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Trump's Ennui![]() Benjamin Netanyahu listened, kinda sorta: The Israeli military has stopped striking Beirut, seemingly buckling under pressure from President Donald Trump and others to deescalate lest a regional ceasefire be threatened. (Iran will not make a deal if Israel continues to strike allies.) Still, Israel's prime minister has decided to maintain the military offensive against Hezbollah in the south of Lebanon, issuing new evacuation orders Tuesday for Nabatieh, one of the region's largest cities, indicating that more strikes will follow. "Trump later said on social media that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to stop their attacks on each other," reports The New York Times, "while the Lebanese government—which does not include or control Hezbollah—said a new truce was taking shape." "I spoke with President Trump tonight," said Netanyahu yesterday, "and told him that if Hezbollah doesn't cease its attacks on our cities and civilians—Israel will strike terror targets in Beirut. This position of ours remains." Everything looks very tenuous right now, and so naturally Trump is…losing interest! As for Iran: "I don't care if they're over, honestly," said Trump, referring to peace talks with Iran. "I really don't care. I couldn't care less," Trump told CNBC on Monday, saying the negotiations "started to get very boring." (Reminds me of his wife's iconic jacket that she wore to a…migrant detention center.) "Iran really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the U.S.A. and those that are with us," wrote Trump on Truth Social yesterday. "But don't the Dumocrats, and various seemingly unpatriotic Republicans, understand that it is MUCH tougher for me to properly do my job and negotiate, when political hacks keep negatively 'chirping,' at levels never seen before, over and over again, that I should move faster, or move slower, or go to war, or not go to war, or whatever. Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end - It always does!" The White House is trying to make this a catchphrase:
Nothing about the history of the Middle East lends credence to the idea that "it will all work out well in the end" but I'm glad Trump feels he can ~manifest~ his way into peace. He sounds like a Cali mystic with a dream catcher and some tarot cards and a low price for palm readings if you'll just come down into her basement. Speaking of… Replacing Gavin Newsom: California's primary for governor takes place today, with voters heading to their local polling places to cast their vote for who would be least bad (or best, if you're less cynical). The top two vote-getters, regardless of party, will advance, but it's not totally clear who is going to proceed: Possibly Tom Steyer—the billionaire Democrat who is running to the left of the rest of the field and wants to tax his buddies—or Xavier Becerra, who formerly served as California's attorney general and helmed the Department of Health and Human Services during the Biden administration. Steyer's never held political office before, whereas Becerra is an insider who's been preparing for primetime; it'll be interesting to see whether voters want experience in their governor. Ditto with the Los Angeles mayoral race, which also gets decided today: reality TV star (and intense critic of L.A.'s leadership following the terrible Palisades fire last year) Spencer Pratt goes up against incumbent Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman. It looks fairly tight. Scenes from New York:
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