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Outside of an exchange of fire early Sunday morning, the U.S. war against Iran has been in a weeks-long lull since July as part of an apparent effort by President Donald Trump to “push the conflict out of the minds of voters,” but that strategy may very well invite attacks on U.S. forces just ahead of the midterms, one expert warned.“Trump appears to be pursuing a very different gamble: maintaining a low-level conflict until the midterms — neither securing a diplomatic deal nor allowing the situation to deteriorate into full-scale war,” wrote foreign policy expert Trita Parsi in an analysis published Sunday in Responsible Statecraft.“A period of relative tranquility that pushes Iran out of the headlines and, in the run-up to the elections, weakens the connection between rising inflation and gas prices, on the one hand, and Trump’s foolish war of choice, on the other.”Instead of direct military action, the Trump administration has leaned into economic sanctions, revealing a string of secondary “D-Day” sanctions last week designed to further cause havoc to Iran’s economy. While Trump may very well hope to avoid escalations in the conflict until after the midterms, Tehran might have other plans.“If Washington wants to keep things quiet until the midterms, Tehran may conclude that the optimal moment to strike back is two or three weeks before the Congressional elections, maximizing the political damage to Trump,” Parsi wrote.“If sanctions weaken Iran over time while the global economy recovers and adjusts to the new reality in the Strait [of Hormuz], a prolonged pause will work against Tehran. Iran may therefore decide to escalate dramatically, taking full advantage of Trump’s perceived vulnerability in the run-up to the elections.”Parsi warned, however, that Iran’s own alleged gamble — that stripping the GOP of its control of Congress may “restrain Trump in 2027” — may be “misplaced.”“A Trump humiliated at the polls and potentially facing a third impeachment attempt may be forced to play defense at home, but precisely because of his domestic troubles, he may also be incentivized to lash out abroad,” Parsi wrote. “Freed from electoral constraints, Trump may be willing to take risks he previously eschewed, including deploying ground troops.”

President Donald Trump called for war crime tribunals to be held against Iranian officials Monday in a curse-laden statement published on social media, while also touting unverified claims to support his claims of war crimes.“Iran is officially a Failed Nation. IT IS DEAD! They have no Navy, they have no Air Force, they have no currency, they are not paying their soldiers or police, Inflation is at 300%, and their leadership is in total disarray and incapable of properly representing the country,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “The only thing they have is FAKE NEWS from the USA, a willingness to kill their protesters (now over 100,000 people dead. They must be tried for war crimes against humanity!), and a good line of ‘BULLS---.’”Iran did execute what’s believed to be as many as 30,000 protesters in early 2026 amid civil unrest, though no evidence exists to support Trump’s claim that as many as 100,000 protesters were killed by the Iranian government.Protests broke out in Iran in January amid an economic crisis, though Iran has accused Israel of stoking dissent within its borders. Israel has not admitted to its involvement, though its intelligence agency, the Mossad, admitted it had agents among protesters “in the field.” Israel’s far-right Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu admitted as much as well, as did former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, who in May vowed to “eliminate waste, fraud and abuse,” was exposed Sunday for having pitched foreign nationals a real estate investment opportunity with the promise of green cards and access to “America’s Comprehensive Welfare” for their entire families.The revelation was unearthed in a report from Popular Information, which details two trips Sonderling took to China in 2015 before joining the Trump administration.Working at the time with the Florida law firm Gunster, Sonderling delivered multiple presentations on behalf of Premier Capital Group, an international real estate consulting and investment company. One presentation promised Chinese nationals, in exchange for investing in a U.S. resort hotel condominium project, that they could “get a green card in a short time,” and that after “one person applies, the whole family immigrates," according to banners at the event reviewed by Popular Information. Once immigrated, the Chinese nationals and their families were promised access to U.S. welfare, including “unemployment benefits,” “food stamps,” “low-cost public housing,” “Medicaid” and “retirement benefits.”“The China trips were documented extensively by Sonderling in hundreds of photos reviewed by Popular Information that were published to two public Flickr accounts,” Popular Information’s report reads.The pitch to Chinese nationals would utilize the United States’ EB-5 visa program, a program that grants foreign nationals green cards for foreign investors. That same program has been criticized by the Trump administration, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick calling it “full of nonsense, make believe and fraud” in 2025.“The photos document that Sonderling participated in at least five speaking engagements touting EB-5 visas in China,” Popular Information’s report reads. “Most of these seem to be connected to the same hotel and condo project.”Sonderling was tapped by Trump to lead the Labor Department in June, and also sits as a member of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. He did not respond to a request for comment from Popular Information, the outlet reported.

Guidance says states must implement ‘comprehensive measures’ to address legacy of racial discriminationA UN committee has said countries are legally obliged to consider reparations for the transatlantic slave trade and take other ⁠measures to address the enduring ⁠legacy of racial ​discrimination.Guidance published on Monday by the committee on the elimination of racial discrimination (CERD) said the obligations arose from ⁠a legally binding 1965 convention on racial discrimination, not from the legal standards that existed when the slave trade took place. Continue reading...

A Michigan lawmaker enraged her MS NOW interviewer Sunday morning as her commentary on President Donald Trump's trade war with Canada left him declaring, "a pox on the federal government!"Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) delved into the many reasons Trump's 50 percent tariffs on America's northern neighbor has hurt and outraged voters in her state — and left Eugene Daniels fuming. "There are real economic consequences, but they're national security consequences, too," Dingell said. "And we need to be worried about those."Dingell proceeded to dive into the data.She noted 500,000 U.S. jobs rely on building parts that go into Canadian vehicles and the number of Canadian visitors in the U.S. and sunk 25 percent under Trump, from 39 million in 2024 to 29 million in 2025.Michigan households pay roughly $5600 a month in Trump tariffs, according to an Axios report this week, the highest number of any state in the nation, Dingell told Daniels. He was stunned. "If it was just tariffs that Michiganders had to worry about, it'd be one thing," he said. "But it's tariffs, it's gas, it's beef, it's fertilizer, it's diesel. Like, it's all of the things that people use to live their lives."Daniels argued these problems had put Republicans in "dangerous territory" ahead of the upcoming presidential election in 2028 — and Dingell agreed. She cited a recent appearance at a local parade where outraged Michigan residents called on her to "protect Canada.""People were screaming," Dingell said. "It really struck me...People are mad."Then Dingell shared the experience of a union worker who has three jobs and can't afford gas."Three jobs?" Daniels replied. "That is insane... it is a pox on the federal government!"

President Donald Trump’s revenge-fueled order to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America was validated by Google on Sunday after the technology company changed the name of the lake on its service Google Maps, sparking outrage among countless critics.Trump imposed a 50% tariff on $20 billion of Canadian goods earlier this month after trade negotiations between Washington and Ottawa broke down. In response, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to match those tariffs “dollar for dollar.” Days later, Trump signed an executive order directing the federal government to rename the smallest of the Great Lakes after the United States.As verified by Raw Story, Google has updated its map service in the United States to reflect Trump’s order, a move that was met with a chorus of disappointment from critics.“When a company as rich and powerful as Google capitulates to one man’s whims on a dime, then why on earth should it be trusted with [artificial intelligence],” wrote Dina Sayegh Doll, an attorney and podcaster associated with the progressive media company MeidasTouch, in a social media post on X Sunday.A number of onlookers vowed to ditch Google’s map service in response to the name change, including British comedian and actor Eric Idle and Canadian political strategist and writer Warren Kinsella, whereas others reflected on what Google’s capitulation to Trump suggested for the future.“Behavior like this is genuinely disturbing,” wrote June Sternbach, a left-wing podcaster and online personality, in a social media post on X. “Like this will obviously just be changed back day 1 after trumps regime is over but its just deeply sad, not even demoralizing, just pathetic.”Lake Ontario has been referred to as such since at least 1641, with the name being reflected in United States maps since at least 1656, according to Snopes. Trump’s renaming of the lake was similar to his executive order issued in early 2025 to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, a move that similarly received scrutiny at the time.Bye bye, Google Maps. https://t.co/NzQVXlpQ8W— Warren Kinsella (@kinsellawarren) August 30, 2026

Buried within President Donald Trump’s unprecedented oil deal with Venezuela is a provision designed to exert a level of control over the South American company for 100 years, the Wall Street Journal exclusively reported Saturday night.Announced on Friday, the deal will see the United States be granted rights to Venezuela’s untapped oil fields for a century. Furthermore, the U.S. government would take a direct stake in Venezuela's oil reserves, the single-largest proven oil reserves on earth.According to “people involved in negotiating the agreement” who spoke with the Journal on the condition of anonymity, the U.S. government “plans to take a 35% passive stake” in North American Blue Energy Partners, a private oil-and-gas company led by controversial Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt. The company’s structure was also set up in such a way as to tie the hands of future Venezuelan governments.“The private company structure was deliberately intended to bind future Venezuelan governments to the agreement and make it difficult to unwind, one of the people involved said,” the Journal’s report reads. “They consider it unlikely that a new government would expropriate a private company, the people said.”Trump has faced bi-partisan scrutiny over the deal since announcing it on Friday, including from one of the chief supporters of his operation to kidnap Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), who slammed the deal in a social media post before quickly deleting it.Venezuelans have been critical of the deal as well.“It’s an operation that’s absolutely unconstitutional because it’s an illegitimate government,” said Diego Arria, a former Venezuelan cabinet minister, speaking with the Journal. “They are seizing [the oil] — there’s no other word for it.”

Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) published a scathing rebuke Saturday of President Donald Trump’s Venezuela oil deal only to quietly delete it and swap it for a post championing the deal as “great,” the New York Post reported.“Any oil ‘deal’ with Venezuela’s interim regime has an expiration date: the day President Trump leaves the White House,” Salazar wrote in a now-deleted social media post on X, according to journalist Orlando Avendaño. “A lasting deal can only be made with a democratically elected government that respects the rule of law, protects private property, and is backed by strong democratic institutions.”The post, as noted by countless onlookers, had soon been deleted, and Salazar later published a new post with commentary about the deal that included “a very different message,” the Post’s report reads.“The oil agreement between the United States and Venezuela is a great deal for the United States and for the Venezuelan people,” Salazar wrote.Trump recently touted what he called “THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY,” revealing on Friday that the United States would be given a stake in Venezuela’s oil reserves — the single-largest proven oil reserves on earth.Per the Associated Press, the new deal would grant the U.S. government “rights to untapped oil fields for 100 years.” The provision bears a striking resemblance to a prediction Salazar issued last year when she told Fox News that “American oil companies will be operating in Venezuela for the next 100 years.”Salazar was also among the most vocal supporters of the Trump administration operation to kidnap Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and insisted that Venezuelans were "waiting for the Americans to come and help them be free again."