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China denounces US threat of sanctions over trade with Iran
Beijing says it will take ‘all necessary measures’ to protect its interests as US steps up efforts to isolate TehranExplainer: could US sanctions threaten China-Iran ties?China has denounced the threat of US sanctions for its trade with Iran, saying any such measures would be illegal, and warned it would take “all necessary measures” to protect its national interests.Beijing’s rejection of the US threat of secondary sanctions for any country or entity continuing to trade with Tehran had been predicted. China buys an estimated 80% of Iran’s oil exports and has defied previous US efforts to limit the flow of revenue to the Tehran regime. Continue reading...
Trump's trade threats spiral out of control as Canada slaps down 100 pages of tariffs
President Donald Trump spent Tuesday morning threatening Canada online while Ottawa put a nearly 100-page tariff schedule on the calendar he cannot stop.Four Canadian cabinet ministers announced the retaliatory tariffs in Ottawa on Tuesday, according to the New York Times. The duties cover about 700 American products and take effect Sept. 8.The rates range from 15 to 50 percent, matching the level Washington set for each product, according to CNBC. Prime Minister Mark Carney had promised a "dollar for dollar" response after talks collapsed Friday night, the Times reported.The schedule runs nearly 100 pages, Global News senior journalist Mackenzie Gray reported on X. It taxes fish, stoves, carpets, men's suits and fishing rods."Our preference was to find a deal that benefits both countries," Canadian trade minister Dominic LeBlanc told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday. "We still believe that's possible. But in the meantime, we're not waiting by the phone."Trump answered on Truth Social, where he suggested halting business with Ontario and repeatedly floated renaming Lake Ontario to "Lake America," CNBC reported."I deal with many countries, and Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable," Trump wrote in one post.Trump warned Monday that he would double tariffs on Canadian cars and auto parts to 50 percent, but not until Jan. 1, 2027, Global News reported. Canada's deadline is two weeks away.Canada doubled its own tariffs on American steel and aluminum to 50 percent, the Times reported. Ottawa added $7.5 billion for businesses and workers harmed by the trade war, according to CNBC.Senior Canadian officials said the list was not built to punish particular American businesses or states, but to help Canadian industry, Gray reported.Trump has also complained that the United States runs a trade deficit with Canada. That gap exists largely because Americans buy Canadian crude oil, CNBC reported.His tariffs have excluded oil, natural gas, potash and many minerals, according to the Times.Polls taken before the tariffs took effect Saturday showed broad Canadian support for retaliation, the Times noted. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has pressed for it, while Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has urged restraint.Canada's economy is about one-twelfth the size of the American economy, according to the Times, and economists say the resulting price increases will hurt Canadian companies, too.
Trump roasted as 'greatest idiot' in a lifetime after Lake Ontario threat: 'Out of ideas'
President Donald Trump floated the idea of changing the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” on Tuesday amid his ongoing trade feud with Canada, a pitch that was met with collective sighs by critics who spoke to their exhaustion with the chaotic Trump administration.In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump claimed that his administration was “giving serious consideration” to the name change as he did not “expect to [be] doing much business with Ontario any longer.” The idea is similar to his executive order issued in early 2025 to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” a move that received intense scrutiny at the time.Regarding Trump’s latest name-change idea — one that came amid Trump imposing 50% tariffs on some Canadian goods, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowing to match said tariffs “dollar for dollar” — critics were quick to condemn it.The Bulwark's Sam Stein quipped on X, "He's out of ideas."Stephen Hayes, editor and CEO at The Dispatch, mocked, "It's still astonishing - ten years into the Trump era - that our president so often behaves like a 10 year-old. And that so much of our national policymaking is based on the juvenile emoting of an adult who functions like a preteen."“We are living in the stupidest f------ times,” wrote Jason Willan, a prominent fantasy sports analyst, in a social media post on X.Roland Ley, a former contributor for Euromaidan Press, called Trump the “greatest idiot” he had witnessed in his “lifetime.”“Just as internationally 'Gulf of America' isn't recognised, this won't be either,” Ley wrote in a social media post on X. “Not even passed by the US Senate anyway.”In response to Trump’s announcement, Canadian horse-racing photographer Julie Wright quipped, “Lunatic says what,” and prominent online influencer Mario Nawfal argued that Trump’s trade war was “getting silly” in a post on X to his more than 3.8 million followers.“It would require a lot more than a President’s bad mood to change the name of a gulf or great lake!” Nawfal wrote. “Maybe a vote or something a bit more thought out.”
MAGAworld in peril as GOP rep zeroes in on 'wild west' of internet dark money
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) wants to break the back of foreign actors who use US influencers as fronts, and she is willing to go around House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to get it done.In an interview with Politico Playbook, Luna, who has been a thorn in Johnson's side, claims she has seen contracts "in the millions" that could rock MAGAworld if they were exposed.The Florida Republican is rolling out the Foreign Propaganda Registration Act, an amendment to the Foreign Agents Registration Act that would require influencers to disclose when they're being paid by a foreign government to push political messaging, according to the proposal first shared with Playbook."Being an influencer right now is kind of like the wild west," Luna told Playbook. "There's a lot of things laws haven't caught up to."Luna received briefings on foreign influence efforts, spoke with multiple government agencies about the issue and heard about payments occurring "on the back end" from people inside the influencer world.When asked whether she was aware of specific influencers receiving foreign money, Luna said: "I have a number of those people. I'm not going to put anyone on blast. That's not my job."The practice reaches deep into the influencer ecosystem. "Some of your biggest profile names… a large portion of them, in some way, shape, or form, have been approached at one point to push a certain position that's probably tied to a foreign country," Luna said.Luna is confident Johnson will support the measure. If not, she has a familiar recourse: she previously used a discharge petition to try to bypass House leadership and force action on a congressional stock-trading ban, and a person familiar with her thinking said she could turn to the tactic again. According to the report, "The fight ballooned in recent months inside MAGA, where the sprawling influencer ecosystem that fueled Trump’s political rise faces growing accusations within its own ranks that foreign governments and other well-funded interests are trying to manipulate it. Allegations have been leveled against influencers targeting JD Vance, Tucker Carlson and recently that Laura Loomer’s trip to Ukraine was funded by the country — which she vehemently denied."
‘Must be stopped, NOW’: Trump hints at swift intervention over ‘epic humanitarian crisis’
President Donald Trump hinted Tuesday that his administration may take immediate action to intervene in what he called a “humanitarian crisis of epic proportions” in Iran, demanding that it be addressed immediately.“The failing Islamic Republic of Iran is not paying large segments of their military, while at the same time killing protesters, even when they are not protesting, at levels not seen before,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “It is a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions, and must be stopped, NOW.”Iran executed a protester last weekend who was accused by Iranian officials of taking “operational action” on behalf of Israel, according to Iran International. A wave of protests broke out in Iran in January amid economic crisis, though Iran has accused Israel of stoking dissent. While Israel has not explicitly admitted to its involvement, the Mossad — Israel’s intelligence agency — admitted it was among protesters “in the field.” Israel’s far-right Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu admitted as much as well, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a similar admission.
Bessent shocks with ultimatum said to 'ripple' around world: ‘Clock just started ticking'
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a threatening ultimatum Monday with a message that CNN’s Jeremy Diamond said would “ripple around the world.”Speaking during a press conference at the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., Bessent unveiled the Trump administration’s new “economic D-Day” plan, officially named Operation Economic Outcast, which is designed to financially squeeze Iran into submission through the use of secondary sanctions and other measures.“Nations that facilitate any interactions with the regime should quickly heed our message: those who stand with the United States will reap the rewards of our partnership — those who tether themselves to the Iranian regime should expect to share in the isolation of a withering regime,” Bessent warned.“The United States expects action… Every country has a defined timeline to shut down activities we have identified. Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran will be removed from the U.S. dollar system. The clock just started ticking.”Operation Economic Outcast was teased by Bessent on Sunday in an op-ed he penned for the Financial Times. Almost immediately, multiple experts warned that the plan was not only destined to fail, but could very well backfire, with one expert — political scientist Robert Pape — warning that it could potentially “shut down critical shipping lanes and spike oil prices overnight.”Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent threatens entire world with consequences for ignoring its new sanctions plan against Iran, says countries have a "defined timeline" to take action."Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran will be removed from the U.S. dollar… pic.twitter.com/oAYMLtwxOW— Alexander Willis (@ReporterWillis) August 24, 2026
Trump slammed for 'massive' mistake that could 'push us over the edge'
President Donald Trump has received a stark warning from a ranking member of the House Budget Committee over a recent late-night social media attack. U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) appeared on MS NOW Sunday morning to condemn Trump's economic policies as he threatens the United States' northern neighbor with a trade war. "This is going to be massive overall in terms of both exports and imports," Boyle said. "At a time in which the American economy is really teetering on recession, this is the kind of thing that actually could push us over the edge."Trump's new 50 percent tariffs went into effect after trade talks fell apart on Friday, prompting Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney to argue the country was under attack."They asked too much and they offered too little," Carney said. "You're at war when you get attacked. We got attacked."A dollar-for-dollar retaliation — which would target exports such as steel, dairy appliances and agricultural equipment — is now slated to take place on Sept. 8. "These are the largest tariffs that we have faced in almost a century," said Boyle. "The last time tariffs were this large, of course, was the Great Depression."Boyle blamed both Trump and Republicans in Congress for the growing threat of recession — then made a telling slip of the tongue. "Why is a Republican majority in Congress just so weak that they're not willing to stand up for this president," said Boyle, then corrected himself on the "Freudian slip." "Or, stand up to this president," he said. "Instead, they're standing up for this president."
Trump ally cashing in on vape firm accused of targeting kids and a brutal junta
A vape distributor accused of illegally peddling nicotine products to kids has found a champion in Washington, D.C., a former ally of President Donald Trump's who is raking in millions as a lobbyist.His name is Roger Stone. Mother Jones reported Thursday that Stone has earned more than $4 million as a lobbyist for firms such as vape-distributor Ecto World under the new administration."Trump’s return to the White House has been a tremendous boon to Stone, who not long ago was claiming he had been nearly bankrupted by legal fees," Mother Jones reported. The report describes him as a "conspiracy theorist and political provocateur who was convicted of lying to Congress and witness tampering in the Trump–Russia investigation, sentenced to 40 months in prison, and subsequently pardoned by Trump."Stone’s lobbying firm Drake Ventures has signed up a slew of clients that include the cryptocurrency investor “Bitcoin Jesus,” indicted last year on federal fraud charges, and the military junta in Myanmar, reportedly paying Stone $50,000 a month.Crimes against humanity have spiked in the Junta since the military takeover in 2021, the report notes. As for Ecto World, it stands accused in New York of trying to get people hooked on nicotine. "New York State Attorney General Letitia James sued Ecto World and other vape companies for illegally distributing, marketing, and selling addictive candy- and fruit-flavored disposable nicotine products," the report states, "many produced in China, targeting sales to children and fueling the youth vaping epidemic."
Treasury chief dubbed 'amoral greedmonster' as 'unbearably dumb' admission spurs uproar
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was presented a real head-scratcher on Thursday, he admitted at a press conference. "We've got a spike in oil prices today that I don't really understand," Bessent said during a White House address.Bessent made this bold claim as the international price benchmark for oil rose 2.4 percent to reach $93.78 per barrel just before noon, Thursday, according to CNBC. Oil prices reached their highest level in more than three weeks earlier this week after Iran pledged the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed, Reuters reported on Tuesday. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to threaten that he would announce the “MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY!”When Politico's Dasha Burns requested comment on the threat from a source inside the White House, she was told that Trump has decided to move away from military escalation and toward economic pressure."That means Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is more involved in the war than Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at this point," Burns explained. Yet, despite his position of power as both a war advisor and the leader of the department that balances (or tries to) the budget of the U.S. government, Bessent admitted he couldn't understand how continuing hostilities against a country that controls the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's primary waterway passages for the oil trade, would cause oil prices remain high.This left viewers scratching their heads, too. "Feels like it’s his job to know," replied political commentator Chris Robinson, "but I understand Bessent is just a humble soybean farmer who’s estimated worth is half a billion dollars,."Another political commentator, Jim Stewartson argued that it was a question of intelligence."In addition to being an amoral greedmonster, " he wrote, "Scott Bessent is unbearably dumb."But HFI Research, whose substack on energy policy reaches roughly 19,000 readers, argued it was a question of honesty, writing, "If you are going to lie, at least try."
Tiny snail derails Trump's other massive ballroom ambition
Donald Trump's ballroom ambitions are running into trouble on two continents — and in Ireland, the obstacle is a snail.According to The Washington Post, Trump and his family have promised to build "the nicest ballroom in Ireland" at the Trump International Golf Links & Hotel in Doonbeg, a 12,000-square-foot hall seating 320 guests.However, unlike the fight in Washington, the roughly 300 residents of Doonbeg largely support the project. But the endangered Vertigo angustior snail, which lives in the resort's dunes, has long complicated development there. In February, planners approved the ballroom on the condition the Trumps submit a snail restoration plan.Days later, Liam Madden — a self-described "serial objector" known for derailing developments across Ireland, and who once helped kill a Trump seawall proposal at the same resort in 2020 — stepped into the breach and filed an appeal alongside Friends of the Irish Environment, which has disrupted the massive build-out."If there is a God in heaven," Madden said in July, "I will win the planning appeals and capitalize on it for notoriety." According to the Post, "He returned to the snail — this time focused on helicopters. The Trump Organization, a promotional video indicated, allows guests to be ferried in and out by helicopter. In materials published online, an aviation company, Executive Helicopters, said it has two 'heli landings' at the resort, one by the hotel and one on the golf course. To Madden, this was a 'fatal error': The Trump Organization neither mentioned the helicopters nor sought to measure their ecological impact. The ballroom proposal thus was 'tainted at law and beyond remedy,' he wrote."Geraint Ellis, an Irish planning law expert who reviewed Madden's appeal for the Post, agreed and said the activist "seems to have found some issues that are worthy of further scrutiny."Ireland's national appellate board is expected to rule by year's end, the Post is reporting.Meanwhile in Washington, the $900 million White House ballroom — complete with gold-colored presidential seals — is already under construction despite a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling this month calling the project "utterly lawless" for bypassing legally required reviews.
'What do you think he meant?' Pentagon insider fears Trump will drop a nuke
President Donald Trump's hardening stance on Iran has rattled even senior Republican officials and generals in his own Department of Defense, with one calling him "a madman who can't be trusted," according to an insider.Veteran White House reporter Brian Karem, in a report for Raw America, identified how Trump has been weighing using nuclear weapons against Iran over the past two months."One unnamed Pentagon official confided to Raw America that the president’s threat that 'a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,' which he posted to his Truth Social early last month, was seen as particularly alarming within the DoD," Karem wrote."After what Trump said back in July, everyone should have known this is on the table," the Pentagon official told Raw America. "What do you think he meant by that?"The comments follow a chilling statement from former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). The former Trump MAGA ally claimed in a post on X Sunday that the president discussed the possibility of using nuclear weapons against Iran in recent strategy meetings and called him "pure evil."Greene argued that Iran was "nowhere near creating a nuclear weapon," and that the U.S. military had "killed their leaders and innocent little children in a school, and Iran has controlled the Strait of Hormuz ever since and punished the region for their part in it.""And now our government is the one actually discussing lowering the nuclear threshold in order to use nuclear weapons against Iran even though Trump claims he’s won the war like 40 times and says the U.S. controls the [Strait of Hormuz]," Greene wrote.She described why that was so troubling."Trump promised no more foreign wars, but may actually be the one who delivers a nuclear holocaust that would likely drag the entire world into major conflict, economic depression, and mass human suffering we’ve never seen in our lifetimes and maybe throughout history," Greene added.
Critics mock Trump as he tries 'worst ever movie reboot'
President Donald Trump was criticized on Wednesday after claiming he had a great relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, prompting backlash over his recent comments.Trump, who had called for U.S. military exercises with South Korea to be cut, claimed during an Oval Office press conference that continuing the drills would be unfair to North Korea's supreme leader."I do have a good relationship with Kim Jong Un," Trump said. "I didn't like the fact that we're doing these massive military exercises really against North Korea when I'm friendly with him."Commentators on social media were furious with the president's remarks."Maybe next time we shouldn’t elect someone President who kisses the a---- of Putin and Kim," David Yoffee, a frequent political commentator who self-describes as a Democrat, wrote on X."@RepDonBacon still waiting for you to pull your 29 years of honorable service out of the trash and do something that should not have to seem so brave. Please wake up, D̴r̴.̴ ̴J̴o̴n̴e̴s̴ Rep. Bacon," wrote attorney John Oleske in a post on X, calling on the veteran and GOP lawmaker to respond."Trump: Maybe Kim does a little 'military operation' and takes over South Korea in a Putin-ish manner. Maybe I look the other way unless $10 billion appears in my lap. Who knows," liberal political commentator Chris Robinson wrote on X."Worst reboot ever of the movie ‘The Interview’ with Seth Rogen and James Franco," journalist Nancy Levine Stearns wrote on X.Worst reboot ever of the movie ‘The Interview’ with Seth Rogen and James Franco. https://t.co/d9EIX5DwGR— Nancy Levine Stearns (@nancylevine) August 19, 2026
