- Thursday May 7th, 2026
- "It Is Not A Question of Who Is Right Or Wrong But What Is Right Or Wrong That Counts."
- --Geoff Metcalf
- Providing an on line Triage of the news since 1998
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World & Nation
Trump Paused 'Operation Freedom' After Saudi Pushback
President
Donald Trump abruptly paused “Project Freedom,” the short-lived U.S.
military-backed operation aimed at escorting ships through the Strait
of Hormuz.
The decision
came after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman suspended access to
key Saudi bases and airspace needed for the mission, according to two
U.S. officials.
The operation
had been announced by Trump on social media Sunday as a way to counter
Iran’s blockade of the strategic waterway. Saudi leaders were angered
by the move, saying they had not been adequately consulted beforehand,
the officials told NBC News.
In response,
Saudi Arabia informed the United States it would no longer allow U.S.
military aircraft to fly from Prince Sultan Airbase or transit Saudi
airspace for the operation.
Gas Prices Could Stay High Even if Hormuz Reopens
Americans are
unlikely to see gasoline prices return to pre-war levels anytime soon,
even if the United States and Iran reach a peace agreement reopening
the Strait of Hormuz, according to energy analysts who say fuel markets
could take many months to stabilize.
The national
average price for regular gasoline stood at $4.54 per gallon Wednesday,
up sharply from less than $3 before the conflict erupted earlier this
year, according to AAA.
Oil prices have
eased in recent days amid reports of progress in U.S.-Iran
negotiations, but analysts say consumers are unlikely to experience
rapid relief at the pump because of lingering supply disruptions,
elevated shipping costs and the slow pace of restoring normal oil flows
through the Persian Gulf.
Iranian president speaks for first time about meeting with new supreme leader
Iranian
President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke publicly for the first time about a
meeting with Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
Mojtaba has
made no public appearances since he was made supreme leader shortly
after the death of his father, former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Mojtaba was injured in the same wave of strikes that killed his father.
"I had the
honor of meeting the dear leader," Pezeshkian said Thursday. "We spoke
with him for nearly two and a half hours. First of all, I should tell
you that his views and the way he interacted were truly sincere and
humble."
"For a leader to treat someone in such a manner, he truly had such a demeanor," he added.
Mamdani's latest tax pledge 'makes no sense' and will only exacerbate Florida 'exodus': former mayor
Mamdani recently celebrated a proposal to tax luxury second homes expected to generate at least $500M annually
The former
Republican mayor of Boca Raton is speaking out against the economic and
tax policies of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and warning that
reports of business owners and job creators fleeing to red states like
Florida are likely to continue.
"I didn't have
to be a soothsayer to know that when you elect a Democrat socialist
with far left ideas that are just intent on taxing, taxing, taxing and
have plans that have no hope of passing, you're going to cause more
capital to flee," Scott Singer, running for Congress as a Republican in
Florida's 25th District, told Fox News.
Mamdani has
faced heavy criticism over his "tax the rich" platform since taking
office, including from Citadel CEO and billionaire Ken Griffin, who
recently pledged to increase his investment in Florida in response to
new taxes on the wealthy imposed by the new socialist mayor.
Trump: Charge Jeffries With 'Inciting Violence' in Press Gala Attack
President
Donald Trump escalated his attacks on House Democrat Leader Hakeem
Jeffries on Thursday, calling for the New York lawmaker to be charged
with "inciting violence" in connection with the arrest of an armed man
who attempted to enter the White House Correspondents' Dinner last
month.
"This lunatic,
Hakeem 'Low IQ' Jeffries, should be charged with INCITING VIOLENCE!"
Trump posted on his Truth Social page. "The Radical Left Democrats
actually want to Destroy our Country. President DJT."
Trump did not
mention the attempted attack in his direct comment, but his post
included side-by-side images of Jeffries standing in front of a sign
pledging "maximum warfare" against Trump's agenda and a surveillance
image of the gunman, later identified as California resident Cole
Allen, as he tried to enter the event.
Scalpel-wielding teen busted in fatal Times Square stabbing — after eagle-eyed cops spot him jumping the turnstile
A 17-year-old
boy was busted in the deadly stabbing of a 39-year-old man just off
Times Square — and he was caught by eagle-eyed cops who spotted him
jumping a subway turnstile while carrying a scalpel in Brooklyn,
authorities and sources said Thursday.
The boy — who
has not been identified because of his age — was picked up around 8
p.m. Wednesday and also faces a weapon possession rap in the Monday
night knifing of Leonides Baez, 39, police said.
Officers were
conducting a station inspection when they spotted the teen evading the
fare and stopped him, according to law enforcement sources.
They quickly realized he was wanted for the deadly Midtown stabbing two nights earlier, the sources said.
White House torches Jayapal over Cuba oil outreach: Dems ‘sip margaritas with terrorists’
Conservative accounts accused the Washington Democrat of 'conspiring against the US' over her Cuba remarks
The White House
slammed progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who admitted she
spoke with foreign ambassadors about getting oil to Cuba despite U.S.
sanctions, defending the outreach as "literally our right and
responsibility."
"The Democrats
continue to show Americans who they really are – the America Last party
who sip margaritas with terrorists, advocate for illegal alien
criminals, and undermine the United States to aid a failed, communist
regime," White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told Fox News Digital.
"Pramila
Jayapal’s actions are shameful from a sitting Congresswoman clearly
suffering from [Trump Derangement Syndrome]," Wales added.
Rep. Pramila
Jayapal, D-Wash., said during a recent Seattle briefing following a
congressional delegation trip to Cuba, that she discussed the island’s
worsening fuel shortages and U.S. policy toward the communist regime.
Bipartisan lawmakers push to remove Secret Service from DHS after Trump assassination attempts
Bill would transfer the Secret Service to operate directly under the White House
A pair of House
lawmakers are seeking a major change to the Secret Service after
heightened scrutiny following the third assassination attempt against
President Donald Trump in April.
Reps. Jared
Moskowitz, D-Fla., and Russell Fry, R-S.C., introduced legislation
Thursday that would transfer the Secret Service from DHS supervision
and make the agency a direct report to the White House.
The measure is
part of a broader package of bipartisan reforms that Moskowitz, a
former emergency management director, is unveiling to reform the
sprawling department that has come under frequent criticism for
bureaucratic dysfunction. His legislative package would also make FEMA
an independent cabinet-level agency and move TSA under the jurisdiction
of the Department of Transportation.
Netanyahu on Beirut Hit: No Immunity for Terrorists
Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday there was no "immunity" for
Israel's enemies, a day after the Israeli military targeted a Hezbollah
commander in its first strike on Beirut's southern suburbs since a
ceasefire declared last month.
Israel said the attack killed the commander of the Iran-backed group’s elite Radwan force.
Hezbollah, which controls Beirut's southern suburbs, has yet to issue any statement on the strike or the commander's status.
"He likely read
in the press that he had immunity in Beirut. Well, he read it, and it
is no longer the case," Netanyahu said in a statement.
Hostilities
between Israel and Hezbollah reignited on March 2 when the group
opened fire at Israel after Tehran came under U.S.-Israeli attack.
Marco Rubio is a rock star in the Trump admin – and making himself a serious candidate for prez in 2028
By Miranda Devine
From DJ’ing a
wedding on the weekend to manning the White House press podium like a
boss, from velvet-gloved diplomacy in Europe to juggling the roles of
secretary of state and NSA director in the middle of a war, Marco Rubio
is the administration’s secret charm bomb.
President Trump rolls him out whenever he has a problem to solve.
Whether it’s
filling in as national archivist, blowing cartel drug boats out of the
water, DOGEing USAID to death or sitting as vice chairman of the
“Saving College Sports” council, Rubio is Trump’s Mr. Fix-it.
His Tuesday
stint filling in for White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who
is on maternity leave, became a viral sensation on several fronts: his
casual use of rap and hip-hop lyrics like “insane in the brain”
(Cypress Hill) to describe the Iranian leaders and his warning that
they “should check themselves before they wreck themselves” (Ice Cube)
earned him cool dad credits with the press pool.
When a reporter
asked him for his “DJ name” because a video doing the rounds on social
media over the weekend showed him spinning tracks at a family wedding,
Rubio dryly replied: “You’re not ready for my DJ name.”
Trump should demand a clear victory over Iran and reject weak compromises
'Leaks' of alleged 'deals' have been wrong before. Let’s pray the latest leak is as well
By Hugh Hewitt
Since the
battle with Iran began on February 28, there have been so many reports
of "deals" with the rump regime atop the ruins of Iran’s Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps that it seems almost silly to respond to
another one.
But Israeli
journalist Amit Segal usually cross-checks all reports of deals —
including the most recent one from Axios’ Barak Ravid — with senior
Israeli officials, so I pay attention to Segal’s posts. On Wednesday,
Segal quoted Ravid, posting on X:
"According to @BarakRavid the U.S. and Iran are at the closest point to an agreement since the war began.
That would be a
terrible "deal," one that would draw fierce criticism from the GOP’s
Iran hawks who want President Trump to "finish the job" and do so in
dramatic fashion.
The "end game"
doesn’t have to be humiliation of the remnants of the rump regime atop
the ruins of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps atop the shattered
Iranian "government." But they are "lunatics" as both President Trump
and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have called them — "insane in the
head" Rubio added Tuesday from the White House press podium — and
that’s generous.
