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Is Donald Trump the New Dr. Strangelove?
Are we witnessing a modern-day version of the movie Dr. Strangelove? For those who are not movie buffs or too young to remember, Dr. Strangelove is a 1964 dark comedy, starring Peter Sellers and George C. Scott, that parodies Cold War fears of a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The American Film Institute constantly rates it as one of the best films ever made.
The actual, entire title of the movie, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, is probably more appropriate to Donald Trump at the current moment. Trump has rapidly gone from a leading opponent of foreign wars and entanglements to one of the world’s leading proponents of interventions, military actions and hard power. Many presidents, as Trump used to point out, have led the United States into quagmires overseas.
At his election night victory speech in November 2024 Trump said, “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.” He called Iraq a “big fat mistake” and when he announced his third campaign he told the crowd, “I am proud to be the only president in decades who did not start a new war.”
Stanley Kubrick’s classic film, Dr. Strangelove, depicts a president, advisors and one General, Jack D. Ripper, who take war to a whole new level. There’s plenty of buffoonery and characters out of control, but the end result is clear. Donald Trump, the nation’s #1 TV watcher, may want to take a look at the movie.
Trump told Dana Bash of CNN that there will be no deals until he gets “unconditional surrender” from Iran. He maintains he will pick Iran’s leader. He and others offer up every day a new reason for the attack, a new strategy, and a new timeline for military operations. This does not give Americans or our allies around the world much confidence.
It certainly doesn’t follow the Powell Doctrine, named after General Colin Powell: the military should only be deployed when vital American interests are at stake, the objectives are clear and there is an exit strategy in place.
This is a president who has bombed seven countries in one year—Yemen, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia and Venezuela. This is a President who has had his Secretary of Defense, Mr. Testosterone Pete Hegseth, fire or sideline more than two dozen generals because they weren’t sufficiently loyal or “yes” people.
It also appears Trump has his eyes set on regime change in Cuba. Now, as lofty and desirable as that might be, how does he plan that one? More bombastic threats, more macho diplomacy, more military action?
Creating this level of instability in the world to detract from problems at home is never a wise approach to governing. Trump may think he is a master at flooding the zone or hiding the ball or diverting attention from issues like the Epstein files, losing 92,000 jobs last month, rising prices and violent ICE agents, but after one year this is catching up to him.
He can hold as many gaggles as he wants on Air Force One or attempt to dominate news coverage every hour of every day, but this is not working for him. Resistance is rising, patience is wearing thin and his overriding ego has long since grown tiresome.
This is a president who has campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize by falsely claiming he has stopped eight wars. He has also cynically put his name on The U.S. Institute of Peace while at the same time renaming the Department of Defense, the Department of War. Strange indeed, maybe he should star in a movie, like Peter Sellers, as the new Dr. Strangelove?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove
https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/iran-war-us-israel-trump-03-06-26
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/us/politics/trump-military-power.html
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