On Friday, April 17, 2026, President Donald Trump posted a flurry of optimistic messages on Truth Social (and referenced in interviews) framing the US-Iran war as largely over or nearing a swift resolution. His claims centered on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, progress toward a broader peace deal, and US leverage. Most of what Trump wrote was forcefully denied by Iran (see image above). Here is a summary of the various claims he made on Friday: The “Hormuz Strait situation is...

The night before l voted against going to war in Iraq, my sister, Beverly, told me that a Knoxville television station had run a poll and found that in East Tennessee, 74 percent were in favor of going to war, 9 percent were against it, and 17 percent were undecided. In very sharp contrast, the New York Times said only 41 percent favored going to war in Iran, and several polls showed even less support, in the 20-30 percent range, before the war started. In comparison, the Times survey said 97...

President Trump was presented with a great opportunity on Saturday to take the off-ramp from his war on Iran. After threatening Iran that “a whole civilization will die tonight,” Trump managed to get a two week pause in the war with the intervention of the Pakistani government. A window opened to end this illegal war. Vice President Vance traveled to Pakistan to negotiate with a high-level Iranian delegation and from press reporting progress was made on many issues. Unfortunately, after a...

During my most recent appearance on Judge Napolitano’s Judging Freedom on Wednesday I expressed the view that the ongoing ceasefire between Washington and Tehran was a scam designed to support Israeli interests in the region and to give both Tel Aviv and the White House breathing room to prepare for the next major assault on Iran. I based my judgment on several aspects of the story being circulated by the White House and the tame media. First of all, it is being suggested...