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Trump's big TV address underwhelms MAGA host: 'I was like, that's it?'
Pro-MAGA Real America's Voice host Gina Loudon revealed that she was underwhelmed by President Donald Trump's Wednesday night address to the nation about the war in Iran.During a Thursday morning segment, Loudon reflected on the speech with co-hosts David Brody and Terrence Bates."He basically said that everything is on track and that completion of military objectives," Bates noted. "Soon, kind of in parentheses, two to three weeks is the number he floated.""But I don't know," he remarked. "I still have questions, Dr. Gina. Did you get all the questions last night that you wanted answered?""Well, since, as David Brody pointed out this morning, I believe in our production call, he never said the word ground troops at all," Loudon replied. "Didn't address. No comment. So that meant that a lot of America went, oh, okay, well, we're not going to, we're not going to insert any ground troops. That's great. But is that what that meant? I don't know the answer to that.""And I was my whole time, this whole time, like, I literally was like, that's it?" she complained. "I don't know about anybody else. That's what I was thinking. I was like, that's what, wait, huh? I didn't understand."For his part, Brody called on the "forever war crowd" to calm down."And I get it. Don't get me wrong," he said. "I understand the concerns. But we're talking 32 days as opposed to 19 years in Vietnam. So let's just settle it down here and let's see where we go."Loudon fired back: "Yeah, well, some of us are, you know, thinking historically, and we're a little older and wiser, and we just want to have we want to have — we want to be the accountability partner for the president that we love."
Trump showed his hand in latest speech — and the world should be worried: expert
Donald Trump has no idea how to end the war with Iran, according to a defense and security expert urging the world to take note.Christopher Bucktin says the president has delivered a speech that highlighted the United States' failures in Iran, and that backing out is effectively the only option Trump's administration has. Whether that moment comes, The Mirror's US editor argues, is yet to be seen. He wrote, "If you were waiting for clarity last night, you got confusion. If you were waiting for honesty, you got lies. And if you were waiting for leadership, you got something closer to a greatest-hits compilation of his favourite talking points - none of them remotely resembling the truth."The most extraordinary part? He didn’t have to do this. Trump had an opportunity just hours earlier to end the Iran war or at least to claim he had. He could have stepped up, declared victory, and walked away."Given his talent for rewriting reality, plenty would have believed him. The killing could have paused. Markets might have steadied. Even his own fracturing MAGA base might have rallied behind the illusion of success. Instead, he chose the opposite."What Trump does next will worry the world, Bucktin believes, as the president must now figure out a way of leaving the Iran war behind. But the president's speech noted both conclusive success and an ongoing war, with Bucktin arguing this blur does not sit well with the public or the world. Bucktin wrote, "Iran has not folded. It has adapted, and in doing so, it has outplayed a man who thought force alone would be enough. By tightening its grip on the Strait, it has strengthened its position while Trump weakens his."At one moment, he says the job is done. Next, he threatens escalation. One moment, no regime change. The next, hints the regime may not survive. It is incoherent."The truth is brutally simple. Trump started a war he did not understand, against an opponent he underestimated, with no serious plan for what came next. He had a chance to step back and pretend it was over. Instead, he stepped forward and showed the world he hasn’t got a clue how to end it."
Trump's 'rupture' with two key allies has pushed him into 'lame duck' territory: analyst
As part of a discussion on Donald Trump’s address to the nation on Wednesday night, where he once again restated his stance on waging war on Iran, MS NOW’s Jonathan Lemire and “Morning Joe” regular John Heilemann agreed that two of his closest allies backing away from him is a sign that he is in the twilight of his political career.As Heilemann, a political strategist, noted, no one in the White House could be happy about the headlines that followed the address, because it did little to convince skeptical voters that things are going well as they watch the price of fuel skyrocket.“You know, John Lemire is someone who's pointed this out as much as almost anybody I know, Donald Trump is just not out among the people, very much the people of his party, the people of his coalition,” Heilemann told co-host Joe Scarborough. “And it feels as though he's not maybe even listening very much to MAGA media, which has turned against Laura Ingraham on Fox News, now suggesting that Donald Trump may not have the mental capacity to understand the foreign policy advice he's getting.”“That is a sign of a rupture that has something to do with the fact that Trump is looking more and more like a lame duck,” he suggested.“You have JD Vance now announcing that he's he's leaking to the press like crazy, that he was never for [war in] Iran,” he elaborated. “And now he's got a memoir coming out about his Catholic faith; we are into the 2028 presidential cycle now. ““And I think you're right that Donald Trump, on some level, the combination of detachment and the sense of kind of fatalism about what's going to happen and if he's going to save himself in the midterms, save the party in the midterms, he's going to have to do it through things like the SAVE Act. And maybe with all this increasing talk, deploying ICE to polling places, those are the only –– he's not going to be able to turn this around in a conventional political way. That's the one thing I think he still knows.” - YouTube youtu.be
One killed and buildings damaged as magnitude 7.4 earthquake strikes Indonesia
Quake with epicentre west-north-west of Ternate island shakes cities and prompts regional tsunami warningOne person has been killed after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s Ternate island, damaging buildings and triggering small tsunami waves.The quake, which had a depth of 35km, occurred on Thursday at 6.48am local time, according to the United States Geological Survey. Its epicentre was 127km (79 miles) west-north-west of Ternate, an island in Indonesia’s North Maluku province. Continue reading...
Trump's Iran 'update' signaled America plans to 'escalate': expert
A former presidential envoy said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump signaled the U.S. plans to escalate the war in Iran during his primetime address to the nation. Trump spoke for about 19 minutes on Wednesday, where he addressed a lot of outstanding questions people have been asking about the war in Iran, which has gone on for about five weeks. Trump said the U.S. is nearing completion of its objectives in the war, and called on the rest of the world to figure out how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which the Iranian regime has effectively blocked since the war began. Brett McGurk, a former White House coordinator, told CNN's Kaitlin Collins on Wednesday night that he didn't hear much of a plan for exiting the war. "My takeaway is that we might be in for an escalation to this war," McGurk said. "He said, if there is not a deal put back on the table.""If we thought we were going to hear a deescalatory speech, that this might be over in just a couple of weeks, I heard something different," he added. "My takeaway was that we might be in for an escalation of this war," @brett_mcgurk says. pic.twitter.com/Mw2weRABAA— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) April 2, 2026
Trump gives NATO stark ultimatum during Iran address
President Donald Trump gave NATO allies a stark ultimatum during his national address on Wednesday night. The speech was the first address Trump has given since the war in Iran started about five weeks ago. Trump addressed the progress of the war and claimed the U.S. is "nearing completion" of its objectives. He also told NATO allies that they have two choices to make when it comes to reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that Iran has effectively shut down in retaliation for the continued bombing strikes. European countries account for roughly 4% of the oil imports and 10% of liquified natural gas imports that pass through the Strait of Hormuz, according to data from the International Energy Agency. "The United States does not import any oil through the Hormuz Strait, and we won't be taking any in the future," Trump said. "We don't need it. We have completely decimated Iran, both militarily and economically, and every other way.""The countries that do receive oil through the Strait must take care of that passage; they must cherish it," he continued. "They must grab it and cherish it. They can do it easily. We will be helpful, but they should take the lead in defending the oil that they so desperately depend on.""So, to those countries who refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran - we had to do it ourselves - I have a suggestion: number one, buy oil from the United States. We have plenty. We have so much. And number two, build up some delayed courage ... and take it, protect it, and use it for yourselves."
Pakistan and China propose five-part peace plan for Middle East
Foreign ministers Ishaq Dar and Wang Yi met in Beijing as Pakistan pushes for peacemaker roleMiddle East crisis – live updatesPakistan and China have released a joint five-part proposal for peace in the Middle East, after Pakistan’s foreign minister flew to Beijing on Tuesday to seek Chinese support for the country’s faltering efforts to negotiate an end to end the war.The one-day meeting between Ishaq Dar and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, came as Pakistan continues to push for the role of peacemaker between the United States and Iran, even as the war shows little sign of relenting. Continue reading...
News outlets falsely report Somaliland called for extradition of Ilhan Omar
Reports, based on X post from unofficial account, follow JD Vance’s accusations and threats of finding ‘legal remedies’Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxSeveral news outlets have falsely reported that Somaliland’s government called for the extradition of Ilhan Omar, basing their stories on a post from an X account that does not represent the state despite its claims to the contrary.Fox News, the New York Post, Sinclair Broadcast Group’s the National News Desk and the Independent ran stories on the US representative. The reports centred on a post by @RepOfSomaliland in reaction to claims by JD Vance that Omar had committed immigration fraud, which echoed prior allegations against the Somali-born Minnesota Democrat that she has vehemently denied. Continue reading...
Interpol arrest warrant requested in Congo-Brazzaville for Jean-Guy Blaise Mayolas
Football federation president on the run with wife and sonConviction in absentia of wide-ranging corruption chargesAuthorities in Congo-Brazzaville have applied to Interpol for an international arrest warrant against Jean-Guy Blaise Mayolas, the president of the country’s football federation, Fecofoot, after he was convicted of embezzling $1.1m in Fifa funds.Mayolas is on the run with his wife and son after they were all sentenced to life imprisonment this month for embezzling funds provided by world football’s governing body as part of its Covid-19 relief plan in February 2021. As the Guardian revealed last year, that included almost $500,000 earmarked for the Congo women’s team. Continue reading...
Weather tracker: Thunderstorms drench UAE and Saudi Arabia
Abnormally strong jet stream triggers deluge in Middle East, while north Africa braces for 60-80mph gustsAn unusual weather pattern unleashed severe thunderstorms across parts of the Middle East last week, battering countries including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The Arabian peninsula – typically dominated by arid desert climates – received up to 150mm of rain in just a few days.The deluge was caused by an abnormally strong jet stream, which helped a deep area of low pressure to develop north of Saudi Arabia. This, in turn, drew moist tropical air from the Indian Ocean and triggered intense storms. Continue reading...
KP Sharma Oli: Nepal’s former prime minister arrested over alleged role in deadly protest crackdown
At least 77 people killed in anti-corruption youth uprising in September, which began over a brief social media banNepal’s former prime minister KP Sharma Oli was arrested early on Saturday morning over his alleged role in the deaths of dozens of people who took part in the gen Z protest that toppled his government last year.Police detained the three-time former prime minister at his residence in the capital Kathmandu, and also arrested his former home affairs minister Ramesh Lekhak. Continue reading...
Nepal’s PM-to-be uses rap to call for unity in first post-election message
Balendra Shah, 35, is a symbol of change in country whose government was toppled last year in youth-led uprisingNepal’s rapper turned politician Balendra Shah, who is about to be sworn in as prime minister, has issued his first post-election message in the form of a rap urging unity.Hours before the release he swore an oath as a newly elected lawmaker, and he is due to become the Himalayan republic’s new prime minister on Friday. Continue reading...
