Day 1,076: While U.S. Embassy burned in Iraq, Trump was at his golf club

Supporters of an Iranian-backed militia attacked the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq on Tuesday. They set fires and chanted “Death to America” as they broke into the compound and inflicted damage.

Protesters broke into the heavily guarded compound of the United States Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday and set fires inside in anger over American airstrikes that killed 24 members of an Iranian-backed militia over the weekend.

The men did not enter the main embassy buildings and later withdrew from the compound, joining thousands of protesters and militia fighters outside chanting “Death to America,” throwing rocks, covering the walls with graffiti and demanding that the United States withdraw its forces from Iraq.

The situation remained combustible, with the crowd vowing to camp indefinitely outside the sprawling compound, the world’s largest embassy. Their ability to storm the most heavily guarded zone in Baghdad suggested that they had received at least tacit permission from Iraqi security officials sympathetic to their demands.

The American airstrikes on Sunday have resulted in the most serious political crisis in years for the United States in Iraq, stoking anti-Americanism and handing an advantage to Iran in its competition for influence in the country.

It’s yet another example of Donald Trump’s failed foreign policy related to Iran and the Middle East at large.

And it’s more total humiliation on the world stage for Trump and the U.S. as a whole.

As for Trump’s handling on the most recent situation, he was at his golf club on Tuesday while the Embassy burned.

His defense was that he wasn’t actually playing golf.

But he did find time to tap out a threat to Iran.

While the U.S. was being subjected to an attack on foreign soil, Trump continued tweeting about impeachment, the Robert Mueller probe and retweeting right-wing conspiracy theorists.

In short, it was a perfectly apt way for Donald Trump to end 2019.

1,076 days in, 386 to go

Follow us on Twitter at @TrumpTimer