The Trump White House, like many White Houses before it, invites the possibility of death whenever it declares war. But has an administration ever been so naked in its lust for death?
I took some time to think through the ways this administration has talked about its war in Iran. I think the rhetoric boils down to this: Where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cheers on mass death, the president of the United States shrugs it off. Both approaches are horrifying; they are extensions of long-held American foreign policy, and neither is exactly surprising.
But I have to wonder if we’ve ever encountered a president who answers “I guess” to the prospect of a future 9/11-style terrorist attack because of a war he unilaterally launched. You can read my thoughts on what such an answer reveals and why I’m stunned here.
—Inae Oh
