Rachel Maddow

Starting a war, launching airstrikes, doing this sort of thing, it gets him a ton of attention.

He gets to do it unilaterally, he contends.

Naturally, there's no question that he would seek a declaration of war from Congress or even an authorization for the use of military force.

He sees war as something he gets to do on his own say-so in a baseball hat from home that is exciting, that is controversial, that is all about him, and not for nothing, it's the world's greatest change of subject.

Today, Saturday, is a weekday, it's a school day in Iran as we start to get reports of the damages inside not just Tehran but elsewhere in Iran.

The internet is off in Iran.

The government in Iran hasn't advised its own people what to do as American airstrikes start bombarding multiple cities.

Donald Trump, when he was a private citizen, repeatedly in 2011, 2012, and 2013, said that then-President Barack Obama was about to start a war with Iran in order to help his political prospects.

He kept saying over and over again that Barack Obama was about to start a war with Iran in order to get reelected, in order to help the Democratic Party's political prospects.

Donald Trump was wrong about that.

Barack Obama didn't start a war with Iran.

But we know why Trump thought Obama should have done it.

He said so.

He said that was exactly what Obama would need to do in order to get reelected, in order to put wind in his political sails.

We know what Donald Trump thought would be the salutary domestic political effect of a U.S.

president starting a war with Iran.

And now today, as he is facing domestic political disaster in this year's elections, now today our wildly unpopular U.S.

president has started that war himself.

Why do you think he did it?

Stay with us.