World

The White House has blocked the release of a joint intelligence bulletin warning state and local authorities of elevated terror threats stemming from Trump's military assault on Iran, according to the Daily Mail.

A five-page report compiled by the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and the National Counterterrorism Center was scheduled for Friday release but has been indefinitely held up by Trump officials.

Newly appointed “Special Envoy for the Shield of Americas” Kristi Noem made her debut in Florida Saturday morning to witness Donald Trump promote his new “Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere,” but was not invited to the lectern to speak to the assembled South American dignitaries despite her lofty status.

That led to MS NOW’s Ali Velshi to smirk at her exclusion because Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were invited to stand with the president, as well as speak, during the ceremonies, while Noem sat in the audience.

Three members of the Donald Trump administration have confirmed to the Washington Post that a classified document created by the National Intelligence Council poured cold water on the president’s hopes about regime change in Iran following his war launch.

According to the Post, the warning was completed a week before the president gave the go-ahead for the Department of Defense, under Secretary Pete Hegseth to proceed with the bombings on February 28th.

The classified report examined succession scenarios under two potential military scenarios: a targeted campaign against Iran's leadership or a broader assault on its government institutions. In both cases, intelligence analysts concluded that "Iran's clerical and military establishment would respond to the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by following protocols designed to preserve continuity of power," according to those familiar with the findings.

The National Intelligence Council comprises veteran intelligence analysts tasked with producing classified assessments representing the combined judgment of Washington's 18 intelligence agencies.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly dismissed the implications in a statement to the Post, asserting: "President Trump and the administration have clearly outlined their goals with regard to Operation Epic Fury: destroy Iran's ballistic missiles and production capacity, demolish their navy, end their ability to arm proxies, and prevent them from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon. The Iranian regime is being absolutely crushed."

Suzanne Maloney, an Iran scholar and vice president at the Brookings Institution, characterized the NIC assessment as credible, stating: "It sounds like a deeply informed assessment of the Iranian system and the institutions and processes that have been established for many years."

Asked about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s standing with Congress to date, a Democratic lawmaker told the co-hosts of MS NOW’s “The Weekend” that there is a growing movement to see him gone.

Appearing on Saturday morning, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) took his own shots at the controversial former Fox News personality, before he was asked, “Should Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, should he stick around? “

Retired United States Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling did not give MS NOW host Jackie Alemany much of a chance to ask about comments made by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about Russian involvement in the Iran war on Saturday morning.

Instead, he jumped the gun, talked over her, and hammered Hegseth, whom he dismissively referred to as a “former Fox host” earlier.

Donald Trump’s unrelenting drive to implement his policies has turned them into “liabilities” that threaten his next three years in office, and his allies are growing increasingly worried that he has painted himself into a corner.

The past week has laid bare the consequences of Trump's overreach—a combination of policy missteps and self-inflicted damage that is tanking his poll numbers and his ability to command congressional support.

A stagnant labor market and skyrocketing gas prices fueled by the Iran conflict are ravaging the economy. The sudden ouster of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has shone a harsh spotlight on the administration's deeply unpopular immigration agenda. Wall Street analysts are now warning that surging oil prices could trigger stagflation, and the cascade of bad news has jeopardized the GOP's ability to keep voters focused on Trump administration policies supposedly designed to ease the rising cost of living.

One Trump ally, granted anonymity to speak freely, captured the political peril: "If you combine an economy that people don't like with a prolonged war that you know nobody in his base believes they voted for, that's a toxic problem." Though Trump isn't on the ballot this year, Republicans desperately need his approval ratings to improve if they hope to maintain control of Congress.

"Don't drag this war out," the person warned. "That's my best advice for the administration. The country is in no mood for a prolonged war."

The Iran conflict has sent oil and gas prices soaring—pump prices have climbed more than 11 percent in a single week. With employers cutting payroll and Trump reshuffling his immigration leadership, the president has lost the upper hand on the two issues critical to GOP midterm success.

Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist and former Trump State Department appointee, acknowledged the predicament: "We are a year into the Trump presidency, and it seems as if everything has changed but the economy. Now, as we head into the midterms, our only message on the economy is, 'You should thank us for the One Big, Beautiful Bill.' That's always going to be a challenge."

Republican operatives are already resorting to damage control. One midterms strategist, speaking anonymously, offered blunt counsel: "Focus just on the local s--t, stop focusing on the world. Even if you obviously can't bring prices down, just do everything you can to make the people feel like the economy is getting better."

In the early hours of Saturday morning, Donald Trump ramped up his Iran war rhetoric with the threat, “Today Iran will be hit very hard!” and menaced the country with “complete destruction.”

At a time when polling shows the president’s military assault on the country is proving to be highly unpopular, Trump appears to be doubling down in his boast-filled Truth Social post.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller raised eyebrows this week after telling Latin American military leaders they effectively have permission to ignore legal advice while confronting drug cartels.

Speaking Thursday at the Americas Counter-Cartel Conference, Miller argued that criminal justice tools alone cannot defeat powerful trafficking organizations and instead called for beefing up military force.

Prior to Donald Trump's attack on Iran, which has grown into a war with no end in sight, there is no indication that the White House alerted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which, since its founding, has been tasked with preventing retaliatory attacks in the US.

Appearing on MS NOW with host Anna Cabrera, former DHS chief of staff Miles Taylor claimed that, from what he has heard from staffers at the agency under now-fired DHS head Kristi Noem, they all were kept in the dark.

Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) suggested that James Talarico, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Texas, was possessed by demons.

The West Virginia Republican attacked the Texas hopeful during a Friday interview with MAGA influencer Benny Johnson.

Early Friday morning Donald Trump set aside the turmoil he created by firing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and the release of a new damning Jeffrey Epstein files on Thursday to menace Iran with a demand for “unconditional surrender!”

On Truth Social, the president is now using ‘MIGA,” (Make Iran Great Again) as he directed the US military to ramp up military assaults, leaving death and rubble behind.