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Apr 16, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump's administration may be preparing for further conflicts after the Pentagon received a briefing to boost weapons production, a political analyst has warned. Pentagon officials were privately briefed by the Trump administration last month, according to Heather Delaney Reese. Further investigation from the Wall Street Journal found that admin heads had also approached US manufacturers about playing a larger role in weapons production. The WSJ found that, "The Pentagon is interested in enlisting the companies to use their personnel and factory capacity to increase production of munitions and other equipment as the wars in Ukraine and Iran deplete stocks. Discussions started before the war in Iran, the people said."This lines up with Reese's claim that the Trump admin has a much bigger plan that could potentially begin once the Iran war is deemed to be over. Reese wrote in her Substack, "By late March, the Pentagon had signed framework agreements with defense contractors to put the military on what it called a 'wartime footing.' "And now it isn’t just pressuring defense contractors. It’s reaching beyond the defense industry entirely, asking the companies that build our cars to start building our bombs. That is not what a country does when a war is almost over. That is what a country does when it is preparing for something much bigger."The United States is deploying more than 10,000 additional troops to the Middle East before the end of April. Roughly 6,000 aboard the USS George H.W. Bush carrier group, and another 4,200 from the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. "These reinforcements will join the approximately 50,000 U.S. personnel already operating in the region, bringing the total to roughly 60,000 American service members and giving U.S. Central Command three aircraft carriers in theater."Reese went on to suggest that Trump is contemplating further conflicts to continue his image as a wartime president. "Maybe he is manufacturing a global conflict so he can play wartime president, surround himself with generals, and demand the kind of loyalty and worship that only crisis can produce, like he saw in those old movies," Reese wrote. "Maybe he saw what war did for other leaders’ approval ratings and thought he could replicate it, only to find that it doesn’t work when you start the war yourself and the whole world knows it."Or maybe this was always the plan. The Heritage Foundation. The Project 2025 architects. The defense contractors who stood behind him at the White House. They didn’t build this infrastructure for a man who wanted peace. They built it for expansion. And Trump didn’t just go along with it. He reveled in it."

Apr 16, 2026 - World

The Republican Party has a problem on its hands that is bigger than anything President Donald Trump is currently doing, a political analyst has claimed.David Pakman believes recent comments from Marjorie Taylor Greene and former GOP representatives, including Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, highlight the problem with current reps. Greene, a once-prominent ally of Trump and the MAGA movement, commented on the alleged cognitive decline of Trump in a recent interview.In a clip shared by News 4 Tucson, Greene said, "I really think that his [Trump's] mental capacity needs to be examined. His rhetoric has been shocking to many Americans and people around the world."A separate appearance on CNN earlier this week from Greene had the GOP ex-rep, who resigned from Georgia's 14th congressional district in 2026, criticize Trump for a Truth Social post.Trump, referencing Iran in a post to Truth Social on April 7, wrote, "...a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again." Greene reposted the comment, adding, "25th AMENDMENT!!!"The 25th Amendment provides a temporary transfer of the President's powers to the Vice President. This transfer can be made by the President or on the initiative of the Vice President, with the backing of a majority of the cabinet.Greene added, "I think we have to truly question the mental stability of any President who threatens to wipe out an entire civilization of people. That would include all the innocent people in that country who have nothing to do with the war."Especially after President Trump said this was about freeing the Iranian people from the Iranian regime. For him to call to wipe out an entire civilization of people, it's absolutely wrong."Pakman believes the change in rhetoric from one of "Trump's most ardent defenders" is a sign the GOP must be vocal about their opposition to the President.He said, "This is way bigger than Trump. It exposes the Republican Party as happy with a system in which they know better, but they don't say a word. They just allow it to continue festering and perpetuate itself. Every once in a while, somebody like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Adam Kinzinger, or Liz Cheney, breaks rank and they say the quiet part out loud."Whether it's about Trump's authoritarianism or the cognitive stuff, they are seen as the exception. Now, they may not be the majority of Republicans, but there are a lot of Republicans who believe the exact same thing because they see the exact same thing."

Apr 16, 2026 - World

Yet another conflict of interest is blossoming in plain sight in the Trump administration, Zeeshan Aleem warned in an analysis for MS NOW — this time centering on Eric Trump's involvement in a state visit to China."It’s going to be a high-stakes visit, during which he’s likely to discuss trade, fentanyl trafficking, and Iran policy with Chinese President Xi Jinping. And for some reason he’s bringing along his son Eric Trump," wrote Aleem. "Eric Trump is not a member of his father’s administration. He’s the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, whose holdings include real estate properties and blockchain."The Trump administration, for its part, insists everything is aboveboard, that Eric Trump is just coming along in his “personal capacity as a supportive son,” and that he doesn't have business interest in China.But all of this still stinks, Aleem wrote: "This trip creates all kinds of possibilities for deal-making that could undermine the public interest. And we know Trump knows this, too — if for no other reason than his obsession with slamming the Biden family for Hunter Biden accompanying then-Vice President Joe Biden to China."Eric Trump has already come under scrutiny for his deals to create World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm that stands to gain big from the Trump administration's financial policies. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, Aleem noted."Donald Trump has made his second term unfathomably corrupt, and he has brazenly profited off his presidency," Aleem continued. "Trump has a media company, several cryptocurrency businesses, and opaque merchandise businesses. He has reportedly insinuated to oil executives that his policies are for sale. He has secured money from legal settlements that look more like tributes to a king than reasonable financial or legal agreements." All told, The New Yorker believes the Trump family has profited by at least $4 billion through abusing their access to the presidency, although some of Trump's business partners dispute these figures.Ultimately, Aleem concluded, "Eric Trump’s decision to accompany his father doesn’t just look inappropriate, it looks like a signal for investors. Why else bring Eric Trump along on a state visit? He could always visit on his own, privately. But then there would be less opportunity to further blur the line between private and public interests, and less opportunity for Trump’s family members to line their pockets."

Apr 16, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump risks losing his most emboldened MAGA supporters because of his maddening Truth Social posts. Trump has used the social media platform to criticize political opponents, issue threats to world leaders, and announce endorsements for political candidates. More recently, he has used his Truth Social account to issue threats to Iran, with the war between the Middle Eastern country and the United States set to enter its seventh week of conflict. Professor Anthony Glees, a political professor at the University of Buckingham, says the constant barrage of Trump posts has angered his core support, who may now abandon him ahead of the midterm elections. Glees told Raw Story, "The last thing Trump wants to do is put US boots on the ground; the casualties would be massive and US public opinion would mean he'd be impeached. So he has to settle. He knows his MAGA base is deserting him."The folks who largely elected him because he did promise no overseas 'forever wars' and because he said there'd be an end to US boots on the ground, are now turning against him big time. That's unhinged, and it has terrified his own supporters as much as it terrified ordinary Iranians, although I doubt if it worried either the ayatollahs or the IRGC commanders."Glees also referenced a post made by Trump on April 7, where Trump ordered the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened. A post made earlier this week by Trump saw the president promise to open the Strait of Hormuz permanently. Trump wrote, "China is very happy that I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz. I am doing it for them, also - And the World. This situation will never happen again. They have agreed not to send weapons to Iran. "President Xi will give me a big, fat, hug when I get there in a few weeks. We are working together smartly, and very Well! Doesn't that beat fighting??? BUT REMEMBER, we are very good at fighting, if we have to - far better than anyone else!!!"Glees added, "The peace will stick more or less because both sides want it. The ayatollahs and the IRGC get to carry on running Iran (they are the bad side of evil of course), and Trump gets to avoid impeachment."Why does Trump want a peace deal with Iran? Because he's not winning, he's losing the war. Iran is not finished, and it currently has the world's economy in a stranglehold."

Apr 15, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump has used the word "loser" to describe plenty of his enemies, but now that insult might be coming back to haunt him, an analyst said on Wednesday. The New Republic's Matt Ford discussed how Trump's Iran war has suspended trade through the Strait of Hormuz, effectively "the geopolitical equivalent of stabbing the global economy’s femoral artery." Iran has taken control of the channel, and although Trump has argued that the United States has won the conflict, the world does not see it as he does. "This is what happens when losers are elected to lead the world’s only superpower," Ford wrote. Trump has surrounded himself with people, including Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who have openly expressed a similar sentiment — "whose worldview is driven by personal grievances against the world." "Fascism and loserdom go hand in hand because fascism is predicated on the notion that the fascist has been unjustly cheated and robbed, and that only through force can they restore and revitalize themselves," Ford wrote. "Fascists idolize losers because no fascist society has ever flourished and because they see themselves reflected in other people’s failures. It is fitting that Trump and his allies have lavished praise and public statuary upon Robert E. Lee, a Virginia-born colonel who is best known for leading a failed rebellion against the United States on behalf of a slaver aristocracy in the South.""The goal of Trumpism, it could be said, is to create losers of us all," Ford added. "The political and economic project’s goal is not to materially improve its adherents’ lives. Instead, it is to create a sense of social order for some people that offers an aesthetic sense of improvement, even as one’s standard of living declines in real terms."