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President Donald Trump told his administration's envoys to stop talks with Iran on Tuesday, CNN reported.CNN anchor Jake Tapper reported that Trump officials have told allies that they have shifted their strategy from "hammer Iran ASAP" to "strangle them over time," according to sources.Lawmakers have shared their concerns amid reports of dwindling weapon supplies and low morale among troops as the military operations have continued for nearly six months. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, reacted to the administration's reported change in an interview with Tapper."I think it's another indication that he has reached a strategic dead-end," Blumenthal said. "He has involved this nation in a seemingly endless, costly war. Just as the [USS] Abraham Lincoln is on an endless, seemingly indefinite deployment with no exit. The idea that he would 'strangle Iran' seems pretty magical thinking."He called out Trump for lack of strategy and cost of the war — from gas, groceries and worldwide economic backlash."He's playing a dangerous game of chicken," Blumenthal added.

Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta warned that foreign allies are concerned that President Donald Trump's politics represent more than an aberration.During a recent episode of "The Jim Acosta Show," the former anchor and his guest, Jonathan V. Last from The Bulwark, said that the warning from abroad is that the United States needs more than a Democratic successor to Trump to avoid becoming 1930s Germany.Last and Acosta were talking about Trump's threats to take over Greenland and his preference for North Korea over South Korea."Is this permanent, or is this just unique to Trump?" Last asked Acosta. "Is it that Trump has some special magic...The whole international order looks at this and just is like, 'What are you going to do?'"Acosta told Last that he's been to functions attended by ambassadors, and said that a couple of ambassadors warned him that Trump echoes Germany at its darkest period."This was after when he gave the crazy bats--- election conspiracy theory speech, which we've all flushed out of our systems because we just move on to the next crazy thing that he does," Acosta said. "A pretty close U.S. allied ambassador for that country came up to me at a party — this was about a month ago or so — and said, 'Jim...This reminds me of 1930s Germany. What is happening in America right now?'" According to Acosta, "Another ambassador for another major U.S. ally standing next to this person was nodding and saying, 'Yep, that's what it reminds me of, too.'"He added, "People need to understand the rest of the world is starting to form this conclusion that the United States of America is just in a serious f------ jam right now, and nobody knows how we're going to get out of this."Shaking his head, Acosta made it clear that the world doesn't have faith in "this whole idea that some Democratic candidate is going to ride in on a white horse and change everything overnight."

President Donald Trump contradicted Special Envoy for Peace Jared Kushner on Tuesday, flatly denying that any Iran talks were happening hours after Kushner called them active and ongoing.Trump wrote on Truth Social that "there are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran."Kushner had made an opposite claim during a Fox News interview with correspondent Trey Yingst the day before.MS NOW White House correspondent Garrett Haake flagged the gap between what the president's son-in-law said and what the president himself posted."White House messaging on Iran is a mess today," Haake wrote on X.Only a day earlier, Kushner said that the Trump administration was "having very positive and active conversations" with the Iranian government. "I will say that the conversations between the U.S. government and different areas of the Iranian government at all levels is probably more robust than it's maybe ever been. We are having very positive and active conversations," Kushner told Fox News.NewsNation White House correspondent Kellie Meyer expressed frustration over the mixed messages."President Trump just said yesterday that the administration was talking with Iran. This is what makes it difficult to convey to the American people / our viewers what's going on here," wrote NewsNation White House correspondent Kellie Meyer.On Monday, Trump himself had acknowledged a backchannel to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to Fox News — the same day Kushner spoke with Yingst."They're good poker players, but they're dying," Trump told Fox News of Iran's leadership."I have no time schedule," the president added. "I'm not in a hurry."

Peace talks between Washington and Tehran are officially dead, according to a statement released by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, despite the president having claimed talks were ongoing just days earlier.“There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”As recently as last week, Trump told Real America’s Voice that he was still “sort of negotiating” with Iranian leadership, and the day before that, he told Axios that his administration was “semi-negotiating” with Tehran, despite Iranian claims to the contrary.Iran has instead engaged in negotiations with Oman on a deal to manage traffic flow through the Strait of Hormuz, and has explicitly excluded the United States from the talks. When asked Monday for his thoughts on the Iran-Oman negotiations, Trump threatened to “bomb the S” out of Oman should they “get in the way” of his administration’s efforts to fully re-open the strait, according to Fox News’ Trey Yingst.

President Donald Trump stoked alarm on Sunday after he adhered to a foreign dictator's demands to reduce U.S. military exercises with South Korea. Trump announced on Truth Social that he had directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to reduce the scale of the joint military exercises conducted between the U.S. and South Korea. The move came just days after North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un described the exercises as a threat to his regime, and promised to escalate retaliatory threats in response. "These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful," Trump wrote. Trump's announcement rankled political analysts and observers across the political spectrum, some of whom shared their reactions on social media. "God help us," Ken Gardner, a political commentator, posted on X. "North Korea just provided Russia with thousands of missiles to attack Ukraine. Russia is working with Iran to murder U.S. citizens," Laura Loomer, a MAGA influencer, posted on X. "I wouldn’t exactly call North Korea unthreatening and respectful, personally, now that we know Russia has been giving weapons and satellite imagery to Iran to kill U.S. soldiers.""Helping North Korea even as they send 50,000 troops to help Putin. Almost seems as if it’s coordinated. Almost seems as if Vladimir Putin is acting as the White House chief of staff," Norman Ornstein, a contributing editor at The Atlantic and a political scientist, posted on X. "Russia before Ukraine and now N Korea before S. Korea. We have now lost international credibility," Jeff Storobinsky, host of the "In Front of Us" podcast, posted on X.

President Donald Trump appeared to bow to a dictator's demands in a stunning move on Sunday. In a pithy Truth Social post, Trump said he directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to scale back joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea. The two countries have been conducting military exercises together since the 1970s in an effort to deter future aggression by North Korea, a country that Trump claims to have a "very good" relationship with. "Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea," Trump wrote on social media. "These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful." Trump's announcement came after North Korea bashed the exercises on Friday, which Kim Jong Un's regime described as "a rehearsal for an aggressive war," the AP reported. It also came at a time when Kim Jong Un has sought to bolster his nuclear arsenal, and has sent troops to fight on behalf of U.S. enemies like Russia in the country's war of aggression against Ukraine. NORTHCOM Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. Joseph Jarrard also issued a warning about North Korea's military capabilities on Sunday that seem to collide with Trump's decision. “North Koreans have successfully flight-tested ICBMs with enough boost to deliver a nuclear payload anywhere in North America," Jarrard said. Kim Jong Un's threats seemed to have landed close to home for Trump, who called on Hegseth to reduce the exercises. Therefore, and based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises!" Trump wrote.He also unveiled a quizzical explanation for the move, tying it to his disastrous war against Iran. "While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, 'No thanks!'" Trump claimed.

A message shared by one of the top admirals in the U.S. Navy after visiting the stranded crew on the USS Abraham Lincoln sparked fireworks on Sunday. Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads United States Central Command, said on Sunday that his time aboard the ship was "awe-inspiring," although he admitted that being deployed at sea for long periods "isn't for everyone." Cooper also noted that the mental health challenges reported by sailors on the ship are lower than those of other carriers that are not deployed near Iran. Cooper's visit came just days after Trump seemed to bash the sailors on the ship, some of whom have reportedly thrown themselves overboard to escape the conditions. Reports also indicate the ship is running low on essential supplies like food, medical items, and female hygiene products. Cooper's comments also sparked backlash from analysts, some of whom described his claims as "gaslighting.""The gaslighting of the Sailors onboard USS Lincoln and their families is disheartening. My Shipmates deserve better," Travis Akers, a retired Navy intelligence officer, posted on X. "Gaslighting on new levels," Rose Benson, a comedian, posted on X. "Old enough to remember when the Department of Defense used to embed journalists in deployed US forces when America was at war. I guess that's only for LEGAL, not ILLEGAL wars," Dan Garrett, a political scientist, posted on X.

A nanny who was recently released from custody shared horrific details of her time in captivity during a new interview Sunday. Iliana Lick, an Argentinian nanny who was working for two families in Philadelphia, was recently arrested by President Donald Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement troops after she was accused of overstaying her visa "without permission," she told CNN National Correspondent Rafael Romo. Although she has been released and is back home in Philadelphia, Lick recalled several disturbing details about her time in multiple ICE facilities. Romo recounted some of the details during a segment on CNN "Newsroom" with host Fredricka Whitfield. "Lick told me she's going through a roller coaster of emotions and that trying to go back to normal has been weird because she's thinking of all the time about the other people in detention she met while in custody of [ICE]," Romo said. Lick, who primarily shared her story in Spanish, told Romo that she was released on a $10,000 bond and forced to wear an ankle monitor after her release. She was also moved through multiple ICE facilities while she was detained. At each stop, "she and other detainees had to wear a black and white striped jail uniform while wearing full restraints that included ankle cuffs and shackles," like they did when they were held in Cambria County Prison in Pennsylvania. Romo noted that ICE had also tried to impugn Lick's character by describing her as an "illegal alien" in a news release after she was let out of custody. "She felt she was being treated as a common criminal and insisted that she shouldn't have been detained in the first place because she has always complied with immigration law," Romo recounted. "She said, 'I paid all the fees. I went to all the hearings. My case was pending. I was never out of status.'"Lick will be in front of an immigration judge again in about a week and a half, Romo said.