President Trump convened an extraordinary Saturday morning assembly in the White House state of affairs room to talk about next steps as the state of affairs in Iran teeters between a peace deal and a resumption of conflict. The particular topics under dialogue had been the standing of the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian responses to some U.S. proposals. Quite actually, I think about one key subject of dialogue was “who the hell is calling the shots in Iran?” Because from an outsider’s level of view, it appears just like the 95 IQ varieties in the federal government suppose they’re in charge, but actions on the ground point out it’s the 65 IQ, bearded, sheep-fondlers with weapons who are making the choices.

In attendance had been Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, White House Iran negotiator Steve Witkoff, CIA Director John Ratliffe, and Joint Chiefs chairman Dan Caine. Notably absent was Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

As we have posted right here on CrimsonState, the temper this week has swung between close to euphoric (Trump Cheers Strait of Hormuz Reopening During Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire — but There’s a Big Catch – CrimsonState) and resigned to conflict (Iranian Navy Fires On Two Vessels in Strait of Hormuz, Demonstrating That Waterway Is Not Open – CrimsonState). Saturday, The Times reported that Iran had put the kibosh on Trump’s assertion that Iran had agreed to give up its enriched uranium.

Right now, the White House appears to be leaning toward resuming hostilities. President Trump has set a deadline of Wednesday for a deal (Trump: I Will End Ceasefire Wednesday Unless Deal Done — but Xi’s ‘Very Happy’ As Hormuz Reopens – CrimsonState) and the U.S. Navy is shifting forward with plans to seize “dark fleet” and Iranian ships no matter where they’re in the world; see Report: Trump Planning to Drop Another Hammer on Iran and Their Ships – CrimsonState.

The temper following the state of affairs room assembly was grim. Trump said that Iran cannot ‘blackmail’ the U.S, “They wanted to close up the Strait again, as they’ve been doing for years, but they can’t blackmail us.”

⭕️ President Donald Trump convened a White House Situation Room assembly Saturday to deal with the escalating Strait of Hormuz disaster and stalled Iran talks, Axios reviews.

The ceasefire is set to expire in three days, raising fears of renewed conflict if no deal is reached.

A source… pic.twitter.com/UKnt76xiFb

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) April 18, 2026

TRUMP: We have excellent conversations going on. It’s understanding very properly. They bought a little cute, as they’ve been doing for 47 years. Nobody ever took them on. We took them on.

They have no navy, they’ve no air drive, they’ve no leaders, they’ve no nothing. Actually, their leaders are… it’s regime change. You call that enforced regime change. But we’re speaking to them.

They wished to close up the strait again — as they’ve been doing for years — and again, blackmail us. In fact, a lot of ships are coming up to Texas and Louisiana. I don’t know if you understand. The ships are coming up. If they get used to it, perhaps they’ll keep doing it. It’s labored out fairly good. But it’s going along, truly, very properly, and we’ll see. We’ll have some info by the end of the day. We’re speaking to them.

We’ll have some info by the end of the day. We’re speaking to them, we’re taking a powerful stand. They’ve killed a lot of people. So much of our people have been killed. So much of your fellow troopers have been killed over the years by Iran. The roadside bombs. Soleimani. I killed Solemani.

UNKNOWN: Explosively fashioned penetrators. They had been making them in Iran and bringing them into Iraq and blasting them through automobiles.

He was the daddy of the roadside bomb, basically. He killed a lot of people, and when you see troopers and others, but troopers typically strolling around with no legs, with no arms, with a face that has been smashed, that was Solemani, that was Iran that did that. So we have now a a lot different view on it than other presidents. They’ve gotten away with homicide for 47 years; they’re not getting away with it any longer.

 While Trump said there have been “good conversations going on,” an Italian outlet quotes somebody they refer to as the “ayatollah” as saying Trump “talks an excessive amount of.“

As I identified in Iran Is a Dishonest and Delusional Negotiating Partner and We Can’t Let Them Control the Narrative – CrimsonState, not only can Iran not be trusted to keep any deal it makes, its view of the panorama would possibly as properly be in a different universe from the one everybody else inhabits. To make issues worse, it actually is not clear who we needs to be negotiating with, or even if anybody can negotiate on behalf of Iran; see Here’s More Evidence the Iranian Regime Is Fracturing and in Trouble as Trump Holds Its Feet to the Fire – CrimsonState.

I feel there may be a higher than 50-50 probability that nothing occurs today to “bend the arc of history” in direction of a lasting peace deal, and even less of a probability that one thing occurs before Wednesday’s deadline. 

For many years, former presidents have been all discuss and no motion. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the menace from Iran once and for all.

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