Caution: Sarcasm Alert !  

I looked over our small emergency fund that is about 60% in stock based mutual funds. I wrote a little bit about it here < click here > By the time I was done looking over the results since the Donnie-Iran War I wasn’t thrilled. It lost a bunch of value since the war broke out. So I was thinking…if we lost value (i.e. value) what about all investors in general, how much value have they lost.

So I did my research and found out how much value each major stock exchange loses for each percentage drop in its index. I looked at the DOW, the S&P, and the Nasdaq. Investors have lost a combined total of slightly over $3,000,000,000,000. Yeah, that’s 3trillion dollar loss of value to investors due directly to the war. Nice, about $130billion loss per day on average.

Then I was thinking about Pentagon Pete (PP) asking mom and dad for a raise in his allowance for more killing and destroying. So PP asks for $200billion more dollars for bombs and bullets to destroy more stuff around the middle-east and kill more people in Iran…hopefully not more young school girls. I decided to run some of those numbers…

As of March 21^st, the war has cost the US about $100billion dollars in the lead up to the war and an additional $20billion per week for three weeks of actual warfare. That comes to about $160billion dollars to date. $160billion that the US government didn’t have to spend…and was added to the national debt. Which debt generations of our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be paying interest on…about $8 – $9billion per year for 30 years…or longer. On Mach 19^th Department of War Hegseth requested an additional $200billion in war funding. That too will be added to the national debt and create another $10billion per year in interest that our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be paying interest on for 30 years…or longer.

To date, the direct cost of the war is about $900billion in principle and interest over the next 30 years…nearly $3,000 per man, woman, child, and infant in the United States.

Let’s talk food…The price of fertilizer that farmers use to grow food to feed us is up 25% since the war was started. Fuel in our area is up 46%…you know, the stuff that tractors need to plant crops. But I’m sure those cost increases won’t show up in the grocery stores…nah.

FedEx and UPS have both announced increases in fuel surcharges since the war. But I’m sure that won’t drive the cost of everything up.

But flying will be much cheaper…right? Ah, no. Major airlines have all announced ticket price increases…anywhere from $50 – $300 per flight. But, don’t worry…in addition to ticket price increases some major airlines such as United are just canceling flights period…like 5% of all flights. May not sound like much but that means about 150 fewer flights a day just for United. What does this mean in real terms? For United alone…$11billion in added expense just for jet fuel this year.

In personal terms…last night a couple came over for dinner. She work about 1-hour away, 4 days a week. Calculating the miles to/from work, vehicle MPG, number of days worked per month, and 46% spike in fuel costs locally…yeah, it comes out to more than $100 per month for gas since the war started. Yeah…she is wondering why they voted America First.

So tell me again…How do all these horrific numbers economic numbers Make America Great Again…or put American First? The US economy takes a hit of trillions and trillions of dollars…yup…Make America Great Again!!

Oh, and these are just the numbers since the BiBi-Donnie War started. Since Jan 2025…yeah, all the economic numbers are worse…and getting worse.

But not to worry…this is just the first 14 months of this new MAGA / AF adventure…we still have 34 more months to go. Should be an interesting ride. Hope you are preparing for it.

Dang it…back in 2024 I started my own cryptocurrency company and my family made billions by now. And then last year and this year I had my golf club company go into the drone manufacturing business and about to sell 100’s of millions of  dollars worth of drones to the government. Oh wait…that wasn’t my family…some other family business beat me to it…

 2009 - 2026 Copyright © AHTrimble.com ~ All rights reserved
No reproduction or other use of this content
without expressed written permission from AHTrimble.com
No legal, economic, or financial advice is given, no expertise to be assumed.
I may receive compensation from advertised/mentioned products on this website.
See Content Use Policy for more information.

I started writing this articled last Wednesday, it was mostly done by Friday. But, events were changing rapidly and several pieces of the puzzle I couldn’t verify at the time. I decided to allow events to unfold over the weekend to allow more clarity and verification. I cannot stress enough the peril we face as a world due to this war. The escalation has been obvious and the desire to escalate even more is rampant. I would encourage you to keep aware of what is happening and the decisions being made…and why the decisions are being made. This war could take a huge turn for the worse over night…or quicker…and could send the world down a path that it could not recover from.

The Iranian War is expanding and worsening…that is an understatement. While the initial war was USA and Israeli forces bombing Iran, the conflict has now expanded to the entire middle-east region and beyond. Further, the expansion of that war and associated violence now threatens US soil in two ways. One of which we’ve already seen…domestic terror attacks on US soil by lone-wolves.

General Background –

The United States has interfered in Iranian domestic affairs for close to 100 years. Covert and direct military and intelligence service actions have included assassinations of Iran’s political, government, and religious leaders, inciting riots, bombings of military and civilian targets, and installation of pro-US leadership…and lately regime change. Israel has been even more active in these areas in conjunction with, and at times independent of, the US. As a result Iran considers the US an enemy and considers Israel a bitter enemy that should be eliminated.

In response to Iran’s attacks against its country and people by Israeli and US forces, Iran has conducted operations against facilities and forces from both countries. Iran has attacked Israel directly and through proxies causing considerable death and destruction in Israel. Iran, while not conducting operations against the US on US soil, has conducted military operations against the US, mostly via proxies, on US facilities and personnel located in middle-eastern countries. Iran’s current attacks, mostly missiles and drones, have become increasingly effective in defeating air-defenses and have inflicted significant destruction and causalities.

Current Situation –

A state of war exists between Iran, including proxies, and Israel and the USA. However, in an effort to influence a wider negative opinion of the war, Iran has struck other middle-east countries (14 countries +/-). Iran has been successful in widening the war and the US has been unsuccessful in stopping Iran from doing so. Further, Israel has also expanded the war to include attacking Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen and now Qatar.

According to US officials, including Trump himself, the two objectives of initiating the war were; 1) regime change, 2) eliminate the ability of Iran to produce a nuclear weapon. As of March 13^th, there has been a regime change, but worsening to a more hard-line anti-American/anti-Israeli leader. Also, there is no fact-based indication whatsoever that despite intensive bombing of Iran, no degradation of Iran’s nuclear weapon’s material or potential has occurred. Why do we know that? First, Trump claimed that last summer US and Israeli forces “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear stockpiles and nuclear weaponry capabilities. Second, there has been no verifiable and valid intelligence that any nuclear program facilities, weaponry, or equipment has been destroyed since the war started…or that it existed immediately prior to the US and Israel starting the war.

While the US has destroyed much of Iran’s military capability (i.e. navy and air-force), Iran is still waging a highly effective drone and military campaign against middle-eastern countries. The toll on Israel has been especially devastating in breadth and depth. Media reports of the attacks, air-defense defeats, infrastructure damage, and civilian/military causalities in Israel have been highly censored and limited by the Israeli government. Unofficial reports put casualties in the high hundreds to the low thousands; some reports are much higher.

Projections & Predictions –

To win this war Iran must simply survive with its regime (in general terms) intact. In other words, an anti-American/anti-Israel Iranian government in-place post-war. And so far it is succeeding in that goal. Further, based on the US stated goals, the US is not winning the war. Iran is still capable of, and continuing, to attack middle-eastern countries with drones and missiles destroying a wide range of targets.

Despite spending 10’s of billions of dollars in high-tech weaponry and 10’s of billions of dollars in additional direct and indirect military costs, the US has not achieved its goals. It may yet do so, but has not yet done so. Israel’s goals are not publicly stated but it is well-known that Israel would like to see the country of Iran eliminated or degraded to the point of Iran being a virtual non-entity in regional geopolitical terms.

In terms of raw devastation…Iran is clearly receiving the worst of destruction. Although, Iran is delivering billions of dollars of damage to regional infrastructure, primarily oil and gas related. However, Iran and its allies are “pounding” Israel with missiles and drone virtually 24/7 with devastating effect. With each passing day the ability of the US and Israel forces to intercept and destroy incoming drones and missiles is degrading. Further, the price of crude oil is up almost 50% resulting in trillions of dollars of damage to the global economy. Locally US gas prices are up nearly $1 per gallon resulting in 10’s of billions of dollars of damage to the US economy. In our area gas is up well over $1.00 per gallon.

When viewed in total context, based on self-identified goals, Iran is not losing the war and the US/Israel are not winning the war. Iran is being devastated via bombings from US/Israelis forces, but middle-eastern countries are receiving significant damage, especially Israel. However, Iran is inflicting far greater economic damage worldwide in economic terms. And therein lies the foundation of the greater threat.

There is a potential change that could occur. It appears that Trump has ordered the last piece of the puzzle for a ground invasion and occupation of Iran. Last week it was reported that additional Marine landing force was deployed to the region. It is not confirmed, but numerous reports indicate that Trump does intend to land US troops in Iran and occupy that country. If that is attempted it will become a huge and devastating defeat for the US. Two weeks ago Trump himself said he would not rule out US troops in Iran.

Greater Threat –

Israel will not tolerate losing the war with Iran. If Israel becomes too threatened with losing the war or excessive destruction its infrastructure, Israel will do whatever it has takes to prevent that. Iran will not voluntarily accept a surrender; it may be forced to but that may not be possible. The US will likely lose the war in “real terms” while maintaining a facade of victory. But an actual US victory is highly unlikely. Despite spending 10’s of trillions of dollars and incurring 10’s of thousands of causalities the US lost both the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War.

Based on the above, there are four truly grave threats facing the American people on US soil right now:

1. 1. Iran/Islam sympathizers committing lone-wolf attacks on US soil,
   2. Iran state-sponsored attack(s) on US soil,
   3. False flag attacks carried out by Israel’s Mossad or US’s CIA personnel or contractors,
   4. The use of nuclear weapons.

While a case could be made that there have already been multiple attacks on US soil by Iranian and/or Islamic sympathizers, it’s not on the scale I am referring to. I am thinking more along the lines of a 9/11 or potentially somewhat smaller by state-sponsored cells. The intention of such an attack would be two-fold; 1) hurt Americans to show Iranian reach, 2) influence American citizenry opinion to stop the war. Both goals would probably be achieved with such an incident.

Both Mossad and the CIA have a long history of carrying out horrific acts of violence against civilian targets, including false flag events. The objective of a false flag would have two entirely different objectives depending on who carried out the incident. Israel’s goal, if the false flag attack occurred on US soil, would be to drag America further into the war and deepen US commitment of resources and desire to destroy Iran, thus allowing Israel to further its objectives in Lebanon, Gaza, and the wider middle-east region. However, Israel may also wish to expand the war exponentially. To do so all it would have to do is destroy, or severely damage, the Al-Aqsa mosque (Dome of the Rock) in Jerusalem. That event would rally virtually all of Islam against Israel and create a world war almost overnight.

It is not out of the realm of possibility that Iran itself would attack the Al-Aqsa mosque (trying to blame Israel) to rally Islamic countries to fight against Israel. However, it would be highly risky for Iran to do so and is highly improbable that they would take that chance.

Israel has nuclear weapons. Israel will not allow a military defeat at the hands of Iran. Israel would use nuclear weapons to prevent such a defeat. The US has one of the largest stockpiles of nuclear weapons in the world. The US has used nuclear weapons before in war. Last Wednesday Trump himself indirectly, but clearly indicated, that a nuclear option was on the table “They literally would never be able to build that country back.” And Trump said he could do so “within an hour”.

Warning –

This warning has three parts:

1. 1. 1. Avoid potential physical harm to yourself and your family,
      2. Do not be deceived,
      3. Prepare for the worst possible scenario.

At this point I am advising everyone to stay away from any large gathering, especially rallies or political events. The larger the city the more likely the city, or an event in it, would be a target. The threat could be anything from a bombing to a lone individual with a knife. City subways would probably be the most likely physical location for an individual to strike due to the concentration of people and inability to quickly flee.

As of today there have only been lone-wolf attacks by Iranian and Islamic sympathizers on US soil. We could shortly see attacks by Iranian state-sponsored forces that are already in the country. Such incidents could be major in causing significant damage and casualties.

The purpose of a false flag event is to motivate an emotion based reaction. Such a reaction would be mostly void of logic or clear thinking of what actually happened, why it happened, and who was behind it. False flag events are highly effective tools of government, including the US government. Be wary of reacting too quickly regarding any incident. Use critical thinking, avoid an emotional response, and do not respond without taking the time to think through what happened. To better understand any incident an excellent question to ask, “Who actually benefits the most from the reaction to the incident?”

The only thing worse than a potential false flag at the hands of the CIA or Massad is the constant stream of propaganda coming out of Washington. It is almost inconceivable that the White House actually thinks US citizens believes the propaganda in terms of the war and the economy. There will a core group of individuals that will believe all of it…and then there will be the majority that know better. As of today, by a wide margin, US citizens disapprove of the war with Iran…and a sizable majority of US citizens disapprove of the Trump’s performance as President. So even the White House propaganda is not working as well as they had hoped.

There is an intangible concern as well…Trump.

• • Last week when asked when the US would know they won the war. Trump’s response “When I feel it my bones.” Any military person, first responder, etc. knows that is indicative of a very dangerous and ineffective leader. An effective and competent leader clearly identifies “Leader’s Intent” and “What success looks like.”
  • Trump has made a threat to use nuclear weapons against Iran.
  • There are a few more but I have deleted them to avoid distractions.

Outlier –

1. 1. During Trump’s first term he called cryptocurrency a fraud and nothing but thin air. In 2024 the Trump family started a cryptocurrency company. Since then the Trump family has made a billion dollars off of their cryptocurrency company and grown their net worth by several more billion dollars from their cryptocurrency company. And after Trump’s election for his second term he announced that the US government would start a reserve fund…buying cryptocurrency.
   2. The Trump family has deep business interest in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Total actual dollar value is unknown but estimated to be in the billions. In 2024 alone the Trump family business made $50million in profit from just Saudi Arabia. The value of, and profit from, Trump family business in the United Arab Emirates has been tightly held secret. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are sworn enemies of Iran.
   3. The Trump family business has been in negotiations to begin real estate business ventures in Israel…since 2024.
   4. Early last month, prior to the war in Iran, a Trump family business (JFB Construction) partnered with an Israeli drone manufacturer (XTEND).
   5. Last week a Trump family business (Aureus Greenway) merged with a drone company (Powerus). Prior to the merger with Powerus, Aureus Greenway was a golf club maker company. Along with the merger, a government contract with the Pentagon to supply drones will be sought.

What does this tell you? Think about it…what do you see here? What does your gut tell you?

Summary –

The Iran War is the single greatest threat to the world in the last 80 years, and I include the Cuban Missile Crisis in that statement. You have two radical, deeply committed, countries directly at war with each other, they are bitter enemies and have been so for thousands of years…Iran and Israel. You have the US backing Israel because it has no choice, Israel started the war and dragged the US into it. Granted, Trump was looking for another bite at the apple. The greatest threat is two countries have nuclear weapons, the third might have.

While the US would likely not use a nuclear weapon against Iran, it is not out of the question, especially considering Trump’s recent threat. Remember, the US is the only country who has actually used nuclear weapons in war. It would be far more likely that Israel or Iran would use a nuclear weapon.

Israel would go nuclear if it felt it would lose the war and be regionally dominated by Iran. Or, if Israel began receiving intolerable destruction within its borders. Israel has a radical government in control and is unpredictable to what extent they might go to militarily. Iran has a radical Islamic government in control. There are indications that they would unleash nuclear weapons against Israel simply to eliminate Israel from a religious perspective (if they have nuclear weapons). Iran has a core group of religious leaders that feel an apocalypse would usher in a TEOTWAWKI religious event that they actually look forward to.

There is no end in sight for this war from the perspective of Iran or Israel…it has been going on for a very long time and shows no sign of ending any time soon. I simply can’t imagine Israel surrendering to the Iran…nor Iran surrendering to Israel.

The US could tire of the war, or rather Americans would tire of the war; already more than half of Americans object to the war. So the US could discontinue its part in the war by simply saying “we won” and withdrawing. However, this is unlikely due to Trump’s vision of himself and his view of the US in global terms. If the Republicans lose both houses of Congress in the mid-term elections, which appears highly likely, Trump could be forced to stop the war. But at this point…the war is devastating the middle-east, virtually destroying Iran, severely damaging parts of Israel. Globally, the financial impact is bad and getting worse by the day. This larger impact could jeopardize the entire world economy…and that is a possible event…meaning collapse.

There is also the “China Unknown”. No one knows what China might do as the war drags on. If China sees an opportunity and becomes aggressive to regain Taiwan the world will change beyond measure.

Be warned…become prepared.

If you are already prepared…become better prepared.

Just a thought for you today…

“We are a warlike people, easily distracted from our assignment of preparing for the coming of the Lord. When enemies rise up, we commit vast resources to the fabrication of gods of stone and steel—ships, planes, missiles, fortifications—and depend on them for protection and deliverance. When threatened, we become antienemy instead of pro-kingdom of God; we train a man in the art of war and call him a patriot, thus, in the manner of Satan’s counterfeit of true patriotism, perverting the Savior’s teaching:

“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

“That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:44–45.)”

President Spencer W. Kimball, June 1976

 2009 - 2026 Copyright © AHTrimble.com ~ All rights reserved
No reproduction or other use of this content
without expressed written permission from AHTrimble.com
No legal, economic, or financial advice is given, no expertise to be assumed.
I may receive compensation from advertised/mentioned products on this website.
See Content Use Policy for more information.

There has been a huge dust-up as of late between right-wing media personalities…and it is exposing yet another serious problem…the further fracturing of America.

Well, technically Tucker Carlson is not right-wing media…he is squarely an “independent” and/or “libertarian” from everything I see. So let’s get him out of the mix right now…and not surprisingly he has become a main target of those on the far right…especially the radical pro-war right. I guess that is what happens when you ask too many serious questions that challenge power. You know, the whole “truth to power” thing.

My point…all of the above media personalities used to be pretty much on the same page in many respects…some differences but no real vitriolic “combat” over the airwaves. But those days are gone; not surprising in this day and age.

Here is my opinion if you are interested…

• The USA-Iran War has divided these folks into two distinct groups…pro-war & anti-war.
• There were some rumblings before, but it has also split the group into those who are radically pro-Trump and those who question some of his decisions.
• And clearly there are now two groups with those who are radically pro-Israel and those who question Israel’s significant, maybe wholly inappropriate, influence both in Congress and the White House.

How do you know who to believe in the media?

Look to God and His son Jesus Christ. What do they advocate? What principles do they outline for guides to live by?

Look to our Founders and their beliefs and the founding principles of the United States. You either abide by and believe in them or not.

Look to commonsense…who is providing commonsense information and asking commonsense questions?

Look at who are advocating, and in some cases, rejoicing in war, death, and destruction. Look who uses positive terms, and in some cases rejoicing in bombs & missiles raining down on countries, even civilians.

Look at who are justifying war, regime change, and worst of all…justifying the deaths of American military personnel in foreign wars.

Some of the folks who I mentioned earlier have become Trump boot-lickers and war mongers advocates. Ironically, the one who has changed the most to a war/death/destruction advocate and worshiping Trump used to be a decent, thoughtful Christian advocating what America should be. Kinda like a former Norman Rockwell media personality…now little more than a softer version of Joseph Goebbels. (I probably have to repent of that one.)

Think to yourself…who is supporting and/or advocating for the USA-Iran War. Then ask yourself this…Has Iran ever attacked USA’s shores? If I remember correctly, the only time Iran has struck against the USA in any significant way is overseas; as in a US presence overseas such as US military bases and US forces waging war overseas. Think about that for a minute. Then ask yourself this…if the Founding Fathers didn’t want us fighting other country’s wars, didn’t want us in entangling alliances, and if the USA was minding its own business here at home…would Iran ever had harmed a single hair on a US citizen’s head in the last 40 years?

I am not a fan of Iran. Nor am I an anti-Semite. And I am clearly not anti-America or a US apologist. But I feel I can see the blatant difference between truth and lies. And I for sure can spot propaganda pretty easily…especially when it is promoting war. I guess for me it boils down to this:

• Would God and Jesus Christ be an advocate for bombing, destroying, and killing…especially young school girls? They are not unfortunate collateral damage…they are dead children.
• Would our Founding Fathers support the same when the country we are destroying and whose citizens we are killing is no true threat to our own country?
• Would our Founders want us fighting an offensive war on behalf of another country?

Then I guess that begs the question…Should I listen to the people and believe the words from them who do support and advocate those things?

This is a major shift in the political climate of the United States…a further fracturing of our citizenry. Further alienating otherwise decent folks from each other…with words now, possibly soon to be actual violence. And have no doubt…this is ensuring a sweeping Republican Party defeat in November. Shame.

Realize that the vast majority of, 30% more, Americans object to the war. It’s mostly just the hardcore right-wing, with a few RINOs, who are supporting the war, the bombing, the destruction, the killing, including the death of children in some 16 middle-east countries. Odd, isn’t the right-wing supposed to be the party of moral people, Christians, those who believe in and advocate for God?

What would Jesus have us do? Who would Jesus have us listen to?

Some might even call this a separating the wheat from the chaff. Not me. I think it is more likely a confusion of principles vs propaganda. Whatever it is…the damage is being done; probably irreversible damage. The damage being done in the same area where the world’s three major religions originated. Ironic.

Mathew 5: 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

 2009 - 2026 Copyright © AHTrimble.com ~ All rights reserved
No reproduction or other use of this content
without expressed written permission from AHTrimble.com
No legal, economic, or financial advice is given, no expertise to be assumed.
I may receive compensation from advertised/mentioned products on this website.
See Content Use Policy for more information.