Here's a look at the preliminary agreement between the U.S. and Iran, and the challenges that remain to find lasting peace.
Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a former close ally of President Trump’s, took the side of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday after the European leader strongly rejected Trump’s claim that she “begged” him for a photo this week. “I believe @GiorgiaMeloni, she’s great!” Greene wrote on social media, adding, “Trump lies. Constantly.”…
Democratic political strategist James Carville warned President Donald Trump that the knives would be out after this fall's midterm elections.The veteran political operative was discussing the forthcoming book "Regime Change" by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan on his "Politics War Room" podcast, and he said the depth of their reporting showed the White House was leaking."Don't trust anybody," Carville cautioned the president. "They got tapes – everybody. Everybody in the administration is sh--ing all over you, and they're just getting warmed up."The White House could become a pit of vipers in the second half of the 80-year-old president's second term, Carville said."The other effect that comes after November is these people will realize that their careers are, for all intents and purposes, gone," he said. "No one's going to want to hire anybody out of the Trump administration, and the way that you get right with history is start leaking and you position yourself as a person that tried to tell them. That's the only future you have. Leak like a sieve, leak like a broken faucet – leak everywhere. You're already leaking. Everybody's leaking on you. Everybody's leaking on everybody else.""Trust no one," Carville added. "That's my message to anybody that works in this administration, and if I'll give you one piece of advice, Donald Trump, everybody is out for you, even your own people. Be scared. Be very afraid. That's what I see." - YouTube youtu.be
President Donald Trump expressed confidence in the prospect of keeping Israel from attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon after the United States made substantial progress to end the Iran war this week. Asked if he will be able to control Israel to prevent a future outbreak in the war, the president replied, “Yeah, I will be.” “They […]
President Donald Trump turned his back on Vice President JD Vance in anger last summer after he suggested softening parts of a speech about U.S. strikes on Iran, according to a book from New York Times reporters.In "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump," obtained by Politico, New York Times correspondents Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan reported that Vance, an Iraq War veteran and longtime skeptic of foreign interventions, appeared "anxious" to aides the night Operation Midnight Hammer commenced.Vance suggested edits to soften Trump's remarks, but the president snapped, "I know what I'm doing," the authors wrote. They added that Trump then turned away from Vance without responding further, appearing irritated by what they describe as Vance's "second-guessing."A senior White House official disputed the account, speaking on condition of anonymity. "You'd think they would have checked their sources before putting false claims like these on paper," the official said, denying that Trump ever turned his back on Vance and calling the book's version of events a mischaracterization.The episode is one of several tensions between Trump and Vance detailed in the book. Separately, the authors report that Trump was angry with Vance for not immediately echoing his claim that Iran's nuclear program had been "totally obliterated."“Trump told one associate, ‘Everyone needs to say ... “obliterated," the authors wrote. "'That’s the word. Everyone just needs to copy what I say. Obliterated. Obliterated.’”Vance had instead told ABC News he wasn't sure of the distinction between "severely damaged" and "obliterated," though he later adopted Trump's preferred language in a Fox News appearance the next day.White House spokesperson Anna Kelly defended Vance in a statement, calling him "an incredibly trusted and talented member" of Trump's national security team and pointing to his role leading negotiations on the memorandum of understanding that ended the Iran conflict.The book also reportedly described Trump as genuinely impressed by Vance, frequently telling associates it was notable that Vance got into Yale without wealthy family backing.
Trump blindsided senators by forcing cancelation of Jay Clayton's DNI hearing and linking FISA renewal to the president's SAVE America Act.
President Trump signed the U.S.–Iran memorandum at Versailles after Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf reportedly signed it digitally earlier in the week. The agreement, witnessed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, is being framed as a step toward ending hostilities and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. officials say...
Vice President JD Vance ripped Israeli officials who have criticized President Trump over the US-Iran memorandum of understanding, blasting them for complaining about the document that requires them to stop striking Hezbollah in Lebanon. Vance told reporters in the White House briefing room Thursday that Israeli cabinet members had, in some cases, “very personally attacked...
Former President Barack Obama said the U.S. is worse off because of current President Trump’s war with Iran. “We’ve now fought a war, spent billions and billions of dollars, you know, put enormous strain on our military,” Obama said in an interview with NBC’s Craig Melvin.“A lot of people have died. And it feels like we’re back where we were before we started the war, except maybe a little bit worse off,” Obama continued. “I am very happy to see a ceasefire. And I’m hopeful that it holds.” The interview was conducted before the public opening of the Obama Presidential Center on Thursday, and aired Friday morning on the Today show. Obama pointed out that under the 2015 JCPOA agreement his administration negotiated with Iran, “Iran had agreed not to develop nuclear weapons.”“This administration, or a prior version of this administration, pulled out of it, which caused then Iran to develop more nuclear capacity,” Obama said, referring to Trump’s decision to withdraw from that deal in 2018, despite the agreement also involving the European Union, Russia, China, the U.K., France, and Germany. International observers also said that Iran was complying with the JCPOA at the time.Obama faced criticism from the right and his own party over the nuclear agreement, but it had the support of the international community, and it didn’t leave the U.S. in a worse position. Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Iran is under fire from virtually everyone, including Democrats, Trump’s MAGA base, Republicans in Congress, and Israeli officials, who are calling it a “surrender” and “total capitulation.” In his speech at the opening of his library Thursday, Obama emphasized principles in the Constitution that Trump has flouted throughout his time in the Oval Office, and praised protesters in Minnesota who rallied against the Trump administration’s brutal immigration effort in the state, saying, “these are the values and traditions I believe in.” What values does Trump believe in, except for acting in his own self-interest?