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President Donald Trump contradicted Special Envoy for Peace Jared Kushner on Tuesday, flatly denying that any Iran talks were happening hours after Kushner called them active and ongoing.Trump wrote on Truth Social that "there are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran."Kushner had made an opposite claim during a Fox News interview with correspondent Trey Yingst the day before.MS NOW White House correspondent Garrett Haake flagged the gap between what the president's son-in-law said and what the president himself posted."White House messaging on Iran is a mess today," Haake wrote on X.Only a day earlier, Kushner said that the Trump administration was "having very positive and active conversations" with the Iranian government. "I will say that the conversations between the U.S. government and different areas of the Iranian government at all levels is probably more robust than it's maybe ever been. We are having very positive and active conversations," Kushner told Fox News.NewsNation White House correspondent Kellie Meyer expressed frustration over the mixed messages."President Trump just said yesterday that the administration was talking with Iran. This is what makes it difficult to convey to the American people / our viewers what's going on here," wrote NewsNation White House correspondent Kellie Meyer.On Monday, Trump himself had acknowledged a backchannel to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to Fox News — the same day Kushner spoke with Yingst."They're good poker players, but they're dying," Trump told Fox News of Iran's leadership."I have no time schedule," the president added. "I'm not in a hurry."

Peace talks between Washington and Tehran are officially dead, according to a statement released by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, despite the president having claimed talks were ongoing just days earlier.“There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”As recently as last week, Trump told Real America’s Voice that he was still “sort of negotiating” with Iranian leadership, and the day before that, he told Axios that his administration was “semi-negotiating” with Tehran, despite Iranian claims to the contrary.Iran has instead engaged in negotiations with Oman on a deal to manage traffic flow through the Strait of Hormuz, and has explicitly excluded the United States from the talks. When asked Monday for his thoughts on the Iran-Oman negotiations, Trump threatened to “bomb the S” out of Oman should they “get in the way” of his administration’s efforts to fully re-open the strait, according to Fox News’ Trey Yingst.

President Donald Trump's comments about the Iran war and scaling back military exercises with ally South Korea amid his talks with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un were raising serious questions on Monday.CNN White House correspondent Kristen Holmes, who Trump had snapped at during an Oval Office press conference earlier, pointed to why the president's comments were fueling concerns."President Trump there saying that he had had some kind of communication or opened the door to communication with Kim Jong Un," Holmes said. "And then shortly afterward, this announcement that they were scaling back the military exercises with our ally, South Korea."Holmes compared the move to when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the White House, and it was anticipated he would request the U.S. help provide more missiles."The day before, President Trump talked to President Putin," she said. "And because of that phone call the next day, he denied giving Zelensky Patriot missiles, citing conversations that he had had with Vladimir Putin. So this is a real and justifiable question."Holmes added that this has also triggered scrutiny over "the other crisis that he is facing" — the Iran war."The idea that North Korea has been stockpiling illegal nuclear weapons — what message is that sending to Iran that he is willing to support North Korea in this, as they stockpile these illegal nuclear weapons, or at least look the other way?" Holmes asked. "Now, all of this is coming at a point where President Trump seems to be at least foreign policy-wise, completely spiraling," she added. "And that is likely due to what we are seeing here at home. There is no end in sight to this war in Iran. And in fact, President Trump is saying the same thing today that he said five months ago: that they want to negotiate, that they're not going to come up with a deal that he likes, and that the baseline premise of this entire war is to make sure Iran doesn't get nuclear weapons."As the unpopular war has dragged on for five months, Americans have become more frustrated."Now, part of the reason he is likely having so many issues, particularly when it comes to Iran and answering these questions, is this poll, the poll that we did at the end of last month in which we asked voters if they believe that the Iran war was worth both the U.S. lives lost and the financial cost. And 74% of Americans said no," Holmes said. "Those polls are not lost on this White House."

A U.S. airman who was recently arrested at the Capitol after calling for President Donald Trump's impeachment spoke out on CNN in his first interview since being released. Air Force Maj. Jason Watson joined CNN's Erin Burnett on "OutFront" to discuss his arrest and the impact he hopes his statements against the Trump administration will have. Watson told Burnett that he is facing a court-martial for his statement, which he made while dressed in full uniform, and a host of other legal challenges that could upend his life. Even so, Watson said it is important to speak out against Trump, whom he considered to be a "failure" of a president. "He has failed us. And not only is he a failure as president, but he is also flagrantly violating the Constitution, breaking the law, engaging in rampant corruption, and killing Americans," Watson said. "And that is unacceptable to me. And it should be unacceptable to all of us. I feel like, unfortunately, many of us have gotten used to this, and we've normalized this conduct, and we think that there's nothing that we can do about it." Calls to impeach Trump have increased in recent weeks. Over the weekend, a report indicated that the White House had planned to retaliate against Colorado if the state did not release convicted election denier Tina Peters, which caused the impeachment calls to ramp up. Watson said that pressure needs to increase going forward. "I want to just inspire people and bring the conversation to impeach, convict, remove," Watson said. "I believe we can defeat this government if we just take a stand," he added.

A message shared by one of the top admirals in the U.S. Navy after visiting the stranded crew on the USS Abraham Lincoln sparked fireworks on Sunday. Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads United States Central Command, said on Sunday that his time aboard the ship was "awe-inspiring," although he admitted that being deployed at sea for long periods "isn't for everyone." Cooper also noted that the mental health challenges reported by sailors on the ship are lower than those of other carriers that are not deployed near Iran. Cooper's visit came just days after Trump seemed to bash the sailors on the ship, some of whom have reportedly thrown themselves overboard to escape the conditions. Reports also indicate the ship is running low on essential supplies like food, medical items, and female hygiene products. Cooper's comments also sparked backlash from analysts, some of whom described his claims as "gaslighting.""The gaslighting of the Sailors onboard USS Lincoln and their families is disheartening. My Shipmates deserve better," Travis Akers, a retired Navy intelligence officer, posted on X. "Gaslighting on new levels," Rose Benson, a comedian, posted on X. "Old enough to remember when the Department of Defense used to embed journalists in deployed US forces when America was at war. I guess that's only for LEGAL, not ILLEGAL wars," Dan Garrett, a political scientist, posted on X.

A nanny who was recently released from custody shared horrific details of her time in captivity during a new interview Sunday. Iliana Lick, an Argentinian nanny who was working for two families in Philadelphia, was recently arrested by President Donald Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement troops after she was accused of overstaying her visa "without permission," she told CNN National Correspondent Rafael Romo. Although she has been released and is back home in Philadelphia, Lick recalled several disturbing details about her time in multiple ICE facilities. Romo recounted some of the details during a segment on CNN "Newsroom" with host Fredricka Whitfield. "Lick told me she's going through a roller coaster of emotions and that trying to go back to normal has been weird because she's thinking of all the time about the other people in detention she met while in custody of [ICE]," Romo said. Lick, who primarily shared her story in Spanish, told Romo that she was released on a $10,000 bond and forced to wear an ankle monitor after her release. She was also moved through multiple ICE facilities while she was detained. At each stop, "she and other detainees had to wear a black and white striped jail uniform while wearing full restraints that included ankle cuffs and shackles," like they did when they were held in Cambria County Prison in Pennsylvania. Romo noted that ICE had also tried to impugn Lick's character by describing her as an "illegal alien" in a news release after she was let out of custody. "She felt she was being treated as a common criminal and insisted that she shouldn't have been detained in the first place because she has always complied with immigration law," Romo recounted. "She said, 'I paid all the fees. I went to all the hearings. My case was pending. I was never out of status.'"Lick will be in front of an immigration judge again in about a week and a half, Romo said.

President Donald Trump's administration has quietly "weaponized" a power cloaked in secrecy to punish his critics and prop up corrupt power brokers, according to a new report. Trump's government has been revoking the visas of foreign leaders, judges and journalists while quietly reinstating those of like-minded allies, the New York Times reported Sunday.“No recent American administration ever did this kind of open attack on freedom of expression” said John Feeley, a career diplomat. “A congressman or a prosecutor without a U.S. visa...is somebody who is flying with a broken wing.”Past State departments have also revoked visas but mostly to keep security threats out of the country or fight corruption, the Times reported.It is difficult to quantify the tactic as visa records are confidential, but the State Department said in a statement to the Times that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other U.S. officials have “broad discretionary authority” to cancel visas “whenever and wherever."Johana Obando, a Costa Rican lawmaker whose personal and diplomatic visas were canceled, said she felt like the Trump administration was sending her a message. “It is a way of intimidating decision makers to benefit the United States,” she said. The Trump administration also rewards others whom critics say it should not.“Corruption, human rights violations or judicial interference no longer matter,” Ana María Méndez Dardón, of the rights group Washington Office on Latin America, told the Times. At least three senior Salvadoran officials whom former President Joe Biden considered too corrupt or anti-democratic to earn visas have benefited, according to the report."Visa revocations have also been used to suppress criticism of the Trump administration, or even of U.S.-aligned foreign leaders," the report stated. "In Panama, for example, after two politicians criticized a sweeping security pact between their country and the United States, they were notified that their U.S. visas had been revoked."

UK has refused resettlement application despite ‘years of loyal service’ that have resulted in ‘constant fear’ of reprisalsA man has received threats from the Taliban after his work for the Afghan police was revealed by a Ministry of Defence leak and the UK refused his application for resettlement.Hamid* worked for the Afghan national police special unit and received certificates for his work signed by senior British figures praising his “dedication, unparalleled service and leadership”. His details were also included in an accidental 2022 leak by an MoD official that identified 18,700 Afghans who had worked with or for the British government. Continue reading...