Trump Panics as Iran Blocks Ship

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0:29Ben Meiselas:Donald Trump is panicking as Iran has once again blocked a ship trying to traverse the Strait of Hormuz using the unauthorized route. Trump and J.D. Vance have been bragging, we've opened up our own route in the Strait of Hormuz that we control. The IRGC released a video saying, no, you don't. And by the way, you may want to take a look at some of the satellite footage because all of the tankers right now, the VLCCs, they're mostly all using the IRGC route. And in terms of the transponders on these tankers on the other route, you ain't seeing any ships traversing over there. So Iran's IRGC grounded a foreign container ship in the Strait of Hormuz trying to use a U.S.

1:19Ben Meiselas:lane moments ago. Iran says it repeatedly warned captains, ship owners, and officials of shipping companies around the world that any entry or exit through routes other than the route of authority in the Persian Gulf could lead to irreparable incidents. And I'll show you right here because the IRGC just released footage of the foreign cargo ship stuck in the Strait of Hormuz after attempting to transit using a US suggested route this morning, calling it an incident even worse than sinking. Per the Iranian Broadcast Network, here's what they just showed moments ago. Let's play it.

2:22Ben Meiselas:So as the Trump regime has been panicking, they sent J.D. Vance to act like a tough guy in front of members of our military who were just incredibly bored and disengaged by this terrible speech. J.D. Vance was given the speech and he was like, do you all know we dropped bombs a couple of days ago on Iran. You know why? Because Iran was shooting at commercial ships that were using our route. And now there's complete transit through the Strait of Hormuz, not using the IRGC route, using our route. We did it, mission accomplished. That's not what's happening. And I implore everybody to look at the crack spreads right now.

3:07Ben Meiselas:I know I may sound like a broken record about this, but the crack spreads are the delta or the difference between the crude prices that you see, which are below$70 a barrel, right? That's the WTI and Brent crude. But look at what the refiners are charging because our strategic reserves are hitting technical or functional tank bottom. And so the refiners see, wait a minute, we don't have the ability to provide this level of gasoline at the pump while something's going on with the market to manipulate it. So it's lower right now than it was under former President Biden in like 2023 and 2024 when the Strait of Hormuz was open, but the refiners see what's happening.

3:57Ben Meiselas:That's why I keep on saying, let's focus on the receipts here. So when something happens, we're not like, where did that come from? I'm telling you what's happening right now. Watch what J.D. Vance said. Let's play it.

4:13Then J.D.

4:23Ben Meiselas:Vance said, look, and here's what we're going to be doing. If the Iranians try to rebuild the nuclear program, we've got options. If Iranians try to threaten their neighbors, we've got options. But what we must never do is drop bombs just for the sake of dropping bombs. I agree that, J.D. Vance, but that's not what you did before. You drop bombs for the sake of dropping bombs on Iran because y 'all went with Netanyahu to engage in this catastrophic war in the first place. And then J.D. Vance is like, he'll ask you, Trump will ask you to go to war, yes. But when he asks you, he'll tell you exactly what you're going for.

5:03Ben Meiselas:No, he didn't even tell anybody what we were going for last time. Oh, yeah, he said that it was going, we were going to go there for regime change and replace the Ayatollah and that he and Netanyahu would be viewed as conquering heroes. This is what J.D. Vance said moments ago. Let's play it. If the Iranians try to rebuild the nuclear program, the president's got options again because of you. If the Iranians try to threaten their neighbors or fund terrorism, we've got options again because of you. But what we must never do is drop bombs just for the sake of dropping bombs. And that is what the president will never ask you to do.

5:39He'll ask you to go to war, yes, but when he asks you to go to war, he'll tell you exactly what you're going for. And I think that is what you should expect out of your political leadership.

5:50Ben Meiselas:And then J.D. Vance lies and said, the Iranians are further away from developing a nuclear bomb than they've ever been. Just making up numbers. Well, focus on what's happening in the strait. They don't want you to focus on that. Here, play this clip of J.D. And now, and trust me, I know because I look at the intelligence estimates, if you look at what our own intelligence says about their nuclear program, They are further away from developing a nuclear bomb than they have ever been since basically the last 20 or 30 years. And that is because of you and because of your hard work. And then J.D. Vance throwing obvious shade at Marco Rubio here saying, there are people in this country who want to keep going and going.

6:35Ben Meiselas:Why do we engage in negotiation? It's not out of weakness, but it's out of strain. By the way, I agree with J.D. Vance. However, the negotiations are over. I mean, you did the MOU. The issue right now is that y 'all are pretending that the document you signed and that Donald Trump held up in Versailles isn't a real thing. You do an MOU and then you go, aha, now the negotiation begins. No, now the technical implementation of the deal begins, but it's not a new deal. And the issue that so many in the international community see is that you do fake deals. And as you said yesterday when you were on Michael Knoll's show, the purpose of the MOU was to buy time in 60 days to build up the stocks.

7:26Ben Meiselas:I mean, maybe quite literally Donald Trump's portfolio trading 21 ,000 times in 2025. But I think you mean the oil stocks and the weapon stocks. because you said, when that goes on, we'll judge how Iran did and we'll determine if we want to go back to war. It's like a test. No, it's a deal. You have to follow the deal or don't do the deal in the first place. Let's watch what JD says. Let's play this clip. But today, as I sit here, there are people in this country who want you to just keep going and keep going and attack the president of the United States for using the leverage that you gave him to engage in negotiation.

8:07Why do we engage in negotiation? Because of you, it's not out of weakness, but it's out of strength. And again, I go back to that time that I served in the United States military from 03 to 07. We made a lot of mistakes back then.

8:21Ben Meiselas:And then J.D. Vann says, what I noticed about people who were attacking our administration for negotiating is that they're the very same people who encourage us to drop a few more bombs on places like Afghanistan. By the way, I agree with J.D. Vance here. However, he's acting like they didn't just get us in this catastrophic war in Iran in the first place. We're here because you all invaded Iran and you lost the war. So now you entered into the MOU. And now you're going to lecture on what the neocons did, who are horrible people, but you are the neocons. You're the neocons, just like them who lost.

9:00Ben Meiselas:You lost. So now you sign the MOU. Here, play this clip. And what I notice about the people who are attacking the administration for negotiating is that they're the very same people who, for example, encouraged us to just go a little bit further and just drop a few more bombs in places like Afghanistan. But again, if you go back to the mistakes that were made, those very same people, they refused to say, what were we dropping bombs for? Now, the president of the United States maintains a lot of options today in 2026. And then J.D. Vance said, but don't worry, everybody, will get to the nuclear issue in the future.

9:42Ben Meiselas:We're going to start talking about that. I think this is very revealing. I'll play the clip in a moment. We're going to start talking about that. You realize that under Obama, we didn't just start talking. We stopped talking because we did a deal called the JCPOA. What's notable about the MOU is that the start talking about the nuclear stuff, that only happens when the United States fulfills its obligations under the MOU, unfreezing the funds for Iran. Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz, making a$300 billion fund available for Iran, which Marco Rubio went to the Middle East and said, we're not even discussing that with Arab nations.

10:28Ben Meiselas:Why would we even talk about that? Because it's in the deal. And we heard from the foreign ministers of Arab nations and they said, yeah, why would we talk about$300 billion funds? We don't know anything about that because it's in the deal. And everybody in the Trump regime said the Arab nations would be paying for it. And then Israel would Netanyahu would have to leave Southern Lebanon when those conditions are met, which Iran realizes that y 'all aren't going to meet. Then you get to discuss the nuclear stuff, the nuclear information. So that doesn't happen until the other stuff is fulfilled.

11:03Ben Meiselas:That's the way the agreement that you all signed is structured. If you like it, if you don't like it, your feelings are not really what's at issue here. It's what the MOU says here. Let's play this clip. And that's what they're focused on. And then, you know, we're going to obviously we're worried about the nuclear issue. We're going to start talking about that. So right now, the talks are going well. It's still pretty early, but talks are going well. Now, while that's going on, Donald Trump is heading to this speech in North Dakota at the Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Center. And Trump is arriving in his choo-choo train.

11:38Ben Meiselas:This is him arriving in his choo-choo train. Everybody play this clip.

11:47Ben Meiselas:And he's then having horses escort his motorcade so he can feel tough. Here, play this clip.

12:05Ben Meiselas:And then Donald Trump is having a conversation with AI President Teddy Roosevelt that Trump seems to think is real. And it seems that AI Teddy Roosevelt is trolling Donald Trump because Trump's like, do you think the Panama Canal is your greatest achievement? And AI Teddy Roosevelt is like, the job of a president is beyond a single thing like that. You must care about the people, like stuff that Donald Trump doesn't do at all. Here, play this clip. Do you consider the Panama Canal your greatest achievement? Well, well. Right then, yes.

12:45The canal stands as one of my proudest battles, no question. But greatness is a strange thing. It isn't always the biggest or boldest job that matters most. The Panama Canal showed what America could achieve if we held steady and acted fast when the world dragged its feet. That said, I measure my greatest work by the lives improved. The park set aside, food and drugs made safe, the square deal given to all, not just to a few. Still, when I stood in the mud watching those steam shuttles, knowing ships would pass through, changing the world's map forever, I felt I had left a mark that would last.

13:24Okay. You did. Thank you.

13:27Ben Meiselas:And here's more of Donald Trump telling A.I. Roosevelt that it's an honor to be with him, that it's such an honor to be with you. Here, play this clip. Every day a president faces storms most people never see. Keep your nerve and remember the nation comes first, you get through. I know you know that feeling yourself. Well, I appreciate those words. Those words are fantastic. And I just want to say it's an honor to be with you today. We are making a little bit of a tour of some of the fantastic things you've done. There you have it. Let me know what you all think, folks. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers.

14:03Ben Meiselas:Thanks for watching. Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our sub stack at MidasPlus.com. You'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski, ad-free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content only available at MidasPlus.com.