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Why Trump, Iran seem light-years apart on any possible deal to end the war

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The fog of war usually refers to maddening confusion about what is happening on the battlefield.

But right now we have the fog of peace talks: Are they real, are they going anywhere, and which side is telling the truth?

It’s clear that President Trump, insisting he can end the war with Iran whenever he wants, is looking for an exit ramp to declare victory and get out.

WINNING THE BATTLES, LOSING THE WAR? AMERICA MUST DEFINE THE ENDGAME IN IRAN

It’s just as clear that the theocratic dictatorship–at least the leaders who survived the attacks that killed the ayatollah and many others–are digging in their heels. They will claim victory just for surviving the military onslaught that has decimated their navy and air force.

When Trump said there were back-channel talks–granting a five-day delay on threats to obliterate its energy facilities–the Iranians flatly denied it. Some prominent pundits doubted Trump. But then Tehran said yeah, well, there have been some secret contacts.

Now we have starkly different accounts of what’s going down.

Trump says the talks have been “very good.” The other day, in fact, he depicted the mullahs as making a major concession.

The Iranians have given the U.S. “a very big present, worth a tremendous amount of money,” Trump said. He was cagey about it, but revealed under questioning by CBS’s Ed O’Keefe that it involved the flow of oil and the Strait of Hormuz.

At the same time, Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari taunted the administration in a video: “Has the level of your internal conflict reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves?”

“Do not call your defeat an agreement,” he said.

And for good measure: “Someone like us will never come to terms with someone like you. Not now, not ever.”

TRUMP SAYS US, ISRAEL SHATTERED IRANIAN MILITARY CAPABILITIES, PRESSES LEADERS TO SURRENDER: ‘CRY UNCLE’

Now some of this is undoubtedly done for domestic consumption. But the two sides sound like they couldn’t be farther apart.

The president has delivered a flurry of mixed messages on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passageway where an Iranian blockade has choked off one-fifth of the world’s oil traffic. He has said that the situation will work itself out. He has said our European allies (who refused to join our effort to intervene) should resolve this since the U.S. doesn’t rely on the strait. And he has also said that opening Hormuz is a top American priority.

Iran, which has sprinkled the strait with mines, told the U.N. that the waterway is open to any country not backing the U.S. and Israeli attacks. But other nations, and their insurance companies, are reluctant to send billion-dollar tankers into such troubled waters.

The impasse is hurting the president here at home, where soaring oil costs have boosted gas prices and tanked the stock market, shrinking the value of all those 401Ks. When Trump announced the bombing pause Monday, the market snapped back for a day. If there’s one thing Wall Street hates, it’s uncertainty.

Despite signaling that the war is practically over because “we’ve won,” Trump just dispatched at least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne to the Middle East, along with the USS Tripoli, carrying 2,200 Marines.

Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been playing the bad cop, vowing if there’s no deal “to destroy the enemy as viciously as possible.”

What’s equally unclear is who we’re talking to, with Pakistan playing the intermediary role. Trump has talked about regime change, though there seems no chance of that, and there’s chatter about doing business with the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Ghalibaf, a former Revolutionary Guard commander who at times has taken a diplomatic approach with the West. 

But with so many leaders killed and Ayatollah Khamenei’s son in hiding, no one knows how much influence Ghalibaf, a failed presidential candidate, still has.

Just yesterday, Ghalibaf, invoking the Israeli prime minister, warned the administration against sacrificing American soldiers for “Netanyahu’s delusions,” according to al-Jazeera. That hardly sounds conciliatory.

What’s more, the Iranians are famously difficult to negotiate with, going back on promises and moving the goalposts. Just ask Jimmy Carter.

Trump tore up the Obama administration’s nuke deal with the Iranians when he first took office, and now says he wants an agreement in which they renounce the pursuit of nuclear weapons. That is extremely unlikely, although the U.S. attacks last June and this month have obviously crippled their efforts.

My sense is that Trump doesn’t want to bomb Iran’s oil and gas facilities, which would clearly extend the war and widen a conflict that has already spread to the surrounding Arab countries. Nor does he want to be seen as backing down. No wonder he’s postponed a showdown.

WHO ACTUALLY RUNS IRAN RIGHT NOW? THE KEY POWER PLAYERS AS TRUMP CLAIMS TALKS TO ‘TOP’ OFFICIAL

“President Trump does not bluff and he is prepared to unleash hell,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said yesterday.

The Iranians don’t want a temporary pause in the war, unnamed officials told the New York Times, out of concern that the U.S. and Israel would use the time to rebuild their forces for further airstrikes.

Iran’s only real weapon right now is drones, a few of which have caused damage in Israel, while others are aimed at U.S. military bases in the region. One drone sparked a huge fire at the Kuwaiti airport.

A report by the state broadcaster, Press TV, confirms that Iran won’t accept the U.S. proposal for a cease-fire. In its counter-offer, the dictatorship would also keep sole control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Among other demands, according to Press TV: Guarantees that the attacks on Iran won’t be started up again, and the payment of war damages and reparations. Iran wants any deal extended to Hezbollah, its Lebanese proxy, which fired rockets at Israel when the war began, triggering an invasion of southern Lebanon.

Another state media outlet, Fars News Agency, quoted a source as saying of a cease-fire: “It is not logical to enter into such a process with those who violate the agreement.”

The president has lashed out at the media for painting a relentlessly negative picture of a war that has largely been an American triumph. But it turns out that covering the endgame — if that’s what this is — is equally challenging.

At the moment, it looks like Trump wants a deal more than Iran, given the war’s unpopularity at home and its damage to the economy. For an America First candidate who ran against foreign wars, the prospect of a long, Iraq-style quagmire would be the worst possible outcome.

“Is the U.S. Repeating the Mistakes That Led to Forever Wars?” the Wall Street Journal asked yesterday.

But the coverage of the latest rhetorical sniping accurately reflects the vagueness of a process that may not deserve to be called negotiations.

It is, above all, a blinding fog.   

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Tucker Carlson Officially Makes Shock Announcement — He’s Out

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Tucker Carlson Officially Makes Shock Announcement — He’s Out

A growing divide within the conservative movement is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore, as longtime commentator Tucker Carlson declared that he no longer considers himself a Republican, citing frustration with what he sees as the party’s abandonment of its America First roots.

Carlson made the remarks during a podcast appearance with hosts Travis Dhanraj and Karman Wong, where the discussion turned to the political landscape ahead of the upcoming midterm elections and whether voters remain satisfied with the direction of the Republican Party.

While Carlson made clear that he remains aligned with many conservative principles, he argued that some Republican leaders have drifted away from the priorities that helped fuel President Donald Trump’s rise and transformed the GOP into the dominant force it is today.

“I’m out,” Carlson said during the interview.

“And if I’m out, then I think a lot of other people are out.”

Carlson’s comments came as he discussed polling data and voter sentiment ahead of the next election cycle.

“I would not support the Republican party. There’s no chance I would support the Republican party,” he said.

The former Fox News host argued that certain Republican lawmakers had betrayed their voters by supporting policies he believes put foreign interests ahead of American priorities.

“How could I or any American voter support a political party that’s not loyal to the United States? That puts the interests of a foreign country above those of its own citizens?

“It’s not possible to vote for people like that, and I’m not going to.”

Carlson’s remarks highlight a growing debate inside conservative circles over the future direction of the Republican Party.

At the center of the disagreement is not President Trump himself, but rather how some Republicans have approached foreign policy, military intervention, and America’s role overseas.

Trump built his political movement on the promise of putting American interests first, securing the border, rebuilding the economy, restoring energy independence, and avoiding the endless foreign conflicts that frustrated many voters for decades.

Many of Trump’s supporters continue to view the America First agenda as one of the defining achievements of his political movement.

Carlson suggested that some Republicans have lost sight of those principles.

“I think I’ve voted Republican my entire life,” Carlson said.

“I’ve been a consistent defender for 35 years, of the Republican party. I mean, a very consistent defender.”

“But there’s no defending this because it’s immoral and it’s exactly the opposite of what a political party in a democracy is charged with doing — which is representing its own voters, its own citizens, its own nation.”

“And they’re not doing that,” Carlson concluded.

The comments come amid an ongoing debate among conservatives regarding foreign policy, particularly following recent tensions involving Iran and the broader Middle East.

Carlson has been one of the most vocal advocates of a non-interventionist approach that emphasizes American interests above foreign entanglements. Other conservatives, including commentators and lawmakers aligned with a more traditional hawkish worldview, have argued that a strong American presence abroad remains necessary to protect national security.

The disagreement intensified after military operations involving Iran earlier this year, with Carlson and several other prominent voices warning against policies they believe could lead to deeper involvement in overseas conflicts.

Despite those disagreements, Carlson has generally continued to support many of Trump’s domestic policies, including border security, immigration enforcement, energy production, and efforts to prioritize American workers and taxpayers.

The broader divide illustrates the ongoing evolution of the Republican Party under Trump’s influence.

For decades, the GOP was largely defined by traditional establishment conservatives who favored aggressive foreign policy and intervention abroad. Trump’s rise fundamentally reshaped that coalition, bringing millions of working-class voters, independents, and populist conservatives into the party.

Today, debates like the one Carlson has raised reflect a larger question facing Republicans: how closely the party will adhere to the America First principles that helped fuel Trump’s political success.

Whether Carlson ultimately returns to the Republican fold remains to be seen. But his comments underscore a reality that many political observers have noted in recent years: the future of the conservative movement is increasingly being shaped by debates over foreign policy, national sovereignty, and what it truly means to put America first.

As those discussions continue, one thing remains clear: the America First movement that transformed Republican politics is still driving much of the conversation inside the conservative movement today.

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Top Fox News Host Suffers Deranged Meltdown On LIVE TV — Doesn’t End Well…

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Top Fox News Host Suffers Deranged Meltdown On LIVE TV — Doesn’t End Well…

A growing divide within the conservative movement spilled into public view this weekend as Fox News host Mark Levin launched a blistering attack on President Donald Trump’s Iran strategy, accusing the administration of pressuring Israel while pursuing a diplomatic agreement designed to permanently prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

The dispute comes as the Trump administration continues negotiations with Tehran following a series of devastating military strikes that crippled Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, eliminated key regime leaders, and left the Islamic Republic in one of the weakest positions it has faced in decades.

President Trump and Vice President JD Vance have argued that the administration is negotiating from a position of overwhelming strength after demonstrating a willingness to use military force when necessary. Their goal, they say, is simple: ensure Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon while avoiding another endless war in the Middle East.

Levin, however, remains deeply skeptical.

During a fiery monologue that lasted more than 17 minutes on Saturday, the longtime conservative commentator accused members of the administration of unfairly targeting Israel while becoming too optimistic about Iran’s intentions.

“I want to say to people in and out of the administration: stop trashing, smearing, bullying the little state of Israel. Stop cozying up to and telling us that the enemy regime in Iran is now more rational, more moderate, and a regime that we can deal with,” Levin demanded. “When just a few months ago they slaughtered 50,000 people, they’re still hanging young people today and, if they had a nuclear missile today, they’d fire it into our country as sure as I’m alive.”

Levin also rejected any suggestion that Israel should allow outside governments to dictate its security decisions.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but if people think they can bully a little country, Israel — a people that have existed 4,000 years through the Babylonians and the Persians, through the Romans and the Third Reich — into surrendering their defense and their decision on how to secure their country, they get another thing coming,” Levin continued. “I think it’s outrageous.”

The criticism did not stop there.

Levin also used social media to question several administration policies, including reports surrounding a Boeing 747 gifted by Qatar and modified for use supporting presidential airlift operations.

“If it’s legal and other countries do it so be it. Do you think wealthy countries should be able to lavish gifts on our government?” Levin wrote.

His sharpest criticism, however, focused on the administration’s efforts to secure a broader peace agreement with Iran and its proxies.

“Item #1 in the MOU provides there’s an immediate and permanent end to the war and that includes Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran is Hezbollah,” Levin posted. “What’s the enforcement mechanism? Nothing. Israel defends itself after constant attacks from Hezbollah and is admonished for it. Its interests are not aligned with ours, we’re told. It’s endangering the peace deal. This is beyond nuts.”

In another post, Levin argued that current ceasefire efforts were coming at Israel’s expense.

“Apparently as long as Israeli soldiers are killed the ceasefire is holding,” Levin claimed.

The administration has strongly rejected suggestions that it is abandoning Israel or weakening its support for America’s closest ally in the Middle East.

President Trump responded directly Sunday with a warning aimed squarely at Iran and its regional proxies.

“Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social.

For supporters of the administration, that message demonstrates exactly why they remain confident in Trump’s approach. They argue that no modern president has shown a greater willingness to confront Iran militarily while simultaneously seeking a diplomatic resolution that serves American interests.

Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have both emphasized that any final agreement would require Iran to permanently abandon its nuclear ambitions, submit to extensive inspections, and comply with strict verification requirements before receiving any economic benefits.

Administration officials also note that no sanctions have been lifted, no frozen assets have been released, and no direct payments have been authorized.

Instead, they argue that Trump has successfully put Iran in a position where the regime must choose between compliance and continued isolation.

The disagreement highlights a broader debate that has been developing inside the Republican Party for years.

Traditional foreign-policy hawks often favor maintaining maximum military pressure and remain deeply skeptical of negotiations with hostile regimes.

Trump’s America First coalition generally supports overwhelming military strength but prefers leveraging that strength into favorable deals that avoid long-term military entanglements.

Supporters of the president argue that Trump’s strategy reflects the same formula that has defined much of his foreign policy: peace through strength.

Strike hard when necessary. Demonstrate unquestionable resolve. Negotiate from a position of power. And avoid the costly nation-building efforts and endless conflicts that frustrated many Americans for decades.

As negotiations continue, the debate between Levin and the Trump administration reflects a larger question facing conservatives: how best to secure American interests abroad while staying true to the America First principles that have reshaped the Republican Party.

For now, President Trump appears committed to proving that military strength and diplomacy are not opposing strategies—but complementary tools for achieving lasting peace and protecting America’s national security.

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It’s Over! The House Votes 396-13 — Trump Just Won!

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It’s Over! The House Votes 396-13 — Trump Just Won!

In a rare display of bipartisan cooperation, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the amended 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act this week, advancing a package of reforms designed to tackle America’s housing affordability crisis while delivering on several key priorities championed by President Donald Trump.

The legislation passed by a decisive 396-13 vote, reflecting broad agreement that soaring housing costs, rising rents, and limited inventory have pushed homeownership out of reach for millions of Americans.

Supporters say the bill addresses one of the country’s most pressing economic challenges by cutting red tape, increasing housing supply, strengthening lending opportunities, and helping ensure that American families—not large corporations—have a fair shot at buying homes.

The legislation combines elements of previous House and Senate proposals and seeks to address housing shortages that have contributed to record-high home prices in many parts of the country.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill praised the measure as a practical, results-oriented solution focused on expanding opportunities for working Americans.

“This bill prioritizes American families by expanding homeownership, enhancing affordability, reducing burdensome regulations that drive up costs, and increasing housing supply nationwide,” Chairman Hill stated.

“Importantly, it delivers on President Trump’s call to limit institutional investors from competing with the American people as they seek to purchase a home,” Hill added.

The legislation includes a variety of reforms aimed at accelerating housing construction and reducing barriers that have slowed development for years.

Among its key provisions, the bill streamlines federal permitting requirements, reduces lengthy environmental review processes for certain redevelopment and infill housing projects, and encourages innovative housing solutions such as modular and manufactured homes.

The measure also provides grants to local governments willing to modernize zoning laws and remove restrictions that limit new construction.

Supporters argue that restrictive zoning policies, excessive permitting delays, and government bureaucracy have significantly contributed to America’s housing shortage.

Rather than relying on massive new federal spending programs, the legislation focuses on empowering local communities, encouraging private-sector investment, and removing obstacles that make housing more expensive.

The bill also raises loan limits for multifamily housing developments, creating incentives for apartment construction and expanding options for renters and first-time buyers alike.

Additional provisions strengthen rural housing initiatives, expand support for veterans seeking housing, modernize financing for smaller mortgage loans, and increase the role community banks can play in local lending markets.

Community banks have long argued that excessive regulations have made it more difficult for them to serve homebuyers and construction projects in their local communities.

Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters acknowledged the seriousness of the housing crisis despite broader political disagreements.

“America is in the middle of a full-blown affordable housing and homelessness crisis, and working families are burdened by skyrocketing rents and a housing market that is pushing homeownership further out of reach,” Waters said.

One of the most notable aspects of the legislation is its effort to curb the growing influence of large institutional investors in the housing market.

For years, investment firms and corporate landlords have purchased thousands of single-family homes, often outbidding families and first-time homebuyers. Critics argue that this trend has driven up prices while transforming communities into rental markets dominated by large corporations.

The legislation includes targeted restrictions designed to discourage large institutional investors from acquiring additional single-family homes.

That approach aligns closely with President Trump’s housing agenda.

Throughout his second administration, Trump has repeatedly argued that homeownership should remain a cornerstone of the American Dream and that government policies should prioritize families over Wall Street investors.

In his National Homeownership Month proclamation earlier this month, Trump emphasized the importance of restoring affordability and expanding opportunities for future homeowners.

“During National Homeownership Month, my Administration recommits to making housing more affordable so that young Americans and hardworking families can raise children, build memories, and create a future in a home of their own,” Trump said.

The president has frequently blamed the housing crisis on “reckless spending, burdensome regulations, and failed housing policies” implemented under previous administrations, as well as “mass illegal immigration and large institutional investors” that have increased pressure on housing supply.

Trump has also taken executive actions aimed at reducing institutional ownership of single-family homes, lowering mortgage costs, and strengthening federal housing programs.

“Under my leadership, America will be a Nation where homes belong to families — not corporations,” Trump said.

At the same time, Trump has emphasized the importance of protecting the value of homes already owned by millions of Americans.

“I don’t want to drive housing prices down. I want to drive housing prices up for people that own their homes. Existing housing, people who own their homes, we’re going to keep them wealthy. We’re going to keep those prices up. We’re not going to destroy the value of their homes so that somebody that didn’t work very hard can buy a home,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting earlier this year.

He has also repeatedly summarized his housing philosophy with a simple message:

“Homes are built for people, not for corporations, and America will not become a nation of renters.”

With overwhelming bipartisan support in the House and growing concern over affordability nationwide, supporters hope the legislation will mark a significant step toward restoring homeownership opportunities and ensuring that the American Dream remains within reach for future generations.

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