May. 11, 2026, 4:52 PM EDT
Wars should not be vibes-based affairs. If they are to be fought at all, they should proceed based on demonstrable facts and not feelings or, say, the delusions of a mercurial madman. So, as President Donald Trump’s deadly, economically devastating and deeply unpopular war with Iran rages on with no end in sight, it’s noteworthy and more than a little unnerving that his personal feelings (or delusions, as some have called them) continue to shape the political reality of the conflict.
Trump’s characterization of the so-called ceasefire with Iran is a prime example. Despite his suggestion Monday that it is “on life support,” it doesn’t seem to exist in the first place except in the president’s mind. Start with the fact that Trump has resisted calling the Iran war a “war” for what appear to be procedural reasons. The United States and Iran exchanged fire on Thursday, which apparently didn’t count. And similarly, Trump called U.S. strikes on Iran on Friday a “love tap,” suggesting he’s both hopelessly puerile for a man in his 80s and wary of the repercussions that may come with admitting the ceasefire has not ceased any of the firing.
That state of play came under discussion Sunday when ABC News’ Martha Raddatz confronted U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz on Trump’s ceasefire, asking how that aligns with the fact that the U.S. and Iran have been firing on each other.
“How is exchanging live fire with Iran not a violation of a ceasefire?” she asked. Waltz answered, “Look, that’s up to President Trump as commander-in-chief to determine what constitutes a violation.”
I’m pretty sure that’s not how ceasefires work.
Former Adm. William McRaven literally laughed at Waltz’s explanation in the following segment, saying “of course” the exchange of fire means the ceasefire is effectively nonexistent.
But when it comes to warfare, if the president says it, it’s taken as gospel by Trump’s administration and allies. My colleague Steve Benen wrote in March about how the White House has used Trump’s “feelings” as the justification for various military decisions, even when those feelings are at odds with reality. The extrajudicial missile strikes on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, in which Trump overruled his own intelligence agencies’ findings, are another example.
The so-called ceasefire adds to that list.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.