{"id":59811,"date":"2026-06-20T16:13:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T00:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/?p=59811"},"modified":"2026-06-20T16:16:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T00:16:35","slug":"john-mearsheimer-says-trump-had-no-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/2026\/06\/20\/john-mearsheimer-says-trump-had-no-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"John Mearsheimer says Trump Had No Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reprinted from John’s Substack<\/a>:<\/p>\n

On 19 June 2026, I was on \u201cJudging Freedom\u201d talking with the Judge about the central issue of the day \u2014 the Memorandum of Understanding that Iran and the United States worked out to put an end to the war between them.<\/p>\n

There is no question that Iran won the war and forced the US to concede to almost every one of its demands. The reason is simple: if the war continued, the international economy was destined to go off the precipice in the next couple months. Iran\u2019s control of the Strait of Hormuz gave it a stranglehold on the world economy. President Trump explicitly said we were looking at an \u201ceconomic catastrophe\u201d and that he did not want to be remembered as the second coming of Herbert Hoover, who will be forever identified with the Great Depression of the 1930s.<\/p>\n

Israeli leaders and the Israel lobby were outraged that Trump ended the war on terms so markedly favorable to Iran. Of course, they had no alternative strategy for rescuing the situation and they seem oblivious to the grave damage that would be done to the international economy if the status quo remained in place or especially if the bombing started up again. Unsurprisingly, Trump and Vice President Vance made it clear to the Israelis and their supporters in the US that the war had to end and that they could not stand in the way of that outcome. Once again, we see manifest evidence that Israel, which was principally responsible for convincing Trump to launch this disastrous war and now wants to prevent a settlement, is an albatross around America\u2019s neck.<\/p>\n