Iran-US peace deal faces various threats, from Lebanon, Israel and Trump
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President Trump and Vice President Vance are staring down a number of major challenges in the U.S.-Iran negotiations, despite signs of progress being reported from the first round of talks on Sunday. Vance said Monday that “a very good foundation” had been laid in the initial talks, during which Vance said Iran agreed to invite…
Marjorie Taylor Greene attempted to drive a wedge between a MAGA voter bloc that once counted her as an adherent and President Donald Trump.The former Republican congresswoman posted a video Tuesday morning revealing the lengths taken by the Trump campaign to stifle QAnon conspiracists at campaign rallies, even as the 80-year-old president continues to court their support with social media posts winking and nodding in their direction."You know, I used to follow Q back in 2017, when those posts were actually made," Greene said. "The whole 'trust the plan' thing, the White House is posting Q propaganda on its social media accounts, and I want you guys to know something, I think you should know this.""Back during the 2020 campaign and the 2024 campaign, where, by the way, I spoke at more Trump campaign rallies than any other elected Republican," she added.Greene was one of Trump's strongest allies in Congress until she broke with him over the Jeffrey Epstein files and foreign policy, and she warned after retiring from the House that the president shows no loyalty to his allies. "The Trump team would throw out people, any rally attendee," Greene said, "if they had a Q shirt, QAnon, 'storm has arrived,' 'where we go one we go all' – if they were wearing a shirt, a hat, a button or had a flag or anything – they were kicked out or they were made to change their shirt, take off that hat. During a Trump speech in 2024, when it was the nation in decline part of the speech, with the really sad music, any time these attendees would put their finger, like, make a number one and they pointed it to the sky, security was sent around and they were forced to take their finger down and told not to do that. You want to know why?""Because Trump team didn't want to be associated with the QAnon crowd and they were embarrassed of the Q people and embarrassed of all of that, and that's how they treated them," Greene added. "But now flash forward to 2026, when it's Trump himself that has betrayed the America first wing of MAGA and turned MAGA into Israel first, and he has totally flipped on a bunch of his campaign promises, well, now they're trying to throw out the Q slop and propaganda to get you guys sucked back in, to get you guys sucked back in. Never forget how you were treated – never forget."
Iran is moving unilaterally to tighten its grip on the Strait of Hormuz — and to start collecting revenue from it – even as it negotiates with the U.S. and its Gulf neighbors over future management of the waterway.Iran's top insurance regulator, Mousa Rezaei, announced Sunday that a new insurance company has been created specifically for the strait, according to Iranian state media, and days earlier, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority — an entity Iran established in May — began requiring vessels to register and carry a new mandatory Iranian insurance policy, reported the New York Times.For now, that coverage is free, but shipping experts say the 60-day free period is telling. That matches the length of the cease-fire and free-passage guarantees in last week's U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding ending the war and reopening the strait.Once that window closes, maritime historian Salvatore Mercogliano said, Iran could begin charging vessels for "insurance" against risks — attacks, detained mariners — that didn't exist before Iran itself created them by striking commercial ships earlier this year.Richard Meade, editor of Lloyd's List, called the arrangement effectively a toll by another name, designed to get ahead of the broader negotiations over the strait's security framework that Vice President JD Vance said are still to come.International law generally bars charging tolls for mere passage through a strait, though fees for actual services — like tugging waste disposal — can be legitimate. Iran has not specified what services its new insurance would provide, and the International Maritime Organization said the scheme has not been submitted to it and carries no basis in international law allowing mandatory fees or tolls.The maneuver also creates a trap for shippers. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned the Persian Gulf Strait Authority in May, accusing Iran of trying to monetize attacks on vessels through extortion, and has warned that paying the authority could itself trigger sanctions — leaving companies caught between Iranian demands and U.S. enforcement.The result, Meade said, is that shippers remain stuck in limbo, unable to return to how transit worked before the war and unable to know what rules will govern it next. The Persian Gulf Strait Authority did not respond to a request for comment by the outlet.
The latest in judicial activism found a Biden-appointed judge seemingly declaring the country “belongs to any random alien on planet earth” after blocking an executive order. “We […]
Eight activists convicted of terrorism-related charges and rioting for their role in a noise demonstration outside an ICE facility, at which a local police officer was shot, face up to life in prison when they go before a federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, for sentencing on Tuesday.Another, the last of the nine convicted in March, will be sentenced on July 1.The Trump administration has hailed the case as a watershed in its campaign to dismantle “antifa” as a domestic terrorist threat. But as they await sentencing, the defendants are seeking to overturn the convictions based on the claim that the government suppressed evidence showing that the officer drew first, and based on potential juror misconduct.Defendants have also argued that they should be acquitted or granted new trials because the evidence shows they went to the Prairieland Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility on July 4 last year to set off fireworks and cheer up the detainees. They argue there was no riot and no violence, with the exception of one or two individuals who committed vandalism at their own initiative — and the exchange of gunfire when the police showed up.“They weren’t doing anything wrong," Amber Lowrey, the sister of one of the defendants, told Raw Story. "They’re just human beings. Some of them knew each other, and some didn’t. They did similar volunteer work. People say, ‘It won’t happen to me, because I’m not involved with groups like that.’ Oh, but it will!"The first to respond to the scene when detention officers called to report a disturbance with fireworks on July 4, 2025 was Lt. Thomas Gross with the Alvarado Police Department. Gross’ dash camera, which was reviewed by Raw Story, shows him accelerating down the lane towards the facility. As he approaches the entrance, two figures in black can be seen running past the guardhouse, which is defaced with graffiti reading, “F--- ICE.”“Hey, stop!” Gross yelled.His body-worn camera video shows that he jumped out of his car and pursued the individuals on foot.Almost immediately, gunfire erupted and a bullet grazed Gross’ neck.“F---!” he said as his body landed on the wet pavement. “I’m hit.” Additional footage shows Gross seated in the back of a police vehicle as other officers arrive on the scene. “I’m hit — my back,” Gross says as another officer renders first aid.Later, as Johnson County Sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene and searched defendant Meagan Morris’ car, they discovered a rifle and ammunition.“This is like a straight coordinated terror attack on Prairieland,” one of the officers commented.One of the first of the protesters to be arrested was Nathan Baumann, one of the men Gross had seen running past the guardhouse.“If there’s anything y’all need, like, listen, I’m all for peaceful protest — if you want me to point out people’s vehicles to you, anybody doing dumb s---, I got you, sir,” Baumann said as an officer adjusted his handcuffs and detained him in the back seat of a cruiser.The charges against defendants linked to the noise demonstration initially focused on the shooting, although the shooter remained at large.Benjamin Song, a former Marine who provided firearms training to left-wing activists in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, would not be apprehended for another 11 days.The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10 — more than two months later — brought the government’s case into focus.Later that month, President Donald Trump issued an executive order naming “antifa” as a domestic terrorist organization, followed by National Security Presidential Memorandum/NSPM-7, which described “antifascism” as an “umbrella” for “recurrent motivations and indicia uniting” a “pattern of violent and terrorist activities.” The memo runs down a laundry list of characteristics commonly associated with the left, including “support for the overthrow of the United States government” and “extremism on migration, race and gender.”The Prairieland defendants, who were protesting federal immigration policies and two of whom are transgender, appeared to present the Trump administration with an embodiment of the new threat straight out of central casting.When a new indictment was returned in October 2025, it described the defendants as members of an “antifa cell” and “militant enterprise.”As evidence that the defendants were planning violent action at the ICE facility, the government highlighted a statement by Song in a Signal planning chat: “Cops are not trained or equipped for more than one rifle so it tends to make them back off.”Last week, when the White House announced an indictment against 15 “antifa” defendants in Minneapolis for conspiracy to obstruct immigration enforcement, it cited the Prairieland case as part of its “relentless campaign to eradicate Antifa’s domestic terrorism threat.”The indictment against the Minneapolis 'antifa' defendants reflects a precedent set by the Prairieland case, Xavier T.
The growing list of issues surrounding the renovations at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is creating an unwelcome distraction for President Trump as he seeks to complete beautification projects in Washington ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary next month. Clumps of algae appeared on the floor of the pool within days of the iconic landmark…
Liberal and progressive media outlets have been highly critical of the U.S. Senate's GOP majority for being, in their view, overly deferential to President Donald Trump — often arguing that Republican senators confirmed his most unqualified nominees. But in recent weeks, tensions between Senate Republicans have been flaring. And according to Politico's Jordain Carney, frustrated Senate Republicans are losing patience with Trump more and more."Donald Trump is about to come face to face with one of his frequent punching bags: Senate Republicans," Carney reports. "They might just be in a mood to punch back. The president was invited to GOP senators' Wednesday lunch to push for his No. 1 priority, the GOP election bill known as the SAVE America Act. But several outgoing Republicans who have clashed with Trump said Monday they will be there to deliver a reality check: The bill isn't passing, and it's time to move on."One Republican senator who is speaking out is outgoing Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who recently lost a GOP primary to far-right Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton — who Trump endorsed. Cornyn told reporters, "I'm going to be there front and center. It will be important if it actually is a constructive exchange of different opinions, and hopefully we can all get on the same page. Right now, we're not in a great place."Cornyn said of the SAVE America Act, "I've been around here long enough and been through enough battles and counted enough votes to know that it doesn’t just magically occur, no matter how much you wish it would happen."Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) is making it clear that he has no desire to abolish the filibuster — no matter how much Trump berates his caucus.In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote, "Anybody who doesn't want to Terminate the Filibuster is a FOOL, a very stupid one, at that!"Thune told Politico, "It's not a question of what I want to do or don't want to do. It does always come back to the math. And.… there just aren’t the votes to do it."Other frustrated Senate Republicans who are speaking out include North Carolina's Thom Tillis and Louisiana's Bill Cassidy — who, like Cornyn, lost to a Trump-supported primary challenger.Cassidy said of the SAVE America Act, "I'm a co-sponsor, but it doesn’t have the votes, and so it’s time to talk about something else."Tillis told Politico that he would like to have a productive relationship with Trump but stressed that the president isn't going to get everything he wants legislatively."So why don't we spend more time being productive about how we communicate, when we communicate, and get some of these very pressing issues done?" the North Carolina conservative commented.
My new favorite show is video after video from World Cup tourists who are in awe of America. The 2026 World Cup has become a global love fest for the US — at a time when the rest of the world has plenty of reasons to dislike us. A World Cup hosted by the United States […]
