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Traders Made Hundreds Of Millions In Suspiciously Timed Iran Bets

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Stock traders made oil bets totaling in the nine figures in a two-minute period just over a half hour before President Donald Trump revealed there had been “productive conversations” between the U.S. and Iran, the Financial Times (FT) reported.

Traders dealt more than 6,000 Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures contracts — collectively worth $580 million — between 6:49 a.m. and 6:50 a.m. ET Monday, according to the FT. At 7:23 a.m., Trump sent a Truth social post announcing the conversations between the two nations, which have been engaged in a war since Feb. 28.

Brent and WTI are the two main global oil price benchmarks. Both benchmarks’ trading values leaped simultaneously at 6:49 a.m., per the FT. It remains unknown whether one or multiple actors engaged in the trades, the outlet reported.

“If nobody goes to jail for this, we’ve entered the ‘every man for himself’ stage of empire decline,” economist Chris Martenson remarked in a Wednesday X post sharing the FT’s headline.

(Read more from “Traders Made Hundreds Of Millions In Suspiciously Timed Iran Bets” HERE)

US Sends 15-Point Plan to End War With Iran as Trump Says Regime Has Agreed to Scrap Nuclear Program

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The US has sent Iran a 15-point plan and cease-fire proposal to end the war in the Middle East — and President Trump claims the regime has already agreed to a critical part of the peace framework: No nuclear weapons.

“They’ve agreed,” Trump said Tuesday of his biggest demand. “They will never have a nuclear weapon. They’ve agreed to that.”

The peace plan was shared with Iranian officials Tuesday via Pakistan, according to the New York Times.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are reportedly seeking Tehran to agree to a monthlong cease-fire, during which the 15 points of the plan would be negotiated, according to Israel’s Channel 12.

The peace plan is believed to be based on the 15-point framework presented to the Iranian government last year, before Israel launched its 12-day war against the regime and the US bombed Iranian nuclear facilities in Operation Midnight Hammer, according to multiple outlets. (Read more from “US Sends 15-Point Plan to End War With Iran as Trump Says Regime Has Agreed to Scrap Nuclear Program” HERE)

Trump Lays Out Terms For End To Iran War; Netanyahu Says Israel Will Continue to Attack Iran

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By Daily Caller. President Donald Trump on Monday outlined the conditions Iran would have to meet for Operation Epic Fury to end.

Trump announced Monday morning that talks had started between the United States and Iran, pausing a planned strike on Iranian power plants for five days. Trump spoke to reporters before boarding Air Force One en route to an event in Memphis.

“We’re looking for all of the things that we’ve been talking about,” Trump told reporters. “We want to see no nuclear bomb, no nuclear weapon, not even close to it, low-key on the missiles. We want to see peace in the Middle East. We want the nuclear dust, we’re going to want that, and I think we’re going to get that.”

“We’ve agreed to that, yes, we’ve agreed to that uranium … we want no enrichment, but we also want the enriched uranium,” Trump continued. “If this happens, it’s a great start for Iran to build itself back, and it’s everything that we want, and it’s also great for Israel and it’s great for the other Middle Eastern countries, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, all of them, Kuwait and Bahrain in particular, so it’s great for all of them.”

Trump announced the start of Operation Epic Fury in a Feb. 28 post on Truth Social after negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program collapsed. Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East envoy, said in a March 2 interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity that Iranian diplomats declared the regime would keep enriching uranium and claimed to already possess enough material for nearly a dozen “dirty” weapons. (Read more from “Trump Lays Out Terms For End To Iran War” HERE)

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Netanyahu Says Israel Will Continue to Attack Iran Despite Trump’s Deescalation Post

By Mediaite. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country will continue “smashing” Iran while the United States discusses a potential deal to end the war with what’s left of Iran’s leadership.

Netanyahu shared the update in a video post a few hours after President Donald Trump said the U.S. and Iran have held “PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS” on a potential end to “HOSTILITIES”; Trump also announced a temporary halt on his plan to bomb Iran’s power plants, which was set to start on Monday night if Iran did not meet his deadline to “FULLY OPEN” the Strait of Hormuz.

Netanyahu — in a brief video posted on X — said that he had spoken with “our friend” Trump on Monday, and that he believes there is “an opportunity to leverage the tremendous achievements we have reached alongside the U.S. military to realize the goals of the war through an agreement that will safeguard our vital interests.”

He then said Israel will continue to strike Iran — as well as Lebanon — while the sides negotiate.

“We are smashing the missile program and the nuclear program, and we continue to deal severe blows to Hezbollah,” Netanyahu said.

(Read more from “Netanyahu Says Israel Will Continue to Attack Iran Despite Trump’s Deescalation Post” HERE)

Trump Blasts Robert Mueller after News of ex-FBI Director, Russia Special Counsel’s Death: ‘Good’

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President Trump celebrated the death of former FBI director and special counsel Robert Mueller with a teeth-baring social media post on Saturday.

“Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people! President DONALD J. TRUMP,” he posted shortly after Mueller’s death was announced.

Mueller was named special counsel and tasked with investigating the 2016 election which hung over the head of Trump throughout his first term in office.

The now dead former G-man concluded that Russia interfered, mainly on social media, with the intent of benefitting Trump.

No charges against the president came from the investigation, though Mueller refused to formally exonerate Trump. (Read more from “Trump Blasts Robert Mueller after News of ex-FBI Director, Russia Special Counsel’s Death: ‘Good’” HERE)

Trump Says ‘Good and Productive’ Talks with Iran Delivers Pause in Military Strikes

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President Donald Trump flagged a pause in strikes targeting Iran and its power generation capabilities on Monday morning, taking to social media to declare his hopes for a peaceful resolution to hostilities sooner rather than later.

Trump says the U.S. and Iran have held talks on the “complete and total resolution of hostilities” in the Middle East driven by Operation Epic Fury.

The president says that, as a result of the diplomatic exchanges, he has postponed threatened future strikes on Iranian power plants and infrastructure. . .

In a post on Truth Social all in capital letters he says:

“I AM PLEASE TO REPORT THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE COUNTRY OF IRAN, HAVE HAD, OVER THE LAST TWO DAYS, VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

“BASED ON THE TENOR AND TONE OF THESE IN DEPTH, DETAILED, AND CONSTRUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS, WITCH WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD, SUBJECT TO THE SUCCESS OF THE ONGOING MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP”

(Read more from “Trump Says ‘Good and Productive’ Talks with Iran Delivers Pause in Military Strikes” HERE)

Trump Asks ‘Why Didn’t You Tell Me About Pearl Harbor’ When Japanese Reporter Brings Up Lack of Warning on Iran

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President Donald Trump on Thursday had a viral response for a Japanese reporter who asked why the United States did not give Japan advance warning of Operation Epic Fury.

During Trump’s bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae in the Oval Office, the reporter asked him, “Why didn’t you tell U.S. allies in Europe and Asia, like Japan, about the war before attacking Iran?”

“One thing you don’t want to signal too much. You know, when we go in, we went in very hard. We didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise,” he said. “Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?”

“You believe in surprise, I think much more so than us, and we had to surprise them, and we did,” Trump added. “And because of that surprise… in the first two days, we probably knocked out…much more than what we anticipated doing. If I go and tell everybody about it, there’s no longer a surprise.”

Moments earlier, Trump commended Japan for “stepping up to the plate” on Iran while taking a dig at North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries. (Read more from “Trump Asks ‘Why Didn’t You Tell Me About Pearl Harbor’ When Japanese Reporter Brings Up Lack of Warning on Iran” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Victory In Iran Depends On More Than U.S. Military Dominance

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Since the Iran war began nearly three weeks ago, President Trump has routinely (and accurately) boasted of America’s battlefield dominance. On an almost daily basis, he recounts how Iran’s navy, missile sites, and military infrastructure have been decimated or completely destroyed. He is, with good reason, supremely confident in American arms. This week, responding to NATO allies who refused to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open, the president declared that, “we don’t need too much help, and we don’t need any help, actually.”

And so far as it goes, Trump is right. The United States is dominating the battlefield in Iran without any help from NATO allies. On Tuesday, U.S. warplanes dropped multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on Iranian coastal missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz, the first major action in its effort to secure the strait and clear the way for the thousands of commercial vessels now trapped in the Persian Gulf.

There is no question of American battlefield dominance thus far in the war. Yet the Trump administration now faces a different sort of challenge that cannot be quantified in missile strikes or sunk ships. The paradox of U.S. strategic power is that while no nation in human history has ever been able to wield so much military might, the American democratic system of government means the deployment of that power is contingent on public opinion.

In practice, that means America’s obvious superior military capability against Iran does not necessarily guarantee what military strategists call escalation dominance. The U.S. military has better weaponry than any other country, our Armed Forces are vastly superior in every way, and our industrial base dwarfs Iran’s. On the battlefield, the American military will certainly prevail.

But one of the lessons of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is that escalation dominance, at least for a democratic country like the U.S., depends in part on political will, which in turn depends on public opinion. If the American people turn hard enough against a conflict, the U.S. military can win every battle and America will still lose the war.

This is especially salient in a conflict like the one we have launched in Iran. The Trump administration has given multiple justifications for launching the war, which has contributed to a public atmosphere of confusion about American war aims. A recent Washington Post poll found that 65 percent of respondents don’t think President Trump and his team have clearly explained the goals of the war. As Byron York points out at The Washington Examiner, this is despite weeks of the administration saying what its goals are: Destroy Iran’s missiles and missile production, destroy its navy, destroy its ability to project power through regional proxies, and prevent it from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon. (Read more from “Victory In Iran Depends On More Than U.S. Military Dominance” HERE)

Trump’s Fiery Response to NATO Allies over Strait of Hormuz: ‘They will do nothing for us’

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President Trump put NATO allies on notice Tuesday after they shunned his request for assistance in keeping the Strait of Hormuz open for international shipping.

Trump, both publicly and on social media, lashed out at European allies – including France and the UK – for their refusal to help and implied their defiance would have broader repercussions for the entire alliance.

“It’s certainly something that we should think about,” he told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if he would remove the United States from NATO. “I don’t need Congress for that decision, as you probably know, I can make that decision myself.”

The president has never been a fan of the Cold War era alliance, complaining, since his first term in office, that its members don’t pay an equitable share of dues and are too dependent on the U.S. for protection.

“I’m very disappointed in NATO, very disappointed,” he said. “We spend trillions of dollars on NATO. Think of it, trillions over the years, many trillions of dollars. It’s one of the reasons we have deficits.” (Read more from “Trump’s Fiery Response to NATO Allies over Strait of Hormuz: ‘They will do nothing for us’” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Netanyahu Confirms ‘Israel Acted Alone’ in Attack on Iran’s South Pars Gas Field

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that “Israel acted alone” and that President Donald Trump had asked Israel “to hold off on future attacks” after Israel attacked Iran’s South Pars Gas Field.

During a press conference on Thursday, Netanyahu poked fun at online rumors that he was dead, stating that he was “alive.” Netanyahu also gave an update on Operation Roaring Lion, explaining that both Israel and the United States were “acting together in Iran with great determination.”

Netanyahu responded to a question from a reporter who stated that Trump “did not like the Israeli strike on the Iranian gas fields,” and asked if Trump “was aware of Israel striking that gas field.”

“Well, I’ll say two things. Fact number one, Israel acted alone,” Netanyahu answered, referring to the news that Israel had launched airstrikes on Iran’s South Pars Gas Field. “Fact number two, President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks.”

Netanyahu’s comments came after Trump took to Truth Social to reveal that Israel had “violently lashed out at a major facility known as South Pars Gas Field in Iran.”

(Read more from “Netanyahu Confirms ‘Israel Acted Alone’ in Attack on Iran’s South Pars Gas Field” HERE)

Turns out Mar-a-Lago Wasn’t Overvalued, Tish

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Forbes just estimated the value of Mar-a-Lago at about $560 million, again exposing the fakery in New York state Attorney General Tish James’ 2023 civil fraud persecution of President Trump.

James argued that Trump had wildly inflated the value of the resort and other properties to get better loan terms from Deutsche Bank.

Democratic hack Judge Arthur Engoron agreed, calling Trump’s half-billion-dollar estimate for the Palm Beach palace “an overvaluation of at least 2,300%, compared to the assessor’s appraisal.”

Bogus assumption No. 1 was that tax assessments reflect real market value; No. 2, that a sophisticated global powerhouse like Deutsche Bank would ever take a borrower’s word for what his assets are worth.

As National Review’s Andrew McCarthy notes, Forbes’ new list of billionaires bumped Trump into the ranks of the 1,000 richest people in the world, partly based on valuing the president’s Xanadu in the ballpark of Trump’s “original fraudulent” estimate. (Read more from “Turns out Mar-a-Lago Wasn’t Overvalued, Tish” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr