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President Donald Trump took another slap at Germany's leader over his criticism earlier this week of the U.S. war against Iran.German Chancellor Friedrich Merz faulted the 79-year-old president for launching the war without an apparent exit strategy, saying the U.S. has been "humiliated" by Iranian leadership, and Trump lobbed another social media attack after threatening to reduce American troops stationed in Germany."The Chancellor of Germany should spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine (Where he has been totally ineffective!)," Trump posted on Truth Social, "and fixing his broken Country, especially Immigration and Energy, and less time on interfering with those that are getting rid of the Iran Nuclear threat, thereby making the World, including Germany, a safer place! President DJT."Trump has frequently railed against NATO allies for refusing to assist in the Iran war he authorized at the end of February, and he responded to Merz's criticism by threatening to draw down the military forces that have been stationed in Germany since the start of the Cold War.“The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” Trump said in a social media post.

President Donald Trump has intensified pressure on Iran by predicting that the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will soon cause catastrophic damage to Tehran's oil infrastructure, but energy experts and analysts widely dispute these claims as unrealistic.Trump told reporters at the White House last Thursday: "If they don't get their oil moving, their whole oil infrastructure is going to explode." During a Fox News appearance Sunday, he escalated the rhetoric, stating that Iranian oil pipelines "both mechanically and in the earth" would "explode from within" if exports don't resume soon. "They say they only have about three days left before that happens. And when it explodes, you can never rebuild it the way it was," Trump said.However, energy scholars and industry analysts strongly challenge these predictions, reported the Washington Post. Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East Program at the Defense Priorities think tank, stated flatly: "That is not how it works. Nothing is going to self destruct." Mark Finley, a fellow in energy and global oil at Rice University's Baker Institute, countered that "Iran has proven it knows how to keep its system operating," noting that abundant empty tankers and domestic refining networks provide viable alternatives to strait exports.Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy concluded in a Tuesday analysis that even if Iran exhausts storage capacity, it "will not cause catastrophic, or even very serious, damage" to its oil industry. While shut-in operations — where water and gas contaminate reservoirs — can cause long-term damage, explosions are not a known consequence.Shipping data from TankerTrackers.com shows approximately 45 million barrels of storage capacity exists in empty tankers within the blockade perimeter, equivalent to six weeks of Iran's usual export production. Iran also maintains millions of barrels in inland storage capacity, according to analytics firm Kpler.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed Monday that Iranian production was already slowing, writing on X: "Iran's creaking oil industry is starting to shut in production thanks to the U.S. BLOCKADE." A Treasury Department spokesperson stated that Kharg Island, Iran's primary export hub, was approaching storage capacity at a cost of roughly $170 million daily in lost revenue.Despite expert skepticism, Trump's predictions represent the latest in a series of shifting administration claims about ending the conflict. As gas prices have surged to $4.23 per gallon from under $3 before the February war's onset, Americans face mounting economic pressures from the ongoing Strait of Hormuz closure.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) had to fight for speaking time during a contentious confrontation with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday morning, at one time having to exclaim, “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” to get the Donald Trump appointee to hush.As the ranking Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee, Smith got the first shot at the former Fox News personality and was barely able to finish his questions before the amped up Hegseth began spouting talking points about the success of the Iran war that has continued to drag on.After Hegseth gave an opening statement touting the success of the war, Smith pounced.“You have to stare down this kind of enemy who is hell-bent on getting a nuclear weapon and get them to a point where they're at the table, giving it up in a way that they haven't have,” Hegseth stated which led Smith to interrupt with, “So they haven't broken yet? Okay, we haven't gotten there yet.”“Well, their nuclear facilities have been obliterated underground,” Hegseth shot back, which drew a puzzled look from the Democratic House member.As Hegseth continued with, “They are buried—”, Smith protested, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whow whoa whoa.”“Reclaiming my time for a second here," Smith lectured. “We had to start this war, you just said 60 days ago, because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat. Now you're saying that it was completely obliterated?”“They had not given up their nuclear ambitions, and they had a conventional shield of thousands of —,” Hegseth protested as Smith talked over him and bluntly stated, “So Operation Midnight Hammer was a moment of nothing of substance. It left us in exactly the same place we were in before.” - YouTube youtu.be

King Charles III has been praised by onlookers for an unlikely comparison made between President Donald Trump and a moment in US history. During a speech given at a state dinner, the visiting King noted the long-running relationship between the US and the United Kingdom. King Charles said, "You recently commented, Mr. President, that if it were not for the United States, European countries would be speaking German. Dare I say that if it wasn't for us, you'd be speaking French."Some analysts picked up on the subtle jab at Trump, with King Charles seemingly making reference to the War of 1812. The British Army burnt down the Capitol, the President's house, and other public buildings in Washington in 1814.Journalist Annette Dittert wrote, "I am not sure whether Trump understood how damning that allusion was, well hidden under a thick layer of British humor and self-deprecation. But to compare Trump's ballroom plans with the English destroying Washington during a war over trade in 1814 is quite something."Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan added, "The best part of this joke is that Trump is laughing but I bet he doesn’t understand it."A separate speech from King Charles has been praised by CNN senior vice president David Chalian. He said, "He comes in with his position to be above it a bit and in his, you know, very British, stiff upper lip kind of way. "It's not that he was trying to get in a fight with President Trump, but he couldn't have seized the opportunity more to really stand clear on the importance of these things with a value system underneath it that is in contrast to a lot of what Donald Trump has been presenting on the world stage as it comes to these alliances."Trump's administration sparked widespread embarrassment when black lampposts outside the White House were adorned with Australian flags instead of British flags ahead of King Charles III's state visit. The blunder occurred as hundreds of national banners welcomed the King and Queen Camilla for a four-day visit to Washington, New York, and Virginia to commemorate 250 years since the Declaration of Independence.The i Paper's Victoria Richards wrote: "The US, meanwhile, can't even remember what our flag looks like... there's only 'king' who matters in Washington – and his name is Donald Trump." The error was quickly corrected by the DC Department of Transportation.