Tag: donald trump

Trump pardons Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he is issuing a “full and unconditional” pardon to Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife, Imelda, using a lengthy social media post to accuse the Biden administration of targeting political opponents, even within its own party.

“One of the clearest examples of this was when Crooked Joe used the FBI and DOJ to ‘take out’ a member of his own Party after Highly Respected Congressman Henry Cuellar bravely spoke out against Open Borders, and the Biden Border ‘Catastrophe,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Henry, I don’t know you, but you can sleep well tonight — Your nightmare is finally over!” Trump continued, referring to bribery charges brought against the congressman in 2024.

Responding to the pardon on X, Cuellar thanked Trump “for his tremendous leadership and for taking the time to look at the facts.”

“This pardon gives us a clean slate. The noise is gone. The work remains. And I intend to meet it head on,” he wrote.

The 11-term congressman, who filed for reelection Wednesday as a Democrat, has been likely to face a competitive reelection in a Trump-won district that Republicans are targeting — making the president’s pardon a puzzling move as his party tries to defend its majority in 2026.

Asked Wednesday if he’ll change parties, Cuellar told reporters on Capitol Hill, “No, like I said, nothing has changed.”

And Cuellar said he did not cut a deal with the White House to earn the pardon. “No, no,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju when pressed on the topic later Wednesday. The congressman said he “didn’t know that this was coming,” adding he would go to a White House Christmas party next week and would thank the president personally.

Keep reading

Pentagon Prepares for Possibility That Iran War Will Last Through September

The US military is preparing for the possibility that the US-Israeli war against Iran lasts until September of this year, according to a report from POLITICO, far beyond President Trump’s initial four-week timeline.

The report said that US Central Command is asking the Pentagon to send more intelligence officers to its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, to support operations against Iran for at least 100 days, but likely through September.

The news of the Pentagon preparing for a long war comes as US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has said that the US is sending more forces to the Middle East and will be escalating its bombing campaign.

“More bombers, fighters are arriving just today. And now with complete control of the skies, we will be using 500-pound, 1000-pound, and 2000-pound GPS-and-laser-guided precision gravity bombs, which we have a nearly unlimited stockpile,” Hegseth said on Wednesday.

Hegseth has also declined to set a timeline on the war. “You can say four weeks, but it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three,” he said. “Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo. The enemy is off balance, and we’re going to keep them off balance.”

So far, more than 1,000 Iranian civilians have been killed by US-Israeli strikes, and at least six US soldiers have been killed by Iranian drone attacks. The Pentagon is working to get more missiles and air-defense munitions into the region, as its stockpiles have quickly dwindled after the first five days of war.

The POLITICO report also detailed how the State Department was scrambling to get stranded Americans out of the Middle East as the administration had no evacuation plan despite a months-long military buildup in the region and Trump’s constant threats to bomb Iran.

Keep reading

They Are Still Lying About Iraq

The lack of shame exhibited by the US government as it lies about Iraqi improvised explosive device (IED) attacks that killed thousands of American service members to justify its new war on Iran is breathtaking. President Trump led off his press conference today, the first since the attacks began Saturday morning, with this lie. Trump’s proxies on cable news, in the newspapers and online have been repeating it non-stop.

The lie is essentially that American soldiers were killed and wounded in Iraq at the orders of the Iranians. That the people responsible for blowing up American vehicles and sending home US soldiers in caskets or without body parts were Iranians, not Iraqis. The reality, of course, is that responsibility for those deaths and mutilations belongs to George W. Bush and every politician, general, government official, journalist, pundit and citizen who supported that war. I put myself into that disgraceful camp as someone who twice went voluntarily to that war.

This lie gets recycled whenever the prospect of war with Iran is present. For example, in 2019, the allegation appeared as the US imposed severe sanctions on Iran and labeled the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps a terrorist organization (the first time the US government designated a government or a military as a terrorist organization). These actions, following the unilateral abrogation of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran by the US, led to year-long tensions that culminated in the US assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, who the American government and press labeled as having “American blood on his hands”, and retaliatory Iranian missile attacks on US forces in Iraq.

To begin with, the majority of US service members killed and wounded in the occupation of Iraq were killed by Sunni resistance groups, NOT Shia resistance groups. Sunni groups accounted for more than 80% of American deaths. These Sunni groups did not receive any support from Iran. These Sunni groups, like the Taliban in Afghanistan, did get a great deal of support from persons and institutions throughout Sunni countries in the Middle East, especially from the Gulf monarchies, Saudi Arabia chief among them. Yet, in Washington, DC’s calculus, these states don’t have the blood on their hands that Iran does, even as 4 out of 5 Americans were killed by Iraqi Sunni groups.

Sunni groups did fight against Shia groups that may have had a relationship with Iran. The Shia groups also fought against each other. Some Shia groups fought against the Americans. The Americans killed and wounded by Shia groups using IEDs were killed and wounded by Iraqis, not Iranians. Yes, there was a small Iranian presence in Iraq, acting as advisors to the Shia groups. However, the Iranian role was dwarfed by organic Iraqi resistance to occupation and sectarian commitments to one side or the other in intra-Iraqi fighting.

Keep reading

Donald Trump’s Unjust and Unconstitutional War

Over the past weekend, some apologists for President Donald Trump’s recently ordered attacks on Iran argued that because Trump’s plans call for a quick strike, the attacks do not constitute a war. George Orwell is vindicated yet again.

These apologists believe that calling a war something else means it is not a war, and so moral and constitutional justifications are unnecessary.

No rational observer looking at 2,000-pound bombs being dropped on military targets and thousands of missiles being fired indiscriminately at both civilians and military personnel in Iran can conclude that these events constitute anything but a war.

That recognition triggers a series of analyses — moral, constitutional and legal.

The moral dimension addresses both the causes and the conduct of war.

The standard requirements for a just war are that war is a last resort to avoid truly imminent violence or profound massive injustice. It must be triggered by a legitimate authority, its purpose must be clear and just, and the damage it produces must not outweigh the evil it purports to eliminate. Its conduct must avoid killing non-combatants, and the weapons and tactics used must be proportionate to the war’s objectives.

Just war, of course, prohibits the employment of any weapons that fail to discriminate between combatants and non-combatants.

Trump’s war in Iran fails all these. It was not commenced by a legitimate authority as Congress has not declared war on Iran. The president and his folks have not identified any imminent violence Iran was about to inflict upon the U.S. They have confused the public on the war’s purpose. Is it to force out the current Iranian government or to destroy its offensive weaponry and nuclear capabilities or — the newest condition — to eliminate its navy?

None of these is a just cause as the U.S. has no moral or legal basis for removing a foreign government or emasculating it in the face of its enemies. As for damage, we have seen already the killing of 150 little girls while at a school last weekend and the attacks on a Tehran hospital.

The failure of Trump’s war to comply even minimally with moral standards is also exemplified by the constitutional implications raised by a presidentially initiated war. When James Madison and his colleagues were addressing the war clauses in the Constitution, they were in easy agreement that if the president could both declare war and wage war, he wouldn’t be a president, he’d be prince.

Keep reading

Biotech and Pesticide Corporations Are “Winning” Under Trump’s Second Administration

 On February 18, 2026, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) titled “Promoting the National Defense by Ensuring an Adequate Supply of Elemental Phosphorus and Glyphosate-Based Herbicides.” The order invokes the Defense Production Act (DPA) and states that the production of glyphosate-based herbicides is essential to US national security.

The EO is the latest in a series of actions by the Trump administration that benefit the pesticide industry and the biotech companies producing genetically engineered (GE) food products.

The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement—launched in part by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s 2024 presidential campaign—has shown divided reactions to Trump’s EO. Some view it as a betrayal of the movement’s goals, while others remain optimistic that the administration may still accomplish health-focused reforms.

The Executive Order notes that phosphorus is an important component for “defense supply chains” and is “crucial to military readiness and national defense.” It states:

“It is a key input in smoke, illumination, and incendiary devices and is a critical component for manufacturing the semiconductors that are central to numerous defense technologies, such as radar, solar cells, sensors, and optoelectronics.”

Beyond military applications, the EO also outlines the current need for phosphorus as a precursor to the production of glyphosate-based herbicides, which “play a critical role in maintaining America’s agricultural advantage” by allegedly allowing farmers to “efficiently and cost-effectively produce food and livestock feed.”

The order describes glyphosate-based herbicides as “the most widely used crop protection tools in United States agriculture” and “a cornerstone of this Nation’s agricultural productivity and rural economy.” It claims they allow farmers and ranchers to maintain high yields and low costs while keeping “healthy, affordable food options” accessible to American families.

The order claims that without access to glyphosate-based herbicides the agricultural productivity of the US would be jeopardized, leading to increased pressure on the domestic food system. “Ensuring an adequate supply of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides is thus crucial to the national security and defense, including food-supply security, which is essential to protecting the health and safety of Americans,” the order says.

Keep reading

Great Nations Do Not Fight Endless Wars

“Great nations do not fight endless wars,” Donald Trump said during his campaign when highlighting his “Americas First” message. Trump explicitly promised to maintain peace and keep American troops out of foreign wars. American blood has been shed in the Middle East once more amid Operation Epic Fury. Could this escalating war cause MAGA to fracture?

“We are not going to war with Iran. We are going to make sure they never have a nuclear weapon,” Trump once said. I’ve mentioned that I was particularly impressed with Donald Trump after visiting Mar-a-Lago. He was the first politician to voice genuine concern over American lives lost fighting endless wars. “After 19 years, it is time for them to police their own country. Bring our soldiers back home but closely watch what is going on and strike with a thunder like never before, if necessary!” he posted in 2020. Trump later vowed to bring our troops home by Christmas of that year.

The man who once remorsefully spoke of dreading watching mothers mourning their sons and daughters has been compromised, infiltrated by the neocons. He admitted that the US should have never been in Iraq or Afghanistan. He did not troops in Syria. Trump clearly acknowledged that the Middle East has endless generations of feuding and rivalry that cannot be stopped. “Peace in the Middle East” cannot be attained through warfare, and truthfully, it simply cannot be attained because of the deep rooted ideology that has been passed on throughout thousands of years.

The neocons fantasized of a 6-week war in Iraq back in 2003, but US troops remained on the ground until December 2011. The strike on Iran is expected to last “four to give weeks,” according to Washington officials who say they are on a “clear, decisive mission.” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said it will take “some time” but “not years…not an endless war.”

Americans voted for peace and nationalism after four years of globalist policies. Trump has shot himself in the foot. Exactly on target with the ECM, 2026 is emerging as a major geopolitical turning point. The model has been warning that this year would mark a shift into a broader phase of instability. What we are witnessing is not is cyclical.

Keep reading

The ‘Empire of Lies’ Comes for Iran

Benjamin Franklin said it best: “There never was a good war, or a bad peace.”

Now that war is again underway – the third attack on Iran in two years – people of healthy human consciousness must pray that the destruction and carnage is limited.

Yet the trajectory appears to be grim.

Wars often progress in unexpected ways. The Persian Gulf region is a tangled spaghetti plate of interests including economic, religious, cultural, and geopolitical. None of our politicians have proved capable of comprehending those interests and foreseeing the consequences of their elective wars. President George W. Bush was stunningly uninformed about the existence of Sunni and Shia factions when he invaded Iraq, a war that inadvertently empowered Iran. Officials who assured us that they knew where the phantom Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were, were quite wrong. Just as they were wrong when they foolishly assured us that the war would last “six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.”

Similarly, as many quipped after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Washington took twenty years, trillions of dollars, and four presidents to replace the Taliban with the Taliban.

Nor can it be allowed to slip down the memory hole that only a year ago the Deep State installed Ahmed al-Sharaa, the terrorist head chopper formerly known as al-Julani, as the president of Syria. It must not be forgotten that until recently al-Sharaa carried a $10 million dollar bounty on his head placed by the U.S. government. He was a State Department “Specially Designated Global Terrorist.” But now the new president of Syria, having been sanitized and empowered by the Deep State, is fêted by Donald Trump in the Oval Office.   

The U.S. global military empire – the Empire of Lies – is capable of exerting force, but utterly incapable of understanding the consequences of its regime change wars.

That is but one reason that the Constitution, often cited but seldom adhered to, lodged warmaking authority with the people’s representatives. The Founders knew from historical precedent that heads of states and executive branches have a propensity to make needless war. Thus they provided that the people who pay for it with their lives, limbs, and prosperity, would make the decision to go to war. Those decisions are to be made through their elected representatives who become more judicious about engaging in needless wars since they know they can be held accountable for their judgement and their votes.

No one – I repeat, no one – knows how events will unfold from here. Already President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are talking about the prospect of American soldiers – “boot on the ground” – in Iran, while Israel has clearly threatened the use of nuclear weapons. As reports, spin jobs, and chest-thumping proceed, the proverbial wisdom that the first casualty of war is the truth should be borne in mind. Despite the escalation that we are seeing, people of healthy human consciousness must pray that the destruction and carnage is limited. Our voices must be heard and echo throughout the marbled palaces of Washington.

Keep reading

Trump’s Venezuela Oil Plan Runs Into Hard Reality

Last week US President Donald Trump announced that Venezuela’s interim authorities will turn over up to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, before later declaring his administration will control Venezuela’s oil sales “indefinitely”.

Decrying the state of Venezuela’s oil sector, including that the South American country now pumps a fraction of what it used to, Trump said, “We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies — the biggest anywhere in the world — go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country.”

While that sounds like a great opportunity for the US oil majors, it’s one they may want to refuse. Why? Because the oil underneath Venezuela, which has the largest crude reserves in the world, greater even than Saudi Arabia and Iran, is technically challenging to extract and costly.

Moreover, it’s uncertain whether there would a change in the way Venezuela and its oil industry are being run, which presents a huge political risk for companies to return and operate there.

Former President Hugo Chavez nationalized the oil industry in the 1990s, and in 2007, he forced Exxon and ConocoPhillips out, after the companies refused to accept new terms that would give the Venezuelan state oil company, PDVSA, a majority share in their projects.

ConocoPhillips is still owed about $10 billion.

Only Chevron is currently authorized to operate in Venezuela and export crude to the United States.

“Until Caracas has a new government capable of gaining the confidence of international investors and banks, oil companies will be reluctant to make any major commitments,” states a recent Reuters piece.

When Trump met with oil executives last Friday, Exxon’s CEO Darren Woods said, “We’ve had our assets seized there twice, and so you can imagine to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes.”

Trump has said the US government is prepared to provide security guarantees but not money for oil projects.

Keep reading

Questions Mount Over Viral Claims of Apocalyptic Iran War Briefings in the Military

A viral claim alleges that as many as 200 U.S. troops at 50 military installations were told the war in Iran is meant to hasten the Biblical end times and the return of Christ. But is the story true?

While the claims have been breathlessly repeated online—and even by some major outlets—key red flags have been ignored, as Americans hit “repost” on a story that feels all too plausible in the current news environment. The truth, however, is far less clear in this rabbit hole of uncertainty, which may reveal more about the fractured nature of modern society than anything else.

Apocalypse Claims

The story first appeared in a Monday evening report by Jonathan Larsen on his Substack, in which he relayed a claim by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) that it had received reports of apocalyptic religious briefings on the Iran war conducted by military leadership across more than 40 units stationed at roughly 30 installations. MRFF highlighted a single email, which they claim is representative of over 110 incidents, all of which are being kept confidential to avoid reprisals. 

The email in question details the account of a non-commissioned officer (NCO) in a unit outside of Iran, who claims that his commander told him to instruct his troops that President Trump is anointed by God and that the Iran war is the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy relating to Armageddon and the return of Christ. At the end of the email, the NCO states that these actions violated their constitutional oath and threatened morale and unit cohesion.

Larsen’s reporting provides the first clues that MRFF president and founder, Mikey Weinstein, isn’t your typical polished non-profit figurehead. Quotes attributed to Weinstein include words such as “wet dream” and “shit”—unusual language selection for a representative of an advocacy group—as he explains his issues with Christian fundamentalist proselytization in the military, and how that violates the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Weinstein also notes that the group has received similar complaints from service members during previous conflicts involving Israel. In a lengthier statement at the close of the article, Weinstein refers to President Trump as “the narcissistic, sociopathic, orange, POS tRump.”

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation

On Tuesday morning, a post on the Military Religious Freedom Foundation website expanded on the original claim, now indicating knowledge of 200 complaints involving apocalyptic preaching about the Iran conflict from 50 installations.

A look at the organization’s website reveals more of Weinstein’s style: articles on the site generally feature provocative titles and dramatic, politically themed AI-generated art. A link to a video of Weinstein in his car, letting loose with profanity-laced opinions about Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, appeared on the site’s front page. In style and demeanor, the website is at odds with what one typically expects of a straight-laced advocacy group.

Previously having served as an Air Force JAG officer, Weinstein says he started the group as his son experienced anti-Semitic bias while attending the Air Force Academy, when students were pressured to see the film The Passion of the Christ. Critics have noted that Weinstein draws a relatively large salary from the organization, accounting for almost half of its 2024 expenses at $364,392, which he has previously defended as commensurate with his legal training and extensive work hours.

The Sole Source for Iran “Armageddon” Claims

More than any idiosyncrasies in the organization’s presentation, the most unusual part of this story is that MRFF is the sole source of the recent “Armageddon” allegations. Despite alleged complaints from hundreds of soldiers across dozens of installations, no public faces—or even anonymous internet postings—have appeared that offer support for the claim, and no journalists with other organizations have indicated having a direct whistleblower source on the matter.

One of the largest organizations performing similar work is the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF). With an operating budget over 15 times that of MRFF, the FFRF promoted MRFF’s claims on Tuesday, prompting The Debrief to inquire as to whether they had received any similar reports that could corroborate the story.

“We have interacted with MRFF before,” Chris Line, Legal Counsel for the Freedom From Religion Foundation, told The Debrief. “It would be surprising if they were making this complaint up, but we have not been able to verify their complaints yet and haven’t received any complaints from service members ourselves.”

When pressed on whether the organization found it unusual that a comparatively smaller group has been the only one to receive such complaints, and that nothing corroborating the claims has appeared publicly, FFRF conceded to The Debrief that it was difficult to explain.

“The volume of complaints that MRFF has reported is hard to believe given that we haven’t heard from anyone about it ourselves, but the lack of corresponding social media posts, etc. is not,” Line told The Debrief.

“We’re very used to dealing with anonymous complainants who face potential negative repercussions for speaking out about state/church issues,” Line added. “We’ve received complaints from military personnel in the past, and the concern about repercussions can be heightened in that kind of environment, especially given the current administration.”

Keep reading

A trial seeks to tie Iranian paramilitary to alleged assassination plot in US

While the U.S. fights a widening war in Iran, American prosecutors are airing claims that Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard was entangled in a foiled 2024 assassination plot that eyed then-candidate Donald Trump as a possible target.

The alleged scheme is at the center of a criminal trial that started in a federal court in New York last week, days before the Mideast combat that now looms in the background.

“This trial is happening in interesting times,” Judge Eric Komitee told lawyers this week in the case of Asif Merchant, a Pakistani national accused of trying to hire hit men to kill a U.S. politician. Merchant didn’t name a target but searched online for Trump rally locations, according to prosecutors, who introduced evidence Tuesday that Merchant’s laptop contained photos of both Trump and then-President Joe Biden at a time when they were rivals for the presidency.

An FBI agent testified Tuesday that Merchant told her he had a Revolutionary Guard “handler” and believed the handler would help bankroll the plan. Merchant’s lawyer suggested the purported statements might not be accurate.

Merchant, 47, has pleaded not guilty to attempted terrorism and other charges. His attorneys say prosecutors are trying to wedge evidence into a narrative that doesn’t fit.

Keep reading