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Nov 2, 2026 - World

Independent journalist Ken Klippenstein reports that a military source of his gives even odds that the U.S. will strike Iran after the midterms — but says any attack would be smaller than first planned.Klippenstein writes that President Donald Trump’s plan for a decisive attack on Iran is now in doubt. Trump said last month the U.S. would not attack before the election, but Klippenstein says target sets were drafted and forces were being positioned, including a third aircraft carrier and two amphibious groups carrying about two dozen additional F-35s.Gulf Arab allies, he says, told Washington they would help defend themselves but would not join an offensive.He reports the plan frayed further when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lost his majority, leaving planners unable to count on Israel until a new government forms.In his account, Hegseth told the White House that a sea-based strike without Israel or Gulf bases remained workable. Gulf states objected to hitting energy infrastructure, and some military leaders warned that strikes on power production might violate the law of war. Hegseth responded by firing Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia, the top Joint Chiefs war planner, Klippenstein says.Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said last week, “Their plan is insane,” and predicted “devastating escalation.”Klippenstein says Murphy was referring to classified briefings. Citing military sources, he writes that Trump has criticized the proposed attack as “uninspired, worthless, and weak” and wants Iran’s nuclear program as its focus. He says Trump hinted on Halloween at hitting one or two remaining nuclear sites.Additionally, Iran has threatened retaliation beyond the Middle East, and people in Trump’s orbit have discussed responding at home with a national emergency, wrote Klippenstein.

Nov 2, 2026 - World

Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers of Michigan was paid more than $420,000 while serving on the board of the MITRE Corporation, a consultancy that is now working with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the future of U.S. warfare, according to tax filings reported by Drop Site News.Rogers sat on MITRE’s board of trustees, at one point as chair, for six years until 2023, when he stepped down to run for Senate, the outlet says.IRS records show his yearly pay, and MITRE’s CEO has said Rogers was recruited for his “vast national security expertise.”MITRE is coordinating Project Meridian, which Hegseth announced Sept. 30 as a study of future warfare. Hegseth named tech tycoon Elon Musk, former GOP congressional leader Newt Gingrich, and defense entrepreneur Palmer Luckey as top officials.Drop Site says some have raised conflict-of-interest concerns, noting that former defense officials told NPR the project could push the military toward drones and space systems built by Musk’s and Luckey’s companies. Musk is one of Rogers’ biggest backers through his America PAC.Rogers’ support for the Iran war has been a liability as he has navigated his fight against Democratic opponent Abdul El-Sayed, the report noted. A poll cited by the outlet shows up to 67 percent of Michigan voters disapprove of the war.In March, Rogers said the war’s end “should be conditional,” but in recent weeks he has been trying to downplay his old hawkishness, even telling Fox News “we need to start wrapping it down.”

Nov 2, 2026 - World

Panic spread late Sunday as a prominent conservative figure with deep ties to the Donald Trump administration warned that the president was just days away from deciding whether to use nuclear weapons in his deeply unpopular war against Iran.That conservative figure was Tucker Carlson, formerly a staunch ally of Trump who has since broken with the president over the U.S. war against Iran. Sunday night, Carlson issued a warning that Trump, under pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, may be “within days of launching a nuclear strike on Iran,” citing an “informed observer” and other inside connections.“We’ve been sleepwalking toward this moment for months,” Carlson warned in a statement published on social media that had been viewed more than 34 million times as of Monday morning.“Since February, the administration has quietly rewritten America’s nuclear doctrine to make first use of so-called ‘battlefield nukes’ easier and therefore more likely. No one in Washington in either party seems bothered by this. Now we’re on the brink of it.”“Now I can’t sleep,” reacted Hunter Biden, son of former President Joe Biden, in a social media post on X Sunday night.Citing “close observers,” Carlson claimed that Trump was “likely” to decide “by next weekend” whether to authorize a nuclear attack, with a “cornered and desperate” Netanyahu, fresh off a rebuke from Israeli voters, aggressively pushing to escalate the U.S. war against Iran in an effort to cling to power.“Tucker is extremely well sourced in the Trump administration and shouldn’t be ignored if this is what he’s being told,” warned journalist Ryan Grim, founder of Drop Site News.The target of the U.S. nuclear strike allegedly under consideration would be Pickaxe Mountain, an Iranian site frequently mentioned by Trump that Israeli intelligence has claimed is being used by Tehran to restart its nuclear program.“Fallout from a ground explosion at Pickaxe Mountain would contaminate the Persian Gulf, poisoning the water supply for 100 million people,” Carlson warned. “And those are just some of the immediate consequences for the region. The rest of the world is every bit as exposed… After the first nuclear strike, World War Three is inevitable. That war would be short and final.”Former Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene argued that such a strike would constitute “crimes against humanity,” and geopolitical analyst Brett Erickson warned that it would “lead to global economic devastation.”Defense journalist Tyler Rogoway, editor-in-chief of The War Zone, argued that, were Trump to authorize the use of nuclear weapons, it would be the United States’ greatest foreign policy error in history.“If a nuclear weapon were used on Pickaxe Mountain in Iran by the US or Israel or an empty field in Ukraine by Russia etc, it doesn’t matter, it would open up Pandora’s box and would make the U.S. and the world dramatically less safe,” Rogoway warned. “This isn’t even a question of how big of a disaster the use, in any manner, of a nuclear weapon would be. It would represent the largest foreign policy error ever by the United States if we were involved. We can only hope this claim isn’t accurate in any way.”

Nov 2, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump may be "sleepwalking" toward a nuclear conflict at the urging of one of his "cornered and desperate" allies, according to one analyst. Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News host, posted a lengthy warning on X, alleging that the Trump administration may approve a nuclear strike on Iran within a week of the midterm elections. It's an issue that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls Trump about "every day," according to Carlson. "The target would be Pickax Mountain in central Iran, where Israeli intelligence claims the Iranian government has restarted its nuclear enrichment program," Carlson wrote. " No conventional weapon in the American arsenal can penetrate 300 feet of solid granite to destroy the tunnels where enrichment is supposedly taking place. The only military option is a nuclear strike. Netanyahu has been pushing hard for one."Carlson noted that the recent election results in Israel made Netanyahu's pleas more urgent. Netanyahu's governing coalition took a shellacking in the election because of a surge in support for Israel's Arab parties, which could pave the way for Netanyahu's exit from state politics. "Netanyahu is cornered and desperate," Carlson noted. "After last week’s election results, he can’t form a government unless Trump intervenes directly in Israeli politics and brokers a deal with other parties that gives Netanyahu 61 seats in the Knesset. Otherwise, he is out as prime minister and on his way to ignominy, investigations, and possibly jail. Netanyahu must stay close to Trump. He needs this war.""No country other than the United States has ever used a nuclear weapon in war. Some would like to. An American nuclear attack on Iran would set a new precedent. The Russians have already told at least two other governments that an American nuclear strike on Iran would free them to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine. Pakistan and India would be tempted to do the same against each other, as would North Korea against Seoul. After the first nuclear strike, World War Three is inevitable. That war would be short and final," Carlson added. "We’ve been sleepwalking toward this moment for months," Carlson added. "Since February, the administration has quietly rewritten America’s nuclear doctrine to make first use of so-called 'battlefield nukes' easier and therefore more likely. No one in Washington in either party seems bothered by this. Now we’re on the brink of it."

Nov 2, 2026 - World

A strange brag President Donald Trump let out during his rally in Iowa on Sunday immediately blew up in his face. Trump traveled to Dubuque, Iowa, to rally for Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) as she seeks higher office in the Senate against Democratic challenger Josh Turek. During his speech, Trump made an unsettling claim about his ability to "win" wars, and how he would have handled some of the biggest conflicts in U.S. history. "I could have won Vietnam in a week," Trump said. "They dropped whatever the hell that crap is that hit the forest: Agent Orange! Instead of going after Ho Chi Minh and the other cities."Trump also claimed he could have solved the war in Afghanistan in a "week" as well. The president's comments didn't land well with several political analysts. Gregory Brew, an Iranian oil analyst for the Eurasia Group, argued that Trump's comment was a "curious" one to make. "Throughout the entirety of Trump's first term, the U.S. was at war in Afghanistan. Not only did he not win it, but his administration negotiated the deal that made the events of 2021 essentially unavoidable. This is a curious boast to make," he posted on X. Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Dispatch, said that Trump had an opportunity to prove his boast true during his first term, but failed to do so. "He could have 'won' Afghanistan during his first term. But he spent most of it trying to get out," Goldberg posted on X. Alex Cole, a liberal news creator, highlighted a glaring irony in Trump's comments. "Draft dodger Trump couldn't defeat algae in a swimming pool, but he was going to conquer the jungles of Vietnam in a week," Cole wrote in a post on X. Alex Ward, a national security reporter for The Wall Street Journal, posted on X that Trump's deal with the Taliban during his first term set the stage for a disastrous end to another war Trump claims he would have better solved. "Trump oversaw four years of the war in Afghanistan, and made a deal with the Taliban—cutting out the Afghan government—that set the table for Biden’s disastrous withdrawal," Ward posted. Trump: I would’ve won The Vietnam War in a week. I would’ve won the war in Afghanistan. https://t.co/eaWK6o2pnb— Acyn (@Acyn) November 1, 2026