Wag the Dog
A distraction to divert attention from a scandal
Feb. 28, 2026: Early Saturday morning, we woke up to more chaos from the Trump administration. This time, he posted an 8-minute video on Truth Social (as opposed to, say, an address to the nation) to let us know that “major combat operations” had begun in Iran. “Our objective,” he said, “is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime. A vicious group of very hard, terrible people.” (PBS)
He continued: “They’ve rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions, and we can’t take it anymore. Instead, they attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing the long range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas, and could soon reach the American homeland.” (PBS) As scary as that might sound, on what evidence is he making these claims?
‘Cause I’m confused. I mean, when we launched a strike at Iran on June 25, 2025, Trump made it abundantly clear on the White House website that the US had obliterated their program: “Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images. Obliteration is an accurate term! … The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!” IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir followed: “I can say here that the assessment is that we significantly damaged the nuclear program, and I can also say that we set it back by years, I repeat, years.”
Yet, eight months later, we are calling this an imminent threat. Isn’t that a pretty fast turnaround for an obliterated program that was set back by years?
If you ask me, “imminent threat” seems to be the key phrase.
That imminent threat to Trump is, let’s be honest, the Epstein files. Just when Trump thought he had set back the investigation “by years, I repeat, years,” through executive action, it reared its ugly head again. Just days before the Iran strike, NPR revealed that many, many pages of the Epstein files were not released. Can you believe that? “Some files have not been made public despite a law mandating their release. These include what appear to be more than 50 pages of FBI interviews, as well as notes from conversations with a woman who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago when she was a minor.” (NPR) Like, when she was 13 years old.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the number of missing files is more like 47,635. “The news that even the documents that have been released have extensive gaps suggests the department is covering up for individuals involved in Epstein’s crimes, including President Donald J. Trump, whose name appears frequently [like, over 38,000 times] in the files.” (HC Richardson)
Oh, now I understand why we’re attacking Iran. This is looking more like “wag the dog” rather than serious world policy.
I don’t think it’s my imagination. Try as he might, Trump just can’t get those pesky Epstein files out of the headlines. He’s wagging this dog with everything he has. I mean, he’s tried declaring a “crime emergency” and deploying the National Guard in Washington, D.C. That took our attention for a while. Then he ordered the U.S. military to blow up boats of alleged “narco terrorists” in the Caribbean, 150 killed so far. If only he could blow up the Epstein files. Still they persist.
Since then, he’s unleashed all kinds of headline-grabbing chaos:
He’s razed the east wing of the White House to build a vanity ballroom.
He’s attacked Venezuela and captured its leader.
He’s occupied Minneapolis with untrained ICE agents who gunned down two American citizens in the street, with no apparent consequences for the agents.
This week, it’s strikes on Iran, which killed 160 children at a girls’ school, not to mention the six US soldiers who have died so far.
The administration can’t even get their story straight about why we are attacking. Is it their nuclear program (which had been set “by back years, I repeat, years”)? Is it their “swelling arsenal of ballistic missiles and killer drones”? (Hegseth, CBS) Or is it what German Chancellor Merz summed up: “Trump said this: ‘It was my opinion that they [Iran] were going to attack first. They were going to attack. If we didn’t do it, they were going to attack first. I felt strongly about that.” (HD Reese) So, now we go to war over opinion and strong feelings?
I humbly suggest that this is one more move to flood the news with chaos because Trump can’t make the Epstein files go away. And after all of his efforts, yesterday’s headline read, “House Oversight panel votes to subpoena AG Pam Bondi in Epstein probe.” (CNN)
Yeah, this Epstein thing isn’t going to go away. But these “wag the dog” tactics have growing consequences. And this war in Iran is still going. Seriously, how many more people will have to give their lives to keep Trump out of jail?
Feel free to share my work or subscribe. In any case, don’t be fooled by the chaos. Remember that the Epstein victims deserve justice and the US people deserve the truth.