Trump’s epic gamble in the Middle East

Trump’s epic gamble in the Middle East on x (opens in a new window) Trump’s epic gamble in the Middle East on facebook (opens in a new window) Trump’s epic gamble in the Middle East on linkedin (opens in a new window) Trump’s epic gamble in the Middle East on whatsapp (opens in a new window) Save Trump’s epic gamble in the Middle East on x (opens in a new window) Trump’s epic gamble in the Middle East on facebook (opens in a new window) Trump’s epic gamble in the Middle East on linkedin (opens in a new window) Trump’s epic gamble in the Middle East on whatsapp (opens in a new window) Save The editorial board Published March 1 2026 Jump to comments section Print this page Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. For a US president who returned to office pledging to bring wars to an end, Donald Trump is developing quite a taste for unleashing American power. His war against Iran dwarfs all his other interventions in ambition, recklessness and risk. By seeking to overthrow Iran’s hardline regime and reorder the Middle East he has embarked on one of the most brazen endeavours undertaken by a US president in decades. He has done this with an insouciant disregard for international law, and has made only the sketchiest of attempts to justify it to the American people and the world. Rather, he has launched a fateful war of choice. America, the region, and Iran most of all, may come to regret it bitterly if, as so often happens in wars, this one veers off its prosecutor’s script. Few inside Iran will mourn Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on day one of the joint US and Israeli air attacks. One of two supreme leaders since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, for three and a half decades he presided over a brutal system that impoverished its people and exported militancy abroad. In January his forces killed thousands of demonstrators who had taken to the streets to protest. Several of his lie...