Trump stepped onto the White House lawn on his way to Vegas today and said something that may actually be true: Iran is close to agreeing to no nuclear weapons — not for 20 years, not for 30, but permanently. He also confirmed the second aircraft carrier was sent “in case we don’t make a deal” and said if they do, “it’ll be leaving very soon.”
We’ve heard “close to a deal” before. But this time was different. The Lebanon-Israel 10-day ceasefire is confirmed. Netanyahu and Lebanese President Aoun spoke directly for the first time in 34 years. A photo op is expected at the White House this week. Pakistan’s mediation is holding. The S&P hit a record high. Something is moving — even if we’ve been fooled before.
I said you’d have to give him at least some credit if he gets it done. The problem is the price. “He’s able to solve these things by sacrificing all the things America used to stand for,” Lawrence said. “Liberty, equality, justice, diversity. He says, well, I’ll get rid of all of that and then I can solve the wars. Of course you can — because then you’re not in disagreement with anybody.”
On Trump’s press gaggle:
The inflation numbers he was crowing about this morning? The ones he called “incredible”? The IEA said this morning Europe has six weeks of jet fuel left. Gas is $4.14 nationally. Real wages are down. The S&P is pricing in a peace deal that hasn’t been signed. Dana called it perfectly: “I only hear diarrhea of the mouth. None of this is really true or happening.”
Trump claimed he has now “solved 10 wars.” He was at 8 this morning. He added two in an hour on his way to the airport.
On the Pope:
Trump, Vance, and Mike Johnson are all attacking Pope Leo XIV now — four consecutive days. Leo was in Bamenda, Cameroon today calling the world “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” who spend billions on killing. Giorgia Meloni — Trump’s closest European ally — defended the Pope publicly. Trump attacked her too. The Archbishop of Canterbury stood with Leo. Bishop Barron, on Trump’s own Religious Liberty Commission, called the attacks “entirely inappropriate.” WaPo’s Karen Tumulty: evangelical leaders who stayed silent through two terms are starting to speak.
As Lawrence said: “Politics is addition. He keeps subtracting.”
On Swalwell:
This show went deep on Swalwell today — deeper than most. Lawrence and Dana landed somewhere important: it’s harder when it’s our side. “I wanted him to be a good guy,” Lawrence said. “I thought there’s got to be one good guy who could lead the Democratic Party.” Dana: “There is a grief with that. You don’t want to believe it.”
The discussion went to something bigger — the predator class, the pattern of men at the highest levels of power choosing abuse, and the asymmetry of accountability between parties. “If you’re going to be that kind of guy, you’ve got to be a Republican,” Dana said. “Because it’s only the Democrats who are busy policing themselves.”
Lawrence’s answer to that was the one worth sitting with: “If there is no party actually advocating for justice and the rights of women — we need to be better. If we’re not, the Democratic Party deserves to die and we need to build another one that actually is.”
The Senate blocked war powers for the fourth time — 47-52. The NYT says Republicans are privately anxious. The IEA says six weeks. The ceasefire expires in five days. The election EO is quietly already in effect — 75 career election officials replaced, 10 of whom worked to overturn 2020. Check your voter registration. Now.
Dean Blundell returns next week. And next week on Narativ — the most explosive investigation we have ever published. Subscribe now so you don’t miss it.
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