TechFlow News, April 19: According to The Wall Street Journal, U.S. President Trump appears to have lost his “spirit of adventure,” while his sense of fear continues to grow. Earlier, in the nearly deserted West Wing of the White House, Trump learned that a U.S. fighter jet had been shot down over Iran and that two pilots were missing—prompting him to rage at his aides for several hours. He repeatedly exclaimed: “The Europeans haven’t helped at all.” Sources who spoke with him said images of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis have lingered persistently in his mind. After the American pilots were rescued, this swaggering president doubled down, attempting to undermine Iran’s strongest bargaining chip—the control of the Strait of Hormuz.
At the time, Trump tweeted: “Open the Strait, you madmen.” This president, known for orchestrating dramatic spectacles, applied his unorthodox and extreme style even more intensely to a wartime context. He alternated between belligerent posturing and conciliatory gestures, while simultaneously agonizing behind the scenes over how far the situation might deteriorate. Like other presidents who have experienced war, he feared ordering troops into harm’s way—fearing injuries and soldiers who would never return home. (Jinshi)
