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In Old Tweets, Trump Warned a President Would Attack Iran in 'Desperate' Attempt to Win Reelection

President Donald Trump talks on the phone in the Oval Office in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

In Old Tweets, Trump Warned a President Would Attack Iran in 'Desperate' Attempt to Win Reelection

"Barack Obama will attack Iran in the not too distant future because it will help him win the election," Trump tweeted in 2011

Donald Trump predicted that an American president would launch a war with Iran in a "desperate" attempt to win reelection--he just didn't think it would be him.

As Trump and the hawks in his cabinet dangerously escalate military tensions with Iran ahead of the 2020 election, Twitter users and media outlets have uncovered a slew of old Trump tweets warning that former President Barack Obama would "attack Iran" to boost his electoral prospects.

"Barack Obama will attack Iran in the not too distant future because it will help him win the election," Trump tweeted on November 14, 2011--a prediction he echoed nearly a dozen times between 2011 and 2012.

Obama ultimately won reelection in 2012 without attacking Iran.

As The Daily Dot's David Gilmour wrote Thursday:

Of course, rather than starting a war, Obama was aiming to establish the historic Iran nuclear deal--an arrangement which Trump has always hated, vocally disapproved of, and eventually pulled the U.S. out of.

Now, in 2019, as he begins his own campaign to secure re-election, it's Trump's own administration that has been ramping up tensions with Iran.

As tensions between the U.S. and Iran soar due to White House warmongering, some have expressed concern that--with the 2020 election 17 months away--Trump is planning to deploy the reelection strategy he repeatedly warned about less than a decade ago.

"Why go hard after Iran right now? Does Iran or one of its proxies in the Middle East pose a real threat to American interests? Or, perhaps, the real reason is that next year is an election year?" asked John Dederer, member of Disabled American Veterans, last week in a New York Times letter to the editor.

The letter was published in the Times just a day after Trump national security adviser John Bolton threatened Iran with "unrelenting force" in a statement on the routine deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier and bomber task force to the Persian Gulf.

"Sending an aircraft carrier group to threaten retaliation against any Iranian-sponsored aggression, real or imagined, is no slam-dunk foreign policy decision," Dederer wrote. "Rather, it is a cynical re-election ploy with no regard for cost in American blood. Shame!"

An Unconstitutional Rampage


Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next.

It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk.

Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support.

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
barack obamaelection 2020irantrumpism

Donald Trump predicted that an American president would launch a war with Iran in a "desperate" attempt to win reelection--he just didn't think it would be him.

As Trump and the hawks in his cabinet dangerously escalate military tensions with Iran ahead of the 2020 election, Twitter users and media outlets have uncovered a slew of old Trump tweets warning that former President Barack Obama would "attack Iran" to boost his electoral prospects.

"Barack Obama will attack Iran in the not too distant future because it will help him win the election," Trump tweeted on November 14, 2011--a prediction he echoed nearly a dozen times between 2011 and 2012.

Obama ultimately won reelection in 2012 without attacking Iran.

As The Daily Dot's David Gilmour wrote Thursday:

Of course, rather than starting a war, Obama was aiming to establish the historic Iran nuclear deal--an arrangement which Trump has always hated, vocally disapproved of, and eventually pulled the U.S. out of.

Now, in 2019, as he begins his own campaign to secure re-election, it's Trump's own administration that has been ramping up tensions with Iran.

As tensions between the U.S. and Iran soar due to White House warmongering, some have expressed concern that--with the 2020 election 17 months away--Trump is planning to deploy the reelection strategy he repeatedly warned about less than a decade ago.

"Why go hard after Iran right now? Does Iran or one of its proxies in the Middle East pose a real threat to American interests? Or, perhaps, the real reason is that next year is an election year?" asked John Dederer, member of Disabled American Veterans, last week in a New York Times letter to the editor.

The letter was published in the Times just a day after Trump national security adviser John Bolton threatened Iran with "unrelenting force" in a statement on the routine deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier and bomber task force to the Persian Gulf.

"Sending an aircraft carrier group to threaten retaliation against any Iranian-sponsored aggression, real or imagined, is no slam-dunk foreign policy decision," Dederer wrote. "Rather, it is a cynical re-election ploy with no regard for cost in American blood. Shame!"

Donald Trump predicted that an American president would launch a war with Iran in a "desperate" attempt to win reelection--he just didn't think it would be him.

As Trump and the hawks in his cabinet dangerously escalate military tensions with Iran ahead of the 2020 election, Twitter users and media outlets have uncovered a slew of old Trump tweets warning that former President Barack Obama would "attack Iran" to boost his electoral prospects.

"Barack Obama will attack Iran in the not too distant future because it will help him win the election," Trump tweeted on November 14, 2011--a prediction he echoed nearly a dozen times between 2011 and 2012.

Obama ultimately won reelection in 2012 without attacking Iran.

As The Daily Dot's David Gilmour wrote Thursday:

Of course, rather than starting a war, Obama was aiming to establish the historic Iran nuclear deal--an arrangement which Trump has always hated, vocally disapproved of, and eventually pulled the U.S. out of.

Now, in 2019, as he begins his own campaign to secure re-election, it's Trump's own administration that has been ramping up tensions with Iran.

As tensions between the U.S. and Iran soar due to White House warmongering, some have expressed concern that--with the 2020 election 17 months away--Trump is planning to deploy the reelection strategy he repeatedly warned about less than a decade ago.

"Why go hard after Iran right now? Does Iran or one of its proxies in the Middle East pose a real threat to American interests? Or, perhaps, the real reason is that next year is an election year?" asked John Dederer, member of Disabled American Veterans, last week in a New York Times letter to the editor.

The letter was published in the Times just a day after Trump national security adviser John Bolton threatened Iran with "unrelenting force" in a statement on the routine deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier and bomber task force to the Persian Gulf.

"Sending an aircraft carrier group to threaten retaliation against any Iranian-sponsored aggression, real or imagined, is no slam-dunk foreign policy decision," Dederer wrote. "Rather, it is a cynical re-election ploy with no regard for cost in American blood. Shame!"

barack obamaelection 2020irantrumpism
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