World

Sickened MS NOW host blasts Trump for blunder over war dead: 'Even for him, shocking'

President Donald Trump was pounded Wednesday over a ham-handed defense of his Iran war escalation that left MS NOW host Stephanie Ruhle sickened.

After pointing out that Trump had just threatened on Truth Social to commit war crimes by bombing critical civilian infrastructure, Ruhle had her producers put up a graphic from a presidential post in which he wrote:

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Susan Collins in full-on retreat as Trump's new attack on Canada threatens her state

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) was flailing for as much distance as possible as President Donald Trump moves to impose draconian new tariffs on Canada, according to a Politico report on Tuesday.

Collins, a top target for Democrats in a battleground Senate race, represents a state that directly borders the Canadian Maritime provinces.

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Trump considers cutting bait on Iran war to try to save the midterms: report

President Donald Trump was considering a total end to the Iran war for the sake of bailing out Republicans in the midterm elections, The Atlantic reported on Tuesday.

This comes as none of the typical day-to-day things a president or Congress does to oversee a war have happened since the president's ceasefire memorandum was thrown out, the report said.

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'Swinging recklessly': WSJ slams Trump's 'senseless' attack on Canada

The conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board was none too happy about President Donald Trump's latest "senseless" tariff order — this time a 50 percent punitive attack on Canada for perceived unjust trade practices.

The president has tried multiple times to issue broad-based tariffs around the world, which federal courts have slapped down. This also comes as Trump caused international tension by delaying opening of a critical international bridge set to boost trade between the U.S. and Canada.

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Protests erupt as Hegseth testifies before Congress as Trump requests billions for war

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was interrupted by four different protesters during a hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday where he was facing off against lawmakers and requesting billions for the Iran war.

Several people holding signs and demonstrating against the Iran war were escorted out of the room as the hearing started at the Senate Appropriations Committee, where Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Dan Caine were there to secure the Trump administration's $87.6 billion supplemental funding request. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins was also slated to testify.

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White House advisers scramble to derail Trump's 'barrage' of new tariffs: report

Faced with the possibility that the Republican Party is headed for a wipeout in the November midterms, White House insiders are attempting to head off a Friday announcement by President Donald Trump of new tariffs.

Trump is preparing to impose what the Financial Times is calling a "barrage" of fresh tariffs on dozens of countries this week, but his own advisers are urgently counseling him to step back from the brink, the outlet's report states. Senior officials worry that resurrecting his trade war—which delivered economic shocks and voter backlash in his first term—could prove "catastrophic" heading into elections Republicans are already struggling to win.

According to the report, "Behind the scenes, senior officials have been counseling the president to maintain stability with trading partners and honor the deals that Washington struck with them to reduce their tariffs in 2025, according to two people familiar with the matter.”

The timing is particularly fraught. Existing 10 percent tariffs adopted after a Supreme Court decision in February struck others down are set to expire Friday and some in the White House are engineering probes "of forced labor practices, allowing Trump to avoid using the emergency authorities knocked down by the Supreme Court."

The prospect of renewed tariffs collides with an already-deteriorating economic landscape. The escalating Iran conflict has roiled energy markets, pushing gas prices back above $4 per gallon. Voters are already furious about the cost of living and recent polling found two-thirds of Americans disapprove of how Trump is managing affordability.

Adding tariff hikes to soaring energy prices risks "inflaming voter frustration over the high cost of living," a sign that even Trump's own team recognizes the political danger, the report notes.

"This does not mean that tariff hikes are in the rear-view mirror," Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade official now at the Asia Society Policy Institute, told the Financial Times. "But it does suggest that a more cautious approach is now called for, particularly in the lead up to the midterm elections."

Stage set for Hegseth to be made Trump's 'fall guy' in Iran war: MS NOW

As the war with Iran escalates, Donald Trump’s patience is at its end — and he will be looking for a scapegoat sooner rather than later, MS NOW's analysts said Tuesday.

According to “Morning Joe” co-host Jonathan Lemire, that will likely be Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has given the president a wealth of reasons to dismiss him dating back to his Senate confirmation hearings.

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Trigger-happy Hegseth brings Pentagon to brink of going broke: report

The cost of President Donald Trump's war with Iran, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been blowing through armament stockpiles despite warnings, has the Pentagon close to running out of money, according to a report Tuesday.

The Pentagon is hemorrhaging funds at an alarming rate. Critical defense budget lines are set to evaporate within weeks as the escalating conflict with Iran consumes resources at unprecedented speed, lawmakers and Pentagon officials told the Washington Post.

The financial crisis is already forcing the military to make devastating choices. Training exercises and maintenance programs essential to military readiness are being slashed or eliminated entirely, according to the report which also noted that equipment maintenance budgets are being "cannibalized" to cover operational shortfalls.

Hegseth has publicly dismissed concerns about depleting munitions supplies, claiming during a CBS interview last month that U.S. stockpiles remain "great, and they're only getting stronger." His public bravado starkly contrasts with private Pentagon assessments.

"In private, Pentagon officials have expressed far greater anxiety, according to current and former officials, arguing that the military desperately needs more money to restock munitions needed to deter U.S. adversaries like Russia and China," the Post reported.

The collapsed Iran ceasefire threatens to worsen the crisis. After four U.S. service members died during intensive combat operations, the conflict appears set to escalate with no end in sight.

The White House has requested $67 billion in emergency funding from Congress, but lawmakers remain deadlocked over how to proceed. The House is recessing for a month Thursday, pushing any fiscal resolution weeks away at minimum.

The Navy and Air Force are particularly stressed. Both services have deployed extensive assets to the Middle East, and portions of their 2026 budgets covering operations are projected to run dry by month's end.

MS NOW hosts 'fascinated' as Fox News flips on Trump's war: 'The clock is ticking'

President Donald Trump is not only losing his war with Iran, he is also losing the hearts and minds of prominent Fox News personalities who are reading the writing on the wall that voters are taking his failure seriously, Morning Joe's hosts said Tuesday.

The hosts of the MSNOW show shared clips from their conservative network counterpart, where longtime commentator Britt Hume was nothing but gloom and doom about a war that one White House insider told Politico is nothing less than a “quagmire.”

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Horrifying scenario laid out on CNN as Trump enters 'most difficult predicament' of war

A foreign affairs expert laid out the horrifying scenario that President Donald Trump finds himself in now that the war with Iran is starting to escalate again.

The Trump administration has bombed Iran for nearly two consecutive weeks following the Iranian regime's decision to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, an action that was prohibited under the memorandum of understanding that the two countries signed in June to reopen the Strait. While the administration has framed the strikes as a "tit-for-tat" operation, Brett McGurk, former Middle East expert on the National Security Council, told CNN's Brianna Keilar on "The Source" that the escalating tensions could end badly.

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Outrage over MAGA Republican's 'sickening' comments on war casualties erupts online

A MAGA lawmaker and close Trump ally was called out Monday for his comments about troops dying during the Iran war as the United States has launched new strikes.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) spoke with CNN anchor Phil Mattingly about American casualties in the ongoing conflict, which has left 17 U.S. service members dead, including at least three who died during the last several days.

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Kash Patel's 'unusual and sensitive' trip draws scrutiny amid spending probe: report

FBI Director Kash Patel has planned a trip to Russia, making him the first FBI director to visit the country in 13 years, according to a Politico report on Monday.

The trip is slated for October 14-15, as Washington and Moscow have hit a deadlock over how to stop the war in Ukraine and as lawmakers have called for sanctions against the country, Politico reported.

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