The Memo: Trump’s tough talk on Iran raises big question — will the US return to war?
Source: The Hill News · Bias: Center
Summary
The United States launched a fresh wave of attacks on Iran on Wednesday, marking the second successive night of offensive action. The new strikes, which were announced in a social media post by U.S. Central Command (Centcom) shortly after 4 p.m. EDT, were far from a surprise. President Trump had told reporters earlier in the…
The Memo: Trump’s tough talk on Iran raises big question — will the US return to war?
Center
The United States launched a fresh wave of attacks on Iran on Wednesday, marking the second successive night of offensive action. The new strikes, which were announced in a social media post by U.S. Central Command (Centcom) shortly after 4 p.m. EDT, were far from a surprise. President Trump had told reporters earlier in the…
The US Military on Wednesday evening released unclassified footage of the latest strikes against Iran.
The post Pentagon Releases Unclassified Footage of US Military Strikes Against Iran – 90 Iranian Military Targets Obliterated (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
President Trump told reporters on Air Force One that Iran wants to make a deal "so badly" hours after US forces started bombing Iran again on Wednesday. Trump posted additional footage from the strikes moments ago on Truth Social.
The post JUST IN: Trump Says Iran Called Begging for Deal After US Strikes, Says US Will Hit Iran 20 Times as Hard if They Attack – “They Want to Make a Deal So Badly” (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The Secret Service advised President Trump not to leave the NATO Summit in Turkey on the newer Qatari-gifted Air Force One, according to a Wednesday report. Sources familiar with the matter said the president flew out of Ankara on the older Air Force One model out of an abundance of caution for a potential threat from…
Even though President Donald Trump has been ordered to pay more than $5 million to E. Jean Carroll, the woman he was found liable for sexually abusing in 1996, the Republican politician is using an old trick — filing frivolous litigation — to try to wriggle out of his legal responsibilities.After U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan denied President Donald Trump's latest legal filing to delay paying E. Jean Carroll, “Trump's attorneys filed a notice of appeal, previewing an effort to stop the $5.77 million disbursement by pleading with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit,” wrote Law and Crime’s Colin Kalmbacher on Wednesday. He explained that Trump has technically exhausted his legal options, having gone through the lower courts all the way up to the Supreme Court, but is prolonging the action in the hope he can delay paying what he owes Carroll.“In a memo for the plaintiff, Kaplan argued the high court's denial of Trump's petition for a writ of certiorari was ‘a final outcome that, as the Parties agreed and this Court expressly ordered, entitles Carroll to 'collect any moneys owed by Defendant to Plaintiff,’” Kalmbacher wrote. “Not so, says Trump in his Tuesday filing.”Kalmbacher explained that “to hear Trump tell it, Carroll's request to disburse the funds misreads a three-pronged section of the stipulation agreement as a disjunctive series of events, wherein one condition being met will allow the defamation verdict award to be unlocked and paid out.” In order to get around that, Trump is arguing that Carroll can only access the more than $5 million owed to her after “the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issues a mandate, the Supreme Court declines the case, and the Supreme Court issues a final order, according to Trump. And, though all of those events occurred, Trump quickly filed a petition for rehearing with the nine justices.”He continued, “Adding a further wrinkle, Trump's petition for rehearing refers to another case between himself and Carroll — and could very well form the basis for the nation's high court to eventually reconsider.”In her lawsuits against Trump, Carroll argued that he defamed her by denying an incident in which he sexually abused her inside a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in 1996. Trump has since tried to discredit Carroll and her lawyer by claiming she knowingly misrepresented that her legal fees were being covered by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. Notably, he has never alleged that Carroll perjured herself by saying that Trump sexually forced himself on her in the dressing room."But here's the thing: you notice how they're not going after her about the substantive testimony she provided about the sexual assault that she was victimized by Trump, right?" prominent lawyer Katie Phang recently observed. "They're not going after that. They're not going after the underlying facts of what she has alleged happened to her at the hands of Donald Trump. That is the tell."
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the release of the $5.8 million that President Trump owes E. Jean Carroll. After the Supreme Court declined last week to hear Trump’s appeal of Carroll’s successful defamation case against him, the president has made excuses and tried to get out of paying her. Trump has already provided the money through a fund set up during the appeals process. However, the interest has grown since then, raising the total sum past the initial $5 million verdict. Shortly after Judge Lewis Kaplan issued his ruling, Trump appealed the decision.In 2023, a jury found that Trump sexually abused Carroll in 1996 in a Manhattan department store, and defamed her after she went public with her story. The jury ordered $5 million in damages, and Trump put the sum, plus interest, in a court-controlled account shortly after losing the case. Still, Trump insisted that he didn’t know Carroll and accused her of political and financial motives, and continued to defame her by claiming she fabricated her story. That repeated defamation resulted in another lawsuit that Trump lost, with a jury awarding Carroll $88.3 million.Carroll is still awaiting payment from a man notorious for many years for not paying his bills. He’s pulling out all of the stops to avoid paying funds that he already deposited, and that are a tiny fraction of his net worth thanks to his successful efforts to use the presidency to enrich himself. Trump can’t admit when he’s lost, whether in court or at the ballot box, and he likes to hoard his ill-gotten gains. This story has been updated.
Donald Trump’s latest attempt to weasel his way out of paying E. Jean Carroll involved a bold-faced lie to a federal judge.In a legal filing submitted Tuesday, Trump’s attorneys asked Judge Lewis Kaplan not to release some of the funds he owes to the beleaguered columnist on the basis that the president’s petition for a new hearing was still pending before the Supreme Court. The only hiccup: The Supreme Court had rejected Trump’s petition filing.By Wednesday morning, the SCOTUS docket had been updated to reflect that the nation’s highest court was anticipating a corrected petition from the president’s team. Hours later, it appeared that Kaplan had gone ahead and ordered the release of the funds to Carroll despite Trump’s pending filing.Carroll has a long and grim history with the president. Trump was found liable by a jury in May 2023 for having sexually abused her in the mid-1990s, for which she was awarded $5 million in damages.Trump lost his defamation case against her the following January, when Kaplan ruled that Trump had continued to defame the advice columnist by denying the rape on the basis that she wasn’t his “type,” and by accusing her of making up the sexual assault allegations against him for the benefit of her book. A jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in that case.But Carroll hasn’t yet seen a dime from either of her legal victories. In May, a federal appeals court allowed Trump to continue staving off his payments until the Supreme Court decided whether to pick up the case. The high court did so last week, rejecting Trump’s challenge and allowing the verdict to stand.Late last month, Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan asked a judge to implement an expedited payment schedule for the sum that Trump owes Carroll (Kaplan is not related to the New York–based judge of the same name). She referred to a June 2023 filing in which both parties agreed that Carroll could collect if the Supreme Court refused to hear the case.Kaplan added that, by this point, the $5 million sum had accrued an additional $779,783 in interest, raising Trump’s debt in the initial case to nearly $5.8 million.“This is the end of the line,” Kaplan wrote in a June 30 filing. “It is time for him to pay Carroll.”This story has been updated.
The White House is preparing for what could become a multi-day or even multi-week exchange of fire with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz.The length and severity of the new campaign hinge entirely on Tehran's next moves, U.S. officials tell Axios.Why it matters: A war that began with the goal of degrading Iran's missile capabilities and destroying what remained of its nuclear program has evolved into an open-ended fight over the world's most important energy chokepoint.A U.S. official said the current escalation could last a day or two, a week or a month, depending on whether Iran continues its attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz."We're going to slap them a bit so they understand we're not f*cking around," the U.S. official said.Driving the news: Diplomacy has stalled for now, and military pressure is back at the center of President Trump's strategy.Trump said Wednesday the 60-day ceasefire outlined in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) was "over" after an exchange of fire triggered by Iranian attacks on commercial ships.The U.S. then launched a second round of strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, including attacks on infrastructure targets inside Iran for the first time in months.Iran retaliated with attacks on U.S. bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, while insisting it would not back down from its claim to control the strait.Shortly after, Trump signaled the U.S. was ready to de-escalate, telling reporters on Air Force One that Iranian officials had "called a little while ago" and "want to make a deal."It was unclear what call Trump was referring to, and Iranian officials did not immediately confirm any direct outreach."I just don't know if they're worthy of making a deal. I don't know that they're going to do honor the deal," Trump added. "They're sort of crazy, to be honest."The other side: Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, accused the U.S. of "bullying and breaking promises" and warned that the strait would only reopen on Tehran's terms."If you strike, you'll get hit," Ghalibaf wrote on X. "The Strait of Hormuz will only open with 'Iranian arrangements,' not American threats."The big picture: Reopening the Strait of Hormuz and restoring freedom of navigation for commercial ships has become a central goal for the Trump administration, mainly to stabilize global energy markets.For Iran, maintaining control over the strait has become a key objective in any deal to end the war.The issue was a central provision in the U.S.-Iran MOU, and conflicting interpretations of the strait clauses are now causing the deal to unravel.The MOU requires Iran to allow safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz. But soon after it was signed, Iranian officials accused the U.S. of violating the deal by routing ships through a southern lane near the Omani coast without Tehran's approval.Between the lines: U.S. officials say the White House believes it has more room to escalate because hundreds of oil tankers have managed to leave the Gulf through the strait in recent weeks.That has eased concerns inside the administration that a renewed clash would immediately trigger a major oil price spike, the officials said.Behind the scenes: A U.S. official claimed the current escalation stems from frustration among more radical elements inside Iran's fractured leadership who believe the MOU has not delivered real benefits for Tehran.Iran saw its leverage in Hormuz slipping as hundreds of ships transited through the southern route close to the Omani coast, the official said.Despite U.S. sanctions waivers, Iran struggled to sell oil because financial institutions would not approve transactions and countries were reluctant to rely on temporary waivers.No Iranian frozen funds have been released because Iran has not yet taken nuclear steps required by the agreement.The framework agreement the U.S. brokered between Israel and Lebanon made the Lebanon portion of the MOU unnecessary, the official said.What to watch: "Part of the Iranian leadership was not happy about all of those things," the U.S. official said."They started shooting and we decided it's time to slap them back hard. It's a process. We have patience. If we don't feel we're getting the deal we want, we are not going to do it."The bottom line: Vice President Vance said Wednesday the U.S. position is simple: the Strait of Hormuz must remain open."If they try to close it down, there's going to be a response from the American military," Vance said."They can either follow it, or they can have exactly what happened to them last night. It's just going to keep on happening until they open up that lane and stop shooting at ships."
