From Gaza to Ukraine to Iran, Trump’s ‘peacemaker’ promise collapses

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/14/trump-gaza-ukraine-iran-israel


_{Left: a rescuer carries an injured girl on his back in an area hit by a missile fired from Iran, in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv.
Right: firefighters extinguish a fire in a building that was destroyed in an Israeli attack in Tehran}

In his inaugural address this January, Donald Trump declared that his proudest legacy would be that of “a peacemaker and unifier”, pledging that US power would “stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent, and totally unpredictable”.

Five months later, his second presidency is witnessing the spectacular unraveling of that lofty aspiration.

A president who vowed to end global conflicts – including one which he said he would resolve within his first 24 hours – has instead presided over their escalation – most recently the spiraling conflict between Israel and Iran.

The timeline of the latest conflict resuggests a stark disconnect between Trump’s aspirations and reality: the wave of Israeli airstrikes came just hours after Trump urged Israel not to attack Iran.

Marco Rubio, Trump’s secretary of state, took pains to describe the Israeli attack as “unilateral”, stressing that the US was “not involved in strikes against Iran” – only for Trump to then insist he had been well informed of Israel’s plans – and warn that further attacks would be “even more brutal”.

Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who has emerged as Trump’s primary diplomatic negotiator in the Middle East and Ukraine, still reportedly plans to go to Oman this weekend for talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, but it appeared unlikely the Iranians would attend.

It's just for show (urging Israel not to attack). No different from Biden's "red lines". The US is fully involved with Israels attacks on Iran with intelligence and defense against counter strikes. The only reason US fighters aren't (openly) participating is that the US public first needs to see US bases getting attacked by Iran. (or any militant group now wanting the US to leave more than ever, like groups in Iraq)

Trump’s muddled peace agenda was already disarray long before Thursday’s attacks.

The Gaza ceasefire his administration helped broker collapsed within weeks, with Israel resuming massive bombardments and imposing a three-month total blockade on humanitarian aid to the territory, where the death toll has now surpassed at least 55,000.

In Ukraine – a conflict Trump once bragged he would end on his first day back in office – Russian forces have pressed ahead with a summer offensive, entering the Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time in three years and accumulating more forces – evidence that Putin has no interest in Trump’s peace overtures and intends to expand the war further.

Meanwhile, Trump’s abrupt announcement of a ceasefire between India and Pakistan was met with fury in New Delhi, where officials denied his claims of brokering the deal.

And while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged to Congress that the Pentagon has developed contingency plans to seize Greenland and Panama militarily, it’s unclear how territorial conquest fits into Trump’s definition of peacemaking.

His first term ended no wars, nearly sparked conflict with Iran, and saw his signature “peace” achievement – the Abraham accords – normalize relations between Israel and countries that weren’t fighting it anyway.

Yes, and with those Abraham accords laying the groundwork for Oct 7 by sidelining the Palestinians and 2-state solution.


Part of Trump’s appeal to voters was precisely a promise to avoid foreign entanglements. In the stands at the inauguration viewing party, supporters told the Guardian how they valued his restraint in military deployment and favored his America-first approach that prioritized domestic concerns over international aid and intervention. And there is a an argument that for Trump peace is not an absence of conflict but rather Washington’s distance from it.

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Trump promised to be a peacemaker. Instead, he’s managing multiple wars while his diplomatic initiatives collapse in real time. From Gaza to Ukraine to Iran, the world appears more volatile and dangerous than when he took his oath five months ago.

‘Drop Israel’: How military escalation with Iran divides Trump’s base

After taking the oath of office for his second term in January, US President Trump had said he would push to “stop all wars” and leave a legacy of a “peacemaker and unifier”.

But six months in, missiles are flying across the Middle East after Israel attacked Iran, risking an all-out regional war that could drag US troops into the conflict. The Israeli strikes on Iran, which Trump has all but explicitly endorsed, are now testing the president’s promise to be a harbinger of peace.

They are also dividing his base, with many right-wing politicians and commentators stressing that unconditional support for Israel is at odds with the “America First” platform on which Trump was elected.

“There is a very strong sense of betrayal and anger in many parts of the ‘America First’ base because they have truly turned against the idea of the US being involved in or supporting any such wars,” said Trita Parsi, executive vice president at the Quincy Institute, a US think tank that promotes diplomacy.

Israel uses cover of ‘self defence’ to bomb, invade, occupy and commit genocide in region

Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said that Israel uses the excuse of “self-defense” to carry out crimes across the region, and it can do so because it is funded, armed and provided “diplomatic cover” by the US.

“Israel has military superiority thanks to the United States. You could also say that it is not Israel. It is the American-supported Israeli army. Because everything that Israel used in that bombing was American,” Bishara said in reference to its attacks on Iran.

“The fundamental problem today, like the fundamental problem throughout the Middle East, is that everyone seems to think – especially Israel – that ends justify the means. That you can do whatever you want to: violate all laws of humanity, of international law, so on and so forth, because you think that your end game, your cause, is more important than others,” Bishara said.

“Iran doesn’t have the right of self-defense. But Israel does. So Israel takes that right in order to bomb Iran. But if Iran bombs Israel. No, Iran does not have the right of self-defense,” he said.

“It carries out genocide in the name of self-defense. It carries out the invasion of different countries in the name of self-defense. It maintains an occupation for six decades in the name of self-defense. Now it’s going to bomb more and more of Iran in the name of self-defense,” he added.


Couldn't be more right, 'self-defense' has lost all its meaning just like anti-semitism.

I’ve been briefed this morning on an ongoing situation involving targeted shootings in Champlin and Brooklyn Park.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement are on the scene. We will share more information soon.

— Governor Tim Walz (@governorwalz.mn.gov) 14 June 2025 at 14:20

I’ve activated the State Emergency Operations Center.

Local law enforcement in Champlin and Brooklyn Park have the full resources of the State of Minnesota behind them.

We are monitoring the situation closely and will share more information soon.

— Governor Tim Walz (@governorwalz.mn.gov) 14 June 2025 at 14:26

Sources say Sen. John Hoffman and Rep. Melissa Hortman were shot. The suspect is a white man with brown hair wearing black body armor over a blue shirt and blue pants and he may be impersonating law enforcement. They're both Democrats in the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party. The spouses of the two Democratic lawmakers were also reportedly shot. 

FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul

US ambassador to Israel says had ‘rough’ night amid strikes

Mike Huckabee says he had to go to shelters five times overnight amid Iran’s missile barrage. “It’s now Shabbat here. Should be quiet. Probably won’t be. Entire nation under orders to stay near shelter,” the US ambassador to Israel posted on X.

Huckabee, a staunch supporter of Israel who has said there’s “no such thing” as the West Bank, said earlier this week that he the prospect of Israel launching a strike against Iran without US approval or coordination was unlikely.

“I just don’t in my mind see that that would be something that would likely happen because of the closeness of the relationship and the trust, and that’s the word I would emphasise – there is a trust between the US and Israel,” he told Israeli news outlet Ynet.

“I often say: we have friends, we have allies, but we only have one partner, Israel, and when I say that, I don’t mean that we don’t have deep relationships with other countries,” Huckabee said.

“But there isn’t really any country with which we have the level of sharing on intelligence, military hardware, strategy, common goals – in large measure because we share a common foundation of a civilization based on the Judeo-Christian worldview.”

Poor US, only 'partner' left is Israel, and what friends do you still have? Trump burned all your bridges.

Anyway, how much more proof does anyone need to call this the US-Israel war on Iran. US is deeply involved. The US is at war with Iran.

“Shoot a couple, the rest will go home,” said a meme circulating on Telegram channels of groups affiliated with the far-right Proud Boys. “You just have to impale a few of them…” another local chapter posted. One disseminated an online gun tutorial, illustrating optimal shooting techniques with the caption: “Riot season again!”

Proud Boys and Other Far-Right Groups Buzz With Violent Talk on How to Respond to ‘No Kings’ Protest - WSJ

Trump supports this

Former Pentagon chief Esper says Trump asked about shooting protesters

https://www.npr.org/2022/05/09/1097517470/trump-esper-book-defense-secretary

Former Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said President Donald Trump inquired about shooting protesters amid the unrest that took place after George Floyd's murder in 2020. He recounts that incident, and many others, in a wide-ranging interview with NPR's Michel Martin on All Things Considered.

"The president was enraged," Esper recalled. "He thought that the protests made the country look weak, made us look weak and 'us' meant him. And he wanted to do something about it.

"We reached that point in the conversation where he looked frankly at [Joint Chiefs of Staff] Gen. [Mark] Milley and said, 'Can't you just shoot them, just shoot them in the legs or something?' ... It was a suggestion and a formal question. And we were just all taken aback at that moment as this issue just hung very heavily in the air."


Esper said he stayed in the administration because he worried that if he left, the president would more easily implement some of his "dangerous ideas." The former Defense chief also said he hopes Trump does not seek the presidency in 2024.

"We need leaders of integrity and character, and we need leaders who will bring people together and reach across the aisle and do what's best for the country. And Donald Trump doesn't meet the mark for me on any of those issues."

That aged poorly...

Trump Always Wanted to Use the Military on Protesters. Now He’s Doing It

Nothing about this is exaggerated - Donald Trump is sending troops to Los Angeles to crack down on protesters. But the president has been telling us he would do this, Mehdi Hasan explains. This time, Trump has the sycophants needed to get it done. “Were you not paying attention?” Mehdi asks, as he brings receipts and recalls interviews, quotes, and headlines that show loudly and clearly how what Trump is doing today — autocratic, state-backed military violence against US citizens — builds on everything that Trump has wanted to do for decades.

Heading to the No Kings Protest in an hour. Seems like turnout is going to be a lot bigger than the protest I went to in April.

Stay Safe!

Oh...Fuck...

Walz announces that Rep. Melissa Hortman is dead as a result of a "politically motivated assassination"

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 14 June 2025 at 15:49

I was hoping nobody would die...This has the potential to explode now...JFC...