I hate to admit this but Trump was right.
He said that if I vote for Kamala Harris gas prices, groceries prices and my utility bills will go through the roof.
I voted for Harris and my gas, groceries and utility bills have gone through the roof.
Hassett: "The thing I've seen is that while people have been spending more money at gas stations, they've been spending more money on everything else, which means they're still very very optimistic about the state of the economy"
(Consumer sentiment is actually at an all time low ... )
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will "intensify" strikes in Lebanon: "We are not taking our foot off the gas." abcnews.link/hOC8W9r
From East Greenwich’s Memorial Day service to the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Exeter, the rain held off and I spent Memorial Day honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. 🇺🇸
From a senior administration official re: Iran:
- This MOU framework gives us 60 days to reach final deal points that will deliver on President Trump's priorities and ensure the United States and the region are safer and more prosperous going forward.
- The president has consistently said the Iranians cannot have a nuclear weapon. This MOU commits them to that.
- It commits the Iranians to giving up the nuclear dust and working out the mechanism for that will be part of us talking with the Iranians over the next 60 days.
- It gets the Strait of Hormuz de-mined and back open for business.
- It brings relief to American families at the pump. The President fought this war to protect American security and American prosperity, and this MOU delivers on both.
- The important part of how this is structured is, if Iran doesn't perform, they don't get anything. No dust? No dollars. As the Strait opens, the blockade loosens proportionately. This is "trust but verify" on steroids.
- Unlike past agreements where America paid Iran upfront and hoped they'd comply, this MOU is structured so Iran gets nothing until they deliver. That's the difference between a dealmaker and a hostage payer.
- The region is uniting behind the United States under President Trump's leadership. There's no way this could have happened without the entire region uniting behind it.
- As a result, we're on a path for this to be the President's second time reshaping the Middle East. It started with the Abraham Accords, this is the Abraham Accords Plus. Everyone's talking now. More economic normalization agreements are possible. This could be just the beginning.
- The MOU ensures we and our allies -- and the Iranians and their proxies -- cease fighting across the region. It also guarantees Israel's right to act against imminent threats. They, as we all do, have a right to self defense.
- President Trump has been a master of expanding optionality throughout this process. And now there are unlimited options for the region to spread peace and prosperity like never before.
🚨After receiving a briefing from a Senior TRUMP Administration Official on the status of the Iran negotiations (someone in the know & not just speculating), I can tell you the following:
-USA IS NOT GIVING IRANIANS MONEY FOR NOTHING. All speculation and propaganda to the contrary is false. Some hardline elements of Iran’s govt (IRGC) have pushed fake stories & propaganda to try to kill this negotiation.
-Iran deal is NOT done (95%, but still haggling over some language). No deal being signed today. May be a few more days before this is done.
-Iran will NOT get any money or sanctions relief up front.
-Iran must turn over nuclear stockpile to get anything. USA position is that failure to meet deal commitments means Iran gets nothing.
-Long term USA objective is preventing Iran from having nuclear weapon.
-Initial deal point is to re-establish free flow of commerce by reopening Strait of Hormuz.
Deal should have 2 phases:
Step 1 - Open Strait of Hormuz. Give world economy breathing room. Iran agrees to give up enriched uranium.
Step 2 - Get the nuclear material turned over. Only then can Iran get sanctions relief.
Bottom line: goal is to make a deal that lowers costs for Americans, calms world energy markets, and guarantees that Iranians cannot have a nuclear weapon over the long term. We aren’t there yet. Iran takes forever to get you a response on even small things. But we are close although it still could be a few days.
“If we get what we are demanding, this is going to be a historic deal,” SAO says.
SAO sounds prepared to do no deal at all if all Iran will do is a “bad deal.” SAO admits deal could fall apart yet. But if a deal is reached, SAO expects very senior USA admin officials to take part in a signing ceremony of some sort.
Iran has agreed in principle to the framework but there are still a couple points USA isn’t satisfied with. 95% done. But literally changing words sometimes requires days in Iran’s system. Haggling over language. But USA feels like we have a commitment on nuclear stockpile and on opening Strait of Hormuz.
If IRAN doesn’t deliver on commitments, they get nothing.
“Iran’s ability to project power is a lot more limited than it was two months ago,” SAO says. “Their industrial base for building ballistic missiles has been substantially destroyed.”
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the DHS Inspector General just opened an audit into a $38 billion warehouse-to-detention scheme that Kristi Noem and her top adviser Corey Lewandowski rammed through.
ICE bought 11 vacant warehouses in a matter of months, paying 11 to 13 percent above market value.
The properties weren’t even zoned for detention. No working plumbing for thousands of detainees. But Noem and Lewandowski pressured ICE to open them by year’s end anyway.
The result? At least $1 billion already spent on nine facilities. Nearly 50 contractors paid $1.7 billion since Trump took office.
Companies with zero immigration detention experience suddenly winning massive federal contracts.
One firm that didn’t even exist until June 2024 got a $6 million DHS contract this January.
Noem is gone.
Lewandowski is gone.
But the bill is still landing on the taxpayer, and the IG investigation is just getting started.
Accountability cannot end when the perpetrators walk out the door.
Every contract needs scrutiny.
Every dollar needs to be traced.
Every official who steered money to inexperienced contractors needs to answer under oath.
wsj.com/politics/polic…
A marathon championship game and we'll play another.
@VCUBaseball wins from the consolation bracket, and we'll need a second championship game.
We'll conclude the #A10BASE championship SUNDAY at Noon.