June 11, 2026 12:36 PM UTC

Trump Again Waffles on Iran War "Ceasefire" In Name Only

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• by: Colorado Pols

Just hours after President Trump once again threatened to destroy an Iranian military that he has long boasted about already destroying, the Big Orange Guy apparently changed his mind.

As The Associated Press reports:

Trump said Thursday he has called off new military strikes on Iran, hours after threatening to escalate the war.

The president said in a social media post that he made the move “based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved.”

Trump also suggested that progress has been made in talks to extend the fragile ceasefire, writing that “discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail,” approved by United States, Israel, and other regional allies. He did not offer details. [Pols emphasis]

Trump on multiple occasions over the last several weeks has claimed that the warring parties have been on the cusp of a deal without anything coming to fruition.

First of all, media outlets absolutely need to stop using Trump administration terminology calling the current state of the Iran War a “ceasefire.” The Trump administration keeps calling things a “ceasefire” in part because they think it allows them to avoid asking Congress for permission to continue the conflict. The United States may not be on the same war footing as it was in March, but a “ceasefire” means that both sides are, you know, CEASING FIRE.

As The Economist notes today:

In the past week America and Israel have both bombed Iran, and Iran has downed an American helicopter, fired missiles at Israel and attacked several Arab states. This is fast becoming the region’s new normal.

The headline from The Economist is hard to argue: “Iran has lost its fear of war.” It might be more accurate to say that Iran doesn’t fear Donald Trump or Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth because they are constantly making threats that never materialize. If you checked the news when you woke up this morning, things looked VERY different.

Here’s The Washington Post from a story posted at 9:46 am (EST):

Trump said U.S. forces will hit Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT” after Iran launched waves of attacks against U.S. bases across the Middle East early Thursday, raising fears that the escalating exchange will bring renewed combat to the region.

Trump threatened another round of retaliatory strikes in the coming hours and said the U.S. would seek to control the country’s oil and gas facilities, without offering specifics of how that might be carried out.

“At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

This is exactly why it is so dangerous for Congressional Republicans to continually abdicate their responsibility for checking the President on foreign conflicts — and for anyone to keep pretending that there is a “ceasefire” with Iran. (Also, why would we need to discuss a “ceasefire” if we have already destroyed Iran’s military, as Trump so often boasts? How is a non-existent military continuing to do military things?)

It was obvious from the beginning of the Iran War that the Trump administration had no plan for any of this. It’s equally obvious that there is no strategy today beyond reacting to whatever Trump barfs out on Truth Social.

On, off. On, off. Rinse, repeat.