Donald Trump is waging a two-front war.

In Iran, the downing of an American F-15 fighter jet, with the spectacular rescue of the missing second crew member, announced by the president yesterday, was fantastic news thanks to special ops teams who risked their lives to find him. But the fact that the plane was shot down unfortunately undercuts Trump’s argument that the murderous mullahs have no ability to fight back. And it highlights what soldiers have always known: War is hell. 

The same goes for the Iranians downing an A-10 attack plane, and though the pilot was quickly rescued, it shows the unpredictable nature of war. 

At home, Trump has been firing top aides, and targeting others for dismissal. The ouster of Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem, and media reports about who’s next, has fueled anxiety throughout the Cabinet. The only person who’s probably safe at this point is Jared, given his son-in-law status.

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President Donald Trump is now waging a proverbial two-front war. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

There is some connective tissue between these ongoing battles. They reflect a president who busts through the guardrails, scolds his allies, launches a surprise war with little explanation, and turns on those he deems insufficiently loyal.

To his supporters, Trump gets results because he’s not afraid to take risks that have paralyzed previous presidents grappling with the world’s leading terror state.

To his detractors, Trump is impulsive and reckless, boxing himself into impossible corners by failing to adequately plan for the inevitable consequences.

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By any fair yardstick, U.S. and Israeli warplanes have decimated Iran’s military machine with a remarkably low casualty rate.     

And Iran’s cheap-to-produce drones have caused some injuries to Americans at military bases in surrounding Arab countries, and also inflicted damage on Israel, wounding numerous residents.

Asked by NBC’s Garrett Haake in a phone call whether the downing of the F-15 – before the rescue – would affect his negotiations with Iran, Trump said, “No, not at all. No, it’s war. We’re in war, Garrett.”

Trump urged Iran to “open the f—– Strait” of Hormuz in an expletive-laden Truth Social post on Sunday. (Sahar Al Attar/AFP via Getty Images)

One reason the president’s prime-time speech fell short is that the public expected him to declare victory and get out, not threaten to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages.” And will he actually wrap things up in “two to three weeks,” which is his standard refrain for some time in the future?

For the president to urge European nations to just “take” the Strait of Hormuz – after having declared that he wouldn’t end the war without a deal to break the Iranian blockade – shows the mixed messages that have marked this conflict.

And then, having washed his hands of anything having to do with Hormuz, Trump posted on Truth Social yesterday: “Open the F—– Strait, you crazy b——s.”

Uh, which is it? Depends on when you ask him. (CNN ran the quote as a banner, uncensored.)

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Trump is touting Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Ghalibaf, as someone he can do business with. But Ghalibaf has repeatedly mocked him, posting: “This brilliant no-strategy war they started has now been downgraded from ‘regime change’ to ‘Hey! Can anyone find our pilots? Please?’”

Perhaps the president will lose confidence in him the way he did with Pam Bondi.

The now-former attorney general did a terrible job, from botching the Epstein files to refusing to engage with the pedophile’s victims to insulting Democrats at a hearing in which she proudly proclaimed that this was a distraction from the Dow topping 50,000.

Bondi unloaded on Jamie Raskin, who led Democrats during Trump’s second impeachment: “You don’t tell me anything, you washed-up loser lawyer. You’re not even a lawyer!?” (Raskin is a graduate of Harvard Law School and taught constitutional law at American University.)

But that only partially explains her removal. Bondi did everything she could to prosecute Trump’s political enemies. But charges against James Comey and Letitia James were tossed out by judges or blocked by grand juries that refused to indict.

It’s worth dwelling on how outrageous it is for the Justice Department to serve as an attack dog for those who the president has pronounced guilty. Not since John Mitchell went to prison in the Watergate coverup has the department’s mission been so twisted.

Bondi’s likely replacement, Todd Blanche, Acting Attorney General, a former Trump defense lawyer (and ex-prosecutor), backed Bondi every step of the way in turning DOJ into Trump’s Department of Retribution. The president clearly wants Blanche to be even more aggressive.

Trump all but confirmed this yesterday to ABC, saying: “Everybody wants it. But Todd’s doing very well. He’s been with me a long time.”

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Trump’s attorneys general have suffered the same fate. He booted Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from the Russiagate probe, and then campaigned against him. Bill Barr resigned under pressure from Trump after finding no widespread fraud in the 2020 election, with the president later hurling insults at him.

Noem also did an awful job, seemingly more interested in self-promotion than dealing with the excesses of ICE, especially the fatal shooting of two American citizens, who she branded domestic terrorists. It wasn’t until she falsely accused Trump of approving a costly ad campaign featuring her that he’d had enough.

As an added indignity, we learned that Noem had potentially exposed herself to blackmail when those gaudy photos of her cross-dressing husband surfaced.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem found herself back in the spotlight last week when lewd photos of her husband surfaced. (Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images)

Now there are newspaper reports that Trump may dump Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who’s been accused of an improper relationship with a security staffer, misusing public funds and workplace drinking. Several top aides have resigned, and her husband is barred from the building after an accusation of sexual assault.

Trump is also weighing a pink slip for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who often freelances on his own. Lutnick was untruthful about visiting Jeffrey Epstein on his Caribbean island, years after he claimed to have cut off contact.

Trump has been asking aides about sacking Tulsi Gabbard, the national intelligence director, but seems to have dropped that idea for now. He doesn’t want headlines about a full-scale housecleaning.

“She’s a little bit different in her thought process than me, but that doesn’t make somebody not available to serve,” he told reporters the other day. 

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A judge has also blocked a subpoena for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, the subject of a DOJ criminal probe related to cost overruns for the agency’s renovation of its 89-year-old headquarters.

Cabinet shakeups are occasionally used as quick fixes. In 1979, Jimmy Carter demanded that all members resign, and wound up dropping Health Secretary Joe Califano, Treasury Secretary Michael Blumenthal, Energy Secretary James Schlesinger, Transportation Secretary Brock Adams and Attorney General Griffin Bell. It didn’t help.

For Trump, it’s almost always a question of loyalty, and for those who fall into disfavor, no amount of butt-kissing is ever enough.

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So we have the president fiddling with his political lineup and potential replacements even as he is fighting a war against Iran. You might think that would be put on hold as American warplanes are shot out of the sky.

But Trump is the ultimate multi-tasker. He’s even found time lately to complain about his planned White House ballroom and filed an emergency appeal, citing national security concerns, of a court ruling that has blocked construction.

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Whether the president is dealing with Pam Bondi or Mohammad Ghalibaf, he does what he wants, when he wants to do it. And leaves the consequences for another day.

In a way, President Donald J. Trump’s firing of Attorney General Pam Bondi should not have been a surprise, especially after the president’s Truth Social post last September criticizing her for failing to prosecute his political opponents. He told her she was “all talk, no action” and declared that her inaction was “killing our reputation and credibility.”

Whether that posting was meant to be private or public, it’s clear the president was very unhappy with the attorney general. And this was on top of her disastrous handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and the release of the government’s files on him.

The next few months will be interesting. The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, can run the Justice Department for 210 days. That means he can remain in the post until late November, after the midterms. That would save the White House from a confirmation battle in the midst of an election.

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Maybe, having ripped the bandage off by firing Bondi, the president might want to elevate Blanche. Can Senate Republicans get him through confirmation hearings before the August break?

Senate Democrats could be counted on to grill him about the two issues that Trump was unhappy with Attorney General Bondi over, namely the Epstein files and going after the president’s enemies list. How effective will Democrats be in roughing up Blanche? And since he’s likely to be confirmed by the 53 Senate Republicans, will any issues raised in the confirmation hearing help Democrats in the midterms?

Todd Blanche will serve as Interim U.S. Attorney General following the firing of Pam Bondi by President Trump. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

Then there’s also talk that the president might be leaning toward Environmental Protection Agency Administrator and former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin as the new attorney general. Zeldin is liked by his former House colleagues, who don’t get to vote on his confirmation but would be a supportive chorus for him. Democrats would still pound him on Epstein and the potential prosecution of the president’s enemies.

None of these questions are going away, especially since Bondi has an April 14 deposition scheduled before the House Oversight Committee.

The Republican chairman may find it impossible to cancel her appearance now, since Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., led the effort to subpoena Bondi. She was joined by three other Republicans on the committee in voting with all the committee’s Democrats to force Ms. Bondi to appear.

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Yes, we shouldn’t be surprised that the president dumped his attorney general. But her firing doesn’t end the issues that led to her removal. It’s just expanded the cast of political players who will now have to answer tough questions about those same issues.

Get your popcorn. Pam Bondi’s firing was just one episode.

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The next act of this drama is about to begin.

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