Blockade and Abet

“Speaking at the White House, the US president says Iran wants a deal ‘very badly’ and he was called this morning ‘by the appropriate people’ seeking an agreement.” Meanwhile, the US has imposed its own naval blockade on maritime traffic near the Strait. (Maybe a blockade times a blockade equals a positive.) So far, allies have rejected Trump’s call to join the blockade effort. Here’s the latest on the ceasefire and the ongoing negotiations from The Guardian, BBC, and the NYT.

+ Fareed Zakaria with an excellent overview of how Trump’s suggestion that the US can profit from Hormuz tolls flies in the face of our core values. “These are revealing remarks, not because they are outrageous. Trump has said many outrageous things, but because they distill a worldview. They suggest a shift in how the United States might see its role not as the guarantor of a system, but as the participant in a deal.”

+ While U.S. negotiators shattered peace talks with Iran, Donald Trump was at a UFC event in Miami, fawning over the body of a Brazilian mixed martial artist. (The only war Trump won was the one on parody.)