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'A wow moment': Democrats make big gains in key battlegrounds

(Politico) Democrats just had one of their best election nights since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. Again. In Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election, the Democratic-backed candidate sailed to a nearly 20-point landslide victory Tuesday in a battleground Trump carried less than two years ago. Meanwhile, a Georgia Democrat slashed Trump’s margin of victory by two thirds in the state’s reddest district despite losing the election — the most significant overperformance the party has seen across all seven House special elections so far this cycle.

How Trump went from threatening Iran's annihilation to agreeing to a two-week ceasefire with Tehran

(AP) President Donald Trump over the course of a day went from threatening Iran with “annihilation” to proclaiming that the battered Islamic Republic’s leadership had presented a “workable” plan that led him to agree to a 14-day ceasefire that he expects to pave the way to end the nearly six-week-old war. The dramatic shift in tenor came as intermediaries, led by Pakistan, worked feverishly to head off a further escalation of the conflict.

Trump Floats Absurd Fantasy to Cope With Iran Humiliation

(Daily Beast) Trump has suggested teaming up with Iran for a “joint venture” less than a day after threatening to obliterate the entire country. Speaking to ABC News’ Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl, the 79-year-old president was asked whether he would accept Tehran charging a toll for ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in the wake of the two-week ceasefire deal. “We’re thinking of doing it as a joint venture. It’s a way of securing it—also securing it from lots of other people,” Trump said. “It’s a beautiful thing.”

Impossible to disagree with a single word that Ben Rhodes (Obama era NSC official) is saying here:

Senator Chuck Schumer: Trump is a military moron

(Chuck Schumer) "Trump is a military moron. His war, with a price tag of $44 billion and $4+ gas, made us worse off today than we were when he started it. And if he restarts this war we will be in even worse shape. We must pass our War Powers Resolution to end this war for good."

Cuellar says he will support a war powers resolution to curb Trump's attacks on Iran

(The Hill) Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar (Texas) said Tuesday that he will back a House war powers resolution when it comes before the lower chamber again, a reversal of his previous position. In a lengthy statement, Cuellar criticized President Trump’s threat that a “whole civilization will die” in Iran, which he issued Tuesday morning before backing down and halting strikes against the Middle Eastern country for two weeks.

Pelosi calls for Cabinet to invoke 25th Amendment on Trump over Iran remarks

(The Hill) Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday urged members of President Trump’s Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment and hand his powers to the vice president over his remarks about wiping out Iran’s civilization. If the Cabinet is unwilling to take that action, Pelosi said Republicans in the House and Senate should move to end the Iran war. “Donald Trump’s instability is more clear and dangerous than ever,” Pelosi wrote in a post on social platform X.

How Trump Took the U.S. to War With Iran

(NY Times) The black S.U.V. carrying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the White House just before 11 a.m. on Feb. 11. The Israeli leader, who had been pressing for months for the United States to agree to a major assault on Iran, was whisked inside with little ceremony, out of view of reporters, primed for one of the most high-stakes moments in his long career. U.S. and Israeli officials gathered first in the Cabinet Room, adjacent to the Oval Office. Then Mr. Netanyahu headed downstairs for the main event: a highly classified presentation on Iran for President Trump and his team in the White House Situation Room, which was rarely used for in-person meetings with foreign leaders.

Israel says operations in Lebanon to continue despite Trump's ceasefire

(The Guardian) Israel has said its military operations in Lebanon will continue despite Donald Trump’s ceasefire announcement, with Israeli forces carrying out strikes and telling civilians in the south of the country to leave the areas they are targeting. The office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that Trump’s two-week pause “does not include Lebanon” amid reports of continued artillery and drone strikes, directly contradicting statements made by Iran and Pakistan, which has been mediating in the conflict.

Intelligence report warned of Iran's 'persistent threat' to US as White House downplayed the risk

(Reuters) The FBI warned U.S. state and ​local law enforcement of an elevated threat posed by Iran's government to targets in the United States last month even as ‌the White House sought to downplay the likelihood of an attack, a law enforcement intelligence report reviewed by Reuters shows.