President Trump said the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is “probably” going to be drained for repairs after a recent algae bloom and instances of peeling paint following his administration’s major renovation of the Washington landmark. “We met with contractors today, will probably be forced to release and drain much of the water in order to…
Sen. Cory Booker criticized President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling them both ‘criminal” leaders.
"You close it, and you won't have a country. You won't even make it back to your f--king country."
President Donald Trump on Sunday issued a warning to Iran that it must stop its proxies from “causing trouble” in Lebanon or Tehran risks being “hit” by the United States. “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “If they don’t, we’ll hit […]
U.S. and Iranian officials met in Switzerland Sunday ahead of negotiations to solidify the tentative peace deal between Washington and Tehran and bring about an end to the U.S. war against Iran, but according to one expert, President Donald Trump and his administration are ignoring a pressing issue that risks blowing up talks before they’ve even started.“I'd be surprised to be that optimistic,” said Richard Haas, former policy director at the State Department, during an appearance Sunday on MS NOW when asked about his thoughts on the likelihood of peace talks succeeding.The pressing issue, Haas warned, was Israel’s ongoing bombardment and occupation of Lebanon, which since March has killed nearly 4,000 Lebanese, wounded close to 12,000 and sparked a humanitarian crisis affecting more than one million people. In the first clause of the tentative peace deal agreed to by Washington and Tehran, a provision explicitly calls for Israel to end its military operations in Lebanon.“What happens if and when Iran demands that Israel vacate Lebanon altogether, that Israel not go back into Lebanon?” Haas said. “That is going to be something of a red line for Israel, and the question is what does the United States do? Do we put pressure on Israel, or do we tell Iran 'no way?' So there's no way you can solve the Lebanon issue once and for all, this has been an open problem for decades and it's going to continue to be one of the many things that's going to really bedevil these negotiations going on.”Trump has tried to pressure Israel to halt – or at least shrink – its military operations in Lebanon, but has been refuted by Israel each time.
Trump said earlier on Friday that federal authorities were “actively investigating” reported vandalism near the reflecting pool.
On Monday, Trump announced beginning concepts of a plan to discuss an outline of understanding on how to end the war in Iran. It was Trump’s 39th such announcement since he started the war.Israeli leaders, ostensible partners in Trump’s war, are now convinced that Trump’s MOU with Iran makes Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal look perfect in comparison, after Trump tore that deal up, calling it "a deal at the highest level of incompetence" and "the worst deal ever negotiated." Obama’s 2015 deal featured highly detailed, multi-decade uranium enrichment caps and verification protocols, while the core mechanisms of Trump’s MOU remain unfinalized and deferred for 60-days. Although Trump’s MOU may pause the fighting he started, it has not established any permanent, legally binding nuclear dismantlement or the long-term inspection protocols Trump initially demanded, and it includes a plan to hand Iran up to $300 billion in damages. The biggest achievement will be the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which, of course, is simply a return to the prewar status quo.Fox News, after promoting Trump’s attacks on the 2015 Iran deal, reported the MOU saying, Trump “deserves credit for bringing this conflict to this point.” Fox News manipulated Trump into Iran Fox may be reluctant to criticize an end to a costly war it encouraged. Fox News and its hawkish hosts played an aggressive role in pushing Trump toward greater military force in Iran — a troubling dynamic critics call a "doom loop" between the White House and the network, a self-reinforcing feedback cycle where the administration's grievances and policies prioritize media spectacle over governance, which in turn shapes presidential policy and messaging.As early as June 2025, Fox talking heads pushed for war with Iran, encouraging Trump into open conflict. Mark Levin reportedly helped push the June 2025 U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities by convincing Trump over lunch that the country was just days away from getting a nuclear weapon. When a fragile ceasefire was declared in April 2026, rather than celebrating, many Fox voices including senior security analyst Jack Keane and host Brian Kilmeade demanded it be broken. These voices agitated for the Trump administration and Israel to resume aggressive bombing campaigns rather than continue diplomatic negotiations, demanding Trump restart the war and, in their words, "finish the job." Host Ainsley Earhardt even told Trump that Americans were supportive of escalating aggression in Iran, which was not true.Sean Hannity, Brian Kilmeade, and Jesse Watters all floated the idea of flooding Iran with small arms to provoke an uprising. Kilmeade, one of the network's most prominent hawks and co-host of Fox & Friends, proposed relentless U.S. strikes against Iranian targets to "open up the strait," "grab the uranium," and "target bad actors," an apparent embrace of assassination. Other Fox News hosts also pushed Trump to seek regime change in Iran, hosting retired Gen. Keith Kellogg, who called for "putting boots on the ground" and for the U.S. to seize Iranian territory. This was not commentary or news, it was Fox television personalities directly shaping foreign policy at the highest level.The doom loop is dangerousWhat makes this dynamic especially fraught is the structural relationship between Fox and the Trump administration. Trump has appointed more than two dozen former Fox News hosts into administration positions, blurring the line between media and government in an unprecedented way. When Trump calls into Fox & Friends, he is not just doing an interview — he is engaging a network with an inherent interest in promoting conflict and spectacle. Fox hosts also manipulate Trump with hyperbolic praise: when Trump ordered military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Sean Hannity said the strikes would "go down in history as one of the greatest military victories," while other hosts claimed Trump deserved "six Nobel Peace Prizes" and a spot on Mount Rushmore. Trump went on to demand—and expect— both honors.Fox's lockstep promotion of Trump's war reflects the network's calculated plan to keep MAGA enraged and engaged. War framed as a righteous confrontation with a Judeo-Christian undertones is good television. It generates ratings, emotional investment, and brand loyalty. It is what happens when the line between journalism and political advocacy dissolves. A network that functions as an echo chamber for a sitting president, with hosts who propose military strikes rather than analyze them, and treats war as a network ratings strategy, has abdicated its responsibility to the public and should be held to account. The feedback loop between Fox and the White House helped produce a war that cost American lives, roiled the global economy, and left our allies disgusted. Even if Trump’s MOU miraculously holds, analysts predict the global economy will take months and even years to recover.
Donald Trump asked the public to celebrate ICE as misunderstood heroes Saturday, and veteran White House correspondent Brian Karem answered with a single word: "LIE."The president had posted what he framed as a poll, declaring that "ICE has been abused by the Fake News Media at levels never seen before." He called the agents "Great Patriots who work hard, and do a fantastic job in a very hostile environment," and blamed the criticism on "the Dumocrats and the Fake News." Karem, a longtime reporter who has sparred with multiple administrations from inside the briefing room, was not interested in the patriotic framing."ICE ignores due process and hides behind masks as if they're the KKK riding through the south during the 1920s," Karem wrote, before invoking two names that have become central to the case against Trump's immigration crackdown. "Renee Good and Alex Pretti were fatally shot in Minneapolis during the Trump administration's 'Operation Metro Surge'." His conclusion was blunt: "ICE are not patriots. They're criminals."The history behind those names is not in dispute. Renée Good, a 37-year-old US citizen and mother, was shot and killed by an ICE agent on January 7 while in her car. Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old US citizen and intensive care nurse at a Minneapolis VA hospital, was shot multiple times and killed by Customs and Border Protection officers on January 24 while filming agents with his phone. Both deaths occurred during Operation Metro Surge, the aggressive enforcement campaign that drew more than 3,000 arrests, mass protests, a Minnesota general strike, and a homicide ruling from the county medical examiner in Pretti's case.What followed deepened the controversy Karem was pointing to. Minnesota officials sued the administration for withholding evidence in the shootings, accusing federal authorities of shielding the agents involved. Local police chiefs and the Hennepin County sheriff condemned the operation, with one calling the agents' conduct "not just only wrong, but illegal." The administration has defended the shootings as self-defense and declined to release the agents' names.That record is what makes Trump's "Great Patriots" framing so combustible. The president is asking Americans to rally behind an agency whose officers killed two of their fellow citizens months ago, in killings still tangled in lawsuits and stalled investigations. Karem, who has spent a career being told by presidents that the press is the enemy, simply refused to let the rebranding pass unchallenged.LIE. ICE ignores due process and hides behind masks as if they're the KKK riding through the south during the 1920s.Renee Good and Alex Pretti were fatally shot in Minneapolis during the Trump administration's "Operation Metro Surge".ICE are not patriots. They're criminals. https://t.co/p6mH6O2IbJ— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) June 21, 2026
Former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said in a social media post on Saturday that Dr. The post “There is a Path” – Tulsi Gabbard Says Fauci Can be Prosecuted for Lying to Congress Despite Preemptive Pardon appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.