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Sunday Afternoon News Updates: Trump Blows Up Peace Talks with Iran — 6/21/26
He just can't help himself
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Hi all, Ben here. It’s Sunday. First, I want to say Happy Father’s Day to all the Meidas Dads!
Here’s what we’re tracking today:
Trump threatens Iranian negotiators and the Strait of Hormuz right as talks begin in Switzerland
Iran formally protests, refuses photo-ops, reportedly walks out (though a U.S. diplomat denies this)
Iran says the nuclear file isn’t even on the table this round, but Lebanon and sanctions relief are
Lindsey Graham predicts the MOU will fail and says the U.S. will “take the strait over by force”
Israel and Netanyahu say they’re not leaving Lebanon, no matter what the MOU says
JD Vance claims victory on Hormuz and the nuclear program while both remain unresolved
The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool saga continues, with Jeanine Pirro threatening more charges to soothe Trump’s fragile ego
And Trump posts a cryptic “great daughter” tribute to a New York socialite in the middle of a global crisis
Before I go any further, if you haven’t yet joined as a paid subscriber, consider doing so now by clicking here to support our work. This is how we grow. It will give you access to all recaps like this, our exclusive Ask-the-Editor series, and more. Plus, it is the best way to help support the growth of this network.
Let’s get into it.
Trump Blows Up the Room Before Anyone Sits Down
Donald Trump managed to sabotage these peace talks in Switzerland before they even got going. What just happened is stunning. I’ll also get this this a bit further down, but we’ve solved the mystery one one of Trump’s weirdest posts to date.
But first, the talks. While the actual diplomats were supposed to be sitting down to negotiate, Trump was on social media and talking to reporters threatening the Iranian leadership directly, telling them he’d make sure they didn’t make it back to their own country alive if they closed the Strait of Hormuz. He then announced the United States would simply take over the strait and start charging tolls to use it.
This is the same man who insists he’s the great dealmaker. You don’t get there by threatening to kill the people sitting across the table from you before the meeting starts.
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Naturally, this caused the Iranian delegation to lodge a formal protest. And it gets worse for Trump’s side: Iran made clear they’re not even discussing the nuclear file in these talks at all. According to Iran, that conversation only happens once the U.S. implements the parts of the Memorandum of Understanding dealing with a full ceasefire in Lebanon and the lifting of sanctions. Worth noting, the head of the IAEA wasn’t even in the room for any of this.
Lindsey Graham, Doing What Lindsey Graham Does
Right behind Trump came Lindsey Graham, dispatched to the Sunday shows to repeat the threats. Graham told Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation that he expects the MOU to fail, and that when it does, Trump will simply take the Strait of Hormuz by force and start charging a toll to anyone who wants to pass through. He also turned to the people of Lebanon and said, “help is on the way,” the exact same phrase that Trump used right before bombing Iran back in January.
Meanwhile, here’s the reality on the ground: the Strait of Hormuz is closed right now. Not because of some abstract future threat, but because it’s closed. Iran has shut it down. Iran has still managed to move oil out through Kharg Island, somewhere in the range of 20 to 30 million barrels, while the strait stays closed to the United States and everyone else.
Iran Won’t Give Trump His Photo-Op
Part of what makes the optics so bad for the U.S. is what happened with the cameras. JD Vance, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner were all there in Switzerland, reportedly eager for the photo opportunity with the Iranian delegation. Begging, as Trump would say. The Iranians said no. They wouldn’t pose. They wouldn’t shake hands. The U.S. delegation was sitting in the room first, waiting, which in any negotiation is read as a position of weakness.
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I have never seen the United States look this weak and this pathetic on the world stage.
In response to Trump’s threats against him and his entire negotiating team, Iranian official Ghalibaf put out a statement essentially shrugging off the threats entirely, saying Iran doesn’t take American threats into account and that their armed forces are ready to respond in a different way if needed.
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Ghalibaf’s post: “Don’t they think to themselves that if their threats had any result, they wouldn’t have reached today’s desperation? We do not take the Americans’ threats into account at all. It would be better for them to watch their statements carefully. Our armed forces are ready to respond to them in a different way. No matter how much they talk, it is we who act.”
The line that stuck with me: no matter how much the U.S. talks, it is Iran that acts. That’s the position Trump’s bluster has put us in.
Why the Strait Is Actually Closed
Let’s be clear about why none of this oil is moving. The Strait of Hormuz remains shut because Israel continues striking inside Lebanon, where more than a hundred people have been killed, many of them women, children, and other civilians. Netanyahu has said outright that Israel has no intention of ever leaving Lebanon. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz has confirmed it too: no withdrawal from what Israel calls its security zone, full stop.
So while Trump postures about taking over the strait by force, Israel is the one actively continuing the invasion of Lebanon that the Memorandum of Understanding was supposed to stop. Israel’s message to Trump, in effect, is that we don’t care about your MOU, we’re moving forward regardless.
The Receipts: What Trump Actually Posted and Said
Let’s go to the actual statements
Trump posted that Iran needs to immediately stop its proxies in Lebanon from causing trouble, or the U.S. will, in his words, hit Iran very hard again, “only harder.” He posted this exact message while negotiations were supposed to be getting underway in Switzerland. If your goal is to wreck a peace process and tip the global economy into a depression, this is how you’d do it.
Then Trump called into Fox and told a correspondent that if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz, Iran isn’t going to have a country left. He talked about bombing them, about blowing things up. At one point he described the MOU itself as not really a binding deal at all, just an option, and suggested that after 60 days he might simply go back to military action.
On the nuclear specifics, Trump and his team seem confused about their own agreement. The MOU does not actually require Iran to give up enrichment entirely. Paragraph eight covers down-blending of enriched material, a provision that echoes language from the old Obama-era nuclear deal, though that earlier agreement had actual enforcement mechanisms attached to it. So when Iran’s president says Iran isn’t giving up its right to enrich, he’s not violating anything. He’s describing what the MOU itself allows. Someone might want to walk Trump, Kushner, and Vance through how nuclear material actually works before they go negotiating deals about it.
JD Vance’s Public Humiliation
While all this was unfolding, JD Vance got in front of cameras and declared that the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and the end of Iran’s nuclear program had “already been accomplished.” Said with a straight face, apparently, despite the strait being closed and Iran’s enrichment program continuing under terms the MOU itself permits.
Vance also said he feels great about where things stand in Lebanon. Great about what, exactly? Roughly 150 people have died since Friday. Israel has expanded the territory inside Lebanon it claims as its own security zone, in direct tension with Article 1 of the MOU, which calls for an immediate ceasefire and guarantees Lebanon’s sovereignty. Vance’s own delegation is sitting on a violation of the agreement he’s praising.
Vance closed by describing the day as the start of “technical negotiations” meant to set up structure for future talks. Here’s the honest version: these negotiations are happening on Iran’s terms because Iran came out of this war in the stronger position, and everyone in that room knows it. Iran is asking for sanctions relief and waivers, and may eventually let some tankers move, but Iran controls the strait right now. Trump himself has said the country is on the edge of a global economic depression. That’s the actual leverage situation, dressed up by Vance as diplomatic momentum.
And Then There’s the Reflecting Pool
The algae-infested Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool saga continues. Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for DC, went on Fox and threatened serious charges if anyone puts more “products” into the pool to supposedly worsen the algae problem. She also addressed Trump’s accusation against ABC’s Jonathan Karl, who Trump claimed tried to rip rubber off the pool’s surface with his bare hand, saying anyone caught vandalizing the pool will face prosecution.
Trump posted a lengthy, deranged defense of his renovation, blaming vandals with knives and corrosive chemicals for the pool’s condition rather than acknowledging the algae problem experts warned about from the start. He says he may now have to drain it entirely to do repairs. It’s the same pattern every time: something goes wrong, and someone else gets blamed.
And while yes, his post is ridiculous and silly, I do wanted to highlight the serious aspect of his delusions. Trump is having his government arrest people to blame them for the algae infestation he caused, all to soothe his fragile ego. And his lackeys like Pirro are going along with it.
Well This Was Weird…
In the middle of all this, Trump found time late Saturday night to post an old photo of a woman reclining on a couch with the caption “Great daughter. My Honor!!!”
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We looked into it. The woman appears to be Margo Catsimatidis, wife of billionaire John Catsimatidis. Her daughter is Andrea Catsimatidis, a prominent figure in New York City Republican politics who has referred to herself as something like the “bikini leader” of the city’s GOP. So that’s apparently who Trump meant.
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While the country deals with the very real prospect of a deepening economic crisis, and while people are struggling to afford basic necessities, this is what occupied a slice of the president’s attention during an active international crisis. Even commenters on Truth Social thought it was weird.
That’s where we are right now. We’ll keep tracking every part of this as it develops. Stay tuned for Ron’s weekend bulletin later with all the latest updates.
JUST A FEW COMMENTS:
If the Iranians were smart, really smart, they’d issue a communique stating that they are done wasting their time with the United States government and will cease further contact of any kind until this putrid stinking demented insane moron is out of the White House for good.
ALL countries should be done with this US regime. You're right, Iran is wasting time and energy on these idiots. Actually the EU countries are wasting their time and energy as well. The Trump regime cannot be trusted.
Europe is already looking to China as a more "stable" economic trading partner. trump has disenfranchised all of our allies, except Israel (which he cannot control) so it is no wonder we are in such a mess. The US needs to stop both money and materiel to Israel or this will never end.
Right. I agree. I basically said the same thing yesterday. While the EU has moved on with trading, they are still having relations with him. They should sever all ties and be done with him. As for Israel, I concur. No more money and no more weapons.
Not so sure about this. The Iranians seem to be doing splendidly with Trump. Every stupid thing the demented orange says makes them look better and the US look worse.
Trump has done more for Iran’s image than any change in Iranian re its human rights.
And Iran is looking like the champion of the end of Israel’s aggressions and deaths in Lebanon.
Yep, that appears to be the case…
“Trump's chaotic interactions and military maneuvers with Iran have generally left international experts assessing that Tehran has emerged emboldened. By successfully blocking global oil traffic, weathering U.S. pressure, and securing a Memorandum of Understanding that yielded sanctions relief and major concessions, Iran's regional position and geopolitical reputation have visibly strengthened.
“Perceptions of Regional Strength -
“Gaining the Upper Hand: Following the conclusion of direct conflicts and the signing of the U.S.-Iran agreement, analysts and intelligence experts have largely concluded that Tehran managed to improve its regional standing and enter nuclear negotiations in an emboldened position.
“Contradictory Tactics: Observers noted that Trump's abrupt shifts—ranging from aggressive threats of force to sudden demands for diplomacy—enabled Iran to adopt a highly effective counter-strategy. By either ignoring or turning the President's erratic communication style against the U.S., Tehran projected an image of a resilient regime capable of navigating Washington's pressure.
“Allied Distrust: The handling of the conflict fractured the mythology of Trump's diplomatic effectiveness among allies, causing significant damage to the overall global perception of U.S. leadership and stability in the Middle East.
“Financial and Geopolitical Relief: The memorandum of understanding negotiated to end military operations allowed Iran to secure massive financial relief. The unfreezing of assets, easing of sanctions, and potential massive reconstruction funds have been criticized even by prominent Republican senators who argue the U.S. conceded too much for too few restrictions on Iran's ballistic missiles and proxy networks.
“Strait of Hormuz: Despite the naval blockades and threats to shipping routes, Iran managed to maintain leverage over maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, dictating the terms of the temporary re-openings and tax holidays rather than returning to a baseline of uninterrupted free and open passage.
WELL DONE, DONNY!
BUT WAIT! There’s MORE!…
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/what-america-has-lost-in-the-war-with-iran/
As djt allows, joins with, genocidal noythingyahoo, as he's evading prison just like our USA felon... and mass-muder continues... thank you djt felon don hitler
put trump n bibi in the same cell! Then add the rest of the 🍊🫏kissing members of Congress!
Of course! Invited prison tough guys, both guards& lifers to break them in i good! LoL!
Not so much guards, but they will have to prevent deaths. As even life-term inmates know djt is a pedo mass-murderer!
The world knows our country is led by a child and a pedophile adulterer scammer, liar, con and felon and they’re done with them. I am too.
Or at least hold off until after the mid-terms. And, to avoid a world famine, Iran should allow all non-Israeli and non-American fertilizer and humanitarian aid pass, making the Iranians look like good guys. The US would have to decide whether it should be allowed through the blockade: terrible PR no matter which way they decide.
Good idea but not practical. Israel and US will buy from whoever can pass these through the strait. Remember money talks.
Actually, I think you are mistaken. Iran is very wise to continue to engage with the United States. This way Iran gets to look like the rational party in this matter. Iran gains sympathy by being the rational party in this matter. The United States is being made to look the fools and Iran knows this is happening. Why stop doing something that is winning them sympathy from other nations in the world besides Israel and the United States.
I understand that one of the principle Iran guides in this "negotiation" is a respected psychologist who is advising them how to play to Trump's well known psychoses in baiting and tormenting him to achieve the scenario they want to portray.
So whether he is an active or just a passive danger to the US, he must be removed!
Would that be Mary Trump? LOL!!
SOUTH CAROLINA: It's time to REPLACE LINDSEY GRAHAM with someone who has a BRAIN!
South Carolina Senate Primary Results 2026
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-primary-elections/south-carolina-senate-results
Both sides bluster and are full of it.
The WATNA for Iran is we drop the big one on them.
What is the WATNA for the US? Make Trump look like a fool?
we the people, know trump is a fool, even most of the congressional members that kiss his ass daily! Not only a fool, a lieing, grifting, greedy, corrupt, treasonous person!
He ain’t no man!! He needs to be removed.
Rethugkkkrussians are really trying to cheat with the election! So, make sure you have everything you need and are registered. Make sure that if you have family, neighbors or friends that they get to the polls or get their ballot in! We the people need to get rid of the rethuglikkkrussians scum n treasonous bastards out of office! Heard gym jordan is being investigated. Should have been in jail for lieing under oath. Dickwad hasn’t been able to pass the bar!
No one needs to make rump look like a fool. It does that full well enough all by itself.
It ought to be abundantly clear to everyone in the world that Israel is a rogue state.
Netanyahu and his cabinet have cynically turned the tragedy of October 7th into an excuse to pursue the territorial aims of the most extreme elements in Israel.
I understand that Israel has legitimate security concerns, but endless war, the destruction of civil society in Gaza and stealing land from Palestinians in the West Bank will not bring peace or security to anyone in the Middle East.
Well said. BBB. It is the same seemingly love of pure violence on repeat.
Israel apparently doesn't have capacity for forgiveness. This alone dooms them to a future of war, death, and destruction. They will never be satisfied.
They have been fighting forever. Never ending attacks and wars. We pay their bills and give them the weapons. Go figure.
So. While JD is being humiliated, Iran is holding all the cards, Trump is posting weird creepy stuff, Jeanine is spending her time on the pool. Oh yeah, this administration has their priorities straight. BTW. Happy Fathers Day to you and your bro’s! ❤️
Trump mistook that woman for either Tiffany or Ivanka. I mean, he mistook E Jean Carroll for Marla Maples. 🙄
He needs to pay E Jean
I wouldn’t doubt it at all. He’s a big disgusting disaster 🤡👹🤢🤮
Maybe this woman "entertained" him at a birthday party in his honor. Sometime in the past.
A few weeks ago, a psychiatrist (can't remember name) said Trump has worsening dementia and as it worsened Trump would spew unhinged comments and do worse things. This is what is happening, and Republicans and legacy media won't acknowledge it. You cannot believe one word out of this administration. They are liars. I believe whatever the Iranians report. They won this war they did not start. Everyone from Trump to Vance to Graham is trying to gaslight. Jon Meacham said history has a way of righting itself when it goes to extremes. He pointed out the destruction of Hitler for example. Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir and their ilk are committing mass murder. They are in a blood lust, and it's not going to end well for them or us. The only hope this old woman has is that it had to happen to wake the world up.
And niece, Mary Trump, said her uncle Fred, DJT’s dad, exhibited similar behavior as his dementia worsened.
She also says that if he thinks he's going down, he'll try to take everyone else with him. I believe her.
Yup-keep the nuclear codes scrambled!!
If you have not read this, well worth it.
https://macfarlanenews.substack.com/p/group-of-retirees-could-force-the?r=1gomg&utm_medium=ios
Without question and say it was all their doing.
I say euthanize the miserable POS.
Stephen King could not write a better novel.
can’t wait till rump is dead and the movie comes out what would be a great title???
“ Stupid is what stupid does” ? Help me here💙
How about, “Don’t Bother. You’ve Already Sacrificed a Decade of Your Life to this Jackass.”
Hmmm. ‘Mayhem at Merde Lardo’. Or…’The Clown Circus Chronicles’
Who's on First?
The Grift of All Time
Nor Ripley's!!
Hopefully, the Unites States will wake up. This country has become a train wreck with the conman calling the shots.
Sad but obviously true
if trump wants to threaten to blow someone up, it should be Israel, (Bibi) who has publicly they have no intention on leaving Lebanon. Stopping the war in Gaza is part of the deal, so unless trump can accomplish that, we'll never have a deal.
And what they did to the front lawn and the ellipse is a disgrace.
How much is it going to cost the tax payers to fix the lawn there, the whole side of the white house, the rose garden, the reflecting pool, etc. ALL of the money spent and just wasted in order to fill it's insane mind filled with narcissistic mania must be repeated and even more so to clean it up ... AND I DO HOPE everything is cleaned up and put back to it's state before it desecrated the place. Other than the oval office ... just a gawdy replica of a French bordello just fit for the likes of Mulvania ... what has been done to desecrate the rest of the place? We haven't been privy to other nonsense and I can't believe nothing else has been done to 'improve' it to IT'S 'classy' taste. ALL of my sick jokes aside and in sincerity, IT NEEDS TO BE REMOVED before anything else is destroyed and the United States loses all credibility. SERIOUSLY!!!
Trump is a piece of trash. Everything he thinks about is left in worse shape than it was
Well, the word "FUBAR,: comes to mind yet again with this rundown of today in America.
Also "SNAFU" for trump and this entire episode.
Reflecting Pool: on Sat., a 67 yo former 3x Olympian, stopped by to look. He put his hand in the water and was, it was reported, immediately detained then taken away for 5 hours of questioning. They accused him of “ripping up” what was referred to as a rubber cover - taken to mean the peeling blue paint. The accused had no blue paint samples on him. He was further accused of “interfering” with the algae cleanup by holding on to the hose draining the Pool. He said his bicycle’s wheel _may_ have touched the hose.
This is “sandwich thrower” nonsense again. Friends who’ve gone down to look said the paint is coming off in swaths.
Trump wants this perfect for his 7/4 rally on the Mall. To drain & repaint & fill before no study or appropriate contractor with the right materials again will yield worse. Another $14m of our money to soothe his fragile ego is beyond the absurd. Where are the fiscal hawks when really needed?
Idiocy.
$15 million and counting!
I think it's more than that they are still trying to fix something that isn’t going to happen unless they start all over and fix the real problem which will cost us taxpayers millions more 🤬
Are you meaning the cost for the Reflecting Pool only? We have the destruction of Jackie's Rose Garden, the White House still has a horrid gash on one side, the addition and then the removal of IT's name on the JFK Memorial, the Reflecting Pool ... These things just tear at my heart and I am NOT a US citizen! Yes, I can admit to laughing at IT ... and I will laugh again BUT NOT at the US citizens who are true patriots and who did not vote for this thing. My heart just took a great leap when I saw the Rose Garden and then the gaping hole in the White House. After a while, when there is NOTHING DONE, a person just has to admit to themselves that this must truly be what the people want. No, a single citizen can't do much but an uprising can. Where is that Militia? Let's put that 2nd Amendment to test with that Militia (which, sorry, really IS and WAS set up to keep the slaves in line).