r/moderatepolitics • u/Agitated_Pudding7259 Federal worker fired without due process • 1d ago

News Article Iran stops negotiations with U.S., vows to 'completely' block Strait of Hormuz: State media

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/01/iran-us-negotiations-strait-of-hormuz.html

The article says Iran announced Monday it will cut off all negotiations with the U.S. and move to fully close the Strait of Hormuz, citing Israeli military operations in Lebanon as ceasefire violations. Tehran also threatened to activate the Bab el-Mandeb Strait chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Oil prices jumped over 7 percent on the news.

The breakdown comes just days after Trump convened a Situation Room meeting to decide on a deal but left without making a decision. Trump posted on May 23 that a peace deal was "largely negotiated" and "Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly." Both sides launched new attacks in the following days, and Israel escalated in Lebanon with Netanyahu ordering strikes on Hezbollah-controlled Beirut suburbs. Iran's foreign minister said the ceasefire applies to all fronts including Lebanon, and violations on one front constitute violations on all.

The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively choked off since the war began on February 28, with ship traffic far below the prewar level of 100+ vessels per day. About a fifth of global oil supplies passed through the strait before the conflict. Gas prices had come down some in recent weeks on deal optimism, but that appears to be evaporating. There are also concerns Iran could impose a tolling system on ships transiting the strait.

Trump posted on Truth Social that Iran "really wants to make a deal" and told critics to "just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end. It always does!"

If Iran really wants to make a deal why are they walking away form negotiations? If the US is winning this war, why are we suing for peace?

The answer is because Iran's strategy is working. Our president and the "secretary of war" who was confirmed by one vote are not reliable sources of information.

They have been preparing for this war for decades and they know how to win it. Choking off a fifth of global oil supply has driven U.S. gas prices up 50%, cratered Trump's approval ratings, and Republicans are openly panicking about the midterms. They know the situation trump has created is FUBAR and they know they're cooked in november. Iran doesn't need to win on the battlefield. They just need to hold out and make the economic pain unsustainable until the administration comes to terms.

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122

u/Sunflorahh 1d ago

I saw a reel the other day from David Frum (Dubya's speechwriter). He said simply, the presidency is too big a job for Trump.

Just what a disaster this admin has been. Domestic policy, foreign policy, everything in between. The only constituency he cares about is the wealthy.

I don't know how supporters continue to justify and support his actions. Genuinely, I want to know their rationale. Are the wrinkles in their brain that different from mine?

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u/jason_sation 23h ago

The talking point of the job being too big is funny to me because the other things he has on his plate are the ballroom, reflecting pool, UFC fight and 250 year birthday concert. He’s basically just worried about stuff that affects a few square miles. I honestly haven’t heard anything policy wise that affects the whole nation in a while.

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u/IAmAGenusAMA 13h ago

Congress won't legislate so all there is is this kind of bullshit.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago edited 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/FabioFresh93 South Park Democrat 1d ago

It’s like they live in a separate reality from the rest of us.

That’s the point. Republicans have spent decades building their media ecosystem. Conservative talk radio and Fox News have a loyal following. They have spent decades portraying their audience as victims and saying “you can’t trust the mainstream media, you can only trust us”. And yes, the other mainstream media is far from perfect, but it doesn’t have as much of an effect on one of our political parties.

I’ve been saying that Trump didn’t become the Republican nominee in 2016 because he’s a celebrity or a businessman. He got the nomination because he came from the conservative media ecosystem. He was appearing weekly on Fox News giving his 2 cents on anything. If it wasn’t Trump it could’ve easily had been Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh taking over the party. Many conservative talking heads have more influence than most politicians. I can’t think of anybody on the left with that much pull.

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u/Iceraptor17 1d ago

Tucker Carlson was actually getting some small talk as a future potential candidate before his fallout with fox. It's very true.

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u/FabioFresh93 South Park Democrat 1d ago

I think the talk has only increased since he left Fox. I would not be surprised if he ran in 2028 and I think he has a legitimate chance at winning the nomination.

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u/Wonderful_Cookie_572 1d ago

It has and he does. Because the Fox demographic is all old. Young right-wingers don't like Fox, they find it to be all out of touch Boomer blather that is stuck in a world that doesn't exist anymore. Tucker has his finger on the pulse of what the younger right wing thinks and that is the group that's growing, not shrinking.

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u/jason_sation 1d ago

I don’t. Trump has already started attacking Tucker, and even his administration has mentioned him as a potential domestic terrorist. Tucker won’t be anywhere near the White House while Trump is alive.

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u/Wonderful_Cookie_572 1d ago

I think it's not safe to count this out.

Yes, Trump seems to be kingmaker during the primaries right now, but a lot of that is down to the people Tucker appeals to just not bothering to show up out of disgust and frustration. But they will turn out in 2028. And Tucker has a very strong following in the sub-50-years-old right-wing base. Much moreso than Trump at this point. Trump is being propped up by Boomers and the oldest cohort of Gen X.

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u/wizdummer 15h ago

Mainstream media lied about Biden’s health to protect the DNC. They lied about Rittenhouse, they lied about Kavanaugh, they lied about Hunter’s laptop.

Ferguson had riots because the mainstream media lied about “Hands up, Don’t shoot.”

The mainstream media is basically a branch of the DNC.

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u/FabioFresh93 South Park Democrat 14h ago

Mainstream media definitely has some questionable moments they should answer for. I'm not defending them. But Fox News and other popular conservative media has more influence on the Republican Party than other mainstream media has on the Democratic Party. Bongino, Patel, Hegseth, and Piro all left conservative media to work in the Trump administration.

And I think it's ironic that we separate the "mainstream media" from Fox News. Fox has the highest ratings out of all of the cable news channels. You can't get any more mainstream than that.

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u/EverydayThinking 7h ago

Some of that is true. But even so, what you should do in response is consume a wide variety of media, not fully descend into the right wing empire of slop and propaganda.

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u/nycbetches 1d ago

On Fox News, Trump is winning the war. And that’s the only source they trust, so that’s what they believe. Getting harder and harder for even those people to support him as prices keep going up, though. That’s one thing Fox News can’t handwave away or blame on the Democrats (though they’re trying!).

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u/That_Nineties_Chick 1d ago

Not sure if you’ve actually watched Fox recently, but trust me, they’ll do an incredible job of softening the blow for the Trump administration. I’m not kidding - gas could be $10 a gallon and Jesse Watters would be pulling off the seemingly impossible task of not only justifying it, but also arguing how things would be even worse under a Democratic administration. 

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u/SpaceTurtles Are There Any Adults In The Room? 23h ago

I'm entirely convinced we are looking at the end of America if we don't dismantle Fox News completely (and sister organizations) and hand out actual consequences for the powers that be that sustain it.

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u/wizdummer 15h ago

Consequences for what? Not being DNC shills? The media lied about Joe Biden’s health and Hunter Biden’s laptop. 60 minutes edited multiple DeSantis speeches together to make him say something he didn’t.

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u/albertnormandy 1d ago

Most voters care about guns, abortion, and LGBTQ issues. Everything else is a sideshow to them. They will defend their team to the death as long as they stay consistent with those three things. 

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u/nycbetches 1d ago

I don’t think this is true. I think most voters care about the economy the most. The price of things/inflation/jobs, to be precise, and to a lesser extent, the stock market. 

There are definitely voters out there that care most about guns, abortion or LGBTQ issues, but they are the minority. 

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u/_United_ still sane, unfortunately 1d ago edited 1d ago

people will vote for anyone for any reason. after reading countless "We Interviewed These Voters" articles from major publications, it is simply impossible not to conclude that many people are vibes-based voters.

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u/nycbetches 1d ago

Yeah people are definitely vibes based voters, and the vibes are that Republicans are better for the economy. I happen to believe it’s not true, but those are the vibes, I guess.

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u/KentuckyFriedChingon Militant Centrist 1d ago

They may say they care more about the economy. And maybe that's true. But when presented with undeniable evidence that Trump has made multiple decisions that have been terrible for the U.S. economy, they immediately bury their heads in the sand and handwave it away because either "We have to endure some pain for even greater gain down the road" or (the classic) "Biden Was Worse".

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u/nycbetches 1d ago

Well, yes, I do not think many people who claim to care most about the economy actually understand the economy. But I don’t think it’s malevolent, I think they actually, truly don’t understand. And they do not trust non-Fox News sources, so they don’t believe the “undeniable evidence” you’re talking about . Anything is deniable if you’re motivated enough.

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u/Wonderful_Cookie_572 1d ago

See there's a basic misunderstanding with what the word "economy" means when it comes to the electorate. Voters don't care about the big macro numbers anymore. They care about their ability to buy shit. Nothing more, nothing less. If that's getting easier then they think the economy is good. If it's getting harder then it's bad. What the macro lines do is irrelevant.

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u/whyneedaname77 1d ago

Maybe but those single issue voters are solidly republican.

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u/albertnormandy 1d ago

What people say and what they actually do are two different things. Jimbo may grumble about gas prices and whatnot, but he also saw the Democratic candidate say something boneheaded in a clip that got repeated on Fox News, so when he goes to the polls and is confronted with either R or D we all know how he will vote. 

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u/okyesterday927 22h ago

This is my experience. The obsession with California, Crockett, Ilhan, Hochul, Waltz, etc… I can’t vote for these people/places, I do not care to that extent. I just ignore the politics talk now to avoid hearing some long rant about someone that has nothing to do with me & likely not even completely true.

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u/vladastine 20h ago

Looking at social media this is 100% true. They truly don't care about anything else. And if it hurts women even better. I just don't see anything breaking this. I know the economy is supposed to be king, but they're also in full the economy is great mode.

I don't know what to believe any more. What even is reality?

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u/polchiki 17h ago

Federalism is the answer. Small government means we worry about our own local school and fire districts, roads we drive on every day, the jobs, industry, recreation, and pollution in our own state and counties.

Headline news in my town is our local clinic in the red, location for the central sewer system coming to town for the first time in history, drama in the volunteer fire district, and summer market / camp promotions. We’d all be way happier and more productive if we knew and tended to our own local headlines above all else.

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u/Iceraptor17 1d ago edited 1d ago

I don't know how supporters continue to justify and support his actions. Genuinely, I want to know their rationale. Are the wrinkles in their brain that different from mine?

Because what they hear is completely different. Remember over the past years during Biden all they heard was negative and all the bad stuff he was doing. Now they only hear all the great things trump is doing. Everything is so positive. And if the negative things somehow break through, it's fake news or out of context or not a big deal.

Propaganda works really well. There's countless examples of people who in far worse states still wouldn't blame their beloved leader. Bad boyars, good tsar has numerous examples

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u/CreativeCucumber17 19h ago

I've heard from his supporters that this is all worth it because we needed to do something about Iran

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u/Iceraptor17 18h ago

Right. But that's not exactly a view that was common in 2024. In fact we probably have president Harris if trump was like "I'm going to attack Iran. This will disrupt the economy but we need to do it"

But now that it's done, well, "we needed to do it".

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u/HavingNuclear 1d ago

Indeed it remains to be seen whether or not voters learn a lesson from this. More importantly, whether or not they apply that lesson to the circumstances of the next several elections. We've done a pretty terrible job at learning and applying lessons so far.

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u/MrNature72 1d ago

For the first time in basically forever, more people are registered independent than either party. It's roughly 45% independent, and 27.5% Republican and the same for Democrats.

Voters are more mercenary than ever, especially younger voters, and especially younger men on top of that.

While his hardcore base won't likely budge, I highly doubt he retains the gains he made with young men and minorities. As I mentioned before, those groups are highly mercenary, which IMHO is a good thing. Biden lost them to Trump due to the economy and border, Trump will likely lose them again due to his economy and war, perhaps even worse.

I've seen both sides now fall into the trap that they're secure in their standing or have some kind of mandate just because they won handily. I saw it with Obama, when Democrats believed and started the whole "demographics is destiny" schtick, just to get trounced by Donald Trump of all people 8 years later, and I wholeheartedly believe I'm seeing the exact same thing with Trump playing kingmaker within the GoP like he's the Caesar of a new immortal empire. Funny enough, both times they won so handily because a populist outsider shook things up and stole the camera wherever they want.

The big difference this time around though, is that while Democrats practically begged Obama to become a new figurehead (he's distanced himself fairly well, still involved but absolutely not trying to control the Dem party), Trump has essentially taken the throne of the GoP and thrown out anyone who didn't support him, without any care for competence or capability. Loyalty is all that mattered.

Frankly, I think that's gonna hurt the GoP way worse after he's gone than not having Obama as the figurehead of the Dems hurt the Dems. As long as he's kingmaker, it's gonna splinter the party and prevent any actual growth, progression or adaptation.

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u/HavingNuclear 23h ago

I think if those voters continue to just flip flop towards the outsider who promises them some change, no matter how nebulous, then we clearly have not learned a lesson from any of this. That's exactly the behavior that the next disaster candidate is banking on. And it will only continue to make things worse.

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u/Wonderful_Cookie_572 1d ago

This is why the 2028 primary is going to be such a knock-down drag-out on the Republican side. Those right-leaning under-50 independents are going to be fighting tooth and nail to overthrow the MIGA Boomers and put a true America-first candidate up in the general. It's going to be ugly. And if they lose, if the next candidate is a MIGA neocon, then expect those people to just stay home on election day and the Republicans to get trounced in the general.

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u/thedisciple516 21h ago edited 20h ago

Genuinely, I want to know their rationale. Are the wrinkles in their brain that different from mine?

Simple. They believe the far left is worse, and the Democratic party is going more and more in their direction. Cancer Vs. Aids/Lesser of 2 evils and all that. A big part of Trump's appeal to like 30% of the country is self defense of a far left takeover. The believe the woke progressive left are an existential threat to America as they know it (they kind of are) and Trump is only thing that can/is stopping them.

Stupid or not doesn't matter. It's the answer to the question "How can they not realize how horrible he is and keep supporting him??!!" It's why they excuse all his flaws.

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u/TintedApostle 1d ago

Quite frankly everyone knew this 8 years ago

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u/5ilver8ullet 23h ago

I don't know how supporters continue to justify and support his actions. Genuinely, I want to know their rationale.

As a supporter, I regard Trump's domestic policy as a mixed bag of policies I like (secure borders, tax cuts, dismantling of DEI) and policies I don't like (tariffs, EOs interfering with the free market, pardons for rioters). I give him a B-.

Regarding Trump's foreign policy, however, there's really not a lot to dislike, in my view. Trump has been phenomenal when it comes to successfully wielding the hegemonic power of both the US military and its economy. The so-called "Donroe" Doctrine is aimed at ensuring our half of the globe does what's in the best interest of the US (military action with Mexico and Central/South American countries against drug cartels, deposing Maduro, pressuring Cuba to cut ties with former/current communist states). And the Middle East has been completely transformed, starting in Trump's first term. Iran, once thought of as the top regional power, has now been laid low by US/Israeli military forces, its economy wrecked, its terrorist proxies running for the hills or disbanded completely. Sunni states are integrating with Israel via the Abraham Accords. A+.

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u/Xanto97 Elephant and the Rider 22h ago edited 22h ago

I appreciate your answer, but I think even being optimistic, he’s had a lot of foreign policy issues that have hurt us.

First, even for the positives you listed - did Deposing Maduro even help us? Has life improved for Venezuela? Are our interests protected? Or did we just do this for oil? Genuine question. Regarding Cuba, If anything we’ve made them more dependent on communist states. they haven’t been a threat for decades, yet trump has ramped up the trade embargoes. And now we’re continuing to ruin life for them via a blockade. Russia is even trying to break our blockade to provide them oil. I’m not sure how this helps us, or them.

Tariffs is foreign policy, and us declaring economic war on the world certainly pissed off a lot of our allies. It would be good if it was worth it for us, but so far it doesn’t seem to be.

Destroying USAID is debatable but I think will overall backfire on us. Threatening to invade our neighbors and allies (Canada and Greenland) understandably pissed them off. Potentially staging an invasion of Cuba, starting this war with no solid plan to get out.

As a detractor, I will admit that he had some foreign policy wins in term 1 , but I haven’t seen many this year.

I certainly don’t think he deserves an A+. Mixed bag at most.

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u/rwk81 15h ago

Are the wrinkles in their brain that different from mine?

Curious what you mean here? Like a nicer way of asking if someone is dumb?