Trump Hates War—But His Ego is More Dangerous Than Missiles

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Daniel Finkelstein warns that Trump’s Gaza Board of Peace Could Just become a Talking Shop

By TRH World Desk

New Delhi, January 22, 2026 — Speaking on Times Radio, political commentator Daniel Finkelstein offered what sounded like faint praise for Donald Trump—before dismantling it with a deeper warning.

Yes, Trump hates war. But that instinct, Finkelstein implied, may be driven less by moral clarity than by narcissism, impatience, and a fundamental inability to understand sacrifice, strategy, or institutions.

Trump’s aversion to war, Finkelstein noted, stems from a worldview in which military casualties are pointless and those who die in battle are “losers.” While avoiding bloodshed is laudable, the reasoning behind it is deeply troubling. It reduces war not to a moral catastrophe but to a bad personal investment—something that does not serve Trump’s image or ego.

That distinction matters.

As discussion turned to Gaza and the involvement of Tony Blair, Finkelstein acknowledged that a narrowly defined effort—focused on reconstruction, economics, and stabilisation—could be constructive. But he expressed growing alarm as Trump’s thinking appeared to mutate, almost in real time, from Gaza-specific diplomacy into something far grander and far more reckless.

“What worries me,” Finkelstein said, “is that this (Board of Peace) is going to be a talking shop.”

That fear strikes at the heart of Trump’s foreign-policy danger. Geopolitics analysts maintain that Trump does not merely distrust multilateral institutions; he is bored by them. He prefers ad hoc groups, loyalty-based diplomacy, and improvised power structures that revolve around his own authority. In Gaza, as elsewhere, peace risks becoming a stage set—less about outcomes and more about Trump being seen as the dealmaker-in-chief.

Finkelstein was blunt about the pattern. During press conferences, Trump “gets bored of peace” and pivots to talking about himself. The problem is not that Trump hates war—but that he lacks the patience, discipline, and institutional respect required to secure peace.

An economic plan for Gaza could help, Finkelstein argued—but only if it explicitly supports Palestinian autonomy and a two-state solution. Without that anchor, any Trump-led initiative risks becoming another hollow “talking shop,” heavy on headlines and light on legitimacy.

Trump’s ego may restrain him from starting wars. But it may also erode the very structures designed to prevent them.

And that, Finkelstein suggests, is the real danger.