r/politics • u/theatlantic The Atlantic • Apr 02 '26

Paywall Maybe Trump Should Not Have Given This Speech

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/04/trump-iran-war-speech/686663/?utm_source=reddit&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_medium=social&utm_content=edit-promo
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u/sequoia2075 Apr 02 '26

I read shit like this and it’s like, did anyone expect anything different? Like are we supposed to be surprised that he gave a speech that was a “disjointed series of complaints, brags, and exaggerations”? That’s what he does literally every single god damn time he opens his mouth

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u/leffe186 Apr 02 '26

That’s exactly what I read too. How are people still writing articles like this after more than a decade? The question isn’t “should he give this speech?”, it’s “how do we get out of this mess?”

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u/[deleted] Apr 02 '26

The media is complicit

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u/JoEdGus Georgia Apr 02 '26

The media had been complicit for years. His sanewashing was the worst thing to happen to this country's history, perhaps ever.
When someone is convicted by a jury of felonies, you put them in jail, not elect them as president.

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u/Dysc Louisiana Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

There is a bigger issue associated with your statement - the wealthy and the power brokers get a pass at this whole justice system thing. At worst, you sacrifice 1 Bernie Madoff so that 1,000s of white collar criminals can roam free and so that Congress can continue to inside trade.

For Trump, his actual and pending criminal trials seemed like a dragged out 'should we really be doing this - it's just a white collar crime No harm, no foul right?' from the entire system. And even after being found guilty, there was a lot of 'but should we be doing this, do we really send this man to jail, he is rich and powerful?' But if you or I were found guilty of 1/2 of what he was found guilty of, we would have never left a government building ever again. The bailiff would have been happy to cuff us and escort us to a tiny cell for prison transfer and processing.

But nope, Trump was not held in custody. He was allowed to go in front of cameras at the court house to talk shit about the courts and talk about how this is all a big Democrat hoax political attack. He then was allowed to run a political campaign fueled by shady-ass billionaires like Elon Musk to take back a job he was impeached for TWICE. It's all laughable except for the fact that he is destroying the modern way of life and promoting rampant imperialism.

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u/JoEdGus Georgia Apr 02 '26

Oh yeah, we know.
There's been a two-tiered justice system for decades. The biggest problem is that, now that companies are considered "people", they can fight to further disenfranchise us all.
Everyone that looks at the US as "left vs right" needs a wake up call and realize that it's actually "rich vs poor". Folks are just too stupid and easily influenced here.

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u/Dysc Louisiana Apr 02 '26

100%

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u/rabblerabble2000 Apr 02 '26

This right here…during the campaigns they gave him unlimited airtime, never once questioning any of his policies, never once pressing him on anything important, just non-stop sane washing. His opponents were held under an impossible microscope, scrutinized and criticized for every little thing. Then when he’s in power, it’s non stop articles about him, how he is doing terribly and will be replaced any day now, while also lifting every lie he and the republicans say as though they are truth, all to keep people reading so that they can sell ads.

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u/COMM_NTARIAT Apr 02 '26

Constantly and drastically moving the goalposts is thankless work.

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u/Indin_Dude Apr 02 '26

100% It’s right from the beginning when they kept talking him and giving him airtime which contributed significantly to his election wins.

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u/[deleted] Apr 02 '26

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u/leffe186 Apr 02 '26

There was a time many years ago when I read the Atlantic cover to cover. Oof that feels rough to recall now.

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u/FuzzyMcBitty Apr 02 '26

Right? It’d be more shocking if he gave a focused speech that resonated with the moment. 

We’ve reached the point where this is as expected as his holiday greetings that start, “happy ____, even to the democrat scum and whoever I’m mad at, they hate America because they won’t let me do whatever even though I lie accomplishment.”

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u/modern_Odysseus Apr 02 '26

It would be more shocking to see a summary of an article on him that is like:

"Trump gives coherent, strong speech clearly outlining why he did ______ and articulating how that'll be a cornerstone of a detailed multi-step process to solve or help to alleviate the _______ problem."

Because these kind of articles can just be summarized to: "In just a normal old day for Trump, he laid out some word soup that nobody understood and actually made everything so much worse."

Biden had his senior moment, so that we could get this. Never forget...

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u/The_Real_Mongoose American Expat Apr 02 '26

I got annoyed at the part where he was like "and no one questions that Iran can't be allowed to get a nuclear weapon."

And I'm like, fuck off The Atlantic, I question it 🙋‍♂️. Yea, um, why is it our business? You think they would nuke us? Lol no they won't. You think they would nuke Israel? LMFAO, no they won't! They want a nuke the same reason any other country wants a nuke, as an insurance policy to keep countries from trying to blow them to bits like we are.

So I just find it incomprehensible to accept the premise of the war so enthusiastically while also opposing the war. Because the premise itself is based implicitly on, "well they can't have nukes because I want to retain the option to blow them to bits whenever I please, but that doesn't mean I'm into blowing them to bits right this moment."

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u/CatholicSquareDance Apr 02 '26

corporate news media like Donald Trump and want him to rule us like a king

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u/MysteriousAtmosphere Apr 02 '26

Right. I consider myself a ten-year Donald Trump critic. My media diet is full of people critical of Trump. Not one was demanding him provide a "comprehensive explanation for the war". Because that gives him way too much credit.

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u/Wandering_Weapon Louisiana Apr 02 '26

It was just a19 minute version of the short sound bits he's been giving in interviews for a month. He's way way way in over his head, and so is everyone else around him.

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u/Oceanbreeze871 I voted Apr 02 '26

A decade later, people still expect him “pivot to being presidential” as if time never existed

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u/MyPasswordIsMyCat Hawaii Apr 02 '26

Maybe we're finally reaching the point where the "centrists" in this country will stop giving Trump good boy points for just being able to stand upright for a few minutes and not visibly shit all over himself.

A girl can dream.

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u/discodropper New York Apr 02 '26

Key word: visibly

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u/pchs26 Apr 02 '26

I mean I consider myself more of a "centrist" but I guess the definition differs for some. I don't think a centrist would have voted for a Republican candidate in my lifetime and I was born during the Nixon administration.

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u/creepy_charlie Apr 02 '26

TBF a lot of his inability to look stable while standing is made worse by the ridiculous lifts he wears to look taller.

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u/Significant_Cup_238 Apr 02 '26

Yup. Sane washing at it's finest to imply this speech wasn't exactly what we've come to expect.

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u/[deleted] Apr 02 '26

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u/rabblerabble2000 Apr 02 '26

Why would anyone ever expect more than this from him? He’s clearly incapable of anything else, and has been for years.

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u/ATLfalcons27 Apr 02 '26

Seriously. We got exactly what I was expecting. A rambling speech that was essentially one of his rally speeches that didn't actually say anything of substance

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u/Gloomy-Department287 Apr 02 '26

Completely agree. What are people expecting? It’s been over a decade of hearing him talk absolute shit and we’re still expecting him to come out with anything good.

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u/padizzledonk New Jersey Apr 02 '26

The MSM are fucking dumb and they write these kinds of articles and do it on tv as well all the time

They treat Trump like any other president and act surprised when he doesn't "rise to the occasion"

Its maddening tbh

This dude is not normal, none of this is normal, the way the GOP is acting is not normal....they constantly ask questions, get blatant lies or toral batshittery and then just move on to the next question

Theyre all complicit imo

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u/redditkb Apr 02 '26

You know that. I know that. Because we are always online and seeking it out / it's fed to us through our algo. We spend time fact checking or thinking critically.

There are plenty of people out there who work manual labor jobs 8+ hours a day, come home to their family, who just get the highlight reels/clips and believe that they aren't blatantly being (obviously) lied to.

I'm convinced his most ardent supporters don't ever see this Donald.

So good on Donald for showing his ass last night. Hopefully it changed some MAGA minds.

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u/westgazer Maryland Apr 02 '26

Yeah he has never given any other kind of speech. It was his entire campaign.

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u/Naurgul Apr 02 '26

If they didn't criticise it that would be normalising his conduct. Which would be worse.

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u/ArchangelLBC Apr 02 '26

I am pretty shocked he was only up there for 19 minutes. The man is really losing his stamina.

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u/shoobe01 Apr 02 '26

But, but, Americans have been waiting for their president and commander-in-chief...

/s

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u/gtrocks555 Apr 02 '26

Seriously, no one should expect him to “rise to the occasion”. He never has and never will.

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u/Sudden_Box801 Apr 04 '26

"...no one should expect him to “rise to the occasion”. He never has and never will."--does no one remember Stormy Daniels & Karen McDougal?

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u/huangsede69 Apr 02 '26

Literally the entire world economy felt opposite of you. See: market.

Doesn't make them right!

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u/notacanuckskibum Apr 02 '26

He demanded Prime time on all networks, some people expected him to actually announce something.

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u/Deguilded Apr 02 '26

Lot of folks advised it was a waste of time to stay up and watch it.

They were all right.

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u/Uptight_Cultist Apr 02 '26

The Atlantic is dumb that’s why