Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) suspended his campaign for California Governor on Sunday as he battles allegations of sexual assault and rape.

"I am suspending my campaign for Governor," Swalwell wrote in a statement on X. "To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s."

On Friday, the San Francisco Chronicle published a bombshell report alleging the lawmaker had assaulted one of his staffers multiple times when she was too intoxicated to consent. Since then, three other women have come forward to make allegations against Swalwell, according to reports.

Swalwell has faced a mountain of criticism since the report was published, including calls from a bipartisan cadre of lawmakers to resign or be expelled from Congress.

President Donald Trump raged at Pope Leo IV in a Truth Social post on Sunday night after the Pope criticized the president.

Pope Leo has been an outspoken critic of Trump's war with Iran, and called the president's threat to destroy the Iranian civilization "truly unacceptable." The Pope has also rebuked the president's immigration policies.

"Enough of the idolatry of self and money!” Leo said on Saturday, according to the Associated Press. “Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!”

Trump responded to Pope Leo's criticisms on Sunday on Truth Social.

"Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy. He talks about 'fear' of the Trump Administration, but doesn’t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart," Trump wrote. "I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!"

"I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country," Trump added. "And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History."

"Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!" Trump continued.

An election lawyer shared a stark warning about President Donald Trump's Department of Justice as the department's losses in court continue to pile up.

Marc Elias, a voting rights attorney and founder of Democracy Docket, said during a new episode of the "Democracy Watch" podcast with progressive YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen that the Trump DOJ is becoming "desperate" as efforts to sway the 2026 midterms come up short in court after court. Elias said his firm has defeated the Trump administration in four of the 30 cases the DOJ is currently defending.

"The Department of Justice is getting more and more desperate as they lose these cases," Elias said. "The White House is becoming more erratic and more frantic."

Throughout his second administration, Trump has sought to use the DOJ as a political weapon. Reports indicate he fired former Attorney General Pam Bondi because she wasn't moving fast enough on prosecutions of Trump's foes, such as New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey.

Elias noted that Trump may seek new "stunts" to help him get out of the mess.

"Watch out because we're going to see Donald Trump do more stunts like the executive order that he signed, which I sued him over within 24 hours," Elias said, referring to Trump's recent executive order limiting mail-in voting.

"The reason why he did that executive order is that he's losing these lawsuits," Elias said. "And when he loses that lawsuit over the executive order and another handful of these cases, it's going to get worse."

A political expert floated a new theory about what could have prompted first lady Melania Trump to deliver her "really bizarre" statement about disgraced financier and convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein last week.

Allison Gill, owner of MSW Media and host of "The Daily Beans" podcast, said during a new episode on Sunday that Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, may have played a role in forcing Trump to make her statement. Gill argued that Maxwell has sought to maintain leverage over the Trump administration as she pursues a pardon, and may have used some of the tricks up her sleeve to "blackmail" Melania Trump.

"I have to wonder if she's under some sort of duress or maybe being blackmailed," Gill said.

Gill noted that Maxwell has made a couple of moves that suggest she is attempting to maintain leverage. For instance, Maxwell filed a habeas petition to prevent the release of her files after the Trump Department of Justice opposed her appeal of the conviction.

The timeline of Maxwell's recent transfer to a low-security prison despite her conviction as a sex offender also suggests that she is willing to use the files she has to get what she wants, Gill argued. She pointed to the Wall Street Journal's bombshell report about Epstein's birthday book and the drawing of what appears to be a young female torso that was signed by President Donald Trump. Two weeks after that report came out, Maxwell was moved to a new facility, Gill said.

Gill also noted that Melania Trump addressed old accusations and namedropped Maxwell in her statement, which seemed to further indicate that blackmail may have been involved.

"What's really bizarre about this is that no one has made any of those kinds of accusations for months," she said.

President Donald Trump just revealed "what keeps him up at night" after dangling pardons for all of his administration officials, according to one expert.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump has promised to sign mass pardons for administration officials before leaving office. Michael Popok, a lawyer and host of the "Legal AF" podcast, said in a new episode on Sunday that the report shows Trump is clearly aware that he is running a "criminal enterprise" out of the White House and that he fears being prosecuted by a future Democratic Department of Justice more than anything else at this point in his second administration.

"Donald Trump knows he's running a criminal enterprise when the Wall Street Journal just reported that he's joking again about giving everybody in his administration a pardon," Popok said.

"I'm not sure he sleeps, or how he sleeps. I think he sleeps in a coffin at night. But the thing that keeps Donald Trump up at night would be him or others around him being criminally prosecuted, investigated by the future Department of Justice," he added.

Popok added that he would not be surprised if a future DOJ investigation into Trump tested the limits of the Supreme Court's recent presidential immunity decision. He argued that the decision further blurred the line between public and private presidential conduct and that a future DOJ may be willing to test its limits.

"That immunity decision is just waiting to be challenged and tested and to have the Supreme Court either roll it back, nip it, tuck it in, or revisit it," Popok said. "And the only way you can do that is with a prosecution. So I envision ... there will be an investigation prosecution of Donald Trump when he leaves office, with a statute of limitations that's remaining to get a case back to the Supreme Court, depending upon who's up there to see what happens with that immunity decision."

President Donald Trump's latest effort to settle the war with Iran proves that he is "the most powerful idiot in the history of the world," according to one columnist.

David Rothkopf, a columnist at The Daily Beast, argued in a new column on Sunday that Trump's decision to impose a retaliatory blockade on the Strait of Hormuz showed the president is operating with the "strategic acumen of a four-year-old in a fight on a pre-school playground."

The Iranian regime has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to the U.S. and Israel launching a coordinated bombing campaign across Iran in late February. The closure has sent global energy prices skyrocketing.

"He is undoubtedly the most powerful idiot in the history of the world," Rothkopf wrote.

"Both his idiocy and his power are unparalleled. On the latter point, his position as president and commander-in-chief of the most dominant, potent nation confirms that no idiot since the beginning of time has ever been in a position to do so much damage to so many people as a consequence of his idiocy," he added.

"On the prior point, just look at the record," Rothkopf continued. "The misbegotten, ill-considered, going-from-bad-freaking-worse every damn day War with Iran illustrates Trump’s manifold mental deficiencies with shocking clarity—and, unfortunately for all of us, the damage he is doing seems certain to touch more lives in more egregious ways going forward than it already has."

First lady Melania Trump's niece-in-law, Mary Trump, bashed her aunt's "cruel" comments about her relationship with disgraced financier and convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein during a new podcast interview on Sunday.

Last Thursday, Melania Trump held a seemingly impromptu press conference at the White House, where she denied ever having a relationship with Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. Her comments came at a suspicious time for her husband's administration, which is trying to navigate an unseemly war with Iran and avoid discussing its poor handling of the release of the Epstein files.

During the press conference, Melania Trump said the "lies" about her being friends with Epstein and Maxwell need to stop. Her comments caused analysts and observers to recall the multiple emails released as part of the Epstein files that appear to paint their relationship in a different light than what Melania Trump portrayed.

Mary Trump, a psychologist and author, described her aunt's comments as "unfathomable" on a new episode of "The Daily Beast Podcast" with host Joanna Coles.

"It seems unfathomable that she didn't have to get permission to do this," Mary Trump said. "So why would Donald's people think this was a good idea? Unless, of course, and this has been the joke going around, he's trying to distract from Iran."

Mary Trump added that Melania's comments were insensitive to the survivors of Epstein's crimes.

"They have demonstrated a kind of unthinkable bravery in the face of intense opposition from the president of the United States," Mary Trump said. "So, to say that they need to do more and she has nothing to do with it was just cruel and insulting."

Fans of President Donald Trump's Make America Great Again movement were dismayed on Sunday after one of their European allies suffered a stinging election defeat.

Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orbán conceded defeat to the opposition leader Péter Magyar on Sunday, ending his 16 years in power as Hungary's Prime Minister. Magyar's Tisza party is expected to take a supermajority in the country's legislature, and his victory was hailed as a relief to many across the U.S. and Europe.

However, fans of Trump's MAGA movement spun Orbán's defeat as a sign of Europe's continued decline. They shared their reactions on social media.

"Dreadful news for Hungary and the West," MAGA commentator Michael Knowles posted on X.

"Orban is out. A sad day for Western civilization," Paul Weston, a far-right British lawmaker, posted on X. "In 5 years' time, Budapest will look like every other ruined ex-European city. This makes our Ursula very happy of course."

"This is tragic," MAGA fan Wendy Patterson posted on X.

"The people fell for Magyer’s lies in a month or two people are going to be in an uproar," MAGA fan Tracie James posted on X.

"Hungary was nice while it lasted. Where do I go on vacations in Europe now without my date and my dog being at risk of being raped by a Moslem?" conservative strategist Joey Mannarino posted on X.

The internet erupted on Sunday after a Trump-backed autocrat lost a high-stakes election.

Viktor Orbán, a strongman and staunch Russian ally who has led Hungary for the last 16 years, conceded defeat to opposition party leader Peter Magyar in the country's national election. Orbán has been a symbol of the rise of the far right across Europe as he sought to roll back the country's democratic reforms.

Orbán lost the election despite U.S. Vice President JD Vance traveling to the country to campaign for him. President Donald Trump also endorsed Orbán in multiple Truth Social posts.

Orbán described his loss as "painful," according to a report from the Associated Press.

Political analysts and observers reacted to the news on social media.

"Bye bye Viktor!" former Republican lawmaker Adam Kinzinger posted on X. "MAGA hero is gone."

"Voters in Hungary said no to a strong man. We can do it too," legal expert Joyce Vance posted on X.

"I’m incredibly obsessed with JD Vance sinking Victor Orban," political commentator Molly Jong-Fast posted on Bluesky.

"Off with you, you fascist Putin puppet," author Paul Kemp posted on Bluesky.

"The return of Trump has been dreadful news for hard-right politicians around the world, and now they're disrespecting him by accepting electoral defeat," Larry the Cat, who lives at the U.K. Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street, posted on X.

Viktor Orbán, the autocratic Hungarian president and staunch Russian ally, conceded defeat in the country's national election on Sunday, ending his 16-year reign in power, according to reports.

The Associated Press reported that with 60% of the vote counted, opposition leader Peter Magyar’s party held 52% of the vote compared to Orbán's 38% support. Orbán described the loss as "painful."

"It’s a major blow for Orbán, the European Union’s longest-serving leader and one of its biggest antagonists, who has traveled a long road from his early days as a liberal, anti-Soviet firebrand to the Russia-friendly nationalist admired today by the global far-right," the AP reported.

Trump endorsed Orbán in a Truth Social post on Friday, calling him " a truly strong and powerful leader." Trump added that the U.S. stood ready to "strengthen Hungary's economy," if Orbán won.

A key U.S. ally called out President Donald Trump's fibbing about other countries agreeing to help the U.S. "clean out" land mines from the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.

Trump claimed during an interview on Fox News that “it won’t take long to clean out the Strait,” referring to reports that the Iranian regime had planted several sea mines in the area to depress shipping through the waterway. Trump also claimed that “numerous countries are going to be helping us," a claim that was swiftly undercut by a spokesperson for the government of the United Kingdom, The Guardian reported.

"The U.K. will not be involved in any blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the Guardian understands, after claims by Donald Trump on Sunday that the U.S. would be blockading the waterway with the assistance of NATO allies," the outlet reported.

The U.K. spokesperson added that the Strait of Hormuz "must not be subject to tolling."

"We are urgently working with France and other partners to put together a wide coalition to protect freedom of navigation," the spokesperson said.

The announcement came at a time when the U.S.-Iran ceasefire appears fragile, and Vice President JD Vance announced on Saturday that peace talks between the two nations had broken down.

A former diplomat was befuddled on Sunday by President Donald Trump's latest negotiation tactic to end the war with Iran.

On Sunday, Trump announced in a Truth Social post that he directed the U.S. Navy to enact a counter-blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, an important waterway that the Iranian regime has asserted control of since late February when the war began. The Iranians have effectively shut the waterway to U.S. ships traveling through the area, which accounts for 20% of the global energy trade.

Trump's announcement came after Vice President JD Vance announced that peace talks with the Iranian regime had broken down over the weekend.

Michael McFaul, the former ambassador to Russia during the Obama administration, seemed befuddled by the plan when he discussed it on MS NOW's "Alex Witt Reports."

"Blockades are usually considered instances of war. So is there still a ceasefire, even though we're doing a blockade?" McFaul wondered. "That's a confusing one for me."

"Second, I really wonder what's going to happen when a Chinese ship is trying to go in or out [of the Strait]. That will be a test of this blockade, and that will be a test of great power relations," he added. "Third ... I don't see any country lining up to enforce a blockade, maybe to enforce something afterward, and enforce free passage through the Strait of Hormuz. That's what we had before this war."

"By the way, a lot of international law suggests that's the way it should be. But to help us enforce the blockade, I'll be really surprised if any of our allies join that mission statement," he continued.

As oil and gas prices continue to soar amid disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump’s recent announcement of a U.S. Navy blockade is expected to drive prices even higher, one energy expert warned on Sunday.

The Strait of Hormuz – a critical shipping channel through which 20% of the world’s oil trade flows – has remained inaccessible to U.S.-aligned vessels since late February after Trump authorized Operation Epic Fury. Re-opening the strait to U.S.-aligned vessels – as it was before the United States attacked Iran – has since emerged as the Trump administration’s new “paramount objective” of the war.

After negotiations between Washington and Tehran failed to produce results on Saturday, Trump took to social media early Sunday morning to reveal that he had directed the U.S. Navy to block all sea traffic to and from the Strait of Hormuz. Such a blockade, however, is likely only to exacerbate energy costs, warned Karen Young, a senior scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.

“If we have a blockade, we still have the problem of a shortage in the market of about 7 million barrels of crude, 4 million barrels of product not getting out,” Young told CNN. “And we just added to that by making the Iranian barrels off the market.”

Multi -billionaire Jeff Bezos and his new wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, start every day by listing 10 things they're grateful for — while lounging in a $230 million home and planning how to spend the equivalent of a small nation's wealth

The every morning ritual was revealed in a New York Times profile on Lauren Sánchez Bezos in which she gushes about her love of helicopters and fashion, and how she plans to spend much of her unimaginable riches protecting narwahls.

The Times wrote, "Mrs. Sánchez Bezos seems to have influenced the uber-rich to stop apologizing, and start enjoying themselves."

The couple maintains an inseparable daily routine, she said. Waking around 6 a.m. in their home in Miami's Indian Creek compound — nicknamed "Billionaire Bunker" — the newlyweds deliberately shun their phones until they've given each other a gushing list of things they're grateful for — which have to be unique every day.

They then drink coffee in mugs emblazoned with "Woke Up Sexy as Hell Again" for her, and "HUNK" for him.

Many readers were not impressed about the profile of the woman now married to the world's third-richest man.

"I didn’t realize that Bezos bought the New York Times too," wrote reader Josh Elman on X.

"Peak Epstein class #BrokenTimes: deciding to assign this glamour shot and puff piece. "Unabashed rich-person exuberance is back[!]" wrote author Jeff Jarvis.

A new CBS News poll published Sunday found that Trump has suffered an unprecedented collapse in support among what has historically been his single-strongest voter base, leaving critics stunned.

Conducted between April 8 and 10, the CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a “nationally representative sample” of 2,387 adults, and found that among white, non-college-educated voters, Trump’s support fell from 36 points in February of 2025 to minus 4, a staggering 40-point drop.

“Trump complete collapse amongst his original base: working class voters,” wrote Robert Barnes, a trial and constitutional lawyer, in a social media post on X Sunday to his nearly 370,000 followers.

“This is the making of a party [realignment],” wrote Neera Tanden, a Democratic strategist and former Biden administration official, also in a social media post on X to her more than 330,000 followers.

More broadly, Americans overall disapproved of Trump’s job performance by a margin of 61%, with 39% approving. Additionally, 63% described the condition of the economy as “bad,” and 64% disapproved of Trump’s handling of the U.S. war against Iran, with 62% believing that Trump did not “have a clear plan” for the conflict.

In Kodiak Island's remote villages off southwest deep red Alaska's coast, mail arrives by plane, taking at least two days to reach the archipelago's hub — if frequent storms haven't grounded air traffic.

This common Alaskan challenge explains why the state permits ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted for up to 10 days afterward, providing critical relief for voters in remote communities disconnected from the state's highway system and sometimes lacking polling locations, Politico reported Sunday.

But now, Alaskans across the political spectrum are alarmed by a pending Supreme Court ruling. A majority of justices appear poised to bar states from counting late-arriving ballots, a decision that would upend voting laws in Alaska and more than a dozen other states.

The ruling could potentially disenfranchise hundreds of voters in Kodiak's distant villages and thousands more across remote Alaska — and disrupt the election process in a state that could determine Senate control.

Jared Griffin, the independent mayor of Kodiak Island Borough, emphasized the necessity of current voting provisions. "This matters a lot in a place like Kodiak, because absentee voting, it's not a convenience here," he said. "It's going to really hurt those rural, remote voters."

Banning late-arriving ballots could disproportionately impact Alaska Natives, many living in rural villages already experiencing delays in receiving and returning ballots. This scenario creates bipartisan concerns about depressed turnout in the competitive Senate race between former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola and GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan —a contest potentially determining Senate control.

Democrats particularly object, accusing Republicans of pursuing changes that could disenfranchise a significant Democratic-leaning voting bloc. "It would be catastrophic. It's mean-spirited," Eric Croft, chair of the Alaska Democratic Party, told Politico regarding potential effects on rural and Native voters.

"It would hurt participation in rural Alaska. And Mary Peltola's very strong in her Native communities, and in the community she comes from. So I think it will hurt her."

Though Trump won Alaska by 13 points in 2024, both political sides anticipate a competitive Senate race. Peltola leads Sullivan by 5 percentage points in an Alaska Survey Research poll from mid-March. National Democrats view Peltola as a major recruiting success, already investing over $3 million in her campaign.

Republicans are equally invested; Senate Leadership Fund pledged $15 million into the race — substantial for a state of 740,000 residents.

Peltola's Senate hopes depend on strong performance in the Bush region, the vast expanse of isolated villages from the Aleutian Islands to the North Slope cut off from state roads and containing much of Alaska's indigenous communities. Alaska Natives comprise roughly 20 percent of the state's electorate and represent a powerful political force. The Yup'ik candidate with deep Bethel roots helped secure her 2022 special-election upset to complete Rep. Don Young's House term. Peltola swept the vast majority of predominantly Native precincts in the following November election.

Many Alaska Natives rely on mail-in voting, viewing it as critical in rural areas experiencing lower voter turnout than urban regions. Late ballots arrive from throughout Alaska where four-fifths of communities lack road system connections. However, late ballots from rural and Native communities arrive at rates two-to-three-times higher than from urban and non-Native areas, according to a Native organizations' Supreme Court brief. In House District 38, which Peltola represented, nearly four-fifths of absentee ballots arrived after Election Day.

If the Supreme Court strikes down the five-business-day grace period in the Mississippi case brought by the Republican National Committee and backed by the Trump administration, none of those late ballots would be counted.

A summer ruling could upend Alaska's election administration just two months before primaries — a scenario prompting Republican Attorney General Stephen Cox to request "clear parameters for Alaska" from the court. Though Cox remained neutral, he stressed the "unique challenges" Alaskans face when volatile weather disrupts mail services and polling locations sometimes lack adequate staffing.

The Trump administration’s account of an incident on Saturday involving two U.S. Navy destroyers near the Strait of Hormuz appeared to be undercut Sunday as Iranian state media released footage contradicting claims made by the Department of Defense.

On Saturday, U.S. Central Command claimed that two U.S. Navy destroyers had successfully “transited the Strait of Hormuz” and began operations to clear the waterway of sea mines placed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. President Donald Trump repeated the claim in a social media post, while a U.S. official also said destroyers had not received a threat from the IRGC, per Axios' Barak Ravid.

Tehran refuted the Trump administration’s claim, however, with a report from Bloomberg suggesting that the two destroyers were “forced to turn back” after receiving threats from the IRGC, and that the destroyers had not passed through the strait.

In an apparent effort to further support its claim, Iranian state media released footage on Sunday appearing to show the IRGC issuing the two destroyers a “last warning,” along with the response from the crew of the two U.S. warships. The Iranian state media report has not been independently verified.

“You must alter course and go back to the Indian Ocean immediately – if you don’t obey my order, you will be targeted,” an apparent IRGC member can be heard saying in the video released by Iranian state media, the message directed at the U.S. warships.

“This is coalition warship 121 engaged in transit passage in accordance with international law,” a crewmember of one of the U.S. warships could be heard saying over radio communication in the video. “No challenge is intended to you.”

“I’m ready to open fire on them without any warning,” the apparent IRGC member was also heard saying in the video, published by Press TV, an English-language news network run by the Iranian government.

President Donald Trump erupted at The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board recently for having written about the president having “declared premature victory” with regards to the U.S. war against Iran.

But an hour later, he appeared to undercut his own argument, prompting the Journal's editorial board to thank him for “vindicating” its case.

“The Wall Street Journal, one of the worst and most inaccurate ‘Editorial Boards’ in the World, stated that I ‘declared premature victory in Iran,’” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social last Thursday. “Actually, it is a Victory, and there’s nothing ‘premature’ about it!”

Exactly 61 minutes later, however, Trump followed up his attack on the Journal’s editorial board with another social media post criticizing Iran for continuing to obstruct passage through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil trade flows.

“President Trump is unhappy with us again, this time for saying he declared ‘premature victory’ with the terms of the Iran cease-fire,” the Journal’s editorial board wrote Friday in an op-ed, noting that its writers were “pleased Mr. Trump is reading us.”

In response to Trump’s insistence that he had not declared a “premature victory” in his efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to U.S.-aligned vessels – only to be immediately followed by a complaint about the strait remaining closed to U.S.-aligned vessels – the Journal’s editorial board issued Trump a simple message: “Thanks for vindicating our editorial.”

President Donald Trump reignited his feud with music legend Bruce Springsteen on Sunday with a sharp dig at the musician's physical appearance.

“Bruce Springsteen prior to plastic surgery???” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, alongside a photograph of an individual presumed to be Springsteen, and clearly produced by AI.

Springsteen has long been a vocal critic of Trump, but has recently caught the president’s ire after making several remarks critical of the president earlier this month. Trump responded at the time by attacking Springsteen’s character and physical appearance, calling him a “total loser” who “looks like a dried up prune.”

And on Sunday, Trump reignited his feud by again attacking Springsteen's’ physical appearance, only this time, by suggesting that the singer had undergone significant amounts of plastic surgery.

The past terrifying week has caused me to wonder: How did America ever get to a point where one man, backed by the military might of the United States, could credibly threaten death to an entire civilization?

I’m also wondering how 19 super-rich American households could have added $1.8 trillion to their wealth in just the last 24 months — roughly the size of the economy of Australia — while the rate of child poverty in the U.S. has more than doubled, from a low of 5.2 percent in 2021 to over 13 percent now?

How have we come so perilously close to climate catastrophe, with spring temperatures in the Western United States already shattering records — and yet governments are spending over a trillion dollars a year subsidizing the fossil fuel industry and banks have channeled over $3 trillion to fossil fuel companies since the Paris Agreement, while there are almost no funds to protect living ecosystems?

How have we allowed artificial intelligence, the most powerful technology the world has ever seen, to threaten millions of jobs; make vulnerable the software that runs our financial, energy, and defense systems; and potentially destroy the human race — while allowing it to amass so much political power that it eludes all guardrails and regulations?

I have served at the highest levels of the U.S. government. I’ve watched our political and economic systems grow and change over the last 50 years, and I’ve spent much of that time writing about their evolution. I’ve never been reluctant to accuse those in power of abusing their authority.

While I have some ideas about how and why our system has sacrificed democracy and critical thought to the false gods of greed and growth (anyone interested in my tentative thoughts is more than welcome to read my recent Coming Up Short), I cannot state with certainty how we arrived at this point.

Yet notwithstanding how we got here, how do we change course? I refuse to accept that we cannot, or that it’s too late.

On Friday, I taught students who are seeking degrees in public policy. They wanted to know why — given all this — I remain optimistic.

I told them that I have faith in the goodness and reasonableness of the American people when they become aware of huge problems that threaten our and the world’s existence. And that the problems I’ve mentioned have now reached such size and dangerousness that the public can no longer ignore them.

We are, I think, coming to a tipping point in how we understand the challenges to our continued existence.

As author Jeremy Lent has written:

“A civilization built on a different foundation would start from an acknowledgment that the deep interconnectedness of all life is not romantic aspiration but scientific fact — confirmed by complexity science, systems biology, and Earth science, and affirmed by wisdom traditions of cultures that never lost that understanding.

From this recognition, different goals follow: not perpetual growth but setting the conditions for all people to flourish on a regenerated Earth. Not maximization of returns on capital but the kind of reciprocal, mutualistic relationship with living systems that makes long-term human wellbeing possible.

There is no blueprint that will save us. No one person or group can design in advance what such a civilization will look like in its particulars. But a framework of core principles can orient us — the way a distant horizon orients a traveler moving through unmarked terrain.

You may not yet see the exact path, but knowing the general direction changes everything about which opportunities you embrace and which you recognize as alluring detours.

The trance that keeps us from seeing this is powerful. But it has been broken before. Every paradigm that once seemed like reality itself — the divine right of kings, the natural inferiority of women, the Earth at the center of the universe — turned out to be a myth that was shattered.”

I agree with Lent. It’s time to eschew the myths that contributed to the reelection of the most dangerous person ever to occupy the White House, myths that continue to limit our beliefs and imaginations: that widening inequality and an ever-larger military are necessary and inevitable, that we need a billionaire oligarchy to guide our economy and a “strongman” to lead our government, that a political revolution founded on returning American democracy to the ideal of self-government would be too destabilizing, that continued growth of the Gross Domestic Product is an unmitigated good, and that more “productivity” and “efficiency” are always beneficial.

The most dangerous myth of all is that there is no alternative to the path we’re on, that we have no control over our destiny, and that, just as it was inevitable that we came to where are, our unraveling is similarly inevitable.

I refuse to accept this deterministic myth. The first act of genuine systemic change is to stop believing it.

It’s been a terrifying week, but one that is awakening millions of people.

Thank you for being an ally in seeking a better world.

• Robert Reich is an emeritus professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/. His new memoir, Coming Up Short, can be found wherever you buy books. You can also support local bookstores nationally by ordering the book at bookshop.org

While Vice President JD Vance delivered "bad news" about failed Iran negotiations in Islamabad, Pakistan on Saturday — plunging the Iran war into uncertainty days after the threat of nuclear annihilation — the White House focused on President Donald Trump's upcoming 80th birthday celebration.

An official White House account posted UFC fighter lineups for the birthday event, planned for June 14 event, instead of addressing the diplomatic collapse.

The video from the Rapid Response 47 X account featured AI video of UFC fighters, including Ilia Topuria, Justin Gaethje, Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane, arriving at the White House for what was billed as "the most historic sporting event of all time." Trump has hyped the event for months, earlier posting an AI-generated image alongside UFC CEO Dana White.

The video displayed an arena slated for the White House South Lawn, allegedly seating 5,000 VIPs.

Trump's detachment from the failed negotiations extended beyond official accounts. On Saturday night, as Vance announced Iran's rejection of U.S. terms after 21 hours of negotiations, Trump attended a UFC fight in Miami ringside, flashing smiles for cameras alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and family members.

Though most of the crowd were supportive of him, some booed as he entered the arena.

Trump's birthday has previously dominated his schedule. The 2026 G7 summit—where leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K., the U.S., and the European Union meet to discuss economic policy and international concerns—was reportedly "moved forward by a day" to avoid coinciding with his June event.

Before his Florida trip, Trump told reporters it "makes no difference" to him whether an Iran deal materialized. He subsequently chose to post about his birthday event rather than negotiations.

However, Trump's tone shifted following the failed talks. "THIS IS WORLD EXTORTION, and leaders of countries, especially the United States of America, will never be extorted," Trump posted Sunday, announcing a U.S. "blockade" of the Strait of Hormuz and declaring the U.S. military would "finish up the little that is left of Iran!"

When pressed recently on reports that Iran may charge tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump said he was considering partnering with Tehran on charging for access to the critical shipping waterway — a remark that CNN’s Fareed Zakaria warned might be an indicator of the United States’ eventual collapse in the conflict.

ABC News’ Jonathan Karl asked Trump last week about his thoughts on the idea of Iran charging tolls for vessels transiting the shipping channel, to which the president said “we’re thinking of doing it as a joint venture,” which he described as a “way of securing it from lots of other people” and a “beautiful thing.”

“These are revealing remarks. Not because they are outrageous — Trump has said many outrageous things — but because they distill a worldview,” Zakaria wrote in an op-ed published recently in The Washington Post. “They suggest a shift in how the United States might see its role: not as the guarantor of a system, but as a participant in a deal.”

For decades, the United States has been the world’s chief enforcer of freedom of navigation for vessels traveling international waters. Trump’s remarks, suggesting the United States could abandon that role and even help enforce restrictions, reflected what Zakaria described as the president’s “broader worldview,” and one that could ultimately destabilize the country beyond repair.

“To treat the Strait of Hormuz as a tollbooth rather than a global commons is to misunderstand both history and strategy. The U.S. benefits most not from charging per ship for access, but from building a world in which commerce flows freely and Washington’s central position is reinforced,” Zakaria wrote.

“To abandon that model for short-term extraction is to trade a durable advantage for a fleeting gain. If the U.S. becomes just another predatory hegemon, it will discover what history has long shown: Such power is feared, resented and ultimately resisted. And in time, it is not sustained – but overturned.”

There is an old American idiom for a group so collectively inept they couldn’t organize a one-car parade, as another axiom goes. We call them the Three Stooges. They were a legendary comedy trio famous for their chaotic, physical slapstick and for being a cultural shorthand for lovable but total incompetence.

After watching JD Vance (Mo), Steve Witkoff (Curly), and Jared Kushner (Larry) stumble out of Islamabad empty-handed, having failed to end a six-week war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, or extract a single meaningful concession from Iranian hardliners, the comparison feels apropos.

I’ve been reading comment sections of stories about Trump’s 21st century trio of clowns, and I’m not the only one who has labeled them after the indelible comedy trio.

With that said, let’s do a little review about the strengths - err weaknesses - of each of the foolish players.

JD Vance arrived in Pakistan as Vice President of the United States, a title he has held longer than he held his Senate seat, which he won a mere three years ago. His previous experience in high-stakes negotiation consists largely of brokering peace between childless cat ladies and their felines who took umbrage at his offensive jab.

In June of last year, Vance’s stupidity reared its bulbous, bearded head when he tried to explain the concern around the U.S. first foray into Iran. "I understand the concern, but the difference is that back then we had dumb presidents, and now we have a president who actually knows how to accomplish America’s national security objectives".

Well, of course we can laugh about Trump understanding national security objectives, but Trump was among the presidents during those last 25 years — along with other Republicans.

Then there is Jared Kushner, whose legendary negotiating prowess consists primarily of leveraging his proximity to his father-in-law to attract billion-dollar investment deals from foreign sovereign wealth funds to enrich himself. A chip off the old father-in-law.

In a January 2020 interview with Sky News Arabia, Kushner defended his qualifications to lead the Trump administration's "Peace to Prosperity" plan by stating:."I’ve been studying this now for three years. I’ve read 25 books on it." This from the same guy whose memoir was reviewed by the New York Times as a "queasy-making" slog that reads more like a college admissions essay than a serious political account.

And Steve Witkoff. As Trump himself might say, “Who in the hell is this guy?” Prior to Trump designating him a diplomatic savant, Witkoff was focused on luxury real estate development in Manhattan and Miami. Seemingly, it’s this background that presumably explains why he reportedly confused enrichment facilities with “industrial reactors” and referred to the Strait of Hormuz as the “Gulf of Hormuz.”

He and his boss just can’t get the lingo “straight” about Hormuz.

Somewhere among the rows of tombstones in Arlington National Cemetery, revered diplomat Henry Kissinger is pounding furiously on the lid of his coffin, demanding to be let out.

Just about everyone in the world is probably scratching their heads as to why these three numbskulls were leading the way on such consequential matters, and wondering what could have possibly been involved in the three’s preparation, and whether they truly understood the stakes and consequences of what they were doing.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, required two years of intense negotiation, a coalition of six world powers, teams of nuclear scientists, career diplomats fluent in Farsi and the theological contours of the Islamic Republic, and marathon sessions in Lausanne and Vienna.

In other words, it was exhausting and comprehensive.

The foundational principle, agreed upon by all sides, was that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.” The Islamabad talks lasted 21 hours before collapsing into mutual recrimination. Only a fool, or someone who has spent his career flipping luxury condominiums, or someone who thinks women should stay in violent marriages, would believe a nuclear and geopolitical settlement forged in decades of hostility could be resolved between sun up and sun down.

The backdrop to this failure is even more damning. Early in Trump’s second term, the State Department was systematically gutted - Middle East and Iran - with more than 3,800 employees shown the door, including the bulk of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, its dedicated Iran office, 13 Arabic speakers, and four Farsi speakers.

The ambassadorships to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, and the UAE sat vacant as the region ignited. The institutional memory, the language skills, the quiet back-channel relationships that make diplomacy possible, were summarily dismissed because Trump’s “gut” knows more than they all collectively knew and understood.

What was sent to Islamabad in their place? A neophyte and narcissistic vice president, a money-thirsty son-in-law, and a real estate developer who surely spells “Straight of Hormuz” wrong like his boss.

The Iranian delegation was composed of ideologically committed, strategically patient officials who have spent decades enduring sanctions, threats, and negotiations. No one, besides China and Russia, are rooting for the Iranians, but let's be honest, they must have struggled to keep straight faces during negotiations.

Now here we are, with no hope in sight. The ceasefire deadline is not receding. The Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Iran remains firm in clinging to their uranium and nuclear program. The region sits on tenterhooks.

And, perhaps even more worrisome, the same three bumbling fools who walked away empty-handed in Islamabad are, as far as we know, still in charge of what comes next.

In the original Stooges shorts, the chaos always resolved itself. Someone got a pie in the face, furniture got destroyed, and by the final scene, everything was improbably fine.

That is the reassuring cinematic fiction of the undying genre of slapstick comedy. In real geopolitics, when the Three Stooges leave the stage, they truly look like a trifecta of losers. And their next foray into diplomacy will likely end in the same, proverbial pie in the face thrown at them by Iranian extremists.

Moe, Larry, and Curly always got another chance. So do these three stooges, and that prospect is more of a horror show than a comedy short.

Retired US Army General Wesley Clark warned Sunday that Iran has desired war with the U.S. for decades — and Trump's stumbling may have given it superiority in the conflict.

As the war enters its seventh week, face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan failed to reach agreement Saturday night. With American forces remaining deployed and Iran on heightened alert, the shooting war has largely paused — yet the diplomatic phase will prove decisive.

"The negotiations will reflect the respective results, capabilities and will of each side" Clark wrote in USA Today.

"This is where the war will be won or lost."

Despite sustaining significant air campaign losses, Iran approaches negotiations from a position of considerable strength — potentially superior to that of the United States, the retired general warned.

This advantage stems from meticulous strategic preparation spanning years.

"Iran has studied U.S. tactics and capabilities for years, and has prepared itself to deal with a war it found inevitable and even desirable," he wrote.

By assessing American vulnerabilities at the strategic level, Iran developed weapons and tactics specifically designed to exploit them.

Iran comprehended American military doctrine fundamentally. Understanding that "the United States uses relatively few, highly expensive weapons and seeks short wars, with limited casualties," Iran positioned itself for prolonged conflict on home territory, capable of inflicting devastating losses against ground forces, he wrote.

Simultaneously, Iran recognized that "the United States had promised protection to the Persian Gulf states, like the United Arab Emirates and Qatar," and prepared strikes against these nations to disrupt American operations and credibility.

Historical lessons proved equally valuable. Iran learned from "the 'tanker war' of the 1980s that control of the Strait of Hormuz was one of the most powerful strategic weapons in the world," subsequently constructing multilayered defenses throughout the waterway.

Acknowledging superior American capabilities, Iran collaborated with China to accelerate ballistic and cruise missile development, enhancing both range and defensive penetration. The nation constructed over two dozen underground missile cities, placing production and storage facilities beyond reach of conventional bombs.

Iranian weapons deployment reflected sophisticated strategy. The nation attacked "with its oldest weapons first, and held back its best missiles until Israel and the Gulf states were forced to carefully ration interceptor missiles," Clark wrote.

Currently possessing potentially half its prewar missile inventory, Iran maintains "ample reserves of missiles and drones to sustain its attacks for many months at the current rate of expenditure," the general warned. Its anti-ship systems, battle-tested by Houthi forces over three years, remain highly effective. Distributed command-and-control structures ensure operational continuity despite central headquarters damage, with provincial authorities retaining independent attack capabilities.

External support strengthens Iran's hand considerably, Clark added. "Russian intelligence and Chinese satellite imagery have given Iran's organizations accurate and relatively timely target locations. Russia and China continue to deliver military materiel and chemicals to Iran."

The United States pursued a conventional strategy. The Pentagon applied familiar stealth and "precision strike" technologies against Iranian targets, tactics Iran had observed since 1991 and as recently as June's conflict. However, "when early strikes on Iranian air defenses, leadership, and accessible military targets failed to achieve an early knockout, the United States began seeking an exit due to critical munitions needs, time limits on deployments, reluctance to take casualties and mounting political challenges in an election year—just as Iran anticipated." American airpower could not generate decisive strategic advantage rapidly enough.

Negotiations now determine achievement of all remaining U.S. objectives. Fundamental questions persist, Clark wrote "Will Iran give up its nuclear materials and agree to no or limited enrichment, enforced by inspections? Will Iran accept limitations on its missile and drone programs? Will Iran dismantle its 'axis of resistance' and cease support for Hezbollah? Will Iran completely open the Strait of Hormuz for all to pass freely?"

American negotiators confront "Iran's starkly opposing set of goals, which include the United States withdrawing its forces from the region, guaranteeing no further attacks on Iran, ending all sanctions, paying war reparations and so on. Iran is preparing permanent control over the strait.

"The outcome is going to depend on the skill of the negotiators and the leverage they can bring."

Though announced as a two-week end of hostilities, "the ceasefire will likely be extended, and this gives ever greater leverage to Iran," Clark wrote.

"Closure of the strait has handed Iran something more powerful even than nuclear blackmail, and the Iranians are using it."

"... Washington must negotiate from a stronger position. To 'go to the source' we must align with our allies, win public support and patience at home, and set a deadline for negotiations. No stalling. While we talk, we must be ready to resume the air campaign, with perhaps some new tactics and, above all, prepare with our allies to open the Strait of Hormuz by force.

"Will there be more fighting before this is over? Almost certainly."

President Donald Trump was pressed by Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday about the surging costs sparked by his administration’s war against Iran — a line of questioning that the president responded to by pivoting to past market achievements.

“The blockade in the Strait [of Hormuz], the opening up of [oil] capacity in the United States, is this all going to be enough to lower the cost of oil and gas, sir?” Bartiromo asked Trump, speaking with the president by phone Sunday.

“Well, eventually it's gonna be lowered... no, it's... might not happen initially, but it's gonna go down,” Trump said.

“When this is all over... look – the stock market, the Dow hit 50,000! It was supposed to be in four, five years, they said 'it won't happen during his term' – it hit 50,000 in my first year! The S&P hit 7,000 in my first year – before my first year! So the stock market has not gone down very much at all – it's gone down a little bit, much less than I thought. And frankly, gas hasn't gone up as much as I thought.”

Trump’s remarks bore a striking resemblance to those of his former attorney general Pam Bondi, who, when pressed on her agency’s handling of the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, pivoted to the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, or Dow, a U.S. stock market indicator, sparking laughter from lawmakers and critics alike.

Trump also admitted in his interview with Bartiromo that gas prices – which have surged to levels not seen since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine – may increase further by November of this year.

“So do you believe the price of oil and gas will be lower before the midterm elections?” Bartiromo asked.

“I hope so,” Trump said. “I mean I think so, it could be, it could be the same, or maybe a little bit higher, but it should be around the same. I think this won't be that much longer.”

On a recent Wednesday at the Capitol, while seven reality television stars visited to lobby for increased HIV and AIDS research funding, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky publicly confronted Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma in a stately hearing room.

In front of cameras and other lawmakers, Paul challenged Mullin to repeat an insulting comment he had allegedly made behind closed doors.

"Today, I'll give you that chance to clear the record," Paul said, looking directly at Mullin. "Tell it to my face. If that's what you believe, tell it to me today."

Paul was referring to Mullin calling him "a snake."

Across Capitol Hill, Erika Girardi, a 10-year veteran of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, learned of the exchange. "Oh my God," she said, according to the New York Times. "That's—it's just like a reunion." The singer-actress and personality leaned forward eagerly. "So? What'd he say?"

The encounter reflected broader changes within Congress. With a reality TV star in the White House and intensifying partisan battles underway, the hostility and drama Trump cultivated has permeated the Capitol. Lawmakers increasingly chase viral moments, craft pithy catchphrases, and seek confrontations to attract donors and media attention.

"I think Congress isn't too different from the Bravo universe," said Representative Debbie Dingell, a Michigan Democrat who met with the Housewives cast during their visit, organized by the men's health group MISTR, despite admitting unfamiliarity with them.

Paul's confrontation was not isolated. Hours later, House Democrats stormed from a closed-door briefing with Attorney General Pam Bondi regarding Jeffrey Epstein investigations, complaining the proceeding was "fake" and they received no straight answers.

Subsequent weeks brought escalating finger-pointing and name-calling between Senate and House members over homeland security funding. The conflict subsided only after Trump intervened, effectively functioning as congressional Republicans' executive producer.

Neither Housewives stars nor elected representatives appear proud of Congress imitating entertainment television. Representative Debbie Dingell, serving over a decade, observed: "The fact of the matter is that Congress is supposed to represent what's happening in this country. And unfortunately, they do. Social media posts and cheap shots at each other are replacing relationships."

Girardi expressed disappointment at reduced governmental decorum. "There should be, like, a level of respect in our government—a little bit more seriousness," she stated. With sardonic amusement, she added: "We don't need you to descend into 'Housewives,' because you're not doing it right anyway."

Congressional theatrics have deep historical roots, including violent brawls over slavery preceding the Civil War. Television and C-SPAN expanded this dynamic, encouraging grandstanding during debates. However, internet acceleration has dramatically intensified the feedback loop. Every hearing and floor debate streams live, then becomes instantly repackaged into social media clips. Lawmakers compete for attention not just among themselves but against camera-ready reality television experts at scene-stealing one-liners.

Members of Congress have adopted reality TV tactics. Housewives stars generate fiery retorts for merchandise and congressional hearings. Lawmakers similarly craft quick comebacks for fund-raising emails and occasional merchandise. Both groups employ similar adversarial strategies, leaking damaging material about opponents to generate news coverage and fuel on-camera confrontations.

Representative Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat serving since 1997, expressed concern about this dynamic. "I worry about the fact that this place is becoming less serious because it's become more about theater than about substance," McGovern said, noting he recently did a TMZ interview. "And, you know, we're kind of getting used to that."

The Housewives stars themselves appear troubled by the comparison. Marysol Patton from Real Housewives of Miami looked uncomfortable weighing the parallel. "We're doing entertainment, and they're—you know, they're making laws," she said. "You can't compare the two."

Yet Luann de Lesseps, an original Real Housewives of New York City cast member, suggested lawmakers might learn from her group's approach. "We don't always agree, but we're going to agree how to move forward," she said. "Otherwise, you get canceled."

Rep. Andy Harris presents a striking contradiction in American politics.

On Capitol Hill, the Maryland Republican stands as one of President Donald Trump's most steadfast advocates for aggressive immigration enforcement. But on the shore of Maryland, Politico reported, he is celebrated as a champion for securing foreign labor that sustains the region's commercial seafood industry.

Chairing both the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus and the agricultural appropriations subcommittee, Harris has wielded considerable influence to lobby the Trump administration for expanded temporary foreign worker programs. This year, he successfully convinced the White House to maximize H-2B visa allocations, securing approximately 65,000 positions — roughly 30,000 more than initially announced, according to the report.

The expansion directly benefits seafood producers in his district who depend on Mexican workers to hand-pick blue crab meat.

"I've been in long enough to know how to get things done, and we got it done," Harris told crab company owner Jack Brooks during a recent facility visit, Politico reported.

Harris now plans to guarantee longtime H-2B employers receive positions regardless of annual lottery outcomes through proposed "certified employer" language in upcoming DHS funding legislation.

Harris frames this apparent contradiction as consistent policy rather than hypocrisy, according to Politico.

The son of Central European immigrants, he distinguishes between illegal immigration — which he opposes forcefully — and regulated temporary foreign worker programs.

"This is not an immigration issue — this is a temporary foreign worker issue," he said. "Once we control the uncontrolled border crossing, let's talk about how we can bring a foreign workforce in to boost the economy where it needs to be boosted."

This position reflects a broader Republican tension over Trump's "America First" agenda. Should it mean strictly limiting all foreign entry, or strategically utilizing regulated labor to support economic growth? The Trump administration has typically resisted issuing maximum H-2B visas under its "Buy American, Hire American" framework. Harris's successful lobbying effort this year, following the termination of work documents for 1.3 million undocumented immigrants, suggests some flexibility within the administration.

The H-2B program targets nonagricultural seasonal positions including landscaping, construction, and crab processing — distinct from farmworker visas. Harris additionally advocates a "buy American" mandate for SNAP food assistance, arguing that ensuring domestically produced food purchases necessitates domestic workers.

Daniel Costa, director at the Economic Policy Institute, identifies Harris as "the ringleader" driving temporary foreign worker expansion. While not paradoxical, Costa notes the stance conflicts with Stephen Miller's MAGA vision — echoing previous Republican fractures when Elon Musk pressured Trump to expand high-skilled visa programs.

Harris's advocacy addresses urgent needs on Maryland's shore, Politico wrote. Seafood processors have struggled for decades filling workforce gaps. Beginning in the mid-1990s, local crab pickers transitioned to manufacturing, forcing regional businesses toward foreign labor. More than 50 crab producers once operated locally; fewer than a dozen remain. Those avoiding foreign workers or experiencing visa lottery misfortune closed operations.

Lindy's Seafood owner Aubrey Vincent described the uncertainty candidly. "It's a scary thing to go through, when every year is kind of tossing the dice," he said.

President Donald Trump issued a major directive Sunday to the U.S. Navy to target vessels of any nation that comply with Iran’s demand for tolls to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

“I have instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas.”

Trump’s directive was issued after a U.S. delegation left a grueling 21-hour negotiation with Iranian officials empty-handed, and with no agreement reached to bring about an end to the U.S. war against Iran or reopen the Strait of Hormuz, closed by Iran since the Trump administration’s initial attack on Iran in late February.

Furthermore, Trump also announced a new blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, effective immediately.

“Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote.

“At some point, we will reach an ‘ALL BEING ALLOWED TO GO IN, ALL BEING ALLOWED TO GO OUT’ basis, but Iran has not allowed that to happen by merely saying, ‘There may be a mine out there somewhere,’ that nobody knows about but them. THIS IS WORLD EXTORTION, and Leaders of Countries, especially the United States of America, will never be extorted.”

As to the negotiations themselves, Trump wrote in a separate social media post that the U.S. delegation – led by Vice President JD Vance – was “very friendly” to the Iranian negotiating team, but that the talks failed because Tehran refused to commit to not pursuing a nuclear weapon.

“My three Representatives, as all of this time went by, became, not surprisingly, very friendly and respectful of Iran’s Representatives, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, Abbas Araghchi, and Ali Bagheri, but that doesn’t matter because they were very unyielding as to the single most important issue and, as I have always said, right from the beginning, and many years ago, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!” Trump wrote.

Vice President JD Vance left Pakistan empty-handed Sunday after 21 hours of “intensive talks” with Iranian officials in a failed attempt to negotiate an end to the U.S. war against Iran — and journalist and professor Adam Cochran suspects the doomed peace talks went exactly as planned.

President Donald Trump assigned Vance to lead negotiations with Iran as part of a U.S. delegation including special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. The delegation ultimately failed to reach an agreement with Tehran, with Vance telling members of the media that Iranian officials had “chosen not to accept our terms.”

While talks were underway, Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were attending an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) match in Florida, which, according to Cochran, appeared to be by design.

“[Vance] realizes Trump hung him out to dry while Marco got to go to UFC. And he knows how bad all this is,” Cochran, an adjunct professor of information science at Conestoga College in Ontario, Canada, wrote in a social media post on X to his nearly 300,000 followers. “Today Vance realized the deal he made with the devil was not worth it. And that he probably doesn’t have a way out.”

As to why Trump had his secretary of state accompany him to a high-profile fighting match rather than take part in the high-stakes negotiations with Tehran, Cochran proposed a theory, and one that aligns with reports that Vance’s apparent opposition to the U.S. war with Iran has created a rift with the president.

“Trump clearly knew earlier he had no deal. That’s why he said he didn’t care. He just threw Vance under the bus,” Cochran wrote in a separate social media post.

“[This] also cements Vance’s career most likely – it would not surprise me if Vance was set up to fail so they could cleanly push Rubio in ‘28. Would also explain why the odd decision to not have the Secretary of State anywhere near these discussions."

Donald Trump's administration abruptly fired two judges after they refused to rubber-stamp his demands that two international students be deported for protesting Israel's treatment of Palestine.

The firings represented the latest phase of the White House's effort to reshape the country's immigration courts. The administration has now dismissed dozens of immigration judges and, according to those on the bench, has pressured judges to deny asylum claims and order deportations, the New York Times reported.

Unlike federal judges in the independent judicial branch, immigration judges work for the Justice Department and are hired and fired by the attorney general.

The two judges, Roopal Patel and Nina Froes, were terminated alongside four colleagues on Friday. They oversaw high-profile cases filed by the government against students Rumeysa Ozturk and Mohsen Mahdawi, the Times reported.

Since winning a second term, Trump has aggressively sought to reshape the immigration courts — with dramatic results. Judges are ordering a record number of people deported and granting asylum at the lowest rate since at least 2009. Cases are being resolved faster, and the backlog of claims that soared under President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has begun to decline.

Ozturk and Mahdawi were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents last year. Their detentions were part of a series of arrests targeting international students who had publicly expressed support for Palestinian causes or participated in protests on U.S. campuses that the Trump administration labeled antisemitic.

Ozturk, a Turkish-born student at Tufts University, had her student visa status repealed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio after writing an article in a student newspaper criticizing the university leadership's stances on Palestinian causes. The government similarly attempted to deport Mahdawi, a Palestinian student at Columbia University and green card holder, because of his involvement in campus protests. Rubio stated his continued presence in the country could "potentially undermine" U.S. foreign policy.

Civil liberties advocates characterized the arrests as intended to stifle free speech. The government filed cases in immigration court to deport both students.

Patel, an immigration judge in Boston, ruled in January that there were no grounds to deport Ozturk. Froes reached a similar conclusion in Mahdawi's case. Both judges had been appointed by the Biden administration in 2024 and were approaching the end of an initial two-year probationary term before their terminations.

When asked if ruling against Mahdawi might have preserved her job, Froes expressed uncertainty. "I don't know what's in the minds of other people," she said. "But I can't imagine it was helpful."

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Times.

A U.S. official not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to the Times that six judges had been fired on Friday, with four of them in probationary status.

Before Trump returned to office, it was rare for immigration judges to be terminated. His administration has dismissed more than 100 judges so far. Additionally, the administration has hired more than 140 permanent and temporary judges viewed as more aligned with Trump's immigration enforcement agenda.

Froes, a judge at the immigration court in Chelmsford, Mass., said she was conducting an asylum hearing on Friday afternoon when she received an email notifying her of dismissal. She informed lawyers for both sides that she needed to halt the case and signed out of the virtual hearing.

"I fully expected it," she said regarding her firing, citing the number of judges dismissed by the Trump administration.

Froes also stated she had been unaware of Mahdawi's case's high-profile status when hearing it. "You have so many people coming before you," she said. "You don't go Google people's names. That's not how it works. You look at the record."

Patel, like many immigration judges interviewed by the Times, indicated the Trump administration had made its intentions clear regarding deportations. "It was a pressure I at least tried to actively resist," she said in an interview. "All people in the United States are entitled to due process, and everyone deserves to have their cases adjudicated fully and fairly."