Trump says Iranian negotiators ‘better get serious soon, before it is too late’ (0648 hours)
Trump extends pause on attacking Iran energy facilities to April 6 (1619 hours)
Thursday, March 26, 2026
Trump's whopper of the week: The ten vessels Iran let through Hormuz on March 22-23 were a present to the United States lol
Trump says Iran let 10 oil ships through Strait of Hormuz as ‘present’ to U.S.
... “That was three days ago, and I didn’t think much about it,” he said. ...
No kidding.
This cockamamie idea sounds like it was thought up by Howard Lutnick.
The vessels went to China and India, and transited along the coast of Iran after passing between Qeshm and Larak and did not take the usual central passage, so they probably had to pay tolls.
I wonder if they sent the bill to Mexico? 🤣
Sounds more like a gift to our competitors and enemies than to us.
UKMTO reported ten transits two days ago, but not all were oil, and some were outbound and some inbound; this summary is probably what someone showed to Trump and they just assumed it was all oil outbound when it was not:
Initial Claims updated one eternity later
The Trump administration thinks so little of its one truly bright spot that it makes us wait to enjoy it.
Raw claims average below 195k in March to date, only the third month averaging below 200k in his second term to date.
You'd think that they'd be out there trumpeting these continued historically low numbers, but it is evident that they don't really care.
It's political malpractice.
Trump's dysfunctional government can't even get the weekly Initial Claims for Unemployment chart at FRED updated on time
This happens repeatedly under Trump and his loser appointees.
We're still waiting for today's update even though the news release came out as usual at 0830 hours.
After telling you that war is peace, get ready for the Ministry of Truth to say that the Save America Act about voter ID is a fiscal issue permitting passage under reconciliation
In the Senate, Thune resurrects idea of reconciliation
... Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted, “It’s hard to imagine how the SAVE America Act could be passed through reconciliation. And by ‘hard’ I mean ‘essentially impossible.’”
Lee, a member of the Budget Committee, has led the push for the chamber to debate SAVE and even pursue a so-called talking filibuster to pass the bill via a simple majority. ...
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said that “I don’t see any way that any part of the SAVE America Act [with] any teeth gets included in a reconciliation package.”
“On top of that, I think it’s very difficult to pass a reconciliation package. We don’t have big tax cuts coming. That’s really what got the last one done,” Scott said. “I think it’s going to be very difficult to get you know 50 of us to agree on something.”
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who opposed last year’s reconciliation measure, said, “It would seem on its face, because there’s so much policy involved, that it would be difficult to do.”
“It’s kind of interesting to see if they’re just going to be pushing maybe some of the funding that could fit within reconciliation. But I don’t know how the policy fits in there.”
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, who has been part of hashing out the agreement between Democrats and the White House to reopen DHS, also declined to support reconciliation, saying “I don’t think that’s a good approach.” ...
The chamber’s conservative House Freedom Caucus called the idea “gaslighting” from Senate Republican leadership. ...
Michael Moore's human molotov cocktail sets the world on fire
Iran war is a ‘catastrophe,’ G7 ministers warn — but there’s little they can do to stop it
... “To make it crystal clear, this war is a catastrophe for the world’s economies,” Boris Pistorius, Germany’s defense minister warned early Thursday.
“European partners and Germany highlighted from the beginning that we have not been consulted before. Nobody asked us before. It’s not our war,” he told reporters during a visit to Australia. ...
Michael Moore says Trump is a ‘human Molotov cocktail’ supporters get to throw
... “His ideology is called Donald J. Trump. He believes in Donald J. Trump. If it’s good for him, then it’s a good thing. Not good for him, it’s a bad thing,” Moore said. ...
Holds up.
Trump provides 77.3 million who voted for him an out, acknowledges he appointed Supreme Court justices who now sicken him lol
What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Trump says Justices Barrett, Gorsuch ‘sicken me’ after Supreme Court tariff ruling
President Donald Trump on Wednesday criticized two of his Supreme Court appointees — Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett — for voting with other justices in the bombshell 6-3 decision that ruled his signature reciprocal tariffs were illegal, saying they sickened him and are “bad for our country.”
“Two of the people that voted for that, I appointed,” Trump said at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner at Union Station in Washington, D.C., without naming the two justices. ...
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Trump Job Approval just keeps making new lows at Real Clear Politics, now down to 41.1% from 41.3% just yesterday
Trump's Job Disapproval is at a new record high 56.5%.
Roger Kimball polishes a turd
... Some say Trump exaggerates and overstates things. Perhaps, on occasion, he is given to mild hyperbole. But consider, sed contra, this masterpiece of understatement: “The United States of America has beaten and completely decimated Iran, both militarily, economically, and in every other way.” The Roman practice of decimation, rarely employed, was a brutal punishment for cowardice. The offending unit would be divided into groups of ten. One man from each would be selected by lot. The unlucky ticket holder would then be killed by his colleagues.
What the US and Israel have visited upon the Iranian regime is far more extensive than decimation. Most of its leadership has been erased. ...
More.
Trump outmanuevered: Iran decision to let vessels from non-hostile nations through the Strait of Hormuz will make any U.S. military action interfering with that to blame for disruptions
Oil prices fall as Iran signals safe passage for ‘non-hostile’ ships through Strait of Hormuz
... Iran’s mission to the United Nations said Tuesday that “non-hostile vessels” would be able to pass through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, provided they coordinate “with the competent Iranian authorities.”
The social media post appears to establish a protocol that has emerged in recent days, with some ships from China, India and Pakistan able to pass through the waterway as Iran flexes control over it. ...
Tuesday, March 24, 2026
Trump threatened to bomb Iranian power infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz wasn't open by last night, and the latest UKMTO JMIC Advisory Note indicates that it is not open
Normal transits are about 138/day vs. four on March 22 and six on March 23.
Iran is charging $2 million in protection money in exchange for safe passage of some vessels through the Strait of Hormuz
Not only do the Iranians control the Strait, they've turned it into a racket.
Vessels have been tracked passing between Qeshm and Larak, presumably for visual inspection, instead of through the main track of the Strait of Hormuz.
... More than 20 vessels of over 10,000 dwt have thus far made the detour, which goes between Iran’s Qeshm and Larak Islands. ...
More.
Monday, March 23, 2026
Leon Panetta: Trump has no choice but to go big or go home
... He advises Trump to abandon his magical thinking and “face the fact” that he must use the military to open the strait, neutralise Iranian defences along the coast and deploy ships to escort oil tankers through.
“There’s no question there’s going to be lives lost and it’s clearly going to expand the war but I don’t see the alternative. He’s got to do it. He’s talked a great deal about the strength of the United States. This is a test of whether the United States can be able to deal with that situation which otherwise is not only going to prolong the war but create a lot of economic damage to the United States with those soaring fuel prices and cause what some have said is a potential worldwide recession.”
Panetta added frankly: “There’s not much choice. You’ve got to do what you have to do and, if you can open the strait, it might give you a better chance to then have a basis on which you can negotiate hopefully some kind of ceasefire. That’s the only way that he can go at this point; otherwise he will clearly have failed to find a solution.” ...
More.
He's right.
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