One of the hot debates is whether we’ll win in the Middle East. We’ve virtually destroyed Iran, but you wouldn’t know it from reading the mainstream. They’re busy trying to distract us with memes. Tucker Carlson is trying to persuade us that Trump has it all wrong, even calling him the anti-Christ.

I don’t think so, but the Bible says there will be strong deception at the end of times, so stay tuned. It looks like Trump is the greatest leader since George Washington, and for now I’m buying it. We’ve been worrying about Iran for as long as I can remember. Years ago Murray Allatt had to talk me off the ledge, I was going so crazy about Iran. But I overestimated their capabilities. They overestimated their capabilities. They’re impossible braggarts. I found that out.

Iran has menaced us for many years, trotting out timelines for them being able to hit us with nuclear weapons. Now that’s just a pipe dream. Tankers are still lined up in the Gulf. One news organization (CBS) even went over there to see for themselves. They report ships maneuvering to get in line to get through the gulf. But at least none were being sunk. Iran says the straits are open, at least during a ceasefire with Lebanon. But who knows? The media is always trying to downplay Trump’s accomplishments. 

It’s in their DNA, to proclaim themselves brave beyond belief. But I don’t think we have to worry about their capabilities anymore. They’ve talked until they’re blue in the face, but I’m not listening.

The media is just sure they’ll get Donald Trump, turn us against him and then hold some giant celebration that he is gone. 

The Democrats are in trouble. They have to stay on Trump to keep us from noticing. There are other hot spots in the world, but none so important as nations running out of gas. Unfortunately the world gets its gas from over there. We apparently don’t need it. Unless this thing turns into something far bigger, we’re secure. We’ll be watching to see if China or Russia gets involved, but this thing has been a showcase for our U. S. capabilities, and I don’t think anybody else wants to try Trump.

The media is trying to persuade us with memes Donald Trump has posted. And he needs to be careful. But he is nothing if not a braggart. I wish he would downplay some of his accomplishments, but I’m not advising him, and besides, that’s not his style.     

Mark

The post Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – April 17, 2026  first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The post Israel and Lebanon begin ceasefire, Trump says Iran may meet US over weekend first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

“In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of the ceasefire,” Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in a post to X.

He did not specify whether that was the 10-day cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon went into place on Friday or the one between the US and Iran that is ending on Tuesday.

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Source: https://nypost.com/2026/04/17/world-news/strait-of-hormuz-completely-open-until-cease-fires-end-iran-foreign-minister-declares/?fbclid=IwY2xjawRPVLJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe5sLZDSDoRCVQYtM3sBi9av94HreuiyzLh-gSSNZwT921jzZ2DFEwlHqsVio_aem_fPMIiQNpwZINdnIr8a0hPg

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The Israeli Air Force on Wednesday carried out its largest wave of airstrikes yet against Hezbollah, the military said, after announcing that it would keep fighting the Iran-backed terror group in Lebanon, despite the two-week ceasefire with Tehran that came into place hours earlier.

The prime minister of Pakistan, who mediated between the US and Iran, declared in his post announcing the two-week ceasefire overnight Wednesday-Thursday that it would cover Lebanon as well. Iran said the same, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has insisted that Israel’s strikes against Hezbollah would continue.

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Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-launches-largest-airstrikes-yet-against-hezbollah-after-truce-with-iran/?fbclid=IwY2xjawRGLexleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeRmWz_-iQWw6q4HoyfSqdAqMVMCPOQKXoAKiRO452teLmEVd4pDLocbMypv0_aem_LbcMgpP5UZXobM64iLFn9w

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What to know

• TRUMP AGREES TO SUSPEND ATTACKS: President Donald Trump said this evening, just hours ahead of his deadline, that he had agreed “to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks” on the condition that Iran reopens the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier, he had warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight” unless Iran agreed to a deal before his deadline. He had threatened massive U.S. attacks on civilian infrastructure and brushed off concerns about possible war crimes.

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Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/world/iran/live-blog/live-updates-iran-war-trump-deadline-hormuz-infrastructure-ceasefire-rcna267039?fbclid=IwY2xjawRGLfdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeBHc6ywU0gGlteqnN86PObhbWfAxFeyTX83CTXjhd4Q-oPVI8IIdMbmc87qY_aem_gShrdQWKLfpHnLpDczN54w

The post Trump, Iran agree to two-week ceasefire after threat of massive attacks first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The post Russia’s president announces Orthodox Easter ceasefire with Ukraine, Kremlin says first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The President claimed that the ‘new regime president’ was ‘much less radicalized and far more intelligent that his predecessors’, without revealing with whom the US was negotiating, in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday morning.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) branded Trump’s claims ‘nonsense’ and said that the Islamic regime would not be moved by his ‘absurd displays.’

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Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15698243/Trump-says-Irans-new-leader-begged-ceasefire-hes-considering-one-condition.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawRA6hZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEehYe5ui1Va9rXA8haGhkeOhBnwj7v1dfC-M4GkuTHqz6xjg4soWayQJTOztA_aem_G4RUvgo87589W8ed8AAtlw

The post Trump says Iran’s new leader has asked for a ceasefire – and he’s considering it if Hormuz is ‘open free and clear’ first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The post Syria fighting updates: Government, SDF agree to four-day ceasefire first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The three sides had “in-depth exchanges on working step by step through mutual efforts to resume normal exchanges, rebuild political mutual trust, improve Cambodia-Thailand relations and safeguard regional stability”, according to Beijing’s foreign ministry.

The post Cambodia and Thailand agree to resume exchanges after meeting with China first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s most powerful military chief in decades faces the toughest test of his newly amassed powers as Washington pushes Islamabad to contribute troops to the Gaza stabilization force, a move analysts say could spark domestic backlash.

Field Marshal Asim Munir is expected to fly to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump in the coming weeks for a third meeting in six months that will likely focus on the Gaza force, two sources told Reuters, one of them a key player in the general’s economic diplomacy.

Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan calls for an international force to oversee a transition period for reconstruction and economic recovery in the war-torn Palestinian territory, decimated by over two years of war.

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Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-presses-pakistan-to-join-gaza-force-testing-powerful-military-chiefs-authority-at-home/?fbclid=IwY2xjawOv3fdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEehoV0n49N8zwvZMVoGA2J-ZEQHoCmtW_5goHrDyWS1JHqSPMBfhUfn0vEc4M_aem_dImtNB5OwGXJIK1GgGwLuw

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