For any other president, this would be seen for what it is: a charade, comically disorganized, operating on Trump’s mad whims.
Instead we get Trump covered on a curve, as always.
“The trip could be back on at a moment’s notice if Iran’s negotiators respond in a way that Trump deems acceptable.” 🙃
Interesting, thanks for sharing.
Yes indeed — and likely first spread from a military base in Kansas.
"More U.S. soldiers died of disease (63,114), primarily from the Spanish flu, than in combat (53,402)." www.pbs.org/newshour/nat...
"During World War I, 431 U.S. Navy personnel were killed as a result of enemy action and 819 were wounded. However, 5,027 died as a result of the Spanish influenza epidemic between the fall of 1918 and spring of 1919, more deaths than at Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, or Okinawa."
Our warfighters going back to the good old days: "Over 36,000 Army troops died from influenza before they even got to France, with well in excess of 12,000 dying on the troop transports—compared to almost none killed by German U-boats. In France alone, 12,000 Army troops were killed by the disease."
Scenes from a personalist regime: A nominee to an independent federal body refuses to acknowledge that the President ever lost an election.
The obvious question is: Are there money ties between DP World and Trumpworld?
A "stablecoin for Gaza" sounds like a Jared Kushner idea.
“They’re there for the contracts. It’s a lot of business coming through — if the money [for Gaza] actually comes through.”
What Trump's "Gaza riviera” fantasy will actually look like:
UAE shipping giant DP World in talks with Trump's phony "Board of Peace" for a major role in rebuilding Gaza, as Trump and co look to cash in and privatize Gaza's infrastructure in the name of "reconstruction." www.ft.com/content/873b...
“Nobody knows how close Iran was to collapsing. But try to imagine not the cease-fire into which the Iranians succeeded in maneuvering Trump, but rather Netanyahu’s scenario of ‘total victory.’”
Hagai El-Ad on the cost of Israeli victory over Iran: www.hidden-cities.com/p/the-catast...
“It was therefore inevitable that what applied in Palestine would also apply in the Levant and beyond.”
Amal Ghandour on Israel’s latest war on Lebanon and the destruction wrought across the region: www.hidden-cities.com/p/a-ledger-o...
Plenty of criticism on the right of the #SCOTUS leaker and the Times’s reporting, but has anyone actually responded to the argument that Roberts’s assessment of “irreparable harm” and his refusal to balance the equities is completely inconsistent with his subsequent behavior in all the Trump cases?
“In mystified disbelief, we find ourselves listening to Israeli and American leaders invoking Armageddon, end-of-time combat, the Crusades, bombing the ‘bastards’ into the Stone Age.”
Amal Ghandour in @hidden-cities.com, writing from Beirut, on Israel’s "extraordinary tally of destruction."
"Trump deeply cares about the stock market, and if the stock market had been selling off, there is a good chance that this war would have been over a while ago. More broadly, the markets are showing the single lesson that the past 40 years have taught them.
It will always be saved."
"Announce a tariff pause, stocks go up. Leak a deal, stocks go up. Post that 'a whole civilization will die tonight,' stocks go up. The crisis becomes content, something to produce and consume and trade around."
On Trump's "strategy" and how an irrational market is letting him get away with it:
“Without transparency, ‘reassessment’ is just another word for evasion,” said Maryam Aldossari, the spokeswoman for a Saudi opposition party in exile. “Who is accountable for the public money wasted, and for the people whose lives were shattered in the process?” www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/w...
Trump's war strategy, such as it exists, has been: how can I juice the markets and pretend I'm in control?
“In mystified disbelief, we find ourselves listening to Israeli and American leaders invoking Armageddon, end-of-time combat, the Crusades, bombing the ‘bastards’ into the Stone Age.”
Amal Ghandour in @hidden-cities.com, writing from Beirut, on Israel’s "extraordinary tally of destruction."
Don't worry, Trump will make a series of well-timed claims tomorrow, just before markets open, that the war is over, the US and Iran have agreed to the concepts of a peace plan, and the Strait of Hormuz is actually open—and Wall St will rally dutifully and headlines will trumpet whatever Trump says.
Here are some of the day’s top developments: Trump has said that US forces have taken custody of an Iranian-flagged vessel that tried to get through the US blockade of Iranian ports. Iran’s military confirmed an attack claimed by the US military on a ship returning from China, vowing it will “retaliate soon”. Iranian state media is reporting that Tehran is not currently planning to attend talks with the US, citing the ongoing blockade as well as Washington’s shifting positions and “excessive demands”. It comes after Trump ordered US negotiators to travel to Pakistan on Monday, just days before a two-week ceasefire expires.
I'm starting to think this is not going well guys
From “The Simpsons” house genius John Swartzwelder, interviewed in The New Yorker by Mike Sacks
Aerial view of large scale devastation inflicted on the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, with an Israeli tank parked in the center of the photo.
This is what Israel has done to Bint Jbeil, my hometown in southern Lebanon
Thrilled to have Hagai El-Ad, the former executive director of B’Tselem, in @hidden-cities.com, writing from Jerusalem, on Netanyahu’s fantasy of “total victory” over Iran:
www.hidden-cities.com/p/the-catast...
As I wrote in January: “The reconstruction plans emerging from Syria’s new government are actually more reminiscent of Syria’s past: developments announced by decree, opaque and undemocratic decision-making, and cronyism.” @centuryintl.bsky.social @tcfdotorg.bsky.social
tcf.org/content/comm...
For more on reconstruction like this in Syria ushering in a new era of clientelism and corruption after Assad, see my piece for @centuryintl.bsky.social @tcfdotorg.bsky.social
tcf.org/content/comm...
The Syrian-born Khayyat brothers, based in Qatar, have sealed billions in reconstruction deals already, including to rebuild Damascus airport, positioning themselves as a new clique of business barons in post-Assad Syria.
I suspect Barrack is more involved than just cheering them on.
“I know how to get the president’s attention. Make it a Trump National Golf Course in Syria.”
Damning report on how shady Gulf investment for Syria’s reconstruction, by billionaire tycoons in Qatar, was tied to lobbying for sanctions repeal in DC and greased by corrupt Trump family business ties.
Patel, looking haggard, can’t even muster a non-denial denial.
