David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)

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Ph.D. Human Science (Saybrook University, 2016), vegetarian ecofeminist (#vegan and #libertariansocialist) scholar, #anticapitalist. Disgusted by Republicans, furious at the Democrats.
ORCIDhttps://orcid.org/ 0000-0003-2641-962X
Academiahttps://saybrook.academia.edu/DavidBenfell
Substackhttps://substack.com/@benfell
Not Housebrokenhttps://nothousebroken.substack.com
BlueSkyhttps://bsky.app/profile/disunitedstates.org
Donald Trump is probably hallucinating

He claims to have had productive talks with Iran

Not Housebroken

Donald Trump claims that he has had productive talks with Iran and is therefore delaying threatened strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure for five days.[1] Iran denies that any such talks have taken place and suggests that his “statements are part of efforts to reduce energy prices and buy time to implement his military plans.”[2]

It’s also very apparent that Trump’s and Binyamin Netanyahu’s war on Iran is not going well. My own guess is that Trump is seeking an off-ramp. Trouble here is that I doubt that Netanyahu, who has wanted this war for as long as anyone can remember, will go along.

We’ll see how this plays.

[1] Donald Trump, “I AM PLEASED TO REPORT THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE COUNTRY OF IRAN . . . .” Truth Social, March 23, 2026, https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116278232362967212
[2] Mizan News Agency, “Iranian Foreign Ministry: There is no dialogue between Tehran and Washington . . . ,” X, trans. Google, March 23, 2026, https://x.com/MizanNewsAgency/status/2036052143501652206

It’s becoming painfully obvious that the European Union was founded on an entirely too optimistic premise that dissent could always be smoothed over. Hungary, under Viktor Orbán, has been demonstrating the hubris of this assumption and now it is in the open that the country has been leaking E.U. secrets to Russia.[1]

[1] Nicholas Vinocur, “EU cuts Hungary from the group chat,” Politico, March 23, 2026, https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/brussels-playbook/eu-cuts-hungary-from-the-group-chat/

EU cuts Hungary from the group chat

Presented by Amazon By NICHOLAS VINOCUR PRESENTED BY Send tips here | Follow us @gerardofortuna @NicholasVinocur @GabrielGavin | Listen to Playbook and view in your browser On today’s Brussels Play…

POLITICO

Anyone with a brain would have told Donald Trump and Binyamin Netanyahu they were biting off more than they could chew.

We’re not seeing it so much in U.S. media, but the Times of Israel is reporting on casualties and destruction resulting from Iranian munitions penetrating Israeli defenses.[1] And to peruse the news channels on Telegram is to see a war that is only escalating.

Trump is threatening Iranian power stations,[2] which seems an unlikely way to persuade Iranians to rise up against the regime, in a likely doomed effort to persuade that regime to re-open the Strait of Hormuz.[3] Iranian citizens, indeed, are almost certainly suffering the most from this destructive war but I’m seeing little coverage of their plight.

Trump’s and Netanyahu’s war is extraordinarily unlikely to end well. Which is pretty much what anyone with a brain would have told them.

[1] Emanuel Fabian, Diana Bletter, and Nava Freiberg, “15 injured, one seriously, as Iranian cluster munitions impact in central Israel,” Times of Israel, March 22, 2026, https://www.timesofisrael.com/15-injured-one-seriously-as-iranian-cluster-munitions-impact-in-central-israel/; Times of Israel, “Almost 200 injured, 11 seriously, in Iranian missile strikes on southern cities of Arad, Dimona,” March 22, 2026, https://www.timesofisrael.com/over-100-injured-11-seriously-in-iranian-missile-strikes-on-southern-cities-of-arad-dimona/
[2] Times of Israel, “48 hours: Trump threatens to ‘obliterate’ Iran’s power plants if Strait of Hormuz remains shut,” March 22, 2026, https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-threatens-to-obliterate-irans-power-plants-if-strait-of-hormuz-remains-shut/
[3] Times of Israel, “48 hours: Trump threatens to ‘obliterate’ Iran’s power plants if Strait of Hormuz remains shut,” March 22, 2026, https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-threatens-to-obliterate-irans-power-plants-if-strait-of-hormuz-remains-shut/

What the EU can — and can’t — learn from Spain’s low energy bills 

Madrid says a renewables boom is shielding its citizens from soaring fossil fuel costs. But that’s not the full story.

POLITICO
Isn’t it just a bit paradoxical that, thanks to Donald Trump’s war on Iran, oil prices are skyrocketing, even as he despises any form of cleaner energy?
A large volume of prison records were shredded during the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s death.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-doj-shredded-huge-pile-of-jeffrey-epstein-prison-docs-after-death-in-new-york-jail/
Trump’s DOJ Shredded ‘Huge’ Pile of Epstein Docs After Death

Files related to the late sex offender were thrown out after his death.

The Daily Beast
March 19-20, 2026

My perspective regarding the role of Israel in the Iran War and antisemitism...

Stephen Zunes