As redistricting battles are reaching a boiling point, Democrats said President Donald Trump "started this" while defending their own party’s response ahead of the 2026 midterms.

"Donald Trump started this battle, and if people thought Democrats were going to sit on their hands while this happened, that was not the case," Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said. "We’re going to fight back."

"Democrats did not want this," Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., added.

On Tuesday night, Virginia voters narrowly passed a congressional redistricting referendum backed by Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, securing a victory for Democrats and shifting momentum in the race for the U.S. House of Representatives.

NEWSOM TURNS VIRGINIA REDISTRICTING VICTORY INTO WARNING SHOT FOR TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

The Virginia referendum, which comes after Trump’s push for redistricting in Republican-controlled states, could give Democrats four more House seats.

"It all starts with Donald Trump asking Gov. Abbott to do an unusual mid-decade redistricting," Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., said.

Aguilar said that President Trump’s push in Texas may have sparked the nationwide map fights, but "Democrats and the American people are going to end it."

"Republicans engaged in redistricting discussions in Indiana and in Kansas and in all these other places. It’s incredibly frustrating," Aguilar said. "Republicans started this fight, but Democrats and the American people are going to end it."

Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., called the move "a grab by the president."

BETO ENCOURAGES DEMOCRATS TO FIGHT 'FIRE WITH FIRE' IN TEXAS REDISTRICTING BATTLE

"Mr. Trump said in Texas he was owed five seats, and that’s what triggered redistricting with no transparency," Dean said. "Just a grab by the president."

Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., said states following Trump’s lead are "doing the bidding" of the president and escalating the fight.

"I think that Trump started a slippery slope that we’re sliding down," Johnson said. "Democrats have to match the overreach of complicit Republicans doing the bidding of Donald Trump."

Democrats justified their response as a strategic "play."

"What Democrats have done is just play defense," Takano said. "We’re not going to roll over and just allow this to happen."

Some Democrats said they had no choice but to join the gerrymandering efforts. Both parties hope to win the House using this strategy.

"No one should be interfering with the democratic process, but Mr. Trump was the one who initiated it," Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., said.

TRUMP FORCES INDIANA GOP INTO REDISTRICTING REVERSAL IN RACE TO DRAW NEW MAGA MAP

Johnson said he believes gerrymandering goes beyond politics and could also impact voter representation.

"Partisan gerrymandering is a fig leaf for what’s really happening, which is the racialized redistricting meant to make America great again by excluding Black folks from being able to elect the representatives of their choice, Black and brown people," he said.

One democrat suggested redistricting could wind down soon.

"I think we may have seen the end of any viable redistricting right now before the election," Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., said.

However, Takano said Democrats would not back down.

"You can’t bring a knife to a gunfight and say, ‘Hey, Republicans can just change districts mid-decade without a response,’" he said.

As travel costs continue to climb, some Americans are rethinking their destinations, swapping out trips to major cities for smaller towns.

In Arnaudville, Louisiana, that trend is starting to show up.

"[A] small town like Arnaudville is a great place to drop in and visit," said short-term rental host Larry Lemarié. "There’s no pressure here. There’s no traffic here. It’s very laid back people."

AMERICA’S AIRPORT AFFORDABILITY GAP: CITIES WHERE TRAVEL COSTS ARE CRUSHING FAMILIES

Lemarié has hosted nearly 500 stays at his small wooden cabin, known as "Cajun Acres," which draws visitors from across the country and around the world.

"Phoenix, Arizona… Auckland, New Zealand… Marseille, France," he said.

He said many guests are simply looking for a quiet getaway.

"We do get a lot of people who come to visit New Orleans, but they want to see what’s Louisiana life like," Lemarié said. "So they like to get out of the city for a few days… where it’s much more relaxed and laid back."

Arnaudville sits at the intersection of Bayou Teche and Bayou Fuselier, where visitors can explore swamp tours, local art spaces and live Cajun music.

Arnaudville was recently featured on a list by Airbnb highlighting 20 lesser-known destinations across the U.S.; places the company says travelers may not have considered before.

"86% of travelers said they’re very interested in visiting remote or rural destinations," said Laura Spanjian, Airbnb’s global head of public policy.

SOARING JET FUEL PRICES THREATEN TO DRIVE UP SUMMER TRAVEL COSTS

Spanjian said that reflects growing interest in trips that are less traditional.

"More and more people… really do value traveling off the beaten path," she said.

For some, the draw is the food.

"Yeah, it was great in New Orleans… but if you come down here, you’ll find out it’s better," Larry Thomas said.

That growing interest also comes as travel costs continue to rise.

"I think [the interest is up] particularly now with… the rising cost of living and gas and flights," Spanjian said.

HIGHER FARES COULD SLAM FLIGHT PASSENGERS TO POPULAR REGION AS AIRLINES SHIFT COSTS: 'NOT A FAN'

According to the U.S. Travel Association Travel Price Index, airfares have risen nearly 15% since March of last year, while food and beverage prices are up about 3.7% and hotel and motel prices up about 2.1%.

The Democratic Party wants to break the United States Senate’s legislative filibuster in order to pack the Supreme Court with jurisprudential clones of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who has quickly emerged as the most radical of the nine justices. (Justice Jackson is also the most loquacious, as Mollie Hemingway points out in her new bestseller, "Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution." Justice Jackson uttered 78,215 words from the bench in the 2023-2025 term. Justices Gorsuch and Kagan got the silver and bronze in the spoken-word competition, but it wasn’t close, as they were both around 50,000 words apiece.

President Joe Biden supported expanding the Court to 14 members in April 2021. Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey is one of many senators who have also applauded the number 14. That’s no surprise, as adding five radicals to Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor would lock in an eight-vote bloc of justices who, after that revolution, would simply be legislators in robes. Kiss the Constitution goodbye if and when "the Nine" becomes "the Fourteen." Hard-left progressivism, whatever the flavor of that day may be, will be in the saddle.

The Fifth and 14th Amendments to the Constitution guarantee every American "due process of law." Do those guarantees stand between a left-wing Congress and a left-wing president bent on torching the Constitution?

TRUMP BLASTS KETANJI BROWN JACKSON AS 'LOW IQ PERSON' IN SUPREME COURT TIRADE

It is hard to deny that all precedents would be out the door with a radicalized Court packed with progressive activist law professors. The precedents might end up out the door with a nine-justice court if Democrats win enough elections, as Father Time remains undefeated when it comes to the current membership of the Court. That would not be a radical change, but rather a process the public could see and intervene in via elections. There is no denying that the Supreme Court vacancy at the time of the 2016 election helped power President Donald Trump’s stunning upset win that year. More than a few voters that year were motivated by the fear of a Court dominated by nominees of prospective President Hillary Clinton.

Democrats are quick to point out that the Constitution is silent on the exact number of justices and that, in fact, Congress often tweaked the number of justices between 1789 and the Judiciary Act of 1869, which fixed the number of justices at nine, a number that has not changed since.

That 1869 act followed fast on the heels of the 14th Amendment, which was ratified in 1868 and which joined its guarantee of "due process of law" to that same guarantee in the Fifth Amendment. The 14th Amendment’s ratification in 1868 and the Court’s right-sizing, which followed the next year, suggests a consensus at the time of the amendment, one that has never been changed since. (The Court has also never had more than 10 justices, and that just briefly.) The Biden-Markey proposal is many things, but it is not rooted in American history, and it certainly would destroy "due process of law" in the nation.

JUSTICE THOMAS WARNS PROGRESSIVISM IS A THREAT TO AMERICA IN RARE PUBLIC REMARKS

Court-packing would, in fact, mark the actual end of the rule of law, and the manipulation of the Court would follow every future political upheaval in which both houses of Congress and the president controlled the federal legislative process. That’s just what happens when suddenly a major break with tradition and practice occurs. The other side of the aisle adopts the tactic too.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid broke the Senate’s filibuster rules via the "nuclear option" in order to confirm judges to the D.C. Circuit in 2013 over the objection and warning of then-Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. Soon the Senate’s majority switched from Democrats to Republicans, and McConnell made good on his warning by using simple majorities to confirm three nominees to the Supreme Court put forward by President Trump. Bad move, Harry, but not one that out-and-out destroyed the institution of the Court.

WHY JUSTICE JACKSON IS A FISH OUT OF WATER ON THE SUPREME COURT

Packing the Supreme Court via simple-majority votes — or even by supermajority — would be a disaster, the sort of convulsion that marked the end days of the Roman Republic, when political maneuvering and continual breaches of fundamental traditions occurred and relations between the two parties so soured more than two thousand years ago that civil wars were triggered and eventually dictatorship was the only answer. Republics built on the rule of law are not the norm. They are history’s exceptions. We have one. We should work hard to keep it intact.

There is an excellent argument that court-packing is actually rule-of-law-busting and thus violates the Fifth and 14th Amendments’ guarantees of due process of law. But who would be able to make that argument? Who would have standing to bring the challenge to proposed court-packing legislation, and when would such a challenge be ripe? These are difficult hurdles for any litigant bringing any case. A litigant must show actual injury — a "concrete and particularized" injury, one traceable to defendants’ conduct and an injury that the Court could actually redress.

DEM SENATE CANDIDATE CALLS TO 'SHUT THE WHITE HOUSE DOWN,' IMPEACH 2 SUPREME COURT JUSTICES

Certainly no challenge would lie from anyone in the immediate aftermath of the filibuster being broken, but how about the moment after the court-packing legislation was signed? Who could ask the Court if the destruction of the rule of law was OK by the Nine before their number soared to Fourteen?

Perhaps Professors Randy Barnett and Josh Holmes, co-authors of the best constitutional law casebook out there right now. All of their decades-long work on that terrific casebook would be destroyed immediately, as a 14-member court would make kindling out of all prior decisions (and all the casebooks that explain them) and do so in rather quick fashion.

Perhaps one of the nine justices could bring the case? Their individual authority would be diluted by the expansion to 14 — but would any of them want to be the justice arguing to keep their power intact?

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Time for the people serious about preserving the rule of law to begin thinking through how to protect due process of law in this country come 2029, if a Democratic president and Democratic majorities in the House and Senate do what they will almost certainly pledge to do on the campaign trail: end the filibuster and pack the Court.

And it is also time for the Senate Republican caucus to bravely and fearlessly defend the legislative filibuster as it currently exists. The legislative filibuster is the biggest hurdle in the way of would-be court-wreckers, the early-warning system that danger to the rule of law is drawing close.

The GOP should be the party of the Constitution and the rule of law, and it ought to be out front right now defending the Court’s membership at nine and the filibuster generally. Win the argument about the filibuster, and you will never have to win the case against court-packing or even worry about "standing" and "ripeness."

Hugh Hewitt is a Fox News contributor and host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show" heard weekday afternoons from 3 PM to 6 PM ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh drives Americans home on the East Coast and to lunch on the West Coast on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable, hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcasting. This column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM HUGH HEWITT

FIRST ON FOX: NEW YORK, N.Y. — As thousands of New York City residents prepare to hit the road to leave town for Memorial Day and summer travel, Democratic House candidate Jack Schlossberg is calling for an investigation into the way rental car companies, and potentially other industries, are using artificial intelligence.

Schlossberg, the only grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, is calling on the Federal Trade Commission to look into reports that Hertz began using AI last year to scan cars for rental damages, prompting warnings that consumers could end up being overcharged.

"AI is being used in consumer-facing financial products, and Hertz is using AI to scan for microscopic damage on cars, invisible to the human eye, to charge people with fees for damage that they might not even be aware of, they have no opportunity to dispute, and the FTC should act here to investigate whether or not this constitutes an unfair trade practice," Schlossberg told Fox News Digital outside a midtown Manhattan Hertz location. 

Schlossberg’s concerns stem in part from a report from The Drive where a Hertz customer at location using the technology said he was notified minutes after dropping off his car that a 1-inch scuff on the driver’s side rear wheel resulted in a $440 charge that included $250 for the repair, $125 for processing, and a $65 administrative fee.

FROM CAMELOT TO ‘OUTSIDER’: JFK’S GRANDSON SHAKES UP NYC HOUSE RACE TAKING AIM AT GATEKEEPING DEM 'MACHINE'

The report claims the situation for the customer got even worse when he tried to dispute the charges, and the company’s chatbot did not offer a way to reach a live representative, instead routing the issue for review at a later time.

Hertz has been partnering with Israel-based Uveye to deploy AI scanning technology at airport locations over the past year and uses cameras and machine learning algorithms to scan returned cars in hopes of improving the "frequency, accuracy, and efficiency" of the process and phase out the need for manual inspections, Car & Driver reported.

Schlossberg is calling on the FTC to take four actions, adding that if elected to Congress in NY-12 he would move to enshrine them into federal law: conduct a full investigation into Hertz’s use of AI-driven damage detection, determine whether the practice constitutes an unfair or deceptive act under federal law, establish clear guidelines for the use of AI in consumer-facing financial decisions, and ensure that consumers have a transparent, fair, and accessible process to dispute charges.

'GODFATHER OF AI' WARNS MACHINES COULD SOON OUTTHINK HUMANS, CALLS FOR 'MATERNAL INSTINCTS' TO BE BUILT IN

"I think that this is a harbinger of what's to come," Schlossberg said. "This is the new frontier of corporate fine print because AI is being used in ways we couldn't imagine to price gouge, price fix, jack up prices on consumers without their consent, and basically just squeeze every nickel and dime out of consumers that they possibly can. And sometimes this can be unfair."

"We have elected officials in New York City who quietly work for the AI industry — meanwhile, like in the case of Hertz, consumers are being taken for a ride," Schlossberg’s campaign said in a Wednesday press release first obtained by Fox News Digital, adding that "innovation must not come at the expense of the consumer."

A Hertz spokesperson pushed back on Schlossberg's concerns in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying, "Digital vehicle inspections bring precision and transparency to a historically manual and inconsistent process while also enhancing the safety, quality, and reliability of our fleet. They protect customers from being charged for damage that didn’t occur during their rental while enabling faster, fairer resolution when it does."

The company added, "Since launching over one year ago, we’ve been listening, learning, and improving based on customer feedback — increasing communication, enhancing awareness at digital inspection locations, and strengthening our support channels. We’re committed to building upon the progress we’ve made to continue providing our customers with a more consistent rental experience and safer fleet." 

A company spokesperson also told Fox News Digital that customers are not charged for damages invisible to the human eye and are provided comprehensive reports that include before-and-after photos that can easily be discussed with a Customer Care team via email, phone or chat.

Schlossberg told Fox News Digital that his announcement in mid-April is intended to "get ahead of the peak season booking" as New Yorkers plan their Memorial Day weekend trips and should be aware of the potential pitfalls of renting a car within the landscape of emerging AI technology. 

The FTC declined to comment.

Schlossberg is running as a Democrat in a crowded primary on June 23 to represent New York's 12th Congressional District in Congress, where the winner is widely believed to be in the driver's seat to win the general election in one of the most heavily Democratic districts in the country.

Senate Republicans hope to nail down the first step of their party-line funding package for immigration operations this week, but other legislative obstacles and divisions could slow the process.

Republicans and President Donald Trump are in agreement that the partisan budget reconciliation process is the key to bypassing Democrats’ blockade of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol funding.

But in order to hit that fast-approaching deadline, Senate Republicans largely want to keep the package as narrowly tailored as possible to avoid any hiccups in the process. The main plan from Republican leadership is to fund immigration operations for the next three years with the current reconciliation package and look to a future bill as a later landing spot for other issues.

SENATE REPUBLICANS RACE TO FUND ICE, CBP WITHOUT DEMOCRATS AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., will kick off the process with a budget resolution that will act as the guiding document for the GOP as they push forward into reconciliation. That resolution will tee up the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee as the main panels running the process.

"I hope we can get moving on it as early as next week," Graham said before lawmakers left Washington, D.C., for the weekend.

Despite keeping the resolution, in theory, as slim as possible, other lawmakers in the upper chamber and in the House want more added to the package.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told FOX Business’ Larry Kudlow last week that he was making the case that Republicans should "go big" on reconciliation. Cruz said he wants a decade of funding for ICE and Border Patrol and, more broadly, tax cuts and affordability measures.

SENATE GOP VOWS TO ‘GO IT ALONE’ ON ICE FUNDING AS DEMS DOUBLE DOWN ON SHUTDOWN

"Right now, leadership’s plan is to have the skinny, anorexic bill that just has funding for ICE and Customs and Border Patrol. I think that is short-minded, short-sighted," Cruz said.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., reiterated that the forthcoming package would have to "fall within the contours of what we’re trying to do here," but he acknowledged that other Republicans viewed the current package as a vehicle that could fit several other issues.

"We have another vehicle available, we’ll see, but right now, keep it tight," he continued. "That’s the plan."

GOP RACES TO PASS ICE, BORDER PATROL FUNDING BILL AS PRIORITIES PILE UP, DIVISIONS EMERGE

Part of the problem with adding more to the package is that more committees would have to get involved, like during the crafting of Trump’s "big, beautiful bill," which involved every panel in the Senate and House and narrowly survived in the upper chamber.

And House Republicans are on the same page as Cruz — they want to supersize the bill to take advantage of the GOP’s trifecta in Washington, D.C., ahead of the midterm elections in the fall.

It’s a give-and-take between the chambers in their quest to end the longest shutdown in history. House Republicans aren’t keen on passing the Senate’s bill to fund the bulk of DHS, minus funding for ICE and chunks of CBP, until the reconciliation package passes.

But that could further prolong the shutdown, and Republicans in the upper chamber argue that DHS should be reopened while they hammer out the details for funding immigration operations in the background.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., told Fox News Digital that adding more to the package would slow down the process.

"Every time you add stuff to it, you add committees of jurisdiction, you add complexity, and you add more time," Hoeven said. "So if they want it expeditiously, which is what we're working on right now, then you wouldn't add stuff, right?"

Getting Iran to capitulate is like breaking a wild horse. Anyone who’s done it — or even watched it done — knows how this goes. Calm one minute, violent the next. You get a step forward, then you lose half of it back. The horse is testing you — your patience, your resolve, your willingness to stay in the saddle when it tries to throw you.

That’s Iran.

And here’s the part the foreign policy commentariat still doesn’t get: Donald Trump actually understands this dynamic.

WHAT COMES NEXT IN THE IRAN WAR? WHAT THIS CEASEFIRE WILL AND WON'T DO

Not from theory. From instinct.

Iran is not a normal negotiating partner. It’s not even a unified one. Power is fragmented across clerics, politicians, intelligence services and, most importantly, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — a state within a state that answers to ideology, money and survival.

And inside that system are hard-liners who don’t want a deal — period. These are people who would rather burn down the house than give up their nuclear potential, their offshore wealth and their grip on power. For them, compromise isn’t a concession. It’s extinction.

IRAN’S NUCLEAR GAMBLE LEAVES AMERICA ONE CHOICE — AND IT CAN'T BE A DEAL

So when I hear the usual noise — why the mixed signals, why the tough talk one day and restraint the next — I have to laugh. That critique assumes we’re dealing with rational, Western-style negotiators who respond to consistency and good-faith process.

We’re not.

We’re dealing with a regime that has spent 45 years perfecting delay, deception and division. Show them a straight line and they’ll run circles around it. Telegraph your endgame and they’ll stall you to death.

STEVE FORBES: IRAN’S NUCLEAR INSANITY LEAVES AMERICA AND ALLIES NO ROOM TO BLINK

What Trump is doing — whether people like his style or not — is exactly what this situation demands: pressure, pause, pressure again. Open a door, then make it very clear what happens if they try to game it. Keep them off balance. Keep them guessing.

That’s not chaos. That’s leverage.

And here’s where the leverage really comes from — and it’s something most analysts either miss or are too uncomfortable to say out loud.

AMB GORDON SONDLAND: NATO BLINKED ON IRAN, AND TRUMP HAS EVERY RIGHT TO BE FURIOUS

The leverage is the overwhelming military capability that’s been assembled — and the very clear willingness to use it if the horse needs a severe correction.

Not as bluster. Not as background noise. As a credible, ever-present option.

Tehran understands that when push comes to shove, this isn’t an academic exercise. The same apparatus that can impose sanctions can also impose consequences — rapidly and decisively — against leadership targets, command structures and critical infrastructure if the regime crosses the line or continues to play rope-a-dope.

ROBERT MAGINNIS: WHY ISLAMABAD TALKS WERE ALWAYS DOOMED TO FAIL

That reality changes behavior.

It forces calculations inside a regime that has historically believed it could outlast, outmaneuver or simply exhaust Western resolve. It introduces doubt where there used to be confidence. It sharpens the internal debate between those who want to test limits and those who understand the cost of getting it wrong.

This is, at its core, a test of wills and power, carried out to its logical conclusion.

WHY TRUMP, IRAN SEEM LIGHT-YEARS APART ON ANY POSSIBLE DEAL TO END THE WAR

Most leaders don’t understand that. They look for an off-ramp too early. They prioritize optics over outcomes. They confuse activity with achievement.

Trump doesn’t.

He understands that if you ease off before the dynamic shifts, you don’t get a better deal — you get played. He understands that credibility isn’t built on statements; it’s built on a demonstrated willingness to act. And he understands that regimes like Iran only recalibrate when the alternative becomes unacceptable.

MORNING GLORY: THE US-IRAN NEGOTIATIONS IN ISLAMABAD BECAME REYKJAVÍK 2.0

That’s what’s happening now.

And yes, it makes people uneasy.

Turn on the TV and it’s a minute-by-minute panic cycle. Gas prices tick up — breaking news. Some leak hits the wires — six hours of speculation. Who said what at 9 a.m. versus 3 p.m. — treated like it’s dispositive.

NO RETREAT AT HORMUZ — IRAN MUST NOT CONTROL THE WORLD’S ENERGY LIFELINE

It’s noise.

This is not a daily trading strategy. This is a generational geopolitical play.

The upside, if we get this right, is enormous. A truly non-nuclear Iran changes the entire equation in the Middle East. It removes the single biggest destabilizing force in the region.

PAKISTANI GENERAL SAYS IRAN DIPLOMACY STILL 'ALIVE, DESPITE US BLOCKADE, FAILED TALKS

Imagine a world where Iran is not shooting at Israel, not funding proxy militias across multiple theaters and not sitting on the threshold of a nuclear weapon. Even if the regime remains clerical, its ability to wreak havoc is dramatically reduced.

That opens the door to something real — trade, investment, normalization. Stronger economic ties between Israel, the Gulf states, the United States and beyond. Capital flows instead of capital flight. Stability instead of constant brinkmanship.

That’s what’s on the table.

STEVE FORBES: NO MORE DELUSIONS — AMERICA HAS TO FINISH THE JOB IN IRAN

Now look at Europe.

The Europeans, predictably, want to make the campaign contribution after the candidate has already won the election. They’ll criticize the tone, question the tactics and keep one foot in and one foot out — until the outcome is clear.

Then they’ll show up and declare themselves indispensable.

TRUMP PUSHED IRAN TO THE BRINK — BUT DID WE WIN ANYTHING THAT LASTS?

We’ve seen this movie before.

The reality is that without sustained American pressure — economic and military — there is no deal worth having. None. Iran has no incentive to move unless it believes the alternative is materially worse.

That’s what Trump has restored: credibility.

MORNING GLORY: PRESIDENT TRUMP LEADS THE WEST TO A BIG WIN AGAINST IRAN

And credibility is everything in this kind of negotiation.

What’s required now is discipline. Not second-guessing every tactical move. Not flinching every time there’s volatility. Certainly not pulling back just because the process looks messy.

Of course it’s messy. It’s supposed to be.

ONE MONTH AT WAR WITH IRAN — CAN WASHINGTON DEFINE VICTORY?

Breaking a horse is messy. Push too hard and you get thrown. Ease off too soon and you lose control. The key is staying on long enough for the dynamic to change.

That’s what’s happening here.

The pressure is real. Iran’s economy is under strain. Its currency has taken repeated hits. Public dissatisfaction is not theoretical — it’s visible. And inside the regime, the debate over how far they can push — and how much they can take — is intensifying.

NOT BLUFFING: STEPHEN MILLER SAYS TRUMP IS DIRECTLY INVOLVED, 'HOLDS ALL THE CARDS' IN IRAN NEGOTIATIONS

That’s progress.

Not a signing ceremony. Not a neat press release. Pressure.

So let’s take a breath.

WHY TRUMP FACES AN AGONIZING DECISION ON OBLITERATING IRAN’S OIL SUPPLY IF HE CAN’T GET A DEAL

Stop obsessing over hourly gas prices. Stop parsing every headline like it’s the final chapter. This is a long game, and it’s being played at a level that requires patience and nerve.

The stakes are enormous. A neutered, non-nuclear Iran removes the last major obstacle to a more stable, more prosperous Middle East — one where trade, not terror, defines its relationships.

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You don’t get there with process. You get there with pressure.

And for all the noise, that’s exactly what Trump is delivering.

He’s staying in the saddle.

And that’s how you break the horse.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM GORDON SONDLAND

Two men recently attempted to carry out an alleged terrorist attack in New York City, an attack that, according to investigators, was intended to kill as many as 60 people. Details are still unfolding, but the intent appears unmistakable: mass casualties and maximum fear.

For many New Yorkers, the immediate question wasn’t just how the plot was stopped. It was how the city’s new leadership would respond — specifically, how Mayor Zohran Mamdani would react. The answer was not encouraging, and it’s not a reassuring sign for the next four years.

After the 9/11 attacks, the city faced profound uncertainty. I was here then, working as a cop in Manhattan. No one knew what would come next or whether the city could recover. We initially didn’t even know who had attacked us.

SUSPECT IN NYC TERROR PROBE PLANNED ATTACK 'BIGGER THAN THE BOSTON MARATHON BOMBING,' PROSECUTORS SAY

What steadied New York was leadership. Mayor Rudy Giuliani projected calm and resolve, offering reassurance when it was needed most. Just as critical was the role of the NYPD, which secured Lower Manhattan, restored order and helped normalize life. There was no prolonged military presence. The police handled it.

What followed was a remarkable recovery. Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, crime fell to historic lows, tourism surged and neighborhoods flourished. It worked so well that, over the ensuing years, many came to believe terrorism was no longer an immediate threat. In the Intelligence Bureau, where I served, we had a saying: "The further we get from 9/11, the closer we get to 9/10."

Now, as we approach the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and with global tensions rising — including conflict involving Iran — New York once again faces that reality. And once again, it has been the NYPD that stepped forward. When the two suspects allegedly attempted to deploy improvised explosive devices, it wasn’t rhetoric that stopped them. It was police work — officers pursuing and tackling a fleeing suspect in real time.

NEW YORK'S MAYOR MAMDANI PROMISED CHANGE — NOW HE’S GUTTING THE NYPD

The response from city hall, however, was less inspiring. Mamdani appeared to pivot quickly to a favored political narrative, initially focusing on "White supremacy" before grudgingly admitting the terrorist attack. It is telling that the mayor’s and other city leaders’ reflex was to immediately focus on the idiotic — but peaceful — demonstration the terrorists were targeting rather than two allegedly ISIS-inspired perpetrators.

Compounding that concern was a highly publicized Ramadan event at Gracie Mansion featuring Mahmoud Khalil, who was previously taken into federal custody following his involvement in disruptive protests at Columbia University. 

The optics were hard to miss, particularly coming on the heels of a near mass-casualty attack. Khalil, facing deportation for campus activism, is the hero. The police, who just days earlier apprehended two terrorists, are not. None of the cops involved got their Gracie Mansion moment.

DAVID MARCUS: THE MORE AMERICA GIVES MAMDANI, KHALIL AND THE MAD BOMBERS, THE MORE THEY HATE US

Mamdani represents a younger generation that did not experience 9/11 in the same formative way. For many New Yorkers, that day still defines how seriously threats are taken. Yet the mayor’s dogged ideological posture — particularly his embrace of "collectivist" themes — suggests a naive worldview that risks prioritizing theory over hard-earned lessons. In short, when it comes to public safety, he does not appear to be learning.

At a time when New York is still recovering from COVID-19, that carries real-world consequences. Financial warning signs are already visible, with three different rating agencies raising concerns about the city’s fiscal outlook by downgrading New York’s bond rating.

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New York’s history makes one point clear: Everything begins with public safety. Investment, tourism, the economy and quality of life, all depend on it — and on a supported NYPD. There was a time when Wall Street could be counted on to drag us out of the doldrums. But in a remote worker economy, that cushion is gone.

So, at the 100-day mark of Mamdani’s administration, residents here — and indeed, in many blue cities around the country — are forced to consider: do we have leadership that is up to handling crisis?

Based on what we’ve seen so far in New York, the answer is far from reassuring.

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