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Rubio doubtful of diplomacy with Cuba as Trump raises new threat of military action

May 22, 2026Center

President Donald Trump and America's top diplomat on Thursday again raised the specter of U.S. military intervention in Cuba, a day after the administration announced criminal charges against the island's former leader, Raúl Castro.

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'Deadly mistakes': Trump border czar gets pummeled on-air for shrugging ICE answers

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'Deadly mistakes': Trump border czar gets pummeled on-air for shrugging ICE answers

A high-ranking official in President Donald Trump's administration was subjected to ridicule and scorn Sunday after he struggled to answer basic questions.CNN anchor Dana Bash asked White House Border Czar Tom Homan about Immigration Control and Enforcement officers in Texas and Maine who fatally shot unarmed fathers this month. "Do you know specifically what happened to the officers involved in the Texas and Maine shootings?" Bash asked. "Are they on administrative leave?""I don't know, specifically," he said. "The policy would be to put them on administrative leave."Bash pressed, "But as border czar, you don't know for sure if they have been?"Homan shrugged and said, "No."Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, was killed during a traffic stop in Texas on July 7 — FBI claims that he had drugs in his car were later disproved.Joan Sebastian Durán Guerrero, 25, was fatally shot in Maine on July 13 by an ICE agent identified in reports as David Brouillette, an Army veteran whose two ex-wives have accused him of abuse.Bash quizzed Homan on this point. "One of the ICE officers connected to the fatal shooting in Maine was accused of abuse by two ex-wives…Should someone with those issues be an ICE agent?" asked Bash.Homan replied, "No, if those are facts, I don't think he should have ever cleared vetting."Homan's admissions of ignorance stunned onlookers who expected greater detail from an official who oversees Trump's mass deportation initiative."If Tom Homan doesn't know he should be fired on the spot," replied X user Craig Carl. "This is a blatant lie or gross incompetence.""ICE has vetting?" political commentator Mike Bates quipped. "Who knew!""Feckless lying stupid sack of s---," fumed Lizzie Cochrane.Even Bash joined in on the bashing, as video shows, when Homan declared, "I wouldn't say that mistakes were made.""We've seen with our own eyes that mistakes were made," she said. "Deadly mistakes were made. At least 5 of them."

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Top NYT journo calls on reporters to ‘rethink’ White House Correspondents Dinner after Trump dares to clap back

New York Post

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Top NYT journo calls on reporters to ‘rethink’ White House Correspondents Dinner after Trump dares to clap back

During the ritzy WHCD redo Friday, the back-patting association doled out awards to reporters for stories fiercely critical of Trump, including his past association with late sex predator Jeffrey Epstein

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Trump spurs GOP panic with one 'scary number': Report

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Trump spurs GOP panic with one 'scary number': Report

It's not the number of service members who've been killed in the war with Iran. It's not the number of people who have died in ICE custody. It's not the millions of people imperiled by the Trump administration's decision to dismantle USAID.The number terrifying Republicans, according to a new Washington Post report, is the amount of voters worried about the economy. “This is a big chunk,” Nathan Nascimento told the Post. “This is a scary number.”Nascimento, executive director of the conservative super PAC Americans for Prosperity Action, told the Post Sunday that he's disturbed by polling that shows even loyal Republicans and consistent voters are losing enthusiasm for President Donald Trump.About 1 in 5 of those voters in swing states such as Ohio and New Hampshire told the PAC they think they'll either stay home of vote blue in November, the Post reported. There is however enthusiasm on the left, Mitchell Brown, a Republican pollster, told the Post. "Democrats are as enthusiastic about voting as they were at the same time ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, when they swept back into power in the House," Brown said. "But Republicans are far less excited to vote at this point than they were then, posing an issue for the party." In particular, men under 40 represent the greatest risk as they are most likely to have concerns about the economy and prices. "This group proved pivotal to Trump’s 2024 electoral victory," the Post reported, "which included a sweep of some of the same battleground states holding critical elections this year."Natalie Baldassarre, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, denied a dour state of affairs within her party. “Republicans are united, on offense, and armed with our largest war chest in party history because voters are energized and understand what’s at stake in November’s election,” said Baldassarre. As of Sunday, the number of service members who've been killed in the war with Iran is 18. The number of people who have died in ICE custody is 19. The number of people imperiled by the Trump administration's decision to dismantle USAID is 14 million.

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Trump escalates attacks on Kaitlan Collins with new AI-slop jab

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Trump escalates attacks on Kaitlan Collins with new AI-slop jab

President Donald Trump escalated his multi-day spat with CNN's Kaitlan Collins Sunday, sharing an edited image depicting her as Dylan Mulvaney – building on his earlier claim that the anchor resembles the transgender influencer.On Friday at the White House Correspondents Dinner, Trump said that Collins bore a resemblance to Mulvaney, who was subjected to a right-wing fury over a 2023 Bud Light promotional partnership.“I thought Kaitlan had really made it big with a major new sponsorship," he said. "but then I informed her that it wasn’t her on the Bud Light can, it was Dylan Mulvaney.”Trump also told Collins to smile more. "She's a young, attractive woman," Trump told the crowd. "She never smiles. I said, 'Kaitlan do you ever smile? Smile!' You have a nice position; you're at CNN fake news. You should be a happy person. So smile, Kaitlan! Just smile."On Saturday, Collins appeared to indirectly address Trump on social media, sharing the following quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”While it’s unclear if Trump had seen Collins' post, the CNN anchor was clearly still on Trump’s mind.On Sunday shared an image that appears to be a screengrab from Mulvaney’s Bud Light promotional video, only with Mulvaney digitally replaced with a depiction of Collins, potentially with generative artificial intelligence.

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Trump paused attacks on Iran to make space for talks, US ambassador says

BBC News

3 hours ago

Trump paused attacks on Iran to make space for talks, US ambassador says

Neither the US nor Iran have launched attacks in the last two nights, after almost two weeks of tit-for-tat strikes risked derailing talks to permanently end the war.

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Marines Strengthen Arizona Border Wall With New Razor Wire Barrier

New York Post

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Marines Strengthen Arizona Border Wall With New Razor Wire Barrier

U.S. Marines installed coils of razor wire along sections of the U.S.-Mexico border wall in Nogales, Arizona, as part of the Trump administration’s latest border security efforts. Officials said the added barrier is designed to deter people from climbing the wall and is part of a broader federal operation to reinforce existing border infrastructure.

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'Continue this fight': Alex Pretti's mother demands action after son slain by ICE

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'Continue this fight': Alex Pretti's mother demands action after son slain by ICE

Susan Pretti, the mother of Alex Pretti, who in January was fatally shot by immigration enforcement agents, issued a rallying cry to supporters on the six-month anniversary of her son’s killing, urging Americans to "continue this fight.”“Today marks the six-month anniversary of Alex’s murder. No one has been held accountable, no apologies, not a single phone call from any governmental official, hospital personnel, or the [Minneapolis] police dept,” Mrs. Pretti wrote in a social media post. “Six months of pain, a roller-coaster of trauma over and over. Every time another death, another mention, a picture, a tribute, a sorrow so deep. I wonder how to move forward. Will I ever get over this loss and this pain? Will I ever be able to enjoy life again?”Pretti, then 37, was fatally shot on Jan. 24 in Minneapolis, Minnesota amid widespread protests in the state against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The two Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents who fired on Pretti were soon identified as Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez. Neither has faced known disciplinary action.Despite her struggles in the wake of her son’s death, Mrs. Pretti said that the support from “around the world” had been “nothing less than spectacular.” She also directly addressed those who’ve asked how they can continue to support her.“For all you asking what you can do,” Mrs. Pretti wrote. “Continue this fight. Never give up your right to speak out, protect your neighbor, your community and don’t forget to spend time with those you love…”Pretti's death is part of a broader pattern of shootings by immigration enforcement agents under the Trump administration. NBC News found that federal immigration officers shot 14 people between September 2025 and February 2026 as Homeland Security ramped up deportation operations nationwide. More recently, Al Jazeera reported that more than 60 people have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement shootings or while in detention since Trump returned to office in January 2025.Six months after the killing of her son, Alex Pretti, his mother is sharing a heartbreaking message about the grief she says has only deepened with time.In an emotional post marking the six-month anniversary of Alex’s death, she writes that no one has been held accountable and… pic.twitter.com/hG5BytvBiu— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) July 25, 2026

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Trump's becoming 'more erratic' — 'even by Trumpian standards': Aides

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Trump's becoming 'more erratic' — 'even by Trumpian standards': Aides

President Donald Trump’s own aides say he’s become “more erratic” in recent weeks as he’s forced to confront the “limits on his power,” The New York Times reported Sunday.Those “limits,” according to the Times, were exposed by the president’s inability to achieve his stated objectives in his deeply unpopular war against Iran, despite the overwhelming superiority of the U.S. military.“In recent weeks, he has seemed trapped, his presidency gradually consumed by a war he cannot find his way out of,” the Times’ report reads.“He has discovered limits on his power that he could have scarcely imagined when he began full combat operations on Feb. 28, when he set out goals for a swift end to Iran’s nuclear program and the overthrow of the country’s government. Five months later, those goals remain almost entirely unaccomplished.”Despite his efforts, Trump and his administration have failed to not only achieve their objectives in the war against Iran, but have been unable to combat surging oil prices and inflation. And those failures, according to his own aides, have left him rattled.“Those limits have left him deeply frustrated, his aides say, and have made him more erratic, even by Trumpian standards,” the Times’ report reads.“Not all of Mr. Trump’s frustrations, people close to the president say, are driven by the war, now so unpopular that only 29 percent of Americans polled by the Washington Post and Ipsos approved of his handling of the conflict. But much of it is. And the angst is clear as he promises to stop Iran’s nuclear program at any cost, while his allies at home want out.”As noted by the Times, Trump only has three options at his disposal: escalate his military campaign against Tehran, which has already shown little success, rely on sanctions, which similarly have failed to topple Iran’s government, or “declare victory and go home,” which Trump appeared receptive to last month after agreeing to a tentative peace deal that quickly fell apart.Pulling out of the war entirely, the Times noted, however, would “define his legacy,” and “make clear that there are more constraints on his power than he believed in January, when he declared that his reach was limitless.”

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Rubio doubtful of diplomacy with Cuba as Trump raises new threat of military action

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Rubio doubtful of diplomacy with Cuba as Trump raises new threat of military action

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