A government of the people

A government of the people

Why have members of the House and Senate ceased representing the will of their constituents?

The Empirical Observer for American Thinker

Last week, I flew out on a business trip. Traffic to the airport was lighter than expected and I walked into the terminal and headed to the security gate check in.

Coming down the short escalator and there it was, like so many times before. Your visual field fills with an incredible number of people, short, tall, darker, lighter, couples, families, solo travelers all dressed in comfy clothes and carrying roller boards, baby equipment, gym bags, elderly grandparents, people in wheelchairs and anything else you could think of.

They’re all slowly shuffling towards the brilliantly lit x-ray machines and body scanners area. But before any of them can enter, every one of the hundreds of people I’m on line with must prove who they are to a government agent by providing a photo ID that matches the name on their ticket.

It didn’t matter if they were in the general line or could afford to pay for a “cut the line” service like TSA PreCheck Touchless ID or CLEAR which stores personal information and your photo. The net result is everyone must be checked and cleared by a TSA agent before being allowed into the x-ray and body scanner area. Simple rules. Provide proof of your identity or you don’t fly.

While on the security line, I spoke with a young mother with 2 young daughters. All 3 had their own passports because the family had traveled to Ireland the year before. I spoke with people who had recently upgraded their driver’s license to a REAL ID. At this one metropolitan airport, inside this one terminal, on this one security line, everybody had a photo ID.

And that got this Observer thinking.

Over 2 million people fly out of U.S. airports every day. During holidays, the numbers frequently spike to almost 3 million daily passenger screenings.

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act that we’re hearing so much about requires voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship at the time of registration and a photo ID at the time of voting. The SAVE America Act was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in February 2026.

The proposed act is very simple. Provide in-person proof of citizenship at the time you’re registering to vote and a government photo ID at the time you’re casting your ballot.  The very same type of photo ID 80 million passengers provide every month at U.S. airports.

If we believe political polls are accurate, some 84% of Democrats and Republicans polled are in favor of passing the SAVE ACT. This is not one sided polling. 70%+ Democrats and 90%+ Republicans support passage.

If Congress and the Senate truly represent the will of their constituents, how is a bill with a combined 84% approval rating not being voted on and passed right away? Why isn't Senate Majority Leader John Thune, backed by a +90% approval rating from Republicans, bringing this to a vote in the Senate where his party holds the majority?

Why are Democrats locking arms to prevent this from passing? In today’s MSM broadcasts, very few hosts challenge politicians with follow up questions. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader has referred to the SAVE ACT today as Jim Crow laws. Why doesn’t somebody ask Chuck to describe specifically how the SAVE ACT is a Jim Crow law or why Democrats are polling at >70% in favor?  Why are they fighting so hard not to pass into law?

I’ve listened to some bizarre reasons why passing the SAVE America ACT is a bad thing for “our democracy.” Passage would be harmful to the elderly who live out in the hills, off the grid, with no access to the internet, or to married women who have divorced and now have a huge unsolvable problem trying to change their names back, or the difficulty involved in securing a replacement birth certificate. MSM hosts routinely imply whole sectors of people are not capable of figuring out how to obtain a photo ID when we see the complete opposite in airports.

Our constitutional republic was built on a premise that congresspeople were voted into office by their district constituents because that was the candidate who best represented their voice in the national government. Senators originally were chosen by their state legislature to represent the interests of their state in the Senate. (That changed in 1913 when senators began running for office).

Should a congressperson or senator fail to meet the expectations of their constituents, voters can replace them in the next election.

Of course that implies fair and fraud-free ballot casting.

Why would any congressperson or senator today vote “no” on a requirement to provide proof of citizenship to register and a photo ID to cast a vote in an election?

Perhaps they’ve had a taste of the perks of the office and do not want to risk being voted out.

Something’s not right when a government of the people, by the people, and for the people allows their elected representatives to act with impunity and ignore the will and wishes of the people.

Image: Public domain.

♦️𝐖³𝐏 𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝

 

W³P Daily News Open Thread. 

posted by DarkGoldenMan

Welcome to the W³P Daily News Open Thread. 

Post whatever you got in the comments section below.

This feature will post every day at 6:30am Mountain time. 

 

President Trump Blasts the Grifters, Blackpillers and Anti-MAGA Podcasters

Conservative Treehouse 

I’m really glad to see this from President Trump, because it clears up the big question of whether he recognized what the blackpill/grifter crowd was doing to split the larger MAGA coalition. Turns out, yes—he definitely sees it.

Not only does he see it, but he takes the issue head-on. Very nice to see.

[Via Truth Social] – “I know why Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones have all been fighting me for years, especially by the fact that they think it is wonderful for Iran, the Number One State Sponsor of Terror, to have a Nuclear Weapon — Because they have one thing in common, Low IQs.

They’re stupid people, they know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too! Look at their past, look at their record. They don’t have what it takes, and they never did! They’ve all been thrown off Television, lost their Shows, and aren’t even invited on TV because nobody cares about them, they’re NUT JOBS, TROUBLEMAKERS, and will say anything necessary for some “free” and cheap publicity.

Now they think they get some “clicks” because they have Third Rate Podcasts, but nobody’s talking about them, and their views are the opposite of MAGA — Or I wouldn’t have won the Presidential Election in a LANDSLIDE.

MAGA agrees with me, and just gave CNN a 100% Approval Rating of “TRUMP,” not Hand Flailing Fools like Tucker Carlson, who couldn’t even finish College, he was a broken man when he got fired from Fox, and he’s never been the same — Perhaps he should see a good psychiatrist! Or Megyn Kelly, who nastily asked me the now famous, “Only Rosie O’Donnell,” question, or “Crazy” Candace Owens, who accuses the Highly Respected First Lady of France of being a man, when she is not, and will hopefully win lots of money in the ongoing lawsuit.

Actually, to me, the First Lady of France is a far more beautiful woman than Candace, in fact, it’s not even close! Or Bankrupt Alex Jones, who says some of the dumbest things, and lost his entire fortune, as he should have, for his horrendous attack on the families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims, ridiculously claiming it was a hoax.

These so-called “pundits” are LOSERS, and they always will be! Now Fake News CNN, The Failing New York Times, and all of the other Radical Left “News” Organizations, are “hailing” them, and giving them “positive” press for the first time in their lives. They’re not “MAGA,” they’re losers, just trying to latch on to MAGA.

As President, I could get them on my side anytime I want to, but when they call, I don’t return their calls because I’m too busy on World and Country Affairs and, after a few times, they go “nasty,” just like Marjorie “Traitor” Brown, but I no longer care about that stuff, I only care about doing right for our Country.

MAGA is about WINNING and STRENGTH in not allowing Iran to have Nuclear Weapons. MAGA is about MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and these people have no idea how to do that, BUT I DO, because THE UNITED STATES IS NOW THE “HOTTEST” COUNTRY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!”

~ President DONALD J. TRUMP

How Pakistan was able to broker a temporary truce between the U.S. and Iran

 Pakistan ‘defied many skeptics and naysayers that didn't think it had the capacity to pull off such a complex, high stakes feat,’ says one expert

A vendor displays morning newspapers with news of the Iran-U.S. ceasefire, at a roadside stall in Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 8, 2026. Photo by Aamir QURESHI/AFP

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has emerged as a key intermediary between Iran and the United States to secure a temporary ceasefire and host negotiations to end the war in the Middle East.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the United States and Iran — and their allies had — agreed to a ceasefire “everywhere” following mediation by his government.

Sharif said the two-week truce, which Trump and Tehran had announced earlier, would next lead to talks in the Pakistan capital.

“Pakistan achieved one of its biggest diplomatic wins in years,” said South Asia expert Michael Kugelman in an X post.

“It also defied many skeptics and naysayers that didn’t think it had the capacity to pull off such a complex, high stakes feat.”

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What are Pakistan’s ties to Iran?

“Pakistan has strong credentials as the only country in the region enjoying good relations with the U.S. and Iran,” said the country’s former ambassador to Tehran, Asif Durrani.

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Pakistan shares a 900-kilometre border in its southwest with Iran, and also deep historical, cultural and religious links.

Pakistan is home to the world’s second-biggest Shia Muslim population after Iran.

Iran was the first country to recognize Pakistan after independence in 1947. Pakistan returned the favour for the Islamic republic after the 1979

Pakistan also represents some Iranian diplomatic interests in Washington, where Tehran has no embassy.

What about the U.S.?

Pakistan’s powerful army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, has built up a personal rapport with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Munir — in a Western business suit rather than army fatigues — visited Washington with Sharif last year after a flare-up in hostilities between Pakistan and India in divided Kashmir.

Sharif praised Trump’s “bold and visionary” intervention, while Munir said the U.S. leader deserved the Nobel Peace Prize for stopping an escalation between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

On Iran, Trump said Pakistan knows the country “better than most.”

Personal relations have long helped boost bilateral ties shaped by shifting strategic interests that have at times been strained.

Even as a non-NATO ally in the post-9/11 “war on terror,” Pakistan faced U.S. claims that it was harbouring militants who were responsible for attacking coalition troops across the border in Afghanistan.

Relations strained further when U.S. troops killed al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil in 2011 without telling Islamabad, and Pakistan faced accusations of complicity in harbouring the fugitive.

What about other regional players?

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a strategic mutual defence agreement in 2025, cementing longstanding ties but also restricting how far Islamabad could go in supporting Tehran.

Sharif and his government have been quick to keep Riyadh on side, and the prime minister recently visited for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Pakistan also shares close ties with Beijing, which, Trump told AFP, helped get Iran across the line to the negotiating table.

Buildings of the Diplomatic Enclave are seen near the Rawal Lake dam in Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 8, 2026. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on April 8 that Islamabad would host delegations from the United States and Iran later this week following their ceasefire announcement. Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP via Getty Images

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar hosted a meeting with counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt last month for discussions on de-escalating the conflict and then flew to Beijing for further talks.

China, which is Iran’s largest trading partner, then joined its longstanding South Asian ally in calling for a plan to end the fighting engulfing the Middle East, saying it supported “Pakistan playing a unique and important role in easing the situation.”

What’s in it for Pakistan?

Neutrality makes economic sense for Pakistan, which relies on oil and gas imports through the Strait of Hormuz and wants to avoid getting dragged into further conflict on its doorstep.

Continued disruption would have worsened fuel supplies, driven up prices and forced further austerity measures for the cash-strapped government.

A permanent end to the war would not only boost regional stability but also Pakistan’s international standing at a time when it is locked in armed conflict with neigbouring Afghanistan and less than a year after it traded strikes with arch-rival India.

What role will Pakistan play next?

The Pakistani premier said he would welcome U.S. and Iranian delegations to the capital from April 10.

“Iran will feel more comfortable in Islamabad which is why it accepted Pakistan’s mediation,” said Durrani, the former ambassador, adding Pakistan could help the two sides resolve outstanding differences.

If talks were direct, “then Pakistan may help the parties to fine-tune the language if there is a stalemate,” he said, adding that Pakistan officials could also act as the go-between if the two sides would not meet face-to-face.

Pakistan does not formally recognize Israel, which said on Wednesday it supported Trump’s decision to suspend bombing, but that the two-week ceasefire did not include Lebanon where it has carried out ground and aerial operations against Iran-backed Hezbollah.

That contradicted Sharif’s earlier statement that the ceasefire covered “everywhere including Lebanon.”

https://nationalpost.com/news/world/pakistan-us-iran-ceasefire

Message From the Cardboard Supreme Leader and Some Hilarious, Clown World AI Propaganda

RedState 

We're now in a shaky ceasefire regarding the military action against Iran. 

Iran is doing all it can to spin it, and they're not exactly honest actors as they do so. So we'll have to see how it shakes out, but it's problematic when that's what you have on the other side of the negotiating table. 

But their cardboard Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has now weighed in on his X account. Or perhaps I should say, the person controlling the account has weighed in, since we still haven't seen or heard him live. At this point, one has to think he's dead or fully incapacitated because otherwise, they would have been able to produce a video from a bunker, even if they were trying to hide him for his protection, as they did with other leaders. 

The person behind his account posted, and what was funny besides claiming they were the victors, was what he says about Iran's southern neighbors. 

Today, up to this point in the epic Third Sacred Defense, it can be said with complete confidence that you, the heroic nation of Iran, are the definite victors in this battlefield.

I say to Iran’s southern neighbors: you are witnessing a miracle. So observe closely, understand matters correctly, stand on the right side, and be distrusful of the false promises of the devils.

We’re still waiting for an appropriate response from you, our southern neighbors, so that we may demonstrate our brotherhood and goodwill to you. This will not be realized unless you renounce the Arrogant Powers, who miss no opportunity to humiliate and exploit you.

That's both funny and full of gall. They've been beaten all over the battlefield. And they're chiding their southern neighbors - like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - to give them an "appropriate response" so they can demonstrate their "goodwill." Um, well, maybe if you hadn't been constantly bombing them, they might not hate you. But you blew all that. 

It's sort of hilarious that they're now trying to argue to the neighbors, "Trust us now." But it also shows they know they're in trouble because of the hole they dug with such bad moves. They're desperate, saying, "Please be our buddies," after driving their Gulf neighbors even closer to the U.S.

We will certainly demand full reparations for all damages caused, as well as blood money for the martyrs and compensation for the war's wounded.

Dream on.

We will definitely take the management of the Strait of Hormuz to a new phase.

They may also find out that it won't go well if they continue to push it, since keeping it open is part of the ceasefire. 

But they had another release on Thursday, which was even more hilarious. This is their AI version of the American officer being rescued from Iran. 

Except in their version, the U.S. got ambushed by the mighty IRGC, and they “destroyed America.” "At the end, the narrator brags that this epic failure is why America is now negotiating with Iran… and has surrendered," Sana Ebrahimi explains. Ebrahimi is one of the many Iranians critical of the regime. If the regime were "winning," they wouldn't have to push this humorous slop. 

Now, I don't know about you, but the ridiculously bad, grainy video managed to make the U.S. forces look even more amazing. And everyone got out despite this fictional depiction? Can we say how weak that makes Iran look? And how funny they are that they pretend someone dropped an ID on the ground in the process? 

Of course, the problem for the regime was that the truth revealed that they were weak: we were able to go in, get our man, and not lose anyone. They weren't able to stop us. 

They can push out this clown world propaganda, but it won't change that fact.

Only 10 of about 800 stranded ships have passed through Strait of Hormuz since ceasefire

 Just four tankers and six bulk carriers have passed through the strait from the start of the ceasefire. Only one of those tankers is not Iranian

Ships docked near an offloading terminal at Butcher Island, off the coast in Mumbai during the Iran conflict, April 1, 2026. Photo by Punit PARANJPE / AFP via Getty Images

Just 10 vessels have passed through Strait of Hormuz since the Middle East war ceasefire took effect, according to maritime tracking data, amid lingering fears about using the strategic waterway.

Iran and the United States said the 167 kilometre (104 mile) strait between the Gulf and the Indian Ocean would reopen after the two-week truce was announced on Wednesday.

But statements by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and Israel’s attacks on Lebanon despite the ceasefire have cast a shadow over the strait, which in normal times handles about a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas.

More than five weeks after the war erupted with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, hundreds of ships with thousands of crew remain stuck either side of the strait. The International Energy Agency says the war has caused the most severe supply disruption ever to the global oil market.

Here is what we know about shipping in the Strait:

Dire strait for tankers

 

Just four tankers and six bulk carriers have passed through the strait from the start of the ceasefire up to Thursday, according to maritime data provider Kpler.

Only one of those tankers, the “MSG,” is not Iranian.

The Gabon-flagged ship went through Thursday with around 7,000 tonnes of Emirati fuel oil, and is headed to India, according to the MarineTraffic monitor.

A dozen other vessels appeared to be on course to pass through the waterway, and all were either coming from or going to Iran, or displayed ties with countries not hostile to Iran. That signals little real change from traffic before the ceasefire.

“The Strait remains as open or closed as it was” before the ceasefire plan emerged, shipping journal Lloyd’s List editor-in-chief Richard Meade told a briefing.

Traffic in the past week was “90 per cent below normal levels and it was almost entirely being driven by Iranian trade,” said Bridget Diakun, a Lloyd’s List Intelligence analyst.

Traffic is expected to remain at a maximum 10-15 passages a day “if the ceasefire holds”, according to Kpler analyst Ana Subasic.

Of the 315 passages by commodity carriers from March 1 to April 8, 202 were by oil and gas tankers, and most were heading east towards the Gulf of Oman, Kpler data showed. A majority involved ships coming from or heading to Iran.

Anger over tolls

Iran’s possible imposition of a toll for ships to pass through the strait looks set to be a key point of contention at peace talks opening in Pakistan Friday.

While Iran agreed to reopen the thoroughfare during the two-week truce with the United States, it has also spoken of a toll system to fund reconstruction following punishing U.S.-Israeli attacks.

The U.S. and European Union were quick to denounce the idea Thursday.

“There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait,” Trump wrote Thursday on social media. “They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!”

In a later post, Trump said Iran was doing a “very poor” job of allowing oil to pass through the waterway.

“That is not the agreement we have!” he wrote.

Iran-approved route

Iran announced alternative routes through the strait on Thursday, citing the risk of sea mines in the waterway’s main zone. The IRGC set out routes that go near Iran’s Larak Island.

The IRGC said ships could only use the strait in collaboration with the Iranian navy, according to intelligence firm Vanguard Tech.

Apart from three Omani tankers that passed through last week near Oman’s coast, recent transits have used the Iranian-approved route, with some ships reportedly paying a fee.

Shipping industry representatives told AFP that other rumours indicated ships had to be on an approved list, or that countries would be ranked, with ships from countries friendly to Iran receiving better conditions.

800 ships stuck

Many shipowners and shipping associations are unsure whether ships would be able to safely pass from the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, even if the ceasefire holds.

Leaving the Gulf now “would not be advisable” without coordinating with the United States and Iran, Jakob Larsen, chief safety and security officer for the international shipping association BIMCO told AFP on Wednesday.

Around 800 ships have been stuck in the Gulf since the war started on February 28, according to Lloyd’s List. German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd has said it will not resume traffic on the route.

Some 172 million barrels of crude and refined products on 187 tankers were at sea in the region as of Tuesday, according to Kpler.

Thirty vessels targeted

No new attacks on ships have been reported since the ceasefire started.

The IRGC claimed three attacks on ships between Saturday and Tuesday, and one has been confirmed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

Thirty commercial ships, including 13 tankers, have been attacked or have reported incidents in the region since March 1, according to the IMO, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre and Vanguard Tech.

https://nationalpost.com/news/world/israel-middle-east/strait-of-hormuz-ships-ceasefire

Trump bashes popular right-wing U.S. commentators for criticizing Iran war

 They're stupid people, they know it ... and everyone else knows it, too!" Trump wrote in a lengthy social media post, singling out Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Alex Jones

Conservative U.S. pundits, clockwise from top left, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Alex Jones have drawn U.S. President Donald Trump's wrath by criticizing his war on Iran. Photo by Getty Images/Files

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U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday angrily lashed out at multiple well-known conservative commentators who have criticized his war against Iran, slamming his onetime allies as attention-seeking “NUT JOBS.”

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“They’re stupid people, they know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too!” Trump wrote in a nearly 500-word social media post.

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In the president’s crosshairs were Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly — two former Fox News hosts turned independent podcasters — as well as Candace Owens and Alex Jones, also podcasters and prominent conspiracy theorists.

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All four have vocally criticized Trump over the war, slamming him for abandoning his anti-war campaign promises and — to varying degrees — accusing him of bowing to pressure from Israel to launch the conflict.

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Their criticism has highlighted a divide among American conservatives over the war, a potential major political risk for Trump’s Republican Party heading into the November midterm elections.

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“They don’t have what it takes, and they never did! They’ve all been thrown off Television, lost their Shows, and aren’t even invited on TV because nobody cares about them, they’re NUT JOBS, TROUBLEMAKERS, and will say anything necessary for some ‘free’ and cheap publicity,” he complained.

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While all four have been backers of the president’s “Make America Great Again” movement, several have previous feuds with the president.

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During Trump’s first presidential campaign, Kelly — then a Fox News host — asked the billionaire businessman and reality TV star about disparaging remarks he had made against women.

Trump retorted with a joke about comedian Rosie O’Donnell, his longtime nemesis, and later prompted controversy by seeming to suggest that Kelly had asked the tough question because she was menstruating.

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“You can see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever,” Trump said at the time.

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Trump referred to the saga on Thursday, saying Kelly “nastily asked me the now famous” question.

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He also personally attacked the other three, slamming Carlson for not obtaining a college degree, saying he hoped French First Lady Brigitte Macron wins her defamation suit against Owens, and that Jones deserved to go bankrupt after calling a mass school shooting a hoax.

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Owens has accused France’s first lady of being a man.

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“Actually, to me, the First Lady of France is a far more beautiful woman than Candace, in fact, it’s not even close!” Trump wrote Thursday.

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“These so-called ‘pundits’ are LOSERS, and they always will be!” he added.

https://nationalpost.com/news/world/trump-bashes-popular-right-wing-u-s-commentators-for-criticizing-iran-war

In His Own Words: Trump Has Been Saying Iran Can’t Have Nukes For 20 Years

Critics call the Iran strikes a betrayal, but Trump’s own books show he has said for 25 years that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons.

The Federalist

Whatever the war in Iran may be, a betrayal of President Trump’s voters is not one of them. For anyone interested in reading his books and speeches, President Trump has, for over 25 years, been a consistent voice that Iran cannot possess nuclear weapons. This was not born of neoconservative philosophy, the Israel Lobby, or the influence of the so-called military industrial complex. It was born of a moral belief that the United States cannot have an Islamic enemy that both states to the world, “Death to America and Death to Israel,” and desires nuclear ballistic missiles.

As far back as 2000, Trump considered how best to think about dealing with the strategic threat of Iraq and Iran having a nuclear weapon. He would write:

I’m no warmonger. But the fact is, if we decide a strike against Iraq is necessary, it is madness not to carry the mission to its conclusion…. Am I being contradictory here, by presenting myself as a deal-maker and then recommending preemptive strikes? I don’t think so. There’s nothing really comparable to unleashing a squadron of bombers, but in the world of business sometimes you have to make quick, secret, decisive moves in order to gain a negotiating advantage…

Iran is even further ahead of the game than is Iraq. Within five years Iran is expected to have nuclear missiles capable of reaching the continental United States. Like North Korea, China, and Iraq, they’ve been importing crucial parts and technical assistance from Russia—today the world’s nuclear Walmart.

Donald J. Trump, The America We Deserve (pp. 120-121). Renaissance Books, 2000.

For Citizen Trump it was unreasonable that Iran, or other of America’s enemies, would have nuclear weapons and saw these enemies as part of a larger effort by Communist China and Russia to visit death and destruction upon the United States.

A common refrain today is that our conflict in Iran is the handiwork of Israeli manipulation of American politics and to be sure it is perfectly reasonable to disapprove of Israel’s outsized influence in American politics. But President Trump has always understood America’s relations with Israel in strategic terms. He would write about Israel in 2000:

Why do we have this special relationship? It is not out of charity, guilt, or what some who would attack these bonds have called the political pressure of “ethnic lobbies.” We have been there for Israel, as for England, because Israel is there for us. Israel is a stable democratic ally in a region filled with instability and dictatorship. It is an “unsinkable aircraft carrier” for America’s interests and values, from the United Nations to the Mediterranean.

Donald J. Trump, The America We Deserve (pp. 136-137). Renaissance Books, 2000.

By “unsinkable aircraft carrier,” Trump means it has a strategic utility for the United States. One may dislike Israel for a variety of reasons and one may disagree about its importance, but one cannot doubt that President Trump has believed for some time that they serve a strategic purpose for the United States.

Fast forward to the Global War on Terrorism where Trump was a critic of the prosecution of the war against Iraq and Afghanistan. He was specifically concerned about destabilizing the region and strengthening Iran. He would write in 2015 as he was preparing to run for president:

We targeted Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction as a justification. There was no plan (or a very flawed one) to win and leave. Before the war started I came out very strongly against it. It made no sense to me. I said then that it would be a disaster and would destabilize the Middle East. I said that without Iraq to hold them back, Iran would attempt to take over the Middle East. And that’s exactly what has happened.

Donald J. Trump, Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again, Simon & Schuster, 2015 (p. 45).

So just as Trump was beginning a serious campaign for president running in large part against the endless wars that he rightly saw as misguided, there was no equivocation on how he saw the more deadly threat that Iran posed. He would write:

Whatever it takes, whatever we have to do, Iran cannot be allowed to build a nuclear weapon…An Iran with a nuclear weapon would start a nuclear arms race in the Middle East with potentially devastating consequences. The situation would rapidly escalate to being the most dangerous threat Israel has ever faced. And it would force us to use extreme measures in defense of Israel and other allies in the region. That’s not going to happen, whatever Iran might think right now.

Donald J. Trump, Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again, Simon & Schuster, 2015 (p. 49).

Even while Trump was against the foreign interventionism of his predecessors, he was laying down an important marker that Iran was different and he was willing to state the importance of this publicly, even as a mere candidate.

As president, his first term saw him reject Obama’s ineffective JCPOA, sanction Iran’s nuclear program, label the IRGC as a terrorist organization, and eliminate Gen. Qasem Soleimani.

Indeed, throughout the 2024 election, Trump defended the idea that Iran could not have nuclear weapons. Many of Trump’s former supporters, Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones most notably, now say that the use of military operations against Iran’s nuclear program is a betrayal. In fact, it is perfectly consistent with what Trump has said and written for over a quarter century. This was translated into policy in the first two weeks of the second Trump Administration with National Security Presidential Memorandum-2 that stated:

“Iran’s nuclear program, including its enrichment- and reprocessing-related capabilities and nuclear-capable missiles, poses an existential danger to the United States and the entire civilized world. A radical regime like this can never be allowed to acquire or develop nuclear weapons, or to extort the United States or its allies through the threat of nuclear weapons acquisition, development, or use.”

NSPM-2, The White House, February 4, 2025

These views of Trump must be seen for what they are: deeply held beliefs that an Iran with nuclear weapons would pose an existential threat to America and its allies. Further, he is not willing to have a nuclear-armed Iran as a proxy of Communist China or Russia.

He carries out this war in Iran at great risk to the lives of American servicemen and knowing that there will be significant short-term harm to the US and global economy.  It would have been easier to push off the Iranian nuclear issue on some future president. That would have been the politically expedient thing to do. Instead, President Trump has kept faith with what he has transparently believed and told time and again to the American people: Iran cannot have nuclear weapons.

Pray he succeeds.