WTF Is Going on With Trump’s Iran Deal and Naval Blockade?

Donald Trump said he will make a “final determination” regarding Iran, in a strange announcement Friday that laid out his ideals for a potential peace plan.

The pitch requires Iran to “never” have a nuclear weapon and demands the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz with “no tolls” and the termination or removal of “all water mines.”

“Ships caught in the Strait due to our amazing and unprecedented Naval Blockade, which will now be lifted, may start the process of ‘heading home!’ Say HELLO to your wives, husbands, parents, and families from me, your favorite President!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The president also demanded that any and all enriched uranium—which he referred to as “nuclear dust”—in Iran be extracted by the United States under the supervision of the Islamic Republic and the International Atomic Energy Agency. It would then be destroyed.

He shared that he was entering into the Situation Room in order to make a “final determination” on the matter. It was not immediately clear if Tehran had agreed to Trump’s stipulations.

It was also not clear if any of Trump’s make-or-break items had already been included in the preliminary agreement drafted this week.

“No money will be exchanged, until further notice. Other items, of far less importance, have been agreed to,” Trump noted in his post.

The U.S. and Israel have been at war with Iran since late February. The conflict is currently in its thirteenth week and has seen several potential peace deals thwarted by miscommunications and ceasefire violations.

Earlier this week, U.S. forces attacked Iranian boats and missile launch sites, violating the ceasefire mere hours after Iranian officials arrived in Qatar for discussions to end the war. The boats were reportedly attempting to lay more mines along the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. and Iran have talked more since, and a deal is closer to gaining approval from both sides, though there are several details that still have to be ironed out, The New York Times reported Thursday.

It seems that Texas Senator John Cornyn may have finally learned not to trust Donald Trump—but it’s a little late for that.

Cornyn turned to social media Friday to share an “old, but apt fable” that appeared to reflect Trump’s sudden betrayal that led to the senior senator’s defeat in the Texas GOP Senate primary.

“A scorpion wants to cross a river but cannot swim, so it asks a frog to carry it across,” Cornyn wrote. “The frog hesitates, afraid that the scorpion might sting it, but the scorpion promises not to, pointing out that it would drown if it killed the frog in the middle of the river. The frog considers this argument sensible and agrees to transport the scorpion. Midway across the river, the scorpion stings the frog anyway, dooming them both. The dying frog asks the scorpion why it stung despite knowing the consequence, to which the scorpion replies: ‘I am sorry, but I couldn’t help myself. It’s my character.’”

It seems clear that Trump (the scorpion) stung Cornyn (the frog). Or maybe, the frog is the entire Republican Party, which will now struggle to mount an effort on behalf of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who cheated on his wife, was impeached by his own party on corruption charges, and illegally targeted his donor’s enemies as state attorney general, among other transgressions.

Trump has explained his stinging defection from Cornyn was a result of the senator’s “disloyalty,” but it’s Trump who has turned on his own party, claiming he doesn’t care about midterms anyway.

As The Bulwark’s Will Saletan pointed out to Cornyn: “The reason they wrote these fables is so you’d learn them as a child, not when you’re 74.”

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi threw acting Attorney General Todd Blanche under the bus during her closed-door testimony with the House Oversight Committee on Friday, stating that she “delegated oversight” over the disastrous release of the Epstein files to him.

“These investigations span FOUR administrations … The only time federal prosecutors were permitted to launch investigations against Epstein and Maxwell was when President Trump occupied the White House. Only under President Trump were 3 million Epstein-related documents released,” Bondi said in her prepared opening statement. “This was an enormously complicated and labor-intensive process. To the best of my knowledge, the Department produced everything required under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.”

“As the head of a large Department with broad responsibilities, I did not lead every aspect of this effort or conduct that document review myself. I delegated oversight over this process to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche,” Bondi continued, making sure to place as much possible blame on the man who replaced her after she was fired in April. “The team of professionals who reviewed all of the materials that we collected assured me the only materials that were withheld were either non-responsive, privileged, or duplicative. Although not required by the Act, the Department has given Congress access to unredacted, duplicative materials in the Reading Room in an effort at maximum transparency.”

Bondi’s assertion that the DOJ abided by the Epstein Transparency Act has been widely contested, as the department has withheld and heavily redacted thousands of files. Bondi admitted to the omissions herself, saying that there were “redaction errors.”

The DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files has been marked with nothing but chaos—from the moment Bondi backtracked on her own claim that she had a client list “sitting on [her] desk right now,” to when she paraded MAGA influencers around for a photo-op with big white binders labeled “The Epstein Files: PHASE 1,” to when the department released a bunch of blacked out files and told the MAGA base that there was nothing further incriminating at all.

Democratic Representative Robert Garcia called out Republicans on the House Oversight Committee for how they’re handling former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s testimony Friday.

Outside of the room where she is testifying, Garcia, the committee’s ranking member, pointed out that she was not sworn in under oath before her closed-door testimony, which is also not being videotaped.

“I just want to be very clear that we continue to be incredibly disappointed of the decision to not have this interview videotaped and then released to the American public. The second thing we asked [committee Chairman James Comer] is to ensure that this interview is under oath,” Garcia told reporters. “It should have been under oath, and it should be videotaped.”

Garcia said that he and other Democrats want to know why only 50 percent of the Jeffrey Epstein files have been released by the Department of Justice, why many of Epstein’s survivors were put in danger by the information that was released, and why “this continues to be some type of cover-up.”

It’s shocking that Bondi’s testimony, which was actually compelled by a congressional subpoena supported by both Democrats and Republicans, would neither be under oath nor videotaped for later release. Bondi’s testimony is only coming after she attempted to argue that the subpoena didn’t apply after she was fired as attorney general, leading Democrats to file contempt of Congress charges against her.

Comer has deliberately overhauled the committee’s hearing process to kill the Epstein investigation, removing the oath requirement as well as transparency measures. These changes have given Bondi an opportunity to escape accountability for how the DOJ has mishandled both the Epstein files and any follow-up investigations.

Representative Frederica Wilson is, actually, tapping out of her midterm race.

The 83-year-old Democrat announced Friday that her time representing Florida’s 24th congressional district will come to an end after her current term. In a sit-down interview with the Miami Herald, Wilson explained that while she’s decided not to run for reelection, she’s also not ready to retire.

“I think it’s time,” Wilson told the south Florida paper, explaining that she stayed in her position as long as she did in order to assist the 5000 Role Models program, a mentorship program she created for Black and brown boys in 1993.

Wilson disappeared for four weeks without explanation last month, missing 40 House votes in the process while sparking concerns among her constituents about the state of Wilson’s health. Earlier this month, the cowboy hat–wearing lawmaker revealed to WPLG Local 10 that eye surgery was the reason behind her spontaneous absence and that she required several weeks for the stitches to heal.

But Wilson had been privately musing about the possibility of ending her campaign, anyway. Multiple sources told Axios that Wilson made several calls on Saturday to people in her district about her plans to quit the race.

“She’s not running anymore—she’s going to retire,” one source told Axios.

Wilson adamantly denied the report, telling Axios in turn that her supposed exit was just a “crazy rumor.”

“A crazy, crazy rumor. I’m almost distraught. It’s not true. I am still planning on running,” Wilson said.

But the unidentified source doubled down, insisting to Axios that Wilson “called and made it known” that she is planning to retire and that she has already made the decision known to several legislators in her district.

Wilson confirmed to the Miami Herald that she had made her decision to exit the race a while ago—but needed to be “politically strategic” about sharing the news, in light of Florida’s recent redistricting.

“I figured if I announced that I was retiring, what would the Legislature and the governor do? What would they say? Would District 24 be an easy target because Frederica is no longer there? I’m a strong candidate,” Wilson said. “With me not here, would that weaken the survival of District 24?

Wilson’s district, which she has represented since 2013, encompasses the Miami-Dade area and Broward County. The area has a solid Democratic advantage, according to an analysis by the Cook Political Report.

Christine Sanon-Jules Olivo, a small-business owner with ties to the NAACP, is already lined up to replace Wilson in the district’s Democratic primary. But the race could soon be crowded: State Senator Shevrin Jones has also announced his interest in running for Wilson’s seat. The primary is scheduled for August 18.

For her part, Wilson said that she’s not quite ready to endorse her replacement.

“All of this rests on my shoulders. So I carried a lot, and it’s time to find someone who I can trust,” Wilson told the Herald. “I’m going to vet all these candidates to see who I can trust to carry this mission forward.”