'Total collapse of American moral leadership': Gavin Newsom says the country is in a deep crisis
With the Iran war reaching an inflection point, California Governor Gavin Newsom raised deep concerns over the leadership crisis in the U.S. On Tuesday, before President Donald Trump announced a two-week suspension of the conflict, Newsom took to X to point out how the top leadership was failing the country. He blamed the President for threatening to "wipe out a civilisation," the vice president for campaigning for a foreign country's autocratic leader, and the Congress for not stepping in to stop the escalations.
"The Vice President is abroad campaigning for a dictator. The President is threatening to wipe out an entire civilization. Congress is on recess," the California Gov. wrote in his post. This marked a reference to Vice President JD Vance's visit to Budapest, Hungary, for a rally in support of the far-right incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The campaign included a telephone appearance from Trump as well, to boost the chances of Orbán, who is facing a difficult re-election amid allegations of corruption, vote fraud, and democratic backsliding.
The second point Newsom made refers to the dire threats issued by the president to Tehran over his demands for the opening of the Strait of Hormuz. After threatening to bomb civilian infrastructure, Trump on Tuesday shared another Truth Social post, writing: "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again." The third and final reference was to the two-week spring recess of Congress, which has halted important discussions on the DHS shutdown and a possible intervention in the Iran war.
Newsom's message came right before President Trump announced that an agreement had been reached to suspend the planned attacks on Iranian infrastructure for two weeks. He credited Pakistan for mediating the agreement, but warned it came with conditions that Tehran put on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. "Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks," Trump wrote.
He claimed it would be a "double-sided ceasefire" and shared that the U.S. had received a 10-point proposal from Iran to end the conflict. Trump claimed many of the points were already agreed upon, and the rest will be negotiated in the two weeks of "peace." Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a separate statement that ships will now be able to pass through the Strait of Hormuz "via coordination with Iran's Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations." Both countries have recognized the agreement as a victory. The announcement caused global crude oil prices to plunge 16% to below $95, according to CNBC, while the U.S. stock futures shot up. Analysts say Americans could find relief at the pump soon, given that the conditions of the global oil market remain stable.
