Ten years ago Donald Trump came down the golden escalator and fundamentally changed the American political scene…or at least, so it seemed. While everyone assumed the 2016 Presidential election would be between the two political dynasties of America—the Bush Family vs. the Clinton Family—Trump upended all that.

One of his primary weapons was to discredit the neocon war machine, which backed both the Bushes and the Clintons. Trump mercilessly mocked Jeb! Bush’s connection to his brother’s ill-conceived Iraq war, stating flatly that the claim of Iraq’s WMDs was a lie. This anti-war stance was consistent with what Trump had been advocating for years—he had blasted Barack Obama numerous times for his willingness for foreign interventionalism, even accusing Obama of wanting to attack Iran just to help boost his failing presidency. And he consistently criticized Hillary Clinton’s own warmongering ways during her stint as Secretary of State.

Trump’s attacks on the neocons were vilified by the Republican establishment (remember him being booed at a GOP debate?) which supported any war, any time, and in any place. Yet his message resonated with voters who were tired of forever wars and the lies that supported them.

Trump of course won the presidency in 2016, shocking every expert and infuriating the neocons, and during his first term he essentially kept to his promise to not engage in new wars overseas. Eight years later, his animosity toward foreign wars seemed to have hardened, and during the 2024 campaign he made it clear that he would start no new wars, and this pledge helped lead to his victory.

Promise made, promise broken.

With the US entering the Israel-Iran War, and with Trump now indicating he supports regime change in Iran, there’s no way to put it other than Trump broke his promise to not enter the United States into any new wars. I know some Trump sycophants will try to argue that we’re not really at war, but that’s semantic games. We’re bombing another country, advocating for regime change in that country, and demanding its unconditional surrender. If it walks like a duck…

Why did Trump do it? Why did he decide to listen to the voices of the likes of Lindsey Graham and Mark Levin—men who were never his allies—while ignoring and even ridiculing those who helped lead him to victory in 2024, men like Thomas Massie and Tucker Carlson? It’s hard to say. Why did he decide to listen to the voices of the likes of Lindsey Graham and Mark Levin—men who were never his allies—while ignoring and even ridiculing those who helped lead him to victory in 2024, men like Thomas Massie and Tucker Carlson?Tweet This

Does he feel beholden to big donors like Miriam Adelson who support Israel? Does the Deep State and/or Israel have something on him (or did they threaten him somehow)? Was he lying all these years about his opposition to foreign wars? Did he finally believe that somehow now was different and that Iran really was about to develop nuclear bombs after 30 years of claims to that effect from Benjamin Netanyahu and his neocon supporters? Again, it’s hard to say.

What I can say is that I’m incredibly disappointed. After years of half-hearted support for Trump, I went all-in for him in 2024, and one of my primary reasons was his die-hard opposition to entering into foreign conflicts. Was I dumb to believe him? I know all politicians lie, but I really believed that Trump had a fundamental disposition toward peace and that after all these years no agency or foreign service had anything incriminating on him to make him their puppet. How tragically wrong I was.

Many are arguing that this time it’s different, and that we’ll be able to easily defeat Iran and overthrow its government. Color me skeptical, for I’ve heard this song before. We supposedly defeated Iraq in weeks in 1991, and then we had our “mission accomplished” in 2003. Yet what actually happened: a quagmire which lasted decades and cost millions of lives and trillions of dollars, a country which is many ways worse than before we began our attacks (just ask the many Christians who had to flee), and a deep-seated anti-American animosity in the region.

Do I regret voting for Donald Trump in 2024? No, because I voted based on the best information available to me at the time. Like I said, Trump had a long record against starting foreign wars, so there was no reason to think he’d be so idiotic to start one on such flimsy pretenses as he did this past week.

I will no longer look at Donald Trump the same after this. I don’t doubt that he will still do some good work as president, and I’ll praise him when he does. But he fundamentally broke his word on an issue of supreme importance (and didn’t even bother giving a good reason for doing so), and for that he is never to be trusted again. Sadly, the saying “no matter who you vote for, you’ll end up with John McCain” has proven to be true yet again.

Pray and fast for peace.