"More Nations Should Step In": Israel On What Can End Hormuz Chokehold

03/19/26 9:53 PM

As fast as more countries come and step to the plate to engage with this effort to restore order and to send a very clear message to this regime - that what they are doing is unacceptable - the crisis will end sooner," Israel's Ambassador to India R

'He's mentally unhinged': Trump hit with disgust as tasteless Japan comment flops

03/19/26 5:19 PM

Donald Trump’s Oval Office appearance with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ended on a sour note after he made a tone-deaf comment about Japan attacking Pearl Harbor in 1941.At the end of what was a mostly cordial joint appearance, the president was asked why he did not alert the leadership of Japan and other allies about his impending attack on Iran.First stating that he didn’t want to lose the element of surprise, he took what seemed an awkward stab at a joke, saying, “Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Okay, why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?"That led to a few scattered laughs and then some murmuring, as the president continued, “You believe in surprise, I think, much more so than us. And we had a surprise, and we did, and because of that surprise, we knocked out, the first two days, we probably knocked out 50% of what we — and much more than we anticipated doing. So if I go and tell everybody about it, there’s no longer a surprise, right?”Needless to say, social media lit up over the tasteless remark.Former Chicago Tribune editor Mark L Jacob was quick to respond with, “Trump jokes about Pearl Harbor with his guest, the Japanese prime minister. He’s mentally unhinged, with no impulse control or sense of what’s appropriate.”“I can’t believe that Trump just joked about Pearl Harbor while sitting next to Japan’s prime minister at the White House. What an absolute embarrassment!” added Democratic strategist Jon Cooper. Journalist Steven Beschloss added, “’Who knows more about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?’ -- the embarrassing idiot Donald Trump in response to a Japanese reporter's question about starting a war with Iran while sitting next to the Japanese prime minister.”Educator Orion noted, “You can hear the air go out of the room.”“This is another leak in the cognitive damn. Look for increasingly racist comments in the coming weeks. Unless biology steps in and saves us, I have a feeling we’ll hear the N word by the midterms,” predicted Democracy Dude.“I didn't think he could still make me gasp, but I was wrong,” admitted archivist Rubberband Girl Cheryl McNeilly noted. “My great-aunt Hisako was a Nagasaki survivor. Great-uncle was a pilot, brought her to US post-war. We saw her regularly till her death when I was 20. Sweet, gentle woman. First rule of the family was to NEVER discuss the war. Ever. Even when cancer finally killed her. The look on the PMs face ...”

'I'm thinking': Tulsi Gabbard falls into awkward silence over Iran war objectives

03/19/26 2:08 PM

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) was met with silence when he asked Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard about the objectives of the war with Iran.During a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Thursday, Castro noted that Israel had struck Iran's energy infrastructure despite President Donald Trump telling the country not to."So my question is, what does the intelligence community assess Israel's goals in this war to be?" Castro asked. "And are those goals aligned with the goals of the United States?"Despite having a working microphone, Gabbard was unable to respond for several moments."I'm thinking carefully here," she finally said, "about what can be said in this open setting versus a closed setting.""Are the goals aligned?" Castro repeated."The objectives that have been laid out by the President are different from the objectives that have been laid out by the Israeli government," Gabbard admitted. "We can see through the operations that the Israeli government has been focused on disabling the Iranian leadership and taking out several members, obviously, beginning with the Ayatollah and the supreme leader. And they continue to focus on that effort.""How does that differ from our goals?" the congressman wondered. "The president has stated that his objectives are to destroy Iran's ballistic missile launching capability, their ballistic missile production capability, and their Navy, the IRGC Navy, and mine-laying capability."Castro observed that "death and destruction continues, the economic costs to the United States, to Israel, to the Gulf states, and to the world continues to increase."He then asked CIA Director John Ratcliffe: "Do you know why Israel decided to strike that infrastructure despite the fact that the president said it should be off limits?""I wouldn't speak for Israel," Ratcliffe replied."What do you guys know? We're at war. What do you guys know?" Castro demanded as his time ran out."Let's take that for the record," the chair said.