Sunday, May 24, 2026

Chump's well known reputation as a liar makes him struggle to be believed

Ian Swanson (THE HILL)  notes:


Iran is pushing back on parts of a tentative deal being negotiated by the Trump administration that could put an end to the war between the two countries.

President Trump on Saturday evening announced the two sides were moving close to a deal. Iranian officials have acknowledged the talks and have even said there has been progress. But they are also suggesting major sticking points could prevent a final deal from being reached.

The Fars news agency reported Sunday that the agreement would allow Iran to manage the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil supply flows. Those shipments have mostly been halted since the war began in March, causing oil and gas prices to skyrocket around the world.

Trump on Saturday said the deal would lead to the Strait of Hormuz being opened but did not mention Iranian management of the waterway. The Fars news agency, which is linked to Iran’s government, said Trump’s remarks about the Strait of Hormuz were “inconsistent with reality.”

Fars said that under the terms of the deal, Iran would allow the number of ships passing through the strait to return to “pre-war” levels, but that this would not “in any way mean ‘free passage’” through the strait, as Trump had contended.


So Chump lied?  Again?  I mean that's what he's known for: Lying.  For example, yesterday, Daniel Dale (CNN) published "Fact check: 28 separate false claims Trump made this week."  


Already, members of Chump's own party are complaining about the so-called 'deal.'  Minho Kim (NEW YORK TIMES) reports:


Senate Republicans cast doubt on the viability of a potential peace deal between the United States and Iran over the weekend as President Trump doubled down in support of his administration’s negotiations to end the nearly three-month-old war.

U.S. and Iranian officials have described an emerging framework that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and in which, U.S. officials say, Iran would commit to disposing of its highly enriched uranium. Iranian officials have also said that nuclear matters would be negotiated within 30 to 60 days.

“It doesn’t make too much sense to me,” Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Mr. Tillis called the Iranians’ commitment to reopening the Strait of Hormuz “questionable” without a finalized peace deal, adding that “there are a lot of things that need to be explained.”

On Saturday, Senator Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote on social media that a “60-day ceasefire — with the belief that Iran will ever engage in good faith — would be a disaster.”

Mr. Trump shot back on social media on Sunday afternoon, calling any deal he would negotiate “good and proper” and saying that such criticism was coming from “losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about.” He had announced on Saturday that the United States and Iran “largely negotiated” an agreement to end the war.



David McAfee (RAW STORY) reports Mike Pompeo (Secretary of State in Chump's first term) criticized the deal online and White House tubby and communications director Steven Cheung "unleashed a profanity-laced broadside" which led to the following responses:

"I will never get used to this kind of obscenity being used in an official statement by the White House Communication Director," wrote attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick. "The White House no longer aspires to lead from a higher moral vantage point, it seeks to fight in the mud with the pigs."

Journalist Brett Meiselas appealed directly to the administration's sense of decorum. "Can you all grow up? You work in the White House. Act like it for once. This shouldn't be a political thing. Just have some decency, man."

The spectacle of a Trump aide attacking the man Trump himself chose as his top diplomat drew particular mockery. "Pompeo is so dumb that Cheung's boss made him Secretary of State for nearly 3 years," wrote National Review senior editor Ramesh Ponnuru.

The Weekly Standard's Stephen Hayes was more pointed about the credibility gap on display: "Yeah, take it from a 1980s-born political hatchetman and ex-UFC comms director, Mike Pompeo — top of his class at West Point, Harvard Law grad, House Intel, ex-CIA director, ex-SecState — is clueless about Iran."

Independent journalist Aaron Rupar summed up the broader reaction in blunt terms: "Is it a sign that things are going well when your spokesperson is posting like a jilted incel 8th grader?"


Stephen Collinson (CNN) offers:

The best hope for ending a poorly planned war, which started with scant consultation with Congress or the American people, may be an unsatisfactory peace that leaves critical issues to be resolved later and deepens Washington strife.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said a deal to halt the conflict he chose against Iran is imminent and very close. Each time, his predictions turned out to be wishful thinking or a misreading of Iran’s true intentions.

So it’s no surprise his latest claims that a framework agreement with Tehran is near have been met with skepticism and confusion — nor that both conservative hawks and Democrats seem to believe he’s on the cusp of caving to a bad deal.


In other news, Steve Holland, Andy Sullivan, Richard Cowan and Nandita Bose (REUTERS) report: 


Standing in front of the White House ballroom construction site, U.S. President Donald Trump appealed for patience from Americans struggling with soaring gas prices as he sought to justify the cost of a project critics call a vanity effort.
"This is peanuts," he said on Tuesday in an apparent reference ​to the economic damage inflicted on the U.S. by the Iran war. "I appreciate everybody putting up with it for a little while. It won't be much longer."
The moment crystallized concerns among some in his ‌Republican Party, who worry that the billionaire president's focus on the ballroom appears insensitive as Americans struggle to fill their gas tanks ahead of November's midterm elections.
A Reuters review of Trump's public comments shows he has mentioned the ballroom - either via speeches, social media posts, or in comments to reporters - at least 40 times this year, including nine times this month alone. By comparison, he mentioned it 35 times in all of 2025.



A billion dollars for his ballroom "is peanuts," he says.  He says as Americans struggle to buy groceries.  Ruth Igielnik (NEW YORK TIMES) reports:

Concern about rising prices has reached a fever pitch as Americans sit down to Memorial Day barbecues across the country. A majority of Democrats, Republicans and independents said that they had changed their purchases from grocery stores to stay within budget in the last several months, according to polling from CNN.

Another 59 percent of Americans said they had cut back on extras and entertainment.

More than three quarters of Americans, including 55 percent of Republicans, said President Trump’s policies had increased the cost of living in their community.

Survey after survey has found that Americans are feeling growing financial uncertainty. Nearly half of all voters gave the economy the lowest rating, “poor,” in the latest New York Times/Siena poll, up 11 percentage points since January.

And economic confidence has hit a four-year low, according to Gallup.


But Chump insists that a billion dollars spent on a ballroom would be "peanuts."


The following sites updated:


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