Hackers believed to be backed by Iran targeted more than 30 municipal water systems across Minnesota this week, several media outlets reported, appearing to validate months of <a href="https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa26-097a">federal warnings</a> that Tehran aimed to disrupt internet-exposed devices controlling operations at U.S. water, wastewater, and energy facilities.
<a href="https://mn.gov/mnit/media/blog/?id=38-761869">Minnesota IT Services (MNIT)</a> said a &#8220;coordinated cyberattack&#8221; targeted operational technology on July 26 and 27, triggering the state&#8217;s cybersecurity incident response protocols.
The attack briefly knocked one system offline and disrupted remote sensors at another, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/07/30/us-spy-agencies-suspect-iran-launched-cyberattack-minnesota-water-facilities/">The Washington Post.</a> No drinking water has been reported as unsafe, according to the outlet.
&#8220;Cyberattacks against critical infrastructure require a coordinated, whole-of-government response,&#8221; said John Israel, Minnesota chief information security officer. &#8220;MNIT is working side by side with our partners to share intelligence, support affected communities, and help utilities restore operations safely while strengthening defenses against future attacks.”
Investigators are now probing whether Iranian hackers carried out the attack, but intelligence officials cautioned the assessment remains preliminary as additional forensic evidence is gathered, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-investigating-iran-cyberattack-minnesota-water-systems/">according</a> to CBS News. Officials have not ruled out the possibility that another actor is posing as Iran to inflame tensions amid the U.S. conflict with the regime. 
The FBI is investigating, The Washington Post reported. If Iranian involvement is confirmed, it could mark a serious escalation in Tehran&#8217;s ongoing campaign to target U.S. critical infrastructure. 
“It is not a secret that these things have been taking place since the spring,” Joe Slowik, director of threat research for Dataminr, told the Post. “There have been disruptions in multiple critical infrastructure sectors. It’s a big deal.”
President Trump, however, cast doubt on reports linking Iran to the attack, using a Cabinet meeting at Camp David to dismiss the incident and instead blame Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
“I think Minnesota is behind it. Do you know who&#8217;s behind it? Minnesota, because they&#8217;re grossly incompetent. I think the governor&#8217;s behind it,” Trump <a href="https://x.com/Acyn/status/2083228500077797797?s=20">said</a>. “I don&#8217;t think there was an Iranian cyber attack. I think that Minnesota ought to get its act together. It&#8217;s one of the worst-run states.” 
&#8220;They like to say, &#8216;Oh, it was Iran.&#8217; Iran should be so lucky. Iran&#8217;s got bigger problems than worrying about Minnesota,&#8221; the president <a href="https://x.com/disclosetv/status/2083215311315087592?s=20">added</a>.
Nate George, the mayor of Braham, Minnesota, appeared to echo Trump&#8217;s criticism, arguing that misplaced government spending leaves local communities less prepared to defend against cyberattacks.
&#8220;This is exactly why state government must spend taxpayers&#8217; money on the things that matter, not political agenda action items,&#8221; George said. &#8220;That means funding Local Government Aid and providing practical assistance to help communities strengthen cybersecurity, replace aging systems, and protect basic services residents and businesses rely upon.&#8221;
Walz, on the other hand, quickly fired back, arguing that federal cuts made the U.S. vulnerable to such attacks. 
“Trump knows exactly who is responsible for this attack, and knows that other states were hit too. This is what modern warfare looks like, and it further illustrates there’s no plan to win a war with Iran,” Walz <a href="https://x.com/GovTimWalz/status/2083235434168021219?s=20">said</a> on X. “DOGE took an axe to CISA and left the U.S. exposed to cyber attacks. Thankfully, our experts in Minnesota were able to identify the vulnerability quickly and work with local communities to stop it.”

Donald Trump

America’s Water Supply Was Attacked, And Iran Is The Main Suspect

Cyberattack

cybersecurity

iran

Islamic Republic

islamic revolutionary guard corps

minnesota

News

politics

President Trump

terrorism

tim walz

Trump

water

The Trump administration on Friday condemned Spain&#8217;s immigration policies and weighed possible retaliation after tens of thousands of migrants stormed across the Moroccan border into the Spanish territory of Ceuta. 
In a statement, the <a href="https://x.com/StateDept/status/2083197495119626476?s=20">U.S. State Department</a> accused Spain&#8217;s leftist government of facilitating mass illegal immigration, saying its policies fueled the chaos that spiraled into hours of anarchy and left dozens of migrants dead.
“The United States stands with the people of Spain, and all Europeans, against this egregious violation of their sovereignty and human rights,” the State Department said. “This unacceptable incident is the direct result of the Spanish Government&#8217;s deliberate efforts to enable and facilitate mass illegal migration into Europe.”
“We are considering actions to defend Americans at home and abroad from this threat and stand ready to assist other European allies considering similar options,” the federal agency added. 
In damage control, Spain&#8217;s Ministry of the Interior said more than 25,000 migrants have been deported back to Morocco, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spain-ceuta-morocco-migrants-border-crossings/">according to CBS News</a>. The leftist government also claimed authorities were removing roughly 150 migrants per minute. 
The Daily Wire could not independently verify those figures.
Earlier on Friday, President Trump weighed in on the controversy, which had sparked an international outcry, warning Americans that similar scenes could unfold in the United States if the balance of power shifted.
“It’s terrible. Remember that picture. That’s going to be us in three years if the wrong side gets in,” Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-issues-grim-warning-for-america-as-europe-reels-from-massive-migrant-invasion?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Trump+Issues+Grim+Warning+For+America+As+Europe+Reels+From+Massive+Migrant+Invasion">said</a> during a phone interview with Fox News. “If the Democrats get in, you will not live a very good life.”
On social media, the White House echoed Trump&#8217;s argument, <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2083199361316524348?s=20">posting a video</a> of a seemingly quiet and secure U.S.-Mexico southern border.
&#8220;While hordes of Third World migrants storm Spain&#8217;s territory, the United States&#8217; borders are locked down at levels never seen before. President Trump inherited a similar invasion to what Spain is facing, and he stopped it on Day One,&#8221; an official White House page posted on X.
Trump’s comments came after around 50,000 migrants rushed across the border into Ceuta, a Spanish territory on the tip of Morocco, bringing widespread chaos and unrest. At least <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/34-dead-after-tens-of-thousands-of-migrants-invade-spain">34 people died</a> as thousands of migrants, mostly young men, attempted to swim or force their way into Ceuta. 
The brazen invasion appeared almost seamless, with migrants encountering virtually no resistance. One military-aged man went viral on social media after recording himself with a <a href="https://x.com/visegrad24/status/2083138726314594810?s=20">selfie stick as he swam</a> to Ceuta to illegally enter Spain.
The migrants, emboldened by the lax immigration policies of leftist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, brought chaos to the streets of Ceuta, causing fear among locals who were overwhelmed by the flood. 
Migrant Ajoub el-Arrot <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/07/31/world/spain-ceuta-migrants-morocco">told</a> The New York Times that he was surprised at the lack of resistance. 
“I don’t know why they let us through. Maybe they had some political reason,” he said. “They opened the border and let everyone go by.”

Hundreds of migrants reach Spain’s Ceuta after swimming from Morocco

Trump Admin Slams Spain’s Mass Migration Policies After Deadly Migrant Invasion

border security

europe

illegal immigration

immigration

marcio rubio

mass migration

spain

state department

trump administration

Trump Holds Cabinet Meeting From Camp David

cabinet meeting

Camp David

Trump Administraiton

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that negotiators have his reached what he described as a &#8220;historic agreement&#8221; aimed at ending Hamas&#8217; control of Gaza, though the deal still awaits final approval from the terrorist group.
&#8220;Today, the Board of Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza,&#8221; Trump wrote on Truth Social. &#8220;This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/30/hamas-weapons-gaza-deal-israel-board-peace">Axios</a> reported Thursday that U.S. officials and the Board of Peace believe Hamas could formally sign the agreement within days after agreeing to its terms during negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey. However, the outlet noted that Israeli officials and Western diplomats remain skeptical that Hamas will ultimately follow through with its commitments.
According to Trump, the deal would pave the way for Gaza to be governed by a new Palestinian government working alongside the Board of Peace while ensuring Israel &#8220;will have the security it deserves, with Gaza no longer used as a base for terror attacks.&#8221;
The president said the agreement would be implemented in phases as Hamas and other armed groups surrender their weapons, after which Israeli forces would withdraw and an international stabilization force would help a new Palestinian police force maintain security.
Under the reported framework, Hamas would surrender both heavy and light weapons over six to eight months, disclose the locations of tunnels and weapons depots, and allow a new Palestinian government to gradually assume control of Gaza. Israeli withdrawals would occur only after areas are independently verified as demilitarized, per the <a href="https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-904113">Jerusalem Post</a>.
Trump thanked Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey for their mediation efforts and praised his negotiating team, declaring that &#8220;the threat that emerged from Gaza on October 7 will NOT be allowed to rebuild.&#8221;
The negotiations remain ongoing, and officials caution that talks could still collapse before a final agreement is signed.
&nbsp;

Trump And Hamas

Trump Touts A ‘Historic’ Gaza Disarmament Agreement

Board of Peace

donald trump

Egypt

Global Politics

Global power

hamas

israel

palestine

Peace Deal

Peace negotiations

qatar

turkey

For five years, Dr. Anthony Fauci told Congress something that wasn&#8217;t true. In May 2021, under oath, he declared that the “NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.&#8221; When Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) pressed him again and warned him plainly about the legal stakes of lying to Congress, Fauci doubled down, insisting he had &#8220;never lied before the Congress&#8221; and would not retract the statement.
This was a lie. A 2023 Government Accountability Office review found that the Wuhan Institute of Virology and Wuhan University did, in fact, receive National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for research that spliced bat coronaviruses with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) strains to create hybrid viruses. In 2024, NIH&#8217;s own principal deputy director admitted to Congress that the U.S. government funded gain-of-function research in Wuhan. And a 2020 email written by Fauci himself, months before his sworn denial, shows he privately understood that &#8220;scientists in Wuhan University are known to have been working on gain-of-function experiments.&#8221;
He knew. He said otherwise under oath anyway. That is the textbook definition of federal perjury.
So why didn&#8217;t the Trump Justice Department bring charges against him?
The statute of limitations for charging Fauci for his perjurious 2021 testimony expired on May 11, 2026, and nothing happened.
This is especially inexcusable now, with Fauci&#8217;s newly released emails and &#8220;diary&#8221; entries laying bare a pattern of deception that shaped public health policy and wrought consequences the country is still living with.
That Fauci received a sweeping preemptive pardon from President Joe Biden in 2025 is no excuse. In fact, Fauci’s pardon is precisely why the Trump DOJ should have pursued this case.
Though preemptive presidential pardons for crimes not yet charged or investigated have long been upheld, the sweeping nature of Biden’s pardon for Fauci (and the many other allies and family members who received such immunity as Biden was walking out the door) is truly unprecedented. It declared Fauci immune from prosecution for any federal offenses committed between January 1, 2014 and January 19, 2025 — an 11-year window that covers virtually anything related to his government role during the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, the start of this pardon period just so happens to coincide with Fauci’s decision to keep funding gain-of-function-adjacent research in China, even though a federal pause on such research had already been in place.
Biden&#8217;s pardon for Fauci did not identify a crime. It didn&#8217;t name an offense, a case, or even a specific act. It covered, in essence, whatever Fauci &#8220;may have committed&#8221; across 11 years of government service — a category so open-ended that neither Fauci, nor Biden, nor anyone else could say what it actually forgives.
Every prior preemptive pardon at least gestured toward a known controversy. President Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon, for example, was understood to be about Watergate. Likewise, President Jimmy Carter’s preemptive pardon of Vietnam War draft evaders was tied to one specific, named offense category: violations of the Military Selective Service Act.
Biden&#8217;s pardon of Fauci names no scandal, no incident, no allegation at all. It simply immunizes him from whatever he &#8220;may have committed&#8221; over 11 years and across four separate government roles.
Therein lies the problem. As vast as the presidential pardon power may be, one universally accepted boundary is that a president cannot pardon a future crime, because until an act occurs, there is no &#8220;offense against the United States&#8221; to forgive — only a speculation.
But that logic doesn&#8217;t stop at future crimes. If a pardon cannot cover an act because it is merely speculative and unidentified, the same must be true of an unidentified past act. Biden did not pardon Fauci for a specific, named offense arising from a known set of facts. He pardoned him for whatever might turn out to have happened — a category of conduct nobody had investigated, charged, or even fully described, spanning a decade. That is not meaningfully different from pardoning a future crime.
By charging Fauci with perjury, the Trump DOJ would have done two things at once: forced the judiciary to finally reckon with just how far the pardon power really extends, and made clear that accountability still exists for the public official most responsible for the harm the pandemic inflicted.
Perhaps the DOJ did not want to go down that road because President Trump himself sees value in preserving the option of sweeping preemptive immunity for his own family and allies before he leaves office. Given the lawfare campaign Democrats have already waged against him, that instinct is understandable.
But if that&#8217;s the case, the Trump DOJ owes the country a second-best option: full cooperation with everyone else still trying to hold Fauci accountable, including <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/29/florida-attorney-general-fauci-probe-covid-claims-01015441">state prosecutors</a>, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5997184-paul-plans-contempt-vote-fauci/">congressional Republicans</a>, and the families <a href="https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/health/big-slap-face-moms-liberty-activist-suggests-lawsuit-families-against-fauci?utm_source=mux&amp;utm_medium=social-media&amp;utm_campaign=social-media-autopost">pursuing civil suits</a> of their own.
Fauci belongs behind bars. How he gets there matters far less than whether he finally does.
***
Kaylee McGhee White is a Fox News contributor and the editor-in-chief of Independent Women Features, the grassroots storytelling arm of Independent Women.

President Joe Biden Omicron variant

Can American Justice Beat Biden’s Fauci Pardon?

anthony fauci

COVID

department of justice

DW Opinion

fauci diaries

Perjury

presidential pardon

President Trump&#8217;s hand-picked candidate to succeed the late South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is facing growing trouble in the upcoming Republican primary, according to new polling and Republican strategists.
Darline Graham entered the U.S. Senate race on July 20 following Trump&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/im-in-lindsey-grahams-sister-makes-it-official">enthusiastic endorsement</a>, with the president encouraging Lindsey Graham&#8217;s sister to &#8220;RUN, DARLINE, RUN!&#8221; South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster appointed her to serve out the rest of her brother&#8217;s term earlier this month. 
“I’m in,” Nordone told Fox News, acknowledging “a tremendous amount of pressure” around the decision. “I have been praying a lot, talking to my family, but with the love of my family, with the support of his staff, I know I’m a hard worker… I worked for almost 30 years for the people of this state, I feel like I can do it,” she said. 
Her optimism, however, is running up against new polling and growing skepticism that enough South Carolina Republicans are comfortable with Graham&#8217;s experience and policy credentials to send her to the U.S. Senate for a full six-year term.
“This is a woman who no one heard of at all before, and I think that that hurts her in a certain way,” Republican political consultant Ryan Girdusky said in an interview with The Daily Wire. “She&#8217;s a largely unknown entity. I mean, no one really knows her except the fact that she&#8217;s Lindsey Graham&#8217;s sister.” 
In a <a href="https://x.com/DarlineGrahamSC/status/2082808644773503145?s=20">new campaign ad</a>, Graham attempted to dispel those concerns, touting her pro-life beliefs, backing the SAVE America Act, and calling for a ban on biological men competing in women&#8217;s sports.
“I am a conservative Republican,” she said, touting Trump’s endorsement. “I approve this message, and I’m ready to serve.” 
New <a href="https://emersoncollegepolling.com/south-carolina-2026-norman-graham-lead-gop-special-primary-runoff-likely/">Emerson College polling</a> released Thursday shows Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) leading the crowded Republican field with 22% support. Darline Graham Nordone trails at 19%, followed by Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC) at 12% and former GovernorMark Sanford at 11%. Nine candidates have been certified for the August 11 primary, while roughly 25% of voters remain undecided, according to the survey. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two finishers will advance to an <a href="https://scvotes.gov/u-s-senate-special-republican-party-filing-primary/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">August 25 runoff</a>. 
The poll also suggests that President Trump&#8217;s political clout may not be enough to carry Graham over the finish line. A majority of voters — 53% — said Trump&#8217;s endorsement would have no impact on their vote, while 29% said it made them more likely to support Graham. Another 18% said the endorsement made them less likely to back her candidacy.
“You&#8217;re only going to have hyper-engaged people showing up. That doesn&#8217;t always speak well for the president&#8217;s base, which can be very high level, high levels of low propensity [voters] in the mix,” Girdusky said. “If Darline Graham is counting on solely the president&#8217;s supporters to carry across the finish line, it&#8217;s a very tough, tough road.&#8221; 
Rep. Ralph Norman, who endorsed Nikki Haley in the 2024 presidential primary, has a <a href="https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/15032448994?utm_source=chatgpt.com">long track record</a> in South Carolina politics. He was first elected to Congress in a special election in 2017 and served as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2005 to 2007 and again from 2009 to 2017. 
“There&#8217;s nothing enormously special about him. But he, you know what you&#8217;re going to get. He is a solid conservative voter,” Girdusky said.
Norman has lined up endorsements from conservative Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Mike Lee (R-UT), along with several Upstate sheriffs, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/07/30/conservatives-skeptical-darline-graham-south-carolina-senate-race/">Washington Post</a> reported. Fry has won the support of 40 Republican state legislators. 
<a href="https://www.dgraham.senate.gov/">Darline Graham</a> earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the College of Charleston and a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from South Carolina State University. She later worked as a vocational rehabilitation counselor and served as head of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind. If elected, she would be the first woman from South Carolina to be elected to the upper chamber. 
Her brother, Lindsey, unexpectedly died earlier this month at his Capitol Hill home in what the medical examiner’s office believes was an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lindsey-graham-medical-examiner-releases-preliminary-cause-of-death">aortic dissection</a>. Before collapsing, Graham reportedly told a staffer he was experiencing chest pain. Graham had easily won his Republican primary in June before his sudden death upended the race. 
“I think that the president was really in a state of grief. He loved Lindsey Graham,” Girdusky said. “And he picked her, you know, very, very, very quickly.”
<a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/senate/race/488671">The Cook Political Report</a> rates the seat as Solid Republican going into November.

Briefing of US Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal in Kyiv

Trump’s Pick To Replace Lindsey Graham Faces Growing GOP Revolt

2026 elections

Darine Graham

darline graham nordone

lindsey graham

Midterms

ralph norman

Republicans

south carolina

U.S. Senate

The state and mood of Washington, D.C. this week are a combination of dire and surreal. The surreal came in the form of the funeral for Lindsey Graham, a rare politician of actual note in this day and age of politicos who are good at winning elections, toeing the line, and remaining consistently unrecognizable as having any effect on national policy. (Did you know that Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) has been in office since Princess Diana was still alive? Wild.)
The event was, as is typical for the nation&#8217;s capital city, reduced to a pathetic networking session of smiles and handshakes between journos and politicians, lawyers and lobbyists, with the additional Kremlinology of who got to sit where and why. Everyone was on their phones between songs of generic holiness, stuck to the uncomfortable confines of worn brown National Cathedral chairs in the purportedly religious house that has the acoustics of a Wawa and whose respect for holiness is embodied by the head of <a href="https://cathedral.org/discover/fun-facts/">Darth Vader</a> perched atop its Northwest Tower, as predicted by the <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Luke%2019:40">Gospel of Luke</a>. For this, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) wore a suit?
What was remarkable about the Graham funeral was how little resemblance it bore to the man it claimed to honor. Instead, it was a tribute isolated to a single relationship confined to the last seven years of Graham’s 31-year career in Washington: his political friendship with President Donald Trump. It was a connection built on Graham’s belief that, in the absence of his longtime foreign policy allies John McCain and Joe Lieberman, he had to make the best of things — becoming a quarterback whisperer in an offensive scheme he never thought he’d have to run. The decision reaped benefits, for Graham and for Trump — the former an old hand at driving policy in the Republican conference, the latter a political neophyte who didn’t know whom to trust or how to move legislation beyond a Truth Social post.
The tributes from the front of the Cathedral focused on an appeal to the Commander-in-Chief in the front row and left his longtime friends unmentioned. The program wasn’t marked by any of his longtime political allies from his home in South Carolina. Take the world leaders out of the equation in the attending crowd, and it could’ve been a funeral for any Republican senator. The oddity of it all is that, unlike so many others, Graham’s absence is likely to be immediately felt, and felt the most by Trump’s White House, whose relationship with Capitol Hill, already strained with contention and resentment, is only going to get worse.
The following day brought another insult to holiness with the circus of the Anthony Fauci hearing. The fish in the barrel claimed the Fifth the entire time, and senators expressed their undying love and affection (on the Democratic side) and their utter contempt for his lying, self-dealing, and pompous assumption of the seat of the Pope of Science. Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) blond gum-chewing staffer went viral. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) channeled the fury of millions of Americans. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) said a swear word. None of this will be of any consequence.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mdeo7Q2E5cE?si=ghMlQLzRt5vMyVXG" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
This is where Republicans find themselves: looking back in anger, without delivering anything of substance. They’re still fighting the last war. Democrats are crazy socialists who haven’t stopped being crazy; in fact, they’ve gotten even crazier. But that’s not good enough to win, despite the insistence of too-online right-wingers that they can run that play back one more time to buck decades of historical midterm trends. Four in 10 voters say they want “<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-voters-want-major-change-amid-economic-political-discontent">revolutionary</a>” change from this election. Do you think they care about people movers at Washington Dulles Airport? Do you think they give a sh*t if James Talarico rents a truck?
That brings us to the dire mood in the capital city. House Republicans had already been planning their exit strategy and shopping for their next homes and jobs. Senate Republicans have only just noticed that they are headed in the same direction: off a cliff, at rapid speed. President Trump’s approval rating is 33% in the latest AP poll. Democratic Senate candidates currently lead in North Carolina and Georgia — where Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has promised to spend an enormous amount of cash — and are within the margin of error in Ohio and Texas, which were supposed to be red states the last time we checked. Every bout at the White House’s UFC sideshow ended in a knockout. This may not even be that close.
The realization on the eve of August that the blue tidal wave could hit the Senate, too, has come too late to do much about the outcome except bitch about the damn war. And what comes after? We all know what it looks like for D.C.: committee circuses, impeachment of Cabinet figures, and lawfare targeting the president’s family and allies to a degree that will make the Joe Biden years look sleepy and innocuous. For the Left? A dramatically emboldened socialist wing, with the force multiplier of eager and willing new entrants from safe seats, all looking to make a national name for themselves. And for the Right? Two years of vindictive bloodletting and horror, blame and revisionism, and a level of factional strife that will have the city turning back to all the old &#8220;Game of Thrones&#8221; episodes, lacking as we are in newer references in the post-peak TV era.
The Republican Party was emboldened by Donald Trump’s victory in 2024. But from election night on, it made the mistake of thinking that victory for the Right was fundamental. It may turn out to be the exception before the Left&#8217;s new and dangerous rule. Buckle up.

TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-CONGRESS-GOVERNMENT-SHUTDOWN

D.C. Republicans Think They’re Going To Lose. They’re Probably Right.

2026 Midterms

dave chappelle

House Republicans

john fetterman

Senate Republicans

Vice President JD Vance touched on something real in his three-hour sit-down with Joe Rogan: The United States has a problem with foreign governments trying to influence our government to make decisions in their own best interests rather than ours. The country the vice president picked to illustrate his point was Israel, our ally in an ongoing war with Iran and the only functioning democracy in the Middle East. It was an odd example, given the tiny amount Israel expends on lobbying in the U.S. A far more obvious example would be Qatar, which has used its vast oil wealth to massively affect U.S. politics, culture, and education. And as an Islamic monarchy that hosts the Hamas terror organization and the anti-American Al Jazeera network, one would think its influence at any scale would provoke more alarm.
Qatar is a small Gulf emirate with a population of roughly 3 million people, of whom 90% are expats and often abused or exploited migrant workers. The number of actual Qatari citizens is only a few hundred thousand. Yet this tiny country maintains one of the most active foreign diplomatic and financial footprints in the United States. This includes a new pledge of a $1.2 trillion “economic exchange” on top of the $400 billion already invested in American real estate, private equity, universities, and lobbying.
Qatar spends <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2025/11/21/inside-qatars-225-million-effort-to-court-us-policymakers-and-press/">roughly a quarter-billion dollars</a> annually on a sprawling network of 88 Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)-registered lobbying and public-relations firms. This money funds everything from congressional staffer junkets to Doha to paid influencer trips designed to launder the emirate&#8217;s disreputable image. <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/in_focus/3916768/what-to-know-qatar-web-of-influence/">Justice Department records</a> document <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/in_focus/3916768/what-to-know-qatar-web-of-influence/">thousands of political communications</a> by Qatari foreign agents since 2020, reaching the offices of two-thirds of Congress. Those same agents <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/investigations/3420993/qatar-lobbying-foreign-agents-frequently-donate-congressional-offices/">donate hundreds of thousands of dollars</a> to the elected officials in those very offices they’re paid to influence.
Qatar is also the single largest foreign funder of American higher education.
It poured more than <a href="https://www.jpost.com/international/article-886508">$1.1 billion</a> into U.S. universities in 2025 alone, <a href="https://freebeacon.com/campus/qatar-already-the-largest-foreign-financier-of-us-universities-tripled-its-funding-in-2025/">more than triple its 2024 total</a>. A Qatari royal sits on Georgetown&#8217;s governing board. By comparison, <a href="https://www.jns.org/u.s.-news/ed-department-portal-finds-qatar-highest-source-of-foreign-funding-to-us-colleges-universities">Israel’s gifts and contracts</a> to universities totaled just $342 million between 2014 and 2024, barely one-third of what Qatar spent in a single year. The pro-Hamas riots that swept campuses after October 7 did not happen in a vacuum. Years of Qatari money built the very departments and centers incubating this radicalism and spreading anti-Semitic propaganda.
The money is only part of the story. Doha hosted terrorist organization Hamas&#8217;s political bureau for more than a decade, and its fanatical leaders lived openly in five-star comfort through the October 7 massacre and the war that followed. When Israel struck Hamas&#8217;s negotiators in Doha in September 2025, Qatar&#8217;s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/world/qatar-denounces-israel-ahead-of-summit-over-israeli-strike-on-doha-targeting-hamas-leaders">called</a> the Israeli strike “state terrorism” and “reckless and treacherous aggression,” and demanded the international community “punish Israel.” He had no interest in punishing Hamas for its brutal terrorist attacks.
Rather than snuff out the Qatari influence operation, the administration embraces it. In May 2025, the Pentagon accepted Qatar’s “gift” of a luxury <a href="https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2025-10-10/hegseth-qatar-air-base-idaho-19382457.html">$400 million Boeing 747</a> to serve as an interim Air Force One. Even worse, the aircraft will <a href="https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/idaho-press/qatari-air-force-facility-coming-to-mountain-home-air-force-base/277-0e8e701a-de60-4102-a721-00de106a8b60">transfer</a> to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation’s private ownership once his term ends.
The United States also agreed to allow Qatar to build a dedicated training facility at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, a privilege not granted to Israel. It will host Qatari F-15s and pilots.
Why is Doha&#8217;s stock so high in this administration? Follow the payroll. Multiple cabinet-<a href="https://quincyinst.org/research/soft-power-hard-influence-how-qatar-became-a-giant-in-washington/">level officials</a> (including former Attorney General Pam Bondi and current FBI Director Kash Patel) previously held consulting or lobbying roles on Qatar&#8217;s behalf. Jared Kushner’s private equity firm, Affinity Partners, took in millions of dollars from Qatar. Qatar&#8217;s sovereign wealth fund bought the Park Lane Hotel in Manhattan from Steve Witkoff&#8217;s firm in 2023. It is outrageously unacceptable self-dealing.
Qatar markets itself as an indispensable peace broker between Iran and the U.S. In reality, the Memorandum of Understanding crumbled while Iran enjoyed a month’s respite to regroup and assert control over the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. is fully capable of being its own “mediator” with Iran and should exhibit more caution in routing our diplomacy through a country that has financed, hosted, and spread propaganda for terrorists.
Anyone truly concerned about foreign influence should denounce Qatar — the country that outspends every other nation on our universities 20-to-1, gifted the president a $400 million airplane, bought its way into the portfolios of the president&#8217;s own envoys and family (Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner), and supported Hamas terrorists. Those who single out Qatar’s regional foes instead are behaving suspiciously like Qatar-firsters.
***
Ali Holcomb is a national security fellow at Advancing American Freedom Foundation. Joel Griffith is a senior fellow at the Plymouth Institute for Free Enterprise at Advancing American Freedom Foundation.

Daily Life In Doha, Qatar

Anti-American Foreign Influence Comes From Qatar Not Israel

Foreign influence

jared kushner

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is holding up and threatening to derail Todd Blanche&#8217;s nomination as U.S. attorney general over a $1.8 billion &#8220;anti-weaponization&#8221; fund, which the Justice Department says it has no plans to pursue.
The Texas Republican, fresh off a bruising primary defeat, says Thursday&#8217;s Senate Judiciary Committee vote to advance Blanche&#8217;s nomination likely won&#8217;t happen without additional guarantees from the White House.
<a href="https://x.com/LauraEWeiss16/status/2082470661281177633?s=20">Punchbowl reported</a> Wednesday that the DOJ sent Cornyn a written proposal in an effort to satisfy his demands. It did not work. 
“They know what they need to do, but they simply refuse to do it,” Cornyn <a href="https://x.com/LauraEWeiss16/status/2082475546596757684?s=20">told</a> Punchbowl, announcing he called off his scheduled meeting with Blanche.
Ahead of that now-canceled meeting, Cornyn took to social media Tuesday to draw his line in the sand: “Fake news alert: there is no &#8216;deal&#8217; on Blanche nom. They know what they have to do,” Cornyn <a href="https://x.com/JohnCornyn/status/2082141659786051682?s=20">posted</a>.
Cornyn is working with Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who also serves on the Judiciary Committee, to secure additional commitments that the Justice Department will amend its settlement with President Trump to explicitly rule out a $1.8 billion &#8220;anti-weaponization&#8221; fund.
The controversy started in May, when Trump agreed to <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1441086/dl?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=govdelivery">dismiss</a> his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS in exchange for a formal apology and the creation of a new $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-establishes-1-776b-fund-to-combat-deep-state-weaponization">The Daily Wire</a> reported. The program would&#8217;ve compensated people who say federal authorities unfairly targeted them under the Biden administration. A separate provision of the agreement also barred the IRS from pursuing certain tax claims against Trump, his family, and their businesses. 
Only a few weeks later, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-the-gop-revolted-against-trumps-anti-weaponization-fund">Anti-Weaponization Fund was dead</a>. Clinton-appointed Judge Leonie Brinkema issued a temporary restraining order May 29, blocking the Justice Department from taking further action on the fund. Justice Department officials complied, and after tense meetings with Senate Republicans, acting Attorney General Blanche testified: “We are not moving forward with the fund, period.” 
President Trump blasted Republicans who opposed the agreement. 
“Well, Congress didn’t want it,” President Trump told The Daily Caller’s Reagan Reese from the Oval Office. “You have to talk to Congress. The Republican senators, some of them, got very weak knees. They didn’t have the stomach for the fight.”
The DOJ&#8217;s pledge to scrap the fund hasn&#8217;t satisfied Cornyn, who was supposed to meet with Blanche before Thursday&#8217;s committee vote. With all Democrats opposed, a single Republican vote against Blanche would effectively kill his nomination. 
“We need it in writing. We don’t need well-wishes or, you know, impressions,” he said, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/07/28/congress/todd-blanche-judiciary-committee-delay-01013621?nname=playbook&amp;nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&amp;nrid=5c65d8fa-b7c7-44e5-98d0-43e6086e71cd">Politico</a>. “We need concrete confirmation.”
Tillis has suggested to Politico that he is “pretty much following Cornyn’s cue.&#8221; 
Cornyn’s threat comes one week after he <a href="https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/news/cornyn-secures-commitment-from-trump-admin-to-release-pepfar-funds/">successfully threatened</a> to block two of President Donald Trump’s ambassadorial nominees unless the administration released more than $1 billion in foreign aid funding for Africa. 
A White House official previously told <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/john-cornyn-threatens-to-sink-trump-nominees-over-foreign-aid-cuts?author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=22&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=John+Cornyn+Threatens+To+Sink+Trump+Nominees+Over+Foreign+Aid+Cuts">The Daily Wire</a> that the Trump administration has strengthened President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) by providing clearer strategic direction, encouraging greater recipient-country ownership, and sharpening the program’s focus on measurable health outcomes.
The Trump-Cornyn clashes come just weeks after Cornyn suffered a decisive defeat in the GOP primary to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, despite spending months courting Trump&#8217;s endorsement.
“The only way it seems like you can get the administration’s attention on some of these funding issues is by using the leverage to withhold votes on nominees,” Cornyn told <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/07/21/2026/cornyn-threatens-to-sink-trump-nominees-over-pepfar">Semafor</a>. “We are going to use the committee vote tomorrow as a way to … get the money distributed the way Congress appropriated it.”

Sen. John Cornyn

Senator Scorned By Trump Threatens To Hold AG Nominee Hostage Over Weaponization Fund

Attorney General

john cornyn

texas

todd blanche

A possible third term (calm down, libs, it was just a joke), Nicki Minaj twerking, and the biggest collection of Trump Derangement Syndrome sufferers all under one roof.
The White House promised President Trump would deliver a speech that was both &#8220;unifying yet vicious&#8221; at the rescheduled White House Correspondents&#8217; Dinner. He did exactly that.
Three months after the original dinner was scrapped when yet another assassination attempt on Trump&#8217;s life unfolded outside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton, the annual black-tie affair finally returned Friday night.
This time, it was a very different scene.
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HrGAGzzfZgU?si=5SUPA5R-HNVB3YQb" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
The Secret Service dramatically tightened security, putting guests through airport-style magnetometer screenings before they entered the Waldorf Astoria, formerly the Trump International Hotel.
&#8220;It’s great to be back at a place that I know very well because I built it,&#8221; Trump joked as he took the stage.
The president immediately gave the room a taste of what was coming.
&#8220;But just like my presidency the second time is always better,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;It&#8217;s always better. And the third time will be better yet. I&#8217;m only kidding.&#8221;
Trump then turned to the terrifying reason the original dinner was cut short, calling the attempted attack &#8220;an assault on our democracy itself&#8221; and praising the law enforcement officers who rushed toward the danger.
But he still found a way to get a laugh out of the chaos.
&#8220;After hearing the gunshots many people yelled &#8216;Get down get down,&#8217; which caused Nicki Minaj to start twerking,&#8221; Trump jokes. &#8220;Do you believe it? Get down. She&#8217;s the only one that really understood what that meant.&#8221;
From there, nearly everyone was fair game.
Trump declared it &#8220;the largest group of Trump Derangement Syndrome people ever put together at one time.&#8221;
He then turned his attention to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., trolling him about his roadkill controversies.
&#8220;I want you all to know that Bobby Kennedy who&#8217;s right here personally ran over the cow in his car,&#8221; Trump joked about the beef tenderloin served for dinner. &#8220;And he cut it up and he brought it here for you to eat tonight so it&#8217;s very fresh.&#8221;
He was not done.
&#8220;Bobby also suggested an appetizer featuring his favorite cut of male raccoon roadkill,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;But we drew the line at that.&#8221;
Trump also took swings at Joe Biden, Gavin Newsom, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Adam Schiff, Rosie O&#8217;Donnell, Jake Tapper, Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and plenty of others.
Springsteen&#8217;s recent jabs at Trump earned him one of the harsher roasts of the night.
&#8220;What about Bruce Springsteen? What the hell happened to that guy? He looks like hell,&#8221; Trump said before joking that his tour had been renamed &#8220;Bored in the USA.&#8221;
The president even announced another run for the White House, at least for a few seconds.
&#8220;I&#8217;m pleased to announce my intention to run for a fourth term as President of the United States,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;I will be doing that.&#8221;
He quickly made clear he was joking, though not before adding, &#8220;I won 3 times now, I&#8217;m gonna do it again.&#8221;
The jokes got the laughs, but Trump also made sure the audience left with the message he actually wanted them to hear.
He called the current moment &#8220;the golden age of America&#8221; and touted new investment, manufacturing, military recruitment, and falling crime in Washington, D.C.
Despite years of fighting with many of the reporters in the room, Trump ended on a surprisingly friendly note.
&#8220;Sometimes I don&#8217;t feel you treat me fair,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Maybe you do I don&#8217;t know I don&#8217;t feel that but sometimes you treat me very fairly.&#8221;
&#8220;I have a lot of respect for your profession,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;Your profession&#8217;s amazing and I just wanna thank you for having me and it&#8217;s been fun.&#8221;
Then came the familiar promise.
&#8220;We have made America great again and it&#8217;s gonna get a lot greater.&#8221;

US-POLITICS-TRUMP-WHCA

Nicki Minaj. Roadkill. Trump Held Nothing Back At The WHCD

WHCD

White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is blaming President Donald Trump for a recent surge in homelessness that has left thousands more people living on the streets of the so-called City of Angels.
<a href="https://www.foxla.com/news/los-angeles-homelessness-expected-rise-3-5-sources-say-ahead-lahsa-count">FOX11 reported</a> that homelessness in America&#8217;s second-largest city is expected to rise by about 3.5% when the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority releases new data Friday.
Ahead of Friday&#8217;s official release, FOX11 reported that the city estimates roughly 45,000 people are living on its streets—an 8% increase from last year—underscoring Los Angeles&#8217; ongoing struggles with homelessness and quality-of-life issues.
The looming report also undercuts Bass&#8217; campaign narrative that homelessness has significantly dropped under her rocky tenure. Her signature Inside Safe initiative has spent <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-05/under-la-mayors-300-million-homeless-program-40-have-returned-to-street">more than $300 million</a> to move roughly 5,800 people into interim housing, mostly hotels and motels, but about 40% have since returned to the streets, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/could-spencer-pratt-be-l-a-s-outsider-hero">The Daily Wire</a> reported. Just one in four participants has reached permanent housing, at a cost of more than $200,000 per permanent placement.
To explain the recent surge, Bass turned to her party’s favorite political punching bag: President Trump. 
&#8220;For two years straight, we drove down homelessness by historic margins — but as expected, last year our efforts ultimately couldn’t keep up with policies and funding cuts on the federal and state levels,&#8221; Bass said, according to FOX11. &#8220;The Trump administration has driven up the cost of gas, groceries, and rent — pushing more families to the edge — and slashed critical safety net funding.”
The embattled mayor, who is facing a stronger-than-expected challenge from her left flank, also took aim at Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom&#8217;s handling of the state budget.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
WATCH: Inside sources tell me L.A.’s homeless count is expected to rise… ending two straight years of reported declines.
The official numbers won’t be released until Friday, but multiple sources familiar with LAHSA’s latest count say homelessness is trending upward in Los… <a href="https://t.co/sUYPMVcN54">pic.twitter.com/sUYPMVcN54</a>
— Matthew Seedorff (@MattSeedorff) <a href="https://x.com/MattSeedorff/status/2080162994324144515?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 23, 2026</a></blockquote>
“And, last year’s state cut of over $70 million severely impacted our work to keep people housed and get more Angelenos off the streets,” she said in a <a href="https://x.com/MattSeedorff/status/2080161071936221606?s=20">statement</a>. “The lack of adequate services continues to be a real problem and a contributing factor to people cycling in and out of homelessness, and these services are controlled by LA County.” 
The latest figures come as little surprise to many Los Angeles residents, including billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso, who unsuccessfully challenged Bass in the 2022 mayoral race. “I doubt anyone living in LA is surprised,” he <a href="https://x.com/RickCarusoLA/status/2080334679530758318?s=20">said.</a>  
Some residents questioned the city&#8217;s count, arguing the actual homeless population is far higher than reported.
“I don’t listen to the numbers, my eyes are better than numbers,” one man <a href="https://x.com/RickCarusoLA/status/2080334679530758318?s=20">told FOX11</a>, in a report showing littered streets, vandalized buildings, and open drug use. 
Leftist L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman will face off against Bass in the November mayoral election after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/spencer-pratts-race-has-been-called-see-the-results">troves of late-arriving ballots</a> locked Republican Spencer Pratt out of the race.
Pratt’s viral campaign ads tapped into the reality TV star’s savvy social media background to push a message of change in a city plagued by chronic challenges. His platform captivated nationwide attention but ultimately fell flat in a deep-blue city dominated by leftists. 
His election defeat, however, has not stopped the Palisades wildfire victim from speaking out against the city’s leadership.  
“SHOCKER&#8230;the LA homeless count is going UP!” Pratt <a href="https://x.com/spencerpratt/status/2080284771846918154?s=20">said</a> Thursday. “I warned you guys: the more homeless people, the more money Nithya Raman and Karen Bass can launder through their corrupt NGOs. You will NEVER fix this problem by electing people who profit off it.”

US-HOMELESS-CENSUS-LOSANGELES

L.A. Mayor Blames Trump For City’s Homelessness Surge

california

Democrats

gavin newsom

homelessness

Housing

Housing Crisis

inflation

karen bass

los angeles

nithya raman

Rick Caruso

spencer pratt

Laura Ingraham says the American people are done with war. They won&#8217;t fight; won&#8217;t fund it; won&#8217;t support it, and that this new isolationism is going to win.
It might win. But that kind of thinking is dramatically wrong. It&#8217;s the kind of wrong that destroys countries and that could destroy America.
I understand why people feel the way they do. Gas prices are high. Families are stretched thin. Folks are looking at the grocery bill and their rent and thinking, “Why on earth are we spending blood and treasure halfway around the world and not even getting to the endpoint?”
But this is why it&#8217;s imperative that America wins and wins quickly.
There are three options. Number one: We win. We do what we have to do in order to achieve our goals. Number two: We fight antiseptically, and the war goes on pretty much forever. Number three: We go full isolationist and pacifist and then continue to fight forever wars forever, because that&#8217;s what will happen.
The choice is right there in front of us, which means there&#8217;s really only one choice: Victory.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ben-shapiro-show-ep-2470?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-981859" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner.avif" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner.avif 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner-768x128.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Ingraham wrote on X, “The American people are done with war. They will not support war. They will not voluntarily pay for war. They will not make sacrifices to support war. They will not encourage their kids and grandkids to fight in wars. They won&#8217;t vote for politicians who promise war, and they will punish politicians who get them into war. It&#8217;s not Trump who&#8217;s making America more isolationist. It&#8217;s the American people. And they are going to win this fight.”
If that is how the American people are now operating, it&#8217;s a foolish and dangerous sentiment. The idea that we&#8217;ll never fund; we&#8217;ll never fight; we&#8217;ll never allow anyone to declare war; we&#8217;ll never get into a war? You may as well say that you will never allow the sun to rise, because the reality is that the world will come to you.
Let’s look into the sentiment that&#8217;s feeding this foolish point of view.
The American people are looking at the situation in the Middle East, and they don&#8217;t know what&#8217;s going on. It is confusing because it’s not clear whether the Strait of Hormuz is open.
President Trump said, “If you combine us and Venezuela, we have about 62% of the world&#8217;s oil market. So we don&#8217;t need Straits, we don&#8217;t need anything, we don&#8217;t need the Hormuz Strait. But we do it because we have to do it because we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”
With the president saying that we shouldn&#8217;t care about the Strait, Americans are saying, “So why should we care about what we are doing there? Just hit the nuclear facilities and go home.”
It&#8217;s all discombobulated; it doesn&#8217;t feel like it moves us toward victory.
And then things get more complicated.
In reality, Iran is in very serious trouble. Iran&#8217;s economy is flat on its back. There are rifts inside the Iranian governing structure. Iran has no capacity to ship its oil out. They have no capacity to shoot down things that are flying over their country. That’s why they&#8217;ve been activating their friends, the Houthis.
I understand why people are confused and upset. It feels like things are stalemated, and even that they&#8217;re getting broader and more difficult.
Why? Because what the American people want is victory. There&#8217;s this bizarre notion in foreign policy that the American people are deeply worried about the immediate cost of war to the enemy, that the American people can&#8217;t handle the ugliness of war for even a day, and that every conflict has to be totally antiseptic.
I&#8217;m not even talking about the American willingness to undergo casualties. No one in America wants American casualties. It&#8217;s a tragedy and a horror. We do understand that war does come along with casualties, and we are willing to undergo those casualties in pursuit of an end and a victory for America.
But as far as the idea that America can&#8217;t hit Kharg Island because the Iranian people would then be deprived of oil resources, the American people are not particularly concerned about that. We are far more concerned with why we&#8217;re there and not winning.
You have to balance these options. We would like to be antiseptic and to win. But victory wins over antiseptic every time. If antiseptic wins over victory, then you will get neither victory nor antiseptic.
That is how this works. In reality, always and forever, there are only three real possibilities, and those possibilities stack up to only one choice. The first possibility is you go fast and you go hard and we win. That means we bomb their nuclear facilities into dust. We bomb Kharg Island, we bomb South Pars. We put the regime on its last legs. We destroy their fields and their capacity for a final result. We force open the Strait.
The president wanted to do this, remember? He tried to do this for one day with Project Freedom in the Strait. It was one day. One day. And then the Saudis said no.
We have to tell them to shove it; we&#8217;re going to do it anyway. Allies like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia should help us militarily. They should provide us with soldiers for use on the north shore of Hormuz and on Qeshm Island and Kharg Island. It may be uglier, and it may be costlier, but it&#8217;s faster, and we win.
War is bad. It is hell. It is awful. It always has been, and it always will be. War is the infliction of pain on the enemy to the point where they no longer want to undergo that pain while you are able to withstand pain. That&#8217;s what war is. It is a test of willpower and a test of pain tolerance.
But war is also and forever a necessary tool in the American arsenal. It always has been. It always will be. So you ought to win, and you have to win as fast as possible.
As Marco Rubio said at an Asian summit in Manila: 
<blockquote>I saw Araghchi, the [Iranian] foreign minister, the other day say something about their policy is &#8220;an eye for an eye.&#8221; The president’s policy is &#8220;a head for an eye.&#8221; I mean, honestly, that’s what it’s gonna be. They will pay a very heavy price for the things they’re doing. They’re already paying a very heavy price. You guys don’t know it because you don’t cover it; you’re not in Iran; you’re not in the street; they don’t have a free media. But they’re going to continue to pay a very heavy price; their industrial base has been decimated; their defense industrial base has been decimated. They’re losing launchers; they’re losing radars every single night.</blockquote>
This is correct. It&#8217;s not an eye for an eye. It&#8217;s a head for an eye.
That&#8217;s option one: Actual victory.
Option two: Go antiseptic. This is the strategy of gradual escalation. We tried it in Vietnam. We have to be as clean as possible; it’s the strategy of an eye for an eye or tit for tat, or you hit a ship, and we hit a bridge.
But here’s the thing about the Iranians: they are perfectly willing to put out their own eye if it means you lose an eye.
An Iranian analyst close to the Iranian regime threatened, “It&#8217;s time to evacuate Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and probably Oman.”  Trump is saying “an eye for an eye,” and the Iranians are saying “an eye for everything.”
Why is Iran doing that? Iran doesn&#8217;t have the military capacity to do all of that. We do. Why is he making that threat? Because he knows that threat works. It turns out that antiseptic and proportional in the statistical sense is very, very bad and foolish foreign policy. What you&#8217;re relegated to if you end up with this sort of tit-for-tat strategy is hoping they eventually collapse from within.
I never thought the administration would end up with this option, because historically, President Trump didn’t like this. He didn&#8217;t like forever wars; he liked the big spectacular strike that was over quickly, like the attack on Venezuela’s Maduro, or “Let&#8217;s kill Qasem Soleimani and then he&#8217;s dead,” or “Let&#8217;s hit the nuclear facilities in Iran, and then let&#8217;s leave,” as he did with Operation Midnight Hammer.
It seems that the president originally wanted to go very hard, but he was talked out of it by Turkey and Saudi Arabia and some of his own advisers, and then he got stuck in this tit-for-tat, gradual escalation, gradual de-escalation routine. And now we&#8217;re stuck here.
The quickest path to a forever war is to eschew using overwhelming force.
Option three: Give up on war. Give up on military optionality. Give up global power, recede within your own borders.
Isolationist pacifism has been tried before. It is legitimately one of the great failures in all of world history.
After World War I, when the Allies had imposed a peace on Germany, the Allies then refused to actually hold Germany to that peace. You can make the case that the Treaty of Versailles was too strenuous in its desire for reparations from the Germans; there’s a solid historical case for that.
But — there is no question that if France had stood up to Germany, if the Brits had stood up to Germany, if America had stood up to Germany in the interwar period, World War II would never have happened. Instead, Great Britain, France, and the United States all attempted to pursue a pacifist and isolationist strategy, and this led to the worst and most costly war in all of human history.
You don&#8217;t have to speculate that this is what they were trying to do. They openly said they were trying to do this. In 1928, the United States Secretary of State and the French foreign minister designed the so-called Kellogg-Briand pact. It outlawed war as an instrument of policy. The signatories to that agreement that outlawed war were the U.S., France, the U.K., along with Germany, Italy, and Japan.
You may notice that it didn&#8217;t work out well.
This is the theme of Churchill&#8217;s &#8220;The Gathering Storm,&#8221; the first volume of his World War II history. In 1933, students at Oxford University famously voted in favor of the so-called “King and Country” resolution. That resolution said that the students would “under no circumstances fight for king and country.”
That sounds exactly like what Laura Ingraham is saying.
Over the course of the 1930s, the United States slashed our military to the bone. By the time World War II broke out, the United States had the 19th largest military on planet Earth. We were stacked behind Portugal.
One of the reasons that World War II took so long and killed so many people is that once the United States got involved after December 7, 1941, it took us fully three years to rearm and then four years to win. If we had had that weaponry at the ready, would Pearl Harbor ever have happened?
Isolationism plus pacifism is a deadly combination because it turns out the world is a deadly place. Our enemies are not going to subscribe to those notions.
There&#8217;s also this very ahistorical notion that American foreign policy was once truly isolationist and pacifist. That’s nonsense. If you look at the history of America&#8217;s wars, America has been involved in conflicts all over the globe almost since its founding. We were fighting wars with the Barbary pirates under Thomas Jefferson.
Our national interests have always extended beyond pure physical threat. I know that some people think, “Unless we get physically hit, we cannot get involved in conflict.”
That is stupid. We have interests that require us to defend them. And sometimes — with luck as rarely as possible — that requires military force.
But to pretend otherwise is to be stupid.
The idea that America is supposed to lose or surrender to a third-rate regime that is shooting drones at ships opens the door to actual, significantly larger threats. Money will pour into Iran from China and Russia. They&#8217;ll rearm stronger than they ever were. China and Russia themselves will flex their muscle if you choose this path.
Americans are not pacifists. We&#8217;re not isolationists. We don&#8217;t like to lose. We like to win.
So let’s go do it.

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