Maybe This Time

The boy who cried we have a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz: We’ve done this over and over again, but maybe this time, it’s real. Anonymous sources within the government are telling news outlets that they’ve drafted up a “memorandum of understanding” with Iran (which still needs approval from President Donald Trump) that would deal with reopening the Strait of Hormuz and extend the ceasefire.

“Should an agreement be finalized, it could give Mr. Trump an off-ramp from a war that has driven up oil prices and grown deeply unpopular at home,” reports The New York Times. “It could also eventually allow Iran to regain access to frozen overseas assets and provide a route for Tehran to get billions of dollars of oil revenue flowing again.”

Vice President J.D. Vance confirms that the administration is “very close” to a deal; one sticking point appears to be that Trump wants Iran to get rid of its enriched uranium, which might not end up happening. Mediators have, over the past few weeks, struggled to agree on a lasting deal, with ceasefires happening in tiny spurts and tensions flaring back up again. It doesn’t help that the entire region’s been running hot, so mediators sometimes struggle to figure out whether an agreement between the U.S. and Iran should also attempt to cover tensions between Israel and Lebanon (which have flared back up again this week with an attack on Beirut).

Russia hit Romania: The Russian war on Ukraine has now spilled over into Galati, Romania, with a drone hitting an apartment building there, injuring two people and starting a fire.

“The episode comes amid heightened fears that Russia might seek to expand the war beyond Ukraine to target a member of the NATO security alliance,” reports The New York Times. (Romania is part of NATO.)

Romanian President Nicusor Dan said he would “order proportionate measures in relation to the Russian Federation” in consultation with his national defense team. “The unprecedented nature of the event demands a firm, coordinated, and appropriate response—at the national, allied, and international levels.…What happened today in Galați is the direct consequence of Russia’s war of aggression unleashed against Ukraine, the irresponsible and indiscriminate manner in which Moscow operates these weapon systems in the immediate vicinity of NATO borders, as well as the systematic disregard for international law. There is no ambiguity regarding the perpetrator or the cause of this aggression.”

“Russian drones have strayed across Romania’s border a number of times during the four-year war with Ukraine,” reports the BBC, “but it is the first time citizens from the Nato member state have been hurt.”

Scenes from New York: This strikes me as something that is not going to make government efficient in the slightest.

This morning we are introducing COGE — the Commission on Government Efficiency.⁰⁰This Commission will find ways for our city to work smarter, faster, and more effectively for working people. ⁰⁰New Yorkers deserve a city government as careful with their money as they are.

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) May 28, 2026

But I appreciate this dose of optimism/useful input:

I’m eager to see what comes from COGE. If the commission reflects a wide range of perspectives, and doesn’t rule out approaches that have worked well elsewhere on ideological or partisan grounds, this commission could do an enormous amount of good.

One excellent place to… https://t.co/gYe5cS9hXl

— Reihan Salam (@reihan) May 28, 2026

QUICK HITS

• “After more than a year of teasing the idea, Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday floated a plan that could eventually eliminate property taxes for more than 90% of Florida residents who own their homes, shifting the bulk of the tax burden onto the state’s wealthiest homeowners,” reports Bloomberg. “The Republican governor’s proposal would initially increase the state’s homestead exemption, which shields a portion of the value of a primary residence from property tax, from $50,000 to $250,000, and then eventually double it to $500,000. DeSantis called a special legislative session for next week to get the idea on the ballot in November.” This strikes me as a pretty blatantly populist move to curry favor with his base (DeSantis ends his term as Florida governor in 2026, but it’s very possible he’ll go for the presidential nomination at some point, in which case those voters might come in handy). And I can’t exactly be opposed to people having greater ability to shield themselves from taxes, but it is rather unfair to the wealthy. (Unironically: Won’t someone think of the Florida multimillionaires and billionaires?)
• A related response, by Reason‘s Eric Boehm, to Rep. Nancy Mace’s (R–S.C.) almost trollish proposal: “Stop Giving Property Tax Breaks to Senior Citizens.” A sampling: “Specialized tax breaks for people within certain age brackets make very little sense—and they don’t actually lower taxes. If the government does not reduce the cost of public services, then a special tax break for one group merely forces everyone else to pick up the slack. A special tax break targeted specifically to senior citizens is worse. The median household headed by someone over age 65 had a net worth of more than $400,000 in 2022, according to Federal Reserve data. For those under age 35, the average was $39,000. However you look at it, elderly homeowners are plainly not a demographic that is desperately in need of tax relief—and giving property tax breaks to the old means pushing the entire property tax burden onto relatively poorer households.”
• A Blue Origin rocket exploded during launch.
• This is straight-up insane:

Biden’s own wife thought he was having a stroke. Two NY Times columnists insisted he’d fought Trump to a draw. https://t.co/7dMB96H4Tk pic.twitter.com/5SvGRCipb3

— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) May 29, 2026

• A bubble house with a bomb shelter—a relic from a bygone era—is for sale in California, the last of its kind.
• Interesting differences so far between New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s and former Mayor Eric Adams’ administrations:

Advocates for crime are angry that Zohran Mamdani, who they hoped might legalize crime, instead opposes crime and is even sending police officers to fine and arrest *more* people who commit crimes. https://t.co/6hrckPdaOu pic.twitter.com/ka4MetYa9n

— Josh Barro (@jbarro) May 28, 2026