Trump scraps Israel’s plan to strike Iran, report claims

The US President has reportedly pulled the plug on a potentially devastating strike, just as it was laying the groundwork for a co-ordinated offensive.

Donald Trump reportedly nixed a potential US-Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities just as the groundwork was being laid to do so. He proffered the diplomatic path instead.

A federal judge has run out of patience with the Trump administration and is now threatening to charge it with contempt of court.

Judge James Boasberg, who is fast becoming a subject of Donald Trump’s ire, is annoyed because the government sent people to El Salvador, where they are now imprisoned in a notoriously brutal jail, after he ordered that their deportations be paused pending further legal action.

In his latest ruling, Judge Boasberg says the government’s actions demonstrated a “wilful disregard” for his order and that, therefore, “probably cause exists to find the government in criminal contempt”.

“The court does not reach such conclusion lightly or hastily; indeed, it has given defendants ample

opportunity to rectify or explain their actions. None of their responses has been satisfactory,” the judge writes in his ruling.

“The Constitution does not tolerate wilful disobedience of judicial orders – especially by

officials of a co-ordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it.

“To permit such officials to freely annul the judgments of the courts of the United States would not just destroy the rights acquired under those judgments; it would make a solemn mockery of the Constitution itself.”

It’s quite a long ruling, spanning 46 pages. This is how it concludes.

“For the foregoing reasons, the court will find probable cause that defendants’ actions

constitute contempt,” says the judge.

“It will provide them an opportunity to purge such contempt. If they opt not to do so, the court will proceed to identify the contemnor (s) and refer the matter for prosecution.”

But a top journalist, famous for her access to Donald Trump’s inner circle, has stressed that he “wants this fight”.

“The administration wants this fight. You saw that today. You have seen that every day that they talk about immigration. They think that the court of public opinion is generally on their side.

Originally published as Trump scraps Israel’s plan to strike Iran, report claims