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President Donald Trump risks losing his most emboldened MAGA supporters because of his maddening Truth Social posts. Trump has used the social media platform to criticize political opponents, issue threats to world leaders, and announce endorsements for political candidates. More recently, he has used his Truth Social account to issue threats to Iran, with the war between the Middle Eastern country and the United States set to enter its seventh week of conflict. Professor Anthony Glees, a political professor at the University of Buckingham, says the constant barrage of Trump posts has angered his core support, who may now abandon him ahead of the midterm elections. Glees told Raw Story, "The last thing Trump wants to do is put US boots on the ground; the casualties would be massive and US public opinion would mean he'd be impeached. So he has to settle. He knows his MAGA base is deserting him."The folks who largely elected him because he did promise no overseas 'forever wars' and because he said there'd be an end to US boots on the ground, are now turning against him big time. That's unhinged, and it has terrified his own supporters as much as it terrified ordinary Iranians, although I doubt if it worried either the ayatollahs or the IRGC commanders."Glees also referenced a post made by Trump on April 7, where Trump ordered the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened. A post made earlier this week by Trump saw the president promise to open the Strait of Hormuz permanently. Trump wrote, "China is very happy that I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz. I am doing it for them, also - And the World. This situation will never happen again. They have agreed not to send weapons to Iran. "President Xi will give me a big, fat, hug when I get there in a few weeks. We are working together smartly, and very Well! Doesn't that beat fighting??? BUT REMEMBER, we are very good at fighting, if we have to - far better than anyone else!!!"Glees added, "The peace will stick more or less because both sides want it. The ayatollahs and the IRGC get to carry on running Iran (they are the bad side of evil of course), and Trump gets to avoid impeachment."Why does Trump want a peace deal with Iran? Because he's not winning, he's losing the war. Iran is not finished, and it currently has the world's economy in a stranglehold."

Wednesday’s strike brings the total of those killed in US military strikes on alleged drug boats to at least 177Three people were killed in a US strike on another alleged drug-trafficking boat, the fifth such deadly attack in as many days, military officials have announced.US southern command said it conducted “a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations” in the eastern Pacific, without naming the alleged group, in an X post. Continue reading...

Energy crisis unfolding in Middle East has added political urgency, and more funding, to transform South Korea’s solar industryIn Guyang-ri, a farming village of 70 households about 90 minutes south-east of Seoul, people gather for communal free lunches six days a week. The meals are funded by the village’s one-megawatt solar installation, which generates roughly 10m won ($6,800) in net profit each month.“Residents eat lunch together every day, so we see each other’s faces, talk together,” says Jeon Joo-young, the village chief. “Bonds and solidarity between residents become much stronger. Life becomes more enjoyable.” Continue reading...

President Donald Trump has used the word "loser" to describe plenty of his enemies, but now that insult might be coming back to haunt him, an analyst said on Wednesday. The New Republic's Matt Ford discussed how Trump's Iran war has suspended trade through the Strait of Hormuz, effectively "the geopolitical equivalent of stabbing the global economy’s femoral artery." Iran has taken control of the channel, and although Trump has argued that the United States has won the conflict, the world does not see it as he does. "This is what happens when losers are elected to lead the world’s only superpower," Ford wrote. Trump has surrounded himself with people, including Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who have openly expressed a similar sentiment — "whose worldview is driven by personal grievances against the world." "Fascism and loserdom go hand in hand because fascism is predicated on the notion that the fascist has been unjustly cheated and robbed, and that only through force can they restore and revitalize themselves," Ford wrote. "Fascists idolize losers because no fascist society has ever flourished and because they see themselves reflected in other people’s failures. It is fitting that Trump and his allies have lavished praise and public statuary upon Robert E. Lee, a Virginia-born colonel who is best known for leading a failed rebellion against the United States on behalf of a slaver aristocracy in the South.""The goal of Trumpism, it could be said, is to create losers of us all," Ford added. "The political and economic project’s goal is not to materially improve its adherents’ lives. Instead, it is to create a sense of social order for some people that offers an aesthetic sense of improvement, even as one’s standard of living declines in real terms."

The New York Times editorial board had a message Tuesday on what it takes to defeat Trumpism — and authoritarianism — as midterms approach. The editors described how the landslide defeat of Viktor Orban by Peter Magyar in Hungary should inspire Americans hoping to see change in the United States amid President Donald Trump's tumultuous second administration. They outlined the different ways opposing candidates could identify vulnerabilities for Trump and his regime using Magyar as an example of how to defeat autocratic rule and apply "an American version of this strategy."By talking directly about Orban's 16 years in power and the stagnant living standards in Hungary, Magyar saw the opportunity to give voters a new promise: reliable medical care, a secure family life and retirement. He said that political connections shouldn't matter and used the frustrations people were feeling to lay out his plan. He campaigned in rural areas of the country, adopted an even harsher immigration policy and distanced himself from a Pride march and LGBTQ issues, and although the editorial board did not agree with all of his maneuvers, it did recommend other politicians look closely at the strategy. This is something a Trump opponent can do: highlight the corruption during Trump's leadership, including the Iran war, the use of pardons to excuse his allies, tax policies that have made life harder for working Americans and easier for the wealthy, and climbing gas prices."His populism is fake. It serves a small slice of wealthy, well-connected people at the expense of most Americans, and it leaves him and his party politically vulnerable to an opposition that can credibly use government as a force for good," according to the Editorial Board. Democrats can use this to their advantage. They need to develop an "ambitious agenda" and not just focus on criticism of Trump. "The second lesson may be harder for Democrats — and center-left parties in Europe — to absorb," the editors explained. "Mr. Magyar, who identifies as center right, won partly by avoiding the social progressivism that dominates elite left-leaning circles and alienates many voters. He ran as an economic progressive and a cultural moderate if not conservative."Magyar — whose last name means "Hungarian" — relied on symbolism, using the Hungarian flag and a variety of other messaging styles. "Mr. Magyar thoroughly defeated this far-right giant. The free world should take an honest look at how he did it," the editorial board added.

Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance just suffered a humiliating foreign policy defeat that exposes the severe limits of American influence abroad — and signals potential disaster for the GOP in the midterm elections.According to the Washington Post's Michael Birnbaum, Trump's decision to personally intervene in Hungary's election by dispatching Vance to campaign for strongman Viktor Orban not only failed catastrophically, but also damaged Republican credibility on the international stage.Orban had been a darling of the American right, preaching to conservatives at CPAC about seizing control of institutions. "Have your own media," Orban once declared, "it was the only way to combat the 'insanity of the progressive left.'" He aligned perfectly with Trump's worldview, opposing NATO aid to Ukraine and framing it as anti-war rather than pro-democracy.Trump returned the embrace enthusiastically by exempting Hungary from energy sanctions imposed on other European countries, and Vance personally campaigned for Orban, telling Hungarians they had a guaranteed friend in Washington if they reelected their prime minister.It wasn't enough. Orban was decisively defeated. A constitutional supermajority for the opposition will now rewrite election laws that Orban had previously reshaped to favor his own party — a stunning reversal of fortune for Trump's endorsed candidate.Vance attempted to minimize the damage, claiming "I'm sad that he lost. We will work very well, I'm sure, with the next prime minister of Hungary. It wasn't a bad trip at all because it's worth standing by people, even if you don't win every race."But Republicans are furious. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), who is retiring, blasted the intervention as a norm-breaking disaster that backfired spectacularly."President Trump and Vice President Vance broke the norms by going and campaigning for a candidate in another democracy," Bacon said. "It's not appropriate to do it, and then they failed. So it's like a double-dumb move, and it just undermines us."The strategic implications are dire. One Republican strategist with extensive European experience warned that Orban's ouster is "a harbinger" for what might come in the midterm elections this fall."If you don't define your campaign on an issue set that gets your base energized to turnout in huge numbers, it will be a problem," the strategist told the Post.

A U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz went into effect Monday at 10 a.m. EST at the direction of President Donald Trump, but in a matter of hours, the blockade was breached without incident by at least four Iran-linked vessels, BBC reported Tuesday.On Monday, Trump said that he had instructed the U.S. Navy to “seek and interdict every vessel in international waters that has paid a toll to Iran,” and the U.S. military later said that the “blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas.”However, ship tracking data analyzed by BBC Verify revealed that at least four Iran-linked vessels “crossed the Strait of Hormuz” without incident; two on Monday, and two overnight.“The Rich Starry, a tanker that is sanctioned by the United States under a different name, sailed through the strait overnight Monday,” CBS News reported, with the outlet having also analyzed ship tracking data. “The Elpis, another sanctioned tanker, sailed through the strait after the blockade began, having apparently come from the Iranian port of Bushehr, according to tracking data.”The Rich Starry is a U.S.-sanctioned Chinese oil tanker, and was the first vessel to breach the blockade since its implementation Monday morning. The Chinese government called the United States’ blockade "dangerous and irresponsible,” with Chinese President Xi Jinping warning that the world must not be allowed to “revert to the law of the jungle,” NBC News reported.Despite news organizations having analyzed tracking data, the outlets could not confirm whether or not the Iran-linked vessels had broadcasted false location reports using a tactic called "spoofing," which CBS News describes as a method to conceal a vessel's true location.Trump’s decision to respond to Iran’s partial blockade of the Strait of Hormuz with another blockade has baffled experts, including Karen Young, a senior scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, who told CNN on Sunday that Trump’s blockade would only exacerbate the increasing scarcity of oil.

Appearing on MS NOW to expand upon her report on the meme war between Donald Trump’s White House and Iran on social media, which has become the latest tool for spreading propaganda, Politico’s Dash Burns claimed White House insiders admit things are not going well on multiple fronts.Speaking with the hosts of “Morning Joe,” Burns claimed Trump insiders are dismayed at how badly things are going.“You know the old adage: a picture says a thousand words? I think a meme in this moment might say even more. The dog drinking the coffee with the fire around it; I was sent that twice from two separate sources close to the White House –– an oldie but a goodie. There were some religious-themed memes," she reported.“Listen, the vibes aren't great,” she added. “The sources I was talking to were pointing to things like there's there's the religion theme that the president kicked off there, the DoorDash moment yesterday, for example, the president stepped on his own message there by attacking the pope, by posting that that Jesus-themed meme. Republicans were getting ready to hit the campaign trail talking about the economy. They're going to have a really hard time doing that right now because of what's happening with the war in Iran and what that's doing to prices back home.”“I was talking to White House officials late last year on the record, and they were saying that this was going to be the moment when the big, beautiful bill would impact the voters that really need it the most,” she recalled. “And this is when voters would start to get excited to vote for Republicans in November, because they would see those tax refunds. Well, that is also all being overshadowed by the rising cost of living because of some of the issues abroad. So this is not where the administration wants to be. And this certainly is not where Republican allies of the administration who are trying to help boost Republicans in the midterms want to be.” - YouTube youtu.be