President Donald Trump has once again proved that the experts may not be as all-knowing as one might believe.
Time after time, Trump has defied the expectations and predictions of “experts” who have doubted his ability to accomplish his goals. In an opinion piece for Fox News Digital, Vice President of Heritage’s Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy Victoria Coates points out that he’s done it again in Iran.
“Traditionally, four things were assumed to be near inevitable if the United States and/or Israel were to take significant military action against Iran,” she wrote. These things included the now-deceased Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei being “untouchable,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) sparking a “regional war” through the use of proxies, Israel becoming more isolated and “vulnerable to attack,” and the United States becoming isolated on the world stage, “which would benefit Russia and China.”
While it’s still early in the aftermath of Operation Epic Fury and more operations are expected to take place before the action comes to a close, Coates says these assumptions have already been proven “dead wrong.”
“Obviously, the supreme leader was not untouchable. He was eliminated in one of the opening strikes of the mission, along with much of Iran’s senior leadership. His arrogant foolishness in gathering that leadership together was in fact the opportunity that prompted Epic Fury in the first place,” she wrote. “But that did not prevent the survivors from organizing a succession meeting on Tuesday, March 3, which was in turn targeted. The demoralized remnants of the regime are now attempting to re-establish command and control with little in terms of structure or internal communications.”
Israel has not been attacked in the way that was predicted. In fact, something even better has happened, according to Coates.
“Because of Iran’s disastrous decision to launch missiles against its neighbors — even those who had been acting as its mediators, such as Qatar and Oman — the region has unified not against Israel, but against Iran,” she said. “There are even reports of Arab nations potentially participating in the strikes on Iran. The Abraham Accords, although under strain since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, have held.”
Likewise, Iran’s terrorist proxies have “been remarkably inactive given their patron’s desperate straits.”
“Hamas in Gaza has been all but silent. Hezbollah in Lebanon have fired some rockets, but nothing like the overwhelming barrage of precision-guided missiles that was once feared. The Houthi in Yemen have stuck to threats rather than attacks. None of them appear to be interested in a multi-front war against the combined might the U.S. and Israel have demonstrated,” she points out.
Russia and China predictably spoke out against the United States, but haven’t actually offered any substantive support to Iran in its time of need. Instead of being ostracized on the world stage, America has been “re-established as the pre-eminent military power on the planet.”
While things are far from over, Trump has once again bucked the expectations of the people whose advice has shaped the country’s approach to global policy, which is enough to make one wonder why they are listened to in the first place.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
- Nick Shirley’s response goes viral after Newsom’s office posts unbelievable response to California fraud exposure - March 18, 2026
- Topless spring breaker twerking on roof of jeep gets hurled to the pavement - March 18, 2026
- Trump has an idea for how to get our country’s ‘non-responsive allies’ into action - March 18, 2026
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.