Lt Col Daniel Davis & Patrick Henningsen: Trump has Leverage He's Not Using in These Wars

Daniel Davis Deep Dive Merch: Etsy store

The discussion criticizes Donald Trump's repeated claims of upcoming "peace deals" and ceasefires in Ukraine, Iran, and Gaza, calling them largely performative and disconnected from the realities on the ground. Trump presents the U.S. as a neutral peace broker, but the analysis argues the U.S. is a co-belligerent—especially in Ukraine—and that the situation there continues to worsen for Kyiv with no path to military reversal.

In the Middle East, Trump touts the destruction of Iranian nuclear facilities and promises a deal with Gaza within a week, but the speaker dismisses this as fantasy. Netanyahu's upcoming visit to Washington and claims of "success" in the so-called "12-day war" are criticized as political theater. The bombing campaign against Iran, though framed by Trump as a decisive strike, is said to have backfired—galvanizing Iranian national unity, even among internal critics, and reinforcing regime legitimacy.

Critics warn that the U.S. and Israel have emerged from this confrontation weaker. Trump and others like Jack Keane and Lindsey Graham are pushing a narrative that Iran cannot be negotiated with, using old tropes about Iranian irrationality. Yet Keane himself admits Iran’s nuclear ambitions stem from a desire for regime survival—revealing Iran as a rational actor, not a suicidal one. Despite this, hawks still advocate future strikes, undermining any real prospects for peace. The speaker concludes that the U.S. and Israel are repeating past mistakes, ignoring key actors like the Palestinians, and setting the stage for more conflict, not resolution.