The Israel – Iran War. What Should Trump Do? What’s the Right Thing to Do? – Top 3 Takeaways – June 18th, 2025 - Driven By Braman Motorcars
Takeaway #1: It’s the hard thing. But is it the right thing?
You’re familiar with the saying “the right thing to do is the hardest thing to do”. But do you know where it came from? That’s ok, no one else has a definitive answer either. And that's likely due to its age. While who it was that first coined that phrase is unknown, and there is debate about the inspiration for the saying, the most direct historic reference for the principal behind the saying is derived from the Bible. In Matthew 7:13-14 it states: Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Without thinking too hard you can see where that passage could be summarized under the saying - “the right thing to do is the hardest thing to do”. Clearly if the right thing is a small and narrow path that few manage to stay on – it's the hardest thing to do, but the right thing. Now clearly, my top takeaway today isn’t a random dose of historical philosophy or theology. Although, I not only thought of that saying in the context to my top takeaway today, but then also thought that the likely inspiration behind the saying was appropriate because the implications at hand with a nuclear Iran, are potentially biblical in nature – especially in the context of war with Israel. So, about this. I’m going to save the details on what I’m about to share for today’s Q&A, but the bottom line is this. It doesn’t appear to be realistic, or perhaps even possible, to put a permanent end to Iran’s nuclear program unless it’s the U.S. that actually does it. As in literally we have the only bombs that have a chance, and the only bombers that can drop those bombs. I don’t pretend to begin to know the scope of what President Trump has been through since leaving the G7, and heading almost immediately to the situation room, but I can’t help but to think that this dynamic is the key. The Iranian regime is clearly reeling and in the weakest position we’ve seen since the Ayatollahs came into power in 1979.
Takeaway #2: Is permanently putting an end to Iran’s nuclear program in our interest?
Yes, there’s no question about that. Given the clear opportunity to be able to do so does the U.S. decide to put an end to it because Israel can’t? There are all kinds of major questions around that, right? Like for example...how would the U.S. directly dropping the world’s most potent non-nuclear bombs be considered anything other than an act of war (and therefore, perhaps one that may only be able to be constitutionally done through an act of congress)? How many Americans have an appetite for any direct U.S. military offensive in Iran? Would President Trump, the America First president, who is staunchly against U.S. interventionist wars, really give the order to drop the bombs? And then there’s the question that carries with it potentially even greater implications than the massive constitutional question. What would China and Russia do? China and Russia are Iran’s biggest allies, and it may be the case that they’d be onboard with the U.S. finishing the job, as it’s been clear that while allied, neither China nor Russia want the Ayatollahs to have nuclear bombs...but would that still be the case if there was a U.S. military offensive or is there even a small chance that this type of action could lead to world war? For these reasons, and especially for those of us on the outside...
Takeaway #3: It’s especially hard to know what the right thing to do is.
The easy thing to do, at least for now, is nothing and just led Israel pummel Iran’s government and infrastructure into the ground with a hope that something better comes out of it. But does that necessarily mean that the hard thing is the right thing? Not necessarily, the right thing is unclear (including btw, a scenario in which the U.S. does drop the world’s most devastating non-nuclear bombs on Iran’s nuclear sites – but still isn’t successful in permanently taking them off-line – that would be a massive mess). If you think your way through this, if there’s any realistic thought that the U.S. should intervene, there would almost necessarily need to be preliminary agreement between President’s Trump, Putin and Xi – that they’d let the U.S. do this thing so that it wouldn’t escalate, and there’s also no guarantee that they would agree. There may be a situation, and this may be one of them, where there really aren’t any right answers, or a definitively “right” thing to do. It’s rather clear what the country thinks. A YouGov poll released yesterday shows that only 16% of Americans support direct U.S. military intervention in the war between Israel and Iran. It’s clear that Americans, regardless of where there they fall on the ideological scale overwhelmingly want Trump to do the easiest thing to do. Although it can also be said that most Americans associate military intervention with the endless, and at times seemingly pointless wars, we’ve fought with boots on the ground for generations – really since WWII. Would Americans feel differently if it were truly a matter of dropping nine bombs, flying away and being done with it (at least in theory)? So, you say you want to be president? What is it that you would do if you were in Trump’s shoes? What is it that Trump will choose? And will that be the right thing to do? Babylon’s burning.