Trump gambles his Iran attack will save flailing Maga agenda

The US-Israeli attack on Tehran on Saturday marks a turning point for President Donald Trump, who is wagering that a war – the kind he once vowed not to start – will strengthen his second-term agenda.

In a break from his campaign promises to keep the US out of foreign wars, Trump decided to attack – despite what Arab mediators described as significant progress in nuclear talks to Tehran, and in the face of polling showing most Americans oppose fresh military action.

It came less than two months after he ordered a high-stakes US military raid inside Venezuela, another signal that his second term has tilted towards muscular intervention abroad.

The Iran strikes are the biggest gamble yet for the US leader, whose approval ratings have plunged in recent weeks, with surveys showing Americans think he is concentrating too much on foreign policy and too little on the US economy.

Forecasts suggest Republicans may lose the House of Representatives in November’s midterm elections, with the outcome in the Senate less clear.

The US has bombed at least seven countries since Trump returned to office, but none of those operations was as significant as the latest. It deepens his focus on foreign affairs over domestic concerns like inflation and affordability. It also ties his political fate more tightly to events he cannot fully control.