During an interview with the “Fox News Rundown” podcast released on Wednesday, Homeland Security Chairman Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) said that Iran attacks the U.S. “every day, millions of times a day, with cyberattacks.” While discussing drone threats, [relevant remarks The post House Homeland Security Chair: Iran Attacks Our Cyber ‘Every Day’ appeared first on Breitbart.
U.S. and Iranian negotiators have agreed to a 60-day ceasefire extension and nuclear talks. The tentative deal, following weeks of heightened military tensions, though awaits final approval from President Trump.
This should be interesting. As White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt remains on maternity leave, the Trump White House has done something remarkable and very unique. Cabinet members are taking turns delivering the White House press briefing. Today, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent steps up to the podium and will be delivering the White House briefing […] The post Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Give White House Press Briefing – 2:00pm ET Livestream appeared first on The Last Refuge.
Two major UFC figures raised concerns about the wisdom of holding a cage fight on the White House lawn this summer, after President Donald Trump set the idea into motion. UFC CEO Dana White, a close friend of Trump’s who has been tasked with overseeing the June 14 match, has heralded the event as an […]
President Donald Trump continues to suffer from low approval ratings in poll after poll, including, in late May, an Economist/YouGov poll showing his approval down to 34 percent and a CNN poll showing him at 36 percent approval. And GOP insiders interviewed by MS NOW are pointing the finger at Trump White House staffers, who, they argue, are failing to keep him on track from a messaging standpoint.Jake Traylor and Soorin Kim, reporting for MS NOW, explain, "President Donald Trump's numbers on job approval and the economy have sunk to record lows. His aides know it. His former advisers are saying so publicly. And yet, the president keeps talking about what he wants to talk about, not the issues voters say are driving their discontent — much to the White House's chagrin. As the U.S. war with Iran stretches into its fourth month — driving up gas and grocery prices and stoking inflation — Trump has instead devoted time to topics that make some of his own staff wince."The reporters continue, "There's his latest construction projects, including the new White House ballroom and the renovation of the reflecting pool on the National Mall. There's the purge of Republican lawmakers deemed insufficiently loyal, most recently four-term Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. The SAVE America Act."A former Trump adviser, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told MS NOW that the president's current White House advisers are "no longer effective" when it comes to keeping him on message.The ex-adviser argued, "I think it's a failure on the part of his staff. They're not focused on the issues that Americans are focused on, which is obviously, affordability."That MS NOW source lamented that the Trump Administration's $1.7 billion "anti-weaponization fund" and the proposed White House ballroom aren't helping Trump's popularity a bit.The former Trump adviser complained, "While obviously, the president is going to do what the president is going to do, his staff has just so ill-prepared him or ill-informed him of the political consequences of what he's doing. It's malpractice.”Another former Trump White House staffer, also quoted anonymously, told MS NOW, "While beautifying our nation's capital is surely important and appreciated, if you don't live, work, or visit DC, you don't really reap the benefits of the president's passion projects. What people do feel is $4.50 gas, and that's the real passion point for Americans."A current Trump White House official told MS NOW, "There's no new messaging approach. There can be no new approach. You can't do that with (Trump)."
Nearly two months after the United States and Iran agreed to a ceasefire, are the two sides any closer to a lasting peace deal? We speak with Robert Malley, the Middle East program director at the International Crisis Group, who worked in multiple Democratic administrations and helped negotiate the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal with Iran. He says Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of that deal in 2018 “was a completely reckless and absurd one,” with the Trump administration renegotiating many of the same issues, as well as pushing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran did not previously control. “We should never have been in the position we’re in now.”
When the Pentagon announced a $620 million loan last year to a small North Carolina startup linked to Donald Trump Jr., defense officials and the company tried to tamp down suspicions of cronyism.The president’s eldest son said through a spokesperson that he wasn’t involved. The Pentagon said Trump Jr. played no role in the record-setting deal. And the startup’s founder told reporters that his company, Vulcan Elements, received no political favoritism.But interviews and Defense Department records reviewed by ProPublica show that the request to loan hundreds of millions of dollars to the firm linked to Trump Jr. was made by Peter Navarro, a White House adviser to President Donald Trump and a friend of Trump Jr.’s.Of the dozens of companies the Pentagon was considering funding at the time, Vulcan’s was the only deal initiated by a top aide to the president, said an official at the Pentagon who was not authorized to speak publicly.After defense officials got the White House request, they asked Pentagon staff to move at an unusually rapid pace, said another person who was involved in the deal at the Pentagon but not authorized to speak about it. The staff worked late nights and with little sleep to get the loan through in a matter of weeks, the source said.“The call came from the White House: We have to get this done,” the person said.The deal is one of many actions by the Trump administration that have helped companies in which the Trump family holds stakes. Government contracts and other benefits have gone to various Trump-linked companies, prompting allegations of self-dealing by Democratic lawmakers and good government experts. But ProPublica’s reporting on the Vulcan loan represents the first time the awarding of a contract from a federal agency has been directly linked to White House intervention.The loan was a massive financial commitment from the Pentagon in its effort to fund companies that could help the U.S. reduce dependence on China’s critical mineral supply chains. The deal was a dramatic win for Vulcan, a North Carolina rare-earth magnet company launched just two years earlier. Estimates of its valuation grew tenfold after the deal was announced. It was also a win for Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm, which took a stake of undisclosed size in Vulcan about three months before the Pentagon announced the deal.And there may be more good news on the way for the president’s eldest son. Among other companies under review for a Pentagon loan was a drone parts manufacturer that Trump Jr. advises and owns a stake in, according to one of the defense officials who spoke to ProPublica.Navarro, who served as trade adviser in Trump’s first term, and Trump Jr. have formed a close bond in recent years. The president’s son visited Navarro in prison while he served time for defying a subpoena from lawmakers investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Trump Jr. was one of the small group of people Navarro dedicated his latest book to for having “my back when it was against the wall.” And a week before the Vulcan deal was announced, Trump Jr. hosted Navarro — now the president’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing — on his streaming show, encouraging his nearly 2 million subscribers to buy Navarro’s book. That interview was not long after word came down from Navarro to Pentagon staff to make the massive loan to Vulcan, one of the defense officials involved in the deal said.Navarro did not respond to questions from ProPublica sent to him directly. Neither did Vulcan. A White House spokesperson said in a statement that the administration is working “in the best interest of the American people,” adding, “The President’s entire team, including Senior Counselor Navarro and officials at the Department of War, is working together and with private industry to secure America’s critical mineral supply chain at Trump Speed.” Trump Jr.’s spokesperson said the president’s son does not discuss companies he has invested in with federal government officials and did not speak to Navarro about Vulcan. He “has no knowledge about how this deal came together,” the spokesperson said. A spokesperson for 1789 Capital, the venture firm where Trump Jr. is a partner, said it also played no role in Vulcan getting the loan and did not learn about the deal before it was public.“No company receives preferential treatment,” a Pentagon spokesperson said. “Outside affiliations, investors, or political connections play absolutely no role in the Department’s funding decisions.”Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer during the George W. Bush administration, said aides to the president should not be intervening in contracting and lending decisions by agencies, particularly in matters that financially benefit the president’s family.“This is our money they’re spending,” Painter said.
The U.S. military intercepted and shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones and struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone, a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Hill on Wednesday. Bandar Abbas is a port city on the southern coast of the…
Iran's military fired four one-way drones at a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, a senior U.S. official said.The U.S. military shot down the drones and attacked another Iranian drone-launching unit on the ground before, the official added.Why it matters: This is the second such skirmish in 48 hours. It happened as the U.S. and Iran are negotiating a deal to end the war.Driving the news: U.S. Central Command said in a statement that its forces "shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz." The statement added: "U.S. forces also struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone. These actions were measured, purely defensive, and intended to maintain the ceasefire."What they're saying: Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported a military source saying that an American tanker tried to pass through the Strait of Hormuz by turning off its radar system.However, it said the tanker was forced to stop and return after Iran's navy fired at it.Tasnim reported the U.S. Army fired at a site around Bandar Abbas, a port city near the Strait of Hormuz, but this firing did not cause any casualties or property damage.Of note: The exchange came hours after President Trump said at a Cabinet meeting that he's in no rush for a deal and suggested that Tehran thought it could "outwait" him because of the upcoming midterm elections."I don't care about the midterms. Look what happened last night, that was a prelude to the midterms. People understand it," Trump said, in reference to candidates he endorsed winning their primaries, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who beat U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in a GOP Senate primary runoff.Editor's note: This story has been updated with more details on the clashes and corrected to reflect that a senior U.S. official said Iran's military fired drones at a commercial ship (not at a U.S. Navy ship).