Iran War Update, Live with John Aravosis

Thank you NJ McGuigan, Sue, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.On tonight’s show, I’ll get into a bizarre and ugly convergence of war, politics, and religion. I’ll talk about Trump claiming Iran has agreed to hand back what he called the “nuclear dust” buried underground, while his administration keeps escalating the rhetoric around the war. And I’ll cover the increasingly surreal effort by Trumpworld to cast Trump as a kind of messianic figure -- from Trump’s own Jesus imagery to Pete Hegseth delivering an actual press conference sermon comparing Trump to Christ and the media to the Pharisees. I’ll also dig into Trump’s escalating attacks on Pope Leo, and the broader hypocrisy of all of this. Trump has been attacking the pope for criticizing the war and even framed it as part of his own political mandate, while Speaker Mike Johnson absurdly suggested the pope doesn’t understand just war doctrine. Meanwhile, Pope Leo responded in moral and sweeping terms, condemning those who manipulate religion and the name of God for military, political, and economic ends. (Yeah, wonder who that is?) I’ll also get into the bomb threat against the home of the pope’s brother, and why the climate Trump is helping create matters. Then I’ll widen out to the broader international fallout. I’ll cover the report that Europe has only about six weeks of jet fuel left, the data showing that most ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz since April 13 were affiliated with Iran, and the report that Iran used a Chinese spy satellite to target US bases in the Middle East. I’ll also touch on Trump’s latest vanity-project spectacle -- a gigantic 250-foot arch planned for northern Virginia that even sympathetic architecture voices think is ridiculous. So it’s a show about war, propaganda, religious manipulation, global consequences, and the madness of Trump’s political moment.• 2:41 - Israel-Hezbollah truce and what it means for Lebanon• 3:17 - Trump says Iran will hand back the “nuclear dust”• 4:23 - Trump escalates his attacks on Pope Leo• 5:31 - Hegseth compares Trump to Jesus and the press to Pharisees• 12:19 - Pope Leo’s rebuke of war, tyranny, and weaponized religion• 19:17 - Trump administration cuts Catholic Charities contract for migrant children• 20:45 - Mike Johnson bizarrely lectures the pope on just war doctrine• 24:11 - Bomb threat at Pope Leo’s brother’s home• 28:36 - Europe’s jet fuel warning and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz• 28:59 - Report that Iran used a Chinese spy satellite to target US bases• 29:22 - Trump’s gigantic northern Virginia arch plan• 31:05 - Russia’s latest large-scale strike on Ukraine• 31:51 - Trump makes a surprisingly normal vaccine-related personnel pick• 34:05 - Viewer discussion on AI propaganda, viral Trump memes, and who’s really making them• 53:14 - Viewer Q&A: Pam Bondi, Congress, Epstein fallout, Iran bargaining, and 2028 chatter 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