Israel’s airstrikes on Iran and US involvement shatter the illusion that America First guides President Trump’s Middle East policy. The hijacking of “America First” for hawkish goals is clear as Trump treads the same failed interventionist path in the Middle East. Beyond policy, these attempts to co-opt the legacy of America First for the sake of the status quo discard key insights once associated with the label. The America Firsters of old would be appalled at the US government’s...

The Donald called Fed Chairman Powell a “numbskull” last week and deservedly so. But to paraphrase an old adage, when the cap fits said numbskulls tend to wear it themselves. Surely, that’s where we are this morning upon Israel’s reprehensible attack on Iran’s civilian nuclear facilities and decapitation of its military and scientific leadership. Self-evidently, the attack was well known to Trump and tacitly greenlighted by him during the course of several conversations this past week with...