Iran Diplomat Leaves Islamabad, Trump Cancels US Delegation Trip

Trump insisted Saturday that his administration holds“all the cards” and that Iranian leadership is in turmoil. But Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, wrote that“Trump can't hide exuding desperation for a deal.”

“So he invents 'fractures' in Tehran to explain being repeatedly stood up,” Toossi added.“Iran's line is unchanged: demanding the blockade be lifted and holding on to its core red lines. They're playing hardball. He's spinning.”

Trump's cancellation of the Kushner-Witkoff trip came hours after NBC News reported that“American military bases and other equipment in the Persian Gulf region suffered extensive damage from Iranian strikes that is far worse than publicly acknowledged and is expected to cost billions of dollars to repair.”

“The Iran war was a tactical and strategic disaster,” said Toossi.“Despite heavy efforts to control the narrative, it's becoming clear just how much US bases and equipment in the region were damaged or destroyed. The war backfired and inflicted far more damage than its proponents want to admit.”

Speaking of damage, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the latest press briefing at the Pentagon on Friday, in addition to issuing his latest threat to journalists who publish classified information obtained from sources, peppered his comments with the violent rhetoric that's become commonplace in his public remarks.

The US military will“shoot and kill” if Iranian boats are found trying to disrupt passage through the Strait of Hormuz, which remains closed following the extension of a ceasefire this week, said Hegseth.

He added,“We will shoot to destroy, no hesitation, just like the drug boats in the Caribbean” – a reference to strikes that have killed at least 180 people the US has accused of trafficking drugs, in an operation that has been widely condemned as one of extrajudicial killings or murder.

“The War Department stands ready for what comes next, locked and loaded,” said the secretary, who has also denigrated what he refers to as“stupid” rules of engagement meant to protect civilians.“We'll use up to and including lethal force if necessary.”

In this context it's worth noting that amid Hegseth's escalating efforts to control the media's coverage of his department – including the Pentagon's firing on Thursday of the ombudsman of the military newspaper Stars and Stripes and his demand that journalists agree to a policy prohibiting coverage that the department has not approved – a news outlet that's new to Capitol Hill made its way into the press briefing room Friday.

The representative of the outlet, which is accustomed more to publishing celebrity gossip than to doing political coverage, asked the top military official a question that hadn't previously come up about the deadly attacks he's ordered in recent months.

“I've heard you talk a lot about bombing people and places,” said Jacob Wasserman of the celebrity news outlet TMZ, which has recently expanded its political coverage by opening an office in the nation's capital.“And when you give these orders to carry out this extreme level of violence, what's going through your mind and your body? Do you have, like, an adrenaline rush? Are you scared? Do you feel like you're on a power trip?”