Trump Finds 'Crown Prince' Pahlavi Inappropriate (But Not Israeli Lobbying)
Al Jazeera dutifully reported Trump's reluctance to endorse Pahlavi, noting the exiled 'Crown Prince' as an 'Israel-aligned opposition figure.' What goes unsaid is America's long, complicated history with the Pahlavi dynasty itself. After all, the original Pahlavi was reinstalled by a US-UK coup in 1953 (Operation Ajax) because he was more amenable to Western oil interests than a democratically
elected leader. Fast forward, and now we're just picking and choosing which ex-monarchs are 'appropriate' for a photo op with a potential future US President. It's a revolving door of selective morality. While Trump ponders the decorum of meeting a monarch-in-waiting, the same decorum is rarely applied to the very real, active influence of powerful lobbying groups on US policy. For example,
OpenSecrets.org clearly shows AIPAC and pro-Israel groups funneling tens of millions (e.g., over $31 million in 2022) into US elections to shape policy—something far more 'appropriate' for presidential consideration, apparently, than some dusty crown.