Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to the defenders of Ukraine and the entire modern civilization!
- Once again about Trump’s virtual world and the real world around us
- Thomas Friedman: Trump is an infantile child playing with matches in a room full of gas
- Trump is going to address the nation on Wednesday: what can we expect?
- Trump’s legal chronicles: two defeats in court
- The 47th president issued a decree aimed at making it impossible for the majority of voters to vote by mail. The decree obviously contradicts the Constitution and will obviously be halted by the courts within a few days
▶ Secretary of State Rubio told reporters that the assistance Russia provides to Iran is insignificant and does not matter.
The interesting question, however, is how Iran had the exact coordinates of an American long-range radar reconnaissance aircraft stationed at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, which was destroyed by an Iranian drone clearly targeting that aircraft. From whom could Iran be receiving such real-time intelligence? Obviously, only from Russia or China.
From whom could Iran have received the exact coordinates of the giant Kuwaiti tanker in the port of Dubai that was attacked? Clearly, from the same sources—Russia or China.
Secretary Rubio stated during the same appearance before the journalists that Zelensky is “lying” about the US pressuring Ukraine to leave Donetsk region. “Oh no,” Rubio says, “we are not applying any pressure. We are simply conveying Ukraine’s demands to Russia and Russia’s demands to Ukraine. If they do not agree to negotiate, the war will continue. We are not involved. Yes, they are conveying Russia’s demands for Ukraine to capitulate. How else can you call the demand to leave the Donetsk region? Is this pressure? A rhetorical question.”
The 47th president has painted a virtual picture of the world in which there are three “strong-men”—himself, Putin, and Xi Jinping. Everyone else is insignificant, unworthy of his attention, small countries that must obey “their” strong men, suck up to them (as the 47th expressed about the Saudi Crown Prince), and do nothing that these strong men dislike. Those who aren’t ready to live in such a world annoy him and get in his way. Clearly, Ukraine is not ready to live in such a world because, in such a world, Ukraine simply wouldn’t exist. That’s why Ukraine has irritated the 47th president since the time he was the 45th, and it will continue to do so.
He may pass on demands to Ukraine not to strike at the infrastructure of Russian oil exports. But Ukraine is not obliged to listen to him and will not do so. It is right in making these demands public and continuing to deliver crushing blows to the ports from which the empire of evil exports oil.
He can halt sanctions against the ships of the Russian shadow fleet, once again issuing yet another “general license” to extend the time during which “Lukoil” must sell its assets abroad, particularly in the United States, for another month.
This will not lower the price of oil.
It will not decrease from his statements that the U.S. has more oil than anyone else in the world.
It will certainly not decrease while the Strait of Hormuz is blocked.
He may say that the Strait of Hormuz is not needed by the U.S., let those who need it deal with it. But even this will not lower the price of oil, nor will it lower fuel prices in the U.S.
Because in his virtual world view, the U.S. somehow has separate oil from the rest of the world, which can be sold at some separate internal price.
In his virtual world, the regime in Iran has changed, and the “new regime” is negotiating with him.
And so on.
The real world is very different from his virtual world. They have no points of contact at all.
▶ On Tuesday, The New York Times published an article by Thomas Friedman, a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner and longtime correspondent for the newspaper in Israel and Lebanon, who knows the Middle East well, where he worked for a long time, and covers international politics as a journalist.
Trump Has a Way Out of the War https://t.co/6Mcdi5wA5E
— Thomas L. Friedman (@tomfriedman) April 1, 2026
Here’s what Thomas Friedman writes:
“If it wasn’t obvious before, it has now become an indisputable fact. President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have launched a war with Iran, believing it would provoke a swift and easy regime change. They have catastrophically underestimated the resilience of Iran’s surviving leadership, as well as the country’s military potential – the ability not only to inflict damage on Israel and America’s Arab allies but also to block the world’s crucial maritime route for oil and gas transportation.
This is causing serious damage to the global economy, including the US stock market, and Trump has no idea how to get out of the mess he created by starting a war without preemptively calculating its consequences.
Indeed, it’s awkward to watch the American president flip-flop: one moment claiming that the surviving Iranian leaders have essentially agreed to meet all his demands and that the war is about to end with Trump’s victory, the next admitting he has no idea how to wrest control of the Strait of Hormuz from Iran. If America’s Western allies – whom Trump didn’t even bother consulting before starting the war – refuse to send their armies and fleets to do the job for him, then, according to him, too bad for them: after all, we have all the oil we need. Of course, unless Trump decides to “wipe out” – his favorite expression – Iran’s industrial base and desalination plants until Iran surrenders at the mercy of the victor.”
In short, we are witnessing what happens when an impulsive, unstable person enters the Oval Office, running for president primarily to avenge political adversaries. He then surrounded himself with a cabinet chosen for their attractive appearance and willingness to prioritize loyalty to Trump over loyalty to the Constitution. Add to this a Republican majority in the House and Senate ready to issue him “blank checks,” and it ultimately leads to careless, chaotic decision-making, including launching a large-scale war in the Middle East without any plan for the following day.
Trump is an infantile child playing with matches—the most powerful army in the world—in a gas-filled room.
And if all this wasn’t enough, we have Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, holding extremely radical Christian-nationalist beliefs; last week, he reportedly held a prayer meeting at the Pentagon, praying for American troops to unleash a “crushing force of retribution on those who do not deserve mercy… We ask this with bold confidence in the name of the almighty and great name of Jesus Christ.”
In other words, this is now a war of our religious warriors against the Iranian ones.
If this weren’t about the leadership of my own country—and if Iran were truly not the most destabilizing force in the Middle East, and its transformation were not a worthy goal for its people and neighbors—I would simply sit back and watch the spectacle, enjoying the sight of Trump getting what he deserves.
But this is my country. Iran acquiring nuclear weapons is a threat capable of triggering a chain reaction of nuclear proliferation throughout the Middle East. Ultimately, we all get what Trump deserves.
What to do? Trump should set aside his 15-point peace plan—whose implementation would be ridiculously complicated—and reduce it to two main points: Iran relinquishes its stockpile of highly enriched uranium (over 950 pounds), enriched close to weapons-grade, and the United States responds by giving up the course of regime change. Afterwards, both sides agree to cease all hostilities. In other words: no more bombings by the US and Israel, no more missile attacks by Iran and Hezbollah, no blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and—most certainly—no American ground troops landing in Iran.
“We must realize: the Iranian regime’s top priority is to stay in power, while the United States and Israel most desire to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb,” said John Arquilla, former professor of defense analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School and author of the upcoming book “The Troubled American Way of War”. “Both sides can achieve their most desired goals if they are willing to forgo their secondary wishes.”
For America and Israel, the “secondary prize”—after eliminating Iran’s stockpiles of highly enriched uranium—would be a regime change. It seems this scenario is no longer on the agenda, and Trump has already begun laying the groundwork to abandon this goal. On Sunday, he told reporters that considering the United States and Israel have already eliminated several dozen high-ranking Iranian leaders, “this essentially is a regime change.” According to him, the current leaders of Iran are “a completely different group of people” who behave “quite reasonably.”
Of course, this statement is absurd and serves only as a facade to conceal the fact that the United States and Israel have significantly overestimated their ability to overthrow the Iranian regime by relying solely on the use of air power.
Reports suggest Trump’s team has been negotiating through Pakistan with Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has strong ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, apparently the real power behind the scenes. The Iranian regime, as it has survived, may well be ready to consider relinquishing its uranium in exchange for its survival.
Yes, a million problems will remain unresolved, but that is what happens if you try to use force without long-term planning to solve a complex issue.
In a broad sense, a “wicked problem” is defined as a problem that does not lend itself to quick fixes or final resolutions. It is associated with numerous interdependent variables. The outcomes are never definitive—they can only be better or worse, or “good enough.” By its nature, every “wicked problem” is unique; this means there is no perfect, pre-made template for its solution. Moreover, solutions often have irreversible consequences, meaning a decision cannot simply be undone.
Arguably, this is the most accurate definition of the “Iranian problem” one can imagine.
And although President Barack Obama may never have articulated it so bluntly, if you look at his actions regarding Iran, it becomes clear: he fully understood this was indeed such a “wicked problem.” Therefore, the most sensible course of action was to focus on America’s key interests—attempt to ensure their protection—and learn to live with the other aspects of this problem, mitigating their negative manifestations where possible.
This was the logic Obama followed in 2015 when he made the deal with Iran—the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which set internationally verifiable limits on Iran’s uranium enrichment program. The same logic dictated his decision to tolerate the growing arsenal of Iranian ballistic missiles and Tehran’s support for proxy armed groups in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq—since these factors did not pose a threat to America itself.
The agreement with Iran, concluded by Obama, worked exactly as intended. By the time Obama left office, the restrictions on Iran’s nuclear fuel enrichment capabilities—monitored by international inspectors—ensured that if Iran decided to exit the deal, it would take at least a year to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear warhead, giving the global community more than enough time to react.
Nonetheless, in 2018 Trump—at Netanyahu’s urging—unilaterally withdrew the United States from this agreement. However, Trump failed to develop an effective alternative strategy to prevent Iran from accumulating enough uranium to make a bomb. The Biden administration tried to reverse Trump’s actions but could not reach an agreement with the Iranian side.
When Trump returned to power, he again neglected to create any alternative. As a result, Iran—which under Obama’s nuclear deal was “a year away” from making a bomb—was now only “a few weeks” from this goal, thanks to Trump’s reckless abandonment of Obama’s strategy without any effective replacement. And now, having started this war, Trump has turned the situation into a truly monstrously complex problem.
This is why we need to simplify the approach as much as possible. America must provide guarantees that we will end the war, leave the current regime in power, stop destroying Iranian infrastructure, and even offer some easing of oil sanctions—on the condition that Iran hands over all its fissile materials close to weapon-grade and ceases any hostile actions. Everything else is postponed for later. (Meanwhile, a significantly weakened Iranian regime will be forced to become more attuned to the needs of its own people.)
Trump will be incredibly lucky if the surviving leaders of the Iranian regime agree. The extent of Trump’s incompetence is eloquently demonstrated by the fact that his fate now lies in their hands.
▶ On Wednesday at 9:00 PM Eastern Time, the 47th president plans to address the nation from the White House regarding the war with Iran. The war has been ongoing for 33 days. The president plans to deliver his first official address to the nation and the American people. Intuition suggests that it is more likely than anything else that the president will announce either a victory and the immediate end of the war or its conclusion within very limited specific terms. He is very concerned about the high oil and fuel prices in the US. He is also very worried about the American stock market. He knows that if oil prices rise and the stock market falls, it will lead to a crushing defeat for the Republicans in the elections, leaving him alone with a sharply opposing Congress. The Republicans in Congress know this too.
He, of course, as he says himself, is guided by impulses. And from him, you can always expect anything.
But if he plans to address the nation on television from the White House in prime time, it means that the address will be written by speechwriters, and he will not deviate from the text to deliver a stream of consciousness.
▶ Trump Legal Chronicles
● On Tuesday, Federal District Judge in Washington, Richard Leon, prohibited President Donald Trump from continuing any work on the construction of a giant ballroom next to the White House, on the site of the former East Wing of the White House demolished by Trump’s order. The hall is supposed to overshadow the White House in size.
“The President of the United States is the custodian of the White House for future generations of First Families. However, he is not its owner!” – wrote the judge, appointed by Republican President Bush Jr., in his decision, and continued: “Until Congress approves this project through legislative sanction, until it does so, construction must be halted!”
This judge’s decision was very painful for Trump. Hosting yet another TV show in the Oval Office, he spent over six minutes explaining why he disagrees with the judge’s decision and why it is important to build this hall.
Trump posted three tweets with photos of how his hall should look, and then wrote two tweets criticizing the judge’s decision. It is evident that the 47th president will demand that his Department of Justice appeal the district court’s decision.
Judge Leon was considering a lawsuit from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, demanding to stop the unapproved and unmet by Congress construction of a building that would not only violate but completely alter the historical appearance of the White House and the surrounding area of Washington.
● Also on Tuesday, Trump suffered another defeat in the same federal district court in Washington in a different case. District Judge Randolph Moss permanently prohibited the Trump administration from enforcing the provisions of an executive order he signed in May 2025, which instructed all federal agencies to cease funding National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
In his 62-page ruling, Judge Moss noted that the executive order is unconstitutional because the First Amendment to the Constitution “does not allow” such discrimination based on viewpoints and retaliatory measures. Trump justified his order by claiming that NPR and PBS should lose federal funding because they report news from a “left-wing” perspective.
▶ On Tuesday evening, Trump signed an order instructing the federal government — through the United States Postal Service — to determine who can receive and process mail-in ballots. The order instructs the Department of Homeland Security, with the assistance of the Social Security Administration, to use various federal databases to compile a list of adult citizens that states can then match with their voter lists. Meanwhile, the USPS is directed to handle the mailing of ballots only for those states that, no less than 60 days before the election, have provided the federal government with their list of citizens eligible to vote by mail and have met a number of requirements ensuring the compatibility of their mail-in ballots with an automated tracking system.
This Trump order clearly contradicts the Constitution, which clearly defines that elections are conducted by the states, and the rules that may be common for conducting federal elections are determined by Congress through the passage of appropriate laws. There is no doubt that lawsuits will be filed in federal courts by the attorneys general of “blue,” Democratic states and swing state Democratic attorneys general on Wednesday, seeking to declare this order unconstitutional. There is also no doubt that the courts will issue decisions to halt this order within a maximum of a few days. It is certain that the 47th president will file appeals against such court decisions and will take these appeals to the Supreme Court.
Trump’s goal remains unchanged — to make voting as difficult as possible for voters primarily in large cities, as they overwhelmingly vote for Democrats, and mail-in voting is very popular among them.
Until the end of the story titled “Fear: Trump in the White House” © (the title of Bob Woodward’s book, published in 2018), there are 1026 days left.
Thank you to everyone who read. Take care of yourself and your loved ones. Take care of each other, help each other. Wishing everyone good health.
Ultimately, what happens in the world depends on us. On whether we fight evil, do Good, remain just observers, wait passively and believe that someone somewhere will decide for us, or fight evil and do everything possible for Good to prevail.
We must not allow evil to win. The victory of evil would mean the end of the world we live in. This we cannot allow. Especially now.
Ukrainian Friends, I embrace and love you all. Please take care of each other, I urge you dearly.
Ukraine is and always will be.
And evil will be defeated and punished. And this will undoubtedly happen.
