"We Are Far From Final Discussion": Iran Days Before Ceasefire With US Ends

04/19/26 9:29 AM

The two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran is set to end on Wednesday.

"We Do These Embarrassing Things In Politics": Trump On McDonald's Order Stunt

04/19/26 9:37 AM

The White House ordered McDonald's cheeseburgers that were brought to the Oval Office by DoorDash delivery driver Sharon Simmons, a Republican supporter from Arkansas, and received personally by Trump.

"You Gave Clearance": Distress Audio From Indian Ship During Hormuz Firing

04/19/26 10:52 AM

A distress message from one of the tankers has now emerged, capturing the confusion that ensued during the firing.

'Fake': NY Times editors pinpoint crack in Trump's armor that could bring him down

04/14/26 3:25 PM

The New York Times editorial board had a message Tuesday on what it takes to defeat Trumpism — and authoritarianism — as midterms approach. The editors described how the landslide defeat of Viktor Orban by Peter Magyar in Hungary should inspire Americans hoping to see change in the United States amid President Donald Trump's tumultuous second administration. They outlined the different ways opposing candidates could identify vulnerabilities for Trump and his regime using Magyar as an example of how to defeat autocratic rule and apply "an American version of this strategy."By talking directly about Orban's 16 years in power and the stagnant living standards in Hungary, Magyar saw the opportunity to give voters a new promise: reliable medical care, a secure family life and retirement. He said that political connections shouldn't matter and used the frustrations people were feeling to lay out his plan. He campaigned in rural areas of the country, adopted an even harsher immigration policy and distanced himself from a Pride march and LGBTQ issues, and although the editorial board did not agree with all of his maneuvers, it did recommend other politicians look closely at the strategy. This is something a Trump opponent can do: highlight the corruption during Trump's leadership, including the Iran war, the use of pardons to excuse his allies, tax policies that have made life harder for working Americans and easier for the wealthy, and climbing gas prices."His populism is fake. It serves a small slice of wealthy, well-connected people at the expense of most Americans, and it leaves him and his party politically vulnerable to an opposition that can credibly use government as a force for good," according to the Editorial Board. Democrats can use this to their advantage. They need to develop an "ambitious agenda" and not just focus on criticism of Trump. "The second lesson may be harder for Democrats — and center-left parties in Europe — to absorb," the editors explained. "Mr. Magyar, who identifies as center right, won partly by avoiding the social progressivism that dominates elite left-leaning circles and alienates many voters. He ran as an economic progressive and a cultural moderate if not conservative."Magyar — whose last name means "Hungarian" — relied on symbolism, using the Hungarian flag and a variety of other messaging styles. "Mr. Magyar thoroughly defeated this far-right giant. The free world should take an honest look at how he did it," the editorial board added.

'I thought she was brave': Trump turns on Italian ally over Pope criticism

04/14/26 4:46 PM

Donald Trump has turned on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, publicly denouncing her as "unacceptable" for defending Pope Leo XIV against the president's criticism of his unprovoked Iran war.According to Politico, Trump spoke directly with Italian daily Corriere della Sera to express his fury with Meloni's refusal to join his attack on the first American-born Pope who resides in Vatican City."I was shocked by her. I thought she was brave, but I was wrong," Trump said in the phone interview, delivering a stinging personal rebuke to an ally he had publicly praised just a year earlier.When confronted with Meloni's Monday statement calling Trump's criticism of Pope Leo "unacceptable," the president responded with characteristic vindictiveness:"It's her who's unacceptable, because she doesn't care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if it had the chance."Trump's grievance extends beyond the Pope dispute. He complained that Meloni expected the United States to "do the work for her" by protecting Italy from nuclear threats and ensuring stable oil supplies — suggesting she should be grateful for American military protection rather than criticizing his policies.The deterioration of their relationship is striking. Trump noted the two hadn't spoken "in a long time," a stark contrast to just last year when Meloni visited Mar-a-Lago as Trump's guest. At that dinner, he called her "a fantastic woman" who had "really taken Europe by storm."The rupture exemplifies Trump's pattern of discarding allies the moment they show independence from his agenda — a warning sign for other world leaders considering whether solidarity with the American president is worth the political cost.

'No más': GOP lawmakers signal they're ready to turn on Trump over Iran disaster

04/13/26 4:49 PM

Democratic efforts to constrain Donald Trump's Iran war are gaining unexpected momentum. More Republican lawmakers are privately signaling they're ready to join Democrats on a war powers resolution — and the defections may accelerate dramatically by month's end.According to MS NOW, Democrats believe "there's a pathway to success" on forcing votes this week that would dampen hostilities in Iran.The political math is shifting in Democrats' favor. While they would need a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override Trump's almost-certain veto, a privileged war powers measure only requires a simple majority to pass — a threshold that appears increasingly achievable as GOP support erodes, MS NOW reported.The breaking point could happen on April 29. One House GOP lawmaker, granted anonymity, told MS NOW that "a lot of Republicans" would be ready to support a war powers resolution by then."This issue is already coming ripe at the end of this month, and if they don't come to us by then, they're in violation of the law. And that's when you'll see many of us saying no más," they told MS NOW.Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) framed the political stakes sharply: "Every day that Republicans stand in the way of Democratic efforts to end this war is another day that they own the chaos, the bloodshed and the economic volatility that has resulted."Senate Republicans are already showing cracks. So far, only Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has voted with Democrats on three separate Iran war powers resolutions over the past month. But Trump's apocalyptic rhetoric is pushing other Republicans toward the exit, MS NOW reported.Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) directly rebuked Trump's threat to wipe out a "whole civilization." "It cannot be excused away as an attempt to gain leverage in negotiations with Iran. It undermines our long-standing role as a global beacon of freedom and directly endangers Americans both abroad and at home," Murkowski wrote.Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) was equally damning about Trump's Easter Truth Social posts threatening to annihilate Iran's infrastructure and demanding Tehran open the Strait of Hormuz in a social media post loaded with obscenities."Completely inappropriate," Collins said of the threats. "And the subsequent post in which he threatened to essentially annihilate the whole country of Iran is also not conducive to the negotiations that will shortly be underway."

'Not in my interest at all': Pope blows off suggestion he debate Trump

04/18/26 4:33 PM

Pope Leo XIV has made clear he has no interest in continuing his public feud with Donald Trump. During his 11-day African tour, the pontiff firmly rejected the notion that he's been debating the American president, insisting his peace message transcends partisan politics.According to Politico, Leo addressed the spiraling controversy that has dominated headlines all week. "There's been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all of its aspects, but because of the political situation created when, on the first day of the trip, the president of the United States made some comments about myself," Leo said."Much of what has been written since then has been more commentary on commentary, trying to interpret what has been said."The Pope was defending his remarks at a peace meeting in Bamenda, Cameroon — a city at the epicenter of a separatist conflict ravaging the country's Anglophone region for nearly a decade. In those remarks, Leo had blasted the "handful of tyrants" who were ravaging Earth with war and exploitation, Politico is reporting.Leo emphasized the remarks predated Trump's attacks. "My remarks were written two weeks ago, long before Trump's criticisms began," he explained, undercutting Trump's narrative that the Pope was specifically targeting him."And yet as it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate again the president, which is not in my interest at all," Leo said, making clear he views the controversy as a distraction.Looking forward, the Pope signaled his priorities lie elsewhere. "I primarily come to Africa as a pastor, as the head of the Catholic Church to be with, to celebrate with, to encourage and accompany all the Catholics throughout Africa."

'The vibes aren't great' at the White House as Trump chaos grows: Politico

04/14/26 11:57 AM

Appearing on MS NOW to expand upon her report on the meme war between Donald Trump’s White House and Iran on social media, which has become the latest tool for spreading propaganda, Politico’s Dash Burns claimed White House insiders admit things are not going well on multiple fronts.Speaking with the hosts of “Morning Joe,” Burns claimed Trump insiders are dismayed at how badly things are going.“You know the old adage: a picture says a thousand words? I think a meme in this moment might say even more. The dog drinking the coffee with the fire around it; I was sent that twice from two separate sources close to the White House –– an oldie but a goodie. There were some religious-themed memes," she reported.“Listen, the vibes aren't great,” she added. “The sources I was talking to were pointing to things like there's there's the religion theme that the president kicked off there, the DoorDash moment yesterday, for example, the president stepped on his own message there by attacking the pope, by posting that that Jesus-themed meme. Republicans were getting ready to hit the campaign trail talking about the economy. They're going to have a really hard time doing that right now because of what's happening with the war in Iran and what that's doing to prices back home.”“I was talking to White House officials late last year on the record, and they were saying that this was going to be the moment when the big, beautiful bill would impact the voters that really need it the most,” she recalled. “And this is when voters would start to get excited to vote for Republicans in November, because they would see those tax refunds. Well, that is also all being overshadowed by the rising cost of living because of some of the issues abroad. So this is not where the administration wants to be. And this certainly is not where Republican allies of the administration who are trying to help boost Republicans in the midterms want to be.” - YouTube youtu.be

'What are you, a king?': MS NOW host pounces on 'arrogant' JD Vance's new Pope threat

04/15/26 11:31 AM

Vice President JD Vance’s continuing lecturing of Pope Leo XIV at a Turning Point USA function in Georgia on Tuesday earned him a tongue-lashing on MS NOW early Wednesday morning.Speaking to a sparse crowd, Vance, a recent convert to Catholicism, continued to harangue the pontiff over his comments that run counter to the Donald Trump administration’s policies on war and immigrants.In a clip shared on “Morning Joe,” the Ohio Republican boldly asserted, “I think it's very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology. I think one of the issues here is that if you're going to opine on matters of theology, you've got to be careful. You've got to make sure it's anchored in the truth. And that's one of the things that I try to do. And it's certainly something I would expect from the clergy, whether they're Catholic or Protestant.”That led MS NOW host Joe Scarborough to launch into an extensive lecture aimed at Trump’s running mate.“What, what, what are you? A king in medieval Europe?” the former GOP lawmaker exclaimed. “Warning the pope not to talk about the Bible? That's what you just said! You know how stupid you sound, right? You know how stupid you sound when you, new to the Catholic church, are lecturing, Mr. Vice President, the pontiff on theology and telling him he should not quote the red letters?”“How utterly bizarre,” he continued. “People will look back one day and laugh when they have the safety of distance and laugh that you actually have a vice president sitting on stage warning the pope, god's representative here on earth for the Catholic church, warning the pope and what he can and cannot say about theology, that he needs to be careful.”He added, “And so to hear a sitting vice president of the United States, first of all, becoming a Catholic last week and then writing a book about being a Catholic and then lecturing the pope, I've got to say, that's like an all-timer, and people are going to look back and they're going to have a big chuckle that anybody was ever that arrogant.” - YouTube youtu.be

'Will Not Compromise': Iran Says Reviewing New Proposals From US

04/18/26 10:23 PM

The Supreme National Security Council said Iran's negotiating delegation "will not make even the slightest compromise, retreat or leniency, and will defend with all its strength the interests of the Iranian nation".