‘Not in our DNA’: Iran says U.S. claims about negotiations are ‘fabricated’

Trump: 'We are in very deep talks with Iran. If they don't work out, we will go back to very strong military action'

Is President Trump Now Losing Patience With Iran?

John Oliver returns with searing quip: 'Graham died and Mitch McConnell...maybe didn't?'

John Oliver returned from a weeks-long vacation Sunday night and opened his show with a brutal bit questioning whether Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is still alive.The "Last Week Tonight" host used the cold open to run through headlines he'd missed, sliding the Kentucky senator's monthlong hospitalization in between a parasitic outbreak and the death of a Senate colleague."We are back, and we missed a lot over the last few weeks. A parasitic infection has caused explosive diarrhea across the country. Lindsey Graham died, and Mitch McConnell...maybe didn't," Oliver quipped, displaying a hospital-room photo of the 84-year-old senator seated next to his wife, Elaine Chao.The dig comes after McConnell collapsed at his Washington, D.C. home on June 14, and an EMS dispatch recording that later became public showed responders had been called there for "cardiac arrest" and performed CPR before transporting him. His office withheld key details on the episode for weeks. On July 12, staffers finally released the hospital photograph alongside a written statement in which McConnell conspicuously ruled out a laundry list of diagnoses."I didn't have a heart attack or a stroke. I don't have any tumors or hemorrhages. But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital," McConnell wrote. "While receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, I've also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia."A McConnell spokesperson later told The Washington Post that the senator "continues to improve in rehab."Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has said even he can't get information out of the senator's team. "I haven't heard a thing. Not an email, not a letter, not a call, not a video... absolutely nothing," the Democratic governor told SiriusXM earlier this month, adding that he'd received two calls from separate agencies suggesting McConnell had died.Beshear urged the senator's office to "call into a news station for 5 minutes or put out a short video" to end what he called concerning speculation.The stonewalling is being managed by McConnell's longtime chief of staff, Terry Carmack, whose taxpayer-funded salary rose to $226,849.94 in fiscal year 2026. Graham's funeral is scheduled for Tuesday at Washington National Cathedral. McConnell's office has not said whether he will attend.

Trump gives Iran 'not much time' to reach a deal before war comes roaring back

President Donald Trump warned Iranian negotiators Monday that time was running out to reach a negotiated settlement to end the war, warning that unless a deal was reached soon, the United States would “go back to very strong military action,” Axios’ Barak Ravid claimed.“We are in very deep talks with Iran. If they don't work out, we will go back to very strong military action,” Trump said in a phone call, Ravid claimed.When asked how much time he was “willing to give diplomacy,” Trump reportedly told Ravid “not much time,” and that for negotiations, “either it goes fast or not at all.”The U.S.-Iran tentative peace deal reached in June has since crumbled as the United States ramped up attacks on the Middle East nation earlier this month. A brief pause in the fighting began on Saturday, however, with reports suggesting the Trump administration was motivated to temporarily halt its strikes due to dwindling stockpiles of interceptors.Last week, Trump told Axios that he was ready to order a “massive attack” on Iran, though his inner circle almost unanimously believes such an attack to be a “terrible f------ idea,” Zeteo reported Monday.🚨Trump told me: "We are in very deep talks with Iran. If they don't work out, we will go back to very strong military action"🚨Asked how long he's willing to give diplomacy, the president said: "Not much time. Either it goes fast or not at all" https://t.co/buEhUcTI8D— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) July 27, 2026

Trump critic Massie joins Democrats in unprecedented bid to sue White House over Iran war

Thomas Massie accused President Trump and Secretary Hegseth of violating the War Powers Resolution, joining Democrats in a resolution to sue over the Iran war.

Iran War Casualties Increase as Pentagon Quietly Changes Its Math

The Pentagon has once again changed the Iran war casualty number, adding 142 new wounded soldiers to its count over the weekend—bringing the total to 624 wounded service members and 18 deaths.The way the Pentagon is reporting the numbers is tricky, splitting the casualty tolls into two separate pages. One page on “Operation Epic Fury” has a casualty count starting on February 28, and another page, titled “Overseas Operations,” begins the count on July 7, when the short-lived ceasefire fell apart and bombings ramped back up. The move raises concerns that the Pentagon is willfully obscuring the numbers to make its failure of a forever war look better on paper.The Pentagon faced backlash last week after it reduced its casualty totals from 482 wounded and 18 dead. And while Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez told media the reduction was due to “temporary data disruptions,” the Trump administration has refused to include four soldiers killed in recent days in the page on Operation Epic Fury’s death toll.The Pentagon has been credibly accused of downplaying the severity and number of casualties in the war on Iran. In March, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth referred to an Iranian strike on a U.S. makeshift operations center in Kuwait as “a squirter,” and later whined that coverage of dead troops was only intended to “make the president look bad.” Six soldiers were killed in that strike, with over 30 hospitalized for burns, shrapnel wounds, and brain trauma. And last month, the Pentagon classified soldiers who suffered severe brain injuries in that attack as having “minor” injuries, causing their families to speak out against that decision.This lack of transparency from the Pentagon is strategic, and ultimately foolish. This war is only dragging on as it grows increasingly unpopular. That will undoubtedly lead to more wounded soldiers and more body bags. Those are impossible to hide.

Republican Senators Losing Faith in Hegseth as Iran War Stretches On

Republicans are beginning to question the leadership of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as the Trump administration fails to achieve any of its stated goals in the growing war with Iran. “I don’t have any confidence in him anymore. I think he’s all over the place—he’s accelerating the retirement or forcing out some of the most distinguished leaders in the DOD that we have,” frequent Trump administration critic and outgoing Senator Thom Tillis told The Hill. “I think he’s got a massive insecurity complex, he has a lack of experience in large organizations, he micromanages too much. He’s lost my confidence.” Others spoke anonymously. “I have heard out of the Pentagon that there’s a loss of confidence ... within the Pentagon. And of course then everyone here on the Hill hears those same concerns,” one Republican senator told The Hill. “I think there’s a sense it’s taken longer than what we thought and that maybe our strategy didn’t factor in the Strait of Hormuz or [Iran’s] ability to be willing to hit their neighbors. I think there was some miscalculations maybe,” said another. Others opined about the cost of the war, especially after Hegseth asked for $1.5 trillion for the DOD at a recent congressional hearing. The entirety of Hegseth’s short tenure has been shrouded in internal strife and controversy. From his purging of top military leadership (which plenty of Republicans are still sour about), to his alcoholism, to his war on woke, the defense secretary has brought a frantic, aggressive approach to the Pentagon. This war will be a massive stain on any legacy that he has, and even Republicans seem to be realizing it.

Live updates: US, Iran back off attacks; Trump heads to Michigan to tout manufacturing

The U.S. pulled back on its daily strikes on Iran over the weekend to both give more time for negotiations and conserve munitions. President Trump is “giving it a little bit of room,” Mike Waltz, United Nations ambassador, said Sunday. Reports also bubbled up over the weekend that the U.S. campaign in the Strait of Hormuz…