Well, howdy there, internet, people, it's bell again.

So today, we're going to talk about Trump, Iran, and blackmail.

After Trump's claim that the Strait of Hormuz was open turned out to be false,

Trump made the bold proclamation that, quote, they can't blackmail us.

What's considered blackmail to a real estate developer is also known as normal foreign policy

on the international scene. Saying you won't be blackmailed is a great talking point. But the problem is that with U.S.

negotiators trying to work out some kind of deal to reopen the straight, it denies the reality

of the situation. Those negotiators have to deal with the world as it is, not the world as Trump says it is on social

media or in his little announcements. Trump said the straight was open, but it wasn't. Trump said Iran had

agreed to turn over its uranium stockpiles, but it hadn't. Trump said Iran's navy was destroyed, obliterated, and gone.

Then what exactly was shooting its ships trying to transit the strait when Trump said it was

open?

Here's the hard reality.

Iran can absolutely blackmail us, If us means the global economy.

Trump's elective war gave Iran something more powerful than a nuke. A demonstration of the effects of the closure of the strait.

In Trump's mind and social media posts, the economy is doing fine.

You don't mind the gas price increases. You don't mind paying more for food. Inflation is cool with you.

And all of this sorts itself out immediately as soon as there's some kind of deal. But none of that is true.

Every day the straight remains closed. The economic damage is increased, and it will eventually

hit a point that raises the political cost to him to a price that's more than he can bear.

Trump's negotiators have to deal with reality, not the nationalist fever dream of a president that is detached from reality. Iran appears

willing to talk, but Trump consistently overplays his hand. He doesn't have the cards. Iran's deputy

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