Five Key Points on Trump and the ‘Ceasefire’ Announcement
WANA (Jun 24) – U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed that a ceasefire between Iran and the Israeli regime is expected within hours. But behind this statement lie several calculated motives and expectations, which can be broken down as follows:
1. Trump is framing himself as a mediator—despite having ordered a direct military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities less than 48 hours ago. By presenting Washington as a neutral actor calling for peace, he appears to be distancing the U.S. from the war it helped ignite. This shift may be aimed at deflecting domestic criticism over the strike and recasting America’s role from aggressor to peacemaker.
A new satellite image of the Fordow underground facility shows holes that are likely the result of U.S. bunker-buster missile strikes /WANA News Agency
2. Through a unilateral announcement of ceasefire, Trump is attempting to flip the script—portraying Iran as the aggressor if it does not comply. He likely anticipated that a response from Iran would target U.S. bases in the region, rather than Israel, thereby sparking regional backlash and weakening Iran’s diplomatic position.
Yet Iran responded swiftly and strategically by targeting the U.S. Al-Udeid base in Qatar—shifting the conflict’s focus and neutralizing Washington’s narrative trap. This preempted the U.S. attempt to isolate Iran and instead highlighted American complicity in the escalation.
3. Trump is using the ceasefire narrative to claim success for his military strike—implying that Iran’s supposed flexibility stems from U.S. pressure, and thus spinning Tehran’s measured response as a sign of weakness.
4. By introducing the idea of a ceasefire, Trump is laying the groundwork to justify future Israeli or even U.S. strikes if the ceasefire “fails”—framing any escalation as Iran’s fault for rejecting peace.
5. One of the deeper objectives of this unilateral ceasefire talk is to test Iranian public opinion. Trump is using it as a political probe: by monitoring social media and public discourse inside Iran, Washington may attempt to detect societal divisions. If internal cracks appear, the U.S. and Israel might escalate their attacks while portraying Iran as the spoiler—thus deepening any internal rifts.
