After numerous failed attempts, the House of Representatives finally passed a resolution under the War Powers Act, to end US involvement in the war against Iran. Three other Republican representatives finally joined Rep. Thomas Massie in opposing the war which Israel started and which Trump was talked into joining based on deceptive remarks by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Showing his immaturity, Trump raged at Republicans after the vote that would strip Trump of the power to continue waging war on Iran. The resolution has no such powers, yet. To take effect, it will still have to pass the Senate and overcome a veto by President Trump, which is very unlikely. But it is one more obvious signal to president Trump that the political tide is turning against this unwise war. He has known it for at least a month, but is still trying to hammer out an agreement with Iran that will allow him to save face. Because Iran can hold out longer than Trump can withstand the growing public hostility to this war, Iran is still refusing to yield on Trump’s nuclear dismemberment demands. Lacking any kind of peace deal, the US continues to strike Iran in what it calls “self-defense” attacks while labeling Iran’s retaliatory strikes against US bases and Arab allies as “aggression.” This week, I will cover the tenuous prospects for ending the war. To receive a free sample copy of this brief, along with option on how to subscriber, click on Request a samle on the left.
Also:
Iran’s Objections to a Trump Deal
The Strategy Behind Hiding Military Support for Israel
The Risks of a using a Corporate developed Survival Retreat
The diplomatic process between the United States and Iran appears to have reached a stage that can best be described as suspended rather than broken. Following the recent military confrontation between Washington and Tehran, neither side appears interested in returning to open warfare. At the same time, neither side has succeeded in transforming the current ceasefire into a comprehensive political agreement. The result is a frozen conflict accompanied by frozen negotiations, a situation that increasingly resembles a strategic pause rather than a permanent settlement.
Section 224 of the drafted National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,” would require the defense secretary to designate an executive agent to coordinate U.S.-Israel defense technology research, development, testing, evaluation, integration and industrial cooperation. It specifically describes the provision as covering bilateral defense technology work, integration and industrial cooperation.
An executive order signed by Donald Trump with little fanfare on Friday could have a huge impact on the health of US children, as it instructs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to cut the number of recommended childhood vaccines almost in half.
"The Pandemics are coming from labs. ALL OF THEM...Lyme, COVID, RSV, HIV & Spanish Flu came out of a vaccine lab."
~RFK Jr
"Vaccine research has created the worst plagues in our history."
But this wasn't the only Trump-defying vote that took place Wednesday, as The Hill reports: "Six Republicans joined Democrats on Wednesday to push through a vote on military aid for Ukraine, a blow to President Trump’s handling of Russia’s war against the country and his withdrawal of U.S. support for Kyiv."
Hezbollah chief rejects outcome of Lebanon-Israel talks, insisting that a truce must encompass whole country.
WSJ reports that the White House intends to maintain a ceasefire with Iran unless American troops are killed; oil drops also after Trump states on TS
Trump lashes out after House War Powers votes passes Wednesday evening, attacking especially four Republicans who voted in favor.
Trump downplayed Iran's attacks on US bases in Kuwait & Bahrain, saying "they were slightly provoked...so they were reciprocating."
The letter, which is somewhat lengthy at one point says, "The choice is yours now. Enough of war" and then spells out that "Ukraine proposes to end this war."
"This must be done honestly, with dignity, and with guarantees that the war will not be reignited," Zelensky added. And then interestingly, "We see that the United States is fully focused on the issue of Iran, and it would be wrong to simply wait until the war in Europe returns to the center of its attention."
The last 24 hour period has seen a significant drone wave rain down on Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg.
The attack seemed to be met with little in the way of anti-air defenses, with circulating local footage showing security forces trying to shoot down inbound drones only with small arms. Local authorities later said there were several injuries across the region, but no one was killed.
The new attack seemed intentionally timed for the city's major economic forum designed to attract foreign investment into the country. Putin is scheduled to oversee the three-day St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) and will give a keynote address.
Two bases come under fresh missile attack in Kuwait, Fars and Reuters report. Iran state media says retaliation for night US attack on Qeshm Island.
Explosions & air raid sirens also being reported in Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Bahrain. It seems that war is popping off once again.
rump insists reports that Iran & US have not been talking for days is 'fake news'; Rubio also tells Congress talks are ongoing, despite fresh Iranian denials, and even claims the nuclear file is part of it.
Washington has seen the Lebanon partial truce as opportunity enough to press forward on broader talks, with Trump saying he expects a broader Iran deal "over the next week".
But Fars denies this Tuesday: "exchange of messages between Iran & the US has been stopped for at least a few days" on MOU.
GCC blasts 'cowardly attacks' after Kuwait International Airport rocked by Iranian missiles: one dead, 63 injured.
Overnight saw US-Iran exchange fire in Strait of Hormuz - as US attacked Qeshm Island - and Iran unleashed more projectiles on Gulf states. Most intense fighting since April.
IRGC via state media: Tehran has frozen all back-channel communication with Washington over Israeli operations in Lebanon, calls Trump narrative a fantasy.
Trump says Iran has agreed not to pursue a nuclear weapon, while saying talks are still ongoing. Tells NYP he believes the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz will "resolve itself fairly quickly."
"In response to terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime, the Russian Armed Forces launched a large-scale strike using long-range, high-precision air, land and sea-based weapons — including hypersonic aero-ballistic missiles and attack drones," the Russian Defense Ministry (MoD) said in a statement. "The objectives of the strike were achieved. All designated targets were hit," it added.
In the wake of these devastating overnight attacks, Ukraine is reporting that at least 18 people were killed and over 100 more wounded. The hours-long assault was clearly one of the biggest and deadliest of the last year or more.
The police force says it is the victim of the stabber’s lies and that its officers were obliged to act on the stabber’s false accusations of racial provocation. But aren’t officers trained in judgment, to use their freaking eyes, to not make hasty judgments, and to care for even the perps? Wasn’t the victim’s plight obvious and the other party’s rude behavior equally obvious?
Note that the police force didn’t refer itself for investigation until the day of the conviction, almost six months after the murder.
Tehran utilized basic construction equipment to dig out several missile launchers and reopen subterranean tunnels tied to its missile program. The visual analysis determined that Iran was able to successfully clear the entrances to 50 out of 69 targeted tunnels, alongside 18 distinct missile production sites.
"Iran has repaired other parts of the bases as well, including roads that the US and Israel bombed to prevent missile launchers from using them," CNN wrote. "Satellite images show almost all these craters have now been filled, and at two sites, even repaved."
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Behind the scenes: One U.S. official said Trump told Netanyahu that following through on his threats to bomb the Lebanese capital would further isolate Israel around the world.
Two of the sources said Trump claimed he'd helped keep Netanyahu out of jail — a reference to his support during Netanyahu's corruption trial.
Trump has announced the "shooting will stop" in Lebanon, after phone calls with both sides. Says Iran talks back on "at rapid pace"; Lebanese presidency confirms Hezbollah agreed to US ceasefire proposal
Iran announces halt to all exchanges with US, citing Israeli aggression in Lebanon. Trump says 'haven't heard' this from Tehran, vows to keep US naval blockade in place.
Iran overnight initiated fresh attacks on neighboring Kuwait and even released video showing footage of a ballistic missile launch.
The US bombed radar & drone sites in Iran in response to the Iranians having shot down a US drone over the weekend. Reports of foreign jets over Iranian airspace.
Kyiv has targeted several major refiners and oil export terminals since the war in Iran began, aiming to cripple Russia's ability to take advantage of the soaring international oil and fuel prices.
And now, in the wake of Trump's May Bejing visit to meet within Xi Jinping, CBS reports, "President Trump is no longer expected to speak with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te before Chinese President Xi Jinping's potential trip to the United States this fall, multiple sources familiar with the discussions" stated.
Xi had warned Trump that Taiwan could become a "very dangerous situation" if mishandled - and since then the estimated $14 billion weapons package has been put on pause.
That a sitting US president is not speaking to Taiwan's elected leader is actually normal based on Washington's policy of strategic ambiguity, and official acknowledgement of 'One China'. Trump is signaling that this will not change for now:
Moderna is receiving up to $50 million to accelerate the development of an Ebola vaccine, as the virus continues to spread in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
US President Donald Trump previously said that Chinese President Xi Jinping had personally “promised” him that Beijing would not supply military hardware to Iran, adding, “That’s a beautiful promise. I take him at his word. I appreciated it.”
However, reports of Chinese-manufactured man-portable air defense systems, or Manpads, being found on the battlefield have raised questions about those assurances.
The Garden Grove tank failure has reportedly been blamed on a faulty valve in the cooling system. While that suggests an industrial malfunction, the timing cannot be ignored. Radical left networks have increasingly targeted the F-35 supply chain and defense contractors, placing facilities like GKN's Garden Grove site in the crosshairs of left-wing pro-terror groups.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed on X that Dong, "a man from China who became a U.S. citizen — doesn't speak English. He received his commercial driver's license from New York State in 2024."
"Only in France does a football club's victory spark riots," lamented conservative leader Marine Le Pen. "Only in France does everyone feel compelled to lock themselves in their homes on the evening of a victory to avoid being confronted with violence. The French can no longer stand these scenes of chaos that multiply at the slightest pretext, and this, despite an extraordinary security apparatus." The destruction was visited upon bakeries, restaurants, retail stores, bus shelters and cars.
In perhaps the most disturbing video of the night, rioters were seen shattering the windows of a car occupied by two young women:
Taken together, the surveys point to a deepening problem for France’s centrist and left-wing parties. Whether the candidate is Le Pen or Bardella, the National Rally is now polling not merely as a first-round protest vehicle, but as a party capable of winning the presidency outright.
The U.S. military hasn’t definitively identified any mines during repeated searches of the waterway, raising questions about how “robust” the threat may be, sources say.
Reconciliation was the needle through which former President Barack Obama and Democrats injected the poison of Obamacare into America’s body politic in 2010.
The dangerously cautious Thune had no such ambitions. Rather than a freight train, Reconciliation 2.0 was a rusty caboose. It funded little more than Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol salaries.
First off, it is abundantly clear that this will be the most hardened overall structure on the White House grounds by a huge margin. It will feature passive defenses against many forms of attack. From the windows to the walls, the facility will be hardened to a level not seen on legacy structures on the property.
It will also have active defenses. Clearly, the drone issue is a massive one and has been for many years. This structure will serve as a secure place to do daily business if needed. Based on Trump’s comments, it will also act as a critical active defense node with its roof hosting air defenses, and apparently ones that are capable of at least a limited degree of area defense, not just highly-localized point defense. This is where drones could come into play.
The United States and Iran have tentatively agreed upon a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend their current ceasefire and enable further negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, a U.S. government source has confirmed with The Epoch Times.
The deal is awaiting final sign-off by President Donald Trump, the source said on May 28.
