Top World News

Aug 19, 2026 - World

The Department of Defense is weighing a retreat and not rebuilding bases after President Donald Trump exposed Middle East vulnerabilities.According to a Tuesday article, the Pentagon's policy office is evaluating whether to retreat long-term from the Persian Gulf after Iranian strikes battered military bases. The Washington Post reported that damage to the bases presents a "once-in-a-generation" chance for the Pentagon to reevaluate its footprint in the Middle East."The war really did highlight the vulnerability...of U.S. forces in the region," Michael Ratney told The Post. Ratney is a former diplomat who served as the U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia and deputy chief of mission in Qatar.The shift would leave battered bases unrepaired and move U.S. forces back, according to The Post. A person familiar with the change told The Post that U.S. Central Command is considering keeping in place shifts away from bases that were evacuated because they were too vulnerable to Iranian missile and drone attacks."Iran thinks we are in the traditional places," the person told The Washington Post. "And we are not."The Post noted that the Pentagon's retreat could impact U.S. allies in the Gulf because they rely on the presence of U.S. forces in the region for defense. The move could leave them "unable to defend themselves against Iranian attacks," according to The Post. The largest and most permanent bases in the Middle East are in the Persian Gulf, according to The Post. The headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet is in Bahrain, and countries like Kuwait host Army and Air Force assets, The Post added.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has not yet ordered a formal review of U.S. posture in the region, The Post noted. An anonymous senior official who spoke to The Post called it "prudent planning" and said, "Decisions are going to have to be made on some of this stuff."

Aug 18, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump told his administration's envoys to stop talks with Iran on Tuesday, CNN reported.CNN anchor Jake Tapper reported that Trump officials have told allies that they have shifted their strategy from "hammer Iran ASAP" to "strangle them over time," according to sources.Lawmakers have shared their concerns amid reports of dwindling weapon supplies and low morale among troops as the military operations have continued for nearly six months. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, reacted to the administration's reported change in an interview with Tapper."I think it's another indication that he has reached a strategic dead-end," Blumenthal said. "He has involved this nation in a seemingly endless, costly war. Just as the [USS] Abraham Lincoln is on an endless, seemingly indefinite deployment with no exit. The idea that he would 'strangle Iran' seems pretty magical thinking."He called out Trump for lack of strategy and cost of the war — from gas, groceries and worldwide economic backlash."He's playing a dangerous game of chicken," Blumenthal added.

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

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.