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Supreme Court refuses to review E. Jean Carroll’s $5M sex abuse, defamation verdict vs. Trump WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up President Trump’s appeal of the $5 million sexual abuse and defamation verdict that followed a lawsuit by former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll. Now Trump will have no choice but to pony up the $5 million to the 82-year-old, who has repeatedly claimed that the president sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman fitting room during the mid-1990s.

To some extent, Mohamed Hussein knew he was preparing to enter the lion’s den. But he made the decision to attend the Republican Party of Texas Convention to confirm for himself that he had a place in the GOP, even as members of the party have railed for months about the urgency of ending Sharia Law and the so-called “Islamification” of Texas. What he found was a party that didn’t want him. He arrived with hope but left in tears after being told explicitly that he should leave the country. Hussein was among at least four Muslims who arrived at...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Donald Trump last year that he was the “greatest friend Israel ever had in the White House.” Now, as Trump tries to finalize a deal to end the war with Iran, he’s unloading on Netanyahu with rhetoric that no other American leader has dared to use publicly. He claimed credit for Israel’s existence — “without me, there would be no Israel” — and cursed his judgment in interviews. He even described him as “crazy.” The tension comes as Trump criticizes recent Israeli attacks in Lebanon, which threatened to jeopardize negotiations between Washington and...

The Trump administration is considering backing the creation of a massive $300 billion reconstruction and investment fund for Iran if Tehran fulfills commitments under a newly signed memorandum of understanding and ultimately reaches a broader settlement on its nuclear program and regional conduct. President Donald Trump has called reports that the U.S. will pay Iran $300 billion "fake news" — but Vice President JD Vance and others confirmed the establishment of a global fund paid by an international coalition to aid Tehran as real.According to reports from the Financial Times and other outlets, the proposed fund would not be financed...

Josh Block @JoshBlockDC: Copy of the document to be signed by the United States and Iran 1. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, together with their allies in the current war, declare upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding an immediate and permanent end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, and undertake that from now on they will not launch any hostile action against each other, and will refrain from the threat or use of force against each other. The final agreement will confirm the provisions of this Article and the remaining Articles. 2....

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that the “new world order will be built from Europe” with his country playing a key role in comments that echo a speech earlier in the year interpreted as a criticism of President Donald Trump. During a visit to Ireland, Carney said that that Canada was “the most European of non-European countries, and we are transforming our cooperation with the EU.” In January, Carney addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, taking aim at the erosion of the rules-based international order in comments which were seen as a pointed reference to Trump’s...

The US secretly approved a financial and maritime arrangement between Qatar and Iran, under which billions of dollars were paid to Tehran in exchange for free passage for Qatari tankers and ships through the Strait of Hormuz, three diplomatic officials now confirm. This was a deliberate and conscious course of action by the US administration, which allowed its navy to turn a blind eye to the arrangement, in complete contradiction of its declared policy. The move was intended to ease the crisis in global energy markets and curb rising oil prices. The current revelation proves that the White House had...

Israeli officials were left “stunned” by US President Donald Trump’s public criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s decision to strike Hezbollah targets in Beirut. They are increasingly concerned that a prospective US-Iran agreement could sharply restrict Israel’s military freedom of action in Lebanon, Channel 12 reports. A senior Israeli official close to Netanyahu tells the Hebrew network that officials in Jerusalem were taken aback by Trump’s remarks, which included accusing the premier of having “no fucking judgement,” saying: “Trump’s statement is a resounding slap in the face. The restrictions [on Israel] have been taken to another level. The...

A commercial airline pilot that spoke to MeidasTouch this evening has filed aviation safety reports after powerful lighting used during the construction and testing of the UFC octagon on the White House grounds allegedly shone directly into their cockpit during a nighttime approach into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), creating what the pilot described as one of the most severe visibility disruptions they have experienced in their career. ———- According to the pilot, the lights illuminated the cockpit during the final stages of landing, a critical phase of flight when pilots rely heavily on visual references. The pilot described...

Donald Trump has agreed to a major concession to end the war in Iran: allowing the Islamic Republic to retain some of its civilian nuclear program. 'Now, on the civilian nuclear program, I think that we have to be very careful and very precise here,' a senior White House official discussing the pending memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran told reporters on a call Friday afternoon. 'We're not bothered at all by the idea of civilian power plants in Iran; what we're bothered by is the type of infrastructure that would allow them to jump from civilian power...

The United Arab Emirates has agreed to unlock billions of dollars for Iran, four sources ​said, in a tactical shift after weeks of Iranian attacks on the wealthy Gulf Arab state during the U.S.-Israeli war with the Islamic Republic. (snip) Two regional sources told Reuters the UAE had agreed to release a total of $10 billion, more than $3 billion of which had already been delivered. Two other sources with knowledge of the arrangement put the total funds involved at $20 billion, adding that the move had been agreed in return for a ​halt to Iranian attacks on the UAE....

Republicans on Capitol Hill are seething that Donald Trump is not more focused on the economy as this year's midterm elections approach, warning it could obliterate the narrow GOP congressional majority. Polling indicates that voters are souring on Trump and his Republican allies in Congress ahead of his November's elections that will prove fateful for the President's agenda. In addition to the lack of attention to fixing the economy, senior aides also identified the nomination of Federal Housing Finance Director Bill Pulte, a close ally of the President, to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as an...

Iran insisted on Friday on its right to enrich uranium and maintain control over the Strait of Hormuz under any deal with the United States, after President Donald Trump said a draft accord was ready. US ally Israel has said that Trump had promised it that any agreement would see Iran stripped of its enriched nuclear material, but Tehran's official IRNA news agency said this was not even on the table.

The U.S. and Iran could reportedly sign a peace deal as soon as Sunday, after Iranian state media said the draft deal included a commitment from the U.S. to lift oil sanctions and a pledge from Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days. The 14-point document dictates that final negotiations will not begin until the release of half of Iran’s frozen funds, the suspension of Iran’s oil sanctions and the lifting of the naval blockade, the Mehr News Agency reported. All American forces would need to withdraw from Iran, and the U.S. and its allies would need...

During an interview Tuesday about the Iran war with ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl, Trump wondered “if Bibi even wants to continue.” “I don’t know, he’s had an amazing career,” ... “Does he want to continue? Because, you know he’s a wartime prime minister. We will very shortly win the war one way or the other, and you know he’s a wartime prime minister.” Trump... added that he, too, is a “wartime president.” Likud responded to Trump in an X post Wednesday, saying Netanyahu “will run in the upcoming election, and, God willing, will win.” Meanwhile, a poll released on...

Hunter Biden has burst back onto the political scene with a social media spree marked by crude responses to Republican critics and self-deprecating humor about his troubled personal life. As the son of former President Biden, his return to the public eye has quickly drawn the attention of hundreds of thousands of followers on the social platform X in a matter of weeks. After spending most of his father’s presidential term under a cloud of controversy, social media users are flocking to Hunter Biden’s posts about a myriad of subjects — from resources for addicts to cryptocurrency to attacks on...

KAN Israel News, citing an Iranian-linked news network, reports that $3 billion was transferred from Abu Dhabi to Tehran aboard a private Boeing 737. According to the report, Iran agreed to halt direct attacks on Israel after receiving a U.S. message, delivered through Qatar, in from further strikes in Lebanon. The funds were reportedly flown to Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport aboard UAE Royal Jet aircraft A6-RJF, which was tracked traveling from Abu Dhabi to Iran. At this stage, the flight itself was genuine (it happened during Irans airspace closure) and the presence of a UAE delegation in Tehran has been reported...

Democratic state Representative James Talarico holds a 3‑point lead over Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in the latest poll of Texas's U.S. Senate race released Tuesday. Despite Texas’s reputation as a reliably Republican state, Democrats are hopeful about their chances of flipping the seat in November due to a favorable national environment fueled by President Donald Trump’s negative approval rating, political baggage carried by Paxton and reversion among Hispanic voters who trended toward the GOP in 2024. Even as polls show a potentially competitive race, Texas is viewed as an uphill challenge for Democrats, but the new poll released Tuesday...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s latest strikes on Lebanon and Iran have made clear that U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who started the war in lockstep, want different things.Trump had publicly warned Israel not to strike Beirut in its war with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. When it did, on Sunday, Iran responded by firing ballistic missiles at Israel for the first time since the April ceasefire. Israel then struck Iran, with which Trump has been engaged in weeks of high-stakes negotiations.The fighting has since died down, but the differences between the two leaders are likely to persist.That’s...

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the crash involving a US Apache helicopter was not a “major incident” and that the pilot was safe, while affirming that sanctions and restrictions targeting Iranian ports would remain in place for as long as necessary. [ snip ] Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi denied Iranian involvement in the incident over the Strait of Hormuz, stating that “Iran was not behind the attack” and that there had been no deliberate action targeting the aircraft.