Vance was ‘skeptical’ voice in White House on Iran strikes … A second senior Trump official said “his role is to provide the president and the administration, you know, all points of views of what could happen from many different angles and, you know, he does that.  But once the decision has been made, he's fully on board.”

Raging at Media, Pete Hegseth Just Said the Quiet Part Out Loud  —  Pete Hegseth wants to live in a world in which the American military can drop bombs on scores of schoolchildren and not face serious media scrutiny over it.  And he just might get that world soon enough.

Exclusive: Trump is preparing to replace Ric Grenell as head of the Kennedy Center  —  President Donald Trump is expected to remove Richard Grenell as head of the Kennedy Center, according to three sources familiar with the matter.  —  The move comes as the arts and culture institution …

How This Oil Supply Shock Compares With the Embargo of 1973  —  Governments have stockpiled oil, and cars are more efficient but the supply shock is global, and there's no sense of when it'll end.  —  In October 1973, oil-producing countries in the Middle East imposed an oil embargo …

Pentagon Is Moving Additional Marines, Warships to the Middle East  —  The Pentagon is moving additional Marines and warships to the Middle East as Iran steps up its attacks on the Strait of Hormuz, according to three U.S. officials.  Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has approved a request …

Judge blocks subpoenas against Fed Chair Jerome Powell, citing ‘essentially zero evidence’  —  Powell said the subpoenas were related to his testimony before the Senate in June about the renovation of Federal Reserve office buildings.  —  A federal judge on Friday said he was blocking subpoenas …

Sinema acknowledges affair with Senate bodyguard while in office  —  The acknowledgement is part of a legal filing to dismiss an “alienation of affection” lawsuit against the former senator from Arizona.  —  Former U.S. senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona acknowledged having an affair …

Trump Administration Readies Plans to Dismantle Renowned Science Lab  —  Proposals include transferring a supercomputer to the University of Wyoming and shifting a space weather lab to a private company.  —  The Trump administration is reviewing proposals to break up one of the world's leading climate …

Dark money group offers influencers $1,500 for posts attacking Chicago Democratic primary candidate  —  Progressive House candidate Kat Abughazaleh told MS NOW the secretive campaign is “filled with false and defamatory claims.”  —  A week out from a crowded and contentious Democratic primary …

The Secret Police Playbook  —  Since the Pendleton Act of 1883, the U.S. federal government has rested on a simple promise: professionalism, merit-based recruitment, independent oversight.  Over time, U.S. federal law enforcement became a global reference point—effective, technically sophisticated …

How a Catch-a-Predator Sting Nabbed a Right-Wing Hatemonger  —  Was Jake Lang evaluating a teenage girl for a bikinis-and-burkas protest?  Or was something more lecherous at play?  —  ∙ Paid  —  Welcome back to False Flag! … ONE OF THE MOST NOTORIOUS HATEMONGERS on the far right appears …

Trump Judge Says Trans Rights Case Is About ‘Swinging Dicks,’ Berates ‘Woke’ Colleagues  —  “This is a case about swinging dicks,” began 9th Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke in his dissent.  —  The case in question centered on the policy of two Korean spas in Washington state that allowed only …

ICE agents reveal daily arrest quotas and surveillance app in rare court testimony  —  Under oath, officers said they were told to make eight arrests a day and given special tech to help choose ‘targets’  —  US immigration agents in Oregon used a custom-made app to identify neighborhoods …

I graphed every president's approval rating during “rally around the flag” events  —  Donald Trump launched airstrikes against Iran on Feb. 28, 2026.  In the two weeks since, I've already written about how the public opposed the strikes from the start and how nearly every poll on the war so far confirms this trend.

Suspect in Michigan synagogue attack had lost family in Israeli strike on Lebanon  —  Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, who was born in Lebanon and became a naturalized US citizen, lost two brothers, a niece and a nephew in the airstrike  —  The armed suspect who drove a vehicle into the hallway …

Hegseth ignored military officials when he slashed offices that limit risk to civilians … The high level of opposition to the cuts, which has not been previously reported, hints at the tension between top military officials and their civilian leader over the rules of engagement in combat, which the Pentagon chief has called “stupid.”

‘Oh, boy’: Oil industry frets over Trump's profit-minded Iran post … “The idea that the industry profits from war and death is not one a VP of public relations wants to promote,” said Mark Jones, political science fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute.  —  Trump's post drew groans from some in the industry.

All 6 U.S. crew members killed after refueling plane crashes in Iraq  —  The crash brings the number of U.S. service personnel killed since the Iran war began Feb. 28 to 12.  A 13th died of a medical issue.  — ADD NBC NEWS TO GOOGLE  —  All six U.S. crew members have been confirmed dead …

What Are We Living Through in Trump 2.0?  Here Are 3 Possibilities.  —  From the whirlwind start of the second Trump administration through the war in Iran, Americans have been put to a very difficult task: How are they to make sense of this cascade of events?

Hegseth: Strait of Hormuz Is Open  —  The Strait of Hormuz is open for transit, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.  “The only thing prohibiting transit in the straits right now is Iran shooting at shipping,” he said.  “It is open for transit should Iran not do that.”

E.P.A. Moves to Weaken Limits on a Cancer-Causing Gas  —  The gas, ethylene oxide, plays a crucial role in sterilizing medical devices.  But long-term exposure is linked to several types of cancer and other ailments.  —  The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday proposed to weaken limits …

Andrew and Peter Mandelson pictured in bathrobes with Jeffrey Epstein  —  Trio captured relaxing around a wooden table in photo believed to have been taken on Martha's Vineyard  —  Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Peter Mandelson have been pictured in bathrobes alongside Jeffrey Epstein, in the first known photograph of them together.

Trump blames recent attacks on ‘genetics’ of assailants  —  President Donald Trump previously told a radio show that immigrants who become murderers had “bad genes.”  —  President Donald Trump on Thursday blamed “the genetics” of the assailants in a string of recents attacks including …