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Aug 18, 2026 - World

Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta warned that foreign allies are concerned that President Donald Trump's politics represent more than an aberration.During a recent episode of "The Jim Acosta Show," the former anchor and his guest, Jonathan V. Last from The Bulwark, said that the warning from abroad is that the United States needs more than a Democratic successor to Trump to avoid becoming 1930s Germany.Last and Acosta were talking about Trump's threats to take over Greenland and his preference for North Korea over South Korea."Is this permanent, or is this just unique to Trump?" Last asked Acosta. "Is it that Trump has some special magic...The whole international order looks at this and just is like, 'What are you going to do?'"Acosta told Last that he's been to functions attended by ambassadors, and said that a couple of ambassadors warned him that Trump echoes Germany at its darkest period."This was after when he gave the crazy bats--- election conspiracy theory speech, which we've all flushed out of our systems because we just move on to the next crazy thing that he does," Acosta said. "A pretty close U.S. allied ambassador for that country came up to me at a party — this was about a month ago or so — and said, 'Jim...This reminds me of 1930s Germany. What is happening in America right now?'" According to Acosta, "Another ambassador for another major U.S. ally standing next to this person was nodding and saying, 'Yep, that's what it reminds me of, too.'"He added, "People need to understand the rest of the world is starting to form this conclusion that the United States of America is just in a serious f------ jam right now, and nobody knows how we're going to get out of this."Shaking his head, Acosta made it clear that the world doesn't have faith in "this whole idea that some Democratic candidate is going to ride in on a white horse and change everything overnight."

Aug 18, 2026 - World

Picture showing White Helmets volunteer unconscious and with bruises on his body went viralSyrians have protested over the death of a man who was arrested and allegedly beaten by security forces, sparking widespread anger at a practice thought to have ended with the fall of Bashar al-Assad.A crowd gathered in the city of Aleppo, demanding accountability for the security forces who are alleged to have carried out the torture, with participants holding signs and slogans such as: “Do not repeat the same oppression that we revolted against.” Protests were also planned to take place in front of Syria’s parliament in Damascus on Tuesday, as well. Continue reading...

Aug 18, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump contradicted Special Envoy for Peace Jared Kushner on Tuesday, flatly denying that any Iran talks were happening hours after Kushner called them active and ongoing.Trump wrote on Truth Social that "there are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran."Kushner had made an opposite claim during a Fox News interview with correspondent Trey Yingst the day before.MS NOW White House correspondent Garrett Haake flagged the gap between what the president's son-in-law said and what the president himself posted."White House messaging on Iran is a mess today," Haake wrote on X.Only a day earlier, Kushner said that the Trump administration was "having very positive and active conversations" with the Iranian government. "I will say that the conversations between the U.S. government and different areas of the Iranian government at all levels is probably more robust than it's maybe ever been. We are having very positive and active conversations," Kushner told Fox News.NewsNation White House correspondent Kellie Meyer expressed frustration over the mixed messages."President Trump just said yesterday that the administration was talking with Iran. This is what makes it difficult to convey to the American people / our viewers what's going on here," wrote NewsNation White House correspondent Kellie Meyer.On Monday, Trump himself had acknowledged a backchannel to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to Fox News — the same day Kushner spoke with Yingst."They're good poker players, but they're dying," Trump told Fox News of Iran's leadership."I have no time schedule," the president added. "I'm not in a hurry."

Aug 18, 2026 - World

Peace talks between Washington and Tehran are officially dead, according to a statement released by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, despite the president having claimed talks were ongoing just days earlier.“There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”As recently as last week, Trump told Real America’s Voice that he was still “sort of negotiating” with Iranian leadership, and the day before that, he told Axios that his administration was “semi-negotiating” with Tehran, despite Iranian claims to the contrary.Iran has instead engaged in negotiations with Oman on a deal to manage traffic flow through the Strait of Hormuz, and has explicitly excluded the United States from the talks. When asked Monday for his thoughts on the Iran-Oman negotiations, Trump threatened to “bomb the S” out of Oman should they “get in the way” of his administration’s efforts to fully re-open the strait, according to Fox News’ Trey Yingst.

Aug 17, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump's comments about the Iran war and scaling back military exercises with ally South Korea amid his talks with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un were raising serious questions on Monday.CNN White House correspondent Kristen Holmes, who Trump had snapped at during an Oval Office press conference earlier, pointed to why the president's comments were fueling concerns."President Trump there saying that he had had some kind of communication or opened the door to communication with Kim Jong Un," Holmes said. "And then shortly afterward, this announcement that they were scaling back the military exercises with our ally, South Korea."Holmes compared the move to when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the White House, and it was anticipated he would request the U.S. help provide more missiles."The day before, President Trump talked to President Putin," she said. "And because of that phone call the next day, he denied giving Zelensky Patriot missiles, citing conversations that he had had with Vladimir Putin. So this is a real and justifiable question."Holmes added that this has also triggered scrutiny over "the other crisis that he is facing" — the Iran war."The idea that North Korea has been stockpiling illegal nuclear weapons — what message is that sending to Iran that he is willing to support North Korea in this, as they stockpile these illegal nuclear weapons, or at least look the other way?" Holmes asked. "Now, all of this is coming at a point where President Trump seems to be at least foreign policy-wise, completely spiraling," she added. "And that is likely due to what we are seeing here at home. There is no end in sight to this war in Iran. And in fact, President Trump is saying the same thing today that he said five months ago: that they want to negotiate, that they're not going to come up with a deal that he likes, and that the baseline premise of this entire war is to make sure Iran doesn't get nuclear weapons."As the unpopular war has dragged on for five months, Americans have become more frustrated."Now, part of the reason he is likely having so many issues, particularly when it comes to Iran and answering these questions, is this poll, the poll that we did at the end of last month in which we asked voters if they believe that the Iran war was worth both the U.S. lives lost and the financial cost. And 74% of Americans said no," Holmes said. "Those polls are not lost on this White House."