The News You Need on Wednesday, April 8th, 2026.
The news you need today from Scott Horton and Charles Kaiser. Trump threatens to commit genocide in Iran and is funneling public funds into his so-called Board of Peace, but might leave Canada alone.
Trump Corruption Watch
Taco Tuesday
New York Times
Scott: Tuesday began with another deranged, and this time genocidal, Truth Social post from Trump promising “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran didn’t agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by 8:00 PM Washington time, and ended well short of that deadline with announcements from Tehran, Washington and Islamabad of a two-week ceasefire during which negotiations will resume. What Trump got out of this is unclear, though the reopening of the Strait would be a reset to the status quo ante. What the Iranians got is far more evident, starting with the critical fact that negotiations will resume on the basis of Iran’s 10-point plan, in which reparations collected in the form of transit fees is a central part, as well as an end to sanctions. Certainly the optics make Trump look like a blusterer with a very weak hand to play.
Shortly after the cease-fire announcement, a U.S. official said American military strikes against Iran had stopped. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said in a statement that the Iranians would “cease their defensive operation,” and that “for a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordinating with Iran’s Armed Forces.”
The cease-fire buys both sides time to try to reach a longer-term end to the war, which began at the end of February with the United States and Israel subjecting Iran to a withering military assault.
Iran accepted Pakistan’s cease-fire proposal after frantic diplomatic efforts by Pakistan and last-minute intervention by China, a key ally, according to three Iranian officials. Iran’s national security council officially confirmed the agreement, casting it as a victory in which the United States accepted Iran’s terms.
Earlier, as the day wore on, it was not clear whether an off-ramp would emerge from the talks. It was not even clear if there were talks.
At one point, with Mr. Trump threatening devastating strikes on power plants, bridges and other critical infrastructure — a possible war crime under international law — Iran stopped engaging in the indirect negotiations.
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” Mr. Trump warned earlier in the day, though he said he hoped “maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen.”
In the hours before the 8 p.m. deadline, the United States and Israel stepped up their attacks on Iran. All the while, the Pakistanis were reported to be redoubling their efforts to get a cease-fire.
In urging Mr. Trump to hold off, the country’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said on social media that diplomatic efforts were “progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully with the potential to lead to substantive results.” He also asked Iran to open the waterway for two weeks.
Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan said in a social media post on Tuesday evening that diplomacy to stop the war had taken a “step forward” from a “critical, sensitive stage.”
But as night fell in the Middle East, Iranians were bracing for the possibility of more strikes. Some formed human chains along bridges and around power plants across the country, videos and photographs posted by state and other local media showed. It’s unclear whether the demonstrations were spontaneous or planned by the government.
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Performing a Journalist’s First Duty: Calling War Crimes War Crimes
The Guardian
Charles: Julian Borger, a glorious grand poobah of The Guardian, does his best to remind American troops that carrying out Trump’s insane instructions should land them behind the dock at the next Nuremberg that needs to transpire when this nightmare is finally over.
There is little debate among legal experts that such an attack on the life-supporting infrastructure for 93 million Iranians would constitute a war crime.
“Such rhetorical statements – if followed through – would amount to the most serious war crimes – and thus the president’s statements place service members in a profoundly challenging situation,” two former judge advocate general (JAG) officers, Margaret Donovan and Rachel VanLandingham wrote on the website Just Security on Monday.
“As former uniformed military lawyers who advised targeting operations, we know the president’s words run counter to decades of legal training of military personnel and risk placing our warfighters on a path of no return.”
They noted that Trump’s boast that he would bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages”, and the order by his defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, to show “no quarter, no mercy” were not just “plainly illegal” but they also represented a rupture from the moral and legal principles that US military personnel had been “trained to follow their entire careers”.
With Threat to Wipe Out Iran’s Civilization, Trump’s Rhetoric Goes Beyond Bluster
The New York Times
Last night’s news analysis from the New York Times came with the dumbest sanewashing subhead of the week:
The president’s violent rhetoric risks damaging his credibility as a negotiator and the country’s standing in the world.
Trump’s Path to War
New York Times
Scott: Concerned about long-term repercussions of the Iran War for US-Israeli relations, AIPAC, ADL and other Likud-aligned leaders of the Jewish community in the United States have been aggressively pressing the case that responsibility for the war rests solely with Trump and cannot be pinned on Israel. They have a problem now with the publication of the first major account of the path to war in Iran, coming from Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman. The New York Times narrative, plainly fueled by people around Trump who believe the war will end in disaster for the United States and are eager to put themselves in the opposition—read Susie Wiles, JD Vance and Marco Rubio—have decided to pin all of the blame on Benjamin Netanyahu and his Svengali-like influence over Trump.
The gathering had been kept deliberately small to guard against leaks. Other top cabinet secretaries had no idea it was happening. Also absent was the vice president. JD Vance was in Azerbaijan, and the meeting had been scheduled on such short notice that he was unable to make it back in time.
The presentation that Mr. Netanyahu would make over the next hour would be pivotal in setting the United States and Israel on the path toward a major armed conflict in the middle of one of the world’s most volatile regions. And it would lead to a series of discussions inside the White House over the following days and weeks, the details of which have not been previously reported, in which Mr. Trump weighed his options and the risks before giving the go-ahead to join Israel in attacking Iran.
They also found that Hegseth’s makeover of the senior military brass had its effect. While many of them were convinced that Netanyahu was feeding Trump bad intelligence and offering unsound strategic advice, not a one was prepared to open his mouth and say that… it would be a firing offense to do so.
At no point during the deliberations did the chairman [Gen. Caine] directly tell the president that war with Iran was a terrible idea — though some of General Caine’s colleagues believed that was exactly what he thought.
Netanyahu was not simply supplying the impetus and drive towards war, he was also furnishing the tactical masterplan.
Trump steals $1.2 Billion in Foreign Aid for Himself
The New Republic
Charles: The total evaporation of Congressional oversight accompished by Republican castratis Mike Johnson and John Thune means that Donald Trump now uses the Federal budget as his personal piggy bank.
So instead of spending $1.2 billion in foreign aid for the purposes specified by Congress–to halt the spread of famine and HIV and provide disaster assistance–Marco Rubio has unilaterally redirected those dollars to Trump’s “war criminal-filled Board of Peace,” as The New Repubublic put it. Trump is in permanent control of all of the funds for his phony Peace Board, where membership for his vassal states costs $1 billion each. And this redirection of foreign aid is just a tiny portion of the whole grift: Trump has already said he plans to abscond with a total of $10 billion in Federal funds for this one.
“In a properly functioning government,” said The New Republic, “the president actually wouldn’t be allowed to take billions of dollars in the midst of a partial government shutdown to fund an experimental pet project.”
Overtaxed with Invasion Plans for Iran, Greenland and Cuba, Trump Gives Canada a Repieve
CBC News
Scott: Trump has long been adamant that he would make Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories into a single 51st state (the idea being to insure that Canada would have only two rather than 20 senators in Congress). But in a recent interview granted a royal biographer, Trump has relented, announcing that after two hundred years of separation, perhaps it just wasn’t feasible any more.
An upcoming book authored by a prominent royal commentator says U.S. President Donald Trump was primarily interested in annexing Canadian territory just above the U.S.-Canada border — and his respect for King Charles may have quashed that goal.The book, titled Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. The Inside Story, is written by British journalist Robert Hardman and is being serialized in the Daily Mail. It’s a profile of the late former Queen, who Trump speaks glowingly about, and touches upon King Charles’s reign.An excerpt provided to CBC News includes conversations between Hardman and the president where Trump brought up his interest in taking over Greenland. “I replied that this would probably destroy NATO and, while we were on the subject, could he please leave Canada alone too,” Hardman wrote. The two men spoke in December last year in Florida. “It had been a staunch ally through history, a gallant D-Day partner and attempting to acquire it would undoubtedly make the King of Canada unhappy,” Hardman added.According to Hardman’s recounting of the conversation, Trump paused at that note and asked the British journalist whether Canada still recognized King Charles as its head of state. “Do they still recognize the King? Or have they stopped that?” Trump said, according to Hardman.
When Hardman told Trump that King Charles is indeed Canada’s head of state, the U.S. president said Canada has “terrible politicians” and that most Canadians live just above the U.S. border. “The problem is some guy drew that straight line to make a border. He should just have drawn it fifty miles further north and then there wouldn’t be a problem,” Trump said, according to Hardman.
Climate Change = Agricultural Apocalypse
The Washington Post
Charles: Your daily reminder that in spite of all the crimes Jeff Bezos has comitted against it, the reporters still toiling at The Washington Post deliver vital journalism every day—which is why I never cancelled my subscription. “Epic winter drought creates a bleak situation for farmers—and your food” is a superb take out by Post climate reporter Sarah Kaplan about all the catastrophic consequences of what is now gleefully unregulated climate change.
More than three-quarters of sugarcane-producing areas, 83 percent of rice-producing areas and a whopping 96 percent of the peanut-producing region is besieged by drought.
The number of cattle raised in the United States is already the lowest since the 1950s — a consequence of a 2022-2023 dry spell that reduced forage and raised hay prices across the High Plains.
This year, according to the Agriculture Department, 64 percent of the U.S. cattle inventory is affected by drought, along with most of the hay and alfalfa used for feed.
This gives ranchers no reason to regrow their herds and may prompt them to sell off even more animals — leading to high prices for people at the grocery store,
In the Cascade Mountains of the Pacific Northwest, 30 inches of snow water equivalent disappeared in a matter of days. The Arkansas-White-Red river basin, which stretches from Colorado to the Mississippi River, contains just 8 percent of its average snowpack moisture.
“There are simply no analogous years to this one,” said Jason Gerlich, the regional drought early-warning system coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
ICE-Spy
NPR
Imogen: United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement has admitted to using spyware so powerful it can intercept encrypted messages from platforms such as WhatsApp—which claim to secure users’ messages “end-to-end.”
Graphite uses what is known as “zero click” technology so that it can gain access to encrypted messages on a targeted device even if the user never clicks on a link.
The encrypted messaging app WhatsApp disclosed in early 2025 that it discovered some 90 journalists and members of civil society in various countries were targeted with Graphite…
Todd Lyons' confirmation that the agency is using spyware comes as ICE has ramped up its use of surveillance technologies to find people in the U.S. without authorization as part of the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign. Those tools have also been used extensively on American citizens who have protested ICE's activities.
Orbán Pledges Rodent-Like Fealty to Putin
Bloomberg News
Scott: In what may be the most striking election-eve scoop in modern European history, Bloomberg has gotten hold of private tapes of conversations between Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán—which show the Hungarian prime minister behaving in the most humiliatingly obsequious manner, and promising to advance Russian interests in the country’s war with Ukraine.
“Yesterday our friendship rose to such a high level that I can help in any way,” Orban said, according to a Hungarian government transcript of the call reviewed by Bloomberg. “In any matter where I can be of assistance, I am at your service.”
To underline the point, Orban recalled a children’s story he said was popular in Hungary. The Aesop fable involves a mouse freeing a lion caught in a net after it had earlier spared the rodent’s life. The remark drew a laugh from Putin, the transcript shows.
“I say the same to Trump,” Orban told Bloomberg when asked about the conversation and his comparison of Hungary’s role to that of a mouse. “Size matters.”
The full transcript can be examined here.
With an Unhinged Leader in Washington, Europeans Look To Restructure the Atlantic Alliance Without Him
Wall Street Journal
Scott: Trump hadn’t yet truthed—posted on Truth Social—about the eradication of an entire civilization when Yaroslav Trofimov’s piece appeared, but the point was clear enough from his weekend Truth tantrums: Trump is erratic, prone to violence, and incapable of holding a thought for more than five minutes. So what are the Atlantic middle powers to do about all this?
Many—on both sides of the Atlantic—wonder if they are even allies anymore. Angered by the refusal of European nations to join the war alongside the U.S. and Israel, President Trump has called European countries cowards, and threatened to withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization altogether.
“The United States is unpredictable,” said Roderich Kiesewetter, a lawmaker from Germany’s ruling party, echoing a widespread sentiment in Europe. “It’s not a reliable partner anymore for the Western world.”
Their quandary is that nobody else can substitute for America’s military and economic might in the foreseeable future. China and Russia also carry out predatory policies. It will take time for middle-sized democracies in Europe and Asia to wean themselves from dependencies on America and to intensify cooperation among themselves.
Ever since World War II, the U.S. was mostly a benevolent power for its fellow democracies and achieved its hegemony by consent, said Michael Fullilove, executive director of the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank. That’s not how Trump’s America is viewed today.
“If you insult your allies and push them to the brink in every negotiation, if you present your ugliest face to the world, then this consent will evaporate,” Fullilove said. “But what is the alternative to the U.S.-led alliance system? The U.S. is the only country that can project power anywhere on Earth. Who else will lead the West, if not Washington?”
Uday’s and Qusay’s Excellent Adventures in East Timor
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
Scott: Donald Trump Jr. and his brother Eric venture boldly where few others tread. Their latest adventure takes them to the long-suffering tropical paradise of East Timor.
Last year the AB network promoted a “blockchain theme resort” in Timor-Leste that involved three people who were later sanctioned by the U.S. for ties to an alleged scam syndicate.
AB has partnered with World Liberty, a cryptocurrency firm co-owned by President Trump’s family, and counts the former leaders of Serbia and Ireland among its key figures.
The three people connected to the resort and sanctioned by the U.S. were removed from the project shortly after the sanctions were announced, corporate documents and interviews show. None have been charged… yet.
Meanwhile, Uday Also Shows up in Banja Luka
KLIX Vijesti
Scott: Trump Jr. turns up in Banja Luka, Bosnia, today, to meet with the Russian-backed secessionist regime in Bosnia’s Respublika Srpska after their twice-indicted registered lobbyist Michael Flynn (also Trump’s “minister for retribution”) secured US sanctions relief for the entire government. Dodik will then meet Vance in Budapest to campaign for Orbán. This is diplomacy in the age of Trump, it always offers something highly remunerative for the family.
Donald Trump Jr., the son of US President Donald Trump, is arriving in Banja Luka tomorrow, and the Ministry of the Interior of Republika Srpska has issued an Order banning traffic for all motor vehicles weighing more than seven and a half tons. The order was issued for the purpose of ensuring the unhindered stay and movement of a high-ranking foreign delegation visiting Republika Srpska, as they stated, and does not apply to public and municipal service trucks and vehicles that will be engaged in security.
IC 4592: The Blue Horsehead Reflection Nebula
Do you see the horse’s head? What you are seeing is not the famous Horsehead nebula toward Orion, but rather a fainter nebula that only takes on a familiar form with deeper imaging. The main part of the here-imaged molecular cloud complex is reflection nebula IC 4592. Reflection nebulas are made up of very fine dust that normally appears dark but can look quite blue when reflecting the visible light of energetic nearby stars. In this case, the source of much of the reflected light is a star at the eye of the horse. That star is part of Nu Scorpii, one of the brighter star systems toward the constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius). A second reflection nebula dubbed IC 4601 is visible surrounding two stars just below the image center. The featured picture was taken from Sawda Natheel in Qatar.
Your Online Moment of Zen
Up On The Roof
Charles: The ultimate penthouse anthem, written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin in 1962 and recorded by Laura Nyro in 1970. Laura lived in a tiny penthouse on West 79th Street directly across the street from my best friend since 9th grade, another brilliant singer-songwriter, Judy Barnett. Whenever I exited Judy’s apartment at midnight, after we had done everything college folk did in the ‘70’s, I would scream at the top of my lungs, LAURA!
To make sure Laura could hear her number two fan through her window—in case she wasn’t sitting on her fire escape.
In memory of Bart Gorin, a brilliant cultural historian who did the photo research for 1968 in America. He was Laura’s number one.
I can still remember the moment Bart brought her Christmas and The Beads of Sweat LP to my penthouse, just 55 years ago.
