Tag: donald trump

World leaders respond to regime-change strikes on Iran: ‘Peacekeeper is at it again’

The joint American and Israeli military operation launched against Iran on Saturday — dubbed Operation Epic Fury — has prompted mixed responses abroad.

While Russian officials were among the most critical of the strikes, several European leaders similarly condemned the American-Israeli initiative.

Amid reports of massive explosions in numerous Iranian cities as well as retaliatory attacks on American bases in the region and Israel, a spokesman for the British government stated, “We do not want to see further escalation into a wider regional conflict.”

The British spokesman — whose government previously blocked a request from President Donald Trump to use U.K. air bases during a pre-emptive attack on Iran — added that “Iran must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, and that is why we have continually supported efforts to reach a negotiated solution.”

Whereas the U.K. government under Prime Minister Keir Starmer appeared less than enthusiastic about the strikes, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch expressed solidarity with the U.S. and Israel “as they take on the threat of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its vile regime.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke critically of “Iran’s murderous regime and the Revolutionary Guards,” but claimed that the “developments in Iran are greatly concerning” and urged “all parties to exercise maximum restraint, to protect civilians, and to fully respect international law.”

Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs noted that it “is deeply alarmed by today’s strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran” and echoed von der Leyen’s request that warring parties “exercise maximum restraint, protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.”

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Iranians flood streets in mourning as Tehran confirms assassination of supreme leader

Iranians flooded the streets of Tehran and other cities across the country on 1 March, hours after state television confirmed the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic. 

Video footage showed millions of people on the streets of the capital and other cities, waving Iranian flags and mourning the leader’s death.

Protests against the US and Israel have also erupted in Pakistan and Iraq. 

Angry protesters in Pakistan’s Karachi attempted to storm the US consulate on Sunday morning. At least ten have been shot dead by Pakistani security forces and US consulate personnel. Thousands protested in Kashmir as well.

Iraqis also stormed the Green Zone in Baghdad, where the US embassy is located. The popular movements coincided with continued US-Israeli strikes on Iran and retaliatory drone and missile operations targeting Israel and Washington’s assets across the region. Iraqi resistance groups have also begun drone operations against US bases. 

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There Are ‘Questions’ About Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’—But Don’t Expect AP to Answer Them

It’s not a failsafe test, but it can be a tip off that a journalistic outlet is off its feet when its language falls apart. I give you the Associated Press (2/19/26), describing the actions of a person who rarely strings a coherent sentence together, to hand over billions of US taxpayer dollars to create a global entity. This is the “Board of Peace,” of which Trump has declared himself “Chairman for Life“—because that’s a normal thing—and which Google’s AI describes as “potentially replac[ing] existing international institutions”:

Trump’s vision for the board has morphed since he initiated the group as part of his 20-point peace plan to end the conflict in Gaza. Since the October ceasefire, Trump wants it to have an even more ambitious remit—one that will not only complete the Herculean task of bringing lasting peace between Israel and Hamas but will also help resolve conflicts around the globe.

If you aren’t staggered by the notion of Donald Trump “resolving conflicts around the globe,” every other word still deserves interrogation: Are completing the genocide and mass dislocation of Palestinian people, and violently converting their historic homeland to a playground resort for wealthy internationals, going to now be labeled by the press as “bringing lasting peace,” and “ending the conflict” in Gaza?

But worry not: AP tells us in bold letters, “There are many questions about how the board will work.” That implies that AP will be asking them, or care about the answers. But given no one who had a real problem with the creation of the board itself is cited in the article on its launch, why would we look to AP for critical eyes going forward?

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Trump Starts a Major Regime-Change War with Iran, Serving Neoconservatism and Israel

For decades, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and American neoconservatives have dreamed of only one foreign policy goal: having the United States fight a regime-change war against Iran. With the Oval Office occupied by Donald Trump — who campaigned for a full decade on a vow to end regime-change wars and vanquish neoconservatism — their goal has finally been realized.

Early Saturday morning, the United States and Israel began a massive bombing campaign of Tehran and other Iranian cities. President Trump posted an eight-minute speech to social media purporting to justify his new war, dubbed “Operation Epic Fury.” Trump’ war cry was filled with the same slogans and clichés about Iran that Americans have heard from the carousel of bipartisan neocons dominating U.S. foreign policy for decades: Iran is a state sponsor of “terror”; it is pursuing nuclear weapons; it took American hostages forty-seven years ago (in 1979); it repressed and kills its dissidents, etc.

As if to underscore how fully he was embracing the very foreign policy dogma he vowed to reject, Trump invoked the Marvel-like “Axis of Evil” formulation that White House speechwriter David Frum wrote for George W. Bush at the start of the War on Terror. Iran’s government, President Trump proclaimed, is one determined to “practice evil.” This is how Bush — speaking of Iraq, Iran and North Korea — put it in his 2002 State of the Union address: “States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil.”

Trump left no doubt about the scope and ambition of his new war. This will not be a quick or targeted bombing run against a few nuclear sites, as Trump ordered last June as part of Israel’s 12-day war with Iran. There is nothing remotely constrained or targeted about any of this. Instead, this new war is what Trump called a “massive and ongoing” mission of destruction and regime-change, launched in the heart of the Middle East, against a country of 93 million people: almost four times the size of Iraq’s population when the U.S. launched that regime change war back in 2003.

That Trump claimed to have “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program last June — just eight months ago — was not something he meaningfully acknowledged in his new war announcement, other than to vaguely assert that Iran somehow resumed their nuclear program. In fact, Trump seemed to delight in repeating the same triumphalist rhetoric that he used last year when he assured Americans that Iran’s nuclear program could no longer pose a threat as a result of Trump’s triumphant Operation Midnight Hammer.

In lieu of outlining any clear mission statement for this new war, let alone a cogent exit strategy, Trump offered a laundry list of flamboyantly violent vows. The U.S. will “totally obliterate” Iran’s ballistic missile program (which Iran could not use to reach the American homeland but which Trump admitted last June caused Israel “to get hit very hard” in retaliation). Trump also promised that the U.S. would “annihilate” Iran’s navy. And he told Iranians: “the hour of your freedom is at hand….bombs will be dropping everywhere.”

Trump also attempted to prepare the nation for caskets and body bags of American soldiers returning to the U.S. “The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost; we may have casualties,” the President said. But, said the man who did everything to avoid military service including during the Vietnam War, mass death of American soldiers “often happens in war.”

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US and Israel Launch Illegal War on Iran, Call for Regime Change

he U.S. and Israel carried out a series of unprovoked and devastating strikes on Iran on Saturday, sparking retaliation from the country as U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Iranians to overthrow their government.

Iranian media reported strikes across the country, including in the capital of Tehran and around the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, The Associated Press reported. It’s unclear if Khamenei and other top leaders survived.

One of the strikes, reportedly launched by Israel, destroyed an elementary school for girls in the southern city of Minab, killing at least 85 people, Iranian semi-official outlet Tasnim News Agency reported — seemingly the first reported casualties of the conflict.

Iran retaliated with strikes targeting Israel and U.S. bases in numerous Gulf Coast countries, including in a strike on the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain. Many U.S. bases in the region were partially evacuated prior to the first U.S.-Israeli strikes.

In a video address posted as the first strikes were launched, Trump described the attack as “a massive and ongoing operation.”

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Trump Says He is Entitled to Third Term Because Democrats ‘CHEATED Like HELL’ in 2020

President Donald Trump told the crowd at a rally in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Friday, that he would be entitled to a third term in office, because the Democrats “cheated like hell” in 2020.

Trump has been floating the idea of a third term for some time.

“I’ve been here one year. Think of it, one year, a little bit more than one year. Now, time flies. Time flies,” Trump said.

“Maybe we should — maybe we do one more term. Should we do one more? One more term?” Trump continued.

“Well, we’re entitled to it! ‘Cause they CHEATED like HELL on the second one. We’d actually be entitled to it.”

The U.S. Constitution’s 22nd Amendment limits presidents to two terms, a rule established after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four elections, but many supporters have argued that there are workarounds.

Trump has a history of playfully, and sometimes seriously, referencing the idea of a third term in office, often citing 2020 election fraud or constitutional workarounds.

One of the earliest instances came in March 2018, when Trump praised Chinese President Xi Jinping for abolishing term limits, quipping that perhaps the U.S. should “give that a shot someday.”

In April 2019, during a speech to the National Republican Congressional Committee, he joked about staying in office for another 10 or 14 years, prompting laughter from the audience.

A couple of months later, Trump clarified in an interview that he had just been joking about it, emphasizing he would not violate the Constitution.

The tone of the jokes changed a bit during his second term.

In January 2025, at a Nevada rally, Trump teased serving “twice or three times or four times,” before correcting himself to “twice.”

Two months later, during an NBC News interview, Trump explicitly stated he was “not joking” about a third term, mentioning “there are methods” to pursue it without elaborating on potential avenues.

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Bill Clinton Testifies Under Oath That Trump Was Not Involved with Epstein: Comer

Bill Clinton is testifying before the House Oversight Committee on his connections to Jeffrey Epstein.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer told reporters that Bill Clinton testified that to his knowledge President Trump was not involved with Epstein.

“Trump has never said anything to me to make me think he was involved with Epstein,” Comer said.

After Bill Clinton finished up his deposition, Comer said that the former president exonerated Trump.

“Today, former President Clinton exonerated President Trump under questioning from the Democrats. He stated that he has no information that President Trump did anything wrong, and that President Trump never said anything to Clinton to make him think that he was involved with Epstein. President Clinton is now the third witness who has testified under oath that there is no evidence of President Trump committing wrongdoing. It’s sick how Democrats have weaponized this investigation to put politics above survivors. Ranking Member Robert Garcia and Democrats must cease their partisan witch hunt against President Trump,” Comer said.

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Trump: “Maybe We’ll Have A Friendly Takeover Of Cuba”

President Trump told reporters on Friday afternoon that the U.S. could pursue a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, a comment from the president that comes as his administration moves to secure the Western Hemisphere and intensifies pressure on the communist regime in Havana through a crude-oil blockade.

“The Cuban government is talking with us. They’re in a big deal of trouble, as you know. They have no money, no anything right now, but they’re talking with us, Trump told reporters on the White House lawn. “Maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba.

Trump repeated, “We could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba.”

He continued, “After many, many years, we have had a lot of years of dealing with Cuba. I’ve been hearing about Cuba since I was a little boy. But they’re in big trouble. And something very well – and something positive could happen.”

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President Trump Directs Every Federal Agency to Cease Use of Anthropic After AI Company Refuses to Comply with Pentagon’s Demands

President Trump on Friday ordered every federal agency to cease use of Anthropic AI after the company refused to comply with the Pentagon’s demands.

“THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL NEVER ALLOW A RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY TO DICTATE HOW OUR GREAT MILITARY FIGHTS AND WINS WARS! That decision belongs to YOUR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, and the tremendous leaders I appoint to run our Military,” Trump said.

“The Leftwing nut jobs at Anthropic have made a DISASTROUS MISTAKE trying to STRONG-ARM the Department of War, and force them to obey their Terms of Service instead of our Constitution. Their selfishness is putting AMERICAN LIVES at risk, our Troops in danger, and our National Security in JEOPARDY,” Trump said.

“Therefore, I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again! There will be a Six Month phase out period for Agencies like the Department of War who are using Anthropic’s products, at various levels. Anthropic better get their act together, and be helpful during this phase out period, or I will use the Full Power of the Presidency to make them comply, with major civil and criminal consequences to follow,” Trump added.

“WE will decide the fate of our Country — NOT some out-of-control, Radical Left AI company run by people who have no idea what the real World is all about. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump added.

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Pro-Trump Attorneys Reportedly In Talks With White House to Get Trump to Declare National Emergency Giving Him ‘Sweeping Powers’ Over Elections – Team Trump Responds

Pro-Trump lawyers are reportedly trying to persuade President Trump and his team to go all-out to secure America’s elections this year by invoking an unprecedented executive order, and they may soon get their wish.

As The Daily Mail reported, attorneys with ties to Trump are talking with the White House over an election plan, citing “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

From The Daily Mail:

Attorneys close to Donald Trump are urging the President to declare a national emergency that would allow him to take sweeping powers over the crucial midterm elections.

Peter Ticktin, who has known Trump since they attended New York Military Academy together and represented him in court, is part of a group of pro-Trump lawyers in communication with the White House over the election plan.

He and his allies argue in a 17-page draft of a presidential executive order that supposed Chinese interference in the 2020 presidential election allows Trump to declare such an emergency.

‘There is now clear and compelling evidence from court cases and forensic analysis that these threats have not been mitigated but instead have intensified,’ the draft reads. ‘This constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.’

As The Mail notes, this order would allow President Trump to mandate voter ID nationwide, ban vote-by-mail, and require ballots to be counted by hand.

ABC News reports that Trump has reviewed the order, and the lawyers expect executive action soon.

This news also comes as the SAVE Act, a critical election security bill Trump is backing, has stalled in the Senate thanks to a handful of RINOS sabotaging the MAGA movement in its quest to stop Democrats from stealing any more federal elections.

A White House official responded to the report about an election executive order, telling ABC that “a variety of outside advocates who want to share their policy ideas with the President. Any speculation about policies the President may or may not announce is just that — speculation.”

White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson also issued a non-denial when asked for comment.

“President Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections, and that includes totally accurate and up-to-date voter rolls free of errors and unlawfully registered non-citizen voters,” Jackson told The Washington Post.

“The President has urged Congress to pass the SAVE Act and other legislative proposals that would establish a uniform standard of photo ID for voting, prohibit no-excuse mail-in voting, and end the practice of ballot harvesting,” she added.

One question that remains unanswered is how such an order can survive legal challenges. Changes to voting laws have generally been implemented via the legislative process.

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