President Trump lauded last night’s ‘UFC Freedom 250’ card on the White House lawn as an ‘incredible’ spectacle on a scale never seen before.
When President Donald Trump accepted the April 2026 ceasefire, I knew he had committed the gravest political blunder of his career. America and Israel had cornered Iran, shattered its leverage, and battered its proxies. Instead of forcing permanent concessions, the White House now appears ready to rescue Tehran and rebrand retreat as a “peace crusade.” […]
Republicans have made a dramatic U-turn on the 2028 presidential election, with dozens of contenders now expected to enter the race to succeed Donald Trump as president, an insider told Raw Story.And while no candidates have officially announced their campaigns yet, Rick Wilson, former Republican operative and co-founder of The Lincoln Project, told Raw Story in an exclusive interview that he was tipped off about the development by strategists.“The number of Republicans who are planning to run in 2028 is growing by the minute,” Wilson told Raw Story.“I would say a year ago, there was the presumption that Trump was trying to run again,” Wilson said.But now it’s different. “They think Trump is going to croak,” he said.Wilson anticipated that nearly 20 people are planning on vying for the nation’s top job.“It will be people from Congress, from the Senate, governors, they’re all going to get in because they’re going to see the end of the Trump era. They’re going to claim the throne of MAGA,” Wilson said.“Ambition is a hell of a drug,” he added.Wilson shared insights about who some of the potential candidates could be, and how many have played a long waiting game and think it’s about time they line up.“Some of these guys have been sitting on the sidelines for a decade,” Wilson said. “They all think they should be president.”The number of candidates could present a problem for the GOP — and particularly Trump.“I think we’re going to see a real mess starting in the spring of next year, where you’re going to have the Ted Cruzes and Josh Hawleys and all these other people running around, and it’s going to make Trump lose his damn mind. He’s going to go crazy,” Wilson said.As for Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, it’s unclear what they will decide to do. Wilson referred to the two Trump administration members as “two men with an exaggerated view.” He cited why Rubio’s timing could hurt him.“Marco has peaked way too early. He’s the golden child for Trump and MAGA world, but it’s so early,” Wilson said.By 2027, it will be clearer who might be next in line to succeed Trump and try to make gains among the MAGA movement, he said.“Watch the spring of next year, you’re going to see a lot of people suddenly visiting New Hampshire, suddenly visiting Iowa, suddenly announcing the ‘American Dream super PAC’ and writing terrible campaign books,” Wilson added. “That’s become sort of one of the things, the ritual.”
President Donald Trump was captured on video “smiling” Sunday after an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter dropped a shockingly "offensive” and false remark about former First Lady Michelle Obama during the UFC event at the White House, CNN reported.Mixed martial artist Joshua Hokit, 28, defeated his opponent Derrick Lewis Sunday night at the White House UFC bout, and after his victory, shouted an inflammatory and false claim targeting the former first lady.“Michelle Obama is a man! Am I right, America?” Hokit said, eliciting both cheers and boos from the crowd, CNN reported.Hokit’s remarks also elicited a response from Trump, who was seated in the first row at the event.“In a brief moment captured on camera, Trump, seated first row at the ‘Octagon,’ appeared to show a half-smile seconds after the false remark, which has previously circulated online,” wrote CNN’s Alejandra Jaramillo.Back in February, Trump faced rare bipartisan outrage after posting a video on his social media platform Truth Social that briefly depicted former President Barack Obama and the first lady as primates in the jungle. The blowback was so fierce that Trump – who denied being aware that the segment of the video he posted included the racist depiction – ultimately deleted the post.
It was a spectacle, with a presidential birthday and an Iran peace deal as context and background. “UFC Freedom 250,” a primetime fight night that played out just steps from the White House on Sunday night, combined sports and the office of the president in a way never seen before. Reactions to the event fell sharply along partisan lines, but the event…
Trump again claims victory in Iran. He’s claimed victory before, but now he has a so-called “agreement” with Iran.That agreement, which appears to be no more than a memo of understanding — that is, a set of principles to which Iran and the United States have agreed — stops the fighting and reopens the Strait of Hormuz but it does not deal with the issue that caused Trump to initiate the conflict: Iran’s nuclear program. Keep that in mind as you hear various renditions of what’s been decided. Recall that the Strait of Hormuz was open before Trump began bombing Iran. At best, the agreement Trump is touting restores the status quo to where it was when he commenced hostilities. Remember also that Iran had agreed to limit its development of nuclear-grade materials in its treaty with the Obama administration, which Trump revoked in 2018. So what has been accomplished? Iran now is under the control of a more extremist regime than when Trump started this war. Oil prices are far higher, and will take some time to return to where they were before it began (if they ever do). Meanwhile, Trump has caused the United States to be more dependent on fossil fuels than we were prior to his inauguration for a second time, and the high oil prices brought on by his war has enriched Vladimir Putin’s regime. The war with Iran has cost the United States an estimated $90 billion, and that’s a conservative estimate. It has caused widespread suffering throughout the Middle East. It has put Israel in a more precarious situation than it was before — and much of that is due to Benjamin Netanyahu, who is not a party to, and has not approved, the agreement. This doesn’t look like a victory. Compared to where the United States and the Middle East were on February 28, when Trump began this war, it’s a terrible failure. Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/
MS NOW's Joe Scarborough highlighted new reporting about the inner workings of President Donald Trump's White House that will likely become the subjects of criminal prosecutions.New York Times correspondents Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan reported that Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller proposed suspending habeas corpus to speed up mass deportations, and both he and Vice President JD Vance pushed the president to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota, and the "Morning Joe" host said those actions were plainly unconstitutional."This was after they had already gunned down two innocent Americans for doing just that, for protesting, and yet they're still talking about enacting the Insurrection Act," Scarborough said. "They're still talking about suspending habeas corpus through this entire period. You know, maybe it's just the lawyer in me, but excerpts from this book are reading – whether you look at Todd Blanche trying to cover up one of the biggest pedophile rings in the history of America, or you have the vice president and Stephen Miller talking about habeas corpus, suspending habeas corpus, and the Insurrection Act.""That sure does look like a place where a lot of lawyers in the future are going to start discovery in their investigations, whether it is with a Democratic Congress, whether it is with prosecutors, because the president may try to pardon a lot of people," Scarborough added. "He's not going to be able to pardon the entire government, and these just seem to be clearly illegal acts or a conspiracy to commit illegal acts."White House insiders are already scrambling to deflect previous revelations that came from their forthcoming book, "Regime Change," which hits the shelves June 23, and Scarborough said this would raise the temperature even further."No wonder, and I know you've heard this, like I've heard this," Scarborough said, "no wonder the White House is melting down over this book because there's so many people who are exposed who are going to have to hold up their right hand at some point and take an oath and tell everybody what happened behind those closed doors, because even the glimpse we're getting from this book is ugly." - YouTube youtu.be
Pakistan will host an event in Geneva to mark the US-Iran peace deal, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told parliament, crediting Army Chief Asim Munir with playing an “extraordinary role” in efforts to end a conflict that threatened to destabilize the global economy.
‘LET THE OIL FLOW!’: On his 80th birthday, President Donald Trump proudly announced a 60-day ceasefire extension with Iran that he touted as a “Great Deal will bring Peace and Security to the whole Region.” “Many presidents have tried to make Peace with Iran, and all have failed before me,” Trump gushed on his Truth […]