President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance lay wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and pay respect to the fallen military service members who have served our nation. President Trump delivers remarks during the Memorial Day ceremony. . Posted in Big Government, Celebrations, Donald Trump, Military, Patriotism, President Trump, Uncategorized, USA The post President Trump Participates in a Memorial Day Remembrance at Arlington National Cemetery appeared first on The Last Refuge.
Attempting to destroy Israel has brought defeat and disaster to every nation that tried; normalizing relations with Jerusalem has proved a boon to every country that signed the Abraham Accords.
On Sunday, CNN pundit Scott Jennings posted a lengthy tweet in which he attempted to explain that President Donald Trump's deal to end the war with Iran is 95 percent "done," saying that he'd been told that the first phase was complete, but that a second phase still needed to address issues like the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the Iranian nuclear program. As anyone who has been following the war's events unfold knows, however, arguably no two sticking points are larger than Hormuz and the nuclear question, making Jennings' assertion appear somewhat ridiculous. "Insider reporting from an unnamed White House official says the Iran deal is '95% done,' responded pollster Frank Luntz later that day. "The remaining 5% of negotiations are focused on Iran opening the Strait of Hormuz and turning over all nuclear material." With this simple statement, Luntz laid bare the absurdity of Jennings' claim, and by Monday, the internet had taken that absurdity and run with it."My plan to marry Scarlett Johansson is 95% done," declared one retweet. "The remaining 5% will focus on me meeting Scarlett Johansson, and then persuading her to marry me.""I am 95% done with a deal to buy a new house," said Economist Middle East correspondent Gregg Carlstrom, offering a more practical example. "The remaining 5% of negotiations are focused on the price and whether the owners are actually willing to sell.""I’m 95% done with dinner," announced Angry Staffer. "I just have to decide what I’m eating, how I’m cooking it, and what store I want to shop at."Or as actor Bradley Whitford, perhaps best known for his time in the series The West Wing, jested, "Thrilled to report that my deal to play the new James Bond is '95% done.'”There were many, many more examples, and while hilarious, they speak to a trend that has become increasingly persistent over the course of the conflict: Americans do not believe that progress is being made, nor that they can believe Trump or his allies' assertions about it. Former CIA Director John Brennan said as much explicitly on Sunday, saying, "I tend to believe Iran more than I do Donald Trump, because he could not acknowledge the truth even when it is — he's slapped in the face with it repeatedly. And it's clear that he is flailing right now. He's trying to figure out how he's going to get out of this debacle that he has created." In the meantime, another poster is 95 percent done with her housework, and just has to "dust, vacuum, wash the dishes, do 3 loads of laundry, and make the beds."
Amid reports that a new ceasefire deal was imminent, the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board warned President Donald Trump to avoid a deal that functions as an economic bailout for Iran.Over the weekend, Trump claimed that the U.S. and Iran were close to reaching a deal for a 60-day ceasefire in the conflict that has ravaged the world economy and sent oil prices skyrocketing. Iranian officials confirmed that talks were progressing, but stressed that major sticking points were still holding it back, adding that a deal was nowhere near as close as the president suggested. Nevertheless, news of an impending reprieve sent oil prices tumbling slightly.In response to these reports, the WSJ board — which is commonly viewed as a major conservative voice on economic and political issues — published a new piece, warning Trump that one aspect of the supposed plan would amount to an economic bailout for Iran, and would leave the U.S. with only the most extreme leverage to get a final deal made, calling the notion a major potential "strategic setback."In particular, the board took issue with the proposed portion of the deal that would end the U.S. blockade of Iran's port and allow them to resume selling oil to foreign markets."The preliminary deal, as mooted in the press, is for both sides to end their blockades, and perhaps for the U.S. to sweeten the pot financially, while talks on nuclear issues and further sanctions relief continue for 60 days or more," the board wrote. "A U.S. official says, but Iranian officials deny, that the regime gave assurances a final deal would include 'disposal' of its enriched uranium."The end of the blockade, they warned, would destroy a key piece of U.S. leverage over Iran before its nuclear program is properly dealt with. The only remaining leverage — threatening to renew the fighting — will ring hollow after his previous backtracks."The basic problem lies with ending U.S. pressure before dismantling the nuclear program," the board added. "If the blockade ends and Iran can sell its oil, all that’s left to coerce it into nuclear concessions is the threat of renewed war."It continued: "But Trump wasn’t willing to do that after Iran reneged on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and attacked U.S. forces and Gulf allies. How credible will the threat be 60 days closer to midterms, when it would trigger a new Iranian blockade of Hormuz? A pledge not to build a nuclear weapon means nothing because the regime has always said that while doing the opposite... Iran’s regime went into this war facing domestic political and economic crises. War has made these worse. Saving such a regime now with an economic bailout would be the real betrayal—of the U.S. interest even more than the Iranian people.”
Vice President JD Vance has been put in a tough position and has been considering whether he wants to run for president in 2028 or give up on the move, according to a new report from The Daily Mail published on Monday.With National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard announcing her exit from the Trump administration last week, Vance could be in a more vulnerable position as his "most senior non-interventionist ally is gone." Vance, like Gabbard, had expressed skepticism and concerns about the Iran war behind closed doors, according to insiders."JD Vance, now the lone dove in Donald Trump's cabinet after Tulsi Gabbard's resignation, has been left more isolated than ever and is even considering abandoning a run for the presidency in 2028," sources told The Mail."But the whispers racing through the West Wing find common ground: Iran," The Mail reported.Vance has not confirmed or denied whether he plans to run for president in 2028. And insiders have reported that he opposed the mlitary strikes in Iran, trying to privately urge Trump to limit attacks."Vance's isolation comes at a moment when Marco Rubio's stock inside the West Wing has never been higher, with the Secretary of State helping to plan an invasion of Cuba, while the Vice President flails in peace negotiations with Iran," according to The Mail."The Vice President's dovish brand of foreign policy has set him on a collision course with Trump, the sources say, the rift deepening as Trump embraces his wartime-leader image," The Mail reported.The president has often compared Vance to Secretary of State Marco Rubio — whom both have called personal and professional friends. He has even asked people who they would support to succeed him as commander-in-chief during private and public events."Rubio has more mojo than Vance. The President listens to him. Vance is out of step and has been for a long time," a White House insider told The Mail. "The source cautioned that Rubio's dominance may prove fleeting. By championing an unpopular war effort, the Secretary of State risks burning through political capital in real time and alienating both Trump's base and the wider American public," The Mail added.
A Justice Department court filing defending Donald Trump's controversial White House ballroom project reads less like a legal document and more like a Trump Truth Social post — complete with random capitalization, invented words, and language straight from the president's social media feed, according to an ex-CBS News reporter who reviewed the filing Monday."Trump's fingerprints are all over a new Justice Dept court filing," wrote Scott MacFarlane, who also noted the document's random capitalization and claims that Trump is providing America an "invaulable gift" — a word that does not exist in the English language.The six-page filing, submitted to defend the ongoing ballroom and East Wing construction project, also claims the project is "underbudget" — a striking assertion given that Senate Republicans recently fielded a request for $1 billion in taxpayer money to fund it, a demand so outrageous it helped trigger a Republican revolt that sent senators home for recess without passing Trump's reconciliation bill.The Justice Department also argued in the filing that "without the construction of this great Project, the President cannot safely conduct the business of the United States" — capitalizing the word "Project" in a style familiar to anyone who follows Trump's social media posts, according to MacFarlane.Perhaps most remarkably, the filing specifies that the ballroom's rooftop "will be hermetically sealed to prevent malign forces from contaminating the circulating air."The filing also cited Saturday's Secret Service shooting incident at the White House as further justification for continuing construction on the ballroom — an argument MacFarlane flagged as notable given the project's controversial status on Capitol Hill.Trump's fingerprints are all over a new Justice Dept court filing defending the Trump BallroomRandom capitalizationClaims that Trump is providing America an "invaulable gift"Claims the project is "underbudget" despite Senate request for $1 billion in taxpayer money(MORE) pic.twitter.com/92bnUyx7u5— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) May 25, 2026
Foreign policy analyst Trita Parsi questioned whether President Donald Trump authored his Saturday Truth Social post announcing a negotiated Iran war settlement.During his appearance in the "Breaking Points" show, Parsi highlighted the lack of characteristic misspellings, grammatical errors, and personal attacks — all typical of Trump's posts. He also noted the post correctly cited world leaders' titles and names — a stark contrast to Trump's usual social media style. Parsi suggested Trump may have allowed staff to author the post as protection against domestic right-wing figures urging him to abandon negotiations and resume military action. Parsi characterized the inclusion of nearly a dozen world leaders as a preemptive defense against inevitable accusations of abandoning Israel. The carefully crafted nature of the announcement suggests internal coordination, with Parsi criticizing previous Trump posts on Iran deals as market-manipulation tactics lacking professional review. The post's sophistication indicates significant diplomatic effort behind the scenes.Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.
According to John Keker, who served and was injured as an infantry platoon commander during the Vietnam War, it has been a difficult year to hold his usual Memorial Day remembrance due to what he calls President Donald Trump’s “reckless misuse of the military.”“As the Trump administration slashes Department of Veterans Affairs services and fires principled military leaders, we are seeing it commit the same mistakes and incompetence that got us deployed in forever wars going back to Vietnam,” writes Keker in the San Francisco Chronicle. "Trump, who famously avoided military service in Vietnam thanks to five deferments, has started a war in Iran without input from Congress or serious public discussion, and it’s clear he didn’t plan for the inevitable backlash. It is a war of choice with no clear objective, no carefully mapped-out strategy, and an ever-shifting exit plan. As almost every veteran knows, war should always be the last resort, not the first.”This war, says Keker, was launched with a confusing lack of foresight. For example, Trump “did not seem to comprehend the likelihood of the Strait of Hormuz being shut down,” even though it was the likely outcome suggested by his top advisors. What’s more, Trump’s actions have killed thousands, including a strike on a girls’ school that killed over 100 students, which “makes little sense given that Trump’s initial justification for launching the war was to help the people of Iran.”All of this, says Keker, is part of a “larger pattern” of military abuse. “Since early last year,” he explains, “Trump has expanded military operations abroad without meaningful congressional oversight or public debate. He has approved bombings in Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, Iran, Venezuela, the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific. He has used the military in American cities to deal with emergencies that don’t exist. He tries to politicize our military to fight battles against Americans whom he calls ‘the enemy within.’ He told a gathering of high-ranking officers at the Quantico Marine Corps Base ‘we should use some of these dangerous cities’ — specifically Democratic-run ones — ‘as training grounds for our military.’”Keker says this all feeds into Trump’s attempt to “put himself above the law,” an effort Keker says Americans must and can “resist.”“I have faith in the will of the American people to push back against autocrats,” he asserts. “The resistance in Minneapolis to Trump’s deployment of immigration agents is a good example. We should all insist that Congress reclaim its power over the use of force domestically and in war abroad, support state and local leaders who stand up to Trump and urge the military to stay loyal to the Constitution by refusing illegal orders.”It is up to those who have served in the military, he says, to push back.“Veterans who risked their lives in combat have a lifelong commitment to protect our community and our country,” Keker concludes. “We know better than anyone the tremendous human and financial cost of war, and we must call out and oppose the misuse of the military. We need to lead the resistance.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) delivered a scathing assessment of Donald Trump's Iran ceasefire Sunday, welcoming the end of the war while warning that the deal represents a humiliating capitulation to Tehran that leaves the United States weaker than when the conflict began."If this deal with Iran is real, I will welcome it because every day this insane war goes on, America gets weaker," Murphy wrote in a detailed thread on X. "But make no mistake: these are Iran's terms. Our nation emerges humiliated."Murphy laid out his case methodically. The deal, as he understands it, gives Iran billions of dollars to return to essentially the same position it was in before the war started — while reports suggest it may also codify Iran's right to control the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway that has remained at the centerpiece of the violent conflict."What a disaster this whole thing was," Murphy wrote.On the nuclear question — the issue Trump cited most prominently as justification for the war — Murphy was equally dismissive. The one reported concession from Iran, a promise to ship out enriched uranium, was already part of Barack Obama's 2015 nuclear deal. And by dropping sanctions now, Murphy argued, the United States has surrendered the leverage it would need to extract further concessions in future negotiations.Meanwhile, Murphy noted, Trump has failed to achieve a single one of his stated goals. Iran's ballistic missile and drone program remains intact. Its navy retains the ability to close the Strait. The hardline regime is still in power."They took our best shot and beat us," Murphy wrote. "Iran emerges more powerful."The Connecticut senator was careful to separate his opposition to the war from opposition to ending it. Thousands of innocent people have been killed, he noted, and the American economy has been badly damaged by the conflict. But he argued that silence about the incompetence that produced the war would be its own kind of failure."That doesn't mean we should be silent on how incompetent Trump is and how insane this war was from the start," Murphy wrote.