Here’s everything you need to know as crunch talks with Iran reportedly broke down entirely – forcing Trump to choose between more fighting and backing down …again
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Donald Trump has extended the ceasefire in Iran – and America’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz – indefinitely, just hours before it was set to expire.
With negotiations having reportedly broken down entirely, Trump blamed the “fractured” state of the Iranian government for them failing to come up with a deal that he liked. And as soon as we find the guy responsible for Iran’s government being fractured, we’re sure he’ll get a stiff talking to.
Meanwhile, this evening, Donald Trump will read a bible passage live on TV, urging Americans to repent just days after he posted an image of himself as Jesus Christ. The day after he posted, then deleted, the image, Trump recorded his reading sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, in a bizarre mockery of the separation of church and state.
He recorded himself reading out a passage from 2 Chronicles 7:11-22, which in part urges people to repent for their sins, and for God to bless the nation. It’s part of a marathon of nearly 500 people reading out passages from the world’s bestselling book, organised by “Christians Engaged”, a Texas-based, tax-exempt right-wing non-profit lobbying organisation. Trump, in a 2019 interview, was famously unable to cite a favourite bible verse or passage. When asked whether he was an old or New Testament guy, he said: “Probably equal”.
Meanwhile, in Trumpworld
- Iran peace talks looked like they were almost certainly off
- Then Trump backed down again
- Pete Hegseth wants soldiers to get the flu to own the libs
- President Bone Spurs reckons he could have won Vietnam in weeks
- Leavitt accidentally announces Trump mental health treatment
Here’s what you need to know
1. Iran talks were almost certainly off… JD’s flight had even been cancelled
Last-ditch peace talks with Iran looked uncertain, with both sides warning they were all set to continue fighting if they couldn’t reach a deal.
Trump hadn’t (yet) indicated he’s gearing up for genocide, as he did the last time a deadline loomed.
But he did say he didn’t want to extend the ceasefire, warning “lots of bombs” would “start going off” if there’s no agreement.
Iran’s chief negotiator said that Tehran has “new cards on the battlefield” that haven’t yet been revealed.
To give an indication of where we’re at, JD Vance who was inexplicably expected to lead the talks, cancelled a planned trip to Pakistan today.
2. Aaaand then Trump backed down again
As everyone kind of half expected, Trump walked back down the hill again this evening – extending the ceasefire and the blockade indefinitely.
“Based on the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured,” he wrote. “Not unexpectedly so and, upon the request of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan, we have been asked to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal.”
Which is a weird position to take given he’s been telling everyone for days that the US has been working with the new Iranian administration, and that regime change had happened and everything was going fine.
Trump continued: “I have therefore directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other. President DONALD J. TRUMP”
So that’s a continued ceasefire with the blockade remaining in place and…no end date. I’m certain the oil markets will love that.
3. Hegseth wants soldiers to get the flu to own the libs
Pete Hegseth, Trump’s “Secretary of War” has decided it wasn’t enough for the Trump administration apologise for making soldiers get the life-saving Covid vaccine, without which America’s fighting force could have been ravaged during the pandemic. So today he’s announced that the US Armed Forces won’t be forced to get the flu jab either. In an online video, Hegseth lamented that vaccine mandates forced war fighters to “choose between their conscience and their country”, apparently oblivious to that being something every member of the armed forces does on a daily basis. It’s kind of the deal.
Anyway, in a bid to further own the libs – cough, I mean, “protect medical autonomy and religious freedom”, Hegseth decided there’s no need for his big hard troops to be required to take care of their bodies. The dropping of the flu vaccine mandate follows what health officials said was a particularly severe flu season when U.S. infections surged. Public health experts recommend that everyone 6 months and older get an annual influenza vaccine. The military instituted its first vaccination program in 1777 when General George Washington directed the inoculation of the Continental Army to protect personnel from smallpox.
4. President Bone Spurs claims he would have won Vietnam “very quickly”
Donald Trump, who was given five military deferments so he didn’t have to serve in Vietnam, claims he would have won that war “very quickly” if he’d been in charge at the time.
“I just looked at a little chart: World War I, four years and three months. World War II, six years. Korean War, three years. Vietnam, 19 years. Iraq, eight years — I’m five months [in Iran],” Trump said in a phone-in interview with CNBC, apparently confused about how long it has been since the start of the war nearly two months ago. “I would have won Vietnam very quickly. I would have, if I were president.”
He was granted his first four deferments from the military draft due to being a student. But in 1968, after he graduated, a podiatrist who rented office space from his father in New York wrote a letter to the draft board that he had “bone spurs” in his heels, so he couldn’t possibly fight for his country. The podiatrist’s daughter has since come forward and said he’d given the diagnosis as a favour to Trump’s father. In 2019, Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, said he’d never seen any evidence of his infirmity. “Mr. Trump claimed it was because of a bone spur, but when I asked for medical records, he gave me none and said there was no surgery,” Cohen said. “He told me not to answer the specific questions by reporters but rather offer simply the fact that he received a medical deferment.”
5. Karoline Leavitt accidentally announced Trump was seeking mental health treatment
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was widely mocked online after she made a post that seemed like she was announcing Trump was seeking care for serious mental illness.
“Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump is Accelerating Medical Treatments for Serious Mental Illness,” she wrote, linking to a newly published executive order.
California Governor Gavin Newsom almost immediately replied: “For himself?”
And journalist Aaron Rupar (without whose tireless work it’d be so much more difficult to cover Trump from overseas, sincerely, thankyou Aaron), said: “We’ve noticed and i’m glad he’s getting help.”
Leavitt later reshared the original post with a clarification, which read: “President Trump signed an Executive Order that will accelerate access to treatments for patients with serious mental illness, reaffirming his commitment to advancing solutions that provide hope to Americans with devastating, complex, and treatment-resistant conditions.”
