohen Not just Republican Presidents - it started with the post Cold War hubris that infected the entire Western establishment.
Definition of an Oxymoron: "Can His Word Be Trusted?"
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@Richard Phelps
A rhetorical question more like...
1
A crooked real estate developer/reality TV star gets to decide war scenarios? You couldn't make this stuff up.
102
@Lee Strugnell Congress should be deciding about going to war with Iran. There is no need to rush to retaliate. There is no national security emergency here. The problem is that Moscow Mitch is clogging the plumbing of government while ignoring the Constitution.
In Trump, we have someone, who so narcissistic that, like the emperor with no clothes, he must surround himself with sycophants that praise his every word. A man, who lies transparently more often than he tells the truth. Everyone outside of circle of sycophants sees the naked core of his emptiness: empty of principle, empty of reason, empty of compassion, and incapable of higher reasoning. He is a caricature of a man, who lies indiscriminately about everything big and small. Who would be so foolish to believe anything he says?
38
I wonder if the sketchy Jared Kushner is involved in this mess. Kushner seems to have dropped out of site but his relationship with MBS and Saudi Arabia is unclear. The article below describes some of the controversies about Kushner and MBS’s friendship.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/22/politics/jared-kushner-mohammed-bin-salman/index.html
10
We arm the Saudis. They are the ones who were attacked. Let them be the ones to retaliate as they deem appropriate.
28
"Trump's Challenge: Can His Word on Iran Be Trusted?"
Surely, you jest.
34
We have been down this path before: fighting someone else's war. Korea, Vietnam. But Saudi Arabia? Someone wants us to be their mercenaries AND we have to pay their bill in our dollars and our bodies.
Then there's the thing that the USA punishes some, supports other all for the wrong reasons. Bush/Cheney didn't help the matter with their war based on fabricated evidence. LBJ and Vietnam and that rediculous Domino Theory. Ronald and Iran Contra. And no one will believe our current Liar-In-Chief but why should he care?
The Donald will just do what he wants, tell others to pay the bill with his business acumen of OPM (Other Peoples Money) and then blame everyone else when things go south.
Never the less, the NYTs has a great question: Can his word be trusted? Answer: No.
16
The man lied about the WEATHER for heaven sakes and forced members of his administration to support his lies with more lies. But Macron, Merkel, et al will believe him on Iran? Not bloody likely.
60
One of my biggest fears regarding this so called president was that there may come a time when the American people and our allies need to believe what he says. Given the fact that he is a pathological liar why would we or anyone ever believe anything he has to say? Same with Pompeo. Same with Barr.
18
What? Trust “The Little Boy Who Cried ‘Wolf!’”?
Someone whose entire world rests on a foundation of lies, who built this phony world lie by lie like they were bricks until its very substance is a fantasy? Who still lies about everything, all things great and small — all day, every day, 365 days a year?
Someone who coordinates his lies with others, orchestrates their lies with his by instructing them what to say? Who still conspires with others to deceive?
Someone who coined the term “fake news”? Someone whose subordinates brazenly promote “alternative facts” or sneer idiocies like “truth isn’t truth”?
Trust that guy?
How?
13
To the chagrin of the neo-cons, Donald's lies is his weakness and the planet's salvation.
5
When you are a serial liar whose lies are daily exposed on national television -- the latest being "I'll talk to Iran's president without preconditions" -- no one trusts you, not your friends, not your enemies, not the people in your own government. Trump has trashed the credibility of the White House for all to see, and is now reaping the consequences.
17
The short answer to your headline question is: Neither.
1
The headline asks a foolish question.
“Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”
The president took apart something that, for all its imperfections, was working. He wants hostilities with Iran; he has aggressively pursued confrontations. No one who has followed the Trump/Pompeo/Bolton axis of stupidity can be in any serious doubt that America, under No. 45, is doing the work of either Israel or the Royal House of Saud—or both, simultaneously.
Add to his staggering total of 10K lies—and counting—and one asks, “Why should anyone believe a serial liar?”
16
No one can trust Trump. He's a pathological liar and makes decisions on the basis of how he feels at the time. He is a major threat to our national security.
12
i personally choose to not believe anything that the current administration says. that is not to say everything they say is a lie or fabricated, but i have no way of determining the truth. it just means that they have released and spoken so many lies over the past, that i do not believe them.
12
TrustvTrump? No this is the man who subverted the hurricane report, silences the EPA scientists, is in love with a brutal dictator, and pulled out of the international treaties on climate and Iran. I expect our intelligence agencies to do his bidding. The story has already shifted - and yes our allies have their own intelligence.
14
As I recall it, Trump "knows more than his generals". So, let's wait until the Saudi's tell us who is responsible and what to do next. The chickens are coming home to roost.
13
Why should the US have any interest in who is responsible for this incident? Last I looked we do not have an obligation to come to the defense of Saudi Arabia. We sold them billions of dollars of weaponry presumably so that they could defend themselves.
So they went to war against the Houthis, who claim responsibility for the incident. Perhaps they used weapons made available by Iran. Who cares? The Saudis use weapons made available my us against the Houthis. Does that make us responsible for the actions of the Saudis?
Good question!
22
At least two articles in the NYT today about the attacks on Saudi oil facilities that leave unchallenged the assumption that if the attacks are proven to originate from Iran, then the US needs to attack Iran (in one manner or another).
Can US news sources EVER stop agitating for war (in ways subtle of not-so-subtle)?!
I, and I think many Americans, feel like we do not have a dog in this fight. We owe Saudi Arabia nothing but condemnation for their abuses of human rights, butchering of a Washington Post reporter, attacks in Yemen, etc.
IF Iran attacked Saudi Arabia, I fail to see how that, by default, should be considered an attack on the US. And to further dis-entangle the US from the mess in that region, lets stop providing military hardware to the Saudi regime.
18
The USA has lost most of its credibility with most of the world. Even assuming that it will manage to build a credible case against Iran, it doesn’t change the fact that Iran is a proud country with a civilization much older than the USA which has been unnecessarily provoked; it won’t back off. It doesn’t mean that I agree with their politics, not a iota. But even if I came to accept the case against Iran, be ready to forget Trump incessant lies and attack against the US allies, he is way too unstable to be followed as a war leader.
Right or wrong, USA you are alone on this one. If you start a war, Nato chapter 5 has no legal ground to be invoked. And the Europeans would be foolish to follow as a goodwill gesture.
6
Let the Saudi’s fight their own wars and protect their own oil. Perhaps if they had accepted into their borders some of the region’s refugees tensions would not be running so high.
America has no place using its soldiers as canon fodder in the mind-numbing, never-ending religious conflict that is the Middle East. We’ve shed enough American blood there, and to what end?
13
Thought provoking headline, simple answer - no!
Moving on.
7
It's not just that Trump lies as he breathes, as bad as that is.
It's also that Americans and others have legitimate reasons to suspect he prefers Saudi tyrants to Iranian theocrats because the former are his customers.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/16/trump-says-no-financial-interests-in-saudi-arabia-but-makes-money.html
If there were any evidence that Trump is capable of separating his personal interests from his actions as President, you'd have seen it by now.
7
Trump and his posse of lying liars have created. a credibility gap at home, and a chasm abroad. The words of a man who has told almost 12,000 lies in office could only be trusted by a naive pre-schooler.
The Sharpie episode underscores how those around him, and thus the United States, are not trustworthy. No less how Trump abandoned these same allies in Syria, on climate change.
With Trump as our leader, our country has lost its respect and the mantle of leadership we once had in the world. I hope those Americans who wanted to “shake things up in Washington” by electing this unfit individual have the decency and honor to admit their crippling mistake.
Ironic, too, how this Republican government that believes gun manufacturers should not be held liable for the evil done by those who use them, now believe Iran is culpable because their weaponry was used by the Yemenis.
9
Let me see if I have this right. Trump, as president, has used his bloody pulpit to quit virtually every trade agreement that's currently in place, including the Iran deal, has put tariffs on virtually all of American allies and China, believes in Russia, N. Korea, MBS, and their atrocities, as well as lies up to 22 times a day to the American public, now wants you to believe that he'll keep his word if you negotiate a new Iran deal. Now that's a close one to call.
17
The idea that the United States would even consider going to war to shore up an autocratic Arabian monarchy against an autocratic Persian theocracy would have been ridiculous to America's founders.
Credibility? We lost that with our false cases for war in Vietnam and in Iraq. We won't get it back unless we prosecute those, still in our midst, who led us into Iraq and caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands, the displacement of millions and the waste of trillions of dollars.
12
Yes, but Donald Trump has never been trustworthy.
He could not even be bothered to keep his promise to the Metropolitan Museum, to donate the Bonwit Teller friezes, when he was about to knock down Bonwit's to build Trump Tower. Preservationists were relieved when he told them he'd do so.
His contractors "accidentally" destroyed the friezes -- in the night.
It would have cost a little more to preserve them and get them over to the museum.
17
Who’s doing the analysis to prove it was Iran that launched the attack? It can’t be the CIA because Trump routinely dismisses their conclusions. I’ve always wondered what would happen if were ever confronted by a real crisis. This is just the beginning.
9
Apparently the Saudis thought they could conduct their Trump -supported war against the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen with complete impunity. Only Yemenis on both sides of this brutal and indiscriminate proxy war were supposed to suffer.
The attack on Saudi oil installations put an end to that calculation--much to the amusement of Trump's friend in the Kremlin who has mocked the failure of American-provided defenses to protect Trump's Arabian allies.
Of course, the Iranians ultimately supplied the means for this attack. The only question is whether they did so directly or used the Houthis as an intermediary. Maybe that is what former secretary of state Rex Tillerson has in mind when he says we will find Iranian fingers, but maybe not Iranian hands, on this event.
And, of course, no one is going to believe whatever Trump eventually claims an intelligence investigation has determined. Still, it will be a novel thing to hear Trump, who has undercuts and disparages the American intelligence community as part of "the Deep State," strut out, bragging about having "the best intelligence" now.
5
Combined the US and Canada have more oil than they need !
Price wise, the more expensive North American oil, is cheaper than the Saudi, when you factor in the monetary costs of war and the moral costs of being associated with MSB of Saudi Arabia.
I say cut with the Saudis - the country that sent 15/19 high jackers on 911.
Iranians, never did such evil acts against America. If I had to choose between theocracies, I would choose Iran.
10
We support our allies when they attack other countries, almost always without UN mandate. But when others attack our allies, we treat it as a crime. I understand that the bullies do not like to be bullied back, but you reap what you sow.
2
After the election on 2016 I said to my friends, there will be another war. That's what he had in his mind, because his wealthy supporters want from him. All his actions about the military and his support for weapon owners point to his supporters and the big supporters of the GOP. We having already the biggest army in the world, with the biggest financial funding.
When 45. decided to get out of the Iran treaty, I thought we will have the war soon. The target was chosen.
Now I think, with all he has done to other countries his lies his alienating behavior against our allies and treading partners makes the USA to a predator behaving country. He will not gain back the trust of other nations and he will even loose more trust from the US citizens. In a much more connected world the news is travelling very fast, lets hope that he is not able to fabricate lies like "the weapons of mass destruction"!
What we need now is a skilled diplomatic choir who does limit the damage and prevents a war which will never end!
5
Why would anyone trust Trump or anyone who works for him. Lying is his strong point and, apparently, standard operating procedure for his minions.
If the standard for some kind of military action is simply because the drones used were made in Iran or used Iranian technology, then the US, weapons maker and dealer for most of the world, is in very serious danger as well.
4
Trump represents the ultimate lack of credibility in a person. The US government has already lost most, if not all of ItS' credibility in the eyes of the world, given the innumerable lies about Vietnam and Iraq. An unholy alliance with the Saudis, who are currently most renowned for their involvement in 9/11 and the recent murder, in broad daylight of their own citizen, should in no way, shape or form regard them a genuine ally.
As usual, there is no definitive proof of Iran's involvement anymore than there was for Iraq's. Furthermore, no amount of evidence emanating from our government, or SA, ( or Israel's for that matter) regarding the attack on SA can be trusted. Trump is trying to manufacture consent for initiating a war which will have the usually dire consequences of mass killings of innocent citizens and a continued loss of respect for the US ion the world stage. The answer to the question cited in the article is simply, NO, he cannot be trusted, about anything, much less about starting a war.
4
Brian Hook, a Trump envoy, states the Europeans "misunderstood". So, in other words the findings of intelligence agencies of European countries is not near as honest as Trump's?
I believe the words of Macron before serial liar's words.
And that is pretty sad we cannot trust the words of our own president.
4
How anyone anywhere can believe a word that comes out of donald trump’s mouth is a mystery to me.
And anybody who is surprised is really ignorant. Stupid actually.
56
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! No one trusts Trump because he is a well proven liar. The US has zero credibility. That’s why happens when you elect a liar. Too bad
104
I think the America and the World already know the answer to the question in the headline.
13
The answer to the question whether Trump can be trusted on Iran, or anything else is a resounding NO!
20
No, neither Donald Trump nor his word can be trusted. Where have you been for the last four years?
28
Not just since Trump has been President. Trump’s word has not been trusted for years. No NY bank will work with him - he’s been getting his money from Russia and Deutsch Bank (that bank is now very sorry).
Vendors and suppliers were usually stiffed.
Signed contracts mean nothing to Trump. There are thousands of suits trying to collect and they usually settle for less because they couldn’t afford the lawyers.
2
Trump doesn’t want this war. It’s not going to happen. He’s an isolationist and he knows such an event would kill him in 2020. This is one general area in which he’s superior to W.
2
@Slim Sadey I don't think you can use the word superior. Maybe this is one general area where we will be better off after experiencing Bush's mistake, we will not likely settle for a repeat.
trump is the boy who cried wolf. Even if what he said was true, why would we believe him after all his lies?
15
After all the sham, lies, attacks on democratic institutions and norms, after all the evidence of his racism, his love for dictators, his behaviour with Putin bordering on treason, his inciting of violence in his rallies - Trump is still treated even by the NYT as a legitimate politician that we ought to debate whether to trust or not. The country could be taken to war, once again, without a strong outcry of this great newspaper - as it was in the case of Iraq war(s). It is scary to see how little worry, empathy and care the US media show when it has to do with potential destructions of distant countries.
31
@GoranLR That's right! I'm also amazed how many commentators, and media in general' treats a walking lie of a President, as a credible leader of Western democracies. Not one syllable out of his mouth is credible and the tone of this article leaves you with the impression that perhaps, somehow, Americans can fool their allies once more.
1
Trump is corrupt and a pathological liar and the majority of Americans as well as our allies do not trust him. Congress, our allies as well as the Americans need hard evidence in order to come to a conclusion of "who'd done it". The Saudis can not be trusted not only did they stonewall the the 9/11 investigation but they also stonewalled the investigation of the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Not only that, to this day they have lied about the murder an have never come forward with the truth or even tried to start a thorough investigation.
20
Why would anyone anywhere believe a word he says?
15
Mr. Sanger winds up his article by quoting two officials of the Bush administration who were instrumental in convincing that clueless President into invading Iraq on false premises. Why would Trump listen to them? The American people have absolutely no interest in defending the murderers of a Washington Post journalist and are dropping bombs on Yemeni hospitals. Trump knows his chances of being elected will go down the drain if he starts another war in the Middle East.
9
The primitive, autocratic, human rights violator "kingdom" of saudi arabia was putatively attacked by the the primitive, autocratic, human rights violator theocracy of iran. I say let THEM fight it out. I understand the the US has sold billions of dollars in arms to the royals
13
His “word” on where his own father was born cannot be trusted. A man who lies about things big and small, often in the same day, cannot have his word trusted.
7
This is NOT our problem. Let saudis take care of themselves. Keep USA OUT of this.
24
I went into Google Earth and located the very tanks involved and according to published photo's N direction, the tank holes appear to be hit from WNW, then backing out that direction is directly towards Israel?? Surely not. Now for Iran to do it, the cruise missiles would have had to travel north then turn west, south then turn east to target, since Iran is on the east side, OR FROM A SHIP in the Persian Gulf. OR FROM RUSSIA directly north. Is this Iran story a red herring proposition? 2] The story says "oil storage, production" but the spheroidal tanks are of that design to hold pressured natural gas, not oil; oil tanks are in the photos but are round, flat heights with floating lids to reduce vaporization. These tanks are typ 3/8" steel plate to plate weldments and if a cruise missile hit as shown, imo the sides would have been massively cratered in since there's no supporting structure behind the wall. In addition an explosion would have taken place: no blackened burn soot etc, Definitely no nice clean "sheared" hole as the photo shows. 3] Also impossible is to lose 50% oil production and be on line in 2 days.
A "fake fabrication" to frame Iran for war? We'll find out.
14
“Could be disinclined,” should be “will be disinclined.”
He’s a liar. Plain and simple. Has been and always will be.
Just say it.
13
The big dangerous jerk is slowly discovering he is not running a ridiculous TV show. I remember George W, Bush once came back from visiting wounded veterans and seemed to grasp for the first time that war wasn't a prank where someone steals the mascot of the opposing team. These people are in way over their heads. Fantasy, hubris and arrogance and in more ways they can accept, the crimes that they and counterparts in the world system of power, greed and destruction commit has its own horrible momentum.
13
I believe turnip as much as I believed Michael Jackson when he said he had only two minor nose jobs.
5
"For they that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind" - Hosea 8:7
7
As with everything that comes out of his mouth: No!
7
Trust Donald Trump?
Sorry, that ship has sailed.
11
His words can not be trusted. Full Stop.
8
Trump has cried wolf too many times.
He has zero credibility.
7
to answer the headline... "no"..... to ask the next question "can trump ever be trusted?"
6
An estimated $6 trillion and counting for Bush’s meaningless wars in the Middle East. Such foreign policy disasters must not be repeated. Change the incentives such that oil becomes less vital to the global economy.
25
Coalitions assembled by the USA tend to be countries bullied by threats or seduced by promises. It’s mostly about our economic might, not the facts or force of the argument.
5
@Xoxarle
They want to make Trump look strong so they will try to push war/retaliation with Iran. We must not let this happen!
2
First of all, the U.S. has no business, no obligation--written or unwritten--for subcontracting our foreign policy including defense to Saudi Arabia,which itself has little credibility after denying the murder of American resident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Second, Donald Trump has absolutely no credibility with his thousands of lies. Third, U.S. policy in the Middle East has consistently been based on deceit and misinformation as in the WMD fiasco leading to the Iraq War. Military action by the U.S. should as the saying goes "be off the table." This is an issue for the U.N. or for Trump to make a conciliatory gesture like a temporary suspension of sanctions as a way of initiating peace with Iran. The time has come for Trump finally to show he can make a deal rather than break them by offering a revised Iran nuclear accord. The alternative is a major war in the Middle East causing destruction and destruction of the world's major oil supply and an immediate global recession.
40
In the diplomatic world of our allies and adversaries, Trump cannot be trusted. His obsessive distortions in the case of Alabama and Hurricane prediction can be instructive. Some see his lies as a means of deflection, a shirking of responsibility and accountability when making a mistake. For some his lying is a form of attention seeking, i.e., grabbing the spotlight at a moment of crisis and making the story about him. But as the scale and magnitude of his lies continue unimpeded by facts and evidence, they can see that their impact on recipients becomes empiric (e.g., the degradation of the national weather service.) As such there appears yet another perhaps more salient intention behind Trump’s lies, lies and more lies:
“A lie does not consist in the indirect position of words, but in the desire and intention, by false speaking, to deceive and injure your neighbor.” (Jonathan Swift)
Who, in their right mind, would trust a world leader whose lies, beyond self-aggrandizement, can be so personally harmful?
26
@DJ Just need to amend your first sentence to include “in any world and all circumstances, Trump cannot be trusted.” He is the extreme definition of liar.
5
The Europeans are correct and this is a drama of our own making. Trump is a weak leader who cannot even fill his vacancies in the executive branch. No one wants to work for him. He has zero credibility on the world stage. Hey with a leader like this what could go wrong, I mean right?
26
There are those in our government who desperately want to bomb Iran. At this time cooler heads must prevail.
Yes, we need to somehow rescue America's reputation as a powerful nation; we are looking bad thanks to the gambit of trashing the Iran deal. But mending fences with our European allies, who never went along with breaking the deal, should be foremost.
Trump's delusion of maximum pressure against everyone has failed. We need good relations with all countries. We can't go it alone.
5
I will tell you what the allies I thinking right now---Trump, you broke it, now you, meaning you alone, fix it.
4
It must be more than simply challenging to treat a deceitful and grifting administration as though there's any truth to anything it says or does.
4
No, Trump’s words can’t be trusted. Ever.
12
Good luck with that. He has proven himself a liar at all levels. There’s no reason to trust Trump or anyone in his administration. Not ever. They should all be in jail. Besides, this is a problem Trump caused. He can’t be trusted to “fix” it.
14
Well, that’s the problem with an unreliable narrator in the White House. Bluster and blaming, whining and lying are counterproductive when things get serious. Just another of the multitude of reasons this man and his circus of underlings never should have set foot in government.
5
If our safety and peace in the world depends on this man's word being trusted, we should all move to Canada.
3
Trump can’t even tell the truth about the weather. Any hope for trusting him is a pipe dream.
15
Our trusting Trump is beside the point. The Iranians are playing him like the witless fool he is.
Does anyone believe they couldn't predict their missle debris would be tied to their military?
If we decide to give war in the Middle East another chance, sure, ready, fire, aim !
2
@JS
Yes, please let's sacrifice more of our children and the children of the Iranians, small children who are not at fault, because who cares, right? US soil was not attacked ergo we have no business there. We wanted to put America first, let's put our kids first, our soldiers and their lives and their families first and not wander into a war from which we yet again spend more than a decade extricating ourselves. Only fools go for weapons first and this is a clear consequence of Trump tearing up the deal for no good empirical reason that can be proven without a doubt. He wanted isolationism and for us not to be the world's policeman and take care of our domestic problems first. Let's do that rather than wander where only fools go i.e. war in the middle east and Afghanistan where we still can't pull out.
3
Of course we cannot trust him, cannot trust his group of insane advisors! But what choice do we have if he decides to take military action? Congress may say no (or at least the House would) but Trump would do it anyway.
I thought that when Trump took monies away from the military to build his wall it would finally make the military leaders wake up but apparently that isn't happening. We're just stuck waiting and praying until his term is over (fingers crossed!).
12
1.Saudi Arabia: Why is the USA defending Saudi Arabia? The 9-11 terrorists were Saudi. The Saudi prince was behind the murder and dismemberment of a journalist living in the US.
Trump didn't believe his own intelligence agencies and did nothing.
2. Iran: By all reports the Iranians were complying with the Iran Accord. Trump pulled the US out of the treaty, simply because he hates Obama and he prefers "bilateral deals." When Mr. Art of the Deal couldn't reach a deal, he imposed sanctions on Iran and forced our allies to abide by them. The sanctions have hurt the Iranian economy and they are shaking the rattles on their tails.
Trump is the troublemaker in all of this. Diplomacy is always a better idea than war.
150
Simple, not a chance. Why should he start now?
6
Trump and credibility in the same sentence. My eyes hurt.
19
Trump is an iconic representation of a culture gone mad from decades of being saturated in manufactured myths about the nation, surrendering to the unrestricted easy access of unhealthy addictions, guided by their fetishism for commodities and celebrities, and suffering from a multitude of pathological status anxieties. A culture of narcissism to this degree, eventually produces a deterministic result, and that’s what we have in Trump, a self-fulfilling prophecy.
15
@Michael Sorensen we got what we deserved. now it is time to try and correct our mistakes. this will be difficult as our enemies are within. corruption in washington and in many state governments runs wild and many citizens seem to not care as long as they get what they want.
many politicians promise all sorts of freebies, but have no plan on how to pay for same. one of the most successful government programs, social security, is going broke and the politicians refuse to fix same. they talk and talk and do nothing. why? because they do not care about other people.
1
The world should think long (like 13 months ) and hard before it embraces any plans coming out of this administration.
13
It goes without saying that the U.S. should not go this alone. It will be a huge and costly mess if we do. Also, after all the slaps in the face and insults and threats he has delivered to our allies, why should they be in any rush to help Trump save face. If I was an ally of the U.S. I would prepare to help, but sit back and apply maximum pressure to Trump. Make him sweat so bad the dye in his hair is running down his face. Then , at the 11th hour, offer help. For if Trump thinks they will cave on this, they will have zero leverage with him and they will just be cementing their role as Trump's punching bags.
3
Trust Trump? Is that a joke?
Trump will do three things.
1) He will listen to the intelligence briefing in sound bytes.
2) He will decide on the course of action that benefits him personally and politically, and his family.
3) He will then finally acquire the needed “facts” to “explain” his decision.
That is called “thinking through a problem” in Trumpworld. He knows no other way, he is capable of no other way.
If genuine facts are presented which contradict his decision, he will lie outright about them. If caught in the lie, he will then lie about the lie.
And he will be supported and backed up by the GOP and white conservative evangelicalism because they have sold their souls to him.
No, I will not trust Trump. As a Christian; as an American citizen; as a thinking human being; I do not and will not trust Donald Trump about anything. Ever.
Next question.
129
All the world and 3/5 of the American electorate know that Trump has zero credibility, on any issue. We know the Saudi’s and Bibi Netanyahu are itching to get Trump to do their bidding vis-vis Iran, and he has seemed more than willing to go along. “Locked and loaded!”
Even if “slam dunk” evidence is uncovered, no one is going to believe it, except that 2/5 of the American electorate, which is all Trump cares about anyway.
8
The day after he was declared the winner, I was speaking with a colleague about it, wrapped in mutual bewilderment. DT was neither fish nor fowl, not a Republican or a Democrat, but what? "Who is going to trust this guy?" I asked. Who, indeed? Trustworthy and Donald Trump don't belong in the same sentence.
20
The American (US) support of the Saudi dictatorship is despicable, in particular the republican presidents of late. Iran's regime perhaps not much better but Obama tried and succeeded in making a deal with them, the Trump withdrawal from that together with blocking Iran's oil sales created desperation. That combined with supporting Saudis appalling war in Yemen was just a little bit too much. The responsible party for the attack on the oil fields in SA is USA. Very simple. Now it must must take responsibility and create solutions. (very unlikely to happen ofcourse). American presidents need better history lessons.
39
I hope the 38% of voters who reportedly still support the president will carefully observe his actions in the coming weeks and consider the dangerous corner into which he has painted himself and the country by virtue of his provocations, lies and ignorance of governance during the past 2.5 years. This new Iran crisis involves huge risk and danger for the U.S. It is not a time for his sociopathic self-interest and saber-rattling to guide the country, but I fear this is exactly what will determine his actions during the coming weeks. Let his voters watch, and hopefully learn, who it is they elected.
21
@mctommy They weren't observing or learning when they elected him. I doubt they'll start now.
1
Trump's credibility is immediately suspect. This is exactly George Bush, Colin Powell and the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in 2003 all over again. But then I actually believed the president. Trump wants to go to war, Pompeo wants war to bring about the Rapture and the American people don't want a war. How do we stop these hawks?
6
Its fascinating that we have an atheist and a religious zealot running the government.
4
@Meighan Corbett it is hard to stop hawks because the do gooders in our government made it illegal to kill hawks. ironic isn't it? the do gooders apparently like to see the hawks fly around and swoop down and kill small game. just ask any quail lover.
It’s more than a Trump credibility problem. After the Bush admin lies about Iraq, global leaders should rightly be skeptical of any GOP led drumbeat to war.
13
After watching and hearing him over the last two years, it's hard to believe you could even ask that question. But, after the Gulf of Tonkin, bogus 'weapons of mass destruction' and other massive US government lies, the answer is an unequivocal 'NO' ! I doubt you will be surprised to hear this, Mr. Sanger. The real question is this. How can any Democrat in Congress even consider going along with him on anything of this ilk? As if, all of a sudden, he's believable and is telling the truth? It defies comprehension.
10
No one believes Trump’s word on anything. He’s distrusted by most Americans and all world leaders. Why is this? Trump lies about literally everything all of the time.
Equally problematic, Trump changes his mind all the time. If he says one thing on Tuesday he then asserts something completely different on Wednesday.
This behavior makes normal diplomacy impossible. Foreign leaders know all of this, and are stalling until Trump leaves office and his successor can come in and clean up his mess.
63
Because the Saudis can pull Trump and his family purse strings, we may end up in a war for no other reason than Trump's financial entanglements!
18
The credibility problem and lies extend to the the people surrounding Trump, they all participate and condone the lies. They have seized the Department of Justice, stripped the Cabinets, stacked the Supreme Court, corrupted the Senate and rendered the House useless. in essence they destroyed the government. In addition they have belligerence in common, Kavanaugh , Lewondowski are prime examples of surly arrogance that has no place in intelligent discourse. This administration's international relationships are no different, they have antagonized allies, bonded with autocrats who have no regard for improving the lives of their citizens. Self interest is their motivation for defining policy. Pompeo was photographed laughing with the Saudi prince while on a mission investigating the slaughter of another human being. With gas prices escalating 50 cents a gallon since Saturday I conclude the bombing was a win for the Saudi's and OPEC and whoever bought oil futures last week. Their next plan will be to lift sanctions on Russian oil in order to fulfill demand. It is impossible to view this debacle without skepticism.
13
I guess the $150 billion Obama gave Iran must be all gone. So Machron is offering more money. Probably not nearly enough. Supporting terrorism around the world is not cheap. Paying terrorist to behave is extortion. Obama’s rush to make an agreement congress couldn’t pass caused this mess. Why not demand congress to weigh in on what they will accept as an adequate treaty? Nobody wants to broach the subject of what they think is acceptable. Trump should force congress to act. Let people know what they are willing to support. If people don’t like their representatives position, in 14 months we have an election, and start again.
@Jay
How did the $8 billion become $150billion?
Just a few weeks ago Trump thought about giving Iran $15billion. Time flies doesn’t it.
But I do agree with you that Congress should authorize any military action. But you are kidding yourself if you think Trump will seek such authorization. The king doesn’t ask.
2
Just to be clear, the money Obama gave Iran was their money. What they want now is also their money, which we have blocked, because they won’t do what we want after Trump pulled the USA out of the nuclear deal.
3
@Jay It was their money, that we had no right to keep from them in the first place. If I illegally froze your bank account tomorrow, would you consider me to be making a concession if I released $100 bucks to you in exchange for you doing a bunch of stuff that I wanted?
3
No. He is, simply, an unreliable partner.
Who cares about Saudi Arabia's oil refineries. We don't need them. We don't need to protect them. We don't need to protect a terrorist state that prohibits free speech, freedom of religion, murders journalists, does not operate on rule of law, executes hundreds each year by beheading, and uses American weapons to kill thousands of Houthis in Yemen because of a religious feud with Iran.
We should have abandoned Saudi Arabia years ago. Time to tell the Saudis to defend themselves.
20
We will if trump rolls back emmission standards.
Trump is indeed an inveterate liar and has created a real mess.
However, if you have debris from cruise missiles littering the Saudi desert, there is only one Middle Eastern actor that could have sent them there - Iran.
Iran's leaders look desperate. Their main goal is to retain and expand power. And the only way for their dismal approval ratings to improve is to provoke the 'great satan' into a shooting war.
15
Kind of like the current admin.
38
@C3PO Perhaps they are desperate, not because of approval ratings, they are never up for reelection. They were following the nuclear deal, and were being verified by IAEA. There was no need to threw out the functioning agreement that had kept the peace in Persian Gulf. The US sanctions is killing the Iranian regime's ability to survive, slowly. They have seen whatever happened to Saddam during 1990s crippling sanctions. The country and regime was so much weakened that US could invade it in few weeks. Iranian regime does not want to bleed out in the coming year or 5 years before the inevitable war comes. It is better to force the US and B-team to play their cards now, or ease the sanctions. It is a strategic decision. It is even possible that the next President of USA regardless of his or her party affiliation would continue the Trump policy (more or less). So, they want to call the bluff now.
22
@C3PO
Substitute US for Iran and I think you have hit the nail on the head.
50
Seriously?? You think the answer to your headline is somehow a “yes”? This person has sold out the credibility of our once-great nation with an ongoing avalanche of lies and deceit, and he’s surrounded by a pack of stooges doing exactly the same thing. Nobody is buying his little act any more, and now, a major Middle East crisis has come calling. Here’s a man who can’t even summon a single shred of courage or class to say something nice about Cokie Roberts for gods sake. Incompetence? Every. Single. Day.
17
@JHS " can’t even summon a single shred of courage "
That's a reasonable summation.
1
A president that keeps his own counsel, distrusts nearly anyone except those who praise him, this is the man the world looks to as its preeminent leader? Donald Trump only convinces himself. Only a matter of time until he's seen walking through the White House halls at night in his robe, talking to the painting of Andrew Jackson and pleading with Mike Pompeo to pray with him...
One final stray thought: "yellowcake" just screams to me "Twitter username"...
2
"In Trump we distrust" must be the current 'motto', given that Trump is an inveterate liar. How and when do we know he is lying? Whenever he opens his big mouth! This is a bad omen, given that when a real emergency occurs, and it will, no one shall take him seriously, as his word remains worthless.
19
Is there any information concerning how China plays into this? They need oil and Iran is a source for them. Iran is also part of their Belt and Road program to make transport of goods easier outside China, a new and larger Silk road. China contributes 400 billion to Iran for this infrastructure. Also China contributes 5000 security forces. When the US has security forces killed anywhere, it is an act of war against the US.
1
No, we cannot believe anything said by Trump or most of his appointees, all of whom lie constantly. Just as the US sells armaments to other countries, so too does Iran, so it’s entirely possible that the attacks came from Yemen. What is both curious and enormously concerning if the attacks came from Iran is that the attack drones would have crossed the Persian Sea where the US has one of its largest naval deployments anywhere. But the Navy gave no alerts and evidently its radar did not even detect drones to shoot them down. Now contrast that with the single Iranian drone the US detected and shot down earlier this year in the same area. Had the drones come from Yemen, the Navy would not have seen them. Either the Navy was completely asleep at the wheel or someone in the Trump administration is not telling the truth.
11
@BG
Precisely, thank you
2
Seems like the Saudi's brought this on themselves through their war on the Houti armed forces and the Houti civilian population. Now they want protection from the US and Trump tells us they are going to pay us to provide it. I agree that there should be conditions for that help, but using the US forces as mercenaries isn't one of them. Conditions I favor are, one, MBS goes out to pasture and condition two is make peace with the Houtis.
8
George W. Bush invaded Iraq 19 years ago. He started an unending war against that Middle Eastern country. President Trump is trying now to whip up approval for another invasion --in Iran this time -- because Iran may or may not have attacked Saudi Arabia's essential oil installations. The Saudis need Trump's aid in responding to their crisis. Saudi Prince MbS is a cherished friend and ally of President Trump and his family. Is any amount of blood and American treasure worth another Middle Eastern war, no matter the pretext invented by our president?
7
The Iraq invasion was 16 years ago.
Boy oh boy, the understatement of the week: "Painfully, the word of the President will be suspect" said Wendy R Sherman. The word of your president is not "suspect" it simply will not be believed. All the more so because no one can be sure how long any particular "word" will last. Trump has managed to squander the credibility of the US, which is saying something after the Iraq debacle. In Europe we always knew that we could not trust the Iranians nor the Saudis and that lack of trust was always part of the calculations. The sad thing is that the US, as personified by Trump and the GOP enablers, is now in the company of these two countries.
45
Trump always wants to go it alone. The world, and the American people, will be granting him his wish.
3
Nope, not going to happen! Trump and Saudi Arabia have lied too many times, much too often to garner any level of trust. But more importantly, this isn't our fight and America should stay out of it! Let the Saudi's solve this on their own.
9
He's tallied 13,000 lies and rallies against our own Intel agencies all the time, but yeah we'll believe him this time. After all, going into another foreign war is no big deal right? What happened to his platform of no new wars? I guess that's only for countries he doesn't owe money to or wants to build hotels in.
160
The Saudis, like Trump have no credibility. Not sure why we need to send investigators to the Kingdom. If I do recall correctly, after 9/11 they stonewalled our investigators when their fingerprints were all over the attacks.
In the end, we've been arming the Saudis for decades, let them figure it, why should we put our troops at risk for a country that regularly executes its own citizens and has consistently funded extremism globally.
318
@Phil
The first boots on the ground should be trumps.
11
@Steve Along will all his cronies and why not also those that support his agenda.
The president boxed himself into this corner with Iran by abandoning the 2015 nuclear accord simply to spite Obama and taunt America's allies for agreeing to the accord. This is an international diplomatic nightmare of his own making. His lack of diplomacy and nonexistent word of honor are on full global display. He has shamed our country.
342
@silver vibes he may have done far worse than that.
11
We can stop reading the article after the title. The answer is "No".
164
@Anna
You are absolutely right. It's time to stop writing about Trump as if he is real president who is capable of implementing real policy that is in the best interests of this country.
13
I think that question has been answered already. No.
45
Our government has been suspect far before Trump came to office. Remember The Maine? Gulf of Tonkin? Iraq WMD? The list goes on and on.
27
@James Quinlan
Are you implying that this attack was somehow manufactured? What do any of the events you cited have to do with the current crisis? Bad leaps of logic. Just because the President has no credibility does not mean that Iran is not responsible. It seems pretty clear that Tehran is calling out a weak and indecisive President with the potential for disastrous unintended consequences for the region.
4
@Theo
It’s called a pattern. When things happen again and again. Not a bad leap of logic at all.
5
@James Quinlan "Our government" is not on display here, it is President Trump's honesty and trust that is in question. Ultimately, he will be making the decision of what to do about these missile strikes, after boxing himself into a corner.
1
Why would any country accept the word of someone who is clearly as dishonest and delusional as Trump? The US no longer has any credibility on the world stage and a significant percentage of the US population does not trust this administration either.
All of this winning is getting really hard to accept.
167
We sell the Saudis billions of dollars worth of high tech weaponry every year, why on earth should there even be a possibility of the US engaging in armed conflict to defend them, they can do it themselves. We should not have a role in this conflict.
421
@Doug and @ Phil. the Saudis with all the military equipment provided by the trump administration cannot defeat the houthi except kill innocent civilians. How can the Saudis under MSB expect to go to war against Iran let alone defeat them? trump only backs them for future investment purposes and a place to live after he leaves offices and escapes going to jail
20
@Doug Pfenninger It appears that this high tech weaponry and defense systems (including patriot missiles) are not very effective, or are not being deployed properly.
4
@Doug Pfenninger
Given the chance, in the face of a real war against a real enemy, I think the Saudi Air Force would fly those jets to Germany and beg for asylum.
4
Trump has already provided ample evidence he cannot be trusted on matters big or small. He might find that he has already burned his bridges with his allies. The consequence of his ridiculous America First ideology? America Alone. I will not feel sorry for him. I do however feel very bad for my American friends who never asked for this incompetent fool to run the country.
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@M. M. L.
True. Add to that toxic mix of perpetual, habitual lying the fact that Saudis have given him hundreds of millions of dollars, bailed him out of bankruptcy several times in the past, and given his miscreant kids hundreds of millions of dollars and there is just not a shred of credibility
THEN add the fact that Pompeo is one of the people who lied to start the Iraq disaster under bush
The Taliban has more credibility
17
How could anyone or any government ever trust a man so weak, insecure and of questionable mental fitness that he would stoop to changing an official, accurate NOAA weather map with a Sharpie rather than simply say, “I made a mistake.”
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@J. Or simply, "the prediction has changed"
2