DONALD TRUMP DECLARES THAT HE AND JESUS CHRIST — NOT IRAN, NOT POPE LEO XIV, AND DEFINITELY NOT JD VANCE — WILL DECIDE THE SUCCESSION

By John Helmer, Moscow @bears_with As the frontrunner in the race to succeed President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance had more to lose in the negotiations with Iran in Islamabad than his principal rivals – they are Trump the father and his sons, Donald Jr and Eric Trump; or Mario Rubio, the Secretary of State and National Security Advisor. At risk for Vance was the interpretation of Trump’s Jewish advisors, on the one hand, that he had been too soft on the barbarians and had conceded that Israel would remain too vulnerable to Iranian attack for the future. Equally at risk for him was the interpretation, on the other hand, that when the US and Israel resume their attacks and escalate to Trump’s Stone Age options, he would be to blame for the economic dislocation impacts, loss of stock market value, and inflation which are the principal drivers of American voter swing against the Republican Party. Not to mention the risk of another military mission failure like the Isfahan nuclear material and pilot rescue operation of April 4-5. Click for details. Trump had said as much himself on April 2. “If it [deal with Iran] doesn’t happen, I’m blaming JD Vance. If it does happen, I’m taking full credit.” As the negotiations continued in Islamabad, Trump, Rubio, and Donald Jr. remained in Miami to watch professional fighters in a multi-million dollar betting ring. Trump’s ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, was also at ringside. Vance ended in Islambad with a 210-second statement and stepped out of the ring. The credit Vance claimed for himself was “we have had a number of substantive discussions with the Iranians”. The blame was on the Iranians that “we have not reached an agreement. I think that’s bad news for Iran more than it’s bad news for the United States of America.” He meant for the Vice President of the United States of America. “They have chosen not to accept our terms.” The Iranians, he added, had refused to give “an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that will enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon. That is the core goal of the President of the United States”. Vance emphasized this had been a collective “team” negotiation. He had talked with Trump “half a dozen times, a dozen times”, together with military operations chief, Admiral Brad Cooper, War Secretary Peter Hegseth, Rubio, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (in that order). Vance was spreading the blame. He left with almost no offer to continue negotiations “We leave here with a very simple proposal… that is our final and best offer.” This sounded like a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum. But Vance left himself a 9-word escape. “We haven’t seen that [commitment] yet. We hope we will.” Trump has followed with three lengthy tweets which he has repeated over two hours. “So, there you have it, the meeting went well, most points were agreed to, but the only point that really mattered, NUCLEAR, was not. Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz.” Trump said his blockade would apply to “to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas.” Five hours later, the blockade terms were clarified by Cooper’s Central Commnand to apply to “vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports or coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian [sic] Gulf and Gulf of Oman. CENTCOM forces will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports.” This wasn’t the escalation option Trump’s Jewish advisors and the Israeli prime minister want. They say – editorializing through the Washington Post – an attack on Kharg Island to destroy Iran’s oil production, port storage, and oil shipping infrastructure; destruction of Iran’s missile and drone production capacities and stocks; removal of the enriched uranium stockpile; and a US military “perimeter” around all Iran’s nuclear installations. They are still saying these are the escalation options in reserve. “An attack on Kharg Island is still possible.” When Vance turned his back on reporters in Islamabad and headed for his flight to Washington, he too was reserving his options. They are the options to preserve the Trump succession for himself. Trump, by contrast, is not only escalating against Iran. He has started to attack the Roman Catholic Church, the anti-war movement among American Catholics, and Pope Leo XIV himself. “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela… and I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do… If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican. Unfortunately, Leo’s Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, does not sit well with me…Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!” Forty-six minutes after Trump published that, he added a portrait of himself as Jesus Christ curing the sick (lead image). Trump’s attack on the Pope, his bishops and the church is a break with the conciliatory line which Vance and the Christians in the White House had been making public last week. No US president has ever gone so far and so publicly. This is a gamble, not only on the military options to defeat Iran before it can do the same to the Arab sheikhdoms and Israel, but also on American voters to protect Trump from Congress after Election Day, November 3. It’s also Trump’s pre-emptive strike against the Christian succession to himself. It’s Trump’s signal that it will be God the Father and God the Son for the presidential election of 2028, not Vance nor Rubio. THE TRUMP DRAG ON THE REPUBLICAN SUCCESSION Source: https://www.newsweek.com/jd-vance-approval-rating-plunges-historic-low-11809549 Source: https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/republican-primary/2028/national