What January 3 mean for Trump? - Soleimani and Venezuela's Maduro

By Elnur Enveroglu

Some people attribute the creation of the world to a random explosion, a matter of pure chance. Yet a closer look at political processes suggests that little of consequence unfolds without design. Recent history, in particular, reveals how carefully chosen dates often carry messages that go far beyond the events themselves. Take 24 February as a case in point. In 1976, Argentina’s military coup unfolded on that day. In 2022, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on the same date. Two years later, amid escalating tensions, 24 February again became the moment when the most extensive sanctions packages were imposed. Symbolism, clearly, was not incidental.

The same pattern appears on 20 March. On 20 March 2003, the United States invaded Iraq. Exactly eight years later, NATO began its intervention in Libya on the same day. Political historians have long argued that the selection of dates for major actions is rarely accidental. Such timing often serves as a signal, embedding events within deeper narratives and foreshadowing further developments. In short, history is choreographed as much as it is recorded.

Today, political history appears to be turning yet another page. Donald Trump, the 47th president of the United States, is often dismissed as a theatrical or even comic figure. Yet beneath the bravado lies a method marked by timing and calculation. Unlike other leaders, Trump frequently delivers his messages through irony, ridicule, or calculated humiliation of his adversaries. Most striking is his apparent fixation on 3 January.

On 3 January 2020, as the world was bracing itself for the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump sent a stark message to Tehran: Iran’s top general, Qasem Soleimani, was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad at around 02:15 local time. Five years later, history appeared to rhyme. On the same date, and at a comparable hour, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was captured following a two-hour operation, reportedly concluding at 01:00 Caracas time. The convergence of both date and hour suggests deliberate symbolism rather than coincidence, perhaps the most enigmatic aspect of Trump’s strategic thinking.

Events unfolding in Iran today also seem laden with historical resonance. The Iranian Islamic Revolution began on 7 January 1978. Now, on the same calendar dates, mass protests challenge the very system born of that revolution. It is not without reason that the saying goes: time, indeed, cures all ills, or exposes them.