Trump said – via another one of his social media posts, a la Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho – that "the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!" Again. He has promulgated such existential threats on a number of prior occasions. Should we believe him – should the Iranians – on this occasion? Maybe.

Here's a theory as to why:

Trump is not the president except in a factotum sense. He is something like Marshall Petain was after France surrendered to the German Reich; i.e., a personality installed by an occupying power as a sop to the occupied population. Vidkun Quisling is perhaps more apt as his name is associated with the fact. America is also an occupied country – just more subtly, although the subtle part is much less so now than it was. One regularly sees the flag of the power that occupies this country outside the offices of American iterations of Marshall Petain and Vidkun Quisling and behind the podium when they speak. The interesting difference is no armies have occupied this country. The occupation took place stealthily, over time – and was done via financial rather than military means. That made it hard to notice – until it became impossible not to notice it.

Trump is where he is because the occupying power wanted him there. The occupying power spent a lot of money to assure he'd be there – again. It is probable he was chosen – so to speak – for three main reasons. The first being his ruthless nihilism and greed for fame and money. His willingness to say – and do – whatever he is required to say and do, provided the price is right. A second reason is that he was useful as a kind of diversionary tool, to co-opt the growing popular disgust with the occupation (this was back in 2016). Amazingly, this New York City real estate grifter and reality TV show star became the installed leader of the then-nascent populist movement – what became "MAGA" – with the object of discrediting and demoralizing it. This task he has performed brilliantly. MAGA is splintered, disoriented and delegitimized in the eyes of many who were previously favorably inclined toward it.