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Aug 27, 2026 - World

A Wall Street Journal piece is warning that GOP candidates are "running scared" from President Donald Trump as voter frustration grows in Iowa.A Thursday opinion piece published by The Journal highlighted the growing frustration among Iowa voters, which it tied to the hits to farmers caused by tariffs and the war in Iran, and how it's causing GOP candidates to create some separation with Trump."So many people are just so angry," Terry Arbogast, an Iowa nurse, told The Journal. "Things are hitting us more negatively," Dave Struthers, an Iowa farmer, added. "It's frustrating when you don't get your stuff going," southern Iowa limestone miner Brian Schaer said. "Iowans are frustrated, discontented, and downhearted," The Journal piece summed up. "That bodes ill for Republicans in November, and many GOP candidates are running scared—ducking interviews, avoiding issues, seeking a MAGA stance that doesn't involve praising Donald Trump. They're trying to be as generically Republican as they can."According to the Journal, Iowans say that they're downbeat because they've seen a 53 percent decline in net farm income between 2022 and 2024, and rural voters aren't convinced that the GOP has done enough to help them recover."Tariffs, wars, corporations taking advantage, lack of competition," Struthers, the farmer, told The Journal. "Those kinds of things that are on Iowa farmers' minds.""Right at the onset of the Iran war, fertilizer prices increased sharply due to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz," economist Christopher Pudenz told The Journal. "The longer that conflict drags out, the more likely that it's going to impact fall fertilizer needs and then spring 2027 fertilizer needs."Trump won Iowa three times, and the entire congressional delegation is Republican, The Journal noted. However, the state has a couple of "competitive" races that have attracted national political figures, including Barack Obama, who filmed a video of him playing basketball with Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek, the Journal noted.Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn told The Journal that "the first polling that came out pre-primary had me down about 10 points," and although he closed the gap somewhat, the Cook Political Report determined his race "leans Democratic." An August Emerson poll has Lahn's Democratic opponent, State Auditor Rob Sand, up 48 percent to Lahn's 43 percent. Sand is the only elected statewide Democrat in Iowa.

Aug 27, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump lashed out at a Fox News correspondent on Thursday over what he called "a particularly inaccurate report” about the U.S. war with Iran.“Jonathan Hunt of FoxNews did a particularly inaccurate report on the Failing Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “I don’t want to meet, they do. In fact, they are begging to make a deal.”Trump concluded his heated post by demanding action from one of Fox News’ top anchors. “Bret Baier should straighten out his flunkies, for a change!” the president told his followers.

Aug 26, 2026 - World

CNN's Erin Burnett was floored on Wednesday's broadcast of "OutFront" by video of a catastrophic flash flood in Nepal that has left at least 150 people dead and more than 47 Americans missing. Reports indicate that the flooding was caused by a half-mile-wide chunk of a glacier breaking off. CCTV captured footage of a wall of black, muddy water destroying buildings and cars as it tore through a town. Officials expect that toll to rise in the coming days, Burnett reported. Burnett highlighted one segment that showed a seven-story building enveloped in water, looking as if "a bomb hit it.""This is unforgettable," Burnett said. "You can't unsee that. You see that black wall of water? That looks like a bus depot of some sort, and it rolls through. And then, just as if they were matchbox cars, we don't even know how many innocent people's lives were lost in that instant."

Aug 26, 2026 - World

CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a secret trip to Moscow this week specifically to warn Russia against attacking NATO countries, according to people briefed on the visit — a trip President Trump publicly dismissed as merely "semi-routine."The trip was first reported on Tuesday, despite Kremlin denials that any talks were going on.The visit, whose purpose is now confirmed by the Wall Street Journal, marks Ratcliffe's first publicly known trip to the Russian capital and comes on the heels of fresh U.S. intelligence assessments warning that Vladimir Putin could test NATO's resolve with a limited strike on an allied country, likely a Baltic nation, sometime in the next few years. Officials are worried Putin, boxed in by the war in Ukraine and facing domestic pressure, could launch anything from a cyberattack to a small-scale land incursion.Complicating matters further, U.S. weapons stockpiles have been stretched thin by both Ukraine transfers since Russia's 2022 invasion and the ongoing war with Iran, potentially factoring into Putin's calculus about how the West would actually respond to an attack.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Ratcliffe met with Russian intelligence officials during the trip, though not directly with Putin, who Peskov said was briefed on the discussions afterward.Trump offered little clarity when asked about the visit during a Wednesday interview with radio host Glenn Beck, quickly pivoting to talk about ending the Russia-Ukraine war instead."Something may come out of it," Trump said. "We're working very hard to get that war ended, and frankly they both want to see it ended at this point."Ratcliffe's trip follows several previous visits to Moscow by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff amid ongoing peace negotiations, but international visits by a sitting CIA director are notably rare. The last time an agency chief traveled to Moscow was November 2021, when then-Director William Burns delivered his own warning to Putin not to invade Ukraine — a warning that ultimately went unheeded just months later.

Aug 26, 2026 - World

President Trump's escalating trade fight with Canada is about to make one of the most basic household necessities more expensive, as Canada prepares retaliatory tariffs on toilet paper and hundreds of other American goods.The news was reported by The Daily Beast on Wednesday.Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a list of nearly 900 products set for 25 percent to 50 percent tariffs starting in September, matching the levies Trump has already slapped on Canadian goods. Toilet paper made the list — a particularly painful target given that paper products already jumped in price after Trump's earlier 'Liberation Day' tariffs. Procter & Gamble, which makes Charmin, said those tariffs alone forced a 25 percent price hike on its paper products last summer, according to the report. The U.S. imported $328 million worth of toilet paper from Canada in 2024, more than from any other country, and even Costco's popular Kirkland private-label paper products are largely Canadian-sourced, according to the Guardian.The White House defended its posture toward Canada in a statement to the Daily Beast."Canada was offered the most generous trade deal of any of America's trading partners despite being overwhelmingly reliant on access to the American economy," the White House said.Trump has shown no interest in de-escalating, telling right-wing radio host Glenn Beck this week that Canada — a wartime ally in every major U.S. conflict since World War I — is one of the "worst countries in the world" for how it treats American consumers.The timing comes as Trump is already facing mounting criticism over the affordability crisis gripping American households. A three-time Trump voter publicly confronted him on live television this week, telling him in vulgar terms to focus on lowering costs. With Americans using an average of 141 rolls of toilet paper a year, more than any country on Earth, according to Statista, the coming price hike threatens to become an unusually literal symbol of the trade war's toll on everyday life.Ironically, the Trump administration faced toilet paper woes in the first term as well, when the beginning of the COVID pandemic led to widespread panic-buying and shortages.