Iran War Update, Live with John Aravosis

Thank you Sally, Teresa Hill, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.On tonight’s show, I start with the biggest story of the night -- Trump’s Iran policy is getting more reckless, more chaotic, and more expensive by the hour. The US-Iran talks fell apart, Trump threatened to blockade the entire Strait of Hormuz, then partially backed off after the obvious problem was pointed out: other countries use that route too. But the walk-back doesn’t fix the core issue. Blocking Iranian shipping still means choking off oil flows, spiking prices, and raising the risk of direct confrontation with China or anyone else whose ships get caught in the middle. And then Trump goes on Fox and basically admits gas prices may not even come down by the midterms. I also get into the political fallout at home and abroad. JD Vance’s numbers are awful and getting worse. Viktor Orban lost in Hungary, which is a big deal not just for Hungary but for the global MAGA right that treat him as a role model. Then I pivot to Trump’s increasingly unhinged culture-war behavior -- attacking the Pope, posting an image of himself as Jesus on Orthodox Easter, and drawing criticism not just from liberals or the press, but from Catholic leaders and even conservative Catholics who normally bend over backward to excuse him. Then I wrap the show with a flood of smaller but telling stories that all point in the same direction: the White House is flailing. Trump TACO’d again and signed a small business bill after saying he wouldn’t sign anything until Republicans got their voting crackdown bill. His people staged a McDonald’s delivery stunt and tried to use an $11,000 tip-income worker as propaganda, even though someone making that little likely wasn’t paying federal income tax anyway. I also cover the Stonewall Pride flag reversal, bad new polling, worsening consumer pessimism, weak home sales, and the absurd drama around the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and the Wall Street Journal. The throughline is simple -- the administration is trying to project strength, but what it’s really projecting is panic, contradiction, and a total inability to control the consequences of its own actions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aravosis.substack.com/subscribe