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...
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.
In an exclusive interview with The Post, Harmeet Dhillon sharply criticized Major League Baseball and the San Francisco Giants for what she called a “double standard” toward religious expression, as federal officials investigate whether Christian players were pressured to wear Pride-themed hats.
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’s new book was released this week to reviews from professional critics that did not hold back – with The Wall Street Journal arguing it was filled with “egregious sloppiness.” The amateur critics took it even further, flooding the book’s page on the Barnes & Noble website with one-star reviews.“This book literally reads like the garbage can I'm getting ready to throw it into,” reads a one-star review from a verified reviewer named “Kelly P.,” as reported by Newsweek on Friday. “There's no way JD actually wrote this. I also find it comical that the Pope doesn't even recognize him as a Catholic.”Of the 29 reviews of the book, titled "Communion," 25 rated it with one star, and four rated it with five stars.“JD’s take on faith and religion is at odds with his behavior and speech in his everyday life,” reads another one-star review from verified reviewer “Karen S.” “I don’t recommend this book. Glad to have public libraries so I didn’t have to buy this book to see what he had to say.”And verified reviewer “Evelyn B.” expressed hope that Vance’s book would “end up on a list of far-right propaganda for future generations” as a reminder of what they called the current “embarrassing era of American politics.”“Poorly written unbelievable trash written by the most vile and despised humans on this earth,” they wrote. “His claim to Catholicism is a meager grab at trying to convey worthiness in a world where the denomination has severely rejected him and the Pope himself denounces his fascist agenda.”The online reviews for Vance’s new book have been so negative that at least two online book-selling websites have “limited or suspended” them, including Amazon and Goodreads, according to the Daily Beast.
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?
Thinking on the Black freedom struggle from June 19, 1865, to now, where do we collectively want to see ourselves next?