Bennito L. Kelty

Bennito L. Kelty is an award-winning journalist at Raw Story. He covered the U.S.-Mexico borderlands in Arizona and later homelessness, immigration and politics for Denver Westword. A graduate of the University of Missouri Journalism School, he now lives in Aurora, Colorado.

Marco Rubio's diplomatic trip backfires as America's top rival seizes the moment: report

Secretary of State Marco Rubio's three-country tour through Latin America this week backfired despite visiting nations led by Trump-friendly presidents, Politico reported.

According to a Thursday report, Rubio visited Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru over three days. All three countries are governed by right-wing leaders who campaigned on combating crime and partnering closely with Washington, Politico noted. In Colombia, he spoke of a "golden era" between the two countries.

Politico reported that the visit exposed sharp tensions inside the countries, where critics and commentators accused Rubio of pressuring governments to work against their own interests. The friction was clearest over China, a dominant economic force across the region, and the Trump administration's Shield of the Americas military alliance, according to Politico.

In Peru, which Rubio announced would join the alliance, he used the moment to attack Beijing, charging that Chinese-backed projects "circumvent Peru's legal frameworks," according to Politico. Peru's government welcomed the step as part of its push against organized crime, Politico reported.

Others were far less enthusiastic. Mirtha Vasquez, a left-wing Peruvian senator and former prime minister, said her country "needs to have a relationship with the U.S. but also with other powers," Politico reported.

A survey released this week by the Kellogg Institute and Vanderbilt University found that citizens across the three nations place more trust in the Chinese government than in the U.S. administration, according to Politico. Benjamin Gedan, a former State and Treasury Department official, said the election of pro-Trump leaders was "clearly not enough to move the needle" in the U.S.-China contest.

The timing sharpened the backlash, as Rubio arrived soon after a Venezuelan oil deal that drew heavy criticism across the region as gunboat diplomacy. In Colombia, defeated left-wing candidate Ivan Cepeda called the visit "an act of surrender" of regional sovereignty in a social media video, according to Politico.

Beijing moved fast to press the advantage. Before Rubio landed in Peru, the Chinese embassy in Lima posted that the Western Hemisphere is "no one's backyard," Politico reported.

Rubio was pressed by reporters on whether Washington would act alone against groups it labels as terrorist threats. He said the United States has "the capacity to act unilaterally."

GOP pundit baffles with 'ridiculous' defense of Ted Cruz: 'Excuse me, what?'

A conservative pundit's defense of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and his speech from the GOP midterm convention sparked uproar and confusion on CNN.

During a Thursday night roundtable, National Review writer Noah Rothman tried to defend Cruz after the pundits around him were alarmed by the senator's comments about Muslims. Cruz went after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and said "communists and Islamists" are invading the Democratic Party.

Former Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera argued that Republicans like Cruz are scared by Mamdani's "overwhelming success" and how he's "defying all of the pundits, all of the inside crowd."

Rothman denied the claim and went back to arguments by Republicans to urge against shutting down rhetoric that sounds the alarm on terrorists and Islamists. He slammed Democrats who are "muddying the waters" about who is a terrorist. The conversation also came in the context of the 25th anniversary of 9/11, which was frequently invoked during the GOP midterm convention as well.

"We all have to be clear about who the terrorists were," Rothman said. "And shame on those who are saying the terrorists and heroes are one and the same, which Mamdani said."

"Hold on a second," cut in CNN anchor Abby Phillip, the roundtable's moderator. "I think you're the one muddying the waters, Noah. Terrorists are terrorists. I'm asking why Ted Cruz and you seem to want to make an entire religion anti-American."

Rothman accused Phillip of "putting words into my mouth," and coming back to Cruz, said, "I can't say it enough. The people who support radical Islamist violence are the people he's talking about."

"He didn't say 'radical Islamist violence,'" Phillip pointed out. "He said 'Islamism.'"

Rothman argued that confirmed his defense of Cruz, and Phillip asked, "You're saying radical Islamic terrorism and Islamism is the same thing? Excuse me, what? That is a ridiculous argument, Noah. That is a ridiculous argument."

Trump launches into winding speech after telling GOP crowd he would be brief

President Donald Trump launched a long, ranting speech during the second night of the GOP midterm convention despite promises to keep it short.

Trump delivered a winding, nearly two-hour speech the night before and said that he planned to keep his speech the next night short. However, that wasn't the case.

Behind him, a woman in the audience in a black blazer and red shirt could be seen checking her watch as it became clear that Trump planned to go on.

"Why is he still talking?" lamented former GOP operative Tim Miller during his live coverage for The Bulwark.

Trump repeated jokes and points from the previous night, including ripping into Ken Paxton, the GOP nominee for the Senate in Texas. This time, the cameras cut to Paxton smiling as Trump laid into him.

"I don't like the way Ken dresses," Trump said. "I don't really like the way Ken talks."

Paxton, who ousted longtime Sen. John Cornyn in May's GOP runoff, was on hand as the party's Senate nominee. He faces Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in November.

"This is an interesting thing because every person in this audience was here last night," pointed out The Bulwark reporter Andrew Egger during live coverage. "And yet they laugh at all the laugh line moments. I don't get it."

"Presumably, the TV audience is the same as the night before," added The Bulwark reporter Lauren Egan.

The two-night gathering in Dallas marks the first Republican midterm convention, an event Trump pushed the RNC to approve after conventions were traditionally reserved for presidential years. The event was billed as "Trumpapalooza."

The night's program also featured a tribute to the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, assassinated one year ago, and an observance of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Karoline Leavitt, Donald Trump Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were also set to speak.

'Striking' claim in JD Vance speech staggers ex-GOP operative: 'Does Trump know?'

A former GOP operative was caught off guard when he heard Vice President JD Vance's comments about Charlie Kirk and the Iran war.

On Thursday, Vance gave the keynote speech at the second night of the GOP midterm convention in Dallas. Through the evening, speakers kept bringing up Kirk because the date marked one year since his assassination during a Turning Point USA event in Utah.

Vance brought him up to talk about hearing out opposing political views and said that Kirk wouldn't agree with everything that Trump has done during his second term.

"Don't give the country over to a bunch of crazy people because you happen to disagree with us on a policy issue," Vance said. "I'm not asking anybody to agree with me on every single issue. I'm not asking anybody to agree on every single policy of the administration."

To make his point, Vance explained that Kirk "was a free thinker with his own principles and views. He did not always agree with us. Let me just give you one example."

Vance continued, "Charlie hated war, whether it's Europe or Africa, the Middle East, he didn't care. That was his view."

Political commentator and former GOP operative Tim Miller was covering the event through a livestream for The Bulwark. After Vance finished his comments about Kirk's view on war, Miller said, "Wow!" and explained why he was surprised.

"Man, JD Vance making the claim that posthumous Charlie Kirk would've been against the Iran war during the midterm convention is pretty striking," Miller said. "Does Trump know the vice president and Charlie Kirk are against the war?"

Vance's comments came moments after a protester disrupted his speech, but also after a New York Times report that revealed the vice president had been seeking blunt assessments about the Iran war from military commanders that differed from the Pentagon's official view.

RFK Jr. flew on military jet to stump for GOP — the White House signed off: report

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. flew a military jet to campaign for Republican candidates in Iowa ahead of the midterms.

Kennedy was given access to military aircraft for travel across the country, including as part of the GOP's push before the November midterms, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

The White House and lawyers for the Department of Health and Human Services signed off on the plan to let Kennedy use the jets, five people told The Post. Several insiders said the use of military aircraft has been infrequent because of the added cost, and that protocols exist to determine when a government plane is warranted.

An Air Force-operated Gulfstream jet flew on August 17 from the Washington area to Des Moines and arrived hours before Kennedy's first event in the state, according to The Post. The Defense Department charges roughly $9,000 an hour for that Gulfstream. By comparison, a commercial flight between Washington and Des Moines runs about $250 under a government program meant to cut the cost of federal workers' air travel, The Post added.

Health officials argued that Kennedy sometimes needs the flights given his schedule, his public profile, his protective detail, and threats he has faced, The Post reported. He has been flanked by protective services and by longtime aide Stefanie Spear on trips using military aircraft.

While in Iowa, Kennedy joined GOP candidates, including Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), who is seeking reelection, and MAGA businessman Zach Lahn, who is running for governor. Both face contested races, according to the Cook Political Report.

The arrangement marks a sharp break from Trump's first term, when he pushed out his first health secretary, Tom Price, over reports that Price relied on private jets for routine travel.

Kennedy's use of the jets has drawn some internal questions, The Post reported. Chris Klomp, a top HHS official Trump has nominated as deputy secretary, questioned whether a government jet was necessary in at least one case, three anonymous sources told The Post. Kennedy agreed and opted not to use one.

Protester disrupts JD Vance's 'birthright' speech at GOP convention — and the crowd erupts

Vice President JD Vance was interrupted during his speech at the GOP midterm convention by a protester, leading to taunts from the MAGA crowd.

Vance spoke on the last night of the GOP convention in Dallas, where he repeatedly invoked the word "birthright" in his grievance-laden speech. At one point, he told the crowd, "We were tired of being called racists for noticing that our country was becoming dirtier and poorer."

A protester began shouting at Vance during the speech and waved a Mexican flag. Vance then said, "Get your a— back to Mexico. I'll buy the plane ticket."

"If you don't like the USA, go back to Mexico," a woman from the crowd could be heard yelling.

Vance secretly called commanders to get the war truth that Trump won't say: report

Vice President JD Vance quietly went around the Pentagon to call military commanders directly for blunt assessments of the Iran War.

The New York Times reported Thursday that Vance wanted the commanders' individual judgments as they saw them before those views were merged into an official Pentagon position. The Times described Vance as opposed to the war from the outset, and he was tasked by President Donald Trump with helping to end it.

The vice president reached commanders in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia, pressing them on the war's objectives, casualty estimates, how much punishment Tehran's government could absorb, and what was left in their weapons stockpiles, according to the report.

The answers were sobering as officers were most alarmed by their shrinking supply of Patriot interceptors, which are the mainstay of U.S. air defenses. One theater of the conflict dropped below 100 of them by late spring, The Times reported.

Those private assessments clashed sharply with what the administration has said in public. Trump has continued to falsely claim the United States has already won, that Iran's military has been demolished, and that there are no problems with American weapons supplies, The Times noted. Vance himself recently played down the notion that the country was even at war.

Behind closed doors, the president has raged at coverage of the depleted stockpiles and branded the reporting treasonous, according to The Times. Investigators later subjected dozens of senior Pentagon officers to polygraph tests.

The administration pushed back on the reporting. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the defense secretary had "facilitated direct access to combatant commanders" for the vice president and other senior White House officials.

Joseph Holstead, a spokesman for General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, insisted "there is no gap in the military advice" provided to the president, vice president, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Marco Rubio 'infuriated' as he's blocked from firing scandal-plagued Trump aide: report

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly angry that he can't get rid of a scandal-plagued aide with ties to President Donald Trump's closest aides.

According to a Thursday report by The Daily Mail, Rubio wants to get rid of Gavin Wax, the chief of staff in the State Department's Washington headquarters, but he's been able to stay on because of an "obsessive loyalty" to Trump and a close relationship with White House aides. The Daily Mail reported that Wax's most direct line to Trump is through Natalie Harp, the president's devoted aide.

Wax is in hot water after hosting Serbian right-wing, pro-Kremlin politicians for lunch in an executive dining room despite warnings from career State Department officials not to do so, The Daily Mail reported. Wax saved himself with a "Hail Mary" move, an anonymous source told The Daily Mail.

The move was reportedly to call Boris Epshteyn, Trump's personal senior counselor, the anonymous source told The Daily Mail, but Wax's "most direct line" is through Harp, another source said. However, The Daily Mail wasn't able to confirm that Harp had any role in saving Wax's job.

The Daily Mail reported that five senior Trump administration sources did confirm that Epshteyn responded to Wax's appeal and took his issue of saving his job to Trump.

Even though the White House Office of Presidential Personnel and senior State Department officials had coordinated with the State Department on a plan to place Wax on leave, a single advisor overruled the plan and kept Wax in place.

"It signals to everyone else in the department that if you have the ear of someone close to the president, you are untouchable no matter what you do," an anonymous State Department official told The Daily Mail.

However, the decision to keep Wax in place "allegedly infuriated Marco Rubio," who "has since made clear that Wax cannot stay in his department," The Daily Mail wrote, citing three anonymous senior sources.

State Department spokesperson Dylan Johnson denied the reporting about Rubio when The Daily Mail asked, however. "This is false and never happened," Johnson said.

Firestorm after crowd hurls violent threats during Ted Cruz speech: 'Literally a crime'

Threats against Democrats shouted during a speech by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) at the GOP midterm convention shocked onlookers as the video circulated online.

Cruz called Democrats "evil" during his Thursday speech at the GOP midterm convention in Dallas, when the crowd started yelling, "He should be shot!" The threat was directed at the Democrats Cruz was mentioning.

The Bulwark reported that the threat rang out three times as Cruz mentioned New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, and Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

Online, people were shocked by the flagrant calls for violence and that Cruz didn't react to them.

"This is actual threats of political violence," noted Missouri congressional candidate Fred Wellman.

"This is like literally a crime and violation of free speech to incite violence," national opinion columnist Sophia Nelson similarly warned.

"Hey @SecretService—I’d like to report a death threat if not multiple death threats," wrote journalist Morgan J. Freeman.

"They're not just letting guys in off the street," pointed out journalist Nick Field. "Someone sitting that close to the stage has a lot of money and connections to get there."

"Holy s—," reacted political strategist Kelsie Taggart. "You're telling me Ted Cruz didn't hear this."

"You can tell Ted hears the last one and just doesn't have the cojones or integrity to do the right thing," political commentator and former GOP operative Tim Miller posted.

"Abdul El-Sayed and James Talarico are decent, honest people with integrity who are trying to make the lives of their constituents better," commented baseball writer Danny Abriano. "Their reward? Vitriol and lies being spewed about them that just led to death threats."

"On the same day Republicans pretend to denounce political violence because of Charlie Kirk, we have a Republican calling for violence against a Democrat at their convention," blasted author and activist Hemant Mehta.

"But, ya know, left wing violence is the issue," film and TV critic John Rocha mocked, making the same point and adding three eye-rolling emojis to his comments.

GOP infighting erupts after Jim Jordan gives up the gavel

A GOP leader is going after his conference after Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) announced his plans to give up the House Judiciary Committee gavel.

According to a Thursday Politico article, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) tore into his party for allowing waivers for veteran committee chairs to keep the gavel. His comments came after Jordan announced that he doesn't plan to seek waivers to stay on as the chair of the Judiciary Committee after leading it for eight years.

"I've never liked waivers," Emmer told Politico at the GOP midterm convention. He said that getting rid of waivers is "one of the things that helped the Republican majority stay more connected to Main Street."

Emmer, the number three Republican leader, has no power over the waivers. The 35-member GOP Steering Committee and the larger House Republican Conference have to decide whether to keep the rule, Politico noted. However, Emmer is a member of the Steering Committee.

However, he said he can only see "limited circumstances where it might make sense" to allow Republicans to hold onto a seat for more than three terms. Politico noted that several GOP chairs have applied for waivers, including in the Agriculture and Armed Services committees.

"I love our members who have been around for years and have institutional knowledge," Emmer said. "But unlike Democrats, we have turnover on the Republican side."

Emmer pointed out that Trump said at the Rose Garden, "We need to keep Jim right where he is," referring to Jordan. "Which was interesting because it's like — OK, but I think he’s termed out," Emmer said.

"Every two election cycles or so, you have close to 50 percent turnover in the Republican House," Emmer said. "You don't get that in the Senate. You get people who are serving as octogenarians, and they're showing no signs of leaving."

Trump admin's 'profoundly stupid' Jimmy Kimmel threat baffles CNN conservative

CNN pundit Jonah Goldberg struggled to make sense of the Trump administration's threat against late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.

Kimmel revealed upon his return to "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Wednesday that he interviewed James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas, but ABC, the home of Kimmel's show, pulled the interview and will air it on YouTube instead because of fears about the FCC's threat to late-night hosts over equal airtime for political candidates.

Goldberg, a veteran conservative political analyst, said that the Trump administration's threat didn't make sense and tore into the move during a Thursday roundtable discussion on CNN.

"This is dumb," Goldberg said. "Let them interview James Talarico. It's ridiculous."

The move to pull the interview is the latest fallout from a year-long pressure campaign against ABC by President Donald Trump's FCC, chaired by Trump appointee Brendan Carr. No formal sanction has been issued over the Talarico booking, CNN anchor Jake Tapper noted, but the threat is the accumulated weight of everything the agency has already done.

In January, Carr's FCC scrapped a two-decade-old exemption and told late-night and daytime talk shows they must give equal airtime to rival candidates. In April, it ordered Disney's eight ABC-owned stations to file license renewals years ahead of schedule, a demand Disney called retaliatory in an August lawsuit accusing the commission of an unconstitutional campaign against the network.

Goldberg found it "just profoundly stupid for the FCC" to put pressure on ABC and Jimmy Kimmel.

"It's also corrupt," Goldberg said. "It puts a lie to all the talk about this administration being so pro-free speech, all that stuff. It's also just dumb that the FCC has anything to do with broadcast television anymore."

Goldberg said it's "fine" for the FCC to "regulate standards for emergency bands, radios and 6G and all that kind of stuff...But what the hell?" Goldberg argued that the agency has no business regulating TV at all.

"In a world of 10 trillion streaming platforms and options. What the hell is the FCC getting [by] nickel and diming a handful of networks about what they can and can't put on TV anymore?" he asked. "The FCC was created for the radio era in the 1930s. Just be done with it."

'Must've bounced!' Jake Tapper skewers Trump's growing list of vanishing checks

CNN anchor Jake Tapper tore into President Donald Trump's $5,000 dividend by reminding viewers about the other checks he promised.

In a Thursday segment, Tapper pointed out that the previous night didn't mark the first time that Trump promised to dole out money, but he noted that Trump has never followed through. Trump vowed during Wednesday's keynote speech at the GOP midterm convention that he would pay $5,000 to every American adult if the GOP wins the House and the Senate in November, and dubbed the payments the "Trump dividend."

"Before you literally start banking on any $5,000 check headed your way, be aware there is a good reason to be suspicious of verbal promissory notes from President Trump," Tapper warned. "So far, money from other cash payments he has promised have yet to hit my checking account."

Tapper said, "No sign of the $5,000 stimulus check via the Department of Government Efficiency, or 'DOGE dividend' that Trump promised back in February 2025."

Nor has he seen "the $1,000 'plus checks' via savings from expiring Obamacare subsidies that Trump promised last December," Tapper said. "Still waiting on those. And then, of course, the $2,000 stimulus check via the Trump dividend that Trump floated back in July 2025, that must've bounced, I guess."

He then rolled a clip of a Trump interview from October in which the president spoke about paying dividends from his tariffs.

"We also might make a distribution to the people, almost like a dividend to the people of America," Trump said. "We're thinking maybe $1,000 to $2,000. It'd be great."

"The check is in the mail," joked Tapper.

Tapper also wondered if the midterm Trump dividend is legal, where the money would come from, and "why not just give the money now, if you have the money?"

'That's not what I asked!' Kasie Hunt shuts down Mike Lawler's dodge on Trump socialism

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) refused to answer CNN anchor Kasie Hunt when she pointed out President Donald Trump's policies that seem socialist.

On Thursday, Lawler appeared on CNN ahead of the second night of the GOP midterm convention in Dallas, and Hunt pressed him during an interview on whether Trump's policies contradict attacks by Republicans against socialism. Lawler is notably facing a midterm race himself and is running with Trump's endorsement.

"Congressman, the Republican-controlled House passed a resolution last week condemning socialism in all its forms," Hunt told Lawler. "I just want to put up a list of some of the things that President Donald Trump has pursued at the federal level."

She then talked about how Trump had "the government take ownership stakes in 30 private companies," including Intel, Nvidia, and Nippon Steel. "He tried to create a federal sovereign fund. He considered bailing out and nationalizing Spirit Airlines," Hunt added.

"They proposed that the government pay parents $9,000 per child per year to stay home. He's offered Trump accounts seeded with $1,000, and now there's this $5,000 check," Hunt finished, referring to Trump's promise on Wednesday that he'll pay $5,000 to every American adult if the GOP wins the House and Senate in the midterms.

"How is that series of policies not at all socialist?" Hunt asked. However, Lawler immediately began dodging the question and defaulted to repeating the attack on Democrats that's been echoed by the GOP ahead of the midterms.

"First of all, what the Democrats are advocating for is a government takeover of everything," Lawler said. "They want a government takeover of healthcare. They want a government takeover of -"

Before Lawler could continue, Hunt threw up her hands and stopped him.

"That's not what I asked you about, sir!" Hunt said. "I asked you to comment on the things the government has done, not what the Democrats have done."

"Well, that's great, Kasie," Lawler responded, not exactly denying that he was avoiding the question. "I'm explaining to you the difference between the two parties here."

Hasbro torches Trump admin for ripping off 'beloved' superhero

The toy maker Hasbro called out the Trump administration's use of the image of "Transformers" leader Optimus Prime to attack immigrants.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), posted an image on X of Optimus Prime with "ICE" written across his chest and the DHS seal on his shoulder. At the bottom of the image, DHS wrote "Transformers: Age of Deportation."

Another since-deleted post showed Optimus Prime with the DHS seal facing an AI-generated image of what's supposed to be an immigrant, and between them read the words, "Self-deport or find out. Transformers: America for Americans."

In a statement issued on Thursday, Hasbro responded and said, "These posts were done without permission and do not represent the Transformers brand or Hasbro," adding, "Optimus Prime is a beloved character who represents humility, leadership, compassion and justice."

Hasbro responded to DHS' use of their character the day after the Trump white House removed their version of Tetris, which allowed players to build a border wall. Tetris issued a similar statement, saying, "At Tetris we believe in the power of connection and bringing people together, not dividing them," and that "The Tetris Company was not involved in the creation of 'Build the Wall.'"

"The copyright infringement continues," noted journalist Aaron Parnas in a post on X.

Others pointed out that DHS and the Trump administration seemed to overlook the plot and backstory of the "Transformers," which has been a popular toy line, animated show, and movie franchise for decades. Optimus Prime leads a band of "robots in disguise," as the show's theme song went, who came to the United States from a foreign planet.

"It's worth mentioning that the Transformers actually ARE undocumented immigrants living in the US disguised as cars," noted political writer Mary Pezzulo. "That's the whole plot of the whole show. All the shows. and the comics. And the toy line."

'Everyone pays': Trump aides privately brace for a fight lasting his whole term

White House advisers have privately warned President Donald Trump that the Iran conflict could last through the end of his term.

According to a Wednesday article by The Wall Street Journal, the message cuts sharply against the swift victory Trump has promised the public. Citing unnamed U.S. officials, The Journal reported that Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and others have told the president in the Oval Office and Situation Room that Tehran may keep resisting the American pressure campaign well past Inauguration Day in January 2029.

Trump has offered a far rosier timeline. He told reporters this week that the war would end "immediately" after November's midterm elections "because they can't hold out any longer," The Journal noted.

The conflict is in its seventh month and has killed 18 service members, The Journal added. Rather than escalate major combat, Trump has leaned on a naval blockade and sanctions meant to force Tehran to abandon its nuclear program, a strategy the Trump administration has dubbed "Operation Economic Outcast."

When asked about the war's trajectory, White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales defended the approach and played down any fixed timeline. "Only President Trump knows what he will do and when," she said, per The Journal.

Vance likewise declined to set an end date. It would be "irresponsible" to write out a strategy and timeline for an adversary that keeps targeting commercial ships, he told reporters.

Analysts told The Journal that a drawn-out siege looks increasingly likely and increasingly costly. Suzanne Maloney of the Brookings Institution said the blockade is "unlikely to produce a decisive outcome in the near or even medium term."

Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group framed the standoff as a grinding stalemate that punishes both sides without breaking either.

"Everyone pays," he said. "But neither leadership is yet paying enough to accept the other side's terms."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has already pushed some Middle East troop deployments into 2027, signaling Washington is bracing for a longer fight, The Journal reported.