WASHINGTON (April 7, 2026)—President Donald Trump’s and his administration’s escalating threats against Iran, including alluding to first-use of nuclear weapons, have reached a breaking point. For the safety and security of the United States and the world at large, Congress must urgently intervene to prevent the United States from further escalating this conflict, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
This morning, President Trump issued this bleak threat: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back” unless Iran cedes to his demands, and Vice President Vance intimated that the United States could use nuclear weapons against Iran. The Trump administration has expressed clear intent and willingness to commit acts of violence that cross the thresholds of decency and legality.
“President Trump actively chose to discard diplomatic solutions and pursue an illegal war of aggression against Iran, with unclear and shifting aims,” said Dr. Tara Drozdenko, director of the Global Security Program at UCS. “Now that the consequences and public narrative have spiraled out of his control, President Trump and his administration are acting erratically, even issuing nuclear and genocidal threats, to bring the conflict to a catastrophic new level.
“Congress should intervene today to rein in this illegal conflict, making it clear that what the president and vice president are suggesting is beyond the pale—defying both international law and common sense. This means passing a law restricting the United States from using nuclear weapons first in any circumstance.”
Such a law would prevent the United States from using nuclear weapons unless there has first been a nuclear strike against the United States or its allies. Variations of a bill to do so have been proposed in the past.
The use and threat of nuclear use have long been soundly rejected by civil society in the United States, by nations around the world, and by nuclear weapons states themselves. The G20 stated that use and threats of nuclear use are inadmissible, and the permanent five members of the United Nations Security Council – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States – reaffirmed that nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.
If the Trump administration were to use nuclear weapons on Iran, they would break an 80-year taboo; cause enormous amounts of death, injury and destruction; create “hibakusha,” or survivors, with long-term trauma and health effects; risk retaliation against the United States; provoke the possible use of nuclear weapons by other powers in their own wars; push countries without nuclear weapons to acquire them; threaten the United States’ alliances and bring about sanctions; and other consequences. The United States would essentially become a pariah state in a much more violent world.
Four months later, that Mother Tucker stumbles onto the topic? Also arriving late to the party is Chump himself who, six months into the Iran War, has apparently only now realized that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is not to be trusted. Sarah-Jane Collins (DAILY BEAST) reports:
President Donald Trump has quietly begun to pin his hopes for resolving the Iran conflict on his treasury secretary rather than Pete Hegseth as the defense secretary is increasingly sidelined.
That’s according to inside sources quoted Saturday by the Daily Mail, which described a subtle shift within the 80-year-old president’s inner circle when it comes to Situation Room briefings on the war, now in its seventh month.
While Hegseth is still routinely asked for updates on the war, along with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, an unnamed insider claimed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s take is now given more attention by Trump in the meetings.
[. . .]
While Hegseth is still routinely asked for updates on the war, along with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, an unnamed insider claimed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s take is now given more attention by Trump in the meetings.
Bennito L. Kelty (RAW STORY) adds:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has become afraid of President Donald Trump over mounting frustrations with the Iran war, The Daily Mail reported Saturday.
Anonymous insiders say that Trump is increasingly turning away from Hegseth after the two got into an argument at Camp David earlier this month, according to the report. Instead, Trump is turning more to another one of his favored "yes-men," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Still on the disaster that is Hegseth, THE ARKANSAS PUBLIC ADVOCATE reports:
Three senior Stars and Stripes employees have taken their dispute with Pentagon leadership to federal court, turning a months long fight over the military newspaper’s independence into an urgent First Amendment case. Editor in chief Erik Slavin, Middle East reporter Lara Korte and publisher Max D. Lederer Jr. filed suit Aug. 27 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Their 45 page complaint names Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, senior public affairs official Andrew Brey and the Defense Department. It seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctions aimed at stopping proposed terminations that the plaintiffs said could take effect as early as Aug. 28.
The core allegation is retaliation. Slavin and Korte say the Pentagon targeted them after they publicly defended Stars and Stripes’ editorial independence in a July 5 CBS Sunday Morning segment. Lederer says he was later targeted after refusing an instruction to deliver separation notices to the pair and after publicly explaining why he planned to retire.
The complaint also ties the timing of the disciplinary action to an Aug. 11 Stars and Stripes report by Alison Bath about conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The article described an unusually long deployment, strained morale, reported food and water shortages, disrupted mail, long workdays and concerns among sailors and families about mental health and self harm.
This is a First Amendment case. Hegseth has stuck his nose into something it doesn't belong in -- again. What STARS AND STRIPES decides to print or not print has nothing to do with him or his duties. Being Secretary of Defense comes with enough tasks, supervising STARS AND STRIPES is not one of them. But this is part of Hegseth's continued assault on the First Amendment. Kathleen Culliton (RAW STORY) notes:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's desperate efforts to control the narrative on the Iran war have succeeded only in revealing how little control over the situation he has, a columnist argued Saturday.
This withering rebuke of Hegseth's actions against military journalists and service members who have reported untenable conditions, as the war drags into its seventh month, came courtesy of Salon analyst Sophia Tesfaye.
"Rather than addressing any systemic failures on the part of the department, Hegseth’s command structure has resorted to authoritarian retaliation," wrote Tesfaye.
"The silencing of the press and scapegoating of desperate sailors does not hide Hegseth’s mess."
Hegseth's moves do nothing to improve morale or to address his obligations as Secretary of Defense. In that regard, he's very much like Chump who does nothing to address the needs of the American people. Tony Romm (NEW YORK TIMES) notes:
In the nearly two years since President Trump clinched his return to office, the U.S. economy has come under great duress, leaving families and businesses to suffer through the expensive consequences of constant global conflict and soaring government debt.
It was the financial frustration of a pandemic-weary electorate that helped Mr. Trump and his fellow Republicans take charge in Washington in 2024, which they promised to use to defeat the scourge of inflation and slash the profligate government spending they saw as the root of the problem.
But Mr. Trump’s actions in office have complicated — if not undermined — those pledges. With two months until the midterms, some of his policies have prolonged or worsened the economic fortunes of those he promised to help.
It began with a punishing global trade war, which exacerbated the nation’s long quest to bring down the cost of living in the years following the pandemic. This week, the president escalated that offensive and took renewed aim at Canada, setting off a costly tariff tit-for-tat that could drive up prices for Americans.
His tariffs, his war on Iran, his war on immigrants? They've all helped destroy the American economy. People are struggling to buy groceries or to fill their car tanks. And Chump doesn't care. He can't relate to the average American and he doesn't even pretend to try to relate to them. So we all feel a little better when things don't work out for Chump. For example, Chump got more bad news on Friday:
A federal judge on Friday rejected President Trump’s latest bid to fight his criminal conviction outside of New York’s state courts, a strategy aimed at citing presidential immunity, under which Trump could potentially toss charges that stem from a 2016 hush money payment in the trash can.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein has denied Trump’s attempts to move to federal court three times. An appeals panel had directed Hellerstein to take another look, saying he brushed aside the president’s arguments too easily.
Hellerstein on Friday reaffirmed that Trump was too late and that the verdict withstands presidential immunity anyway.
"The grounds for a second removal cited by Defendant, Donald J. Trump, are neither new nor legally sufficient. He has failed to show good cause and diligence,” the judge wrote.
And more bad news came in recent polling. Sam Stevenson (NEWSWEEK) reports:
President Donald Trump’s net approval among voters aged 18 to 34 has fallen to minus 44, an all-time low for that age group in Echelon Insights polling.
The deterioration is significant before the 2026 midterms because Trump’s sharply improved performance with younger voters helped broaden the coalition that returned him to the White House in 2024.
Republican candidates now face the possibility that some of those voters could withdraw their support or stay home, although presidential approval does not by itself predict turnout or congressional voting.
So that's young voters. Then there are women voters. Molly Sprayregen (LGBTQ NATION) reports:
A pollster specializing in women voters said she is “seeing sirens” for the GOP as women indicate a massive decrease in support for the party.
Christina Matthews, who conducts polls for Bellwether Research and Consulting, spearheaded a survey of 1,604 women ages 18 and over and found increasing support for the Democratic Party. The survey took place on August 21 and 22 and, as such, is very up to date.
Matthews told Politico that one of the most alarming findings for the GOP is that white women favored Democrats 47 percent to 39 percent. In the past two House elections, this demographic has favored Republicans – 55 percent to 44 percent in 2024 and 53 percent to 45 percent in 2022.
The poll also found Democrats tied with Republicans among married women. In 2024 and 2022, married women favored House Republicans by 13 percent and 22 percent, respectively.
His support has cratered. He is not respected, he is not admired. He is a con artist who has been exposed. On immigration, Ernesto LondoƱo and Mitch Smith (NEW YORK TIMES) report:
Federal prosecutors in Minnesota were preparing to file civil rights charges this week against an ICE agent accused of shooting and wounding an immigrant from Venezuela in January, according to three people with knowledge of the case.
But those plans unraveled, and the agent, Christian Castro, walked out of a Texas jail where he had been held for three months.
Such charges would be rare, and a sign that the Trump administration was willing to hold federal agents accountable as officials face criticism over a number of shootings during a nationwide immigration crackdown, including two in Minnesota that killed U.S. citizens.
In Mr. Castro’s case, time was of the essence. He was set to be released on Thursday from a South Texas jail where he was being held on separate state charges filed by Minnesota prosecutors in the shooting of the Venezuelan man, Julio C. Sosa-Celis. Officials worried that Mr. Castro, a deportation officer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, might flee to Mexico if freed.
Well he got freed -- in part because Chump's Justice Dept refused to file charges.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Alex Padilla
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) issued the following statement after Donald Trump’s war with Iran reached the 6-month mark:
“Six months into Donald Trump’s unauthorized war against Iran, American families are less safe and paying the price through rising costs and their taxpayer dollars funding Trump’s reckless whims. Most tragically, 18 service members have died for Donald Trump’s shortsightedness.
“This catastrophe is entirely of Donald Trump’s making. Prior to Trump entering office, Iran had agreed to limit its uranium enrichment through the JCPOA — which also included agreements with adversaries like Russia and China to help constrain Iran’s nuclear program. The Strait of Hormuz was open and free from Iranian control. Now, because of Trump’s incompetence, the opposite is true. Instead of enforcing checks on the Iranian regime, Russia and China are helping Iran sustain the war and the Strait of Hormuz is far from open.
“This is a failed war from a failed president. American service members deserve better and the American people deserve better. Congress must rein in this out-of-control president.“
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The following sites plus Stan's "COYOTE VS. ACME, a DAYS OF THUNDER sequel, disgusting Bill Maher" -- updated:
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Idiot of the Week23 hours ago
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Tim Curry and Dolly Parton23 hours ago
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