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For many observers, Donald Trump\u2019s prosecution of the war against Iran has been nothing short of confounding \u2014 contradictory remarks, a seemingly improvisational strategy, and a nonchalance toward risks and costs that would paralyze a traditional commander-in-chief.<\/p>\n
A century and a half ago, author John Churton Collins advised, \u201cIn prosperity our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends.\u201d\u00a0America\u2019s allies are confused. Pundits are reeling. But the surprise is misplaced.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s approach to the Iranian conflict is not an anomaly. It is lifted directly from a consistent playbook he has relied on for decades.\u00a0The\u00a0president\u2019s actions are rarely the random impulses they appear to be. Instead, they follow consistent, discernible patterns of behavior. Here are\u00a0five of what we call Trump\u2019s Ten Commandments, as we lay out in our new book of the same title. He\u2019s exhibited them throughout his career, and he\u2019s displaying them again in his conduct\u00a0of this war.<\/p>\n
1. Centralizing All Power<\/p>\n
Unlike previous military engagements \u2014 which typically followed careful interagency planning with input from domain experts \u2014 Trump has bypassed the traditional national security apparatus entirely.\u00a0Instead, he is managing the entire war through his signature \u201chub-and-spokes\u201d leadership model. In Trump\u2019s universe, he must be the sun around which everything revolves. Rather than deferring to seasoned military leaders, the intelligence community, or veteran foreign service officers, Trump has centralized war-making authority squarely in his own hands, relying on a tight circle of close advisors while other high-ranking officials \u2014 in his own administration and across foreign governments \u2014 learn what is happening by watching the news.<\/p>\n
Freed of institutional constraints, the result is a war directed not by consensus but by singular, unconstrained instinct of Trump and Trump alone\u00a0\u2014 limited, arguably, only by what financial markets will tolerate and how long the munitions stockpile will last.<\/p>\n
2. The Punch in the Face<\/p>\n
Where traditional diplomacy builds trust incrementally, Trump starts by striking the first blow and staking out the most maximalist position imaginable to create immediate leverage.\u00a0By decapitating Iran\u2019s leadership and neutralizing core infrastructure on day one, Trump bypassed standard diplomatic escalation ladders entirely. It is the geopolitical equivalent of his classic real estate strategy \u2014 inflicting maximum blunt trauma as the opening move, not the last resort.<\/p>\n
3. Divide and Conquer<\/p>\n
Trump has long viewed the traditional coalitions built by his predecessors \u2014 NATO, the EU \u2014 as constraints on his own authority rather than assets.<\/p>\n
It is entirely consistent, then, that\u00a0Trump went to war without consulting many of America\u2019s historical allies in Europe, who were left in the cold. Eschewing multilateral consensus, he publicly chastised several allies for their \u201clukewarm\u201d enthusiasm, demanding they deploy warships and police the waterway themselves. At the same time, he has kept Israel and the Gulf nations close, coordinating carefully in what Israeli President Isaac Herzog described as NATO-like in its intimacy, while talking nearly daily with top Gulf leaders according to New York Times reporting. In this way, he treats foreign nations much like he treats his own subordinates \u2014 pitting them against one another so that he alone rises above the chaos as the all-powerful arbiter.<\/p>\n
4. The Wall of Sound<\/p>\n
To control the narrative, Trump relies on what might be called a Perpetual Noise Machine \u2014 an overwhelming barrage of sudden moves and outrageos statements designed to distract and disorient. The sheer scale of the Iran strikes has dominated news coverage since the conflict began, erasing prior negative news cycles from domestic affordability concerns to foreign policy friction over Venezuela and Greenland.<\/p>\n
By feeding contradictory remarks to the press practically hourly and issuing escalating threats against Iran\u2019s oil infrastructure \u2014 will he or won\u2019t he strike? \u2014 Trump keeps the media and international community focused entirely on his unpredictable next move. This relentless cascade ensures he dominates the news cycle, exhausts opponents, and prevents any cohesive counter-strategy from forming.<\/p>\n
5. Donald the Great<\/p>\n
Trump views himself in messianic terms \u2014 the leader who alone can accomplish what no predecessor could. By framing the 2026 war as the decisive strike to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and the culmination of 40 years of Iranian aggression, he casts himself as a historic savior. Critics and supporters alike note that he appears increasingly convinced there is nothing he cannot do. Where traditional presidents weigh constitutional constraints, congressional approval, and allied consultation, Trump views those guardrails with the same dismissiveness he has applied to institutional limits his entire career, as\u00a0Gulliver viewed the Lilliputians.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s war with Iran is not an anomaly. It is the ultimate expression of a leadership style decades in the making. The most useful thing global leaders \u2014 and observers \u2014 can do right now is stop being surprised. The playbook has always been visible. The only question is whether those on the receiving end are finally willing to read it.<\/p>\n
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.<\/p>\n
#Trumps #Iran #War #improvised #isnt #Heres #playbook #hes #running #decades<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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