NATO Mulls Nixing Annual Summits, Wary Of ‘Trump Drama’ Overshadowing
Fresh reporting in Reuters says that NATO leadership is mulling ending its practice of holding annual summits as the Trump presidency has “cast a long shadow” over such meetings and as member states are looking for “less drama”.
For example, at the 2018 summit Trump threatened to walk out after bitterly complaining over allies’ low defense spending. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary general at the time, wrote in a recently published memoir, “Had he made good on his threat to leave in protest, we would have been left to pick up the pieces of a shattered NATO.”
Also, in 2019 he exited summit early while lambasting then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “two-faced” after Trudeau was caught on a hot mike blasting Trump’s behavior.
Footage emerged late on Tuesday that appears to show world leaders joking about Trump at the summit, which has been marked by sharp disagreements over spending and future threats, including Turkey’s role in the alliance and China, as well as a clash of personalities that triggered a flurry of incendiary language being deployed by leaders.
The video shows leaders including Trudeau, Johnson, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, and Princess Anne at the Buckingham Palace event on Tuesday evening.
In audio caught on a nearby microphone, Johnson asks Macron: “Is that why he was late?” before Trudeau interjects: “He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference off the top.”
Trudeau adds: “Oh, yeah, yeah yeah. He announced … ” before he is cut off by Macron, who speaks animatedly to the group. Macron’s back is to the camera and his words are inaudible.
After an edited cut in the film, the footage later shows an incredulous Trudeau telling the group: “You just watched his team’s jaws drop to the floor.”
In his second administration, President Trump’s fierce criticisms have only grown, especially related to lack of help in the Iran war and Hormuz Strait crisis, labeling the alliance a “paper tiger” and charging member states with being “free-loaders”.
One European diplomat expressed an increasingly common viewpoint among members: “Better to have fewer summits than bad summits,” the official said.
And, per Reuters: “Some diplomats and analysts have long argued that annual summits create pressure for eye-catching results that distracts from longer-term planning.”
For now at least, NATO leadership is insisting it will be business as usual and these annual summits will proceed. “NATO will continue to hold regular meetings of Heads of State and Government, and between summits NATO Allies will continue to consult, plan and take decisions about our shared security,” a NATO official told Reuters. But Trump’s anti-NATO rhetoric is unlikely to cease anytime soon, setting up for more drama to come.
In a move toward fully autonomous warfare, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry plans to procure 25,000 unmanned ground vehicles by mid-2026. This initiative aims to replace human soldiers with robotic systems for all frontline logistics and double the 2025 deployment rate.
Reportedly, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov stated that the ultimate goal is to have 100 percent of frontline logistics handled by robotic systems.
The strategy is already yielding results. In March alone, Ukrainian forces logged over 9,000 missions using ground robots for everything from delivering ammunition to evacuating the wounded.
A key development in this tech surge is the formal codification of the Bizon-L logistics robot.
$330 million invested
Following a meeting with domestic manufacturers, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced a strategic shift to stabilize the industry by signing UGV contracts through 2027.
This move supports Ukraine’s ambitious goal to transition 100% of frontline logistics to robotic systems, a transition already well underway.
These unmanned systems are proving vital for high-risk logistics and medical evacuations, insulating soldiers from the most dangerous aspects of frontline operations.
To streamline its defense supply chain, Ukraine has invested roughly $330 million (14 billion hryvnia) since January to deliver over 181,000 systems, including drones and electronic warfare units, via a direct digital procurement platform.
Central to this surge is the Bizon-L, a logistics robot that was recently codified under NATO standards.
The Bizon-L is a heavy-lifter designed for the mud and snow of the Donbas.
This high-capacity UGV can transport 300 kilograms (661 pounds) over a 50-kilometer range and is now cleared for use by both Ukrainian forces and international allies.
Utilizing a combination of Starlink satellite data and radio links protected by thermal shielding, the Bizon-L is stepping in to perform last-mile deliveries — tasks previously handled by soldiers who were frequently targeted by Russian FPV drones.
Central to this surge is the Bizon-L, a logistics robot that was recently codified under NATO standards.
The Bizon-L is a heavy-lifter designed for the mud and snow of the Donbas.
This high-capacity UGV can transport 300 kilograms (661 pounds) over a 50-kilometer range and is now cleared for use by both Ukrainian forces and international allies.
Utilizing a combination of Starlink satellite data and radio links protected by thermal shielding, the Bizon-L is stepping in to perform last-mile deliveries — tasks previously handled by soldiers who were frequently targeted by Russian FPV drones.
Israelis Outraged After Govt Sent Vital Arrow Missiles To Germany Mid-Iran War
There’s growing outrage and political division in Israel after news emerged that the government and defense ministry fulfilled a weapons contract with Germany, sending vital Arrow air defense missiles to Berlin during the middle of the Iran war.
At the very moment the missiles were being delivered, Israeli citizens were dying under Iran’s fierce ballistic missile retaliation attacks during the height of Operation Epic Fury.
The Jerusalem Posthas “confirmed that Israel continued to send Arrow missiles to Berlin mid-war as part of a contract between the countries, even though Israel had a shortage of its own interceptors,” the publication writes.
“Some commentators upon learning this information have accused the Israeli government of allowing at least five persons to die and hundreds to be injured when the IDF did not use the Arrow to defend from certain attacks,” the report adds.
The Arrow was developed jointly with the United States and is designed to intercept long-range missiles, serving as the highest tier of Israel’s multi-layered defense.
The first Arrow was delivered to Germany in 2025, despite that starting with the last June war, it has been an open secret that Israel is running low on interceptors, and that it takes a significant amount of time to replenish them.
In April, we featured analysis describing how Israel only in the last few years grew to become Germany’s largest arms partner in a ‘mega deal’:
Israel’s delivery of the Arrow 3 missile defense system to Germany last year, which was its largest export deal ever at $4.6 billion, led to its share of Germany’s arms imports jumping from 13% during the period 2020-2024 to 55% during the period 2021-2025. At the same time, Israel remained Germany’s third-largest arms client at 10% of its exports from 2021-2025 compared to 11% of them from 2020-2024, with the slight 1% decrease likely being due to three-month-long curb on arms exports to it last year.
Why this matters is because Israel’s new role as Germany’s largest arms supplier might worsen its ties with Russia, especially if exports evolve from defensive systems like the Arrow 3 to offensive ones like the $7 billion deal for 500 rocket launchers and thousands of missiles that they’re now negotiating. Moreover, West Asian geopolitics might radically change after the end of the Third Gulf War, so Russia might not be able to reciprocally sell similar systems to Iran. Israel would then gain an edge over Russia.
Israeli officials have sought to downplay the Arrow deliveries for Germany, in some cases arguing that the benefits for Israel actually saves civilian lives – based on other defense items Israel gets in return.
Also, as JPost writes further, “A Maariv report indicated Israeli sources were concerned that if they did not maintain the pace of Arrow deliveries to Germany, it could harm relations or the already signed and potential future defense deals.”
“The Post understands that in addition to general economic benefits, and economies of scale benefits heavily increasing Israel’s own volume of Arrows for self-defense, that the deal with Germany provided two other crucial items,” the publication adds.
The fact that much of Israel’s defense is underwritten by the US taxpayer also provides an ultimate backstop from Israeli leaders’ perspective. The longer the Iran war persists, and as more Israeli arms exports leave port, the more the controversy is likely to grow.
The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) has jumped to a new record high in a recent poll conducted by the opinion research institute Insa. In the poll, the AfD increased its lead over the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU).
According to the “Sunday trend” poll, which is conducted on a weekly basis for the Bild am Sonntag, the AfD has reached a peak of 28 percent, extending its lead over the CDU/CSU alliance. While the party only jumped one point from the previous week, it not only marked the AfD’s highest value ever, but it also means the AfD is closing in on the psychological 30 percent it has long sought.
The CDU/CSU remained unchanged at 24 percent, while the Social Democrats (SPD) maintains its position at 14 percent. The Green Party slipped to 12 percent after losing one percentage point, and the Left Party remains steady at 11 percent. Both the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) and the FDP would currently fail to enter the Bundestag, as each sits at three percent.
Despite the AfD’s high polling, all other parties continue to say they will not form an alliance with the AfD, which means the party is effectively locked out of power. Unless the AfD can find a coalition party that can give it a majority, the party will remain on the sidelines. However, if the AfD can maintain its current support or even increase it further, forming a coalition among the other parties could prove increasingly difficult in the future.
Insa is not the only polling firm showing the growth of the AfD. In a recent Yougov poll, the AfD reached 27 percent of the vote, while the CDU fell to just 23 percent.
The AfD’s surge comes at a time when soaring energy prices have left the German economy reeling, especially following the war in Iran, which has sent diesel prices between €2.20 and €2.50 a liter.
AfD co-leader, Tino Chrupalla, has become increasingly opposed to U.S. government actions. He quickly denounced the U.S. attack on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, labeling it a “violation of international law.” And in February, right after the attack on Iran, he expressed his “disappointment” at Trump’s broken promise to not start wars and blamed Israel for “dragging” the United States into war against Iran.
In March, Chrupalla also condemned what he said were Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians and Iranians, and just this month, Chrupalla called for the closure of U.S. bases in Germany. Even conservative Germans have long been skeptical of Trump, while the majority of Germans are deeply negative on the U.S. president.
Polling shows that 65 percent of Germans believe that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza. According to ARD-DeutschlandTREND in March 2026, 60 percent of Germans consider the military offensive against Iran by the U.S. and Israel to be “not justified.” That result may look even worse now as energy prices have slammed the German economy.
In other words, Chrupalla may be adopting the positions that are sitting well with the German public.
At the same time, crime statistics released about a week ago show that migrant violence continues to dominate in Germany,with sexual crimes and serious violence in 2025 growing compared to the record numbers seen in 2024. Overall, crime fell slightly compared to 2024, but serious crimes grew. Most of the decline was due to the legalization of marijuana in late 2024, which resulted in a drop in drug offenses.
Foreigners account for approximately 42 percent of all violent crimes.
The AfD is calling for mass deportations, increased funding for police, an immigration moratorium, cutting pro-migrant NGO funding, and stricter laws to deter criminals.
I have got some really crazy stuff to share with you in this article. For more than a decade and a half, I have been writing about the decline of our society. Sadly, over that period of time there has been an inexorable deterioration of our culture. We no longer agree on a generally accepted set of moral values, all of our major institutions are crumbling, and chaos reigns in the streets. Every single day I see more indications that conditions are getting even worse. I always hoped that by exposing what was really going on out there that it would inspire people to push for change. But instead, conditions just keep degenerating year after year.
If we love our society, what is happening to it should deeply sadden all of us. If our leaders had made much different decisions, we could have gotten much different results.
But now things are totally out of control and the clock is ticking. The following are 12 signs that the relentless decline of our society is accelerating…
#1 So far in 2026, there have been 116 mass shootings in the United States. Unfortunately, we are 36 percent ahead of last year’s blistering pace. And it appears that there are potentially a lot more mass shooters out there, because one recent survey discovered that 19.3 million Americans have seriously thought about shooting someone else…
About 19.3 million American adults, roughly the combined populations of New York City and Los Angeles, have at some point seriously thought about shooting another person. That’s the stunning extrapolation from a new national survey published in JAMA Network Open, an effort to put a number on this poorly understood group and frame it as a focus for gun violence prevention.
#2 If it seems like there are crazy people everywhere around you, that is because there really are crazy people everywhere around you. These days, you never know what is going to set someone off, and the results can be absolutely tragic. For example, just a few days ago a crazed man in Louisiana shot and killed eight children. Seven of them were his own kids…
A man killed eight children — seven of his own kids and one of their cousins — early Sunday in a mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, officials said. The shooter is also dead after police pursued him, and they exchanged fire. It was the nation’s deadliest shooting in more than two years.
The children were killed in what police described as an “execution-style” shooting. They included five girls and three boys, ranging in age from 3 to 11, the coroner’s office confirmed. According to the office, their mothers identified the children as: Jayla Elkins, 3; Shayla Elkins, 5; Kayla Pugh, 6; Layla Pugh, 7; Markaydon Pugh, 10; Sariahh Snow, 11; Khedarrion Snow, 6; and Braylon Snow, 5.
#3 Things are so bad that even disabled Americans are gunning people down. In fact, a quadruple amputee has been charged with murder after he shot a front-seat passenger while he was driving a vehicle in Maryland…
Dayton Webber once said he believed God put him on this planet to inspire others to believe they could achieve anything they wanted to.
Now, the first quadruple amputee in American Cornhole League history faces murder charges after being accused of fatally shooting a man while driving in Maryland.
According to the Charles County Sheriff’s Department, Webber, of La Plata, Maryland, is alleged to have shot and killed a front-seat passenger during an argument on the evening of March 22, 2026.
#4 Authorities keep insisting that crime is under control, but we continue to see spectacular crimes being committed all over the nation. Earlier this week, two men in Philadelphia pulled off an armored truck heist that could have been pulled directly out of a CBS crime drama…
Two masked men armed with rifles carried out a brazen daylight robbery of a Brinks armored truck in the Tacony section of Northeast Philadelphia, escaping with what authorities say could be as much as $1.8 million in cash.
Philadelphia Police Department officials told ABC 6 that the robbery occurred around 9:45 a.m on April 21 on the 7200 block of Torresdale Avenue, as the Brinks truck was servicing a Budget Financial Center.
Brinks is a national security and cash logistics company that transports money for banks and retailers.
According to law enforcement officials, a blue Acura SUV pulled into the lot, with two suspects dressed in black jumping out, brandishing rifles and confronting the driver before seizing bags of cash.
#5 Why would someone purposely crash a vehicle into a police station? Either this is one of the dumbest criminals that I have ever read about, or something else is going on here…
A man deliberately drove his SUV into the Philadelphia Police Department’s 2nd District headquarters Tuesday afternoon, according to Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, narrowly missing several people who were standing inside.
Police identified the suspect on Wednesday as 26-year-old Dieufort Joly of the 2100 block of Glendale Avenue.
Joly is charged with six counts of Aggravated Assault, six counts of Simple Assault, six counts of Recklessly Endangering Another Person, one count of Causing/Risking Catastrophe, one count of Institutional Vandalism, and one count of Possession of an Instrument of Crime.
#6 All over America, wild packs of young people are conducting “street takeovers” late at night. Unfortunately, this is even happening in some of our wealthiest neighborhoods…
Madness descended on an upscale Washington DC neighborhood again after a large mob of unhinged teens took over.
On Saturday night, a rowdy group of teenagers spilled into Navy Yard, a ritzy and trendy neighborhood in the US Capital, while people dined out and tried to enjoy their evening.
A massive crowd was seen running through the middle of a busy intersection, with some on foot and others riding bikes, in a video posted to X by investigator Elissa De Souza.
Thugs waving Palestinian flags blocked traffic, took over the street, lit a fire, and performed car stunts in the family-oriented neighborhood of Middle Village, Queens, NY, last night.
This is Mamdani’s NYC.
Queens, NY has one of the highest concentrations of Muslims in New York City.
#8 I don’t have to tell you that sexual promiscuity is absolutely rampant in our society, because it is obvious to everyone. In Minneapolis, officials intend to legalize public sex in bathhouses because the gay Somali community has been clamoring for them to do it…
Minneapolis city leaders are barreling ahead with plans to legalize adult bathhouses and sex venues where consenting adults can engage in sexual activity, scrapping a 38-year ban enacted during the AIDS epidemic.
The push, driven by activists, comes as the gay Somali community in Minneapolis has been clamoring to legalize bathhouses. City leaders are considering the proposal that would allow patrons to engage in sexual intercourse in the venues, the New York Post reports.
#9 Children are considered to be a burden in our society now, and the U.S. birth rate fell to yet another record low last year…
The U.S. fertility rate fell slightly in 2025, to another record low, extending two decades of declines, according to federal data released on Thursday.
The fertility rate — the number of births per 1,000 women of childbearing age — dropped to 53.1, from 53.8 in 2024, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
The number of births dropped too, falling by 1 percent from the previous year, to 3,606,400.
This month, New York joined the growing number of states that have legalized doctor-assisted suicide. Supporters say giving patients the choice to end their lives with the help of a physician provides compassion for the dying. Opponents warn it creates larger ethical problems.
More than a dozen states and Washington, D.C., allow the practice of doctor-assisted suicide. New York became the latest when the governor legalized the Medical Aid in Dying bill this month—a move many critics say puts the country on an even more slippery slope when it comes to the issue of life and death.
Matt Sharp with Alliance Defending Freedom said, “Under this law, the floodgates are now open wide.”
#11 I keep hearing about a resurgence of religion in this country, but a Gallup survey has found that the percentage of Americans with no religion at all has reached a new record high…
Americans with no formal religious identity, popularly known as the “nones,” reached a record share of the population in 2025, according to Gallup data that shows fewer than 50% of adults also report that religion is “very important” in their lives.
The findings, based on interviews with more than 13,000 U.S. adults across Gallup’s monthly 2025 surveys, show that the share of Americans identifying as “nones” reached a new high of 24%, up from 21% to 22% over the previous four years. The share of Americans identifying as “nones” has grown steadily from 2% in 1948 to its current record.
#12 George Barna is one of my all-time favorite pollsters, and he recently conducted a survey that discovered that only 1 percent of Generation Z has a biblical worldview…
A recent survey of American adults found that despite a surge of interest in Christianity and church attendance in the months since Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the number of people who adhere to a biblical worldview remains critically low, including just 1% of Gen Z.
Conducted in January by Arizona Christian University’s Cultural Research Center under the guidance of researcher George Barna, the latest installment of the American Worldview Inventory asked 2,000 American adults a series of 53 questions to discern if they live consistently with a biblical worldview.
The young adults of today will be the leaders of tomorrow.
So what would our society look like with them in charge?
All throughout human history, great societies have risen and great societies have fallen.
The future of our own society will be written by us.
Unfortunately, at this moment our society is in a serious state of decline, and it would literally take a major miracle to turn things around at this stage.
Republican Lawmakers Move On Legislation To Build And Fund Trump’s $400 Million Ballroom
Two days after a gunman tried to breach security at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Hilton hotel, Republican lawmakers got straight to work pushing for President Donald Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom.
The president and First Lady Melania Trump were ushered out of the dinner after the gunman pulled a Leeroy Jenkins past security and shot a Secret Service agent near the security checkpoint.
The moment President Trump was evacuated from the White House Correspondents dinner after loud noises were heard. pic.twitter.com/RnbIumNR3A
Not only was the security atrocious considering how many high-profile individuals were at the event (where Reagan shooter John Hinckley, who shot Regan there, said it was a dumb place to keep holding high-profile events), Trump was evacuated a full 10 seconds after JD Vance.
🚨 WATCH: Trump — escorted by the arms, Vance — grabbed by the scruff
CNN has released footage showing the evacuation of U.S. leadership.
And now, the push to get Trump’s ballroom completed…
“Let’s get it done,” Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT) said on X, announcing that he would introduce legislation this week and move for unanimous consent of “express approval for construction of a Presidential ballroom” – while over in the House Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) will introduce the “Build the Ballroom Act” and file for explicit statutory authority.
“While the lawsuits attempting to stop this privately-funded gift to the country are nonsense, last night makes it clear that we need it—and we need it now,” he posted on X. “I look forward to Democrats repudiating their violent rhetoric against President Trump by cosponsoring and supporting this bill. Mr. President, build away.”
Boebert’s on it too – with the Colorado Republican announcing that she ‘and her team’ are in the process of drafting legislation to guarantee the project’s completion.
“I don’t believe congressional approval is required for the project, but if it’ll keep activist judges on the sideline, so be it,” she posted on X. “More to come this week.”
Even Sen. John Fetterman, who was there on Saturday, (D-PN) is onboard.
“We were there front and center. That venue wasn’t built to accommodate an event with the line of succession for the U.S. government,” he wrote on X. “After witnessing last night, drop the TDS and build the White House ballroom for events exactly like these.”
As the Epoch Timesnotes further, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche also joined the calls to allow the ballroom to go ahead.
“It’s time to build the ballroom,” he posted on social media.
Trump said on Truth Social that the project was ahead of schedule and well within budget, arguing it’s necessary for security purposes.
He criticized a lawsuit by historic preservationists as based on the “passing aesthetic gripe of a single person” that is no justification for delaying a secure facility.
The ballroom project, envisioned by Trump for years as a classical addition to the executive mansion, has faced repeated legal hurdles. A federal judge ruled in March that construction requires explicit congressional authorization, halting above-ground work while allowing limited underground activity to continue. Appeals courts have issued temporary stays, but litigation from the National Trust for Historic Preservation continues.
Trump once offered to fund a ballroom privately during the Obama years but was turned down. Construction moved forward in Trump’s second term after demolition of parts of the East Wing. The administration described it as a privately-financed upgrade needed to bring the White House up-to-date to accommodate modern events.
Architects called the design “classical, beautiful, and long overdue,” as court cases mulled whether the executive branch required legislative sign-off for such a considerable alteration to the historic complex.
Preservation groups contend the project goes around lawful reviews and risks the White House’s historic character. The Justice Department on April 26 asked for the case to be dropped to ensure the safety of the president, his family, and administration officials.
A federal committee remade by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on April 28 published proposals to revamp diagnosing and treating people with autism spectrum disorder.
The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee said in one proposal that a component of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should make clear that doctors should be prepared to recognize and treat new issues that occur in autistic people, such as seizures and difficulty sleeping.
The committee said that despite evidence showing new symptoms require treatment, “clinical care remains inconsistent and fragmented across settings.” The symptoms “can be overlooked, deferred, treated as secondary to behavior, or not systematically elicited at all,” it said.
Among the specific recommended changes is treating observations from caregivers of autistic people who are unable to speak, or speak well, as medically relevant information, rather than anecdotal context.
The Health Resources and Services Administration should develop training for doctors to identify and address gastrointestinal changes and sleep disturbances, among other problems, in autistic people, the committee said.
Another proposal suggested that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, another CMS component, clarify that when screening, diagnosing, and treating children with autism, doctors should seriously evaluate conditions such as developmental regression and allergic disease.
“When such triggers are present, further evaluation should be pursued or arranged as clinically indicated,” the proposal said, adding that the evaluation “should not permit these signals to be dismissed solely on the basis of an autism diagnosis.”
The committee said that there is much clinical evidence describing medical conditions that occur among autistic people, but “this evidence is not consistently integrated into clinical assessment, resulting in gaps in recognition, evaluation, and follow-through, especially when these conditions present atypically.”
It added later: “The result has been delayed identification, fragmented care, and preventable morbidity—reflecting a translational gap rather than an absence of evidence.”
The proposals were published as the committee met in Washington to discuss them. It was the first meeting since Kennedy removed existing committee members and selected new ones in January, including some who said vaccines cause autism.
The committee could end up changing the proposals during the meeting.
Dr. Sylvia Fogel, a psychiatry instructor at Harvard Medical School and the committee’s chair, said at the opening of the meeting that focusing on treating autistic individuals is imperative because many of the individuals suffer from undiagnosed psychiatric and pain-causing conditions.
“It is unacceptable,” said Fogel, who said her son has what she described as profound autism.
A third proposal would recommend that officials adopt the term profound autism as a reference for autistic people “with the highest and most persistent support needs.”
Fogel said the proposals aim to “address clear and correctable gaps in safety and policy.”
Watch: Small Earthquake Registered After IDF Blows Up Largest-Ever Hezbollah Tunnel
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday destroyed a major Hezbollah tunnel in southern Lebanon on Tuesday evening, minutes after issuing an unusual warning that the blast would be heard across wide areas.
The tunnel is being described in regional media as the largest one ever discovered thus far in the war in southern Lebanon. Israeli N12 News reporter Amit Segal has written that “the force of the explosion caused a small earthquake to be felt along the northern border.” The below footage has been confirmed in Israeli media:
The IDF destroyed a massive Hezbollah tunnel; the force of the explosion caused a small earthquake to be felt along the northern border. pic.twitter.com/symjrjk7bT
Very shortly before the huge blast, an alert went out to Israeli communities from Rosh Hanikra to the Golan Heights, forewarning of the large explosion – telling people not to panic.
The tunnel was located near the village of Qantara, which is a heavily Shiite Muslim town. The Israeli ground operation has seen Muslim and Christian villages alike razed to the ground in some instances.
Amid the fragile Iran and Lebanon ceasefires, sirens sounded in the Galilee area just minutes before the planned detonation, reportedly also based on potential inbound aerial threats.
Amazingly, the Times of Israel reports in the explosion aftermath that the “Geological Survey of Israel says the massive controlled explosion was picked up by the seismic warning system. However, no earthquake sirens were activated.”
“The military told residents earlier it would ensure that the controlled blast would not set off the earthquake sirens, which has happened in the past,” the report adds.
The blast was filmed and photographed even from miles away, where smoke was seen reaching many stories into the air.
Lebanon has been denouncing such controlled demolition activity, given that in some cases entire villages and abandoned towns have been destroyed in similar fashion.
Israel has sought to utterly raze any village it deems a Hezbollah weapons depot or safe area. But this has also included targeting Christian towns in the south of Lebanon, as the below image shows.
The Christian village of Yaroun in southern Lebanon, before and after it was destroyed by the Israeli army. pic.twitter.com/Rg77dlbuCJ
Western media has tended to present these Mideast conflicts involving Israel as coming down to “Jewish vs. Muslim” wars – but the Israeli army doesn’t discriminate in terms of also attacking Lebanese and Palestinian Christian enclaves.
Ahead of the gubernatorial election this fall, pundits are buzzing with something Californians haven’t heard in years: a real chance to flip the Golden State red – at least with a new governor in Sacramento. Thanks to its top-two primary system, in which the top two finishers advance to November regardless of party, this is more than possible.
This election cycle matters more than most for the Republican Party, and for the people of California. The Golden State has suffered under one-party Democrat rule for more than fifteen years, and the results are shocking. Despite some recent dips in violent crime, years of soft-on-crime policies have left neighborhoods scarred by retail theft waves, open drug markets, and a homelessness crisis that defies solution.
Businesses keep fleeing – California led the nation in net out-migration again in 2025, with roughly 216,000 residents packing up and leaving, many taking jobs and tax revenue with them. Housing remains wildly unaffordable, earning the state an F grade from Realtor.com for sky-high prices relative to incomes and regulatory barriers to new construction.
Paychecks don’t stretch, education rankings lag (California sits around 24th–37th nationally, depending on the metric), and the state’s aggressive green-energy mandates have driven up electricity and gas costs while water infrastructure struggles to keep pace.
Then came the January 2025 Southern California wildfires. Fire hydrants ran dry, water pressure failed in Pacific Palisades and elsewhere, and critics slammed the response for poor preparation and coordination – exactly the kind of governance failure that leaves residents wondering who’s in charge.
All of this flows from Blue authorities: sanctuary-state policies that shield illegal immigrants at the expense of public safety, endless fights with the Trump administration, and a relentless push for DEI and woke ideology over practical reforms. Californians have paid the price.
But this November, the tide may finally turn. There is a genuine opportunity to deliver what Californians truly deserve – crisis resolution, safer streets, affordable living, and an economy that works again.
Two Republicans, both with strong Trump backing, are posting surprisingly strong numbers in recent polls. Former Fox News host and Trump-endorsed Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco have led or tied for the top spots in multiple surveys, while a crowded Democrat field – Katie Porter, Xavier Becerra, Tom Steyer, and others – splits the vote and often trails.
Voters are clearly fed up with reckless Blue policies that prioritize ideology over results.
The GOP hopefuls’ platforms speak directly to the pain points. Hilton’s “Califordable” agenda promises no state income tax on earnings under $100,000, $3-a-gallon gas, electricity bills cut in half by slashing regulations, aggressive single-family home construction to restore the California Dream, and real education reform – ensuring kids can actually read by third grade. He also vows to crack down on government waste and fraud while enforcing laws against street encampments. Bianco emphasizes public safety first – fully resourcing law enforcement, ending sanctuary policies, cutting taxes and over-regulation, and unleashing California’s energy resources to drive down costs and create jobs.
These are concrete plans, not slogans – targeted fixes for the very problems Democrats have ignored or worsened.
Even amid the political trench warfare between Red and Blue, we must never forget one simple truth: the people living in California are no less American than those in Texas or Florida. Every legal citizen, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, shares the same unalienable rights that our republic exists to protect. It must be our common goal to strengthen this country and improve lives for all Americans – no matter the ZIP code.
That is precisely the mistake the Left keeps making. They treat the nation as two separate countries, portray their political opponents as enemies rather than fellow citizens, and stoke division that too often edges toward violence. This is basically one of the reasons Republican candidates lead the polls now.
Californians deserve better. This November, they just might get it. The dream of a Golden State that works again is alive – if Republicans seize the moment.
Mike Robertson is a contributor to American Thinker. Follow him on X at @Mike_for_MAGA and Reddit.
Trump Tells Aides US Preparing For Extended Blockade, But Could Be Open To Interim Deal With Iran
Summary
Trump prepares for ‘extended blockade’ – WSJ reports he has informed aides of risky planning.
Trump TS claim: Tehran has informed Washington they are in a “state of collapse” and that the Iranians want the US to “open the Hormuz Strait” – as ‘tank tops’ loom.
Trump doesn’t appear open to Iran’s proposal which hinges on US naval blockade ending & nuclear issue being pushed to future negotiations (CNN). Tehran working on revised plan to be sent in ‘few days’.
First crude-laden Japanese tanker from Saudi port exits Hormuz Strait successfully without Iranian interference.
Iranian analyst describes that Tehran believes it can outlast Trump & the standoff with US in Hormuz, citing “munitions, markets, and the midterms.”
Will Donald Trump announce that the United States blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has been lifted by May 31, 2026?
Yes 66% · No 34% View full market & trade on Polymarket
* * *
Trump Preparing for Extended Blockade: WSJ
If confirmed, this constitutes another huge gamble by Trump – on both the economic and political fronts, and with the lingering potential for escalation (towards some kind of ground action as well). According to the WSJ Tuesday evening, the president has told aides and his staff that he’s prepared to implement an extended blockade:
President Trump has instructed aides to prepare for an extended blockade of Iran, U.S. officials said, targeting the regime’s coffers in a high-risk bid to compel a nuclear capitulation Tehran has long refused.
In recent meetings, including a Monday discussion in the Situation Room, Trump opted to continue squeezing Iran’s economy and oil exports by preventing shipping to and from its ports. He assessed that his other options—resume bombing or walk away from the conflict—carried more risk than maintaining the blockade, officials said.
Yet continuing the blockade also prolongs a conflict that has driven up gas prices, hurt Trump’s poll numbers and further darkened Republicans’ prospects in the midterm elections. It has also caused the lowest number of transits through the Strait of Hormuz since the war began.
However, it remains that this could also be some classic Trump signaling of a ‘maximalist’ position, in order to get Iran to capitulate at the negotiating table. Just as the WSJ report hit, there was this headline over the news wires based on fresh comments:
TRUMP SAID IRAN WANTS THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ REOPENED AND MAY ACCEPT AN INTERIM DEAL TO END THE US NAVAL BLOCKADE WHILE BROADER WAR-END NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE.
The new threat of prolonged military action was accompanied late Tuesday by this from the Treasury Secretary:
The Treasury Department, through Economic Fury, has targeted Iran’s international shadow banking infrastructure, access to crypto, shadow fleet, weapons procurement networks, funding for terrorist proxies in the region, and independent Chinese “teapot” refineries that support…
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) April 29, 2026
And per Bloomberg latest:
In recent meetings, including a Monday discussion in the Situation Room, Trump opted to continue squeezing Iran’s economy and oil exports by preventing shipping to and from its ports. He assessed that his other options—resume bombing or walk away from the conflict—carried more risk than maintaining the blockade, officials said.
Revised Plan Coming in ‘Next Few Days’
So at least there is some back-and-forth. Trump is said to have rejected an initial proposal from Iran, which centered on the US opening up the strait, but pushes the nuclear issue to future talks – and only after an end to the war. Tehran is reportedly revising, and is expected to submit a revised draft deal in the coming days. CNN has the latest in the following:
Mediators in Pakistan expect to receive a revised proposal from Iran in the next few days to end the war, after US President Donald Trump indicated that he would not accept an earlier version, sources close to the mediation process told CNN. The sources say Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi was due back in Tehran today after a visit to Russia, adding that he is expected to consult with regime leaders. That process is slow, the sources say, because of the difficulty in communicating with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, whose location is being kept secret.
Currently there’s much speculation and armchair quarterbacking regarding ‘hardliners’ vs ‘moderates’ in Iran and who is actually in charge, amid reports the IRGC doesn’t want engagement with untrustworthy Washington at all. Meanwhile there’s no question Iran is using the extended ceasefire interim to rearm and regroup militarily.
Trump claims Iranians in ‘State of Collapse’
Literally one minute before market-open, and President Trump issues the following big claim: he says that Tehran has informed Washington they are in a “state of collapse” and that the Iranians want the US to “open the Hormuz Strait”. Of course, even if it were true, why would the Iranians admit such a thing to their enemy during a state of war?
There have been some signs of political fracture – especially tensions between IRGC and civilian leadership – but so far the evidence has been anecdotal at best. Currently the internal Iranian government debate seems to be on whether to talk to the US or not – but again, amid the fog of war… all Western MSM can do is speculate, aside from the rare Iranian ‘anonymous’ source that might whisper in a reporter’s ear.
Oil Rises to 3-week High as Trump Doesn’t Appear Open To Iran Proposal
Reporting from Monday evening and overnight says President Trump doesn’t appear open to Iran’s latest proposal to end the war, which hinges on the US naval blockade being lifted but pushes the nuclear issue off to later negotiations. As a result, oil prices have continued to rise, climbing above $110 a barrel Tuesday morning – a first in three weeks, amid concerns of a prolonged strait closure. As for the latest tankers to actually make it through, CBS describes:
Four civilian ships appeared to leave the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday without Iranian interference, including a Japanese oil tanker carrying some two million barrels of crude from Saudi Arabia.
The Panama-flagged crude oil tanker Idemitsu Maru called at Saudi Arabia’s Juamyah industrial port in early March, according to open source data from the MarineTraffic ship tracking website. For the past week it had remained anchored off the coast of Abu Dhabi in the Persian Gulf, until late Monday, when it sailed toward Iran’s Larak island in the Strait of Hormuz.
On Tuesday morning, tracking data showed the vessel passing south of Iran’s Larak island, which analysts say the regime had used as a “toll booth” to collect fees from some ships before military authorities declared the strait entirely closed again last week.
The White House has insisted that there would be no scheme for Iran collecting tolls as part of any future deal, but the Iranians appear to be forcing the issue, and have said the funds will help with the country’s reconstruction after the devastation wrought by US-Israeli bombing raids.
Independent news organization Drop Site says that Iran is now setting its own terms for ending the war as President Trump’s narrative on negotiations flails. One Iranian analyst has said that Tehran believes it has the three M’s on its side: “munitions, markets, and the midterms.”
The report cites Hassan Ahmadian, a well-known Iranian analyst and associate professor at the University of Tehran, who explains: “The Iranians are saying time is working in our favor for the three Ms: munitions, markets, and the midterms. These three Ms help Iran in its position and weaken US positions.”
“Obviously in the U.S., they want something to say, ‘We squeezed Iran and we got this.’ My perception is that the Iranians are keen to deny the United States that – they wouldn’t give what Trump wants as a victory,” he added.
A separate Iranian official, privy to negotiations and so remaining anonymous, stated: “We’re currently moving forward with our own design, and we feel continuing negotiations doesn’t make sense until the U.S. government lifts the maritime blockade.”
“The scope of the conflict has expanded, and naturally the issue is no longer purely nuclear,” the official added. Indeed, the latest proposal for ceasefire out of Tehran focuses on the US Navy ending its blockade, and leaves the nuclear issue for future consideration, given it has proven an impasse in the prior Islamabad talks.
But Washington as been asserting its own leverage:
New reporting from Bloomberg shows Iran has 22 more days of available storage.
“The Islamic Republic has enough unused storage capacity to last another 12 to 22 days, Kpler analysts wrote in a report Monday.”
But even more importantly, they highlighted the time horizon until…
President Trump explained – in his own inimitable manner – what we described last week: time is running out for Tehran… as oil blockade stalls the flow state of Iran’s economy permanently…
Trump toldFox News on Sunday that the US blockade on traffic to and from Iranian ports is putting major pressure on the country’s export infrastructure:
“When you have, you know, lines of vast amounts of oil pouring through your system, if for any reason that line is closed because you can’t continue to put it into containers or ships, which has happened to them — they have no ships because of the blockade — what happens is that line explodes from within, both mechanically and in the earth.”
“It’s something that happens where it just explodes. And they say they only have about three days left before that happens. And when it explodes, you can never, regardless, you can never rebuild it the way it was.”
“Iran’s oil system is not built to pause. It’s built to flow. It’s a flow system.
Oil cannot simply sit in the ground while strategists argue over maps and how much uranium dust to give over. It has to move. Iran and its system has to move continuously from the rock underground to the tanker in the harbor to the Chinese buyer in Asia.
Pause long enough, and the whole machine breaks.
Interrupt that flow. And the problem isn’t just lost revenues of like forty, fifty, sixty billion dollars. It’s the least of your concerns. The problem is physical and is irreversible.
Because when you suddenly shut the well, remember there’s no physical storage. They pump, they load, they ship.
If they can’t load, if they can’t ship, they can’t pump. And when you suddenly shut the wells, the pressure underground drops fucking fast.
Do you know what happens?
The heavy, sticky crap in the oil, it gums up, gums up in the tiny holes within the rocks and becomes like glue. It traps the oil. It makes it really fucking hard to extract. And once that damage is done, it’s permanent. You lose a big chunk of the oil.
The more Iran is actively either through theater or through bluff, the more that it sits in a standoff, the more it is actively destroying the one thing that it actually depends upon.
That’s the trap. And you’re not reading in in the press, but you’re damn well reading it on your screens.
Because this is where the gap between the narrative of the media and the price stops being subtle and irrelevant, and it’s why stock markets have priced something entirely differently.
The Iranian system, the adversary, cannot afford to stay disrupted without hurting itself. That’s what’s in the equity market’s price.”
The failed second round of Pakistan talks, which fell apart before they even began, was supposed to see Vice President JD Vance heading up the US side. This was reportedly something the Iranian side desired to see, and is likely still what its negotiating team would rather be dealing with. On the other hand, per Drop Site, “Iran has total disdain for Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and views him as both oblivious of diplomatic processes and totally ignorant of technical issues.”
This is because “Kushner is viewed by Iran as Israel’s man at the table.” This has led to the following view and alleged conclusion: “Iran, the senior official said, does not see any reason to deal with these two without a figure like Vice President JD Vance present.”
Bombs have grown quiet across the Gulf amid the extended ceasefire, with the exception that fighting in southern Lebanon still rages, despite the US-mediated ‘Lebanon ceasefire’:
⚡️Hezbollah publishes footage of them striking 2 Merkava tanks belonging to the Israeli army in southern Lebanon with FPV drones pic.twitter.com/daqtTEqA4q
Last week as an avalanche of headlines said that a second round of talks were imminent, and after the Iranian foreign minister had already landed in Islamabad for bilateral discussions with Pakistani mediators, there were premature reports that Vance was en route to Islamabad. The mainstream media claimed that it was Iran essentially begging Washington for negotiations. “But Vance, it turned out, was not on a plane, and Iran continued to deny it had any intention of meeting with U.S. officials in Pakistan,” Drop Site underscores.
