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Trump swiftly fact-checked with the same documents he claims prove his election theory
Trump's claims about China interfering in U.S. elections were fact-checked by political analysts in real-time using documents he released.In Trump's Thursday night speech, he announced that his administration would be releasing documents and intelligence findings that support his claim that China meddled in the 2020 U.S. elections. However, the documents didn't show anything of the sort, analysts noted.During the speech, CNN senior national security reporter Zachary Cohen pointed out in a post on X that CNN had reviewed documents Trump was talking about in his speech.The documents "largely discuss vulnerabilities that have been known for years and/or are reflected in the 2021 US intel community assessment," Cohen wrote. "None of the declassified information supports the claim that any previous election results — including the 2020 presidential contest that Trump lost — were manipulated by foreign interference or fraud in a way that would've changed the outcome."Legal analyst Adam Klasfeld similarly explained in a post on X that "Trump is lying about the intelligence community's findings about China's actions in the 2020 election," and shared the files.One line of findings from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence shared by Klasfeld read, "We assess that China did not deploy interference efforts and considered but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the US presidential election."Also looking at one of the documents touted by Trump, reporter Sam Stein wrote, "One of the documents that Trump has disclosed tonight has a section noting that China targeted the BIDEN campaign and does 'not currently intend to covertly interfere to try and sway the outcome of the election."Political commentator Kyle Griffin noted, "Donald Trump took 18 months to release documents that he now claims show election activities that would have taken place on his watch in 2020."
Trump fuming after international ally chastised him on Fox News: report
President Donald Trump is privately furious about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent moves to snub and try to control him, Axios reported on Thursday.The spat between the two, who were firm allies for years as leaders of their respective countries' right-wing coalitions, involves multiple recent incidents.For one, said the report, White House aides "were surprised in recent days to read in the Israeli press that President Trump would host Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday," as no such meeting had been scheduled. "Trump said at the time that Netanyahu could visit right after the president returned from the NATO summit in Ankara," but it went nowhere. Insiders told Axios that "Our impression was that Bibi was trying to will a meeting into existence."This was not the only issue widening the rift between Trump and Netanyahu.The argument over the meeting, according to the report, "came after Netanyahu went on Fox News right before Trump left for Ankara and criticized the president's intention to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. One of the White House officials told Axios Trump was 'p----- off' by the interview."The relationship between Trump and the Israeli leader had been deteriorating for months prior to this, driven by Trump's frustration over the lack of a clean resolution to the invasion of Gaza that began in 2023 after a devastating terrorist attack. Several weeks ago, Trump reportedly shouted at Netanyahu in an expletive-filled phone call, telling him "everybody hates you."
UK aid cuts ‘reduce bilateral support to some African countries by 90%’
Critics say Foreign Office figures send ‘global message about the role the country wants to play on international stage’Labour’s foreign aid cuts mean reductions of as much as 90% in the bilateral support the UK will give to some African countries, Foreign Office figures show.The department’s annual report includes a long-awaited breakdown of how the reduction in the aid budget will affect individual countries for the next three years. Continue reading...
'Betting on state secrets': Conservative warns Trump just found new way to rig economy
President Donald Trump's cryptocurrency dealings earned him a massive amounts of wealth — effectively rigging the whole industry in his favor as if it's one of his old casinos, conservative analyst and talk radio host Erick Erickson warned on Thursday.This comes after financial reports revealed Trump and his family have made over $1.4 billion from crypto assets alone under the new presidency, their single largest gain of assets."In gambling, they say never bet against the house," he wrote. "In crypto, President Trump has positioned himself as the house."Erickson, a committed conservative Republican who nonetheless criticizes the president on occasion, pointed out Trump has made more of a profit on cryptocurrency "than every single publicly traded U.S. cryptocurrency company," which all combined finished out the year half a billion down.The real problem, wrote Erickson, is so much of this money is flowing in from foreign sources."An Abu Dhabi state-backed fund chaired by the UAE’s national security adviser used $2 billion of World Liberty’s stablecoin to finance a deal — weeks before the White House cleared the UAE to buy advanced American AI chips," wrote Erickson. This is by no means the only foreign racket currently in progress, he said. "Jared Kushner’s private equity firm, Affinity Partners, manages more than $6 billion — 99% of it foreign, including $2 billion from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign fund — while Kushner serves as a peace envoy dealing with those very governments," wrote Erickson. All of this only scratches the surface of the problem, Erickson said.If the GOP "meant what they said" in 2016 when they vowed to "drain the swamp," wrote Erickson, "the test is simple, and it applies to their own side: no foreign money flowing to the president’s family while the government it deals with awaits a decision; no regulators dropping cases against companies the first family owns; no one betting on state secrets; real divestment, not divestment to one’s children.""Drain the swamp. Don’t just recycle the water for our side," he concluded.
Uganda calls for travel restrictions to be lifted after last Ebola patient discharged
Country begins 42-day countdown to outbreak being declared officially over, as numbers continue to rise in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the CongoUganda has started lobbying countries to lift Ebola-related travel restrictions after discharging its last confirmed Ebola patient from hospital.The discharge of a Congolese national from the Mulago national referral hospital’s isolation centre in Kampala on Thursday triggered the start of a 42-day countdown required by the World Health Organization before Uganda can officially be declared Ebola-free, provided no new infections are detected. Continue reading...
More than 500 feared dead after reports of two shipwrecks off Myanmar, UN says
Vessels believed to have departed from Myanmar in late June, with mostly Muslim Rohingya minority onboardThe United Nations has said more than 500 people are feared dead after reports of two large shipwrecks off Myanmar since late June.The UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) and its refugee agency UNHCR voiced alarm in a joint statement at reports “that two boats carrying more than 500 people may have capsized off the coast of Myanmar in recent days”. Continue reading...
‘Terrible’ US escalation expected in ‘coming days’ as foreign policy expert sounds alarm
Foreign policy expert Trita Parsi sounded the alarm Tuesday over what he suspected would be a “major escalation” from the United States, one he predicted would come “in the next coming days.”“I do suspect that there’s going to be a major escalation from the U.S. side in the next coming days… I think it’s going to be quite terrible,” Parsi said in a video interview published by Zeteo Tuesday.Parsi’s warning comes amid resumed hostilities between the United States and Iran, sparked by Iran’s strike on a container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz, which Iranian officials claimed to be in violation of the tentative U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement. Iran has since declared the Strait of Hormuz “closed,” sparking multiple exchanges of fire between the United States and Iran.Beyond announcing that the U.S. would reinstate its naval blockade on Iran, President Trump has not disclosed further details about U.S. military plans. He did, however, promote commentary Tuesday morning encouraging him to “take Kharg Island,” a small Iranian island and oil hub. Experts have warned that seizing Kharg Island would result in "considerable" American casualties.Parsi, the co-founder of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, also warned that, even in the “best-case scenario,” the recent flare-up in hostilities would put the United States in a worse negotiating position than it was in last week.“In the absolute best-case scenario, the two sides, through the mediation of regional states, will find some sort of way back to the table. But nothing will have changed even by then – nothing has changed now,” Parsi continued. “The runway for the U.S. before the economic crisis is shorter. The only thing that may have changed is that the illusion that military power can rearrange facts on the ground in a manner that will favor your negotiation position may no longer be an illusion that exists, it may have been dispelled by this. But that’s in a best-case scenario!”‘Major U.S. Escalation’ Against Iran Soon, Experts Tell Zeteo by Mehdi HasanIn a Town Hall Q&A for paid subscribers, Zeteo assembled three Middle East experts to unpack developments in Iran, Lebanon, and Gaza. It’s a conversation you won’t find in the mainstream media.Read on Substack
Right-wing hardliners eye 'macabre' moment to finish off GOP's hawkish wing: report
America First hardliners are viewing Sen. Lindsey Graham's death as a dark opportunity to purge the Republican Party of its remaining interventionist wing and consolidate control over Donald Trump's foreign policy agenda, Politico is reporting.Graham's sudden passing left a gaping hole in the GOP's hawkish establishment — a void that anti-interventionist Trump allies are openly celebrating as a chance to eliminate their final formidable obstacle within the party.Unlike most Republicans, Graham possessed a durable relationship with Trump, which he leveraged consistently to push aggressive foreign policy positions: unwavering support for Israel, robust aid to Ukraine, and advocacy for military strikes against Iran. With him out of the way, Politico is reporting his right-wing critics see it as a "macabre opening" they need to quickly take advantage of."The McCain wing of the 'America Last' party has taken a mortal blow with the death of Graham and the demise of [Sen. Mitch] McConnell," said Steve Bannon, Trump's former White House strategist. "[GOP Sen. Tom] Cotton and the rest of the cabal have neither the gravitas nor the cunning of those two. The Oligarchs in Ukraine and Imperial Israel Proponents are curled up in the fetal position."According to Politico, a former Trump adviser is also excited about gaining more influence with Graham out of the way. Steve Cortes framed Graham's death in nakedly transactional terms."Broadly, whatever the reason, if there are fewer voices in President Trump's ear advocating for intervention that's a great thing. It's a great thing for our country, it's a great thing for our movement, it's a great thing for our party," he said."Still, not all of the president’s America First allies see Graham’s death as a boon to their cause. Some instead frame him as a bridge between a still-hawkish Senate GOP conference and a more anti-interventionist White House — someone who was able to move between both camps in a way that actually helped the America First cause," the report notes with Alex Gray, a former NSC official in Trump’s first term warning, "It actually hurts the America First movement if we don’t have establishment senators who are willing to give America First views a fair hearing, the way Graham did. He inserted kind of an interpretive bridge between the two sides. He did a lot for America First foreign policy.”
Wall Street needles Trump with bitter new joke as Hormuz debacle returns with a vengeance
Energy traders and Wall Street analysts are resorting to dark humor to cope with Donald Trump's foreign policy catastrophe in the Persian Gulf, where his aggressive posturing toward Iran has backfired spectacularly and destabilized one of the world's most critical shipping routes.The situation has become so dire that financial markets have developed a bitter joke about it. Traders have coined a new term for what they now expect: the "NACHO trade" — shorthand for "Not a Chance Hormuz Opens," according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.That acronym joins other Trump-themed market jargon, including "TACO," which stands for "Trump Always Chickens Out," revealing the contempt Trump critics have for his erratic decision-making.The Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately 20 percent of the world's oil passes, has become the focal point of Trump's unraveling Middle East strategy. After renewed fighting over the weekend and Trump's announcement that he was reimposing a U.S. blockade on Iranian shipping, oil prices surged more than 10 percent, erasing an entire month of price declines."The chance of the region and Hormuz going back to the old normal is effectively zero," said Rachel Ziemba, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, told the Journal. "If anything this reinforces the impetus to invest in other pathways as quickly as possible."The core problem, according to Wall Street Journal reporting, is that Iran and neighboring countries have discovered they can easily manipulate U.S. politics by threatening to choke off shipping through the strait. That realization has fundamentally altered market calculations."Oil markets and Middle East producers appear to be aligning around a new reality: The Strait of Hormuz is no longer expected to return to a prewar norm," the Journal reported.According to the Journal, "The idea behind the NACHO trade is that the shipping route through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil had passed will remain virtually shut, with only a trickle of traffic slipping through clandestine routes, until the economic costs of its closure, such as high oil prices and accelerating inflation, become untenable."
Ex-Army intel officer dumbfounded by Trump's latest move: 'New levels of desperation'
A former U.S. Army intelligence officer was left dumbstruck Tuesday following President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to degrade Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz, an effort they described as a manifestation of the president’s “new levels of desperation.”On Monday, Trump announced that the United States would be reinstating its naval blockade on Iran and charging hefty fees to transiting vessels. The decree came amid renewed exchanges of fire between the United States, Iran and U.S.-aligned Middle Eastern nations.“This is just new levels of desperation that I couldn't have imagined a couple of months ago,” said Harrison Mann, a former U.S. Army major and intelligence officer, during an appearance on CNN.“We've got to remember that the free protection from the U.S. Navy has not been successful for the past several months; it's why we're in a new cycle of escalation over the past week. The Navy has repeatedly tried to secure transit through the Strait of Hormuz – Iran has still been able to attack ships.”The flare-up in violence was sparked last week after Iran struck a container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz in a manner Iranian officials claimed was a violation of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement. The United States launched strikes at Iran in retaliation, which itself was met with a flurry of strikes from Iran targeting U.S. allies in the region.Mann, who resigned in protest over the U.S. facilitation and support for the Israeli siege on Gaza – which a United Nations commission and countless human rights organizations have described as a genocide – said that not only was the Trump administration’s plan doomed to fail, it also undercut its own position.“So the protecting ships part of it, we already know won't work. Is he actually going to charge fees? I doubt it, but he is doing something that's kind of dangerous for his own strategy, which is legitimizing that demand,” Mann said.“Marco Rubio just two weeks ago said nobody can charge passage through this international waterway. Trump is now saying, 'oh no, that's fine, we're going to try and do it.'"
Trump rage-quits press gaggle after CNN's Kaitlan Collins questions new war strikes
CNN's Kaitlan Collins pressed President Donald Trump about the war in Iran when he decided to suddenly end a White House press conference on Monday.Trump was speaking at the Oval Office to a group of reporters when he cut the questions short and lashed out against the network. The president had told reporters that the United States had plans to ramp up attacks on Iran, as Trump had ordered a new blockade against Iran in the Strait of Hormuz."The US is bombing Iran again. You've been bombing Iran for months now. Is this just the new normal for the American people?" Collins asked.Trump started to complain about CNN and its coverage of the Iran war."All they have is fake news because the fake news would rather see us lose the war," Trump said.Collins responded to Trump."You argued Iran couldn't have ballistic missiles," Collins said.But Trump kept talking about CNN and "fake news.""Which is really treasonous in a certain way. So we're doing another very major attack tonight," Trump said.Trump abruptly ended the press conference after his rant to Collins, and aides hurriedly shuffled reporters out of the room. TRUMP: All they have is fake news because the fake news would rather see us lose the warCOLLINS: You argued Iran couldn't have ballistic missilesTRUMP: Which is really treasonous in a certain way. So we're doing another very major attack tonight. pic.twitter.com/dwe58GUgul— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 13, 2026
Trump's sons orchestrate secret $3 billion payday thanks to dad's policies: report
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have quietly raked in billions as the Pentagon has invested in new defense technology, according to a new Washington Post investigation published Monday.President Donald Trump's sons have made significant investments in military-related startups, "further entangling the United States’ interests and the Trump family’s financial fortunes in an area with immense stakes for national security," The Post reported.Many of these financial investments have come as Trump returned to the White House."The companies have collectively generated at least $3.2 billion in direct government business since the sons invested and an additional $3.1 billion in future contract options," according to The Post. "Some have gained coveted spots on shortlists of preapproved contractors that can bid exclusively on up to nearly $200 billion in future work."A top priority for Trump's second administration has been focusing on national security and "modernizing the tools of warfighting." And the Trump sons have reportedly cashed in on this Pentagon initiative by building a portfolio focused on this spending priority."The Trump sons are part of investment groups that have poured money into established government contractors, such as SpaceX and Anduril, as well as lesser-known start-ups aspiring to build a new generation of nimble, tech-forward weaponry — from drones to humanoid robots that can either mow a lawn or use deadly force," The Post reported. "Most of the firms are in the defense industry, but some focus on products not meant for the battlefield: One company is partnering with the luxury fashion label Prada to design spacesuits, and another is trying to build quantum computers."Before they sought Pentagon and defense contracts, neither Trump son had notable experience in the defense tech industry. They do not hold any government titles and are currently the vice presidents of the Trump Organization. The White House has denied any inappropriate conduct surrounding the sons' investments or potential conflicts of interest."Trump’s sons have described their investments in patriotic terms," according to The Post. "Eric Trump has said the U.S. 'better be winning' the AI race. Trump Jr. has repeatedly argued that the U.S. should be developing an industrial base that can crank out drones to meet potential threats from China."Political analysts reacted to the explosive new report."How fortunate for these two that Daddy can pardon them on the way out the door. Those around them may be less fortunate," Joyce Vance, a former U.S. attorney appointed by former President Barack Obama, wrote on X. "Trump Jr. & Eric Trump now have investments in over a dozen defense tech companies. Thanks to the nature of defense tech companies, their only real viability is if they can get gov contracts, & guess what! Turns out it is pretty easy to get gov contracts when your dad is the most corrupt president in history," the account They Call Me Gary, a progressive political commentator, wrote on Bluesky.
