The US-Iran Deal to Collapse over US-Israel Dispute on Lebanon

Donald Dumb continues to earn his "dumb moron" qualifier that most former political associates refer to him with, as they walk out of the Cuckoo's Nest of a White House.

But the dumber than Donald Dumb is Ben-Yamin Netanyahu who thought he could insert his hand up the caudal aperture of the world's village idiot, the American president, and use him like a hand puppet by inciting him to war with Iran. At first, the village idiot went along the idea, an idea that five former presidents, both democrats and republicans, had rejected. But like a textbook example of a mentally-challenged idiot, the village idiot soon began smelling the stench of being played by the Zionist lobby and Netanyahu.

For one thing, the war did not go as planned by the Zionists who thought they were guided by Moses leading the Hebrews and that Yahweh will open the Arabian-Persian Sea and and allow "his people" to smash the Iranians and conquer the new promised land like they did with Palestine the first time some 3,000 years ago, by massacring every man, woman, child and beast.

Then, with a war going nowhere and getting more complicated with new problems that neither the Idiot-in-Chief and his scintillating intelligence people nor his smartass Zionist handlers anticipated, the dumbass president began losing his patience and backtracking on all the superlative-laden hifalutin threats and promises he initially was instructed to believe by his "friends" in the Zionist colony in Palestine.

Then, there is the problem of Lebanon and its Iranian Hezbollah militia. The Zionists have had over some 6 decades to fight an on-off war against the "resistance" and "liberation" BS of the Palestinians first then Hezbollah now. Of all the thousands of miles of border between Israel and the Arab countries, only the 75 miles (120 Km) long border with Lebanon has been assigned as the only active front line between Israel and the entire Arab-Muslim world for the liberation of Palestine, and that is only because Lebanon is half-Muslim, half-Christian. In other words, the Arabs and Muslims felt that if they had to sacrifice one of them in their sublime quest to throw the "alien" Israelis into the sea, it will be the other "alien" in their midst, Christian-led Lebanon. They all made peace (Egypt, Jordan) or signed Abraham Accords (UAE, Sudan, Bahrain...) or even ignored the fact that Israel occupied and annexed a huge chunk of their territory (Syria and its stolen Golan Heights), but they can't let go of Lebanon as their sacrificial lamb.

At this time, Donald Dumb knows he was bamboozled by Netanyahu and he is lashing out. He is desperate to "close" the chapter of the war before the midterms, both because of its unpopularity and because the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent the global economy - and the US domestic economy - into a spiral of high energy prices, rising inflation and major disruptions in the supply chains.

Since the narcissistic dumbass will never admit his own failure, he is now blaming the Israelis who thought they could count on the village idiot to let them attain their most fantastic dream of annihilating Hezbollah and its threats to the northern Israeli villages. They want to continue their rampage through Lebanon regardless of the memorandum of understanding signed by Trump with the Iranians who insist of making implementation of their MoU with Trump contingent on ending the Israeli-Hezbollah war in Lebanon.

Still very murky situation, because the MoU is very vague on what happens in Lebanon. Potential settlements there could range from a cessation of hostilities with everyone staying put, to a cessation of hostilities PLUS a withdrawal of Israeli forces, or a cessation of hostilities PLUS a return of Hezbollah within shooting range of Israel, and will any Israeli withdrawal be a full withdrawal back to the Blue Line? Or a withdrawal to some 10 kilometers north of the border such that Israel maintains an occupation zone inside Lebanon?

The Iranians say one thing, and of course they want everything: A full Israeli withdrawal and a restoration of Hezbollah to its former status without surrendering its weapons (as everyone else, including the Americans, the Zionists and the Lebanese government say they want). Netanyahu promised his people he will exterminate and annihilate Hezbollah, but it is apparent he can't unless he launches a massive land invasion, like the one by Ariel Sharon in 1982 to dislodge the PLO. But it seems that the world has changed and land invasions are not cool anymore. Even the Americans have learned from their many invasion debacles of the past several decades (Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia...), and as we see before our eyes, Trump's America would not invade Iran to bring it down to its knees because such a venture would be too expensive in treasure and life and it just plainly doesn't really work.

Meanwhile, the Americans are still propping up the Lebanese government as a worthy party with whom to negotiate on the matter of Hezbollah. Whether by stupidity or lack of other options, the Americans negotiate with a Lebanese government that has long been a slave of Hezbollah and whose decisions they know are not binding to Hezbollah.

But Donald Dumb, like most American policymakers, find it difficult to understand the complexities of the region, When you hail from a country whose borders were drawn by a pencil and a ruler on a piece of paper, it is just impossible to comprehend borders drawn by thousands of years of history. So they rush to oversimplify and use a reductionist approach to solving such problems. Donald Dumb just wants the world to stop talking about his war with Iran because it casts a shadow over his chances at the midterms. So he throws the Israelis under the bus. He can't throw the Arabs or the Iranians under the bus because they have lots of oil and his eyes roll like a slot machine's pay line when he smells money.

Donald Dumb wants the Israelis to abandon their decades-old dream of ending the threat against their northern border. Just like that. That is at least what we hear on the news. But there could be a good cop-bad cop game that Donald Dumb and Netanyahu are playing just to get the Great Moron over the finish line in November, after which they can go back to warmongering. We just don't know.

For now, it is the turn of the Zionists to shriek in distress because Trump wants them to stop what they are doing in Lebanon. They must be asking themselves, how many times do we have to wage endless wars in southern Lebanon? This is a good opportunity to end the problem. We don't want to wait another decade or two and repeat the same thing. Why did Netanyahu rely on an unpredictable moron now reneging on his Judeo-Christian love for us?

Until the barbarian Zionist settlers decide what to do, they are fighting among each other as to how to respond to their village idiot's sudden backlash and rebellion. They thought they could always count on the Americans to be dumb and follow their caprice, thanks to AIPAC in DC. But they are discovering that what is worse than your standard dumb American is a dumb-and-ugly weirdo American like Donald Trump who is already setting up a $300 billion fund to rebuild what he destroyed in Iran! 

Meanwhile, Arabs and Muslims are celebrating Iran's "victory" in repelling the US-Israel attack. Should the Zionists relent and agree to also "lose" in south Lebanon (like the US "lost" in Iran) by obeying their breastfeeding American mother and give Hezbollah another "divine victory"? Or should they disobey and risk America's love which they thought was undying and eternal?

The retreat of the US from the Iran front and its badly cooked memorandum of understanding could be a mine of misunderstandings in the coming weeks and months. I bet you the Great Moron would have forgotten everything he may have learned during the upcoming 60 days of "technical" negotiations which in fact have nothing technical about them: They will be negotiating the real issues which they pushed down the road: Nuclear Iran, ballistic missiles, release of withheld Iranian funds... 

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Israel issues new Lebanon occupation map, in talks with US over deployment
By Pesha Magid and Rami Ayyub
Thu, June 18, 2026


A map published by the Israeli army-IDF, indicates the Security zone in which IDF soldiers are operating in southern Lebanon in this handout illustration obtained by Reuters on June 18, 2026 Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS

JERUSALEM, June 18 (Reuters) - Israel's military published a map on Thursday showing an expanded zone of control for its troops in southern Lebanon, as Israeli officials told Reuters Israel was holding talks with the U.S. over ‌continuing its deployment.

An interim pact signed on Wednesday to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran calls for an end to fighting on ‌all fronts, including in Lebanon, and for parties to ensure "the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon."

Israel has rejected calls to withdraw troops from southern Lebanon, which it invaded in March ​in response to rocket fire by the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia. Israeli attacks and the destruction of villages have killed thousands and set off a displacement crisis.

Hezbollah has continued to launch attacks on Israeli positions in the south this week, including with explosive drones that have killed and injured troops.

Two Israeli officials, including a senior official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel was holding talks with the U.S. over maintaining its troop deployment in southern Lebanon. The ‌senior official described those talks as "stubborn".

The military, which ⁠in April published a map marking its so-called buffer zone in southern Lebanon, released a new map that shows its troops are operating several kilometres deeper into the country, including near the Hezbollah stronghold of Nabatieh north of ⁠the Litani River.

Israeli troops have been operating in some of those areas for several weeks, but the military had not yet published a map showing the expanded zone of control.

In the map published on Thursday, the military described the territory, marked in dark red, as: "The security zone in which IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers are ​operating in ​southern Lebanon".

IRAN DEAL HAS EXPOSED TENSIONS BETWEEN NETANYAHU, TRUMP

Netanyahu and Donald Trump have ​repeatedly clashed in recent weeks as the U.S. president sought ‌to extricate himself from the war against Iran he jointly launched with his longtime Israeli ally.

Israeli officials have voiced anger with the U.S.-Iran pact, which the two signed on Wednesday, saying it didn't go far enough to address Israeli concerns over Iran's nuclear program and would tie down their military operations in Lebanon.

Trump has made no secret of his frustration with Netanyahu and has criticized Israel's military actions in Lebanon, saying it was unnecessary to bomb entire apartment buildings to hunt Hezbollah militants.

The two Israeli officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive talks with ‌Washington, said Israel would not back down on its position that its troops would ​remain deployed in Lebanon.

One of the officials said the outcome of the talks would ​ultimately depend on whether Trump "decides to force the issue" by threatening ​repercussions if Israel does not abide by the interim pact's terms.

There has been no indication that Trump's commentary will ‌translate into concrete actions -- such as withholding military aid or ​slowing arms shipments -- that could force Israel ​to rethink its military tactics.

Israel describes the territory it has seized in Lebanon, Gaza and Syria as "buffer zones" between it and its enemies, a core facet of Israel's recent security policy.

The Iran war pact appeared to leave Israel with some "wiggle room", said Jonathan Rynhold, a ​senior researcher at Israel's Bar-Ilan University.

"The reference to ‌the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon certainly implies that Israel will have to withdraw," he said.

"However, it also implies that ​Hezbollah should not be able to hold weapons because that is a threat to the sovereignty of the government of Lebanon."

(Reporting ​by Pesha Magid, Rami Ayyub and Jana Choukeir; Editing by Aidan Lewis)

The Rushed "Kick-the-can-down-the road" Memorandum between Iran and US

The world is stunned at how suddenly Trump climbed down from his "maximum pressure" campaign and rushed through the final stages of negotiations between Iran and the US. Consensus is that his fears of losing the midterms were mounting at an exponential rate.

As a result, and rather than spend months and months through negotiating the really hard issues for which the war was launched to begin with, and which would take the unpopular war right into the elections in November, Trump ordered his real-estate-developers-turned- negotiators minions to give Iran all the concessions it wanted in exchange for just QUICKLY signing a toilet paper equivalent of an agreement. Remember Trump's pounding in his latest posts that "Time is of the essence"? 

The "thinking" (if such a thing does exist in the Great Moron's mind) behind this rush was something like this:

1- It was all guided by Trump's marketing and advertising bullshit slogans he learned in American business school: Perception is everything. Substance doesn't matter. Sell crap to people while making them feel good about themselves...Make a stupid MoU look like a peace treaty...

2- Forget Trump's macho demand of "unconditional surrender" by Iran. Forget "wiping out an entire civilization".... it was all hot air pumped into the airhead Trump by Netanyahu and his Zionist handlers. It's like the silverback male in the Kenyan mountains beating his chest.

3- Let's sign anything NOW and declare a pretend-victory. Cut our mounting losses NOW and deal the real problems later. Kick the can down the road and hope for victory in November, after which we can always go back to warmongering on behalf of our Zionist colony in Palestine.

4- This gives us time to recover by Election Day in November since we would have fooled the American people into believing that we ended the war, and that gasoline prices and inflation would subside a bit.

5- Recoup some popularity we have lost with GOP moderates and independents.

6- The only - and not-so-immediate -  gain we (Americans) made is re-opening the Strait of Hormuz, which was not an issue before the war, i.e. the war created more headaches for us that our scintillating Pentagon leaders like Pete Hegseth did not anticipate. Most experts and economists say that it will take several months for normal traffic and trade across the Strait of Hormuz to resume, assuming the ceasefire holds.

7- Push off all the important issues for which we started the war to a vague and tricky 60 days of further negotiations: 

- Nuclear file. 

- Ballistic Missiles. 

- Iran's Proxies (Hezbollah, Houthis...)... 

It took President Obama two years to hash out the 2015 JCPOA deal with Iran. The Great Moron's attention span is at best 20 minutes before he falls asleep, and he thinks he can resolve decades-old thorny issues in 60 days?  

In sum, the USraeli War on Iran seems to have boiled down to creating de novo the Strait of Hormuz problem, then signing a memorandum of understanding for re-opening it. What achievement! None of the demands the Americans and Israelis initially wanted from Iran was achieved. And now, they have 60 treacherous days to flesh out what decades of tensions and negotiations have failed to resolve. 

That's a GREAT PLAN.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu continues to bomb Lebanon, which Trump fears might obstruct the fast-track signing of the pointless toilet paper memorandum of understanding.

To save his hide in November, Trump is stabbing his Zionist friends in the back, just as he is preparing to stab the Lebanese in the back by asking Syria to re-occupy Lebanon and turn it back into the neighborhood's back alley where all thugs and outlaws come to solve their problems.

Propaganda Show-and-Tell: Hegseth Plays Goebbels with 'Peace Through Warmongering'

MAGA Fascists wax nostalgic of good old Nazi Germany when so-called traditional conservative "Aryan white family values" were married nicely with racism, self-declared supremacy and hatred of all other nations and peoples. Adultering boozehound and Jesus-saved Pete Hegtseth declares that "Peace through Warmongering" is how the United States should police the world, just like ICE and CBP are making the US peaceful by turning it into a police state that hounds people on the streets and in their homes. The American Reich is upon us!
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Minister calls out national theater chain for showing 'propaganda'

Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY
Thu, June 18, 2026 

An Oregon minister's efforts to urge a movie theater chain to cease playing a promotional video for the U.S. Department of War before film showings is drawing attention.

The Rev. Chuck Currie, a minister in the United Church of Christ in Portland, complained in a letter to Regal Theaters that he and his family had gone to see Steven Spielberg's "Disclosure Day" Sunday evening when the 90-second ad touting the U.S. Department of War played before the pre-film trailers.

"The audience was stunned," he told USA TODAY, calling the video "a propaganda piece promoting Trump and the MAGA agenda."

The War Department's "Peace Through Strength" video, which was also played during the White House's $60 million UFC Freedom 250 exhibition, features dramatic music, a fist-pumping War Secretary Pete Hegseth and a voiceover of President Donald Trump saying, "If you attack the United States of America, we will hunt you down."

"It was like we were at a movie theater in Russia or North Korea," Currie wrote in his letter, which he posted on social media. "Democracies do not do this."

Currie's posts drew hundreds of thousands of responses across several social media platforms.

Some commented they'd also seen the video during recent movie outings, with one saying another chain's management had been quick to pull it from theaters after backlash. Others said they would stop frequenting Regal's theaters.

Currie, the former director of the Center for Peace and Spirituality at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, demanded the chain "immediately stop showing" the video, which he described as "a propaganda video. Nothing more, nothing less."

U.S. troops react as President Donald Trump walks to deliver remarks, near a banner reading, "Peace Through Strength", during a visit to Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar, May 15, 2025.

Regal Entertainment, based in Knoxville, Tennessee, is one of the largest theater operators in the United States, with nearly 5,400 screens in 41 states. The company, which aired the UFC event live in theaters, did not immediately respond to an inquiry from USA TODAY.

In his posts, Currie said the audience "loudly booed" the spot.

"We routinely see videos at Regal promoting careers in the military," his letter stated. "This was not that."

In the video, Trump says the U.S. will "lead the world to peace" through "power and might," adding: "Our friends will respect us, our enemies will fear us and the whole world will admire the unrivaled greatness of the U.S. military."

Currie called the theater chain's decision to show the video "an endorsement of Donald Trump, his failed war in Iran and the white Christian nationalism advocated by Secretary Hegseth."

Currie told USA TODAY he had yet to receive any response from Regal, though he remained hopeful given the abundant reaction to his posts. Neither Regal nor the War Department replied to inquiries from USA TODAY in time for publication.

"Many have left comments, letting me know that they experienced the exact same thing in their theater this past week," he said. "It would be a mistake for Regal and other theaters not to respond."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Minister chastises theater chain for War Department 'propaganda'

Full Text of the Draft MoU between the US and Iran

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the US and Iran is due to be formally signed Friday near Luzern, Switzerland, triggering a 60 day-window to negotiate the final terms of a deal. Last minute alterations, changes or edits may still be made.

Here is the text in full:

1 — The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, together with their allies in the current war, declare upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding an immediate and permanent end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, and undertake that from now on they will not launch any hostile action against each other, and will refrain from the threat or use of force against each other. The final agreement will confirm the provisions of this Article and the remaining Articles.

2 — The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States undertake to respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to refrain from interfering in each other's internal affairs.

3 — The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States undertake to negotiate and reach a final agreement within a maximum period of 60 days, extendable by mutual consent.

4 — Immediately upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, the United States lift the naval blockade and prevent any interference or obstruction against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and restore traffic within a maximum of 30 days to its full capacity; the traffic of ships shall be proportional to the pre-war volume of traffic on the part of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States also undertakes to withdraw its forces from the surrounding areas within 30 days after the final agreement.

5 — Upon signing this Memorandum of Understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately take steps to ensure that the movement of merchant ships from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa is resumed within 30 days to the pre-war volume, taking into account the need for the removal of technical obstacles and the neutralization of mines by Iran.

6 — The United States undertakes, together with its regional partners, to create a comprehensive plan agreed upon by both parties for the rehabilitation and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while ensuring financing of at least $300 billion. The implementation mechanism of this plan, as part of the final agreement, will be formulated within 60 days.

7 — The United States commits to ending, on a schedule to be agreed upon as part of the final agreement, all types of sanctions currently facing the Islamic Republic of Iran, including resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and all unilateral U.S. sanctions, both primary and secondary.

8 — The Islamic Republic of Iran reiterates that it will never produce nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States have agreed that the fate of enriched material and the fate of all other mutually agreed nuclear-related issues, including Iran's nuclear needs, will be adequately addressed in a final agreement; the final agreement will confirm the provisions of this Article.

9 — The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States agree that, pending a final agreement, they will maintain the status quo: Iran will maintain the status quo on its nuclear program, and the United States will not impose new sanctions on Iran or strengthen its forces in the region.

10 — The United States undertakes that immediately after the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and until the date of the lifting of sanctions, the United States Treasury Department will issue waivers for exports of Iranian crude oil, petrochemical products and their derivatives, and all related services, including banking, insurance, transportation, and the like.

11 — The United States undertakes that, in light of the progress of negotiations towards a final agreement, frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be released and made fully available. These funds, whether held in the master account or transferred, will be used for any final beneficiary payment determined by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran and will be fully available for use. The United States undertakes to issue all necessary permits and licenses on this basis.

12 — The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States agree that an implementation mechanism will be established to oversee the successful implementation of and future commitment to the Final Agreement.

13 — Following the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and upon receipt of assurances regarding the commencement of implementation of Articles 4, 5, 10, and 11 of this Memorandum of Understanding, and the continued implementation of these steps, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States will enter into negotiations for a Final Agreement solely with respect to the remaining Articles.

14 — The final agreement will be approved through a binding resolution of the UN Security Council.

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SEMAFOR

US officials downplay details of Washington-Tehran deal
Prashant Rao
Wed, June 17, 2026


US officials downplay details of Washington-Tehran deal

US officials sought to play down the details of a Washington-Tehran interim deal, as analysts said Iran appeared to have won major concessions.

Though not officially published, the widely seen draft grants the Islamic Republic the right to sell its oil on global markets immediately, alongside the prospect of significant further economic relief, indicating "Iran has emerged from the conflict in a stronger strategic position," the Institute for the Study of War said. American negotiators told CNN the document did not account for backroom agreements and was intentionally vague to leave space for future negotiation.

Politico's senior foreign affairs correspondent said the deal offered an "escape hatch," noting many agreements rely on "deceit or, at least, intentional confusion."

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LEBANON IZNOGOOD

Hanibaal Atheos

The much discussed apparent break between Trump and Netanyahu may reflect Trump's casual and cryptic antisemitism. He put up with Netanyahu because of the perception that Israel is a taboo not be touched in the US, fearing like most American politicians retribution by the powerful Zionist lobby. 

The two may also be playing good cop-bad cop with Arabs and Muslims in the hope for Trump not to lose Congress in November, and assuming it works and Trump retains control of Congress, he may then re-allow the Zionists to resume their killing fields in Palestine. 

But deep down, Trump's MAGA crowd, which includes Evangelical Christians, and all the racist white supremacist Christian nationalist terrorist organizations and other KKK-like movements, is fundamentally Jew-hating antisemitic. I recently heard one MAGA woman refer to the New York Times as the Jew York Times. Their "love" for Israel is not because they love the Jewish people. It is simply the result of the biblical brainwashing of America's protestant Christians into thinking that Jews and Christians share a Judeo-Christian culture when no such culture has ever existed. In fact, the history of the Western world since the Roman empire turned Christian circa 340 AD is replete with vicious hatred of the Jews (because they did not accept Jesus as the Messiah) onto which were appended all sorts of stereotypes and racist tropes that have never ceased, even to our present time. Antisemitism is a western (European then American) invention. There never was any antisemitism in the Arab-Muslim world (because they are both Semites and the object of western racism), until the creation of the artificial state of Israel, and even then it was not driven by Jew-hatred but by the liberation of Palestine from a brutal colonial rapist.

Given the anger that welled up in Trump for being led like an idiot into the war by Zionist Netanyahu, Trump's lashing out at Netanyahu and Israel is not a the spur of the moment reaction. It rather stems from a deeply seated hatred and condescension by a white protestant Anglo-Saxon against Jews that is rarely expressed in its authentic version in American everyday culture (except by radical extremist right-wing hatemongers) but more in a caricature, jocular play on stereotypes that is superficially sympathetic.  

Then again, a superficial break between Trump and Netanyahu is very useful to Trump for a number of reasons, including rallying the Arab-American and Muslim-American vote ahead of the November midterms as well as winning some fence-sitting independents. By insulting Netanyahu in public, Trump is gaining popularity across the Arab and Muslim worlds, without conceding anything substantive in the relationship between America and its Zionist colony in Palestine or on the ultimate issue of the Middle East: The fate of Palestine.

The real test of an unbiased, just and principled position of the US is not whether an imbecile like Trump hurls insults at politically-finished Netanyahu (who it seems will go to jail the moment his is booted out at the next Israeli elections). The real test is for America to finally stand up for justice to the Palestinian people who were forced to give up their country for the creation of Israel, and to stand against the ongoing rape, mayhem, genocide, ethnic cleansing and plunder the Zionists are conducting daily in the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza. The real test for America to be really great on the international stage is to force the barbarian ultra-religious terrorist government in Israel to recognize an independent Palestine. 

Like all US Republican Presidents: Trump to Subcontract Lebanon's Hezbollah File to Syria

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

US President Donald Trump is publicly proposing that Syria handle the thorny issue of Hezbollah in Lebanon, arguing that the Syrian military would conduct the operation more effectively and with fewer civilian casualties than Israeli forces. Speaking at the G7 summit  two days ago, Trump praised Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (a Sunni Muslim and former Al-Qaeda terrorist) as "very capable" and claimed he personally helped install him, stating Syria should take over the responsibility of confronting Shiite Muslim Hezbollah in Lebanon in order to avoid Israel's further entrapment there. 

Analysts warn that a Syrian incursion in Lebanon could re-inflame civil unrest in Lebanon as was the case in 1975 when Syria was tasked by Nixon-Kissinger with "stabilizing" Lebanon after Yasser Arafat's near seizure of power in Beirut. A Syrian intervention in Lebanon would indirectly strengthen Hezbollah's position by framing it as a resistance against foreign occupation.

Beginning in the late 1960s-early 1970s, it was official US republican policy to gradually cede Lebanon to Syria as a way to appease the oil-rich Arab countries (Saudi, Kuwait, Iraq, Egypt, Libya...) who, at the time, were anti-western, anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian, funding Yasser Arafat's PLO with money and weapons, imposing an oil embargo on the West, and dispatching thousands of radical Sunni Muslim clerics and terrorist operatives to western capitals to build mosques and madrassas.

In 1974, right after the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war, Republican criminals Nixon-Kissinger leased the Lebanese file (and its PLO cancer) to the Syrian Assad regime in exchange for Assad keeping quiet on his Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. What followed was the 1975 War in Lebanon during which the Lebanese people fought to prevent Syrian-backed Yasser Arafat from seizing power and turning Lebanon into a substitute Palestine.

Another republican crook, Ronald Reagan, fled Beirut like a coward after the Syrian-Iranian-Hezbollah alliance bombed and killed 241 of his US peacekeeping servicemen (220 Marines, 18 U.S. Navy sailors, and 3 U.S. Army soldiers) in their sleep near Beirut Airport on October 23, 1983. Reagan abandoned Lebanon to Syria and Iran which gained more ground: The Syrian army entered Beirut and the pro-western government of Amin Gemayel, which had negotiated the May 1983 peace treaty with Israel, was ordered by the Americans not to sign that treaty.

Yet another republican crook, George H W Bush and his Secretary of State James Baker the Turd again surrendered Lebanon to Syria in 1988 and 1991 in order to retrieve the US hostages held by Syria's ally Hezbollah and to induce Syria into joining the coalition against Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Syria toppled the legitimate Lebanese government and completed its control of Lebanon.

Now, Trump is following the same policy. Israel's current incursion inside Lebanon is costly, both operationally and strategically. Faced with mounting anti-Israeli sentiment worldwide, Trump wants to shield Israel from getting further entangled with Hezbollah in Lebanon and from turning Beirut into another Gaza. To save Jewish lives, Trump's Zionist advisers want Muslims to fight one another instead. Hezbollah fought Al-Sharaa for some 13 years during Syria's civil war (March 2011 through December 2024), and it makes perfect sense to give Al-Sharaa the opportunity to score a revenge victory against Hezbollah.

For Trump to propose sending Syrian troops inside Lebanon to fight Hezbollah in lieu of the incompetent Israelis, there would be a need for a pretext. Just as Yasser Arafat tried to overturn the Lebanese government in the early 1970s and turn Lebanon into a substitute Palestine, Hezbollah's Naim Qassem is increasingly adopting a threatening posture vis-à-vis the Lebanese government of Joseph Aoun and Nawaf Salam, accusing them of treason for breaking the taboo of negotiating with Israel. With Hezbollah completely isolated (its Syrian lifeline has dried up now with Assad gone and Al-Sharaa in charge in Damascus) and weakened, its only last resort is to topple the Lebanese government and seize power. That would be the perfect pretext to send in the Syrian army into Lebanon to "stabilize" the situation.

The Lebanese army is a useless military force - it is a glorified police force at best - by virtue of the sectarian composition of the country. With a snap of his fingers, Qassem can order the Shiite Muslim soldiers of the regular army to abandon their positions, take their weapons with them and join his Hezbollah militia. An identical scenario unfolded in 1976 when the Sunni Muslim soldiers of the Lebanese army abandoned their positions, took their weapons and joined Yasser Arafat's PLO insurrection against the Lebanese state.

A final word to the Maronite morons (Phares, Harb and others...who think of themselves as a Lebanese lobby) in Washington DC who never learn from their own history of being betrayed over and over again by the US Republicans. They buy into the Republican lies of protecting Lebanon's Christians, only to discover, time after time, that the Republicans - particularly Trump's Maronite Catholic-hating Evangelicals - don't give a hoot about Lebanon's Christians whom they consider to be the cheapest commodity in the Levant. As soon as their warmongering swashbuckling policy reaches a stalemate, which it always does because of their stupidity and incompetence, the Republican administrations ditch the Christians of Lebanon (their allies in theory) in favor of weightier, more affluent, wealthier, oil-rich and/or more powerful actors (often their theoretical enemies) in the region. 

Idiot Trump Brags: Iran Deal Says Iran Will NOT have Nuclear Weapons

1- Insane. What guarantees does the Idiot-in-Thief have that this is true? Iran can say many things in that memorandum of understanding, and we just believe it at face value? Putting something down on paper (UN resolutions, the JCPOA itself... ) have never guaranteed that their contents will be abided by. In fact, the US spent two years under Obama to make a deal with Iran, a deal that the US placed its "honorable" signature on, only to see Trump walk out of it and violate its provisions.

2- Stupid: Iran has all along said it doesn't want a nuclear weapon. It may be lying, but what achievement is it in this deal that repeats what Iran has always said all along?

3- Mindboggling:  Pimp Trump has agreed to assist in the reconstruction of what his forces (regular US and Zionist colonial mercenaries from Palestine) destroyed in Iran by forcing his Arab Gulf Emirate Girls in their virginial flowing robes, who spent the past four months shrieking like damsels in distress because they host U.S. military bases that were hit by the Iranians during the war, to set up a $300 billion Iran reconstruction fund. The Arab Gulf hoes of Pimp Trump will have to pay for the reconstruction of their own Iranian enemy's country. It's like asking the French after WWII to fund the reconstruction of Germany that the US destroyed.

3- Treacherous: The US is now in open conflict with Israel over the Lebanese branch of the Iran-US deal. Iran says the deal requires a cessation of hostilities by Israel in Lebanon, and a withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entire swath of territory south of the Litani-Zahrani rivers. Which potentially means that Hezbollah can go back, alive and kicking, to its hogwash "liberation terrorism". But the Zionist criminal barbarian Netanyahu, who promised his desperate people that Hezbollah will be annihilated, says Israel will ​keep its forces in southern Lebanon and retain the right to combat ‌Hezbollah. It's so nice to see the new Made-in-America Middle East restored to the familiar 60-year-old warmth of endless warfare between Israelis and Hezbollah and the continued agony of Lebanon.

A U.S. official broke ranks with the unofficial US position and a publicly stated Iranian position that an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon is included in the deal, by saying that an Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon was NOT a condition of the deal. Hopefully, Trump's masterful eloquence and clarity in the English language will clarify this sticky point by Friday when he promised to publish the contents of the deal.

Yup, we have to wait until Friday when the Moron-in-Chief, plopped like an elephant in his underwear on his bed at 2 am chomping on burgers and soda, will release the sinister details of what looks like a victorious "surrender document by the US".😨😨

Trump's deal with Iran pushes everything the Imbecile and his Zionist handlers wanted from the war to some indefinite future. MEANING: we are back where we started, and in fact we are worse off because during the 11 years since the Imbecile walked out of Obama's JCPOA, Iran has strengthened itself and has acquired more nuclear capabilities. 

Trump thought he would launch the war (February 28), and within days, a couple of weeks at the most, the Iranian regime would have collapsed per Trump's own requirement of "unconditional surrender", and he can declare victory just in time for his birthday, his UFC Fight on the white house lawn, and all his other narcissistic bullshit ... then roar into a November elections victory. But it looks more like the US caved in "unconditionally", or perhaps for a few crumbs (open the Strait of Hormuz) that never existed before the war.

Trump's "deal" with Iran - a mere memorandum of understanding, not a peace agreement, not a binding convention - is an admission of an abject failure by the Imbecile-in-Chief who was fooled by Netanyahu into waging an unwinnable war. And he agreed to everything Iran wanted, just so Iran opens the Strait of Hormuz and for gasoline prices in the forlorn peasant middle America, like Ames, Iowa, or Omaha, Nebraska, come down a bit by the time of the midterm elections. But it's too late.

That is all what the Imbecile's mind cares about: slam on the brakes on the looming disaster for him and his republican shills in November... And they think they can reverse the damages done by a demented senile idiot over the pat two years. The American people are smarter than that. Only the MAGA herd of diehard idiots will go down with the sinking ship.

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Trump says memo states clearly Iran will not have a nuclear weapon

By Steve Holland, Bo Erickson and Doina Chiacu

Évian-les-Bains, France, June 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on ‌Tuesday told reporters at the G7 meetings in ‌France that the memorandum of understanding with Iran states clearly that Iran ​will not have a nuclear weapon.

Trump said that he will release the text of the U.S.-Iran memorandum in a formal setting.

The president also said he likes the idea of ‌sending the Iran deal ⁠to Congress for review, a request by some Republican lawmakers.

"I never thought about sending it, ⁠never even thought about it, but I will," Trump told reporters. "I will send it to Congress. I like the idea."

The ​U.S. deal ​with Iran is an ​agreement to hash out details ‌in the coming weeks.

"I think it's going to go pretty quickly," Trump told reporters about the next phase of negotiations with Iran, stipulated with a 60-day deadline.

"Iran wants to get it done. They have to get back to ‌business, and the relationship is ​now normalized, so I think it's ​going to go pretty ​quickly," Trump told reporters during his meeting ‌with Mohamed bin Zayed Al ​Nahyan, the president ​of the United Arab Emirates, on the sidelines of the G7.

"Could go faster, could take longer too, but ​it could ‌go fast."

(Reporting by Steve Holland in Evian, France, and ​Bo Erickson, Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu in ​Washington; editing by Michelle Nichols)

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Broad skepticism over Iran-US truce
Prashant Rao
Tue, June 16, 2026

Skepticism abounded among allies, officials, and executives over the details and durability of the US truce with Iran.

The Trump administration has insisted the Strait of Hormuz — which has in effect been closed for months — will reopen by Friday, but no official document has been released outlining the deal between Washington and Tehran.

European powers have voiced hesitation, notably over:- whether Israel will cease its offensive in Lebanon, an Iranian demand; - the CIA director has reportedly questioned Iran's willingness to make concessions;- Republican US senators have been reluctant to praise the deal; - and Israel fears the agreement takes the pressure off Iran. - Meanwhile, shipping executives say it will take months for traffic to reach pre-war levels.
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By Steve Holland and Jana Choukeir

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France/DUBAI, June 16 (Reuters) - Doubts swirled around the U.S.-Iran interim deal to end the war in the Middle East with warnings that shipping and energy exports could take weeks to recover, although U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the text would be made public soon.

The interim deal would extend a tenuous ceasefire announced in ‌April by another 60 days and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blocked since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in February.

Trump said the text of the deal states ‌clearly that Tehran will not have a nuclear weapon, and the full agreement would be made public in a formal setting in a few days.

Speaking at the G7 meetings in France, Trump added that he liked the idea of sending the Iran deal to Congress ​for review, a request by some Republican lawmakers.

Negotiators would address difficult issues like the future of Iran's nuclear programme during the next phase of talks, which Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said would start in Switzerland on Friday after the formal signing of the framework deal.

Two other issues that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used to justify the war - ending Iran's support for regional armed proxies and curbing its missile programme - are not thought to be on the agenda for those negotiations.

"Iran wants to get it done," Trump told reporters about the next phase of negotiations with Iran. "They have to get back to business, and the relationship is now normalized, so I think it's going to ‌go pretty quickly." Earlier he described the deal as "a wall to a nuclear ⁠weapon" for Iran.

Vice President JD Vance and Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf are expected to attend Friday's formal signing.

FINAL DEAL YET TO TAKE SHAPE

Oil prices slid more than 2% to new three-month lows on Tuesday, a day after tumbling nearly 5% following news of the deal, though industry officials say Middle East oil and gas output ⁠will take months to fully recover.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on social media Monday that the interim agreement was an "important step" toward stopping the fighting but noted a final deal for a lasting truce "has yet to take shape."

Vance told CNN that the signed memorandum was a "very general document." Details would be released over the next two days, U.S. officials said.

Both sides still face pressures following a conflict that killed at least 7,000 people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, and upended global energy ​markets.

The ​accord exposes Trump to criticism from within his own party, while Iran's leaders could face the risk of renewed protests if ​they fail to alleviate economic pressures after a destructive war.

U.S. and Iranian officials say ‌the deal could eventually deliver substantial economic benefits to Iran by lifting sanctions and unfreezing foreign assets. It could also set up a $300 billion reconstruction fund, paid for by neighbouring Gulf states that host U.S. military bases and were hit by Iranian attacks during the war.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Iran would have to satisfy U.S. demands never to build a nuclear weapon and cut off support for militias like Hezbollah in Lebanon in order to get those benefits.

Iranian officials, who have always denied intending to build a nuclear weapon, say they have given up little by agreeing to resume diplomatic discussions over Iran's uranium enrichment programme that were interrupted by the war.

CAUTION OVER SHIPPING

Both sides say the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about one-fifth of the world's trade in oil and liquefied natural gas, will be open from Friday.

On Tuesday, Iranian state television reported ‌operations to lift its maritime blockade, while stressing that vessels must still coordinate with Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

Trump said earlier that ​tankers were starting to move out of the strait, and Reuters reported that the U.S. - which had imposed its own blockade on ​Iranian ports - had been overseeing scores of secretive ship-to-ship oil transfers to keep Gulf energy exports ​flowing.

The U.S. said the strait will be open toll-free for 60 days and it would expect that provision to be part of a final agreement. Iran has suggested it ‌will retain control with Oman over the strait.

Shippers say a return to normal traffic ​will be gradual.

One concern is the possible presence of mines ​in the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman. A thorough minesweeping operation would "take weeks to months", an official with Greek maritime security company Diaplous told Reuters on Tuesday.

UNCERTAINTY OVER LEBANON

The conflict between U.S. ally Israel and the Iran-allied Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, which has uprooted 1.2 million people, remains another complication.

Iran has said the deal requires a full cessation of hostilities there, but Netanyahu said Israel would ​keep its forces in southern Lebanon and retain the right to respond to ‌Hezbollah attacks.

Trump has expressed frustration at Israel's military campaign, saying on Tuesday he was "not happy" with the way Israel had handled itself. Israel has not directly participated in the peace talks ​with Iran.

A U.S. official said an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, which it invaded in March after Hezbollah joined the war, was not a condition of the deal.

Araqchi said Israeli attacks must ​stop immediately.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Stephen Coates and Aidan Lewis; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Alexandra Hudson)

The Great Moron is an Arsonist-Fireman

Donald Dumb is an arsonist-fireman. He starts fires, then claims to be working hard at putting them out. That is why the Nobel Committee will NEVER give him a peace prize because he doesn't solve other people's problems; he solves problems he himself creates in the first place. For example, he walked out of the North American Trade Agreement (NAFTA) loudly and in theatrical fashion, pretended to negotiate a better deal, only to settle for essentially the same agreement.

The agreement with Iran is being called a number of things: Peace treaty, memorandum of understanding, ceasefire, etc. But everyone knows this is not a "peace treaty" as there is no re-establishment of diplomatic relations, or an end to the fundamental problem in the region, namely the absence of Palestinian statehood which is behind Iran's main claim against Israel. This agreement is a mere ceasefire while giving both sides 60 days for "technical" discussions, which I opine will ultimately fail but giving the Great Moron space before the midterm elections to claim he made peace and to have re-opened the Strait of Hormuz, a problem that did not exist prior to the war and that Trump himself precipitated by his war. Everyone cheering the agreement (Arabs, Europeans, Asians etc.) now knows this agreement didn't accomplish much. They are really only cheering the re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz to bring down skyrocketing energy prices and alleviate the disastrous global economic consequences of the war. 

The Idiot-in-Chief, the world's village idiot, has "discovered" that Netanyahu and his Zionist lobby bamboozled him into starting an unwinnable war. Which explains the "apparent" disagreement between the Americans and the Israelis who are mad as hell because the war didn't accomplish anything for them. They pushed the imbecile into the war thinking they can prod him all the way, but like all idiots who discover they're being led on a leash, he reacted uncontrollably. 

But there is another possibility: The two criminals Netanyahu and Trump might be playing good cop-bad cop to try and appease everyone, but Trump is not that smart to play that role well. Regardless, the Israelis are now that bad guys on the world stage while Trump appears to be the nice guy who finally broke the Zionist leash off his neck. It may well be that Trump is pretending to dislike Netanyahu, just to please the Arabs and Muslims who foam at the mouth at the mere thought of Netanyahu. We just don't know yet. Perhaps Trump has again learned on the job and actually dislikes Netanyahu. But that might cost him with the Jewish vote. Which helps explain why all previous US presidents refused Netanyahu's alarmist rage for striking Iran, and only the idiot Trump agreed with the Zionist promises of the collapse of the Tehran regime within 4-5 days of the start of the bombing campaign. Trump fell in the trap and now he is enraged at being taken for the fool that he really is. 

Trump likes bragging and grandstanding. Instead of listening to saner minds, he screws up and learns on the job. He shows his herd of MAGA morons that he has balls by canceling all that his predecessor did, claims he can get a getter deal on a number of subjects (Canada as the 51st state, Greenland, NAFTA, NATO....), starts a war, re-negotiates and ends up where it all started. In fact, this new "memo of understanding" will spawn a "deal" that is likely to be a clone of Obama's 2015 JCPOA. Trump got out of the JCPOA on a testicular whim. Just to show he's against Obama, and without reading the agreement (he just heard from the Zionist lobby that it's "bad" deal. So he beats his chest like a silverback and walks out of Obama's JCPOA...only to find himself spending billions and causing the death of thousands of people before forcing himself in the same negotiations swamp where it all started, and forced to TACO because of upcoming elections and his growing unpopularity. 

There is still a third possibility, a more sinister one, which I think is very likely: He may have agreed with Netanyahu to "pause" the war until after the midterms when, if Trump manages to keep Congress in his pocket, the two of them could resume the war. Big gamble because it looks almost certain that Trump will lose both chambers of Congress, unless he cheats like he did in 2021. 

Finally, Netanyahu and the entire Zionist establishment in Palestine are - or appear - upset that Lebanon was included in the ceasefire agreement. They are threatening not to comply with the ceasefire in Lebanon, not to withdraw their troops but keep them "indefinitely" on the ground for an umpteenth occupation of the south of the country. Just as Hezbollah is telling its Shiite herd not to return to their razed villages, the Zionists are not lifting the state of emergency pending "clarity" on what the agreement says about Lebanon. As always, Hezbollah and Iran win by not losing completely, while Israel loses by not scoring a decisive but very-hard-to-achieve victory. Remember, Netanyahu and Trump demanded "unconditional surrender" of Iran and its terrorist arms. Now they've settled for far less, and Hezbollah and Iran are already hollering from the rooftops that they have achieved a "divine victory".

I say to the Maronite imbeciles in DC who play the cheering boys for Trump that Lebanon is back where it was: Hezbollah still armed to the teeth and a Lebanese state unable to assert its sovereignty. Back to where we started. Trump has abandoned the "liberation" of Lebanon from the claws of Iran and Hezbollah, both of which remain in charge of the small country and with a front line with Israel. I wonder what is going on in the mind of Lebanese President and Prime Minister, Joseph Aoun and Nawaf Salam, respectively, as they are again faced with a "victorious" Hezbollah that can, again, extort the country for having "resisted" and "defended" Lebanon against the Zionist enemy.

America's MAGA Peasants Are Deserting the Great Moron: He Either Lied to Them....

... or they're just discovering that he is (and always was) an incompetent moron.

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Trump's support in rural America slips as fuel and food prices climb, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows
By Leah Douglas and Jason Lange
Sun, June 14, 2026 


U.S. President Donald Trump signs a proclamation for restoring American commercial fishing in the Pacific, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 11, 2026. REUTERS/Daniel Heuer

By Leah Douglas and Jason Lange

WASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - Brian Rauch has felt the squeeze of higher gas prices on his 30-mile (50-km) drives from his home in rural Stevensville, Montana, to the doctor's office. He has also noticed food prices going up and, as an Air Force ‌veteran, sees little rationale for the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

These are among the reasons the 42-year-old increasingly disapproves of the performance of President Donald Trump, ‌the man he voted for in the last three presidential elections, putting him among a growing portion of rural Americans disappointed by his leadership in Washington.

Trump's approval rating among rural Americans dropped in June ​to a new low of 50%, according to the June 3-8 Reuters/Ipsos poll. That compares with 60% approval in February 2025 shortly after Trump took office.

Rural disapproval of Trump's performance meanwhile rose to 48% from 34% in February 2025, according to the poll of 4,531 U.S. adults nationwide. The poll, which was conducted online, had a margin of error of 3 percentage points for people in rural areas and 2 points for Americans overall.

The discontent is notable for a voting bloc that has strongly supported Trump in his presidential campaigns, ‌and could have implications for Trump's Republican party in November's ⁠midterm elections, where they will defend slim majorities in the U.S. Congress.

Trump won rural voters by 40 points in the 2024 election, up from 31 points in the 2020 election and 25 points in 2016, according to an exit poll analysis by Pew Research ⁠Center.

GAS PRICES WEIGH

Trump's overall approval rate of 35% is also near the lowest of his political career, as most Americans fear a continued rise in gas prices fueled by the Iran war, the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.

Bryan Shaver, 62, an insurance agent in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, voted for Trump in the 2024 election but said he is frustrated by persistently high food prices.


Shaver, ​who ​said he has long supported Republican politicians and once worked for Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker when ​he was a congressman, is now concerned that high prices will ‌hurt the party in the midterms.

"I have a feeling we’re going to be in big trouble in November," he said.

COST OF LIVING

Driving the decline in rural support is disapproval of Trump's stewardship over the cost of living and the U.S. economy, the polling data showed.

Just 31% of rural respondents said they approve of Trump's handling of those issues, while 61% disapproved. In February 2025, about 45% of rural respondents approved of Trump's handling of cost of living issues, and 43% disapproved.

Rauch, who works at a non-profit that helps military veterans adjust to civilian life, said he backed Trump consistently since his first run for the White House in 2016. But he said that ‌Trump's more erratic behavior this term risks alienating trading partners and further driving up everyday costs ​for Americans.

He is also concerned about the rapid expansion of data centers in Montana that could compromise ​water access.

"We’re in bigger water fights with AI, we’re all paying more ​for groceries and we’re all paying more for gas," Rauch said. "My day to day is negatively impacted and I haven’t seen these other ‌benefits."

Rural Americans may be more exposed to higher gas prices because ​they drive more on average than urban ​Americans, according to federal data.

Those living in rural places travel an average of 30 miles daily in a vehicle, compared to 17 miles (27 km) for urban residents, according to 2022 data from the Department of Transportation's National Household Travel Survey, the most recent available.

Other factors affecting rural America include a difficult ​year for farmers, saddled by rising fertilizer costs aggravated by ‌the Iran war, low crop prices, and curbed exports due to Trump's trade war.

Diesel prices in several states have also hit all-time highs, threatening ​slim margins for farmers as well as fishermen opting to keep their boats docked rather than spend tens of thousands more on fuel.

(Reporting by ​Leah Douglas and Jason Lange in Washington; editing by Scott Malone and Deepa Babington)

To Be Nuclear or Not to be Nuclear. Is this the Question?

After decades of back and forth wrangling, negotiations, threats and counter-threats, military maneuvers and even an ass-licking visit by the American dumbass-in-chief Donald Dumb to the North Korean dictator, North Korea has announced with great pomp and circumstance, including during a very friendly and supportive visit by the Chinese dictator Xi JinPing to Pyongyang, that it - North Korea - is now officially a nuclear power and its "denuclearization", as sought by the Americans, is "an irreversibly finalized matter". 

North Korea has thus shown the world, for better or for worse, that any country can through patience and forbearance, and while remaining a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), acquire nuclear power and nuclear weapons.

One has to remember that the five bullies (UK, US, China, Russia, France) on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) were admitted to the Council with their obstructive veto power BECAUSE they have nuclear bombs pointing at each other. This is in essence a glorified law of the jungle where might makes right, in a vicious rejection of a genuinely civilized world that is supposedly driven by peace-seeking, human rights and equality before the laws.

Since the five nuclear bullies have monopolized all international decisions to favor their own selfish interests or hindered such decisions to scuttle justice around the world, other nations have sought and acquired nuclear bombs, without being signatories to the NPT, India, Pakistan, Israel and now North Korea.

Five countries are signatories to the NPT and are recognized as such because they tested nuclear devices before January 1, 1967:
United States: ~3,700 total warheads
Russia: ~4,400–5,459 total warheads
United Kingdom: ~225 total warheads
France: ~290 total warheads
China: ~600 total warheads

Four countries are non-signatories to the NPT:
India: ~180–190 total warheads
Pakistan: ~170 total warheads
Israel: ~90 total warheads (with an undeclared capability, as commanded by Yahweh)
North Korea: ~50–60 total warheads (withdrew from NPT in 2003)

There is something insidiously positive about having a nuclear bomb. As the period after August 1945, when the first and last atomic bomb was used by the Americans against Japan, demonstrates, no country with a nuclear bomb has been attacked by another nuclear country. Mutual nuclear deterrence has been effective in preventing nuclear wars, and that is for obvious reasons: Whether you have a thousand nuclear heads or just one, you'll certainly meet with disastrous consequences if you initiate such a nuclear confrontation.

Even as they engage in traditional non-nuclear warfare (e.g. the US in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran; or Russia in Afghanistan and Ukraine), nuclear countries have not relied on their nuclear weapons even when they lose or struggle to win such wars (e.g. the US in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq; or Russia in Afghanistan and Ukraine). While nuclear weapons have not prevented conventional wars against non-nuclear parties, they have prevented wars between nuclear countries themselves. Occasionally, there have been border skirmishes between two nuclear powers like India and Pakistan, but these minor clashes have been quickly circumvented from developing into open war, precisely because of the potential slide into using nuclear bombs.

Hence, one can conclude that North Korea, as reprehensible as its dictatorial government can be, is now safe from any attack, nuclear or otherwise, because it can retaliate with cataclysmic consequences on its attacker.

Given this history of nuclear weapons, it is becoming clear that acquiring a nuclear bomb is the surest way to protect yourself. That doesn't mean that a nuclear bomb in the hands of a madman could not be used in the future, including the fear by many that the deranged senile criminal leading the US these days could still resort to using nuclear weapons to subdue Iran, for example.

Assuming two scenarios for a solution to the nuclear issue:

- Either a global categorical ban on all nuclear weapons, including the denuclearization of the current five nuclear bullies and the other four nuclear outlaws. Ideal, but extremely difficult to monitor and verify, especially since it concerns colonial supremacists and bullies who long thrived and enriched themselves by terrifying and extorting poorer countries;

- Or a free-for-all unimpeded quest and acquisition of nuclear bombs by anyone in a capitalistic free market of offer and demand. Nuclear countries can sell their technologies to other clients. Potentially dangerous, but if everyone has a nuclear bomb then there will be a lessened likelihood of one country bullying another. Instead of a NPT, the UN should launch a Nuclear-For-All (NFA) program that encourages the spread and dissemination of nuclear weapons, which by all measures to date, would be a deterrent against the use of nuclear weapons by anyone. 

Obviously, this either-or choice is intended to show the two extremes of a non-nuclear world versus a fully nuclear world, both of which may seem unreachable.

But the question remains: where does the world draw the line? What countries should be eligible to acquiring a nuclear bomb? And which countries should be banned from having one? Who decides? Should the nuclear bullies continue to dictate that they alone have the right to a nuclear bomb and use that threat to extort other countries and deny justice to so many?

For now, it is blatantly unfair, though naturally Darwinian, that bullies continue to impose their will simply because they have the most destructive lethal means ever devised by humans.

Why should Iran not be allowed to acquire a nuclear bomb? After all, it has joined the NPT club, is seemingly playing by the rules, allowing IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) inspectors, while other countries broke the rules, never signed, or withdrew from, the NPT, developed their own nuclear capabilities (India, Israel, Pakistan, and North Korea), and are generally well accepted members of the international community. 

The argument that Iran has threatened Israel does not amount to a compelling reason to deny it the acquisition of nuclear capabilities. The fact that Israel does not make similar threats does not mean Israel won't ever use its nuclear weapons. And if indeed it won't ever use them, then why acquire them in the first place? Israel has, semi-officially, declared that its "nuclear option", a.k.a. the "Samson option", is a safeguard against its elimination, but what kind of stupid argument is this that promotes a murder-suicide scenario for a number of countries, if not for all countries?

I pity the Poor Immigrant...Like Vivek Ramaswamy

When a dark-skinned immigrant from the Indian subcontinent tries to make it in racist white America, he often tries to be more American than the Americans to prove his worth. And in so doing, he becomes a pathetic imitation: He might as well smudge a layer of white face on himself to please recalcitrant white trash voters who hate immigrants, even though they were all immigrants once, one or two generations ago.

But white trash racism in this country is constitutive: It came with the first intolerant and puritan English peasants who arrived here and has been there ever since. They said they were fleeing persecution in the Europe of the 17th century, but they came with persecution in their luggage and began dispending it to others like the slaves they brought with them from Africa and the native Amerindians they encountered. Just like the Zionist invaders of Palestine who said they were fleeing racism in Europe and were merely seeking a shelter-homeland in Palestine, only to turn around and inflict racist hatred of pure colonial vintage on the indigenous Palestinians who had welcomed them at first. 

Good luck, Vivek, in trying to turn fossils back to life, especially in one of the most backward places on earth, the American Appalachia where inbreeding has concentrated in equal measure the filthy racism of the colonial English Empire, bad genes, and the ignorant peasant culture of medieval England. Read their comments below: They like what they hear coming out of a servile immigrant trying to please his "hosts" to get elected by saying whatever trash they want to hear, but cannot accept him because he has dark skin and is a non-Christian. 

How Christian of them!
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Vivek Ramaswamy Preaches the American Dream. Will White Christians Accept It?
Samuel Benson
Sat, June 13, 2026


Vivek Ramaswamy Preaches the American Dream. Will White Christians Accept It?

PIKETON, Ohio — It looked like a scene out of a Norman Rockwell painting: a school gym transformed into an Americana-themed party venue; families at round tables, eating steak and potatoes; red-white-and-blue tablecloths with flowers at the center. This tiny Appalachian town, population 2,000, turned out several hundred for the county GOP's Lincoln Day dinner. The guest of honor, Vivek Ramaswamy, liked what he saw.

"We call it the American dream for a reason, because there is no Canadian dream, there is no British dream, there is no Chinese dream," Ramaswamy, 40, told attendees, standing on a makeshift stage underneath a balloon arch and an American flag. "I understand why many are skeptical, but what I'm talking about tonight is how we are going to turn Ohio into the cradle of the American dream once again."

Not everyone bought it. At the back table, Setys Kelly, who is the Ramaswamy campaign's captain in nearby Clark County, clapped throughout his speech. But when he brought up the notion that anyone could come to the United States and achieve the American dream, she shook her head. "I'm going to be a hard no on that. You need to be an American to do the American dream," said Kelly, a white woman. "I come from Springfield, land of the Haitians. … I just don't want any more of that kind of immigration where they just dump them on you."

It's this sort of sentiment that Ramaswamy must navigate as the Republican nominee to be Ohio's next governor, with issues of race and identity swirling in the campaign.

Ramaswamy, an Indian American with immigrant parents, left a lucrative career in biotechnology to run for president in 2024 and immediately won prominence on the national stage. He won the GOP primary for Ohio governor comfortably last month after batting down Casey Putsch, a far-right challenger who attacked him over his race and religion. His November faceoff against Democrat Amy Acton, who is white, is poised to be one of the marquee governors' races this cycle.

Ramaswamy's central message is that anyone can be a part of the American dream if they just work hard enough. But even as he waxes poetic, he's discovering that not all of his fellow Ohioans see him as part of that dream. In interviews with more than 20 voters and strategists across Ohio — a state that is 80 percent white and two-thirds Christian — Ramaswamy's background was seen as a real political hurdle to overcome. Few admitted their uneasiness with Ramaswamy's race, but several said they knew a neighbor who won't vote for him because he isn't white. None said they would reject him because of his religion (Ramaswamy is Hindu), but several said they know people at church who will.

"Most of us, the only time we've ever been in a room with someone of color like him was when you went to see your doctor," said Denny Malloy, a white man and Trumbull County GOP chair, who supports Ramaswamy. "When you get to eastern Ohio, they look at him like they don't know how to accept him."

In response to questions about potential voter resistance based on Ramaswamy's race or religion, Connie Luck, a campaign spokesperson said, "Vivek believes in the American Dream because he has lived it. He's running for governor of Ohio because he's grateful to his home state and his country for giving him opportunities that wouldn't be imaginable in any other nation on Earth. He's on a mission to revive that American dream for the next generation of Ohioans, and he isn't going to let anyone stand in his way."

In some ways, the issues Ramaswamy faces in Ohio reflect broader debates about identity and pluralism on the right. A chorus of online influencers is pushing the Republican Party to embrace "heritage Americanism," the belief that only those who trace ancestry to the U.S.' founding generations are truly American. Second lady Usha Vance, a Yale Law School classmate of Ramaswamy's and an Indian American, has faced racist attacks online from far-right white nationalists; Ramaswamy, too, has faced so much racism from the online right that it's one reason he deleted social media accounts from his phone. In the Republican Party's fight over "heritage Americans" and blood-and-soil nationalism, Ramaswamy has stood up in favor of pluralistic democracy. The response, from some on the online right, has been outrage.

In real-world Ohio, Ramaswamy hasn't confronted the same level of vitriol, but the underlying issues remain. He survived a far-right challenger who was explicit about attacking his race; now, he faces a more subtle uneasiness about his religion. There's also the matter of his extraordinary wealth and elite pedigree, which further set him apart. The bottom line: Some voters feel that Ramaswamy's background is not just removed from, but fundamentally at odds with, their own.

Many Ohioans — union members in the Rust Belt, factory workers in Appalachia — see Ramaswamy, the Ivy Leaguer with tech-fueled wealth, as antithetical to the world they know: They've seen the prospect of economic prosperity and self-sufficiency for them and their children slip away after years of vanished jobs and hollowed out industries. They view with deep skepticism a billionaire who insists they, too, can get ahead if they just work hard enough.

Ramaswamy grew up in a middle-class household, attended a private high school, earned degrees from Harvard and Yale and struck it big as an entrepreneur in biotechnology. Perhaps surprisingly, he's racked up support from many of the state's trade unions. But Democrats, riding nation-wide concerns over affordability and critiques of the ultra-wealthy, see an opportunity to paint Ramaswamy as a rich, out-of-touch billionaire. He provides them plenty of ammo. Since he burst onto the national stage as a presidential candidate in 2024, he's leaned hard into his background as a hedge fund manager worth ten figures with two Ivy League degrees. He calls disgraced investor Martin Shkreli a "friend" and blames the TV show "Friends" for American laziness and "mediocrity." He crisscrosses the state in a private jet and proposes consolidating "subpar" state universities, including some that are economic backbones in blue-collar towns.

To Ramaswamy, upward mobility is a choice, and the leading factor is an individual's will.

"We have to do our part as leaders to recreate the conditions for the American dream, and I'll do my part, but your job is to view yourself as empowered," Ramaswamy said in a brief interview with POLITICO Magazine on the trail in Ohio. "The number-one factor that determines whether you achieve your goal in life is ultimately you."

But that message, to many, rings inauthentic coming from someone with such elite credentials. "People that have… wealth, they are going to talk that exact same way," said Marty Loney, a white business manager at UA Local 396, a union outside of Youngstown for plumbers and pipefitters. "They don't even know what work boots are, you know?"

Piketon, Ohio, a small town nestled against the Appalachians not far from the Kentucky border, has long struggled: The unemployment rate is nearly double the state and national averages. Clean water and clean air are not guarantees. And a string of industries skipping town has left scars.

But the town's residents, 93 percent of whom are white, see hope on the horizon. A nearby uranium enrichment facility reopened in 2023, and in April, the federal government announced a partnership with a Japanese company to construct one of the world's biggest natural gas power plants, potentially ushering in 35,000 construction jobs. Construction has begun on what is expected to be the world's largest data center nearby.

A major goal of outgoing GOP Gov. Mike DeWine's was reviving Ohio's manufacturing industry. He'll leave office with a catalog of new investments under his belt: An aviation manufacturing site in Dayton, a defense manufacturing facility outside of Circleville, a pet food plant in Lewisburg. "That's going to create a new industrial boom, where I understand why the last 40 years have been tough in many parts of the state," said Ramaswamy, who earned DeWine's endorsement. "We're going to turn it around. And my pledge is we're going to usher in the next industrial revolution."

On that point, Ramaswamy received widespread support. He's scooped up the backing of a number of the state's building trades unions, who are desperate for a blue-collar boom.

"So often we think that the American dream is out of reach for people my age," said Jordan Leatherwood, the 29-year-old Pike County GOP chair, who is white. "[Ramaswamy] brings a fresh new perspective of allowing us to pursue the American dream by bringing down costs and increasing salaries."

Leatherwood's grandmother, Elaine Birkhimer, sat at a front table during Ramaswamy's speech; she said she was "impressed" by Ramaswamy's charisma.

"When I first heard his name I was a little concerned," said Birhimer, who is white. "But after hearing what he stands for, it's no longer an issue to me."

Ramaswamy's background seems to be a sticking point for others, however. "Somebody told me today that they ran into someone who said, 'I don't know why they keep lying about him being a Hindu,'" said Kelly, the Ramaswamy campaign's Clark County captain. "And the lady said, 'Well, they're not lying. He is a Hindu.' And the older lady is like, 'Well, I can't vote for him.'"

"I think it's important for him to keep emphasizing that you're in America, you can practice what you want," Kelly continued. "I think if he stays on that messaging, he's OK."

She said his Hinduism isn't an issue to her: "It's not actually that different from living as a Christian. It's got the same moral compass."

Julia Shutt, the former GOP chair in Trumbull County, who is white, has heard similar stories. "For me as a Christian, it's not an issue," she said. "There's some people that go to my church, it's an issue. They're like, 'He's a Hindu? Is that what he is?' 'Yeah.' 'That's not gonna work.'"

Race- and religion-based attacks have arisen in recent statewide Ohio races. In 2021, Mark Pukita, a GOP Senate candidate, raised then-frontrunner and former state treasurer Josh Mandel's Jewish faith in a radio ad and on the debate stage. In 2022, Vice President JD Vance — then running for Senate — accused the state's largest newspaper of racism against his wife, Usha. Ohio has also elected people of various backgrounds to office before — including Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno, who was born in Colombia.

Ramaswamy's allies say voters, even those who are initially hesitant, warm up when they hear him out.

"I'm not at all surprised that folks here in Appalachia are curious and even some skeptical, but to a man when I explain his background and where he grew up and where he stands on the issues, they say, 'Oh, I like that, I can support that,'" said Douglas Preisse, a Ramaswamy ally and longtime GOP strategist in the state, who is white. "When Vivek announced, I wondered, too, how will people react? That's how they're reacting."

"This is another place where it just very much reminds me of Donald Trump," said Aaron Baer, president of the Columbus-based Center for Christian Virtue, who is white. "I think Christian voters understand the men or women that we are electing are there to enact the policies that align with our values. Does Donald Trump live and operate in the most Christian way? Certainly not. But does he lead and enact policies that align with Christian worldview? Absolutely."

But Republican strategists across the state are quietly pointing to the 2006 gubernatorial campaign as a warning sign for Ramaswamy. The party was similarly dealing with an uncertain economy and an unpopular war in the Middle East. Then, Republicans nominated Ken Blackwell, an accomplished politician and Black man who'd served as Ohio secretary of state, treasurer and mayor of Cincinnati.

He was the first Black major-party gubernatorial nominee in Ohio's history — a fact that some say caused him difficulties in Appalachia, where Democrat Ted Strickland trounced him. "People said, 'This guy is Republican, but he's not really our guy,'" recalled Malloy, the Trumbull County GOP chair. "Here's a guy, Strickland, that looks like them, talks like them, eats like them, recreates like them. [Blackwell] didn't resonate well with Eastern Ohio, because he wasn't their demographic." (Blackwell did not respond to a request for comment.) More recently, Republican nominee Winsome Earle-Sears, who is Black, lost the Virginia gubernatorial election last year to a white woman, Democrat Abigail Spanberger, thanks in part to Spanberger's overperformance in deep-red rural areas.

Ohio has gone from being a swing state back in 2006 to reliably Republican in the Trump era, but Republicans still see some parallels with the past, both in the national environment and in their nominee.

"[Ramaswamy] is untested in terms of running a political campaign, and we're in the worst political environment since 2006 for Republicans," said one longtime Ohio GOP strategist, granted anonymity to discuss the race openly. "The economy is bad. Inflation, rising costs, a war."

Appalachia is where Ramaswamy's overtly racist primary challenger fared best, notching as much as 30 percent of the vote in some counties. Putsch, a white auto mechanic who calls himself "The Car Guy," raised only about $120,000 to Ramaswamy's $50 million. He tried to focus the election on two issues: Ramasawmy's race and his wealth. A provocateur who described the campaign as "cowboys versus Indians," he garnered over 140,000 votes statewide, even as Ramaswamy won 82 percent of the vote.

"Despite the negativity online that he gets, those people don't matter," said Anang Mittal, an Indian American GOP strategist. "The people who matter are the voters of Ohio, who will, I hope, give him the governorship in November."

Democrats are not leaning into racist attacks. But they see hope in breaking through in Ohio for the first time in years with Acton, who is Jewish and served as director of the Ohio Department of Health during the Covid pandemic.

"Dr. Acton overcame a tough childhood, put herself through college and med school by working three jobs, and has dedicated her career to fighting for Ohio. She is running for governor because she wants to build a state where all of us can get ahead," said Addie Bullock, spokesperson for the Acton campaign. "Dr. Acton wants to build an Ohio where everyone can pursue their dreams; Vivek Ramaswamy thinks we're lazy and mediocre. The choice is clear."

Ramaswamy is trying to present himself as the working-class fighter that Ohio needs.

"I didn't grow up in generational wealth myself, and so I can empathize with the struggles, especially in a state where a lot of high-paying jobs have left, a lot of young people have left," Ramaswamy said in an interview. "Deindustrialization has hit so much of our state hard. We're not going to turn it around by just complaining about it. We're going to turn it around by enacting policies that ultimately bring those new, high-paying jobs to the state."

Ramaswamy's life story runs through Evansdale, the affluent suburb north of Cincinnati where he grew up. The son of an engineer father and geriatric psychiatrist mother, the young Ramaswamy attended public schools until eighth grade, when his parents made the decision to transfer him to St. Xavier, a private Catholic school, after "a big black kid" — per Ramaswamy's description — pushed him down the stairs, requiring hip surgery. ("Whether our races were relevant, I don't know, but I've learned that others think it's part of these stories," Ramaswamy later wrote in his 2022 book, "Nation of Victims.")

He studied at Harvard, then at Yale Law School, where he met Vance, a fellow Ohioan, and Usha. He also became involved with Shabtai, a Jewish intellectual society run by a gregarious young rabbi and his wife. A Jewish classmate took Ramaswamy to a Shabbat dinner with the society's members one Friday night; he has recalled being enthralled by the group's debates on morals, values and current events. The experience exposed him to Judaism, but also served as a sort of refuge from Yale's secularism and helped cement him and his future wife, Apoorva, in their Hindu faith. (Apoorva was a medical student at Yale and often accompanied Ramaswamy at Shabtai events.)

The experience also helped solidify Ramaswamy's belief in individual will and the danger of embracing victimhood. "He believes in self-motivation. He believes in individuals," said Rabbi Shmully Hecht, a co-founder of Shabtai. "He believes in liberty. And he's not a person, in my opinion, that really thinks or cares a lot about what your racial profile is, what your ethnicity is and what your religion is. He thinks about your contribution to society and to the world."

That self-motivation, Ramaswamy believes, is adequate in the face of any challenge — including attacks based on religious identity. "Even if somebody is throwing dirt at you, it is up to us to use that dirt to lift ourselves up," he told a group of Jewish students at the grand opening for the Ohio State University's new Chabad House in February. "Who lifts you up? Whose responsibility is that? Is that somebody else's responsibility, or is it your responsibility? I think our faith teaches us alike that it is our responsibility to lift ourselves up." He referenced a Super Bowl ad about fighting antisemitism, that portrayed a non-Jew standing up for a Jewish teenager being bullied: "A well-intentioned ad that would say, 'OK, the job of fighting antisemitism is somebody else's job.' I say, 'No, no. You are strong enough to protect yourself.'"

After Yale, he bounced around in tech and investment banking before striking gold with a biotech startup that eventually netted him millions. He threw himself in the ring for the Republican presidential nomination in 2023, despite the long odds. His campaign hit a high point that August, when one poll showed him in second place — behind Trump — in Iowa. But he ended up finishing fourth, and dropped out before the New Hampshire primary — though not before he established himself as a rising star in the GOP and a fierce Trump loyalist who could speak to the younger generation. He was the first presidential candidate to get on TikTok; he was a guest on podcasts like Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson.

But on the ground in Iowa, he faced stiff winds. The overwhelmingly white, largely evangelical state had questions. At almost every campaign event, he'd get asked about his Hinduism, to the point that Ramaswamy developed a memorized line about religious tests for office and the commonalities between Hinduism and Christianity. ("I believe in one true God," he'd say. "I believe that God put each of us here for a purpose.") He even brought on a pair of former Mormon missionaries to help steer his campaign, figuring if the duo — who'd worked for Mitt Romney in 2012 — could help a Latter-day Saint win over Iowa evangelicals, they could do the same for a Hindu. (Romney narrowly lost Iowa and struggled in many evangelical-heavy parts of the country in the primary).

Ramaswamy's 2024 bid offered a relatively novel challenge: Indian Americans had run for president before as Republicans, but Ramaswamy was the first who was Hindu. Bobby Jindal, the first Indian American to run for president in 2016, converted to Catholicism; Nikki Haley, an enemy of Ramaswamy's in 2024, grew up Sikh before converting to her husband's Christianity.

Ramaswamy's openness about his faith has earned him respect from even some ideological foes. "We've had strong philosophical disagreements, but I've always appreciated his being proud of his heritage, his faith, [and] making it clear that the Constitution has no religious test for public office," said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a proud progressive and a fellow Hindu son of Indian immigrants.

In the end, Ramaswamy struggled in the presidential polls and earned a reputation as being an overzealous know-it-all. He later showed some introspection about his performativeness, especially at debates, where his antics struck many as unnecessarily snide. "Being unsparing as I was, I think that I wouldn't change," he said on Tucker Carlson's show in late 2024. "But to be able to combine that a little bit more with — if there's a way for me to allow a lot of people to know me the way that my employees at my businesses know me or my closest friends know me, I would love to think about how to do that."

That reputation — as a smug podcast bro, someone more interested in getting on Rogan than getting to the White House — still haunts him in some corners. Even as he scoops up endorsements from statewide or regional labor unions, individual members or local chapters remain skeptical.

Travis Mariast, vice president for Millwrights Pile Drivers Local Union No. 1090 who is white, told me he isn't sold on Ramaswamy, though his union, Central Midwest Regional Council of Carpenters, backed him. And while the Ohio State Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters endorsed Ramaswamy, locals are still deciding whether they want to sign on.

Loney, the business manager at UA Local 396 for plumbers and pipefitters, said Ramaswamy's pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps attitude can seem out-of-touch: "When it's four o'clock in the morning, you're getting up and driving 120 miles to go to a job site to feed your family — little bit different than daddy and mommy giving you money and sending you to Harvard or wherever."

At the Trumbull County GOP's Lincoln Day dinner in April, almost all of the questions Ramaswamy took from voters dealt with their personal economic situation.

"We've seen [the American dream] be diminished, if not lost," said Alicia Angelo, a local real estate agent, who is white. "I was able to buy a home at 24, but I don't think a single one of my peers is able to do that."

One issue that did not come up, perhaps mercifully for Ramaswamy, was any debate over H-1B visas for temporary workers. Ramaswamy has criticized the program before, but back in December 2024, he sparked backlash online by declaring that American culture had long "venerated mediocrity over excellence," which was a key reason why Silicon Valley often hired foreign-born engineers. It was an episode that divided Trump's coalition and enraged the kind of populists and immigration opponents who might be skeptical of a Ramaswamy bid.

Hours after Ramaswamy left the Trumbull County dinner, attendees lingered, snacking on the Italian cookie bar and sipping drinks. Behind them, projected onto the wall, was an image of Abraham Lincoln and an image that, well, sort of looked like Ramaswamy. The former county GOP chair, Shutt, told POLITICO she lost patience while attempting to Photoshop Lincoln and Ramaswamy side-by-side; "Forget this," she recalls telling herself. "I've got stuff to do. I'm just going to have AI give me the images."

"Close enough," she said.

At a round table, the remaining guests discussed whether their county — which flipped red in 2016, and has never looked back — could go for a Republican like Ramaswamy.

If Barack Obama could win the county in 2008, one person suggested, Ramaswamy could: "I think that opened the door now for another guy with a funny name, that's not our color, even though he's in our party," said Malloy, the county GOP chair. "In some weird way, if we can elect Barack Hussein Obama, we definitely can elect Vivek Ramaswamy."