Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to the defenders of Ukraine and all modern civilization!
- Elliot Kaufman in the Wall Street Journal: “Iranians take Trump for a fool”
- Painful defeat for Trump in the referendum on redrawing electoral district boundaries in Virginia
▶ The 47th president is looking for a way to exit the war with Iran, declaring his complete victory, yet ensuring the opening of the Strait of Hormuz (which was open before the start of the war). He is searching and not finding it.
His impulses dictate tweets with threats to resume bombing Iran, then completely opposite tweets that he is ready to continue negotiations with Iran. Sometimes he declares that Vice President Vance will not go to negotiations with Iran. Then a few hours later, he is already going. In an interview with CNBC via phone on Tuesday morning, he says he will not continue the ceasefire. But already at 4:09 PM on Tuesday, he tweets that the ceasefire will be continued, without even setting a new “deadline.”
And Iran is not rushing to another round of negotiations. And, apparently, the Iranian regime understands that Trump’s desire to end the war outweighs all his other desires. They understand and take advantage of this.
Trump wrote a long tweet on Tuesday, calling Wall Street Journal editorial board member Elliot Kaufman an idiot for the article “Iranians take Trump for a fool.”
This long tweet and the “characterization” the 47th president gave the author clearly indicate that Elliot Kaufman, a member of the editorial board, not of a liberal but the main conservative newspaper of the country, hit the “bullseye” with his article in this newspaper.
And therefore, I offer you a complete translation of the article:
Elliot Kaufman. Wall Street Journal, April 20, 2026.
“Iranians take Trump for a fool.
How many times, by their calculations, will he have to play this game before they reopen the Strait of Hormuz?
How many times will President Trump pay Iran for the same “real estate”? Twice he announced the opening of the Strait of Hormuz – and twice in exchange for this gave up US leverage. Yet the strait remains closed, as the Iranian regime demands ever more concessions.
On April 7, Mr. Trump announced a two-week ceasefire—”on the condition that the Islamic Republic of Iran agrees to the FULL, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.” This implied that Iran had not yet given its final consent; two sources familiar with the negotiations confirmed to me that disagreements still persisted. However, Iran’s foreign minister quickly dispelled these concerns: “Within two weeks,” he wrote that same evening, “safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible”—of course, within certain limits.
By the next morning, Mr. Trump was euphoric. “A great day for world peace! Iran wants this—they’ve had enough!” he wrote. “We will fully replenish all kinds of supplies.” When the Wall Street Journal editorial board warned against declaring a “premature victory,” the president dismissed these words. “In fact, it is indeed a Victory, and there’s nothing ‘premature’ about it!” he wrote on April 9. “Soon you will see the oil flow,” he added. The Wall Street Journal, as usual, will have to take back their words.
But the oil did not flow. Tanker traffic declined even further. “This is not the agreement we had!” Mr. Trump complained. It was Iran’s first ploy.
After the ceasefire announcement, the Iranian regime put forward a new condition: for talks to progress, Israel had to stop attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. This condition was not part of the deal, Mr. Trump replied. The war was started by Hezbollah, and by delivering crushing blows to Iran’s key terrorist proxy, Israel increased pressure on the regime, and thus the negotiating positions of the US.
On the other hand, a pause in hostilities would be perceived as a concession from Israel, which politically would be more advantageous for the president. “I spoke with Bibi [Netanyahu], and he decided to act with restraint,” Mr. Trump stated on April 9.
On April 10-11, talks took place in Pakistan, but the US withdrew from them after Iran refused to make key concessions in the nuclear sphere. Now Mr. Trump needed a new way to force the regime to concede. In the absence of military strikes, the “stick” for America was supposed to be the blockade of Iranian ports, and the “carrot”—Israel’s ceasefire in Lebanon.
Direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon—which Washington had previously dismissed as pointless, given Beirut’s inaction against Hezbollah—were hastily scheduled for April 14. This showcase event could distract some from the established fact: to facilitate the negotiation process with the US, Mr. Trump directed that Israel grant Iran the respite in Lebanon it sought. A second ceasefire was announced on April 16.
The Iranian Foreign Minister once again confirmed the agreements reached. “In accordance with the ceasefire in Lebanon,” he wrote on Friday, “the passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is declared fully open.” However, the very next day after granting this concession, the regime withdrew it. This became the second deception.
On Saturday, Iranian military officials announced that the strait was closed. Approaching it “will be considered as cooperating with the enemy,” warned the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. There was even an attack on several vessels. The regime declares that it will not open the Strait of Hormuz until the United States lifts the blockade of Iranian ports.
This will become the third scam by the Iranians – unless Mr. Trump plays into their hands. The regime aims to block the strait and weaken the U.S. leverage during nuclear program negotiations. “They cannot blackmail us,” Mr. Trump said on Sunday. However, they believe they can. Undoubtedly, they are quite comfortable putting the president in an awkward position. What will prevent them from playing the same game regarding their enriched uranium reserves?
First, Mr. Trump suspended strikes on Iran, and then on “Hezbollah.” Now Iran is pushing him to abandon the U.S. economic leverage as well. Sometimes diplomacy secures military successes. In this case, everything is set up just to surrender those successes.
The war that the 47th president began on February 28, counting on a swift regime change in Iran, which he told journalists on March 3 would last no more than 3-5 weeks, led to chaos, which always ensues when decision-makers do not think about the consequences of their decisions, acting confidently, convinced of their infallibility.
The regime in Iran did not change. And clearly, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has started to play a bigger role in the Iranian “politburo.” Almost 500 kg of enriched uranium remain in the hands of the Iranian regime, and it is not intending to part with this uranium.
The Hormuz Strait is closed. 20% of the oil, usually imported by various countries worldwide, cannot reach consumers. High oil prices lead to high prices for all types of fuel and energy, driving inflation and economic crisis in all developed countries, especially the U.S. According to various polls, 60 to 75% of Americans do not approve of the war with Iran, and more than 70% are dissatisfied with the high gasoline prices and rising supermarket prices.
According to the results of a poll published on Tuesday by the Associated Press and the NORC at the University of Chicago, Trump’s support rating dropped to 33%. This is a record low not only for Trump himself but also a historical low for second-term presidents.
The approaching Congressional elections threaten to become a nightmare for the 47th president in the most literal sense. Because, if and when it is revealed on the night of November 4th that the Democrats are winning the elections, it will be a political catastrophe for Trump from which he will not be able to recover.
Therefore, the 47th president is desperately searching for a way out. But he cannot find one.
▶ On Tuesday evening, Trump suffered a painful political defeat.
Last summer, he began a campaign to reshape the district borders in the “red” states for the House of Representatives elections through manipulative remapping in favor of the Republicans – merging parts of urban districts where they vote for Democrats with provincial districts where they vote for Republicans and creating additional provincial districts at the expense of disappearing urban districts to send more Republicans to Congress. Trump started this campaign in Texas, where Republicans created five new districts for themselves.
But the 47th president, as usual when he undertakes something, did not consider the possible consequences. The Democrats responded in kind. Initiative was taken by California Governor Newsom, where the district boundaries were redrawn and approved by citizens in a referendum—a mirror reflection of Texas, where Democrats are expected to gain five additional seats.
Republicans created a new district for themselves in Missouri. They are in the process of creating two new “red” districts in Florida.
But these actions do not go unanswered. In Virginia on Tuesday, a referendum was held in which citizens were to speak on the redistricting proposed by Democrats. This redistricting is likely to give Democrats four additional seats in the House of Representatives.
Trump tweeted at 6:50 AM on Tuesday: “VIRGINIA, VOTE ‘NO’ TO SAVE YOUR COUNTRY!”
Virginia voted “YES.” Precisely to save their country. Voters approved the redistricting. After counting 97% of the ballots, the results are as follows:
For redistricting, 51.5%
Against redistricting, 48.5%
There are 1005 days left until the end of the story called “Fear: Trump in the White House” © (the title of Bob Woodward’s book published in 2018).
Thank you to everyone who read. Take care of yourselves and your loved ones. Take care of each other, help each other. Health to all.
Ultimately, what happens in the world depends on us. Whether we fight evil, do Good, remain mere spectators, wait passively and believe that someone somewhere will decide for us, or fight evil and do our utmost to ensure Good prevails.
We must not allow evil to win. The victory of evil would mean the end of the world we live in. We cannot allow this. Especially now.
Ukrainian Friends, I hug and love you all. Please take care of each other, I implore you.
Ukraine is and will always be.
And evil will be defeated and punished. And this is certain.
