The mixed martial arts event saw 14 fighters compete Sunday night at the White House for President Donald Trump.
When President Donald Trump accepted the April 2026 ceasefire, I knew he had committed the gravest political blunder of his career. America and Israel had cornered Iran, shattered its leverage, and battered its proxies. Instead of forcing permanent concessions, the White House now appears ready to rescue Tehran and rebrand retreat as a “peace crusade.” […]
Republicans have made a dramatic U-turn on the 2028 presidential election, with dozens of contenders now expected to enter the race to succeed Donald Trump as president, an insider told Raw Story.And while no candidates have officially announced their campaigns yet, Rick Wilson, former Republican operative and co-founder of The Lincoln Project, told Raw Story in an exclusive interview that he was tipped off about the development by strategists.“The number of Republicans who are planning to run in 2028 is growing by the minute,” Wilson told Raw Story.“I would say a year ago, there was the presumption that Trump was trying to run again,” Wilson said.But now it’s different. “They think Trump is going to croak,” he said.Wilson anticipated that nearly 20 people are planning on vying for the nation’s top job.“It will be people from Congress, from the Senate, governors, they’re all going to get in because they’re going to see the end of the Trump era. They’re going to claim the throne of MAGA,” Wilson said.“Ambition is a hell of a drug,” he added.Wilson shared insights about who some of the potential candidates could be, and how many have played a long waiting game and think it’s about time they line up.“Some of these guys have been sitting on the sidelines for a decade,” Wilson said. “They all think they should be president.”The number of candidates could present a problem for the GOP — and particularly Trump.“I think we’re going to see a real mess starting in the spring of next year, where you’re going to have the Ted Cruzes and Josh Hawleys and all these other people running around, and it’s going to make Trump lose his damn mind. He’s going to go crazy,” Wilson said.As for Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, it’s unclear what they will decide to do. Wilson referred to the two Trump administration members as “two men with an exaggerated view.” He cited why Rubio’s timing could hurt him.“Marco has peaked way too early. He’s the golden child for Trump and MAGA world, but it’s so early,” Wilson said.By 2027, it will be clearer who might be next in line to succeed Trump and try to make gains among the MAGA movement, he said.“Watch the spring of next year, you’re going to see a lot of people suddenly visiting New Hampshire, suddenly visiting Iowa, suddenly announcing the ‘American Dream super PAC’ and writing terrible campaign books,” Wilson added. “That’s become sort of one of the things, the ritual.”
President Donald Trump was captured on video “smiling” Sunday after an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter dropped a shockingly "offensive” and false remark about former First Lady Michelle Obama during the UFC event at the White House, CNN reported.Mixed martial artist Joshua Hokit, 28, defeated his opponent Derrick Lewis Sunday night at the White House UFC bout, and after his victory, shouted an inflammatory and false claim targeting the former first lady.“Michelle Obama is a man! Am I right, America?” Hokit said, eliciting both cheers and boos from the crowd, CNN reported.Hokit’s remarks also elicited a response from Trump, who was seated in the first row at the event.“In a brief moment captured on camera, Trump, seated first row at the ‘Octagon,’ appeared to show a half-smile seconds after the false remark, which has previously circulated online,” wrote CNN’s Alejandra Jaramillo.Back in February, Trump faced rare bipartisan outrage after posting a video on his social media platform Truth Social that briefly depicted former President Barack Obama and the first lady as primates in the jungle. The blowback was so fierce that Trump – who denied being aware that the segment of the video he posted included the racist depiction – ultimately deleted the post.
It was a spectacle, with a presidential birthday and an Iran peace deal as context and background. “UFC Freedom 250,” a primetime fight night that played out just steps from the White House on Sunday night, combined sports and the office of the president in a way never seen before. Reactions to the event fell sharply along partisan lines, but the event…
Trump again claims victory in Iran. He’s claimed victory before, but now he has a so-called “agreement” with Iran.That agreement, which appears to be no more than a memo of understanding — that is, a set of principles to which Iran and the United States have agreed — stops the fighting and reopens the Strait of Hormuz but it does not deal with the issue that caused Trump to initiate the conflict: Iran’s nuclear program. Keep that in mind as you hear various renditions of what’s been decided. Recall that the Strait of Hormuz was open before Trump began bombing Iran. At best, the agreement Trump is touting restores the status quo to where it was when he commenced hostilities. Remember also that Iran had agreed to limit its development of nuclear-grade materials in its treaty with the Obama administration, which Trump revoked in 2018. So what has been accomplished? Iran now is under the control of a more extremist regime than when Trump started this war. Oil prices are far higher, and will take some time to return to where they were before it began (if they ever do). Meanwhile, Trump has caused the United States to be more dependent on fossil fuels than we were prior to his inauguration for a second time, and the high oil prices brought on by his war has enriched Vladimir Putin’s regime. The war with Iran has cost the United States an estimated $90 billion, and that’s a conservative estimate. It has caused widespread suffering throughout the Middle East. It has put Israel in a more precarious situation than it was before — and much of that is due to Benjamin Netanyahu, who is not a party to, and has not approved, the agreement. This doesn’t look like a victory. Compared to where the United States and the Middle East were on February 28, when Trump began this war, it’s a terrible failure. Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/
‘LET THE OIL FLOW!’: On his 80th birthday, President Donald Trump proudly announced a 60-day ceasefire extension with Iran that he touted as a “Great Deal will bring Peace and Security to the whole Region.” “Many presidents have tried to make Peace with Iran, and all have failed before me,” Trump gushed on his Truth […]
To celebrate his 80th birthday and the nation’s 250th anniversary, President Donald Trump hosted an unprecedented UFC fight in the backyard of the White House. The $60 million event brought the UFC’s 8-sided cage and a mixed martial arts extravaganza to the 4,000 attendees which included cabinet members and dignitaries. Now, Trump is headed to Geneva for the G-7 summit in France amid geopolitical rifts. NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell reports for TODAY.
Eric Trump fiercely denied accusations Sunday night that he had contacted an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) commentator about whether any of the fights at the White House event that day were “rigged” – a denial that only intensified scrutiny from critics.In a social media post published just ahead of the White House UFC event, an X user by the name of “Sean O’Meowlly” flagged what they claimed was a “now-deleted post” by UFC commentator Daniel Cormier exposing alleged messages he received from Trump.“I’ll just cut to the chase. Are any of the fights tomorrow rigged?” reads a message alleged to be from Trump to Cormier, which has not been authenticated, though several media outlets have confirmed Cormier’s social media post revealing the alleged exchange – which was quickly deleted – to be authentic.As the initial post revealing the alleged exchange went viral – viewed nearly 12 million times as of Monday morning – Trump scrambled to deny the allegation.“This is completely fake! I have never reached out to Daniel. In fact, this is scary,” Trump wrote in a social media post on X Sunday night, a post he edited three times over the course of seven minutes to slightly alter its language. Less than 30 minutes later, Trump took to X again to deny the allegation, this time claiming the alleged screenshots of the exchange were generated with artificial intelligence.“We are aware of the fake, AI generated screenshots being circulated online,” Trump wrote in another social media post. “I have never spoken to Daniel. He has since deleted his post, which confirms it was clearly fabricated.”Another 14 minutes later, Trump again took to X to deny the allegations.“This did not happen. They were AI generated. Please be careful with reporting,” Trump wrote.The progressive media organization MeidasTouch flagged Trump’s multiple edits to his initial post denying the allegations.“The denial took three tries,” the organization wrote in a social media post on X to its more than 1.3 million followers.Others, like Adam Cochran, a professor and policy consultant, expressed confusion at the specifics of Trump’s denial.“Claiming it is AI generated when the guy posted it himself, and the post had a URL that then said ‘deleted by the author’ is next level stupid," Cochran wrote in a social media post on X to his more than 300,000 followers.The denial took three tries https://t.co/eEchcFMEA4 pic.twitter.com/vY6p7TAOrG— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) June 15, 2026