Donald Trump has launched an extraordinary attack on America’s largest defence contractors, threatening to block dividends and share buybacks unless they accelerate weapons production, as he prepares a dramatic expansion of US military spending. In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president warned defence firms that he would no longer tolerate what he described as sluggish delivery of military equipment during “troubled and dangerous times”. His comments came ahead of plans to...
Sen. Lindsey Graham announced Wednesday that President Donald Trump has approved a Russian sanctions bill designed to pressure Moscow to end its war with Ukraine. Graham revealed the development in a post on X, describing it as a pivotal shift in the U.S. approach to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. ‘After a very productive meeting today with President Trump on a variety of issues, he greenlit the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that I have been working on...
The seizure of a Russian-linked oil tanker in the North Atlantic has highlighted ‘worry’ among NATO and Nordic-Baltic governments over dark fleet vessels and the type of crews onboard, according to a maritime intelligence analyst. U.S. military and Coast Guard personnel boarded the Marinera between Iceland and the U.K. Wednesday as it operated under deceptive shipping practices, including flying a false flag and violating sanctions. According to Reuters, Russian authorities demanded the humane treatment and...
President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a presidential memorandum directing the U.S. to withdraw from 66 international organizations, ordering executive departments and agencies to cease participation in and funding of entities the administration says no longer serve U.S. interests. The memorandum follows a State Department review ordered earlier this year under Executive Order 14199 and applies to 35 non-United Nations organizations and 31 United Nations entities, according to the White House. In the memorandum, Trump...
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Wednesday called on Congress during a Senate hearing to impeach two federal judges, making his most elaborate case yet for imposing the extraordinary sanction on a pair of closely scrutinized jurists. Cruz acknowledged that impeaching federal judges is exceedingly rare — 15 have been impeached in history, typically for straightforward crimes like bribery — but the Texas Republican argued it was warranted for judges James Boasberg and Deborah Boardman. ‘Rarer...
Nine House Republicans bucked their party leaders on Wednesday evening to advance a vote on a Democrat-led healthcare bill. The nine GOP lawmakers’ support was key to pushing ahead on a vote to extend enhanced Obamacare subsidies that expired at the end of last year. A vote on the bill itself is now expected Thursday afternoon. It’s a blow to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who argued for weeks that the majority of House Republicans were...
Venezuelan crude oil is being shipped to the U.S. at speed and in bulk following the arrest of former President Nicolás Maduro, according to a maritime intelligence analyst. As many as ’15 very large crude carrier shipments’ carrying 50 million barrels will end up en route, said Michelle Wiese Bockmann, senior maritime intelligence analyst at Windward, which has tracked oil tanker movements around the troubled region for months. ‘The moves overnight that were announced to...
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday sent a letter inviting President Donald Trump to deliver the annual State of the Union Address before a Joint Session of Congress next month. ‘As our nation marks the Semiquincentennial Anniversary of American Independence, the United States stands stronger, freer, and more prosperous under your leadership and bold action,’ the invitation states. ‘Together in 2025, your administration and the 119th Congress delivered one of the most consequential agendas in...
Minnesota’s Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who is also running for Senate, is facing a call from one of her GOP opponents to drop out of the race amid Gov. Tim Walz’s decision to drop out of his re-election race as a massive fraud scandal continues to unfold in the state. ‘In the military, if your squad fails the mission, you certainly don’t get a promotion,’ Adam Schwarze, former U.S. Navy SEAL and Republican candidate...
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is predicting that the Cuban regime will fall, possibly in 2026 or 2027. Scott had said during an appearance last year on ’60 Minutes’ that Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro’s days were ‘numbered,’ predicting that ‘whether it’s internal or external,’ something would ‘happen.’ He also predicted that the removal of Maduro would ‘be the end of Cuba.’ So far, the first part of the senator’s prediction has been fulfilled, as the U.S....
