Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei slammed President Donald Trump in front of a crowd chanting “death to America” in recent comments as the United States tries to negotiate a new nuclear deal with Iran.
Khamenei accused Trump of lying about attempts to bring peace to the Middle East and said that the United States should leave the region. The supreme leader also referred to Israel as a “cancerous tumor” that needs to be “uprooted,&#8221; according to a translation of his comments by the Washington D.C.-based Middle East Media Research Institute.
“Some of the things the U.S. president said in his recent visit to the region are not even worthy of a response,” the supreme leader said Saturday in a video published and translated by the institute. “Trump said that he wanted to use power for peace. He is lying.”
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Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: Trump Is Lying and His Statements Are Not Worth a Response; Israel Will Be Dismantled; Crowd Chants “Death to America” Multiple Times <a href="https://t.co/STqgNBsSP5">pic.twitter.com/STqgNBsSP5</a>
&mdash; MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) <a href="https://twitter.com/MEMRIReports/status/1924053709585043708?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
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In reaction to Khamenei’s comments throughout the roughly four-minute clip, the crowd of supporters alternately chant “death to America,” “death to England,” and “death to Israel.” The crowd also calls for “death to those who oppose the rule of the Jurisprudent,” a <a href="https://institute.global/insights/geopolitics-and-security/what-velayat-e-faqih" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reference</a> to the Islamic law that the Iranian regime is based on.
“[Trump] and other senior officials in the American administration have used power to perpetrate a massacre in Gaza, to stir up war wherever they could, and in order to support their mercenaries,” the supreme leader said. “When have they ever used power for peace?”
Khamenei then said that Iran intends to “increase our power.”
“Indeed, one can use power for peace and security. This is why we will increase our power and the power of our country every day whether the enemies like it or not, inshallah,” he said, according to the institute translation.
The Iranian supreme leader’s comments come after Trump completed a tour of Middle East countries, announcing agreements and commitments that will <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/while-trump-pulls-in-investments-in-middle-east-trip-white-house-touts-investments-on-home-front" target="_blank" rel="noopener">generate</a> roughly $2 trillion in trade and investment. At the same time, the United States is attempting to strike a new deal with Iran to keep the regime from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that the Trump administration has drawn a “red line” at nuclear enrichment capabilities in its negotiations with Iran.
“We have one very, very clear red line, and that is enrichment. We cannot allow even 1% of an enrichment capability,” said Witkoff on ABC’s This Week. “We cannot have [enrichment] because enrichment enables weaponization, and we will not allow a bomb to get here.”
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On negotiations with Iran for a new nuclear deal, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff tells <a href="https://twitter.com/jonkarl?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JonKarl</a> that uranium enrichment is the Trump administration’s “one very, very clear red line.”
“We cannot have that. Because enrichment enables weaponization.” <a href="https://t.co/eXpYGKlkRR">https://t.co/eXpYGKlkRR</a> <a href="https://t.co/WmauqQuAEV">pic.twitter.com/WmauqQuAEV</a>
&mdash; This Week (@ThisWeekABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1924100073819943307?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei

Iran’s Supreme Leader Accuses Trump Of ‘Lying’ While Crowd Chants ‘Death To America’

Donald Trump

Iran

Israel

United States

Predictions of widespread shortages from President Donald Trump’s trade wars have fallen flat as supply chains and retailers weather the uncertainty of tariff hikes.
The first quarter of 2025 came back with negative GDP growth, but economic signs are pointing toward a positive return in the Commerce Department’s next quarterly report. A positive report should tamp down severely pessimistic predictions about the state of the economy and the impact of tariffs.
“I&#8217;ve told people this is gonna be a skinned knee. This is not a broken leg,” Jim Nelles, a veteran supply chain consultant, told The Daily Wire.
“If you look at the data, we&#8217;re ahead of where we were this time in 2023 and just slightly down from where we were this time in 2024,” said Nelles regarding ships traveling between the United States and Asia.
Since the United States and China <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/tariffs-china-trump-agree-slash-levies-duties-business-markets-bessent-rcna206193" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slashed</a> tariffs, shipping in the Pacific is set to pick up, according to Nelles. “The shipping companies are scrambling to redeploy ships to Chinese ports, and American companies are scrambling to secure containers to put on those ships to bring goods into the United States,” he said.
The most recent <a href="https://www.descartes.com/resources/knowledge-center/descartes-releases-may-global-shipping-report-april-us-container-imports" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> on U.S. imports from the supply chain and logistics company Descartes shows that 2025’s container import volume is higher through April of 2025 than it was in either 2024 or 2023.
Trump announced sweeping new tariffs last month, threatening heavy levies on America’s trading partners. The shock sent the stock market plummeting and had media outlets and financial experts warning about an economic collapse on par with the coronavirus pandemic.
Headlines in recent weeks have catastrophized about shortages slamming Americans. Stories suggested that supply chains are breaking under Trump’s gambit to remake global trade like they broke under COVID. “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/10/business/zero-ships-china-trade-ports-pandemic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">For 12 hours, zero ships left China bound for California’s top ports. That hasn’t happened since the pandemic</a>,” says one CNN headline from May 12.
Other headlines have warned of empty ports and empty shelves for Americans. “<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-05-07/empty-store-shelves-might-be-coming-sooner-than-you-think" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Empty Store Shelves Might Be Coming Sooner Than You Think</a>,” says a May 7 headline from Bloomberg. An April 29 Reuters report warned: “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/shipping-volume-will-plummet-35-next-week-la-port-official-says-cnbc-interview-2025-04-29/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shipping volume will plummet 35% next week, LA port official says in CNBC interview</a>.”
Major financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan predicted last month that the United States was likely to fall into recession. They have since <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-13/jpmorgan-drops-us-recession-call-after-us-china-trade-truce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reversed</a> <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/09/goldman-forecast-a-recession-then-almost-immediately-rescinded-it-after-trump-tariff-pause.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">those</a> forecasts.
“The panic was silly and it was driven by the media because they ran out of things to talk about,” said Nelles.
Shortages that did appear would be localized, Nelles said. Generally, businesses properly read the administration’s signals and prepared before the president began slamming down tariffs. That preparation is reflected in Commerce Department data that show imports to the United States spiking in the months leading up to the tariffs falling into place. Imports to the United States in March <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/us-trade-deficit-hits-record-high-march" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hit</a> an all-time high.
“At the end of the day, we would&#8217;ve seen nothing like we saw during COVID,” said Nelles. “We just would never have gotten to that point.”
“If you look at what actually happened in December, January, and February, shipments were up. People were stocking their shelves and adding inventory so that they could withstand any sort of tariff action that took place,” he said.
The most pressing problem that Nelles expects has to do with container ships sitting in U.S. ports full of goods that nobody is able or wants to receive.
“Those have to be shipped back to China, unloaded, and then loaded with other goods,” he said. “So, we might have, maybe a four week period where the equipment needs to be rebalanced between North America and Asia. But that&#8217;ll sort itself out.”
The Commerce Department’s quarterly report on GDP released last month <a href="https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gross-domestic-product" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showed</a> that the U.S. economy contracted 0.3%, at the time raising fears that the United States may hit the technical definition of a recession, two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.
New economic data has since <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/05/15/tariffs-inflation-recession-data" target="_blank" rel="noopener">relieved</a> those concerns. In April, retail sales rose by 0.1%. Revised data showed that retail sales rose by 1.7% in March, a 0.2 percentage point increase. With positive signs for consumer spending, inflationary signals also came back positive. The Producer Price Index fell by 0.5% in April after holding steady in March.
“If you actually take a very hard look at the data, a lot of the shrinkage in GDP was driven by reduction in government spending, which is a good thing,” said Nelles on negative growth in the first three months of the year.
“I think that when they do the second review of GDP, it&#8217;s probably going to be zero to slightly positive,” he predicted. “I think Q2 is going to be positive as well, but it wasn&#8217;t a concern.”
The latest Consumer Price Index data on April came in cooler than expected, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/business/inflation-prices-tariffs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showing</a> a 2.3 % increase in prices from a year ago.
“That&#8217;s the third consecutive month that we&#8217;ve had cooler than expected inflation, which tells me that the economy isn’t quite sure what it wants to do yet,” said Nelles. “But it definitely it’s saying I don&#8217;t feel like I need to heat up right now. I just need to bring inflation down and we need to see what’s gonna happen.”
“What I wish the president would do is get rid of uncertainty. I wish he would talk about what the plan is because, right now, it feels like the plan changes based on what he sees on X or on Truth Social,” Nelles said. “That creates a lot of uncertainty in the economy and in the business world, and that&#8217;s why you saw the stock market go down so much in the month of April. But now we&#8217;ve actually gone back up to the point where we&#8217;ve regained everything that we&#8217;ve lost. So, you know, the market likes what we&#8217;re doing.”
Since Trump’s Liberation Day announcement, the administration has entered into negotiations with dozens of countries to rewrite the United States’ trade deals. The process could take a year if not longer to hammer out the details. In the meantime, businesses in the United States will be forced to reckon with the tariff system largely put in place by the president.
The White House could choose to lighten tariffs on countries that agree to negotiate in good faith, Nelles said, or the president may leave in place broad 10% tariffs on countries to increase revenue to the federal government until new trade agreements are signed. If the president chooses the latter option, buyers and suppliers will have to work out together how to handle the tariffs while international trade continues to flow.
Either way, “the net impact will be quite low,” said Nelles.

Apocalyptic Predictions About Trump’s Trade Wars Never Came True. Here’s Why.

Economy

Tariffs

World

A Spirit Airlines passenger posted a video which has since gone viral showing cockroaches crawling around on the inside of the aircraft, which prompted a response from airline reps.
Symoné Beez originally shared the post to X on May 11. “Never again will I fly [Spirit Airlines],” she wrote in the video caption. “I&#8217;ve flown over 500,000 miles on Delta and have never in my life seen roaches on a plane this is crazy.”
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Never again will I fly <a href="https://twitter.com/SpiritAirlines?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SpiritAirlines</a> . I&#39;ve flown over 500,000 miles on Delta and have never in my life seen roaches on a plane this is crazy. <a href="https://t.co/gIIMHpsOG9">pic.twitter.com/gIIMHpsOG9</a>
&mdash; Symoné B. Beez (@SymoneBeez) <a href="https://twitter.com/SymoneBeez/status/1921526062887936034?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
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One video showed a brown roach crawling up the back of a chair from the back seat pocket as another airline passenger murmured in the background. Another clip showed a roach crawling up the plane’s wall.
The next day, Beez posted a follow up that said, “Update I was given a $60 [Spirit Airlines] credit… I won&#8217;t be flying Spirit again one and done for me lol.”
The airline passenger posted a photo of the letter she received with the voucher. It said, “We sincerely apologize for what happened on your recent trip. We care about your satisfaction and want to make this right. Please accept our apologies along with this voucher for future travel to any of our destinations.”
She also responded to commenters who said cockroaches were commonly seen on planes.
“All the people saying roaches are common on planes are lying LMAO I&#8217;ve flown 550,000 miles with  Delta. I&#8217;ve never even seen an ant on Delta let alone two big a** roaches in first class,” Beez wrote.
Spirit Airlines responded to the video by issuing a statement saying the company was &#8220;aware of the video&#8221; and their &#8220;maintenance team thoroughly inspected the aircraft involved and addressed the issue.&#8221;
&#8220;We maintain high standards of cleanliness across our fleet and want all of our guests to feel comfortable when traveling with us,&#8221; a spokesperson told <a href="https://people.com/cockroaches-captured-on-video-crawling-up-the-walls-of-spirit-airlines-cabin-to-trapped-passenger-s-horror-11734815">People</a>.
The clip of the crawling roaches has 8 million views on X as of Thursday. Many commenters weighed in on the situation, including those who stated they were airline employees.
“I’ve deada** never seen a roach on a plane and been on all different kind of planes except Spirit,” one person <a href="https://x.com/camperry21/status/1921982318488559677">noted</a>.
“[I]t’s not common, but it’s not unheard of,” another person <a href="https://x.com/nonamerising/status/1922047588716388837">replied</a>. “I worked for a major airline for years. those planes don’t get deep cleaned like you’d think, and people (travelers and employees) can bring from home all kinds of stuff. roaches, bedbugs, etc. I’ve seen roaches in both DCA and PHL.”
“I used to work for a major airline and have flown internationally and domestically. I have never seen so much as an ant on a plane. Spirit is just ridiculous. They’re so awful that I forfeited my return ticket on them. I ate it &amp; paid another carrier more because, NO,” someone else <a href="https://x.com/alloydesq/status/1922003862367465490">wrote</a>.

cockroach

Video Of Roaches Crawling Walls Of Spirit Airlines Flight Goes Viral; Airline Responds

Airlines

Airplane

Flights

General

Social Media

U.S.

Vanity Fair is making some bold claims about the popularity of protein, saying that it’s become popular because of “influential podcast bros,” the MAGA movement, and an “undeniably gendered” interest from those who have more testosterone.
The article is being absolutely trashed online by many who understand that protein is a building block of the human diet and is beneficial for both men and women. 
&#8220;This is undeniably one of the dumbest, most hate inspired screeds I’ve ever seen. The hard left (ie Vanity Fair &amp; their supplicants) want you drugged, sick and sterile. What a sad, pathetic existence this must be,&#8221; one X user <a href="https://x.com/joeschmo1616/status/1919061152719335684">wrote</a> in reply. 
&#8220;You know things are going good when vanity fair is upset about protein,&#8221; Trent Staggs, a mayor from Utah, <a href="https://x.com/MayorStaggs/status/1919200254924095833">wrote</a> in reply.
“Vanity Fair&#8217;s ‘MAGA protein’ piece is peak idiocy. Mocks basic fitness as a far-right scheme, skipping science for dumb clicks. Garbage,” another reply <a href="https://x.com/SockstoBed/status/1919095114304999894">said</a>. 
The <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/story/protein-maga-craze?srsltid=AfmBOoq1dzywwPVzEFeodGZyZN0DGUc-IWHudBjT-loBMjzgPvmvPr7N">article</a> by Keziah Weir gives several examples from the “manosphere helmed by Donald Trump” which includes a “vocal contingent of intense protein-maxing ‘health’ obsessives.” Weir mentions podcasters, including Joe Rogan, Theo Von, and “The Liver King,” as prime examples of those promoting protein intake.
“By 2015, psychologists were finding that the overconsumption of protein among men could constitute an eating disorder. Was it correlation, coincidence, or some lean-meat canary in the proverbial coal mine that it was into this proteinous landscape that Donald Trump—burger loving, locker room talking, and all—announced his bid for the presidency?” the author wrote.
Weir added, “And now, amid a shrinking economy, following strides and setbacks for women’s rights via #MeToo and its backlash (including the overturning of Roe v. Wade), as well as marriage equality, visibility, and media representation for queer and trans people with a similar subsequent ‘anti-woke’ recoil—we have a second Trump term, MAHA, and what menswear commentator Derek Guy calls the &#8216;slim-fit revolution&#8217; of the manfluencer sphere.”
“Whether our current protein path leads to an accidental brush with transcendence, or face down on the pavement as gunshots ricochet nearby, remains to be seen,&#8221; the author writes in conclusion.

Protein powder

Vanity Fair Trashed For Claiming MAGA Is To Blame For America’s Protein Obsession

Vanity Fair Trashed For Claiming MAGA Is To Blame For America's Protein Obsession

Food

Health

MAGA

Vanity Fair

Seven Iranians in Great Britain were arrested in two suspected terror cells for planning attacks or threatening national security, law enforcement said Sunday.
London&#8217;s Metropolitan Police said they had arrested five men between the ages of 29 and 46 on Saturday on suspicion of preparing “a terrorist act.” Four of the men were Iranian, while the nationality of the fifth was yet to be determined. The Iranians were questioned under section 5 of the United Kingdom&#8217;s Terrorism Act.
Three other Iranians were detained under section 27 of the National Security Act 2023, applicable to anyone involved in “foreign power threat activity.”
“Speculation mounted on Sunday evening the suspected terror group was looking to hit a synagogue or another target linked to the Jewish community,” The Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14678925/sas-swoop-iran-terror-cell-major-attack-britain.html/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, adding that at the time of their arrests, the terrorists were “reportedly hours away from staging a massacre.”
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/may/04/uk-arrests-five-men-including-four-iranians-over-suspected-terrorist-plot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According</a> to British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, the “two major operations” arresting the suspected terrorists prevented one of the biggest threats “we have seen in recent years,” adding, “These are major operations and the ongoing investigation is immensely important, and, of course, it involves Iranian nationals in both investigations. But this reflects the complexity of the kinds of challenges to our national security we continue to face.&#8221;
Last October, Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, <a href="https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/seven-iranian-nationals-arrested-terrorism-k4wwa0af">said</a> the agency had dealt with 20 “potentially lethal” plots backed by Iran since 2022. In March of this year, similarly, former MI6 boss Sir Richard Dearlove said Iran and its proxies constitute a “threat” to British Jews.
“The threat from Iran sits in a wider context of the growing, diversifying and evolving threat that the UK faces from malign activity by a number of states,” British security minister Dan Jarvis recently <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/terror-arrests-came-in-context-of-raised-warnings-about-iran-with-ongoing-chaos-in-its-own-backyard-13361523" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the British parliament.
“The threat from states has become increasingly interconnected in nature, blurring the lines between: domestic and international; online and offline; and states and their proxies,” he continued. “Turning specifically to Iran, the regime has become increasingly emboldened, asserting itself more aggressively to advance their objectives and undermine ours.”
Iran’s hatred of President Donald Trump has also been more in evidence lately; the editor of the Iranian newspaper Kayhan, Hossein Shariatmadari, who is closely associated with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, <a href="https://www.memri.org/reports/hossein-shariatmadari-kayhan-editor-and-close-associate-supreme-leader-khamenei-day-not-far" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> on April 4 of Trump, “I said: He has crossed every line! The day is not far off when a few bullets will be fired into his hollow head to avenge the blood of the martyr [Qassem] Soleimani, and he will drink his cursed cup of death!” On April 7, he published an article in which he said his statements were based on Khamenei&#8217;s own comments.
As far back as 2011, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-112hhrg73741/html/CHRG-112hhrg73741.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> before Congress, “Recent reports indicate that the Iranian government is a threat to homeland security by attempting to assassinate the Saudi ambassador on our soil using drug cartels operating on our doorstep. &#8230;  In February, the International Atomic Energy Agency director agreed that Iranian leaders seemed very determined to  build a nuclear weapon. &#8230; Remember that World War I started because of an assassination of a foreign diplomat.”
After noting the various instances where Iran’s proxies had killed hundreds of Americans, retired U.S. Army General John M. Keane prophetically warned, “This much I do know: If we continue the half-measures of the past, the Iranians will continue to kill us, will continue to sponsor terrorism and use their proxies against our interests, and will continue to pursue nuclear weapons. The next nightmare the world is awaiting is around the corner, and it is an unchecked Iran with nuclear weapons.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei

‘Hours Away From Staging A Massacre’: Numerous Iranians Arrested In Great Britain

Great Britain

Terrorism

United Kingdom

Political commentator Mark Levin, who also <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114355616823261590" target="_blank" rel="noopener">serves</a> on the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security advisory council, delivered a message from Jerusalem warning that the Trump administration must not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons.
Levin was in Israel for the two days of Yom HaZikaron (Day of Remembrance), which honors the tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers, men and women, who gave their lives for the Jewish state, and Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day), the following day.
Standing in front of the Western wall, the retaining wall behind which is the Temple Mount, the holiest place in Judaism and where the First and Second Temples stood, Levin pointed out that Jerusalem and Israel are sacred for both Jews and Christians, stating, “I’m standing here at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the Holy Land for Jews and Christians. That wall was breached by the Romans, and the Second Temple was burned to the ground. Jews survived.”
“I want to make something very, very clear,” he declared. “The Iranian regime, Islamo-Nazi terrorist genocidal regime wants to get nuclear weapons, intercontinental ballistic missiles, shoot at America one day, destroy this: the Holy Land of Jews and Christians.”
“Let me tell you something, folks: we don’t get second chances with maniacs like this,” he warned. “So rather than them have nuclear bombs to attack us, why are we protecting their nuclear sites from our bombs? Explain that to me. So we’re going to have an EO (executive order), we’re gonna write it on paper, and they’re gonna say, ‘Y’know, we’re terrorists, we violate rules; we cut people’s throats, but we’re gonna honor the deal?’”
“No. They’re not gonna honor any deal, especially if there’s some deal where President Trump is president and then he leaves office. What about the next regime or the regime after that?” he asked rhetorically.
“This cannot be tolerated,” he asserted. “It’s bad enough that Communists have nuclear weapons, that fascists have nuclear weapons, but there’s not a terrorist country on the face of the earth that has a nuclear weapon. We must not usher it in.”
“This cannot stand,” Levin warned. “And I say that as an American that’s concerned about what happened on 9/11 and then other times that we have been attacked by these terrorists, too. They’re here. They’re here. They’re in this part of the world. Right here.”
“And now they’re vulnerable,” he stressed. “We’re gonna wait for their nuclear weapons and then wring our hands about it and say what are we gonna do about it? I don’t think so.”
“America, it’s time to speak out,” he proclaimed. “It’s time to rise up. Stop the Iranian nukes. Now is the time. “
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MARK AT THE WESTERN WALL IN JERUSALEM RIGHT NOW WARNING THE WORLD THAT IRAN MUST NEVER GET NUCLEAR WEAPONS PERIOD. <a href="https://t.co/7IWUfyO1uF">pic.twitter.com/7IWUfyO1uF</a>
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) <a href="https://twitter.com/marklevinshow/status/1917596618573877563?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
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RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-temple-mount-is-judaisms-holiest-site-and-it-always-has-been-heres-everything-you-need-to-know">The Temple Mount Is Judaism’s Holiest Site, And It Always Has Been. Here’s Everything You Need To Know</a>.

MixCollage-01-May-2025-09-59-AM-3513

‘We Don’t Get Second Chances With Maniacs Like This’: Levin Warns Iran Must Not Get Nuclear Weapons

Jerusalem

Mark Levin

Media

Nuclear Weapons

Politics

President Donald Trump mocked China on Tuesday for its pollution, which represents a sizable share of the world’s waste.
Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114372346621591852" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> a series of photos to his Truth Social account that showed islands of floating bottles, plastics, and other waste in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The president called the mess “A Gift from China.”
China is one of the foremost polluting countries, commonly ranking near the top on lists of nations that produce the most waste that finds its way into the natural environment. China was number four on a list of “highest ocean plastic waste polluters in 2025” put together by the United Kingdom’s <a href="https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/ocean-pollution-facts">GreenMatch</a>.
China produces 71,000 metric tons of plastic waste that ends up in the ocean, according to GreenMatch. China ranked just behind Malaysia, which produces 73,000 metric tons. The Philippines and India took the top two spots at 360,000 metric tons and 130,000 metric tons, respectively.
China’s plastic manufacturing sector is the largest in the world and contributes to its chronic appearance at the top of pollution lists.
“China is responsible for 32% of global plastic materials production in 2021, making it the world number one plastic producer by far. China is followed by the world’s second largest plastic producing region: North-America, they are responsible for 18% of the plastic production. In Europe, the plastic footprint is 15%,” according to hydration company <a href="https://www.aquablu.com/stories/world-8217-s-biggest-plastic-polluters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aquablue</a>.
The International Trade Administration <a href="https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/china-environmental-technology" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in 2023 that “China discharged 55.7 billion cubic meters of wastewater in 2021, 28.7% of which originated from industrial sources.”
“The PRC’s sludge volume could reach 90 million tons by 2025, according to the PRC’s National Development of Reform and Commission. … China’s sludge has low organic matter but possesses high silt and heavy metal content levels,” the Trade Administration said.
The evidence of China’s substantial waste is obvious. In 2022, the world’s largest buildup of plastic waste in the ocean floated between California and Hawaii. A study of the plastic island <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3192204/fishers-japan-and-china-among-biggest-contributors-plastic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that China was a top contributor. Waste from China was estimated to make up 32% of the plastic in the floating mound. Japan was the largest contributor to the monstrosity, responsible for an estimated 34% of the plastic waste.

floating garbage

Trump Is Right: China Is Literally Building An Island Made Of Trash

China

Earth Day

On the eve of April 10, 2025, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts underwent a patriotic transformation. 
Under the leadership of newly appointed President Richard Grenell, the iconic Washington, D.C., landmark made a bold and lasting statement: from now on, the building’s exterior lighting will shine every night with the vibrant and meaningful colors of red, white, and blue to honor the United States of America.
“The lights are a beautiful reminder of the American spirit,” Roma Daravi, Vice President of Public Relations at the Kennedy Center, told The Daily Wire. “The red, white, and blue colors are a powerful symbol of unity and our nation’s commitment to bringing people together. What better place for that than at the Kennedy Center, America’s institution for the Arts.”
Over the past several years, the Kennedy Center has taken on multiple different appearances.
The first big change happened in 2013 when the building was temporarily lit with colorful hues to celebrate a Nordic Festival’s “Northern Lights” exhibit. Then, in 2017, the Center started utilizing rainbow lighting annually during the Kennedy Center Honors. The Kennedy Center was lit yellow and blue in support of Ukraine back in 2022. It was also lit with purple and amber lights for the Women&#8217;s Suffrage Centennial back in August of 2020. 
Grenell choosing to light the building red, white, and blue every night going forward represents a permanent, year-round tribute to American values, his team explains. In contrast to landmarks like the Empire State Building, which rotates its lights for various causes, holidays, and marketing campaigns, the Kennedy Center will now be dedicated to displaying national pride.
The Kennedy Center has been in the news ever since President Trump took office and promised major reforms, including firing the entire board, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-dumps-kennedy-center-board-puts-immediate-end-to-drag-shows-for-kids">reported</a>.
“At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., GREAT AGAIN,” Trump wrote on social media in February. “Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP.”
The changes the new board made led to full-scale meltdowns on the Left, including protests expressed through <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-protesters-plan-to-save-kennedy-center-with-interpretive-dance-yes-really">interpretive dancing</a>. But their protests haven’t made much of a difference. The Kennedy Center just <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kennedy-center-breaks-all-time-attendance-record-after-lib-meltdown-over-trump">broke</a> its all-time attendance record for a public event it hosted on March 29, welcoming 11,000 attendees, of whom 76% were there for the first time.

The Kennedy Center

Red, White, And Blue Lights At Kennedy Center Will Be Permanent Fixture: ‘Reminder Of The American Spirit’

Exclusive: Kennedy Center Honors America With Permanent Patriotic Lighting

Kennedy Center

Patriotism

Washington D.C.

President Donald Trump is “dead serious” about Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and is willing to use military force if necessary, according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth appeared on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” to discuss nuclear talks between the United States and Iran that kicked off on Saturday. Hegseth said that while the administration is committed to finding a peaceful solution to Iran’s nuclear program, the president would not rule out using military force.
“President Trump is dead serious on this issue. He&#8217;s dead serious that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. He&#8217;s said that for 20 years. He&#8217;s been consistent. That is clear,” said Hegseth. “He&#8217;s dead serious that he wants it done at the negotiating table. He wants it done peacefully, and that&#8217;s why he&#8217;s going straight to these talks.”
The talks began on Saturday with delegations from the United States and Iran meeting in Oman. The teams were led respectively by U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
“These were productive talks yesterday. I don&#8217;t want to get ahead of our skis — Steve Witkoff does a fantastic job — but it was a good step, and they&#8217;re going to go at it again on Saturday,” Hegseth said.
“But [Trump] is also dead serious that if we can&#8217;t figure this out at the negotiating table, then there are other options — to include my department — to ensure that Iran never has a nuclear bomb.”
“We hope we never get there … but what we&#8217;re doing with the Houthis and what we&#8217;re doing in the region, we&#8217;ve shown a capability to go far, to go deep, and to go big,” he continued. “And, again, we don&#8217;t want to do that, but if we have to, we will to prevent the nuclear bomb in Iran&#8217;s hands.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecDef</a>: &quot;[<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> is] dead serious that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon &#8230; He&#39;s also dead serious that if we can&#39;t figure this out at the negotiating table, then there are other options.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/oVwUw16AcC">pic.twitter.com/oVwUw16AcC</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1911424740796825761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Iranian state-owned media <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/iran-says-nuclear-talks-with-trump-team-were-constructive-agrees-to-meet-again" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on Saturday that the two sides met in Oman “in a constructive atmosphere based on mutual respect.” The White House said in a statement that the delegations would meet again in a week.
“Special Envoy Witkoff underscored to Dr. Araghchi that he had instructions from President Trump to resolve our two nations’ differences through dialogue and diplomacy, if that is possible,” the White House said in a statement. “These issues are very complicated, and Special Envoy Witkoff’s direct communication today was a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome. The sides agreed to meet again next Saturday.”
The talks come as Trump has leaned on Iran publicly to curb the violence of its terror proxies across the Middle East, including the Houthis in Yemen. The president warned that Iran would be “in great danger” if the talks failed.
Araghchi wrote an op-ed published in The Washington Post last week that said Iran wants to make a deal and that the regime has been in contact with the Trump administration for weeks. Araghchi also claimed that Iran had upheld the conditions under the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated under former President Barack Obama. Trump had been highly critical of the deal, calling it “one-sided.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency found in February that Iran had blown past the 3.67% enrichment level for uranium set in the nuclear deal. Iran’s uranium stockpile is enriched to around 60%. Weapons-grade uranium is 90%. Iran’s stockpile is also many times larger than the limits set in the deal: approximately 8,294 kilograms to the deal’s cap of 300 kilograms.

Peter Hegseth

Hegseth: Trump ‘Dead Serious’ About Stopping Iran From Getting A Nuclear Bomb

Pete Hegseth

Steve Witkoff

U.S. officials met with Iranian diplomats in Oman on Saturday in an effort to begin talks to reach a new nuclear deal, the Iranian state-owned news outlet IRIB reported.
IRIB reported that the U.S. and Iranian officials met “in a constructive atmosphere based on mutual respect,” according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/11/politics/us-iran-nuclear-talks/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>. The talks were the first direct contact between a member of the Trump administration and the Iranian regime. Officials plan to meet again next week.
“After more than two and a half hours of indirect negotiations, the heads of the Iranian and American delegations spoke for a few minutes in the presence of the Omani foreign minister as they left the talks,” IRIB reported.
The White House confirmed the talks and meeting between Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
“Special Envoy Witkoff underscored to Dr. Araghchi that he had instructions from President Trump to resolve our two nations&#8217; differences through dialogue and diplomacy, if that is possible,” the White House said in a statement. “These issues are very complicated, and Special Envoy Witkoff&#8217;s direct communication today was a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome. The sides agreed to meet again next Saturday.”
The talks follow President Donald Trump’s repeated calls for a new nuclear deal and for Iran and its proxies, including the Houthis, to cease causing mayhem in the region.
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-iran-will-be-in-great-danger-if-saturdays-nuclear-talks-fail?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=5&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Says+Iran+Will+Be+In+%E2%80%98Great+Danger%E2%80%99+If+Saturday%E2%80%99s+Nuclear+Talks+Fail" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the talks on Monday, warning that if they are not successful, Iran would be “in great danger.”
“I think if the talks aren’t successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger.” Trump said. “It’s not a complicated formula. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, that’s all there is.”
“I think everybody agrees that doing a deal will be preferable to doing the obvious, and obvious is not something I want to be involved with or frankly that Israel wants to be involved with if they can avoid it,” Trump added. “So we’re going to see if we can avoid it, but it’s getting to be very dangerous territory.”
On Thursday, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said that the talks will determine if Iran is serious about a deal.
“What happens on Saturday would, I suppose, determine whether there&#8217;s more,&#8221; Bruce said during a press conference. “Right now, this is a meeting that is arranged. It is not part of some larger scheme or framework. It is a meeting to determine whether or not the Iranians are serious.”
In a Washington Post op-ed earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/in-wapo-op-ed-irans-foreign-minister-says-theyre-ready-to-make-a-deal-with-the-united-states" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the Iranian regime is ready to make a deal with the United States. He wrote that the Iranian regime has been exchanging messages and letters with the Trump administration for weeks and that the communication represents “a genuine attempt to clarify positions and open a window toward diplomacy.”
Responding to Trump’s threat of taking military action if a deal cannot be made, Araghchi said that in order to move forward, there needs to be an agreement that there is no “military option” or “military solution.”
“The proud Iranian nation, whose strength my government relies on for real deterrence, will never accept coercion or imposition,” the foreign minister wrote.
Araghchi, acknowledging Trump’s strong opposition to Barack Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal, made the claim that the Iranian regime has upheld the condition to not seek nuclear weapons.
A February <a href="https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/03/iran-non-proliferation-private-meeting.php#:~:text=In%20its%20most%20recent%20quarterly,significantly%20during%20the%20reporting%20period%2C" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from the International Atomic Energy Agency found that Iran’s uranium stockpile is enriched to 60 percent purity — close to the 90 percent level considered weapons-grade and far above the 3.67 percent limit set by the Iran deal. The total enriched uranium stockpile now stands at approximately 8,294 kilograms, vastly exceeding the deal’s cap of 300 kilograms.
Trump <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-ending-united-states-participation-unacceptable-iran-deal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">withdrew</a> from the deal during his first term in 2018, calling it “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”
Kassy Akiva contributed to this report.

Iran Says Nuclear Talks With Trump Team Were ‘Constructive,’ Agrees To Meet Again

Oman

A New Jersey Republican mayor ripped Jon Bon Jovi, saying the singer turned his town into “ground zero for homelessness.”
Toms River Township Mayor Dan Rodrick said a restaurant run by Bon Jovi’s nonprofit JBJ Soul Foundation, is causing more trouble than good, especially after it added a temporary pop-up location at the Ocean County Library, per <a href="https://www.nj.com/ocean/2025/04/nj-mayor-blasts-bon-jovis-soul-kitchen-for-homeless-gathering-near-library.html">NJ.com</a>.
He said the restaurant opening has led to homeless individuals being bused into the area, a move which the mayor claims is causing problems for the local community.
Per the outlet, the temporary restaurant is not a traditional soup kitchen or pay-what-you-can establishment, but instead, they serve three-course meals and allow diners to pay it forward and cover a future meal for anyone who can’t afford it. Patrons who can’t pay are offered the opportunity to volunteer in the community kitchen in exchange for food. 
The pop-up restaurant at the library opened in February and is slated to be shut down in May after its permit was extended from the initial closure date of March 31. The other location is permanent. 
&#8220;We don&#8217;t want to be ground zero for homelessness. We don&#8217;t want to be a dumping ground for the homeless problem in the state of New Jersey. The state of New Jersey needs to step up and take care of this problem. They have the resources, and bussing people in from all over to Toms River is not a safe situation,&#8221; Rodrick told Fox News Digital in an <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jon-bon-jovi-slammed-turning-nj-town-ground-zero-homeless">interview</a>.
The mayor also noted that many of the homeless people encountered are “from outside the town, outside the county and, in some cases, outside the state of New Jersey.”
Rodrick said he hasn’t spoken to Bon Jovi directly but is frustrated that the restaurant opened in the area, which already has been struggling with its homeless population. Per NJ.com, the municipality does not have a licensed shelter, and last year residents shot down a proposal to build a 17-bed facility on the property of a local church.
&#8220;[Bon Jovi’s] already operating … something in the Silverton section of town. But it was like a restaurant where people go, and they pay for their meal, and they feel good that the money&#8217;s going to be used for something. But this pop-up thing at the library was primarily geared toward making the library, the public library, ground zero for homelessness,&#8221; Rodrick told Fox News.
The mayor also said that the issue began when the Ocean County Board decided to open a warming center, which led to nonprofits &#8220;bussing people into town.&#8221;
&#8220;We wound up with dozens and dozens of people being dropped off downtown every single day at the library no less, where a mom should feel comfortable walking into the library with her daughter and get a book. You shouldn&#8217;t have to walk through gangs of two dozen intoxicated or mentally ill homeless individuals, and that&#8217;s the real issue here,&#8221; he said, noting that there have been several police and EMS calls from the library in recent weeks.
Rodrick also addressed a potential financial incentive for the nonprofits. “These people are being dropped by in our community by agencies pretending to be homeless advocates who get paid by the head to import homeless people into our town from all over the state and the East Coast,” he said, per <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/05/us-news/bon-jovi-feuds-with-jersey-shore-mayor-over-eatery-for-the-poor/">The New York Post</a>. “These agencies are making millions of dollars importing homeless. Their plan is not about compassion; it’s about people wanting to profit off the homeless issue.”
In a <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/05/us-news/bon-jovi-feuds-with-jersey-shore-mayor-over-eatery-for-the-poor/">statement</a> to the New York Post, Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, who both run the nonprofit, said, &#8220;The JBJ Soul Foundation and JBJ Soul Kitchen are committed to ending homelessness through real solutions. We are not here to just move people around or force them into the shadows. Our Foundation has built nearly a thousand units of affordable and supportive housing.”
&#8220;Through our JBJ Soul Kitchen, we connect people to resources and services. Whether they need employment, mental health support, or housing, we try to remove the barriers that are keeping them from thriving, not just surviving,” it says.

Jon Bon Jovi

NJ GOP Mayor Says Jon Bon Jovi Turned His Town Into ‘Ground Zero’ For Homeless

NJ Mayor Says Jon Bon Jovi Turned His Town Into 'Ground Zero' For Homeless

Celebrities

Homeless

Homelessness

New Jersey

Scientists claim they have brought the dire wolf species back from extinction after 13,000 years, thanks to genetic engineering.
On Monday, the Texas-based biotechnology and genetic engineering company Colossal Biosciences announced that three dire wolf pups were born last fall. The species became popular in modern culture thanks to their inclusion in the popular HBO series “Game of Thrones,” which inspired the company to name the young wolves Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi, which references characters in the series.
“Our team took DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies,” Colossal CEO Ben Lamm said, per the <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/07/us-news/dire-wolf-from-game-of-thrones-revived-in-de-extinction-project/">New York Post</a>. “It was once said, ‘any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ Today, our team gets to unveil some of the magic they are working on and its broader impact on conservation.”
The team used &#8221; somatic cell nuclear transfer&#8221; to clone high-quality cell lines, which were transferred into donor egg cells and then implanted into a surrogate, the Post reported. 
Two pups were born in October 2024, while a third was born in January 2025.
Colossal made headlines last month for engineering a “woolly mouse,” which they made by injecting mammoth DNA into mice to make them grow thick coats. Per <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14580605/colossal-biosciences-extinction-revive-dire-wolf-remus.html">The Daily Mail</a>, the company has a stated goal of bringing the woolly mammoth back from extinction by 2028. 
Paleontologist Julie Meachen told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/science/colossal-dire-wolf-deextinction.html">The New York Times</a> that dire wolves lived in North America during the Ice Age and were contemporaries of mastodons and saber tooth tigers. Their closest living relatives are gray wolves, which are about 25% smaller. Dire wolves also have more muscular jaws and shoulders. 
The company’s announcement has inspired many reactions online, ranging from excitement to skepticism. The official “Jurassic World” account posted its response to X, saying, “We see no possible way this could go wrong.”
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We see no possible way this could go wrong <a href="https://t.co/EQaOH4fJYk">https://t.co/EQaOH4fJYk</a>
&mdash; Jurassic World (@JurassicWorld) <a href="https://twitter.com/JurassicWorld/status/1909386233744330991?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Many commenters said it was a stretch to call these genetically modified wolf cubs actual dire wolves.
“While these genetically engineered wolves exhibit physical and behavioral traits reminiscent of dire wolves, they are not true dire wolves,” one person <a href="https://x.com/CryptoNDN/status/1909287183309037846">wrote</a>. “The genetic modifications introduced specific dire wolf characteristics into the gray wolf genome, resulting in animals that are essentially gray wolves with selected phenotypic traits of dire wolves, rather than exact replicas of the extinct species.”
&#8220;This isn’t life finding a way, this is human interference,&#8221; another person <a href="https://x.com/thehamburglar33/status/1909575090544820231">observed</a>. &#8220;Someone forgot the lesson of just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should. Or in other terms did they step back and ask the question &#8216;why are we doing this?'&#8221;

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