Nobel Prize winner says 'bloody shambles' of Iran war raise 'one big question'

A Nobel Prize winner has suggested the war with Iran is a turning point for Donald Trump's administration for all the wrong reasons.

Paul Krugman believes the president has fully played his hand in the Middle East and revealed he has intentionally picked incompetent advisors and allies who would rarely, if ever, challenge his actions in office. This, the economist believes, is why Trump has received little pushback from the elites who funded his campaign, and how Trump will continue carrying out this war.

The economist wrote, "Amid the bloody shambles, one big question is, who put The Gang That Couldn’t Think Straight in power? In an immediate sense, Trump was put over the top by low-information voters — defined by G. Elliott Morris as voters who don’t know which party controls Congress.

"But the groundwork for the MAGA takeover was laid well before by the Roberts Supreme Court and by right-wing billionaires that the court enabled.

"There is, however, something that is still puzzling me: To a large extent billionaires bought themselves a government friendly to their interests. Trump and company have granted many items on the tech broligarchy wish list, from tax breaks to deregulation to promotion of crypto and unregulated AI.

"But why the abject incompetence? Couldn’t billionaires find political allies who wouldn’t plunge the country into a potentially disastrous and historically unpopular war without considering the risks?"

Krugman believes the decisions Trump made when picking allies can be broken down into two possible factors. The economist wrote, "One is that no, competent allies weren’t available. Money buys a lot of influence, but to actually take over the U.S. government requires more than money — it requires politicians who are utterly corrupt.

"In his first administration, Trump learned that hiring people who were even modestly competent eventually presented barriers to his authoritarian instincts – for example, his former Vice President Mike Pence. Hence Trump learned that in choosing his political hires the more incompetent, the more venal, the more bigoted, and the more cruel, the better."

There is also the plausible case for Trump to have intentionally selected people whose money makes them uncaring, and that is why they have not meddled with the president's plans in Iran or domestically.

"My second answer is that the vast wealth of tech billionaires has made many of them unconcerned with the little people’s lives — and deeply unpatriotic," Krugman claimed. "If Americans are being brutalized and murdered by rogue ICE agents…well, that’s not their problem."

"If the Justice Department and the FBI are totally subverted and operate as Trump’s enforcers, they know that vindictive, unlawful tactics will never touch their lives. If Republican budget cuts decimate rural hospitals and deprive hundreds of thousands of health insurance…well, they have their own private doctors and clinics.

"If Trump starts an ill-conceived war that doubles the price of oil…well, they can certainly afford the higher gasoline bills for their limousines and yachts. And it won’t be their kids hunkered down in a bunker in the Middle East."