Ross Harrison, analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said
Trump campaigned to end "endless wars" and "stupid wars" but is now engaged in a
conflict that "appears to have no strategic logic." Harrison said it is unclear
whether political calculations still constrain Trump — in his first term the
administration tracked polls and the stock market, but it is uncertain whether
rising U.S. military casualties would affect presidential decisions. He said
Trump may now be driven more by how history will remember him than by
conventional political pressures such as the midterms or economic shocks, and
that the president's personal psychology could outweigh political cost, making
the current conflict is particularly dangerous.
