William Lindsey 
"This weekend showed that we can expect more madness this week and beyond."
~ Steven Beschloss
"Donald Trump and his minions are having a meltdown. On Saturday, Trump lashed out at the New York Times for an article saying the obvious — that many of his original war goals, whatever they may have been, remain unaccomplished."
~ Paul Krugman
#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #oil #gas
/2
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/when-hyperglobalization-meets-chaos
"Why the desperation? The answer is obvious. It’s turning out not just that regime change — if that was really the goal — is hard to engineer, but also that the world is a lot more dependent on the Strait of Hormuz than Trump and co. seem to have realized."
"The belief that Israel and the US could help instigate widespread revolt was a foundational flaw in the preparations for a war that has spread across the Middle East."
Mark Mazzetti, Julian E. Barnes, Edward Wong and Ronen Bergman
#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #oil #gas #Israel #RegimeChange
/5
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/22/us/politics/iran-israel-trump-netanyahu-mossad.html
"Instead of imploding from within, Iran’s govt has dug in and escalated the conflict, striking blows and counterblows against military bases, cities, ships in the Persian Gulf, and against vulnerable oil and gas installations.”
#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #oil #gas #Israel #RegimeChange
/6
"After more than two weeks of consistent bombing, new US intelligence suggests Iran’s regime is now consolidating power, unlikely to collapse, and led by a cadre more extreme than before."
~ Jon Hoffman
#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #oil #gas #Israel #RegimeChange
/7
"The president is under enormous pressure, as his war with Iran sparked Iranian officials to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s oil flows. This outcome was expected by previous presidents, but Trump seemed to think he could avoid it and now is stuck without an easy solution."
~ Heather Cox Richardson
"As former defense secretary and Central Intelligence Agency director Leon Panetta told David Smith of The Guardian, '[I]f there was an escape here for Trump, it would be to declare victory and it’s over and we’ve been able to be successful in all of our military targets. The problem is he can declare victory all he wants but, if he doesn’t get the ceasefire, he’s got nothing.'"
"'And he’s not going to get a ceasefire as long as Iran is holding the gun of the strait of Hormuz against his head.'
'He tends to be naive about how things can happen,' Panetta told Smith. 'If he says it and keeps saying it, there’s always a hope that what he says will come true. But that’s what kids do. It’s not what presidents do.'”
"As unpopular as Donald Trump’s ill-conceived, incompetently managed war was when it began, it is now more unpopular with a key segment of voters. 'Trump’s net approval of -20 for handling the situation in Iran represents a drop from last week’s poll. Then, 39% of Americans approved of how Trump was handling Iran and 52% disapproved — a net approval of -13,' The Economist/YouGov reported last week."
~ Jennifer Rubin
#Trump #Iran #war #oil #gas #ApprovalRating
/11
https://www.contrariannews.org/p/trumps-disastrous-war-comes-home
"Several factors increase the likelihood that Trump’s support will crater.
First and foremost, a decomposing president, plainly out of his depth, is on display as the public increasingly grasps that this debacle was predictable and entirely avoidable. ...
Second, even if Trump wants to, it will become obvious that he has lost control of the timeline and the ballooning cost of the war."
"Third, unlike the Iraq War (when George W. Bush urged Americans to go to the mall to shop) or Trump’s first attack on Iran, virtually every American already has felt — or will soon feel — the war’s impact. The price of oil won’t come down anytime soon."
"Donald Trump is backing down from striking Iranian power plants, giving a five-day extension due to what he describes as productive talks with Iran. The problem is that Iran denies having any conversations with the White House or even through intermediaries."
~ Aaron Parnas
#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #oil #gas
/14
https://aaronparnas.substack.com/p/news-trump-backs-down-on-bombing
NEWS: Trump Backs Down on Bombing Power Plants Due to Productive Talks, Iran Says Trump is Lying, Devastating Crash at Airport, ICE Deployed to 13 Airports
Good morning everyone.
"At least 2,200 troops of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit have departed from Camp Pendleton aboard the USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship."
~ Marcie Jones
#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #KhargIsland #oil #gas #Marines #troops
/16
https://www.wonkette.com/p/mullah-said-thered-be-days-like-this
"In multiple scenarios, if Donald Trump were to invade and try to occupy Kharg Island for an extended period of time, American casualties would very likely be 'considerable,' one of the people familiar with the matter says."
~ Asawin Suebsaeng and Andrew Perez
#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #KhargIsland #oil #gas #Marines #troops
/17
"Some estimates, the first two sources tell us, are easily in the dozens for an initial phase of occupation, with numbers likely to rise sharply if President Trump wished to hold the island for an extended duration.
Some of the internal Kharg analysis has been shared directly with Trump in recent weeks, sources stress."
#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #KhargIsland #oil #gas #Marines #troops
/18
The Washington Post is taking things seriously tonight. Here is their headline:
“Trump threats, U.S. troop build-up raise specter of battle for Hormuz.”
It’s not boots on the ground. It’s blood on the ground. At the whim of one man, the blood of thousands has already been spilled. No matter who it belongs to, all blood is precious."
~ Lucian K. Truscott
#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #KhargIsland #oil #gas #Marines #troops
/19
https://luciantruscott.substack.com/p/what-boots-on-the-ground-really-means
"Anyone who speaks casually about the death and destruction and madness of war is a despicable monster."
#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #KhargIsland #oil #gas #Marines #troops
/20
"All the madman posturing in the world can’t change this simple fact: Iran knows how badly Trump needs to get the oil-price situation under control. Again and again, Trump has signaled he will let other foreign-policy objectives fall by the wayside to address this major domestic concern."
~ Andrew Egger
"People are still trying to pretend there's some sophisticated plan here."
~ Ron Filipkowski quoting Gregg Carlstrom
#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz
/22
https://www.meidasplus.com/p/this-weekend-in-politics-bulletin-ed5
"The father of a dead U.S. serviceman has denied claims by Pete Hegseth that he told the Defense Secretary to 'not stop until the job is done' – referring to the war in Iran.
'No, I didn’t say anything along those lines,' Charles Simmons told NBC News in an interview Thursday, recalling his encounter with Hegseth at the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware."
~ Mike Bedigan
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #lies #disinformation #propaganda
/23
"Simmons is the father of 28-year-old Master Sergeant Tyler Simmons, who was among the six crew members killed last week when their refueling plane crashed in Iraq."
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #lies #disinformation #propaganda
/24
"The Iran conflict has been sold to the public as a story with a clear objective, to stop their nuclear program, punish its proxies, restore deterrence, and then, by magic, stability reigns. But when you dig deeper, you don’t find a coherent plan; you find a chaotic conflict with no endgame. There is no path toward resolution, but rather an endless catastrophe."
~ Mark Mansour
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #lies #disinformation #propaganda
/25
https://mmansour.substack.com/p/what-are-the-endgames-for-the-iran
PG1958WILLNOTCOMPLY 🇺🇸🇷🇴🇺🇦🇵🇸@wdlindsy trump doesn't do "sophisticated", he does "knee-jerk reactionary". As the saying goes...when your enemy is in the process of destroying himself don't interrupt them.
RainbowFrogat last ! somebody says it. Thank you M. Truscott
"No matter who it belongs to, all blood is precious." 👌
su_liam
0ptimist
Becca
Nicole ParsonsTrump & Netanyahu need to be reminded that Russia & Iran have nerve agents & bioweapons that were tested for efficacy on the Syrian population.
https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2026/02/24/countering-irans-covert-chemical-weapons-program/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/07/syria-nerve-agent-attack-why-it-made-sense-to-assad
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/5/1/syrian-forces-used-nerve-gas-in-four-attacks-hrw
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/04/syria-chemical-weapons-attack/521883/
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/world/middleeast/syria-bashar-al-assad-russia-sarin-attack.html
https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/blog/nine-years-since-ghouta-chemical-weapons-in-syria
Countering Iran’s Covert Chemical Weapons Program
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, “Evolution on the Status of Participation in the Convention,” updated June 2018. (https://www.opcw.org/evolution-status-participation-convention)Reza Akvanian, “‘People collapsed’: mystery chemicals lobbed at Iran protesters — eyewitnesses,” Iran International, January 23, 2026. (https://www.iranintl.com/en/202601235991); “Over 36,500 killed in Iran’s deadliest massacre, documents reveal,” Iran International, January 25, 2026. (https://www.iranintl.com/en/202601255198); Mansoureh Galestan, “Day […]
@wdlindsy The first in line to die for… (gestures widely at expansive fields of nothing)… this.
Don’t worry, though, your “president(spit)” will make out, literally, like a bandit and fail up. As always for the Epstein class.
Don’t worry, though, your “president(spit)” will make out, literally, like a bandit and fail up. As always for the Epstein class.
cognitively accessible math@wdlindsy
They can just stop at the "attempt to influence markets.
Duly note the "bad news" was on the weekend and the "good news" -- with nothing to verify its validity - only undid the bluff. No actual progress.
They can just stop at the "attempt to influence markets.
Duly note the "bad news" was on the weekend and the "good news" -- with nothing to verify its validity - only undid the bluff. No actual progress.
@geonz Yes, that's my reading of the situation, too.
@wdlindsy Watch Trump and his insider friends buy up temporarily-cheap oil to sell it when those prices go through the roof. This is pure, simple and wide-open kleptocracy, and the denials haven’t been remotely plausible any time in the last 8-10 years. It’s all theft, all the way down.
🌮🌮🌮🌮
well, it's clearly a better issue than NOT backing down, which would escalate dramatically 🤔
spdrnl
Sharon 🤦🏾♀️ Persists@wdlindsy I'm skeptical of anything that comes out of Trump's mouth. And who's doing the "talks"? His compromised hedge fund guy son-in-law and Witkoff, the real estate guy? What qualifications and expertise do they have to speak as diplomats on our country's behalf? Laughable.
wobweger 
Trump's likely talking to one of his wish-fulfillment billionaires in the deluded belief they are acting as impartial mediators for Iran's equally corrupt regime
Same way Trump was conned by Witkoff, Kushner & Kirill Dmitriev & their "Let's Make Money & Sell Out the EU & Ukraine"
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2jzwpvz9jo
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/21/who-is-kirill-dmitriev-draft-plan-ukraine-war-russia
https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/russia-u-s-peace-business-ties-4db9b290
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/19/world/europe/trump-russia-ukraine-putin-trump.html
https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/02/21/from-wall-street-banker-to-vladimir-putins-point-man
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/04/02/dmitriev-russia-envoy-business-trump/
1/
2/
Since Trump is a mafioso at heart, he's never trusted the qualified diplomats of his own government.
He'll trust another crooked despot more than his own officials.
He always seeks backchannel communication that goes unrecorded & secret. He wants his self-dealing corruption kept hidden.
It's part of MAGA's patterns & practices for influence peddling
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/explainer-jared-kushners-attempted-back-channel-russia-treasonous-typical
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/16/jared-kushner-russia-wikileaks-emails-trump-team
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/17/us/politics/trump-russia-kushner.html
Kierkethumbs up convincingly@wdlindsy as eeeverybody except trump knew beforehand
@wdlindsy that's because trump lacks the intelligence of even W! He is unable to see past his growing gut.
Kyle Memoir 🍉🐧Sounds a lot like Trump's USA.
FlowermobThe Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, & Koch Network funded enormous campaigns to thwart the transition to solar, wind, & renewable energy.
They paid Musk to foil trains, affordable EV'S, & improved batteries
Their fossil fuel axis alliance fund efforts to control global oil supply by attacking Venezuela, Nigeria, Canada, Greenland, & South China Sea
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/business/oil-jetfuel-asia.html
https://www.woodmac.com/press-releases/vietnam-murphy-oil-discovery/
Stephan Okhuijsen
Kevin Russell
stony kark@wdlindsy haha whoopsies
Justin M@stonykark @wdlindsy pretty much why other administration's didn't want to attack Iran.
Paul Sutton (zleap)How do unarmed civilians fight back against trained soldiers ?? It would be slaughter.