President Donald Trump likes to say that he holds all the cards in the Iran war. But at the moment that’s not true.

Iran has one card that has frozen the situation. The murderous mullahs are in no rush to make a deal, and may not even want one.

Trump said he didn’t even finish reading Tehran’s latest counter-proposal, calling it “garbage.” And he uttered his instantly famous line about the ceasefire being on “life support.”

As the war enters its third month, Trump’s upbeat talk has never been matched by Iran or its parliament speaker, Mohammad Ghalibaf. Its economy is seriously ailing. But their view is that as long as they get to keep their enriched uranium, some of which is buried, they’ll be fine.

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President Donald Trump’s upbeat talk on Iran has never exactly been reciprocated by the regime. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump keeps declaring victory, but since the main rationale for the invasion was to keep the Iranians from developing a nuclear weapon, anything less will be seen as a major failure.

Maybe this is just the president’s negotiating style, taking everything down to the wire. But the result is dueling blockades – Iran at the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. at Iranian ports – that again has Trump issuing dire threats.

What really rankles Trump is that Iran is charging “friendly” ships – those not tied to the war – 100 percent to pass through a waterway that carries one-fifth of the world’s oil traffic. Others are blocked from the strait, where Iran has laid explosive mines. 

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So the two sides are eyeball to eyeball over who, if anyone, will back down.

As the Wall Street Journal puts it:

“The U.S. and Iran are locked in a diplomatic stalemate over issues that have bedeviled the two sides for years, as the conflict settles into a gray zone that is neither war nor peace. 

“The ceasefire is entering its second month and, despite sporadic violence, has now lasted almost as long as the fighting which preceded it. There is little to indicate that either the U.S. or Iran is ready to compromise, but neither wants to start fighting again.”

“Our armed forces are ready to deliver a well-deserved response to any aggression,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf posted Monday. (Hamed Malekpour/Islamic consultative assembly news agency/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters)

Trump told White House reporters that Iran believed he would get tired or bored of the conflict, or feel pressure to end it because of soaring energy prices. 

“But there’s no pressure,” Trump said. “We’re going to have a complete victory.”

Iran, meanwhile, continues to portray itself as the winner of the conflict, its regime intact, its missile and nuclear programs still a threat. Ghalibaf warned the Americans against escalation in a Monday posting: “Our armed forces are ready to deliver a well-deserved response to any aggression.” 

But instead of fighting, both sides have doubled down on dueling blockades that are hard to undo without one side blinking. The Trump administration has tightened a U.S. embargo of Iranian ports and vessels, while Iran has maintained its grip on the Strait of Hormuz. 

The New York Times reported last night that U.S. intelligence officials, at odds with the administration’s public stance, say privately that Iran has restored operational access to 30 of its 33 missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz, “which could threaten American warships and oil tankers transiting the narrow waterway.” 

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Trump did orchestrate a three-day ceasefire – and prisoner exchange – between Russia and Ukraine, which was mainly about Vladimir Putin not being embarrassed during his scaled-down parade marking  the Soviet victory over Nazism.

As for Trump’s meeting this week with Xi Jinping, already postponed once because of the Iran war, the atmosphere has definitely chilled.

After a couple of trade wars, “China increasingly casts itself not as a fading civilization trying to catch up to the West but as a superpower poised to surpass it.”

Per some reports, Xi Jinping-led China is angling to surpass the West. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

A report from a Beijing think tank says the U.S. is “sliding toward polarization, institutional dysfunction and even “‘Latin American-style instability.” Such views are now increasingly being aired publicly rather than merely whispered.

The superpower’s propaganda machine, which plays up such tragedies as the Minnesota shootings, is acutely aware that the Iran war’s unpopularity is hurting Trump’s unpopularity as the midterms approach.

That’s one reason that Xi plans to pressure his counterpart about arms sales to Taiwan.

What’s more, China is building a new AI model that, while it still relies on chips from the American giant NVIDIA, shows that Xi is determined to blaze his own technological path.

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When asked yesterday whether China, which opposes the Iran war, could use its leverage, Trump said “no, I don’t think we need any help with Iran.”  

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Meanwhile, as Pete Hegseth refused to provide details, a top Pentagon official testified yesterday that the cost of the Iran war has risen to about $29 billion.

Trump prefers not to use the term war, but that sure sounds like far more than an incursion or conflict. The fog of war even extends to the federal budget.

As President Donald Trump and hundreds of aides, security personnel and officials prepare to travel to China, many will leave behind one of the most basic tools of modern government: their everyday cellphones.

Instead, officials entering China often travel with stripped-down “clean” devices, temporary laptops and tightly controlled communications systems designed to minimize the risk of surveillance, hacking or data collection in what U.S. officials consider one of the world’s most aggressive cyber environments.

The precautions can transform even routine tasks into logistical headaches. Messages that would normally travel instantly through encrypted apps or synced devices are instead routed through controlled channels, temporary accounts or relayed in person. 

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Contacts disappear. Cloud access is limited. Some officials operate for days without their normal digital footprint.

Current and former officials say the measures reflect a longstanding assumption inside the U.S. government: anything brought into China — phones, laptops, tablets or even hotel Wi-Fi connections — should be treated as potentially compromised.

As President Donald Trump and hundreds of aides, security personnel and officials prepare to travel to China this week, many will leave behind one of the most basic tools of modern government: their everyday phones. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

“China is a mass surveillance state,” said Bill Gage, a former Secret Service special agent and now director of executive protection for Safehaven Security Group. “Briefings for U.S. officials begin well before the president arrives, and they make clear that everything is monitored.”

“We always tell people to assume everything you say and do — both in person and digitally — could be monitored,” said Theresa Payton, former White House chief information officer and CEO of cybersecurity firm Fortalice Solutions. “And to conduct themselves accordingly.”

Ahead of Trump’s high-stakes meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the digital precautions underscore the broader mistrust shaping the relationship between Washington and Beijing, where cybersecurity, espionage and surveillance concerns now permeate nearly every aspect of official engagement.

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The precautions will extend beyond government officials. The delegation traveling with Trump also is expected to include executives from major American firms, including Apple, Boeing, Qualcomm and BlackRock — companies operating at the center of the U.S.–China economic and technological relationship.

In Washington, officials are often told to leave their phones behind when entering places like the Chinese Embassy. Those same concerns are amplified when traveling to China itself, where U.S. officials operate under the assumption that devices, networks and even hotel rooms could be monitored.

Even charging a phone can become a security concern.

Federal cybersecurity guidance has long warned travelers to avoid plugging devices into unknown USB ports or untrusted charging systems because compromised hardware can potentially be used to extract data or install malicious software — a tactic commonly referred to as “juice jacking.”

As a result, officials traveling to high-risk countries often carry preapproved charging equipment, external battery packs and government-issued accessories rather than relying on local infrastructure.

“There are no safe electronic communications in China,” Gage said, noting officials are advised to limit digital activity to only what is necessary for the mission.

The Chinese government has rejected claims that it engages in improper surveillance.

“In China, personal privacy is protected by law,” Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told Fox News Digital. “The Chinese government places a high priority on protecting data privacy and security in accordance with the law. It has never required—and will never require—enterprises or individuals to collect or store data in violation of the law.”

“China is a mass surveillance state,” said Bill Gage, a former Secret Service special agent and now director of executive protection for Safehaven Security Group. “Briefings for U.S. officials begin well before the president arrives, and they make clear that everything is monitored.” (iStock)

Payton said officials may also be issued temporary devices configured with known “golden images,” allowing security teams to detect whether a device has been altered or accessed during the trip.

“You may see executives issued loaner phones with a known ‘golden image,’ meaning security teams can compare the device before and after use to see if it’s been tampered with,” she said.

“There may be controlled ‘safe zones’ set up where officials can communicate back to the U.S., but everything is tightly managed,” Payton added.

When sensitive conversations need to happen, the logistics become even more complex.

U.S. officials traveling overseas frequently rely on temporary sensitive compartmented information facilities, or SCIFs — secure spaces designed to prevent electronic surveillance and eavesdropping. Those facilities can be established inside hotels or other controlled locations during major diplomatic trips.

“The White House Military Office and communications teams create controlled spaces where they can monitor both physical and digital access to ensure sensitive conversations remain secure,” Payton said.

The precautions can create a surprisingly analog environment for a modern presidential delegation. Paper documents become more common, digital access is restricted and aides accustomed to constant communication often operate through tightly controlled channels.

Officials entering China often travel with stripped-down “clean” devices, temporary laptops and tightly controlled communications systems designed to minimize the risk of surveillance, hacking or data collection in what U.S. officials consider one of the world’s most aggressive cyber environments. (iStock)

The White House could not immediately be reached for comment. 

U.S. officials have spent years warning about Chinese cyber espionage campaigns targeting American government agencies, critical infrastructure, defense contractors and telecommunications networks. 

Intelligence officials have accused Beijing-linked hackers of infiltrating everything from federal systems to power grids and water utilities, while repeatedly attempting to collect information on senior American officials and policymakers.

“China will conduct extensive research on every member of the U.S. delegation — from senior officials down to junior personnel,” Gage said, describing the level of intelligence targeting officials are warned about before traveling.

Payton said the high-profile nature of a presidential visit only increases the risk.

“This is a well-publicized event, so you have to assume everything from nation states to opportunistic actors may be trying to listen in,” she said.

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The issue exploded into public view in 2023, when a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon crossed the continental United States before being shot down by the U.S. military after traversing sensitive military sites. U.S. officials later said the balloon was part of a broader surveillance effort linked to Beijing.

More recently, federal officials have warned about sophisticated China-linked cyber groups such as Volt Typhoon and Salt Typhoon, which U.S. authorities say targeted critical infrastructure and telecommunications systems in ways that could support espionage or disruption during a future conflict.