Still waiting…
The closer this gets...
The crazier this gets...
I have no idea what that sound is. It's like a burp crossed with a buzz or a honk. It's weird.
Puddle:
You know, he was the lieutenant governor [Henry McMaster], and I'd say 90 percent of the reason I took the governor [unidentified sound] I took the governor, I put her over at the United Nations because I wanted this guy to be, I wanted this guy to become governor. He was the lieutenant governor, and he turned out to be, he's turned out to be the best governor maybe ever.
What do you think, Bernie Moreno? Well, let me ask the great Tim Scott. That's, I love Tim Scott. You got a good one. He can, he can be here as long as he wants, but I don't know, maybe he's going to go to higher office. I don't know how you can get, there's only one office we can think of. He was one of my great surrogates.
RollCall.com. 10/21/2026.
Speaking of elections...
Yesterday, according to the White House Press pool...
Pool report #9a From the president’s tarmac gaggle after joking “a lot of people want to see me try” to fight Evander Holyfield. Asked if he spoke to Darline Graham about Russia sanctions named for her brother: “She thinks everyone thinks I did the right thing because we're able to get a great person back. You know, we have the person that is called hostage or prisoner or whatever it is, but he's now just landed, and you couldn't have done that if you did what foolish people wanted me to do.” What’s next with the war? “We want to also settle the war, but we also want to keep it the way it is because Russia has not been involved very much, certainly in a very minimal way with respect to Iran.” Trilateral meeting on Ukraine? “I can't tell you that because it's not just about that. That's about denuclearization. So it's not just about that. But we have a lot of steps. But I think it's the closest I've seen. You see what I see. You saw the. You saw as an example, President Zelensky today. I think it's the closest I've seen to maybe working out.” On most recent talk w Putin: “We talked mostly the hostage, and he was very good on it. You know, we got a hostage. He didn't ask for anything back, like you know, normally with Biden or Obama, they end up giving back a fortune. He was very good about that. I asked him if he could. We could have Stephen Hubbard back. Been there a long time. His son has been campaigning to get his father back, which is beautiful.” Are you negotiating with the Iranians at this point? “No, I think we're not negotiating with. We are going to have something one way or the other that'll happen fairly soon. Most people seem to think it's after the election, and we're going to see what happens. But I will say this: what we've done with Iran is amazing. We've taken out their military and their navy, their air force, their everything. They have no money. You know what? They have one thing: inflation. They've got the worst inflation any country has seen for 50 years.” Good night. Arthur Delaney HuffPost Wed. Oct. 21, 11:04 PM
— White House Press Pool Reports (@WHPressPool) October 22, 2026
Asked if he spoke to Darline Graham about Russia sanctions named for her brother:
“She thinks everyone thinks I did the right thing because we're able to get a great person back. You know, we have the person that is called hostage or prisoner or whatever it is, but he's now just landed, and you couldn't have done that if you did what foolish people wanted me to do.”
What’s next with the war?
“We want to also settle the war, but we also want to keep it the way it is because Russia has not been involved very much, certainly in a very minimal way with respect to Iran.”
Trilateral meeting on Ukraine?
“I can't tell you that because it's not just about that. That's about denuclearization. So it's not just about that. But we have a lot of steps. But I think it's the closest I've seen. You see what I see. You saw the. You saw as an example, President Zelensky today. I think it's the closest I've seen to maybe working out.”
White House Press Pool Tweet. 10/21/2026.
CBS News (10/21/2026):
Progress toward a negotiated resolution to Russia's war on Ukraine is "theoretically possible," Kremlin officials said Wednesday as U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, but any headway will require Ukraine's leaders to make "necessary decisions," according to Russian state media.
If Ukraine fails to make those decisions, the situation for the country "will be worse," the officials said, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying Moscow would study proposals on the Ukraine war brought to St. Petersburg by Witkoff, but that the talks would take a long time.
During Witkoff's meeting with Putin, he and the Russian leader confirmed that Stephen Hubbard, a U.S. citizen jailed in Russia for more than four years, had been released from custody. President Trump said Putin agreed to free the American with "no 'swap' necessary," but he also said it wouldn't have happened had the U.S. not prevented new sanctions against Moscow from taking effect last week. Witkoff told Putin he was a "humanitarian" for releasing Hubbard, sparking backlash in the U.S.
State media said Russian officials told Witkoff on Wednesday that a meeting between Mr. Trump, Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping was "possible," referring to an idea the White House has also floated, but Ukrainian officials have balked at as it would sideline them from talks on their own country's fate.
CBS News (10/21/2026):
Q: On most recent talk w Putin:
“We talked mostly the hostage, and he was very good on it. You know, we got a hostage. He didn't ask for anything back, like you know, normally with Biden or Obama, they end up giving back a fortune. He was very good about that. I asked him if he could. We could have Stephen Hubbard back. Been there a long time. His son has been campaigning to get his father back, which is beautiful.”
White House Press Pool Tweet. 10/21/2026.
Narrator: Putin "didn't ask for anything back": He didn't need to. Puddle already handed him a "fortune"...
Plus this:
The White House (10/16/2026): Implementing the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026:
As described further in section 4 of this order, I am hereby waiving the application of such sanctions, restrictions, and duties provided for in the Graham Act. I have submitted to the Congress a certification that the issuance of such a waiver at this time is in the national interests of the United States.
The White House (10/16/2026).
Are you negotiating with the Iranians at this point?
“No, I think we're not negotiating with. We are going to have something one way or the other that'll happen fairly soon. Most people seem to think it's after the election, and we're going to see what happens. But I will say this: what we've done with Iran is amazing. We've taken out their military and their navy, their air force, their everything. They have no money. You know what? They have one thing: inflation. They've got the worst inflation any country has seen for 50 years.”
White House Press Pool Tweet. 10/21/2026.
Puddle's partner in war crimes is once again warning about Iran...
Breaking news: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday night that the Iranian regime must be overthrown once and for all. So long as the Iranian regime remains standing, Netanyahu said, Israel faces an “existential threat.” https://t.co/rgm1EIQI3H
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 22, 2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday night that the Iranian regime must be overthrown once and for all.
Speaking to an Israel Defense Forces officer graduation ceremony, Netanyahu said that Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei “decided to follow in his father’s footsteps” and attempt “once again to develop the bombs of death.”
“And therefore, there is only one way to remove this threat once and for all: overthrow the regime in Iran,” Netanyahu said. “And that is my directive to the IDF, the Mossad, and the security branches.”
So long as the Iranian regime remains standing, Netanyahu said, Israel faces an “existential threat.”
Netanyahu added that President Donald Trump had said a few days ago that the United States was “ready to finish the job” and would only do so with the help of Israel.
Trump has publicly said there will be no attacks ahead of the midterms.
Washington Post. 10/22/2026.
