Max Blumenthal argues that Donald Trump was manipulated into launching the Iran war ("Operation Epic Fury," Feb 28, 2026) through a campaign of Israeli-orchestrated and FBI-inflated fake Iranian assassination plots. He contends Trump was placed under multiple forms of duress — fabricated IRGC hit squads, real but unexplained attempts (Butler), political/financial leverage from the Israel lobby and Miriam Adelson — to justify a war that made no strategic sense. Blumenthal stops short of accusing Israel of killing Charlie Kirk but notes Kirk's assassination shook Trump deeply and that Israel's Mossad has a dedicated assassination division.
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This is an interview segment from Mario Nawfal's show featuring journalist Max Blumenthal. The discussion centers on why Donald Trump launched "Operation Epic Fury" against Iran on February 28, 2026 — a war both participants view as strategically irrational given Iran's known capabilities to close the Strait of Hormuz and strike Gulf infrastructure. Blumenthal's core thesis is that Trump was manipulated into war through a coordinated campaign of fabricated Iranian assassination threats, amplified by the FBI and Israeli intelligence. …
Near-term: the geopolitical risk premium is centered on US-Iran war escalation and potential Strait of Hormuz disruption — but the transcript's core argument is that this war was manufactured, not a rational response to genuine threat. Any de-escalation or exposure of the alleged FBI-sting operations could rapidly unwind the fear premium in energy markets.
Medium-term: the MAGA-Israel fracture poses a regime-uncertainty risk for US Middle East policy. If Trump genuinely distrusts Netanyahu and the Adelson funding lever weakens, the pro-Israel consensus that has anchored US force posture for decades could erode — creating unpredictable shifts in defense commitments and sanctions policy toward Iran.
Long-term: the structural implication is that US foreign policy toward Iran may increasingly be understood — by a significant faction of the Republican base — as a product of Israeli manipulation rather than independent American interest. If this narrative consolidates, it would represent a durable realignment in the domestic politics of Middle East engagement, potentially reducing the probability of future US-led Iran military operations regardless of administration.
The FBI and Israeli intelligence manipulated fabricated Iranian assassination plots to manipulate Donald Trump into starting a war with Iran.
The speaker references his own investigation published in The Gray Zone alleging that several terrorism cases involving supposed Iranian assassination attempts against Trump were guided by FBI undercover operatives and directed by Israeli intelligence, and were not serious plots.
Trump launched the assassination of Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei on February 28, 2026 because he was told by the Israelis that Khamenei was about to have him killed.
The speaker quotes Trump saying 'I got him before he got me' and asserts this was based on Israeli-provided intelligence about Iranian assassination plots that were actually fabricated.
Mike Waltz attempted to steer the congressional investigation into the Butler assassination attempt toward falsely blaming Iran.
The speaker describes Waltz's role on the Butler committee and asserts he pushed an Iran narrative despite no clear evidence pointing to Iran.
Could President Trump feel threatened — whether physically, legally, economically, or politically — and could that be what's guiding his decisions toward Iran, given that the war seems so stupid?
Max Blumenthal describes an investigation he published called 'How Israel and the FBI manipulated assassination plots to goad Trump into Iran war.' He argues that Trump was fed false information about Iranian assassination plots — including a fabricated plot involving a Pakistani national named Asif Merchant — which led Trump to believe the IRGC was actively targeting him. This manipulation, Blumenthal says, made Trump feel under existential threat, contributing to his decision to strike Iran. He also notes there were real but weird assassination attempts (Butler, Ryan Routh) that were spun into an Iranian narrative that lacked clear evidence.
Can you retweet the investigation so people can easily find it?
Max says he'll send the link via chat or WhatsApp so Mario can retweet it for the audience.
Didn't Israel Hayom publish a piece calling Trump a traitor?
Max responds that assassination is in Israel's wheelhouse — they have a Mossad division for it — and notes he found no evidence Israel was behind the Charlie Kirk assassination. He also mentions a Jerusalem Post piece that imagined Joseph Aoun being assassinated by Hezbollah, which he calls conspiratorial-sounding.
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