Speaking to Israel’s I24 News, an Israeli security official has responded to the NYT report on Israeli threats to key Iranian decision-makers during negotiations, saying “If and when Israel wants to eliminate anyone, it does so.”

According to a 927-page financial disclosure released earlier this week, U.S. President Donald J. Trump reported a personal income of over $2.2 billion in 2025, most from cryptocurrency ventures such as $Trump, a meme coin created by the Trump Family only days before last year’s Presidential Inauguration which soared over 300% on release night before falling to less than $2 per coin in 2026.

In addition to over $1.4 billion in crypto profits in 2025, investment accounts linked to President Trump carried out multiple high-profile trades last year, including more than 300 previously undisclosed stock purchases on April 8, 2025, one day ahead of his surprise announcement that he would pause a number of his “Liberation Day” tariffs levied against countries across the World.

The Wall Street Journal reports the Pentagon was prepared to announce additional reductions to the U.S. military presence in Europe beyond previously canceled and withdrawn deployments, but the proposal was halted by senior White House officials.

Instead, the administration opted to proceed with the six-month U.S. force posture review announced by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at last month's NATO defense ministers' meeting.

If accurate, the report suggests the administration remains divided over the pace and scope of any future troop reductions in Europe. At the same time, it reinforces the Pentagon's broader strategy of shifting greater responsibility for Europe's conventional defense to NATO allies while freeing U.S. forces for higher-priority theaters, particularly the Indo-Pacific.

Source: https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/hegseth-prepared-a-bombshell-plan-to-cut-troops-in-europe-then-it-got-nixed-cbb87e75?mod=hp_lead_pos2

An active-duty U.S. Air Force major who was arrested by U.S. Capitol Police yesterday after conducting a protest on the Capitol steps while in uniform calling for the impeachment of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance is now under investigation by the Pentagon.

Service members are prohibited from participating in partisan political activities while in uniform and are subject to additional restrictions under the Uniform Code of Military Justice regarding public statements about senior government officials.

Without identifying the officer, the office of Air Force Secretary Troy Meink acknowledged reports of the incident, stating that an investigation "will proceed unimpeded." The Department of the Air Force also reiterated that all personnel are expected to comply with laws, regulations, and policies governing conduct and the wear of the uniform.

TheWarZone, citing a new study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), reports that it is "highly likely" the wave of drone incursions over military installations across Europe, including RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall, RAF Fairford, and RAF Feltwell, was part of a coordinated Russian intelligence campaign.

According to the IISS assessment, Russian-linked commercial vessels, including "shadow fleet" ships, likely served as launch and recovery platforms for the drones, enabling intelligence collection while maintaining plausible deniability. The report relies on circumstantial and open-source evidence and notes that no European government has publicly attributed a specific vessel to any individual drone incursion.

The last 24 hours show commercial traffic continues to flow through the Strait of Hormuz, with approximately 40 visible merchant vessel transits, still well below the 130+ daily transits that were common before the conflict.

Most visible traffic continues to favor the Iranian (northern) traffic separation scheme, while a smaller but consistent number of vessels are utilizing the Omani (southern) route, reflecting differing operator risk assessments.

The total number of transits is likely higher than visible, as some commercial vessels continue to disable AIS while crossing the Strait.

A Ukrainian FP-5 “Flamingo” Ground-Launched Cruise Missile filmed sometime in the last hour flying over the Chuvash Republic in Central Russia, an area of the country located over 500 miles from closest border with Ukraine.

The United States has warned Warsaw that Russia is planning armed provocation in the coming months against NATO’s Eastern Front, possibly involving both Belarusian and Russian troops crossing into Polish territory, or drone and missile strikes against vital infrastructure in Poland, in an attempt to test NATO’s “resolve” in regards to support for Ukraine and defending Eastern Europe.

Sources affiliated with Poland’s Security Service have stated that a “hybrid attack in the border region” could take place, which Moscow may call an accident or a response to “hostilities” by NATO. The Polish media outlet Onet has said that the aim of Moscow’s possible assault, which could be launched in a matter of months, would be to provoke tensions with Europe, with hopes that the U.S. would not fire on Russian troops and force negotiations on Ukraine from NATO and Poland.

Ahead of his political rally and speech tonight in front of Mount Rushmore, the White House has said that President Trump could be an “addition” to the monument which contains the faces of some of America’s most important leaders, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. “There would be no better addition to the iconic Mount Rushmore than the 45th and 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement to ABC News.

Smoke rises from the site of a possible cruise missile impact or shoot down near Votkinsk in Central Russia, over 800 miles from Ukraine. Several Ukrainian FP-5 “Flamingo” Cruise Missiles were spotted earlier over the Chuvash Republic just to the east Votkinsk, with the target of the missiles likely being the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant, which produces ballistic missiles for the Russian Armed Forces.

Saturday’s National Independence Day Parade in Washington, D.C. has been canceled by organizers due to extreme heat, with the National Weather Service stating that heat index values are expected to exceed 110-115°F.

Multiple fires burn at the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Kronstadt Naval Base in Leningrad Oblast of Northwestern Russia, following a large-scale drone attack Saturday morning against Russian military and port infrastructure near St. Petersburg by Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces.