Top World News
Feb 4, 2026
'Trump's next target' in place and president will 'weaponize economy' against it: analysis
Donald Trump has set his sights on a post-Greenland target and may use tariffs as a way of hindering the country in question. The president's administration carried out an operation in Venezuela and then shifted tact to Greenland earlier this month. While Trump confirmed the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, his campaign in Greenland was far less successful. The president was met with strong resistance from European nations at the time, and it seems he has not yet given up in subsuming the country into US territory. For now though, The Hill columnist Jose Chalhoub believes the president has already shifted his attention to a European nation which could offer oil reserves like Venezuela. Chalhoub wrote, "In Venezuela, enforcement actions continued, even as headlines faded, disrupting supply to Asia and exposing billions in Chinese investments. Cuba, heavily dependent on those flows, was warned that oil would move only on Washington’s terms. The region became a testing ground for how much pressure energy leverage can exert before governments cave."The Americas, then, are a rehearsal. The real audience is Europe. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine abruptly ended decades of European dependence on its energy. "A costly divorce — roughly $1,500 per person — was unavoidable. American suppliers surged in, such that the U.S. now rivals Norway as the European Union’s main source of oil, and it is also the source of nearly 60 percent of its liquified natural gas."Despite European countries considering the US an ally, it may not stop Trump from using the economy to his advantage, freezing out some nations who do not give in to his demands. Chalhoub added, "Europe reassured itself that America is an ally, bound by mutual restraint and shared values. But that assumption deserves scrutiny. "Trump’s tariffs demonstrated how readily economic ties can be weaponized. As tensions with Denmark and Greenland escalated, Europeans faced a sobering question: If energy becomes leverage, will Trump take a page from Putin’s playbook?"Europe’s vulnerability is structural. Energy is purchased nationally, not collectively. Pressure applied to a few can fracture solidarity among many. Matching coercion with coercion would invite escalation and play to Washington’s strengths."The gravest mistake would be to continue with the delusion that the U.S. will always be a benign partner. Even an imperfect rules-based order is infinitely preferable to a world governed by oil. Should international restraint dissolve, Venezuela will not be an anomaly, but a warning — the opening of chapter of an era in which power is measured by who controls the tap."
Feb 4, 2026
Trump admin yet to discuss security risk of vital peace pact ending: report
A vital peace pact which prevents escalations in creating nuclear arms is set to end tomorrow (February 5). Donald Trump's administration has not reportedly worked on finding a solution to the treaty, with negotiations stalling last month and not picked up from there. According to those familiar with the peace treaty developments, the president and his advisers are yet to even hold a conversation about what to do about the impending deadline, let alone how to resolve it. Writing in Slate, Fred Kaplan claimed those who knew of the New SMART expiry date were not in a position to bend to Trump's demand that China be included in the next treaty arrangement. Such a suggestion could take years, according to Kaplan. He wrote, "If past is precedent, a new treaty would take at least a year to negotiate; if China takes part, something that has never happened before, it would take many years."In the meantime, we may well see the renewal of a nuclear arms race, reversing a trend of the past half-century. The stunning thing is that, by all accounts, Trump and his advisers haven’t so much as held a conversation about the possibility or its implications for U.S. policy or the safety of the world."Trump was flippant when asked about the treaty last month, saying, "If it expires, it expires. We'll do a better agreement."It’s worth recalling that when Trump scuttled the Iran nuclear deal back during his first term as president, he said that he—master of the “art of the deal”—would goad Tehran into accepting a 'better' deal. "This never happened. There is no reason to believe, especially given Washington’s tense relations with both Moscow and Beijing, that he’ll bring about a superior substitute for New START either."An ex-Pentagon official had previously warned the expiration of the treaty may bolster Russia and its allies. Kingston Reiff warned the new START deal had offered valuable insight into what Russia had been doing with its military.He wrote, "So, my net assessment is the treaty reduced uncertainty about Russian strategic nuclear forces and provided us with greater confidence in our own nuclear plans and capabilities."Since New START's entry into force, there has been no real progress on further arms control measures. Moscow and Beijing deserve most of the blame for this. Charting a course to the next chapter will not be easy, but remains a necessary pursuit."
Feb 3, 2026
Pope orders angel's face scrubbed from church fresco after spotting Trump ally
The Roman diocese, led by Pope Leo XIV, has ordered a church to alter an angel's face painted on a fresco that bears a close resemblance to one of President Donald Trump's closest European allies. An Italian newspaper reported over the weekend that a newly restored fresco at Rome's Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina included an angel whose updated face appeared to resemble Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, although artist Bruno Valentinetti denied that was his intention and the parish priest defended the work, reported The Daily Beast.“It doesn’t mean we’re Meloni supporters,” parish priest Daniele Micheletti told La Repubblica on Saturday. “Maybe we are Meloni supporters, but we don’t say so. The face of King Umberto II is also there, does that mean we’re monarchists?”Technicians from the Roman diocese, which is headed by the America-born pope, told the priest the painting needed to be altered to remove Meloni's likeness, and Cardinal Vicar Baldassare Reina, a close ally of Leo's, issued a "firm" statement.“Images of sacred art and the Christian tradition can be misused or exploited, as they are intended exclusively to support liturgical life," the cardinal vicar said.Micheletti agreed to have the 13th-century basilica's fresco, which Valentinetti himself had originally painted in 2000, modified after speaking to diocese officials.Pope Leo has spoken out against Trump's immigration policies and expansionist threats and shared some of those disagreements directly with Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism as an adult, during a face-to-face meeting in May.
Feb 3, 2026
Trump threatens 'new terrifying world' as China gift risks end of vital peace pact
A treaty between Russia and the U.S. could expire shortly because of a standstill over country membership. An ex-Pentagon official said the potential expiry is a frustrating one, and it appears Donald Trump is caught up in a detail that, to the former official, makes little difference. Kingston Reiff warned the new START deal, which will expire on February 5, had offered valuable insight into what Russia had been doing with its military. He wrote, "So, my net assessment is the treaty reduced uncertainty about Russian strategic nuclear forces and provided us with greater confidence in our own nuclear plans and capabilities."But Reiff has since suggested the deal may lapse because Trump wants to include China in the agreement, something which has puzzled the former Pentagon worker. He wrote, "It was never clear to me why we should jettison all limits on Russian strategic forces because New START wasn’t a panacea that captured all nuclear weapons — which of course it was never intended to be."Same goes for the argument the treaty didn’t include China. During the treaty’s 15-year existence, the limits have been sufficient to meet U.S. deterrence objectives against both Russia and China. (Whether this remains the case is a topic of significant debate.)"In the end, factors outside the scope of the treaty ultimately became too much for it to overcome. These included the onset of the COVID pandemic in early 2020, which put the treaty inspections on ice, and Russia’s unconscionable invasion of Ukraine. "Since New START's entry into force, there has been no real progress on further arms control measures. Moscow and Beijing deserve most of the blame for this. Charting a course to the next chapter will not be easy, but remains a necessary pursuit."Democratic Party representatives are equally concerned, with John Garamendi (CA) suggesting the deal must not collapse. He told Politico, "If we allow New START to lapse without a replacement or an extension, we will be entering a new terrifying world we haven’t seen in decades: a world without limits on the nuclear arsenals of the two largest nuclear powers."
Feb 2, 2026
'Nice and slow': Trump gives odd rant about plane stairs when asked about foreign policy
President Donald Trump unleashed a rant about risky airplane stairs after he was asked to explain his so-called Donroe Doctrine foreign policy.During a Monday interview on The Dan Bongino Show, the host asked the president for his take on the Monroe Doctrine after a U.S. military attack on Venezuela."We were laughed at a year and a half ago. We were laughed at as being stupid people," Trump asserted. "We were laughed at it not as, we see a guy falling up the stairs going into an airplane.""I got to be very careful going in," Trump continued. "Nice and slow. I'm not looking to set any records. You don't want to go down. Could happen. I mean, you'll get up. But it can't happen three times in one shot, okay? The three times going up to say, I don't think you'll ever see anything like that. But it could happen."The president seemed to shift into a story about former President Barack Obama without mentioning his name."That was the one thing I have to tell you," he said. "It's probably the only thing I respected, and yet it didn't look elegant at all. He bopped down the stairs. He would be in the middle. I thought it looked so terrible. You know, I mean, this is the president of the United States. He's bopping down, you know, bop-bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop. And I kept waiting for him to fall, and he didn't. So I would rather have other traits than that."
Feb 2, 2026
This foul Trump lie falls apart at the slightest touch
Here’s a quick civics test for those concerned with the U.S. immigration issue.Q. Donald Trump has publicly stated at least a thousand times that other countries have emptied their prisons and asylums and sent criminals across our border. Name one.Feel free to use any search engine or AI resource you’d like. Just name one prison or asylum anywhere that was emptied to send criminals to America.You can’t do it because it never happened. It’s a pure fiction invented from scratch by Trump and repeated often enough to brainwash millions of people. And it worked.Just like it worked to repeat that 10.5 million people illegally “invaded” during Joe Biden's presidency. Or that thousands of murderers, rapists, and child molesters have been unleashed on America. Or that MS-13 gangs are inflicting a “migrant crime wave” on U.S. cities.All that makes for some fiery speeches and intensely inflamed emotions, even among those who pride themselves on moderation. The lies are compelling.In fact, the entire premise that the U.S. today faces some new existential crisis — unlike anything it’s ever experienced before — could not be more false. It also could not be more believed by millions of Americans.I stumbled upon the best example of this in researching this piece.The most authoritative source on immigration data, Pew Research Center, reported in August 2025 that roughly 14 million undocumented people reside in the U.S. illegally today. Using Pew’s data, we can make an apples-to-apples comparison across decades.In 2007, under President George W. Bush, Pew measured 12.2 million undocumented people — with a total U.S. population of 301 million. Today’s U.S. population is roughly 349 million.Do the math: About 4.05 percent of people living in the U.S. were undocumented in 2007. Today, that figure is 4.01 percent.Let that sink in. The proportion of undocumented people in America hasn’t changed in nearly two decades.Immigration policy has always been contentious, but it wasn’t viewed as an existential crisis back then. It wasn’t a major issue in the 2008 presidential campaign, or the ones after that — not until Trump rode down his infamous escalator and declared that Mexico was sending rapists and other criminals to the U.S.Trump’s demagoguery worked. The previously unthinkable idea of federal agents using storm-trooper tactics to terrorize millions of citizens and non-citizens alike no longer draws the universal condemnation it should. All because the scope and nature of the immigration “problem” have been so badly distorted.Here’s what the actual data shows:Data collected by Texas in 2025 — anything but a liberal source — confirmed what it showed a decade earlier: that undocumented immigrants are arrested at a fraction of the rate of native-born citizens. Nationally, a 2025 Northwestern University study found that immigrants are now 60 percent less likely to be incarcerated than people born in the U.S. Conflating people here illegally with crime is just a talking point.As for the border “invasion,” that 10.5 million figure Republicans cite represents Customs and Border Protection encounters — not unique individuals crossing. It’s like saying that if the St. Louis Cardinals have 3 million in attendance, it means 3 million different people went to the games. Many encounters involve the same individuals being turned back repeatedly. The vast majority were turned away, and many who were admitted came legally seeking asylum under U.S. law.Here’s another fact that rarely gets mentioned: Between 40 and 45 percent of undocumented immigrants didn’t sneak across the border at all. They entered the United States legally on valid visas and simply overstayed.Without question, the Biden administration botched border security and handed Trump the demagogue’s dream: an “invaders” issue. Democrats made it worse by abandoning the Dreamers — young people brought here illegally who grew up thinking they were Americans and loving what they thought was their country.Remember them? In September 2017, 88 percent of Americans — including 79 percent of Republicans — supported allowing Dreamers to stay and apply for citizenship. Support remains strong, with recent polls showing 81 percent overall backing a pathway to citizenship.I wrote a commentary in 2022 for Raw Story criticizing Democrats for “blowing the immigration debate and hurting kids by hiding.” As a candidate for Congress in 2024, my position was straightforward: tighten border security and establish a path to citizenship for the Dreamers.I lost. But my fate was nothing compared to the tragedy of the Dreamers — first deserted by Democrats, and now left as collateral damage in Trump’s authoritarian playbook.Let’s stipulate that any number of people coming to the U.S. illegally and living in the shadows is too many. Let’s also stipulate that if someone here illegally commits a crime — large or small — they should face swift and fair justice.But none of that excuses what’s happening today. And not all the blame belongs to Republicans. Democrats, terrified of looking “soft” on immigration, have internalized the fear. They’ve gone mute while the lies stick — not just with politicians, but with media analysts and average Americans.Is illegal immigration too high? Of course. And it was an unspeakable tragedy that Laken Riley, Rachel Morin and Jocelyn Nungaray lost their lives at the hands of criminals who were in the country illegally — to justifiable outrage across the country.But it does nothing to diminish their suffering to consider that some 5,000 women are murdered annually in the United States, and an estimated 500,000 are victims of rape or sexual assault. Almost exclusively at the hands of U.S. citizens.It is nothing short of despicable to exploit three tragedies as proof of an immigrant crime wave as if those exponentially larger numbers didn’t exist.The horror of what’s happening across the country at the hands of ICE has finally begun to give some leaders the courage to resist Trump’s authoritarian surge. But to find any consensus or intelligent path forward on immigration policy will require a reset that has nothing to do with politics.Instead, America has to start dealing with the truth.Click here to subscribe to Ray Hartmann's Soapbox
Jan 31, 2026
Trump is like this fascist dictator — it isn't Hitler
By Rachelle Wilson Tollemar, Adjunct Professor of Spanish, University of St. Thomas. Minneapolis residents say they feel besieged under what some are calling a fascist occupation. Thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been swarming a city whose vast majority in 2024 did not vote for Donald Trump — or for a paramilitary roundup of its diverse population.Tragically, two residents have been killed by federal agents. Consequently, social media is aflame with comparisons of Trump’s immigration enforcers to Hitler’s Gestapo.While comparisons to Hitler’s fascist regime are becoming common, I’d argue that it may be even more fitting to compare the present moment to a less-remembered but longer-lasting fascist regime: that of Francisco Franco, dictator of Spain from 1936 until his death in 1975.In 2016, critics warned that Trump’s campaign rhetoric was grounded in textbook fascism, exhibiting signs such as racism, sexism and misogyny, nationalism, propaganda and more. In return, critics were met with intense backlash, accused of being hysterical or overly dramatic.Now, even normally sober voices are sounding the alarm that America may be falling to fascist rule.As a scholar of Spanish culture, I, too, see troubling parallels between Franco’s Spain and Trump’s America.Putting them side by side, I believe, provides insightful tools that are needed to understand the magnitude of what’s at risk today.Franco’s rise and reignThe Falange party started off as a a small extremist party on the margins of Spanish society, a society deeply troubled with political and economic instability. The party primarily preached a radical nationalism, a highly exclusive way to be and act Spanish. Traditional gender roles, monolingualism and Catholicism rallied people by offering absolutist comfort during uncertain times. Quickly, the Falange grew in power and prevalence until, ultimately, it moved mainstream.By 1936, the party had garnered enough support from the Catholic Church, the military, and wealthy landowners and businessmen that a sizable amount of the population accepted Gen. Francisco Franco’s coup d'etat: a military crusade of sorts that sought to stop the perceived anarchy of liberals living in godless cities. His slogan, “¡Una, Grande, Libre!,” or “one, great, free,” mobilized people who shared the Falange’s anxieties.Like the Falange, MAGA, the wing of the Republican Party named after Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again,” repeatedly vilifies the left, who mostly live in cities, as godless anarchists who live like vermin.Once in power, the Francoist regime commissioned a secret police force, the Political-Social Brigade — known as the BPS — to “clean up house.” The BPS was charged with suppressing or killing any political, social, cultural or linguistic dissidents.Weakening resistanceFranco not only weaponized the military but also proverbially enlisted the Catholic Church. He colluded with the clergy to convince parishioners, especially women, of their divine duty to multiply, instill nationalist Catholic values in their children, and thus reproduce ideological replicas of both the state and the church. From the pulpit, homemakers were extolled as “ángeles del hogar” and “heroínas de la patria,” or “angels of the home” and “heroines of the homeland.”Together, Franco and the church constructed consent for social restrictions, including outlawing or criminalizing abortion, contraception, divorce, work by women and other women’s rights, along with even tolerating uxoricide, or the killing of wives, for their perceived sexual transgressions.Some scholars contend that the repealing of women’s reproductive rights is the first step away from a fully democratic society. For this reason and more, many are concerned about the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent overturning of Roe v. Wade.The #tradwife social media trend involves far-right platforms echoing Francoist-style ideologies of submission, restriction, dependence and white male dominance. One of TikTok’s most popular tradwife influencers, for instance, posted that “there is no higher calling than being a wife and a mother for a woman.” She also questioned young women attending college and rebuked, on air, wives who deny their husbands sexual intimacy.Weakening the economyEconomically, Franco implemented autarkic policies, a system of limited trade designed to isolate Spain and protect it from anti-Spanish influences. He utilized high tariffs, strict quotas, border controls and currency manipulation, effectively impoverishing the nation and vastly enriching himself and his cronies.These policies flew under the motto “¡Arriba España!,” or “Up Spain.” They nearly immediately triggered more than a decade of suffering known as the “hunger years.” An estimated 200,000 Spaniards died from famine and disease.Under the slogan “America First” — Trump’s mutable but aggressive tariff regime — the $1 billion or more in personal wealth he’s accumulated while in office, along with his repeated attempts to cut nutrition benefits in blue states and his administration’s anti-vaccine policies may appear to be disconnected. But together, they galvanize an autarkic strategy that threatens to debilitate the country’s health.Weakening the mindFranco’s dictatorship systematically purged, exiled and repressed the country’s intellectual class. Many were forced to emigrate. Those who stayed in the country, such as the artist Joan Miró, were forced to bury their messages deeply within symbols and metaphor to evade censorship.Currently in the U.S., banned books, banned words and phrases, and the slashing of academic and research funding across disciplines are causing the U.S. to experience “brain drain,” an exodus of members of the nation’s highly educated and skilled classes.Furthermore, Franco conjoined the church, the state and education into one. I am tracking analogous moves in the U.S. The conservative group Turning Point USA has an educational division whose goal is to “reclaim" K-12 curriculum with white Christian nationalism.Ongoing legislation that mandates public classrooms to display the Ten Commandments similarly violates religious freedom guarantees ratified in the constitution.Drawing comparisonsTrump has frequently expressed admiration for contemporary dictators and last week stated that “sometimes you need a dictator.”It is true that his tactics do not perfectly mirror Francoism or any other past fascist regime. But the work of civil rights scholar Michelle Alexander reminds us that systems of control do not disappear. They morph, evolve and adapt to sneak into modern contexts in less detectable ways. I see fascism like this.Consider some of the recent activities in Minneapolis, and ask how they would be described if they were taking place in any other country.Unidentified masked individuals in unmarked cars are forcibly entering homes without judicial warrants. These agents are killing, shooting and roughing up people, sometimes while handcuffed. They are tear-gassing peaceful protesters, assaulting and killing legal observers, and throwing flash grenades at bystanders. They are disappearing people of color, including four Native Americans and a toddler as young as 2, shipping them off to detention centers where allegations of abuse, neglect, sexual assault and even homicide are now frequent.Government officials have spun deceptive narratives, or worse, lied about the administration’s actions.In the wake of the public and political backlash following the killing of Alex Pretti, Trump signaled he would reduce immigration enforcement operations] in Minneapolis, only to turn around and have Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorize the use of an old military base near St. Paul, suggesting potential escalation, not de-escalation. Saying one thing while doing the opposite is a classic fascist trick warned about in history and literature alike.The world has seen these tactics before. History shows the precedent and then supplies the bad ending. Comparing past Francoism to present Trumpism connects the past to the present and warns us about what could come.
Jan 31, 2026
Trump's perilous racket will do more than just stuff his pockets
Trump Tower. Trump Steaks. Trump University. Trump Watches. Trump cologne, candles, coins, robes, ornaments, towels, pens, gerbils, and gold-tipped suppositories. It’s hard to think of anything Trump hasn’t tried to monetize. And now, from his premier fantasy collection, there’s Trump UN. Last September, while Trump was busy solving eight wars that leaders of those countries say never started, never ended, or had nothing to do with him, Trump hatched a plan to line his own pockets with the misery in Gaza. He came up with a Gaza Board of Peace vested with magical powers to maintain order while steering private investments to his friends and family. Billion-dollar racketFor a mere billion-dollar membership fee, you can join Trump’s Orwellian-themed Board of Peace and dine with the world’s most brutal dictators. Trump, who invested his dad’s money in Middle East real estate decades ago, claimed last year that the U.S. would “run” Gaza, that he saw “long-term ownership” possibilities there. His “Riviera of the Middle East” proposal with son-in-law Jared Kushner floated luxury tourism and an economic hub, describing a “phenomenal location, on the sea, the best weather” with “unbelievable” potential. The only hitch? Someone would first need to relocate more than two million desperately poor Palestinians who have nowhere else to go. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, no fan of international law or Palestinians, loved the concept. Arab leaders, not so much. Palestinians, leaders of surrounding Arab nations, and international organizations saw Trumps ‘Riviera’ as ethnic cleansing, ripe for war crimes under international law. Trump’s peace deal didn’t surviveAfter widely congratulating himself for the Gaza ceasefire, Trump first mentioned a Gaza Board of Peace to govern reconstruction of the rubble pile last October. The ceasefire never really materialized — they’re still killing each other — but Trump’s Board idea took hold of his ego and ran with it. As Trump originally designed it, the Board would provide a forum where Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and other Middle East countries could discuss political reforms and reconstruction of Gaza, the latter rife with private profit potential. Trump, who has already pocketed $1.4 billion in loose emoluments since re-assuming the presidency, magnanimously offered to serve as chairman.By the time he got around to presenting the Board last week at Davos, it had become a barnacle attached to his id, distorted beyond recognition. The Times of Israel published the Board’s charter, announcing that it would “promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict.” The grandiosity of purpose was not limited to Gaza; as the Times of Israel noted, the charter doesn’t even mention Gaza. Instead Trump’s Board aspires to be a private, mini United Nations divvying up the spoils of war and operating under one thumb: Trump’s. Democratic leaders politely declinedThe Board is Trump’s power fantasy strutting on a catwalk. Under Trump’s plan, he personally gets to decide policies for the world and declare resolutions by majority vote, reserving veto power for himself. He also gets to name his successor, which, preliminarily, will be Don Jr. (when he isn’t in a helicopter slaughtering animals endangered by his dad’s climate ignorance).Trump has crowned himself and his smirking spawn Chairmen of the Universe of Rogue Actors which includes the leaders of Hungary, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan. They’re all royals or dictators or both, or they’re wannabes buying access. Their billion-dollar entrance fee is a solid investment in their oligarchs, not just in Gaza but around the globe.When Trump presented the idea at Davos, EU leaders were already aghast at his Greenland blunder. When he invited Canada, the U.K, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and other European nations to join, the invitees had already gotten a good look at who he is, and what he is up to. Unsure whether to attribute Trump’s bombast to dementia, malice or some sick combination of hubris and ignorance, their unified response was to say no thank you, and back away. What’s left for the Board to do?While wrecking the global economy and trying to start a civil war at home to slake his midterm worries, Trump has awarded himself the power to “administer Gaza” even as European leaders roll their eyes and describe his derangement as “dangerous.” They are also walking the talk, pivoting away from Trump’s adulterated version of democracy. This week India and the European Union closed a breakthrough free trade agreement reducing tariffs. German firms’ investments in China are at a four-year high. Working around Trump, Mexico, Canada and China are rapidly expanding their cooperation. Despite Trump’s stated goal of weakening China economically, his tariffs accelerated supply-chain reconfiguration, causing China’s 2025 trade surplus to surge to a record-breaking $1.2 trillion. After treating Venezuela like a real-estate acquisition, Trump can’t even convince his own big oil supporters to invest there. Real leaders, in short, aren’t buying Trump’s “U.S. economy is hotter than ever” schtick or his Gaza “Peace” Board.Trump thinks he can fool the world, but he can’t fool anyone outside the Fox News/Sinclair propaganda bubble. He will try to do his worst in Gaza, but the civilized world, fed up with Trump’s insanity, is moving on.Sabrina Haake is a columnist and 25+ year federal trial attorney specializing in 1st and 14th A defense. Her Substack, The Haake Take, is free.
Jan 30, 2026
Hot mic reveals prominent no-shows at 'Melania' documentary premiere
A hot mic on a livestream Thursday night caught someone behind the camera naming several notable no-shows at the premiere of first lady Melania Trump's self-titled documentary screening at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.In the video, which was shared by several users on social media, a black carpet appeared empty while a voice behind the camera listed names of several Trump allies — including a number of administration officials — who did not appear at the Amazon MGM Studios film's premiere. Kari Lake, Bret Baier, Kellyanne Conway, Riley Gaines, Kash Patel, Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Sean Duffy and Peter Navarro were all named as missing at the event by the person behind the camera. Ticket sales for the film have reportedly been dismal, with the London premiere reportedly drawing in only single-digit ticket sales. "Melania" will open in 1,400 theaters Friday across the U.S. and in more than 27 other countries. Amazon dropped a reported $35 million on marketing the documentary, and social media posts have suggested that many theaters will be empty as the film rolls.BREAKING - Humiliating hot mic moment at the Melania premiere red carpet.NO ONE is showing up and they had to cut the feed. ????????????Kari Lake, Bret Baier, Kellyanne Conway, Riley Gaines, Kash Patel, Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Sean Duffy, and Peter Navarro all no-showed! pic.twitter.com/uiV7l0156z— DonkConnects ♻️™ (@donkoclock) January 30, 2026
Jan 30, 2026
Breakdown in cricket relations with Bangladesh rings alarm bells for India’s Olympic bid
Concern raised over politicisation of sportBangladesh pulled out of men’s World T20 after rowBangladesh’s withdrawal from the men’s T20 World Cup could have implications for India’s 2036 Olympic bid amid concern at the International Olympic Committee over the potential politicisation of sport.Bangladesh pulled out of next month’s tournament last weekend after the International Cricket Council declined a request to move their group matches from India to the co-hosts Sri Lanka, after a long-running political row triggered by Kolkata Knight Riders’ decision to remove the Bangladeshi bowler Mustafizur Rahman from their Indian Premier League squad. Continue reading...
Jan 29, 2026
Top US adversary plotted to exploit Trump's Greenland obsession: report
President Donald Trump has frequently brought up the specter of China in his threats to annex Greenland away from the Kingdom of Denmark, saying that if the United States does not secure the island, it could be used strategically by the Chinese Communist Party.But in a twist of irony, China itself was hoping to use Trump's obsession with Greenland to weaken the NATO alliance and bring itself closer to Europe, according to diplomatic cables obtained by Politico."A cable from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on Jan. 21 suggests the Chinese government is eager to benefit from Trump’s moves against Greenland. The situation 'offers China an opportunity to benefit from European hedging' and could “'amplify trans-Atlantic frictions,' U.S. diplomats wrote in laying out the thinking in China," said the report. "But the cable, which cites media and analysts affiliated with the ruling Chinese Communist Party, also notes that Chinese leadership was aware that a larger U.S. military footprint in Greenland could complicate their goals in the Arctic and 'consolidate U.S. military and infrastructure advantages.'"A number of other diplomatic cables further underscored the stress the Greenland sideshow put on European countries, with many leaders enraged but also fearful that too strong a rebuke of Trump would cause critical military partnerships to fall apart.Both Denmark and the Greenlandic government have closed the door on the U.S. acquiring Greenland; nonetheless, the military, through the NATO alliance, has enjoyed access to the island for strategic purposes for decades.Earlier this month, Trump seemingly de-escalated from a stance of threatening to send troops to Greenland, saying that he had reached the "framework of a future deal" to determine Greenland's status.
Jan 29, 2026
Melania humiliated as UK premiere of her movie gets single-digit ticket sales
Melania Trump's eponymous documentary flopped in its London debut.UK cinema chain Vue's will premier "Melania" at 3:10 p.m. at its flagship Islington theater in London, but so far only one person has bought a ticket and just two tickets have sold for a 6 p.m. showing – undercutting President Donald Trump's hype claims, reported LBC."MELANIA, the Movie, is a MUST WATCH," Trump posted Tuesday on Truth Social. "Get your tickets today — Selling out, FAST!"In truth, according to Vue chief executive Tim Richards, UK ticket sales are "soft," and the film – for which Amazon MGM Studios paid a reported $40 million – is projected to make just $5 million during its opening weekend, and trade publication Boxoffice Pro projects less than half that haul."I’d be amazed if box office gets reported on this title," one industry insider told The Mirror, adding that the film’s distributors might be paying a fee to cinemas to screen the movie, an established practice known as “four-walling.”Documentary filmmaker Stefano Da Frè, who was not involved in the film, told CNN that "data-driven" Amazon would not have invested that much expecting to lose money.“With all their tools, all their AI, Amazon Web Services — they didn’t just come up with that number randomly,” Da Frè said. “They believe, through their metrics, that it’s worth that amount.”A studio spokesperson backed that assertion and disputed that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos had sunk that much money on a "vanity project" for the president's wife.“We licensed the film for one reason and one reason only — because we think customers are going to love it," the Amazon MGM Studios spokesperson said."Melania" will open in 1,400 theaters Friday in the U.S. and in more than 27 other countries, and Amazon spent a reported $35 million on marketing the documentary, and social media posts have suggested that many theaters will be empty as the film rolls.
