So now the Strait of Hormuz is closed again, this time because Iran blames Israel for defending itself from attacks...
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Trump warning that Iran ‘won’t have a country’ if it closes strait of Hormuz contrasts with vice-president’s tone seeking to turn over ‘new leaf’ with Tehran – key US politics stories from Sunday 21 JuneDonald Trump threatened to resume war with Iran even as his vice-president JD Vance met Iranian officials to begin peace talks in Switzerland.Also overshadowing negotiations in Bürgenstock was Tehran’s announcement it had again closed the strait of Hormuz, a threat made because of ongoing Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon. Continue reading...
President Donald Trump's war with Iran put the global economy on the brink of collapse, and one economist warns that it could get worse if one sector of the economy begins to show signs of weakness. Liaquat Ahamed, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former World Bank investment chief, said during a recent episode of "The Court of History" podcast on the Legal AF Network that Trump's unilateral decision to impose tariffs on America's trading partners had already weakened the global economy before his war with Iran began. After the Iranian regime closed the Strait of Hormuz, the economy came exceedingly close to the brink, Ahamed argued. The only thing that saved Trump from collapsing the global economy was the enormous amounts of money tech companies are spending to build data centers around the world, Ahamed added. Without that, the economy would be in a "dark place," he continued. "The tech companies are spending trillions of dollars to build these data centers, and that is essentially sustaining the global economy," Ahamed said. Ahamed compared the state of the global economy to recent historical crashes, borrowing the old adage attributed to Ernest Hemingway that economic crises often unfold "slowly, then very quickly." He noted that the current value of the U.S. stock market is more than double the country's GDP, which he described as similar to the valuations seen during the dot-com bubble. That is happening at a time when more stress is being injected into the economy. Tensions between the U.S. and Iran appear to be ramping up again after Vice President JD Vance traveled to Switzerland to negotiate a deal with the Iranian regime to end the conflict. The Iranians announced they are closing the Strait of Hormuz once again in response to Israel's continued fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon, which the regime has described as a "red line" in the negotiations. "Calling an end to this whole thing is very hard," Ahamed said. "On the other hand, I can assure you there will be an end."
President Trump on Sunday ordered immediate repairs to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after alleging vandalism had damaged the recently renovated landmark.Why it matters: Trump's direct intervention elevates a maintenance dispute at a national landmark into a public test of a high-profile renovation project. Screenshot: President Trump/Truth SocialThe president said on Truth Social Sunday he had personally inspected the damage. A day earlier, he wrote he had met with contractors because much of the pool will probably have to be drained for "necessary repairs."By the numbers: Initial work at the site cost an estimated $14 million.The New York Times reported last week that a no-bid $1.7 million contract was awarded in the spring to a firm tied to a contractor named John "JJ" Cafaro to install a water-purification system.Cafaro is an Ohio businessman and longtime Trump donor, who was convicted in 2002 in a conspiracy-to-bribe case involving a U.S. congressman, and again in 2010 for making a false statement.State of play: Trump announced last November plans to "fix" the 2,000-foot-long pool, including painting it "American flag blue" ahead of the nation's 250th anniversary celebrations on July 4.Workers refilled the pool and completed renovations by June 5, but days later algae turned the water green — a recurring problem at the landmark.Trump wrote on Truth Social Saturday that multiple people had been arrested in connection with alleged vandalism of the pool.Olympian David Hearn told the Washington Post he was among those arrested, but the 67-year-old said he didn't vandalize, "destroy or break or peel anything." He said he just wanted to touch part of the new blue liner that had detached from the bottom of the pool.Zoom in: Trump alleged vandals had used "form of knife or blade, and put a 250 foot long gash" into its facade."They also poured corrosive and destructive chemicals into the Pool," he alleged, without providing evidence of either allegation.The National Park Service has poured hydrogen peroxide into the pool to treat the algae, which the Wall Street Journal notes can be used as a paint remover.What they're saying: U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said on Fox News Sunday that anyone found vandalizing the pool would be prosecuted."If there are more serious products that are put into the Reflecting Pool to create more algae or a bigger problem, then we'll consider more serious charges," Pirro told "The Sunday Briefing" host Peter Doocy."But make no mistake, making D.C. beautiful is a priority. And if you damage, vandalize or do anything to impact something like the reflective pool, you can be prosecuted."Representatives for the White House did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
President Trump on Sunday responded to a piece in the New York Times, slamming the outlet as "corrupt and unethical cowards" after a report claiming the war accomplished none of its objectives. The Times ran a headline on Sunday, titled, "What Changed After Almost Four Months of War? The post NEW: Trump NUKES “Corrupt and Unethical Cowards” at the New York Times appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
President Trump is accusing vandals of sabotaging the $14 million renovation on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. So far, five people have been arrested, including three-time olympian and cyclist David Hearn, who was taken into custody after touching the pool's detached liner.
A foreign-relations expert offered blunt advice to President Donald Trump as negotiations between his administration and the Iranian regime deteriorate. Joseph Cirincione, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, told MS NOW's Alex Witt on "Alex Witt Reports" that Trump appears to have a way to make a stronger deal with the Iranian regime, but the president is blind to it because of how much he is blustering about the state of the war. His comments come at a time when Trump's deal with Iran has become the "joke in Washington," according to Cirincione, and the Iranian regime seems to be backing away from an agreement struck between the two sides over continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi refused to shake hands with Vice President JD Vance when the two met for peace negotiations, which some observers described as a "humiliation" for Vance. While the two sides appear far apart on the war, Cirincione pointed out that Trump could still accomplish one of his major goals by preventing the Iranian regime from developing a nuclear weapon. "The Obama approach to negotiation worked. If Trump hadn't torn that up, we would have a fundamentally different relationship with Iran now, and Iran would still be many, many years away from the ability to build a bomb," Cirincione said. "So the only hope is to go back to negotiations and to hope that because Iran has emerged stronger from this war ... it doesn't really need a nuclear weapon as much as they thought they did." "They thought they needed it for defense," he continued. "Well, they have stronger deterrence right now." Cirincione said there is one catch that could make or break the talks. "I think they are willing to compromise on the program if Trump can just shut up and let the negotiators get to work and force the Israelis to stop their war in Lebanon; you could get a deal," he said. "You could still salvage this. But Trump has to act, not bluster."
The deal President Donald Trump's administration struck with the Iranian regime has become a joke in Washington, D.C., and it's left the president embarrassed and flailing for an answer, according to one analyst. Last week, the Trump administration and the Iranian regime agreed to a deal that would immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway that accounts for roughly 20% of the world's energy trade, and postpone more substantive talks until later in the week in Switzerland. Those talks were scheduled to take place on Friday, but were delayed until Saturday due to ongoing fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Iranian regime also announced on Saturday that it was going to shut the Strait of Hormuz again.Joe Cirincione, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, told MS NOW's Alex Witt on "Alex Witt Reports" that the negotiations have soured to the point where Trump has resorted to his "Tony Soprano" negotiation tactics by threatening the Iranians with violence. That has only seemed to further deteriorate the talks, even though Trump is telling "This is what happens when he doesn't have any cards to play," Cirincione said. "He's in a weak position, and now he's embarrassed by this deal. His base is revolting against it. If he were to force this deal to be presented to the United States Congress, I don't think it would pass, and that's not something I would have said just a week ago.""So, he's frustrated. He's lashing out. He's acting irrationally, as he often does, and basically lying about what's going on," Cirincione added. "The joke in Washington, D.C., is that Trump told us this war was going to end with unconditional surrender. He didn't tell us it was going to be our unconditional surrender," he continued.