Did Trump use his fortnight fetish as a decoy against Iran?

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Tuesdays at 11:30 a.m. I talk with WGN-AM 720 host John Williams about what’s making news and likely to be grist for the PS mill. The WGN listen-live link is here.

Has Trump been playing the long game with his lengthy, phony promises that things will happen ‘in two weeks’?

When President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he would decide whether the U.S. would join in the military action against Iran “within two weeks,” I imagined Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, wiping his brow in relief and chuckling to members of his inner circle: “Rest easy, lads. Two weeks is Trump’s way of saying ‘probably never.’”

Here are just some examples gleaned from news reports:

• 2/9/2017 — “We’re going to be announcing something, I would say over the next two or three weeks, that will be phenomenal in terms of tax and developing our aviation infrastructure.” (A one-page summary followed 11 weeks later.)

• 3/15/17 — “You’re going to find some very interesting items (about the allegation that former President Barack Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower) coming to the forefront over the next two weeks.” (No such evidence has ever emerged.)

• 4/29/2017 — “We’ve got the (major infrastructure) plan largely completed and we’ll be filing it over the next two or three weeks -- maybe sooner,” (The plan was released the following February.)

• 7/19/2020 — “We’re signing a health care plan within two weeks, a full and complete health care plan.” (No such plan has ever emerged from the Trump White House, though Trump did say in a debate last year that he now has “the concepts of a plan.”)

• 4/27/2025 — “We’ll let you know in about two weeks” Trump said when asked if he trusted Vladimir Putin

• 5/4/2025 — “At some point in the next two weeks or three weeks, I’m gonna be setting the deal (on tariffs with China).” (We’re still waiting.)

• 5/5/2025 — “I’ll announce (tariff rates for pharmaceutical companies) over the next two weeks.”

• 5/16/2025 — Trump said he would meet with Vladimir Putin "as soon as we can set it up. And I think in two or three weeks we could have it be a much, much safer place." (We’re still waiting.)

• 5/19/2025 — I’d rather tell you in about two weeks from now (whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was doing enough to support a cease-fire effort with Russia) because I can’t say yes or no. …I think he wants to stop, but I could answer that question better in two weeks or four weeks from now." (We’re still waiting.)

Jimmy Kimmel quipped, “For a guy whose catchphrase was ‘You’re fired,’ no one has ever given more two weeks’ notice than Donald J. Trump.”

Former Biden press secretary Jen Psaki made sport of Trump’s “two weeks” declaration about Iran on her MSNBC program Thursday night, showing numerous clips and mocking major media headline writers for taking the “two weeks” promise about Iran at face value. “He's used this tactic 10 times in the last 6 months alone. said Psaki. “And guess what? There's never anything at the end of the two weeks.”

Well guess what? American fighter jets began dropping bombs on Iranian nuclear facilities Saturday evening at about 5:40 p.m. Chicago time, confounding everyone who naturally assumed that Trump was delaying and dithering as has been his wont.

Was “two weeks” a head fake, one he’d been saving up to use at just such a moment by invoking it frequently over the years to lull everyone into complacency? Or was he genuinely still undecided on Thursday and giving himself the traditional out of hoping that, in 14 days, the public would have moved on and forgotten his promise?

We may never know.

But we will know soon enough — maybe within two weeks — whether joining the attack on Iran was a good and necessary idea or a rash overreaction — similar to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 on the false narrative that Saddam Hussein was amassing an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction — that will inflame a deadly global conflict.

As a fretful Tribune editorial noted:

How close the Iran regime really is to building a nuclear weapon is contested. Those of us with long memories can remember Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talking about the imminence of an Iranian nuclear bomb as far back as 1996. More than 20 years ago, Netanyahu was again saying that Iran was very close to building a bomb that could reach the Eastern Seaboard of the United States.

Notes and comments from readers — lightly edited — along with my responses

The AI threat

Mark K. — Regarding “AI video technology is getting scarier by the day,” enforcing any legislative efforts to limit fake videos — in the US, let alone globally — will be impossible. People will just stop believing their eyes and ears, or more accurately they will believe whatever they want to believe. Real news will be believed or dismissed as fake just as fake news will be dismissed or believed as real, whichever may be convenient to the viewer. People will retreat deeper into their echo bubbles and dialogue of any consequence will be all but impossible. There is a new movie out on HBO Max, "Mountainhead," that explores the possible alarming global consequences of these technologies.

Cate Plys — I'm shocked more people aren't mentioning "Mountainhead,” but I tried watching it this past weekend and should have given it a red light on “The Mincing Rascals” podcast. I love some of the stars — Steve Carrell, Jason Schwartzman — but the first hour, at least, is these guys having the same conversation over and over again in different parts of the cool mountain home. I flipped to an old episode of “Game of Thrones.”

In defense of Terry Moran

Joanie Wimmer — I disagree with ABC News’ decision not to renew the contract of senior national correspondent Terry Moran after his harsh tweets about deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller . Since when does journalism require that we pretend that Trump’s MAGA movement is based on anything other than white male supremacy and hate? Why does the press have to sanewash Trump and his movement as if modern American fascism is an acceptable choice? MAGA fascism, progressivism, or socialism? One is crazy and based on hate. The others are not. Are we prohibited from acknowledging that fact? Isn’t it the sanewashing that leads to more cruelty and absurdity? Tom Tomorrow had an excellent cartoon about this.

Barron Hall — When the mainstream and legacy media rolled over for Trump, just as they have kowtowed to his lies and hatred all the way back to the Central Park Five and his trashy reality show, fairness went out the window. If we want to be fair, then be fair all the time. Fact check Trump like they fact checked Obama. Report on Trump's faults and failures the same way they reported on Biden. There should be more Terry Morans and less Fox News ... nobody at Fox News is getting fired for their personal opinions about AOC or Crockett.

Avram Sacks — I seem to recall another journalist who spoke his mind about another demagogue of his day, Joseph McCarthy. That journalist is Edward R. Murrow, who is universally considered the gold standard for intergity in reporting. He told it like it was regarding Joe McCarthy, and he wasn't fired. Rather, his biting editorial about McCarthy is held up as a shining example of courage and moral rectitude. So, it is ironic that Terry Moran, when he called it like it is, was dumped by ABC. No one, today, accuses Murrow of crossing the line from unbiased reporting to partisan advocacy. Nobody suggests that Murrow compromised his stature as a reporter by his criticism of McCarthy. And, if you state that Murrow's criticism was labeled as an "editorial" is anyone really going to confuse a late night tweet with hard news reporting? ABC, having caved in a settlement with Trump for George Stephanopoulos' error in stating that Trump had been civilly liable for "raping" writer E. Jean Carroll, when in fact he was found liable for "sexually abusing" her, must have felt the need to demonstrate that it would not defend Moran's First Amendment rights. That is really too bad. A potentially significant difference between Moran and Murrow, is that Murrow's criticism was focused on the behavior, whereas Moran's criticism was personal, resorting to a characterization as to what kind of person Trump and his adivsor Steve Miller is. Criticism is most effective when it is not personalized. Mr. Moran seemed to have forgotten that. However, in today's climate, I strongly doubt that it would have made any difference to ABC

Zorn — Saying that Miller is a “world class hater. You can see this just by looking at him because you can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate” went way too far to be excused as analysis or editorial comment. It was personal, unsupported by evidence or actual argument. How could he possibly have gone back to reporting on Miller and Trump after airing such contempt for them?

Underenrolled schools

Marc Martinez — Regarding your link to the ProPublica/Chalkbeat story, “100 Students in a School Meant for 1,000: Inside Chicago’s Refusal to Deal With Its Nearly Empty Schools, they should have included some comparative numbers. The article said CPS uses 500 students as a benchmark for adequate student population. But the average high school in Illinois has 836 students (which includes the Chicago tiny schools). The average in the suburbs is 1600 students. And some of the very best high schools have 3000 to 4000 students.

The article also references “neighborhoods” without ever specifying how large an area a “neighborhood” is. This is specifically interesting in the Dyett High School situation. There are 4 high schools within 1 mile of Dyett. The total population of those four schools is 1466 student, with 53% of those at King. The average distance traveled to high school in Chicago is 3.3 miles. There is no justification for the CPS footprint.

Zorn — This passage from that story jumped out:

Douglass High School on the city’s West Side now has 27 employees for 28 students. That includes six regular education teachers, six special education teachers, a school counselor, a college and career coach, a conflict resolution specialist, a restorative justice coordinator, and an assistant principal and principal. The cost to run the school is $93,000 per student.

Which underenrolled schools to close and which to keep open is an intriguing issue that I don’t pretend to be particularly well versed on. I’m hoping soon to get a look at “Beyond Closure,” a documentary on the 2013 closing of 50 Chicago Public Schools that apparently argues that it was a bad idea. .Block Club Chicago reports that it’s not yet in distribution but will show Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Kennedy-King College, 740 W. 63rd St. in Englewood, and Friday at 6:30 p.m. the Overton Center for Excellence, 4927 S. Indiana Ave. in Bronzeville.

Unpopular opinions?

The following News and Views item last Thursday drew a number of heartfelt dissents:

News: A Highland Park resident reported to police receiving a threatening, antisemitic letter Sunday.

View: This is grotesque and ominous, and should be thoroughly investigated. But it should not have been a news story. The person who sent the letter was seeking attention and got it in a way that seems likely only to encourage more such acts. And as we saw in Minnesota over the weekend, the truly dangerous people tend to strike without warning.

Here are two representative dissents:

Shelley Riskin — In itself, maybe the letter wasn’t newsworthy. But as part of the larger picture of skyrocketing U.S. and world anti-Semitism since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, it definitely is newsworthy. My Jewish community is terrified and heartbroken. No, we are not people of color, black or brown, but we are a minority, and anti-Semitism has reared its head here and elsewhere in a way it never has during my lifetime. Just in 2025, as examples, there was the attack on Governor Josh Shapiro's home during Passover, the murders in Washington, D.C. of two staff members of the Embassy of Israel, the Molotov cocktail attack on innocent Jewish seniors in Boulder, CO, the harassment of Illinois 9th District representative Brad Schneider at his home and office, the hacking of expressway billboards in Deerfield to say “Fuck Israel” and “Death to Israel.” So this letter adds one more incident to the unease of Jews, and it is definitely newsworthy. It's really important for the general public to know about any of these incidents.

Mark K. — The current environment is increasingly dangerous, antisemitism is on the rise from both the right and the left. Given the background of the events you mention and that this happened in a Jewish community, it is important to be aware of the trend, both for personal safety and to speak out against this kind of sentiment.

Here is a representative note of support:

Garry Spelled Correctly — An actual attack on people is far different than some nut printing up some hateful crap and spreading it around. That's what I don't want publicized, that's what the haters want, fear!

Last week’s result

Mark K. — Trump has expressed prejudice against Mexico since the “escalator speech” 10 years ago, and Mexican immigrants are an explicit target of the deportation campaign. Waving the Mexican is expressing support for people with that background against oppression by the regime. It is similar to waving a rainbow flag at a pride parade.

Skeptic — America is a melting pot, and its culture has become richer from immigrants who have come over the centuries. Waving a flag of one’s home country or ancestral country is a positive message. Yet protests are not expected to persuade loyalists; they are intended to persuade moderates. This issue is all about fear. The pragmatic thing to do is demonstrate that immigrants from south of the border are not scary and they have a lot in common with people who live in places like Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Lynne Allen Taylor — I try to be inclusive and progressive, but I find my reaction to seeing the flags of other countries waved at protests is like how a bull reacts to a red cape. Are you protesting to have your rights recognized under the U.S. Constitution and laws? Or are you letting me know about your Mexican or other heritage? If the former, leave the flag at home. If the latter, save it for another time.

If you have a question to propose for this feature, leave it in comments or send me an email, Be sure to offer at least a paragraph in defense of your view.

From the suggestion box

I’m responding to some of the hundreds of anonymous suggestions/comments that readers posted to my recent reader survey:

Suggestion: Stop using AI generated images. It wastes energy and puts graphic artists out of work.

Reply: I could never afford to hire a graphic artist, so that’s not an either/or for me. As far as energy use goes, MIT Technology Review found that “generating an image using a powerful AI model takes as much energy as fully charging your smartphone,” and that Generating 1,000 images with a powerful AI model… is responsible for roughly as much carbon dioxide as driving the equivalent of 4.1 miles in an average gasoline-powered car, meaning that 1 image has the carbon footprint of driving a car 21 feet. Not great, but defensible when used sparingly.

Suggestion: Post more interviews with interesting Chicagoans

Reply: I plan to take this suggestion to heart. PS readers, who should I interview?

Suggestion: Challenge John Kass more often/ Stop paying attention to John Kass

Reply: The peace accord that I have unilaterally signed says I will not take notice of Kass’ right-wing polemics unless he regurgitates his false, self-pitying narrative about the circumstances of his departure from the Tribune four years ago. Those lies impugn his former colleagues and put the Tribune itself in an unfair light, so when he does so I offer a link to my takedown of his story (which I am not offering today since, as far as I know, he has not promulgated this dishonest version of events lately.)

NewsWheel

Inspired by the WordWheel puzzle in the Monday-Friday Chicago Tribune and other papers, this puzzle asks you to identify the missing letter that will make a word or words — possibly proper nouns; reading either clockwise or counterclockwise — related to a story in the news or other current event. The answer is at the bottom of the newsletter.

The week’s best visual jokes

Here are some funny visual images I've come across recently on social media. Enjoy, then evaluate:

There’s still time to vote in the conventional Quip of the Week poll! It’s turning out to be a very close contest this week.

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Info

Eric Zorn is a former opinion columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Find a longer bio and contact information here. This issue exceeds in size the maximum length for a standard email. To read the entire issue in your browser, click on the headline link above. Paid subscribers receive each Picayune Plus in their email inbox each Tuesday, are part of our civil and productive commenting community and enjoy the sublime satisfaction of supporting this enterprise.

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Answer to the NewsWheel puzzle

TWO WEEKS