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Republicans Erupt In Angry Debate Over Trump's 'Terrible Deal' To End Iran War

Republicans Erupt In Angry Debate Over Trump's 'Terrible Deal' To End Iran War

As the war with Iran enters its fourth month and President Donald Trump struggles to reach a peace deal to end the conflict he started, The Hill reports that Senate Republicans have become deeply divided over how to proceed. This ‘messy debate’ comes as the GOP is already at odds over several key legislative priorities.

According to The Hill, several hawkish Senators led by Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-MS), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) reject the deal that has been emerging with Iran, urging the president “not to agree to any deal that would allow Iran to continue its nuclear enrichment program or ease sanctions while it continues to support Hezbollah and Hamas.”

American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Danielle Pletka typifies this view, “arguing that it would be even weaker than the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that the Obama administration negotiated with Iran in 2015 — a deal Trump abandoned in his first term.”

“The reporting on it suggests that it’s a terrible deal, that the president has gotten basically nothing that he said he was getting, and that his negotiators have embarrassed him,” she said. “Anything that ends with Iran believing that it can open and close Hormuz at times of its choosing is a loss for the United States.”

For the senators’ part, Wicker has warned that the deal would be a “disaster,” Graham argues that it would make Iran the region’s “dominant force,” and Cruz asserts that giving Iran billions in sanctions relief while allowing the country control over the Strait of Hormuz would be a “disastrous mistake.” According to Republican strategist and ex-Trump National Security Council spokesperson John Ullyot, however, “They will certainly make their feelings clear, and loudly, but it’s hard for the Senate to stand in the way of a deal by any president in an ongoing military operation since it’s not subject to a vote that would block it.”

But the views of other GOP lawmakers have the party further divided, as “a growing number of Republican senators are losing patience with the lack of a clear plan for ending the conflict, which has caused gas prices to rise by nearly $1.40 per gallon since late February.” Four Republican senators recently voted to discharge a war powers resolution that would have directed Trump to withdraw U.S. troops from the war. These include Republican Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and the measure advanced because three Republicans were absent. It would have passed if just one more Republican had voted for it, “sending a loud rebuke to Trump over his handling of the conflict.”

“The Senate is expected to vote this week on a motion to proceed to the resolution to end the war, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) need to work out a time agreement,” explained the Hill. “The measure is close to having enough support to pass the House as well, though Trump is certain to veto it.”

According to The Hill, Republican senators on both sides of the divide will likely extend Trump some latitude as the deal is negotiated, but that once details are revealed, the backlash could be pronounced.

Many are watching how Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) votes as he just lost a primary race to a Trump-endorsed opponent. Now that Cornyn knows he’s leaving office, he has little incentive to bend to Trump’s will, who has recently accused the senator of being “very disloyal.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet


Pollster: Young Voters' Fury Over Economy (And Trump) Boosting Democrats In Midterm

Pollster: Young Voters' Fury Over Economy (And Trump) Boosting Democrats In Midterm

According to a new Harvard Youth poll, faith in the American government has sunk to a new low of just 15 percent among young Americans aged 18-29. A slim 13 percent think the country is on the right track, however only 33 percent say they trust the upcoming midterm elections will be fair.

The director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics, John Della Volpe, joined MSNOW on Friday to discuss the survey’s findings, saying he hasn’t seen anything like it in America over his 25 years as a pollster.

According to Della Volpe, young voters are concerned about “a stack of issues.”

“It's inflation, cost of living, housing, health care, paying more, getting less,” he explained. “The day-to-day concerns financially and otherwise related to the war. These are all adding up to a generation that is highly anxious, incredibly stressed out by this, and talk about not even living day-to-day, but surviving day-to-day.”

And, says Della Volpe, young Americans have heard a lot of talk from President Donald Trump, but the “rhetoric” doesn’t align with what they’re experiencing.

Instead of addressing voter concerns, agreed host Alex Wagner, the administration is “doing nothing about the rising cost of health care, literally letting Obamacare subsidies expire and raising the cost of health care on 23 million Americans, many of whom are young.”

Trump is also “not addressing the future of joblessness, which is artificial intelligence taking over many of these jobs that these young people would have once had… This president has not shown that to be a priority.” Then there is the environment: “Who's going to inherit a heated-up, broken earth but young people? They have every reason to feel incredibly bummed out about the direction.”

As Wagner notes, many of these young voters have now spent a decade having Trump tell them they can’t trust elections.

“This administration has done more to erode confidence in the levers of our democracy than any other presidency,” she asserted. “Telling them that their votes don't count, telling them the elections are fraudulent, telling them that there's an unseen enemy pouring across the border to change the fabric of this country.”

Della Volpe points out that much of the electoral disillusionment is among Republican and independent voters, explaining, “Younger folks who identify as Democrats…are significantly more likely to say they will vote in November than young Republicans and independent or indifferent voters…So still you see that advantage for Democrats.”


'Crashing Out': Why Trump Runs When Asked About Orban's Landslide Defeat

'Crashing Out': Why Trump Runs When Asked About Orban's Landslide Defeat

On Sunday, far-right Hungarian strongman Viktor Orban was voted out of office after 16 years of dictatorial rule. His defeat not only spelled significant change for the nation of Hungary, but was widely interpreted as a major blow against far-right movements around the world, including MAGA in the United States. As a result, President Donald Trump is “crashing out” in the face of a bad sign for his authoritarian political project.

Following Orban’s loss, Trump — usually not shy about sharing his thoughts on any subject — declined to answer questions from reporters about the election, making a quick escape to board Air Force One. Many who watched this exit online were struck by the typically wordy president’s lack of response.

"You can tell he’s so close to crashing out lmao,” wrote one commenter on a NewsNation broadcast of the moment. "He can't handle the truth," said another, with a third still declaring, "LOL. This has been a week of huge losses in the life of this big loser."

It may seem strange for an American president to hang so much importance on a Hungarian election, but not only has Orban been a longtime “illiberal” ally of Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he had become something of a superstar within the MAGA movement, garnering headline appearances at events like CPAC due to the popularity of his conservative, anti-immigrant, authoritarian policies within the Republican Party.

Orban’s election or lack thereof was viewed as so symbolically vital to MAGA that Vice President JD Vance was sent to Hungary during the final days of the race in an attempt to help build support. Vance’s appearance did not have the desired effect, as Orban’s party was defeated by a landslide.

For many within the MAGA-sphere, the rise of figures like Orban and Trump has been embraced as a signal of the growing power of the far-right movement and its righteous if not outright fated assumption of power around the globe. But Orban’s loss suggests that history is not as inevitable as they thought.

As Ivan Krastev, chair of the Center for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, Bulgaria, explained, Orban’s loss will have “an incredible psychological impact” on the far-right. Or as Orban biographer Pal Daniel Renyi put it, the election is proof to Orban, Trump, and their followers that “nothing lasts forever.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Sex Trysts In SUV? New Details Of Epstein's Sweetheart Plea Deal In DOJ Papers

Sex Trysts In SUV? New Details Of Epstein's Sweetheart Plea Deal In DOJ Papers

While many aspects of the Jeffrey Epstein case have been scrutinized over the years, one sticking point that many keep returning to involves the notorious criminal’s 2008 plea agreement, which has been criticized as an overly “sweetheart deal” considering the severity of his crimes.

Facing dozens of accusations of underage sex trafficking that should have been prosecuted on a federal level, Epstein instead had the most egregious charges shelved in favor of lesser state charges in exchange for pleading guilty. As a result, Epstein served fewer than four months in jail before he was given a unique arrangement in which he was allowed to leave prison for 16 hours a day, six days a week under a work release program.

Now thanks to documents released by the Department of Justice, new details have been revealed about the privileges Epstein was granted, including an SUV that was specially outfitted for sex.

For his work release, Epstein was transported daily between jail and his downtown office in an SUV that had been equipped with a bed. Along the way, said a woman interviewed by the FBI, the SUV would park in the prison parking lot where she and Epstein would have sex.

According to the woman, she was a former model from Slovakia whom Epstein had begun grooming when she was in high school, and by the time he was arrested, they’d been sexually involved for several years. While some have suggested that the woman was responsible for recruiting Epstein’s victims, she was one of four “assistants” given immunity in exchange for his “sweetheart deal.” The two then, she asserted, maintained their sexual liaison while he was technically imprisoned — a situation allowed by members of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department, who she said were on friendly terms with Epstein.

"A number of survivors have made clear that Epstein's exploitation did not stop during his incarceration,” said Lauren Hersh, director of the anti-trafficking group World Without Exploitation. "At best, Epstein's highly unusual arrangement demonstrates law enforcement's negligence. More likely, this is symptomatic of a system that prioritized accommodating a predator over delivering justice for survivors and protecting vulnerable girls and women."

"If all of this is true,” said Spencer Kuvin, a Florida attorney who represented many of Epstein's accusers, “they allow a sexual predator to continue his activities even while he was supposed to be in custody, and it just highlights the nature of the sweetheart deal that he got and the preferential treatment he received because of his wealth.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

'5D Chess': Bannon Says ICE Agents At Airports Is Test Run For Midterm Election

'5D Chess': Bannon Says ICE Agents At Airports Is Test Run For Midterm Election

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump announced plans to distribute ICE agents to airports across the country in an effort to alleviate long security lines caused by TSA staffing issues, which are in turn the result of a congressional standoff over Department of Homeland Security funding. With funding suspended, high numbers of TSA workers are calling in sick or quitting, and the ICE agents are purportedly being sent to fill the gaps.

But according to longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon, sending ICE agents to airports is really a “test run” for deploying them during the upcoming elections.

Speaking on his War Room podcast this morning, Bannon said, “We can use this as a test run, as a test case, to really perfect ICE’s involvement in the 2026 midterm.”

Bannon — who has been a key framer of the MAGA movement since its inception — has been advocating for Trump to place ICE agents at polling sites since last month, arguing it was necessary to prevent Democrats from “stealing” the election. Critics, however, say this is a blatant attempt to intimidate poll workers and voters with hopes of influencing the outcome.

The idea of putting ICE at polling stations has been gaining traction among conservatives, even though federal law expressly forbids deploying military or law enforcement at poll sites.

Bannon floated the idea to far-right lawyer Mike Davis, who said, “I think we should have ICE agents at the polling place because if you’re an illegal alien, you can’t vote. It’s against the law. It’s a federal crime for you to vote in federal elections. And so if you’re an American citizen, you should be happy that ICE is there, because you’re not going to have illegal aliens cancelling out your vote.”

Claims about widespread voting fraud have been thoroughly debunked, but that hasn’t stopped the president and his supporters from arguing that such voters stole previous elections from Trump. His opponents, however, say that placing ICE at polls would in fact be part of a Republican attempt to steal elections.

These opponents argue that such efforts have come in many forms, such as redistricting to shape the electorate to suit GOP needs, and the seizure of voter data and ballots from previous elections, typically in blue states or districts. Monday, a Republican sheriff in California seized more than 650,000 ballots in an attempt to overturn Democratic efforts to redistrict the state that were launched in response to similar efforts in Texas. And previously, Trump has said that he regrets not ordering the National Guard to seize ballots during his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

If deploying ICE to airports doesn’t decrease security lines, says Trump, he will “bring the National Guard” next.

“Perfect training for the fall of 2026,” said Bannon. “This is another 5D chess move from President Trump.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet