Introducing "That Was The Week That Was—Donald Trump Edition"

As I think you’ll agree, keeping up with the fire house of horrors emanating from Donald Trump, his administration and his acolytes is nearly impossible. There is simply too much to write about making it impossible for one person to write about it all and impossible for readers to digest. There’s got to be a better way to make Trump news more accessible, more digestible, while covering as much as possible.

For quite some time I’ve been thinking about that better way. And today, I’m going to introduce it.

That Was The Week That Was—Donald Trump Edition

For those of you not old enough to remember, That Was the Week That Was, informally TWTWTW or TW3, was a satirical television comedy program that aired on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised by two Brits, Ned Sherrin and Jack Duncan, and hosted by David Frost. An American version ran on NBC-TV from 1963 to 1965, also hosted by Frost. TW3 broke new ground by lampooning political figures. It was topical. It was satirical. Over 60 years later, its progeny includes Jon Stewart, John Oliver, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee and SNL’s Not Ready for Primetime Players, among others. That Was The Week That Was was bitingly funny. Despite what will be my attempt to add some humor reporting on the Trump horror show, I fear that for the most part, That Was The Week That Was—Donald Trump Edition, will be distressingly tragic.

With that background, and without further ado, please welcome the premier episode of Around the Block’s, That Was The Week That Was—Donald Trump Edition, aka TWTWTW/DT or TW3/DT

Chapter 1: The Trump-Iran War

After demanding on Easter Sunday that Iran must, “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell,” then following up on Tuesday with a Truth Social post that warned, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to ​be brought back ​again. I don’t want that ‌to ⁠happen, but it probably will," it didn’t happen. Trump “TACO’d” and agreed to suspend the attacks, which would have constituted war crimes by the way, just hours ahead of his deadline. The two-week “ceasefire” was predicated on the condition that Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Not not only did Iran not open the Strait of Hormuz, allowing only a handful of ships from favored nations through, as opposed to the normal daily passage of up to 150 ships, it threatened to charge a toll for the right to traverse the strait.

Speaking of “Hell,” helluva job, DJT. It seems like Iran, who you maintained “didn’t have any cards,” (he really needs some new lines), “Trumped” you. Just to remind you, before your “excursion”…er “war,” the Strait of Hormuz was completely open and toll-free

But wait, there’s another screw-up. Someone forgot to tell Benjamin Netanyahu about the ceasefire as Israel continued its bombardment of Lebanon on Wednesday, claiming its activities there are not part of the deal with Iran. Iran responded by closing the Strait of Hormuz again and threatened a “regret-inducing response” if the strikes continue. Donald Trump subsequently warned that US strikes on Iran would resume if it did not comply with the ceasefire.

Seems a kind of a strange threat since Trump’s partner in the war, Israel, sas the one that didn’t comply.

While both Trump and the key mediator, Pakistan’s prime minister Shahbaz Sharif, wrote in their social media statements that the ceasefire also applied to Israel’s campaign in Lebanon, either their statements ended up in Netanyahu’s junk folder or, could it be that Bibi, who reportedly “coaxed” Trump into this war has little interest in ending it.

Speaking of Pakistan, talks began in Islamabad on Saturday morning. The talks are being mediated by Pakistan’s Army Chief, General Asim Munir, supported by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishag Dar.

Is it just me, but isn’t it a little curious that of all the potential mediators, Pakistan was chosen to mediate these talks when it has been in a war with Afghanistan itself since February?

The meetings are being held at the Islamabad Serena Hotel, a five-star property with 334 rooms and 53 suites. The Iranian side is led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and includes Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, his deputies, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and Abdolnaser Hemmati, governor of the Central Bank of Iran. This senior group is being supported by a 70-member delegation, including 26 negotiators and 23 media personnel. The U.S. team consists of:

• JD Vance, Vice President of the United States

• Steve Witkof, U.S. Special Envoy For Everything/Trump Real Estate Buddy

• Jared Kushner, First Son-in-Law of the United States

There has been no comment from the State Department, given that the American team is woefully inexperienced in interational relations, as to why America’s chief diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is not participating in the negotiations.

Regarding the venue, the Serena Hotel was chosen because there is no Trump-owned facility in Islamabad to facilitate the normal Trump grift. Despite the fact that the Africa-based Serena Hotel chain owns properties in many Trump-described “shit-hole” countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Congo, Uganda and Rwanda, he was reportedly persuaded when the management of the Serena Islamabad gilded the facade of the portico.

Chapter 2: The Hill—Eric, Don Jr. invest in military drone company amid Iran war

In it’s lede, The Hill reported that, “The business of war has always been lucrative. But when the people making money are tied directly to the people making policy, it raises questions Americans should be asking.” The Hill continues,

A new military drone company called Powerus, backed by investors including the president’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, is planning a strange corporate move: merging with a Florida golf course holding company to create a publicly traded drone business. The deal would combine a defense technology firm with a company that owns golf courses near Orlando, including Kissimmee Bay Country Club and Remington Golf Club. According to the announcement, those courses could even become testing grounds for drone systems.

It’s an unusual pairing. But the bigger issue is who stands to benefit.

Powerus says it builds autonomous drones for military and high-risk environments and wants to scale production to more than 10,000 drones a month. That’s a massive bet on a rapidly expanding market. The Pentagon has already launched initiatives like its Drone Dominance program, which plans to spend about $1.1 billion to buy hundreds of thousands of American-made drone systems by 2027.

And that demand is growing partly because of policy decisions coming out of Washington, including bans on new Chinese-made drones, which have long dominated the global market.

So the same administration shaping the rules of the industry also has family members investing heavily in companies that could fill the gap.

This conflict of interest, this grift, would in normal times be considered outrageous. In Trump times, it’s business as usual with not one word calling for hearings from James Comer or Jim Jordan. Tell me again what did Hunter Biden do that caused those Republicans to go nuts.

Chapter 3: The New Republic—Trump’s Pentagon Is Undercounting Troop Casualties in Middle East

The New Republic reported that, “The Pentagon appears to be engaged in a ‘casualty cover-up’ of U.S. soldiers killed as a result of Donald Trump’s military onslaught in Iran, a U.S. defense official told The Intercept.”

An analysis by The Intercept found that the Department of Defense has used outdated numbers in statements on casualties, resulting in undercounts of how many troops have been wounded or killed.

In a statement sent Monday, CENTCOM said that “approximately 303 U.S. service members have been wounded” since the launch of Operation Epic Fury. But that number was three days old, and excluded the at least 15 troops wounded in a strike at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia last week.

CENTCOM would not provide any information about the number of U.S. troops who have been killed since the start of the war.

“This is, quite obviously, a subject that [Defense Secretary Pete] Hegseth and the White House want to keep under major wraps,” said the defense official, who spoke to The Intercept on the condition of anonymity.

You might recall that it was Hegseth who on April 7 uncermoniously fired Army Chief of Staff, General Randy George in the MIDDLE OF A WAR! One wonders if the casualty undercount and General George’s firing are related. Is Hegseth looking for his own Westmoreland to cook the numbers. Kind of ties in to the name some in the Pentagon are giving Hegseth—”Dumb McNamara!”

(Some of you are old enough to remember Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and General William Westmorland who oversaw the Vietnam War promulgating the lies to the American people, including undercounting U.S. caualties.)

Chapter 4: The Hill—Automatic registration for US military draft to begin in December

The Hill reports,

Eligible men will automatically be registered into the military draft pool by December as part of an effort to streamline the previous process of self-registration and save money.

The Selective Service System (SSS) — the government agency that maintains a database of men to be called up to serve in the case of a national emergency — submitted a proposed rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on March 30.

The U.S. has not had a draft since the Vietnam War, with military service being voluntary since 1973.

Many have questioned whether a U.S. military draft could take place amid the war in Iran, which is currently in a tenuous two-week ceasefire.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in March said that while a draft is “not part of the current plan right now,” President Trump “wisely keeps his options on the table.”

1. Wise and President Trump are contradictions in terms, never to appear again in the same sentence.

2. Anonymous sources inside the administration have suggested that after hearing the news, Barron Trump began asking anyone who would listen to explain what “bone spurs” are and where you can buy them.

Chapter 5: The Independent—Trump’s spiritual advisor sparks backlash for comparing president’s life to Jesus Christ

In the “Who Wants to Be King When You Can Be God” department, the U.S. edition of the Independent reported that presidential spiritual advisor Paula White-Cain says Trump was 'betrayed and falsely accused' in a 'familiar pattern that our lord and saviour showed us.'

With the president standing behind her, and to whom she turned to address personally, White-Cain said: “Jesus taught so many lessons through his death, burial and resurrection. He showed us great leadership, great transformation requires great sacrifice.

“And Mr President, no one has paid the price like you have paid the price. It almost cost you your life.

“You were betrayed and arrested and falsely accused. It’s a familiar pattern that our lord and savior showed us,” she said.

But it didn’t end there for him, and it didn’t end there for you,” she said.

“God always had a plan: On the third day, he rose, he defeated evil, he conquered death, hell and the grave. And because he rose, we all know that we can rise. And sir, because of his resurrection, you rose up,” she added.

“Because he was victorious, you are victorious. And I believe that the Lord said to tell you this: because of his victory, you will be victorious in all you put your hands to,” she said, finishing to applause.

If there’s any picture that sums up the lunacy of the Trump-loving religious right, it’s this one:

Pushback from normal, non-Trumpwashed religious folks was summed this way, “…this is insanity.”

Catholic theologian Rich Raho posted on X: "Blasphemous. It’s stunning to see a US Bishop standing right there on the stage while Paula White compares Trump to Jesus Christ."

Another poster added: “If every leader who faced backlash started claiming a messianic arc, history would look like a Sunday school parody. Faith is sacred. Turning it into a campaign prop at a White House lunch isn’t divine. It’s theatrical.”

“As a Catholic, I find this woman completely sacrilegious and offensive on every possible level,” another X user said.

“Freaks, liars, charlatans, grifters, criminals – anything but Christians. All of them,” added political strategist Jeff Timmer.

To put White-Cain into perspective, in 2020, she delivered a sermon calling on Jesus Christ to “command all satanic pregnancies to miscarry”, and has also previously declared the White House is “holy ground”, and also that “to say no to President Trump would be saying no to God.”

Needless to say, I could go on and on. But I won’t since there will be, sad to say, many more weeks like this one.

I couldn’t leave the week without showing this image, unveiled to the American public just yesterday. In the category of “you can’t make this up,” I give you, Trump’s Trumphal Arch. I submit the name “Triumphal Arch” is a typo. At some point the “i” will be removed.

That’s all for the inaugural episode of TW3/DT. There’s so much more to report on but today’s episode is long enough (or too long, depending on your POV). Most important for me is this: Please, let me know what you think. If you’re intrigued, pass the post on. And, if you have suggestions for stories that you think should be included, post a comment or send an email to ted.block@gmail.com. I’ll review every suggestion and include as many as I can.

Now, from all of us at Around the Block, let me end by paraphrasing the sign offs from two of the greatest newsmen from what was once the premier news organization in broadcasting, CBS. But, alas, a premier organization no more.

“Good night and good luck…you’ll need it.”

“And, that’s the way it is…unfortunately. April 11, 2026”