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Apr 15, 2026 - World

Vice President JD Vance’s continuing lecturing of Pope Leo XIV at a Turning Point USA function in Georgia on Tuesday earned him a tongue-lashing on MS NOW early Wednesday morning.Speaking to a sparse crowd, Vance, a recent convert to Catholicism, continued to harangue the pontiff over his comments that run counter to the Donald Trump administration’s policies on war and immigrants.In a clip shared on “Morning Joe,” the Ohio Republican boldly asserted, “I think it's very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology. I think one of the issues here is that if you're going to opine on matters of theology, you've got to be careful. You've got to make sure it's anchored in the truth. And that's one of the things that I try to do. And it's certainly something I would expect from the clergy, whether they're Catholic or Protestant.”That led MS NOW host Joe Scarborough to launch into an extensive lecture aimed at Trump’s running mate.“What, what, what are you? A king in medieval Europe?” the former GOP lawmaker exclaimed. “Warning the pope not to talk about the Bible? That's what you just said! You know how stupid you sound, right? You know how stupid you sound when you, new to the Catholic church, are lecturing, Mr. Vice President, the pontiff on theology and telling him he should not quote the red letters?”“How utterly bizarre,” he continued. “People will look back one day and laugh when they have the safety of distance and laugh that you actually have a vice president sitting on stage warning the pope, god's representative here on earth for the Catholic church, warning the pope and what he can and cannot say about theology, that he needs to be careful.”He added, “And so to hear a sitting vice president of the United States, first of all, becoming a Catholic last week and then writing a book about being a Catholic and then lecturing the pope, I've got to say, that's like an all-timer, and people are going to look back and they're going to have a big chuckle that anybody was ever that arrogant.” - YouTube youtu.be

Apr 15, 2026 - World

Beijing may be reaping some diplomatic benefit but Trump’s war holds risks for its energy security and economyTwo months ago, China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, promised it would be a “big year” for China-US relations. He was right, but perhaps not in the way he expected.Wang was speaking before a planned visit by the US president to Beijing in March, which would have been Donald Trump’s first trip to China since 2017. But the trip, and a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, was kicked back by several weeks after Trump decided to launch strikes with Israel against Iran, starting a war in the Middle East that has caused a global energy crisis and roiled diplomatic relations across the board. Continue reading...

Apr 15, 2026 - World

With Donald Trump becoming more erratic and lashing out at the traditional allies of the US, plans are afoot by members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to create a separate version of the organization beyond the American president's reach.According to the Wall Street Journal's Bojan Pancevski and Daniel Michaels, European officials are advancing informal plans for what some are calling "European NATO," a parallel structure that would give Europeans greater command-and-control authority and supplement U.S. military assets with their own capabilities.The plans represent a massive shift in European strategic thinking now that Germany has ceased resisting French calls for greater European defense sovereignty, preferring American military guarantees. That calculus has fundamentally changed under German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is now actively participating in the initiative over concerns about U.S. dependability as an ally during the Trump presidency and beyond.European officials are explicit about their purpose: preserve deterrence against Russia, operational continuity and nuclear credibility even if the Trump administration withdraws forces from Europe or refuses to come to its defense, as the president has repeatedly threatened.Trump's recent rhetoric has only accelerated the timeline. He branded European allies as "cowards," called NATO "a paper tiger," and added menacingly, in reference to Putin: "Putin knows that too." He has also threatened to leave NATO entirely over Europe's refusal to support his Iran war, describing the move as already "beyond reconsideration," the Journal is reporting.The momentum is undeniable. Finland's President Alexander Stubb, one of the leaders involved in the initiative, signaled the permanent nature of the shift: "A burden shifting from the U.S. toward Europe is ongoing and it will continue…as part of U.S. defense and national security strategy."The report notes Europe is not waiting for Trump to make good on his threats. The plans, first conceived last year, have accelerated dramatically after Trump threatened to seize Greenland from NATO member Denmark and intensified amid the standoff over Europe's refusal to back the highly criticized Iran war.Though congressional approval would be required for a formal NATO withdrawal, Trump retains broad authority as commander-in-chief to move troops or assets out of Europe or withhold support — a threat that has transformed European defense planning from theoretical to urgent.

Apr 15, 2026 - World

Sheinbaum has recently been taking a firmer stance with the US, defying pressures where other countries have cavedThe Mexican government has voiced concern about the deaths of its citizens in US custody, with Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum also pushing back against the Trump administration’s decision to impose an energy blockade on Cuba.The progressive Mexican leader has walked a careful line with Trump for more than a year, addressing provocations with a measured tone and meeting US requests to crack down on cartels more so than her predecessors, in an effort to offset threats of tariffs and US military action against gangs. Continue reading...

Apr 14, 2026 - World

A millionaire MAGA lawmaker had a surprising statement on President Donald Trump's Iran war that left people stunned on Tuesday. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) argued during a live interview on Newsmax that Americans should make do with the rising gas prices and compared the military conflict with Iran to how the United States defeated the Nazis during WWII, The Daily Beast reported.“Could you imagine trying to tell the president, ‘Look, you’ve only got so many days to defeat Hitler or defeat Japan?’” Marshall said, reflecting on his own grandparents during World War II. He said it was time for Americans to prepare for the unknown, despite rising prices prompted by the ongoing war and closure of the Strait of Hormuz. "I'm sorry that gas prices are going up, but help is on the way, and your national security is even more important than your pocketbook," Marshall said. "We have to do it 'til we get the outcome that we want," Marshall added.People called out Marshall and his comments online: "Some of these states are inflicting their stupidity on the rest of us, and holding us back. A Senator from Kansas who only got 700k votes should not have the same voice as one from California who got 9 million. This is one of the reasons we are [expletive]," retired Army sergeant and political commentator Danny wrote on X."Hey Sen. Roger Marshall. Don't compare your illegal war to World War II. Get Hitler out of your mouth, @RogerMarshallMD of Kansas," journalist Nancy Levine Stearns wrote on X."Well, yeah, it would go like this: 'You only have so many days to defeat yourself.' Because Trump is wannabe Hitler," sports journalist and podcaster Jimmy Murphy wrote on X. "Shame on the Kansas voters who put his [expletive] in office," writer and filmmaker William Glad wrote on X."More Republican gaslighting. Do they even believe their own [expletive] they sell?" Developer Michael Dupuis wrote on Bluesky.NEWSMAX: How long do you think Americans will be willing to pay the higher energy costs?SEN. ROGER MARSHALL: I think back to my grandparents and their generation that served in World War 2. Could you imagine telling the president, 'You only got so many days to defeat Hitler?' pic.twitter.com/eEYmUlxxUh— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 14, 2026