NYT > U.S. > Politics
As Vance Leads Iran Negotiations, Trump Creates Disruptions in His Path
Vice President JD Vance is in a politically precarious spot.
Center Left
Washington Examiner
Why ‘all men are created equal’
Center Right
In political history, there is undeniably no greater sentence than the following, taken from the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit […]
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The Gateway Pundit
Liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court Strikes Down Race-Based College Grant Program in Place for Decades for ‘Violating the Equal Protection Clause’
In 1985, Wisconsin created the Minority Undergraduate Retention Grant Program through state law Wis. The post Liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court Strikes Down Race-Based College Grant Program in Place for Decades for ‘Violating the Equal Protection Clause’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Far Right
Raw Story
'A boxcutter created algae?' Trump's new reflecting pool claim lands with a thud
The internet questioned President Donald Trump's claims on Monday that someone used a knife or fertilizer to damage the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.Trump alleged that someone damaged the algae-plagued fountain at the National Mall, telling reporters at the Oval Office that there was "a 350-foot slit" in the remodeled water feature. Earlier in the day, he threatened on Truth Social that people who attempted to "destroy" his vanity projects, including the reflecting pool, could face time behind bars.Media experts and political commentators reacted to Trump's comments."A boxcutter created algae?" Leslie Marshall, Democratic strategist and talk show host, wrote on X."Maybe the UN inspectors should come in and take a look at it," longtime casting director Greg Orson wrote on X."This is just bats--- crazy. You got to be pretty deep into the cult to buy this nonsense," Ron Filipkowski, MeidasTouch editor and attorney, wrote on X."Who is the 'they' that Trump claims dumped fertilizer in Reflecting pool? Literally no one has been arrested and charged with doing so," Scott MacFarlane, chief Washington correspondent and anchor at MeidasTouch, wrote on X.Who is the “they” that Trumpclaims dumped fertilizer in Reflecting pool? Literally no one has been arrested and charged with doing so https://t.co/L8NhM6tBRC— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) June 22, 2026
Far Left
The Gateway Pundit
DOJ Backs Catholic Nuns Fighting New York Law Requiring Biological Men to Be Housed with Women in Hospice Care
The Trump Justice Department has stepped into a major religious liberty battle, backing an order of Catholic nuns challenging a New York law that would force them to house biological men with female patients in their residential hospice facility. The post DOJ Backs Catholic Nuns Fighting New York Law Requiring Biological Men to Be Housed with Women in Hospice Care appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Far Right
Alternet.org
Trump's pattern: Create problem, grifters profit, it collapses, prosecute those who notice
Referring to the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, Minnesota governor Tim Walz commented on X: “Found an imaginary problem, said only they could fix it, didn’t listen to experts, hired buddies who grifted millions, failed miserably, bragged how great it went. The entire Trump presidency in a nutshell.” (Walz could have added: “blamed others for his failure, conjured up a conspiracy, then prosecuted them.”)One remarkable aspect of Trump’s horrendous reign is how many crises and problems he’s brought on himself — created them out of thin air. Then he brags about how well he’s handled them. And when they go wrong — as they inevitably do — he casts blame on others or on his political opponents. Four examples from the last few days: I. The Return of Operation Metro Surge U.S. prosecutors in Minnesota on Tuesday announced charges against 15 people they say conspired to “violently oppose immigration law enforcement.” But when repeatedly questioned by the press, U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen failed to describe a single example of injuries to federal agents. Rosen has a dubious track record with this kind of prosecution. In the months after “Operation Metro Surge,” launched by the Trump regime last December, federal prosecutors charged three dozen Minnesotans in a first wave of cases allegedly involving assaulting or impeding federal immigration agents. Most were dismissed or downgraded.So why is Minnesota’s U.S. attorney announcing new charges? Rosen’s predecessor as U.S. attorney, Joseph Thompson, said he doesn’t understand it. “I think most people, on both of the sides of the political aisle, viewed [Metro Surge] as a disaster for the administration,” Thompson told The Wall Street Journal. “Why you would want to go back and re-litigate this is beyond me.”One clue lies in the timing of the new charges — coming just two weeks after the John F. Kennedy Library awarded its 2026 Profiles in Courage Award to the people of the Twin Cities for their resistance to Operation Metro Surge. A bipartisan committee praised the community for defending constitutional rights and demonstrating civic courage:“Tens of thousands took to the streets to peacefully protest federal overreach and threats to immigrant families and constitutional protections, while others documented enforcement activity and alerted neighbors to federal agents’ presence. Faith leaders organized demonstrations, community groups built rapid-response networks, labor leaders and small business defended workers, and volunteers provided critical support and resources. Across religious, racial, and political lines, a broad coalition of residents of the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs united in peaceful resistance despite violent confrontation and real personal risk, defending their neighbors’ rights and strengthening the national movement to protect American democracy.”Trump is presumed to have a grudge against the John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award because last year’s award went to his former vice president, Mike Pence, for explicitly resisting Trump's demands to overturn the 2020 election results on January 6, 2021. II. Trump’s Unedning War in Iran On Sunday, negotiators for Iran and the United States met in Switzerland for a little over an hour. No progress was made. Iranian negotiators insisted on an end to the war between Israel (a U.S. ally) and Hezbollah (an Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon) as a condition for further talks, according to Iranian state media. The talks were also strained by Trump’s renewed threats against Iran. Fox News reports that Trump, in an interview, said he had spoken with Iranian officials Saturday night and warned them not to close the Strait of Hormuz. “You close it, and you won’t have a country,” Fox said, quoting Trump. “You won’t even make it back to your f—--- country.”The Iranian delegation in Switzerland decided to suspend the talks due to Trump’s threats, according to Nour News, which is affiliated with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. IRIB, Iran’s state broadcaster, said it was unclear if the talks will resume.Iran’s lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said on social media that the United States should be careful about issuing threats, adding that Iranian armed forces were prepared to respond. “No matter how much they talk, it is we who act,” he wrote.Iran says the strait is once again closed. World oil prices are again rising. One Republican senator described the war in Iran and the sputtering peace talks as “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.” Trump continues to look for a way out, at least for himself. “If it works out, I’m going to take the credit,” Trump said of the peace agreement, only half in jest. “If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD.”III. Prices Continue to Rise On Sunday, Trump celebrated Father’s Day with a social media post touting that the U.S. has the “BEST ECONOMY EVER.”“Happy Father’s Day!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Our Country is doing GREAT.
Left
Alternet.org
Fox News pushed Trump into a doom loop he helped create
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.
Left
Blaze Media
This Father's Day, let's reject the negative messaging about men
This Father’s Day, we celebrate the dads and father figures who have shaped our lives. But for me, the holiday has always carried a different meaning.I didn’t have a close relationship with my father growing up. That distance was painful, but it taught me something I might not have learned otherwise: We rarely see what men quietly give until it is gone or not there.There is an alternative perspective.Father's Day reminds us of something our culture all too often overlooks: Fathers matter, as do the countless ways men contribute to the well-being of those around them. Earlier this year, the New York Times highlighted research confirming that father-child interaction has a profound impact on a child's health and long-term well-being. Yet nearly one in four children in the United States live without a father in the home, and those children are four times more likely to grow up in poverty.So despite this evidence, why is it that most messaging, whether in entertainment, education, or the workplace, ignores what men contribute and, even more dangerously, diminishes the risk that comes when a father's positive influence is lacking?In our era, men are often portrayed negatively: oblivious, selfish, incompetent; it’s a never-ending list. Popular culture frequently highlights their failures and belittles their successes. On a daily basis they are depicted as naive and ignorant at best, or misogynistic and demeaning at worst.A 2023 Politico/Ipsos poll found that 36% of Americans believe entertainment and culture make it hard to feel proud to be a traditional man. That perception is not imagined but grounded in reality. Entertainment characterizes young men as narcissistic, self-consumed, and arrogant, and when these attributes are broadly assigned, they subconsciously become the norm we envision.What happens when we adopt this mindset? The quiet efforts men make automatically become devalued. Their help is unwanted. Their character is irrelevant. Whatever they offer or become, it will never be enough — and the cost of this attitude is real: Roughly 6.8 million prime-age men are currently neither working nor seeking employment. This is a quiet withdrawal of men from a society that continues to tell them their contributions as a man no longer matter.I want to be clear: This does not dismiss the very real and deep pain some women have experienced from men. Those situations are valid, they matter, and they should always be addressed. But as with any group, we must be careful not to let the worst examples define the whole. Most men do not fit the mold their critics assume.There is an alternative perspective, one that reveals men motivated not by dominance but by devotion. Men who, when given the opportunity, would willingly and quietly carry responsibilities and make sacrifices in hopes of a better life for those they love. These qualities are far more common than they are given credit for.As a young professional, a researcher, and a woman, I have been struck by how much you can discover when you simply observe. I am amazed by how many men have silently endured, pursued growth, and served others without recognition or expecting anything in return, not even a “thank you.” Their victories are private, and their sacrifices remain largely unseen. I have known men who have wrestled with their shortcomings and chose the harder path of becoming responsible citizens, faithful leaders, and caring mentors. Men who valued their roles as friends, husbands, and fathers. Men who, even when they failed, were humble enough to admit their mistakes and strong enough to make them right.There is often a reluctance to acknowledge this side of men, as though doing so somehow threatens women's progress. However, the idea that either men or women must be diminished for the other to rise is not empowerment. It is an ideologically driven rivalry that prevents us from appreciating the unique strengths both bring. Only a mindset of complementarity, not competition, carries the power to set a higher mark for society as a whole.On this Father's Day, we celebrate the fathers and father figures who have encouraged us, sacrificed for us, and helped shape the people we have become. But may this also be a day to honor and recognize what men give daily. For the single dads striving to be present for their children; for the young men who hope to be fathers someday; for the lonely men who long for companionship; for the older men who continue to model character and integrity; and for the widowers who miss their wives every day yet choose resilience — your quiet sacrifices matter, your silent gifts are seen, and they are not forgotten.Sometimes what men provide cannot be measured on a résumé or captured in a headline.
Right
Raw Story
Pete Hegseth's 'exceptionally bad idea' creating needless suffering in military: analysis
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is causing needless suffering within the military ranks by eliminating the universal flu vaccine mandate, according to a new analysis. More than 160 soldiers at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas because of a growing influenza outbreak, which may have killed at least one person in basic training, according to a new editorial from The Washington Post's editorial board. Since the new mandate was handed down in April, at least half of Air Force cadets have skipped getting the shot, and that is part of why the virus is spreading, the editorial added. "If it wasn’t already clear why Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision to eliminate the military’s universal flu vaccine mandate was an exceptionally bad idea, it should be now," the editors wrote. The influenza outbreak is happening at a time when the U.S. is engaged in a protracted conflict with Iran, which seems likely to start heating up after peace talks fell apart this week. Vice President JD Vance was scheduled to travel to Switzerland on Friday to sign an agreement between the U.S. and Iran that was brokered last weekend, but abruptly canceled the plans late Thursday night. The Washington Post editors also took aim at Hegseth's excuse for revising the vaccine mandate, arguing that it makes the military less war-ready. "When Hegseth announced the new vaccine policy, he claimed that 'overly broad' mandates 'only weaken our war-fighting capabilities' and stressed that his rollback would 'restore freedom and strength to our joint force,'" the editors wrote. "In reality, his apparent motive was pandering to anti-vaccine elements inside President Donald Trump’s coalition," they added. "Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a former trial lawyer who has profited from lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers, continues plotting to make it harder for people to get immunizations. Never mind that Trump himself received the flu and COVID vaccines last fall.""The secretary cannot stop seasonal diseases like the flu, but unnecessarily ruling out ways to mitigate harm only degrades military readiness," they continued.
Far Left