Ex-Nuclear Negotiator Criticizes Trump’s Push for Abraham Accords in Iran Deal
Trump threatened to blow up Oman and said Gulf states “owe” it to the US to normalize relations with Israel.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says President Donald Trump will not make a bad deal with Iran. Bessent says Iran must turn over its highly enriched uranium, they can't pursue a nuclear weapon and the Strait of Hormuz has to be fully open. He spoke at the White House. (Source: Bloomberg)
Trump threatened to blow up Oman and said Gulf states “owe” it to the US to normalize relations with Israel.
Negotiators representing the U.S. and Iran have reached a tentative agreement about the ceasefire, according to various news outlets.If signed by President Donald Trump and the Iranian regime, the ceasefire would extend for another 60 days. Trump has not yet signed off on the memorandum of understanding, according to an official who wanted to remain anonymous.'President Trump is not going to make a bad deal for the American people, for the US.'"This is an agreement to get everybody to the table," the official told Axios. "We will work out the details in the negotiations."If both sides agree to the ceasefire, it would lead to the Strait of Hormuz being opened to trade again and possibly lowering gas prices across the globe. Other policies to be decided include billions of dollars of frozen assets that Iran would like to regain and restrictions on its ability to refine uranium for military nuclear capabilities.The president had lambasted previous offers from the regime and at one point called its proposals "garbage" and "unacceptable."RELATED: Trump offers unique insight into Iran's 'strange' negotiations: 'It won't be pretty!' When Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was asked about the deal on Thursday, he would not answer directly."Everything depends on what the president wants to do, and President Trump is not going to make a bad deal for the American people, for the U.S.," he said.This is a developing story. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Economist and public policy scholar Justin Wolfers says Republicans and President Donald Trump have not only set themselves up for a brutal midterm, but voters will probably be holding them accountable for high inflation and fuel prices for years.“There is a bomb that has hit the world economy and to any of us who watch the economy, there's no question that the economy today is different than it was in February,” Wolfers told podcaster Jacqueline Cole.The damage Trump and the GOP have done doesn’t amount to a dip or a drop. It’s much bigger than that — and more permanent. Wolfers described it more as a “crater” resulting from Trump’s bomb“Okay, so we'll start with the oil prices. Oil prices today are higher than they were — they’re about $100 a barrel. They were $60, but I can see oil price futures, which tells me how long oil prices will be higher than they would otherwise be and the answer is ‘for several years,’” said Wolfers. “It could be that they think this conflict goes on for longer or they think that this conflict is laying the ground for future conflicts. But get used to it. Energy is more expensive and will be for a while.”Wolfers was loathe to speak of the costs of Trump’s Iran was in terms of “billions” or “trillions,” because numbers like that sound too general. He prefers to talk in terms of what it will cost the average U.S. family. And when you pare those numbers down to the impact on individual families things start to sound painful.People do not measure mass shootings by the number of bullets, he said. They measure it by pain, suffering and the many expensive ancillary costs that come of mass shooting. Similarly, some Fed researchers recently constructed an index of the geopolitical risk of Trump’s war. And when Wolfers applies their unit of measurement it translates into U.S. income and output being $200 billion lower as a result of Trump’s Iran invasion.“The point that I want to get across though is every way I look at this, the bill ends up being hundreds of billions of dollars. Okay, so if this war ends up costing ... $130 billion dollars and there's 130 million Americans. That means that the average cost per household is … several thousand dollars.”And these costs aren’t going anywhere due to the lingering effects of geopolitical damage hammering down onto U.S. citizens, in addition to other costs. But, don’t worry. Trump and the Republicans who made it all happen will still be handing around in office, waiting to for voters to show them how thankful they are for this.
In a Truth Social post Wednesday, President Trump typed out a lengthy paragraph on the necessity of protecting the prediction and crypto markets, taking the opportunity to label a slew of Democrats “scum,” call the US the crypto capital of the world, and claim prediction markets are a new form of financial market. He didn’t […]
Trump repeatedly has said the end of the war is close, but not there yet
Few events in President Donald Trump’s second term have prompted as much outrage as the announcement that the DOJ will create a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate those “harmed” by the Biden administration, which has been broadly denounced as a “slush fund” for convicted J6 criminals. There has been bipartisan discussion of how to block the fund, and now famed Esquire political commentator Charles P. Pierce is applauding one “imaginative” idea. Earlier this week, New York Democratic state assemblymember and House candidate Alex Bores unveiled legislation that would level a 100 percent tax against payouts from the fund. Then on Wednesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom gave even greater visibility to the idea, telling reporters, “Anyone from California that receives any of those funds, we want to tax 100 percent of those proceeds.” Other congressional Democrats have gotten behind similar efforts.“I love this,” said Pierce. “This is the kind of imaginative grassroots pushback the national Democratic party needs. The more that this incredibly corrupt bargain is subjected to public scorn and ridicule, the better.”While the concept may have a hard time catching on among Republicans who are famously antagonistic toward enacting new taxes, conservative lawmakers have been so angered by the fund that they may be willing to take dramatic steps to oppose it. Even congressional Republicans who are usually hesitant to break with the president have blasted the move, with former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declaring, “So the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong — take your pick.” The tax idea hasn’t been the only effort to stymie the fund. Shortly after it was announced, the Bipartisan Transparency for American Taxpayers Act was introduced by Representatives Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), which declared simply that “no federal funds may be used for the payment of any claim submitted to the Anti-Weaponization Fund, established by the Department of Justice on May 18, 2026.” If enacted, it would essentially kill the fund. Representative Jamie Raskin (D-CA) introduced the No Taxpayer-Funded Settlement Slush Funds Act, which would similarly deny federal cash to the fund.Interestingly enough, in February, a slate of Republican lawmakers began pushing the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2026, which has so far failed to gain traction. If enacted, it would prohibit government officials from entering into settlement agreements that divert funds to third-party organizations, with the intention of preventing the Executive Branch from circumventing Congress and steering settlement money to its preferred recipients — an exact description of the circumstances surrounding the J6 slush fund.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gracelessly dodged questions about the $1.8 billion slush fund the Department of Justice awarded to the president and his allies. During a White House press briefing Thursday, a reporter asked Bessent to comment on the process for developing the $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” set up as part of a settlement for Donald Trump’s failing lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Services.Surprise, surprise: Bessent’s response did not mention the fund at all. “This is going to be the only question I take on this matter today. So, there’s ongoing litigation, so it’d be inappropriate for me to comment,” Bessent said. “President Trump is a great American who has endured more than 10 years—10 years of nonstop harassment and weaponization from federal and state government actors. A bad actor at the IRS leaked more than 400,000 tax returns including the Trump family, all the employees, and that’s how we got here now.”“No American should be targeted for political reasons and every citizen deserves fair treatment and the full protection of the law. The Department of Justice represented the Treasury and the IRS in this matter, and I’m going to have to refer any questions to active Attorney General Todd Blanche.”Q: There's a lot of people talking about the 'weaponization fund.' What is the process for those funds now?BESSENT: Thank you for the question. This will be the only question I will take on this matter. President Trump is a great American who has endured more than 10 years of… pic.twitter.com/j6qZZfaDxY— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 28, 2026CNN’s Kaitlan Collins also pressed the secretary on the sudden exit of Brian Morrissey, the Treasury’s top legal officer, following the announcement of the fund—but Bessent wouldn’t bite.“I will not be taking any other questions, I will not be taking any other questions,” he repeated. Maybe he should add that to his list of pathetic affirmations?Q: Mr. Secretary, about the $1.8B slush fund. Is it accurate that the general counsel of the Treasury Department resigned over that?Trump's Treasury Secretary: I will not be taking any other questions. pic.twitter.com/2sz5PDD5U0— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) May 28, 2026It appears that Bessent is intent on allowing Trump to pillage the Treasury and award his worst allies with taxpayer dollars—without owing taxpayers any answers. This lack of transparency is par for the course, but Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund is a criminal enterprise so egregious that it manages to stand out in a presidency that was already blatantly corrupt.
Cracks are forming in the MAGA-linked "Freedom 250" festival.Marketed as a celebration of America's 250th anniversary, artists in the lineup are now withdrawing due to the event's increasingly politicized direction. Morris Day denied involvement despite appearing in promotional materials, explicitly stating he would not perform, reports Bring Me The News. Young MC, the rapper behind "Bust a Move," followed suit, announcing on X he informed his agents he would not participate. Young MC also revealed artists were never told about political involvement with the event, despite organizers claiming it was non-partisan.The American rapper stated he hopes to perform in Washington D.C. at a future event "that is not so politically charged." The festival, scheduled for the National Mall, originally featured performers including Vanilla Ice and Flo Rida. The artist departures raise questions about the event's credibility and appeal.The "Freedom 250" Festival was described by SPIN magazine as "Trump-backed." Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.