Tag Archives: Middle East

Latin Times: Former Fox News Favorite Declares Network a ‘Propaganda Hose’ Aimed at Manipulating ‘Elderly’ Viewers

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Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson is accusing the network he once called home of operating as a “propaganda hose” aimed at manipulating its older viewers into supporting war, including the latest U.S. entanglement in Iran.

Carlson, once one of Fox News’ most influential and highest-rated personalities, has increasingly broken from the Trump-aligned right in recent months. His departure from the network in 2023 marked the beginning of a shift, with Carlson growing more outspoken against U.S. foreign policy, particularly military involvement in the Middle East.

Appearing on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast, Carlson condemned Fox News and its primetime personalities, most notably Sean Hannity, for cheerleading Israeli strikes on Iran and pushing for U.S. military involvement.

He called out what he described as the network’s deliberate effort to stir pro-war sentiment among “elderly” viewers.

“What they are doing is what they always do, which is just turning up the propaganda hose to full blast and just trying to knock elderly Fox viewers off their feet and make them subject to more wars,” Carlson said.

Former Fox News Favorite Declares Network a ‘Propaganda Hose’ Aimed at Manipulating ‘Elderly’ Viewers
Tucker Carlson turned on Fox News and Trump, accusing both of pushing war propaganda to manipulate elderly Americans.

https://www.latintimes.com/former-fox-news-favorite-declares-network-propaganda-hose-aimed-manipulating-elderly-viewers-585175

Newsweek: Trump’s most favorable pollster warns it could be “all over for MAGA”

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President Donald Trump‘s most favorable pollster has warned that it could be “all over for MAGA” if the president gets the United States more deeply involved in the conflict between Iran and Israel.

“Kiss the Republican majority goodbye… For the next decade,” Rich Baris, the director of Big Data Poll, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “If he pulls the trigger, it’s all over for MAGA.”

I seriously doubt that Trump has the brains to step back from brink. On the plus side, perhaps we’ll be rid of him sooner than 2029.

Trump’s most favorable pollster warns it could be “all over for MAGA”
Big Data Poll’s Rich Baris warned that Trump would lose support if he directly engages the U.S. in a war in the Middle East.

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-pollster-warns-all-over-maga-iran-israel-2086637

Mediaite: ‘Callous and Horrifying’: Trump Slammed For Urgent Call to Evacuate City of 10 Million People With No Explanation

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President Donald Trump sparked a wave of anger on Monday evening when he posted a cryptic message on social media urging the residents of Tehran to evacuate immediately.

“Iran should have signed the “deal” I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” Trump posted to his Truth Social account as news broke that he was leaving the G7 summit in Canada early.

The White House’s official account on X also shared the message, which led to a bevy of speculation as to its meaning – with many pundits and observers questioning if it was a threat of U.S. military action against Iran or simply typical Trump bluster.

This is grossly irresponsible!

What does our Asshole-in-Chief plan to do to a city of 10 million people?

‘Callous and Horrifying’: Trump Slammed For Urgent Call to Evacuate City of 10 Million People With No Explanation
Trump sparked a wave of anger on Monday evening when he posted a cryptic message on social media urging the residents of Tehran to evacuate immediately.
‘Callous and Horrifying’: Trump Slammed For Urgent Call to Evacuate City of 10 Million People With No Explanation

Alternate: Trump ‘made a mockery of all of us’: MAGA devotees revolt over foreign policy about-face

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Politico reports President Donald Trump’s own MAGA devotees warned him of Israel’s penchant for military escalation. Now the retaliation is setting in.

“The White House claims it played no part in the strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities Thursday night,” says Politico. Tehran was even slated to meet with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff over the weekend for peace talks, but now the U.S. is in a precarious place considering it unilaterally funds nearly a third of Israel’s military machine. Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s strike also threatens to pull the U.S. deeper into Middle East conflict — to the chagrin of a huge swathe of Trump’s MAGA base.

Politico reports President Donald Trump’s own MAGA devotees warned him of Israel’s penchant for military escalation. Now the retaliation is setting in.

“The White House claims it played no part in the strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities Thursday night,” says Politico. Tehran was even slated to meet with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff over the weekend for peace talks, but now the U.S. is in a precarious place considering it unilaterally funds nearly a third of Israel’s military machine. Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s strike also threatens to pull the U.S. deeper into Middle East conflict — to the chagrin of a huge swathe of Trump’s MAGA base.

You cast your lot with a tyrant; now you are getting what you paid for! 😀

Trump ‘made a mockery of all of us’: MAGA devotees revolt over foreign policy about-face

https://www.alternet.org/trump/trump-made-a-mockery-of-all-of-us-maga-already-pouncing-trumps-weakness-over-strikes

New York Magazine: Playing Secretary — Could These Be Pete Hegseth’s Last Days in the Pentagon?

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As war looms, Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon is beset by infighting over leaks, drugs, and socks. How long will Trump stand by his man?

In the drama of Hegseth’s January confirmation hearings, it was easy to get distracted by the financial settlement for an assault allegation, by the multitudinous accounts of heavy drinking on the job, by claims of misogyny from both his mother and his sister-in-law, by the fact that Hegseth, while married with three small children, had fathered a child with a Fox News producer who was also married with small children, during which pregnancy he had slept with the woman who later accused him of assault, and thereby miss some straightforward information about his managerial experience.

Pete Hegseth had run a nonprofit called Veterans for Freedom for several years, an organization that employed fewer than 20 people, and resigned after alleged financial mismanagement nearly bankrupted the organization. He had run a group called Concerned Veterans for America, which employed around 160 people, and resigned amid allegations of misconduct and, once again, financial mismanagement.

In choosing Hegseth, Donald Trump did not choose from the large set of people who had never managed an organization, or the considerably smaller set of people who had managed an organization without incident, but from a smaller still set of people who had managed multiple bureaucracies and resigned multiple times under complex circumstances.

It’s a good read but a bit long. Click the link below to read the entire article:

Could These Be Pete Hegseth’s Last Days in the Pentagon?
archived 13 Jun 2025 19:07:18 UTC

https://archive.is/xG4FF#selection-1205.0-1209.128

New York Post: Trump admin diverted 20,000 anti-drone missiles it promised to Ukraine and sent them to US troops, Zelensky says

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Trump administration diverted 20,000 anti-drone missiles originally meant for Kyiv to American forces in the Middle East.

Zelensky revealed Sunday that he had secured a deal for the missiles under the Biden administration to counterattack Moscow’s deadly, Iranian-designed Shahed drones, which have been at the center of Russia’s mass bombardment campaign.

“We have big problems with Shaheds,” Zelensky told ABC News’ “This Week.” “We counted on this project — 20,000 missiles. Anti-Shahed missiles. It was not expensive, but it’s a special technology.”

The diversion of the weapons was first reported by the Wall Street Journal last week, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly issuing an “urgent” call to redirect the weapons on June 4 away from Ukraine.

The drunk O-3 strickes again!

Trump admin diverted 20,000 anti-drone missiles it promised to Ukraine and sent them to US troops, Zelensky says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the Trump administration diverted 20,000 anti-drone missiles originally meant for Kyiv to American forces in the Middle East.

https://nypost.com/2025/06/08/world-news/trump-diverted-20000-anti-drone-missiles-from-ukraine-to-us-troops-zelensky

Raw Story: ‘Second biggest scandal’: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in Shade

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“The plane is the second-biggest scandal on this trip,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told Raw Story. “The $2 billion crypto investment in Trump stablecoin [by an Emirati firm] is the more offensive grift.”

…

Now, Trump is unshackled. The president and his sons aren’t even pretending to close shop: they’re expanding, thirsty for deals like the one they signed in April to build a golf club in Qatar.

…

“What he’s doing is already illegal, so we don’t actually need a statute for that,” Schatz told Raw Story. “Now I would say his corruption complicates the conversation for sure, but I am not one of these people who think we need to make a new law to reiterate that the existing laws shouldn’t be broken.”

…

As for the confluence of multi-billion dollar crypto investments, real-estate deals and a $400 million plane?

“That’s just what we know,” Whitehouse said. “I don’t think it gets better.”

‘Second biggest scandal’: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in Shade

https://www.rawstory.com/raw-investigates/trump-qatar-plane-2672031382

Independent: Musk tried to block massive Trump-backed Mideast AI deal unless he was included: report

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Elon Musk rushed to the Mideast to hold up a massive Trump-endorsed American AI operation in Abu Dhabi unless it included him, according to a new report

Retiring DOGE hatchet man Elon Musk rushed to the Middle East during Donald Trump’s visit there earlier this month to block a massive American AI partnership with the United Arab Emirates backed by the president – unless it included him, according to a new report. That apparently explains the tech billionaire’s sudden appearance at a Trump meeting with Saudi Arabia officials during the president’s three-country Middle East tour.

…

Trump’s team scrambled to soothe an irritated Musk so the president could announce the deal while he was in the Middle East, the Journal reported.

It wasn’t immediately clear if some kind of accommodation was worked out for the tech boss who has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the campaigns of Trump and other Republicans, or if he is now part of the deal. He could not immediately be reached for comment. His company has not been named as a participant in the business by any announcement of the deal.

Poor F’Elon!

Musk tried to block Trump-backed Mideast AI deal unless he was included: report
Elon Musk rushed to the Mideast to hold up a massive Trump-endorsed American AI operation in Abu Dhabi unless it included him, according to a new report

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/musk-trump-middle-east-ai-deal-b2759700.html

Alternet: ‘Heavily vetted’: No ‘Bush-era Republicans’ welcome in Trump Jr.’s new MAGA safe space

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President Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Jr., is opening a new exclusive club in Washington D.C. And he’s making it clear that only a certain kind of Republican is welcome.

The Daily Beast reported Monday that the new club, which will be called “Executive Branch,” is tailor-made for the MAGA crowd — and its founders are making it clear that traditional conservatives and journalists will be barred from entering. David Sacks, who the Beast described as Trump’s “crypto czar,” told the New York Times he wants to make sure that the type of conservatives who frequent other GOP-oriented D.C. clubs will be turned away at the door.

“To the extent there are Republican clubs, they tend to be like more Bush-era Republicans as opposed to Trump-era Republicans,” Sacks said. “So we wanted to create something new, hipper, and Trump-aligned.”

‘Heavily vetted’: No ‘Bush-era Republicans’ welcome in Trump Jr.’s new MAGA safe space

https://www.alternet.org/trump-maga-safe-space

New York Times: As Trumps Monetize Presidency, Profits Outstrip Protests

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The president and his family have monetized the White House more than any other occupant, normalizing activities that once would have provoked heavy blowback and official investigations.

When Hillary Clinton was first lady, a furor erupted over reports that she had once made $100,000 from a $1,000 investment in cattle futures. Even though it had happened a dozen years before her husband became president, it became a scandal that lasted weeks and forced the White House to initiate a review.

Thirty-one years later, after dinner at Mar-a-Lago, Jeff Bezos agreed to finance a promotional film about Melania Trump that will reportedly put $28 million directly in her pocket — 280 times the Clinton lucre and in this case from a person with a vested interest in policies set by her husband’s government. Scandal? Furor? Washington moved on while barely taking notice.

The Trumps are hardly the first presidential family to profit from their time in power, but they have done more to monetize the presidency than anyone who has ever occupied the White House. The scale and the scope of the presidential mercantilism has been breathtaking. The Trump family and its business partners have collected $320 million in fees from a new cryptocurrency, brokered overseas real estate deals worth billions of dollars and are opening an exclusive club in Washington called the Executive Branch charging $500,000 apiece to join, all in the past few months alone.

Just last week, Qatar handed over a luxury jet meant for Mr. Trump’s use not just in his official capacity but also for his presidential library after he leaves office. Experts have valued the plane, formally donated to the Air Force, at $200 million, more than all of the foreign gifts bestowed on all previous American presidents combined.

And Mr. Trump hosted an exclusive dinner at his Virginia club for 220 investors in the $TRUMP cryptocurrency that he started days before taking office in January. Access was openly sold based on how much money they chipped in — not to a campaign account but to a business that benefits Mr. Trump personally.

trump-money-plane-crypto.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/25/us/politics/trump-money-plane-crypto.html