Op-ed:

Even In a Time of War 2+2 Should = 4

By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor

This opinion piece is my opinion alone, and does not necessarily represent the views of blogspot.or google.com 

This is an article I never really wanted to write, but after President Trump made certain statements at an August 14th Republican candidates rally in Long Island, New York... statements like, “After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated,  pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” adding that “Insuring Iran could not build a nuclear weapon was worth paying a tiny little bit more for your gasoline.” And to those very words he then also added that, “When you have to pay a little bit more, you’re at $4. It’s okay,” and “I’ll never apologize. I did the right thing;” So it now seemed like the right time to remind folks of certain well documented and verified facts.

And while these facts I will be referring to have been in the public domain for a number of years, the Trump team along with the Trump “can do no wrong” crowd, either tried to bury those facts, downplay them, ignore them, or hope they'd simply just fade away, forgetting that when words are part of the public domain they could, if rediscovered, come rightfully back to haunt.

And while President Trump has done absolutely nothing illegal in what I am about to disclose nor do I...a three time Trump voter...accuse him of willfully or deliberately deceiving “We the American People,” I do feel that certain actions taken coupled with inactions not taken during this still ongoing but not yet won war with Iran, might start to make a bit more sense. And while 2 + 2 two still equals 4...except in “Common Core” math...telling the truth serves one better than trying to divert the discourse to keep us from discovering tried to be hidden facts. And this is especially true when those facts could change not only the logistics of how this war with Iran is militarily being fought, but answers the question on many of our minds as to why this war seems so misguided after Trump switched his original goal of Iran's unconditionally surrendering to his now diplomatic deals fiasco.

So let me start by saying that the old adage, “money is the root of all evil” might actually be shadowing how President Trump is handling this war for whether some care to believe it or not...and again no actual illegalities come into play...the fact remains that our president and his family do have extensive business interests and investments in the Middle East including in the very countries who while on paper are our allies, but who in reality are tenuous, sleep with one eye open, allies at best.

And so here the “follow the money” game begins with big name countries... big monied countries...oil rich countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Eremites (UAE), Oman, and Qatar seeing President Trump and his family, while not owning actual physical real estate in these countries, still having made what are combined real estate (as in hotels, mega-buck luxury apartments, and golf courses), brand licensing, management, and crypto currency monetary dealings with said countries.

In fact, President Trump and his family, besides being developers, are also the co-founders of, and are still directly involved with, the major investment firm “World Liberty Financial” (WLF) which itself is directly linked to the UAE's purchase of a “49% stake” in the family's crypto venture via hundreds of millions of dollars in upfront payments. And this is in addition to both Trump and his family garnering additional monies from digital token sales which are also tied to said investment firm, with its proceeds now reaching upwards of one plus billion dollars mostly thanks to Gulf nation investors...no real surprise there.

The “Art of the Deal” truly come to life...all completely legal...all highly successful...all extremely profitable business deals managed by the Trump family via licensing and development deals...all what Trump has proven to do best. And here might I add my kudos to Trump on his monetary success, while at the same time having his ego stroked by Gulf developers who pay big money to put his name on “luxury towers, golf courses, and hotels” in countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, and Qatar. See a pattern here...I sure do.

And this pattern itself is what is more than a bit troubling to me in that the actual monetary aspect involved has Trump and his family directly tied into the countries who, during this time of war, remain but tenuous allies at best... allies with agendas of their own...allies smart enough to know that Trump will likely do as they say as his current and future business ventures do hang somewhat in the balance. So why not use the war itself as their bargaining chip...their “Trump chip” if you will...to get Iran to stop lobbing missiles and drones into their oil rich countries.

Remember, the big money players of these countries have much to lose the longer that this war lingers on no matter that Trump originally did state that the Iran war “will only take a few weeks”...and yet those words...that very time frame...now has dragged on, in but one guise or another, for over a year. And with those countries all being key Mideast countries that Trump, and his family, have highly profitable business dealings with, coupled with those countries being either players to one degree or another in the war itself and who now see themselves being the target of Iran's retaliation after U.S. bombs go boom... all I can say is “Houston” we might have somewhat of a “conflict of interest” here in how this war...whether knowingly or not...is being both physically played out, and who exactly is giving the orders in regards to who, when, where, and why.

And here also note that over the past month or so each of those aforementioned countries' leaders have told President Trump to stop or at least slow down the Iran bombings...bombings getting a bit too close to Iran's capital Tehran...and which, as I started to write this article, saw Trump complying with their wishes. And even in his doing so, some of those countries remained“behind his back busy” by privately forging their own alliances with both Turkey and Pakistan...countries technically allies, but allies with fingers most assuredly crossed behind their backs.

Why so? First, Turkey's leader Recep Erdogan is no friend to our ally and war partner Israel as he outwardly despises and vocally condemns her leader Benjamin Netanyahu. And second because while Pakistan remains what's known as a “transactional partner” of the U.S. rather than her being a binding “treaty-bound” ally, we find our relationship with them being defined as one of “deep strategic mistrust.” Why so...because we have more friendly dealings and trust with Pakistan's long time enemy India, the very country who has now forged a working relationship and friendship with Israel as well.

And besides, and this is key, I do not believe that Pakistan's acting as a negotiating go-between for us and Iran has worked out very well as witnessed by the numerous deals made that have fallen apart, ceasefires that have been breached, and Trump's supposed “Red Lines” laughingly being crossed by Iran.

And yet it's Pakistan that remains Trump's go-to in regards to diplomatic negotiations with Iran, leaving me to wonder why...thus I found this interesting little bit of information...the Trump family has financial and digital asset connections to Pakistan through aforementioned “World Liberty Financial” (WLF), and it's courtesy of the family-linked cryptocurrency venture being used as one means of “cross-border payments”* for services or business transactions rendered. Translation: the Trump family has garnered roughly $500 million to $800 million from token sales and its crypto-partnerships with Pakistan, 

But again, there's absolutely nothing illegal about this nor with any of Trump's or his family's previously mentioned business ventures. But even with illegalities removed from the mix, I still see President Trump's omission of truth...especially regarding his personal investments in the Gulf region raking in billions of dollars not for our country or the Iranian people, but for he and his family alone. Simply, what currently passes for truth must be separated from made up media news reported truth so that 2+2 actually does equal 4, thus helping to eliminate the optics of what was at the beginning a rightful war, but which now has started to get a bit blurry.

Why so...first because Trump's all consuming obsession with the “Strait of Hormuz” finds him completely ignoring the regime's execution of Iran's freedom fighters still being carried out on an almost daily basis...the very people who begged us for help...the very people he told “help is on the way” but who are still waiting for said help. And second, all his decisions of late regarding to bomb or not bomb Iran seem to be based upon imput received from the very Gulf nations he not only has personal monetary dealings with, but who personally are affected by his blockade of Hormuz.

Sounds to me like a “we'll do this for you if you do that for us” sort of game which to some degree is but veiled bribery of sorts, and surely something any president would want to be kept hidden even if good intentions and a war winning scenario were involved.

Simply, illegalities are one thing, and while no technical illegalities are involved regarding President Trump or his family in relation to their ongoing business ventures with certain of the Iran war's key players, the optics of money privately still being garnered, and the possibility of decisions being rendered on the urging of those key players, is really not a good look to have, especially when these same players have a stake in the outcome of the war itself.

Trump's actions in regards to control of the “Strait of Hormuz” are now financially hurting the very Gulf nations he and his family have big money (albeit) legal dealings with, and it's definitely because of our ongoing blockade. So here I say that maybe...just maybe...some decisions made by our president are not really in our, the Iranian people, or the world's best interests, but in his own dollars and cents interests, which can not only affect the war's outcome, but his presidential legacy, and the Republican party's future as well

And again, I am not accusing our president of any legal wrongdoing, just thinking out loud as nothing else in his mishandling of this war seems to make 2+2=4 sense. Case closed.

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Footnote

* Cross-border payments are financial transactions where the sender and the receiver are located in different countries. These transfers often require currency conversion and pass through multiple intermediary or correspondent banks to move money across distinct national banking systems and regulatory frameworks.

Copyright @ 2026 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All Rights Reserved.

************************************************************************************************** For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog The National Patriot to read his latest article, The U.S. War Strategy vs. Iran - A Textbook Masterclass.  

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RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE! 

Tomorrow, Tuesday, August 25th from 7 to 8:30pm EST, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss 'Even In a Time of War 2+2 Should = 4'; 'The U.S. War Strategy vs. Iran - A Textbook Masterclass'; and important news of the day. Tune in to RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS on https://rspradio1.com Click 'LISTEN LIVE.'