Trump Drops Project Freedom After 2 Days?!

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00]Hi, my name's Phil. I like to talk about politics. So, that didn't last long, did it? On Sunday, Trump announces Project Freedom, an operation to escort the 850 ships trapped in the Gulf through the Straight of Homos. On Monday, they managed to get like a couple of ships through with one South Korean vessel taking missile fire. On Tuesday, the entire scheme is being ridiculed, not least by actual seafarers as a joke that's actually making things worse.

[00:00:31]Today, although still Tuesday in America, Trump announces he's pausing it so he can get a deal with Iran. So, within the space of two days from America's point of view, another of Trump's glorious schemes is thrown into the bin. I won't hold my breath on the deal. Yes, at some point a deal will have to be reached, but I mean, how many false dawns have we already had? We get told about two or three times a week that a deal is imminent. We're way past the boy who cried wolf stage here.

[00:01:00]What's actually happened is that this project freedom has turned into yet another humiliating disaster for Trump.

[00:01:07]But he at least had an exit strategy from this one, even if not the war itself. In fact, let let me tell you how humiliating this project freedom was for Trump. Now, let us imagine a hypothetical alternate reality where it was backed up with a viable plan.

[00:01:23]Getting those 850 ships out would be a good thing. Yes, not only would the 20,000 sailors be able to go home and have a chance of recovering from their trauma, but those ships would be loaded up with stuff we want. In the grand scheme of things, it won't solve the shortage crisis, but it will ease it for a very short time. It would be net good to achieve that. This scheme was so bad the oil prices went down on the news it was being paused. This is because the scheme was never a credible way to get the ships through the straight. It only represented the risk of escalation. It has already resulted in attacks on an oil port in the UAE. This is reported to have caused serious damage. I don't know the full details, but we have been told throughout this war that it could take months to get production back up after the war ends, but where damage to infrastructure occurs, that can take years to repair. So, anything which raises the risk of either the US damaging Iranian production facilities or Iran damaging that of its neighbors means that it can take years to get back what we used to have. Someone seems to have gotten the sock puppets out again to explain this to the president. I suppose the question is now that he's chickened out of this latest mad cap scheme, what did he think he was going to achieve in the first place? This is a question I'm not seeing being asked in the media as yet, but for me, this is really important.

[00:03:03]Did Trump really think he was going to get those 850 ships out there? The plan wasn't impossible, by the way, but it did need Iran's blessing. I said yesterday, Iran can probably afford to let those ships leave. It wouldn't save the US economy if the two and fro itself is still paused. What they don't want is the ships being able to come and go as they did before, but just the current lot going, no great skin off their nose.

[00:03:30]But given that Trump failed to get Iran's cooperation for what he was describing as a humanitarian mission, he should never have gone ahead with it.

[00:03:39]That he did suggest to me one of three lines of thinking. The first, as I said yesterday, was perhaps Trump wanted to escalate again, but wanted Iran to take the blame for the collapse of the ceasefire. So, he initiates what looks like a humanitarian mission. Iran scuppers it. He gets to blame Iran for the the breakdown of the ceasefire.

[00:04:01]Well, his taco on this project suggests not. Trump still wants this war to end quickly. He's claiming the ceasefire is still in place. That means he didn't want it to collapse. The second is that Trump, who clearly did want Iran to cooperate because he said so on Truth Social, nonetheless believed the US Navy could manage the process with or without Iran's blessing. If so, then I don't know who advised him of this, but I doubt it was a US naval officer. The third possibility is that Trump perhaps thought that even though Iran did not give their blessing, that they ultimately wouldn't attack the ships due to fear of Trump's threat to bomb Iran off the face of the earth. If so, I think it's safe to assume that Iran is not taking Trump's threat of civilization or Asia terribly seriously.

[00:04:54]In fact, it's hard to see how Iran can be expected to take anything Trump says seriously. Now, the messages coming from the US government yesterday were bizarre. Marco Rubio said Operation Epic Fury was over, that the objectives had been met.

[00:05:11]What objectives? The Iranian regime is still there and is actually more secure now. Their military capability to attack their own population as well as key infrastructure in their neighbors territories remains. As we saw this week, I have yet to see anyone in the US government even claiming that their nuclear program has been diminished by this war. What objectives? No, no objectives have been met. All this statement tells Iran is that Trump is desperate for an exit ramp. They will see that as an advantage to them. Then Pete Hegath claims that the exchange of fire between the US and Iran does not constitute a breach of the ceasefire.

[00:05:53]Well, what does that tell Iran? That the US is desperate not to return to full-scale hostilities despite Trump's bluffs. Again, that just sends a message to the Iranian leadership that America is afraid to go back to allout war. I don't know what they thought the impact of these statements would be on Iran, but I can tell them for free it's not going to persuade them to make more concessions in talks. I if anything it will make them less keen on concessions.

[00:06:23]I really don't see what reason Trump has given Iran to agree to any of his demands. Right now Iran will think that passage through the strait is the only thing they need to give. Nothing on the nuclear program. Not yet anyway. And they will want more than the war ending to allow ships to pass through the straight unhindered. Remember the Iranian regime don't feel that threatened by the war. At the very least, they will want the eased oil sanctions to remain in place. Remember, I I cannot say this enough. During a war with Iran, Trump actually ordered an easing of oil sanctions against Iran, right? So, they'll want that to remain in place along with obviously the US naval blockade lifting, but they may demand more. I mean, apart from anything else, how can Iran possibly agreed to terms with America while Israel are attacking Lebanon? That would have to stop. Iran can no more afford to lose credibility with the terms of peace than than America can. The way I see it, Iran will not feel under any pressure to agree anything which gives Trump anything to hail as a net win. Yet Trump will need something because his public have already paid a price for this war and that price will continue to be paid for months after it ends. He has to come up with something to show for it. But what will Iran give him and what is he going to have to pay to get it? But that is probably a pointless question if Trump believes he has the upper hand in the talks because right now I can tell you Iran definitely think they've got the upper hand. Until both sides are realistic about what can be achieved.

[00:07:56]There's unlikely to be any agreement anytime soon. What do you think? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Please subscribe to the channel for more content. Click the bell notification icon so you know when new videos are out. Thanks for watching.

[00:08:07]Until next time, I'll see you later.