DCUM Weblog

The rule of thumb for announcements by cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump during the United States-Israel war against Iran has been that when the financial and oil markets are closed, Trump talks tough. When the markets are open, Trump is conciliatory. You don't have to be particularly cynical to guess that he is trying to keep oil prices down and the stock market up. Amazingly, he has been having significant success with this strategy. However, there are indications today that investors have finally caught on and are no longer paying Trump's remarks as much attention.

Trump believes that reality is whatever he says that it is. He is surrounded by courtiers who will do everything they can to ensure that reality conforms to Trump's wishes. As we have seen, if a hurricane is not headed to where Trump claims that it will go, it takes nothing more than some marks with a Sharpie to alter a map of the hurricane's path. It is Trump, not the facts, that decides what is true. In the Iran war, however, Trump is encountering a situation that is not bending to his will. Trump believed that the decapitation of the Iranian regime on the first day of the war would result in a Venezuelan-style capitulation. It did not. Trump assumed that the war would end so quickly that the Strait of Hormuz would not be closed. In fact, the strait was and remains closed. Trump once said that the war would be over in less than four weeks. We are now in the 10th week. Trump has repeatedly claimed that the Iranians are desperate to negotiate an agreement to end the war, only to have Iranians skip expected negotiations. Far from Trump controlling reality, his words have repeatedly been shown to be empty. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz went so far as to say that "An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership".

There are any number of indications that the United States-Israel war against Iran is going badly for the United States. Simply consider that one of the most important issues for ending the war — opening the Strait of Hormuz — did not exist prior to the war because the strait had previously been open. In addition, almost no progress has been made towards eliminating Iran's nuclear program. But one of the strongest signals is the fact that almost nobody among top Republicans, with the exception of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, is vocally championing the war. As the expression goes, success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan. For the most part, the Iran war is an orphan and nowhere is that more obvious than when it comes to the two Republicans most likely to pursue the presidency after Trump. Both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President and reply guy JD Vance are doing all that they can to distance themselves from the war.

What do golf and the Gulf have to do with each other? The answer is LIV Golf, the professional men's golf tour financed by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. One of the earliest supporters of LIV Golf was cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump. While the PGA Tour was cancelling events at Trump-owned golf courses, LIV agreed to host events at Trump's properties. Trump went on to become an enthusiastic cheerleader for the new tour. However, LIV Golf now appears to be falling victim to Trump's war against Iran. The Public Investment Fund has announced that it will no longer fund LIV after this season, and the tour appears to be on the verge of collapse. Few passions are as close to Trump's heart as golf, so this is likely to be a significant blow to him.

As is frequently the case with my blog posts, I need to offer a caveat. I know nothing about golf and have never even played it. The closest that I have ever been to golf is driving a golf cart around at a charity golf tournament, providing refreshments to participants. My general attitude towards golf is that of Furio Giunta in The Sopranos: "Stupid-a-fucking game!" So, I apologize in advance for anything I get wrong about the sport.

Providing further evidence that our president is deranged, cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump "truthed" this morning, the following:

Iran has just informed us that they are in a “State of Collapse.” They want us to “Open the Hormuz Strait,” as soon as possible, as they try to figure out their leadership situation (Which I believe they will be able to do!). Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP

There is no chance that Iran told Trump that the country was in a "state of collapse." That is nonsensical chest-beating that is more likely to harm negotiations than anything else. What this really was, coming just one minute before trading opened on the New York Stock Exchange, was an attempt to calm financial markets after oil prices shot up overnight. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed back over $100 per barrel, and Brent crude was more than $112 before dropping slightly. Trump was careful not to mention that he has already rejected the Iranian offer.

"What my representatives do reflects on me. And I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes." These are the words of Cole Allen, alleged to have attempted to shoot officials of cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump's administration and, potentially, the President himself during the White House Correspondents' Dinner Saturday evening. Since the attempted shooting, there has been considerable finger-pointing at the political left and accusations that the left's rhetoric has encouraged violence. After reading Allen's 1,052-word explanation for his attack on the dinner, I believe Allen fits a pattern of individuals who have concluded that peaceful change is impossible and have, therefore, resorted to violent means of change. I am fearful that as Trump continues to seize autocratic control of virtually all aspects of the U.S. political system, this phenomenon will become even more common.

I'm sure all of us have plenty of things about which to worry, but I'm going to add one more thing that you might not have considered: drones. There have been a number of mysterious events in the United States involving drones in the past few weeks. The one thing that the incidents have in common is that they don't have explanations. There is no evidence that the events are connected, but of course there is no indication that they aren't either. Generally, very little is known about the occurrences. But given the emergence of drones as a key weapon in both the Ukraine and Iran wars, it is probably worth paying attention to strange drone activity in the United States.

March was a big month for unexplained and potentially dangerous drone activity in the United States. March was also the first full month of the U.S.-Israel war against Iran. Given the scant information available, there is no way to know whether the war and the drones are connected. On March 9, a wave of unidentified drones flew over Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. The drone flights apparently continued for several days. ABC News was able to review a confidential briefing document dated March 15. In response to questions about the document from ABC News, an Air Force spokesperson said that "Barksdale Air Force Base detected multiple unauthorized drones operating in our airspace during the week of March 9th".

"Several U.S. officials and Trump associates drew the same conclusion: the president thinks the U.S. has achieved everything it can militarily and wants out of the increasingly unpopular war." So reports Axios' Barak Ravid this morning. Given that Ravid is essentially a conduit from the U.S. and Israeli governments, this basically puts an official imprimatur on something that has been very obvious for some time. In his war against Iran, cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump has two options: humiliation or escalation. Escalation is very unlikely to result in the achievement of Trump's goals. Therefore, he is left with attempting to dress up humiliation in order to declare it a victory. Unfortunately for Trump, the Iranians are not cooperating.

Today is another day of asking what has become an eternal question: What the hell is going on with cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump? On Friday, Trump posted a barrage of "truths" on Truth Social proclaiming a series of concessions by Iran. He first announced that Iran had opened the Strait of Hormuz and that it was "READY FOR FULL PASSAGE." He then "truthed" that:

THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ IS COMPLETELY OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS AND FULL PASSAGE, BUT THE NAVAL BLOCKADE WILL REMAIN IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT AS IT PERTAINS TO IRAN, ONLY, UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE.

While it may have appeared to many that the war between Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel was a sideshow to the United States-Israel war on Iran, it has always been a major factor and could now determine the success or failure of peace efforts between the U.S. and Iran. When Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the ceasefire on April 7, he specifically wrote that the agreement included an "immediate ceasefire everywhere including Lebanon". However, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, immediately claimed that the ceasefire wouldn't apply to Lebanon. Netanyahu was supported in his interpretation of the agreement by cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump and Vice President and reply guy JD Vance. Israel immediately launched one of its most devastating attacks on Lebanon in years, wiping out entire housing blocks in Beirut and killing over 300 people in strikes that lasted just a few minutes.

As if cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump didn't have enough problems already, he has now gotten himself embroiled in a conflict with the Pope. As I wrote last week, the Trump administration, especially Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, has imbued the government with religion. When Hegseth offered a prayer for God to deliver "overwhelming violence" against enemies of the United States, the Pope took umbrage. Trump then responded to the Pope, and the controversy eventually sucked in Vice President and reply guy JD Vance. The Pope does not appear to be backing down, so this fight may not be going away anytime soon.

Hegseth has been the most aggressive administration official when it comes to crossing the divide between church and state. He has ordered regular prayer meetings at the Pentagon and has routinely engaged in religious rhetoric during his public speaking. Last month, Hegseth hosted a Christian worship service at the Pentagon and prayed to have "every round find its mark" and for "overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy."