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President Donald Trump's comments about the Iran war and scaling back military exercises with ally South Korea amid his talks with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un were raising serious questions on Monday.CNN White House correspondent Kristen Holmes, who Trump had snapped at during an Oval Office press conference earlier, pointed to why the president's comments were fueling concerns."President Trump there saying that he had had some kind of communication or opened the door to communication with Kim Jong Un," Holmes said. "And then shortly afterward, this announcement that they were scaling back the military exercises with our ally, South Korea."Holmes compared the move to when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the White House, and it was anticipated he would request the U.S. help provide more missiles."The day before, President Trump talked to President Putin," she said. "And because of that phone call the next day, he denied giving Zelensky Patriot missiles, citing conversations that he had had with Vladimir Putin. So this is a real and justifiable question."Holmes added that this has also triggered scrutiny over "the other crisis that he is facing" — the Iran war."The idea that North Korea has been stockpiling illegal nuclear weapons — what message is that sending to Iran that he is willing to support North Korea in this, as they stockpile these illegal nuclear weapons, or at least look the other way?" Holmes asked. "Now, all of this is coming at a point where President Trump seems to be at least foreign policy-wise, completely spiraling," she added. "And that is likely due to what we are seeing here at home. There is no end in sight to this war in Iran. And in fact, President Trump is saying the same thing today that he said five months ago: that they want to negotiate, that they're not going to come up with a deal that he likes, and that the baseline premise of this entire war is to make sure Iran doesn't get nuclear weapons."As the unpopular war has dragged on for five months, Americans have become more frustrated."Now, part of the reason he is likely having so many issues, particularly when it comes to Iran and answering these questions, is this poll, the poll that we did at the end of last month in which we asked voters if they believe that the Iran war was worth both the U.S. lives lost and the financial cost. And 74% of Americans said no," Holmes said. "Those polls are not lost on this White House."

A U.S. airman who was recently arrested at the Capitol after calling for President Donald Trump's impeachment spoke out on CNN in his first interview since being released. Air Force Maj. Jason Watson joined CNN's Erin Burnett on "OutFront" to discuss his arrest and the impact he hopes his statements against the Trump administration will have. Watson told Burnett that he is facing a court-martial for his statement, which he made while dressed in full uniform, and a host of other legal challenges that could upend his life. Even so, Watson said it is important to speak out against Trump, whom he considered to be a "failure" of a president. "He has failed us. And not only is he a failure as president, but he is also flagrantly violating the Constitution, breaking the law, engaging in rampant corruption, and killing Americans," Watson said. "And that is unacceptable to me. And it should be unacceptable to all of us. I feel like, unfortunately, many of us have gotten used to this, and we've normalized this conduct, and we think that there's nothing that we can do about it." Calls to impeach Trump have increased in recent weeks. Over the weekend, a report indicated that the White House had planned to retaliate against Colorado if the state did not release convicted election denier Tina Peters, which caused the impeachment calls to ramp up. Watson said that pressure needs to increase going forward. "I want to just inspire people and bring the conversation to impeach, convict, remove," Watson said. "I believe we can defeat this government if we just take a stand," he added.

President Donald Trump's Iran war has spiraled so far off the rails that he's now turning his fire on America's own friends, and analysts warn the fallout could be catastrophic, according to a new analysis.The latest target: Oman, a venerable regional ally that had quietly stepped in to broker peace, opening talks with Iran over a toll system for ships stranded by the Strait of Hormuz standoff. Trump's response wasn't gratitude. It was a threat to bomb them."If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the s--- out of them," he told Fox News — a stunning vow to attack a partner that was trying to clean up his mess.David Graham, a staff writer for The Atlantic, argued in a new article that Trump's about-face against a U.S. ally was "understandable," but no less "shocking.""Throughout Trump’s two terms, many analysts have sought to discern some sort of guiding doctrine to his foreign policy," Graham wrote. "The incoherence of his actions in the past week alone should provide further evidence that looking for a framework is futile. Earlier this year, my colleagues Missy Ryan and Ashley Parker reported that the White House’s foreign-affairs philosophy was 'F--- around and find out.' Administration officials meant this as a warning to the leaders of other countries. But as the current crisis festers, they, too, are finding out."The outburst is the product of a foreign policy that no longer holds together, Graham added. One day the war's mission is stopping Iran's bomb. The next, it's cheaper gas at the pump. Trump insisted this weekend that the "number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a Nuclear Weapon" — even as his own vice president reportedly countered that lowering fuel prices is now "goal No. 1."The whiplash keeps coming. Trump vowed to declare the Strait of Hormuz "a territory of the United States," contradicting his own Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Tehran mocked the claim, scoffing that the waterway "cannot be seized with a tweet."Meanwhile, he snubbed South Korea while gushing over North Korea's Kim Jong Un — a dictator whose nuclear program has never slowed.Analysts have hunted for years for a Trump doctrine. A single week of contradictions suggests there's nothing there to find.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright took to Fox News Monday to boast about the amount of vessels currently transiting the Strait of Hormuz, but quickly pivoted to attacking the Biden administration and blaming Democrats after being issued a blunt reality check.Wright boasted that 30 vessels had transited the Strait of Hormuz Sunday amid the ongoing U.S. war against Iran that’s caused severe disruptions to the critical waterway, and bragged that the United States was “continuing to get oil and gas and other critical products” out of the channel.“So even if the numbers were 30 ships per day, that's still down from a pre-war high of about 130 ships per day,” noted Fox News host John Roberts. “When can we expect to see the traffic increase back up to pre-war levels?”Wright dodged Roberts’ question by informing him that he didn’t “know the future.” He also insisted a generous amount of oil was, in fact, being transited through the Strait of Hormuz, and dismissed the need for oil coming out of the strait, citing the United States’ own oil production.“Oil is still $83 a barrel, up from I think low $60s back in early February,” Roberts said. “Why is the price of oil so high if almost all the oil that was getting out before the war is getting out now?”Wright was forced to admit that “we’re not fully back to the full flow” and that there was a “disruption” before pivoting to attack the Biden administration and Democrats.“I've got to point out: oil prices were far higher during the Biden administration when there wasn't disruption of flows in the Middle East, and another huge thing for energy prices in the United States is Democratic policies!” Wright said. “Foolish green energy policies, they're at least as responsible for high energy prices as the conflict with Iran.”"Foolish green energy policies, they're at least as responsible for high energy prices as the conflict with Iran!"- Energy Secretary Chris Wright pic.twitter.com/ivRUDSxl57— Alexander Willis (@ReporterWillis) August 17, 2026

President, 80, vows to keep far-right from power as Flávio Bolsonaro tells supporters he will ‘fight this system’Brazil’s leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has launched his campaign for a historic fourth term and vowed that as long as he lived he would not allow the “shameless” right to return to power.Addressing a sea of supporters in São Bernardo do Campo, the industrial city where his political career began nearly half a century ago, the 80-year-old politician reminded voters of the chaos and violence that unfolded during the 2018-22 presidency of his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, whose son Flávio Bolsonaro will face Lula in October’s presidential election. Continue reading...

President Donald Trump's administration has quietly "weaponized" a power cloaked in secrecy to punish his critics and prop up corrupt power brokers, according to a new report. Trump's government has been revoking the visas of foreign leaders, judges and journalists while quietly reinstating those of like-minded allies, the New York Times reported Sunday.“No recent American administration ever did this kind of open attack on freedom of expression” said John Feeley, a career diplomat. “A congressman or a prosecutor without a U.S. visa...is somebody who is flying with a broken wing.”Past State departments have also revoked visas but mostly to keep security threats out of the country or fight corruption, the Times reported.It is difficult to quantify the tactic as visa records are confidential, but the State Department said in a statement to the Times that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other U.S. officials have “broad discretionary authority” to cancel visas “whenever and wherever."Johana Obando, a Costa Rican lawmaker whose personal and diplomatic visas were canceled, said she felt like the Trump administration was sending her a message. “It is a way of intimidating decision makers to benefit the United States,” she said. The Trump administration also rewards others whom critics say it should not.“Corruption, human rights violations or judicial interference no longer matter,” Ana María Méndez Dardón, of the rights group Washington Office on Latin America, told the Times. At least three senior Salvadoran officials whom former President Joe Biden considered too corrupt or anti-democratic to earn visas have benefited, according to the report."Visa revocations have also been used to suppress criticism of the Trump administration, or even of U.S.-aligned foreign leaders," the report stated. "In Panama, for example, after two politicians criticized a sweeping security pact between their country and the United States, they were notified that their U.S. visas had been revoked."

UK has refused resettlement application despite ‘years of loyal service’ that have resulted in ‘constant fear’ of reprisalsA man has received threats from the Taliban after his work for the Afghan police was revealed by a Ministry of Defence leak and the UK refused his application for resettlement.Hamid* worked for the Afghan national police special unit and received certificates for his work signed by senior British figures praising his “dedication, unparalleled service and leadership”. His details were also included in an accidental 2022 leak by an MoD official that identified 18,700 Afghans who had worked with or for the British government. Continue reading...

President Donald Trump boasted Saturday morning about how well he gets along with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un — even if he does appear "unfriendly." In a Saturday morning post, Trump shared a picture of himself gazing into Kim's eyes in which they almost appear to be holding hands."Despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture, there are many where we're smiling," Trump wrote. "Kim Jong un and I get along GREAT! President DONALD J. Trump."Kim presides over one of the world's most repressive states, and human rights groups and the United Nations have documented a long record of atrocities under his rule. Since he took power in 2011, he's deepened his country's nuclear posture and blamed the U.S. for worsening global instability.The post was accompanied by a slew of Truth Social posts, including one that pushed the story of vandalism at the World War II memorial. Another featured a screenshot from a Fox News segment that called Trump the "influencer-in-chief."One of the posts that immediately followed his Kim photo was a Fox News segment with Lara Trump attacking Democrats as communists, ironic considering he was touting his friendship with the leader of a communist country.Branding Democrats as communists has become a central Trump midterm attack line as progressives backed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani have won a string of House primaries. Reporters have repeatedly noted that Trump conflates democratic socialism with communism, and his recent posting spree made his position on communism more unclear.A couple of other posts shared reports by Trump ally John Solomon from Just the News that went after another communist country, China, and that defended Trump's tariffs.Trump and Kim met three times during Trump's first term, including a 2019 Hanoi summit that collapsed and a DMZ handshake that made him the first sitting U.S. president to step into North Korea. No denuclearization deal ever came of it, though.