WAR TRUCE MAGUS

Just three months after I authored an article casting President Donald Trump as the Trade War Magus, who wields tariffs and deals like arcane spells, the stage has now shifted to the Middle East. A 14-day thunderstorm, more dramatic than any economic skirmish, now finds President Trump again at the center of history’s cauldron, this time as the War Truce Magus. The cyclone began brewing long before June 13, 2025. Israel’s longstanding conflict with Iran’s proxies had simmered to fever pitch. Each proxy war was a brush stroke in Tehran’s quest to encircle Israel through shadowy surrogates. Israel and America watched, waited, and occasionally struck (like sentinels at the gates) prior to this latest crescendo . But the real catalyst was Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Deep underground, centrifuges whirred. Israel, backed by U.S. intelligence and arsenal, felt the moment had come. The warning came wrapped in thunder: U.S. B61‑12 “bunker-buster” bombs, delivered by U.S. aircraft, ripped through fortified caverns beneath Iran’s Fordow and Isfahan facilities starting June 21, “like butter." From Iron Dome to Underground Bunkers What erupted was nothing short of biblical. From June 13 to June 27, Israel and Iran hurled missiles, warheads, and rhetorics at each other. Israel hammered Iran’s proxies; Iran returned fire, including symbolic missiles launched at the American Air Base in Qatar, deliberately timed to match the volume of U.S. bombs. Within Iran, the supreme leader disappeared beneath layers of steel and soil. Khamenei’s rare bunker-bound messages conveyed both defiance and desperation; he even preemptively named three potential successors and military commanders in case the war claimed him. An act unseen in over a decade. The Turning Point: America’s Hard-Soft Power Symphony What could have become a spiral into wider war stopped on June 23, when President Trump, ever the pivotal figure, declared a “complete and total ceasefire,” instantly coining period “The 12-Day War”. As missiles still streaked and both sides tested the agreement, Trump unleashed his signature style: public rebukes, Truth Social vehemence, and pressure on both Israel and Iran’s clerical command. Qatar and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff acted as diplomatic mortar, but it was Trump’s expletive-laced intervention that resonated most, prompting NATO’s secretary general to marvel at the “stern but effective Daddy”, even calling for peace talks at The Hague Summit. Aftermath and Larger Implications By June 26–27, the truce had largely held. Oil prices softened, world markets exhaled, and the immediate strategic cost of Iran’s nuclear setback (one to two years or just a few months, depending on whom you ask) became a point of fierce debate. Still, Israeli officials hailed the strikes as “ruining Iran’s nuclear ambitions”,even as intelligence agencies hedged their claims. Inside Iran, the Ayatollah emerged to assert victory and threaten future retaliation against U.S. bases, even as he remained invisible to Iranian eyes, framed only by the same brown curtains used in his bunker broadcasts. The Magus’s Gambit If the Trade War Magus summoned tariffs like thunder to bend China toward U.S. priorities, then the new War Truce Magus conjured bunker-buster ordnance and ceasefire edicts to bend Iran. The bombs carved caves in the earth; Trump's words carved caves into the optics: "Don’t violate or else," he suggested. He brokered a truce as deftly as chess; sacrificing pawns (Iran’s nuclear sites), protecting the queen (Israel), while jockeying for global positioning. The metaphor holds: where once goods, now bombs flowed; where once tariffs, now missiles; but in both, Trump is the conjurer. Closing the Arch Just months ago, my 'Trade War Magus' article closed with a warning: “Magus or charlatan, the power lies in the conjurer’s control.” Now, the tableau repeats, this time with flash and flashpoint instead of factories and freight. Israel and America stood as a colossus of deterrence; Iran and the XXGC retreated underground, leader unseen, successors named but uncertain. President Trump (by design or destiny) is the pivot. The world has witnessed the Trade War Magus turn into the War Truce Magus, controlling markets then missxxs, shaping peace then powder. Whether this alliance holds like steel or shatters with the next spark remains the question only history can answer.