Trump’s Sabotage?

Plus: Cuba’s opposition waiting in the wings, the wealthy are feeling the squeeze, and more…

It’s possible this is a classic example of good cop/bad cop, all orchestrated in advance. Or it’s possible Trump’s impulse control issues are getting in the way of Vance’s negotiating. Or it’s possible that the situation is so rapidly evolving that certain moments call for intensity while others call for more standard diplomacy.

“What we told the Iranians yesterday is when you guys engage in what us millennials might call trash talk, you can’t expect the president of the United States not to respond and not to correct the record,” Vance said yesterday, referring to Trump’s comments. “So when they say things that aren’t true, the president is going to respond to it.”

(“If it works out, I’m going to take the credit,” Trump half-joked. “If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming J.D.”)

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said earlier today that Iranian officials had “no plans for the U.N. nuclear watchdog to inspect Iran’s damaged nuclear facilities,” contra what Vance had said yesterday (and what I reported in Reason Roundup). Iran is also sticking to its stipulation that Israel withdraw all troops from Lebanon, which will be very tough to actually enact; Israel says it requires a security zone there and that it will “neutralize” threats made against Israeli soldiers and civilians by Hezbollah.

Scenes from New York: “The Supreme Court on Monday reversed a lower court decision that had reopened the case of the man convicted in the killing of Etan Patz, a 6-year-old boy whose 1979 abduction in Manhattan reshaped American childhoods,” reports The New York Times. “The court’s unsigned opinion restores the conviction of the man, Pedro Hernandez, who the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit had said last year was entitled to a new trial.”

QUICK HITS

• “More than 40% of Americans who call themselves upper class or upper-middle class say they haven’t saved enough money to retire comfortably. Only about 40% say their financial security is where they thought it would be at this point in their lives,” reports The Wall Street Journal. Interestingly, “65% in the most affluent classes say America’s political and economic systems are ‘stacked against people like me.’ That’s a remarkable statement by the nation’s most privileged groups and a substantial rise from 29% who saw a rigged system in 2017.” It’s possible these are big city dwellers referring to how much of their money is seized and then redistributed in the form of handouts, as rents get ever pricier.
• “Cuban opposition leader Rosa María Payá has detailed plans to run the island’s shattered government if President Donald Trump forces the communist regime from power,” reports Michael Smith at Bloomberg. “The 37-year-old is one of the most recognizable faces of the new Cuba in Trump’s orbit.”
• Jacking up prices:

• The four cases before the Supreme Court that might rein in the executive.
• “More tenants living in New York City’s least expensive housing units aren’t paying their rent—a trend that risks further destabilizing the city’s affordable housing market,” reports Politico. “The uptick in rental delinquency isn’t new. It started six years ago, when the pandemic flung the city’s economy into chaos and plunged low-income New Yorkers into dire financial straits. But even as the city has rebounded, rent collection rates in affordable housing remain short of pre-pandemic levels. As costs balloon, landlords say insufficient rental income is threatening their ability to stay afloat.…Are some tenants—in the wake of a years-long pause on evictions and demands to ‘Cancel Rent‘—withholding payments even when they’re able to make them?”
• Let them eat all-you-can-eat shrimp at Red Lobster:

Associate Editor, Reason

Want to support this newsletter and my work? You can:

Contribute to Reason. This newsletter (and everything Reason produces) relies on the support of readers like you. Contributions help us spread commentary like this to more people.

Forward this newsletter. Know of someone who needs to read it? They can sign up for free at this link.