Nick Stone

The UK is doing a lot internationally and with Europe via the coalition of the willing re Iran. Yet the timing of these comms from the PM/No10 are terrible

Perfectly timed for Vance’s visit to Budapest. Top work for whatever intelligence service did this. Presumably not the NSA this time

Side point to this: if the last few years have shown us anything it’s that large nations with populations that don’t want to be destroyed are hard to “defeat” in the way Trump is talking about, especially with airstrikes alone. Feels like his options are bed in for years or TACO

There are three year olds with more comprehension of other people than the US President - in fact I'd argue the majority of three year olds have a higher cognitive state than the President of the United States.

No. Absolutely to be rejected is the idea that a country can never atone for a malignant individual leader who turns into a mass murderer.

He's going to back down again, in the way he always does when he ramps up the rhetoric to hysterical levels. But the rhetoric is enough. This man is in charge of the world's largest nuclear arsenal, and he's clearly mentally unstable. What are US lawmakers actually waiting for.

JD Vance, standing next to Orban, criticises the EU for interfering in elections. Irony is dead.

This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen

Bit disappointed that so few UK folk bring up Vietnam in response to Trump's jibes about the UK not supporting him over Iran. Not least as Trump and the UK have in common that we both avoided the war there.

There are lots of things in this presser that suggest Trump is totally out of control, but the suggestion here, given his other comments on the Kurds, is astonishing

Not sure about the new head of ICE

The White House wonders why Europe won’t rally behind America in Iran. Maybe start by asking why your Vice President is flying to Budapest to have a warm chat with Viktor Orban, the man running a Russian influence operation from inside NATO’s borders. While Europe has been bleeding money and weapons to stop Russian aggression, Hungary has been blocking NATO decisions, sheltering Russian intelligence, and doing Moscow’s diplomatic dirty work at every turn. Orban isn’t America’s friend. He’s Putin’s man in Brussels. And JD Vance calls him a “good friend.” Europe is supposed to line up behind a war that had no plan for day two, no strategy for the Strait of Hormuz, and no consultation with allies beyond Israel. A war that has already sent oil past $100 a barrel and left one of America’s most powerful warships reportedly retreating toward the Indian Ocean. You don’t get to lecture Europe about loyalty while embracing the man working to destroy the alliance from within, and then demand backup for a war you started without asking anyone. Gandalv / @Microinteracti1

It’s almost like Trump doesn’t actually understand global trade … Trump's shipping waiver does not boost oil flows within US - reuters.com/business/energ…

This press conference is possibly the most unhinged Trump I’ve ever seen

NATO isn’t fraying because Europe won’t spend enough. It’s fraying because much of the MAGA right no longer see Europe as the same civilisation. My latest on a relationship possibly destined to become ever more distant, whatever Starmer and European leaders do now. substack.com/home/post/p-19…

👀 Blimey @energy_said (one of the smartest energy analysts around) calculates that if oil continues to be disrupted as it is today it "would push prices upwards by $1/bbl per day, until prices surpassed $250/bbl, while almost zeroing global GDP growth." Totally catastrophic.

6 Over 47 years the Islamic Republic has made only two major compromises. The first was its 1988 decision to end the Iran-Iraq war--after eight years and an estimated 200K Iranian deaths--a concession Khomeini likened to drinking poison. The second was Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal.

NEW WOLRD ORDER 🇨🇳 🇺🇸 While no one was looking China has DUMPED U.S. treasuries to levels not seen since the 2008 financial crisis. They’ve HALVED their holdings from $1.3T to $650B. At the same time they have been super-accumulating the lifeblood of the NEW system… Gold.

Trump’s use of profanity (“Fuckin’ Strait”) and aggressive insults (“crazy bastards”) in this post, alongside the sarcasm or taunting in his closing phrase, “Praise be to Allah,” may be seen by his critics not merely as a lapse in executive restraint and impulse control, but as indicative of diminished judgment at a moment when his war on Iran is holding the world economy hostage.

Passengers forced to stand for hours on regional trains in Victoria as free tickets supercharge long weekend demand. theguardian.com/australia-news…