“I can only be there for a day or two,” Mr. Vance told reporters at Joint Base Andrews before departing. “I think we’re going to hopefully make progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Lebanon cease-fire issue. Those are the two big things that I think we’re to be focused on.”
President Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, are already in Switzerland, and an Iranian delegation has also arrived, according to Mr. Vance. Pakistan, which has served as an intermediary in talks, said on Saturday that “technical talks” would begin Sunday in Switzerland.
Over the last 48 hours, the fragile cease-fire had seemed at risk: Iran first postponed the next round of talks, initially scheduled for Friday, then claimed it was closing the Strait of Hormuz, over the continued fighting in Lebanon between Israel, a U.S. ally, and Hezbollah, an Iranian one.
The Iranian military, justifying the announced closure of the strategic waterway, said the United States had committed a “clear breach” of its commitments in the initial agreement by failing to rein in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, which exchanged fire again on Saturday. The naval arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps warned that ships that approached the strait would put their own security at risk.
An Italian daily newspaper known as Libero Quotidiano issued a scathing attack toward President Donald Trump, calling him a "coglione," which translates to "idiot" in English.
The publication wrote, "I hate to say it, but I can't find, and perhaps there isn't, another way to say it: Donald Trump is an idiot." This comes after Trump suggested that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had “begged” him for a photo at the annual Group of Seven summit in France earlier this week.
Meloni refuted the comments made by Trump in a video posted to X on Friday. “Donald Trump’s statements are completely fabricated. I’m frankly shocked. I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves this way towards his own allies, and it’s not the first time it’s happened,” she said.
“I can only say that it’s a shame he doesn’t have the same determination with the enemies of the West, with the enemies of the United States, with leaderships with which he instead appears much more accommodating,” she continued. “But you must remember one thing: Italy and I never beg."
In a stunning exchange that sent shockwaves through the political world, Donald Trump flatly rejected any accountability for a military strike that claimed the lives of over 100 children.
The tense moment unfolded during a press briefing when a reporter confronted Trump over the devastating fallout of the operation. "Will you hold anyone in your administration accountable for the strike on a school that killed more than 100 children?" the reporter asked.
"No," Trump responded immediately, dismissing the inquiry. "That's such a strange question to be asked, talking about a long time ago."
Agricultural workers historically form a massive pillar of Republican support. That traditional loyalty is cracking ahead of the midterm elections.
According to The Washington Post, more than 300 farms filed for bankruptcy last year. Agricultural debt will likely hit a staggering $624.7 billion.
Rural approval for President Donald Trump fell to 50 percent in a recent Reuters-Ipsos poll. High fertilizer prices linked to the conflict in Iran have left families struggling.
Nebraska farmer Scott Thomsen shared his shifting views with the newspaper.
“I’m pretty disenfranchised as a voter right now, and I think I’m not the only one,” Thomsen said. “Either I’m going to completely sit these elections out, or I’m going to vote down the line, incumbents out.”
Midterms are the start of November. Basically four months from now, people will be voting. And Chump's not giving them reasons to vote for Republicans. His actions have annoyed and pushed away voters. John Stoehr observes:
“Ragin’ Cajun” James Carville urged White House staffers under President Donald Trump to save themselves from future scrutiny by leaking as much information as they can now, before it’s too late.
“Save Yourself! Save Yourself, now!” the Democratic strategist exclaimed on the latest edition of Politics War Room podcast. “Leak, Leak, and more leaks. You just wait another six weeks. No one’s going to doubt me when I tell you: He’s going to be gone by April of next year. The fat bastard is just falling all over himself, doesn’t even know where he is. He can’t get out of a chair.”
Carville cited the new book, Regime Change by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, and its stunning revelations about life inside the Trump White House.
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) joined Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to prevent any premature closing of the proposed Paramount‑Skydance–Warner Bros. Discovery merger and to conduct the full national security review required under the Communications Act.
In a letter to FCC Chair Brendan Carr, the Senators warn that the deal’s newly disclosed financing—showing nearly 49.5% foreign ownership—poses serious national security and foreign‑policy risks. They note that the investment includes Gulf sovereign wealth funds and other foreign entities with documented histories of censorship and political influence.
“On March 23, 2026, we wrote to you with serious concerns regarding the foreign investment in Paramount-Skydance’s proposed $110.9 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, and your public posture of the investment warranting only a ‘very quick, almost pro forma review.’ At the time, we warned that the full scope of foreign involvement had not yet come to light and urged you to conduct a full and independent review of all foreign ownership interests under Section 310(b) of the Communications Act, which prohibits U.S. corporations holding broadcast licenses from being more than 25 percent owned by one or more foreign entities. Since then, the full magnitude of foreign investment has become clear, compounding concerns about the potential risks to national security and foreign policy,” the Senators wrote.
“On April 24, 2026, Paramount filed a petition for declaratory ruling with the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) seeking approval for significant indirect foreign investment, formally disclosing that nearly half—approximately 49.5 percent—of the combined Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery entity would be owned by foreign investors,” they continued.
“Paramount’s petition seeks far more than approval for the 49.5 percent aggregate foreign investment. The media conglomerate is requesting advance approval for each foreign investor to increase its individual stake up to 20 percent in the future, which, should each of the sovereign wealth funds exercise that option, could result in up to 100 percent aggregate foreign ownership of one of the nation’s largest broadcast media companies,” the Senators noted.
“Paramount’s assertion that this transaction ‘will not present any national security, law enforcement, foreign policy, or trade policy concerns’ is not a legal determination the Commission may accept without scrutiny. The Gulf sovereign wealth funds collectively represent the financial instruments of three foreign governments with distinct national interests and a shared record of censorship and press suppression,” they added.
“The Commission has an obligation to honestly answer a fundamental question: whether placing 49.5 percent of the equity in the parent company of CBS, CNN, and 28 broadcast television stations into the hands of three foreign governments serves the American public. We are prepared to pursue every available avenue—legislative, oversight, and legal—to ensure that it does,” they concluded.
The Senators are demanding that the FCC take the following steps immediately:
- Bar the merger from closing while Section 310(b)(4) and national security reviews are pending.
- Reject Paramount’s request for advance approval of up to 100% aggregate foreign ownership—an authority reserved only for controlling investors, which the Gulf funds are not.
- Publicly disclose all foreign investment agreements, including equity commitments, subscription agreements, side letters, and information‑rights provisions.
- Confirm the status and timeline of the Committee’s national security review.
- Clarify whether Attorney General Todd Blanche is participating in the review and, if so, on what basis, given the financial interests of foreign sovereign funds with ties to the Trump administration.
- Issue a public finding detailing the Commission’s national security analysis and the basis for any approval or denial.
The full text of the letter is available here.
Background: Senator Schiff has previously voiced concern about how the sale of Warner Bros. Discovery could potentially impact domestic film production, the workforce, consumer costs, media consolidation, and theaters – including at a hearing with Warner Bros. executives before the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year.
In February, Senator Schiff and Rep. Friedman sought answers from Paramount Skydance Corporation CEO David Ellison and Netflix Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, pressing for concrete commitments to protect California jobs and American workers as both companies were pursuing the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Ellison responded to the lawmakers’ inquiry here.
Schiff is also working to advance bipartisan legislation to establish a federal film tax incentive, modeled after successful state programs like California’s, to help the United States remain competitive in the global market and encourage domestic filmmaking.
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