Buying a Rug 💸
Trump is desperate for a deal — the Iranians know that, and the ceasefire is a mess
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What’s the plan❓: We now have a two-week ceasefire with the war in Iran — so what’s the military planning for now?
🎯Building a new target list?
🚆Bridges and railroads used by the IRGC throughout the country have been bombed (Tabriz, Qazvin, Tehran, Karaj, Qom, Kashan)
💥Reassessing degraded Iranian capabilities?
So far, over 13,000 Iranian targets have been struck
155 plus Iranian vessels hit
👀Looking at options to take Kharg Island?
Reality🤷: This isn’t just a two-week pause for us.
🚨These two weeks also give time for the Iranians to rearm and regroup — so is this just making it harder to begin with?
Watch tonight📺: Brig Gen. John Teichert and Vice Adm. Robert Harward
Ceasefire Reality‼️
The best thing we can say about the ceasefire is that it is a mess.
Nice plus➕: The stock market is up and oil is down — that is meaningful and should be reported.
Always cheating🚨: The Wall Street Journal reports Iran is running a mafia-style protection ring for safe passage.
💸Payment is coming in cryptocurrency or Chinese Yuan.
‼️Remember when sending money to Iran was bad?!?!
🗣️Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and the White House say the Iranians are lying publicly and offering private assurances it’s open — ok, got it.
🤷Let’s be fair — and strip away all of the posturing from both D.C. and Tehran. It doesn’t matter what everyone says — it matters what they do.
Reality🤦: Trump overpaid for a ceasefire — we ceased fire without a single good act or show of good faith by Iran.
‼️The Iranians surviving means they won, but put that aside — Trump seems to have accepted that.
‼️If you believe the White House, this is the greatest deal on earth — Trump had Iran on the run, and they begged for mercy.
‼️If you believe the Iranians, Trump just got rolled
🚨 Be Fair: We are 24 hours in, and we just don’t know — but a final deal, which will get dragged out far beyond “two weeks,” must deal with a few fundamental issues
At least on paper the US and Iran reported negotiating documents are in different galaxies.
💣The Uranium inside Iran
If Iran turns over all their uranium, Trump will have won a major victory.
If any amount of enriched uranium stays in Iran, it’s no better than President Obama’s disaster
🌊Reopening the Strait of Hormuz
If the Iranians (or anyone) can charge protection for passage in the strait — it’s a disaster.
🚨They will be better off than they were before the war started.
📺I joined Bill O’Reilly on his “No Spin News” — click here to watch
‼️Trump’s problem is that he needs a deal — Iran knows this.
Imagine this💭: My wife, Rachel and I go to a Persian rug store to buy a new rug
She says in front of the salesman — “If you don’t buy me this rug…you are sleeping on the couch.”
I am not going to get a good deal on the rug.
Watch tonight📺: Retired Navy captain and former Pentagon official Brent Sadler and former State Department official Kori Schake.
Plus📺: NewsNation’s Kellie Meyer at the White House
The Schizophrenia of Democrats🤪
🤦In the span of 24 hours, Democrats went from “Trump is a genocidal maniac” to “Trump always chickens out.”
🌅Tuesday morning:
🎤Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.: “If the United States Congress has any life left in it, every member of Congress and senator must be calling for Trump’s removal today, based on the 25th Amendment. He’s threatening the entire destruction of a civilization.”
🎤Sen Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.: “This is an extremely sick person. Each Republican who refuses to join us in voting against this wanton war of choice owns every consequence of whatever the hell this is.”
🌜Tuesday night:
🎤Rep Ro Khanna, D-Calif.: “Trump backed down. No credit to Congress, which barely made a whimper.”
🎤Sen Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.: “I’m glad Trump backed off and is desperately searching for any sort of exit ramp from his ridiculous bluster.”
🤦This is exactly the problem for Democrats — they have to be reflexively negative about Trump, which means they can never be for anything.
👎They can’t stop themselves from making their TACO jokes
🎤Jimmy Kimmel: “The people of Iran were wondering if their civilization was going to die tonight. Well, good news, it didn’t. It was the Taco Tuesday of all Taco Tuesdays.”
🎤Governor Gavin Newsom: “We finally have something nice to say about Trump: he’s made Taco Tuesday a global phenomenon.”
🎤CNN Erin Burnett: “There will be some who will call it, you know, ‘TACO: Trump Always Chickens Out’”
Take the advice‼️: Rep. Tassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., told her coworkers to stop with the jokes
🎤Ansari: “I do not appreciate anyone — Democrat or Republican — taking this moment to make jokes to say Trump ‘chickened out.’ The president was threatening genocide against 90 million Iranians.”
👍Plus Sam Stein on MS NOW called out Democrats
🎤Stein: “I know people like to pile on Trump in these moments and say, ‘well, he TACO’d’ and you know, ‘he was always going to TACO’ and I just think that’s just the wrong framework because it’s not about chickening out.”
Reality check☑️: Democrats need to realize trashing Trump is getting them nowhere — they are more unpopular than Republicans.
👍28% have a favorable opinion of Democrats
👎32% have a favorable opinion of Republicans
Flip side ⤵️: The war in Iran is exposing BOTH sides.
🤦For Democrats — everything Trump does is bad, and they have no plan.
📉For Republicans — it’s a big issue for Vice President JD Vance, in which his first year has sucked.
👍37% approve of Vance
👎62% disapprove
Watch tonight📺: NewsNation’s Chris Cillizza, Mike Nellis and Shelby Talcott on what victory looks like from a Democrat’s perspective.