The oxygen was sucked out of the discussion about the possible renewal of attacks on Iran by a lone gunman — reportedly a 31 year old teacher from California — who ran through the corridors of the Washington Hilton Hotel, which was hosting the White House Correspondents Association dinner. The dinner has been described in the past as Nerd Prom. The gunman did not enter the ballroom… He was shot outside the ballroom after shooting one law enforcement officer, who got to test the quality of his bullet proof vest.
The media is hyping this event as another attempted assassination of Donald Trump, even though the gunman was subdued and arrested in the foyer outside the venue. Given the paucity of information about the two prior attempts on Trump — i.e., Butler, Pennsylvania and Trump’s golf club in Florida — it is understandable that some — me included — are wondering if this shooting was bona fide or a false flag. Let’s see if the White House manipulates this event in the coming days to justify a new policy or action by the Trump administration. An attack on Iran perhaps?
Speaking of Iran, Donald Trump continues to behave erratically. Just look at his comments in the last two days. On April 24, 2026 (Friday), President Trump made several comments on ongoing U.S.-Iran ceasefire/peace talks amid a fragile post-conflict situation involving strikes, a naval blockade, and Strait of Hormuz issues :
In a phone interview with Reuters, he stated that Iran was preparing to make an offer aimed at satisfying U.S. demands. He said, “They’re making an offer and we’ll have to see,” while noting he did not yet know the details.
When asked about negotiating partners in Iran, he replied: “I don’t want to say that, but we’re dealing with the people that are in charge now.” He had previously expressed uncertainty about Iranian leadership and who held real authority.
The White House announced that envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would travel to Pakistan the next day (April 25) for talks mediated by Pakistan, with Vice President JD Vance on standby. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt noted “some progress” from the Iranian side. On April 25, 2026 (Saturday), Trump canceled the planned envoy trip after Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Pakistan without direct U.S. engagement :
He posted on Truth Social announcing the cancellation, criticizing the long travel (e.g., ~18-hour flights) and stating it was not worth it for unproductive talks. He emphasized that the US held strong leverage (“We have all the cards”) and that Iran could simply call if serious.
In comments to reporters (e.g., Fox News), he reiterated that he would not send officials to “sit around talking about nothing” and suggested Iran later came back with a “much better” offer after the cancellation. He downplayed immediate resumption of conflict.
Within the last 48 hours Trump has contradicted himself. On Friday, Trump claimed the pre-cancellation offer was insufficient (“a paper that should have been better,” “offered a lot but not enough”). Yet he also said that within ~10 minutes of announcing the cancellation, that Iran sent a “much better” proposal. But here is the kicker… Iran presented the same list of demands that they gave to Trump two weeks ago. Trump portrayed the cancellation of the alleged meeting in Islamabad as a successful pressure tactic that immediately improved terms—while simultaneously justifying the cancellation because the original offer was bad. This is not a clever negotiating strategy, this is buffoonery.
Mario Nawfal interviewed me late Saturday afternoon: I was interviewed by Ed DeMarche of the Trends Journal on Friday… It posted today: --- I thank you for your invaluable support by taking time to read or comment. I do not charge a subscription fee nor do I accept advertising. I want the content to be accessible to everyone interested in the issues I am discussing. However, if you wish to make a donation, please see this link .