Trump’s threat to bomb Oman looks infantile as Iran blasts his ‘delusion’

Donald Trump’s rage, impotence and petulance know no bounds. You would think he would have learned by now that “bombing the sh*t” out of a country was exactly the sort of policy that embroiled his predecessors in the forever wars he has been railing against for years. The difference, as US Vice President JD Vance loyally claimed, was that previous US presidents were “dumb” whereas Trump was “smart.” This doesn’t alter the fact that after bombing Iran’s military sites and decapitating its leaders, the Iran war is approaching the six-month mark. The 60-day Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that Trump signed with a flourish in the gilded palace of Versailles at a dinner on June 17 with the French President Emmanuel Macron has expired with no deal in sight. That doesn’t look too smart. Shorts So who does Trump blame? Not himself, for sure. Not even Iran’s leaders or the Revolutionary Guard. His wrath has been unleashed on the small, peace-loving sultanate of Oman, strategically located where oil tankers and other vital ships exit the Strait of Hormuz on their way to the open waters of the Arabian Sea. “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the sh*t out of them,” Trump told Fox News reporter Trey Yingst on the phone. This act of throwing his toys out of the pram would be an unlawful declaration of war against one of America’s most dependable regional allies. Punishing Oman for having the temerity to act as an honest regional broker would be folly. It has offered to collect tolls with Iran from ships passing through the strait on a “voluntary” basis, but only as a means of unblocking a crisis not of its making. If there are to be any profits made, Trump wants them for himself. He said at a campaign rally on Friday on a fact-free basis that the strait would in future be “a territory of the United States” (rather like Greenland, one presumes). This was denounced by Iran as a “delusional fantasy”. Trump seems to think Iran should just raise “the white flag of surrender”, as he told Fox News. But why would they when they have American consumers by the throat as they prepare to vote in the midterm elections in November? “President Trump isn’t screwing around anymore. Those days are DONE,” Maga podcaster Gunther Eagleman posted on X, with an AI-created meme of an all-powerful Trump striding to battle in front of an eagle and flag. But it takes more than boasting on social media to bring the world to heel – or to convince Americans the war is over. Only a few days ago, Trump thought he could hand over the Iran problem to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to solve. The hope was that Iran could be economically pounded into submission. Bessent told Newsmax that, in addition to blockading Iranian ships in the strait, the US would impose measures that have “never been seen in the history of economic isolation of a country”. Iran doesn’t seem daunted. With the expiry of the 60-day truce, it has decided to stop playing defence and shift to a “fully offensive” posture if the US doesn’t implement the MOU on its terms within weeks, a senior Iranian official told Reuters. On top of this unfolding tragedy, Trump’s bullying of Oman has wider geopolitical implications. The US President keeps taking a tougher line on US allies than on its enemies. Only this week, Trump said he would scale back US military drills with South Korea, while praising his “very good relationship” with the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un. Oman has been trying to help Trump extricate himself from his own man-made crisis in Iran, not pile on his woes. The threat to “bomb the sh*t” out of them is their reward. This is dismaying. But it is also highly irresponsible. Trump is tearing to shreds decades of hard-won alliances and respect for America. Sarah Baxter is director of the Marie Colvin Center for International Reporting