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MAGA senator skewered online after 'surreal' CNN remarks on Trump deal
A MAGA senator was walloped online after he parroted a head-spinning Trump defense of his dubious Iran deal.Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) was asked by CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins on Wednesday about Trump's deal to end the war with Iran."Are you okay with Iran having missiles?" Collins asked.Marshall responded, "I prefer that they not, but they have to defend themselves," echoing Trump, who hours earlier defended letting Iran keep its ballistic missiles because "other people have some."Commentators online let Marshall have it for his overt effort to remain in lockstep with Trump."This guy will say whatever Trump says on any given day," Ron Filipkowski, the editor-in-chief of the MeidasTouch news network, said. "He has no core beliefs. His political philosophy is whatever position Trump takes today, which may be different from the position Trump had yesterday.""Trump/flunkie Republican senator says Iran has to be able to defend itself," summarized journalist John Harwood."Couldn't we have just come to this conclusion before 13 Americans and thousands of Iranians died for nothing?" asked American Saga writer Zaid Jilani."So America's adversaries need to be able to defend themselves against America for America's sake?" wondered Max Meizlish, a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. "Got it. Nothing to see here. Nothing weird going on at all."Spanish-language journalist León Krauze described the comments as "surreal." Meanwhile, Pradheep J. Shanker, a doctor and contributor for the National Review, simply wrote, "JFC" to express his frustration.
Trump officials admitted to Congress their new Iran plan is financing terrorists: report
President Donald Trump's administration admitted to Congress that Iran was still directly involved in financing terrorist activity, at exactly the same time the president was planning to give them money, Punchbowl News reported on Wednesday.According to the report, the State Department "told Congress that Iran’s oil exports are a primary revenue source for the regime’s funding of terrorist activities — just hours after the United States and Iran electronically signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to lift oil sanctions."This 515-page report, which detailed U.S. efforts against international drug trafficking, indicated that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) “controls significant portions of the domestic economy.” The report continued that “Iran’s oil and petroleum exports are a primary source of revenue for its armed forces, terrorist partners and proxies. The majority of Iran’s oil transactions are conducted by illicit networks.”All of this follows reporting that a key obstacle to Trump's Iran deal is the difficulty of delisting IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), which is in theory required for the full-scale sanctions relief the administration is promising.Legislation passed by Congress in 2022 about the Ukraine war contained a provision requiring that any U.S. intelligence that Iranian drones were attacking Americans would prohibit the IRGC from being delisted as an FTO for four years. Per Punchbowl's Andrew Desiderio, "Last April, the State Dept formally told Congress that the IRGC had indeed attacked Americans with drones."The memorandum with Iran "also sets up a $300 billion 'reconstruction fund' that many Republicans believe will inevitably be used for terror financing," noted the report, as well as allowing "the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran to direct where much of that funding goes."
Trump signs Iran peace plan, claiming deal averts ‘worldwide depression’
Details of the 14-point agreement revealed as senior US officials claim ‘major win’ despite significant concessions to TehranReaction: Donald Trump’s Iran deal met with anger, relief and incredulityAnalysis: Trump’s Iran deal is result of unrealistic ambitions for an untenable warDonald Trump has signed a 14-point agreement with Iran, claiming it delivered a “major win” for the United States – even as it made significant political and financial concessions to Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz and prevent a “worldwide depression”.In extraordinary remarks on Wednesday, Donald Trump went from threatening Iran with a new wave of attacks to suggesting the country had basic rights to enrich uranium for civilian use, that he would not pressure Tehran to abandon its ballistic missiles programme and the US was “going to have to give back” billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets. Continue reading...
Top Republican decries Trump’s Iran deal: ‘Reagan is rolling over in his grave’
Senator Bill Cassidy attacks ‘worst foreign policy blunder in decades’ while others in his party skeptical over peace dealA handful of Senate Republicans have sharply criticized the agreement Donald Trump reached with Iran, accusing the administration of committing “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades”.On Wednesday, the Trump administration released the text of an interim deal between Washington and Tehran to end the 110-day conflict, framing it as a “major win” for the US – even as the 14-point accord made significant political and financial concessions to Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz and prevent a “worldwide depression”. Continue reading...
Cannabis commercialisation not decriminalisation drives up usage, study finds
Review reveals rise in users and rates of psychosis in countries where cannabis is sold commercially Decriminalising the possession of cannabis or strictly regulating access to the drug do not appear to drive up usage, but when the drug is sold commercially the number of users increases and more mental health problems are seen, a review has found.An international team analysed the dramatic shift in policies on cannabis between 2000 and 2025, including how the numbers of people taking the drug, its potency, and rates of psychosis changed after new rules came in. Continue reading...
Kash Patel's girlfriend raises eyebrows with international MAGA tour: report
FBI Director Kash Patel's country singer girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, has a new "government gig" planned in Belgium this summer, according to reports on Wednesday.Wilkins will perform the national anthem in Brussels for a "Freedom 250" party featuring a military flyover, thousands of VIP guests, troops and fireworks, reported The Swamp, one of The Daily Beast's Substacks. "The event will be held at Cinquantenaire Park, a sprawling 30-hectare urban park known for its Triumphal Arch, sweeping gardens, and grand museums," according to The Swamp. Not everyone was thrilled about the party. "The Swamp has learned that some locals are already annoyed that a large part of their city is set to be sealed off ahead of the MAGA-fest."Bill White, the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium and Wilkins's friend, has planned the event.Patel and Wilkins started dating in 2023. It's unclear if Patel, who has been criticized for using his FBI jet to attend the Olympics in Italy and taking secret snorkeling trips in Hawaii, will be there."Which raises two obvious questions: Is Wilkins getting paid— and will Keystone Kash be making the trip?" The Swamp wrote.
GAO faults State, USAID for poor oversight of $1.2 billion China counter-influence effort
The State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development spent $1.2 billion on programs designed to counter Chinese influence around the world but failed to evaluate whether the programs were effective, according to the Government Accountability Office.
'Ummm…': Trump's 'erratic' speech sparks concerns he's 'exceedingly unwell'
The internet fired off stunned reactions on Wednesday as President Donald Trump gave a meandering speech after the G7 Summit in France.Trump spoke about the Iran agreement from Évian-les-Bains and talked for more than 40 minutes on a stage with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick standing behind him.Political and media experts commented on the president's demeanor and claims."This is one of the most erratic press conferences I think I've ever seen from Trump. He sounds like he's got a rotten cold," Mikey Smith, deputy political editor for The Mirror, wrote on X."Even with the bronze plaster on his face, the president looks exceedingly unwell," former CIA case officer and political commentator, wrote on X."Ummm………….," political commentary account Spiro’s Ghost wrote on X."A few missiles never hurt anybody," Ron Filipkowski, MeidasTouch editor and attorney, wrote on X."This is the dumbest speech in the history of speeches. My 7th grade speech for class secretary was better," Georgetown University professor Anthony M. Hopper wrote on X."Sounds like Trump's personal 'Strait of Hormuz' just opened," former Metro editor at the Chicago Tribune Mark Jacob wrote on Bluesky."Heads up to the moms whose SNAP benefits just got cut," editor Amanda Katz, former Washington Post writer, posted on Bluesky.This is one of the most erratic press conferences I think I've ever seen from Trump. He sounds like he's got a rotten cold. https://t.co/CWF2i1FlB6— Mikey Smith (@mikeysmith) June 17, 2026
U.S. in talks with Jamaica to send third-country migrants as rift widens in Caribbean
Jamaica is in discussions with the United States to accept third-country deportees, a move that would add the island nation to a growing number of Caribbean countries working with the Trump administration on its immigration agenda.
Trump has nothing but praise for Modi at G7 after tensions over US military strike, trade
U.S. President Donald Trump described Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as his loyal friend, despite tensions over trade and oil sanctions
Trump's 'rambling and incoherent' G7 press conference pushes MS NOW to cut away
Donald Trump’s much-anticipated press conference to address his Iran peace deal didn’t last long on MS NOW, with host Alicia Menendez cutting in as he discussed the war before taking questions, with the president sounding both hoarse and out of breath.Before taking questions, the president jumped from topic to topic about the attack on the Middle Eastern country as he was flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.With the president taking deep breaths after every sentence which were amplified by his microphone, he was telling the assembled reporters about burying Iran's nuclear program, saying, “Those mountains collapsed right on top of everything. Nobody's going to get that for a long time unless we want to get it. We will get it. But we're the only ones that can. And they say China has the equipment to get it, and we have the equipment.”At that point the audio was cut and Menendez informed her audience, “A rambling, incoherent president of the United States attempting to take a victory lap over his page and a half Iran agreement. Let's bring in MS NOW Senior National Security Reporter David Rohde and former Undersecretary of State under President Barack Obama, Richard Stengel. So much to tease apart from what we have just heard from the president of the United States, let's start with a fact check on the way he described the JCPOA and how it compares to the agreement currently before him.”“Well, Alicia, as you know, we haven't actually seen that agreement. We do know, supposedly that it's one and a half pages long,” Stengel observed. “The JCPOA agreement, which was negotiated over two years with a number of other countries that he's visiting now, England, France, Russia, was hundreds of pages long, and it was specifically about nuclear enrichment and the nuclear threat.”“There are no kind of reflexive protections in the Trump agreement. And it's also just much broader. I mean, to get to the fact check, he talked about the $1.5 billion that was given to Iran after the signing of the JCPOA,” he elaborated. “That was Iran's money. That was interest on the money that was in the United States that Iran had deposited here. Again, it's been reported that this will be a $300 billion fund that Iran will be able to access, as well as a relaxation of the sanctions against Iran, which gives them billions and billions of dollars. So, as you say, it's incredibly inarticulate and 100% wrong over and over.” - YouTube youtu.be
LISTEN: The war is over -- or is it?
President Trump announced the end of the war with Iran, and said a peace deal was in the process of being signed. A day later, he announced the Strait of Hormuz would soon reopen and that the peace deal was in the process of being signed. But questions remain: Are we at war or not?
