Trump's war is unpopular, so he's found the perfect scapegoat | Opinion

For every decision President Donald Trump makes, some nearby patsy invariably gets blamed when that decision goes south. Trump throws people under the bus so often that there’s not a single bloodless bus undercarriage left in Washington, DC.

Knowing that, I think Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News host cosplaying as a U.S. Defense secretary, might want to don his nicest bus-exhaust-pipe-viewing suit and prepare to get tossed.

On March 23, Trump was speaking about the Iran war – the one he says is going great even though it’s not going great – and he referenced Hegseth, slyly detailing a new version of how the whole thing started: “Pete, I think you were the first one to speak up. And you said, ‘Let’s do it.’ Because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.” 

I’ll pause here so you can have a good, long laugh.

Ready?

Trump's Iran war is going so poorly he needs to find someone else to blame

OK, so this is a classic Trump pivot seen whenever he knows something is making him look bad. He casually shifts the blame to someone else, because if there’s one value Trump holds dear, it’s that he can never, ever, ever be wrong about anything.

As the Iran fiasco worsens, you can predict a future Trump quote along the lines of: “Well, you know, Pete said ‘Let’s do it,’ and I wasn’t entirely sure, I just want peace. You know I’ve ended all wars.

"But we went ahead. And now it looks like I was given some bad information. And truthfully, I never trusted Pete, which is why he stepped down. Very untrustworthy guy. I’m not sure who hired him in the first place. Total loser.”

You know it’s coming, Pete. You know it’s your head in Trump’s protect-himself-at-all-costs guillotine.

Just ask Rudy Giuliani, or Michael Cohen, or retired Army Gen. Mark Milley, or Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, or former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, or former National Security Adviser John Bolton. The list goes on, like a line of buses stretched from coast to coast.

Trump always turns on people. Always.

When Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned recently in protest of the Iran war, Trump – who appointed Kent – turned around and said the intelligence officer was "not smart" and “very weak on security.”

This is your future, Pete Hegseth. You've been given a heads-up.

Americans hate the Iran war – and still don't know why it's happening

For all Trump’s boasting about our immense success in “obliterating” Iran’s military and having won already, the reality obvious to Americans is this war of choice was a terrible idea that's hurting people in their pocketbooks and still hasn’t been fully explained. 

A new CBS News/YouGov poll found 57% of Americans think the war is going very or somewhat badly. Nearly 70% don’t think the goals of the war have been clearly explained, and 60% disapprove of the whole thing.

Iran has control of the Strait of  Hormuz, gas and energy prices are swiftly rising, and there are now signs the administration might put boots on the ground in Iran. The war is not under control, it is not over, and America quite clearly has not won.

At the end of the day, Trump will only protect Trump

Trump is flailing because the war has unleashed a narrative even he can’t fully control. As his polling numbers drop even lower, the wounded narcissist in chief will have no choice but to find a patsy, and nobody looks more patsy-ish than Hegseth, with his pathetic tough-guy speak and almost remarkable lack of qualifications.

As this war drags on, Hegseth should keep a close watch at what’s coming up the road. It’s only a matter of time before he spots a bus with his name on it and sees Trump waiting, ready to stuff him and his painstakingly coiffed hair right under.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk