Summary

• Bessent describes IRGC leaders as now “trapped like drowning rats” amid the enduring US naval blockade of Iranian ports, which will soon result in gasoline shortages, anger & uprising

• Putin tells FM Araghchi that he’s been in contact with the new Supreme Leader, and says Iran fighting for ‘sovereignty’

• After a weekend of stalemate malaise, Iran reportedly offers new proposal for opening ship traffic, while postponing the thorny nuclear issue; Rubio says ‘will not tolerate’ Iran control of strait

• Trump says peace could come via telephone rather than face-to-face meetings, also warning Iranian oil infrastructure could explode from within unless flow resumes; Tehran later says Trump has requested new talks

• Iranian FM has been sending written messages to US via Pakistani intermediaries 

• Israel strikes deep into Lebanon in Beqaa Valley for first time of 3-week ceasefire.

*  *  *

Bessent: ‘Rats’ Trapped by US Blockade

In the early evening of Monday, well after markets closed, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued the following on X (below), describing IRGC leaders as now “trapped like drowning rats” amid the enduring US naval blockade of Iranian ports, which will soon result in gasoline shortages and anger – and potential protests leading to uprising (according to US desires and aims). Also here is where things stand on the stalled negotiations, and an early hint of the potential White House reaction, per WSJ:

Iran has presented regional mediators with a new offer to stop its attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for a full end to the war, including the U.S.’s lifting of its naval blockade of Iranian ports and the postponement of nuclear negotiations, according to officials familiar with the matter.

The proposal, presented by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during his tour of the region and Pakistan over the weekend, is designed to break the deadlock in the conflict and set talks back in motion, the people said. President Trump and his national-security team are skeptical of Iran’s offer, U.S. officials said. Trump previously said negotiations could happen over the phone instead of in person.

And: “Trump held discussions with aides Monday morning about the offer. While he didn’t reject it outright, officials said Trump sounded notes about Iran not dealing in good faith or being willing to meet his key demand: ending nuclear enrichment and vowing never to make a nuclear weapon.”

While the surviving IRGC Leaders are trapped like drowning rats in a sewage pipe, Iran’s creaking oil industry is starting to shut in production thanks to the U.S. BLOCKADE.

Pumping will soon collapse.

GASOLINE SHORTAGES IN IRAN NEXT! https://t.co/Czgy9VsHBO

— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) April 27, 2026

Rubio: ‘Will Not Tolerate’ Iran Control of Strait

The latest via WSJ on what Iran is proposing, centered on immediately lifting the US naval blockade on Iranian ports:

Iran has presented regional mediators with a new offer to stop its attacks in the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for a full end to the war and a lifting of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, according to officials familiar with the matter. The proposal, presented by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during his tour of the region and Pakistan over the weekend, is designed to break the deadlock in the conflict and set talks back in motion, the people said. It would see discussions about Iran’s nuclear program shelved. Washington hasn’t responded to the proposal, one of the people said. Iran’s mission to the United Nations didn’t respond to a request for comment.

But US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told Fox News on Monday that the US will not tolerate Iran controlling or establishing a toll system in the Strait of Hormuz. Rubio further asserted that the strait would remain open either through international pressure or a coalition-led effort.

Iranian Foreign Minister told Russia’s President Putin that US ‘destructive habits’, ‘unreasonable demands’ and frequent changes in positions are slowing diplomatic progress

Just days ago Iran began declaring that the first toll passage funds had been successfully transferred to the Central Bank of Iran, after Trump stated the US won’t allow a toll system. Rubio further said the US will not normalize the Iranians being essentially a gatekeeper, with countries seeking permission from Iran.

We will not tolerate a system where Iran plays gatekeeper to the world.” 🚨

Secretary Marco Rubio draws a line. As the “dual blockade” chokes global energy, the U.S. stance is clear: The Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway, not an Iranian toll booth. pic.twitter.com/YECpK8SUi4

— Martin (@Martin_Sedi) April 27, 2026

Putin Says He’s in Contact with Ayatollah in Araghchi Moscow Meeting

President Putin, FM Lavrov, and Iranian FM Araghchi have been meeting in Moscow, after warm greetings and amid competing narratives over the future of the Strait of Hormuz. The Russian leader said something surprising right out of the gate, at a moment Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen since the US-Israeli war began: “Last week I received a message from the Supreme Leader of Iran,” he told Iran’s Araghchi

Additionally Putin pledged, “The people of Iran are courageously and heroically fighting for their sovereignty.” This certainly stands in sharp contrast from the US and Western consensus. Putin also stressed, “Russia will do everything that serves the interests of Iran and the region to achieve peace as soon as possible.” This after Tehran on Monday made clear that it sees the future of the Strait of Hormuz as being under Iranian military control – an earlier headline which pushed crude prices up, and within hours later on this as well:

Hours prior, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described of Araghchi’s arrival, “the importance of this conversation is difficult to overestimate in terms of how the situation around Iran and in the Middle East is developing.” Araghchi to Putin: “It’s been proven to everybody that Tehran has friends and allies such as Russia… Allies that, in times of need, are standing next to Iran – and we are grateful to you for your support.”

The moment Putin greeted the Iranian top diplomat and his team (below), and where things stand on Iran’s proposal…

Iran has reportedly sent a new proposal to the U.S. that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but only after an end to the war and guarantees it will not resume, according to sources and regional reports. Under the plan, broader talks on the nuclear program and maritime navigation would come later.

Vladimir Putin greets Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi and his team https://t.co/Zgto3ZyVVI pic.twitter.com/ObAOkfMmPN

— RT (@RT_com) April 27, 2026

Meanwhile President Trump is expected to hold a situation room meeting soon on Monday, related to Iran and the Hormuz crisis with his top national security and foreign policy team.

IDF Hits Beqaa Valley for First Time of Lebanon Truce

A three-week Lebanon ceasefire is officially in place, but in reality it exists on paper or in name only, as Israel has intensified and expanded its attacks, now striking the distant Beqaa Valley for the first time since the truce began. “The IDF says it has launched a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah infrastructure in the Beqaa Valley and several areas of southern Lebanon,” Israeli media reported Monday. “The strikes come following repeated Hezbollah attacks on IDF troops and Israel during the ceasefire, including a deadly drone attack yesterday,” according to The Times of Israel.

The latest coverage notes that “Israel has not struck in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley in some three weeks.” The IDF frames the escalation as a response to Hezbollah violations of the ceasefire, while Hezbollah argues Israeli ground forces are on Lebanese territory and therefore legitimate targets.

Meanwhile, Joseph Aoun told representatives from southern villages that negotiating with Israel “is not betrayal,“ but necessary for stability. The Maronite Catholic leader added that “Betrayal is carried out by those who take their country to war to serve foreign interests.”

Iran Offers New Path To Opening Strait

Running a little ahead of schedule, Sunday evening brought this week’s infusion of pre-Monday-open optimism about prospects of ending the US-Israel war on Iran. Axios’ Barak Ravid, a veteran of Israeli intelligence who routinely posts anonymously-sourced scoops, reported that Iran has presented a new proposal for opening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the shooting — though Iran’s concept includes a potential non-starter via a proposed postponement of nuclear negotiations. No details were reported, beyond the notion of either an extended ceasefire or permanent end of the war that would accompany a full reopening of the strait. 

Earlier on Sunday, President Trump said face-to-face discussions with the Iranians weren’t essential to ending the war. “If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us. You know, ​there is a telephone. We have nice, secure lines,” he told Fox News. “They know what has to be in the ⁠agreement. It’s very simple: They cannot have a nuclear weapon; otherwise, there’s no reason to meet.”  

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi:

Incorrect approaches and excessive demands by the U.S. caused the previous round of talks—despite progress—not to reach its objectives. pic.twitter.com/Bt7ikClaoe

— Clash Report (@clashreport) April 27, 2026

Sunday’s micro-dose of hope capped a weekend in which negotiations were perceived as grinding to a clear stalemate marked by a lack of warfare but also a continued choking of traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz. On Saturday, Trump’s lead negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, were poised to travel to Islamabad for another round of negotiations with the Iranians when Trump nixed their trip at the last minute.

Iran’s Fars news agency reported that Araghchi has “conveyed written messages regarding Iran’s red lines to the American side through Pakistani intermediaries.” 

Iranian Foreign Minister Shuttles Between Pakistan, Oman, Russia 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has been on the go. On Saturday, he left Pakistan after meeting with Pakistan’s military chief, Asim Munir, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. On parting, Araghchi said he’d had a “very fruitful visit,” while cautioning it’s unclear “if the US is truly serious about diplomacy.”

Then he was off to Oman for talks centered on re-opening the strait — which lies between the two countries — then back to Pakistan. By Monday, Araghchi was in St Petersburg, Russia for discussions with President Putin. Commenting on the relationship via X, Iran’s envoy in Russia said: 

“Iran and Russia are present in a united front in the campaign of the world’s ​totalitarian forces against independent and justice-seeking countries, ​as well as countries that seek a ⁠world free from unilateralism and Western domination.” 

Trump: Iranian Oil Infrastructure In Peril From Limited Capacity

Trump told Fox News on Sunday that the US blockade on traffic to and from Iranian ports is putting major pressure on the country’s export infrastructure: 

“When you have, you know, lines of vast amounts of oil pouring through your system, if for any reason that line is closed because you can’t continue to put it into containers or ships, which has happened to them — they have no ships because of the blockade — what happens is that line explodes from within, both mechanically and in the earth.”

“It’s something that happens where it just explodes. And they say they only have about three days left before that happens. And when it explodes, you can never, regardless, you can never rebuild it the way it was.”

That approximate scenario has also been outlined by the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute. “Once the tanks are filled, Iran would have to shut down its oil fields, which risks long-term damage to the fields,” AEI’s Annika Ganzeveld told the New York Post. A worst-case scenario doesn’t only imperil Iran’s economy, but also threatens to put more upward pressure on global energy prices. Analysts differ on how much time Iran has before a forced shutdown of production  — with estimates ranging from mere days to seven weeks. 

TankerTrackers.com on Sunday reported that Iran has loaded roughly 4.6 million barrels of oil at its terminals, without specifying the time-frame in which the feat had occurred. The outlet said another 4 million barrels have somehow evaded the US blockade. That volume of oil buys a few more precious days of storage capacity, the Wall Street Journal says. 

BREAKING: IRAN LOADS 4.6 MILLION BARRELS AT CRUDE OIL TERMINALS

ADDITIONAL FOUR MILLION BARRELS APPEAR TO HAVE EXFILTRATED US BLOCKADE LINE

— TankerTrackers.com, Inc. (@TankerTrackers) April 26, 2026

Meanwhile, citing claims made by the secretary-general of the Iran Shipping Association, FARS reported that “Iran’s maritime trade flow has not stopped, and ships are reaching ports by crossing the blockade.” The report also said the bolstering of alternative routes — including northern ports on the Caspian Sea and rail links to China and central Asia — had also buffered the country’s “economic resilience.” 

Iranian Leadership Divided On Deal Terms

Iran’s leadership is reportedly split on how flexible they should be on nuclear terms of a deal. Last year, at the encouragement of Israel and pro-Israel forces inside the United States, the Trump administration had adopted a maximalist position demanding that Israel agree to never again enrich nuclear material, even to levels far below weapon-grade. 

For many observers, this was seen as a demand that Israel knew Iran would never consent to, ensuring the all-out US-Israel war on Iran that Prime Minister Netanyahu himself admitted he had “yearned to do for 40 years.” It’s been the long-running conclusion of the US intelligence community that Iran has not been developing a nuclear weapon. Netanyahu has been warning of an imminent Iranian nuclear weapon for 34 years — since 1992.  

Donald Trump has been repeating the same claims Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed for over 30 years:

“Iran is very close to obtaining nuclear weapons” – often framed as “a few months” or even “a few weeks.”

For 30 years, the same pretext – and Iran still without nuclear weapons. pic.twitter.com/pagRS2hQ0I

— Mr. Whale (@CryptoWhale) April 15, 2026

* * *

Some of the worst drought conditions in a generation are plaguing America’s breadbasket just as spring planting season gets underway. Institutional desks, including UBS, have ramped up warnings about drought, fertilizer shortages, and what these current-day issues could morph into for the food supply chain later this year.

The good news: parts of the central U.S. may finally see some weather relief, with several days of rain in the forecast. Whether that will be enough to materially improve soil moisture conditions remains the key question for agricultural desks this week.

“The upcoming weather pattern in the United States, fueled by a strong subtropical jet stream, will bring some beneficial rain to the drought-stricken South,” meteorologist Ben Noll wrote on X, adding, “But it will be far from a drought-breaker.”

The upcoming weather pattern in the United States — fueled by a strong subtropical jet stream — will bring some beneficial rain to the drought-stricken South.

But it will be far from a drought-breaker. pic.twitter.com/3Zfhm1KpfT

— Ben Noll (@BenNollWeather) April 27, 2026

Noll is correct: it will take many more rounds of storms to fully erase the drought, especially given what UBS analyst Jonathan Pingle told clients last week.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Palmer Drought Severity Index hit its highest level for March since records started in 1895, and March was the third-driest month recorded, regardless of time of year, behind only the famed 1930s Dust Bowl: July and August 1934. Water levels on the Mississippi look fine, and seasonal lows are typically in the fall, but river levels in Memphis sit 24 feet below this time last year.

Here’s The Weather Channel’s forecast for rain this week across the Midwest and Southeast:

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Better than nothing. 

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

Iranian attacks on US bases across the Middle East have caused far more damage than the Trump administration has publicly acknowledged, and an Iranian fighter jet was able to bomb at least one US base, NBC News reported on Saturday, citing unnamed US officials.

The administration has attempted to cover up the damage to US bases in the war, and has gone as far as requesting that Planet Labs and other satellite imagery companies black out war images, making it difficult to ascertain the damage.

The NBC report said that the Pentagon has also kept the information on the damage from Congress. “No one knows anything. And it’s not for lack of asking,” a Republican congressional aide told the outlet. “We have been asking for weeks and not getting specifics, even as the Pentagon is asking for a record high budget.”

Iranian missile and drone attacks have targeted US bases in seven Middle Eastern countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Jordan, and Qatar. US officials said that an Iranian F-5 fighter jet was able to bomb the US base at Camp Buehring in Kuwait despite it having air defenses, marking the first time in many years that an enemy fixed-wing aircraft struck a US military installation.

The US armed Iran with Northrop Grumman-made F-5 fighter jets before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and Iran has developed its own version of the aircraft, known as the HESA Kowsar.

Kuwait was also the site of a March 1 Iranian drone attack that killed six US Army Reserve soldiers and injured more than 20. The drone targeted a makeshift operations center in Port Shuaiba, and according to survivors of the attack who spoke to CBS News, the facility was unprotected despite claims from US War Secretary Pete Hegseth that the drone was able to “squirt” through air defenses.

The Pentagon has confirmed the deaths of at least 13 US soldiers and the injuries of more than 400 in the war. The bases across the region were mostly evacuated since they were so vulnerable to attack, something The New York Times previously reported.

“Many of the 13 military bases in the region used by American troops are all but uninhabitable, with the ones in Kuwait, which is next door to Iran, suffering perhaps the most damage,” the Times reported on March 25.

The NBC report said that the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain “sustained serious damage” and that other US bases in the country also suffered serious damage that is likely repairable.

An Iranian F-5 flew through air defences and bombed the US base in Kuwait. No enemy fighter jet has bombed a US target since Korea https://t.co/62L0rbuwq4

— Nate Bear (@NateB_Panic) April 25, 2026

The report also cited the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a Washington-based think tank, which said it assessed Iran hit more than 100 targets across 11 bases, and that the repairs would cost at least $5 billion, though the number doesn’t account for some of the radars, weapons systems, and other equipment that was destroyed.

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

“Let’s get ruthless.”

Those words are, unfortunately, nothing new in this age of rage.

In just the last few weeks, various liberal pundits and politicians have been calling for radical and even violent action.

Even comedian Margaret Cho publicly declared this week that “we need a feral, bloodthirsty, violent Democrat.”

However, these words were reposted by Bill Kristol, the founder of the Weekly Standard and the current editor-in-chief of The Bulwark. Kristol was a leading conservative figure in the Republican Party.

Kristol left the Republican Party and is now a vehemently anti-Trump writer. There are certainly good-faith reasons why some conservatives have broken with Trump on a variety of issues.

However, the original column was endorsing the Democratic plan to pack the Supreme Court with an instant liberal majority to force through a slew of political changes in the country.

Various Democrats have been pledging to not only impeach Trump (and a long list of other figures), but to pack the Supreme Court as soon as they regain power.

James Carville declared, “If the Democrats win the presidency and both houses of Congress, I think on day one, they should expand the Supreme Court to 13. F— it. Eat our dust. Don’t run on it. Don’t talk about it. Just do it.”

This Nike School of Constitutional Law is catching on with a wide array of pundits and professors. Just do it.

Years ago, Harvard professor Michael Klarman laid out a radical agenda to change the system to guarantee Republicans “will never win another election.” However, he warned that “the Supreme Court could strike down everything I just described.” Therefore, the court must be packed in advance to allow these changes to occur.

Former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder has put packing the Supreme Court front and center, explaining, “[We’re] talking about the acquisition and the use of power if there is a Democratic trifecta in 2028.”

Years ago, I wrote an academic piece on the possible expansion of the Supreme Court, but there is a world of difference between that and a court-packing plan. Under my proposal, the court’s expansion would take almost two decades to ensure that no president could pack the court.

It was not just the company that Kristol is keeping on the issue, or his endorsement of the long-anathema concept of court packing, but also his rationale for the move. Kristol cited the successful Democratic gerrymandering efforts in California and Virginia as triumphs that should now propel the left to pack the Court.

Kristol reposted the call for court packing from his colleague Jonathan Last: “Expanding the Supreme Court is no different from redistricting in California and Virginia,” he said. “It is a proportionate response to Republican attempts to degrade liberal democracy and move America toward a post-liberal order.”

Praising governors Gavin Newsom and Abigail Spanberger for their “ruthless” leadership in response to Republican gerrymandering, Kristol insisted that Democrats must meet “force with force” and must now pack the Supreme Court. Being ruthless, he argues, is the “only road to preserving liberal democracy.”

There is, of course, a considerable difference between altering political districts and packing the courts. Political gerrymandering has been around since the earliest days of the Republic.

The courts are not the same political fungible units. Indeed, the favorite term on the left is “illiberal democracy” to refer to democratic systems used to curtail rights and weaken checks and balances. Yet this illiberal means is being cited by Kristol as essential to save liberal democracy.

Liberal justices have spoken out against these calls for court packing.

The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said it would destroy the continuity and cohesion of the court.

She added, “If anything would make the court look partisan, it would be that — one side saying, ‘When we’re in power, we’re going to enlarge the number of judges, so we would have more people who would vote the way we want them to.’”

The political districts are precisely that: political. They are part of the two political branches in a tripartite system. It is the courts that keep these political branches within their proper constitutional orbits.

There was, of course, no movement to pack the court when a series of liberal majorities rewrote major areas of constitutional law in the 1960s and 1970s. These demands from figures like Sen. Elizabeth Warren were only heard when the court began to rule against their chosen outcomes.

Warren explained that the court had to be packed to bring its rulings in line with “widely held public opinion.”

Of course, Article III was designed precisely to blunt such pressures to rule according to “widely held public opinion.” The Supreme Court is a counter-majoritarian body that was created to protect rights against the passions or demands of the majority.

As I discuss in my book, “Rage and the Republic,” the founders sought to avoid “democratic despotism” and “mobocracy” by creating barriers to direct democratic powers. The Supreme Court is essential as a bulwark against such impulse politics. Those pushing for an instant liberal majority would convert the court into the type of partisan judicial bodies seen in states like Wisconsin where jurists are selected to robotically vote for party priorities.

There is a reason why “ruthless” was not an attribute cited by anyone in the constitutional convention to be fostered in our Republic. On the contrary, the system is designed to temper ruthless passions for reasoned debate.

The court itself may be the ultimate test of the lingering capacity for reason among our citizens. Of course, we can be ruthless and tear down our institutions on the 250th anniversary of our Republic.

No democratic system is ever immune from self-inflicted wounds. That is why Benjamin Franklin reminded us that this remains our Republic if we can keep it. This year, we can celebrate that Republic, or we can ruthlessly destroy it in a fit of blind rage.

Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”

There were early signs during the third week of the U.S.-Iran conflict that EV demand was gaining traction in Asia, where the energy shock has been felt the hardest. That was followed by a separate note earlier this month confirming that EV demand was beginning to reaccelerate.

Now, Goldman analysts led by Kota Yuzawa see global EV demand gaining momentum after several years of muted demand, as the fuel-price shock at the pump pushes consumers back toward EVs.

Yuzawa noted that the share of the top 30 countries where the EV sales mix rose month over month climbed from 30% in January to 60% in February and 80% in March. This acceleration suggests the energy shock is helping pull the EV industry out of a multi-year rut. 

The reacceleration of global EV demand has likely gained further traction in April amid elevated prices. Goldman’s commodity team, led by Daan Struyven, wrote in a separate note that his WTI fourth-quarter forecast was revised from the previous $75 to $83.

This suggests the energy crisis is becoming more prolonged, and elevated fuel prices at the pump mean that EV demand will likely continue to rise – at least until Brent and WTI crater, depending on a Hormuz chokepoint reopening and a US-Iran peace deal being signed.

Yuzawa highlighted the global EV market in March:

• We are monitoring the rise in natural gas prices in the Indian market, as we are concerned about the impact on Maruti Suzuki, which has a high share of CNG vehicles.

• In the Thai market, both BEVs and HEVs are outperforming. The growing demand for HEVs, which offer excellent fuel efficiency, is a positive for Toyota and Denso.

• In the Chinese market, we have confirmed a narrowing of discounts on NEVs. Exports are also expanding, which underpins our bullish view on BYD.

• The expansion in demand for ESS is driven by the adoption of renewable energy against the backdrop of energy security. This expands the applications for automotive batteries, providing a tailwind for Tesla, BYD, and GS Yuasa.

EVs Outperform Amid Price Stabilization

Electrification Advances By Country

Really, all the EV industry needed wasn’t lower auto loan rates but a Hormuz chokepoint closure and a global fuel-price shock to jolt demand back to life. Who would’ve thought…

Professional subscribers can read the full “Resurgence of Electrification” note at our new Marketdesk.ai portal.

Authored by Catherine Salgado via PJMedia.com,

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is removing radical transgender ideology from dozens of regulations, which will, among other things, reserve women’s shelters only for women, not for mentally ill men.

HUD issued a press release on April 23 confirming that it is erasing “radical definitions of gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender” from some 50 regulations. Instead, HUD will apply the biological definition of sex and end the woke prohibition on “gender identity” discrimination.

The latter meant that shelters specifically for men or women were required to accept an individual’s identification as male or female regardless of biological reality. Obviously, this was a rule ripe for abuse. Therefore, HUD is taking steps to end the potential and actual abuse.

Fortunately, HUD and Secretary Scott Turner are restoring sanity to the agency’s regulations. The press release explained:

HUD’s Equal Access Rule would be adjusted to protect women’s shelters and replace the prohibition on discrimination against “gender identity” in all Community Planning and Development programs. Common terms such as father, mother, man, woman, boy, and girl would be defined consistent with biological reality across HUD’s regulations.

Turner proudly and emphatically confirmed that the biblical and biological reality is his priority.

“God created two sexes: male and female,” the secretary said.

“The Left’s war on biological reality through radical gender ideology will no longer take precedence over the safety and security of America’s most vulnerable women. This proposed rule will bring biological truth and sanity back to HUD’s policies.”

This follows up on a February 2025 order from Secretary Turner: “Equal Access in Accordance With an Individual’s Gender Identity in Community Planning and Development Programs.” This order started the process of offering services at shelters and other HUD-funded housing programs only in accordance with the biological definition of sex.

At the time, Turner stated, “We, at this agency, are carrying out the mission laid out by President Trump on January 20th when he signed an executive order to restore biological truth to the federal government. This means recognizing there are only two sexes: male and female. It means getting government out of the way of what the Lord established from the beginning when he created man in His own image.“

He continued, “As I have said before, we are going to take inventory of HUD’s programs and ensure every dollar that goes out the door is advancing HUD’s mission, which is to provide quality, affordable homes for communities across the country – urban, rural and tribal –and promote economic investment to build stronger communities and a brighter future for all Americans.”

The new announcement is part of this comprehensive effort at HUD. The Biden administration flouted and rejected biblical values at every opportunity. They defied both biological reality and Scriptural morals. What a difference the new administration makes.

Former Israeli prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid unveiled Monday that they are merging their parties into a joint ticket dubbed “Together – Led by Bennett” – as a major challenge to current leader Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections.

During a press conference Bennett said the alliance with Lapid is the “most Zionist and patriotic act we have ever done, for the sake of our country” – adding that the “era of division is over.” Netanyahu out soon?

Bennett will lead the ticket as its prime ministerial candidate, and has invited Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar party and a former army chief of staff, to join, saying that “our door is open for you too.”

Bennett describes himself as a “right-wing, liberal Zionist” and has emphasized he will only rely on “Zionist parties” – and so no Arab representative support will be involved in his coalition. “We’re not in the left bloc or the right bloc, we’re in the bloc of the entire Israeli nation,” he proclaimed.

And Lapid has announced, “We are uniting today to win the elections and to establish a Zionist government, strong and stable. A partnership between the center and right, between religious and secular, between north and south – without draft dodging and without extremism.”

“Israelis deserve a government that will provide security, focus on education, lower prices, fight corruption, and draft the Haredim into the army,” he added.

Lapid said he and his Yesh Atid party are “setting ego aside and doing what is right for the State of Israel,” adding that “to win the elections, the entire Israeli center must stand behind Naftali Bennett.”

Fresh polling featured in The Jerusalem Post predicts the ‘Together’ party would win 27 seats if elections were held today:

In the previous survey, Likud and “Bennett 2026” were tied at 24 seats each, and Bennett and Lapid’s parties together reached 31.

Additionally, former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot appears to benefit from the merger, with his party rising from 12 to 15 seats. The result positions him as a central player in the opposition camp.

If Eisenkot were to join Bennett and Lapid, the unified list would rise to 41 seats, making it far larger than Likud. Still, the bloc map would remain unchanged, with the opposition unable to reach a 61-seat majority without the Arab parties.

But Bibi’s coalition would still be ahead. Bennet has further declared, “After 30 years, it is time to part with Netanyahu and open a new chapter for Israel.”

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

“Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action.”

– Ian Fleming

Don’t you love the way the news media pretends it can’t figure out the motive of Cole Tomas Allen, who tried to shoot-up Saturday’s White House correspondents’ gala. He was a creation of the very White House correspondents who ducked under their tables at the sound of his shots.

Cole Tomas Allen had digested and internalized the “narrative” spewage of the Democratic Party’s propaganda department. MSNOW occupied his brain like a glistening parasite.

CBS tried to amplify the shooter’s own motive on Sunday night’s 60 Minutes show when Norah O’Donnell read out-loud from his manifesto, “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” and asked President Trump “What is your reaction to that?” Mr. Trump did not fall for the ruse — which was just an opportunity to reinforce a well-worn scurrility.

“You’re a disgrace,” the president replied, and Ms. O’Donnell just continued with the interview as if his answer never registered.

There it is.

In fact, Cole Tomas Allen traveled all the way from Los Angeles to Washington for the rare chance to find Mr. Trump and most of his cabinet all together in one room where he might be able to kill as many of them as possible. He styled himself: “Cole ‘coldForce’ ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen. “I experience rage thinking about everything this administration has done,” he concluded in his short manifesto, reportedly composed and sent out minutes before he left his room at the Washington Hilton to perform his rash deed.

That rage, you understand, was planted in his head by the likes of Norah O’Donnell of CBS news and the scores of reporters, editors, and news producers who had to abandon the festive menu starters of spring pea and burrata salad and crab terrine with a nice Veuve Clicquot when the shots rang out. The gala is a night when the Blob’s media errand boys and call girls like to treat themselves like royalty. (Meanwhile their hated enemies back in the truck stops of MAGAland get by on lowly chili-lime jerky and Little Debbie Zebra Cakes, washed down with Red Bull — good for five-hundred miles of hauling, at least.)

The former president can’t guess Cole Tomas Allen’s motives. He is a liar, a cad, and a fraud. As for political violence in general, you have not heard Mr. Obama complain about Antifa mayhem, BLM riots, tranny school murders, harassment of ICE officers, or any other violence approved by the Lefty-left. Mr. Obama is himself a bona fide seditionist. When he repeats the shibboleth “our democracy” he means simply the Lefty-left’s malevolent will to power — which is predicated on nothing more than feeding the Democratic Party’s never-ending rackets, doling out money to its captive clients for votes, solely to remain in power: Ouroboros, the snake eating its own tail. His mealy-mouthed sanctimony serves only his personal need to evade prosecution for his own crimes.

The only way Barack Obama can evade prosecution for RussiaGate and then for covertly running the “Joe Biden” White House from his HQ across town is if he is named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the RICO cases to come. That will be enough for historians to understand what happened here in the early 21st century. And what about the other traitors, the long list of Blob apparatchiks who schemed to overthrow the executive from 2016 to 2021, and then labored to throw thousands in prison, ran a fake pandemic op, queered two elections, hijacked the courts, shut down opposing opinion, and poisoned the minds of several assassins?

Justice is coming for them. They know it, and their “resistance” seeks to turn feral and savage in the months leading to the midterm elections. It will start in a few days with “Mayday Strong” rallies and street marches. Their slogan, “It’s workers over billionaires,” is just another lie. The part they leave out is that these actions are funded by billionaires: George Soros, Neville Roy Singham, Hansjörg Wyss, et al. Don’t expect the action to remain “mostly peaceful,” either. The idea, of course, is to get violent so as to goad President Trump into invoking emergency powers to put down an insurrection.

I doubt that President Trump will shrink from invoking the Insurrection Act, an amalgamation of laws passed by Congress starting in 1792–1795 with the Militia Acts, then the key 1807 law signed by President Thomas Jefferson, and major amendments during and after the Civil War, including the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act. It is codified in Title 10 of the United States Code, Chapter 13, specifically §§ 251–255. It is a statutory exception to the Posse Comitatus Act (1878), which generally prohibits using federal troops for domestic law enforcement.

The Insurrection Act (with its predecessor statutes) has been invoked approximately 30 times in U.S. history by 16 presidents — Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, Grant, Hayes, Arthur, Cleveland, Wilson, Harding, FD Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, Reagan, and Bush — in episodes including the Whiskey Rebellion, the Southern Secession, many violent labor strikes, several race riots, and looting in natural disasters.

President Trump might have to use the Insurrection Act to stop what has been an ongoing coup against his elected administration by an opposition party that has turned criminal and traitorous. He may have to convene extraordinary military tribunals to adjudicate crimes that include those committed by the federal judiciary itself. If he does all this, it must include an executive order mandating common sense election procedure for the midterm: citizenship and photo ID required, paper ballots only, no vote-counting machines, voting only on one day deemed Election Day, and mail-in ballots limited only to military, people required to be out of the country, and the disabled.

All this is looking increasingly unavoidable.

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A total of 43 alleged members and associates of the Mexican Mafia prison gang were arrested this week on multiple charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the central district of California said on April 23.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the total includes individuals already in custody, with 25 of them being arrested in Orange County, California, on April 23. They face charges including kidnapping, extortion, fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking, running illegal gambling businesses, and murder.

First assistant U.S. attorney Bill Essayli said the arrests reflected joint efforts between federal and local law enforcement and their commitment to cracking down on violent felons and organized crime.

“Gang members who murder, extort, kidnap, and traffic drugs and firearms are a menace to our communities and our way of life,” Essayli said in a statement.

The investigation also led to the seizure of 4 kilograms (8.8 lbs) of fentanyl, 54.4 kilograms (120 lbs) of methamphetamine, 0.9 kilograms (2 lbs) of heroin, 3 kilograms (6.6 lbs) of cocaine, 25 firearms, and more than $30,000 in cash, according to the office.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the gang sold illegal drugs in Orange County and ran illicit gambling businesses within commercial strip malls and private residences. It also collected “extortionate taxes” and used violence to safeguard those gambling businesses, the office added.

One of the defendants, identified as Luis Cardenas, was accused of overseeing the gang’s criminal activities from his prison cell using “an encrypted messaging application on contraband cell phones” between June 2024 and April 2026. Cardenas allegedly instructed gang members to kidnap and assault those “in bad standing” with him.

Two other defendants—Matthew Kundrat and Manuel Ramos—were charged with murder that occurred at the Akua Inn, a gang-run motel in Anaheim, California, on Feb. 3, 2025. Prosecutors said the two allegedly committed the murder to be part of the Mexican Mafia and increase their standing within the gang.

“These defendants allegedly ran a ruthless criminal enterprise that murdered, kidnapped, extorted, and flooded our communities with deadly drugs,” FBI director Kash Patel said in a statement.

“The FBI will never stop working alongside our law enforcement partners to hold these individuals accountable and protect the people of Southern California.”

Some of the defendants made their initial appearances in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana and Los Angeles on April 23, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The Mexican Mafia, also known as “La Eme,” is a U.S.-based prison gang that started in the 1950s. Federal authorities said the gang exerts “immense control” over Hispanic street gangs in Southern California, directing illegal activities from within prisons and taking a portion of the proceeds from drug trafficking, illegal gambling, and other crimes.

Federal prosecutors charged Cole Tomas Allen, 31, the accused gunman in the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner shooting, with three criminal counts, including attempting to assassinate the president. 

Fox News reports that Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh unsealed the case against Allen on Monday. Allen appeared in federal court wearing a prison jumpsuit and answered the judge respectfully. He did not enter a plea and was only informed of the charges. 

The three counts include attempted assassination of the president, transporting a firearm across state lines, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. The attempted assassination charge could carry a life sentence if Allen is convicted. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Ballantine told the court that Allen was heavily armed when he stormed the Washington Hilton Hotel, allegedly hunting for President Trump and top-level officials. She said Allen was equipped with a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a .38-caliber semi-automatic pistol, and three knives.

Allen’s manifesto made it clear that he had a kill list (as reported by CBS News’ Jennifer Jacobs): 

Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest

“Mr. Allen has no prior arrests or convictions,” court-appointed defense lawyer Tezira Abe said. “He is presumed innocent at this time.”

Allen will remain in custody pending a Thursday hearing to determine whether he is eligible for any form of pretrial release, according to NBC News. 

Earlier today, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt blasted the “left-wing cult of hatred” as fueling political violence in yet another failed assassination attempt on Trump. 

Leavitt told reporters at a press briefing earlier that political violence against Trump “stems from a systemic demonization of him and his supporters by commentators, yes, by elected members of the Democrat Party and even some in the media.”

“This hateful, constant, and violent rhetoric directed at President Trump, day after day for 11 years, has helped legitimize this violence and brought us to this dark moment,” Leavitt said.

Some of that hateful rhetoric Leavitt was referring to: 

If you’re wondering why 3 attempts on President Trump’s life, that we know of, have happened, it’s because of people like Tim Walz who keep saying:

“No one has ever been more dangerous to this country than Donald Trump, and he is a fascist to his core!” pic.twitter.com/4QAy7vzvcJ

— Based Bandita (@BasedBandita) April 26, 2026

Where did Charlie Kirk’s murderer learn to call conservatives “fascists”?

“Do you think Donald Trump is a fascist?”

Kamala Harris: “Yes, I do. YES, I DO!” pic.twitter.com/RxDjgOYjKY

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 12, 2025

Where they learned this from!

Democrats ARE the Party of Hate and of Inciting Violence. pic.twitter.com/ONhiBT5KgV

— Donna Marie (@sabback) September 10, 2025

As we noted on Sunday, Allen appears to be an ordinary Democrat who has been influenced over the past decade by left-wing corporate media and radical left-wing NGOs. This toxic ecosystem created an artificial information environment in which President Trump was labeled, around the clock, as a “fascist,” a “Nazi,” and worse, inciting an existential crisis among vulnerable Democrats who have chosen to respond with violence.

🚨BREAKING: I found Cole Allen’s archived tweets.

He predicted “Kamala wins all swing states,” compared Trump’s win to “Nazis getting elected,” and moved to Bluesky.

The scary part: he retweeted every mainstream Democrat on this platform.

Thread below. 👇

What radicalized him… pic.twitter.com/5VWHCZd6Rx

— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) April 26, 2026

Meanwhile, Real Clear Politics’ Paul Sperry reports:

DEVELOPING: Federal investigators are looking into a possible connection between arrested would-be Trump assassin Cole Tomas Allen and Stacey Abrams’ Fair Fight Action, as well as the radical Black Lives Matter … developing …

— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) April 27, 2026

*Developing…