Latest news with #BreakingPoints'
The Hill
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Who is US Central Command chief Gen. Erik Kurilla, key player in Iran, Israel clashes?
US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Gen. Erik Kurilla has become a key player in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran. As CENTCOM chief, Kurilla leads the U.S. military command in the Middle East — a region that has taken outsized importance in recent days as President Trump weighs whether to join Israel in striking Iran to deal a permanent blow to its nuclear program. Kurilla — who oversees military missions throughout the 21-country region — would lead any operation that Trump orders targeting Iran. Kurilla has been briefing the president on the situation unfolding in the Middle East. In a Congressional hearing on June 10 — days before Israel initiated strikes on Iran — Kurilla told lawmakers that he presented Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth with a 'wide range' of military options to pursue if nuclear talks with Iran go sideways. 'President Trump has made it clear that if Iran doesn't permanently give up its nuclear enrichment, military force by the U.S. may be necessary. If the president directed, is CENTCOM prepared to respond with overwhelming force to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran?' House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) asked Kurilla. 'I have provided the secretary of defense and the president a wide range of options,' Kurilla responded during the House Armed Services hearing. 'I take that as a yes,' Rogers said. 'Yes,' Kurilla responded. Kurilla, a four-star Army general, has been in the position since April 2022 and is set to step down in the coming months. He oversaw U.S. military support for Israel in the aftermath of Oct. 7, 2023, and traveled numerous times to the region. Reports have suggested that he supports increased U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict and that he has significant influence in the decision-making circles. Dan Caldwell, Hegseth's former senior adviser at the Pentagon, nodded to the reporting in an interview on 'Breaking Points' on Monday, suggesting Kurilla's looming retirement could be contributing to the sense of urgency to take military action. 'It's been reported, and, you know, based on my experience with him, is that he takes a fundamentally different view of the importance of the Middle East than a lot of other people in the administration,' Caldwell said. 'He also, I think, believes that a military campaign against Iran will not be as costly as others. So, that's his view. And I think there are a lot of folks that want to see some type of military action occur before he retires as a result of that,' he continued. 'So, he retires, I believe, in the middle of July. And I don't think it's a coincidence you see a lot of the pressure ramping up to do something prior to his retirement,' Caldwell added.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Tariffs Disturb His Own Supporters in Conservative Media: ‘Really Problematic'
President Trump has described his new tariff plan as a 'beautiful thing to behold' — but not everyone in conservative media feels the same way. A number of prominent right-leaning voices have shared their displeasure with the president's 'liberation day' tariffs since he announced them last week, including Ben Shapiro, who started his show off on Monday by sharing his thoughts on the matter. Shapiro said there are a few cases where tariffs are an 'important' and 'totally understandable' tool, including when they can be used to leverage other countries to give the U.S. better trade deals. But he said the Trump Administration's belief that 'tariffs are good' and trade wars are 'easy to win' is 'really problematic.' 'The idea that this is inherently good, it makes the American economy strong is wrongheaded. It is untrue,' Shapiro said. 'The idea that is going to result in mass reshoring of manufacturing is also untrue.' Shapiro later called the chart President Trump showed off last week at the White House, highlighting the new tariffs, was 'ridiculous.' The Daily Wire co-founder, who has more than 7 million YouTube subscribers, said stocks on Wall Street have plummeted because of the uncertainty surrounding the president's long-term plans. 'It is absolutely unclear what President Trump is thinking at this point — and herein lies the problem,' Shapiro said. 'You have a vast combination of radical uncertainty and policy that is being spouted by members of the administration that is overtly bad. There is no one in the administration who's making the overtly good case; there are many people in the administration who are making bad to strained cases right now.' His criticism stands out, considering he was one of President Trump's most vocal supporters in the lead up to the 2024 election; Shapiro was also in attendance last month for the president's speech before Congress. But he is not the only conservative commentator who has questioned the tariffs. Ryan Saavedra, a reporter for The Daily Wire with more than 358,000 followers on X, has re-posted several comments that are skeptical the tariffs will work. He also shared a screenshot of a text from a right-wing friend on Sunday that blasted the 'insane' tariffs. 'You start messing around with people's investments and 401(k)s and you're going to lose support — fast,' Saavedra posted. Saagar Enjeti, the right-leaning co-host of 'Breaking Points' on YouTube, which has 1.42 million subscribers, has expressed his reservations about the president's plan as well. 'Not joking: the White House would have been better off using ChatGPT than whatever the f–k this is,' Enjeti posted on X last week in response to a picture of the president holding up a cardboard breakdown of his new tariffs. Enjeti reiterated his irritation with the new tariff plan on Monday's episode of 'Breaking Points.' He said that, while he is generally 'pro-tariff,' the rollout from the Trump Administration has been messy and goes beyond he discussed on the campaign trail last year. 'Nobody — nobody — this is why the markets crashed as they were — floated a 35-40% tariff,' Enjeti said. 'That's where this is 10 times out of step even with allegedly many of the things that he sold on the campaign trail. And that is why you're seeing the level of freak out,' he continued. 'And very soon, real voters, you are going to feel this in a very real way. Screw retirement. We're talking layoffs.' In the two days following Trump's tariff announcement last week, the markets saw $5.4 trillion in value evaporate while the S&P 500 plummeted to its lowest level in 11 months. Friday's sell-off market the biggest single-day decline for the S&P 500 and Dow since COVID-19 rocked the market in March 2020, while the Nasdaq suffered its biggest single-day hit since 2020 on Thursday. President Trump, in a post on Truth Social before markets opened on Monday, called on investors to hang tough while global economies adjusted to his tariffs. 'The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO,' the president posted. 'Don't be Weak! Don't be Stupid! Don't be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!). Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!' Elon Musk does not appear to be as patient about the tariffs as the president, though. The X owner — who prominently backed President Trump during the 2024 election and has been spearheading the new Department of Government Efficiency for the administration — posted a video on Monday of economist Milton Friedman explaining how a pencil is made with parts from all over the world. The post was viewed by many as a stealth rebuke of President Trump's plan, a day after he said the U.S. is 'not going to lose a trillion dollars for the privilege of buying pencils from China.'The post Trump Tariffs Disturb His Own Supporters in Conservative Media: 'Really Problematic' appeared first on TheWrap.
