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Aug 20, 2026 - World

Donald Trump's ballroom ambitions are running into trouble on two continents — and in Ireland, the obstacle is a snail.According to The Washington Post, Trump and his family have promised to build "the nicest ballroom in Ireland" at the Trump International Golf Links & Hotel in Doonbeg, a 12,000-square-foot hall seating 320 guests.However, unlike the fight in Washington, the roughly 300 residents of Doonbeg largely support the project. But the endangered Vertigo angustior snail, which lives in the resort's dunes, has long complicated development there. In February, planners approved the ballroom on the condition the Trumps submit a snail restoration plan.Days later, Liam Madden — a self-described "serial objector" known for derailing developments across Ireland, and who once helped kill a Trump seawall proposal at the same resort in 2020 — stepped into the breach and filed an appeal alongside Friends of the Irish Environment, which has disrupted the massive build-out."If there is a God in heaven," Madden said in July, "I will win the planning appeals and capitalize on it for notoriety." According to the Post, "He returned to the snail — this time focused on helicopters. The Trump Organization, a promotional video indicated, allows guests to be ferried in and out by helicopter. In materials published online, an aviation company, Executive Helicopters, said it has two 'heli landings' at the resort, one by the hotel and one on the golf course. To Madden, this was a 'fatal error': The Trump Organization neither mentioned the helicopters nor sought to measure their ecological impact. The ballroom proposal thus was 'tainted at law and beyond remedy,' he wrote."Geraint Ellis, an Irish planning law expert who reviewed Madden's appeal for the Post, agreed and said the activist "seems to have found some issues that are worthy of further scrutiny."Ireland's national appellate board is expected to rule by year's end, the Post is reporting.Meanwhile in Washington, the $900 million White House ballroom — complete with gold-colored presidential seals — is already under construction despite a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling this month calling the project "utterly lawless" for bypassing legally required reviews.

Aug 19, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump's hardening stance on Iran has rattled even senior Republican officials and generals in his own Department of Defense, with one calling him "a madman who can't be trusted," according to an insider.Veteran White House reporter Brian Karem, in a report for Raw America, identified how Trump has been weighing using nuclear weapons against Iran over the past two months."One unnamed Pentagon official confided to Raw America that the president’s threat that 'a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,' which he posted to his Truth Social early last month, was seen as particularly alarming within the DoD," Karem wrote."After what Trump said back in July, everyone should have known this is on the table," the Pentagon official told Raw America. "What do you think he meant by that?"The comments follow a chilling statement from former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). The former Trump MAGA ally claimed in a post on X Sunday that the president discussed the possibility of using nuclear weapons against Iran in recent strategy meetings and called him "pure evil."Greene argued that Iran was "nowhere near creating a nuclear weapon," and that the U.S. military had "killed their leaders and innocent little children in a school, and Iran has controlled the Strait of Hormuz ever since and punished the region for their part in it.""And now our government is the one actually discussing lowering the nuclear threshold in order to use nuclear weapons against Iran even though Trump claims he’s won the war like 40 times and says the U.S. controls the [Strait of Hormuz]," Greene wrote.She described why that was so troubling."Trump promised no more foreign wars, but may actually be the one who delivers a nuclear holocaust that would likely drag the entire world into major conflict, economic depression, and mass human suffering we’ve never seen in our lifetimes and maybe throughout history," Greene added.

Aug 19, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump was criticized on Wednesday after claiming he had a great relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, prompting backlash over his recent comments.Trump, who had called for U.S. military exercises with South Korea to be cut, claimed during an Oval Office press conference that continuing the drills would be unfair to North Korea's supreme leader."I do have a good relationship with Kim Jong Un," Trump said. "I didn't like the fact that we're doing these massive military exercises really against North Korea when I'm friendly with him."Commentators on social media were furious with the president's remarks."Maybe next time we shouldn’t elect someone President who kisses the a---- of Putin and Kim," David Yoffee, a frequent political commentator who self-describes as a Democrat, wrote on X."@RepDonBacon still waiting for you to pull your 29 years of honorable service out of the trash and do something that should not have to seem so brave. Please wake up, D̴r̴.̴ ̴J̴o̴n̴e̴s̴ Rep. Bacon," wrote attorney John Oleske in a post on X, calling on the veteran and GOP lawmaker to respond."Trump: Maybe Kim does a little 'military operation' and takes over South Korea in a Putin-ish manner. Maybe I look the other way unless $10 billion appears in my lap. Who knows," liberal political commentator Chris Robinson wrote on X."Worst reboot ever of the movie ‘The Interview’ with Seth Rogen and James Franco," journalist Nancy Levine Stearns wrote on X.Worst reboot ever of the movie ‘The Interview’ with Seth Rogen and James Franco. https://t.co/d9EIX5DwGR— Nancy Levine Stearns (@nancylevine) August 19, 2026

Aug 19, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump went on a rant Wednesday over the helipad construction, grass, his ballroom project, the Iran war and his relationship status with Kim Jong Un. Trump was outside the White House for a helipad press tour on the South Lawn when he gave a rambling update."It's very close to being finished, the hard work is done," Trump said, talking about the material and building process. "This is for many presidents, they will have it for a long time."He praised the construction crew, and talked about how it would be important for foreign leaders and White House events."Right now they're not impressed," he said. He also spoke in detail about the grass — and made an admission."It's in shock," Trump added. "But you come back in two or three weeks, this has all been redone. It's all been topsoiled. If you remember, it had big sunken areas in here, and was pretty bad. It was in bad shape, but this grass was the highest quality. It was given free of charge by ScottsMiracle-Gro. Scotts is a great company. They actually contributed to my campaign, I must be honest."Independent journalist Aaron Rupar captured Trump's comments, compiling a series of clips shared on social media."Here's a supercut of Trump just now ranting and raving like a complete lunatic outside the White House on topics including his military ballroom, warm relationship with Kim Jong Un, and how great things are going in Iran," Rupar wrote on X.Other media and political commentators weighed in on Trump's remarks.Reporter James Fallows raised a question."Challenge: Is there anyone who has worked in a non-Trump White House—as I did, eons ago, under Carter—who views this rant as other than *insane sundowner perseveration* fit for a Florida nursing home? To me, this is insane sundowner obsession. Anyone with first-hand WH experience who disagrees?" Fallows wrote on Bluesky.Max Berger, co-founder of Momentum Training Institute, an organization that trains progressive activists, argued Trump's focus on Kim Jong Un — and the president's claim he planned to meet with him — were revealing."The ultimate irony of Trump, like all fascists, is that he’s a weak person’s idea of a strong man. Trump is a pathetic simp for anyone who strokes his incredibly fragile ego because he can’t take an ounce of objective reality. Of course he gets along with another fat delusional nepo-baby," Berger wrote on Bluesky.

Aug 19, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump was lashed with insults Wednesday by two Floridians who voted for him in the past.In a clip shared by MS NOW host Stephanie Ruhle on Wednesday morning, one self-identified Trump voter let his annoyance with the Iran war grow into an angry rant about gas prices.Asked by MS NOW’s Alex Tabet about the war the Trump voter gave the MS NOW reporter an earful.“I think what Trump's doing now, I'm kind of having a about-face,” he admitted."You know, we started a war over there in Iran we can't possibly finish,” he continued. “You should know more about history — I know you're not going to sort these people out over there.”“Are you benefiting from this war?” Tabet pressed.“No!” the Florida man exclaimed. “Who's benefiting from it? Look at fuel prices! We went to Costco yesterday and it was ridiculous. And everything's expensive! Where does it end, right?”A woman then told Tabet, “Gas shouldn't be that high, but everything, groceries, everything.”“We're just suffering right now,” she lamented. - YouTubeyoutu.be