Top World News

May 25, 2026 - World

Donald Trump issued a sweeping ultimatum to nearly a dozen Muslim-majority nations Monday morning, threatening to cut them out of his Iran deal entirely if they refuse to simultaneously sign the Abraham Accords — and he did it in a Truth Social post addressed directly to their heads of state."If they don't, they should not be part of this Deal in that it shows bad intention," Trump wrote, in a message that named Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain as countries he expects to sign the Israel normalization agreements as a condition of participating in any broader Iran settlement.The demand puts enormous pressure on nations that have long resisted formal normalization with Israel for domestic political reasons — particularly Saudi Arabia, whose leaders have said publicly that any normalization would require a credible path to Palestinian statehood, a condition the current Israeli government has flatly rejected.Perhaps most striking was the manner in which Trump chose to deliver the ultimatum. Rather than through traditional diplomatic channels, he issued the demands in a rambling Truth Social post — and then instructed his own representatives to act on it in real time. "By copy of this TRUTH," he wrote, "I am asking my Representatives to begin, and successfully complete, the process of signing these Countries into the already Historic Abraham Accords."In other words, Trump's diplomats learned of their new marching orders at the same moment as the rest of the world.The post also floated the idea of Iran itself eventually joining the Abraham Accords — agreements that are at their core about normalizing relations with Israel, a country Iran has repeatedly called for the destruction of. Trump called the prospect "something special" and said several regional leaders had told him they would be "honored" to have Iran join the coalition.Trump closed with characteristic grandiosity, declaring the potential agreement would be "the most important Deal that any of these Great, but always in Conflict Countries, will ever sign" and that "nothing in the past, or in the future, will surpass it."

May 24, 2026 - World

Donald Trump's Truth Social post praising negotiations with Iran as "productive and professional" triggered an immediate backlash Sunday — not from Democrats, but from his own most fervent supporters, who accused him of repeating Barack Obama's mistakes and demanded military destruction of the Iranian regime instead."You cannot trust anything that Iran signs — it doesn't matter whether it is a good deal on paper or not," wrote one supporter in a reply that gained traction on the platform. "Neville Chamberlain had a great deal with Hitler, how did that turn out? I understand that the spin will begin on trying to convince people that you didn't pull an Obama, but you can't fool your base. They trusted you and you have now alienated your most vocal and rabid supporters."The same commenter, identified as "Patriot and Retired Air Force," added a stinging verdict: "You are off the pedestal and merely a better alternative than them. Sad!" — deliberately echoing Trump's own signature putdown back at him.The replies were thick with calls for military action rather than diplomacy. "Level them, they can't be trusted," wrote one MAGA user. "Anything they sign won't be worth the paper it's written on. Take them out now!" Another demanded "unconditional surrender" as "the only option," arguing that "leaving the current Radical Islamic Regime in power is a LOSS for the U.S."Others drew the Obama comparison directly. "Lifting sanctions is as bad as Obama," wrote one commenter. Another called for the elimination of the IRGC entirely rather than any negotiated settlement.An Iranian-American commenter cut to the heart of the base's frustration: "Any agreement with this criminal regime makes you no different from Barack Obama. Anyone who shakes hands with criminals is no different from Barack Obama — finish your job via military, not a deal with criminals."The revolt on Truth Social mirrors a broader rupture that has been building in conservative circles over Trump's Iran diplomacy. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — Trump's own top diplomat in his first term — warned Saturday that the deal being floated "seems straight out of the Wendy Sherman-Robert Malley-Ben Rhodes playbook," a reference to the architects of Obama's 2015 nuclear agreement. White House communications director Steven Cheung responded by telling Pompeo to "shut his stupid mouth."Trump's post insisted his deal is "THE EXACT OPPOSITE" of Obama's approach and vowed the blockade of Iran would remain "in full force and effect" until any agreement is "reached, certified, and signed." But for a slice of his base that spent years calling for regime change, the optics of any deal, on any terms, appear to be a bridge too far.

May 24, 2026 - World

Donald Trump took to Truth Social Sunday morning to praise what he called a "much more professional and productive" relationship with Iran — the same country he spent years branding the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism."Our relationship with Iran is becoming a much more professional and productive one," Trump wrote, describing ongoing nuclear negotiations as proceeding in "an orderly and constructive manner."The statement landed with considerable whiplash for anyone who followed Trump's career. In 2018, Trump withdrew from the Obama-era nuclear deal and launched a "maximum pressure" campaign of crushing economic sanctions against Tehran. In January 2020, he ordered the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, in a drone strike at Baghdad's international airport — an act that brought the two countries to the brink of open war.Now, in his second term, Trump finds himself in the position of negotiating his own nuclear deal with the same government — and praising the relationship in terms his predecessor might have used.The post also contained a swipe at Barack Obama — using his full middle name, a longtime Trump dog whistle — calling the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action "one of the worst deals ever made by our Country" and "a direct path to Iran developing a Nuclear Weapon."But in the very same post, Trump described his own negotiations in terms nearly identical to what Obama-era diplomats might have said: both sides taking their time, getting it right, no rushing, proceeding carefully toward a verifiable agreement.The contradiction did not go unnoticed. Earlier Sunday, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — Trump's own top diplomat during his first term — warned that the deal being floated "seems straight out of the Wendy Sherman-Robert Malley-Ben Rhodes playbook," referring to key architects of Obama's Iran deal. White House communications director Steven Cheung responded by telling Pompeo to "shut his stupid mouth."Trump closed his post with a notable flourish, suggesting that Iran might one day consider joining the Abraham Accords — the normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab states that Trump brokered in his first term.

May 24, 2026 - World

Explosives-laden vehicle detonated as passenger train travelled through south-western city of QuettaA suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near a railway track as a passenger train travelled through the south-western Pakistani city of Quetta, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 70 others, officials have said.The force of the explosion on Sunday caused two of the train cars to overturn and catch fire, sending thick black smoke into the air, according to footage shared online. Continue reading...

May 24, 2026 - World

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Saturday issued a sharp warning about President Donald Trump's emerging Iran peace framework, saying it could "pour gasoline" on regional conflicts and supercharge Iranian-backed militant groups.The South Carolina Republican, who is normally one of Trump's most reliable allies on foreign policy issues, took to X to warn that the reported terms of the deal could be read as a strategic win for Tehran by other players in the region."If it is perceived in the region that a deal with Iran allows the regime to survive and become more powerful over time, we will have poured gasoline on the conflicts in Lebanon and Iraq," Graham wrote.He warned specifically about the impact on two Iranian-aligned forces."A deal that is perceived to allow Iran to survive and possess the ability to control the Strait in the future will put Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Shia militias in Iraq on steroids," Graham wrote.The senator's remarks land at a politically delicate moment for Trump, who announced earlier in the day from the Oval Office that an agreement involving the United States, Iran, and a coalition of Arab and Muslim nations had been "largely negotiated."Graham's pushback adds to a growing chorus of conservative voices, including former Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and conservative commentator David Hookstead, raising alarms about what the reported framework would actually deliver.If it is perceived in the region that a deal with Iran allows the regime to survive and become more powerful over time, we will have poured gasoline on the conflicts in Lebanon and Iraq. A deal that is perceived to allow Iran to survive and possess the ability to control the…— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) May 23, 2026