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“President Trump threatened to destroy Iran on Sunday and suggested that the US could take full control of the Strait of Hormuz, becoming the ‘Guardian Angel’ of the oil choke point and take 20% of the crude if the fragile peace deal falls apart,” the New York Post reports.
Said Trump: “You close it, and you won’t have a country. You won’t even make it back to your fucking country.”
“That’s like literally an arsonist starting a fire and getting credit for running out of the burning building. This president has led this nation into a disaster.”
— Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), talking on Meet the Press about whether President Trump should get credit for ending the Iran war.
President Trump claimed on Truth Social that “Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister of The United Kingdom,” adding that he “failed badly on two very important subjects — IMMIGRATION AND ENERGY.”
Politico: “It should come as no surprise that the raucous, bitter battle to succeed Stefanik has become a circus, tearing Empire State Republicans asunder — and offering a crystal ball look, albeit cloudy, into a GOP future centered exclusively around Trump-accented spectacle.”
Politico: “In just over a year, Carney has learned to navigate the deeply insular, often ugly game of Ottawa politics as a skilled tactician and ruthless party boss. The jetsetting king of Davos still clutches to the persona of a political outsider, more interested in the long arc of history than the petty grievances of the day.”
“At home he benefits from an ‘informed naïvété,’ in the words of one close Carney adviser granted anonymity to speak candidly. Carney now can do the ugly work of politics precisely because Canadians believe he is above it.”
“Donald Trump has long avoided political damage for his own party from repeated allegations of graft and conflicts of interest. In this year’s midterm elections, Democrats are betting that they can finally exact a price,” Bloomberg reports.
“Combined with the rising cost of living, corruption is shaping up to be a major campaign battlefront in races that will determine control of the US Congress. Polling suggests voters are eager to see lawmakers take on conflicts of interest and self-enrichment by leaders, including a president whose personal wealth has surged since he returned to office last year.”
“President Trump’s political appointees quashed an early-stage criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding his clemency grant to a convicted fraudster,” the New York Times reports.
“The investigation, which has not been previously reported, had begun examining whether improper payments were made to help facilitate the commutation awarded to David Gentile, a private equity executive who was convicted in a $1.6 billion scheme that defrauded thousands of mostly mom-and-pop investors, some of whom lost their retirement savings.”
Times of Israel: “Israelis overwhelmingly view the war with Iran and subsequent deal with the United States in a negative way, with 92.1 percent of respondents to a poll believing Tehran is the winner.”
“According to the Hebrew University survey, 82.9% say the campaign weakened Israel’s long-term security and 86.0% have a negative attitude toward the outcome.”
“Vice President JD Vance declared that the Trump administration’s goal is to “transform our relationship” with Iran during his opening remarks in Switzerland at Sunday’s meeting with top negotiators from Tehran,” the New York Post reports.
Said Vance: “What the president has asked us to do is turn over a new leaf to transform our relationship with the people of Iran, and to extend an outstretched hand that says to the people of Iran that if your leadership is willing to give up being a driver of regional instability.”
“British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to decide soon whether he will step down from his position or face a leadership challenge from a political rival, Andy Burnham, who represents the country’s Labour Party,” CBS News reports.
“Starmer has publicly vowed to stay in the post, but pressure is building as more and more Labour Party colleagues conclude his time is up. Expectation is growing that he will announce a timetable for his resignation as soon as Monday. That’s the day Burnham will be sworn in as a lawmaker in the House of Commons after winning a special election last week.”
Bloomberg: UK minister says Starmer mulling ‘realities’ as Burnham returns.
“A deeply divided electorate will choose Colombia’s next president in a runoff on Sunday that pits a progressive against a conservative outsider, with both candidates tapping into fears of a renewed internal conflict in the country as they represent ‘two very extreme sides,'” CBS News reports.
Bloomberg: Oil, drugs and US relations hang in the balance as Colombians vote for president.
“The effort by the U.S. and Iran to negotiate an end to the war has been defined by dramatic fits and starts and punctuated by missile strikes and naval blockades. Yet since a memorandum of understanding was brokered last weekend, the confusion has only grown,” NBC News reports.
CBS News Poll: “Americans do want the Iran war to end — especially those hardest hit by gas prices — and many see hope for lower prices now.”
“But an ending now also comes with views that the U.S. effort did not succeed in its strategic or economic interests and has not been worth the costs.”
“Specifically, most Americans suspect Iran’s nuclear program has not been permanently stopped, and that Iran will not stop threatening its neighbors.”
“Early signs that the Strait of Hormuz is reopening have eased the most acute threat to global energy supplies, but economic damages from the nearly four months of war will take months to unwind, analysts warned,” CNBC reports.
“In igniting a war against Iran on Feb. 28, President Trump billed the U.S. campaign as an unprecedented step toward transforming the Middle East and terminating the threat from what he called a ‘wicked, radical dictatorship,'” the New York Times reports.
“Roughly 100 days later, as the United States and Iran have reached a somewhat vague memorandum of understanding to end the war, skeptics are expressing bafflement over what exactly has transformed.”
“Neither the war nor the agreement ended what U.S. and Israeli officials regard as the main threats emanating from Iran. The country’s nuclear program, while heavily damaged, was not eliminated — its fate punted to future negotiation.”
“Vice President JD Vance arrived in Switzerland on Sunday for crunch talks with Iran to build on a shaky interim deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and move towards a permanent settlement to end their more than 100-day war,” the Financial Times reports.
“The negotiations in a Swiss mountain resort will initially focus on the Israeli-Hizbollah conflict in Lebanon that has threatened to derail diplomatic efforts to implement the memorandum of understanding signed by the US and Iran on Wednesday.”
Bloomberg: US and Iran poised to begin Swiss talks on lasting ceasefire.
Washington Post: “Now, the U.S.-Iran agreement to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz and pursue a lasting peace offers some relief to farmers who have seen their fuel and fertilizer bills soar because of combat in the Persian Gulf. Diesel has not been cheaper since mid-March. Urea fertilizer in recent days sold for less than it did before the fighting began.”
“But the financial damage has been done.”
“President Donald Trump’s February decision to join Israel in attacking Iran aggravated the farm economy’s struggles. Soybean growers, who were already suffering from the president’s tariffs, are expected to lose money in 2026 for the fourth straight year.”
“President Trump’s fragile agreement with Iran has introduced a new variable into this year’s midterm elections,” the New York Times reports.
“Democratic candidates have assailed the agreement, arguing that the president accepted unfavorable terms to try to end an unnecessary war that hurt the economy. Republicans have been more divided. Some, eager to turn the page on the unpopular war, are hailing falling gas prices and praising Mr. Trump for weakening Iran’s military capabilities, while others are expressing doubts about whether the president is likely to achieve the goals he set out to accomplish with the war.”
“Although the long-term durability of the accord was unclear — Iran claimed Saturday that it closed the Strait of Hormuz after what it said was a U.S. breach of the deal, while the U.S. military said traffic continued to flow — candidates in battleground states and leaders in both parties had already begun to develop new positions for a new chapter.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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