Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proactive defense in the face of multiple federal investigations — the governor is accusing President Trump of lawfare and rampant corruption — is starting to draw pushback, as the California leader’s own record has frequently raised questions of pay to play.
The Georgia legislature plans to hold off on redrawing the state’s congressional map during Wednesday’s special legislative session, despite a request from Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) to take up redistricting ahead of the 2028 election cycle. Instead, Republican leaders said they want lawmakers to focus on tax relief measures and ratifying the state’s gas tax […]
The Federal Reserve held rates between 3.5% and 3.75% after Kevin Warsh's first meeting in charge of the central bank.
As information emerges about President Donald Trump’s peace deal to end his war with Iran, there has been no shortage of criticism about the many concessions it offers from the American side. According to longtime Republican strategist Steve Schmidt, Trump’s surrender has not only been a major loss for the U.S., but its greatest irony may be that it validated the actions of one of the president's predecessors and top adversaries: Barack Obama.On Wednesday, Schmidt explained what he asserts are the three looming ironies to Trump’s failed “excursion” to Iran.First was the very fact that “the president who thundered that there would be nothing less than ‘UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!’ now appears prepared to conclude his war by accepting an agreement that bears an uncomfortable resemblance to the diplomacy he once condemned as treasonous. If the reported Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is signed this week, the United States will have spent months at war, exhausted enormous military resources, suffered American casualties, destabilized the global economy, and emerged not with the destruction of the Iranian regime, but with another negotiated framework. That’s not ‘unconditional surrender.’ It’s negotiation. It’s compromise. It’s the very thing Donald Trump spent a decade telling the American people was weakness. The irony is staggering.”Then Schmidt raised Trump’s assertions regarding Obama’s previous deal with Iran.“There is another irony that deserves attention because history has a wicked sense of humor,” wrote Schmidt. “Donald Trump built much of his foreign policy identity around destroying Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran. He called it ‘the worst deal ever negotiated.’ Republicans spent years portraying the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as an act of appeasement. The accusation was simple. Obama negotiated with terrorists. Obama rewarded aggression. Obama was weak.”Now in the aftermath of Trump’s war, says Schmidt, it is clear which president had the wiser approach.“Barack Obama negotiated before there was a war,” writes Schmidt. “Donald Trump fought the war first — then he negotiated. Obama’s critics promised that strength would produce a dramatically better outcome. Instead, America appears poised to arrive at another agreement centered on sanctions, inspections, nuclear limitations, implementation timelines and economic incentives — the very architecture that Republicans spent years condemning.”And according to Schmidt, “The road between those two agreements is measured not simply in dollars, but in blood. The cost and destruction have been immense. Entire regions have been destabilized. American military stockpiles have been depleted. Strategic deterrence has been tested. Global markets have been shaken. The prestige of American power has been diminished because maximalist promises created expectations that reality could never satisfy.”Finally, according to Schmidt, “The greatest irony of all may be this: Barack Obama was vilified for negotiating with Iran. Donald Trump may ultimately be remembered for fighting a costly war only to negotiate over many of the same questions. History has a cruel way of exposing the distance between rhetoric and reality. That distance is measured in lives, treasure and broken promises — and it is measured by the judgment of history, which has never accepted slogans as substitutes for success.”
"This way, if it works out, I'm going to take the credit. If it doesn't work out, I'm blaming JD. You better be careful, JD," Trump joked at a press conference.
The Trump administration’s Iran peace deal will require America to loom large over the country for many years to come.The president admitted during a press conference at the G7 summit in France Wednesday that there is nothing enforceable in the drafted agreement, but rather that the constant threat of bombs should be enough to keep Iran committed to its terms.“There’s nothing enforceable in the deal itself, is that correct?” asked a reporter.“Doesn’t have to be,” Trump said wearily. “I let them know. I said, look, if you don’t adhere to the agreement, I don’t want to do that, but we’re going to bomb the hell out of you.”“And I don’t think that they’re going to veer from the agreement. What else am I going to do? I’m not going to say, ‘I’m going to take you to court,’” he mused. “‘Let me take you to court, let me sue you.’ No, we’re going to bomb the hell out of them if they violate the agreement.”Q: On Iran, there's nothing enforceable in the deal itself, is that correct?TRUMP: There doesn't have to be. I let them know. I said, 'Look, if you don't adhere to the agreement, we're gonna bomb the hell out of you.' pic.twitter.com/KbXPsLfU42— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 17, 2026The text of the arrangement has not yet been made public, though both the White House and Tehran already signed the deal on Sunday. U.S. officials read the American draft of the agreement to reporters after Trump’s press conference, but did not release the document. Iran has not released a draft.The latest draft reportedly proposes the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz under Iran’s direction, a commitment from the U.S. not to interfere in Iranian affairs, and a reiteration of Iran’s commitment not to produce nuclear weapons, echoing language included in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.One component of the plan has become the subject of much debate: a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran, which was originally understood to be provided at cost to U.S. taxpayers. Top Trump officials have wavered on the specs of the fund—first claiming that Iran would receive no money, then practically confirming the fund, then backtracking again to claim that the aid package would be bankrolled by Iran’s regional neighbors yet managed by the U.S.The murky arrangement does not seem to include details on whether or not Iran will stop enriching their uranium—a highly anticipated component and one of the White House’s most pressing demands. Failing to obtain commitments regarding Iran’s nuclear program would make the deal far weaker than the Obama administration’s JCPOA.
The 'behested payments' corporations made at the behest of the governor included contributions to a non-profit run by the governor's wife.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris is reportedly “not surprised” that California Governor Gavin Newsom and his wife are being investigated by the Justice Department. During an Austrian […]
Embattled California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, are reportedly currently worth $30 million, making the governor’s $245,929 annual salary look like chump change. […]