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Apr 14, 2026 - World

Appearing on MS NOW to expand upon her report on the meme war between Donald Trump’s White House and Iran on social media, which has become the latest tool for spreading propaganda, Politico’s Dash Burns claimed White House insiders admit things are not going well on multiple fronts.Speaking with the hosts of “Morning Joe,” Burns claimed Trump insiders are dismayed at how badly things are going.“You know the old adage: a picture says a thousand words? I think a meme in this moment might say even more. The dog drinking the coffee with the fire around it; I was sent that twice from two separate sources close to the White House –– an oldie but a goodie. There were some religious-themed memes," she reported.“Listen, the vibes aren't great,” she added. “The sources I was talking to were pointing to things like there's there's the religion theme that the president kicked off there, the DoorDash moment yesterday, for example, the president stepped on his own message there by attacking the pope, by posting that that Jesus-themed meme. Republicans were getting ready to hit the campaign trail talking about the economy. They're going to have a really hard time doing that right now because of what's happening with the war in Iran and what that's doing to prices back home.”“I was talking to White House officials late last year on the record, and they were saying that this was going to be the moment when the big, beautiful bill would impact the voters that really need it the most,” she recalled. “And this is when voters would start to get excited to vote for Republicans in November, because they would see those tax refunds. Well, that is also all being overshadowed by the rising cost of living because of some of the issues abroad. So this is not where the administration wants to be. And this certainly is not where Republican allies of the administration who are trying to help boost Republicans in the midterms want to be.” - YouTube youtu.be

Apr 14, 2026 - World

JD Vance’s decision to add to Donald Trump’s attacks against Pope Leo XIV earned him a scolding on MS NOW on Tuesday morning as “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough called him out for lecturing the Catholic leader on “morality.”Adding to the Trump administration’s all-out attack on arguably the world’s most powerful religious leader, Vance told Fox News, “I certainly think that in some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what’s going on with the Catholic church, and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy.”After sharing the clip, which Scarborough introduced by sarcastically calling it “delightful,” he condescendingly explained to the vice president, “That's exactly what he's talking about, buddy. Come on, pal, he's talking about matters of morality.”“Pope after pope after pope has been critical of war,” he elaborated. “He's been critical when people have been oppressed, like people have been oppressed in the United States because of mass deportation policies. I don't know a pope, –– I don't know, I mean, I got criticized when on certain votes I took when I was in congress by the Catholic bishops, you know, they sent out a scorecard and everything. And, you know, that's just what they've been doing forever.”“And for you to think, well, first of all, for the president, think he can portray himself as Jesus and get away with that, even with the biggest suck ups –– I mean, it's one thing, but to say, stick to matters of morality, that's exactly what the pope is doing.” - YouTube youtu.be

Apr 14, 2026 - World

Donald Trump's Iran struggle has exposed a fundamental truth: the world no longer fears American threats, and traditional allies are abandoning Washington to form new partnerships.According to Politico's Nahal Toosi, Trump faces a wall of resistance from longtime U.S. allies who are actively forming new alliances and sidelining America as a diplomatic partner. In recent days, multiple global players have openly defied the president, exposing the severe limits of American influence.The core problem is philosophical. "Trump and his aides often appear to operate as if most other people on the planet are 'non-player characters' in a video game," and they believe that America can use "threats, economic muscle and military action to bend other capitals to its will," Toosi observed.But foreign policy doesn't work that way and the Politico analyst suggested the current administration is "not adjusting well" to a changed world.Trump shows no signs of learning from this reality. Richard Haass, former president of the Council on Foreign Relations, observed: "If there were an appreciation that bullying was no longer a likely to succeed tactic you'd see a move away from it, but there's no real sign that Trump is doing so."The problem is structural. "He is surrounded by 'yes' people," one senior European diplomat fumed.Diplomacy requires reciprocity — a concept Trump's team appears incapable of grasping. "If you want something from somebody you have to give them something, unless like in World War II they've truly surrendered. It can't just be 'we're going to keep beating you,'" said a Western diplomat based in the Middle East.Trump's tariffs are accelerating the divorce. Other countries are actively finding new trading partners beyond the U.S., reducing their economic reliance on America. As nations decrease their military and economic dependence on Washington, they become less likely to heed American demands in the future.The fundamental misunderstanding runs deeper. Many foreign affairs experts worry that Trump treats global conflicts as real estate deals, reducing complex geopolitical issues to mere land disputes. But "identity, politics and the desire to simply survive as a people is what fuels many conflicts," not purely material calculations,' he wrote.Trump and his team "fail to realize that people tend to fight for what gives their life meaning beyond the purely rational or material cost-benefit analysis," according to a former Latin American official granted anonymity to speak candidly about the sensitive topic.

Apr 13, 2026 - World

Singer Katy Perry denied allegations that she had sexually assaulted actress Ruby Rose, according to reports on Monday. The "Orange is the New Black" actor accused the pop singer of sexually assaulting her at a nightclub in Melbourne, Australia, while Rose was in her early 20s, TMZ reported. She made the graphic comment in a post on Threads on Sunday. Perry's representative released a statement in response to the allegation: "The allegations being circulated on social media by Ruby Rose about Katy Perry are not only categorically false, they are dangerous reckless lies. Ms. Rose has a well-documented history of making serious public allegations on social media against various individuals, claims that have repeatedly been denied by those named."

Apr 13, 2026 - World

Democratic efforts to constrain Donald Trump's Iran war are gaining unexpected momentum. More Republican lawmakers are privately signaling they're ready to join Democrats on a war powers resolution — and the defections may accelerate dramatically by month's end.According to MS NOW, Democrats believe "there's a pathway to success" on forcing votes this week that would dampen hostilities in Iran.The political math is shifting in Democrats' favor. While they would need a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override Trump's almost-certain veto, a privileged war powers measure only requires a simple majority to pass — a threshold that appears increasingly achievable as GOP support erodes, MS NOW reported.The breaking point could happen on April 29. One House GOP lawmaker, granted anonymity, told MS NOW that "a lot of Republicans" would be ready to support a war powers resolution by then."This issue is already coming ripe at the end of this month, and if they don't come to us by then, they're in violation of the law. And that's when you'll see many of us saying no más," they told MS NOW.Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) framed the political stakes sharply: "Every day that Republicans stand in the way of Democratic efforts to end this war is another day that they own the chaos, the bloodshed and the economic volatility that has resulted."Senate Republicans are already showing cracks. So far, only Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has voted with Democrats on three separate Iran war powers resolutions over the past month. But Trump's apocalyptic rhetoric is pushing other Republicans toward the exit, MS NOW reported.Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) directly rebuked Trump's threat to wipe out a "whole civilization." "It cannot be excused away as an attempt to gain leverage in negotiations with Iran. It undermines our long-standing role as a global beacon of freedom and directly endangers Americans both abroad and at home," Murkowski wrote.Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) was equally damning about Trump's Easter Truth Social posts threatening to annihilate Iran's infrastructure and demanding Tehran open the Strait of Hormuz in a social media post loaded with obscenities."Completely inappropriate," Collins said of the threats. "And the subsequent post in which he threatened to essentially annihilate the whole country of Iran is also not conducive to the negotiations that will shortly be underway."