President Trump&#8217;s America First is about America being strong at home and abroad.
President Trump remains America First. He spent his weekend warning Iran not to screw with the United States or our allies, or there would be consequences. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spent his weekend working the phones to help destroy the Iranian proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance spent the weekend looking weak in front of the Qataris, the Pakistanis, and most of all, the Iranians. I&#8217;ve never seen a weaker look from a Republican politician. It is not peace through strength. It is war through weakness.
Get the amateurs back on the bench and the professionals back in the game.
President Trump spent the weekend trying to reestablish U.S. deterrence: &#8220;Peace through strength,&#8221; which he&#8217;s been pushing for literally decades. Rubio spent the weekend trying to end the Iranian proxy group Hezbollah over in Lebanon, because that&#8217;s part of peace through strength. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/the-ben-shapiro-show-episode-2450?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-981859" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner.avif" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner.avif 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner-768x128.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
I want the war in Iran to end. I&#8217;ve said for months that it is not worth waging war if you don&#8217;t win it. The ends were spelled out by the administration from the outset: No nuclear enrichment, no ballistic missiles, no support of terrorism, and the Strait of Hormuz open.
Those were the goals. Those are still the goals. Even if we pretend those are not the goals, those are still the goals.
The administration wants oil prices to go down because of the economic impact of high prices heading into the midterms. The only way to keep the Strait of Hormuz durably open is through strength, because otherwise the Iranians will jerk us around, as they have been doing for 50 years.
Over the weekend, President Trump appeared to know that.
Vance, not so much.
For America’s sake, I would love for the vice president to do well abroad. I would love the whole administration to do well. I would love every administration and every politician in every administration to do well by representing American power with peace through strength.
But the lack of American strength in the room in Switzerland over the weekend was devastating. When America has the most dominant military on the entire globe, there is simply no excuse for American weakness.
Over the weekend, the president became highly annoyed with the Iranians. Why? Because they keep threatening to shut the Strait of Hormuz, and because they keep activating their friends in the terrorist group Hezbollah to attack Israeli troops.
As I have said, the goal for Iran — sensing weakness in the United States — is to ratchet up conflict in Lebanon by activating its terror group, Hezbollah, to attack the Israelis in the hope that the Israelis would then retaliate. And then Iran would say they&#8217;re shutting the Strait of Hormuz, and it&#8217;s all the Israelis&#8217; fault. They would hope that President Trump would then yell at the Israelis.
That&#8217;s a win-win for the Iranians, because either they end up with Israel taking casualties in Lebanon and in Israel, or they end up with the administration pressuring the Israelis, the Israelis refusing, and then alienation between the United States and Israel, which is what Iran wants. That is the entire game for them.
It&#8217;s not a complex game. It&#8217;s a very simple game. But the president had had enough of it over the weekend. On Sunday, according to Fox News, President Trump said in an interview that he had spoken with Iranian officials on Saturday night and warned them not to close the strait. “You close it and you won&#8217;t have a country,” he warned. “You won&#8217;t even make it back to your f*cking country if you close the Strait.”
The president wrote on Truth Social, “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid proxies in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don&#8217;t, we&#8217;ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder.”
This is a Trumpian foreign policy. If you screw with us, if you screw with our allies, you get hit. If you interfere with American interests in the Strait of Hormuz, you get hit. We&#8217;re not going to just hand you things.
Marco Rubio has been very quiet. I think he&#8217;s been quiet about the memorandum of understanding because it is poorly written and because the vice president did a bad job of negotiating it. Rubio is actively managing the situation in Lebanon, attempting to put together a coalition against Hezbollah between Israel and the Lebanese, while not including Syria. Rubio is a pro.
But there is one member of the administration who did something that was pretty humiliating for the United States over the weekend. And that was the vice president.
Quick hypothetical coming up in a moment.
Let me be clear: I don&#8217;t care about the names in these situations. I just care about the policy. I want America to be strong. I want America to show greater interest in the Middle East. I want an open Strait of Hormuz. I want Iran defenestrated as an actual military threat to the United States.
So I don&#8217;t care who the person is who&#8217;s doing the dumb thing. If they&#8217;re doing a dumb thing, they should be called out for doing a dumb and weak thing.
Here&#8217;s the hypothetical: I&#8217;m just going to switch the names. Vice President Kamala Harris heads over to Switzerland for negotiations with Iran. There, she says that she loves Pakistan.
She then takes a picture, being given orders by an Iranian cutout. Then she emerges from negotiations with a deconfliction agreement that actually doesn&#8217;t de-escalate anything and doesn&#8217;t include any of the parties to the actual conflict.
But hey, at least she also got stiffed on camera by a bunch of foreign politicians.
Okay, so that didn&#8217;t happen to Kamala Harris. (Although it wouldn&#8217;t be surprising if it did.)
It did happen, but to Vice President JD Vance, which makes it like a thousand times worse. Why? Because it would not be surprising if Kamala Harris were weak. It would not be surprising if Kamala Harris looked as though she were being given the runaround by America&#8217;s enemies.
But I would not expect this from Donald Trump&#8217;s vice president.
You would also expect this kind of weakness from Democrats desperate to avoid any sort of conflict with the Iranians. But we just spent months destroying Iran&#8217;s air force, navy, ballistic missile facilities, nuclear facilities, and army.
This is like going to a meeting with the Japanese and bowing before them between Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We already clocked the hell out of them. What are we doing here?
Vance spent the weekend getting dunked on.
First of all, the Iranian delegation refused a joint photo with the United States team. We should have refused a joint photo with them. They are murderers. But it was the United States that apparently wanted a joint photo.
Normally, when it comes to protocol, the people who want it more show up early. The people who are the big dogs show up late. The United States was there waiting around. The vice president was waiting around for the Iranians to show up, and they stiffed him on a photo op.
And then they showed up late.
The negotiators from Qatar walked right by Vance, but they greeted their Pakistani friends.
It got worse. Qatar is a cutout for Iran and works hand-in-glove with it; they share oil fields with Iran. Thus, they feel indebted to the Iranians and are constantly doing their work. That is the reason why Hamas was stationed in Qatar for literally a decade.
Qatar is one party. Pakistan is another party, an Islamist state with nuclear weapons, allied with the Chinese government. You had a Chinese cutout, an Iranian cutout, and the Iranians there, and the vice president holding a press conference in which he bragged about how Pakistan was awesome.
If the Democrats had done this, there would be screaming. Not a single word Vance said for the entire weekend would have been foreign coming out of the mouth of Barack Obama.
Peace through strength is what President Trump stands for.
And he didn’t get it.

The Inauguration Of Donald J. Trump As The 47th President

Replace Vance With Kamala And Read It Again

Ben Shapiro

China

Iran

Iran Nuclear Deal

JD Vance

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

Opinion

Pakistan

Peace negotiations

Qatar

Trump Administration

A survivor of the Pakistani grooming gangs says she was asked to remain silent about her rapist&#8217;s race for an interview on the news.
Sammy Woodhouse, a mother who bore a son out of rape at age 15 and an advocate for children of child sexual abuse, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chm-hAALS1k">was ordered</a> by a producer on &#8220;Good Morning Britain&#8221; not to mention that her assaulter was a Muslim man of Pakistani heritage. Woodhouse refused to comply — and she says the news program has since apologized to her.
In an exclusive <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/michael-knowles-show-ep-1996?elementPosition=1&amp;row=6&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">interview</a> on Wednesday with Daily Wire host Michael Knowles, Woodhouse shared her key takeaways from the “Rape Gang Inquiry Report,” a 219-page document released this week exposing crimes carried out in the United Kingdom by Muslim men with “predominantly Pakistani heritage.”
“A minimum of 250,000 children that have been trafficked around the United Kingdom from as early as the 1950s,” Woodhouse said. “Usually from the age of eleven, they’ve been groomed, abused, raped, tortured, trafficked, murdered, criminalized, impregnated, blamed, the authorities turned a blind eye due to race …”
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Woodhouse noted that the majority of the perpetrators were Pakistani and Muslim. Children as young as four years old were sold by their mothers, while professionals and officers looked the other way, and some were even directly involved, raping the girls themselves. 
Dogs were also used to rape the young girls, and the children were locked in cages, receiving the “most horrific of torture,” according to Woodhouse.
“I think every single person — not just in the UK, but around the world — needs to read this report because I promise you right now, this is not just a problem for the United Kingdom,” Woodhouse said. 
When asked why Pakistanis and Muslims do this, since it was not a problem before like it is today, Woodhouse said it was because they have “pure hate for non-believers.”
“There is a hate towards non-believers, especially white women or white females. As I said earlier, I think that Islam is a very violent and sexist religion, and when you read the report, you will see some of the things that they were saying to the children, you know, about their race, about the fact that they [weren’t] Muslim; and about their religion because some of the children were Christians.”
Woodhouse said Muslim men read scriptures from the Quran while a girl was raped orally, vaginally, and anally at the same time. The Muslim men would also reportedly say, “Where is your God now,” to victims who wore crosses. Children were also forced to marry these men, and then trafficked outside of the UK, according to Woodhouse. 
“There were even social workers that came and acted as witnesses at these weddings,” Woodhouse added.
Some police officers, she said, were not only involved in covering up these activities, but were willing participants — raping young girls and giving them back to their attackers. 
“There’s never been a professional held to account for the mass rape and torture of children in our country — not one,” Woodhouse noted.
She went on to explain that people remain unaware of these horrors and the victims&#8217; trauma, in part, because they just can’t believe people would commit these atrocities.
“I always say that the biggest challenge of this country is to change the mindsets of people, but you’re not gonna be able to change all those mindsets,” Woodhouse said. “We have damning amounts of evidence now in the public domain … and it&#8217;s still not enough for some people.”

Marie Claire International Women’s Day Event, In Partnership With Salesforce And United Nations

Grooming Gang Survivor Speaks Out As Questions Mount Over Who Looked Away

Muslim

A court ruled that two Pakistani men are now facing the death penalty following an assault on a woman visiting from France on September 9, 2020, a decision far harsher than would be made in the Western country the French-Pakistani woman now resides in.
Although France abolished capital punishment 45 years ago, judges in Pakistan determined the verdict regardless of where the woman was from. The country is one of the harshest users of the death penalty across the world, as it has over 33 crimes punishable by execution, according to <a href="https://data.jpp.org.pk/en/page/vr3ndbefc0o">Justice Project Pakistan</a>.
Abid Malhi and Shafqat Ali were convicted on gang rape, kidnapping, robbery, and terrorism charges in March 2021 after raping the woman at gunpoint in front of her three children on the popular Sialkot-Lahore highway after they ran out of gas and she was pulled out of her vehicle.
The dual-nationality woman, who remains unnamed to this day, was able to describe the two men after she was assaulted. The men also stole money, jewelry, and bank cards. Ali was arrested and identified just days later in September 2020, while Malhi was caught a month later. Both men&#8217;s DNA matched that at the crime scene.
Uproar across social media led to the case drawing national attention in Pakistan, and some activists demanded that the two men be executed. The case remained popular on social media after a policeman questioned why the family was not on a busier road that late at night, implying she was partly to blame.
The statements from the officer caused protests across the country. Overwhelming protests and social media outrage contributed to the death penalty remaining as the judgment, earning the nod from Elon Musk as well.
&#8220;Bravo Pakistan! This is what we should be doing in the West,&#8221; Musk posted on <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2062227093942161481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2062227093942161481%7Ctwgr%5E0a59bd6099fff3e92fc80471679f24dba9b20f5c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Findianexpress.com%2Farticle%2Fworld%2Felon-musk-pakistan-court-death-sentences-french-woman-gang-rape-lahore-motorway-2020-10723437%2F">X</a>.
Malhi and Ali appealed the death penalty ruling in 2021; however, their appeal was denied Wednesday. The men are set to be hanged, pending a possible Supreme Court appeal — which, even if unsuccessful, would likely push the execution back several years. The average time spent on death row in Pakistan is about 11 years, according to a Yale Law School <a href="https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/area/center/schell/2016_09_23_pub_dp_report.pdf">report</a>.

A noose rests on a brick floor by a man’s shadow.

Pakistan Is Tougher On Rapists Than Their Victim’s Western Country

Death Penalty

France

Rape

For decades, New York City mayors — from John Lindsay to Eric Adams — understood that standing with the Jewish community wasn’t just a political tradition; it was a moral imperative. They marched up Fifth Avenue in the Celebrate Israel Parade, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvVtu7iSfT4">built sukkahs</a> for visiting Israeli prime ministers, and declared themselves &#8220;brothers&#8221; to a community that forms the very backbone of the Big Apple.
But in 2026, that tradition has been unceremoniously torched by leftist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Mamdani’s refusal to attend the Israel Day on Fifth parade is more than just a scheduling conflict; it is a calculated, partisan boycott. As Assemblyman Michael Novakhov (R-Brooklyn) rightly noted, this is a &#8220;disgraceful insult&#8221; to Jewish New Yorkers.
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Zohran Mamdani has officially confirmed that he will boycott New York City’s Israel Day Parade — becoming the face of a Democratic Party now controlled by radical anti-Israel extremists.
After weeks of antisemitic chaos outside synagogues across our city, this should surprise… <a href="https://t.co/rhKZzxZPU0">pic.twitter.com/rhKZzxZPU0</a>
&mdash; Michael Novakhov (@MichaelforNY) <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelforNY/status/2054593999097225375?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2026</a></blockquote>
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For a mayor to snub an event that brings 50,000 marchers to the streets — an event every mayor since Robert Wagner in 1964 has honored — is nothing short of a radical break from the city’s identity.
While Mamdani claims he won’t attend a parade for a state with a &#8220;system of hierarchy on the basis of religion,&#8221; his calendar tells a different story. This is the same man who proudly marched in the Pakistan Independence Day parade. Apparently, a state that enforces brutal blasphemy laws and enshrines a specific religion in its governance is perfectly fine for a photo-op, but the world’s only Jewish state is a bridge too far.
On Thursday, while the Jewish community reels from Mamdani&#8217;s snub, City Hall is celebrating &#8220;Muslim Day.&#8221; The contrast is staggering. While Mamdani and New York City&#8217;s government find the energy to host press conferences for his preferred constituencies, he exhibits a pathetic lassitude toward the antisemitic rot festering in his own streets.
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Yet another one of these events planned at City Hall this week.
Particularly tone deaf after the violence we’ve seen directed at synagogues and Jewish neighborhoods over the past few days, but they REALLY want to make sure we understand who’s in charge now. <a href="https://t.co/q5vlXpkpii">pic.twitter.com/q5vlXpkpii</a>
&mdash; Hon. Vickie Paladino (@VickieforNYC) <a href="https://twitter.com/VickieforNYC/status/2054600253521776893?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2026</a></blockquote>
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In neighborhoods like Midwood, the &#8220;mob&#8221; that Novakhov warned about is <a href="https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/2054153512422944809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2054153512422944809%7Ctwgr%5Ea93ea06288579be4d5f10e6ec74cc83c12314519%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.dailywire.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D1095129action%3Dedit">already here</a>. In the streets, &#8220;anti-Zionist&#8221; thugs have waved Hezbollah flags, shouting &#8220;Globalize the Intifada&#8221; and screaming &#8220;Remember Khaybar&#8221; — a chilling reference to the 7th-century slaughter and subjugation of Jews. Women have been dragged by their hair and residents harassed in their own doorways by masked agitators shouting &#8220;baby killer.&#8221;
And where is the mayor? He is busy evading questions about his double standards and hiding behind bureaucratic platitudes about &#8220;equal rights.&#8221; His administration’s response to these intimidation tactics has been one of profound indifference.
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It’s almost 48 hours since <a href="https://twitter.com/WOLPalestine?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WOLPalestine</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/PAL_Awda?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PAL_Awda</a> terrorized the Jewish community in Brooklyn. 
Yet, not a word from the Boy <a href="https://twitter.com/NYCMayor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NYCMayor</a> on X condemning the conduct of groups associated with <a href="https://twitter.com/NerdeenKiswani?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NerdeenKiswani</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/lsarsour?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lsarsour</a> doing so.
But tomorrow it’s Muslim Day at City Hall. <a href="https://t.co/6xc2Q9TYnv">https://t.co/6xc2Q9TYnv</a> <a href="https://t.co/XaEcRxGEOA">pic.twitter.com/XaEcRxGEOA</a>
&mdash; SCOOCH.NYC (@david_sivella) <a href="https://twitter.com/david_sivella/status/2054634662371246104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2026</a></blockquote>
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While the City Council recently <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/mamdani-vetoes-school-buffer-zone-bill-leading-jewish-groups-pan-profound-failure/">passed legislation</a> to protect houses of worship from these vitriolic sieges, the police are still waiting for the green light to actually enforce it.
Mamdani’s boycott isn&#8217;t a principled stand for human rights; it is a signal to the most radical elements of his base that the Jewish community is fair game. By refusing to stand with Israel, he has chosen to stand with the Jew-hating mob that feels increasingly emboldened under his watch.

NJ/NY Gotham FC v Boston Legacy FC

Mamdani’s Latest Slap In The Face To Jewish Voters

Anti-Semitism

Israel

New York City

Zohran Mamdani

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will travel to Pakistan on Saturday morning for another round of talks with Iranian representatives.
Leavitt said the discussions will be direct but facilitated by Pakistani intermediaries, whom she described as “incredible friends” throughout the negotiation process. According to Leavitt, Iranian officials requested the in-person meeting after President Donald Trump publicly called for talks.
“The president is dispatching Steve and Jared to go hear what they have to say,” Leavitt said. “We’re hopeful that it will be a productive conversation and hopefully move the ball forward toward a deal.”
The announcement comes as a second round of negotiations has yet to take place following lengthy talks earlier this month, which ended without an agreement after Iranian officials refused to concede on key aspects of their nuclear program.
Vice President JD Vance, who led the previous round of discussions, said at the time that the United States had presented what he described as its “final and best offer,” but Tehran declined to accept the terms.
According to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/24/world/live-news/iran-war-trump-israel-lebanon?post-id=cmod2zf3l00003b6tid3t5lg4">CNN</a>, Vance is not expected to attend this latest round of talks because Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament and a senior figure seen by White House officials as leading Tehran’s delegation, is also not participating. Vance is expected to remain on standby and could travel to Islamabad if negotiations show signs of progress.
Despite not making a deal, Trump extended the two-week long ceasefire without an agreement while waiting for what he called a “unified” response from the Iranian government.
“President Trump has made his red lines throughout this entire process very clear. He was flexible in extending the ceasefire, and so Steve and Jared will be off,” Leavitt said.
The diplomatic push comes as Iran’s internal power structure appears increasingly unstable under the son and successor to former supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
The new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is reportedly recovering from severe injuries and has been largely sidelined from day-to-day governance while hardline military generals are holding significant power, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/burned-and-disfigured-irans-nepo-supreme-leader-needs-plastic-surgery?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Burned+And+Disfigured%3A+Iran%E2%80%99s+Nepo+Supreme+Leader+Needs+Plastic+Surgery">according to</a> a report from The New York Times.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi <a href="https://x.com/araghchi/status/2047685407941296331">confirmed</a> he is traveling to Islamabad as part of a broader “timely tour” that will also include stops in Muscat and Moscow. He said the purpose of the trip is to coordinate with regional partners and consult on ongoing developments.
The diplomatic push comes as Trump said Thursday he is in no rush to reach a deal.
“For those people, fewer in number now than ever before, that are reading The Failing New York Times, or watching Fake News CNN, that think that I am ‘anxious’ to end the War (if you would even call it that!) with Iran, please be advised that I am possibly the least pressured person ever to be in this position. I have all the time in the World, but Iran doesn’t — The clock is ticking!” Trump said.
Trump also pointed to what he described as Iran’s deteriorating military position and the impact of the ongoing U.S. blockade, arguing that leverage remains firmly in Washington’s hands as negotiations continue.
“Iran’s Navy is lying at the bottom of the Sea, their Air Force is demolished, their Anti Aircraft and Radar Weaponry is gone, their leaders are no longer with us, the Blockade is airtight and strong and, from there, it only gets worse — Time is not on their side!” he added.

Trump Monitors Military Operations at White House

All Eyes On Islamabad As High-Stakes U.S.-Iran Peace Talks Ramp Up

Donald Trump

Global Politics

Jared Kushner

Operation Epic Fury

Politics

Steve Witkoff

All hell seems like it&#8217;s about to break loose again in the Middle East.
Let’s review the timeline. The United States entered into a ceasefire with Iran. The idea was to open negotiations for two weeks and then move toward a solution on nuclear weapons, with Iran giving up its nukes, ballistic missiles, and support for terrorist proxies.
It seemed as though there was some pretty significant movement. The president deployed JD Vance, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner to Islamabad, Pakistan. They came back and said there was no deal to be made.
Then it appeared as though there might be some movement after all, because the United States imposed a blockade on Iran&#8217;s blockade. Iran had basically put a blockade on goods in the Strait of Hormuz, harassing shipping and preventing oil from exiting the Persian Gulf.
But in the aftermath of the failed first round of talks, America blockaded Iranian ships entering and exiting the Strait of Hormuz.
That put the Iranian government in significant economic trouble, which led to backchannel negotiations. On Friday, both the United States government and the Iranian government announced that the Strait of Hormuz was open.
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President Trump said that a deal was very close, that Iran would ship its nuclear dust out, making a deal with the United States to permanently end their nuclear program, that they would stop supporting foreign terrorist organizations, etc.
This led to what appears to be a pretty open split between some of the negotiators and the people actually in charge, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is essentially the Praetorian guard for the mullahs. There have been a lot of rumors about the split. In fact, one of the reasons why the negotiations in Islamabad led by Vance didn&#8217;t succeed, according to Vance and members of the American side of the negotiations, was that the Foreign Ministry was making promises they couldn&#8217;t keep. They would go back, and the IRGC would then pretend that none of that ever happened.
Iran tried to tie its own ceasefire with the United States to Israel stopping its attacks on Hezbollah in retaliation for Hezbollah firing thousands of rockets into northern Israel. They tried to claim the reason that they had opened the Strait of Hormuz was because Israel had stopped its action in Lebanon, as opposed to the real reason, which is because the United States was blockading all of the oil going in and out of Iran.
On Saturday, things got heated again because the Iranian navy informed ships that Hormuz was shut.
President Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116433000897070863">noted</a>:
<blockquote>Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them. The U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and gave them fair warning to stop.
The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room. Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel. The TOUSKA is under U.S. Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!</blockquote>
What is likely to happen next is that Iran will remain intransigent. The president is likely to authorize further military action to both significantly hamper or destroy Iran&#8217;s economic capacity, and to either bomb every possible nuclear facility into complete rubble, unleash special operations in line with the Israelis, and go get the nuclear material, or both.
That is the most likely next step, and it will probably happen sooner rather than later if the Iranians do not get on the clock and start negotiating rapidly.

President Trump Departs Washington For Charlottesville

Deadline Tehran: All Hell About To Break Loose

Middle East

Strait of Hormuz

Round two of negotiations with Iran will take place this week despite attacks on the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump said on Sunday— but he also put the regime on notice, warning that the United States is prepared to resume an all out barrage of strikes on Iran.
While officials originally said the negotiation is being led by JD Vance, on Sunday morning the president revealed that the vice president would not be making the trip to Pakistan due to security concerns.
Trump told several outlets by phone that the vice president would not be making the trip to the Pakistani capital for the second round of meetings, explaining that the Secret Service was not comfortable with him doing so with just 24 hours advance notice. Instead, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to arrive on Monday evening ahead of the talks and President Trump&#8217;s son-in-law Jared Kushner is also set to attend the Tuesday meetings.
Trump did not rule out making a trip to Islamabad himself, The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/04/19/us-news/iran-war-negotiations-will-resume-this-week-trump-tells-the-post/">reported</a>, but said that he wanted to see how the next round of negotiations went before he committed to his own next move: &#8220;I would say maybe at a little bit later date. We have to see how it works out tomorrow.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
President Trump told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl that Vice President JD Vance will not be leading the U.S. delegation to Islamabad, citing security concerns. <a href="https://t.co/LmXt4rhuxb">https://t.co/LmXt4rhuxb</a> <a href="https://t.co/o35JiWTKIT">pic.twitter.com/o35JiWTKIT</a>
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/2045855350411206919?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I just got off the phone with President Trump yet again, he told me that Vice President Vance will not be leading the U.S. delegation to Islamabad, he said it&#8217;s because of security concerns,&#8221; ABC News anchor Jonathan Karl explained after also speaking with Trump. &#8220;The Secret Service did not feel comfortable having the vice president go to Pakistan on 24 hours notice. [Trump] added, &#8216;JD is great.'&#8221;
Trump lashed out at the Iranian regime via Truth Social on Sunday morning, following reports that the Iranian military had opened fire on ships in the Strait of Hormuz after agreeing to keep it open.
&#8220;Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz — A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement! Many of them were aimed at a French Ship, and a Freighter from the United Kingdom,&#8221; Trump posted, adding, &#8220;That wasn’t nice, was it?&#8221;
&#8220;My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan — They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations,&#8221; he continued, and then confirmed to several outlets on Sunday that Vance would not be part of those conversations in person.
Trump concluded by warning the Iranian regime to take the deal being offered by the United States, saying, &#8220;We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY! They’ll come down fast, they’ll come down easy and, if they don’t take the DEAL, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran, by other Presidents, for the last 47 years. IT’S TIME FOR THE IRAN KILLING MACHINE TO END!&#8221;

US-POLITICS-VANCE

U.S.-Iran Talks To Resume In Pakistan — Trump Says It’s Iran’s Last Chance

WASHINGTON — The marathon negotiations between the United States and Iran in Pakistan didn’t lead to a peace deal, but American leadership came away with one major conclusion: Iran is delusional about its standing in negotiations.
Vice President JD Vance will soon arrive back in Washington, and President Donald Trump has upped the ante declaring a complete blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The negotiations helped the United States understand just how little Iran understood their situation, U.S. officials told The Daily Wire. Iran failed to recognize the reality of the situation on the ground, the officials say, and has not come to terms with the fact that its inability to ever have a nuclear weapon is a primary American objective.
A U.S. official said that Vance entered the negotiations well-aware that the United States and Iran had hardly interacted with one another for half a century. Vance went into the 21 hours of negotiations with plans to test the counterparties and assess what they believed their situation was.
Vance probed their vulnerabilities, and Trump is now testing those vulnerabilities, the official said, and the world will see whether the Iranians recognize reality.
After Vance&#8217;s departure, Trump announced that the United States would blockade the Strait because Iran had refused to commit to abandoning its nuclear program. The president shared that he had been fully briefed by the vice president, and said that the U.S. Navy would begin its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and targeting vessels that attempt to enter or exit, as well as identify vessels that have paid what he described as “illegal” tolls to Iran.
&#8220;The meeting with Iran began early in the morning, and lasted throughout the night — Close to 20 hours. I could go into great detail, and talk about much that has been gotten but, there is only one thing that matters — IRAN IS UNWILLING TO GIVE UP ITS NUCLEAR AMBITIONS,&#8221; the president said.
&#8220;In many ways, the points that were agreed to are better than us continuing our Military Operations to conclusion, but all of those points don’t matter compared to allowing Nuclear Power to be in the hands of such volatile, difficult, unpredictable people.&#8221;
One of the vice president&#8217;s main goals, heading into the talks, was for both the United States and Iran to get to a mutual understanding on each country&#8217;s objectives and their &#8220;negotiating space,&#8221; the first U.S. official explained. Though the conversations were tough, the official said, by the end, the negotiators had completed a productive exchange of proposals.
It became clear from the outset that the Iranians weren&#8217;t grasping the core objective of the United States: any deal would have to center on the fact that Iran can not ever obtain a nuclear weapon. Vance corrected this misunderstanding during the deliberations, the official shared, and when the vice president left Islamabad, he had offered Iran the best and final offer that worked for both parties.
<div id="attachment_1076575" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/what-america-learned-from-negotiations-with-iran/pakistan-us-war-iran-israel" rel="attachment wp-att-1076575"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1076575" class="wp-image-1076575 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270435711-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270435711-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270435711-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270435711-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270435711.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>US Vice President JD Vance (L) talks to Pakistan&#8217;s Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshall Asim Munir (R) and Pakistan&#8217;s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar (C) before boarding Air Force Two after attending talks on Iran in Islamabad on April 12, 2026. (Photo by Jacquelyn MARTIN / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Vance also believed that deal should be acceptable to the Iranians and said publicly that he hopes they will accept it.
Another key point of the weekend negotiations: Vance probed the Iranian assessment of their own position and discovered that they fundamentally misunderstood their own position walking into the negotiations. That was why the vice president left Islamabad after he gave that final offer: if the Iranians believe they have leverage that they do not have, the official said, no deal is achievable.
And before they are ready to entertain a serious offer, the Iranians need to recognize that the realities on the ground in Iran do not match their assumptions heading into the negotiations.
&#8220;The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon,” Vance told reporters as he departed Pakistan. “That is the core goal of the president of the United States. And that’s what we’ve tried to achieve through these negotiations.”
“We leave here, and we leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer. We’ll see if the Iranians accept it.”
The White House national security team has come up with a plan, in consultation with the president, intended to break the Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz and, at the same time, challenge the idea that the Strait of Hormuz can distract from the main issue: Iran&#8217;s nuclear program. The vice president is hopeful that Iran recognizes that the deal they have been presented is in both parties&#8217; interest, the official said.
A separate U.S. official outlined the United States red lines to The Daily Wire: Iran must end all uranium enrichment, dismantle all major nuclear enrichment facilities, retrieve highly enriched uranium, accept a broader peace, security and de-escalation framework that includes regional allies, end funding for the terrorist proxies Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, and fully open the Strait of Hormuz, charging no tolls for passage.
There is a deal still on the table, the U.S. official noted, and the vice president&#8217;s statement emphasized that. It now remains up to the Iranians whether or not they accept it.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance Leads U.S. Delegation In Peace Talks With Iran In Pakistan

What America Learned From Negotiations With Iran

J.D. Vance

Pakistan&#8217;s defense minister said Thursday that it was now “open war” between Pakistan and Afghanistan after violent border clashes, as both countries traded accusations over the escalating conflict.  
Afghanistan has been governed by the Taliban since the American withdrawal in 2021.
Afghan forces launched “preemptive” attacks Thursday on Pakistani military bases along the 1,640-mile border shared by the two countries, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said. Pakistan responded with airstrikes and cross-border attacks targeting Taliban military posts. 
“In response to repeated border violations and provocations from Pakistani military circles, extensive preemptive operations have been launched against Pakistani military centers and paramilitary installations along the Durand Line,” Mujahid wrote on social media Thursday.  The Durand Line is the disputed border between the two countries.
Pakistan, a nuclear power, called the Afghan attacks “unprovoked” and said its military had begun retaliatory strikes. 
“Taliban regime forces are being delivered punishment in Chitral, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram and Bajaur sectors. Early reports confirm heavy casualties on Afghan side with multiple posts and equipment destroyed,” Pakistan&#8217;s Ministry of Information posted on X. 
The Pakistani response included airstrikes on the cities of Kabul and Kandahar. The Taliban said no one was injured in those strikes. 
Pakistan spokesman Mosharraf Zaidi <a href="https://x.com/mosharrafzaidi/status/2027154359491174519">said</a> the cross-border attacks had killed 133 Taliban fighters and wounded an additional 200. He added that 27 Taliban posts were destroyed and nine were captured. 
In a later statement, Pakistan’s defense minister Khawaja Asif accused Afghanistan of becoming a “proxy for India” and harboring terrorists. 
“The Taliban turned Afghanistan into a colony of India. They gathered all the terrorists of the world in Afghanistan and began exporting terrorism. They deprived their own people of basic human rights,” Asif said. “Pakistan made every effort to keep the situation normal through direct means and through friendly countries. It engaged in full-fledged diplomacy. But the Taliban became a proxy for India.”
“Our cup of patience has overflowed. Now it is open war between us and you,” he added. “We are your neighbors; we know your ins and outs.”
Last weekend, Pakistan <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/afghanistan-has-launched-retaliatory-attacks-pakistani-border-posts-taliban-2026-02-26/">launched</a> airstrikes in Eastern Afghanistan at locations it said were being used by Islamic State terrorists. After those strikes, the Taliban said it would give an &#8220;appropriate and measured response.&#8221; 
The violent exchanges follow a ceasefire agreement reached in October 2025 after similar deadly clashes along the border.

TOPSHOT-AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN-CONFLICT

Nuclear Power Declares ‘Open War’ — What Just Erupted Along A Fragile Border

Afghanistan

Taliban

At least 15 people were killed and dozens more were wounded in two separate suicide bombings in Pakistan on Monday and Tuesday, and eight people were killed in a car explosion in India.
The latest bombing targeted a district court building in Islamabad, killing 12 people and wounding 27 more on Tuesday, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/explosion-injures-eight-outside-court-pakistans-capital-police-say-2025-11-11/">reported</a>. Authorities said that the attacker attempted to enter the court building but was unsuccessful and then targeted a police car. All of those killed in the attack were civilians, while four police officers were also wounded, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/11/11/pakistan-capital-islamabad-suicide-bombing/">The Washington Post</a>.
The bombing in Islamabad came just hours after a suicide bomber targeted a military school in Pakistan&#8217;s northwest territory. Three people were killed in that bombing, and militants stormed the school, where at least three of them remain holed up.
While no terror group has claimed responsibility for either of the attacks, the Pakistani government suspects that terrorists backed by India and the Taliban in Afghanistan carried out the deadly bombings. Pakistani officials believe that the Pakistani Taliban, which the government suspects of being supported by India and Afghanistan, planned the bombing in Islamabad.
“The attack on Pakistani citizens by Indian proxy terrorist groups is condemnable,” said Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The attack in Islamabad came just hours after a car exploded in India&#8217;s capital, New Delhi, killing eight people and wounding 20 more. Indian officials said they were still trying to determine whether the blast was from an issue with the vehicle or was a targeted attack, The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/india/car-explosion-in-indias-capital-kills-eight-d7301ad7?mod=article_inline">reported</a>. Authorities are investigating the car explosion under an anti-terrorism law, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes that the explosion in New Delhi was an attack on his country.
“The conspirators behind this will not be spared,” Modi said. “All those responsible will be brought to justice.”
The bombings in Pakistan and India threaten to reignite tensions between the two countries, months after they exchanged missile attacks and bombings and engaged in border skirmishes. In April, India launched airstrikes at targets in Pakistan, saying that it was hitting Pakistan-backed terrorist militia infrastructure after terrorists killed 26 people in Indian territory. The Pakistani government, however, accused India of killing civilians in the strikes and targeting mosques. Pakistan responded with its own mortar attack on India.
The Trump administration quickly got involved in ceasefire negotiations between the two countries in May, and India and Pakistan agreed to stop fighting after weeks of retaliatory attacks. The fighting between India and Pakistan was especially concerning for the Trump administration, as the two countries are also considerable nuclear powers.
President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVDCecGK7m8">said</a> that his trade policies helped end the conflict between the two countries and prevent a &#8220;potential nuclear disaster.&#8221;
&#8220;I called them up and I said, &#8216;You go to war and we&#8217;re not doing a trade deal.&#8217; &#8230; And 24 hours later, they called me [and said], &#8216;We have decided not to do it.&#8217; We stopped the war. We stopped the potential nuclear disaster because of trade,&#8221; the president said last month.

TOPSHOT-PAKISTAN-EXPLOSION

More Than 20 Killed In Bombings In India And Pakistan, Fragile Ceasefire Threatened

Bombings

India

Terrorism

World

Holding Hands

Public Health ‘Experts’ Want To Legitimize A Barbaric Practice In The Name Of Multiculturalism

Public Health 'Experts' Want To Legitimize A Barbaric Practice In The Name Of Multiculturalism

Children

Disease

family

Great Britain

Marriage

Matt Walsh

A group of Arab states on Monday publicly backed President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza and create a pathway for a Palestinian state.
The governments of Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt released a joint statement on Monday backing the plan after Trump rolled it out in a White House event alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The joint statement of the Arab states was signed by the foreign minister of each.
The Arab states “welcome President Donald J Trump&#8217;s leadership and his sincere efforts to end the war in Gaza, and assert their confidence in his ability to find a path to peace,” the joint statement said.
“The ministers welcome the announcement by President Trump regarding his proposal to end the war, rebuild Gaza, prevent the displacement of the Palestinian people and advance a comprehensive peace, as well as his announcement that he will not allow the annexation of the West Bank,” the statement continued.
“The ministers affirm their readiness to engage positively and constructively with the United States and the parties toward finalizing the agreement and ensuring its implementation, in a manner that ensures peace, security, and stability for the peoples of the region,” it said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Joint Statement by the Foreign Ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye, Qatar, and Egypt. <a href="https://t.co/XDqgHxNkGd">pic.twitter.com/XDqgHxNkGd</a>
— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) <a href="https://twitter.com/KSAmofaEN/status/1972766033623814282?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
Trump announced the plan on Monday, celebrating “a historic day for peace.” The president said that, in addition to providing a pathway to peace between Israel and Gaza and laying the groundwork for a Palestinian state, the framework could create “eternal peace in the Middle East.”
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The wide support for the agreement among Arab states places additional pressure on Hamas to agree to the deal. Under the terms of the agreement, the terror group, and others like it, would be demilitarized, dismantled, and blocked from having administrative control over the Gaza Strip.
“If Hamas rejects the deal, which is always possible – they’re the only one left, everyone else has accepted it – but I have a feeling we’re going to have a positive answer. But if not, you know, Bibi, you’d have our full backing to do what you have to do,” said Trump.
Netanyahu echoed Trump’s threat in remarks following the U.S. president.
“If Hamas rejects your plan, Mr. President, or if they supposedly accept it, and then, basically, do everything to counter it, then Israel will finish the job by itself. This can be done the easy way, or it can be done the hard way. But it will be done,” the prime minister said.

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