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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a threatening ultimatum Monday with a message that CNN’s Jeremy Diamond said would “ripple around the world.”Speaking during a press conference at the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., Bessent unveiled the Trump administration’s new “economic D-Day” plan, officially named Operation Economic Outcast, which is designed to financially squeeze Iran into submission through the use of secondary sanctions and other measures.“Nations that facilitate any interactions with the regime should quickly heed our message: those who stand with the United States will reap the rewards of our partnership — those who tether themselves to the Iranian regime should expect to share in the isolation of a withering regime,” Bessent warned.“The United States expects action… Every country has a defined timeline to shut down activities we have identified. Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran will be removed from the U.S. dollar system. The clock just started ticking.”Operation Economic Outcast was teased by Bessent on Sunday in an op-ed he penned for the Financial Times. Almost immediately, multiple experts warned that the plan was not only destined to fail, but could very well backfire, with one expert — political scientist Robert Pape — warning that it could potentially “shut down critical shipping lanes and spike oil prices overnight.”Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent threatens entire world with consequences for ignoring its new sanctions plan against Iran, says countries have a "defined timeline" to take action."Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran will be removed from the U.S. dollar… pic.twitter.com/oAYMLtwxOW— Alexander Willis (@ReporterWillis) August 24, 2026

Spokesperson for Duke of Sussex says he remains an ‘active and avid supporter’ of African Parks’ missionThe Duke of Sussex has stepped down from the board of a major African wildlife charity that had been at the centre of a human rights controversy.Prince Harry’s spokesperson confirmed he was no longer a trustee of African Parks, which admitted last year that human rights abuses were committed by its rangers in the Republic of the Congo. Continue reading...

The Trump administration’s new plan to financially squeeze Iran and force it back to the negotiating table is dangerously short-sighted, sanctions expert Brett Erickson warned Monday, and ultimately has only two outcomes — both of which carry severe risks.Revealed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday, the Trump administration's new plan to force Iran into submission has been called an “economic D-Day,” and would see severe secondary sanctions imposed on any nation or entity providing Iran with financial assistance. However, Trump administration officials have yet to explain how they plan on executing such a plan without sparking a new trade war among the United States’ largest trading partners.In 2025 alone, trade between the United States and China totaled more than $494 billion, a figure notably more than 25% less than the previous year. China also happens to be one of Iran’s largest trading partners, being their single largest buyer of oil over the past several years, according to Reuters.Speaking to Al Jazeera for its report Monday, Erickson argued that for the Trump administration to execute its plan, it would have to either sever ties with China in a manner that could spark a “prolonged period” of potential economic hardship, or exclude China from its secondary tariffs, which itself would be a “tacit admission” that the plan was ineffective.“That is not a relationship you degrade lightly. If the United States decides to really bring China into the ring, it will be a serious indication that the United States plans to wage this economic war for a prolonged period of time,” Erickson told the outlet.“If they do not, it will be a tacit admission from the Trump administration that they do not believe economic hardship can seriously bring about a change in the Iranian position.”Erickson was far from the only critic of the Trump administration’s new plan, which has yet to be revealed in full. Political scientist Robert Pape also warned Monday that not only was the plan doomed to fail, but that it would likely backfire spectacularly, and potentially “shut down critical shipping lanes and spike oil prices overnight.”

The Trump administration is poised to unveil its new “economic D-Day” plan Monday afternoon as part of its latest ploy to force Iran into submission, but in doing so, is destined to trigger a “predictable, catastrophic reaction,” warned international security expert Robert Pape.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed the plan Sunday in an op-ed published in the Financial Times, in which he revealed that the Trump administration was readying the “single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary.” While specific details of the plan have yet to be revealed, its key component will be the use of secondary sanctions, which aim to harshly penalize any nation or entity that financially supports Iran.Pape, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, warned Monday in an analysis that the Trump administration’s plan was not only doomed to fail, but would likely backfire in a spectacular fashion.“It is a seductive promise. It is also flatly contradicted by history. My 30 years of research on wartime blockades and economic sanctions shows a brutal reality: maximum economic pressure alone has not won a single major war since 1918,” Pape wrote in an analysis published on his Substack.“From the post-WWI blockades to modern conflicts, massive economic sieges consistently fail to break a regime’s political will. Instead, they often trigger a predictable, catastrophic reaction. By backing Tehran into a corner, this financial siege poses an imminent risk to global energy markets, threatening to shut down critical shipping lanes and spike oil prices overnight.”Perhaps the most notable example of sanctions failing to achieve a stated end is the United States’ 66-year embargo against Cuba, which has been internationally condemned since 1992 for its impact on Cubans. The embargo was imposed shortly after the overthrow of the U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959, who permitted Cuba to become what’s been described as a “virtual slave state,” allowing its resources and infrastructure to be largely “owned by American companies.”“Bessent’s strategy isn’t going to end the war,” Pape continued. “It is actively walking Washington straight into a devastating stage of the escalation trap.”

Donald Trump's ballroom ambitions are running into trouble on two continents — and in Ireland, the obstacle is a snail.According to The Washington Post, Trump and his family have promised to build "the nicest ballroom in Ireland" at the Trump International Golf Links & Hotel in Doonbeg, a 12,000-square-foot hall seating 320 guests.However, unlike the fight in Washington, the roughly 300 residents of Doonbeg largely support the project. But the endangered Vertigo angustior snail, which lives in the resort's dunes, has long complicated development there. In February, planners approved the ballroom on the condition the Trumps submit a snail restoration plan.Days later, Liam Madden — a self-described "serial objector" known for derailing developments across Ireland, and who once helped kill a Trump seawall proposal at the same resort in 2020 — stepped into the breach and filed an appeal alongside Friends of the Irish Environment, which has disrupted the massive build-out."If there is a God in heaven," Madden said in July, "I will win the planning appeals and capitalize on it for notoriety." According to the Post, "He returned to the snail — this time focused on helicopters. The Trump Organization, a promotional video indicated, allows guests to be ferried in and out by helicopter. In materials published online, an aviation company, Executive Helicopters, said it has two 'heli landings' at the resort, one by the hotel and one on the golf course. To Madden, this was a 'fatal error': The Trump Organization neither mentioned the helicopters nor sought to measure their ecological impact. The ballroom proposal thus was 'tainted at law and beyond remedy,' he wrote."Geraint Ellis, an Irish planning law expert who reviewed Madden's appeal for the Post, agreed and said the activist "seems to have found some issues that are worthy of further scrutiny."Ireland's national appellate board is expected to rule by year's end, the Post is reporting.Meanwhile in Washington, the $900 million White House ballroom — complete with gold-colored presidential seals — is already under construction despite a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling this month calling the project "utterly lawless" for bypassing legally required reviews.

President Donald Trump's hardening stance on Iran has rattled even senior Republican officials and generals in his own Department of Defense, with one calling him "a madman who can't be trusted," according to an insider.Veteran White House reporter Brian Karem, in a report for Raw America, identified how Trump has been weighing using nuclear weapons against Iran over the past two months."One unnamed Pentagon official confided to Raw America that the president’s threat that 'a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,' which he posted to his Truth Social early last month, was seen as particularly alarming within the DoD," Karem wrote."After what Trump said back in July, everyone should have known this is on the table," the Pentagon official told Raw America. "What do you think he meant by that?"The comments follow a chilling statement from former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). The former Trump MAGA ally claimed in a post on X Sunday that the president discussed the possibility of using nuclear weapons against Iran in recent strategy meetings and called him "pure evil."Greene argued that Iran was "nowhere near creating a nuclear weapon," and that the U.S. military had "killed their leaders and innocent little children in a school, and Iran has controlled the Strait of Hormuz ever since and punished the region for their part in it.""And now our government is the one actually discussing lowering the nuclear threshold in order to use nuclear weapons against Iran even though Trump claims he’s won the war like 40 times and says the U.S. controls the [Strait of Hormuz]," Greene wrote.She described why that was so troubling."Trump promised no more foreign wars, but may actually be the one who delivers a nuclear holocaust that would likely drag the entire world into major conflict, economic depression, and mass human suffering we’ve never seen in our lifetimes and maybe throughout history," Greene added.

President Donald Trump was criticized on Wednesday after claiming he had a great relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, prompting backlash over his recent comments.Trump, who had called for U.S. military exercises with South Korea to be cut, claimed during an Oval Office press conference that continuing the drills would be unfair to North Korea's supreme leader."I do have a good relationship with Kim Jong Un," Trump said. "I didn't like the fact that we're doing these massive military exercises really against North Korea when I'm friendly with him."Commentators on social media were furious with the president's remarks."Maybe next time we shouldn’t elect someone President who kisses the a---- of Putin and Kim," David Yoffee, a frequent political commentator who self-describes as a Democrat, wrote on X."@RepDonBacon still waiting for you to pull your 29 years of honorable service out of the trash and do something that should not have to seem so brave. Please wake up, D̴r̴.̴ ̴J̴o̴n̴e̴s̴ Rep. Bacon," wrote attorney John Oleske in a post on X, calling on the veteran and GOP lawmaker to respond."Trump: Maybe Kim does a little 'military operation' and takes over South Korea in a Putin-ish manner. Maybe I look the other way unless $10 billion appears in my lap. Who knows," liberal political commentator Chris Robinson wrote on X."Worst reboot ever of the movie ‘The Interview’ with Seth Rogen and James Franco," journalist Nancy Levine Stearns wrote on X.Worst reboot ever of the movie ‘The Interview’ with Seth Rogen and James Franco. https://t.co/d9EIX5DwGR— Nancy Levine Stearns (@nancylevine) August 19, 2026

President Donald Trump went on a rant Wednesday over the helipad construction, grass, his ballroom project, the Iran war and his relationship status with Kim Jong Un. Trump was outside the White House for a helipad press tour on the South Lawn when he gave a rambling update."It's very close to being finished, the hard work is done," Trump said, talking about the material and building process. "This is for many presidents, they will have it for a long time."He praised the construction crew, and talked about how it would be important for foreign leaders and White House events."Right now they're not impressed," he said. He also spoke in detail about the grass — and made an admission."It's in shock," Trump added. "But you come back in two or three weeks, this has all been redone. It's all been topsoiled. If you remember, it had big sunken areas in here, and was pretty bad. It was in bad shape, but this grass was the highest quality. It was given free of charge by ScottsMiracle-Gro. Scotts is a great company. They actually contributed to my campaign, I must be honest."Independent journalist Aaron Rupar captured Trump's comments, compiling a series of clips shared on social media."Here's a supercut of Trump just now ranting and raving like a complete lunatic outside the White House on topics including his military ballroom, warm relationship with Kim Jong Un, and how great things are going in Iran," Rupar wrote on X.Other media and political commentators weighed in on Trump's remarks.Reporter James Fallows raised a question."Challenge: Is there anyone who has worked in a non-Trump White House—as I did, eons ago, under Carter—who views this rant as other than *insane sundowner perseveration* fit for a Florida nursing home? To me, this is insane sundowner obsession. Anyone with first-hand WH experience who disagrees?" Fallows wrote on Bluesky.Max Berger, co-founder of Momentum Training Institute, an organization that trains progressive activists, argued Trump's focus on Kim Jong Un — and the president's claim he planned to meet with him — were revealing."The ultimate irony of Trump, like all fascists, is that he’s a weak person’s idea of a strong man. Trump is a pathetic simp for anyone who strokes his incredibly fragile ego because he can’t take an ounce of objective reality. Of course he gets along with another fat delusional nepo-baby," Berger wrote on Bluesky.