This is funny… Trump admin spent the last year calling nato chumps and losers, saying he’ll take Greenland and they can’t stop him, and now begging for their help

https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/trump-calls-uk-to-send-ships-strait-hormuz-5HjdWL4_2/

I think game theory wise they would be best to work with nato-ex-Trump and UN to negotiate with Iran for a cessation, and pin any military conflict on Trump, while bolstering institutions. Show the world that diplomacy and cooperations can beat military conflict.

3/14/2026 6:18:16 PM

And they're likely going to have to help because of the downstream effects of having the Strait closed

3/14/2026 6:34:59 PM

F1 cancels their Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grand Prix

I’m sure the Saudis aren’t happy about this

3/14/2026 8:29:40 PM

They haven't been

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/26/1088975885/saudi-arabia-formula-one-f1-race-houthi-attack

3/14/2026 9:13:09 PM

French say no

Quote :

" “Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat,” he continued, in what appeared to be a veiled plea for help from America’s allies. French Response, the official X account of the French government’s foreign office, was quick to clarify that they would not be sending Trump’s requested ships. “No. The [French] aircraft carrier strike group remains in the Eastern Mediterranean. France’s posture is unchanged: Defensive. Protective,” the diplomatic outlet wrote. “Stop the scaremongering.” The official French Foreign Office account has denied that the country will be sending military support. The official French Foreign Office account has denied that the country will be sending military support. X The account repeated the message to multiple posts on X that had claimed France would be deploying warships to the Middle East."

^ that’s from 2022?

[Edited on March 14, 2026 at 10:45 PM. Reason : ]

3/14/2026 10:44:32 PM

2022 is the point. Iran has been an active threat to KSA and everybody else for decades.

3/15/2026 12:07:08 AM

Oh I thought you were saying the races aren’t cancelled

3/15/2026 1:19:11 AM

Good for France and Italy who seem to be reluctant to join in this shitshow

Just futher evidence of the collapse of US soft power.

3/15/2026 8:07:00 AM

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/14/trump-iran-war-fcc-chair-carr-broadcasters.html

This along with the total dumpster fire that is the Pentagon press corps seems totally normal and fine.

3/15/2026 11:43:56 AM

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5782562-hegeseth-criticizes-cnn-iran/amp/

Quote :

"“Fake news from CNN reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war’s impact on the Strait of Hormuz. Patently ridiculous, of course. For decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is always what they do, hold the strait hostage,” Hegseth said during the press briefing at the Pentagon. “CNN doesn’t think we thought of that. It’s a fundamentally unserious report. The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better,” Hegseth, a former Fox News host, told reporters. "

Translation: Soon CBS, Fox News, and CNN will be state sponsored propaganda

3/15/2026 11:54:56 AM

Nyt has a long comprehensive article now of the current state. Giving the impression of a stalemate and that trump is a lapdog of MBS. Jared Kushner is traipsing around both representing the USA and seeking investment from the Saudis for his personal business. Easily the most corrupt thing I’ve ever seen in politics in my lifetime.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/15/us/politics/trump-stark-choices-iran-war.html

Seems all very bad, and barely any impact on China beyond a nuisance disruption in their oil imports

3/16/2026 12:26:40 AM

Correct!

In the region, Israel and KSA probably have the most to gain from this and both with continue to exploit/bribe this administration to get what they want.

Outside of that, Russia and China are clearly benefiting from the US losing soft power, destabilizing NATO, and the US just expending a ton of munitions. Hell, we already removed our THAAD batteries from Korea for this.

3/16/2026 8:31:49 AM

Bloomberg being pointed

Quote :

" Trump pivoted sharply over the weekend to calling for other countries to join the fray to reopen the strait - a possibility seen in those capitals as ranging from questionable to fanciful. From his Florida golf course, Trump sent a string of mixed messages on social media, calling for support in a war he's said repeatedly he's won, and for help in a strait his administration has insisted remains open. He claimed Saturday that Iran wanted a deal, which Iran dismissed. "

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-15/trump-leaves-allies-and-foes-guessing-on-his-endgame-for-iran

3/16/2026 10:05:51 AM

This whole endeavor has seemed like simply throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks

3/16/2026 10:09:22 AM

New supreme leader = ghey?

https://nypost.com/2026/03/16/us-news/trump-briefed-that-irans-new-supreme-leader-mojtaba-khamenei-is-probably-gay/

3/16/2026 10:54:10 AM

DEI hire

3/16/2026 10:55:43 AM

So what is stopping China from going after Taiwan now? It seems like if we don’t have the capacity to keep the Straight of Hormuz open, we certainly don’t have the capacity to protect Taiwan in any way.

3/16/2026 11:09:55 AM

china wants to occupy taiwan, which it's not clear they have the capacity to do.

we just don't have the capacity (atm) to prevent the IRGC from sending a few drones here and there into the strait to terrorize merchant ships

[Edited on March 16, 2026 at 11:32 AM. Reason : i think trump is gonna try to make a deal with china in the end. y'all ready for 20M new Americans?]

3/16/2026 11:30:43 AM

Getting tired of this guy and his "deals".

Has anyone told the administration that Taiwanese don't meet the conventional definition of white?

3/16/2026 1:08:37 PM

Quote :

" President Trump has threatened to postpone a long-planned summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as he called on China to send warships to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, casting a new shadow over the relationship between the world’s two biggest economies. Mr. Trump told the Financial Times on Sunday that he “may delay” the meeting, which is expected to start on March 31 in Beijing, if China does not answer his demand to help reopen the strait to shipping in the next two weeks. Mr. Trump said that waiting until the summit for an answer may be too long. “We’d like to know before that,” he said. "

3/16/2026 1:17:38 PM

Sec Bessent(sp?) walked that back today. I still don't see meeting happening with war going on though

3/16/2026 1:38:11 PM

It'll happen right after infrastructure week

3/16/2026 1:38:36 PM

BBC has some good reporting from inside Tehran— IRGC is working hard to suppress protests

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clygdwqw5dvo

Quote :

" Iranian police have arrested a person in southern Fars Province over allegedly setting up a network to sell "unfiltered" internet via Starlink, according to a report by semi-official Mehr News Agency on 12 March. Deputy Commander of the Fars Province Police has said that a 37-year-old man who had "set up a network across several provinces of the country to sell unfiltered internet via Starlink has been arrested" and added that a "Starlink device and related equipment were discovered at the suspect's hideout". "

[Edited on March 16, 2026 at 2:03 PM. Reason : ]

3/16/2026 2:01:47 PM

^^^^

Quote :

"President Trump said the U.S. had asked to delay a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping that had been expected to begin later this month in Beijing. “Because of the war, I want to be here. I have to be here. So we've requested that we delay it a month or so,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. He added: “It's very simple. We’ve got a war going on,” citing the ongoing war in Iran. The president had been expected to travel to Beijing March 31 to April 2. “So it could be that we delayed a little bit, not much,” Trump said. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment."

3/16/2026 5:11:19 PM

How long before we hear Chinas side of the story where they canceled the talk because of some Trump demand

3/16/2026 5:19:43 PM

Yet he's been playing golf several times during the war so far

3/16/2026 5:22:20 PM

I’m legit worried on who’s running this whole thing. If it’s Israel then who’s looking out for Americas interests. If it’s some deep state group how is Congress managing this

Quote :

" Trump on Iran: "They want to make a deal. They are talking to our people." 3 minutes later: "We don't even know their leaders. All their leaders are dead. We don't even know who we are dealing with... We have people wanting to negotiate. We have no idea who they are." "

3/16/2026 8:02:48 PM

^^^^i was told repeatedly that this wasn’t a war

3/16/2026 8:26:34 PM

https://apnews.com/article/trump-iran-war-kent-resignation-e2e17a76d79617a68370f076c0291208

Quote :

"WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation on Tuesday, saying he “cannot in good conscience” back the Trump administration’s war in Iran. Kent said on social media Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”"

Amazing

[Edited on March 17, 2026 at 10:06 AM. Reason : Quote]

3/17/2026 10:05:12 AM

bleh

dude’s a white nationalist who also appears to be antisemitic

https://bsky.app/profile/joelhs.bsky.social/post/3mhb5vnqmec22

Quote :

"In this resignation letter, not only does Joe Kent blame "Israel and its powerful American lobby" (read: Jews) for the Iran War, he finds a way to blame them for George W. Bush's Iraq War, too. This is the worst kind of conspiratorial antisemitism to avoid taking accountability for what Trump did."

3/17/2026 10:22:37 AM

Oh yeah, dude is a piece of shit and only for confirmed on party lines, but it shows the continue level of dysfunction in the Trump 2.0 administration, especially in matters relating to this war.

It doesn't help that Rubio publicly admitted we only attacked because we knew Israel was going to attack though

3/17/2026 10:26:14 AM

Quote :

" Chief Policy Officer, J Street. Former Mideast Advisor to Vice President Harris and Director of Jewish Outreach on the Harris-Walz campaign: Ilan Goldenberg O @ilangoldenberg Three weeks into the war with Iran, a number of observations as someone who spent years war-gaming this scenario. 1. The U.S. and Israel may have produced regime transition in the worst possible way. Ali Khamenei was 86 and had survived multiple bouts of prostate cancer. His death in the coming years would likely have triggered a real internal reckoning in Iran, potentially opening the door to somewhat more pragmatic leadership, especially after the protests and crackdown last month. Instead, the regime made its most consequential decision under existential external threat giving the hardliners a clear upperhand. Now we appear to have a successor who is 30 years younger, deeply tied to the IRGC, and radicalized by the war itself - including the killing of family members. Disastrous. "

https://bsky.app/profile/gtconway.bsky.social/post/3mhbfg7csvs2p

Basically waiting for the 86 year old cancer patient to die while applying constant diplomatic pressure would have been better

3/17/2026 2:28:28 PM

https://apnews.com/article/iran-iraq-us-israel-trump-march-17-2026-35d15d7cbcfa65fd7d180c28d38e7f31

The basij leader responsible for all the protestor murders in January was killed— this is apparently like the IRGC’s ICE

3/17/2026 4:45:52 PM

Quote :

" Net-Support for the Iranian War: All: -23% GOP: +58% IND: -39% DEM: -83% 18-29: -42% 30-44: -32% 45-64: -13% 65+: -9% Read it for free here: https://usapolling.substack.com/p/americans-turn-against-iran-war-as "

3/18/2026 4:15:03 PM

https://x.com/Villgecrazylady/status/2034048917768196402

"What would you say to Trump about the Iran situation?"

3/18/2026 4:56:05 PM

"I'm posting this, but no it will not lead me to any personal introspection"

3/18/2026 8:15:47 PM

https://wapo.st/4bsvzfG

Quote :

"Pentagon seeks more than $200 billion in budget request for Iran war"

Really wish Iran would have went like Venezuela

3/18/2026 8:32:05 PM

Quote :

" @Daractenus X.com the president of the United States is now simultaneously claiming that he has won the war, is currently winning the war, needs help to win the war, and needs no help to win the war. All to destroy the nuclear program he claims to have already destroyed last year. "

3/18/2026 9:25:03 PM

Quote :

" Buttigieg: “Trump thought he could get a better deal than Obama did — he failed to get a better deal & he launched a war without planning, without being ready for even some of the most basic things — the military advised him that the Straits of Hormuz would be closed — this is clearly amateur hour” "

3/18/2026 9:40:08 PM

Gg Israel, attacking Iranian oil infrastructure without informing allies (allegedly) which caused Iran to retaliate against Qatari ones.

3/18/2026 10:37:57 PM

^Per wsj:

Quote :

"Trump Wants No More Energy Strikes, But Supported Attack On South Pars By Alexander Ward President Trump wants no more strikes on Iranian energy sites after Israel's Wednesday attack on a vital Iranian gas field, U.S. officials said. Trump, who knew about the Israeli strike on South Pars in advance, supported it as a message to Tehran over its block of the Strait of Hormuz. The president believes Iran got the message and is now against attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure, the officials said. But Trump could once again be open to targeting more Iranian energy facilities depending on Tehran's future actions in the strategic waterway, the officials said."

3/18/2026 10:50:50 PM

Frickin 8D chess here, folks

3/18/2026 11:37:30 PM

Who in trumps orbit stops him from using a nuke? I think only Rubio would even try

Vance and Hegseth wouldn’t care. Gabbard isn’t even relevant.

3/18/2026 11:54:48 PM

Israel seems like they want to bring Iran to its knees using any method at their disposal. I don’t think they care about the general world economy here. They see Iran as a threat to their existence and will do whatever they deem necessary. I mean have you guys seen what’s left of Gaza? They seem to want the same thing for Iran and don’t really care who gets hurt in the process.

3/19/2026 7:36:38 AM

Iran is ~4500 times larger than Gaza by land area.

3/19/2026 8:04:39 AM

Which is why I don't discount a nuclear option being on the table for Israel

"We had to, it was either us or them"

[Edited on March 19, 2026 at 9:24 AM. Reason : sadaasd;]

3/19/2026 9:23:56 AM

^ Same. They seem very willing to just act now and deal with any consequences later

I’m shocked at how brazen they are toying with lives, there seems to be zero visible concern for the people being harmed by this.

Quote :

" Exclusive: Iran attack wipes out 17% of Qatar’s LNG capacity for up to five years, QatarEnergy CEO says https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/iran-attack-damage-wipes-out-17-qatars-lng-capacity-three-five-years-qatarenergy-2026-03-19/ "

Meanwhile trump admin is killing solar and wind projects that make lng less relevant

[Edited on March 19, 2026 at 10:59 AM. Reason : ]

3/19/2026 10:58:59 AM

Also, it looks like Iran is NOT backing down from their brutal crackdown on protests, so it’s obvious the current regime - whoever that is at the moment, is not willing to back down. They just executed a 19 year old athlete who was protesting.

3/19/2026 11:50:02 AM

Not directly Iran related but plane nerds have been saying for years f35 is over the horizon and untouchable by countries like Iran, but it’s being reported they touched one

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/19/politics/f-35-damage-iran-war

3/19/2026 1:17:40 PM

I don't think real experts ever said that? Stealth doesn't mean invincible and you can just get a lucky hit (look at the F-117 that was brought down)

3/19/2026 1:22:16 PM