The U.S. military struck Iran in response to an attack against an Apache helicopter, according to breaking news reports.Trump vowed to retaliate for the attack against the helicopter, saying that the U.S. "must, of necessity, respond," Axios reported. He said the attack against the helicopter "wasn't a big deal" in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, however.Axios noted that it wasn't clear what the U.S. military was targeting with the strikes, but Central Command described it as "a proportional response." CNN reported that the U.S. military was attacking islands along the Strait of Hormuz.Iranian state media reported explosions in a province called Hormozgan, which lies on the Strait of Hormuz, according to Axios. The Tasnim News Agency said that Iran vowed a "decisive response" to the attacks and called the allegation that it downed the helicopter a pretense, Axios reported."Foreign forces in proximity to our territory are at constant risk," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X. "We prefer language of diplomacy but speak other languages too."
Trump administration officials have expressed in private that they are concerned that the ceasefire between the United States and Iran has given Tehran a chance to recover from previous attacks, CNN reported on Tuesday. CNN senior reporter Zachary Cohen said that as President Donald Trump responded to a downed Apache helicopter that was patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz and vowed to retaliate, behind-the-scenes sources said this issue had been raised.CNN anchor Brianna Keilar asked Cohen about a recent report that Iran had started to build drones again and "re-upped its drone production during the ceasefire." She questioned if Trump administration officials were reflecting on whether "the ceasefire being dragged out now, weeks and weeks, is giving Iran these capabilities."Cohen confirmed that was the case — but not something that Trump has acknowledged in public."That's something that we hear from sources and U.S. officials in private, for sure," Cohen said. "But we have not heard the president in particular, or Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, voice a similar concern, really painting a more optimistic and a more confident view of the damage that the U.S. military has inflicted on the Iranians' capabilities," Cohen added. "But as you mentioned, we reported that the Iranians have been using this time the ceasefire to reconstitute many of their military capabilities. And it's already restarted production on some of these attack drones that, as we're seeing today, are capable of taking down an Apache helicopter, also a threat to U.S. Navy ships and commercial ships alike."
The Miami News Times reports an FBI document from the Jeffrey Epstein files contains extraordinary allegations involving President Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, and a Trump-owned golf course. The claims appear to have originated from a single tipster who contacted federal authorities as recently as 2021.“The FBI intake report does not identify the golf course referenced by the caller. However, the allegation appears in files connected to Epstein, whose sprawling Palm Beach mansion served as the center of many of the activities that ultimately led to his conviction and the federal sex-trafficking investigation that followed,” writes New Times reporter Natasha Yee.The document, dated June 21, 2021, summarizes a call received by the bureau’s National Threat Operations Center from an individual claiming to have firsthand knowledge of criminal activity involving Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Trump. Yee reports the caller claimed to have recordings of Trump, Epstein, and Maxwell discussing “marketing strategies” for high-profile sex parties held at a Trump golf course. The caller alleged the recordings had been mailed to an attorney in the Cayman Islands.Additionally, the tipster claimed Trump knew about underage parties occurring at the golf course and that revenue from the club was used to fund them. The caller, who contends to have ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, alleged that he worked closely with Epstein and Maxwell. The report reveals the contact told agents he had helped Maxwell develop a camera system at the golf course, and that he assisted cartel members in understanding how to market girls between the ages of 12 and 14 for trafficking purposes.“According to the report, the caller said he had previously spoken with FBI agents but felt ‘triggered’ as a victim and had not disclosed all the information he allegedly possessed,” Yee reports. However, newly released Epstein records suggest federal investigators viewed the source skeptically, and other FBI summaries released by the Justice Department undermined complainants making similar allegations, deeming them “not credible” No publicly released records show that authorities sought or uncovered evidence supporting the claims.The Times reports this new information is the latest example of how the Justice Department’s publication of Epstein-related records has uncovered a jumble of previously unknown “information, investigative leads, witness statements, and unverified claims that federal investigators have collected over the years.”Trump fought the release of the Epstein files last year, and he targeted Republicans who wanted the files released for removal during the GOP primaries.The Times reports The White House did not return New Times’ press inquiry regarding the FBI report.
While two U.S. Army soldiers were fighting to survive after their Apache helicopter went down near the coast of Oman, President Donald Trump chose to board Marine One — headed to the NBA Finals.According to U.S. Central Command, two crew members from a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache were rescued at 7:33 p.m. ET on June 8 — "within approximately two hours" of the helicopter going down, placing the crash around 5:33 p.m. ET. White House communications staffer Margo Martin posted video of Trump boarding Marine One in Bedminster, New Jersey, at 6:57 p.m. — meaning he departed before that, while the rescue was actively underway.Trump arrived at Madison Square Garden, where the crowd booed him loudly — then watched the Knicks lose to the San Antonio Spurs, 115-111.The next afternoon, Trump claimed he'd only just learned of the incident."I have just been informed by our Great Military that last night the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters…" he wrote on Truth Social at 12:38 p.m. on June 9 — more than 19 hours after the helicopter went down.CENTCOM's official statement tells a different story. The military said only that the helicopter "went down" and that "the cause of the incident is under investigation." No mention of Iran. No confirmed shootdown. Trump also called the rescued soldiers "pilots" — CENTCOM called them "crew members."The incident lands days after the House voted 215-208 to invoke the War Powers Act and force Trump to end hostilities with Iran — a conflict his administration insists is already over. The U.S. naval blockade of Iran, which experts told Reuters amounts to an act of war, remains in place.
Vice President JD Vance on Monday announced that he is referring Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison to the Department of Justice's anti-fraud division for a criminal investigation after allegations that they allowed billions of dollars in fraud. Vance discussed the referral in an interview with Fox's Jesse Watters, calling for a "full criminal investigation," adding, "You had people in Governor Walz's office who were saying, 'You know what?
The post Vice President Vance Fires Off Criminal Referral to DOJ Against Minnesota Governor and Attorney General Following Bombshell House Report (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The following is a statement from Nancy Altman, President of Social Security Works, on the 2026 Social Security Trustees Report:“This is the first Social Security trustees report that begins to take Donald Trump’s second term policies into account: A tax bill that largely benefited the wealthy, economy-wrecking tariffs, a needless war with Iran, and hostility to immigrants. All of these have reduced the amount of money going into Social Security, weakening the system’s finances. Despite Trump’s damaging policies, Social Security remains fully affordable if the wealthy are required to contribute their fair share. Congress has only two options to address the projected shortfall: Bring more money into Social Security, or cut benefits. Any politician who refuses to raise revenue, including by making the wealthy pay their fair share into Social Security, is telling us that they support benefit cuts.The American people, including Republicans, are overwhelming in their opposition to even a penny of benefit cuts. Support for means-testing and other benefit cuts (even if paired with revenue increases) is a betrayal of the American people.Social Security’s future is on the ballot. Any of the U.S. Senators elected this November could become the deciding vote. Accordingly, all of them should tell the public how they would vote. This is particularly important for Republican candidates, given that Speaker Mike Johnson just announced plans to ‘adjust and fix’ Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid next year. That’s DC-insider speak for ‘cut benefits.’ Outrageously, Johnson claims this is necessary to reduce the federal deficit — even though Social Security is an earned benefit that doesn’t add a single penny to the deficit! As the Trustees Report plainly states, if there is insufficient revenue, Social Security benefits will be automatically cut. Johnson’s ‘solution’ is to cut them sooner (and likely by a larger amount) instead of making his billionaire donors pay their fair share. Sen. Ted Cruz and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are more specific than Johnson, saying that the Republican plan for Social Security is privatization, handing Social Security over to Wall Street. Do Republican House and Senate candidates agree with Johnson, Cruz, and Bessent? Ultimately, the Social Security shortfall is cause for action but not for undue alarm. Congress has acted to avert such shortfalls before and will again. When members of Congress act, they should listen to their voters who overwhelmingly value Social Security, not their ultra-wealthy donors who want to steal their voters’ hard-earned benefits out from under them.”
For more than two generations, Bill Pulte's family has had close ties with a covert Christian group that has backed allies of President Donald Trump and other conservatives, according to a report on Tuesday.The acting national intelligence director's grandfather and father have been closely involved with a group known as The Family, or The Fellowship, which organizes the National Prayer Breakfast and a C Street congressional residence on Capitol Hill. These are "leaders and financial backers of a secretive Christian organization that conducts shadow diplomacy around the world, according to public records and documents I obtained," wrote Jonathan Larsen in a Substack post, which was republished by Salon."Pulte’s grandfather, at one point one of the wealthiest men in the world, built a Fortune 500 company and gave tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars to charity before his 2018 death," Larsen wrote. "He was also friends with Doug Coe, died in 2017 after decades leading the secretive, controversial Fellowship Foundation that built and sustained a global right-wing network including dictators, lobbyists, and corrupt millionaires largely united against labor, LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights."Pulte's exact connection to The Fellowship remains unclear. It's said he was close to his grandfather, his namesake, who was a longtime friend of Coe's, Larsen wrote. Pulte's father has continued to fund religious charities connected to The Fellowship."If Pulte is personally connected to The Fellowship, he’d hardly be alone in the administration’s upper ranks," Larsen wrote."Secretary of State Marco Rubio used to live at the C Street townhouse, as did Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.). President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the United Kingdom, former 'Apprentice' producer Mark Burnett, is a regular at The Fellowship’s National Prayer Breakfast," Larsen explained."But the ties extend beyond overlapping at religious charities in the orbits of Michigan philanthropists. Pulte had a significant personal relationship with Coe, who hobnobbed with presidents of both parties and leaders of nations around the world," Larsen wrote.And that's not the only connection the Pulte family has to top political families — or the Trump family.Pulte's father also played a role in Trump's bidding war against Epstein for a Palm Beach property, which was noted by Substacker Greg Conners."The notorious bidding war for a Palm Beach estate between Trump and Jeffrey Epstein involved a third party. It was Mark Pulte, who veered off from the Pulte home-building business to focus on luxury properties. As Conners notes, Pulte, father of Trump’s appointee, outbid Epstein and was the one who actually bid up the price Trump ended up paying," Larsen added.
