Alan Zendell, July 21, 2026

New York Times columnist Thomas Edsall quoted George Washington University political historian Matthew Dallek’s summary of the Trump administration this morning. If you’re wondering why we’re involved in a war that’s spinning out of control and our economy is spiraling downward while your cost of living is spiraling upward, Dallek’s response explains: “Governing via conspiracy theories, personal whim and wish-casting, Trump has taken his place as the most consistently inept president of this century…the administration’s culture is dominated by incompetence.”

How else can we explain initiating a war with a highly sophisticated, determined enemy (Iran is nothing like Venezuela) with no real game plan except bombing military assets and expecting complete surrender in a month? How else can we explain ignored intelligence estimates that predicted Iran would use the Strait of Hormuz as a weapon that would affect the entire global economy? How else can we explain that the war Trump claimed was a total victory in April is escalating daily and dangerously approaching a point of no return?

Dallek simply stated what most of us understood from the start. Governing according to the whims of a dangerously incompetent narcissist couldn’t possibly lead to anything good, and so far, it has cost us seventeen lives and more than 400 injuries to American military personnel. It has cost us a complete disaffection from Europe and NATO, strengthened Russia’s position in Ukraine, and seriousy hurt farmers and Americans who had to pay for Trump’s ego-generated, illegal tariffs.

After embarrassing himself and every American who was watching at the World Cup medal ceremony and having Iran, whose military Trump claimed had been destroyed, declare it is now involved in “total war” with the United States, a frustrated Trump lashed out (again) at Canada, the staunchest ally we’ve had for over a century. This time Trump’s claims go beyond the absurd to the ridiculous. He’s imposing a 50% tariff on Canada because smoke from wildfires in northern Ontario is polluting American cities with “filthy air.”

As Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford responded, when American wildfires spread clouds of smoke across North America, Canada responded by sending hundreds of firefighters, aircraft, and other firefighting equipment to help extinguish them. Global News reported that Canada assisted in fighting the California wildfires in 2020and 2025 and in 2000, when fires raged from Texas to Montana, Canada sent more than 1,200 personnel to assist.

This is madness of the worst kind. Trump continues to undermine everything he touches, and America is weaker for it every day he remains in office. Things got much worse, today, when Iran activated its Houthi allies in Yemen to blockade the southern approach to the Red Sea. The move was directly intended to hurt Saudi Arabia, a sometime ally of the United States which is a sworn enemy of the Iranian regime – the enemy of my enemy is my friend?

But a look at a map of the Red Sea reveals something far more ominous. A successful blockade of the Red Sea would effectively shut down the Suez Canal, affecting worldwide shipping, reducing the global flow of oil by an additional seven percent, and severely damaging Egypt’s economy. It also threatens to involve all the countries that border the Red Sea in Trump’s war with Iran. That makes seventeen nations that could all be firing drones and missiles at each other within days.

All of this is the result of Trump’s incompetent decision making and leadership. He has repeatedly said he has the power to do anything he wants as president, which means he will continue to run amok until someone or something stops him. The body best positioned to do that is the United States Senate, which has two golden opportunities before it. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asserted that the U. S. military will run out of funding for the war in August, and they’re asking the Senate to approve an additional $87 billion to fund continued the escalation.

Republican Senators have two opportunities to demonstrate that they care more about the American people and our declining relationships with the rest of the world than loyalty to an insane president with autocratic ambitions. They can refuse to fund the war unless Trump abides by his constitutional responsibilities to obtain Congressional approval and they can revisit the War Powers Resolution they passed and then revoked when Trump called key Senators traitors.

If the Senate fails to do its job and impose limits on Trump’s war powers (the Supreme Court has already curtailed his authority to levy tariffs) the consequences for all Americans could be dire. As the Iran war expands and becomes more dangerous, Trump’s prospects for the midterm elections worsen. As his desperation grows, what will he do next? Declare a state of emergency and cancel the election?