Axios: Trump’s D-Day becomes a waiting game

Posted on August 25, 2026 by michelleclarke2015
Trump’s D-Day becomes a waiting game
 
Illustration of President Trump in the shadow of the Iranian flag
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Getty Images
 
President Trump’s “economic D-Day“ for Iran came and went yesterday with little of the shock or awe it promised, amounting instead to yet another extended ultimatum, Axios’ Zachary Basu writes.

Why it matters: Operation Economic Outcast will unfold not like the Allied invasion of Normandy, but as a sweeping, slow-burn sanctions campaign that could eventually lock Iran’s foreign enablers out of the U.S. financial system.

Zoom in: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent kicked off the operation by blacklisting more than 60 Iran-linked targets and widening the reach of secondary sanctions. “Every country has a defined timeline to shut down activities we have identified,” he said.

Bessent declined to name specific countries or deadlines, saying the administration preferred “quiet diplomacy” before resorting to “the hammer of U.S. Treasury actions.”

“Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?” he told reporters when pressed on the gradual rollout, saying countries deserve a chance to change their behavior.

🇨🇳 Between the lines: The real test will be China, which accounts for roughly 90% of Iran’s exported oil and remains one of the regime’s most important economic lifelines.

If Trump follows through on his threats, secondary sanctions could force Chinese banks, refiners and shippers to choose between Iran and access to dollars, U.S. banks and markets.

The intrigue: Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to visit the White House on Sept. 24, giving Trump another reason to think twice before risking a new confrontation with the world’s second-largest economy. Share this story.
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About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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