By Ben Meiselas
Donald Trump’s much-hyped “peace mission” in the Middle East is in deep trouble, unfortunately just as I predicted. Israel this morning announced plans to halve humanitarian aid to Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire by slowly returning the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages. Israeli officials say Hamas has returned only four of twenty-eight deceased captives, in violation of the agreement. Meanwhile, Hamas has been reasserting control through violent crackdowns on opposition groups, including executions captured in horrifying videos I will not show here.
Meanwhile, Hamas is accusing Israel of killing at least 6 Palestinians in Gaza City. Israel’s military confirmed it opened fire on Tuesday, telling the media they removed a threat posed by suspects who approached its forces in the northern Gaza Strip.
The ceasefire, which Trump and much of the corporate media prematurely celebrated as a peace agreement, was never truly signed by Israel or Hamas. It was, at best, a fragile truce brokered under political pressure and built on a foundation of lies. As I’ve been saying from the start, you cannot claim to have forged “peace” when the key parties haven’t even signed the deal. Yet, as the situation deteriorates, Trump continues to host “Mission Accomplished” events, more focused on self-congratulation than on saving lives.
On his flight back to Washington, Trump’s erratic behavior was again on full display. He made a series of bizarre remarks about his spokesperson Karoline Levitt’s “machine gun lips,” then declared that Illinois Governor JB Pritzker “should beg” him for mercy.
Back in Washington, his congressional allies were no better. During a chaotic press conference, Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson was asked by CNN’s Manu Raju what the GOP’s plan was to reopen the government and protect Americans’ health care coverage. Johnson’s response? “I don’t have any strategy.” That about sums it up. With Republicans refusing to negotiate, millions of Americans are facing skyrocketing health insurance costs as ACA subsidies remain frozen during Trump’s shutdown.
As Johnson flailed, Republican Congresswoman Lisa McClain took the mic and shouted at Democrats to “just sign the damn agreement,” further exposing the dysfunction of the MAGA-led House. When I say shouted, I mean she actually shouted loudly into the microphone.
Meanwhile, MAGA media surrogates on Fox News continued to push propaganda that the No Kings protests planned for October 18th are “pro-Antifa hate America rallies.” In reality, they’re peaceful demonstrations against tyranny and authoritarianism, the very values Trump’s movement is now actively undermining.
While Americans struggle to pay rent and afford groceries, Fox News anchors broadcast from Mar-a-Lago, touring the Trump family’s opulent estate with Eric Trump as he brags about “donating” flagpoles from the Rose Garden to the White House. “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” reimagined as propaganda for a kleptocratic regime.
And yet, none of this has slowed their arrogance. MAGA Mike Johnson announced that he and Israel’s Knesset Speaker are spearheading an effort to nominate Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. “No one has ever deserved it more,” Johnson said, as wars rage in Gaza and the Congo, where Trump falsely claimed to have brokered peace even as more civilians are dying.
All of it, from the phantom $18 trillion “tariff surplus” to the imaginary 1,600% drop in health care costs Trump brags about, is a Ponzi scheme in plain sight. Every number, every promise, every self-congratulatory claim from this White House is another layer of deceit.
The results speak for themselves. Chaos abroad, corruption at home, and a collapsing government that punishes working Americans while the powerful congratulate themselves. Are we great yet?
As always, the only way to cut through the propaganda is to stay informed, stay engaged, and keep fighting for the truth. So thank you for being here. Thank you for reading and watching these reports. Thank you for being a subscriber to this Substack.
