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May 7, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump's decision to send Secretary of State Marco Rubio to meet with Pope Leo shows Trump may be interested in pitting his Cabinet members against each other, according to a report on Thursday. The president's "mission impossible" for Rubio has raised questions about loyalties in the Trump administration — not necessarily healing strained ties with the Vatican, reported David Gardner for The Swamp, The Daily Beast's Substack."As serious as it is to watch Donald Trump destroy the dignity of his office, it is amusing to watch him play with his Cabinet with the same vicious glee he once treated celebrities on The Apprentice," according to The Swamp. The move was questionable, especially after one of his top aides had urged Trump to pay attention to MAGA voters' top domestic concerns. "Why else would he send Marco Rubio to the Vatican one week after Susie Wiles begged Trumpers to stay in the country and focus on persuading MAGA voters that all is well and America really is first?" The Swamp reported.Rubio's visit followed weeks of feuding between the commander-in-chief and global leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Trump has thrown a slew of attacks at Pope Leo, and even said he prefers his older brother, a Florida resident. "I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.Trump's decision to send Rubio reportedly signals another potential ploy — and where the president's ally stands in the administration. "Rubio feels like the grown-up in the administration," according to The Swamp. "He stood in for Karoline Leavitt with aplomb last week and has managed to side-step Trump’s more insane behavior better than suck-ups like Pete Hegseth, Howard Lutnick, and even Scott Bessent. The president has clearly sided with his one-time presidential nomination rival over the more ardently opportunistic JD Vance.""But the Vatican mission may suggest that, with the Iran War back on the shelf, Trump has decided to amuse himself by playing with his would-be successors," The Swamp reported. "Expect a Truth Social post any minute, blowing up any efforts Rubio may be making this morning to persuade the pope that the U.S. embarked on a 'just war.'"

May 7, 2026 - World

A bombshell CIA memo distributed to administration policymakers the week revealed that Iran is in a far stronger military and economic position than President Trump has publicly claimed — directly contradicting the president's rosy assessments about the state of the war.According to a Washington Post report, the leaked classified intelligence assessment found that Iran can survive the U.S. naval blockade for at least three to four months before facing severe economic hardship — significantly longer than the White House has suggested.More critically, the Post is reporting, the CIA determined that Tehran retains substantial ballistic missile capabilities despite weeks of intense U.S. and Israeli bombardment. Iran has maintained approximately 75 percent of its prewar inventories of mobile launchers and about 70 percent of its prewar stockpiles of missiles, according to a U.S. official familiar with the assessment.The intelligence community found evidence that the Iranian regime has been able to recover and reopen almost all of its underground storage facilities, repair some damaged missiles, and even assemble new missiles that were nearly complete when the war began, the report notes.The CIA's more sobering assessment stands in sharp contrast to Trump's public statements. On Wednesday, Trump claimed Iran's missile capabilities had been devastated, telling reporters: "Their missiles are mostly decimated, they have probably 18, 19 percent, but not a lot by comparison to what they had."The president's claim that Iran retains only 18-19 percent of its original missile inventory directly contradicts the intelligence community's findings that Tehran maintains around 70-75 percent.One U.S. official who spoke to the Post suggested the CIA estimate may even be optimistic about Iran's vulnerability. "The leadership has gotten more radical, determined and increasingly confident they can outlast U.S. political will and sustain domestic repression to check any resistance" inside Iran."Comparatively, you see similar regimes lasting years under sustained embargoes and airpower-only wars," the official told the Post and suggested that Iran could endure prolonged economic hardship far longer than the administration has publicly indicated.Three current and one former U.S. official confirmed the intelligence assessment's outlines to the Post, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

May 7, 2026 - World

Major energy companies are reaping enormous profits from the ongoing Strait of Hormuz stalemate triggered by Donald Trump's war on Iran, with European oil giants reporting dramatic earnings surges while American producers sit on the sidelines, the New York Times is reporting.British energy giant Shell reported robust first-quarter profits Thursday, with adjusted earnings soaring 24 percent to $6.92 billion — more than twice what the company earned in the previous quarter and significantly higher than analyst expectations.In a statement, Shell's chief executive, Wael Sawan, attributed the windfall to an "unprecedented disruption in global energy markets," with oil prices briefly trading above $126 a barrel last week.Shell is not alone in profiting from the conflict. Britain's BP more than doubled its first-quarter profit to $3.2 billion from the previous quarter, driven by superior oil trading and elevated prices. French oil company TotalEnergies reported quarterly net income of $5.4 billion and announced it would raise its dividend and double its share buybacks, the Times is reporting.According to the Times' Gregory Schmidt, that stands in sharp contrast to American oil producers who are reporting declining profits despite elevated prices. Exxon Mobil reported $4.2 billion in first-quarter earnings — down 46 percent from a year earlier — while Chevron's quarterly profit slid to $2.2 billion, a 37 percent drop year-over-year. The Times report adds the caveat that the companies attributed the declines to accounting adjustments and paper losses they said would be unwound in coming months as gas prices stay high.Exxon Mobil and Chevron — the two largest American oil producers — announced Friday they have no plans to increase oil drilling to capitalize on higher gas prices, a decision that suggests the companies are skeptical about the longevity of the price spike or wary of backlash over profiteering during wartime, the Times is reporting.

May 7, 2026 - World

Turmoil and violence rocks state after prime minister Narendra Modi’s party claimed victory in legislative electionTensions have been high in the Indian state of West Bengal after a top political aide from Narendra Modi’s party was shot dead in the street and hundreds were arrested as violence broke out following elections this week.The prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) claimed victory in the West Bengal elections on Monday, defeating Trinamool Congress (TMC), which had ruled over the state legislature for 15 years. Continue reading...

May 7, 2026 - World

According to MS NOW national security analyst David Rohde, what is known about the rumored one-page memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran to halt the war is less than being advertised and the advantages still lie with the war-torn country.Appearing on “Morning Joe,” Rohde praised the work of the negotiators but also claimed that the increasingly desperate American president is backing off many of his earlier demands which plays into the hands of Iran’s leadership.Addressing questions from co-host Jonathan Lemire, Rohde explained, “I just think flat out this: I just want to call it a 30-day, one page agreement is a win for Iran. It's a huge win. They have stood up to the United States. And we can talk about that in more detail.”“I keep getting told that the Iranian and Israeli officials are saying there's deep divides inside the Iranian government, but American officials are telling me that that's not true, that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is in firm control, firmer control than they were before the war. And one congressional official just called it a military dictatorship. And I fear that this pursuit of somehow moderates or other people is not really there, that they're being told these things [and] the administration, they believe it.”“And lastly, this one-page agreement is not a peace deal,” he asserted and then repeated, “This is not a peace deal. This is an extension of a ceasefire that several weeks ago, the president said there was no end of the ceasefire. The president keeps capitulating. He said before, you know, this is like several weeks ago, he's like, ‘You know, we're going to have a ceasefire for two weeks.’ And when that ends, he's like, ‘Actually, the ceasefire will continue with no end date.’ And then the pinnacle, pivotal thing was this: this Project Freedom to open the Strait of Hormuz by force. That was the most aggressive, I think, and the most effective move by the U.S. military; it worked. And then he calls it off after 24 hours. And so that's again, a huge win for Iran.” - YouTube youtu.be