TEHRAN – American commentators trying to make sense of U.S. President Donald Trump’s governing style say he is not mentally intact or that he has an unstable personality easily swayed by the last person he speaks to.

They said this when Trump declared he wanted Greenland, when he began to target both friends and foes with draconian tariff policies, and when he launched an extremely dangerous war against Iran alongside Israel in June. Now, there are once again discussions about the president’s mental health and personality due to his apparent preparations to launch an invasion of Venezuela.

Trump has been building up military forces in the Caribbean for weeks. U.S. forces have also killed approximately 80 people on boats they claim were smuggling drugs from Venezuela to U.S. shores. The Trump administration has provided no evidence for those claims. In fact, Trump’s war secretary, known for a drinking problem and a lack of discipline in previous jobs, probably does not even know the identities of those he has ordered to be killed. Some legal analysts warn Pete Hegseth has already committed war crimes by authorizing the boat strikes.

In his latest remarks on Venezuela, Trump wrote on Truth Social: "To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY."

The post followed reports that Trump spoke by phone with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month. Other reports suggest he told Maduro he would refrain from attacking if Maduro stepped down, and that he would allow the Venezuelan president and his family to leave the country safely.

It appears that Maduro has rejected the offer. He appeared at a public event on Sunday, declaring that Venezuela is “indestructible, untouchable, unbeatable.”

This intimidation tactic Trump employed with Maduro was also used during the war on Iran. On June 13th, the day the war began with the assassination of Iranian generals in strikes on residential buildings in Tehran, many Iranian politicians received calls asking them to leave Iran, or else they too would be assassinated. Iranians, similar to the Venezuelans, did not heed the threats. After 12 days of Iran’s pummeling of the occupied territories, the U.S. and Israel asked for a ceasefire, which the Iranians accepted.

Maduro has written to OPEC, declaring that the U.S.’s real intention is to seize Venezuela’s oil reserves, the biggest in the world, through force. The opposition leader Americans have been hyping up and reportedly plan to replace Maduro with has stated multiple times that Americans would be able to tap into Venezuela's oil reserves once they have helped her become the new Venezuelan leader.

American commentators opposed to Washington’s foreign policies, whose numbers have grown in recent years, seem to view Trump as an isolated case in the history of American presidents. "He is a disgrace and not what we Americans stand for," said a former U.S. marine on a podcast he occasionally guests on.

But in other parts of the world, including West Asia and South America, Trump’s ways and moves are nothing new for the people. That is simply how Americans have always behaved.

If Trump ends up toppling the Venezuelan government, it would be the 41st such move by Washington in South America. Trump is doing what every U.S. president has done: bully other sovereign nations. First, there are sanctions, then intimidation, and then war. Trump is just not as skilled as people like Barack Obama, who killed millions in West Asia during his presidency but managed to make it sound fancy and altruistic. After the past two years of blatant U.S.-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza, which was documented and extensively watched by the world, it is now difficult for Americans to justify their killings under the banner of "human rights." Social media was not as effective or accessible when the U.S. killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Libya.

Venezuela, today, has decided to resist U.S. bullying, as did Iran. Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said during a television address last week that Iran will not be swayed by the "noise" its enemies make.

That "noise" previously materialized through the June 13th calls, and is currently evident in continued U.S.-Israeli threats of a new potential wave of aggression, as well as constantly renewed sanctions. The only way you can get rid of a bully, however, is to stand up to it. Bullies will continue their abuse as long as they believe you are in a weaker position — and that has been the American style for as long as the world can remember.