Today in Politics, Bulletin 343. 4/6/26 Ron Filipkowski Apr 6 ∙ … Trump gave another unhinged maniacal press conference today with Pete Hegseth about the status of his War in Iran: “The entire country could be taken out in one night. We’re giving them till tomorrow, 8 ET. And after that they’re going to have no bridges. They’re going to have no power plants. Stone ages.” On the air crew being shot down: “Somebody leaked something, which will hopefully find that leaker. We’re working very hard to find that leaker. They basically said that we have one and there’s somebody missing. We’re going to go to media company who released it and say ‘national security, give it up or go to jail.’” … Journalist Ryan Grim: “As Amit Segal just acknowledged on his Telegram channel, he was the first to publish details about the missing second airman. Segal is an Israeli journalist known for his immediate proximity to Netanyahu. Trump has threatened to jail the journalist who first reported on the missing airman in order to force him to confess the identity of his source.” “We have to find that leaker. We’re going to find out. Its national security. And the person that did the story will go to jail if he doesn’t say.” On the rescue mission. Trump to Gen. Caine: “How many men did you send all together? Caine: I’d love to keep that a secret. Trump: It was hundreds of people.” … This comes right after Trump talked about jailing people who leak things. “I saw somebody said, ‘oh, he doesn’t have a plan.’ I have the best plan of all, but I’m not going to tell you what my plan is.” “Iran was a great country if you go back 25 years ago.” … That would have been Year 22 of Iran’s 47 year war on the US. Q - “Do believe God supports the US’s actions? Trump: I do because God is good.” Q - “Are there certain kinds of civilian targets that are off table? Schools, hospitals? Trump: I don’t want to tell you that.” … Seems like something that should be ruled out to me. “We have a plan because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again. I mean, complete demolition by 12 and it will happen over a period of 4 hours if we wanted to. “We may even get involved with helping them rebuild their nation. And you know what? If that’s the case, the last thing we want to do is start with power plants, which are among the most expensive thing. And bridges.” Q - “Deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure violate the Geneva conventions and international law. Trump: Who are you with? Reporter: I’m with the NYT. Trump: Failing NYT. Circulation is way down. Reporter: Are you concerned that your threat to bomb power plants and bridges amount to war crimes? Trump: No, not at all. Quiet. You no longer have credibility. You’re fake.” “I’m polling higher than anybody has ever polled in Venezuela. So after I’m finished with this, I can go to Venezuela. I will quickly learn Spanish. It won’t take too long. I’m good at language, and I will go to Venezuela. I’m going to run for president.” Q - “You said you would like to take Iran’s oil… Trump: If I had my choice.. yeah, because I am a businessman. You know, in the old days: to the victim— uhhh winner belong the spoils uhh go the spoils.” … Pete Hegseth then talked about his Holy War, praising God and Trump the New Messiah: “Iran’s military is embarrassed and humiliated, and they should be.” “One downed airmen evaded capture for more than a day, scaling, rugged ridges while hunted by the enemy. When he was finally able to activate his emergency transponder, his first message was simple: God is good. Shot down on Good Friday. Flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday. A pilot reborn, all home and accounted for, a nation rejoicing. God is good.” “It’s the result of unmatched training, superior technology, and unbreakable warrior ethos. Death from above.” “None of this would have been possible without the courageous leadership and ironclad determination of President Donald J. Trump.” … Gen. Caine: “During this engagement, one of the sandy aircraft, though one primarily responsible for a communicating with the downed pilot, was hit by enemy fire. The flight was engaged by every single person in Iran who had a small arms weapon. And one of the aircraft, the trailing aircraft took several hits. The crew sustained minor injury and they are going to be fine.” … Arnaud Bertrand: “So to sum up: anti-aircraft equipment that supposedly didn’t exist shot down an F-15 (and, apparently, an A-10 Warthog the same day). A seriously wounded man climbed a 2.1km mountain. The US seized an airfield 200 miles inside a country it’s at war with, next to one of its most strategic nuclear sites, and deployed hundreds of troops all apparently unimpeded. Lost two planes to ‘sand’ and destroyed their own helicopters.” … Trump then presided over the WH Easter Egg roll, where he entertained the little kids in attendance by ranting about Iran with the Easter Bunny and Miserable Melania looking on: “You don't mind when the enemy is weak but that enemy is strong. Not so strong like they were about a month ago. I can tell you, right now they're not too strong at all in my opinion but we will soon find out, aren't we?” … CBS: “An Iranian drone strike on Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait overnight injured 15 Americans, two US officials told CBS News.” … Senior Iranian official to Reuters: “Tehran has received Pakistan’s proposal, it is being reviewed. Tehran will not accept deadlines or pressure to make a decision. Tehran will not reopen Strait of Hormuz in exchange for a ‘temporary ceasefire’“ … Analyst Iyah el-Baghdadi: “Iran wants ‘reparations’, economic relief, and security guarantees. The easiest and most reliable way to get them is to control the Straits of Hormuz. It comes with the added advantages - to the Iranian regime - of seriously disrupting the US imperial system, and gaining near-hegemonic leverage over the Gulf.” … “Now bring into the picture that Trump has ripped up countless deals with the Iranians (and with others), bullied his own NATO allies, and attacked and killed negotiators mid-negotiation. There is zero trust, so this is now a game of leverage. So what, under these conditions, can you offer the Iranians to convince them to open the Straits? Nothing. Controlling the Straits is more reliable and valuable than anything you can offer them. So we are locked into this path.” … Middle East expert Danny Citrinowicz: “The US and Iran are unlikely to reach any agreement before the expiration of the current ultimatum, given the depth of the strategic gaps between them. The current Iranian leadership shows no willingness to compromise, particularly not on terms it rejected prior to the conflict. A proposal for a ceasefire alone will not be sufficient to bring Iran meaningfully to the negotiating table.” … “Tehran believes it is entering any potential negotiations from a position of strength. As a result, it is highly unlikely to accept dictates or externally imposed terms, including standard ceasefire proposals. From Iran’s perspective, any meaningful de-escalation must closely reflect its own conditions for ending the conflict namely, credible guarantees against the resumption of hostilities, recognition of its sovereignty over key maritime chokepoints, and compensation.” … “If the US admin objective is to prevent further escalation, it will likely need to move closer to these positions rather than expect Iran to shift toward its own. Absent that, diplomatic progress remains unlikely. The next 48 hours will be critical in determining whether the conflict spirals into uncontrolled escalation or moves toward a ceasefire that would, in effect, bring the fighting to an end.” … Former Rep. Marge Greene on Trump’s profane post on Easter morning about Iran: “Everyone in his admin that claims to be a Christian needs to fall on their knees and beg forgiveness from God and stop worshipping the President and intervene in Trump’s madness. I know all of you and him and he has gone insane, and all of you are complicit. Trump threatening to bomb power plants and bridges hurts the Iranian people, the very people Trump claimed he was freeing.” … “On Easter, of all days, we as Christians should be reminded that the son of God died and rose from the grave so that we can be forgiven once and for all of our sins. Jesus commanded us to love one another and forgive one another. Even our enemies. Our President is not a Christian and his words and actions should not be supported by Christians. This is not making America great again, this is evil.” … Trump was asked about it today: Q - “Why did you use such vulgar language in that Truth Social post? Trump: Only to make my point. I think you’ve heard it before.” … Trump’s quotes since the war began: Mar 3: “We won the war.” Mar 7: “We defeated Iran.” Mar 9: “We must attack Iran.” Mar 9: “The war is ending almost completely, and very beautifully.” Mar 11: “You never like to say too ⁠early you won. We won. In ​the first hour it was over.” Mar 12: “We did win, but we haven’t won completely yet.” Mar 13: “We won the war.” Mar 14: “Please help us.” Mar 15: “If you don’t help us, I will certainly remember it.” Mar 16: “Actually, we don’t need any help at all.” Mar 16: “I was just testing to see who’s listening to me.” Mar 16: “If NATO doesn’t help, they will suffer something very bad.” Mar 17: “We neither need nor want NATO’s help.” Mar 17: “I don’t need Congressional approval to withdraw from NATO.” Mar 18: “Our allies must cooperate in reopening the Strait of Hormuz.” Mar 19: “US allies need to get a grip - step up and help open the Strait of Hormuz.” Mar 20: “NATO are cowards.” Mar 21: “The Strait of Hormuz must be protected by the countries that use it. We don’t use it, we don’t need to open it.” Mar 22: “This is the last time. I will give Iran 48 hours. Open the strait” Mar 22: “Iran is Dead” Mar 23: “We had very good and productive talks with Iran.” Mar 24: “We’re making progress.” Mar 25: “They gave us a present and the present arrived today. And it was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money. I’m not going to tell you what that present is, but it was a very significant prize.” Mar 26: “Make a deal, or we’ll just keep blowing them away.” Mar 27: “We don’t have to be there for NATO.” Mar 28: No major quote Mar 29: Claimed talks were progressing Mar 30: “Open the Strait of Hormuz immediately, or face devastating consequences.” Mar 31: Claimed a deal was “very close” and that Iran would “do the right thing” Apr 1: “We’ll see what happens very soon.” Apr 2: Repeated that a deal was likely, while warning of continued strikes if not Apr 3: “Something big is going to happen.” Apr 4: Said Iran must comply “immediately” or face further consequences. Apr 5: “Open the fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.” Well, I guess we will find out tomorrow whether Iran will surrender, Trump carries out his threat to commit massive war crimes if they don’t, or if he will TACO again and set new deadlines with more threats. It doesn’t sound like Iran is going to surrender, so it could be pretty bad. I suppose it would be up to the generals to say no at that point, but it seems like the generals who would have already been fired by Hegseth. If you missed the last Bulletin, you can find it here. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. … Semafor: “JD Vance is heading to Hungary this week with a lofty goal: To try and boost Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán in the country’s looming election. Orbán is an ally of both Trump and Vladimir Putin, and the US president has made it no secret that he hopes Orbán will win reelection - but he’s been flailing in the polls ahead of the April ...