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MS NOW's Stephanie Ruhle taunts Trump for turning tail against Iran: 'TACO: war edition'
Donald Trump’s pride in getting an Iran deal done, despite accusations that it was a complete capitulation to Iran’s leadership, led MS NOW’s Stephanie Ruhle to haul out the “Trump Always Chickens Out” (TACO) taunt.During a discussion of the deal with former diplomat Richard Haas and MS NOW’s David Rohde, she asked the two experts what the US got out of the deal.According to both, the US was definitely on the losing end and the deal could easily fall apart.“There's concerns that [Israel Prime Minister] Bibi Netanyahu is going to try to blow up this deal because it's so bad for Israel in the long term,” Rohde explained before adding a curt, “It is.”“And I'll just keep it short,” he continued. “I agree with what [New York Times conservative] Bret Stephens said. He said President Trump launched a war of choice. The really big issue was ground troops, and if you really wanted to win this war, he would need to take Kharg Island or actually, I think, land some troops in Iran.” “I'm not saying we should invade Iran with our ground troops, but when you go to war, you must fight totally and completely and show personal courage and he [Trump] blinked,” he accused. “President Trump kept dropping bombs and it didn't work. And bombs aren't enough to win a war.”“TACO: the war edition,” host Ruhle joked as her guests laughed. - YouTube youtu.be
Trump 'falls flat on his face' as desperation for greatness backfires: columnist
As President Donald Trump's vanity projects collapse, the reality of his failures is reflected in his presidency, according to a columnist on Wednesday.Trump has attempted to remodel the White House and build a ballroom, slap his name on the Kennedy Center, and remodel the reflecting pool by spending millions to repaint it dark blue only for algae to return and turn it neon green — but that has all backfired, wrote James Ball, political editor at The New World, in a piece published by The i Paper."Trump, in other words, waded into a complex problem that successive administrations failed to address, declared he alone could fix it, didn’t learn anything about the actual underlying issues, and fell flat on his face," Ball wrote. "Some readers might be spotting parallels between the reflecting pool and the President’s Middle East policy, but even just sticking to his misadventures in the capital provides no shortage of disasters."His second term has been marked by missteps and "laws keep tripping him up," Ball explained."Trump sees himself as a strongman and wants the world to see him in the same way," Ball wrote. "He thinks Congress and the Supreme Court work for him. Laws are things he gets to write, not things he has to follow. He seems to believe that every other nation has to do what he wants."Yet Trump has continued running into problems."But it is a lot harder to project that image when you can’t even manage a home renovation or fix the pool at the bottom of your garden," Ball wrote."Trump is a man in a rush, particularly to leave a lasting impression on Washington DC. But by trying to build a legacy in the nation’s capital, he risks doing the opposite. He wants a legacy in marble, not one covered in algae," Ball added.
War-supporting conservative pinpoints 'bone spur' Trump's 'worst betrayal' yet
New York Times columnist Bret Stephens dropped the hammer on Donald Trump for “betraying” conservatives like himself who were encouraged that he took on Iran — only to capitulate when his war stalled out because he miscalculated the enemy.To make his point about the president’s lack of courage, Stephens brought up the way the president avoided the Vietnam War by getting a doctor to diagnose him with bonespurs, purportedly making him unable to serve and fight.With the headline reading, “Iran Found Trump’s Bonespur,” he jumped right in with, “War is a contest of wills. And in that contest, the hard men of Tehran appear to have scored a decisive victory over the vain man of Washington.”“I write this as someone who supported the war from the outset and hoped to see Trump carry it through to a decisive result: if not regime change, then at least a deal in which Iran would be forced to relinquish all of its enrichment capabilities and access to the Strait was unfettered,” he continued before adding, “But Trump got spooked after the regime didn’t instantly crumble and energy prices shot up. He then effectively abandoned the war he had started after less than six weeks of sustained combat — combat in which the United States lost fewer service members than in the 1983 invasion of Grenada. He compounded the error with an almost comical succession of military threats and last-minute climb-downs, each of them signaling indecision and weakness to Iranian adversaries practiced in the study of weakness.”Pointedly writing that the Iranian leadership, “took the measure of Trump’s courage. What it found was a bone spur,” he noted, “Though the details of the deal remain murky — a telling indicator of its likely shoddiness, since the administration would surely trumpet the terms of a strong agreement — it’s already clear that Trump has betrayed his promise to the Iranian people, after they were massacred in January to quell antigovernment protests.”According to the conservative columnist, Trump’s deal is leading to his “worst betrayal.” “We believed that Iran, which has waged a 47-year war against us, posed an increasingly intolerable threat to our security and vital interests,” he insisted. “This cease-fire neither ends nor eases that threat; it hardens and magnifies it. It removes the one point of U.S. leverage over Iran — the naval blockade of its ports — before there’s any negotiation over its nuclear program, which the Iranians will almost surely drag out until Trump is out of office.”After writing, “This is a debacle,” he predicted, “It gives Iran’s leaders something even more vital: The confidence that, whatever Trump may threaten, they can withstand the most any American president or Israeli prime minister can throw at them.”
'When you've lost the NY Post': MS NOW panel piles on Trump's Iran disaster
At the end of a segment on Donald Trump’s Iran deal, which is being highly criticized across the board as a disaster, MS NOW host Willie Geist made a point of holding up in the front page of Wednesday’s edition of the New York Post featuring a blaring headline criticizing the president.Prior to Geist’s display, each member of the “Morning Joe’ panel took a shot at the president now that details of his memorandum of understanding (MOU) have been leaked, with the Financial Times’ Ed Luce offering, “It doesn’t even pass the laugh test.”“Iran today is a considerably stronger regional power, considerably more threatening one to Israel and other of America's allies than it was on February 28th,” he continued. “There is no other way to see this than as a complete capitulation, capitulation by President Trump. And really a moment, I think of, well, I'm not going to use the word shame, but I mean, a really bad moment for the United States.”After co-host Mika Brzezinski shared a clip of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) stating, “Until I get more specific information, I'm going to hesitate to say anything more about it,” conservative New York Times columnist David French interjected, “This should go before the Senate, at the very least. This is absolutely a treaty by any understanding of the word. So yeah, the United States Senate should weigh in here. But the problem is and they'll know this if they say no to this, if they say no, what does that mean?”“Does that mean a very unpopular war restarts? Does that mean that negotiations restart? What's next?” he added. “Because we were sort of led into this war without these kinds of questions being asked and answered on the front end. Here we are in the allegedly back-end with Congress trying to reassert itself, but no real Plan B here at all.”That led Geist to hold the Post front page with the headline, “LOVEBOMB” followed by "Prez says Islamic regime not radical,’ his deal showers mullahs with cash –– and no sanctions.”He remarked, “I would just point out the New York Post this morning. A rare moment when you've lost the New York Post. ‘Lovebomb,’ the New York Post ripping President Trump on this deal for showering, it says, this regime with money, the lifting of sanctions and this $300 billion investment fund for funding the radical regime. That's The New York Post going after Donald Trump.” - YouTube youtu.be
Fox News throws JD Vance under the bus for weak Iran deal: 'Wasn't the right person'
A Fox News host blamed Vice President JD Vance — and not President Donald Trump — for a deal with Iran that he deemed too weak.Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade made the remarks Wednesday during an interview with Alex Gray, who served as chief of staff of the White House National Security Council under Trump."It doesn't look like Iran's been brought to its knees," Kilmeade said. "It seems like Iran got a lot out of it that many people weren't expecting.""Maybe the president wasn't even expecting" the outcome, Kilmeade continued, "because he's got enough plates in the air that he can't be into every detail.""I just wonder if the vice president, who was against this by all reports — was against the conflict to begin with — maybe wasn't the right person to bring this conflict to an end," Kilmeade added, turning his fire on Vance rather than Trump.Trump and Vance agreed to the terms of a memorandum of understanding with Iran on Sunday that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and set up 60 days of nuclear negotiations — but leaves Iran's enrichment program unresolved. The deal is set to be officially signed on Friday in Switzerland. Vance acknowledged on Hannity that "a lot of the technical details we're gonna figure out over the next month, over the next two months."Senate Republicans have been equally critical. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) warned Trump he was "being ill-advised to pursue a deal that would not be worth the paper it is written on." Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Obama team could have negotiated the emerging deal.According to Israeli media, senior U.S. officials were divided on the agreement — with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe all expressing doubts about Iranian compliance.The two sides have 60 days to negotiate the fate of Iran's nuclear enrichment program.
Protesters to rally against World Cup sponsor Hyundai before Mexico game
Focus on business dealings with mining company Guadalajara rally to highlight fate of ‘disappeared’Hyundai will be targeted by protesters at a rally before the Group A game between Mexico and South Korea in Guadalajara on Thursday, due to the World Cup sponsor’s business dealings with the South American mining company Ternium.A 2025 report from the environmental group Mighty Earth criticised Hyundai’s involvement in what they described as a “dirty steel supply chain”, as the South Korean motor company is a major buyer of iron ore from Ternium for use in steel production. Ternium has faced repeated criticisms for its destructive environmental impact and corporate governance policies from campaign groups, as well as its alleged links to the disappearance of two Mexican activists. Continue reading...
Trump's Iran deal already in jeopardy as key provision may be illegal: analysis
President Donald Trump's controversial Iran deal may already be about to hit a brick wall — and it's all thanks to rules Trump and his own congressional allies put in place.According to Punchbowl News, Trump's State Department "triggered a provision in the 2024 Ukraine-Israel supplemental funding bill that prevents the president from removing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO)."This could be a huge problem for the specific aspect of the memorandum of understanding with Iran that requires the U.S. to give sanctions relief, Andrew Desiderio noted on X.In 2024, he said, senators "slipped a provision into the 2024 Ukraine supplemental that requires State to tell Congress every 180 days" if the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps perpetrated drone attacks against Americans, and if so, "the IRGC can’t be removed from the Foreign Terrorist Organization list for four years." The IRGC being delisted "would almost certainly be required to implement the broad sanctions relief the admin has outlined," he continued.The problem is, "Last April, the State Dept formally told Congress that the IRGC had indeed attacked Americans w/ drones, adding that this is 'sufficient to meet the statutory criteria' to bar removal of IRGC from FTO list for 4 years," said Desiderio.Trump theoretically has the power to waive this rule if it's deemed "vital" to national security, Desiderio added — but that would be a "tough sell" for Republicans, who near-universally backed Trump's original decision to declare the IRGC a foreign terrorist organization in the first place.
Jair Bolsonaro’s son sentenced to four years in jail for seeking US interference in father’s Brazil coup trial
Brazil supreme court finds that Eduardo Bolsonaro – who resides in the US - tried to get sanctions put on judges trying ex-president over coup plotBrazil’s supreme court has sentenced Eduardo Bolsonaro to four years and two months in prison after finding him guilty of courting US interference in his father’s coup plot trial last year.The office of Brazil’s prosecutor general had charged Eduardo Bolsonaro – who lives in the US - courting interference from the Trump administration to help Jair Bolsonaro’s case, by imposing sanctions on the court’s justices and tariffs on Brazilian goods. Continue reading...
'Pure cinema': Internet reacts as wobbly Trump leans on foreign leader at G7
President Donald Trump needed a helping hand from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to climb a single step at the G7 family photo.The moment unfolded Tuesday at the 52nd G7 Summit in Évian-les-Bains, France — and the White House's own Rapid Response account posted the clip, describing Trump gathering "with world leaders prior to the start of a cultural showcase and concert."The Daily Beast reported Monday that the 80-year-old president had gingerly descended Air Force One steps upon arriving in France.Trump told military generals in September he walks stairs "very slowly" — "just try not to fall because it doesn't work out well."At a Navy anniversary address in October, he went further: "I have to be careful because one day I'm gonna probably fall.""[Trump] clutches Modi for support as he tries to climb a single small step," political video journalist Aaron Rupar posted on X, alongside a wire photo by Getty photographer Evelyn Hockstein.The Indian press corps took note. WION diplomatic editor Sidhant Sibal noted that Modi "gives a helping hand to US President Trump."NDTV Senior Executive Editor Aditya Raj Kaul called it a "great metaphor of the times we live in.""Pure cinema," Firstpost journalist Shubhangi Sharma wrote.The two men then stepped off the platform together, holding hands, Hindustan Times America correspondent Shashank Mattoo noted.
From camel coats to guochao: Max Mara woos China’s luxury brand consumers
Fashion house pays tribute to Chinese style with its 75th anniversary catwalk show in Shanghai“New York may be the city that never sleeps, but Shanghai doesn’t even sit down.” For the British designer Ian Griffiths, who encountered this line in the New Yorker, it summed up why China’s biggest city was the right place to celebrate Max Mara’s 75th anniversary.“Max Mara is a product for metropolitan women, and it would be patronising to assume that a metropolitan wardrobe should be western-centric,” Griffiths said. Continue reading...
Conservative writer spots 'fury in the Republican base' as Trump makes enemy stronger
Despite Donald Trump’s proclamation that the Iran war is drawing to a close, columnist David French claimed that conservative anger aimed at the president with the president is not close to dissipating.Appearing on MS NOW’s “Money Power Politics,” with host Stephanie Ruhle, the conservative New York Times columnist may no longer be able to placate critics in his own party.Noting the lack of details about the president’s Iran deal, he told the host, “There's been short-term thinking from the beginning here. And so what Trump does is he's just continually kicking the can down the next news cycle, the next news cycle, the next news cycle, apparently in the hope that, you know, if Plan A doesn't work, Plan B can be pretending that plan a worked long enough and loudly enough that at least his base comes on board.”“But I'm seeing fury,” he added. “Fury in parts of the Republican base here, amongst those people who against, you know, they had stuck with Trump. And one of the reasons they stuck with Trump is they said he can deal with Iran, and the Democrats are too weak to deal with Iran. And then what you have here is an agreement that may actually leave Iran far stronger. Not from a conventional military standpoint. They took severe losses. But from a far stronger, from a geopolitical standpoint than when the war began, which is the exact opposite of the intention [to go to war]” - YouTube youtu.be
Trump sabotaging close ally's 2028 dreams in trap: insider
President Donald Trump wants to make Vice President JD Vance the fall guy on the pending Iran deal, according to a D.C. insider and analyst on Tuesday.Trump's move to make Vance the face of the war negotiations — despite whether the vice president wants to take on the job or not — could ultimately backfire on his 2028 presidential run ambitions, reported David Gardner for The Swamp, The Daily Beast's Substack."Vance made no secret of his opposition to American involvement in foreign wars before his boss dived headlong into a major conflict with Iran, and he has been ducking and diving ever since, trying to tap dance his way through the MAGA minefield," Gardner wrote."Trump sent him off to Pakistan for no-hope negotiations that ended, as widely expected, in an impasse. Now the president, in France for the G-7 summit, is heading home on Thursday rather than skip across to Switzerland for a planned signing ceremony on Friday to formalize a peace deal memo with Iran," Gardner explained.And there could be a reason behind that."It seems he wants Vance’s signature on the flimsy deal. Just in case it fails," Gardner wrote."He will need all his faith to get through this mess because Marco Rubio, his number one rival for the presidential nomination in 2028, is catching him in the polls," Gardner added.
