What did Donald Trump do today?

He declared imminent peace for the umpteenth time while every other side fired missiles.

Trump made three claims today regarding the ongoing debacle in Iran. First, that both Israel and Iran were "complicating" matters by launching attacks. Iran launched missiles at Israel, and Israel attacked Lebanon's capital of Beirut. Since ending Israel's war against Lebanon is part of Iran's demands, that means that every major party to the Iran conflict other than the United States was engaged in hostilities during the supposed "ceasefire" Trump unilaterally declared two full months ago.

Trump also said he would order Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to counterattack against Iran. Netanyahu promptly ignored Trump and launched missiles at Tehran and other Iranian cities. 

This shouldn't be surprising, as Netanyahu hasn't responded well in the past to suggestions that Trump is in a position to order him to do anything. During the 2025 Iran-Israel conflict, Trump made a similar demand, then watched impotently as Israeli bombers proceeded to their target anyway, even as he insisted on social media that they were merely delivering a "friendly plane wave."  

The third claim was one Trump now makes almost every week: that an agreement would be reached with Iran soon, perhaps "Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday." This is exactly what he said on June 1, May 25, May 7, and April 17, among many other such claims.

To be clear, the "agreement" under negotiation and that Trump is perpetually saying will be signed soon is not to end the war, or to open the Strait of Hormuz, or accomplish any other specific goal. Instead, it would be about the precise wording of a "memorandum of understanding" about how the actual peace negotiations were to proceed—and, very likely, how much cash Iran could force the United States to release in the short term. 

In other words, the situation in Iran remains very much as it has been for the last 100 days. 

Why does this matter?

• A ceasefire in which missiles are being launched isn't a ceasefire. 

• An agreement that is always five minutes away from being signed isn't an agreement. 

• An ally that has totally different aims in a war isn't an ally. 

• A competent president would know all this without having to find out the hard way.