Stable, Genius, Trump

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has seized an oil tanker on suspicion of smuggling. 

Meanwhile CNBC tells us Trump's sanctions are strangling the Iranian economy:

Unable to realize the economic benefits of the nuclear deal, Iran is facing high inflation, a devalued currency and an economy that the International Monetary Fund predicts will shrink by 6% this year. The Iranian government has found its hands tied as prices on foods climb higher, pricing out the population, whose average monthly salary of 32 million rials equals only $220.


In 2018, the rial lost nearly 60% of its value. With less buying power (the exchange rate for the dollar on the free market is 145,000 rials), Iranians are finding they can’t stretch their paychecks anymore.

We suppose the two details are linked, no? The Mullahs seem desperate to provoke some sort of retaliation, if not by the US, then the UK.*

But why wage open warfare when economic warfare is sooooo much more effective? China, too, is having a down year, and the mere threat of tariffs panicked Mexico into giving Trump everything he wanted. 

One can't blame Mexico City for caving. Check this out:

Mexicans are deeply frustrated with immigrants after a year of heightened migration from Central America through the country, according to a survey conducted by The Washington Post and Mexico’s Reforma newspaper.

More than 6 in 10 Mexicans say migrants are a burden on their country because they take jobs and benefits that should belong to Mexicans. A 55 percent majority supports deporting migrants who travel through Mexico to reach the United States.

Central Americans ain't crossing the Rio del Norte and they ain't stayin' in Mexico. Heh, in Castro's Folly the US got Mexico to join the coalition by promising to ignore illegal immigration.

You ever get the sense that Trump knows what the hell he's doing?

*Theresa May doesn't have the balls for that, even if, unlike David Cameron, she pees standing up.