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Jul 11, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump's threat to commit what one former Obama administration official described as "genocide" stunned onlookers Saturday with the sign-off, "PRAISE BE TO ALLAH!"In a Friday night Truth Social post, Trump threatened to "completely decimate" Iran, adding "1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow." Trump was going on about how the military would retaliate "for a one year period" if he were assassinated by Iran.The entire threat stunned Richard Stengel, former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, who shared his alarm on MS NOW Saturday morning."The fact of an American president threatening genocide against the whole people in case he's assassinated is more than unseemly," Stengel said. "It's it's incredibly vulgar and undiplomatic language."However, it was his choice to end the post with "PRAISE BE TO ALLAH! President DONALD J. TRUMP" that left online critics baffled, even though he's done it before."So much weirdness in this most recent threat to destroy Iran," veteran journalist and political commentator Tom Nichols reacted. "(Why one year? Praise Allah?) The Iranians have, I suspect, learned to tune all this out. But something's very wrong with the president.""This is total insanity," wrote journalist Aaron Rupar. "Words fail to explain how anyone let alone a plurality of voters thought giving an obviously demented person control of the most powerful government in the world was a good idea. We will be lucky to come out the other side of this alive.""PRAISE BE TO ALLAH! to end this is incredible work," political columnist William Kedjanyi commented."Donald Trump is mentally deranged," writer and journalist Steven Beschloss posted. "He's a danger to the U.S. He's a danger to the globe. He does not belong in this position of power—in control of the massive U.S. military—and he should be removed from office. This is not a joke."

Jul 11, 2026 - World

Vice President JD Vance's allies say he accidentally stumbled into a strategy to leave himself unscathed by the conflict in Iran, but Trump insiders argue he's just kidding himself, Politico reported Saturday. Aides and allies of Vance told Politico that he's hoping his early skepticism of starting a conflict with Iran and his public doubts that Iran could be counted on to make peace will be "his saving grace" if hostilities drag on. "It wasn't necessarily strategic from him, but it did have the side effect of putting him in a good place politically," an anonymous GOP operative allied with Vance told Politico. "From a purely political perspective, all that really mattered was him being seen as attempting to bring the war to an end, while at the same time remaining loyal and aligned with the president."Vance is closely linked to the Iran peace talks, Politico noted. He was in the middle of peace talks that led to a memorandum of understanding to end hostilities between the U.S. and Iran, but the MOU has since fallen apart, Politico noted."How can you blame this on him?" a Vance ally told Politico, referring to the continued conflict with Iran. "Failing at trying for peace, I don't think gets you a penalty from rational people. In other words, the non-war crowd is not going to fault him for trying to end the war."However, a former Trump official cast doubt on the idea that Vance comes out unscathed, saying, "This MOU is likely a loser, and it's his," and that Vance "is very, very much the person with the most to lose."Another former Trump official agreed Vance's team is too hopeful, saying, "Dude, you just got handed a s— sandwich. You can't cover up the taste too much."

Jul 11, 2026 - World

The Trump administration was met with a wave of bitter rebuke Saturday morning after the New York Times revealed his decision to subpoena journalists who reported on his Qatari jet.The subpoenas were issued to four of its reporters after they wrote about security concerns with Trump's Qatari-donated Boeing 747, according to reporting by the New York Times. Trump had to ditch his Qatari jet while departing from a NATO summit on his old Air Force One, and the Times reported that the gifted plane lacked security features like anti-missile capabilities.Fellow journalists and political commentators took to X to voice their displeasure with the subpoenas, which were issued on Friday. Swiss comedian and journalist Viktor Giacobbo described the subpoenas as "Free speech MAGA style.""Maybe if you don't want people writing about your unsecure bribe plane, don't solicit one from a petrostate royal family to begin with," wrote HuffPost White House correspondent S.V. Dáte."How dare they report any problems with his ill gotten plane!" posted Democratic political strategist Joe Trippi."The Trump regime's efforts to clamp down on the Times is evidence of exactly how important their reporting is," reacted veteran journalist Jim Roberts. "And how truthful it is."Political commentator Mario Nawfal noted it's the "same play they ran on the [Washington] Post and the [Wall Street] Journal earlier this year before backing off," referring to similar Trump administration subpoenas. "The story clearly landed, or none of this would be happening.""Remember when MAGA said the press was the enemy because it 'hid the truth'? Now they're cheering the government subpoenaing reporting for telling it," former Democratic National Committee representative Khary Penebaker posted. "Amazing how fast principles disappear when Trump's feelings get hurt."

Jul 11, 2026 - World

A bizarre incident involving a Fox News host and the interim president of a foreign nation has become one of President Donald Trump's favorite stories to tell, according to a new report. The New York Times Saturday profiled Secretary of State Marco Rubio and revealed his growing power over Venezuela and the apparent pleasure it gives the president. This becomes evident when the Times details an Oval Office encounter between the two men. "Mr. Rubio could be the next leader of Venezuela, Mr. Trump suggested," according to the report. "And while the president’s aides say he was joking — and that he frequently teases Mr. Rubio about an overseas assignment — the fact is that Mr. Rubio does not need to move to Caracas."Rubio's control over the foreign nation, whose leader, incumbent Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, the U.S. captured during a military strike on Jan. 3, has only grown, the Times reports.Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice president, now leads the country on an "acting basis" but with detailed instructions from Washington, according to the report. The Times then detailed the backstory of a '"surprising" announcement, made before even the Venezuelan government could, that Rubio made about Rodríguez earlier this year. Rubio announced she would would travel to India. "When the Fox News anchor Bret Baier contacted Ms. Rodríguez about participating in an interview, she told him that Mr. Trump would have to approve," the Times reports."Mr. Trump loved that Ms. Rodríguez was deferring to him, and has repeatedly recounted the story to others when they ask about her, according to multiple people familiar with his comments."

Jul 11, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump late Friday night publicly threatened to decimate "all areas of Iran" over mounting fears for his personal safety. Trump's took to Truth Social about 11:20 p.m. to inform to Iranians that he would not hold back should any assassination attempt occur. "1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran," wrote Trump, "with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the Globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!Trump was likely responding to the Wall Street Journal report Thursday that Israel intelligence shared with the U.S. may indicate Iran has developed a new plan to assassinate Trump."Iran for years has vowed openly to retaliate against Trump for the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, who was a top general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in the president’s first term," the report noted. Trump said late Friday that any word of such attempt would result in an enormous retaliation effort from the U.S. "Orders have already been given, and the U.S. Military is ready, willing, and able, for a one year period of time, subject to extension, to completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran," said Trump. The months-long war began earlier this year with a strike, subjected to new scrutiny last week from CNN, which resulted in the bombing of a school and the deaths of 168 children. CNN's unnamed sources said an important step had been skipped. "Senior US military commanders bypassed warnings in critical databases that intelligence about potential targets in Iran was severely out of date," the report stated. "The decision by senior commanders to ignore the warnings was made for 'expediency,' two of the sources said, in a rush to provide targets at the start of the war. But it also directly contributed to the accidental strike on the school."Trump concluded his threat Friday night with the words "PRAISE BE TO ALLAH!"Read the full post here.