The U.S. and Iran are now both enforcing blockades on the Strait of Hormuz with attacks on commercial vessels.

The ceasefire between the countries is set to expire tonight, and so far there is no confirmation that they'll even meet for talks. In starting with the ceasefire that's coming to an end, you had Trump announcing it back on April 7, saying it was conditional on the complete, immediate, and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz. Well, the ceasefire, that took effect.

The straight never really opened back up, at least in part because the U.S. and Iran disagreed over whether the truth extended to Lebanon. And then after in-person talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement, you had Trump trying to turn the tables on Iran, with the U.S. announcing that blockade on all ships, quote, entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas. Then also at the end of last week, there were signs of progress, right? Israel and Lebanon, they agreed to attend a ceasefire. So in response, Iran announced that it would actually reopen the straight to commercial vessels. So you had Trump celebrating the news, but also saying that the U.S. blockade would, quote, remain in full force until such time as our transaction with Iran is 100% complete and then adding, this process should go very quickly in that most of the points are already negotiated.

And then another statements throughout the day, he claimed that Iran would hand over its highly enriched uranium to the U.S., that it would agree to an unlimited halt to all nuclear activities, and that it wouldn't get any money in return. He even said Iran had agreed never to close the straight again. But then, the next day, Iran, they closed the straight again while also rejecting all of his claims about progress on the deal.

You had the country's Speaker of Parliament and Chief Negotiator writing on Twitter, the President of the United States made seven claims in one hour, all seven of which were false. They did not win the war with these lies, and they will certainly not get anywhere in negotiations either. With the continuation of the blockade, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open. And then with all that, you had Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps issuing a statement saying,

we warn that no vessel of any kind should move from its anchorage in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, and approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered cooperation with the enemy and the offending vessel will be targeted. And then within a few hours, IRGC gunboats open fire on a tanker off the coast of Oman, while an unknown projectile also hit a container vessel. See, Trump the next day, accusing Iran of violating the ceasefire, but then also insisting that progress, it was still being made, saying, my representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan, they will be there tomorrow evening for negotiations. But then, he reverted back to his baseline negotiating tactic these days, which is to threaten what appear to be war crimes, we're offering a very fair and reasonable deal, and I hope they take it because if they don't, the United States is going to knock out every single power plant and every single bridge in Iran. No more Mr. Nice Guy. The term later revealing that an Iranian flag cargo ship tried to get past the blockade, but it, quote, did not go well for them. them. And as far as what happened, you had American forces attacking and boarding a vessel around 30 miles south of the coast of Iran and the Arabian Sea. The ship reportedly belonged to a state-owned Iranian company under US, UK, and EU sanctions. A company that's been described by the American State Department as the preferred shipping line for Iranian proliferators and procurement agents, and it had reportedly been traveling back from a Chinese chemical storage port known for shipping substances, including a key precursor for solid rocket fuel that Iran needs for its missile program. Though also be clear, it's not publicly known right now what it may have been carrying this time. You had the military saying it had only gone ahead with the use of force after six hours of warnings to the Iranian vessel to turn back. Motor vessel, Toska, Moldovessel Toska. Vacate your engine room, vacate your engine room. We're prepared to subject you to

disabling fire. According to the military, it then disabled the Iranian-Link ship by firing several rounds into its engine room.

You then had several Marines flying over on a helicopter, rappelling down onto the ship, and then taking control.

And it was actually the first time American forces boarded a ship since the blockade began. Though also, according to the military, 25 vessels have been turned back without force as of yesterday. And you then had Iran saying it would retaliate soon for what it called an active armed piracy, and it gave no public indication that it would be meeting the negotiating team that Trump mentioned. The team that the White House said would once again include Vice President J.D. Van, Special Envoy, Steve Whitkoff, and Jared Kushner.

And as I mentioned, Trump team that the White House said would once again include Vice President J.D. Vans,

special envoy, Steve Whitkoff, and Jared Kushner.

And as I mentioned, Trump said that they would be arriving this evening.

And he even told the New York Post this morning that Vance had already left. But then, the New York Times reporting that Vance was actually expected to leave the U.S. for Pakistan tomorrow. And as far as the Iranian side, you had a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, claiming that the U.S. had shown it wasn't serious about pursuing diplomacy and saying that no decision had been made regarding the next round of negotiations. But also a thing to remember here is that Iranian officials made similar comments in the lead-up to the first round of negotiation, so it's not really clear whether this is just talk. And in fact, you did later have the New York Times reporting that an Iranian delegation was making plans to travel to Pakistan. So, you know, as we say, words are words, actions or actions, there's separate things, and so we're going to have to wait to see what actually happens. But also, if talks don't happen or a deal isn't reached, Trump's claim that it is highly unlikely that he would extend the two-week ceasefire. But going back to that saying, as we know, his words mean almost less than nothing. And Justice Trump has repeatedly claimed that a deal was close only to then be proven wrong. He's also repeatedly made threats that he hasn't followed

through on. And notably with all this, European allies are reportedly concerned that an inexperienced U.S. negotiating team is so desperate for a quick fix that they might agree to a deal that leaves most serious issues unresolved. Rearied one European diplomat telling Reuters, the concern isn't that there won't be an agreement, is that there will be a bad initial agreement that creates

endless downstream problems. And another saying, there's simply not enough expertise in this US team and noting that roughly 200 diplomats, financial, and nuclear experts were involved in the 2015 talks. And adding, we've worked on this file for two decades. And then of course, in the meantime, all of this uncertainty, the escalation, the threats, they've just put oil prices back on the upswing. Or the price for a barrel jumping by around 5% overnight into today. And the hardest hit region continues to be Asia, but also the longer that this remains unresolved, the more that it could just be kind of a preview for other parts of the world. I mean already, experts are saying that a few more weeks like this, it could push several countries into greater unrest and economic recession while also forcing millions under poverty. And then, hey, let's say even if the straight-of-hormuz gets back to normal tomorrow, it could take years for oil and gas output and shipping to reach pre-war levels. And while in the U.S., you know, the effects might not be as extreme, it is increasingly seeming like this is a problem for the Republicans in the midterms as ordinary Americans are struggling with higher gas prices. And Trump's maybe trying to act like he's not worried about the potential blowback with him posting a series of rants on social media just as I was getting the show out for you. Reclimbing in one that the deal that the U.S. is making now will be far better than the one negotiated under Obama and rehashing his criticism at that agreement. You then had him accusing Democrats of doing everything possible to hurt the very strong position we are in with respect to Iran in writing. I read the fake news saying that I am under pressure to make a deal. This is not true. I am under no pressure whatsoever, although it will all happen relatively quickly. And then finally you had him claiming I'm winning a war by a lot. Things are going very well. The anti-America fake news media is rooting for Iran to win, but it's not going to happen because I'm in charge.

But of course, you know, him being in charge is a large part of the reason the world is in this mess, and his unhinged meltdowns on social media, they're not exactly reassuring. But then also, speaking of concerning behavior from the people that are running our government, we've got to talk about the cash Patel situation. everyone's been dunking on him ever since this Atlantic article over the weekend claim that the FBI director is erratic, frequently absent, and prone to heavy bouts of drinking. If the fake news mafia isn't hitting you personally with baseless information in Washington, D.C., then you're not doing your job. Okay, so according to the Atlantic, several officials said that Patel is known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication, even in the presence of other administration staff. with them allegedly getting wasted at the private club, Ned's in DC, in the poodle room in Las Vegas, where he frequently spends parts of his weekend. In fact, you had six different sources reportedly telling the Atlantic that early on in Patel's tenure, meetings and briefings had to be rescheduled for later in the day as a result of his alcohol-fueled nights. fueled nights. They say it's to the point where his own security detail have struggled to wake him up multiple times because he was apparently drunk.

Hell, in one instance, when Patel was unreachable behind locked doors, officials reportedly requested breaching equipment to get him. Which of true, I mean, when the FBI is about to bust down a door with tools usually reserved for hostage rescues to get the FBI director, you know, we're in the fall, half of the rise and fall of the American Empire. And you had these people saying, you know, there are real consequences, right? This isn't like a superficial sloppiness. Officials have reportedly said that Patel's presence at FBI headquarters and field offices has been irregular. With them adding that he's compounded the agency's existing bureaucratic bottlenecks and that his chronic absence is delayed time-sensitive decisions needed to advance investigations. One official told the outlet that on several occasions Patel's delays resulted in normally unflappable agents, quote, losing their shit. Those are the three words they use. Plus, the big thing here is that that kind of drinking is also just against the rules. Where the DOJ's own ethics handbook states that an employee is prohibited from habitually using alcohol or other intoxicans to excess, with the inspector general warning that off-duty alcohol consumption can impair employees' judgment and make them vulnerable to exploitation or coercion by foreign adversaries. And so, as you might expect, some of the FBI worry that if there is a terror attack, Patel is going to be sloshed out on a couch with a bottle of PBR on his hand. But you know, it would be less than ideal at any time, but especially not when you've just launched a war against one of the world's leading state sponsors of terrorism. In fact, for some of the major events that we've already seen, FBI and administration officials are reportedly questioned whether alcohol played a role in Patel's impulsive responses there, with maybe the most notable being him posting premature or inaccurate information about Charlie Kirk's assassination and the Brown University shooting while those cases were ongoing. As you've reportedly got over two dozen people telling the Atlantic that he's erratic, suspicious of others, and prone to jumping to conclusions before he has the necessary evidence. With the outly describing one story this month where Patel reportedly struggled to log into an internal computer system and he quickly just became convinced that he'd been locked out and then he panicked. Frantically calling aides and allies to announce that he'd been fired from the White House, with two sources calling it a freakout. Also, members of Congress and even the FBI itself reportedly called the White House to ask who is now in charge of the agency. But of course, Patel wasn't and hasn't been fired, though several current and former officials say that he is deeply concerned that his head's on the chopping block. Which, yeah, I mean, it appears to be warranted. There have been rumors about him getting fired soon anyway, and the Atlantic reports that senior officials are already discussing who might replace him. Though I will say as far as

Trump's feelings on this, the outlet's findings there were kind of, let's call it ambiguous. On the one hand, he's reportedly unbothered by grumblings about Patel from within the FBI, and he's been pleased with Patel's efforts to purge the agency. But then also on the other hand, Trump's reportedly complain that Patel has seemed unprepared for TV appearances and that Patel hasn't moved

quickly enough on investigating the president's enemies. Plus, there's the whole thing that Trump's

reportedly not a big fan out. On the other hand, Trump's reportedly complained that Patel has seemed unprepared for TV appearances and that Patel hasn't moved quickly enough on investigating the president's enemies.

Plus, there's the whole thing that Trump's reportedly not a big fan of alcohol, right? His brother died after struggling with alcoholism. So actually, when Patel was filmed chug and beer with the U.S. men's Olympic hockey team in February, Trump reportedly called him to convey his unhappiness. However, with all this, it does seem like Patel knows how to work with or work Trump specifically.

Or with Patel, seemingly trying work with or work Trump specifically.

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