Day: April 13, 2026

The Escalation Trap Trump Set for Himself Deepens With the Naval Blockade and a Possible Use of a Nuclear Weapon on Esfahan

We will begin with the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and assess how the escalation trap Trump set for himself by starting this war is deepening with his desperate attempt to end the war and is an increasingly dangerous entanglement that could result in the use of a tactical nuclear weapon. Joining us is Robert Pape, a Professor of Political Science and the director of the Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism at the University of Chicago specializing in political violence and international security affairs. He is the author of Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism, and Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War. He blogs at The Escalation Trap on Substack where his latest article is “The World’s Economy Will Change Abruptly in the Next 10 Days,” and he has an article at The New York Times we will discuss, “The War Is Turning Iran Into a Major World Power.”

Trump Depicts Himself as Jesus While Disrespecting the Pope and 1.4 Billion Catholics 

Then with Trump depicting himself as Jesus in a post he has since taken down along with attacking Pope Leo and taking credit for the American pope being chosen because of Trump, we look into the disrespect Trump has shown to Pope Leo and by extension to 1.4 billion Catholics. Joining us is James Carroll, the author of many books about religion, politics, and history. His memoir of the Vietnam War, An American Requiem, won the National Book Award. His history of the Pentagon, House of War: The Pentagon and the Disastrous Rise of American Power, won the PEN-Galbraith Award, and his history of Christian antisemitism, Constantine’s Sword: The Church & The Jews, won the National Jewish Book Award. A former Catholic priest, he is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.