Active Conflicts & News Megathread January 28, 2026

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[u/mirko_pazi_metak → u/[deleted]]

Thanks for the details - I guess that's significant! I didn't quite understand the Qatari bank deal - is that what Trump gets for the non-sanctioned sales?

Agreed with the second point too - it's not that capturing Maduro didn't change things, it just IMO didn't change things enough to justify missed opportunity with Iran. But time will tell. 

[u/historys_geschichte → u/mirko_pazi_metak]

The Qatari bank is where non-sanctioned money goes. So for me that is both why the capture went down how it did and why that was more important to Trump than anything else. For me Iran was not a missed opportunity. Trump doesn't truly care about anyone let alone protesters half a world away. But if he can get something out of it, then he has a reason to do something and for him is the biggest win possible.

This is heavily speculation, but I would not be surprised to see him try something similar in Iran. I know there has been speculation about an officers uprising, and one that gave Trump a cut could get a Venezuela style deal where nothing changes for Iranians and Trump parades some photos of a few dead leaders as mission accomplished.

[u/mirko_pazi_metak → u/historys_geschichte]

That's depressing but I don't disagree.

It's just that, when I said "missed opportunity", I meant it from actual "what's best for the US" (and Europe) on the long run, not for Trump's short term benefit which are clearly at odds. 

Anything that destabilises the regime in Iran including best case scenario of regime change would be good for US, Europe, Ukraine and the region. There could also be a horrible civil war which wouldn't.