The Daily Signal’s Mehek Cooke said President Donald Trump’s handling of Iran and the Strait of Hormuz is forcing both Tehran and Beijing into a corner, calling the strategy “checkmate” during a television appearance Tuesday night.
Speaking on NewsNation’s “Katie Pavlich Tonight,“ Cooke said the Iranian regime miscalculated by threatening shipping lanes just as a ceasefire agreement with the United States reached its two-week mark. Under the original terms of the ceasefire, Iran was expected to keep the Strait of Hormuz open—through which much of the world’s oil flows.
“Iran still thinks they’re winning because they have a ceasefire and President Trump gave them a lifeline,” Cooke said. “But what President Trump really did was give the American people a window into who Iranians really are—that they’re not going to negotiate in good faith.”
Cooke argued that by moving to control the strait, the Trump administration is cutting off Iran’s primary economic leverage and drawing China—Iran’s largest oil customer—into pressuring Tehran.
“China was getting 90% of that oil,” Cooke said. “So, guess who’s going to be at that negotiating table pushing Iran to stop holding proxy wars and stop holding us hostage? It’s China.”
She said Arab states in the Persian Gulf, now facing direct threats from Iran, are moving closer to Israel and the West in pursuit of stability and economic growth.
“This is a complete reset,” Cooke said. “We’re watching in real time Arab states pivot toward Israel and the West because they want a future of peace and prosperity.”
Cooke also warned that as Iran loses economic and territorial leverage, it may intensify proxy and terrorist activity beyond the Middle East, including in the Western Hemisphere.
“We have to be vigilant,” she said. “The Iranians are out of steam, so they’re going to look for other ways to strike Americans.”
This article was written by The Daily Signal Staff.
Reprinted with Permission from The Daily Signal – By The Daily Signal Staff
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
Trump is a chess master! Everyone else, especially the democrats,are playing checkers. Schumer has the gall to say Trump is losing the war,,after Biden’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal. The democrats would sit on the nbranch they are sawing off of the tree . . .
The Democrats would be against any plan Trump puts forward about anything. How anyone can think that allowing Iran to have nuclear armaments is a good thing is like thinking girls are as strong as men…..Oh, yeah.
Like we MAGA supporter we knew Trump had something to bring Iran to its knees. This is what the dems screamed about wouldn’t work. But it is working I only hope it wasn’t done too late and give the Iranians time to come up with a nuclear bomb to drop on Israel. These are evil leaders. They knew they could appease Obama under Biden. After all he gave them billions of dollars to accumulate an arsenal and pay their proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis even ISIS to do their dirty work. And then came America and Israel with their precision military force. Air force was precise our Navy perfect. That the school was bombed lies with the Iranians not America. They put the school right next to a military installation. The democrats screamed foul. Never a word over the thousands of our soldiers Iran has killed over the years. The leadership in Iran is evil right along with the evil democrats in this country. I thank God for President Trump. Can you imagine if Kameltoe was president right now? With all that happened in the Middle East and the Ukraine? New York would have been bombed by a nuclear bomb the same for DC. And the Muslims would overrun this country. Instead of having one Mamdani we would have hundreds. And we would be arrested and promptly be executed. After all Allah has spoken. And they follow the Sharia law to the max. Kill the infidel and the Jews. The dems agree and that is why they now have egg on their face. Even Europe is coming around. China is already on our side. Iran is hurting financially every day the blockade goes on.
Now, I have been reading “Trump may be struggling with Alzheimer’s, ha ha. That’s a joke. He always has a plan and no one else is smart enough to see it, so they think he is losing his mind. Funny they never brought up incompetence when Biden was in office.
MAGA!
See China beg for oil now
Thank you President Trump! Thank you Trump Administration and most of all, thank you to our military who are out risking their lives for us!!!
No wonder the Rats are trying to impeach him AGAIN. Hopefully people will stop patronizing the republicrat spokespersons who are in on the 25th ammendment bullshit: Alex Jones, Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens (who is actually a demonicrat Trojan Horse).
President Trump is the greatest chess player. He knows exactly what to do in order to get peace in the world. I voted for him 3 times and I can’t say how proud I am that he is the United States’ President.
If China’s hand is “forced,” it is not “checkmate.” China is still playing “the game” as seriously, dedicated and determined to win, as usual. Never take your mind off the possible moves intended by a player who rarely, almost never displays facial expressions. These people always seem to play the long game.
I still say, and will continue to say … Trump has a magnificent sense of humor … with that AI photo, depicting him as ‘a savior’ healing the injured. Anti religion progressives, are crying foul, he is disrespecting the church …. ha ha ha.
Now especially after his comments about the lives Iran will live if they don’t concede … scaring democrats that his finger is on the nuclear trigger … suggesting he is unhinged, a lunatic, and about to start world war 3.
If Trump came forth and told the world that his greatness decided that he was renaming Oxygen … from this day forward it will be known as Trumpygen … the progressive leftists democrats, would hold their breath until they passed out or died.
And the beat goes on, I hope we, the American people can be patient awhile longer. Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, President Trump was not gonna beg or pay them off, to buy their kindly not nuking the nation of Israel and its neighbors and we in the USA.
This great move by our President, makes the democrats so jealous, they cannot keep up with his chess moves
Who is Cooke? It’s not explained in the story.
US citizens are paying a heavy price for decades of meddling in Asia. I thought Trump promised to limit this.