That didn’t take long. Already Trump showed that hopes for a new deal with Iran were the complete non-starter that I wrote about yesterday.
Trump is “skeptical” Iran will agree to his demands and has told aides it is “likely” the US military restarts airstrikes after the November contests, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing US officials.
Of course they won’t. The only deal Iran put on the table was that the war could stop so long as he agreed to all of their demands.
Trump also trolled Iran on Friday night, sharing a map of the Persian Gulf region on Truth Social with the Strait of Hormuz circled and labeled “Trump Strait.”
What? Not even the Strait of America?
That is how empty the hopes that raised stocks yesterday and lowered the price of oil were the whole time. For one thing, it was obvious Iran was not going to actually negotiate on anything when …
In his speech at the United Nations General Assembly earlier this week, Trump warned that with peace negotiations stalled, he could choose to “annihilate” Iran.
It sounds like Trump has finally torn a page from the Iranian playbook:
The official noted that Trump was content to allow the “inevitable Iranian collapse” play out rather than be “played” by the regime.
So, watch those oil prices and fuel prices continue to climb through the election and beyond because no one is backing down. The only ones who couldn’t see that coming were the very people—or entities—that set the speculative price of oil in the oil casino. Seemingly, no one knows less about oil prices than they do. Their ignorance is stunning. There are probably a lot fewer brains than chips making those bets. Chips, or if human, chumps.
US officials have conveyed to Iran that Trump has “no intention” of lifting the naval blockade, according to the Wall Street Journal.
All Iran offered was, “Humiliate yourself completely and kiss our sandals, and we’ll open the strait.”
While stock innvestors still refused to get any sense in their heads today, Adam Taggart and his guest, Michael Libowitz, warn that the lunatic stock market is looking like it is finally starting to crack up by internal measures as stupidity and greed crumble away beneath the surface under fear—the great realizer.
“I believe that the credit markets are dumber than they’ve ever been.”
Nick Nemeth (in the video posted below)
Meanwhile, Trump is readying the US military for its next adventure … in Cuba. (Details can be found in the headlines below.) Not to worry, though, because he’s also announced a new military division—a new “AI Force” similar to how he created the Space Force.
“We will not in any way hinder or stifle the Growth of this incredible Industry. Rather, we will cherish it, help it, and watch over it, as it grows!”
Sounds like Operation Warp Speed for AI development, similar to his development policies for the Covid vaccines. What could go wrong with another full-speed-ahead with nothing to hinder growth? I suppose he will do as he did with Covid and also order his pocket politicians in congress to approve total indemnity for AI companies for any damages their AIs cause with their advice. It will be legally safer for an AI giving malevolent advice than for a stock broker giving negligent advice.
Scott Bessent refers to Trump as “the AI czar.” It’s not hard to see how an AI system will help empower him to be more of the czar he intends to be. (See the AI article below.)
