The Trump administration did not seek congressional authorization for the Iran War, which began when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28
Footage showed Araqchi walking into the room where Vance, the US delegation, and mediators were, in front of the cameras, and then leaving after embracing Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
A foreign-relations expert offered blunt advice to President Donald Trump as negotiations between his administration and the Iranian regime deteriorate. Joseph Cirincione, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, told MS NOW's Alex Witt on "Alex Witt Reports" that Trump appears to have a way to make a stronger deal with the Iranian regime, but the president is blind to it because of how much he is blustering about the state of the war. His comments come at a time when Trump's deal with Iran has become the "joke in Washington," according to Cirincione, and the Iranian regime seems to be backing away from an agreement struck between the two sides over continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi refused to shake hands with Vice President JD Vance when the two met for peace negotiations, which some observers described as a "humiliation" for Vance. While the two sides appear far apart on the war, Cirincione pointed out that Trump could still accomplish one of his major goals by preventing the Iranian regime from developing a nuclear weapon. "The Obama approach to negotiation worked. If Trump hadn't torn that up, we would have a fundamentally different relationship with Iran now, and Iran would still be many, many years away from the ability to build a bomb," Cirincione said. "So the only hope is to go back to negotiations and to hope that because Iran has emerged stronger from this war ... it doesn't really need a nuclear weapon as much as they thought they did." "They thought they needed it for defense," he continued. "Well, they have stronger deterrence right now." Cirincione said there is one catch that could make or break the talks. "I think they are willing to compromise on the program if Trump can just shut up and let the negotiators get to work and force the Israelis to stop their war in Lebanon; you could get a deal," he said. "You could still salvage this. But Trump has to act, not bluster."
The deal President Donald Trump's administration struck with the Iranian regime has become a joke in Washington, D.C., and it's left the president embarrassed and flailing for an answer, according to one analyst. Last week, the Trump administration and the Iranian regime agreed to a deal that would immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway that accounts for roughly 20% of the world's energy trade, and postpone more substantive talks until later in the week in Switzerland. Those talks were scheduled to take place on Friday, but were delayed until Saturday due to ongoing fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Iranian regime also announced on Saturday that it was going to shut the Strait of Hormuz again.Joe Cirincione, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, told MS NOW's Alex Witt on "Alex Witt Reports" that the negotiations have soured to the point where Trump has resorted to his "Tony Soprano" negotiation tactics by threatening the Iranians with violence. That has only seemed to further deteriorate the talks, even though Trump is telling "This is what happens when he doesn't have any cards to play," Cirincione said. "He's in a weak position, and now he's embarrassed by this deal. His base is revolting against it. If he were to force this deal to be presented to the United States Congress, I don't think it would pass, and that's not something I would have said just a week ago.""So, he's frustrated. He's lashing out. He's acting irrationally, as he often does, and basically lying about what's going on," Cirincione added. "The joke in Washington, D.C., is that Trump told us this war was going to end with unconditional surrender. He didn't tell us it was going to be our unconditional surrender," he continued.
Political analysts and observers were shocked on Sunday by a new report revealing that former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's actions throughout her more than two decades in office appeared to have been "guided" by Chris Butler of the Science of Identity Foundation, which several ex-members have described as a "cult."The Washington Post obtained more than 25,000 memos and other documents exchanged between Gabbard and Butler that appeared to reveal instances in which Butler gave Gabbard direction on several issues, according to the report. There were other instances in which Butler sharply criticized the former Representative from Hawaii as "mealymouthed" over one bill she introduced. "Dozens of attached memos appeared to document directives and advice for Gabbard from her time in Congress," the report reads in part. "Some contained instructions on what legislation she should propose, which policies she should embrace, and how she should conduct herself on television. They had an air of authority. A memo about a proposal to partition war-torn Iraq into three states quoted an unnamed person as saying it was 'time for TG to come up with this idea.'"Political analysts and observers reacted to the report on social media. "Hillary was right about her," Jen Monroe, host of the "Ambitious Crossover Attempt" podcast, posted on X. "It’s kind of a relief that all her insane policy positions came from a Hindu cult leader and not from [Vladimir] Putin," Sir William Browder, who leads the Global Magnitsky Justice campaign, posted on X. "Tulsi Gabbard as the Manchurian Candidate but for cult kook," Dan Immergluk, professor emeritus of urban studies at Georgia State University, posted on Bluesky. "Sure, make her national security chief, why not? This would have been such a wild story in the before times. Just everyday insanity now.""Strong test of the Unitary Executive Theory," James Goodwin, policy director at the Center for Progressive Reform, posted on Bluesky.
Former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard may have been “guided” throughout her more than 24 years in politics by Chris Butler, the leader of a group countless ex-members have described as a “cult,” an extensive report from The Washington Post revealed Sunday.Gabbard began her career in politics as a Hawaii state House representative in 2002, climbing the ranks over decades before being appointed as Director of National Intelligence last year, a position she resigned from last Friday citing her husband’s deteriorating health. However, after obtaining “hundreds of confidential memos,” the Post revealed that much of her decision making over the past two decades – from what she should say to what bills she should introduce – may have been “guided” by Butler, who founded the Science of Identity Foundation, a new religious movement that began in the 1970s, which some scholars have called a “cult.”“Former devotees had been telling me for weeks that Butler controlled his followers’ major life decisions and demanded total obedience and secrecy,” the Post’s Jon Swaine wrote. “They said he spent years working to extend his reach into politics – and they suspected Gabbard’s rise in Washington was the culmination of that effort.The memos, Swaine revealed, included specific guidance and direction on a number of different topics.“Dozens of attached memos appeared to document directives and advice for Gabbard from her time in Congress,” Swaine wrote.“Some contained instructions on what legislation she should propose, which policies she should embrace and how she should conduct herself on television. They had an air of authority. A memo about a proposal to partition war-torn Iraq into three states quoted an unnamed person as saying it was ‘time for TG to come up with this idea.’”Other memos obtained by Swaine included “harshly critical” language, he wrote, flagging one from January of 2015 that contained a “derisive assessment” of Gabbard’s response to an annual address delivered by former President Barack Obama.“In the first place, nobody gives a s--- what you think about his State of the Union speech, unless you’re going to say something of interest,” the memo read. “You’re not even trying. You’ve become really intellectually lazy.”Swaine continued, “In another, Gabbard was described as ‘chickens---’ and “mealymouthed” for her comments on a policy proposal.”
A senior Trump administration official made a stunning claim Sunday regarding the U.S. war against Iran, telling Zeteo’s Asawin Suebsaeng that the conflict not only began without “real” direction, but that it may very well come back to bite the administration later this year.“It was doomed from the very start,” the senior Trump official told Zeteo, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “We went in with no real mission and we all knew that. Now we have to spend the next five months hoping voters don’t b----slap us for it.”Launched in late February, Trump’s war against Iran began with a number of different objectives. Trump explicitly called for regime change just moments after launching his surprise attack on Iran. He’s also claimed the top war objective has been to ensure Iran does not have the capability to create a nuclear weapon.And yet, despite Trump’s list of war objectives, his top officials – at least, according to the senior Trump official who spoke with Zeteo – were largely directionless in the early days of the war. Another U.S. official told Zeteo that they and their colleagues knew almost immediately that the war would end in failure.“It made me say: We lost. That’s it. And the war had only just begun,” the official told Zeteo, also speaking on the condition of anonymity. “I don’t care if you were for or against this thing, if you’re the commander-in-chief, if you go to war, you can’t start thinking about cutting and running that early.”
The World Cup is lifting the spirits of Mexican fans — literally.
