A Dirty Tricks Presidency?

This morning there are dueling takes regarding what Trump knew and when he knew it. Of course, we’re talking about the Anglo-Zionist war on Iran. I’ll simply say this. Just like the attack on Russian air bases, the sneak attack on Iran was in the planning for many months, very likely for more than a year. There’s no possible way that US support for the Israeli attack—which is beyond doubt—happened only after the fact. The coordination of air refueling resources with the attack aircraft, the prepositioning of munitions—none of this happened without intensive coordination. Alastair Crooke—whose wife monitors Israeli media—reports this morning that

Ronan Bergman, the prominent Israeli commentator, senior security official, is saying is that General Michael Kurilla—throughout this period, leading up to the war—was telling the [Israeli] security officials that it was assured that America would join in. Not only would they join in and support Israel in its attack on Iran, but he was also suggesting that America would release its mother of all bombs, the MOAB, the 11 ton bunker buster bomb that can only be carried by B1 or B2 American bombers, and that they would shortly be seeing all of these big bombers being sent to to Diego Garcia—for sure the United States would be participating in the attacks on Iran. Well, that hasn't happened so far. I'm not saying it won't happen, that Trump will not join in, but I'm saying that the prospects are not clear.

It’s worth remembering that Kurilla—in Senate testimony within a week of the attack on Iran—stated that he had presented to Trump several military options against Iran. Now, that doesn’t mean that Trump signed off on a specific plan or date, but it does mean that Trump was fully aware of the planning for the Israeli operation. Trump’s claim after the fact that he knew everything can’t be plausibly walked back. He took ownership of it, and the ‘I’m a liar’ defense won’t work. Moreover, as Larry Johnson points out, the use of “peace negotiations” to set up targets for assassination—specifically, Hassan Nasrallah—is now a well known US tactic. You could call it a signature US technique. By taking ownership of this, Trump has made himself the Dirty Tricks president.

We’ll get into more on this, below, but first …

Due Dissidence @DueDissidence

This is what Zionists [i.e., Jewish Nationalists] think of Americans.

5:05 PM · Jun 14, 2025

In effect, Podhoretz is saying: We bought the US government with good money, we outbid everyone else, so you Goys get no say. Or as commenter steghorn21 puts, MAGA now = Miriam Adelson Governs America. It’s up to Trump at this point to convince Americans that he governs on behalf of Americans. America First, not Israel First.

Marjorie Taylor Greene Blasts 'Disgusting' MAGA Hawks, Breaks Ranks Over Iran War

OK. Judge Nap had a good interview with Alastair Crooke this morning. Crooke provided a plausible big picture explanation for the launching of the war on Iran. Doug Macgregor, who had personal experience with Trump during Trump 1.0, has repeatedly maintained that Trump has a regrettable tendency to agree with the last person he talks to. I assume that what this really means is that if some smooth talker who knows what Trump’s buttons are—such as an obsessive desire to play the Alpha Male on the world stage, ‘I’m running the world and enjoying it,’ the guy who tells people when to jump and how high—can frame a scenario that plays into Trump’s predilections, that smooth talker has a pretty good chance of getting Trump to go along.

Crooke argues that Trump was talked into the regime change in Iran scenario by the goofballs he has surrounded himself with—yes, all those appointments really do matter. The idea, as Crooke describes it, was that a double shock to Iran:

A decapitation strike coupled with

A cyber attack on Iran’s air defense system

would lead to Iran suing for peace, accepting a bad deal—and then regime collapse/change. Here are a few key (edited) passages—disconnected—from Crooke’s presentation:

I think that this whole exercise was based on the conviction of Trump and Netanyahu together, thinking that Iran is weak, that it is ripe for a regime change, that the big sudden shock of the decapitation strike, of losing its air defenses, was going to bring about a big popular uprising. That hasn't happened. In fact, if anything, it's the opposite. There's extreme anger in Iran, there are demonstrations in Iran, but they're all demonstrations against the United States and Israel. The country has coalesced around the leadership, and the leadership has coalesced in a very significant way. And so we are seeing growing populist support.

Under UN provisions, other states (Russia, China) are within their rights to support Iran. A Chinese cargo plane has landed in Teheran and there are reports that Pakistan may have already sent missiles to Iran across the Baluch region border between the two countries.

Those missiles could well be Chinese missiles, which performed so well for Pakistan in the brief hostilities between India and Pakistan a month or so ago.

I wouldn't be at all surprised at [the Israeli] calls going out to Trump and saying, ‘We're in a mess! How are we going to get out of this mess?’ But I don't think Iran is going to accommodate that. They have moved away from strategic patience and are engaged now in a war to demilitarize Israel. Iran made a decision yesterday that it is going to attack hard and it is going to demilitarize Israel. I can't tell you if that will be successful, but that is what is intended. I don't think they're about to back down into a truce or into some form of ceasefire. Certainly not until they've reached their objectives will there be talks again with the Americans.

Now, Larry Johnson hosted an article this morning by a Russia analyst whom I’ve cited in the past. What I like about the article—I’ll quote a few passages, but it’s all good—is that the author places all this in the big picture that I’ve been pushing about what the heart of the Trump 2.0 agenda actually is. The author is Swiss but is based in Moscow. I assume that what he says reflects Russian awareness as well as his own. And what he’s saying is that the big picture of Trump 2.0 is a “reorganization of the global economic order.” I hope that sounds familiar to readers. Anyway, the author convincingly points out that Trump, by impulsively turning his presidency into a Dirty Tricks presidency, has effectively sabotaged that core agenda. Again, these are excerpts:

Diplomacy on his deathbed – from Peace President to Warmonger

16 June 2025 by Peter Haenseler

The US’s involvement in the attacks on Russia and Iran makes a negotiated solution to these conflicts unlikely. Trump, who promised his people peace, is bringing war.

…

The Americans are known for completely overestimating themselves; the never-ending series of lost wars since 1945 are testimony to this. Add to this the sinister influence of the Zionists on American foreign policy. I will refrain from using rational arguments to predict future developments. Rational thinking takes you past the deathbed of diplomacy and straight onto the wrong track.

China’s dependence on Iran’s oil is considerable, but not threatening. China mainly imports oil from Russia and Saudi Arabia.

This is an important point that many people get backwards. They think that because such a high percentage of Iranian oil goes to China, that the percentage of Chinese oil imports from Iran must somehow be equally high. That’s completely untrue.

If Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz, this will lead to instability in the Western financial markets, which could be dangerous.

When Donald Trump took office for his second term, he promised his people and the entire world that he would not only bring peace, but also prevent wars. These were not just empty promises, but probably lies.

People like McGovern and Krainer who argue against this conclusion are missing the point. Trump has conclusively placed himself in the position of needing to prove that he’s only an impulsive and compulsive bullshitter—just not a liar. That’s hardly a basis for successful engagement with foreign leaders. And, in fact, we’ve seen precious little of Trump’s much trumpeted deal making ability. Instead, he keeps complaining that the other guy can’t make a deal, rather than considering whether there’s a problem with his fundamental position or his approach—or both.

While it was still possible to speculate about Trump’s personal knowledge of the drone attack on Russia, the American president dropped the mask when it came to Iran. The faint hope in Moscow and Tehran that Donald Trump was actually interested in a peaceful settlement of the conflict has been dashed. Although Trump would like to conclude agreements, he is not seeking a diplomatic solution but is presenting conditions that are unacceptable to the other side and is “convincing” his interlocutors not with diplomacy but with brute force.

In addition, he is using dirty tricks to pull the wool over the eyes of Iran and Russia. Iran is led to believe that no attack is imminent and the Ukrainian attack takes place the day before negotiations in Istanbul – in full knowledge and probably coordinated by the Americans.

Fool me once … Wanna bet that world leaders are repeating that adage right now?

In addition to military conflicts, Donald Trump is also fueling other wars. The trade war with China and many other countries that Trump has started will have a poor chance of being settled soon. Trump announced three days ago:

“Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval from President Xi and me,”

However, this is typical Donald Trump marketing bluster. An agreement has not yet been reached and Chinese enthusiasm appears to be rather modest. The China Morning Post reports that despite an invitation from his American counterpart Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping will not travel to the United States in September for the UN General Assembly, ...

And here’s the bottom line:

The intended reorganization of the global economic order can only be achieved through negotiations with many partners. The days when the US could dictate to the rest of the world what should happen are over. The US’s position of power during the Bretton Woods negotiations no longer exists and Donald Trump has shown in the last few days that he does not deserve goodwill.

In the long term, however, America will be the biggest loser in this smear theater organized by Donald Trump. Even the greatest optimists will no longer trust the US for a long time.

Here’s a twitter war update from a veteran war correspondent, starting (selectively) from several hours ago to the present. NB: Next Iranian strikes are imminent:

Elijah J. Magnier @ejmalrai

It looks like [the] number [of Iranian missile strikes] is more or less static every day. It this continues for a month along with the destruction caused by the missiles, the Israeli societry - that fully stand behind Benjamin Netanyahu - may want to think twice in supporting their prime minister's war.

An Iranian reconnaissance drone over Israel, evaluating the damage and wandering around several areas to update the bank of objective, crossing from the east to the coast, north to the west, without being shot down. Israel is senidng four helicopters to shoot it down.

Iran downed an American MQ-9 propriety of the US army over Ilam province.

Iran is keeping its most modern hypersonic ballistic missiles with 1.5 tons of explosives for when the circle of war would be larger, soon.

BreakingNews:

Israel bombed the Official Radio and television in Tehran while on air. This arrogance is expected to be costly. Iran won't sit back and watch.

The Iranian TV station targeted by Israel is back on air despite several employees being killed and wounded in the attack.

For Israel, targeting civilians and civilian institutions is wide open. No rules of war and Israel lifted all gloves.

US President Donald Trump: "Israel is doing a very good job."

Legally, the protection of radio and television buildings during conflict is governed by international law, including the Geneva Conventions and related treaties. These laws generally emphasize the protection of civilian infrastructure, especially objects that are essential for civilian life, such as communications facilities.

Iran said it is prepared for the most violent bombing of Israel in the history.

This is a point of no return. Israel made a grave mistake today by targeting Iran's identity. This step will likely push Iranian decision-makers to seek redemption in the name of the majority of Iranians—both pro and contra the ruling system—living inside Iran. Israel aimed to shut down the TV station to pave the way for anti-Iranian government elements living abroad, who may be preparing for a coup with Israel's support. Tonight promises to be hellish, with the expected emergence of new Iranian missiles, never before seen, projected to be launched in the darkness.