World

A GOP analyst came unglued on CNN on Thursday while discussing President Donald Trump's plan to send "blood money" to Russia in exchange for a little diesel fuel.

Marc Short, the former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, told CNN's Boris Sanchez that Trump's plan to import Russian diesel fuel in an attempt to offset high costs ahead of the midterms is as "nonsensical" as it is "nefarious." Short said Russia not only doesn't have the supply to make a difference in the oil market, but Russia will also use the money it earns from the sales to continue attacking Ukraine and arming America's enemies in the war against Iran.

"So, economically it's nonsensical," Short said, noting Russia's capacity shortages. "But if they did and we were buying it, it's just blood money to Russia to kill more Ukrainians. Meanwhile, Russia is providing intel to Iran, which is using it against our men and women in uniform. So this whole policy makes no sense economically. But from a national security perspective, it's even more nefarious."...

President Donald Trump’s decision to approve Russia selling a substantial amount of diesel on the world market caught U.S. allies flat-footed, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In a deep dive on growing U.S.-Ukraine tensions, the Journal reported that the deal has created a schism that has allies, and some Republican lawmakers, furious.

Senior Ukrainian and European officials flew to Miami on Oct. 9 to meet Trump negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in a bid to revive peace talks, the Journal reported. During the six-hour meeting, Kushner and Witkoff said the president was considering a diesel deal with Russia. The Ukrainian and European officials were “floored,” people familiar with the matter told the paper....

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk named President Donald Trump as “ultimately” responsible for limits on Ukrainian troops’ satellite internet after Ukraine’s president said a sudden slowdown left people dead.

Musk made the remark Wednesday in a post on X, replying to former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who had urged him to lift a speed limit on Starshield, the government version of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service.

Earlier Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told British broadcaster Piers Morgan in an interview that people were killed because interceptor drones relying on Starlink did not work....

A retiring House Republican issued a blunt warning to President Donald Trump's administration after Ukraine lost access to the military version of the Starlink satellite network, a key piece of its battlefield communications.

Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a retired Air Force general who has served in Congress since 2017, is so far the only Republican lawmaker to publicly criticize the administration over the restrictions, which Ukrainian officials blamed on the U.S. president.

“The Administration’s decision to reduce intel sharing to Ukraine & access to Starlink equates to aiding the invader & the war criminal who bombs cities,” Bacon posted on X. “Does the Administration think it will get ANY support for the remainder of the 119th Congress? Their agenda is dead unless they change paths.”...

Outrage poured in Wednesday after Elon Musk’s SpaceX abruptly limited Starlink services in Ukraine, jeopardizing Ukrainian combat drone missions without warning, while critics suspected President Donald Trump may have been behind the mysterious move.

Serhiy Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister, said Ukrainian defense forces “did not receive a warning” about the abrupt limitation to Starlink services, which have helped guide their longer-range drone strikes, Reuters reported. Furthermore, he suspected the disruption was connected to Trump’s ongoing spat with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which has flared up in recent days.

Trump has increasingly pressed Zelenskyy to give up territory to Russia as part of an agreement to end the Russo-Ukraine war. Zelenskyy has responded with defiance, drawing a threat from Trump to cut Ukraine off from U.S. intelligence. Trump has also demanded that both Ukraine and Russia halt attacks on energy infrastructure, a demand that has repeatedly gone ignored by both parties....

With the midterms 20 days away, the Trump administration was confronted Wednesday with a “big escalation” in its war against Iran, geopolitical expert Brett Erickson warned, one that could soon send oil prices skyrocketing.

Early Wednesday, Tehran claimed that it had sunk a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz after it had struck a naval mine, the Associated Press reported, the first such instance of a sinking by sea mine. Erickson called the development a “big escalation,” while also flagging new data that suggested an oil price surge may be imminent.

“Data from Kpler published today shows an ENORMOUS drop off in the amount of oil transiting Hormuz per day, with the last three days only moving 10M barrels of oil COMBINED,” Erickson wrote Wednesday in a statement published on social media....

Stephen Miller says Americans owe their amazing energy prices to Donald Trump. Critics saw it differently.

Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, appeared Saturday on Fox News’ “My View with Lara Trump.” The segment ran under the banner “Miller touts Trump’s sweeping achievements.”

“The reason we have lower energy prices than anyone else in the developed world is because of President Trump,” Miller said, according to a clip posted by Acyn....

Former MLB superstar Roger Clemens fact-checked President Donald Trump during his Texas rally Wednesday night.

Trump traveled to San Antonio, Texas, to stump for Republicans like Tano Tijerina in his race against Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), whom Trump attacked for what he considered to be a "disloyal act" by not becoming a Republican after Trump pardoned him. At the rally, Trump invited Clemens on stage to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, because Clemens had not yet been elected to the Hall of Fame.

In typical Trump fashion, the president also rattled off a fact about Clemens that the former big league pitcher was quick to correct. ...

President Donald Trump was once again denied the Nobel Peace Prize, but the winner made sure to mention him in her initial remarks.

And not in a flattering way, reported The Daily Beast.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, 85, a South African jurist and former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, won the 2026 prize. Trump, 80, had long sought the honor....