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Donald Trump’s suggestion that he would let Iran attack Los Angeles or San Diego at a Nebraska rally on Monday night led MS NOW’s Jonathan Lemire to raise the possibility that the president might be teasing out something.During a “Morning Joe” panel discussion that focused an extensive amount of time on Trump telling the crowd, “They [Iran] can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego," Lemire added a warning.Asserting Trump is “…trying to justify a failed war of choice, a war that has made the economic situation for most Americans worse and there's no end in sight,” Lemire continued, "Despite what he claims, he's saddling Republicans with another unpopular issue.”“They're going to be asked about this,” he predicted.“Now, also, we know President Trump has next to no filter,” he observed. “He's blurting something out of nowhere about Los Angeles or San Diego. Is it possible he received some sort of briefing that there's actually a threat against one of those cities, and he's now just saying that? Or at the very least, this is now yet another moment of where there is no bottom.” - YouTube youtu.be

A glib rally comment by Donald Trump on Monday night that he would be fine with Iran bombing either Los Angeles or San Diego set off a call for his impeachment on MS NOW on Tuesday morning.Speaking in Grand Island, Nebraska, the American president made an off-the-cuff remark when talking about the cost of the war, telling the applauding crowd it was “a small price to pay for keeping the world safe – keeping our country safe."“They can take out a city,” he continued before adding, “Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay.”After sharing the clip on “Morning Joe,” the hosts said the president’s defenders were already dismissing the comment as a “joke” no one should take seriously.They were not amused.“President Trump last night in Nebraska, again, trying to justify the higher prices Americans are paying for fuel and other goods, while also just casually calling for Iran to attack two of the most populous cities in the United States, “ co-host Mike Brzezinski remarked.Co-host Joe Scarborough added, “Yeah. You know, there will be some, ‘Oh, he's just joking. He's just —.' Well, okay, well, great. Tell me then, please, what other American president in our history post-Civil War, have called for the destruction of entire cities — joking. If this is your joke, this is your idea of a presidential joke, joking about the killing of 10 million or so people? Is that, is that where we are?”“I don't get when the president of the United States says Iran can obliterate Los Angeles and San Diego — not funny — if you're an American who actually believes that presidents should do more than divide us,” he added.Co-host Willie Geist pointed out, “As you say, Joe, it goes without saying that if any other president, especially a Democrat, let's say Barack Obama, for example, or Joe Biden made that joke, there would be outrage across the board and maybe calls for impeachment.”“Well, of course there would be calls for impeachment,” Scarborough agreed, “if he called for the obliteration of, say, Jacksonville or Birmingham, or if it were a Democratic president calling for the obliteration of Republican cities. Of course, of course, there would be immediate calls for impeachment.” - YouTube youtu.be

The Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial board warned Monday that China is not living up to the rosy picture President Donald Trump painted after Chinese president Xi Jinping visited the White House. Xi's visit to the White House marked the first time a Chinese leader has set foot in America in more than a decade. Following the visit, the Trump administration put up pictures of Xi and Trump around the White House and Trump made fawning posts about his Chinese counterpart on his Truth Social account. However, the Wall Street Journal's editors noted there is evidence that China is not behaving like a newfound ally of the U.S. The editors issued a stark warning to Trump in a new editorial on Monday about the recent arrest of a Chinese spy on American soil. "The phrase of the hour in Washington is that the Trump Administration wants 'strategic stability' with China, and it’s a nice aspiration," the editorial reads in part. "But the Chinese Communist Party isn’t behaving like a force for peace in the world, and the latest evidence is Beijing’s alleged spying in the U.S. on the son of Taiwan’s president."The editorial pointed to the FBI's recent arrest of a 34-year-old woman who was charged with "[surveilling] the Taiwanese President’s son and his family—filming their home, vehicles," and reporting information back to someone connected to the Chinese Communist Party. China's interest in spying on a member of the Taiwanese president's family is easy to understand, the editorial argues. What's more difficult is the lack of pushback from the Trump administration. "Mr. Lai’s son appears to be living in the U.S. and working in Washington state. No doubt the Communist Party wants to collect information about Mr. Lai’s family that it could exploit to blackmail or harm the President and his party in Taiwan," the WSJ editors wrote. "And it is notable, if not a great surprise, that Beijing is brazen enough to think that it can get away with something like this in the U.S. homeland.""No matter President Xi Jinping’s pronouncements about steady relations with the U.S., what matters is Beijing’s conduct. China acts against U.S. interests around the globe, including on American soil.

President Donald Trump's critics sounded off on Monday after the president tried to shift blame for high gas prices onto a U.S. ally. Trump has repeatedly tried to blame Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil refineries for the surge in gas prices, especially diesel fuel. He attempted to cast blame on Ukraine again in a Truth Social post on Monday, suggesting that continued aggression between the two countries has done more to increase prices than Trump's disastrous war in Iran, which caused an economically damaging fight over the Strait of Hormuz. "What's driving up Gasoline is no longer the Strait of Hormuz, because Record Numbers of Barrels are coming out now on an almost daily basis, but the word, 'Refineries,' where Russia's are being blown up by Ukraine, and where ours are being closed up, in Blue States, like California, by the Dumocrats (sic)," Trump posted. The president's wild claim was posted at a time when the national average for a gallon of gas was $4.36 for regular and $6.23 for diesel. Political analysts and observers reacted to Trump's post on social media. "Here’s a thought. If it really is because of Ukraine’s response to the illegal Russian invasion, then why doesn’t Trump tell Putin to get back in his box and end the war? A war Trump said he would end on Day 1. Gas prices are all Trump’s fault, whichever way you look at it," Greg Bagwell, president of the U.K. Air & Space Power Association, posted on X. "Trump admits he is causing the diesel shortage (and global food insecurity), as U.S. military is funding Ukraine, supplying it with weapons and Intel to target Russia," Christine Duhaime, a fomer anti-fraud officer, posted on X. "When the President has to explain that it’s actually our proxy war in Eastern Europe, not our regime change war in the Middle East, that’s driving up the cost of living for hardworking Americans, it should be evident to everyone that our foreign policy does not serve the American people," Joe Kent, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, posted on X.

One of President Donald Trump's supporters found himself caught in the middle of a horrific immigration case last week, one that has him questioning his support for the president, according to a new report. Jack Buhring, a truck driver, was hauling along his normal route on August 31 when his truck struck and killed a 20-year-old Haitian immigrant named Pierre Damas Bel, who had jumped out in front of him near Springfield, Ohio, The Atlantic reported. Bel had been granted Temporary Protected Status to stay in the country because of instability in his home nation. However, Bel was one of thousands of legal immigrants who lost their immigration status when the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end TPS for Haitians. “I feel really bad for the family,” Buhring, who voted for Trump for the first time in 2024, told the outlet. “I just don’t want to take the chance for the safety of my family. I mean, he jumped out in front of me. But I still killed their son.”"I feel guilty," he added. Dealing with the incident has been a challenge for Buhring, according to the report. Buhring told The Atlantic that Bel made eye contact with him before Buhring's truck killed him. Buhring has also tried to find as much information about Bel as possible since the event, and has continued to reach out to a first responder who helped Buhring get out of his truck after the incident occurred. “I felt a big thump, and I knew it was him,” he told The Atlantic. “I could feel it all.”The incident also has Buhring rethinking his support for Trump. He described the administration as a "joke," even though he does not see Democrats in any more favorable light. Bel's death set off a firestorm in Ohio, The Atlantic reported. "When I visited in early September, much of the Haitian community was in hiding," the report reads in part. "Families were getting food delivered to their homes, attending church services online. Haitian activists told me that some people had spoken of suicide as an alternative to deportation. At the vigils for Pierre, the people who showed up included his high-school teachers, his soccer coaches and teammates, waiters from Texas Roadhouse, and others who described themselves as neighbors, including a man who told a crowd one night that Pierre’s death was 'a failing of broader policy, but I will always bear the guilt that there is more that I could have done and we could have done.'”Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, an immigration attorney, described the report as "searing.""I feel very sorry for Mr. Buhring, who became an unintentional victim of Trump's hate campaign against the Haitians in Springfield," he wrote on X. "The tragedy of what Trump is doing to the Haitians who had safety here keeps growing (sic) worse."

Fears mounted Saturday that the Trump administration was “gearing up for something” ahead of Brazil’s presidential election on Sunday, in which incumbent president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will face off against far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, an ally to the White House.“They are absolutely gearing up for something and they won’t try to hide it because they assume nobody will do anything to stop it,” argued Vesper Jordan, an independent filmmaker and video essayist.In what some critics called an “unprecedented move,” the Trump administration suspended all U.S. consular services in Brazil on Friday, just two days before Brazil’s first-round presidential election. The U.S. State Department said the suspension was due to unspecified “security concerns,” though critics feared the move was part of an effort to “interfere in the country’s democratic elections.”Critics also expressed outrage over the apparent lack of media attention that the Trump administration’s actions in Brazil had received. Foreign affairs journalist Ishaan Tharoor argued that “the U.S. role in Brazil’s election” was “criminally under-discussed in the U.S.,” and journalist Noah Kulwin issued a similar but far more blunt assessment.“If we had a real news media instead of smug a------- who do video podcasts and video podcasts that are now broadcast on TV, this is the kind of thing that would be breaking through,” Kulwin wrote in a social media post on X.Bolsonaro is a lawyer, politician and son of Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former president who’s currently serving a 27-year sentence on charges related to an attempted coup after his election loss in 2022.Last year, Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Brazil in response to Jair Bolsonaro’s prosecution, calling it a “Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY.”“The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace,” Trump wrote in a July 2025 letter to Lula. “This Trial should not be taking place.”The US role in Brazil's election is criminally under-discussed in the US, though obviously front and center of the conversation in Brazil. https://t.co/qqnagh3LX0— Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) October 2, 2026

Jared Kushner's questionable ties to a deal he helped negotiate are again in the spotlight a day after he spoke out to defend himself.On Saturday, The New York Times reported that Kushner's business partners stand to profit from a Russian oil deal he helped broker. A day earlier, Kushner took to X to blast a CNN report scrutinizing his business dealings in Israel.Talks between the Trump administration and Russia over ending the war in Ukraine have widened to include a multibillion-dollar sale of international assets owned by Lukoil, one of Russia's largest oil companies, the Times reported. Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the deal during a September 5 Kremlin meeting with Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff, according to the report.The leading group bidding for Lukoil's assets includes Trump megadonor Todd Boehly, a federal agency and two Middle Eastern investment groups with business ties to Kushner or Witkoff's family. One is a Qatar-based conglomerate run by brothers Moutaz and Ramez Al-Khayyat, who have partnered with Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, on a luxury resort in Albania.Another member of the group is a fund controlled by Emirati national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, whose separate fund Lunate ranks among the biggest backers of Kushner's private equity firm.The Times found no sign that Kushner or Witkoff would personally profit. But a senior administration official confirmed both men had a direct hand in shaping the federal government's financial stake, pushing for a "substantial upfront payment and profits interest for the United States."Hui Chen, a former Justice Department prosecutor and ethics adviser, raised red flags about the arrangement."This is an alarming and very concerning set of entanglements," Chen told the Times. "And it means you have to question how the Trump administration is evaluating the different bidders involved here. Are the personal interests involved going to wrongly influence the outcome?"The revelations land one day after Kushner went on the offensive against CNN, which reported Thursday that his firm Affinity Partners is the top shareholder in an Israeli financial company invested in suppliers to Israel's military. CNN noted it found no evidence his diplomacy affected those holdings."For the last 10 years, I have ignored false and misleading stories about me and focused on the work," Kushner posted on X Friday. He called CNN's story "deeply misleading" and vowed to start publicly rebutting coverage he views as inaccurate.

The Trump administration suspended all U.S. consular services in Brazil on Friday in what one political economist feared was a ploy to “interfere in the country’s democratic elections this weekend.”The State Department told Reuters that the suspension of all consular services across the South American nation was due to “security concerns,” but did not provide additional details, including what those concerns were or when consular services would be restored.“Consular Services in the US Embassy and Consulates in Brazil will be suspended starting Friday, October 2 due to security concerns," the State Department said in a statement, according to Reuters. "US citizens seeking emergency assistance during this time should not come to the Embassy, the Consulates, or other US diplomatic facilities."The timing of the move was suspect, argued David Adler, co-general coordinator of Progressive International and former advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Brazil’s first-round presidential election is on Sunday, pitting Flávio Bolsonaro — a far-right politician supported by President Donald Trump — against incumbent Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a progressive Workers' Party member and frequent Trump critic.“Holy s---. In an UNPRECEDENTED move, the United States suspends ALL embassy services in all American consulates in Brazil… with no justification whatsoever,” Adler wrote in a social media post on X. “Yet another fear-stoking effort to interfere in the country’s democratic elections this weekend.”Brazilian political commentator Julio Freiress — whose commentary was cited by the Brazilian Supreme Court earlier this year — expressed similar concerns.“Trump has already started interfering in the Brazilian election,” Freiress wrote, according to an automatic translation by X’s Grok chatbot from its original Portuguese. “There's no reason whatsoever for the United States to suspend embassy services. There's already a whiff of interference in the air.”