Trump, Applying ‘The Art of the Deal’ on Iran, Overlooks How America Won Its Greatest Victories

President Trump is again pausing military strikes on Iran, hoping that the regime will negotiate a “grand bargain.” The strategy is classic “Art of the Deal.” Unlike real estate squabbles, though, battlefield victories cannot be achieved through clever maneuvering while keeping the dogs of war on a tight leash.Mr. Trump has made clear that he doesn’t want to fight “forever wars” and criticizes America’s conflicts during the War on Terrorism as foolish, promising a gloves-off approach. “There will be no deal with Iran,” he posted on Truth Social in March, “except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”The phrase “unconditional surrender” has loomed large in America ever since the Civil War. In 1862, a Confederate general, Simon Bolivar Buckner, facing the Union commander, General U.S. Grant, asked for an “armistice” and discussion of “terms” when defeated at Tennessee’s Fort Donelson.“No terms,” Grant replied, “except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works.” The New York Sun rushed out extra editions, reporting to a nation hungry for good news the first surrender of an entire Confederate army.General U.S. Grant, the 18th president. Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesReporters began saying that Grant’s initials, U.S., stood for “unconditional surrender,” and President Lincoln took notice. For two years, he had struggled to find generals willing to take the fight to the men in gray and kept urging the Army of the Potomac commander, General George B. McClellan, to advance.“My Dear McClellan,” Lincoln wrote at one point, “if you don’t want to use the army, I should like to borrow it for a while.” Historians delight in repeating this example of the president’s wit. Yet his underlying meaning was serious. Military might is useless if it’s not brought to bear against the enemy.Americans learned from McClellen’s timidity — and Lincoln’s refusal to meet with Confederate peace envoys — favoring action over endless preparation and talk. General George Patton embodied this ethos. “A good plan violently executed now” he said, “is better than the perfect plan next week.”Grant’s second in command, General William Techumseh Sherman, was the physical embodiment of action. Abandoning accepted military doctrine, he cut loose from supply lines and launched his March to the Sea from Atlanta. “I will make Georgia howl,” he telegraphed Grant and burned a bloody path straight to Savannah.Iran seems no closer to howling than it did when the first bombs dropped and is only emboldened by Mr. Trump’s restraint. On Monday, he said that “good talks” were underway. This was rebuffed by an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei. “At present,” he said, “we are not engaged in any negotiations.”President Lincoln meets General George McClellan at Antietam, Maryland, on October 3, 1862. Via Wikimedia CommonsMr. Trump, as he described in “The Art of the Deal,” believes he can will favorable outcomes into being. “I aim very high,” he wrote, “and then I just keep pushing and pushing and pushing to get what I’m after.” But his description of what winning looks like is an ill fit for warfare.“A deal is good,” Mr. Trump wrote, “when both sides win.” Tehran, however, will only resume hostilities later if it’s allowed to claim victory by surviving. In World War I, Germany signed an armistice rather than a surrender; the myth that they hadn’t been defeated encouraged them to try conquest again in World War II.This time, Americans learned their lesson, swarming Europe with tanks, including Shermans and Grants. The Nazis, and their allies at Tokyo, sought an armistice that left their government intact. “Unconditional surrender” was Washington’s reply.Japan’s dictator, General Hideki Tojo, confided to his diary that he was not “frightened” by the atomic bombings and wanted to keep fighting. The pain inflicted on fanatics, soldiers, and civilians alike forced the Empire of the Rising Sun to capitulate. Only then did America cease hostilities and talk terms.“War is cruelty,” Sherman said as fighting raged in 1864. “There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.” Any true victory will need to be imposed on Iran’s regime by military means, and that requires Mr. Trump to end the pauses, drop the leash, and let loose the dogs of war.

Trump, Applying ‘The Art of the Deal’ on Iran, Overlooks How America Won Its Greatest Victories

More from the New York Sun

Ahead of Zelensky’s White House Visit, Some MAGA Cheerleaders, in Turnaround, Emerge as Backers of Ukraine

New IRA ‘Military Grade’ Bomb Ticketed for Northern Ireland Narrowly Misses Royal Visit

Audio of Biden’s Interviews With Ghostwriter Show That He Knew of Classified Information Stored at His Home

More from the New York Sun

Ahead of Zelensky’s White House Visit, Some MAGA Cheerleaders, in Turnaround, Emerge as Backers of Ukraine

New IRA ‘Military Grade’ Bomb Ticketed for Northern Ireland Narrowly Misses Royal Visit

Audio of Biden’s Interviews With Ghostwriter Show That He Knew of Classified Information Stored at His Home

Stevens, El-Sayed Clash at Final Michigan Senate Primary Debate, Accusing Each Other of Dirty Politics

Zohran Mamdani Faces a Telling Decision on Election Reform

Trump’s New Wave of Tariffs on Canada Threaten To Upend Anew a Bilateral Relationship Once Viewed as Enviable

‘Broad Strokes’ Plays Like a Thin Sketch Lacking Substance

‘The Saviors’ Is a Haunting and Heartbreaking Rite of Passage