When in doubt, ask what the Founders would have done. This has been the American way for 250 years, since the United States declared independence in 1776. In this presentation, under ten minutes, I pose the question in relation to the Iran war and the dilemma of the closed Strait of Hormuz. 

For George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, the choke point was the “Barbary” coast of North Africa. Corsairs operating under the sanction of Muslim-ruled states, especially Tripoli and Algiers, put a stranglehold on American maritime commerce in the Mediterranean.

I draw revealing comparisons between that crisis and today’s Hormuz straitjacket, using the Founders’ pithy words and the Truth Social posts of the eminently quotable Donald J. Trump. Rhetorical style aside, were they really saying the same thing? You decide. Watch here.

(The occasion was the Weinberg Founders Conference dinner of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. No better or feistier audience.)