Zeitgeist

For those in the American media—and in Iran—who struggle to read the president, here’s a translation into your language of his latest statement: “Dear IRGC leaders: The United States military just extracted a single American, alive, from inside your territory. Not one American life was lost in the process. Take that as a demonstration. We can concentrate overwhelming firepower anywhere in your country. We can go where we want and do what we want, and there is very little you can do to stop us. Your one remaining card is your ability to strike civilian infrastructure in the Gulf—countries that once tried to restrain me. That card no longer works. Your terror attacks have turned them from hesitant partners into supporters of your defeat. And I refuse to be deterred by this terror tactic. If we can pull a pilot off a mountaintop, we can send forces to seize uranium and destroy your underground missile complexes. I am prepared to do all that if I have no choice. But to do it without losing American lives, I must first take down dual-use infrastructure—bridges, power plants, energy grids. That will set your country back decades. So let’s be clear. Cut a deal on uranium, missiles, and proxies. Stop attacking Gulf states and Israel. Open the Strait to international shipping. If you don’t, we will act with overwhelming force to protect our interests. Thank you for your attention to this matter. —DJT”

BREAKING: An Iranian suicide drone struck a U.S. CH-47 Chinook helicopter on an airfield in Kuwait yesterday