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May 27, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump seems to be denying a key reality in the war in Iran, and it's costing him at the negotiating table, according to one columnist. Bob Kagan, a columnist and neoconservative scholar, discussed the war in Iran on a new episode of "The Bulwark Podcast" with host Tim Miller on Wednesday. Kagan argued that Trump doesn't seem to accept the reality that the U.S. lost the war back in March, and that Iran is basically "shaking Trump down for money" at the negotiating table. "We basically lost the war back in March, and Trump has been spending all these months trying to delay that reality," Kagan said. "And therefore, as a result, Iran has not made a single concession on any point. The Trump administration keeps saying that they're making concessions. They keep saying that there's a deal. They keep saying that they've agreed to do something with their uranium. The only people who've never said that are the Iranians." Trump and Iran have been in a stalemate for several months as the two sides negotiate an end to the three-month-old conflict. Last week, Axios reported on a peace deal that Trump was allegedly "close to signing" that included reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global waterway that has been closed since the war began, in exchange for future talks about Iran's nuclear program. Trump has previously said his primary objective in Iran is to ensure the country never gets a nuclear weapon. Kagan said the negotiations paint a picture of Iran being "in the driver's seat" against the Trump administration. "And since they're the ones who are completely in the driver's seat right now, I think their deal is the one that is the one that is going to emerge," he continued. "Mostly right now, what's happening is Iran is just shaking Trump down for money. And by the way, money for nothing."

May 27, 2026 - World

Some experts criticize White House approach and say not allowing Americans to return to US hurts treatment effortsThe Trump administration is building a quarantine and treatment center in Kenya for Americans affected by the Ebola outbreak, instead of bringing them home.The White House on Wednesday confirmed that the US was setting up a facility in Kenya for Americans to quarantine after Ebola exposure in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Continue reading...

May 27, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he was in no rush to make a deal with Iran, claiming that despite the country's attempts to coerce him into securing negotiations ahead of elections "I don't care about the midterms" — something the internet disagreed with him about.Trump was speaking to his cabinet during a meeting at the White House when he made the comment. He mentioned that he thinks Tehran has tried "to put pressure on America by stretching out negotiations while Republicans are hurt politically from the negative economic impact of the war," according to The New York Times.“They thought they’re going to out wait me,” Trump said. "I don’t care about the midterms," he added.On social media, people responded and mocked his remarks."A comforting remark from Trump for all Republicans seeking re-election in the midterms... DJT has repeatedly demonstrated that he doesn't give a s--- about the overwhelming majority of individuals, both in the U.S. and around the world..." political commentator and self-described business consultant DeSota, who has more than 11,000 followers, wrote on X."He doesn’t care bc he’s not on the ballot in 2028–the golden dome coupled with the ballroom/bunker will be a nice resting place after 1/20/29," Mason, a self-described fund manager and Iraq war veteran who frequently comments on politics, posted on X."Comparing the Republican primaries to the midterms is dumb af," Alex Cole, a progressive news commentator with more than 327,000 followers wrote on X."Trump: Elon will rig them, we’ll keep doing crimes, world keeps on spinning. Have we talked about the ballroom yet?" Chris Robinson, a political commentator, wrote on X."He may not, the GOP does," Chris Panza, co-author of "Ethics for Dummies," wrote on Bluesky.Trump: "I don't care about the midterms" pic.twitter.com/5te5Q5Ced1— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 27, 2026

May 27, 2026 - World

Donald Trump has handed Iran a stunning victory while simultaneously raising questions about his stability to American allies with a proposal so "divorced from reality" that it exposes the administration's complete lack of strategic planning.So wrote New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, a Middle East expert, who said on Tuesday that Trump's misguided Iran war strategy has already inadvertently given Tehran a far more potent weapon than any nuclear capability: the realization that it can hold the global economy hostage at will with no end in sight.Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gambled that multibillion-dollar weapons systems could bomb Iran into surrendering its nuclear program. They relied entirely on Netanyahu's promise that the Iranian regime would collapse like "a house of cards after a few weeks of heavy bombing," Friedman wrote.Instead, they enabled Iran to discover what Friedman calls a weapon of "mass disruption" — cheap drones capable of closing the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most critical oil chokepoint."Now, and forever, Iranians will know that we know that Tehran can shut off the world's most important oil tap anytime it wants. This new source of leverage for the Iranian regime is priceless," the columnist explained.Trump's latest proposal in a Truth Social Memorial Day post exposed the catastrophic consequences of waging war without scenario planning or expert input with the president writing that he is "mandatorily requesting that all Countries [in the region] immediately sign the Abraham Accords." The columnist pointed out that Trump even claimed allies told him they "would be honored" if Iran itself joined the accords. "If Iran signs 'it will be the most important Deal that any of these Great, but always in Conflict Countries, will ever sign,'" he wrote. "Nothing in the past, or in the future, will surpass it."Friedman posed the question: "On what planet of the Milky Way Galaxy would this regime in Tehran, which is practically founded on hatred of Israel, just up and make peace with it after this war?"The proposal was so unexpected and so divorced from Middle Eastern political reality that Friedman labeled it as "unhinged" and a cause for concern."The whole thing was so ridiculous, juvenile and unvetted by any experts that it had to have left our Israeli and Arab allies deeply worried that their American protector is led by a truly unstable man," Friedman concluded.

May 26, 2026 - World

The Trump administration wants to send U.S. citizens living abroad who are exposed to the deadly Ebola virus to Kenya rather than bring them home, according to new reporting by the New York Times. Three people familiar with the Trump administration's plans spoke with the NYT, which noted that previous administrations brought Americans home for observation and treatment. The outbreak of Ebola is in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The World Health Organization declared it a public health emergency. More than 1,000 cases of Ebola and 200 deaths have been reported during the past 11 days, which makes it the third largest outbreak on record, according to the NYT. Trump administration insiders told the NYT that the original plan was to send Ebola-exposed Americans to Kenya for monitoring and then to Europe for treatment if they show symptoms."But the administration now plans to provide treatment in Kenya as well," insiders told the NYT. Trump officials are already setting up a facility in Kenya where Americans can be quarantined and treated for Ebola, the NYT added. "Last week, the Trump administration invoked a public health law known as Title 42 to bar immigrants and legal permanent residents who have been in Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan in the previous 21 days from entering the United States," the NYT reported. "The administration's new plan would also keep U.S. citizens who might have been exposed to Ebola out of the country," two people familiar with the administration's plans told the NYT. "A few dozen Public Health Service officers are now being trained to deploy to Kenya to provide medical care to Americans who are deemed at high risk of developing Ebola."So far, only a few Americans have been infected, including an American doctor in Germany and six other Americans who were transported to Germany and the Czech Republic for monitoring, according to the NYT. "Government scientists and physicians who develop symptoms will also be treated in Kenya," the NYT added.