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https://ericzuesse.substack.com/p/iran-took-trump-to-the-cleaners  

https://theduran.com/iran-took-trump-to-the-cleaners/  

“Iran Took Trump to the Cleaners!”

 April 2026, posted by Eric Zuesse. (All of my recent articles can be seen here.)

——

The Atlantic’s David Brooks said on the PBS Newshour on April 3rd

 “We've had to go to the Middle East for almost every decade

1:10

for the last 50 years because of radical Islam, which the Iranian regime typifies,” 

and their other Zionist falsehoods; but here is Larry Johnson saying nothing but truths (and this time I’ve not proof-read and corrected youtube’s transcript):

——

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdcAHhXgtgE

“SPECIAL REPORT ] Larry Johnson : Iran Took Trump to the Cleaners!”

8 April 2026

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom

01:00

Hi everyone, Judge Andrew Npalitano here

01:02

for Judging Freedom. Welcome to this

01:05

special edition. Larry Johnson joins us

01:07

for the second time uh this week. Today

01:10

is of course Wednesday, April 8th, 2026.

01:15

Larry, who who sought who begged for a

01:20

cessation of violence in the Iran war?

01:24

Was it Israel? Was it the US? Was it

01:27

Iran?

01:28

>> Donald Trump. It was Donald Trump. The

01:31

United States. They started, you know,

01:33

the second week of the war, so about

01:36

mid-March, uh, sending intermediaries to

01:39

to the Iran. Hey, hey, let's let's get

01:41

together and talk. How can we settle

01:43

this? Iran says we we don't have

01:44

anything to talk to you about. Period.

01:47

Uh I think what changed or what made

01:49

yesterday possible is the Chinese uh

01:53

intervened or the Chinese spoke to the

01:55

Iranians and said okay let's you know

01:58

basically let's let's give these guy

01:59

these knuckleheads another chance but

02:02

it's going to be on your terms and and

02:04

that and Iran was very clear that you

02:05

know these are these 10 these 10 items

02:08

these are our terms uh you know which

02:10

include we're going to continue to

02:12

control the straight of Hormuz we're not

02:14

giving that up uh And the United States,

02:17

at least to the Pakistanis and uh to the

02:20

Chinese said, "Okay." Now, what Trump

02:24

and company have been saying in public,

02:25

it's like they live in an alternate

02:27

universe. Uh I I just I couldn't believe

02:30

the nonsense that was coming out of Heg

02:32

Seth and Ka's mouth this morning at

02:34

their 8 a.m. press conference. It was

02:36

just it was one lie after another. But,

02:38

you know, that we've grown accustomed to

02:41

that. Uh our friend and colleague Scott

02:44

Ritterder believes that the two biggest

02:46

liars uh in this camp, those who

02:50

betrayed Trump by selling him a bill of

02:52

goods were Benjamin Netanyahu and Pete

02:56

Hegth. And that to the extent that Trump

02:59

can feel betrayal, he feels betrayed by

03:02

them, they both told him this would be

03:04

over in 24 to 48 hours. So here we are 6

03:07

weeks later. Regime change? No.

03:11

Uh, uranium enriched uranium seized. No

03:15

ballistic missiles neutralized. No.

03:18

Control of the straight of Hormus. Let's

03:20

see. Nobody controlled it before the war

03:23

and now the Iranians have it.

03:25

>> Yeah.

03:25

>> What did Trump What did Trump

03:27

accomplish, Larry?

03:28

>> Um, awaking Iran from its slumber or

03:32

bringing it out of the wilderness. You

03:35

know, Iran over the last 46 years, I

03:38

suppose Iran could have at some point

03:40

tried to shut down the straight of

03:42

Hormuz, but that would have been seen as

03:44

a act of unilateral aggression. That

03:47

would have been seen as something

03:48

completely unjustified.

03:50

But when the United States and Israel

03:52

launched that surprise murderous attack

03:55

on Iran on February 28th, all of a

03:58

sudden now Iran was justified in

04:01

defending itself. and they they went for

04:04

the the economic juggler of the world

04:07

which is which we really didn't realize

04:10

how important the straight of Hormuz is.

04:13

Now there are um the you know Trump is

04:17

involved with massive market

04:19

manipulation or people behind Trump and

04:23

uh so when he you know when he starts

04:25

talking oh you know this is we've got a

04:27

ceasefire this is going forward you saw

04:29

the dial in a $1,400 up and and the and

04:33

10 20% drop in the price of oil futures.

04:37

Well, that's not going to last. Uh

04:40

because this ceasefire is not going to

04:42

last because the Iranians are not going

04:45

to back out. They are not defeated. Uh

04:48

they have uh they have won. It's just

04:51

the United States doesn't want to

04:53

concede that it is lost. And so they

04:55

continue to say, "Oh wow, we've

04:57

destroyed all their air force. We've

04:58

destroyed all their navy. They're not

05:00

going to be bu they won't be rebuilding

05:02

for centuries." I have such abject

05:04

stupidity coming out of the White House

05:07

and it's and it's it's compounded by

05:10

just the crazy the crazy tweets or the

05:13

true social messages that Trump

05:15

continues to post that are uh I mean

05:19

they're like the ravings of a lunatic.

05:22

you know, two other people who talked

05:26

Trump into this disastrous war. One is

05:29

his former business partner and the

05:31

other is his son-in-law. I mean, would

05:33

why would the Iranians even allow those

05:36

two to be talking about Steve Whit and

05:39

Jared Kushner to be anywhere in the

05:42

process of negotiation after the

05:45

deception that they pulled back in June

05:47

of 25 and in February of this year?

05:51

>> Yeah. Well, it's not clear that the

05:53

Iranians have agreed to meet with them.

05:55

Uh they've agreed to meet in Islamabad

05:58

starting this, I guess, Friday, April

06:00

10th. Um now, what we also don't know,

06:04

uh and my my advice to the Iranians

06:07

would be to tell the United States, if

06:09

we're going to meet, we're going to meet

06:10

face to face and you know, the lead, you

06:12

know, we'll we'll meet with JD Vance,

06:14

but nobody else. uh if they go back to

06:17

this format where they are in separate

06:20

rooms and they talk to the Pakistanis

06:23

and then the Pakistanis walk next door

06:25

and talk to the Americans and then the

06:27

Pakistanis walk back and talk to the

06:29

Iranian. No, that's ridiculous. You

06:32

know, that's not even worthy of anyone's

06:34

time for a genuine negotiation. But

06:37

Iran, those 10 points that Iran laid

06:40

out, those were not items that would be

06:43

negotiable. In other words, they're not

06:46

saying, "Okay, well, we're going to keep

06:48

control of the straight of Hormuz, but

06:50

we'll negotiate about it instead of

06:52

we'll release our control." No, no.

06:55

They're not giving up control. That's

06:57

this, you know, the days that it's like

07:00

there was a time when the nightclub

07:02

never had a dormant and you didn't have

07:03

to pay a cover charge to get in. There's

07:06

now a a dorman and a cover charge. You

07:08

want to get into the Persian Gulf, pay

07:10

the cover charge. You want to come out,

07:12

pay the cover charge. otherwise don't

07:14

go. And I just saw a news flash that uh

07:17

Iran now has completely closed the

07:20

straight uh uh as we speak because of

07:23

Iran Israel's continuing attacks on

07:25

Lebanon.

07:26

>> Well, precisely, Larry, I have the

07:28

statement from the Iranian Parliament's

07:30

National Security and Foreign Policy

07:33

Committee. In response to the brutal

07:35

Zionist aggression against Lebanon,

07:37

maritime traffic in the straight of

07:39

Hormuz is halted immediately and a just

07:42

what you said and a strong and decisive

07:44

blow must be dealt to prevent this rogue

07:47

entity and cancerous tumor they're

07:49

talking about Israel from destabilizing

07:51

the region. The Lebanese people

07:54

>> have made sacrifices for us and we must

07:57

not abandon them. Now listen to this.

07:59

The concluding line, either a ceasefire

08:02

on all fronts or no ceasefire at all.

08:06

>> Yeah.

08:06

>> That would include the Israeli efforts

08:10

to steal and seize and acquire southern

08:14

Lebanon.

08:15

>> Yeah. Yeah. Just, you know, I feel like

08:20

we're in a deja vu situation or as Yogi

08:23

Barrow said, it's deja vu all over

08:24

again. You remember back when there were

08:27

there were the discussions about

08:28

negotiations between Russia, the United

08:31

States, and Ukraine and and you and I

08:34

would keep saying, well, the the

08:36

Russians made their position very clear.

08:39

They haven't deviated from that. And

08:41

yet, the West would keep coming up, oh,

08:42

they're going to they're going to make

08:43

this they're going to declare ceasefire

08:45

here or they're going to withdraw from

08:47

there or they're g No. Read the damn

08:50

documents. Read what they say. They mean

08:53

what they say. They're not like Donald

08:55

Trump and his, you know, group of clowns

08:57

that make stuff up. They actually, when

09:00

they write it down, they actually mean

09:02

what they say.

09:04

How um miserable do you think Netanyahu

09:09

and Smootri and Ben Gavier and his hard

09:13

rate and their hard rate colleagues were

09:16

when they woke up this morning?

09:17

>> Oh man. Well, I think they were they

09:20

were terrified last night. you know,

09:22

when when this happened, they realized

09:23

they had been cut out and Trump was uh

09:26

Trump was potentially distancing himself

09:29

from them. So, you know, they absolutely

09:31

saw this as holy smokes. Uh how could he

09:34

do this? Now that said, the uh

09:37

counterattack

09:39

is just beginning that the the Zionist

09:42

lobby is just going to, you know, be

09:44

going. They're in a frenzy of putting

09:47

pressure on on Trump and and and Trump

09:51

is really in a he's he's caught between

09:53

the proverbial dog and the fire plug.

09:55

You know, there's no place for him to

09:56

hide. He's catching it from both sides.

09:59

You saw Tucker Carlson just did a

10:02

remarkable, amazing uh takedown of

10:06

Trump's uh attack on Christianity and

10:09

his violation of fundamental Christian

10:12

tenants and and talking about destroying

10:14

Iran. And in response to that, Trump

10:18

viciously viciously attacked Tucker as

10:21

being low IQ and stupid. Yeah. Come on,

10:26

Trump. Look in the mirror, man. you're

10:28

talking about yourself. Uh but when you

10:31

got people like Tucker Carlson now who,

10:34

you know, had been uh ardent campaigners

10:36

for Trump coming out like this, Trump's

10:39

losing it. And and the the support among

10:42

the Zionists, while it's financially

10:44

lucrative, uh it it is politically

10:47

toxic.

10:48

>> Yeah. I asked Chris to see if he could

10:51

find uh Mark Levin or Lindsey Graham

10:54

this morning. They're nowhere to be

10:56

found.

10:57

>> Yeah. Well, the Levven Levin went on air

10:59

yesterday, shortly after this news came

11:01

out. He was in shock. You know, normally

11:03

he's screaming and yelling and got this

11:05

obnoxious voice. He was really subdued

11:08

and, you know, he looked like he just

11:10

been hit upside the head with a 2x4 and

11:12

and sort of stunned. Now, they get a

11:15

good night's sleep and then they're

11:16

going to get up and start attacking with

11:19

in earnest against Trump. And here

11:21

here's here's Iran saying, "Hey, we

11:25

agreed to a total ceasefire. If if

11:29

you're saying you're going to allow the

11:31

the Zionists to continue to kill the

11:34

people of Lebanon, sorry, then we're not

11:36

signing up for that and stand by for

11:38

more incoming." The Houthies have

11:40

already said they're going to continue

11:41

to fire missiles into Israel as long as

11:44

they're attacking Lebanon. So yeah, this

11:46

this uh uh market manipulation play

11:50

where oh we got pieces at hand. So stock

11:53

market goes up, oil prices fall.

11:56

Again, there there are people behind the

11:58

scenes that are manipulate that are

12:00

making money off of this because they

12:02

have an idea of what's coming. They know

12:04

they know that it's not a real genuine

12:07

ceasefire.

12:09

>> Wow.

12:10

Well, how long will it be before, in

12:12

your view, before hostilities uh resume?

12:16

The Iranians have already said they will

12:18

not tolerate continued hostilities in

12:22

South Lebanon. I assume they also mean

12:25

in Gaza.

12:26

>> I was said, let's see, what time is it?

12:27

11:30. Yeah, 2 hours. Look, uh within

12:32

within 12 hours, we could see the

12:34

missile barges start again. Uh I do know

12:38

that uh or looking at the flow of US uh

12:42

military air traffic to the region. It

12:44

hasn't stopped. So you you're getting

12:47

you got still what I'd call operational

12:49

buildup. So I again I think I think this

12:52

is just another ploy on the part of the

12:55

Trump administration trying to buy some

12:57

temporary time trying to get you know

13:00

halt the rise in the price of oil and

13:02

gas at at uh in the United States. and

13:05

it's going to be a temporary relief, but

13:07

that's all it's just temporary. Uh, I

13:09

think what we're going to see is the the

13:11

the war will continue and the the

13:15

economic strangle hold that Iran has on

13:18

the world will continue and and they're

13:20

going to they're going to use it to

13:21

their advantage to force other countries

13:24

to come around to isolate Israel to

13:28

finally put pressure on Israel that

13:29

Israel is going to be forced to stop the

13:32

these murderous attacks on its

13:34

neighbors.

13:36

Are they uh have the Iranians

13:39

effectively

13:41

chased the United States military from

13:43

its permanent bases in the Middle East

13:46

>> from at least uh I think there were like

13:49

13 and I think 10 of them are now

13:51

abandoned. So there's still I I believe

13:54

there's still a US uh significant

13:57

presence at Aluded Air Force Base in

13:59

Qatar and that's a that's attributable

14:02

large measure because the Qataris have

14:04

been uh they've been fairly consiliatory

14:07

with uh with Iran. So Qatar and Oman

14:12

those two are seen as uh willing to

14:15

maintain steady relationships with uh

14:18

with Iran. uh Emirates, the United Arab

14:21

Emirates, Kuwait, Saudis, and Bahrain.

14:26

Uh the base at Bahrain, it's gone. Uh

14:29

Emirate, I don't think there are any

14:31

active bases remaining in the Emirates

14:34

either. They've been attacked. The

14:36

United States still has some presence at

14:38

I believe at Prince Solid just outside

14:41

of Riad, but they have been shifting

14:43

more to a farther base. K. Uh uh

14:48

the what is it? King I forget the name

14:51

of them. It's farther west in Saudi

14:54

Arabia. And then they're still at Mwafik

14:56

Salty in Jordan. So you know this is

15:00

this thing could kick off again. Uh uh I

15:03

do believe uh you know I'm told that the

15:07

US senior US military leaders they've

15:10

been telling their people

15:12

uh this prepare for a long war and

15:16

they're talking two years.

15:17

>> We're talking through fiscal year 2028.

15:20

>> You you've uh seen the 10 points. I've

15:23

been on air almost continuously since

15:25

7:30 this morning. So I haven't I

15:27

haven't seen them. But there there must

15:30

be relief from sanctions and secondary

15:34

sanctions in there. That is absolutely

15:37

key to the revitalization of Iran, which

15:40

again, President Trump, puts them in

15:43

much better shape than before the war,

15:46

just like their now control over Hormuz

15:49

does. Am I right, Larry?

15:50

>> Yeah. No, you're absolutely right. um

15:53

they've um you know the fir their first

15:56

one was uh that the the withdrawal of US

16:01

military the uh lifting of sanctions

16:05

immediately they're going to retain

16:06

control of uh uh of the straight of

16:10

Hormuz. So

16:13

>> and control means imposing a toll and

16:15

collecting it. It's still 2 million yuan

16:18

or the equivalent in real Chinese money,

16:22

Iranian money per tanker. Am I right?

16:26

>> Correct. Yeah. The the estimate is um

16:29

the that Iran will earn like $96 billion

16:34

a year from those fees.

16:38

So, um,

16:41

it's

16:42

>> is there anything else in those 10

16:44

points that, uh, Trump doesn't want to

16:46

talk about and the American people

16:48

should know about?

16:49

>> Well, what's interesting is, uh, the at

16:52

least the version I saw said nothing

16:54

about the enrichment of uranium and said

16:57

nothing about

16:59

ballistic missiles. That that was all

17:02

off. Uh so though that was not even an

17:05

item for discussion according from from

17:08

the standpoint of Iran. Um so they they

17:11

the Iranians are content that you know

17:13

they they genuinely believe that they

17:15

have largely destroyed the US military

17:18

infrastructure in the region. That's

17:19

true. U the you know we used to have the

17:22

fifth fleet there in Bahrain. It's it's

17:24

not going to be there anymore. Now the

17:26

US may try to negotiate with Oman to

17:28

establish a base on the Arabian Sea. So

17:33

outside of the the Persian Gulf, but um

17:38

for for right now, the United States

17:40

doesn't have an effective naval base in

17:42

the region. U the uh some of the uh army

17:47

uh uh bases that were there that have

17:50

been used as assembly points,

17:52

particularly up in Kuwait, used assembly

17:55

points when we invaded Iraq back in

17:57

2003. Uh those are those are shut down.

18:00

So, I think I think the US military

18:02

planners are looking they're going to

18:04

have to draw draw back to uh try to go

18:06

to Jordan, maybe some spots in Israel

18:08

and at Insurlic uh in uh Turkey.

18:12

>> Chris, can you put up uh again?

18:16

Now, here's what uh the president said

18:18

just a few hours ago. I'm not going to

18:20

read the whole thing, but I'll read the

18:21

part that's highlighted because the

18:24

Iranians disagree with this. There will

18:26

be no enrichment of uranium and the

18:28

United States will working with Iran dig

18:31

up and remove all the deeply buried B2

18:34

bombers nuclear dust. I'm going to ask

18:36

you in a minute what that is, Larry. It

18:38

is now and has been under very exacting

18:42

satellite surveillance space force. What

18:44

is he talking about?

18:46

>> No idea.

18:51

>> You mean nobody proofreads these things

18:53

before he posts them? Yeah, it's like,

18:55

you know, it's like that uh cartoon that

18:58

came out with Donald Trump laying on a

18:59

couch, psychiatrist sitting there and

19:02

saying, "No, Mr. President, these these

19:04

two Iranians you've been talking to, are

19:06

they here in the room with us now?"

19:08

>> Yeah.

19:09

>> You know, he he he's making stuff up

19:11

there. There's there's no commitment by

19:14

Iran on any of that whatsoever.

19:18

>> Wear your wear your military hat for me.

19:22

How poorly planned from a military

19:26

perspective was this? Isn't it a basic

19:29

principle of warfare that you don't

19:32

start a war unless you have clear

19:36

militarily achievable objectives?

19:41

Well, true. But now we've got 25 years

19:44

of history showing we do the exact

19:47

opposite. when we went into Afghanistan

19:51

in 2001 in the immediate aftermath of

19:53

the attacks on 911,

19:56

uh the sort of

19:59

immediate objective was to capture Bin

20:02

Laden, but then next thing you know,

20:03

we're were involved and embroiled in

20:06

some sort of regime change for 20 20

20:09

years and failed. Um the same thing with

20:12

Iraq. When we invaded Iraq in 2003, it

20:16

was uh okay, we're gonna get rid of

20:18

Saddam, then what? Oh, it will. And

20:21

believe me, this happened. It'll take

20:23

care of itself. Don't worry. Uh I I know

20:26

from a friend who was involved in 2006

20:29

when there were plans drawn up then to

20:32

invade Iran and to overthrow the regime,

20:36

the the uh the Islamic Republic in 2006.

20:41

And My friend again, he asked, "Okay, so

20:46

we take him out then what?" And the

20:47

answer was, "No, don't worry about it.

20:49

It'll work itself out." That's what

20:51

happened here. They were convinced that

20:53

all we got to do is we kill the top

20:55

level guys and then the people will rise

20:59

up and we'll have a genuine re

21:02

democratic republic and uh we'll put the

21:05

Shaw in.

21:06

>> Wow. And that I mean it really is uh the

21:10

lack of planning in that regard is

21:13

what's uh there's no strategic planning.

21:16

U the the military does a good job at

21:19

some of the tactical planning you know

21:21

and we and we saw that with the rescue

21:23

effort uh of that one pilot. But you

21:26

know sit down and calculate the cost of

21:28

that. We lost $480 million worth of

21:33

planes in trying to recover that one

21:36

man. And I'm not saying I'm not saying

21:38

he wasn't worth it, but that is the

21:41

largest loss of aircraft in a single day

21:45

or in a let's call it a 36-hour period

21:48

since the Vietnam War. Okay. So this

21:53

notion that boy, we're kicking ass and

21:55

taking names and those Iranians are on

21:57

the run is just delusional. Completely

22:00

delusional gaslighting.

22:02

>> How much longer before

22:05

uh Heg Seth Now I could ask this in two

22:08

ways. Is gone is indicted indicted for

22:13

attempted insider trading. These trades

22:15

he's been trying to make. His broker

22:17

stopped him from making one of them. is

22:20

gone because he sold Trump a bill of

22:22

goods that Trump now knows he shouldn't

22:23

have bought.

22:25

>> Well, um they may blame Hegsth. I still

22:28

I I I don't think this entire operation

22:31

was not jenned up by Heg Seth at all. He

22:33

was following orders and he and he was

22:36

trusting Trump. And boy, we've learn

22:39

we've learned much to our chagrin. You

22:41

don't trust Donald Trump. Uh he is not a

22:46

man of integrity. He is uh uh the

22:50

consumate narcissist that will serve

22:53

only himself. He never accepts any

22:56

responsibility for any failure. He

22:58

always looks to blame someone else. And

23:01

so in in this case um then I I think the

23:05

likely

23:07

events that are going to unfold is um

23:10

probably by the end of the week we'll be

23:11

back at a full-blown uh United States

23:14

bombing targets in Iran and Iran

23:17

continuing to destroy what's left of US

23:19

military infrastructure in the Persian

23:22

Gulf. particularly uh if if the United

23:25

States starts attacking the power

23:26

centers in Iran, then they're going to

23:29

turn the lights off in Saudi Arabia and

23:32

uh Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates

23:34

in particular. And

23:36

>> do

23:38

here's the same old song

23:41

from the vice president earlier today in

23:43

Budapest. He's in Budapest campaigning

23:45

for the reelection of Victor Orban.

23:47

Whatever you think of Orban, I don't

23:48

know how an American vice president that

23:51

only speaks English can campaign for an

23:54

uh somebody in Eastern Europe, but

23:56

that's what's going on. Um, according to

23:59

the New York Times,

24:01

he steadfastly opposed the war, but said

24:04

to the president, "I'm your vice

24:05

president. If you do it, I'll back you."

24:07

Chris number 18. The final point that

24:09

I'll say about this is the president of

24:11

the United States has told me and he's

24:13

told the entire negotiating team, the

24:15

secretary of state, the special envoy,

24:17

Steve Whitoff, he said go and work in

24:20

good faith to come to an agreement. That

24:22

is what he has told us to do. If the

24:24

Iranians are willing in good faith to

24:27

work with us, I think we can make an

24:29

agreement. If they're going to lie, if

24:31

they're going to cheat, if they're

24:32

trying going to try to um prevent even

24:36

the fragile truths that we've we've set

24:38

up from taking place, then they're not

24:40

going to be happy because what the

24:42

president has also shown is that we

24:44

still have clear military, diplomatic,

24:47

and maybe most importantly, we have

24:48

extraordinary economic leverage. So, the

24:51

president has told us not to use those

24:52

tools. He's told us to come to the

24:54

negotiating table. But if the Iranians

24:56

don't do the exact same thing, they're

24:58

going to find out that the president of

24:59

the United States is not one to mess

25:02

around. He's impatient. He's impatient

25:05

to make progress. He has told us to

25:07

negotiate in good faith. And I think if

25:08

they negotiate in good faith, we will be

25:10

able to find a deal. But that's a big

25:11

if. And ultimately, it's up to the

25:13

Iranians how they negotiate. I hope they

25:15

make the right decision.

25:18

>> How to interp interpret that.

25:20

>> Yeah. hearing hearing him talk about

25:22

good faith when the Iranians were the

25:24

ones ready to sit at the negotiating

25:26

table on March 2nd and the United States

25:29

launched a surprise attack that killed

25:33

not only upper upper leadership but

25:35

killed

25:37

175 young girls at a school targeted a

25:40

school murdering these young ladies

25:44

you know shame on shame on JD Vance I

25:47

I've I have lost all respect for the man

25:50

Yeah, he's he's not he's not possessed

25:53

of the same bizarre personality

25:55

disorders that afflict Donald Trump, but

25:58

but he's also not a a man with much

26:01

backbone, and he certainly is not a man

26:03

with some core ethical principles that

26:05

he stands up for.

26:07

>> You know, unless unless he's running for

26:09

president uh in 2028 as the sitting

26:13

incumbent president,

26:15

I don't see the Republicans even

26:17

nominating him. I think his political

26:18

career is over. Yeah. And I and this,

26:22

you know, that gets us into a whole

26:23

different, you know, level of the kind

26:25

of dynamics work in Washington. But but

26:28

this the notion that the United States

26:30

has enormous economic leverage over Iran

26:32

that we haven't used. Are you kidding

26:34

me?

26:35

>> You know, seriously, the the economic

26:38

leverage is held right there at the

26:40

Straight of Hormuz, and it's controlled

26:41

by Iran, not by us. And there's and so

26:44

what the again what we've seen is this

26:47

entire misadventure that the United

26:49

States launched by choice has exposed

26:53

the weakness of the American military.

26:56

Uh we can't get our ship we can't let

26:58

our ships get too close to shore because

26:59

they get attacked. Just you know the uh

27:02

the uh the landing ship. It looks like a

27:06

little helicopter. I think it's they

27:07

call a LH uh LHA uh landing landing

27:12

helicopter assault ship or amphibious

27:15

ship. Uh it got close to the Iranian

27:18

shore. It got attacked by missiles.

27:19

Their orders back off, back off. So we

27:22

can't get our ships in close. uh we've

27:24

limited what we can do with air power

27:26

and the the Iranians uh I believe with

27:30

the assistance of Russia and China are

27:33

increasing their their uh ability to

27:36

shoot our planes down and so they're the

27:39

the number of aircraft getting shot down

27:41

it's increasing it's not decreasing and

27:43

so that that's we've we've lost probably

27:46

over close to$2 billion dollars worth of

27:48

aircraft in just the last uh six weeks

27:52

so

27:53

>> you know it just it's exposed to the

27:54

limitations of what the United States

27:56

can do.

27:57

>> At the risk of uh interfering with your

28:00

appetite for lunch, here's JD Vance

28:04

again. This time on Russia and Ukraine

28:06

in the same interview, Chris number 16.

28:08

>> We've been disappointed by a lot of the

28:09

political leadership in Europe because

28:11

they don't seem particularly interested

28:12

in solving this this particular

28:14

conflict. And what the president has

28:16

said is we it's the hardest war to

28:19

solve. In some ways, we thought it would

28:21

be the easiest, but it has been the

28:23

hardest. We've been at it for now 14

28:25

months, and we're just going to keep on

28:26

working at it. Fundamentally, the war

28:28

has stopped making sense. What I would

28:30

say to both the Russians and the

28:31

Ukrainians is, you know, we're talking

28:34

about haggling at this point over a few

28:37

square kilometers of territory in one

28:39

direction or another. Is that worth

28:42

losing hundreds of thousands of

28:44

additional Russian and Ukrainian young

28:46

men? Is that worth an additional months

28:48

or even years of higher energy prices

28:50

and economic devastation? We think the

28:53

answer is clearly no. But it takes, you

28:55

know, two to tango. So while Victor and

28:57

President Trump are going to continue to

28:59

work towards a peaceful settlement,

29:00

fundamentally we can only open the door.

29:02

The Russians and the Ukrainians have to

29:04

walk through it.

29:07

>> They have the buffoonery. Yeah,

29:10

>> you know the Russia's Russia is in the

29:13

process of building up for uh I'll call

29:16

it its final offensive. Uh Ukraine

29:19

Ukraine is uh in retreat all along the

29:22

front and this thousandm front I might

29:25

add. Uh the the United States refuses to

29:29

accept responsibility for its own role

29:32

in prolonging this conflict. you know,

29:35

pull the money, pull the pull the CIA,

29:37

stop sharing intelligence right now. Do

29:39

it today. The there are so many things

29:42

the United States could do to if they

29:44

were serious about negotiation and

29:46

getting a diplomatic process underway

29:48

that many things that Trump could do

29:50

that he's refused to do. So, um, you

29:53

know, for starters, like say, hey, that

29:55

all that property that was illegally

29:57

seized in the United States by

30:00

Barack Obama back in December of 2016,

30:04

uh, 2016, we're returning that

30:06

immediately. That is yours. You know,

30:09

that's that's we're going on 10 years

30:10

almost. Uh, reopening direct flights

30:14

between US and Moscow, show that.

30:16

Unfreeze the assets, show that. But

30:19

United States has done none of that. And

30:20

so Russia can only conclude that the

30:23

United States is not serious about a

30:24

negotiated settlement and they're going

30:26

to they're going to win this militarily

30:28

and it's further will further fragment.

30:32

You know, NATO is not going to survive

30:33

this. That that's going to be one of the

30:35

ultimate casualties.

30:38

>> Oh, but according to General Petraeus,

30:41

Ukraine is outsmarting Russia. Watch

30:43

this. Number six, Chris. Over the last

30:45

two months, the Ukrainians have actually

30:47

made greater incremental gains than have

30:50

the Russians. And that's really quite

30:52

remarkable. And it's a tribute uh to

30:55

just not the sheer tenacity and

30:58

determination and expertise of the

31:01

soldiers on the front lines, although it

31:02

is very much that. It's really a tribute

31:06

to the extraordinary innovation that has

31:09

characterized what's going on in Ukraine

31:12

over the last two or three years in

31:14

particular uh when they've realized that

31:16

they cannot again outnumber or outgun uh

31:20

the Russians. So what they've done is is

31:24

outsmart them.

31:27

>> Surge work out general.

31:30

>> Yeah. having having David Petraeus use

31:34

words like smart is sort of a form of

31:37

comedy. Uh the irony that's implicit in

31:40

it because you know yeah he he was so

31:43

smart he was banging one of his uh uh

31:47

his biographer at the CIA headquarters

31:50

and allowing her to walk off with

31:52

classified information. That's that

31:54

listen with that kind of intelligence.

31:56

Holy smokes. You know that lights up the

31:59

world.

32:00

>> Yeah. Look, look, this again this is

32:03

part of the problem that people like

32:05

Petraeus by virtue of education and

32:08

experience should know better and and be

32:11

able to set back and provide an

32:13

objective a genuinely objective

32:16

assessment of saying okay how much

32:18

territory has uh Ukraine actually taken

32:20

back and the answer to that is none and

32:23

taken back and controlled none. Uh how

32:26

much territory have the Russians taken?

32:29

you know, they're they're advancing

32:30

hundreds of kilometers a week right now

32:33

across the front. Not inches, not not a

32:36

few meters, hundreds of kilometers ac

32:40

kilometers across the front. So it's

32:43

just, you know, once a society divorces

32:47

itself from reality and and just not

32:50

only indulges in lies, but rewards liars

32:54

and and and puts the liars at the

32:56

forefront. Uh you know, our our

32:58

country's lost at that point.

33:01

>> Larry, thank you very much. Uh you're

33:03

doing triple uh duty this week. Uh much

33:07

appreciated. and I know you're much in

33:09

demand today and anybody that's been

33:10

watching knows why. We'll look forward

33:12

to seeing you Friday on the intelligence

33:15

community roundt. All the best my dear

33:17

friend.

33:17

>> Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity

33:20

judge. See you Friday.

33:21

>> Of course. Uh a dear friend and a great

33:24

man, an expert on so many of these

33:27

things. Uh still to come at 1:00 today,

33:30

Pepe Escobar at 2:00 this afternoon.

33:34

Professor Glenn Diesen at 3:00 this

33:37

afternoon. the great Phil Gerald. They

33:39

judge Nalano for judging for you.

——

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Investigative historian Eric Zuesse’s latest book, AMERICA’S EMPIRE OF EVIL: Hitler’s Posthumous Victory, and Why the Social Sciences Need to Change, is about how America took over the world after World War II in order to enslave it to U.S.-and-allied billionaires. Their cartels extract the world’s wealth by control of not only their ‘news’ media but the social ‘sciences’ — duping the public.