'Art of the Deal' writer rocked by WSJ for poorly-worded clause that disintegrated pact

07/09/26 6:45 PM

President Donald Trump may call himself the master of making a deal, but four Wall Street Journal writers think he stinks at writing them. The Journal on Thursday published a stern rebuke of Trump's memorandum of understanding with Iran, arguing a single "poorly worded clause" resulted in the battle for the Strait of Hormuz. "The root of the dispute is Paragraph 5, which says Iran will make arrangements to restore shipping through the strategic waterway and then work with Oman to determine how to administer it in the future," the report states. "But it also includes an Iranian pledge to ensure safe passage and remove military obstacles such as mines." The pledge became a problem because it was open to different interpretations by both sides as the war ramps up again, the Wall Street Journal reporters argued."Trump administration officials saw that clause as unlocking the strait, the main accomplishment of the president’s deal." they wrote. "Iranian hard-liners, however, have used it to push a maximalist interpretation that gives the Islamic Republic exclusive control over the waterway as a key source of leverage."Geopolitical analyst Michael Horowitz agreed with their assessment. "Washington has tried to convince Tehran that compliance would be more profitable, but this framing misses the point," he reportedly said. "Iran's behavior isn't driven by financial motives but by security concerns and bargaining leverage. It's a power dynamic."Now the U.S. faces tough times ahead in the struggle, according to the analysis"Tehran has also repeatedly asserted that it will work out arrangements for future management of the strait with its weaker neighbor across the waterway, Oman," the Journal report stated. "The difficulty coming to terms on opening the Strait of Hormuz points to rough negotiations ahead."

'Dumb and dangerous' Trump battered on MS NOW after setting off travel firestorm

07/13/26 11:43 AM

The decision by the Trump administration to go after New York Times reporters with subpoenas after they reported on the critical vulnerabilities with a Qatari plane gifted to the president was hammered on MS NOW on Monday morning. Appearing on “Morning Joe,” an incensed Jim VandeHei, founder of Axios, claimed the decision to fly the luxury jet into the Middle East put the president and the nation at risk. Then he blasted conservatives who are applauding the DOJ investigation.MS NOW contributor Katty Kay prompted VandeHei with, “Jim, you and I were talking during the break about how this seems like overkill from the White House to issue these subpoenas. Is this just because the president was embarrassed about the reporting when we knew that this plane wasn't ready in a defensive capacity?”“Yeah, I think it's both dumb and dangerous, right?” he shot back. “It's dumb in that it was pretty widely known that this aircraft wasn't up to the standards of Air Force One. That usually goes to a two-year period of being built and being vetted, and everybody knew that this was gifted by the Qataris. Everyone also knows that the Iranians are trying to actively assassinate the president of the United States, and he's in the Middle East.” "And so this idea then is that you go after the reporters — and they wrote about it after the fact — the only way you'd actually have a plausible case is if you put the president's life at risk or you really jeopardize national security because you reported it before it happened,” he continued before repeating, “They reported it after it happened.”“And anybody out there who's like, ‘Oh, yeah, but oh, it's the New York Times, I hate the New York Times,’ again, you have to always think about imagine that the other party does this,” he cautioned. “Any time that you don't like a story, that you send agents of the federal government to their home to try to intimidate them because they wrote something that made you feel uncomfortable, that was actually authentically, really, really important to the safety of the president of the United States, whether you like him or not, matters profoundly. And so when you start doing these things, you start normalizing these things, and if anybody cheers it, you better cheer it when they come after you.” - YouTube youtu.be

'Get your tinfoil': MAGA chases 'conspiracy' clicks hours after Lindsey Graham's death

07/12/26 11:59 AM

Just hours after the 'sudden' death of Sen. Lindsey Graham was announced to the public, MAGA conspiracy theorists began chasing traffic with wild claims about the cause.Questions do remain after Graham's office released an statement Sunday morning that was short on detail."On the evening of Saturday, July 11, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham passed away from a brief and sudden illness," read the 2 a.m. statement. "Senator Graham's family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period."President Donald Trump has promised to release more information after declaring on Truth Social Sunday morning that Graham "is dead!"It was later revealed he died Saturday night at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. after reportedly suffering chest pains.These sparse details proved fodder enough for conspiracy theories to thrive on X.Libertarian talk show host Clint Russell told his nearly 300,000 followers to "get your tinfoil ready" before he suggested, without evidence, that Russia was somehow to blame for Graham's death in Washington, D.C. Graham was in Ukraine as recently as Friday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, reports show. "I'd say there is a decent chance that Russia blew up Lindsey Graham," Russell wrote in a comment liked more than a thousand times."Graham is not just the most psychotic booster of Ukraine but he was also the biggest booster for arming Ukraine a decade ago (and likely the Maidan revolution) which really forced Russia to invade," Russell added. "This -could- be the warning shot to the political class that while Russia doesn't want WW3 they will extract a cost on the politicians themselves who are pushing for this endless war. It's now being reported he died of a heart attack. Sure, maybe. Idk."MAGA influencer Laura Loomer also blamed Russia but she decided to tell her 1.9 million followers, again without evidence, that it was possible Russia had poisoned Graham with help from Iran. "There seriously needs to be an investigation," she wrote in a post liked nearly 10,000 times. "Russia just sent a delegation to Khamenei’s funeral in Tehran where the IRGC and funeral organizers was calling for myself, President Trump and Senator Graham to be assassinated. Lindsey Graham was in Ukraine one day ago calling for a Russian sanctions bill that he claimed the White House supports. Now he is suddenly dead from a random illness according to his staff. Did Russia just murder a US Senator?"Anthony Galli, a conservative writer with more than 10,000 followers, took this idea and ran with it."If Iran was behind Lindsey Graham's sudden death but we should respond anyway," he wrote. "President Trump should launch OPERATION LINDSEY GRAHAM. It's what he would've wanted."Matt Forney, host of an eponymous video podcast with more than 3,000 followers, was blunt about naming these comments as baseless claims of secret plots — but did not reject them. "I'm not going to go full conspiracy theorist yet," he wrote. Responding to video of Graham he added, "But this was two days ago. Lindsey Graham looks pretty spry for a 71-year-old. He certainly doesn't look sick or frail. Did Russia or Iran assassinate Graham? I don't think we can rule it out."