They Worked Around the President. We Should Be Worried
Imagine this. The president of the United States, the man who holds the nuclear codes, is pacing the West Wing screaming at his staff for hours on end. Two of our airmen are stranded in enemy territory in Iran. The mission to get them home is delicate, dangerous, and running on pure adrenaline. So what do his own military advisers do? They lock him out of the room.
Unfortunately, we don’t have to imagine. According to a Wall Street Journal report published over the weekend, that is exactly what happened earlier this month when a US fighter jet went down over Iran. Senior aides told the Journal that Trump’s tirade became so disruptive they briefed him “at meaningful moments” instead of having him in the Situation Room. Vice President JD Vance and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles took the calls. The commander in chief, reportedly, did not.
Congressman Dan Goldman of New York put it plainly Sunday night. “The commander in chief was excluded from commanding a military operation because he was acting so crazy. Think about that.” Then he went further. “Trump is not well. We need the 25th amendment before something really bad happens on US soil.”
Think about what that sentence actually means. A sitting member of Congress is asking the Cabinet to declare the president unfit, and he is not alone. Last week, Representative Jamie Raskin introduced a bill with 50 Democratic cosponsors to create a Commission on Presidential Capacity, the independent body the 25th Amendment has waited 59 years to receive. Raskin called this moment “a dangerous precipice.” Given the week we just watched, it is hard to call him wrong.
Here is why this matters to us, whether we voted for this president or not. The story is not really about Trump’s temper. It is about the chain of command. If the people paid to execute a military operation genuinely believe the person at the top will get Americans killed by staying in the room, we have already crossed a line no one in 250 years of this republic was supposed to cross. This rescue succeeded. The next one might not.
And we are not done with Iran. This morning, Trump is accusing Tehran of a “total violation” of the ceasefire he announced, threatening again to knock out every power plant in the country. Thirteen American service members are already confirmed dead in a war he started. Hundreds more are wounded. Gas prices jump every time he posts. Allies across Europe and the Gulf are quietly asking each other who actually makes decisions in Washington now, and whether anyone picks up the red phone when the moment comes.
A new NBC News poll released Sunday says 63 percent of us disapprove of how this presidency is going. Fully half strongly disapprove. Only one in three thinks Trump is handling Iran well. Those are not partisan numbers. Those are the numbers of a country trying to wave down the driver.
So the question is no longer whether something is wrong. The question is whether our institutions still work well enough to do anything about it. The Cabinet can act under the 25th Amendment today. The House can move on Raskin’s commission or on impeachment tomorrow. Our senators answer the phone when we call.
We are the only ones who can make them pick up. Find your representatives. Tell them what you saw this weekend. Tell them you are watching. Because if the people closest to this president will not let him near the war room, the rest of us cannot keep pretending everything is fine. Go beyond the headlines…
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