Hegseth Clings to Phony Ceasefire to Help Trump Evade War Powers Pressure

The Trump administration is twisting reality to maintain a so-called ceasefire with Iran that is anything but real. On Monday, President Trump threatened Iran with annihilation if it attacked U.S. ships navigating the Strait of Hormuz under his vague “Project Freedom.” Yet by Tuesday, Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine reported Iran had launched multiple attacks since the ceasefire began—firing on commercial vessels nine times, seizing two container ships, and striking U.S. forces over ten times. Still, he claimed these attacks were “below the threshold” to restart full-scale combat.

Trump refused to clarify what actions would actually break the ceasefire, keeping everyone guessing. Meanwhile, War Secretary Pete Hegseth doubled down on the fiction that the ceasefire remains in effect despite obvious hostilities. When asked if the truce was over, Hegseth replied, “No, the ceasefire is not over,” calling the conflict a “separate and distinct project.” Both he and Trump have bizarrely declared victory in a war they simultaneously claim is paused.

Hegseth’s main motive is clear: he wants to freeze the 60-day clock imposed by the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which requires the president to withdraw U.S. forces or get congressional approval for war. The deadline expired last Friday, but Hegseth insists the ceasefire “pauses or stops” that clock—a legal stretch Sen. Tim Kaine rightly calls dubious and unconstitutional.

The reality on the ground is grim. Only two ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, none on Tuesday. Iran’s state media mocked Project Freedom as a failure and boasted tighter control over the vital waterway. Brian Finucane of the International Crisis Group condemned the administration’s “ongoing denial of reality” and warned the war’s unpopularity and economic fallout are worsening. “The current status quo is untenable,” he said, “but it’s unclear how the president is going to find his way out of this mess of his own making.”

This phony ceasefire is just the latest example of the Trump administration’s reckless and dishonest approach to war and governance. They are abusing legal loopholes and spinning dangerous fantasies to keep their aggressive policies unchecked. Meanwhile, Americans and the world bear the consequences of a conflict that refuses to end.

We will keep tracking every twist and turn of this administration’s war games. Because accountability matters now more than ever.