Peace talks are cancelled. But Trump extends the cease-fire anyway. 
Indefinite Cease-Fire
The Wall Street Journal reports Trump Extends Iran Cease-Fire Indefinitely With Peace Talks in Limbo
President Trump said that the U.S. will extend its cease-fire with Iran and continue the blockade of the country’s ports until its leaders present “a unified proposal.” The move came after Vice President JD Vance paused plans to travel to Pakistan on Tuesday for negotiations with Iran over ending the war, highlighting uncertainty about possible talks. Regional mediators led by Pakistan raced to try to convince Iran to join the talks.
Earlier on Tuesday, U.S. forces boarded an oil tanker in the Indo-Pacific region that was previously sanctioned for working with Iran, the first such move outside the Middle East in connection with the war. Trump, in an interview with CNBC, said he wants to make sure the threat from Iran is ended even if it means the war doesn’t wrap up quickly. “I have all the time in the world,” he said.
Trump Statement
Truth Social: STATEMENT OF PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP:
Based on the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, 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. 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
Apr 21, 2026, 2:09 PM
Expected Result
Yesterday, Trump repeated his on again, off again, on again, off again (sorry I lost count) to resume bombing , wipe out Iran’s infrastructure, etc.
The threat had the expected result: More Tacos.
Market Reaction
This time the market did not think much of Trump’s nonsense. Nor was the result that bad. Modest stock market gains turned to modest losses.
The 30-year bond market did its usual thing: Yawn no matter what stocks or oil do.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Oil, however, did move up another three percent to 90.46.
WTI will head back towards or above $100 if nothing is resolved soon. Since nothing will be resolved soon, oil will soon head back to $100 or above.
Some leveraged traders are making a fortune (hint: Illegal Trump administration insider trading). Others are getting blown out of the water. But market manipulation never changes anything over the long haul.
Summation
- No war
- No peace
- No ships
- No oil, LNG, fertilizer, or helium
Summation Hat Tip Jim Bianco
Charlie Kirk Flashbacks
Mindless Chatter
Trump now appears to have adopted a waiting game. Of course, that could change tomorrow, if not two minutes from now.
This now doubt will have all of the mindless 5D chess advocates proclaiming victory for the nth time.
Not only is this blockade supposed to hurt Iran, it allegedly will crush China too.
Mindless chatter on X is endless. For example …
Robin Brooks has a 100% failure rate on touting Russian sanctions.
Regrets, I Had a Few, and One Worth Mentioning
Musical Tribute
Some readers have asked for more musical tributes. I think this one works.
Tucker has regrets. Trump doesn’t. And Trump is sure doing things his way, making a total global mess along the way.
Hello Robin Brooks
Iran does not have elections to worry about. Trump does. None of the Trump cheerleaders have realized that simple fact.
Sanctions or blockades have rarely achieved regime changes, and even then only after decades. Here are a couple of alleged successes.
- Apartheid South Africa (1980s–1990s): Broad, multilateral sanctions, combined with internal unrest and economic isolation, forced the white minority regime to negotiate the end of apartheid, leading to a democratic transition.
- Haiti (Early 1990s): Intense economic sanctions and the threat of military intervention helped force out a military dictatorship and restore the elected government, according to a Reddit post citing historical sanctions analyses.
However, in 1940-1941, extreme US-led oil and resource embargoes intended to stop Japanese aggression instead backfired, forcing Japan to decide between retreating from China or attacking Southeast Asian oil fields, leading to the attack on Pearl Harbor
Saudi Arabia can use a pipeline to avoid the strait, but that does not hold for other nations or other exports.
The Waiting Game
The Trump administration is overlooking the fact that all exports through the strait are shut off.
Fertilizer, helium, urea, natural gas, and aluminum are all impacted.
It’s not a matter of who is hurt more, it’s a matter of who can take the pain longer.
Brooks repeatedly makes this error. Nations did not have the will to enforce sanctions on Russia. After preaching initial success, Brooks turned to moaning about sanction enforcement.
Now he claims Trump should have blockaded Russia instead.
This is what happens when you have nothing but economic theories but are clueless about how the real word works. And Brooks is clueless about the real world.
Trump in the Last 24 Hours
China Has a Say
Another key point that all the cheerleaders miss is that other players have a say. This is why Russian sanctions failed and why this Trumpian tactic won’t work either.
China will not take too kindly to having it’s oil turned off.
If China feels the pain enough it could send a military escort. Alternatively, it can quietly turn off rare earth element exports the US needs for military equipment, microchips, plane guidance systems etc.
Trump backed down on tariffs twice when China did that.
What Are the Goals?
No one really has any idea what Trump’s goals are because they keep shifting.
But weeks ago I proposed the top short-term goal of Iran was to inflict as much damage on Trump as possible.
Long-term, Iran wants control of the Strait. Trump made Iran’s long-term goal plausible.
Short-term, the longer this continues, the more inflation pressure in the US.
Iran is happy with Trump’s unilateral TACO.
Related Posts
September 26, 2024: To Those Hard of Learning, Here’s a Repeat Lesson on Why Sanctions Fail
Let’s discuss a claim that sanction failures are due to a lack of political will.
April 20, 2026: Are Talks With Iran Agreed to? Trump Says Yes, Iran Says No
Apparently, only one side needs to agree to have talks.
April 19, 2026: UAE Under Dollar Stress, Investigates a Currency Swap with the Fed or Treasury
Emirati officials speak with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about accessing dollars if Middle East conflict drags on.
By the way, please add that problem to the list of things Robin Brook’s economic model did not factor in.
Iranians called his bluff big time. Trump just surrendered. Sad day for America.
Dude has given new meaning to “incoherent” and “unbelievable.” No real business person would do any deals with a guy randomly throwing out contradictory existential threats and victory-brags, with no substance cleanly on the table. Any counter-party, any nation with any sense of dignity should offer a middle finger.
How does anyone know that Iran doesn’t ALREADY have a nuclear bomb or possibly a dirty bomb?
I agree. I have felt for sure, When, Obama released a total of 162 billion to Iran, they,did not need to build a nuke, they could just buy a few from Russia. They still have plenty to share.
Dumb. Russia or China will not sell nukes.
They were in on the JCPOA.
The US has always been the party stalling any talks of eliminating nukes, the only party that has no sole purpose doctrine, the only party that keeps talking about first-strikes and other theories, or golden domes to destabilize MAD.
The US is the party with crazies in charge of the nuclear button.
well indefinitely seems to been wrong as trump now says ceasefire 3-5 day extension.
https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/trump-considers-3-5-day-iran-ceasefire-extension/ar-AA21sh7O
3 days – Saturday; after market closed
5 days – Taco Tuesday!
US at risk of running out of missiles if another war breaks out after depleting stockpile in Iran operations
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/21/politics/us-military-missile-stockpile
That’s why Don Caligula is postponing the cease fire indefinitely. In mere six weeks, against a regional power, the most expensive military force in the world was exhausted. Still, there are looneys in the Pentagon who want to take on Russia.
Maybe an arsenal with multimillion dollars a piece with dozens produced a year with lead times between 4 and 5 years or a navy with multibillion dollars ships which are so vulnerable to be forced to keep their distance at hundreds of miles is a boon only for contractors and nobody else.
I pity the mercenaries who went to ROTC with illusions of grandeur and signed up to die for the Epstein Class. No, not really.
“Still, there are looneys in the Pentagon who want to take on Russia.”
Not to mention, the european political class has no priority other than The War On Russia, namely, in mousetrapping America into fighting that war for them.
Those of you who are familiar with the “:Looney Tunes” canon may recall a little yappy dog that follows Spike The Bulldog around, singing Spike’s praises, getting slapped around by Spike, and getting Spike into stupid fights.
Europe is that little yappy dog.
… ‘I have all the time in the world’ … not true … On Friday 24 April 2026 the oil futures market completes a 16 Dec 2025 14/28/28/21 day :: x/2x/2x/1.5x 1st fractal series .. The extreme inelasticity of the oil-energy market will be revealed on 27 April, 2026 as the oil market’s 2nd fractal begins with sharp price increases inversely mirroring the global equity crash. Time is running out and that time can can now be measured in tens of hours. The disappearance of sand in the top half of the hourglass will herald presidential approval ratings in the 20’s, in the zeta zeta zeta fraternity of Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression and Harry Truman during the Korean War.
Iran is winning the war actually two wars one the money war and
second the kinetic war case closed….
Third, the meme & PR war
Here’s an article that explains why the market keeps continuing higher and it has to do with oil field shut-ins that I wrote about on another topic. One would think that the market would factor in a potential recession, but so far has not.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/time-running-out-iran-market-has-wrecked-mainstreams-narrative-hugh-hendry-explains
Excerpt:
“…the transatlantic intelligentsia of the coastal elites and the European Sophistocrats, tell you the same damn thing:
Iran, Darling, Iran has the upper hand. The strait is their choke point.
Trump, Trump, that clown he’s out of his depth. He’s a reckless vulgarian, and he’s dragging all of us into another disaster.
While the patient, chess-playing Iranians, they hold every card as they sip tea in Tehran.
My brothers and sisters, this is not journalism. It’s a f—— echo chamber. ”
The market took one cold look at this narrative, and it did what the journalists would say is unforgivable:
“The market did not validate. The market did not hedge. The market it didn’t even blink. It just f—— ignored it.
It went the other way. It made fresh all-time highs whilst the entire elitist Tehran-centric fantasy was still being printed as gospel.”
Simply put, markets reduce the world to one ruthless f—— question:
“it looks at adversaries in conflict, and asks who is constrained and how badly. And the answer once you strip out the BS, it’s not complicated…”
“Iran’s oil system is not built to pause. It’s built to flow. It’s a flow system.
Oil cannot simply sit in the ground while strategists argue over maps and how much uranium dust to give over. It has to move. Iran and its system has to move continuously from the rock underground to the tanker in the harbor to the Chinese buyer in Asia.
Pause long enough, and the whole machine breaks.
Interrupt that flow. And the problem isn’t just lost revenues of like forty, fifty, sixty billion dollars. It’s the least of your concerns. The problem is physical and is irreversible.
Because when you suddenly shut the well, remember there’s no physical storage. They pump, they load, they ship.
If they can’t load, if they can’t ship, they can’t pump. And when you suddenly shut the wells, the pressure underground drops f—— fast.
Do you know what happens?
The heavy, sticky crap in the oil, it gums up, gums up in the tiny holes within the rocks and becomes like glue. It traps the oil. It makes it really f—— hard to extract. And once that damage is done, it’s permanent. You lose a big chunk of the oil.
The more Iran is actively either through theater or through bluff, the more that it sits in a standoff, the more it is actively destroying the one thing that it actually depends upon.
That’s the trap. And you’re not reading in in the press, but you’re damn well reading it on your screens.
Because this is where the gap between the narrative of the media and the price stops being subtle and irrelevant, and it’s why stock markets have priced something entirely differently.
The Iranian system, the adversary, cannot afford to stay disrupted without hurting itself. That’s what’s in the equity market’s price.”
The answer is Iran has very limited time left – according to JPMorgan’s latest estimates:
…with a “total export blackout” having effectively started this weekend, Iran now has about 15 days before it has to begin production shut-ins, which then have to be fully completed by day 30, or sometime around May 20.
Zerohedge? Ugh…good grief, we all know where that right wing website is and can visit it at anytime.
But yeah, we are all going to wake up some day in the very near future to a collapsing global economy. Airlines in Europe and Asia are already starved of fuel. Australia is on the brink.
Americans think they are isolated from it all but S&P 500 companies get over 50% of their revenue from overseas, you can kiss the stock market and 401k goodbye.
Like I keep saying and musical tribute: It’s going to be a cruel summer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9ml3nyww80
Hmmm… the Iranians have been constrained by US sanctions from pumping a lot of oil for decades. They’ve had to learn the hard way how to build a manufacturing based economy; one not based on oil. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait are almost purely dependent upon oil production. If the shut-in is bad for Iran, wouldn’t it be doubly bad for its neighbors? If shut-ins permanently hamper oil production, doesn’t that mean permanently higher oil prices worldwide? A permanently lower standard of living worldwide? What did <snicker>ZeroHedge</snicker> say about that?
1-Star Mishelin award for “mike drop” comment.
I’m not sure what your point is, once the oil revenue is gone, it is more difficult to pay their regime’s military and buy weapons and if there is a manufacturing base of some kind there, it could be destroyed as any of their infrastructure could be, so in the end, the result is the same. I don’t know how the IRGC can win a war against both the U.S. and their Arab neighbors who want to see them defeated as well.
or perhaps the market realizes there will always be another TACO served up by Trump.
its just as valid an analysis.
Trump is now an oilfield developer?
This exercise in wishful thinking doesn’t explain why the market bounces are highly correlated to Trump’s tweets touting negotiations.
If Iran can’t pump oil, none of the gulfies will be able to, either.
By the way it is 10mln of barrel a day of Crude….but it is much more if you consider the refined products…”The war has so far cost Middle Eastern producers as much as 13 million barrels daily in lost output, and that is just crude oil. Exports of crude plus refined products have slumped by an estimated 20 million barrels, the head of the IEA, Fatih Birol, said earlier this month. He added that more than 80 oil and gas facilities in the region have been damaged, contributing to the severity of the situation.”
“Remember the Alamo!” The courage of those men was history-making, heroes..
“I have not yet begun to fight!” John Paul Jones, father of the US Navy, hero
“I shall return!” General MacArthur’s promise to the Philippine people. He did. Hero.
“Help is on the way!” The Big Lie told by Donald Trump to the Iranian people who are seeking freedom from the tyrannical Islamic regime.
Because of Trump’s words, 50,000+ Iranian citizens were murdered by the Islamic regime for simply demonstrating. If Trump doesn’t eradicate every vestige of the regime, he will have gone back on his word. The word of the President of the United States will never again be considered iron-clad by friends and foes.
There is one way and only one way to undo the damage Trump is creating. He must order the total and complete elimination of the regime. He must arms the Iranians so that they may take back their country. He should do this immediately.
If he doesn’t, ‘CIC’ will no longer mean Commander In Chief, it will mean Commander In Coward. Don’t be a coward President Trump, be the Hero we all hope you are.
Oh, now it’s 50,000? Can I get 500,000? Balderdash.
just a small note: Archaeology suggests the most famous “Last Stand” in American history might actually have been a retreat. https://x.com/MoundLore/status/2029583065756963109
History repeats
roflmao.
You mean the 50000 Iranian citizens armed by the US, as the 🍊 made the point of bragging about?
Iran acknowledges the deaths of over 3,000 protesters. They have an incentive to keep the number low. Outside organizations claim much higher numbers, but honestly have nothing to base that on. And many of these organizations get numbers from anti-Iranian organizations who are incentivized to come up with higher numbers.
Regardless, it is impossible for the United States to eliminate the regime. It would require us to put many, many hundreds of thousands of boots on the ground and, unlike Iraq, we don’t have a staging area to do that. So it would require us to build a massive naval armada of troop (and equipment and food and water and fuel) carriers. And that would take years as we no longer have the ship building capacity. But Trump doesn’t have enough time left, and the American people don’t have a dog in this hunt so want nothing to do with it.
So Trump should have been smart enough to keep his mouth shut, but unfortunately, that’s not an option on the table.
The 3000 are not protesters — they include hundreds of policemen and security people; in addition many civilians and children targeted by the freedom fighters. The freedom “protesters” seemed to suddenly have guns, explosives, and Molotov cocktails and starlink terminals.
So the idiot Tucker Carlson feels bad about getting Trump elected? Will this cause self-reflection about his beliefs? Will he suddenly realize that the entire basis of his beliefs should fall into question? Heck no.
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it,” – Sinclair Lewis
I had this same conversation with an elderly gentleman yesterday. He said that at this late date, there is no salvaging these people’s reputations, and good reason to shun them permanently.
Jon Stewart dressed down the young Tucker and he deserves to be dressed down as fiercely, if not worse, because he learnt nothing since then.
Tucker’s podcast has exploded in popularity since 2024, so he must be doing something right. Personally, I applaud someone who says he was misled and regrets misleading others – how stark a contrast compared to politicians and especially the Narcissist in Chief! Tucker was the first big voice to speak out against zionistic policies in US government (with the Iran War being a key one lately), but has since been joined by Megyn Kelly and other podcasters. It is no coincidence that all of them have been targets of Donnie’s social media rants.
What I want Tucker to do is spend time understanding his values and modes of thinking. I’d love to hear him talk about why he was so easily mislead, when Trump’s idiocy and evilness was so blatant to millions. And if he was mislead about that, what else might he be mislead about? How would he know if he is being mislead? Those are the bigger questions Tucker needs to come to grips with. He has mislead millions of Americans, and continues to do so on topics unrelated to Trump.
Richard Medhurst: In the background, the United States have quietly been carrying out an armed robbery of the world’s oil and gas supply. In the last 3 months alone, the US have hit Russian tankers, refineries, crippled China’s oil supply, captured the world’s largest oil fields, and kidnapped and assassinated two heads of state. We are witnessing the transition of the United States from an empire into a pirate state and the birth of what I call the pro gas dollar or the LNG dollar.
Not only robbery but destruction too.And not only Oil fields but other industries too….And not only Venezuela etc but the Gulf Countries,too.
how can we ensure we never have allies again??
The Trump administration is reportedly discussing plans to send up to 1,100 Afghans who assisted US military operations during the Afghanistan war to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Kurds were used previously to fight American battles. This time when Trump tried to give them weapons to fight in Iran, they refused.
Well, good that they finally got wise.
How many times has the US made extravagant promises to the dumb scrotes, only to sell them out? Six times is it, or seven already?
One loses track.
They should have taken the weapons and walked away
There is no end to this Administration’s cruelty.
It’s cartoonish.
Treasury yields down across the board this morning. Something must be brewing, once again backed off from the edge of a cliff.
Meanwhile international trade data just released shows China s exports grew 15% over the last year.
The orange turd is destroying our beautiful country.
This guy is just plain ignorant and totally unqualified. Unfortunately its not just the asshats that voted for him getting a lower standard of living. Its going to take a generation to repair the economic and reputational damage from this clownshow
Add to that, probably more than half his voters think he is improving the USA and our position in the world. He tells them what to believe, they believe it. He tells them to call others sheep, they do it.
The 💩 did not fall off the sky, but he was born and raised and voted for twice by the Usonian culture and electorate. Eat 💩 tacos!
What concerns me is that Trump will be replaced by another corporate imperialist muppet in 2028, just with a smoother delivery.
Think for a moment about this…
In all of the proxy wars between the US/Russia/China from WW2 on (including Ukraine), China and Russia never imposed such deep and damaging economic carnage on “our allies”
But we are doing that now with Iran
This is where the roots of alliance are torn out
Think about this: The Nazis rescued sailors from disarmed ships, and save for some extra brutal divisions (like the Ukrainian one), were a lot better disciplined about committing war crimes than the Americans and Israelis are today.
Trumps goal is to keep people from thinking about the Epstein files.
6000 dead in service of that goal, so far.
Next man up!
Recent Rueters/Iposos poll put Trump’s second term approval rating at 36%, which has remained close to this level for some time. So after a no point war, insulting the Pope, Epstein etc, etc 36% of Americans would vote for him again. This is a worryingly high figure. Expect trouble when he does badly in the mid-terms.
Not a surprise when 60% of Americans are functionally (Grade 8) or totally illiterate (Grade 4 or less) who could barely read this post, and certainly not comprehend it. Fox News viewers for sure.
A nation of morons gets the moron Government they deserve. Almost every nation has a much higher literacy rate, even very poor ones in Africa. Morons, by definition, can never be “Great”, just barely mediocre, at best.
No way! That number has to be closer to 90%!
I blame the US Education system, It’s destroyed the critical thinking faculty of the students.
And before people jump down my throat. I have family living in 15 of the lower 48 states and 1 member of the family living in Alaska.
Who destroyed it? The guy in the mirror. That Usonian ideal of a simple, uneducated man, individualistic and greedy. May Usonians eat 💩 tacos!
it’s crazy but not surprising or unique to Trump.
Herbert Hoover got 39% of the vote in 1932. this was after he presided over the Great Depression where many Americans, including those who had been previsouy solidly middle class or better, were living in shantytowns. he got that by demonizing the other guy (FDR) as a far left liberal who would ruin the country, godless etc…
Approximately 36% of Americans (the number I see is closer to 32%) are members of a cult.
There is literally nothing Trump could do that would shake their faith in the cult leader. He could start praising Satan and the born-agains who were laying hands on Trump and asking Jesus to kill the heathen would start wearing Dracula capes and take up devil worship.
The process is called “cognitive dissonance” and it is lavishly documented. .
Saudis have a pipe line until it is taken out again, by Iran or the Houthis. They have oil production for as long as they have desalinization. The world has dram as long as ICL is functional in Israel. If Iran wants to go scorched earth they can and the orange doofus may finally understand that. I’d say he’s a cornered rat but that would be insulting to rats the world over.
Really Lawrence, care to tell us what happens to agriculture output in 2027 when the harvest becomes due with minimal fertilizer input.
What happens to MRI scans once the current stocks of helium run out all over the world?
Russia steps in. It has built brand new gas seperation plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur area which could cover 25% to 30% of global consumption. The rumor is that Chinese have started buying there. The problem for Taiwan, Korea and Japan is that they decided to stop doing business with Russia in 2022.
Thanks for this J_Schneider. Did not know that…learn something new each day
Yes, but they are not sitting on millions of bbl/day overcapacity, for obvious reasons.
A cornered chicken is more appropriate.
Headed for a taco, lol.
the economic dominoes begin to fall…
BBC
World’s biggest condom maker to raise prices due to Iran war
The boss of the world’s biggest condom maker, Karex, says the firm will raise its prices by up to 30% or possibly more if the Iran war…
You couldn’t see that coming………………..
… as the lights are off usually…
your TACO tracker https://www.thetacotracker.com/
I WILL DESTROY YOU!
Oh, not scared. Hmmm… OK. I have mints. Would you like a mint?
Full Cluck
BREAKING: Trump does the impossible–makes Gavin Newsom look like a stable genius. What next? Covfefe only knows!
Trump is giving the Persians time to sort themselves out, decide who is in charge, and talk with a unified voice, or, possibly, to start killing each other and devolve into chaos. What’s so hard to understand about that? It’s true that a democracy has to include the next elections in its calculations, but an autocracy without a strongman in charge also has trouble making up its mind.
In World War One, the Russian tsar had to abdicate. That effectively took Russia out of the war. A new regime in Persia may decide to ask for peace. If a new regime comes into power and doesn’t ask for peace, Trump may very well decide to take it out as well. That’s what you do when you’re running an empire.
You might even say that it is more humane for Trump to wait for a new regime to be formed and then destroy it if necessary, rather than go on killing ordinary Persian soldiers and civilians. You might also say that it will do the world good to diversify its sources of fertilizer etc., instead of relying on so much to come out of that narrow strait that can be closed by a few bad actors.
Maybe this is a good warning to China as well: remember, you kill the rooster to frighten the monkey.
Nonsense. Iran says they will not negotiate while the US blockade remains. And Trump is trying to change the story. How anyone can believe Trump, when his story changes every day, is beyond me.
It’s simple:
Trump is desperate for a deal. Iran is not.
And while Trump tries to figure out a way to get out of the mess he created, every day that the strait is “mostly” closed, the global economy loses another 10+ million barrels of oil, and significant amounts of LNG, aluminum, helium, fertilizer, etc. The longer this goes on, the more likely the world is heading into a recession
The difference between Vietnam and Iran is Trump knew how to get out of Vietnam.
If there are two fractions at odds that hold power in Iran as Trump says: lets say (1) is officials the people voted for, as Iran does hold elections, and (2) the Iranian Revolutionary Guard; I can tell you right now Trump is stroking the flames of civil war there.
That’s how it will sort itself out, for the IRG this is a religious war. And a religious war is not what we should be seeking. I mean you’ve heard how long Israel has been fighting believers of Islam and vice versa?
These types of wars are unwinnable unless you’re willing to give up all your humanity.
How anyone believing in a loving god can do that and be ok with it is beyond me.
I think I pretty much go along with all that, except that I wonder if there are really only two factions. In that sort of situation I would suspect that there might be half a dozen.
This definitely could be true, but the results would be the same unfortunately. The biggest problem is overthrowing the IRG, as Trump is funding out right now.
Iran is gonna fracture…You are delusional, they had a whopping parade in Tehran today complete with missiles. Bombing civilians generally pisses em off against whomever is bombing em. Erase this delusion from your mind.
Trumphumpers are incapable of understanding this, as they are deep, deep into battered wife syndrome.
No lie. Attacking Iran and bombing schools probably did more to consolidate support for the government there than anything anyone could have done.
Not to mention, any future economic troubles can be laid at the feet of American and Israeli aggression, brutality and treachery.
Delusional. ^
Trump ain’t “taking out’ anything. The USA has already lost this war.
And exactly why is it up to terrorists like Americans to determine who governs another country? The country most in need of regime change is theUSA
You are the perfect of the kind of thinking that has made IsraelAmerica the most hated nation on Earth.
lol the troll party line that has been going around since the Trump TACO leaked.
The phrase “That’s what you do when you’re running an empire.” tells exactly how Trump views the world. Trump views the rest of the world (perhaps with the exception of Israel and Russia) as vassal states to be treated as vassal states were 200 years ago. Canada as a 51 st state?–not really, he would have Canada as a territory. Denmark won’t give us Greenland?–we will just take it. Rest of the world in crisis due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz?–We don’t care, we don’t need it.
For several decades the US attempted to maintian world dominance but not by being a classical empire. OK, we didn’t always succeed, failed many times, but we did seem to at least try. The problem with classical empires is that they always fall. Always.
Even if what you said were true (it’s not, but we can humor you) – what on earth did the Orange Clown expect when he murdered the civilian leadership in Iran?
Iron Mike has some advice for Robin Brooks:
“Social media made y’all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.”
“Trump Indefinitely Extends Cease-Fire.”
Translation: U.S. needs more time to re-arm and get more troops into the area so it can continue to literally destroy Iranian civilization like Trump said.
It’s a fake one-way ceasefire. The U.S. fired at an Iranian ship. That’s not ceasing the fire.
You are talking nukes.
The sentence about 4 hours to take out all power plants, bridges, and oil infrastructure can only be realized with nukes … so the treat about taking out a civilization is not metaphorical or hyperbolic.
“This no doubt will have all of the mindless 5D chess advocates proclaiming victory for the nth time.”
Trump plays zero dimensional chess. He looks at himself in the mirror, smiles, points at himself, and says “Great decision! You look like a guy with a lot of class!” You now have insight into the depth of Donald Trump’s thinking.
5D Chickening out
Iran has already won. Trump’s a major loser.
The All U Can Eat TACO buffet proves it.
– Peace talks are cancelled. But Trump extends the cease-fire anyway. > Old news happened yet again. Trump didn’t get what he wanted, so he changed the rules. He has given His credibility away, while not only ruining any chance of any deal, he has also pissed off other Countries, and that also includes His Own!!! “Why” is the jeopardy question of the decade!
– President Trump said that the U.S. will continue the blockade of the country’s ports until its leaders present “a unified proposal.” > They are extremely unified, and they keep telling you that with the same 2 letters: “NO” they have remained steadfast if nothing else, and their unity shows “Bigly” as one would scream, if he could…
– We have been asked to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran. > I have therefore capitulated yet again, and will do as I am told yet again, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted. I do have less than 4 years, I know…
– Iran Is Not Winning. It Is Unraveling. > Yes, to a point so far, but gains strength with every slow down.
– We are told that Tehran is winning a war of wills. > isn’t it?
– Donald Trump is gambling recklessly with the world’s most sensitive chokepoint. > Yes, He is, and with false threats, no unified party on his side, creating additional potential enemies, costing the U.S. a lot as well, Etc. This is the definition of being reckless, I think…
The Iranians have Trump over an (oil) barrel. This happens when you go to war with an asymmetrically committed enemy. The US military “degraded” Vietnam and Afghanistan for 20 years, and remember how it all ended with those horrific scenes from Saigon and Kabul. Let’s hope we don’t need 20 years to come to our senses in this particular case. If not, Trump will be long gone by 2046 or so, but we would be paying the bills for a long and completely stupid war.
Saigon was repeated in Afghanistan. Disastrous withdrawal. 20 years and $2 trillion gone to waste and nothing to show for it.
MICC made trillions profit.
Let us never forget the Pentagon Papers, lest they go the way of the Epstein Files: soldiers got 20 years of combat pay and were fast tracked for promotion.
If pushed into a corner, Iran has the missle reach and capacity to destroy every major oil installation in the region. If Iran goes down, the world goes down. That’s the reality of the situation. Trump kicked the wrong hornet’s nest, and not to accomplish anything, but just because he thought it makes him look like a “Big Man”. LOL!
He has obtained his #1 objective, to contain (at least temporarily) the Epstein fallout.
People need to realize what Trump is doing is making this worse. He seriously should have used this (his statements that Iran’s govt is so fractured it can’t negotiate) as an exit point.
But he is doubling down on the blockade strategy.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say the bombing will start again sometime before the end of summer. Probably even next month, but I’ll give it till the end of summer (or sooner).
Bombing resumes this weekend if not sooner. The U.S. has not negotiated in good faith, attacked/seized an Iranian vessel, and continues its “blockade” (realistically not that effective). Thus from Iran’s perspective, we are intent on continuing the war. Furthermore, Iran has already promised retribution for the blockade. Supposedly there was a drone attack but I think it’s likely it’s not over. Once the ceasefire expires, Iran goes on the attack against any naval vessels still in range
Israel has been bombing Lebanon again… There is no cease-fire.
You may actually be correct:
https://www.aol.com/articles/iran-just-weeks-oil-storage-191318940.html
This was put out 6 days ago.
“Iran has only two to eight weeks left before it must curb oil production, risking long-term damage to its oil fields, experts said.”
There’s a rumor floating around in the non-US press that DT asked for the nuclear codes and some General refused.
It may be deliberate leak to scare Iran.
That’s the last thing we need. If Trump did that any country with a nuke would be free to use them. We really do have a bunch of idiots running the show.
Will have the same result, except for destroying Israel and the Gulf monarchies.
71 degrees today. Oiled the bicycle chain and rode 24 miles roundtrip to a meeting. Let’s see those Mullans do that. (Sarcasm?) Maybe.
How long is it going to take for the average “joe” to realize that taco is nothing more than a big bully who lies on a consistent basis with no backbone whatsoever. All he can do is make idle threats and fire those who do as he tells them to do once the heat is on. The fact that someone of his lack of character and humanity could be elected president will forever be a black mark on the US.
He’s a pathological liar. He’s mentally ill.
As are those who voted for him twice. People act like the NY Post did not exist in the 80s. It was all documented.
Correction: it will forever be a black mark on the Republican Party.
Sorry Tony, the average ‘Joe’ is too invested in Trump. I have plenty of family members who are on the same bandwagon and no chance of shifting even with diesel being above $4 per gallon
Diesel is $5.50 in FL, $7.50 in California.
I would have thought that the average frustrated Desi has more sense than that.
Another of my myths shattered.
Only Usonians could elect the 🍊 their president. Remember, nobody else ever did.
Let’s remember that this was really a choice between Trump and Harris. Harris was in a difficult position to essentially start and run a national campaign in a few months. But she said on national television that she couldn’t think of anything she would do differently than Biden. My personal strong opinion is that this is what cost her the election. Recall that even traditional liberals were vocal about Biden’s immigration policy for one. If she had said anything else – even a non-answer like I will decide those things with my team or even deflecting about the risk of Trump being president. But no – she said I literally can’t think of anything I would do differently. Also recall that Trump was saying he would end forever wars (and of course, here we are). The fact that she had no answer for such a predictable question to me shows how feckless she was/is and would be as a president. And in turn, I think with with Biden’s neocons still being able to have pull with Harris, I am not convinced that we wouldn’t be at war with Iran (or at least some level of ratcheted tension) under a Harris presidency. Harris was clueless. Trump is a dependable useful idiot.
There are some who agree with your last point:
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/04/21/biden-official-biden-was-preparing-to-bomb-iran-if-re-elected/
Susie Wiles finally took away his RISK game and hid his Magic 8 Ball.
Susie Wiles has been preventing any sane, non-Israel-first person from having access to Trump.
She’s a Zionist through and through
What if the goal is to crash the system so bad it must be scraped and rebuilt differently than before, and in the mean time loot as much as they can?
Because none of this makes any sense at all, but that America, and the west, is afraid to confront Russia (have we all forgotten Ukraine who is a huge supplier of grain to the world) and China directly. And don’t forget Trump was also there from the start with Ukraine.
It’s all a wash and if this is the best they can do to solve problems (western leaders) we are (westerners are) doomed. The end result will be tyranny, digital identification/currency, 24/7 surveveillance by both camera and ai.
The dark age 2.0 will come just to circumvent the chaos these (our) dumb leaders are bringing to the world.
If Trump’s goal were to ‘double Thanos snap’ the global population down to 2BB, setting up a fuel and food crisis would be a perfect way to get there in 18 months.
The future’s so bleak, I gotta wear blinders.
Giving trump credit for having a plan and sticking to is, in a single word, idiotic.
I never said Trump was the one with the plan 🙂
Trump like every president, imo, after Eisenhower is a puppet for special interests.
Much like many in the Senate and Congress are today.
Huge changes are coming if AI is successful, alas no one really knows what is going to happen. It could be the end of democracy, end of capitalism, end of human race or the beginning of a utopia, no one knows. AI may actually fail completely, no one actually knows.
Calling out Trump, musical tribute, deep analysis, my god man, we have the trifecta in a post!
3-Star Mishelin award granted! Keep giving the readers what we want!
As I have often said, albeit in another context “thank god for tacos”.
Can’t wait to hear Jojo the clown’s newest explanation of this! Let me take a crack at it while we wait:
Funny how he kinda types like the big Don, ain’t it?
The blockade is supposedly still in effect, but ships are still transiting the strait with Iranian permission (and some without) Including Iranian tankers.
The Schrödinger’s Straits of Hormuz (open or closed depending on who is speaking) can be simultaneously open, letting ships through, and simultaneously closed, blocking them all. If you look too closely, it might go kaboom!
You’re not thinking in 5D Papa.
Not many ships, though. I hadn’t heard of any ships going through without Iran’s permission. The strait is effectively closed.
Today three ships with permission. As many as 9 more without permission, based on some tracking sites.
Yesterday, I watched 6 cruise ships make a break out along the coast of Oman. And a few others.
There are still 800 ships trapped inside the Gulf. I do not know how the trapped ships are providing food and water to their crews.
Every day that passes means 10+ million barrels of oil, and many other key products not being shipped.
Trump is floundering, clearly mentally ill and declining rapidly. Mood swings from belligerent threats, to conciliation, to feigned indifference. He has no idea how to move forward, so he is confabulating military successes and engaging in negotiations that exist only in his imagination.
Iran would be smart to ignore Trump’s schizophrenic outbursts and keep communications to an absolute minimum. They can sit back, watch the global economic damage accumulate and let the pressure build. Trump’s mental breakdown makes the US incapable of coherent strategy or negotiations. Time is clearly on Iran’s side.
There are unconfirmed reports that Trump on Saturday demanded options for a nuclear strike and General Dan Caine told him ‘no’. Larry Johnson said he heard this from two separate sources. Of course on X everyone comes out of the woodwork attacking Larry’s character and that he’s just another spook out to get Trump. Frankly, I’ve been watching Larry for a few years now and find he’s been both knowledgeable and generally correct on the course of events (first Ukraine, then Iran). Although we may never get confirmation from an official source, I do not see any reason to doubt this happened given Trump’s apparent cognitive decline and fits of anger the past 3 weeks. He’s out of good conventional options and desperate to find a way out of this being seen as a winner.
I saw the nuclear codes story reported as well. Some cabinet member or highly placed Republican needs to start a 25th Amendment response to Trump’s madness and have him removed from office. Unfortunately, just about every Republican is part of, or so terrified of the MAGA cult, that they will never organize such an action.
Smart way to threaten Iran with nuclear attacks without officially doing it.
Hopefully that’s the most that it was.
Trump needs to be 86’d, but we do need to be mindful about accuracy when dealing with stuff near the top of the crazy pants meter. This is apparently unconfirmed. Anyone have anything more concrete? https://www.ibtimes.com/fact-check-truth-behind-viral-claim-that-general-dan-caine-blocked-trumps-nuclear-codes-3801579
Iran would be smart to lay out the facts exactly as they are and ask the world to stop Israel and the USA from this terrorism or they will need to resort to total war against both.
The extension is to look good in public while Navy ships are in transit. Additionally, pause give the US and Israel more time to locate high level Iranian leaders to minimize collateral damage to civilians.
“minimize collateral damage to civilians”. OMG.. hahahha. That’s a good one!
Damn I got beaten to my post above by the other circus clown.
I must admit, as a bullshit artist you have some skill.
Well done. Complete bullshit, but still well done.
I reckon he’s on the level
How does this look good to anyone? To his fans he looks like a chicken shit weasel. To adults he looks like a child.
Mish, I figure you’re probably aware that Trump posted “My Way” on Truth Social this past weekend. People were speculating what he meant by it (similar to art critics trying to interpret the aftermath of monkey poo flinging). Is the end near?
Inshallah
If I saw that, and probably did I forgot about it.
It was the regret line about Tucker that popped into my head.
Does anyone with a working and functioning brain still support Trump? Please respond with your reasoning.
If they supported Trump at any point, they never had a fully functioning brain. And since the brain deteriorates with age, they are all far below functioning at this point.
it’s insults like these that don’t go unnoticed. remember the other party had the wide open borders and boys/girls confusion, loves criminals, loves fraud, supported a president that couldn’t utter a sentence even if the current guy utters constantly shifting sentences. I could easily argue the same “functioning brain” comment to those that supported Biden/Harris. why play along with the deplorable pieces of garbage maggots nonsense when you have other cogent points to make?
it’s actually simple…I still support him on the things I always supported and I still disagree with those things that are bad policy, unconstitutional or inflammatory.
this back-and-forth nonsense on Iran with eyes toward the gas prices/stock market on the daily is maddening. imagine the profits you must be making playing the daily shift in sentiment!!! Trump no-likey the market going anything but up and really doesn’t like gas prices. Problem is with the latter…they ain’t moving much and the damage has been done politically…
i still wouldn’t be short oil with confidence for longer than a day
and i would argue i have a fully functioning brain.
The illegal immigration party is no good alternative to Trump. That’s a fact. They’ll drive the country into the ground much faster than a Republican congress would at this point. All the “sanctuary” areas are fraud ridden and teetering on the edge of insolvency. Unlike the federal government, the “sanctuary” areas are required to balance their budgets. Without federal dollars for payments to illegal immigrants and fraudulent “programs” with no customers, they are toast. California decades old train to nowhere with no track laid. Tickets for said train would be $500 one-way just to cover costs up to this point, LOL!
Even with “train to nowhere” ridership of 200,000/yr (which will never happen), the project wouldn’t pencil out. It would make Amtrak look like a paragon of efficiency in comparison. All the sanctuary programs are like that — fraudulent wastes along every analyzable measure. And PS, they never measure, and often make it illegal or impossible to do so.
You’d be wrong.
You blame the “other party” for open borders yet Republicans control most of government right now and guess what…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/04/19/trump-states-laws-immigration-business/
Democrats aren’t in control of anything so perhaps you need to rethink things.
Yes the Democrats are very much to blame. For much of this mess. If Biden had supported Kamala for 4 years instead of 4 months. If RGB did not think she would never die and took advantage of a Democrat congress. if the Democrats had a plan and a message to help the working class and not the billionaire class. The Dems were the farm labor party what happened? If Hillary Biden had been fair and Bernie had a chance to push the progressive message which will actually resonate with a large part of the electorate. Trump would not have happened. but the Dem party message really has to be something more than not trump. I would never vote for trump but i do understand why people did not vote Dem.
At any point? Really? I supported Trump at one time and my brain functions just fine. You sound like you need to rub out a profitgasm.
I think you proved my point. Lol.
I think they all took their balls and went home when Mish turned the accountability heat up on Trump.
Has anyone with a functioning brain ever supported Trump?
Tick-tock
Time favors Iran and fractures the west
It is pure folly for Trump to think he is willing to out-sacrifice Iranian leadership. Trump is likely to wilt under pressure from all angles, especially his ego’s.
Trump will sacrifice nothing, but he’s willing to make every other American sacrifice whatever it takes