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Aug 14, 2026 - World

A frantic appearance by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's before the media Thursday drew an accusation that he may require drug testing or an abuse intervention.The embattled President Donald Trump appointee spoke to reporters and attempted to address concerns about his deployment of an aircraft carrier in the Middle East that has lasted so long that one sailor attempted to leap overboard.Speaking to reporters in Panama, an intense Hegseth, 46, discussed the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier on extended deployment near Iran, the Daily Beast reported."We make sure that every ship, every crew, every captain, has everything we can provide them at every single moment," Hegseth said, adding that he understood the strain of long deployments from his own military service in Iraq and Afghanistan.His appearance and rapid-fire commentary caught the attention of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who posted on X describing Hegseth as appearing "delusional, manic, agitated" and noting his "arm-thrashing display." Newsom questioned whether Hegseth had recently undergone drug testing, asking, "Has Pete Hegseth done a drug test lately? Why are the results not public?"This is not the first time Hegseth has raised concerns by acting in a "manic" manner, according to Pentagon insiders.Hegseth has a documented history of substance abuse concerns. His ex-wife told the FBI that he "drinks more often than he doesn't," and former Fox News colleagues said he reeked of alcohol before going on air. Hegseth pledged to abstain from alcohol ahead of his Senate confirmation, which was narrowly approved with Vice President JD Vance providing a tie-breaking vote.

Aug 14, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump's touted Freedom Fuel gas-station network faces fresh scrutiny after a former State Department official questioned possible links to Venezuela.During an episode of Court of History, former State Department expert on international crime Jonathan Winer suggested Freedom Fuel may be tied to Venezuela's opaque oil revenue and selling cheaper gas through an arrangement that's "literally unprecedented in American history."Freedom Fuel appeared around Philadelphia in late June with regular gas priced at $3.47 a gallon, which was roughly 50 cents under local prices and below estimated wholesale costs. The White House has promoted the chain as proof that Trump's energy agenda is working without explaining how the stations undercut every competitor."People can't mysteriously get fuel at a lower price and continue to offer that," Winer said. "You could, of course, do a very short promotion, but you basically can't do it."Since January, the administration has controlled Venezuelan oil revenue under what it called a custodianship and with almost no public accounting, Winer noted."It's all remarkably opaque," he said. "You would think we would know, but we don't."The Trump administration led an operation to remove former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro from power and detain him for drug trafficking charges. Winer noted that Trump boasted shortly after, "To the victor go the spoils, and these are the spoils," referring to Venezuelan oil. According to Winer, Trump even added, "We're getting billions."According to Winer, "Freedom Fuel is maintaining as much opacity as it can. It's not explaining anything." At the same time, "The White House is maintaining as much opacity as it can," except to say that Trump, his family, and their businesses have no financial stake in Freedom Fuel.However, Winer suggested that Freedom Fuel is "a patronage network which the United States is sponsoring." He called on Congress to subpoena records from the Treasury, State, and Energy departments."When you have governments that are being opaque rather than transparent, it's usually because there's something they want to hide," he warned.

Aug 14, 2026 - World

CNN anchor Erin Burnett called the conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln "shocking" during a live broadcast on Thursday as new details emerged about dire troop morale.Burnett spoke with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who sits on the Armed Services Committee. The lawmaker wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asking for information about the troops on naval ships and pushed back on Hegseth's claims."Hegseth trying to characterize these powerful, credible reports as fake news is really a disservice and profoundly disrespectful to the sailors who are on the USS Abraham Lincoln and enduring these hardships," Blumenthal said. He explained how the lack of supplies, access to food, hot water, toothpaste and soap affects morale and increases stress, which he said contributed to a sailor reportedly going overboard."Anyone who's familiar with how an aircraft carrier operates knows that these jobs are highly stressful, requiring stamina as these fighter jets land on an area that looks like a postage stamp as they begin their descent," Blumenthal said. "And these sailors, whether they are on the deck or below, doing mechanics or at the surveillance systems, fending off possible attacks, are all under tremendous stress and doing work that can be highly dangerous if they are either distracted or demoralized. So it's a real strategic issue."Reports indicated Thursday that the USS Washington was on its way to replace or relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been at sea for a record 200-plus days without a port call — they haven't touched ground since the ship deployed from San Diego in November 2025.But that still doesn't solve the problem, Blumenthal explained."The USS Washington is being taken away from its forward position in the far east. So the endless war of impulse without strategy and exit plan is having a toll on our military readiness," he added.Burnett pointed out why this was problematic."When you hear this as an American and Americans rightly have pride in the greatest military in the world, but to hear that you have a premier military ship like this, right, a carrier where people aren't getting enough food, I think it's stunning," Burnett said. "It's hard to hear. And it's frankly shocking. And the conditions on the Lincoln appear to be in no small part because of the war with Iran." Blumenthal described another disturbing report: sailors have not been receiving their care packages."Anybody who's had sons or daughters in the military, I've had two, knows that a stale cookie can be worth its weight in gold," he said. "That kind of destructive impact to morale can have a ripple effect in the crew."

Aug 13, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump might have a particular motivation for blowing a gasket about recent leaks like his catering cart escape to a secret plane.National security journalist Marcy "emptywheel" Wheeler raised her new theory in a post about the incident, which involved reporters and even some White House staff traveling in a decoy Air Force One flight without their knowledge during the threat of an assassination attempt — and it comes back to the fact that the only other significant people on the real flight were Trump aides Natalie Harp, Walt Nauta, and Dan Scavino."The details about who was in that catering cart are useful," she said, and not just because of the fact that "Trump took his comfort blonde, Harp, with him but not Stephen Miller (or any other Cabinet official, to include Marco Rubio)," wrote Wheeler. Rather, it could actually explain why Trump is so angry and scared about the leaks coming out of the White House.At the same time that The New York Times was hit with subpoenas for its journalistic sources about the Air Force One security issues, Wheeler explained."Susie Wiles and Kash Patel started seizing phones almost immediately. They also had to learn who was traveling with Trump — who was in that catering cart," Wheeler wrote.The simple fact is, said Wheeler, the nature of this leak means only a small handful of people could have tipped off the press — and most of those options aren't good for Trump. Those options include "One of those closest aides in the catering cart, or the junior people they brought with them; A very small group of the big-ego people left back as bait on Old Air Force One; Someone inside the Secret Service, involved in the ruse; [or] Turkish sources, who learned of the transfer."This means that for all Trump knows, one of his most trusted aides, like Harp, could have betrayed him. And it's vital to him to know whether that happened, Wheeler wrote."None of that justifies the abusive way Kash and Susie Wiles started chasing down sources," she concluded. "But it does explain it."

Aug 13, 2026 - World

Jared Kushner drew immediate backlash for a social media post claiming President Donald Trump had opened a new chapter of 'peace' in the Middle East, as a U.S.-initiated war raged on.Kushner posted Thursday on X to mark what he called the six-year anniversary of the Abraham Accords — the 2020 diplomatic agreements that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states.The comments came despite a war that Trump began February 28 by launching strikes against Iran, igniting a regional conflict that has since drawn in Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen, according to the Council on Foreign Relations."Magical thinking is the new norm in this US administration," former diplomat Alan Eyre responded on X, quoting Kushner's post.Eyre spent 40 years as a U.S. Foreign Service diplomat and served as the sole career diplomat on the U.S. nuclear negotiating team that produced the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.In his post on X, Kushner claimed that Trump had delivered what many said was impossible."Six years ago, President Trump launched the Abraham Accords and opened a new chapter of peace, partnership, and prosperity in the Middle East," Kushner wrote."The Middle East is once again at an inflection point," the president's son-in-law added. "Now we have an opportunity to build an even broader movement around cooperation, shared prosperity and security."In the February 28 strike on Iran, the U.S. and Israel killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and dozens of senior military figures, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. The war has not ended.Since March 2, Israel has also waged a separate war in Lebanon, where more than 4,300 people have been killed, including at least 253 children, according to the United Nations.Former Obama White House national security spokesman Tommy Vietor was among those who replied to Kushner directly on X."Yes the Middle East has been so peaceful since the signing of the Abraham Accords. No new wars. No slaughter of innocent people. Just good vibes and trade deals," Vietor wrote.Kushner, however, focused on the future."We surprised the world once. With the right leadership, focus, patience and courage, I believe we can do it again," he wrote.Andreas Krieg, a security analyst at King's College London, was less optimistic."Project 'Peace in the Middle East' is going very well indeed," Krieg replied to Kushner.The Strait of Hormuz — through which 20 percent of the world's oil once flowed — remained effectively closed as of Wednesday, with U.S.-Iran negotiations stalled, according to CNN.