Netanyahu on Iran:

They tried to kill Trump twice… they’re still trying to kill him.

Netanyahu:

I don’t hear North Korea chanting “Death to America.” I don’t hear China or Russia chanting it either.

These are all adversarial countries, but they’re not seized by fanaticism — Iran is.

Netanyahu on Europe:

Many European countries have shown remarkable weakness in the face of a regime that calls America the “Great Satan,” Israel the “small Satan,” and views Europe as something in between — a civilization that must also be crushed.

The White House signaled Trump may end the Iran war even if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t fully reopened.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said reopening the Strait is “not one of the core objectives” of the operation.

Netanyahu:

There are military solutions to the Strait of Hormuz that the United States is leading.

Netanyahu:

There are things that I hear from the Arab countries and from the United States as well:

And I think these are interesting ideas — to divert all the energy pipelines, oil and gas from the Gulf, where the Iranians have a geographic choke point, westward across Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea and up to the Mediterranean ports, our ports in Israel.

And therefore, you just get around the geographic choke point.

Netanyahu:

The Gulf States are actually encouraging the United States to accelerate its action against Iran.

Netanyahu:

We knocked out about 70% of Iran’s steel capacity.

Retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Steve Anderson:

The president and his advisers are in the midst of the greatest geopolitical disaster in the history of our country. They have completely mismanaged this war.

To even talk about putting boots on the ground in any capacity — whether at Kharg Island, the Straits of Hormuz, or, God help us, if they try to go into Isfahan or Fordow to retrieve nuclear material — would be an absolute disaster.

When I was a cadet at West Point 50 years ago, we studied Sun Tzu.

One of the things he said was, “Know the enemy as yourself.” We do not know this enemy.

The IRGC are committed religious fanatics, and there is no fanatic like a religious fanatic. They’re not fighting for Iran. They’re fighting for Allah. They’re fighting for Islam.

It’s a kill-or-be-killed situation. They are going to do everything possible to beat us and to outlast us.

If we think we’re going to take Kharg Island and diminish their revenues — and that they care about that — that is ludicrous.

Netanyahu:

People don’t know history — but there was a Nazi regime, and the Nazi regime had the army, the Wehrmacht, but it also had the elite troops. And that’s the SS, the stormtroopers.

The stormtroopers of this regime are called the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill renaming Palm Beach International Airport after Donald Trump.

The change—pending FAA approval and a local agreement—will make it “President Donald J. Trump International Airport.”

Nursing home operator Joseph Schwartz was convicted of a $39 million tax fraud tied to his company, Skyline Healthcare, which ran facilities across the U.S.

Despite being sentenced to three years in prison, he was pardoned by Trump after serving just three months.

Schwartz’s nursing homes were plagued by neglect, understaffing, and financial mismanagement. Families of residents who suffered or died sued and won millions in court judgments—such as the family of Doris Coulson, awarded nearly $19 million after her death—but they have been unable to collect any money.

Source: ProPublica

A broker for Pete Hegseth tried to invest millions in a defense-focused ETF from BlackRock shortly before the US-Israel attack on Iran.

The fund includes major defense companies that benefit from military spending.

The deal didn’t happen because the ETF wasn’t available to Morgan Stanley clients at the time.

Source: FT

Kuwait says its giant crude oil tanker Al-Salmi was directly targeted by an Iranian attack while anchored in the anchorage area of Dubai Port, UAE.

The tanker was fully loaded at the time of the incident.

The attack caused structural damage to the vessel and triggered a fire on board, with a possible oil spill in the surrounding waters.

Trump’s approval just under 40% and falling.

Net approval ~ -17 (worst of his second term so far).

Main reason: rising gas prices (~$4) + economic frustration.

Iran war isn’t helping, no rally effect; it’s unpopular and tied to higher costs.

Source: Silver Bulletin

A 23-year-old Moroccan rapper, Souhaib Qabli (L7assal), was sentenced to 8 months in prison after releasing music that attacked corruption, poor public services, restrictions on speech, and Morocco’s normalization with Israel.

NEW: 4 more IDF soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon.

BIG: Trump has told aides he is willing to end the current U.S. war with Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed.

The White House now believes that forcibly reopening the strait would require a much longer and riskier military campaign than Trump wants.

Instead, the administration’s immediate goal is to cripple Iran’s navy, missile stockpiles, defense industry, and strike capacity, then wind down hostilities and try to pressure Tehran diplomatically to allow shipping to resume.

That means the U.S. may stop short of fully restoring freedom of navigation before declaring its main war aims achieved.

If diplomacy fails, Washington is reportedly hoping that allies in Europe and the Gulf will take on more of the burden of securing the waterway later, rather than the U.S. doing it immediately alone.

This is a major gamble, because the Strait of Hormuz remains one of the most important energy chokepoints in the world.

Even if the U.S. can claim military success against Iran, leaving Hormuz partially shut would mean the economic shock of the war could continue long after the shooting slows down.

Source: WSJ