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'Unbelievable': MSNBC host hammers Pete Hegseth's Pentagon for handcuffing Ukraine
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the Pentagon has been using its leverage to keep Ukraine from responding in kind to massive attacks from Russia as it defends its territory.That led an incredulous Joe Scarborough to lash out at the Trump administration and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has been accused of meddling with Ukraine weapons shipments, of handcuffing the besieged country while once again giving Russian President Vladimir Putin an upper hand in the war.Holding up a copy of the Journal with a headline reading “Pentagon Has Quietly Blocked Ukraine’s Long-Range Missile Strikes on Russia,” the “Morning Joe" host launched into a tirade.Noting Russia's demands as part of the ceasefire agreement that has gone nowhere, the MSNBC host pointed out, “The security guarantee, they say Russia has to be a part of that. China has to be a part of that –– all nonstarters, all absolutely ridiculous, that will never happen.”“Also after talking to Donald Trump, they [Russia] blow up American factories,” he added. “So again, the question is what happens today after [Russian diplomat Sergey] Lavrov goes on TV and says, we're basically going to do nothing, we're just going to sit back.”“And what happens today inside the Pentagon when we find out that the United States military leadership is telling Ukraine, who has been invaded by the Russians, 'Hey, they're allowed to kill your women and children. They're allowed to lob missiles into apartment buildings, but you can't even strike military targets deep inside Russia.'""That is unbelievable,” he exclaimed. “I cannot even imagine, I cannot even imagine what they would be saying about a Democrat if a Democrat were doing that at this stage of the war during these negotiations.”You can watch below or at the link. - YouTube youtu.be
'What's being whispered': Ex-Trump 'operative' spills about big move coming within 30 days
Donald Trump has some big plans for the U.S. and its relationship with Russia, and they are coming within a month, according to a former insider to the first administration.Former Trump associate Lev Parnas, who says he used to be "deep inside the Trump machine" and now reports from the outside, published an article on Monday morning suggesting the president is in the midst of the "biggest cover-up in American history.""Folks, if you thought last week was crazy, let me tell you — that was just theatrics. What we are watching play out now, and what my sources are telling me will happen this week, is the execution of real plans — while the theatrics continue as cover," according to Parnas, who has referred to himself as a former "trusted operative" of Trump.Regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Parnas said that his "sources are telling me that Russia is preparing a major assault this week, while Trump is considering having Putin as his guest at the FIFA games here in the United States.""At the same time, Putin — through Steve Witkoff — is telling Trump that he should have the rest of the Donbas in Ukraine 'shortly,' promising him the spoils of war as if it’s a real estate transaction," Parnas added, before teasing additional news."I’m also hearing that within the next 30 days, some sort of U.S.–Russia relationship shift is being teed up — involving sanctions and business ties. The exact terms aren’t yet clear, but what’s being whispered is that the plan is already in motion," he said.Parnas concluded with a warning for himself."And let me remind you — I’m not a journalist. I’m not a pundit. I was inside Trump’s inner circle. I worked with Rudy Giuliani. I worked for Donald Trump," the ex-insider added. "I sat with congressmen, senators, oligarchs, and world leaders. I know how they think. I know how they move. And I risk it all by not staying silent."Read the full essay on Substack here.
Historic Myanmar bridge destroyed in fighting
The renowned Gokteik bridge was bombed on Sunday, with the ruling military junta and rebel forces blaming each other for its destructionA colonial-era bridge in Myanmar that was once the world’s tallest railway trestle has been destroyed during fighting in the years-long conflict.A civil war has consumed Myanmar since a 2021 coup deposed the civilian government, with the military battling myriad pro-democracy guerrilla groups and ethnic armed organisations. Continue reading...
This Trump surrender was the worst yet
Lindsay Graham says he believes Donald Trump is ready to “crush” the Russian economy if that country’s leader, Vladimir Putin, doesn’t agree to peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.“Trump believes that if Putin doesn’t do his part, that he’s going to have to crush his economy,” the US senator told reporters in South Carolina last week. “Because you’ve got to mean what you say.”This is an amazing thing to say.Just three days prior, Trump met with Putin in Alaska for three hours. Beforehand, he said there would be “severe consequences” if Putin didn’t agree to a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine. Trump said he “solved six wars in six months,” implying that this one would be no different.Then he choked.His demands melted into the air. He was all smiles, all handshakes, all deference verging on reverence. The leader of the world’s most powerful military emerged from his meeting with a cut-rate tyrant as if he’d been dogwalked. It was so bad even a Fox reporter had to admit it looked like “Putin came in and steamrolled, got right into what he wanted to say and got his photo next to the president and then left.”The Washington Post’s George Will, who is not a liberal, also saw the plain truth. “The former KGB agent currently indicted for war crimes felt no need to negotiate with the man-child,” Will said (my stress). “The president’s thunderous demands — a 50-day deadline, a 10-day deadline, 'severe consequences,' a ceasefire before negotiations — all were just noise."So yes. Senator Graham is right. You’ve got to mean what you say. Trump doesn’t. Indeed, he never does. That’s why he choked.Because of that, he and other Trump allies have spent their time in the days after that disastrous “summit” trying to rewrite history in order to protect the president from the consequences of his own weakness.Graham now says Trump is ready to “crush” the Russian economy, as if Trump really were the big strong man he portrays himself to be, rather than the milksop who actually called Putin “the boss” and later phoned him during a meeting with European leaders, as if getting permission.But Graham isn’t alone.“The president has this uncanny ability to bend people to his sensible way of thinking,” US envoy Steve Witkoff told Sean Hannity last night.“He does it each and every time,” he said. “I've never seen anything quite like it and I've been around some master dealmakers. He is the legend as far as I'm concerned. His policy prescriptions are so pragmatic and so sensible and in a distorted world, he’s recalibrating it all. It’s simply remarkable. And every single leader that I have met in my travels, they say the same things I do. Every single one of them.”Witkoff is the envoy who Anne Applebaum said was “an amateur out of his depth” who “misunderstood his last meeting with Putin in Moscow if he thought that the Alaska summit was going to be successful.”On Fox, noted international relations expert Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke said: “President Trump has done an unbelievable job against long odds,” before speculating, oddly, that “it'll end up probably with a land bridge between the Crimean peninsula and Russia.” He also said that Trump “hasn’t changed where his mission focus is. It’s peace.”Peace through surrender.Isn’t that the most striking thing? The US is unrivaled in its military and diplomatic might. We could end this war, now. As Applebaum said, “arm Ukraine, expand sanctions, stop the lethal drone swarms, break the Russian economy, and win the war. Then there will be peace.”But Trump chooses weakness.He chooses to look strong, not be strong.And no matter what his Republican allies in the Congress do to cover up that fact, they themselves cannot make him. They, too, are weak.Graham said the clock is ticking and that Trump must “impose steep tariffs on countries that are fueling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by buying its oil, gas, uranium, and other exports,” according to the AP, and such threats might push Putin to the negotiating table. “If we don’t have this thing moving in the right direction by the time we get back, then I think that plan B needs to kick in,” Graham told the AP.Plan B would be Congress acting without Trump.Which means there is no plan B.The Republicans are weak, because they surrendered their power, first to the rightwing media apparatus, then to Trump, who surrendered his power to Putin, who dominates the rightwing media apparatus.And has for a decade.We can speculate about the dirt Putin has on Trump, but fact is, he could mortally wound the president by turning the world’s biggest firehose of disinformation away from his “woke” enemies and toward him. Trump’s base is already confused by his refusal to release “the Epstein files.” Russian propaganda could be deployed to savagely widen the already broad gap between him and the MAGA faithful.More likely, though, the Kremlin could sow doubt about Trump’s alleged strength. He’s all talk, no walk. We saw it. Russian state media brags about it. Echoes are now bouncing around mainstream media.While Graham was shielding Trump from his weakness, the UK’s biggest conservative paper ran this hed and dek: “European rearmament is pushing Trump into irrelevance on Ukraine. This vain, vacillating, gullible US president no longer commands the West.”The importance of the rightwing media apparatus to the Republicans is evident in their efforts at damage control. Trump showed his whole ass. Now it’s up to allies to persuade his supporters that they did not see what they saw or if they did, it was the most amazing thing ever.They have a lot of work to do. The Economist reported that Americans have a -14 approval rating of his handling of foreign policy. The public knows next to nothing about global affairs, but we know what fear looks like. After meeting Putin, Trump looked scared. And I think he looked scared, because Putin reminded him of something important.He who can destroy a thing controls it.So Trump chooses weakness.And the rest of his party follows.
Former Sri Lankan president admitted to hospital after arrest
Ranil Wickremesinghe, who faces charges of using public funds for private travel, treated for acute dehydrationSri Lanka’s former president was admitted to hospital on Saturday, a day after he was charged with using public funds to finance private international travel, as the government intensified its crackdown on corruption.Ranil Wickremesinghe, 76, was remanded in custody on Friday after being accused of using taxpayers’ money to pay for a two-day visit to the UK in September 2023 to attend a ceremony at the University of Wolverhampton granting an honorary professorship to his wife. Continue reading...
'She's sending a message': Trump biographer says Melania dissed husband in letter to Putin
The First Lady offered a subtle dig at her husband in a letter she recently penned to the Russian president, according to one analyst. Michael Wolff, who has written four books about President Donald Trump, said on a recent episode of the podcast "Inside Trump's Head" that the letter Melania Trump wrote to Vladimir Putin contained a diss meant for President Trump. Wolff's comments came about a week after Trump and Putin met in Alaska to discuss a peace settlement for the war in Ukraine. "I think that this latest letter is a diss at Trump," Wolff said. "She's Eastern European, and obviously has long experience and feelings about Russia and Russians, and Putin. And, she probably sees her husband bowing down to Putin, and it rankles her." "I mean, it's like, you know, f--- him," Wolff continued. Ahead of the Trump-Putin summit, Melania penned a letter asking Putin to think of the children as he continues his war in Ukraine. "Every child shares the same quiet dreams in their heart, whether born randomly into a nation’s rustic countryside or a magnificent city-center," the letter reads in part. "They dream of love, possibility, and safety from danger."The seemingly innocuous letter became clearer during Trump's meeting with European leaders when he lamented that Melania loves their son Barron more than she loves Trump. "If I'm reading between the lines, I think it's she's sending a message," Wolff added. "I mean, it's always hard to tell. She always seems to be sending a message."Watch the entire episode below or by clicking here.
Trump putting ‘tremendous pressure’ on Russia — by hitting India: Karoline Leavitt
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a Tuesday press briefing that President Donald Trump is putting "tremendous public pressure" on Russia to end its war against Ukraine. Her example was "sanctions on India." "Look, the president has put tremendous public pressure to bring this war to a close. He's taken actions as you've seen — sanctions on India and other actions as well," Leavitt said in a video posted by journalist Aaron Rupar. "He has made himself very clear that he wants to see this war end. And he has scoffed at the ideas of others that have been raised that we should wait another month before any meeting takes place. The president wants to move, and he wants to bring this war to an end as quickly as possible."Trump alleged that India is indirectly financing Russia by making massive profits from its oil trade. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Tuesday that India is "just profiteering. They're reselling. This is what I would call the Indian arbitrage — buying cheap Russian oil, reselling it as product."Matt Smith, oil market analyst at Kpler, told CNBC, "India buys Russian oil at a discount due to sanctions, refines it into gasoline and diesel, and then sells the product back to regions that have sanctioned Moscow such as Europe."Before the invasion, India imported a minor amount of Russian crude oil. Now, however, CNBC said that imports of Russian oil have "surged." Currently, India is Russia's largest customer of oil, followed by China as the second-largest. Trump issued an additional 25% tariff on India that will begin at the end of the month, the Times of India noted Monday. Meanwhile, any crude oil being sold from Russia to India is on hold.Ahead of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump told the press that he wasn't sure about whether he'd impose secondary sanctions on purchasers of Russian oil, in addition to the Indian producers. "If I have to do it, I'll do it. Maybe I won't have to do it," said Trump. Trump offered to relax sanctions in February if Putin agreed to a ceasefire, Bloomberg reported at the time. It wasn't a successful pitch, however. While the administration has threatened additional sanctions against Russia, it hasn't instituted any; instead, it has targeted India. See the clip below or at the link here. — (@)
'I couldn't believe it': Mike Lindell in shock after Newsmax settles with Dominion
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell was caught off guard after conservative news outlet Newsmax settled a defamation suit with Dominion Voting Systems by agreeing to pay $67 million over bogus 2020 election claims.During a Tuesday appearance on his Lindell TV network, the pillow executive said he didn't understand why Newsmax would settle because President Donald Trump had hinted at an executive order banning voting machines."I think it's bizarre," Lindell remarked. "I think [network CEO] Chris Ruddy and the lawyers over at Newsmax are completely oblivious to what's coming out of the White House.""It's the most nonsensical thing I've ever seen," he continued. "We're getting rid of the machines. They've all got to go. For Newsmax to do this, I couldn't believe it."Lindell insisted that voting machine companies' "days were numbered" in the U.S."This stuff isn't just about getting rid of the machines," he said. "We're going to, the problems are going to be shown and what happened in the 2020 election.""We're not stopping until we show what actually happened and not just that election, other elections, and how fast the crimes go all the way back to Venezuela with these machine companies," Lindell added.The MyPillow CEO asserted that he would "never" stop attacking Dominion, even though he is facing a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit from the company.Watch the video below from Lindell TV.
'Wow': Trump shocks analyst with Ukraine plan that could 'go off the rails at any moment'
President Donald Trump issued his vision of a peace plan for the war in Ukraine from his Truth Social account on Monday, a plan that one expert said could "go off the rails at any moment."The plan was issued after Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several leaders of European nations at the White House. "During the meeting we discussed Security Guarantees for Ukraine, which Guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America," Trump's post reads in part. "Everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine."The plan raised several questions for Julia Ioffe, a founding member and Washington correspondent for Puck News. Ioffe appeared on CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper," hosted by Pamela Brown, on Monday, to discuss the plan. "First, wow," the Russian-born American journalist said about the plan. "Second of all, I'll believe it when I see it."Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he would not accept security guarantees from NATO or European countries to end the war in Ukraine. Ioffe found it curious that the European delegation would discuss security guarantees based on Putin's past statements. "What kind of security guarantees are acceptable for Ukraine but not too much for Russia?" Ioffe asked. She also noted that Putin appears to want to end the war and secure his gains in Ukraine. However, Trump has given Putin no reason to stop the war, she added. There are also outstanding questions about whether Russia will be allowed to keep Ukrainian land or if it will have to give back land that it has taken, Ioffe noted."We'll see, but this could go off the rails at any moment," she said. Watch the entire clip below or by clicking here.
MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace calls out Trump over stunning U-turn on Ukraine
President Donald Trump has evolved on his demand for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, and MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace thinks she knows why. Wallace began with the Oval Office meeting on Monday between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "Trump largely behaved himself. That counts as news," she said. When it comes to the ceasefire, however, Trump has been all over the place since Friday. "He did, though, either wittingly or unwittingly, make some news," Wallace continued. "It had to do with the necessity for a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. Listen to what Trump had to say on the topic throughout last week. And now something seemingly changed on that topic this afternoon."She played several clips of Trump promising a ceasefire. "It could be a good meeting, and we'll go a step further. We'll get it done," Trump promised on Aug. 11. "I'd like to see a ceasefire very, very quickly.""I want to see a ceasefire rapidly," Trump said on Friday. "I don't know if it's going to be today. But I'm not going to be happy if it's not today.""So, uh, we'll see what happens," Trump told Fox News, also on Friday. "I won't be happy without some form of a ceasefire." But things changed Monday afternoon. Wallace remarked that it was after he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "I don't think you need a ceasefire, you know? If you look at the deals that I settled this year, they were all at war, I didn't do any ceasefires," said Trump. "And, uh, I know that it might be good to have, but I can also understand strategically, well, one country or the other wouldn't want it. You have a ceasefire and they rebuild, and rebuild, and rebuild, and, you know. Maybe they don't want that. But if you look at the six deals that we made, peace and, you know, long-term, long-running wars, I didn't do any ceasefires."Wallace said Russia doesn't want a ceasefire. "So all of a sudden a ceasefire — I don't do ceasefires. We don't need those. Then, about an hour ago, Donald Trump shared this news on a key piece of any negotiations, security guarantees for Ukraine."See the clip below or at the link here. - YouTube www.youtube.com
Texas GOP locks Dem in House chamber after she refuses police 'escort'
Republican leadership in Texas refused to let Democratic state Rep. Nicole Collier leave the House chamber after she refused to agree to a 24/7 police "escort."For the first time in days on Monday, the Texas House of Representatives achieved a quorum following Democratic lawmakers' decision to return to the state despite an ongoing redistricting battle that could award five or more seats to Republicans.House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R) said that Democrats who left the state would only be allowed to leave the chamber on Monday if they signed an agreement to be accompanied by an escort from the Texas Department of Public Safety. NBC News correspondent Ryan Chandler reported that Collier was "locked into the House chamber" because she refused to sign the document."Members are really not happy with the individual DPS escorts," Chandler noted. "Say they are not free to move on their own.""In my heart I don't feel compelled to sign it," Collier told Chandler. "I'll just sit here, I don't know… I guess I'll wait til Wednesday."
'I'm right here': Trump struggles to find foreign leader sitting in front of his face
President Donald Trump flubbed the introduction of Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Monday during the meeting with European leaders who support Ukraine. Trump was announcing each leader, who then would make a comment or thank him for the invitation. He gave each official a little compliment. As he announced Stubb, however, he appeared not to realize that the Finnish president was sitting right in front of him. "President Stubb of Finland. And he's somebody that — we're all here, we're, we're," he looked around the room, seemingly confused."I'm right here," said Stubb."Oh, you look better than I've ever seen. You look — but you've done a great job, and we wanted to have you here because you're somebody that we all respect," Trump continued. Journalist Aaron Rupar posted a screen capture of Stubb's position sitting before Trump to illustrate the unusual nature of the moment. "It seems Trump almost forgot about Finnish President Alexander Stubb, launching into folksy talk about the White House before throwing it to Stubb, who began by justifying Finland’s seat at the table. He implies that Finland’s history of dealing with Moscow will bear fruit in Ukraine," commented Kevin Rothrock, the English-language managing editor for the Russian news site Meduza.See the moment below or at the link here. - YouTube youtu.be
