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Trump Can Counter Media’s Iran Coverage By Being Honest About The War

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Fox News hosted President Trump on Thursday to talk about the progress of the war in Iran, and he did the usual, which is to say he declared the war effectively complete, while at the same time acknowledging that it’s actually still ongoing. And then he dumped all over the admittedly fallacious news media for its war reporting, saying that for Iran, “The only thing they have is fake news,” which he accused of doing Tehran’s “publicity.”

Here’s the problem with that: A lot of us who are rooting for a successful end to this conflict aren’t so upset with the media. We know how they operate. What’s frustrating us to the point of furious tears are the wildly inconsistent, contradictory and otherwise obviously untrue statements Trump is making about the war on a near-daily basis.

Literally since the start of the war, the president has said it’s over; that it’s still going; that we’re close to a deal with Iran; that Iran isn’t really trying to make a deal; that Iran really wants a deal; that Iran needs to open the Hormuz Strait; that the Hormuz Strait would be open in short order; that we control the strait; that the U.S. wants help from other allies; that the U.S. doesn’t need help from any allies; that Iran must unconditionally surrender; that a deal might not include unconditional surrender; that regime change is a requirement to end the war; that the war might very well end with the existing regime.

Here are just a few of Trump’s real-life, whiplashing inducing declarations on the war since early March, in reverse chronological order:

“[I] have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening.”— June 11

(Read more from “Trump Can Counter Media’s Iran Coverage By Being Honest About The War” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

U.S. Hits Iran Again After Trump Said Tehran Has Been ‘Tapping Us Along’ in Talks

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The U.S. military launched a fresh wave of strikes against multiple targets in Iran on Wednesday evening after President Donald Trump warned Tehran would “pay the price” for dragging out negotiations aimed at ending the conflict.

“U.S. Central Command forces began launching additional self-defense strikes today at 5:15 p.m. ET against multiple targets in Iran at the Commander in Chief’s direction,” CENTCOM announced in a statement. “The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression.”

The operation followed a day of increasingly sharp warnings from Trump, who accused Tehran of stalling negotiations and warned the regime would face consequences for delaying a response to Washington’s latest proposal.

In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump declared that Iran had been “completely defeated,” describing the regime as “all talk and no action.”

“The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!!” Trump wrote. “They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them. Now they will have to pay the price!”

(Read more from “U.S. Hits Iran Again After Trump Said Tehran Has Been ‘Tapping Us Along’ in Talks” HERE)

Trump’s Art of the Deal Meets Iran’s Long Memory of Foreign Exploitation

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As the government’s standing plummets to an all-time low due to a reckless disregard for the welfare of its people, mass protests sweep across major Iran’s cities, including Shiraz, Tabriz and Tehran. Driven by a threat to their economic survival, the merchant class, or bazaaris, are leading the demonstrations.

This is not a news report from December 2025. This is the spring of 1891, the opening salvos of the Persian Tobacco Protest. Recognizing that unfettered concessions to foreigners pose a threat to both national sovereignty and their own economic interests, the powerful Shia clergy joined the merchants in an open revolt. It was Iran’s first bitter lesson in what happens when a ruler sells out the nation to ensure his own political survival. It wouldn’t be the last.

Iranians know their history well, especially when it comes to confronting foreign aggressors. Amid whispers of diplomatic backchannels and leaks about potential deals, Iranian officials have taken to the social media platform X to send cryptic, and at times humorous, references to past triumphs. Most notably, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei invoked the Sasanian Empire’s victory over Roman Emperor Philip the Arab, when Rome was forced to accept peace on Persian terms in the 3rd century.

But make no mistake: these posts are not cautionary tales directed at the United States and Israel alone. They can also be read as stern warnings to Tehran’s own negotiators. Any concessions, or capitulations, made by the Islamic Republic can trigger severe domestic backlash because in the Iranian historical imagination, yielding an inch inevitably leads to Western exploitation and destabilizing protests. For Iran’s hardliners, a deal is tantamount to surrender.

This mindset can be traced to what Hamid Dabashi, professor of Iranian studies and comparative literature at Columbia University, describes as a “long historical memory which is very much alive and resonant in their contemporary politics.”

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Trump Scolds Netanyahu in Testy Phone Call: ‘You could be left alone against Iran very soon’

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President Trump warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that restarting a full-fledged war with Tehran could risk losing US support.

“I told Bibi, ‘you better be very careful what you do, because you could be left alone against Iran very soon,’” Trump told Israel’s Channel 12 on Monday.

Trump’s harsh words came over a phone call with Netanyahu after a volley of missiles between Iran and Israel that marked the 100th day of the war.

Trump said Iran offered a cease-fire with Israel, provided the president could stop Netanyahu from continuing attacks.

He then dialed the prime minister, emphasizing he was close to a deal with Iran and that he wouldn’t let Israel ruin it by returning to war.

An administration official told The Post on Monday the White House did not believe Iran was intending to return to war with the strikes on Israel. (Read more from “Trump Scolds Netanyahu in Testy Phone Call: ‘You could be left alone against Iran very soon’” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Trump Must ‘Accept the Reality’ there is no Iran Deal on the Horizon, Ex-General Declares

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Retired four-star Gen. Jack Keane said enough with the diplomatic charade — Iran is stalling for time and the best solution is to resume full-scale war.

The chairman of the Institute for the Study of War and former Army vice chief of staff on Friday blasted eight weeks of fruitless talks as a waste while the mullahs play games.

“We have to accept the reality that’s just not going to happen,” Keane said on Fox News. “They have one motive: Stretch out negotiations as much as possible, get as close to the political situation in terms of midterm elections, and there will be less likelihood that President Trump would ever pull the trigger and go back to military operations. I believe that is their unstated strategy.”

Even if a deal somehow was inked, Keane warned it would be worthless — and dangerously so.

“We can’t throw them a financial lifeline … because then they’ll systematically reverse everything,” he said. “They’ve always cheated in the past, and they’ll cheat in the future.”

Still, he championed Trump’s decision to launch the war on Feb. 28 — but said the job isn’t over yet. (Read more from “Trump Must ‘Accept the Reality’ there is no Iran Deal on the Horizon, Ex-General Declares” HERE)

US Shoots Down Iranian Drones Launched Toward Strait of Hormuz after Trump said ‘We’re Straightening out a Little Unfinished Business’

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The US military shot down four Iranian drones launched toward the Strait of Hormuz on Friday evening, US Central Command said — as President Trump told an audience in Wisconsin he had to hurry back to work to “straighten out a little unfinished business in Iran.”

“Moments ago, CENTCOM forces shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones that were launched toward the Strait of Hormuz,” the combatant command said in a statement shortly before 7 p.m. “The attack drones posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic.”

The US has been enforcing an naval blockade around Iran’s ports to impose economic pain. Tehran shut down maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz since the start of US and Israel’s war on Iran on Feb. 28.

CENTCOM said the military went on to strike “Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in Goruk and on Qeshm Island to defend against further attacks.

“American forces remain vigilant and postured to respond to unjustified Iranian aggression in self-defense,” CENTCOM said. (Read more from “US Shoots Down Iranian Drones Launched Toward Strait of Hormuz after Trump said ‘We’re Straightening out a Little Unfinished Business’” HERE)

House Defies Trump and Passes War Powers Resolution to Halt Military Action Against Iran — Thanks to 4 GOP Defectors

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Four House Republicans voted with Democrats Wednesday to pass a war powers resolution aimed at forcing President Trump to end military action against Iran.

The measure cleared the House in a 215-208 vote – two weeks after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) pulled a planned vote on the resolution after it appeared Republicans would not be able to defeat it.

Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Tom Barrett (R-Mich.) and Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) joined every Democrat in backing the measure to end the three-month-long war.

The resolution will now head to the Senate, which advanced its own war powers resolution last month when a handful of GOP senators broke ranks with the president.

“The passage of my War Powers Resolution is a significant bipartisan rebuke of President Trump’s illegal and costly war in Iran, and the first step toward ending it once and for all,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the sponsor of the measure, said in a statement.

“Trump’s war has failed to accomplish the Trump Administration’s stated goals with respect to Iran,” Meeks continued. “If anything, it has pushed a diplomatic resolution of Iran’s nuclear program further away.” (Read more from “House Defies Trump and Passes War Powers Resolution to Halt Military Action Against Iran — Thanks to 4 GOP Defectors” HERE)

Trump Convenes Situation Room Meeting for ‘Final Determination’ on Iran Deal — Makes New Demand for ‘Nuclear Dust’

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A peace deal with Iran appeared within reach on Friday after President Trump convened a lengthy meeting in the Situation Room to hammer out the details and make clear his red line on Iran’s nuclear dust.

Negotiations are “close,” a senior administration official told The Post, but not finalized.

Officials are optimistic, but sticking points remain, including over Iran’s nuclear program and the dispersal of humanitarian funds.

However, Tehran has not publicly agreed to give up its enriched uranium before the Strait of Hormuz is reopened.

The president spent over two hours in the Situation Room on Friday with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior administration officials to discuss the details, which would include reopening the Strait of Hormuz, dropping the US blockade of Iranian ports — and potentially seeing the US digging out and destroying Iran’s leftover enriched uranium. (Read more from “Trump Convenes Situation Room Meeting for ‘Final Determination’ on Iran Deal — Makes New Demand for ‘Nuclear Dust’” HERE)

Trump Threatens to ‘Blow up’ US Ally Oman

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Donald Trump has threatened to “blow up” Oman if it fails to “behave” in a casual aside during a cabinet meeting, as the US scrambles to reopen the strait of Hormuz.

The US president made the threat after reports of talks between Iran and Oman about jointly charging a toll for ships passing through the crucial waterway, which has been all but closed since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran.

“The strait is going to be open to everybody,” Trump declared on Tuesday. “Nobody’s going to control it. We’re going to watch over it. We’ll watch over it. But nobody’s going to control it. That’s part of the negotiation that we have.”

In addition to Oman’s decades-long military and economic ties with the US, the Gulf nation of 5.3 million people has played a mediation role in the war and has itself come under attack from Tehran. . .

In an extraordinary threat, he added: “Oman will behave just like everybody else. Or else we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that. They’ll be fine.” (Read more from “Trump Threatens to ‘Blow up’ US Ally Oman” HERE)

US Launches Self-Defense Strikes on Mine-Laying Boats in Southern Iran, CENTCOM says

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The US military launched “self-defense strikes” against Iranian boats that were reportedly laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz Monday, according to Central Command.

CENTCOM spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins said US military “eliminated” two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps boats that were seen setting mines in the strait, and also took out a surface-to-air missile site in Bandar Abbas, according to Fox News.

The missile site based at Iran’s primary naval station was reportedly targeting US warplanes, Hawkins said. He insisted that the “self-defense strikes” were conducted “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.”

“U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” Hawkins said in a statement obtained by the outlet.

The US strikes — and mine-laying efforts by the IRGC — are both violations of a tenuous cease-fire that appears on the cusp of being extended after a framework to end the Iran war surfaced following whirlwind negotiations over the weekend. (Read more from “US Launches Self-Defense Strikes on Mine-Laying Boats in Southern Iran, CENTCOM says” HERE)