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Donald Trump was accused of making a "catastrophic mistake" after a New York Times report revealed how experts say Iran's nuclear powers grew under the current president.William J. Broad and David E. Sanger, who advertise that that they have written about the Iranian nuclear program for more than two decades, wrote on Saturday:"Today, international inspectors say, Iran has a total of 11 tons of uranium, at various enrichment levels. With further purification, that is enough to build up to 100 nuclear weapons — more than the estimated size of Israel’s arsenal. Virtually all of that cache accumulated in the years after Mr. Trump abandoned the Obama-era deal. That is because Tehran lived up to its pledge to ship to Russia 12.5 tons of its overall stockpile, about 97 percent. Iran’s weapon designers were left with too little nuclear fuel to build a single bomb."That story spurred alarm online, with a former Obama National Security Council staffer Tommy Vietor, saying, "Pulling out of the Iran nuclear was a catastrophic mistake."Pod Save The World's Ben Rhodes added, "It's obvious that pulling out of the Iran Deal was a catastrophic decision by Trump. Yet that decision got far less media and political scrutiny than the Deal itself."Public school teacher Justin Parmenter joked, "Art of the Deal."

New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg described how there is something more troubling behind right-wing podcaster and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson's recent apology for misleading people in his support of President Donald Trump.In a column published on Friday, Goldberg described how the conversation between Tucker and his brother, Buckley, a former Trump speechwriter, exposed much more of their message — a false narrative."I'm all for embracing converts to the anti-Trump cause," Goldberg wrote. "But if you listen to the dialogue between Tucker and his brother, it's clear that rather than honestly reckoning with their role in America's derangement, they're developing a new conspiracy theory to explain it away."Conservatives have mainly stood by Trump over the last 10 years, Goldberg argued, but only recently has MAGA shown a growing understanding that Trump could be unfit to lead as commander-in-chief.The brothers have argued that the president's recent decisions show he has been influenced by foreign actors."Trump, they strongly imply, has been compromised — maybe even blackmailed and physically threatened — by Zionist or globalist forces seeking the deliberate destruction of the United States," Goldberg wrote. "On Tucker's podcast, Buckley described a systematic undermining of America through the George Floyd protests, mass migration and now the war with Iran.""I don't want to minimize the malign role Israel has played in persuading Trump to launch his catastrophic war on Iran," Goldberg explained. "As former Secretary of State John Kerry has said, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel tried to persuade previous American presidents to strike the Islamic Republic, but only Trump was vain and gullible enough to agree. America's hand-in-glove relationship with Israel has become a liability, and we should end it.""But it wasn't Israel or Zionist donors or some shadowy internationalist cabal that made Trump a buffoonish maniac who glories in threats of violence," Goldberg wrote. "If the second Trump administration is worse than the first, it's largely because the establishment figures once demonized by Carlson as deep-state subversives are all gone. Trump is who he always was. He's just more politically unfettered than before."Now, Tucker and Buckley Carlson are pushing more disinformation, and "some former Trump acolytes are defaulting to an older conspiracy theory: The ones in control are the Jews." That aspect is most concerning, according to Goldberg."This need that some MAGA apostates feel to rationalize their previous poor judgment can be harmless, if irritating. It's dangerous only when they insist on creating a scapegoat," Goldberg added.Trump has fired back at Carlson, calling him a "Low IQ person" on Truth Social, as the feud between the two continues to escalate.

The White House took swift action after Australian flags were placed on the streets of Washington, D.C., to mark the arrival of King Charles III of Britain.On Friday, Photos shared on social media showed Australian flags lining 17th Street. Freelance reporter Andrew Leyden shared several of the photos on X."After a short lunch break (and geography lesson) DC public work crews have decided to replace the Australian flags with the British flag around the White House," Leyden explained several hours later.

President Donald Trump has sent envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad, Pakistan, this weekend for continued negotiations with Iran — but Vice President JD Vance did not plan to attend — something a CNN analyst said was telling in a report on Friday. Vance, who previously attended marathon talks with the Iranians earlier this month, will be on standby and available to join by phone or travel if need be, CNN reported. Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's Speaker of the Parliament, who the White House views as Vance's counterpart and head of the Iranian delegation, will not attend either.The timeline for the ongoing war has remained uncertain, with Trump telling reporters on Thursday "Don't rush me."CNN special correspondent Jamie Gangel signaled that the Iran strategy has appeared to shift within the White House. "Let's be hopeful. Let's be optimistic. It's moving in in the right direction," Gangel said. "I think everyone would like this war to end," she added. "But we've seen a roller coaster here. And in when dealing with the Iranians, I've been told over and over by intelligence experts, they're really good at talking. And they will talk and talk until the cows come home. But getting to substantive negotiations is a whole other matter. So let's see where this goes. I do think it's interesting that Vice President Vance is not going. I think it says something about where we think this is at the moment."Members of Vance's team were reportedly already in Pakistan for the talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Iranians have not yet confirmed if they will meet with the American delegation.

President Donald Trump fired back at a reporter who asked if his recent social media posts about destroying Iran are also a threat to use nuclear weapons in the conflict."Why would I use a nuclear weapon? Why would a stupid question like that be asked?" Trump fired back in the Oval Office on Thursday when a reporter asked him to explain his social media posts threatening Iran. "Why would I use a nuclear weapon when we've totally, in a very conventional way, decimated them without it? No, I wouldn't use it. A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody."The reporter was cut off before she could read out which social media posts by the president sound nuclear. Trump had a confusing and ominous Easter post where he told Iran, "Open the [expletive] Strait, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah."Trump also said he'd "obliterate" Iran in March. He's also given vague deadlines to open the Strait of Hormuz that have been pulled back.

President Donald Trump attacked a reporter during a press conference in the Oval Office on Thursday. Trump was taking questions from reporters following a press conference on prescription drugs, TrumpRx and affordability when he became visibly irritated by press inquiries surrounding the ongoing Israeli-U.S. war against Iran. The reporter asked Trump if he anticipated gas prices would continue to increase while the conflict continued in the Middle East."What do you say to the American people who question how much longer this will take? Obviously you know they're having higher gas prices," the reporter said. Trump had a frustrated response and insulted the reporter to her face, dodging the question entirely. "You're such a disgrace. Did you hear what I just said? How many years was Vietnam?" Trump responded. Q: What do you say to the American people who question how much longer this will take? Obviously you know they're having higher gas pricesTRUMP: You're such a disgrace. Did you hear what I just said? How many years was Vietnam? pic.twitter.com/foZAPiQePS— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 23, 2026

President Donald Trump was caught sleeping during an Oval Office press conference on Thursday — and the internet didn't hold back. The president was speaking with a group of cabinet members about several topics, including health care, prescription drug prices, and the economy, when people started to notice he was nodding off. Social media users picked up on the moment: "They don’t call him Don Snoreleone for no reason," user Mason, an Iraq veteran and political commentator, wrote on X."He’s currently falling asleep in the middle of a press event. Dozing off with his mouth dropping. He’s unwell," Trill Clinton, former deputy director of Intergovernmental Affairs at HUD under the Obama Administration, wrote on X."Just think, this geriatric buffoon holds the nuclear codes," Denison Barb, political commentator, wrote on X."Trump is fighting total war against wokeness as his eyes close and his mouth droops," journalist Aaron Rupar wrote on X. He later added, "Trump is about to hit REM on camera during an Oval Office event. It's just incredible.""Stamina they say," radio and television personality Henry Lake wrote on X.Stamina they say ???? https://t.co/0Buqx1o8bj— Henry Lake (@lakeshow73) April 23, 2026

A former CIA director cautioned that recent missteps by the Trump administration in its handling of the war in Iran could spell "real trouble for the future."Leon Panetta, the former CIA director, said on CNN on Thursday that "badly stalled" talks with Iran will make a military response more likely on both sides."While talks are stalemated, that could be real trouble for the future," Panetta explained. "The longer we are held back from somehow sitting down and beginning those discussions, I think the problem that I see is that the earlier the tendency to respond militarily will be."Vice President JD Vance was supposed to travel to Pakistan to talk with the Iranian side on Friday, but the White House confirmed that he would not go. Panetta said that "we should be sending our representatives to Abbottabad. We should have Iran sending its representatives to Abbottabad. They need to sit down. They need to start talking. There's an awful lot that needs to be discussed."Panetta also spoke about how the sudden departure of John Phelan from his post as Navy Secretary will make the U.S. military look unstable while the United States fights an Iranian naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz with no deadline."We're in a war. We've deployed a lot of forces," Panetta said. "This is not a good time to have a disruption in leadership. What you want to show the enemy, what you want to show the world, is that we've got our act together and that everybody is operating as a team."