World

During the United States' 2024 presidential race, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris had some heated debates over Trump's tariff proposals — which, the vice president warned, would, in effect, be a major "sales tax on the American people" if enacted.

After narrowly defeating Harris by roughly 1.5 or 1.6 percent in the popular vote (according to Cook Political Report), Trump didn't back down from his tariff proposal. And he now promising to impose a 25 percent across-the-board tariff on all Mexican and Canadian goods imported into the U.S. as soon as he is sworn into office in January 2025.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was quick to call Trump out, warning that a 25 percent tariff would have terrible economic consequences. And in Canada, even right-wing conservatives are furious with Trump.

READ MORE:Robert Reich: The last tariff increase 'ended up worsening the Great Depression'

The New Republic's Hafiz Rashid reports that a prominent right-wing figure in Canada — Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who belongs to the country's Conservative Party — equated Trump's tariff proposal with "a family member stabbing you right in the heart."

In a biting speech, Ford said of Trump, "I found his comments unfair. I found them insulting…. I've spent a lot of time in the U.S., and I have yet to talk to one American that has any issue with Canadians."

Ford went on to say, "It's unfortunate. It's very, very hurtful to Canadians and Americans on both sides."

Conservative Canadian leader Pierre Poilievre is angry with Trump as well.

READ MORE: GOP 'far from sold' on Trump’s tariff plan: report

Poilievre, Rashid notes, attacked Trump's tariff proposal as "an unjustified threat," adding, "Our economy is teetering on the brink of collapse, and now, we face this renewed threat. We need a plan to put Canada first."

READ MORE: Trump team dodging Republicans’ concerns about RFK on key issue: report

Read Hafiz Rashid's full report for The New Republic at this link.

Russia made an audacious public attempt to blackmail the incoming U.S. president, according to a military expert.

Vladimir Putin and his ministers are already trying to mess with Donald Trump's head when Kremlin intelligence chief Nikolai Patrushev claimed in an interview that Trump had "relied on certain forces" to win a second term in the White House and warned that he had "corresponding obligations" that he was "obliged to fulfill," wrote Slate columnist Fred Kaplan.

"This is a mind-blowing bit of psychological warfare!" Kaplan wrote. "The Russians are basically telling Trump: We put you in office. Now it’s time for you to pay us back. Did this make Trump wonder: WTF?"

The FBI, the director of national intelligence and the top cybersecurity agency all confirmed that Russia was sowing disinformation against Kamala Harris during the election campaign, and law enforcement blamed the foreign adversary for bomb threats called into polling stations in Black neighborhoods.

"However, there is no evidence — nor has anyone claimed — that Trump or his campaign staffers colluded in, or knew anything about, these videos or the bomb threats," Kaplan wrote. "If Trump did have some involvement, or if Russia possesses some other form of kompromat (compromising material) on Trump, Patrushev’s message constitutes an extraordinarily bodacious threat of blackmail, delivered in public, against an American president-elect."

"If Trump did not have any involvement in this escapade, Patrushev’s gambit shows — some would say, confirms — that Russia’s main goal, in all these misinformation ventures, is to sow chaos, breed mistrust, and weaken the sinews of democracy in Western countries, especially in the U.S., regardless of who is the president," Kaplan added.

Trump and the MAGA movement have long sought to improve relations with Russia, but Kaplan said the Kremlin's reaction to his re-election should serve as a warning.

"One can only wonder what Trump will do — whether he’ll change his position, whether he’s capable of changing his stance — when he realizes, if he realizes, that Putin is not his friend," Kaplan wrote. "Trump certainly should not act as if he is."

Many Never Trump conservatives have slammed Donald Trump and the MAGA movement as a divisive, authoritarian departure from traditional Reagan, Goldwater and McCain conservatism.

From a foreign-policy standpoint, the MAGA movement has championed an isolationist view of the world that is radically different from what President Ronald Reagan favored during the 1980s.

But Politico's Matthew Kaminski, in an article published on November 10, stresses that some federal government officials are hoping that President-elect Trump's second administration, will not be devoid of Reaganism.

READ MORE:D.C. pizzeria owners scrambling after Trump 'congratulations' blows up in their face

"I'm saying Trump has the ability to shape the world like he didn't before," Kaminski writes. "This is horrifying or exciting, depending on whether Trump chooses to engage with the world or hunker down. 'Gloom and despair,' is the mood in most of Europe, according to former Swedish Prime Minister and face of European establishment Carl Bildt."

Kaminski adds, "In the Free Press, the British economic historian and columnist Niall Ferguson discerns the potential for Trump to be a powerful presence on the global stage, seeing a 'line of continuity' from Reagan to Trump who can lead the free to victory in 'Cold War II.'"

The Politico journalist points out "the world is more complicated and dangerous than the one Trump left behind as president in 2021."

"In this Cold War," Kaminski explains, "the U.S. faces an empowered axis of authoritarians led by China, joined by a Russia at war in Europe, Iran at war in the Middle East and North Korea. This group gathered last month in Kazan, Russia with others like South Africa and NATO member Turkey in a kind of summit of the parallel non-U.S. world."

READ MORE: 'My family in danger': Democratic congressman reveals chilling details of 'potential plot'

Read Matthew Kaminski's full article for Politico at this link.

Officials all over the world — from Europe to South America to the Middle East — paid close attention to the United States' 2024 presidential race, which found President-Elect Donald Trump defeating Vice President Kamala Harris on Election Night. Trump not only won the electoral vote, but also, national vote counting indicates that he may have won the popular vote as well.

According to CNN, Trump has been "very closely tracking" which CEOs and foreign leaders have called to congratulate him on his victory.

European leaders who have congratulated Trump so far include, among others, French President Emmanuel Macron, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

READ MORE:'Scared and stressed': Robert Reich details game plan for surviving Trump 2.0

Trump was also congratulated by Mark Rutte, secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Rutte said, "I look forward to working with him again to advance peace through strength through NATO."

Trump, however, has been highly critical of NATO and even threatened to pull the United States out of the alliance. President Joe Biden, in contrast, has bragged about NATO being expanded under his watch.

On CNN, reporter Alayna Treene told host Erin Burnett, "As for today, I am told Donald Trump is laying low, for the most part. We know he has been taking calls with a series of people who are congratulating him. One thing to note about that is that, clearly, we have seen foreign leaders publicly reach out and congratulate him online, but they have also been calling him, as have CEOs."

Treene continued, "Donald Trump's campaign is closely tracking who is reaching out and when. Because remember, Donald Trump values loyalty, and many times, above all else. And so, this something they are watching very closely throughout the course of this day."

READ MORE: Challenging Fascism: Why traditional methods aren't working — and what might

Watch the full video below or at this link.

On right-wing and pro-MAGA websites, it isn't uncommon to find conspiracy theories being promoted in the comments section. And according to Wired's David Gilbert, some of them are coming from Russia.

"The disinformation narratives being pushed by these accounts are linked to Storm-1516, according to Newsguard," Gilbert explains in an article published on November 1. "Storm-1516 is a Russian disinformation campaign with a history of posting fake videos to push Kremlin talking points to the West that was also connected to the release of deepfake video falsely claiming to show a whistleblower making allegations of sexual assault against vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz."

The claims about Walz were totally false. And Russian disinformation providers, many of whom are hoping that Donald Trump will win the United States' 2024 presidential race, are not shy about making things up. For example, an account calling itself "Dan From Ohio" falsely claimed that ballots for Trump were being destroyed in Bucks County, Pennsylvania outside Philadelphia.

READ MORE:New Gallup poll suggests Dems’ election results could mirror Obama’s 2008 victory

NewsGuard, according to Gilbert, has found Storm-1516 targeting the comments sections of four pro-Trump websites: the Gateway Pundit, Breitbart News, Fox News and the New York Post.

NewsGuard's McKenzie Sadeghi told Wired, "The actors behind this campaign appear to be exploiting a particularly vulnerable part of the media landscape. Comment sections designed to foster reader engagement lack robust security measures, allowing bad actors to post freely, change identities, and create the illusion of genuine grassroots campaigns rather than orchestrated propaganda."

NewsGuard, according to Gilbert, has "identified 104 articles in Russian state media that cited comments from western news outlets as evidence to back up their claims."

Sadeghi told Wired, " This tactic allows bad actors to reduce the risk of detection and embed propaganda in a subtle, seemingly organic way, blending it into the casual commentary of supposed everyday Western readers,” Sadeghi said. “The repetition of the same claim across multiple formats and contexts can create a sense of familiarity that may lend the narratives an appearance of credibility.”

READ MORE: 'Hurts the consumer': Companies planning substantial price hikes in anticipation of Trump tariffs

Read Wired's full article at this link.

After a series of Conservative prime ministers in the U.K. — including Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak — the Labour Party enjoyed a major landslide in early July. And Keir Starmer, a long-time Labour leader, was sworn in as prime minister on July 5.

National Public Radio (NPR) described Labour's victory as Tories' "worst defeat in their party's nearly 200-year history."

Starmer, like many other U.K. politicians, has been paying close attention to the United States' 2024 presidential election and is waiting to see whether the next U.S. president will be Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump. The U.S. election has been enjoying extensive BBC coverage, and U.K. reporters — like their U.S. counterparts — have been emphasizing that poll after poll is showing a very tight race, with no clear frontrunner.

READ MORE:James Carville is 'certain' Harris will win — Here are 3 reasons why

In an article published on October 24, Politico's Emilio Casalicchio describes tensions between Starmer's office and Trump supporters stemming from a LinkedIn post by Labour Head of Operations Sofia Patel.

In an August post, Patel wrote, "I'm planning a trip for Labour Party staff to help our friends across the pond elect their first female president (second time lucky!). Let's show the Democrats how to win elections!"

The possible "first female president" Patel was referring to is, of course, Harris. And Trump supporters, from X/Tesla CEO Elon Musk to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) were quick to voice their displeasure with Patel.

Democrats, meanwhile, distanced themselves from Patel — as they didn't want to give the impression of welcoming foreign involvement in a U.S. election.

READ MORE: Man charged for shooting at Dem field office had 120 guns, 250K bullets and grenade launcher

"Regardless of the merits of the legal complaint," Casalicchio reports, "internal fire began to turn on Patel for the ambiguous wording of her LinkedIn posts.

But Labour aide Tara Jane O’Reilly believes that all the criticism of Patel is an overreaction.

In an October 22 post on X, formerly Twitter, O'Reilly wrote, "This has been blown way out of proportion and it's unfair for the staffer - who has always stayed behind the scenes - to be thrown into international spotlight for what is clearly an innocuous project. I hope the higher ups at Labour are supporting her because this is mental."

In a tweet posted the next day, O'Reilly added, "The reality is a lot of activists and staffers in British politics are just that...nerds. Nerds who love to doorknock and deliver leaflets and feel like they are part of something. That's it."

READ MORE:'I can't comment': GOP candidate under fire for allegedly 'stealing mail'

Read Politico's full report at this link.

The Pentagon confirmed Sunday that it has authorized the deployment of an advanced antimissile system and around 100 U.S. troops to Israel as the Netanyahu government prepares to attack Iran—a move that's expected to provoke an Iranian response.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, press secretary for the U.S. Defense Department, said in a statement that at President Joe Biden's direction, the Pentagon approved the "deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and associated crew of U.S. military personnel to Israel to help bolster Israel's air defenses" in the wake of Iran's ballistic missile attack earlier this month.

"The THAAD Battery will augment Israel's integrated air defense system," said Ryder. "This action underscores the United States' ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel, and to defend Americans in Israel, from any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran."

The Pentagon's statement came shortly after The Wall Street Journal and other outlets reported on the Biden administration's plans.

It is not clear when the U.S. troops are set to arrive in Israel. The U.S. currently has some 40,000 soldiers stationed across the Middle East.

"We risk becoming entangled in another catastrophic war that will inevitably harm innocent civilians and may cost billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars."

Iran fired roughly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1 in response to the assassinations of Hezbollah's leader and Hamas' political chief. Most of the Iranian missiles were shot down with the help of the U.S., whose Navy fired interceptors at the missiles.

Journalist Séamus Malekafzali argued the U.S. deployment of troops and the THAAD system shows that "the Israelis are clearly planning something for Iran that is going to cause a retaliation they know their own systems are unable to take."

"U.S. troops being deployed to Israel in this matter is seismic," Malekafzali added. "The U.S. military is now inextricably involved in this war, directly, without any illusions of barriers. Netanyahu is as close as he has ever been to his ultimate wish: making the U.S. fight Iran on Israel's behalf."

Israel's cabinet met Thursday to discuss a potential response to Iran's October 1 missile barrage. One unnamed Israeli source toldThe Times of Israel that "no big decisions" were made at the cabinet meeting. Speaking to reporters earlier this month, Biden said that U.S. and Israeli officials were "discussing" the possibility of an attack on Iranian oil infrastructure.

Iran has warned of a "crushing" response to any Israeli attack.

In a statement Sunday, progressive U.S. Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), James McGovern (D-Mass.), and Greg Casar (D-Texas) said that "military force will not solve the challenge posed by Iran."

"We need meaningful de-escalation and diplomacy—not a wider war," the lawmakers added. "Nothing in current law authorizes the United States to conduct offensive military action against Iran. We risk becoming entangled in another catastrophic war that will inevitably harm innocent civilians and may cost billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars."

A leading Democratic U.S. Senator is calling Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s alleged handing over of COVID testing machines to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the height of the pandemic, “damning” and “disqualifying.”

“So, news just broke that Donald Trump, when he was president, at the beginning of the pandemic—when we didn’t have enough supplies to keep people alive here in the United States—sent critical in-demand testing equipment to Vladimir Putin,” explained U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT). “Donald Trump chose to keep Vladimir Putin alive and let Americans die.”

“That revelation alone should disqualify Donald Trump from being President of the United States,” said Sen. Murphy, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“Donald Trump helped Putin and hurt us at a moment where we didn’t have enough testing equipment to go around in this country, at a moment where our lack of testing equipment was resulting in Americans unnecessarily dying and even worse, he hid the fact that he gave Putin the testing equipment from the American public,” Murphy added.

READ MORE: Trump’s Upcoming Madison Square Garden MAGA Rally Sparks Comparisons to 1939 Nazi Event

“That revelation alone should disqualify Donald Trump from being President of the United States,” said Sen. Murphy, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“Donald Trump helped Putin and hurt us at a moment where we didn’t have enough testing equipment to go around in this country, at a moment where our lack of testing equipment was resulting in Americans unnecessarily dying and even worse, he hid the fact that he gave Putin the testing equipment from the American public,” Murphy added.

READ MORE: Trump’s Upcoming Madison Square Garden MAGA Rally Sparks Comparisons to 1939 Nazi Event

Senator Murphy was responding to news this week from Watergate journalist Bob Woodward’s latest book, “War,” that reveals Trump handed the vital testing machines—not boxed tests but “point-of-care” fast-testing devices, to Putin, an alleged war criminal who is conducting an illegal war in Ukraine.

“Donald Trump should not be President of the United States,” Sen. Murphy continued. “Nobody should be president of the United states who puts the health of a brutal dictator, an enemy of the United States, ahead of the health and well being of Americans, not during the pandemic, not ever.”

The Kremlin confirmed Trump gave Putin the testing machines, Politico reported, adding that “Woodward writes in his book that when Trump was still president in 2020, he ‘secretly sent Putin a bunch of Abbott Point of Care Covid test machines for his personal use’ during a time period when Covid tests were scarce.”

“This is a moment when COVID is running wild, not just in the United States, in the world,” Woodward told “CBS Sunday Morning” in an interview, the news network reportedWednesday. “He gives Abbott [the manufacturer] point-of-care testing kits to Putin. I mean, these are precious assets to anyone in the world, in the country, and he gives it to him for his personal use.”

Since the start of the COVID pandemic, 1.2 million Americans have died from the disease.

In February of 2021, still the height of the pandemic, The Guardian reported the U.S. “could have averted 40% of Covid deaths, says panel examining Trump’s policies.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: Top GOP Strategist Names Three Key Issues That Will Get Republicans to Vote for Harris

Former President Donald Trump's campaign lashed out at journalist Bob Woodward after he reported that Trump secretly sent Russian President Vladimir Putin a stash of COVID-19 tests at the height of the pandemic in 2020, when Americans couldn't get them.

However, Bloomberg reports that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov is confirming that Trump sent Putin the tests four years ago, while at the same time denying Woodward's reporting that Trump and Putin have spoken multiple times since the ex-president the White House in 2021.

According to Woodward, Putin urged Trump to keep quiet about sending him the tests on the grounds that such a revelation would hurt the former president politically.

“Please don’t tell anybody you sent these to me,” Putin said, according to Woodward's sources.

“I don’t care,” Trump said in response. “Fine.”

“No, no,” Putin said. “I don’t want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me. They don’t care about me.”

Despite Woodward's reputation as a first-rate and deeply sourced reporter, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung suggested on Tuesday that he lied about every single piece of information in his new book, which will be called "War."

"None of these made up stories by Bob Woodward are true and are the work of a truly demented and deranged man who suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome," said Cheung, who provided no evidence to back up his claims. "Woodward is an angry, little man and is clearly upset because President Trump is successfully suing him because of the unauthorized publishing of recordings he made previously."

Political experts and top journalists are delving into reports from Bob Woodward’s new book, and issuing warnings about Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin as Americans face a historic and pivotal election just four weeks from today.

CNN obtained a copy of Woodward’s latest, titled, “War.” In it, the Watergate journalist delivers stunning revelations.

Donald Trump, the ex-president and Republican Party’s presidential nominee, has continued his secret relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Christian nationalism-aligned autocrat and alleged war criminal. According to excerpts from Woodward’s book, Trump has spoken to Putin at least seven times since he left office in January of 2021.

Another bombshell: Trump sent Putin COVID tests at the height of the deadly pandemic while Americans were desperately seeking them. Putin warned the U.S. president to not tell anyone, “because people will get mad at you, not me.” More than 1.2 million Americans died from the deadly disease.

And still more: President Joe Biden knew months ahead of time that Putin would attack Ukraine, via a “treasure trove of intelligence,” including human intelligence from inside the Kremlin, and warned President Zelenskyy, who did not believe the Russian president would be so foolish. Later, as the illegal war was going badly, Biden administration officials warned Putin to not use nuclear weapons, which he had been considering. Reportedly, there was a 50-50 chance Putin would go nuclear.

READ MORE: ‘Dangerous’: Musk Laughing at Idea of ‘Puppet’ Kamala Harris Being Killed Sparks Fury

“’That fucking Putin,’ Biden said to advisers in the Oval Office not long after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Woodward,” CNN reports. Biden added: “Putin is evil. We are dealing with the epitome of evil.”

Critics are expressing anger and astonishment amid the latest revelations.

David Rothkopf, the noted foreign policy, national security, and political affairs analyst and commentator shared his observations via social media: “So, let me get this straight, Donald Trump was sitting in Mar-a-Lago on a trove of stolen U.S. national secrets and while there, had Vladimir Putin on speed dial for regular private chats? After he tried to overthrow our government? And Putin is helping his campaign now? And there are people who would actually vote for this guy? It’s obvious he has no qualms about betraying the U.S. The question is why are those who support him willing to help him do so?”

The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser added, “This day is a reminder that Trump kept a trove of secret classified foreign intel at Mar-a-Lago. Will there ever be a trial???”

Matt McDermott, a Democratic strategist remarked: “Americans were dying by the tens of thousands and supply shortages were paralyzing our country’s pandemic response, and all Donald Trump cared about was helping Vladimir Putin. This is unconscionable.”

Dr. Norman Ornstein, the well-known political scientist and AEI emeritus scholar noted: “So Trump sent Covid tests to Putin when there was a shortage here. Meaning it is very likely that some people died as a consequence of his sucking up to his dictator buddy. Then add that he talked to Putin multiple times after leaving office. What top secrets did he share?”

Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell wrote: “Hard to believe this guy is still a coin flip away from a second term.”

Dan Barr, Chief Deputy Attorney General of Arizona responded to Rampell, writing: “Trump’s fan boy fascination with Vladimir Putin will someday be fertile ground for psychobiographers, but for now it is disqualifying for him to be President of the United States. Ronald Reagan would certainly think so, as do all his former aides who now support @KamalaHarris.”

READ MORE: ‘Trafficking in Nazi Race Science’: Trump Blasted After ‘Vile Trifecta’ of Antisemitism

Some noted that as Trump secretly sent Putin COVID tests, “in at least three instances” he “played politics and deliberately delayed disaster relief as president” because he did not want to send it to Democratic areas of the country, according to PEOPLE.

Ian Sams, senior national spokesperson and senior adviser to the Kamala Harris presidential campaign, posted this to social media:

Alexander Vindman is the former Director for European Affairs for the U.S. National Security Council (NSC). His congressional testimony on the Trump-Ukraine alleged extortion scandal led to Trump’s first impeachment.

On Trump’s “7 meetings with Putin,” he warns: “It is reasonable there is a recording of these calls in an exquisite intel program. Trump would not be the target of the collection, but because Putin is a high-value target, Trump would be caught in the collection. The Russians definitely have a recording of every call.”

“Trump’s 7 calls with Putin also explain why Putin was emboldened to launch the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and sustain more than 2 years of war. Putin has made a huge investment in Trump and expects that investment to payoff,” Vindman adds. “It’s clear now more than ever that @realDonaldTrump was the decisive factor in convincing Putin to wage a wider war on Ukraine. Trump has taken the world to the brink of Armageddon. A second Trump term would have America—& with it the entire world—go over the precipice. Trump was, is, & will be a clear & present danger to the United States.”

Investigative journalist Dave Troy, who has written extensively about Vladimir Putin, in April at The Washington Spectator warned: “Trump’s Peace Plan? Nuclear Blackmail.”

On Tuesday he weighed in on the Woodward bombshells.

“The best way to understand Trump’s ongoing fealty to Putin is that they intend, together with Musk, Vance, Gabbard, Ramaswamy, Thiel, RFK, Orban, Kim Jong Un, and friends, to reorder the world using nuclear blackmail,” he wrote at the start of a lengthy thread on X. Troy concludes, “when you read that Trump sent Putin COVID tests in 2020, and has spoken with him seven times since being out of office, know why: they are partners.”

Watch MSNBC’s report below or at this link.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the British outlet Channel 4 on Monday that he believes current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to drag the U.S. into a war with Iran, an effort that the ex-Israeli leader called "reckless."

Asked whether he thinks Netanyahu "wants to draw the United States into a confrontation with Iran," Olmert replied, "I suspect that he does."

"I think that's reckless because I'm afraid that if Israel will start a war, a comprehensive war against Iran, and it will expand and Israel will not be in a very comfortable situation, America will join in to help Israel. And that is what Netanyahu believes to be the case," said Olmert, who served as Israel's prime minister from 2006 to 2009 and was succeeded by Netanyahu.

Olmert expressed support for Israel's killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah—a move that prompted Iranian retaliation earlier this month—and said that "something needs to be done" with regard to Iran.

"What needs to be done needs to be done with care, with sensitivity, with responsibility, and with a sense of proportion," Olmert added. "And I'm not certain that Netanyahu wants this proportion. He looks at the leadership of the international community, the Western world, and he says, 'Who are they? I'm Bibi Netanyahu.'"

Watch the interview:

Olmert's remarks came amid growing concern that the U.S.-armed Israeli military could be preparing to bomb Iran's nuclear energy facilities in response to Iran's ballistic missile attack last week. The New York Timesnoted Monday that "there is a rising call inside Israel, echoed by some in the United States, to seize the moment" and strike Iranian nuclear facilities.

Former president Donald Trump, the 2024 GOP nominee, said over the weekend that Israel should "hit the nuclear first and worry about the rest later."

Speaking to reporters last Thursday, Biden said that the U.S. and Israel are "discussing" a possible attack on Iranian oil infrastructure. The president has said he would oppose an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran has pledged to retaliate against an Israeli attack with a "crushing" blow, heightening fears of a full-blown regional war as Israel continues its devastating assault on Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.

Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at the Center for International Policy, said Monday that "President Biden needs to decide if he is finally going to rein in and end his unconditional arming of Netanyahu, or if he will let Netanyahu draw the United States and its forces into war with Iran—a country that is nearly four times the size of Iraq and has twice the population."

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has done nothing to distance herself from Biden's unconditional support for Israel despite vocal calls for her to back an arms embargo against the country.

In a closely watched "60 Minutes" interview that aired late Monday, Harris said that "Israel has a right to defend itself" while conceding that "far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed."

But she did not say she would be willing to use U.S. military aid to Israel as leverage to secure a cease-fire agreement.

Harris also named Iran when asked which country she considers to be the United States' "greatest adversary"—an answer that CBSdid not air as part of its televised broadcast of the "60 Minutes" interview.

Harris went on to say that one of her "highest priorities" as president would be to "ensure that Iran never achieves the ability to be a nuclear power." Asked whether she would take military action in the face of "proof that Iran is building a nuclear weapon," the vice president responded that she is "not going to talk about hypotheticals."

Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, called Harris' answer on Iran "completely out of touch" and said it underscores "the irrational U.S. obsession with Iran, which is driven by politics and donor money, not U.S. interests."

Last week, a coalition of more than 80 advocacy organizations warned the Biden-Harris administration that "it is not in the national interest for the U.S. to be led into a war with Iran by Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Israel."

"It is in the strong national interest to utilize diplomacy, backed by full American leverage—including withholding further offensive weapons transfers to Israel’s military—to move all the parties back from the brink and toward a ceasefire that ends the devastation of Gaza and Lebanon and reverses the slide to regional war," the groups added.

European officials are paying very close attention to the United States' 2024 presidential election, and many of them are hoping that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris prevails over GOP rival Donald Trump — as they view Harris as a major ally of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and see Trump as anti-NATO.

But not all foreign leaders are rooting for Harris.

Far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is an outspoken Trump supporter. And according to The Hill's Alexander Bolton, Democrats "suspect" that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "is trying to interfere in U.S. domestic politics by ignoring President Biden's calls to negotiate a peace deal in Gaza and by confronting Hezbollah and Iran weeks before the U.S. election."

READ MORE:Damning reports detail Trump’s willingness to 'exploit major disasters' for political gain

Almost a year has passed since Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Since then, tensions in the Middle East have only escalated.

"Netanyahu's relationship with even the most pro-Israel Democrats has becoming increasingly confrontational," Bolton notes. "Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) made headlines in March when he called Netanyahu a 'major obstacle' to peace and urged Israel to hold new elections. Around that time, Biden called Israel's offensive in Gaza 'over the top.'"

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is among the Democrats who is concerned about what Netanyahu will do.

Murphy, during an early October appearance on CNN, told host Erin Burnett, "I certainly worry that Prime Minister Netanyahu is watching the American election as he makes decisions about his military campaigns in the north and in Gaza. I hope this is not true, but it is certainly a possibility that the Israeli government is not going to sign any diplomatic agreement prior to the American election as a means, potentially, to try to influence the result."

READ MORE: Democrats call for Trump-appointed scandal-ridden inspector general to be ousted

A senior Democratic aide, presumably interviewed on condition of anonymity, agrees with Murphy and described Netanyahu as a "meddler" in U.S. politics.

The aide told The Hill, "I don't think for a minute that Bibi's not doing it just to impact domestic elections. I think he thinks he can get the Jewish vote to swing, but he may get the Arab-American vote to swing…. He understands American politics. They are 100 percent involved in American politics."

READ MORE: 'Unconstitutional!' Trump pitches social media fit after Jack Smith’s latest filing

Read Alexander Bolton's full report for The Hill at this link.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was one of the international leaders willing to stand up to Donald Trump when he demanded a "favor" in exchange for sending military assistance already allocated by Congress. It seems Trump doesn't forget.

Punchbowl News pointed out that Trump has spent the past week bashing Zelenskyy, and it's causing Republicans to "wince."

Over the weekend, Zelenskyy was in Scranton, PA, for a tour of a plant manufacturing artillery that has aided Ukraine's defense from the Russian invasion. He was joined by Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) and Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) as the top elected officials in the state. But Trump allies attacked the move as "election interference."

Speaking to The New Yorker, Zelenskyy described Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as “too radical” and told him to “read up” on World War II.

Trump allies were immediately triggered.

“The idea that a foreign leader is here flying around on a C-17, in Pennsylvania, criticizing President Trump, criticizing JD Vance — it’s like a campaign stop that, again, just feels way over the top,” Trump surrogate Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO), told Punchbowl.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called the comments “the biggest mistake he’d ever make.”

“I don’t mind him going to a munitions plant thanking people for helping Ukraine. But I think his comments about JD Vance and President Trump were out of bounds,” Graham told Punchbowl. “With conservatives, it’s going to hurt Ukraine.”

Conservatives have grown increasingly pro-Russia thanks to Donald Trump's ongoing support of Vladimir Putin.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), on the other hand, didn't much care.

“President Zelenskyy is trying to do everything he can to secure the support for a sustained successful effort against Putin. My guess is, if we were in similar circumstances, we’d do the same thing," said Tillis.

“He’s making a reference to J.D.’s comments about supporting the Ukraine effort," Tillis explained to Punchbowl. "And in that case, I agree. J.D. has a position I don’t share, unfortunately. The majority of Congress doesn’t either."

In a speech to a Georgia audience, Trump admitted he only recently learned about Russia's role in World War II and its battle with former French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.

Read the full Punchbowl report here.

Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), have been railing against President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over the United States' withdrawal from Afghanistan and the 13 military members killed during the attack at Abbey Gate.

But Democrats have countered that the Biden Administration inherited Trump's flawed withdrawal plan. And Democratic leaders aren't the only ones who are making that argument.

In a new letter, MeidasTouch Media's Ron Filipkowski reports, some prominent military leaders argue that Trump's withdrawal plan had major flaws.

READ MORE:'Next come the roundups': Yale Scholar details timeline in Trump’s second administration

In the letter, a group calling itself National Security Leaders for America — which includes Adm. Steve Abbott, Major Gen. Peter S. Cooke, and others — argues, "He repeatedly fails to take responsibility for his own role in putting service members in harm's way. Without involving the Afghan government, he and his Administration negotiated a deal with the Taliban that freed 5000 Taliban fighters and allowed them to return to the battlefield. Then, he left President Biden and Vice President Harris with no plans to execute a withdrawal, and with little time to do so."

The letter continues, "This chaotic approach severely hindered the Biden-Harris Administration's ability to execute the most orderly withdrawal possible and put our service members and our allies at risk. Nevertheless, President Biden with the support of Vice President Harris ended America's longest war, oversaw the largest airlift in U.S. history, and brought our troops home."

Filipkowski notes that the Afghanistan withdrawal isn't the only criticism that National Security Leaders for America have of Trump.

"The letter begins by emphasizing Harris' support for NATO, Ukraine and our allies while noting that Trump's own…. national security team has publicly stated that he is a danger to those alliances," Filipkowski explains. "It then goes on to note Trump's disparaging comments about wounded veterans and the Medal of Honor."

READ MORE: JD Vance causing 'surge' in new Democratic volunteers and donors, House minority whip says

Read MeidasTouch Media's full article at this link.

One journalist said that "devastating levels of impunity" were on display in the West Bank on Friday as Israeli forces reportedly shot a 26-year-old American human rights advocate, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, in the head, killing her as she protested the expansion of illegal settlements.

AJ+, Al Jazeera's digitial platform, reported that according to eyewitness accounts, Eygi was killed by a "deliberate shot to the head."

Eygi, who had dual citizenship in the U.S. and Turkey, was taking part in a campaign to protect Palestinian farmers from violence by Israeli settlers, 700,000 of whom live in illegal settlements erected over the last five decades in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Israel rejects the position of the United Nations' highest court that the settlements violate international law, and the U.S. has continued to be the largest funder of the Israeli military despite thousands of deadly attacks by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and settlers on Palestinians—and activists trying to protect them—in the West Bank.

The protest where Eygi was killed was in the town of Beita, near the settlement of Evyatar, which was authorized by Israel last year.

"Just as the prayers were finishing, the Israeli military started firing tear gas and stun grenades towards the protestors," Hisham Dweikat, a resident of Beita, toldCNN. "As people were running away, live fire was shot and a soldier fired directly at the protestors, hitting the American activist in the head from behind and falling to the ground."

Suhauna Hussain, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, said on X that Eygi lived in the Seattle area and had recently graduated from the University of Washington.

Israel has intensified attacks on the West Bank in recent months, despite the government's claim that it is targeting Hamas, which operates in Gaza, in the current conflict that began last October.

On Friday, Israeli forces withdrew from the city of Jenin and its refugee camp after a 10-day operation that killed at least 36 Palestinians, including children. The U.N. warned Israel was using "lethal war-like tactics" this week as the IDF destroyed civilian infrastructure and carried out drone strikes in Jenin.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the Biden administration was "aware of the tragic death of an American citizen" in the West Bank and that officials were "urgently gathering more information."

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the only Palestinian American member of Congress, demanded that the State Department clarify how eyewitnesses and Palestinian media have characterized Eygi's death.

Donald Trump vowed to end Russia’s illegal war with Ukraine before he is inaugurated President of the United States if he wins the 2024 election in November, in remarks he made Thursday, the same day the ex-president through his attorneys pleaded not guilty to charges in a superseding indictment related to his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential race he lost.

“The sad part about Russia is that Ukraine would have never happened if I was president, so we wouldn’t really have to be talking about sanctions, but it did happen,” Trump told an on-stage panel at the non-partisan Economic Club of New York during his invited remarks for their Signature Luncheon. “And one of the things I’m going to do, a little bit relevant to your question, is, if we win, I believe I can settle that war while I’m President-Elect, before I ever get into office, I can get that war settled and get that war stopped, because it’s a horrible, horrible war, and far more people are killed in Ukraine, far more people than you’re realizing.”

“They’ll knock down this master building, amazing the size of these buildings. They’ll knock it down. They’ll say nobody was injured, no, a lot of people were killed. The real numbers are far greater than what people are are looking at. So I think it’s a very important thing. Sanctions have to be used very judiciously, and you can win. We have things much more powerful actually, than sanctions. We have trade, but we cannot lose our dollar standard. Very important,” Trump said.

READ MORE: ‘Something’s in Play Here’ Says Ex-Trump NatSec Official on DOJ Russian Disinfo Indictment

Trump did not give any details on how he would convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his war against the sovereign nation of Ukraine, nor did he explain how he could do so while not being President, especially given certain U.S. laws that prohibit negotiating with America’s enemies. His remarks echo those he made in July at the Republican National Convention, when he “said he would also free U.S. ‘hostages’ without giving any details as to who and how,” as Radio Free Europe reported. His remarks also echo those he made in June, claiming only he could secure the release of Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter who was being held in Russia by Vladimir Putin’s government. Trump vowed to do so, if elected, before taking office. President Biden later secured Gershkovich’s release.

The convicted ex-president’s speech did not appear to be overall enthusiastically received by the roomful of attendees.

“Trump is absolutely bombing at the New York Economic Club, observed journalist Aaron Rupar, who posted several clips from the speech on social media.

“Who could’ve anticipated Trump would bomb at the NY Econ Club?” asked journalist David Rothkopf, sarcastically. “After all, he is failed businessman, convicted of fraud, who oversaw multiple bankruptcies, was a terrible president with an atrocious economic record, has no ideas and is rapidly mentally declining.”

At one point Trump appeared to receive limited applause after vowing to “make America the world capital for crypto and bitcoin.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Battening Down the Hatches’: Trump Campaign ‘In Crisis’ Say Experts After Latest Leak