Podcaster Joe Rogan sounded off against President Donald Trump's war in Iran on Thursday during a new episode of his popular show, "The Joe Rogan Experience."
Rogan and his guest, comedian Duncan Trussell, sharply criticized the war in Iran during the episode. At one point, Trussell said he felt "stupid" for believing Trump when he claimed that he would not start any new wars during the 2024 campaign. He described the war as the "same old bulls---" that MAGA voters have grown tired of, and supported Trump because he seemed to represent the opposite.
"Not only is it the same old bulls---, but it's one of the ones that makes the lease amount of sense in terms of like when they did it and how they did it," Rogan said. "They blew up the leader during Ramadan. Did you really have to do it now? Were you really convinced this time that they are two weeks away from making a nuclear weapon? Are we f------ sure?"
"It's not like we haven't heard that before, right?" Rogan continued, referring to the Trump administration's previous strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities in 2025. Trump declared Iran's nuclear capabilities "completely obliterated" following those strikes.
A New York Times reporter suggested that first lady Melania Trump's denial of her connection to Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday revealed more questions than answers.
Lulu Garcia-Navarro, an on-air CNN contributor, described how Trump's motive behind the statement could clear up some of the comments she made. And although it was unclear what drove the decision to speak out publicly for the first time, Garcia-Navarro considered several potential scenarios.
"Listen, what is everyone asking here? Why now? Why now?" Garcia-Navarro asked.
"It doesn't make sense politically for the reasons that everyone has outlined," she added. "It doesn't even make sense in her own timeline, other than you were suggesting because of her book, or someone else was suggesting because of her book, she did mention her book in that statement, which was, I have to say, a little strange. But why now? And so I don't think we know the answer to that question, but the answer to that question will tell us what, what exactly she is trying to address here, because everyone is sort of saying, what pictures is she talking about? What stories is she talking about? She doesn't actually address precisely what it is that she is trying to tamp down and reject. We don't know. And so once we understand that, I think we'll have a better sense of what exactly she was trying to get ahead of."
President Donald Trump is enraged with the U.S. allies in NATO, between their refusal to allow him to take over Greenland and their lack of commitment to help him carry out war in Iran — and he has a plan to punish the NATO states he believes are most disloyal to America.
But even this plan could backfire, MS NOW's Nicolle Wallace said on Thursday's edition of "Deadline: White House" — and actually bolster one of NATO's primary defensive missions.
"New reporting today reveals that the Trump administration appears ready with a plan to try to weaken the NATO alliance," said Wallace. "Wall Street Journal's reporting this, quote: 'The White House is considering a plan to punish some members of the NATO alliance that Trump thinks were unhelpful to the U.S. and Israel during the Iran war. That's according to administration officials. The proposal would involve moving U.S. troops out of North Atlantic Treaty Organization member countries deemed unhelpful to the war effort, and stationing them in countries that were more supportive.'"
However, she said, "It's not clear Donald Trump has even thought that through, because there's a possibility that his plan could actually serve to bolster the alliance."
"More from the Wall Street Journal, quote: 'The plan could result in putting more U.S. troops closer to the Russian border, an outcome likely to antagonize Moscow.'"
All of this comes amid reporting that reveals the extent to which the Russian government has been backing and financing the Iranian regime.
President Donald Trump raged against his former allies, whom he called "losers," in a meandering Truth Social rant on Thursday.
"I know why Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones have all been fighting me for years, especially by the fact that they think it is wonderful for Iran, the Number One State Sponsor of Terror, to have a Nuclear Weapon — Because they have one thing in common, Low IQs," Trump wrote. "They’re stupid people, they know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too! Look at their past, look at their record. They don’t have what it takes, and they never did!"
Trump's comments came at a time when his administration is facing significant criticism for its handling of the war in Iran. Carlson, Kelly, Owens, and Jones have all criticized the president over the war, as well as the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
"These so-called 'pundits' are LOSERS, and they always will be! Now Fake News CNN, The Failing New York Times, and all of the other Radical Left 'News' Organizations, are 'hailing' them, and giving them 'positive' press for the first time in their lives. They’re not 'MAGA,' they’re losers, just trying to latch on to MAGA," Trump continued.
"As President, I could get them on my side anytime I want to, but when they call, I don’t return their calls because I’m too busy on World and Country Affairs and, after a few times, they go 'nasty,' just like Marjorie 'Traitor' Brown, but I no longer care about that stuff, I only care about doing right for our Country," he added.
"MAGA is about WINNING and STRENGTH in not allowing Iran to have Nuclear Weapons," he added. "MAGA is about MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and these people have no idea how to do that, BUT I DO, because THE UNITED STATES IS NOW THE “HOTTEST” COUNTRY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!"
An official in President Donald Trump's Department of Defense could be in legal jeopardy after he disclosed the murky sale of stock that he held in Elon Musk's artificial intelligence firm, according to a new report.
The Guardian reported on Thursday that Emil Michael, the undersecretary for research and engineering at the Pentagon, disclosed selling a position in Musk's xAI company, valued between $500,000 and $1 million, according to an ethics disclosure the outlet reviewed. Michael may have pocketed about $24 million in profit from the sale, according to the report.
Musk's xAI company is not publicly listed, and the Guardian notes that it is "unclear" how Musk sold the stock or who purchased it from him.
The report also notes that Michael appeared to be holding the stock during a time when the Pentagon was negotiating with xAI on a contract to become one of the agency's AI vendors.
"During the period that Michael owned the xAI stock the Pentagon announced two separate agreements with the firm," the report reads in part. "In July 2025 the Pentagon chose Grok as one of four commercial providers that would help the department utilize artificial intelligence."
With Wisconsin Republicans losing their fourth consecutive state Supreme Court race in a row, fingers are flying, and the blame game is flaring up — and some strategists are concerned that the key battleground state, after backing Trump in two out of three of the last presidential elections, is being abandoned to Democrats.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the issues began at the very start for Republicans, with Judge Chris Taylor massively outraising her opponent, Judge Maria Lazar.
Supreme Court elections in Wisconsin are nominally nonpartisan, but in practice each party always backs a candidate.
"Campaign finance reports filed early last week showed Taylor had raised about $5.6 million in the race to replace conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley, who announced last year that she was not seeking reelection," said the report. "Lazar reported raising about $900,000 since she got in the race in October. Totals posted online on Wisconsin's Campaign Finance Information System on April 6 were slightly higher, showing Taylor had raised about $6.2 million and Lazar had brought in about $1.2 million. Those totals include monetary and in-kind contributions."
Mark Graul, a GOP strategist who advised right-wing Justice Annette Ziegler, said, "We're basically giving up on the court. Which is a horrible decision to make, because it's going to have huge ramifications, and it may not matter who's governor, or who controls the Legislature, if the court is controlled by liberals for the next 10 to 15 years." Ziegler herself plans to retire rather than seek another term.
Meanwhile, Tom Tiffany, the top GOP candidate for governor, insisted this result has no bearing on November: “Well, we got our butts kicked last night, right? There’s no doubt about it, and we should acknowledge that," he said to reporters during a Madison event. "But the election that’s coming up this fall, in November, is a new election, and … every election is unique, and I have built a campaign − money, manpower, messaging − we’re going to compete on all fronts.”
Conservatives controlled a majority on the state Supreme Court for years, with the justices helping the GOP on a number of issues like the gutting of labor rights.
Voters finally solidified a liberal majority in 2023, and since then, the court has shifted its direction, invalidating a 19th-century state abortion ban and striking down the longtime legislative gerrymanders that gave Republicans lopsided majorities even when more voters backed Democrats.
President Donald Trump stunned political observers when he pardoned Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat who was convicted of trying to sell former President Barack Obama's Senate seat.
Now, according to the Chicago Tribune, Blagojevich is being paid $130,000 to lobby the Trump administration to issue a similar pardon to Anne Parmaggiore, the former CEO of ComEd, who was convicted of a scheme to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan.
This comes as legal battles are still playing out in court over the exact nature of that scheme and whether the conviction was valid.
"On Thursday, attorneys for imprisoned former House Speaker Michael Madigan are expected to ask the appeals court for a reversal of his February 2025 conviction and 7 1/2-year sentence, arguing the prosecution flouted Supreme Court rulings reining in the use of the bribery and fraud statutes and instead stretched the laws 'past their breaking points,'" said the report. "Then, next week, separate legal teams representing Madigan’s former confidant, Michael McClain, and and ex-ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore are expected to make a similar argument to the same court in their consolidated appeal of their 2023 convictions for an alleged conspiracy to bribe Madigan."
The Supreme Court has issued rulings that have made it harder to convict politicians of bribery, in particular greenlighting the dispensation of "gratuities" to politicians as long as they are not attached to an official act.
Blagojevich's own attorneys made similar arguments at his appeal 13 years prior, the report said, "where Judge Frank Easterbrook invoked President Dwight Eisenhower’s nomination of Earl Warren to the U.S. Supreme Court in exchange for the California governor’s support in the 1952 election ... Ironically, Blagojevich has now figured into the appeal of Pramaggiore. Not only did she officially apply for clemency from the White House, she’s paid the former governor at least $130,000 to personally lobby Trump for a pardon."
"Federal lobbying records show that to accept the money, Blagojevich had to disclose his legal status with Congress, noting that the president had pardoned him 'for all convicted offenses,'" noted the report.
The internet was stunned on Thursday after first lady Melania Trump publicly denied for the first time that she had any connection to Jeffrey Epstein.
She claimed that multiple people and organizations had lied about her connection to the late financier and convicted child sex offender, delivering a statement at the White House on Thursday. She also pushed back on allegations that she had a relationship with Epstein co-conspirator and former companion Ghislaine Maxwell.
Political commentators and media voices were quick to question the statement and reacted to her remarks:
"What the f--- was that Melania statement??? What story are they frontrunning over at the White House??" Tommy Vietor, spokesperson for former President Barack Obama and "Pod Save America" co-host, wrote on X.
"I am not sure why Melania Trump decided to make a statement about Jeffrey Epstein seemingly out of nowhere today, but if the idea was to put the ongoing coverup in the rearview mirror it will backfire spectacularly," journalist Aaron Rupar wrote on X.
"Again, no one asked if you were Epstein’s victim. That’s a deflection. The actual question is why you and your husband were, at MINIMUM, embedded in the same elite party circuit as a known predator for years, praised him publicly, and only distanced himself after Epstein became radioactive. That’s not chance. So no, a self-written book isn’t evidence, it’s clean up," RJ Riley, research paralegal and progressive commentator, wrote on X.
"In today's edition of You Couldn't Make This S--- Up: Melania Trump is talking about Epstein in order to distract from the Iran War her husband started in order to distract from Epstein," Paul Kavanagh, columnist at Scottish publication The National, wrote on Bluesky.
"Everyone now racing to google 'Melania Trump' and 'Jeffrey Epstein,'" Jen Bendery, senior politics reporter at HuffPost, wrote on Bluesky.
The Republican Party's takeover by the MAGA movement was decades in the making, former GOP strategist Stuart Stephens told MS NOW on Thursday, and the decisions that led to it have left the party with elected leaders who are incapable of taking a stand for themselves or the country as a whole.
This comes as the president made repeated threats to wipe Iran off the face of the earth — and though he hasn't followed through on it for the time being, only a small smattering of Republicans went out of their way to condemn his genocidal rhetoric.
"Stuart, I'll start with you," said anchor Antonia Hylton. "Republicans have repeatedly made this claim since the start of this administration that they have a mandate. I want to know how they can continue to make that case right now, as the president just keeps doubling down on the very things his voters said they did not want."
"Yeah. You know, that's a really great question," said Stevens. "I don't think we had a mandate to have gas prices go through the roof, or mandate to threaten to destroy an entire country, civilization, the Persian Empire. I don't think we had a mandate to keep hiding Epstein files."
"Look, I think what's happened here is something that we did inside the Republican Party, and we didn't realize it. At least I didn't realize it was happening when I was working in the party," said Stevens. "And that as we evolved a system that rewarded compliance, that you got ahead by going along and we punish those that were more individual, who spoke out, who were willing to break with the party. And if you do that decade after decade, I think it's like a genetic experiment. You end up with this extraordinary, highly compliant, weak group of senators and congressmen."
Years ago, he said, "had you said to them that Donald Trump is going to threaten to annihilate another civilization, they would have laughed and said, of course that's never going to happen. But now it's happening or us, the way that we're supporting Russia in this war. We have the vice president over there supporting Putin's candidate in Hungary, and 90 percent of Republicans are against this, but they won't say anything. And I think it's just a collapse of a party unlike anything that we've seen in modern political history."
White House officials were reportedly blindsided after first lady Melania Trump gave a surprise address in which she admitted partying with two of the country's most infamous sex offenders, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
During an address at the White House, Trump decried the "lies" linking her to Epstein and Maxwell.
"I reject their mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation. I've never been friends with Epstein. Donald and I were invited to the same parties, as Epstein from time to time, since overlapping in social circles is common in New York City and Palm Beach," the first lady said. "To be clear, I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice, Maxwell. My email reply to Maxwell cannot be characterized as anything more than casual correspondence."
"I'm not a witness or a named witness in connection with any of Epstein's crimes. My name has never appeared in court documents, the depositions, victim statements, or FBI in interviews surrounding the Epstein matter. I have never had any knowledge of Epstein's abuse of his victims. I was never involved in any capacity. I was not a participant, was never on Epstein's plane, and never visited his private island. I have never been legally accused or convicted of a crime in connection with Epstein sex trafficking, abuse of minors, and other repulsive behavior," she insisted.
Trump, however, did not spend as much time defending her husband.
"Now is the time for Congress to act. Epstein was not alone," she said. "Several prominent male executives resigned from their powerful positions after this matter became widely politicized. Of course, this doesn't amount to guilt, but we still must work openly and transparently to uncover the truth."
Following the speech, MS NOW's Jake Traylor reported that White House officials "were caught off guard by her statement."
Noah Wyle broke his silence on how HBO pressured the hit medical drama "The Pitt" to soften a politically explosive episode, and admitted he wasn't in the room when the negotiations happened.
The Emmy-winning star and producer told Variety that HBO asked the show's creative team to ensure its ICE storyline was "balanced" after reading the script. Executive producer John Wells handled the discussions, and Wyle only found out afterward.
"The negotiation was being driven by political reasons, creative reasons, fear, uncertainty, all sorts of legitimate reasons. I’ll be honest and say that I was concerned about the edits we were making initially,” said Wyle. “When I saw what we had done, I actually think we arrived at something more elegant and a little bit more restrained, which leaves a little bit more ambiguity in it than we may have started out with. I think it’s healthier for the storyline in the long run. It ended up being show the bear, don’t poke the bear in a lot of ways, which is enough. Because the context came out after we’d filmed that episode, we didn’t have to do half of what we had done. That had already been imprinted into the mind of most Americans."
The episode depicted ICE agents storming a hospital, sending patients and staff fleeing in fear, and resulting in a nurse's arrest. At one point, Wyle's character, Dr. Robby, unleashes on a masked agent for disrupting his medical team.
The edits were made between filming in December and the March premiere, as ICE became front-page news after Trump deployed 3,000 officers to Minnesota, where agents shot and killed two citizens.
CNN reporters were shocked on Thursday after first lady Melania Trump gave her first-ever statement on Jeffrey Epstein and called for Congress to give survivors of the late financier and convicted child sex offender a chance to testify.
Melania Trump's connection to Epstein has long been under speculation, and in her speech from the White House, she broke her silence for the first time. CNN anchor Briana Keilar and CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes were both stunned by the "extraordinary" move.
Holmes described why the moment was so striking.
"I would use the word stunning here, particularly as it pertains to this first lady," Holmes said. "She is often not in the limelight. She doesn't take to center stage. She doesn't react to things like this, standing there at the podium. And these remarks kind of came out of the blue. It's a time when we're actually not focusing on Epstein. The country seemingly had moved on to the latest issue that is coming out of this administration, which, of course, is the war in Iran. Yet we have Melania Trump coming up here and essentially defending her name."
Melania Trump referred to multiple accusations against her and President Donald Trump, claiming that people had spread lies about her ties to Epstein, whom she said she had interacted with socially at parties.
"And we should note, there were a lot of smears across social media linking her to Epstein. None of it seemed verified," Holmes said. "We don't need to repeat any of those claims, although she does list them out somewhat during that speech regarding meeting Donald Trump, her relationship with Epstein. But even further, the fact that she is calling on Congress for an open hearing for them, for these victims and survivors to provide their testimony, we have to compare that to what we have been hearing from President Trump, from the White House, from the [former] attorney general, Pam Bondi, before she left, talking about how America wants to move on from this, how they don't want to have these hearings. They don't want to draw this out, how people in the country are tired of talking about Epstein."
But Melania's comments differed from those within the White House and the DOJ.
"You have a direct contradiction to that with the first lady here," Holmes added. "So yes, you have her defending herself, but she is also calling for what so many people across America have been calling for, which is a chance for these victims, for these survivors to come forward and speak on the record, speak to Congress. And she is actually calling on Congress to let them have this day in court. Obviously, court is metaphorical here, talking about Congress, but saying that everyone should have to testify under oath. Talking about how people, men, have lost their jobs because of their relationships to Epstein saying that of course it doesn't make you guilty of anything, but it should be an opportunity to have the survivors talk, the victims talk to get their side of the story out there. This, again, is completely the opposite of what we have been hearing in terms of the narrative and trying to get away from the narrative around Jeffrey Epstein and coming from the first lady in this kind of impassioned speech where she is directly addressing these claims, again, mostly claims that have been seen on social media."
Melania Trump said that several people and companies have had to issue public apologies and retractions, naming Daily Beast, James Carville and Harper Collins UK.
"She names a few news outlets that had carried some of this, and then going into a call to action to even take this further," Holmes explained. "Re-injecting the Jeffrey Epstein saga back into the media narrative and essentially saying Congress didn't do enough. That is such a stunning and stark departure from what we have been hearing, and to be given again by the first lady standing there at the White House."
Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones broke down in tears while cradling a "battle axe" in an effort to break a "demonic spell," which he believed had caused President Donald Trump to wage war on Iran.
During a Thursday segment with journalist Tim Williams, Jones presented the battle axe as proof that God had blessed his attempts to combat "witchcraft" afflicting Trump.
"And thank you for the example that you've given," Williams prayed over the axe. "Alex is a battle axe. Your president is a battle axe. Lord, we repent."
"And now we intercede on behalf of our president, Donald J. Trump. Lord, we decree and declare as the Ecclesia now in the name of Jesus Christ that every form of witchcraft, sorcery, and divination has been cast against our president is now broken," he added. "And we decree and declare freedom for his mind. Freedom for his heart. Freedom from his soul."
"And everyone must join us and pray for Trump right now!" Jones insisted. "We're going to break this demonic spell right now in the name of Jesus!"
"They brought spirits unto him, Lord," Williams said of the president.
"Let's stop right there," Jones remarked, interrupting the prayer by displaying the axe. "But how crazy is this, just delivered in the last 30 minutes? Rob delivered it 10 minutes ago... They walk in with this, and the man says, I was told by God in Oklahoma, make this for you. Like Close Encounters, he was told to make the mountain. I had to send this to you, and my son said send it, and it perfectly arrives right as you're talking about it."
"That is the power of God, literally telling us that your message was true. God obviously knows the future," he continued.
As Williams called for a religious fast at the White House, Jones began to weep.
"Oh, my God!" the conspiracy theorist exclaimed. "You just said it. God's whole point was to make them listen to you about the fast. And so, call for a fast. God literally just took a highlighter to everything you just said. In God's plan, literally had someone make this [axe] months ago, be pushed by God and sons said, send it now to perfectly arrive, not last week, not yesterday, today, 20 minutes ago!"
"That's God's perfection right there. You just saw a miracle, folks. Yep. And look how badass it is," Jones asserted. "It doesn't matter if Trump gets off track. He belongs to God. He's going to do his job. If we back him. He's going to do his job."
"Like, can you imagine that's the power of God right there? This is a true miracle!"
