The Short Fake Trump keeps declaring victory, but the Iranians keep failing to surrender.
The biggest story of the day is that Iran has muscled its way into both cowing and overpowering the US Navy into submission in the Strait of Hormuz.
But first, let’s back up a little bit and acknowledge that the IRGC appears to have went fully “to the mattresses” in this war. They are no longer playing games, and no longer willing to compromise. They have gained momentum and achieved military, political, and propaganda initiative and are now pushing their advantage.
All day there have been various reports that it is now the US side secretly attempting to sway Iran—via intermediaries—toward coming back to the negotiations table, now that the US has recognized the disaster of its own making that is unfolding across the region.
According to these reports, Iran has brusquely blown off all such attempts to negotiate and has doubled down into all out conflict. Iran’s leaders appear to have recognized much the same thing as the Russians did during the course of the Ukraine war: that a ‘temporary’ ceasefire is a useless exercise for giving your enemy breathing room to restock and reload for Round 2 against you.
It’s not as if the Iranians don’t have reason to avoid negotiations or a ceasefire, given their recent experience with both. And they appear to have learned their lesson from the last time they called off the dogs in June 2025:
Iran says the United States is pleading for a ceasefire. Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, stated: “Tonight, we received messages from U.S. President Donald Trump through the Omani mediator, asking us to negotiate a ceasefire. Our response is that we will not accept any negotiations as long as an entity called Israel exists.”
Which, no doubt, has led to the obvious solution:
- The USA declares victory
- The USA withdraws all its forces and agrees to stop funding Israel or providing Israel with weapons.
- Israel changes its name to Trumpistan.
Problem solved.