Donald Trump unveiling his “ceasefire” and proudly announcing that the Israel/Iran conflict will go down in history as the “12-day war” may become one of the most humiliating moments of his presidency. Both countries reacted with amused confusion at Trump’s announcement, shrugged, and promptly continued launching missiles at each other.
Trump was reduced to pleading on TruthSocial, saying, “THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT!:
That was four hours ago, and Trump’s ceasefire has now been thoroughly violated. Israel is accusing Iran of launching missiles and has fired back, while Iran is accusing Israel of the same. Meanwhile, Iran claims they never received any ceasefire proposal, and Israel is refusing to comment one way or the other.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Imam Sayyid Ali Khamenei rubbed salt into the wound by vowing that Iran is absolutely not backing down and will continue to respond to Israeli aggression in kind:
Those who know the Iranian people and their history know that the Iranian nation isn’t a nation that surrenders.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 23, 2025
Trump’s “strategy” (if it’s even worthy of that word) appears to be to try and strongarm both sides into backing down. His initial announcement of the ceasefire saw him praising both Iran and Israel’s “stamina, courage, and intelligence”, presumably trying to butter up both sides like he’s trying to close a real estate deal.
Guys, cut it out. Pleeeease.
But, as anyone who’s even glanced over the history of the Middle East will know, simply pronouncing a ceasefire doesn’t make it so. Netanyahu’s political future relies upon plunging Israel into endless wars backed by American equipment and soldiers, so he’s not about to give up on bombarding Iran anytime soon, no matter what Trump says.
Trump’s “ceasefire” was also backed up by nothing. Both Iran and Israel know Netanyahu has Trump wrapped around his little finger. If Trump tried to impose conditions restricting Israel’s military, the laughter coming from Netanyahu’s office would be so loud it’d be audible across the Middle East.
All of which means we’re expecting Trump’s “12-day war” comment to go down in political history as a bad case of counting your chickens before they’re hatched. Anyway, there’s only one thing Trump can do that’d stop this conflict: immediately cut off all military aid to Israel. Yeah, and pigs might fly.
