To summarize the Democrat Party's current strategy on immigration, here is essentially how it works:
Whenever in power, they create billions in incentives and subsidies to entice third world migrants to flood the US en masse. With open borders and amnesty programs, moving 10 million or more illegals at a time into the country is easy and fast. When out of power, they use lawfare and political obstruction to prevent deportations and slow down the process.
In other words, make immigration easy and remigration nearly impossible. Stall for four years, regain power during the next election while pro-deportation constituents whine and complain about the president "not doing enough", then repeat the process all over again. Under the current system, it would take three full conservative presidential terms or more to undo what Democrats did in a single term. That is the play they are relying on.
From 2017 to 2024, the Trump Administration faced 64 nationwide injunctions on immigration and deportation policies; 92% of them came from judges appointed by Democrat presidents.
From 2025 to today, Trump has been blocked at least 86 times by activist judges nationwide or class-wide injunctions and major program pauses. To put this in perspective, nationwide injunctions were extremely rare through the 20th Century. Starting in 2000, the numbers increased, but nowhere near the level Trump has dealt with.
George W Bush had only 6 injunctions from Democrat judges. Barack Obama had 12 injunctions from Republican judges. Biden had 28 injunctions (largely because of his efforts to expand pandemic controls and enforce vaccine mandates).
It is undeniable - The bureaucracy is being abused as a way to stop Trump from enacting normal policy decisions on immigration. This forces the White House to exploit every legal loophole available just to get anything done in the next couple of years.
Enter the "recission" method...
The White House has moved to cancel $810 million in already-approved federal spending through a rare budget tactic called a “pocket rescission.” The administration frames it as cutting “wasteful and harmful” programs tied to noncitizens, DEI, and ideology. Critics call it "illegal".
The timing is what makes the decision controversial. The federal fiscal year ends September 30th. Under the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, a president can propose canceling appropriated money and withhold it for 45 days while Congress considers the request. By sending this package with only five days left, the White House is betting the money will expire before Congress can act.
This is the second such move in about 50 years and both came in Trump’s second term. Last year the administration used the same tactic on $5 billion in foreign aid; the Supreme Court later allowed that effort to proceed 6–3, citing foreign-affairs authority.
Legal challenges are still likely, but perhaps this situation will help to illustrate why the deportation process has been a grind. Even with the constant interventions, deportations have skyrocketed by 30% in the past year to 80,000 illegals removed per month. Trump should be commended for finding a way despite all the obstacles Democrats have put in place.
Tyler Durden Tue, 09/29/2026 - 06:55Trump by day's end denies offering Iran sanctions relief in exchange for nuclear concessions; the morning headlines triggered a sharp drop in oil prices.
US-Iran talks may resume, but only indirectly, this week; however Tehran remains skeptical after Trump rejected its ceasefire proposal.
Iran announced targeting 19 vessels over a 48 hour period this weekend and is threatening to escalate further.
Iran’s economy feels the pressure, with the rial hitting a record low near 2.3 million per dollar.
* * *
Trump DeniesWe've really come full circle from where Monday morning started, and conveniently it's just after market close:
Rinse and repeat...
No one believes it https://t.co/WGj0ebjy7f
— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) September 28, 2026Trump: "As soon as that war ends, inflation is gonna be eradicated totally" pic.twitter.com/Yvgnc1wKHW
— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) September 28, 2026All of this and it's only Monday...
State Media Denies Iran Agreed to Halt EnrichmentAs expected, the Iranians are denying the earlier reports that it "agreed to halt enrichment" - which came through Saudi state sources (see below):
IRANIAN OFFICIAL SAYS IRAN'S POSITION ON THE NUCLEAR ISSUE HAS NOT CHANGED AND THAT NO DISCUSSIONS ARE CURRENTLY TAKING PLACE ON THE MATTER, ADDING THAT REPORTS OF IRAN'S FLEXIBILITY ON ITS NUCLEAR STANCE ARE INCORRECT - FARS NEWS
IRAN'S ARAGHCHI: 'STRONGLY DENY' FLEXIBILITY ON NUCLEAR ISSUE
More confirmation: "Iranian MP Ebrahim Rezaei says no negotiations will begin until the US fulfils its commitments in the Islamabad understanding, while he stated that Iranian diplomats lack permission for bilateral or trilateral talks in the current situation." But importantly:
TRUMP: DID NOT OFFER SANCTIONS RELIEF TO IRAN
And via state PressTV, calling the reports false:
🔺 An informed Iranian official has told Press TV that reports published by some news outlets about Iran showing flexibility over its nuclear position are false. pic.twitter.com/hloF3GbI3J
— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) September 28, 2026 Crude Drops Further on Regional Media ClaimsCrude drops further, stocks exploding, amid another bombshell headline which will more than likely be met with a swift Iranian denial:
Iran has agreed to halt enrichment in exchange for easing US sanctions, reports [Saudi state] Al Hadath
Denial, or the walk-back was quick:
مصدر أميركي منخرط بالمفاوضات مع إيران للعربية: الفجوات واسعة والعقبات كبيرة #العربية_عاجل
— العربية عاجل (@AlArabiya_Brk) September 28, 2026 Oil Tumbles on the Unexpected: Trump Signals Sanctions Relief (...TACO Monday)Al Jazeera is reporting that President Trump is signaling he'd be open to providing Iran with sanctions relief in return for nuclear concessions - though it remains that Tehran has throughout the war insisted that a ceasefire deal must be achieved first, before the nuclear file is dealt with.
US official says US President Trump is prepared to ease sanctions on Iran and release its frozen assets in exchange for progress on the nuclear issue, reports Al Jazeera
And...
CNN and Axios also run US offiicial comments (echoing Al Jazeera) that US President Trump is willing to grant Iran sanctions relief and release frozen funds in exchange for real progress on the nuclear issue.
As stocks jump, crude big plummet...
Note via Newsquawk: Oil sees downside, with slight Dollar pressure, while Treasuries, stocks, and spot gold see upside amid reports that Trump is ready to ease sanctions on Iran and release its frozen assets in exchange for progress on the nuclear file. Meanwhile...
IRAN OFFICIALS PESSIMISTIC ABOUT DEAL WITH US BEFORE MIDTERMS
The Iranian response is what's going to matter here. They will likely see in this another ploy to merely talk down oil prices, and have already repeatedly said they 'don't trust' Trump. It was only on Friday night into Saturday that Trump outright rejected Iran's 7-day ceasefire pitch - with not even so much as an effort to sit down and talk details. But apparently that could happen this week on an indirect basis, via the typical Gulf mediators.
Ayatollah New ThreatAfter a weekend which saw President Trump reject an Iranian proposal for a 7-day ceasefire and roadmap to peace, and Tehran in turn targeting 19 ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the two sides once again have their fingers on the trigger.
Iran has said while it remains open to diplomacy, it is 'fully prepared' to resume the full-scale war with Washington, according to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday. On Monday, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei - who still hasn't been seen since the war's start and after his father's assassination - has proclaimed his military has driven the 'enemy' from waters off southern Iran to the Arabian Sea.
"Having suffered painful blows from our valiant combatants and the guardians of the Strait of Hormuz, they [the enemy] dare not venture beyond the Arabian Sea," Khamenei said in a new message. He warned that war could soon come to the Arabian Sea as well.
via AFPHis words were issued on the annual remembrance of the Iran-Iraq War, as well as the anniversary of Israel's killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in 2024.
"Whenever they have risked doing so they have only inflicted harm upon themselves, and the time is fast approaching when the Arabian Sea, too, will be cleared of their presence," Khamenei's message added. This marks an extension of threats from Iranian security officials last week which warned that war is coming to the Indian Ocean more broadly.
However, the reality also is that oil exports from the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman have been climbing over the past week. But renewed hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian forces are trying to hinder this uptick in transit, is looking more and more likely.
This as diplomacy is obviously stalled. Bloomberg observes, "Iran and the US appeared far apart on a new ceasefire deal or the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran saying it’s sticking to a proposal US President Donald Trump has rejected." And, "In futures, oil rose as Iran and the US appeared far apart on a new ceasefire deal or the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran saying it’s sticking to a proposal that US President Donald Trump has rejected."
Return to 'Talks' NarrativeLike clockwork, anonymous diplomatic officials are once again in pre-market Monday morning hours pushing a "talks" narrative. According to more latest from Bloomberg:
Mediators expected to hold separate talks with US and Iran on Monday or Tuesday, with Iran Foreign Minister Araghchi and Qatari mediators remaining in the US, according to sources. Talks to focus on amended version of 7-day proposal Iran presented on UNGA sidelines.
Over the weekend, Trump rejected Iran’s latest proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran said any reopening remains contingent on its conditions being met and its UN delegation reportedly has no plans for talks with the US. Trump nonetheless expects negotiations to resume this week, with the Iranian President also supporting talks.
And the Wall Street Journal has a parallel Monday morning story: "Peace negotiators are pressing Iran to make a concession on its nuclear program to revive ceasefire talks with the U.S. after President Trump rejected Tehran’s truce proposal, in a race to stop the conflict from escalating back into all-out war," the publication says. On the headlines:
Trump in new comments to Axios:
“I expect more talks with Iran (this week),” Trump told Axios in a phone interview. “They want to make a deal, but it is not the deal that I want to make. It is what we would have maybe agreed to a year ago. They overplayed their hand.”
Araghchi apparently stayed in New York through the weekend following his attendance of the UN General Assembly, with President Pesheshkian having departed back to Iran.
Ready for "apocalyptic war" if it comes to that...
🔸New: Iran’s FM Araghchi:
“President Pezeshkian and I did not come to New York to sell a war. We came to forge peace.
Iran nonetheless remains steadfast in the face of any aggression—even if it comes to an apocalyptic war. At the same time, we are ready for real diplomacy.” https://t.co/V1VtKDuk4L
Meanwhile the US economic war is continuing to bite, with Iran's currency has hitting another historic low against the US dollar, exacerbated by severe inflation and the Trump/Bessent 'Economic D-Day' and 'Operation Economic Outcast' campaigns which seek to strangle the country. Financial trackers note that the free market exchange rate has escalated to 2.3 million rials per US dollar.
Weekend & Overnight Developmentsvia Newsquawk
Authored by Charles Kennedy via Oilprice.com,
Refinery production figures, export contracts and tanker routes are now off-limits to public reporting in Russia, under a decree Putin signed Monday, Reuters reported. The Kremlin points to unfriendly actions by Washington and its allies as the reason, and the restrictions took effect on signing, with the government given 10 days to define exactly which product codes are covered.
Data on refining volumes at Russian plants is now restricted, along with contract details, including product names, quantities, prices, buyers, sellers, payment terms, shipping routes, and vessel coordinates at export terminals. Customs statistics and planned sales volumes on commodity exchanges fall under the same rule. None of it can appear "through mass media or internet networks," per the decree text, unless a company chooses to disclose its own figures.
Moscow classified crude output data after annexing Crimea in 2014 and tightened that secrecy again after invading Ukraine in 2022. Monday's decree does the same for refining and logistics data, tying it directly to sanctions enforcement on the rationale that the less Western governments can verify independently, the harder the price cap is to police.
The timing lines up with a rough year for Russian refineries. Ukrainian drones have hit a Russian refinery every three days on average through the first eight months of 2026, and IEA figures put national throughput at 3.8 million barrels a day by June, down 30% from a year earlier and the lowest level in over two decades. Gasoline output is down roughly 20% and diesel nearly 30%, with fuel shortages reported across 92% of Russian regions.
Officials in Moscow describe the damage as under control. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said this month that fuel supply had improved on additional refinery deliveries, while Putin himself has put the share of refineries still needing repairs at around 10%.
Tyler Durden Tue, 09/29/2026 - 06:30Several days ago The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon quietly added dozens to its tally of American servicemembers wounded amid the Iran war.
Since March and hearkening back to the opening weeks of Operation Epic Fury, there's been an alleged constant Trump administration effort to conceal or at least downplay damage and casualties from Iranian retaliation strikes on US bases in the region.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth and top generals especially in the opening months tried to present the American public with a much rosier than the ground reality picture of how things are going in the new Middle East war.
via Associated PressThe Washington Post's Sept. 25 article noted in the wake of recent flare-ups in fighting from weeks ago: "The Pentagon’s public tally of troops wounded during the Iran war was quietly increased by 37 this week without explanation from the Defense Department."
"The increase includes 29 Navy sailors and eight Marines, according to a review of the Pentagon’s public database of personnel killed and wounded during U.S. conflicts and other military operations overseas," the report continued, referring to the official Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS.
This set off an avalanche of speculation over the weekend, also as regional watchers considered whether prior attacks on US bases in Jordan resulted in more casualties than what's ever been publicly disclosed.
A Sunday NBC News report may have offered the answers needed. It cites officials who describe that eight US Marines were injured when an Iranian anti-ship cruise missile struck a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz that they were operating on earlier this month.
The group of Marines are said to include seven enlisted troops and one officer - and reportedly suffered injuries which range from traumatic brain injuries to smoke inhalation:
Eight U.S. Marines were injured two weeks ago when an Iranian cruise missile attacked the ship they were operating on in the Strait of Hormuz, according to three U.S. officials. The Marines were not seriously injured, but they sustained smoke inhalation and possibly traumatic brain injuries, as they had symptoms of concussions, such as headaches, the officials said.
Further interesting is that NBC's sources made clear that when the attack happened, the Marines were not aboard a US Navy ship, which suggests they may have been operating incognito on an unmarked vessel, or else were possibly directly on a tanker being provided protection by the US Navy. Officials didn't specify the type of ship they were on, but only called it a "maritime vessel".
Unless they're riding around in the tugboats, this seems like confirmation that US marines are on these tankers that are being escorted through the Strait of Hormuz. https://t.co/70PbaUneDe
— barry with the NED (@bonzerbarry) September 28, 2026And Joe Kent, Trump's former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, says something similar...
If this report is true, it means we are using U.S. troops to escort oil tankers through the SOH, where oil had been flowing freely before we started this disastrous war of choice at the behest of the Israelis.
This a reckless and frivolous gamble with American lives, which we…
Military.com in a fresh follow-up report has added more context as follows:
Eighteen service members have now died and over 800 Americans have been wounded in the conflict, according to the Pentagon's own data. Last week, Army officials told Military.com that Capt. Bianca C. Wilkerson, 37, of Norfolk, Va., died on Sept. 18 as a result of "a non-combat related incident." She was posthumously promoted to major.
NBC News reported that the Marines were not on a Navy ship, and that all returned to duty soon after the attacks. They were reportedly operating as part of a battalion landing team.
The attack is said to have occurred on Sept. 14 - and the new casualties were added to the Pentagon's Defense Casualty Analysis System almost ten days later. This is likely going to fuel more accusations of a broader US casualty cover-up amid the standoff with Iran.
Tyler Durden Tue, 09/29/2026 - 05:45Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,
They called it "Capture the Castle." Not a picnic. Not a concert. Capture.
On Saturday morning a 1,000-year-old Norman fortress in Devon was wrapped in a 150-metre rainbow banner while organisers talked about occupying the ramparts and sending a message that the building now belongs to their cause. Nobody has to guess at the intent. They wrote it on the programme.
Totnes Castle sits at the highest point of the hilltop town. Founded around 1087 to lock down a crossing of the River Dart, it is one of England's best-preserved motte-and-bailey strongholds, a Grade I listed site in the care of English Heritage. On 26 September, as part of a four-day Totnes Pride festival, some 400 people gathered in the grounds while around 30 flag-bearers unfurled the giant Pride flag across the ancient masonry. The spectacle was billed as the defining image of the weekend.
Pride group 'captures' 1,000-year-old Norman castle using massive rainbow flaghttps://t.co/3S8DPiUibv
— GB News (@GBNEWS) September 28, 2026Ceri Goddard of Totnes Pride told the BBC they wanted the festival to be "a bit different," and that covering "the iconic castle" would show that "queer people have always been here and we always will be." She said English Heritage had been "amazing, helping us plan," after a rehearsal to work through the logistics.
A Totnes Pride spokesman said: "Capture the Castle is the image that will define this year's festival, but what we've built around it is a genuinely ambitious arts and culture programme - over 40 events." The same statement talked of a town that "welcomes people from all walks of life." Liberal Democrat MP Caroline Voaden praised the "scale, diversity and quality of the Pride festival Totnes has produced," and said it was "sending a clear message of equality and inclusion."
That is one reading. Another is the language the organisers chose for themselves. Their own programme invited people to "storm the Castle grounds," described local flag-bearers who would "invade" the ramparts, and framed the morning as the "most visible, bold and important civic moment" of the weekend.
They literally called it 'capture the castle'. Ideological occupation. pic.twitter.com/JaSTE2zrhz
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) September 27, 2026Some residents were appalled. Local Ian Robinson wrote: "950 years of Norman history, medieval warfare, royal decrees and Civil War - all leading up to the moment we thought: 'You know what this ancient castle really needs? A 150-metre rainbow flag'. Because apparently nine and a half centuries of heritage wasn't quite colourful enough. Still, at least the tea room survived long enough to witness the decline."
Roofer Russell Blackaller, who works on listed buildings, pointed out the double standard inside planning law itself. People in Grade II houses, he said, "require formal consent sometimes purely to erect a scaffolding." Yet a Grade I monument was draped "purely to have a celebration."
Courtney Soleil put the civic point cleanly: "No one is saying people shouldn't be free to live as they choose, but not every historic landmark needs to be turned into a statement for the cause of the moment. This is a 950-year-old Norman castle and part of Britain's shared heritage." Historic monuments, she argued, should represent that shared history rather than "continually being used to promote one particular cause."
Christian Concern chief executive Andrea Minichiello Williams told The Telegraph: "The castle may have been captured in history, but today it is the town itself that feels captured - not by an army, but by an ideology that has taken hold of its public spaces and its culture, leaving little room for anyone who dares to disagree."
Restore Britain's Rupert Lowe was no gentler: "It is not 'homophobic' to label this as wildly naff and generally vomit-inducing." He added: "Sensible gay people despise the woke theatre of it all too, and just want to get on with their lives."
Totnes, Devon. Listen, I'm as gay as the hills, but this is taking the proverbial. It's an eyesore that the residents have to suffer.
We ought to be venerating our heritage and inheritance, not demanding it bend to modern ideological virtue signalling.
It makes a mockery of us. pic.twitter.com/Jdu6kxzltw
If it had of been the Union Flag it would have been removed post-haste.
— ron (@RonIGeordie) September 28, 2026Indeed, in 2016 Totnes council took down a Union Flag because it was deemed "too noisy" when it flapped in the wind. In 2015 a planned permanent rainbow crossing was blocked by Devon County Council on traffic-safety grounds, but the instinct of the activists was already clear: the civic surface of the town is a canvas, except when the paint is red, white and blue.
Most people don't give a fuck what your sexual orientation is as long as you don't go near kids. Nowadays this pride stuff is more about "look at me" and attention seeking and trying to promote gayness amongst children which is all very strange.
— Danny Boy (@DannyDoy2022) September 28, 2026F*ck me the whole month of June isn't enough for them.
— REJECT DIGITAL ID (@John_Wick888) September 28, 2026Typical of the left, they throw around the words of diversity and equality, yet meet anyone who disagrees with hate and violence. This goes against the very essence of equality and diversity when so many other feelings are ignored and attacked.
— Testy McTestFace (@TheDrunkTester) September 28, 2026Flying a British or English flag from that same castle would, of course, be treated as a provocation. Across the country the pattern is no longer subtle. Britain's biggest council has gone to the High Court seeking an injunction that could put people in prison for two years for attaching Union Flags and St George's Crosses to highway furniture, while Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia, India and Jamaica flags have been hosted, lit up, or left flying.
English Heritage helped plan this latest rainbow eyesore. A sitting MP turned up to bless it. The keep that survived the Civil War is now a billboard for a faction that talks about invasion as if that were charming.
The national flags of the country that built the place are the ones that get the injunctions, the noise complaints, and the lectures about "community cohesion."
Tyler Durden Tue, 09/29/2026 - 05:00