Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued an ominous threat Saturday just moments after the United States launched a new round of strikes against Iran.

On Saturday evening, U.S. Central Command announced that a new round of strikes against Iran “began launching” at around 7:30 ET, marking the third round of U.S. strikes on Iran this week. In a statement published on social media, U.S. Central Command claimed the strikes were in response to Iran striking a container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

“The United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait,” reads the statement from U.S. Central Command. “The strikes are being carried out at the direction of the Commander in Chief.”

Less than 10 minutes after U.S. Central Command’s statement, Hegseth delivered his ominous threat.

“Iran made a poor choice. Now they pay,” Hegseth wrote in a social media post on X to his nearly 2 million followers.

According to The New York Times, Iranian state media has reported explosions heard in “key cities across Iran’s southern coast,” as well as “major energy centers and Iranian military sites.”

Moments before U.S. Central Command announced the new wave of strikes, Iranian officials announced that the Strait of Hormuz was “closed until further notice,” rebuking the Trump administration and its demand for Iran to confirm the strait was opened to commercial vessels.

The new wave of strikes comes one day after President Donald Trump threatened to “completely decimate” Iran using 1,000 missiles that were “locked and loaded.”

Neighbors of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) revealed “disturbing” new details about the Kentucky Republican’s condition in the days leading up to his hospitalization in mid-June, The Daily Beast reported Saturday, leaving onlookers stunned and demanding transparency.

McConnell was hospitalized on June 14, though his office initially disclosed few details about his condition. Last week, however, reports revealed that he had been discovered unconscious at his home in Washington, D.C. and administered CPR for a possible cardiac arrest.

In the days since, rumors have continued to grow regarding the health status of McConnell, and to such an extent that Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear publicly urged the senator Saturday to “provide voters” with “an update on his health.”

Speculation over McConnell's health only intensified after the Daily Mail reported speaking with the senator's neighbors about his condition in the days leading up to his hospitalization.

“I was able to get a good look at his face,” McConnell’s neighbor told the Daily Mail, speaking on the condition of anonymity, according to the Daily Beast. “He was pale, with a blank stare, and his mouth hanging open.”

Another neighbor who spoke with the Daily Mail said McConnell’s staffers were “crying” as the Kentucky Republican was carried into an ambulance.

“When he came out, I actually wondered if he was dead. He did not look good,” the neighbor told the Daily Mail according to The Daily Beast, also speaking on the condition of anonymity.

“He was not conscious. His eyes were closed, he had oxygen [tubes] strapped to his nose. I knew by [his aides] running in and out that it was something serious. There weren’t a lot of sirens. That was the thing that was interesting.”

The new revelations sparked an outpouring of calls for transparency from onlookers.

“I genuinely want Andy to call the special election now, and force them to show proof of life,” wrote Chokwe Pitchford, a Michigan politician and Berrien County commissioner. “We need to stop this disgusting manipulation of a man’s medical condition for political power.”

Melanie D’Arrigo, a New York progressive activist and former Democratic congressional candidate, argued that taxpayers – who she noted “pay Mitch McConnell’s salary” – deserved “to know if he’s still alive.”

Mitch Jackson, a California lawyer and legal commentator, called the continued silence from McConnell’s office “not just unusual,” but “unacceptable.”

“Consider also who has had to ask the basic questions. Kentucky's own Governor, Andy Beshear, sent a formal letter requesting a health update on a United States Senator representing roughly 4.5 million people,” Jackson wrote in a social media post on X to his more than 43,000 followers. “A sitting Governor should not have to write a letter to find out whether a sitting Senator can perform the job.”

Iranian officials publicly rebuked the Trump administration’s demands Saturday evening after declaring the Strait of Hormuz to be “closed until further notice.”

“The Strait of Hormuz is closed until further notice and until the end of America's interventions in the region, and no vessel will be permitted to pass through,” reads a statement released by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ navy.

On Friday, the Trump administration gave Iran a Saturday deadline to confirm the Strait of Hormuz remained open to commercial vessels. Instead, the Iranian navy fired a “warning shot” at a vessel it claimed had "attempted to transit along an unapproved route,” Reuters reported Saturday, and subsequently closed the strait to all traffic.

The new development comes just one day after Trump declared the delicate ceasefire between the United States and Iran to be “over.” It also comes just hours after Trump threatened to “completely decimate” Iran using “1,000 missiles” that were “locked and loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow.”

Patrick Byrne, a millionaire businessman, founder of the online retailer Overstock.com and loyal ally to President Donald Trump, was ordered Friday to pay Hunter Biden $1.7 million in punitive damages over false claims, The Guardian reported Saturday.

Byrne, a prominent 2020 election denier, previously accused Biden of having sought a bribe from the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2021. Biden sued Byrne for defamation in 2023, and on Friday, U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson ruled that Byrne had made his false claims with “actual malice” and ordered the MAGA millionaire to fork over nearly $2 million.

“The evidence of Defendant’s hostility toward Plaintiff indicates bias and a particular motive for dishonesty in this case,” reads Wilson’s ruling, made in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

“Overall, in the totality of circumstances, by far the most plausible explanation is that Defendant is not credible, fabricates awesome and farfetched narratives to garner attention in the media, and fabricated the defamatory story at issue in this case to damage Plaintiff’s reputation.”

Before the ruling, Byrne had failed to appear for a jury trial in October, per The Guardian, an incident cited by Wilson in his Friday ruling as having delayed proceedings “at the expense” of Biden.

Byrne was also ordered to pay around $35,000 in court sanctions to Biden, The Guardian reported.

Wilson also cited Byrne’s past behavior in his ruling.

“The behavior – expressing hostility and malice toward a prominent public figure by repeatedly and intentionally damaging his reputation through the repeated publication of accusations that the individual engaged in high-stakes criminal activity with extensive implications internationally – is precisely what Defendant was already found liable for in Canada,” Wilson’s ruling reads. “Yet Defendant has persisted in that behavior.”

Some critics of the Trump administration are reacting with horror to revelations that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been serving as the de facto ruler of Venezuela.

According to a Saturday report in The New York Times, Rubio for the last several months has been acting informally as the “viceroy” of Venezuela ever since its recognized president, Nicolás Maduro, was abducted by the American military in January and brought to the US to face charges related to “narco-terrorism.”

The Times’ sources revealed that Rubio “effectively controls Venezuela’s finances, the distribution of its natural resources, and its government” and “is deeply involved in the country’s day-to-day operations,” while maintaining regular contact with acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez.

Under current arrangements, the US Treasury Department takes in revenue from Venezuela’s exports, including its petroleum, and then disperses the money back to the country through its private banks with strict conditions set by Rubio over what it can be spent on.

In explaining the system, the Times likened it to “parents handing out allowances to children,” adding that it gives Rubio “immense leverage over... Rodríguez, who depends on the money to pay workers and prop up the national currency.”

Elizabeth Saunders, professor of political science at Columbia University, described Rubio’s power over Venezuela as “insane,” as well as “derelict, unconscionable, and impeachable.”

“The secretary of state’s time is scarce, valuable, and not [outsourceable],” Saunders emphasized.

Orlando J. Pérez, professor of Political Science at the University of North Texas at Dallas, said the Times report made a mockery of Rubio’s professed claims to want to bring democracy back to Venezuela.

“It appears Rubio has transformed from democracy promotion warrior,” Pérez commented, “to transactional realpolitik operative!”

Kenneth Roth, former executive director at Human Rights Watch, wrote that US control over Venezuela appeared similar to the kind of imperial power wielded by European nations in the 19th Century.

“Trump has turned Venezuela into an effective US colony,” said Roth, “with Marco Rubio as the viceroy and Washington controlling the country’s oil revenue and dictating major foreign and domestic policies. Democracy has been relegated to the distant future.”

Bradley Simpson, historian at the University of Connecticut, also saw the current US arrangement with Venezuela as a return to overt imperialism.

“We are literally back in the Dollar Diplomacy days of the 1910s,” Simpson wrote, “when the United States invaded countries and took over their financial systems and ran them as effective colonies. Flagrantly illegal, enormously corrupt. Where is the organization of American states or UN in denouncing this?”

New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman brushed off Trump's twin tirades on Truth Social by boosting the sold-out book he scolded.

In a post on X on Saturday, Haberman broke her silence after Trump posted two lengthy posts complaining about her book Regime Change, which she co-wrote with fellow New York Times journalist Jonathan Swan.

Trump complained that Haberman and Swan's book didn't congratulate him for doing a "great job!" and instead included embarrassing scenes from his second administration. Haberman simply pointed out that her book is sold out and publishers plan to restock copies.

"Extremely grateful for the interest in our book," Haberman wrote. "Thank you to those who have engaged with it. And hardcovers are being restocked!"

Haberman's post was a response to a post by Swan in which he defended her from a Trump Truth Social rant in which he called her "Maggot Hagerman."

"Many people disagree with the president's assessment. Thanks to you all for reading," he wrote along with a screenshot of the Amazon charts showing Regime Change in first place.

In another post, Swan again responded to what Trump had written on Truth Social by writing, "I would be honored to do another on-camera interview with President Trump whenever he wants." Haberman reposted Swan's response, which also included a link to his since-memed 2020 interview with Trump in which he expresses clear confusion over Trump's points.

Other Trump critics responded to his Truth Social posts. Former MAGA insider George Conway reacted to Trump's post by writing, "A severely mentally ill man has control of the launch codes for America's nuclear arsenal, but it doesn't seem that many people care."

Journalist Aaron Rupar simply wrote, "I ain't reading all that," along with a video showing how lengthy Trump's post was. "I'm happy for u tho. Or sorry that happened."

As revealed in a letter made public this week, multiple whistleblowers accused President Donald Trump of ignoring federal contracting laws regarding his several beautification projects in Washington, D.C., and claimed to know why the president was so "rushed" to see the projects completed.

Trump has spent much of his second term focused on his D.C. beautification projects, perhaps chief among them being the renovations to the Kennedy Center, which included emblazoning his name on the building – a move since undone by a judge's order.

According to multiple whistleblowers who reportedly contacted Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), however, there was a very specific reason for why Trump expedited the Kennedy Center renovations: to ensure renovations were complete in time for him to receive the FIFA World Peace Prize.

“[Kennedy] Center management worked in unusually close consultation with the White House to rush a series of renovations to meet deadlines tied to the President’s desire to host events at the Center in December 2025, including the ceremony at which President Trump received the so-called ‘FIFA World Peace Prize,’” reads a joint letter penned by Whitehouse.

“In the process, longstanding federal contracting controls were set aside, no-bid contracts were awarded, and superficial cosmetic work was performed that staff warned would have to be redone.”

Trump’s “rush,” as Whitehouse called it, to see his beautification projects to completion went beyond the Kennedy Center, the whistleblowers claimed.

“Contractor’s cosmetic revamp of the Center’s Reflecting Pool is already rusting and peeling,” the letter reads.

“In order to hit President Trump’s December 2025 deadline, [the contractor] only conducted a cosmetic sanding and repainting of the Center’s East Plaza Reflecting Pool, which the disclosure indicates may need to be fully rebuilt. The Center’s Reflecting Pool is now unevenly painted and rusting, indicating that old paint was never properly stripped before it was resurfaced.”

In his latest attack on communism, President Donald Trump lashed out Saturday at “loud and unattractive people” who he said were allowing the Democratic Party to be steered toward the left.

“The Radical Left Lunatics, often referred to as Dumocrats, have lost control of their Party,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “They are being led by loud and unattractive people who have totally lost their way. Hopefully, they will fight back, and not let this sick, Communist ideology, take over America!”

Trump has increasingly referenced communism in recent weeks following a string of electoral victories in Democratic primary elections by self-proclaimed democratic socialists. Critics have accused Trump of focusing on communism as a tool to distract Americans from his administration’s failures to adequately address the issue of affordability.

A social media post from President Donald Trump that The New York Times noted had “nearly slid by” the president’s “chaotic social media feed this week” has “sent shudders” through entire communities in Minnesota, the outlet found, with one prominent critic calling the post “so low, even for him.”

Trump kicked this week off Monday by sharing a video of more than a dozen Muslim kindergartners – unblurred with their faces fully exposed – celebrating graduation by singing and clapping. The video was accompanied by commentary from an anonymous right-wing X account known as “@EndWokeness,” who wrote “Public school in St. Paul, Minnesota,” and “Every girl is in a hijab… in kindergarten.”

With this week also seeing a flare-up in violence in the U.S. war against Iran, Trump’s social media post “did not cause much national furor,” but as the Times noted in its report Saturday, did leave a lasting mark on Minnesota’s sizable Muslim and Somali communities.

“This was a red line,” said Khalid Omar, a community organizer based in St. Paul, speaking with the Times. “Children who are just celebrating, and wanting to look like their mothers – forget about the hijab – who are just children enjoying themselves, seeing their families, singing. For him to go after those children, it’s awful, it’s dangerous, it’s inhumane, it’s wrong.”

James J. Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, told the Times that even for Trump, sharing the video of kindergarteners in a disparaging manner had crossed a line.

“He is a bigoted bully,” Zogby said. “He picks on vulnerable people – women, immigrants – but picking on 5-year-olds, it’s so low, even for him.”

When the Times issued repeated requests for comment, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson refused to provide a response to Trump’s controversial social media post, but did defend the president’s previous remarks regarding Somali schoolchildren.

“President Trump is right,” Jackson told the Times. “Aliens who come to our country, complain about how much they hate America, fail to contribute to our economy, rip off Americans and refuse to assimilate into our society should not be here. And nothing about that is racist.”

Trump bawled in a lengthy Truth Social post that journalist Maggie Haberman's latest book didn't praise him enough.

Haberman and fellow New York Times journalist Jonathan Swan co-wrote the book Regime Change, which details the second Trump administration. It features scenes like Trump supergluing gold Fabergés in the Oval Office, his cabinet freaking out over the Epstein files, and how his White House bedroom was littered with fast food wrappers.

In his Saturday Truth Social post, Trump lamented that "there's no, 'Gee, he won, he did a great job!' There's no saying, 'Maybe we were wrong about him, the people were right' or, maybe, 'Congratulations, we wish you Great Success for our Country!'" He ended the post with a long string of all-caps sentences.

"Isn't it time they say, 'TRUMP IS THE BEST POLITICAL ATHLETE OF ALL TIME!'" Trump asked. "CONGRATULATIONS, MR. PRESIDENT. YOU HAVE BEATEN US FOR 10 YEARS, AND WE ARE NOT GOING TO WASTE OUR TIME FIGHTING YOU ANY LONGER."

He attacked Haberman, calling her "Maggot Hagerman" and her employer, "The Failing New York Times." He said, "All I do is WIN, often against all odds."

The post came on the heels of other Saturday Truth Social posts that took aim at Haberman. His latest post was much longer, and also took aim at "The Dumocrats," who he said did not "have what it takes," and that "their Policies are wrong, and they are, generally, stupid people."

He also insisted, "They are going COMMUNIST," a line he's been reiterating more frequently lately, as Democratic Socialists win and the midterm elections draw near.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) revealed Saturday that he had recently been detained by a group of armed Israeli settlers and military personnel earlier this week, and one MAGA lawmaker is sparking uproar after siding with Khanna’s captors over his own congressional colleague.

“Israeli settlers, brandishing American-made M4s, detained me & other Americans on my trip to Palestine,” Khanna wrote in a social media post on X Saturday, along with video of his detention. “When the [Israel Defense Forces] arrived, they sided with the settlers & continued our detention.”

While Khanna's detention sparks bipartisan outrage from the likes of both Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) and alt-right conspiracy theorist Stew Peters, Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC) appeared to instead side with Khanna’s captors.

“Sounds like another plea for publicity. Anything to get in front of the camera,” Murphy wrote Saturday in a social media post on X. “Why else would you be there? It isn’t your country.”

The blowback to Murphy’s remarks was swift – and bipartisan.

“An American congressman is detained and threatened by armed Israeli settlers and his colleagues in Congress instantly side with the Israeli soldiers and thugs who did it,” wrote Harrison Berger, a correspondent with The American Conservative.

Independent journalist and video creator James Li called Murphy’s remarks “borderline treason” and called for him to be “removed from office,” and Brian Tashman, a political researcher at the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, pointed to what he characterized as Murphy’s hypocrisy, sharing a photograph taken during Murphy’s own trip to Israel.

“Republican congressman Greg Murphy says Ro Khanna shouldn’t visit the West Bank because it ‘isn’t your country.’ Anyway here’s Greg Murphy with [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu while on a trip to Israel,” Tashman wrote in a social media post on X, alongside a photograph of Murphy and Netanyahu.

Daniel McAdams, the executive director of the Ron Paul Institute, called Murphy’s comments ”disgusting” and “out of step with the vast majority of Americans,” and journalist Zaid Jilani echoed Li’s remarks.

“This congressman is rooting for illegal foreign settlers harassing Ro Khanna with automatic rifles,” Jilani wrote in a social media post on X. “This is the closest thing to treason you can get without crossing the line.”

Israeli activist Nadav Weiman supported Khanna’s characterization of the incident, claiming to have been with the California congressman during his detention.

“I was there with Rep. Khanna as an expert on settler violence,” Weiman wrote in a social media post on X. “Armed settlers were the first to arrive, and then, as has become the norm, Israeli soldiers joined them. Together they detained the delegation for over an hour. The [Israel Defense Forces] is lying and not for the first time.”

According to Track AIPAC, an advocacy platform that documents lawmakers’ financial support from pro-Israeli groups, Murphy’s campaigns have received more than $100,000 in contributions from pro-Israeli political groups as of April.

Sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein enjoyed mocking Trump because he would constantly ask to "hitch rides" on his plane, a biographer revealed.

During an episode of Inside Trump's Head, biographer Michael Wolff, who spent years interviewing Epstein and then chronicled Trump's political career, said that Trump bumming plane rides off Epstein was a "constant point of friction."

Wolff and co-host Joanna Coles were talking about the Boeing 747 gifted to Trump by Qatar, and Wolff explained that Trump has "always invested in his planes." To illustrate how Trump overspent on his planes, he talked about how he had to start relying on Epstein for plane rides.

"This constant point of friction between Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump was that Trump often could not afford to fly his own plane, so he had to hitch rides with Epstein," Wolff said. "Epstein would constantly remind him of this, so that became Epstein's dominance over Trump."

Wolff said Trump "becomes invested" in his planes because "it is that stand-in for his power, his dominance, his ability to be the commander," but he noted that other billionaires are the same way.

"Whenever you are with billionaires, one of the subjects that always comes up is their airplanes, and often that their airplanes are broken and the maintenance requirements of these airplanes," Wolff said. "So it apparently gets under the skin of all people who own their own airplanes, but particularly this is a Donald Trump thing."

Wolff said he's heard "countless stories" that are "worrisome" about Trump getting upset about his planes. Trump notably subpoenaed four New York Times journalists on Friday after he was humiliated by their reporting on the security concerns of his Qatari jet.

President Donald Trump's rural base is suffering as his administration keeps yanking critical funding, according to a new report.

Iowa farmers are decrying the Trump U.S. Department of Agriculture's cancellation of millions of dollars' worth of grants because of "wasteful spending" and cuts to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, according to reporting by The Guardian.

"You feel like a slingshot," Jason Grimm, the executive director of the Iowa Valley Resource Conservation and Development, told The Guardian. The Iowa Valley RC&D is a non-profit that used USDA funding to set up and train new farmers.

The Guardian noted a federal judge ordered the USDA to reinstate $127 million in grants awarded to organizations like the Iowa Valley RC&D after pulling the funding.

However, Grimm said he already had to cut programming, and the reversal left him and other farmers feeling like, "You're just getting bounced back and forth," he told The Guardian.

"The continued cancelled funding that we're seeing from USDA continues to be the cherry on top for many organizations and farmers that are already up against really hard times," Anna Pesek, who farms poultry, pigs and flowers in Iowa, told The Guardian.

Farmer Lawrencia Rogers told The Guardian that she was being laid off because of the Trump administration's cuts to DEI programs, describing it as a "slap in the face," and said it made her realize the Trump administration's hostility to farmers.

"I have never had a decision on such a level impact my life literally overnight in such a drastic way," Rogers said. "If that wasn't a rude awakening to pay more attention and, I don't know, maybe be more vocal or take more action, I don't know what could be."

President Donald Trump shot himself in the proverbial foot Saturday with a lengthy rant that raised precisely the concerns he meant to dismiss.

Trump's assertion that he remains in perfect health included a single word that rang alarm bells for Daily Beast reporter Sarah-Jane Collins: "Just."

"President Donald Trump has sparked fresh health concerns after bragging that he “just” completed a physical exam at Walter Reed Medical Center," she wrote.

"The 80-year-old president was golfing at the time of his post on Truth Social on Saturday, according to White House press pool reports, and there have been no reports of him undergoing another medical exam after his last one in late May."

Trump's Truth Social post targeted journalist Maggie Haberman after she fielded questions about his mental health on MS NOW Saturday morning.

That interview took place after a week of gaffes that saw him refer to Iran as the "Islamic State of Japan" and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Vladimir Putin.

"His health is like a black box inside that administration," Haberman said. "They have released less and less information."

Trump's response was to call Haberman "maggot" and boast about his cognitive health.

"Also, I just finished a perfect physical at Walter Reed, I do it every six months, and I requested another Cognitive Test, the only President to do so, three times, and I aced them all — Got every question right," he wrote. "Few people in Washington, D.C., could do so, including Maggot."

The Daily Beast reporter was not alone in her lingering confusion about Trump's usage of the word "Just."

"'Just finished a perfect physical'?" asked Olivier Knox, senior national political correspondent for U.S. News & World Report. "Another one? Or is this the May physical?"

"Trump was at Walter Reed for a physical on May 26, less than 2 months ago," noted foreign policy reporter Laura Rozen. "Trump today: 'every six months.'"

"Trump just had a physical in May," echoed writer and conspiracy theory expert Mike Rothschild. "Was the one where 22 doctors checked him out and declared he will live for 200 years. Less than two months later, he's getting another? Necrocracy in action?"

Eventually a White House official provided an explanation to CNN reporter Alejandra Jaramillo.

"The President was referring to his recent physical at Walter Reed that took place on May 26th," they reportedly said.

A Miami businessman wanted in Albania for alleged drug money laundering is suspected of faking deeds to the land where Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner hope to build a multi-billion-dollar resort, new reports show.

Albania's anticorruption prosecution service is investigating whether Artur Shehu transferred land to Albania Land Development, a Kushner-linked company, with forged deeds and falsified titles, according to reporting by Al Jazeera and Reuters.

"Prosecutors allege Shehu and his associates funnelled proceeds from cocaine trafficking into Albanian property, using falsified titles to disguise the money’s origin, and have since frozen roughly 110 million euros ($126m) tied to the sale in a notary’s account," Al Jazeera reported.

Shehu’s lawyer Kujtim Cakrani denied the allegations to Reuters.

“Nothing that has been alleged regarding Mr Artur Shehu’s character is true,” he told Reuters. "Mr Shehu is aware of the allegations made by the Albanian prosecution. These allegations do not concern him because he maintains that the truth is entirely different from what the prosecution claims."

A U.S. Justice Department spokesperson declined Reuter's request for comment.

Ivanka and Kushner's announcement that they plan to build a $1.6 billion luxury resort on Sazan Island, a protected nature preserve on Albania's largest island, already sparked mass protests. However, it hasn't stopped the couple from moving forward with the deal and snapping up coastal land.

Shehu sold a strip of pristine Albanian coastline to Kushner's company in April, according to reporting by Reuters.

"Reasonable suspicions are formed, based on evidence, that the above-mentioned assets were acquired through the use of forged documents," according to case files reviewed by Reuters.

Reuters also reported that an Albanian organized crime-fighting agency issued a warrant seeking Shehu's arrest for laundering money for South American cocaine traffickers shipping drugs into European ports.

"Shehu's lawyer Cakrani, confirming that Shehu was a target, said he was unconcerned about the arrest warrant," Reuters reported, "as it was 'widely believed' that Albanian prosecutors operated under the influence of politicians and business figures."

Journalist Maggie Haberman's cowriter leapt to her defense Saturday after she questioned President Donald Trump's mental health and he slapped back with an insult-laden threat.

Jonathan Swan, co-author with Haberman of "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump," took to social media to respond to the president's lengthy social media take-down of the text.

"Many people disagree with the president’s assessment," Swan said simply. "Thanks to you all for reading."

Swan also issued an invitation: "I would be honored to do another on-camera interview with President Trump whenever he wants."

Trump appeared unlikely to accept this invitation considering his critique of Haberman and Swan's book, which he delivered along with a defense of his health.

"Maggot Hagerman has covered me incorrectly for ten years," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Her book is a joke! 90% of it is Fake News. She has made a living off her bad reporting, and will pay the price when our Multi Billion Dollar Lawsuit against The Failing New York Times gets to Court, which should not be that long."

Trump later noted, "Also, I just finished a perfect physical at Walter Reed, I do it every six months, and I requested another Cognitive Test, the only President to do so, three times, and I aced them all — Got every question right."

Haberman's response?

"Extremely grateful for the interest in our book," she wrote on X. "Thank you to those who have engaged with it. And hardcovers are being restocked!"

A media expert offered a grim diagnosis of CBS News' "turmoil" under Bari Weiss and noted it's hitting record lows.

During an interview posted by Offline on Saturday, Oliver Darcy, a former CNN reporter and the founder of Status, laid out how CBS News is struggling under Bari Weiss, its conservative editor-in-chief.

"They are collapsing on every front," Darcy said. "CBS Evening News has hit historic low ratings. They struggle now to get four million viewers on the evening news, which would have been unthinkable just even a year ago."

The CBS Evening News is led by Tony Dokoupil, whom critics consider a MAGA voice and a handpicked disciple of Weiss. It's also come under fire for ditching its 38-page ethics handbook for a five-point patriotic statement. It's not the only CBS News program struggling with ratings, Darcy added.

"The CBS morning show with Gayle King is hitting all-time low ratings," Darcy said. "They are on pace to have posted their worst June of all time. They posted the worst May of all time ratings."

Under Weiss, the CBS flagship news program, 60 Minutes, has suffered from public feuds and firings and "no longer resembles what we know 60 Minutes to be," Darcy said.

"Anderson Cooper is gone. Cecilia Vega is gone. Sharyn Alfonsi is gone. Scott Pelley is gone. The executive producer is gone. The executive editor is gone," Darcy said. "That show is no longer what it once was. It carries the name forward, but that's probably about it at this point."

Darcy concluded, "Those three main shows are all in turmoil," and those are "the three programs you would really judge Bari Weiss on."

President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman after she appeared on MS NOW and questioned his health and mental fitness.

Haberman fielded questions about Trump's health after a week of gaffes that saw him refer to Iran as the "Islamic State of Japan" and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Vladimir Putin.

"His health is like a black box inside that administration," Haberman said. "They have released less and less information."

Haberman noted Trump's speech has lost "crispness" and referenced an interview during which he came prepared with a list of the top ten world leaders she referred to as "monsters" such as Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler.

She argued Trump wanted to wield authoritarian power during his first administration but was undermined by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The president America witnesses today, she described as "pure Trump."

Trump responded to this interview on Truth Social with outrage and unbridled threats.

"She has made a living off her bad reporting, and will pay the price when our Multi Billion Dollar Lawsuit against The Failing New York Times gets to Court, which should not be that long," Trump wrote. "Maggot is a loser!"

Trump then tackled the question of his health.

"Also, I just finished a perfect physical at Walter Reed, I do it every six months, and I requested another Cognitive Test, the only President to do so, three times, and I aced them all — Got every question right," he wrote. "Few people in Washington, D.C., could do so, including Maggot."

A Wall Street Journal report revealed Saturday the Americans who voted for President Donald Trump have soured on him amid the economic fallout of the Iran war.

According to the Journal, new polls by the Cook Political Report found that more voters disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy after gas prices jumped during the Iran war. The polls cited by the Journal found that 61 percent of voters disapprove of how Trump is handling the economy.

The Journal also included comments from Trump voters around the country who admitted that they're not feeling great about their pick because Trump seemed to prioritize a war in Iran over affordability.

"Bringing prices down, that should have been a priority," Chicago bus driver Truman Lyons told the Journal. "I don't think he's making the average American citizen the priority."

According to the Journal, Lyons also "balked" at the bombing of Iran, blamed it for raising gas prices, and said he feels "horrible" about voting for Trump in 2024.

"I regret it," Lyons said. "What did he say? He said, 'I'm the president of no wars.'"

Jim Dubela, a retired airline captain from New Hampshire, told the Journal that Trump is "failing to rein in spending and driving up prices with tariffs." Dubela added, "The Iran war has directed attention away from our affordability crisis" and caused "a huge strain on the typical American's budget."

Florida financial adviser Chris Delzio told the Journal, "The amount of money spent on these wars just really makes you want to cry," and pointed out that Trump promised, "We're going to spend the money here" and "no foreign wars."

A Fox News journalist who criticized President Donald Trump's decision to subpoena reporters whose work left him feeling "embarrassed and angry" faced immediate backlash Saturday for her perceived lack of loyalty.

Chief National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin took to X Saturday to condemn subpoenas sent to New York Times journalists over their coverage of Trump's Qatari plane and the security it could not provide him.

"This action by the US government to subpoena reporters for reporting legitimate news on security concerns about Air Force 1 should alarm every American," Griffin wrote.

The Fox News correspondent then quoted David McCraw, whom she named as the Times’s top newsroom lawyer, whose response appeared to mirror her own.

“The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects,” he said.

This defense of the Constitution shocked Griffin's followers who defended Trump's decision to penalize journalists who reported on the $400 million jet he faces mounting tensions abroad.

"If you had a security vulnerability that could assist your adversary in assassinating you, would you be okay if the press reported it out?" replied Sarah Adams, host of the podcast The Watch Floor. "You can say all you want in this country, but choices still must have some consequences."

Conservative political commentator Matthew Buckley took a sterner tone.

"You use the words 'reporter' and 'American' in the same sentence," he said. "Because because I have often heard that they are not the same thing. Which one are you first? Does a reporter have the same responsibilities as an American citizen? Or are you somehow a disinterested 3rd party observer?"

Defense attorney Doug A'hern argued the journalists would be protected by due process and therefore could be legally subpoenaed.

"As long as the journalist did not participate in the unlawful acquisition of the classified materials, they won’t be charged criminally for its dissemination," he wrote. "They are not immune from criminal subpoenas."

Courtney Fosnight, a self-described MAGA Republican, condemned Griffin outright for her response.

"You should be investigated," she wrote. "Maybe if a few of you are held accountable the rest of you will become reliable again."

Sources close to President Donald Trump say that he's "fuming" because journalists are reporting on his Qatari jet's security problems. CNN reported.

According to CNN, Trump was "embarrassed and angry" in recent days after reporters revealed that he had to switch planes because his Qatar-donated Boeing 747 lacked critical security features.

"Trump has been fuming at the reports of security concerns surrounding the $400 million gift from Qatar," CNN's Kaitlan Collins reported, adding that he "was embarrassed and angry in recent days when it became public that the plane was not equipped enough to be flown directly from the NATO summit in Turkey back home."

Collins' report comes after the New York Times shared that four of its journalists were issued subpoenas on Friday after they reported that Trump had to switch planes because the Qatari jet was not as well equipped with security features as the old Air Force One.

The Qatar jet lacked capabilities that the old Air Force One had, like antimissile capabilities, the Times reported.

CNN described the subpoenas as "highly unusual" and "a direct threat to the news media's ability to gather information in the public's interest," and noted that the Times plans to fight the court order.

"The subpoenas suggest that the Trump administration is trying to find out who leaked to the Times before the news organization," Collins wrote.

Sources told CNN that the New York Times subpoenas came after FBI Director Kash Patel met with White House officials on Friday to talk about an investigation into leaks about the jet's security concerns.

Patel also spoke with Trump over the phone on Friday about that investigation, one source told CNN.

President Donald Trump is a desperate man. With the midterms on the horizon and his approval ratings under water, he doesn’t want to talk about affordability. Nor does he want to talk about his war with Iran. And he certainly doesn’t want to talk about Jeffrey Epstein.

What does he want to talk about? Communists.

Over the last two weeks, Trump has ratcheted up his overheated rhetoric in response to democratic socialists’ victories in primary elections in Colorado, New York, Washington, DC, and elsewhere.During a speech to Christian conservatives at a Faith and Freedom Coalition convention in Washington on June 26, he called democratic socialists “animals” and said, “We have to stop this horrible threat of cancer that’s permeating our country called communism.” He went on to say that the “godless” communists in the Democratic Party pose a particular risk for Christians. “They will close your churches in this country,” he warned. “They will kill your people. And that’s what they’re about.”

It’s not as if Trump and his fellow Republicans haven’t hurled the communist epithet before, but over the past six months they have upped the ante.

Heading into the 250th birthday celebration on the National Mall, Trump continued his tirade. Speaking at Mount Rushmore on July 3, he not only besmirched Democrats, but immigrants as well. “There is now a resurgence of the communist menace in our land, including from newcomers to our country who embrace ideas totally opposed to our way of life and our great success,” he said. “...You can be a communist or you can be a patriot. You cannot be both.” He made no secret that he is trying to salvage Republican candidates’ chances in November. “America will never be a communist country,” he said. “We can only lose the midterms if we allow ourselves to lose the midterms if we are foolish, stupid, and unwise.”

Trump was only slightly more restrained on July 4 at the National Mall. After introducing a handful of World War II veterans and lauding them for their heroism, Trump ahistorically declared: “Our warriors did not fight communism on battlefields across the world, only to have that menace rear its ugly head right back here in America. We’re not going to let it happen.” (In fact, American troops, along with troops from Great Britain and communist Soviet Union, defeated fascism in World War II.)

The GOP’s Red-Baiting Tradition

It’s not as if Trump and his fellow Republicans haven’t hurled the communist epithet before, but over the past six months they have upped the ante. According to a recent Washington Post analysis of statements, social media posts, and podcasts, from January to June, they applied the word “communist” or “communism” to Democrats an average of 626 times per week, 43% more than during the same time frame in 2025.

Right-wing pundits have entered the fray, too. Megan McArdle, a self-described “right-leaning libertarian” columnist at The Washington Post, recently wrote that democratic socialist victories represent “a heady moment for the left, because socialism’s tainted brand has recovered from the vivid failures of the Soviet Union.”

Likewise, historian Arthur Herman, writing for Fox News, disingenuously equated democratic socialists’ policy agenda with that of the Soviet Union in a July 3 column. “In June, Marxist radicals calling themselves democratic socialists swept the New York City primaries...” he wrote. “...Communist-style socialism has brought poverty, mass starvation, and subsistence misery to tens of millions worldwide.”

Such attacks are nothing new. Republicans denounced Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal as “socialism” and even “communism.” In 1961, then General Electric spokesman Ronald Reagan warned that government health insurance would lead to socialism. Over the following decades, however, Republicans largely abandoned that mantra in favor of attacks on “big government” and the welfare state.

Trump is a throwback to an earlier time. In his 2020 State of the Union address, Trump attacked socialism, claiming it “destroys nations.” Like Reagan before him, he specifically denounced a “Medicare for All” proposal endorsed by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and 130 other members of Congress at the time, calling it a “socialist takeover of our healthcare system.”

During the last election, Trump often called Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris a “Marxist,” tying her to her father’s economic perspective on markets and inequality. More recently, he labeled New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, a “communist,” and dubbed Janeese Lewis George, a democratic socialist who won last month’s Washington, DC, Democratic mayoral primary, a “Communist adherent.”

Democratic socialists in the Democratic Party are not communists. If they are a member of any organization, it likely would be the Democratic Socialists of America, which does not function as a party. Communist organizations still exist in the United States, but they are politically marginal and have no representation in Congress or in any state legislature.

Americans Support Democratic Socialist Policies

Likewise, democratic socialism is not synonymous with Soviet communism, which fell apart 35 years ago. The countries that democratic socialists in America hold up as models can be found in Western Europe. They are multiparty democracies with market economies, strong unions, and robust social safety programs that include universal healthcare. Their economic models are nothing like the one-party command economy of the Soviet Union and, as I pointed out in detail in a December 2025 essay, they do a much better job of ensuring their citizens live long, healthy, and prosperous lives than the United States does.

While only about 17% of Americans have a favorable view of democratic socialist politicians, their policies are quite popular. For example:

• According to a new Economist-YouGov poll, 52% of Americans support eliminating private health insurance companies and replacing them with a national health plan. Only 30% oppose the idea.
• Public support for a higher federal minimum wage has remained strong for years. A 2021 Pew survey found that 62% of Americans supported raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, while a 2019 Pew survey found support at 67%.
• A February Pew survey found that 69% of Americans favor requiring employers to provide paid family leave. Even 59% of Republicans support it.
• Finally, 63% of Americans favor raising taxes on large corporations, according to a March 2025 Pew poll, and 58% favor raising taxes on households earning more than $400,000 annually.

Perhaps what is holding democratic socialists back is how they identify themselves. The term “socialist” just may have too much baggage. After all, many Americans still associate the word with the Soviet Union, whose official name was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, even though it was a communist dictatorship.

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a democratic socialist, told The Washington Post earlier this week that political labels should not be an issue. “What matters is the legislation, your proposals, the ideas before us,” she said. “How a person identifies in their economic view of the world is less important to people than if we’re making their groceries more affordable.”

Maybe. But Trump and the GOP are betting that calling Democrats “communists” will matter to enough voters to overshadow their concerns about the cost of food, gasoline, housing and healthcare. November will reveal whether that Cold War strategy still works.

President Donald Trump's threat to commit what one former Obama administration official described as "genocide" stunned onlookers Saturday with the sign-off, "PRAISE BE TO ALLAH!"

In a Friday night Truth Social post, Trump threatened to "completely decimate" Iran, adding "1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow." Trump was going on about how the military would retaliate "for a one year period" if he were assassinated by Iran.

The entire threat stunned Richard Stengel, former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, who shared his alarm on MS NOW Saturday morning.

"The fact of an American president threatening genocide against the whole people in case he's assassinated is more than unseemly," Stengel said. "It's it's incredibly vulgar and undiplomatic language."

However, it was his choice to end the post with "PRAISE BE TO ALLAH! President DONALD J. TRUMP" that left online critics baffled, even though he's done it before.

"So much weirdness in this most recent threat to destroy Iran," veteran journalist and political commentator Tom Nichols reacted. "(Why one year? Praise Allah?) The Iranians have, I suspect, learned to tune all this out. But something's very wrong with the president."

"This is total insanity," wrote journalist Aaron Rupar. "Words fail to explain how anyone let alone a plurality of voters thought giving an obviously demented person control of the most powerful government in the world was a good idea. We will be lucky to come out the other side of this alive."

"PRAISE BE TO ALLAH! to end this is incredible work," political columnist William Kedjanyi commented.

"Donald Trump is mentally deranged," writer and journalist Steven Beschloss posted. "He's a danger to the U.S. He's a danger to the globe. He does not belong in this position of power—in control of the massive U.S. military—and he should be removed from office. This is not a joke."

Republican infighting broke out Saturday as Democrats presented a unified front celebrating a bipartisan bill that President Donald Trump allowed to pass at midnight by refusing to either veto or sign it.

The ROAD to Housing Act, described by CNN as a "sweeping" bipartisan bill to tackle housing affordability, spurred cheers of joy from Democrats and a scattered, sometimes hostile, response from Republicans.

"NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" conservative pundit Ann Coulter scolded Trump on Friday. "You need to veto it before midnight, Mr. President!!! The housing bill furthers the destruction of working and middle class neighborhoods by expanding Section 8 housing, moving ghettos into formerly safe towns."

The law caps the number of single-family homes big investors can buy, allows developers to skip an environmental review for properties between two previously reviewed buildings and creates a grant program communities can use to develop preapproved housing designs, according to NPR.

On Saturday, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) responded to Coulter and tried to justify Trump's actions by arguing he'd outmaneuvered Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Majority Leader Mike Johnson.

"Only 32 of us voted against the Housing bill in the House," Massie said. "But had Trump vetoed it, I can assure you that Thune & Johnson would not have rallied votes to override his veto and the bill would have died. By not vetoing it, Trump took ownership of the bill."

This notion received an indirect rebuttal from Fox News correspondent Chad Pergram, who pointed to bills' 358-32 win in the House and its 85-5 victory in the Senate.

"It takes two-thirds to override a veto in both chambers," he said. "Thus, the House and Senate both had supermajorities capable of overriding the President’s veto to convert this bill into law."

Pergram also acknowledged such action was rare.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-NC) did not name Trump in his response, but he did throw support behind the bill the president refused to sign.

"The American Dream is a little more within reach for families across this country," he said. "The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law last night and will help more Americans plant roots, build stability, and pass opportunity to the next generation."

Meanwhile Democrats both celebrated the bill's passage and slammed Trump for failing to support it in a bid to pressure Congress to pass his SAVE America Act voter ID bill.

Among those to celebrate was Rep. Jonathan L. Jackson (D-IL).

"At midnight, the bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act became law—despite President Trump holding the bill hostage and refusing to sign it," Jackson wrote. "Families in IL-01 can't afford political games when housing costs are soaring, but President Trump would rather see Americans on the street than at the ballot box."

Mike Nellis, former Kamala Harris campaign advisor, professed himself confused by Trump's tactics.

"Again, it’s bafflingly stupid that Donald Trump let a housing bill become law without signing it, ensuring he gets no credit for it," said Nellis. "It’s literally the only thing they’ve done on affordability, and he managed to completely disown it."

Political consultant Saikat Chakrabarti, a progressive Democrat, chastised Trump as ineffective.

"The President of the United States just refused to sign a housing bill in 'protest,' and the bill became law anyway," he said. "Don’t think I’ve ever seen a weaker or more pathetic move. The most powerful person in America is playing the role of activist."

"President Trump chose politics over this effort to lower housing costs," added Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), "but I'm glad that this bipartisan bill is now law."

Even White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt praised the bill in June, before Trump announced he would not sign it.

"President Trump promised to lower housing costs, and he is delivering, making it easier for every family to achieve the American Dream of homeownership, she wrote. "Tomorrow’s historic bill signing is another promise made, promise kept."

Vice President JD Vance's allies say he accidentally stumbled into a strategy to leave himself unscathed by the conflict in Iran, but Trump insiders argue he's just kidding himself, Politico reported Saturday.

Aides and allies of Vance told Politico that he's hoping his early skepticism of starting a conflict with Iran and his public doubts that Iran could be counted on to make peace will be "his saving grace" if hostilities drag on.

"It wasn't necessarily strategic from him, but it did have the side effect of putting him in a good place politically," an anonymous GOP operative allied with Vance told Politico. "From a purely political perspective, all that really mattered was him being seen as attempting to bring the war to an end, while at the same time remaining loyal and aligned with the president."

Vance is closely linked to the Iran peace talks, Politico noted. He was in the middle of peace talks that led to a memorandum of understanding to end hostilities between the U.S. and Iran, but the MOU has since fallen apart, Politico noted.

"How can you blame this on him?" a Vance ally told Politico, referring to the continued conflict with Iran. "Failing at trying for peace, I don't think gets you a penalty from rational people. In other words, the non-war crowd is not going to fault him for trying to end the war."

However, a former Trump official cast doubt on the idea that Vance comes out unscathed, saying, "This MOU is likely a loser, and it's his," and that Vance "is very, very much the person with the most to lose."

Another former Trump official agreed Vance's team is too hopeful, saying, "Dude, you just got handed a s— sandwich. You can't cover up the taste too much."

FBI director Kash Patel, recently summoned to the White House after an angry Senate Republican demand he explain his luxury lifestyle, faces a looming threat next week from within the Trump administration, MS NOW analysts argued Saturday morning.

MS NOW reporter Jackie Alemany — among the first to reveal the White House's frustration with the embattled FBI director — noted one source told her the pending confirmation of acting Attorney Todd Blanche could spell trouble.

"He isn't going anywhere right now," Alemany said. "That could potentially change after Todd Blanche's confirmation."

MS NOW legal analyst Kristy Greenberg, a former New York federal prosecutor, agreed, basing her opinion on past experiences working alongside Blanche.

The former prosecutor admitted a begrudging respect for Blanche's professionalism even if she could not approve of the work he's done for President Donald Trump.

"He actually knows how to do the job, said Greenberg. "I don't agree with how he has done the job, but he knows how to do the job ... Kash Patel has no idea what he's doing. He's too busy on his jet skis."

The White House has denied Alemany's report that it is "frustrated with Kash Patel" — over antics that included a vulgar tweet directed at MS NOW — with a comment from communications director Steven Cheung.

"There has been no frustration over his tweet this morning," wrote Cheung. "I reposted his tweet. Other White House officials reposted his tweet. Him calling MSNOW (expletive) is an accurate description of their (expletive) reporting."

But Alemany suggested Saturday that the White House continues to support Patel publicly because of the scandal-laden FBI director's continued loyalty to Trump.

"He is acting on the president's major, main priority, the most animating force of this administration, which is investigating and relitigating the 2020 election," said Alemany. "That being said, it seems like he, Patel, is butting up against some more pushback here."

And he'll face more pushback from Blanche, Alemany predicted in her response to Greenberg's comment that Patel was "frankly acting like a buffoon."

Replied Alemany, "I'm not sure Todd Blanche is happy."

The Trump administration was met with a wave of bitter rebuke Saturday morning after the New York Times revealed his decision to subpoena journalists who reported on his Qatari jet.

The subpoenas were issued to four of its reporters after they wrote about security concerns with Trump's Qatari-donated Boeing 747, according to reporting by the New York Times.

Trump had to ditch his Qatari jet while departing from a NATO summit on his old Air Force One, and the Times reported that the gifted plane lacked security features like anti-missile capabilities.

Fellow journalists and political commentators took to X to voice their displeasure with the subpoenas, which were issued on Friday. Swiss comedian and journalist Viktor Giacobbo described the subpoenas as "Free speech MAGA style."

"Maybe if you don't want people writing about your unsecure bribe plane, don't solicit one from a petrostate royal family to begin with," wrote HuffPost White House correspondent S.V. Dáte.

"How dare they report any problems with his ill gotten plane!" posted Democratic political strategist Joe Trippi.

"The Trump regime's efforts to clamp down on the Times is evidence of exactly how important their reporting is," reacted veteran journalist Jim Roberts. "And how truthful it is."

Political commentator Mario Nawfal noted it's the "same play they ran on the [Washington] Post and the [Wall Street] Journal earlier this year before backing off," referring to similar Trump administration subpoenas. "The story clearly landed, or none of this would be happening."

"Remember when MAGA said the press was the enemy because it 'hid the truth'? Now they're cheering the government subpoenaing reporting for telling it," former Democratic National Committee representative Khary Penebaker posted. "Amazing how fast principles disappear when Trump's feelings get hurt."

Scott Jennings has long played the utterly insufferable and condescending "know-it-all," smugly talking over and around rather earnest liberals during CNN's analysis of the day's events. Obviously, the MAGA Mayhem team on "X" cannot get enough of him, including the equally obnoxious (at times) Joe Rogan, who simply loves the way Jennings out-testosterones his often double X'd chromosomal opponents.

But that's a normal day at the office for Jennings. This week, he put his entire career on the line over the medical status of still-wretched "Moscow-Mitch McConnell."

Just to be sure everyone is caught up, we're talking about this Mitch McConnell:

McConnell, 84, was admitted to a hospital following a medical emergency at his home. EMS recordings showed paramedics responded to a report of an unconscious person believed to have suffered a 'cardiac arrest,' with a medic reporting 'CPR in progress' at the address.

And that was over three weeks ago.

Love him or hate him, or love to hate him, neither the dismount nor the silence is a positive sign for Mitch, nor is the fact that, despite assurances from the likes of Sen. John Thune, things remain rather unclear regarding McConnell's condition. Again, according to USA Today:

On July 6, Thune spoke with McConnell on a variety of topics including national security, and the conversation was "long and substantive," a Thune spokesperson said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Scott Jennings, a former high-level staffer to McConnell before becoming the mendacious know-it-all on CNN, went way out on a limb. From the same report:

After [Kasie] Hunt asked [Jennings] to call McConnell on air, Jennings laughed and said, "I wasn't really expecting him to call this morning to be honest, so when the phone rang and I was able to talk to him, I was frankly pretty grateful. All the rumors about him being dead or brain dead or, you know... That's obviously not true because he picked up the phone and called me."

Right.

Except it's not that obviously "not true" because how hard is it to snap a picture of McConnell on the phone with these team players if such a thing was as self-proving as we're told? Moreover, there is a reason Kasie Hunt asked Jennings to call Mitch McConnell on-air, and that is likely because she doesn't believe a word she just heard.

Hold up right here to clear the air with fairness. It is entirely possible that everyone is telling the truth and that McConnell is awake and aware enough to make such calls.

But for all of you who make a living bashing the mainstream media (Some of it well-deserved), consider this, please. Prominent media members in Washington, D.C., "hear things," much of it "off the record" — which is honored as a means of securing real information from people in fear of either speculating or being caught passing along secret information. Now, consider what Hunt may be hearing off the record and try to imagine the last time a CNN host challenged a guest to prove someone is alive and sentient with a phone call on-air.

And it's not like this doesn't matter. The GOP desperately needs McConnell alive and functioning so as to avoid a Democratic governor appointing a replacement and a wide-open primary prior to what was to be a normal GOP-favoring November election.

If McConnell dies or resigns before his term ends, Governor Beshear (Democrat) would appoint a temporary replacement. There could then be a special election for the remainder of the term. By keeping McConnell “alive and engaged” past the key August cutoff (at least 20 days away), the GOP avoids triggering a special election that could introduce chaos, new candidates (including potentially Thomas Massie mounting a challenge), or give Beshear more influence over the temporary appointee.

Let's fall back to how easy it would be to put this matter to bed, so to speak. One photograph of a conscious and sentient McConnell ends all speculation. And yet such obvious proof remains not only elusive but conspicuously absent.

Yes, Sens. Thune and Boraso say they've had the same conversations, but they lie all the time; they're politicians. The bar is a little higher for those in the media, and don't you dare let your cynical side fly for an hour; there are standards, and we're talking real media, not Brian Kilmeade. This is the type that holds down evening chats.

Why anyone would watch CNN during any hour not hosted by Brianna Keilar is a question with which the reader can grapple, but for those who make the mistake, it's not like Scott Jennings hasn't played fast and loose with the truth before. Jennings once said:

"There are like almost 5 million able-bodied people on Medicaid who simply choose not to work. They spend six hours a day socializing and watching television."

Yeah, except, no. False, as judged by Politifact.

So now let's back up. Kasie Hunt - at the very least, isn't about to take Scott Jennings's word on the fact that he had a substantive conversation following Mitch McConnell's call that morning. She laid down quite the challenge, "Okay, call him on air." Jennings didn't take the golden opportunity to lay all this to rest. Perhaps a poor choice of words.

Mitch McConnell is not dead. Of that, we can be all but certain. Withholding such information in today's wired world is all but impossible. But the line between a beating heart and brain dead, or perhaps simply unconscious, isn't that tough to manipulate, and the standard is "able to serve." Politicians have a way to avoid "the lie." Hand a phone to John Thune and let him talk into McConnell's comatose body for ten minutes and e' voila: "I talked to Mitch this morning about a wide range of things." That's good enough for a politician, or let the voters of South Dakota decide it's not.

But Scott Jennings has a boss, and that boss has to at least hold on to the last vestiges of accountability and integrity on some of the last real reality television shows. The entire GOP has real motivation to lie; they want November to go just as planned. They don't want Democratic Gov. Beshar appointing even a part-time Democrat to the Senate (One who can actually run as an incumbent), and they damn sure don't want anti-establishment Thomas Massie mucking up the primary, perhaps as the GOP candidate, perhaps as an Independent, truly throwing what should have been an easy baton pass to Rep. Andy Barr into chaos.

There would be no more fitting way for Mitch McConnell to pass from this life than in a secret conspiracy to shut out the democratic process and install a GOP-favored son.

But back to Jennings. If that ffff... guy flat lied about something as provable as a phone conversation ± and Kasie Hunt has given us a major tell as to whether she believes him — there should be and likely will be major calls for his termination at CNN. And believe me, that would hurt Jennings. There is likely little better part-time work in Washington than somewhere around $500,000 a year to kick Democrats in the tummy for a few hours a day, a few days a week.

But it better happen if our working assumption remains true - that McConnell remains incapacitated to the point his staff alone is running out the clock in the ultimate "filibuster." And even if McConnell would approve of the move, and there's every indication he would, it's still a sh*tty thing to do to an "elder statesman."

To be sure, that "statesman" has done more to rip democracy out of the hands of the American people than even Donald Trump, a true enemy to the Constitution, and entire treatises will be written on how diabolically and cynically Mitch sought and retained power.

But if things are as they appear, it would sure be nice to see a McConnell "lesser" pay the ultimate price in trying to rig one last Constitutional dodge over the American people in his name.

You are on notice, Scott; best be up and up about this, or we're coming for you.

Jason Miciak is a Rawstory columnist, former editor of Occupy Democrats, political consultant, author, attorney, and single parent girldad. Please follow on Bluesky, and he can be reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com, and he does read and appreciate critical comments.

President Donald Trump's promise to "decimate and destroy all areas of Iran" stunned a former Obama administration official Saturday morning.

Richard Stengel, former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, shared his alarm over Trump's recent Truth Social threat with MS NOW viewers.

"The fact of an American president threatening genocide against the whole people in case he's assassinated is more than unseemly," Stengel said. "It's it's incredibly vulgar and undiplomatic language."

Stengel was responding to Trump's own reaction to the Wall Street Journal report earlier this week that a new Iranian plan to assassinate him may have been uncovered by Israeli intelligence.

Late Friday night, Trump responded with a direct threat.

"1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran," wrote Trump, "with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the Globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!"

Stengel expressed extreme cynicism with the Trump administration and all its rhetoric regarding its months-long war with Iran and the weeks-long "ceasefire" the president declared "over" last week.

Trump's rhetoric, Stengel argued, was just another ploy.

"I think they're just playing for time," he said. "I think ultimately will happen is sort of like what has happened in Gaza. We're not talking about Gaza anymore. Where was the great peace deal in Gaza? Well, I think Trump will just kick this down the road for months and even years, and there will be occasional flare ups, but they will never be a nuclear deal."

Watch the interview below.

A bizarre incident involving a Fox News host and the interim president of a foreign nation has become one of President Donald Trump's favorite stories to tell, according to a new report.

The New York Times Saturday profiled Secretary of State Marco Rubio and revealed his growing power over Venezuela and the apparent pleasure it gives the president. This becomes evident when the Times details an Oval Office encounter between the two men.

"Mr. Rubio could be the next leader of Venezuela, Mr. Trump suggested," according to the report. "And while the president’s aides say he was joking — and that he frequently teases Mr. Rubio about an overseas assignment — the fact is that Mr. Rubio does not need to move to Caracas."

Rubio's control over the foreign nation, whose leader, incumbent Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, the U.S. captured during a military strike on Jan. 3, has only grown, the Times reports.

Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice president, now leads the country on an "acting basis" but with detailed instructions from Washington, according to the report.

The Times then detailed the backstory of a '"surprising" announcement, made before even the Venezuelan government could, that Rubio made about Rodríguez earlier this year.

Rubio announced she would would travel to India.

"When the Fox News anchor Bret Baier contacted Ms. Rodríguez about participating in an interview, she told him that Mr. Trump would have to approve," the Times reports.

"Mr. Trump loved that Ms. Rodríguez was deferring to him, and has repeatedly recounted the story to others when they ask about her, according to multiple people familiar with his comments."