President Donald Trump just pulled off what one political expert described as a "mafia state" type of move that revealed the rotten core of a deal he allegedly struck with a foreign country over its oil reserves.

Trump recently announced that the U.S. and North American Blue Energy Partners, a private company led by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, entered into a partnership to tap Venezuela's 65 billion barrel oil reserves, a deal that is estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars. Betancourt was previously under investigation on corruption charges until Trump's former attorney, Rudy Giuliani, persuaded the first Trump Department of Justice to drop its probe.

David Rothkopf, global affairs columnist at The Daily Beast and a former international trade official in the Clinton administration, argued during a new episode of "The Daily Beast Podcast," that the "deal" Trump announced is not a deal at all.

"The United States is getting this all because we attacked Venezuela and at gunpoint are saying, 'Hand over the oil!' That's illegal under international law," Rothkopf said. "It's also ... illegal under Venezuelan law, which has a constitution that says you can't hand over reserves to a foreign government. It's probably illegal under U.S. law because it involves cash flowing into the U.S. government ... which requires congressional approval."

Rothkopf drew a comparison between the Trump administration's move to seize Venezuela's oil and the way Russia's government operates, arguing that the Trump administration will break laws and customs without regard.

"It's a crime," Rothkopf said. "It's not a deal."

MAGA pundits were cornered by panelists on CNN's "NewsNight" with host Abby Phillip on Monday over the president's latest batch of empty threats toward Iran.

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated video of him attacking Kharg Island, a strategic island in the Persian Gulf that the Iranian regime has used to attack merchant ships in the area. Trump has previously threatened to strike the island and posted the threat on the same day U.S. forces hit Larak Island in the Strait.

May Mailman, legal director for Independent Women's Law Center and a former Trump administration staffer, argued that Trump's comments were meaningless because they were written on Truth Social.

"When are we going to stop being like, so triggered by Truth Social and an AI video?" she asked.

Her comment caused an uproar on the panel.

"How dare we take the President of the United States seriously?" Isaiah Martin, a Democratic content creator, responded rhetorically.

Leigh McGowan, host of the "Politics Girl" podcast, argued that Trump's video was another in a long series of "unhinged" behavior that should worry Americans.

"It's so absurd," McGowan said. "He does crazy things that are completely unhinged; says he's going to annihilate the entire civilization. Then does this bombing thing, and we're supposed to be like, 'Oh, he's just joking. He's just coming in there for a little joke.' It's a terrible way to lead anyone."

Noah Rothman, a senior writer at the National Review, argued that he is also tired of Trump's empty threats, and said they are no longer credible in either the U.S. or in Iran.

"What is credible is the lawn mowing strategy that we've begun to see articulated in the press, and the Iranians should be very afraid of our degree to degrade their capability to project power," Rothman said.

Martin was taken aback by the argument, and pointed out that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had recently claimed "all objectives" of Trump's war had been achieved.

"So, they lied?" Martin said.

Rothman stammered and conceded that some of the Trump administration's claims about the war have been untruthful.

The conservative Wall Street Journal slammed Florida's attorney general for his latest effort to attack vaccination — this time by cracking down on private Catholic schools.

The Journal has frequently gone after what it sees as Democrats assaulting religious liberty, particularly when they try to enforce birth control coverage requirements — and they had just as much contempt for this particular policy, which they called a "dangerous constitutional turn."

In July, the board noted, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier "issued a peremptory letter to Catholic bishops accusing them of violating Church doctrine and state law by requiring students to be immunized and not allowing parents who object to vaccines for religious reasons to opt out. There is 'no legitimate religious reason' to deny religious exemptions, he wrote. Thus sayeth the gospel of James Uthmeier."

"He might have done Catholic bishops the courtesy of meeting with them to discuss the issue before posting his threatening letter on social media. Perhaps he thinks picking a public fight with the bishops is smart politics," the board wrote. Regardless, they noted, Florida's Conference of Catholic Bishops director Michael Sheedy hit back with a letter saying “any insinuation that a government official can dictate to the Catholic Church (or any religion) how to apply her tenets and dogma, violates well-established constitutional religious freedom rights.”

Uthmeier, noted the board, only doubled down after this with a social media post slamming the bishops, by saying, “Should Muslim schools teaching sharia law in violation of Florida law nevertheless get state funding? I don’t think so.”

"Is he really suggesting that Catholic schools’ enforcement of vaccine requirements is akin to Sharia law?" the board fumed, slamming Uthmeier for "a callow understanding of religious liberty" and warning he "will hurt children if he bars them from using state scholarships to attend Catholic schools."