Yair Rosenberg

In 1980, NBC interviewed a young Trump about the ongoing Iran hostage crisis. He did not hold back. “That this country sits back and allows a country such as Iran to hold our hostages, to my way of thinking, is a horror, and I don’t think they’d do it with other countries,” he said. When the interviewer asked if that meant “you’re advocating that we should have gone in there with troops,” Trump replied, “I absolutely feel that, yes,” adding that had America done so, “I think right now we’d be an oil-rich nation.” (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said that he had dreamed of being able to “smite the terror regime” in Iran for 40 years; it turns out Trump had him beat.) In 1987, the Times reported that Trump declared in a New Hampshire speech that “the United States should attack Iran and seize some of its oil fields in retaliation for what he called Iran’s bullying of America.” In 1988, Trump told The Guardian that “I’d be harsh on Iran. They’ve been beating us psychologically, making us look a bunch of fools.”

I don't think many people realize that Trump has been talking about Iran like this since 1980: www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

The Real Reason Trump Went to War Trump has called for sending American forces to Iran since 1980. He finally has, and must own the consequences.

The Trump administration's shifting justifications for war are a smoke screen that obscures the obvious. "The real impetus for such action was Trump’s imperial approach to American power, which was decades in the making." Gift link:

Other points of note:
- Analysis of a phenomenon ≠ approval
- People and political actors who are extreme or radical can become more extreme or radical (see: American politics over the last decade, Trump I vs Trump II)
- There is a difference between covert and overt conflict in geopolitics

Was away for a bit, see that some on here decided to outrage farm about a tweet I didn't write for an article of mine they didn't read or link. Since that seems to be the preferred mode of consumption, here are a few other headlines! Always do the reading; don't let the engagement farmers con you.

The Real Reason Trump Went to War Trump has called for sending American forces to Iran since 1980. He finally has, and must own the consequences.

“Believing that Trump was somehow a ‘peace president’ devoted to American restraint, as some credulous commentators claimed, required ignoring everything he’d said before he was president and everything he’d done after he became president.”

www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

In 1980, NBC interviewed a young Trump about the ongoing Iran hostage crisis. He did not hold back. “That this country sits back and allows a country such as Iran to hold our hostages, to my way of thinking, is a horror, and I don’t think they’d do it with other countries,” he said. When the interviewer asked if that meant “you’re advocating that we should have gone in there with troops,” Trump replied, “I absolutely feel that, yes,” adding that had America done so, “I think right now we’d be an oil-rich nation.” (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said that he had dreamed of being able to “smite the terror regime” in Iran for 40 years; it turns out Trump had him beat.) In 1987, the Times reported that Trump declared in a New Hampshire speech that “the United States should attack Iran and seize some of its oil fields in retaliation for what he called Iran’s bullying of America.” In 1988, Trump told The Guardian that “I’d be harsh on Iran. They’ve been beating us psychologically, making us look a bunch of fools.”

I don't think many people realize that Trump has been talking about Iran like this since 1980: www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

The Real Reason Trump Went to War Trump has called for sending American forces to Iran since 1980. He finally has, and must own the consequences.

The Trump administration's shifting justifications for war are a smoke screen that obscures the obvious. "The real impetus for such action was Trump’s imperial approach to American power, which was decades in the making." Gift link:

The Seven Social-Media Commandments How to use social media without it using you

If none of this makes sense to you, you have missed nothing and are doing social media right. An old related piece with some wisdom for this moment:

Other points of note:
- Analysis of a phenomenon ≠ approval
- People and political actors who are extreme or radical can become more extreme or radical (see: American politics over the last decade, Trump I vs Trump II)
- There is a difference between covert and overt conflict in geopolitics

Was away for a bit, see that some on here decided to outrage farm about a tweet I didn't write for an article of mine they didn't read or link. Since that seems to be the preferred mode of consumption, here are a few other headlines! Always do the reading; don't let the engagement farmers con you.

A Gorgeous Video Game That’s Also Very Jewish The ‘Eternal Life of Goldman’ is the rare video game to feature a distinctly Jewish protagonist

The Eternal Life of Goldman is one of the most beautiful games of 2026. It's also nice to finally see some video-game representation for people like me: aging Jews with back problems.

For this week's column, I spoke to the director of this stunning platformer: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

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Removing a Hyphen Won’t Stop Anti-Semitism Symbolic gestures aren’t what’s needed in the fight against anti-Jewish bigotry.

As a rule, I just use the spelling of the style guide of whatever publication I am writing for, so I've done it both ways. On social media, I generally remove the hyphen to save characters! I've actually written about why I do not think the hyphen makes a substantive difference one way or the other:

Carrie Prejean Boller Is Not Going Quietly The former beauty queen, dismissed from Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, says that it’s “anti-Christian” to accuse her of anti-Semitism.

In 1862, General Ulysses Grant expelled Jews from his military district during the Civil War, a move reversed by President Lincoln. In 2026, Candace Owens praised Grant’s expulsion. And this week, a now ex-member of Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission wouldn’t tell me whether that was antisemitic.

Carrie Prejean Boller Is Not Going Quietly The former beauty queen, dismissed from Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, says that it’s “anti-Christian” to accuse her of anti-Semitism.

I talked to Carrie Prejean Boller about the attempts to remove her from Trump's Religious Liberty Commission, why she rejects charges of anti-Semitism, her views on Zionism, and why she insists Candace Owens has never said anything anti-Semitic. I recommend reading to the end. It takes a turn.

Thank you!

Is that still going, by any chance? Would love to take a look!

Love my XReal glasses! I suspect that as the price point comes down, these are going to start showing up everywhere, because they do what people actually want (a portable big screen for movies/TV/video games) rather than what VR products often tell users they should want.

This is endemic to social media and makes having thoughtful, effective conversations on here very difficult. You should follow people who respect you enough to tell you the truth, rather than those who think truth is unimportant and pursue other personal and political agendas.

As long as you never expose yourself to someone’s antisemitism you can just pretend it’s not real!

Current state of things, cont'd bsky.app/profile/yair...

Carrie Prejean Boller Is Not Going Quietly The former beauty queen, dismissed from Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, says that it’s “anti-Christian” to accuse her of anti-Semitism.

In 1862, General Ulysses Grant expelled Jews from his military district during the Civil War, a move reversed by President Lincoln. In 2026, Candace Owens praised Grant’s expulsion. And this week, a now ex-member of Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission wouldn’t tell me whether that was antisemitic.

"I offered to play Boller the audio of this [Candace Owens] remark in its full context. She declined to listen." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Carrie Prejean Boller Is Not Going Quietly The former beauty queen, dismissed from Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, says that it’s “anti-Christian” to accuse her of anti-Semitism.

I talked to Carrie Prejean Boller about the attempts to remove her from Trump's Religious Liberty Commission, why she rejects charges of anti-Semitism, her views on Zionism, and why she insists Candace Owens has never said anything anti-Semitic. I recommend reading to the end. It takes a turn.

The Second Death of Charlie Kirk The activist’s assassination unleashed anti-Semitism that is pulling the Trump coalition apart.

"Charlie Kirk’s assassin didn’t kill just one man; he destabilized the entire Trump coalition by removing a pivotal person who had been holding it together. In doing so, the killer helped unshackle dark forces—chief among them anti-Semitism—that now threaten to overtake the conservative movement."

The Second Death of Charlie Kirk The activist’s assassination unleashed anti-Semitism that is pulling the Trump coalition apart.

A great piece from @yair-rosenberg.bsky.social on how Charlie Kirk’s assassination unleashed infighting among maga elites www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

I've been working on this one for a while. It's about how we got here, and where we're going. I hope you'll read it to the end. Gift link: www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

This is extremely informative and brilliantly written. And, it's free.

Absolutely great piece that absolutely should be read to the end.