Latest news with #nuclearwar
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Grows Pissed at Tulsi Gabbard as Israel-Iran Conflict Worsens
President Trump is reportedly furious with Tulsi Gabbard after the director of national intelligence posted a professionally produced, three-minute-long X video last week referencing past nuclear disasters. Gabbard's post went mostly unnoticed at the time, but now seems like a clear rebuke of U.S. support for Israel's war on Iran. 'As we stand here today, closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before, political elite warmongers are carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers,' Gabbard says in the video as ominous music swells in the background. 'And perhaps it's because they are confident that they will have access to nuclear shelters for themselves and for their families that regular people won't have access to. So it's up to us, the people, to speak up and demand an end to this madness. We must reject this path to nuclear war and work toward a world where no one has to live in fear of a nuclear holocaust.' The president was apparently not a fan of Gabbard's unauthorized rebuke of the direction his administration was leaning on Israel, as multiple war hawks visited Trump just days before Gabbard posted the video. 'I don't care what she said,' Trump stated on Tuesday when asked about Gabbard's video on Air Force One. 'I think they were very close to having a weapon.' 'I don't think he dislikes Tulsi as a person.… But certainly the video made him not super hot on her … and he doesn't like it when people are off message,' a senior administration official told Politico. The beef between Trump and Gabbard shows that the MAGA split between blind military support for Israel versus 'America First' anti-interventionists, like Gabbard, is much more than just an online spat. There is a real ideological schism on display with regard to Trump's deference to Israel's wars, and even die-hard Trump supporters have begun raising their voices against another endless war in the Middle East—something Trump promised to stop during his campaign.
Russia Today
a day ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Pakistan Army chief calls for Trump to get Nobel Peace Prize
Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir has called for US President Donald Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for averting a 'nuclear war between India and Pakistan' last month, Reuters reports, citing White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly. Trump invited Munir for a private meeting over lunch on Wednesday, after the Pakistani field marshal called for the Nobel nomination, Kelly said, according to the report. Munir, who is widely regarded as the most powerful person in Pakistan, became the first Pakistani serving chief of army staff to have a face-to-face meeting with a sitting US president, according to the Dawn newspaper. This was also the first time a serving Pakistani army chief was formally received at this level without holding political office or governing under martial law, the paper added. 'He [Munir] agreed with me. The reason I had him here was that I wanted to thank him for not going into the war [with India],' Trump told reporters after the meeting. 'And I want to thank [Indian] PM Modi as well, who just left a few days ago. We're working on a trade deal with India and Pakistan. These two very smart people decided not to keep going with a war that could have been a nuclear war. Pakistan and India are two big nuclear powers.'A few hours before hosting Munir, the US president had a phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who reaffirmed New Delhi's long standing stance against third-party intervention in its dealings with Pakistan. Last month, the two South Asian nations had a military showdown, which began when India launched strikes on suspected terrorist facilities in Pakistani-controlled territories. New Delhi said the strikes were conducted in response to a terrorist attack in Indian-administered Kashmir in April. The hostilities ended on May 10 when a ceasefire was announced. Trump has repeatedly taken credit for the ceasefire, though New Delhi has refuted the claim. The meeting on Wednesday between Trump and Munir was held amid tensions in the Middle East over the conflict between Israel and Iran. Pakistan shares a border of more than 600 miles with Iran and enjoys good diplomatic relations with Tehran. Trump told reporters that Pakistan has a deep understanding of Iran, possibly more so than most countries, and is dissatisfied with the current state of affairs. 'It's not that they're bad with Israel. They know them both, actually, but they know Iran better,' he said.
ABC News
a day ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Donald Trump hosts Pakistani army chief, disagrees with India over India-Pakistan war mediation
US President Donald Trump has hosted Pakistan's army chief at the White House, an unprecedented meeting that analysts say risks worsening a disagreement with India. The meeting on Wednesday local time was the first time a US president had hosted the powerful head of Pakistan's army, widely regarded as having sway over the country's national security policies, at the White House, unaccompanied by senior Pakistani civilian officials. Mr Trump told reporters he had thanked Field Marshal Asim Munir for ending the war with India, and also praised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who he spoke to on Tuesday night. "Two very smart people decided not to keep going with that war; that could have been a nuclear war," Mr Trump told reporters. Asked earlier what he wanted to achieve from meeting Pakistan's army chief, Mr Trump told reporters: "Well, I stopped a war … I love Pakistan. I think Modi is a fantastic man. I spoke to him last night. We're going to make a trade deal with Modi of India. "But I stopped the war between Pakistan and India. This man was extremely influential in stopping it from the Pakistan side, Modi from the India side, and others," he said. "They were going at it — and they're both nuclear countries. I got it stopped." However, the Indian government says the US was not responsible. Mr Modi told Mr Trump in their call on Tuesday that the ceasefire was achieved through talks between the Indian and Pakistani militaries and not US mediation, India's most senior diplomat, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, said in a statement. "Talks for ceasing military action happened directly between India and Pakistan through existing military channels, and on the insistence of Pakistan. Prime Minister Modi emphasised that India has not accepted mediation in the past and will never do," said Mr Misri. The heaviest fighting in decades between India and Pakistan was sparked by an April 22 attack in Indian Kashmir that killed 26 people. New Delhi blamed "terrorists" backed by Pakistan, a charge Islamabad denies. Pakistan has thanked Washington for playing a mediating role; however, India has repeatedly denied any third-party mediation. "Islamabad is leaning on Trump to push India for direct India-Pakistan talks, while Delhi is refusing to hold bilateral talks on external pressures," said Muhammad Faisal, a South Asia security researcher based at the University of Technology Sydney. He said a "tense calm" has prevailed between the two sides. They have withdrawn troops after the escalation in Kashmir, but India is refusing to resume adherence to the Indus Waters Treaty. Tourism operators in Kashmir said there had been few tourists in the scenic Himalayan region since the attacks. Mr Trump said last month that India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire after talks mediated by the US, where he urged the countries to focus on trade instead of war. Previously, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that both sides had agreed to hold talks on a "broad set of issues at a neutral site". "Pakistan is now trying to hold India and the US to this commitment, while Delhi is distancing itself," Mr Faisal told the ABC. Michael Kugelman, of the Asia Pacific Foundation think tank, said India-US ties, which have thrived in recent years, could suffer if Trump continued to make remarks about a US role in the ceasefire. "For Delhi, it all boils down to an age-old question: How much can it tolerate US-Pakistan cooperation without having it spoil US-India relations — a partnership that's thrived in recent years." Mr Munir was expected to press Mr Trump not to enter Israel's war with Iran and seek a ceasefire, Pakistani officials and experts said. A section of Pakistan's embassy in Washington represents Iran's interests in the United States, as Tehran does not have diplomatic relations with the US. The meeting represented a major boost in US-Pakistan ties, which had largely languished under his predecessor Joe Biden, as both courted India as part of efforts to push back against China. ABC/wires
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
A look inside the president's nuclear war briefcase
In today's edition: Fair warning before we begin: Today's newsletter is a crash course in cortisol-inducing columns. Starting us off strong is the third installment of Post Opinions' 'The Next Nuclear Age' series, in which researcher Mackenzie Knight-Boyle lays out how the leader of the free world could initiate nuclear war with a few magic words.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on Israel, the US and Iran: you can't bomb your way out of nuclear proliferation
Eighty years after the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and 40 years after the US and Soviet Union pledged to reduce their arsenals, the threat of nuclear war has resurged with a vengeance. The age of disarmament is over, a prominent thinktank warned this week: 'We see a clear trend of growing nuclear arsenals, sharpened nuclear rhetoric and the abandonment of arms control agreements,' said Hans M Kristensen of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The world's nine nuclear-armed states have amassed the equivalent of 145,000 Hiroshima bombs. Israel's illegal attack upon Iran is purportedly a last-ditch attempt to prevent it joining this club – as Israel did long ago, though does not admit it. While Tehran possesses the capacity to develop a nuclear weapon if it chose to, US intelligence believes it has not made that decision – and would still need up to three years to build and deploy one. Israel does not appear to be striking Iran because US nuclear diplomacy has failed, but because it fears it might succeed. Many of its targets are unrelated to the nuclear programme, and some even to Iran's military. Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly invoked regime change: more honestly, regime collapse. Few believe Israel can destroy Iran's nuclear programme without the US. The Israeli prime minister seeks to bait Donald Trump into joining this assault: if he can't get one of the peace deals he wants, how about taking a military triumph? Mr Trump's shifting rhetoric has suggested he is being dragged along, to the alarm of Maga isolationists and others who recognise the folly of seeing an easy win. But he may still hope to threaten Iran into a deal. The bigger threat is nuclear proliferation globally. The remaining US-Russian nuclear arms control treaty, New Start, is due to lapse in February – leaving them without limits on their arsenals for the first time in half a century. Both are already pursuing extensive modernisation programmes. China is still far behind, but its armoury is growing fastest, at around 100 warheads a year. This month's strategic defence review commits the UK to spending £15bn on new submarine-launched warheads and opens the door to the reintroduction of air-launched nuclear weapons. North Korea appears to be building a third uranium enrichment site. Taboos elsewhere are eroding, in an increasingly unstable world where impunity reigns. Support for an independent deterrent has soared in South Korea, no longer confident of the US umbrella. Weapons are becoming not only deadlier, but riskier, with the integration of nuclear and conventional capabilities increasing the prospect of miscalculations. And potential flashpoints dot this bleak landscape. Russia has repeatedly talked up the threat of nuclear war in Ukraine – but that does not guarantee it is an empty one. India's unprecedented use of Brahmos cruise missiles in last month's clash with Pakistan signals a new and dangerous phase in south Asia's strategic balance. The 2003 US invasion of Iraq, coupled with the survival of North Korea, sent the message that the safest course is not to shun weapons of mass destruction but to pursue and cling to them at all costs. Attacking Iran, which limited its programme in exchange for sanctions relief, will only fuel that conviction. It may set back Tehran's nuclear progress somewhat, but makes it more likely to rush for the bomb – and avoid the international scrutiny it previously accepted. Saudi Arabia and others would surely follow fast. Arab and Muslim countries have rightly denounced Israel's strikes and called for disarmament 'without selectivity'. The current crisis makes that look a more hopeless cause than ever – but is the clearest evidence of why it is needed in place of a nuclear race which can have no winners.
