Global Pulse

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  • With Middle East in flames, Trump eyes ‘next conquest’

    With Middle East in flames, Trump eyes ‘next conquest’

    Six weeks after former U.S. President Donald Trump partnered with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to launch a military conflict that has left the Middle East mired in deadly violence, the commander-in-chief has stoked global alarm with a provocative late-night boast that the U.S. military is already eyeing its “next conquest.”

    The controversial remark came in a Wednesday evening post to Trump’s Truth Social platform, where he outlined that U.S. forces would remain deployed near and within Iranian territory until Washington secures what he calls a “real agreement” to end the ongoing hostilities. The timeline of the comment comes just one day after a fragile two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran was announced, a truce that already hangs in the balance following Israel’s large-scale bombardment of neighboring Lebanon.

    Trump doubled down on aggression in the same post, threatening that Washington would launch a “bigger, and better, and stronger” attack on Iran if negotiations fail to deliver his desired outcome. He then added that the U.S. military is “Loading Up and Resting, looking forward, actually, to its next Conquest.” The inflammatory statement has already sparked pushback even within his own administration, with multiple senior national security officials privately acknowledging that Trump’s claims of imminent victory in Iran are dangerously premature.

    International relations scholars and political observers have roundly condemned the president’s remarks. Branislav Slantchev, a political science professor specializing in global affairs at the University of California San Diego, wrote in response to the post that “this depraved idiot is out of control.” Journalist Marisa Kabas echoed that outrage, adding simply, “We cannot live this way.”

    Critics have long highlighted a stark contradiction in Trump’s foreign policy: despite running for office on a pledge of “no new wars,” he has ordered military strikes in more countries than any modern U.S. president in history. In his Wednesday post, Trump did not name a specific target for what he called the military’s “next conquest,” but context makes clear potential targets are no mystery. Over recent months, Trump has repeatedly issued violent threats against both Cuba and Greenland, openly threatening to seize both territories by force. In a separate Truth Social post the same night, Trump derided Greenland in all capital letters as a “BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE.”

    Just last week, Trump submitted a formal request to Congress for a $1.5 trillion military budget for the upcoming fiscal year, a proposal that allocates tens of billions of dollars for new battleships and fighter jets. The expansionist rhetoric lines up with comments he made one month prior at a Saudi-backed investment summit held in Miami, where he celebrated past U.S. military strikes on Venezuela and Iran before bluntly declaring, “Cuba is next.” He quickly added, “Pretend I didn’t say that,” after making the remark.

    Foreign policy analysts argue that Trump’s aggressive rhetoric is a reaction to a costly failure of his Iran war gambit. Brian Finucane, senior adviser to the U.S. Program at the International Crisis Group, explained that Trump is “lashing out because his war on a whim did not result in the hoped-for ‘Venezuela’ in Iran but a historic debacle instead.”

    Reporting from last month by The Intercept’s Nick Turse adds context to expanding U.S. military operations even beyond the Middle East. Turse revealed that amid the ongoing Iran conflict, a top Pentagon official unveiled a new Western Hemisphere initiative dubbed “Operation Total Extermination,” targeting armed groups across the Americas. Joseph Humire, the Pentagon’s acting assistant secretary for homeland defense and Americas security affairs, told Congress that the U.S. military backed joint kinetic strikes against cartel targets along the Colombia-Ecuador border in early March. Turse’s reporting confirmed that the cross-border campaign has already spilled into Colombian territory: on March 3, a Colombian farm was hit by errant fire or a ricochet from the strikes, leaving an unexploded 500-pound bomb abandoned in the country’s border region. Since taking office for his second term, Trump has launched offensive military operations not only in Iran but also in Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen — most of which were long-running theaters of conflict from the post-9/11 war on terror.

    Beyond his threats of new conquests, Trump has also lashed out at U.S. allies over their refusal to back his unauthorized Iran war, while simultaneously demanding they help clean up the geopolitical and economic disaster the conflict created. In his post attacking Greenland, he launched an all-caps tirade against NATO member states that declined to deploy troops to a conflict Trump launched without any prior consultation or alliance approval: “NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN.”

    Just hours after that tirade, multiple sources confirmed to Bloomberg that Trump is now demanding NATO allies draft concrete plans to mitigate the crisis he created. According to Thursday’s Bloomberg reporting, Washington is pushing for “specific commitments from European allies on their pledge to help secure the Strait of Hormuz after the fighting in Iran stops,” and has given allies just days to present detailed operational plans for guaranteeing open navigation through the strategic waterway. This is not the first time Trump has pressured allies to deploy forces to the strait: last month, he attempted to strong-arm European nations into sending their navies to the region to support commercial shipping security, but every participating nation rejected the request.

    Even the core objective of the ceasefire Trump announced last Tuesday remains unmet more than 24 hours later: the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, remains completely closed to most commercial traffic, just as it has been since the war began more than a month ago. Bloomberg’s Thursday reporting confirmed that ship traffic through the strait has “remained blocked,” being “limited to a handful of Iran-linked ships, another sign that a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran has yet to improve flows through the world’s key energy chokepoint.”

    The ongoing closure has already shaken global energy markets: Brent crude futures initially dropped sharply when the ceasefire was announced, but have steadily climbed back toward the $100 per barrel mark as the closure continues.

    Given that Trump has failed to deliver even the most basic outcome of his own ceasefire deal, many analysts and policymakers are questioning why U.S. allies should step in to resolve a crisis he created. Dominic Waghorn, international affairs editor at Sky News, observed that “neither a military escort nor military force can reopen the Strait, short of a full scale occupation of southern Iran – and even then insurgents could keep it closed with the threat of action.” Prominent economist Dean Baker has urged U.S. allies to outright reject Trump’s demand, writing that “The European countries should specifically commit to pay the toll Iran is requesting.” White House correspondent SV Dáte of HuffPost summed up Trump’s approach to the crisis in one blunt line: “I broke it, someone else can fix it.”

  • ‘Can he come next week?’: Craig Bellamy responds to Gehamat Shibasaki rumours as Storm look to rediscover their ruthless edge

    ‘Can he come next week?’: Craig Bellamy responds to Gehamat Shibasaki rumours as Storm look to rediscover their ruthless edge

    As the Melbourne Storm fight to snap a three-match losing skid marked by defensive collapse, an unexpected recruitment rumor has emerged: the NRL club is setting its sights on premiership-winning Brisbane Broncos centre Gehamat Shibasaki to fill key 2027 roster gaps.

    Storm head coach Craig Bellamy admitted he had no prior warning of the reported club interest when questioned by reporters on Friday morning, but a playful quick quip revealed he would jump at the chance to add the representative-level talent to his squad immediately. The potential move to lure Shibasaki to Melbourne is slated to be formally discussed during a scheduled recruitment meeting set for Friday afternoon, Bellamy confirmed.

    Shibasaki, who has become one of the league’s most in-demand young outside backs after breakout seasons with the Broncos, earned his first representative caps for both Queensland and Australia in 2024, and helped lead Brisbane to a premiership title last year. His current contract with the Broncos is up after the 2026 season, and the club already faces an uphill battle to retain his services after his rapid rise to stardom: he is projected to command a substantial salary increase in his next deal, sparking interest from multiple top NRL clubs.

    For the Storm, a move for Shibasaki solves a growing 2027 roster problem. The club is already set to lose outside backs Nick Meaney and Will Warbrick to rival clubs in two seasons’ time, and recently missed out on the high-profile signing of St George Illawarra star Zac Lomax, leaving a clear gap in their attacking depth that Shibasaki could fill.

    “I don’t actually know about that,” Bellamy told reporters early Friday. “We’re having a recruitment meeting today so I don’t know what’s going to come up there, but I haven’t heard that [the Shibasaki interest].” When pressed on a potential timeline, he joked: “Can he come next week or the week after? Anyone would be welcome at this stage.”

    Right now, however, recruitment is a secondary priority for the 2026 Storm. Bellamy’s side is reeling after a brutal two-week stretch that saw them concede a combined 78 points across three straight losses, including a 50-point blowout at the hands of the competition-leading Penrith Panthers last round. Their defensive performance has fallen well short of the club’s typical high standards this season, and Bellamy pulled his squad for a grueling training session earlier this week to address the issue.

    The coach pinned the recent slump directly to a lack of individual accountability, rather than systemic problems, saying: “We’re relying on the bloke next to you instead of getting your job done. So there’s a real focus on not worrying about the bloke next to you and just getting your job done.” Bellamy added that he is expecting a marked shift in attitude this week, warning that without a change in approach, the Storm will continue to post underwhelming results.

    This weekend presents the Storm with an ideal opportunity to turn their season around, as they prepare to host the New Zealand Warriors in front of a sold-out home crowd. Melbourne holds an extraordinary recent record against the Warriors, having won 17 consecutive matchups against the Auckland-based side. But Bellamy brushed off the historical advantage, noting that past form means nothing for a side that has struggled so badly in recent weeks.

    “We’re not worried about what happened five years ago or two years ago,” he said. “We’ve got to get back to reality, and that’s what’s happening now. What’s happening now ain’t good so we need to improve that this week.” Bellamy pointed out that in the two matches before the Panthers defeat, the Storm gave up late leads they should have closed out, before being completely outplayed by Penrith. “You don’t like any of those situations happening, but they have so we’ve got to deal with it. It’s time for everyone to pull their finger out and get their job done.”

  • White House staff told not to place bets on prediction markets

    White House staff told not to place bets on prediction markets

    Last month, the White House issued a formal warning to all its employees prohibiting the use of non-public, insider information to place speculative trades on online prediction markets, according to multiple sources familiar with the internal communication. The cautionary email, first brought to public attention by the Wall Street Journal, was distributed to White House personnel on March 24. This timing came exactly one day after former U.S. President Donald Trump announced a five-day halt on his public threat to launch military strikes against Iranian power plants and national energy infrastructure. The advisory was prompted by existing press reporting that raised widespread alarms over potential improper activity by U.S. government officials on popular prediction platforms including Kalshi and Polymarket. When approached for comment by the BBC, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle pushed back on suggestions of any wrongdoing by administration members, noting that all insinuations of improper trading by current administration officials are unsubstantiated, baseless claims that amount to irresponsible journalism. Ingle further clarified that every federal employee working within the executive branch is already bound by strict federal government ethics regulations that explicitly ban the use of confidential insider information to secure personal financial gain. “The only special interest that will ever guide President Trump is the best interest of the American people,” Ingle added in his official statement. The BBC has reached out to both Kalshi and Polymarket to request their perspective on the warning and broader concerns around insider trading on their platforms, and as of this reporting, neither company has issued an official public response. This latest incident is not the first time prediction markets have come under regulatory and public scrutiny. Back in January, Polymarket faced intense public and congressional scrutiny after an anonymous gambler netted nearly half a million dollars from a bet that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro would be captured, placing the wager just hours before the capture was officially announced to the public. To date, the identity of the bettor remains unknown, with the only trace of the account being an alphanumeric blockchain identifier tied to the transaction. The unconfirmed but widely discussed incident sparked major questions over whether the anonymous bettor had obtained advance insider knowledge of the U.S. military operation that led to Maduro’s capture, profiting illegally from non-public information. Prediction markets, which have seen explosive growth in mainstream popularity over the past 12 months, currently host more than $44 billion (equivalent to roughly £33 billion) in total cumulative trades across major platforms. While the majority of bets placed on these platforms center on major sports events and entertainment outcomes, users increasingly trade on high-stakes political and economic events, ranging from whether the U.S. Federal Reserve will adjust benchmark interest rates to the projected outcomes of local, state, and national elections.

  • New Jersey city spurns data center as defiance spreads

    New Jersey city spurns data center as defiance spreads

    Just 65 kilometers outside the bright skyline of New York City, an overgrown vacant lot dotted with construction rubble sits quietly between a working railway line and a cluster of residential homes in New Brunswick, New Jersey. What was once slated to become a sprawling multi-building data center complex for Florida-based Amzak Capital Management, built on the grounds of a shuttered automotive plant, now stands as an unlikely symbol of grassroots people power — and a rallying cry for community resistance spreading across the United States.

  • ‘Kick up the a**e I needed’: Bronson Xerri vows to see out his Bulldogs deal in raw interview after NRL recall

    ‘Kick up the a**e I needed’: Bronson Xerri vows to see out his Bulldogs deal in raw interview after NRL recall

    For Canterbury Bulldogs centre Bronson Xerri, the past four weeks have been one of the most turbulent stretches of his recent NRL career – a period clouded by demotion, swirling exit rumours and public speculation about his future at the club. Now, back in first grade following a stint in the NSW Cup, the 25-year-old has broken his silence on the controversy, framing his reserve-grade drop as the reality check he needed to reignite his focus on the team.

    The drama began immediately after Canterbury’s opening-round win in Las Vegas, where Xerri was sensationally dropped from the top squad in a move that shocked fans and pundits alike. Conflicting reports emerged in the aftermath of the decision, with some claiming the demotion stemmed from poor on-field form, others pointing to questions over his attitude, and many suggesting the shift came after Xerri pushed back against playing on the right edge following captain Stephen Crichton’s move to the left side of the pitch.

    Over two matches in reserve grade, Xerri turned out for the Bulldogs’ feeder side, notching an early try against the Canberra Raiders – but off the field, speculation about his desire to force a contract release dominated rugby league headlines. Canterbury head coach Cameron Ciraldo initially made clear he was disappointed by how Xerri reacted to the demotion, but in recent days has shifted to praise for the 25-year-old’s turnaround.

    A further point of confusion emerged on Good Friday, when Ciraldo brought on halfback Sean O’Sullivan to replace the injured Crichton rather than turning to a specialist centre like Xerri, leading many to assume Xerri had fallen completely out of the club’s favour. It has since been revealed that the decision was rooted in club medical staff’s initial assessment that Crichton’s injury was not severe enough to require a permanent positional shift, not a snub to the out-of-favour centre.

    Xerri made his return to first grade last Thursday, where the Bulldogs pulled off a stunning upset win over reigning premiers Penrith. In post-match comments, he acknowledged the past month had been a difficult stretch, but pushed back on the widespread reports of a rift, saying his only focus has always been doing what is best for Canterbury.

    “It’s been tough,” Xerri told reporters after the game. “But as long as the boys within the four walls and the staff know my intentions here, I’m happy. Whatever was reported was out of my control. As long as the team and all the boys knew my intentions with everything, that’s all that matters.”

    When asked point-blank whether he had ever requested a release from the final year of his current Bulldogs contract, Xerri declined to comment, saying “I’m not going to say anything, sorry.” But he was open about reflecting on the past few weeks, noting that the current turbulence pales in comparison to the four-year doping suspension he served after a positive drugs test in 2019 – an experience that taught him how to navigate professional adversity.

    “I went home and asked some hard questions about myself and came back, got the opportunity tonight and tried to take it with both hands,” he said. “I have a really good support system with my family. I’ve been through something similar with this – much worse to be fair – so I know how to handle these things.”

    While the exact root cause of his initial demotion remains unconfirmed, Xerri said the drop to reserve grade was a necessary wake-up call that exposed his own complacency in training. “I just got a bit comfortable in myself. I wasn’t really giving it my all at training. So it was that kick up the arse I needed,” he explained. “I’m a true believer in that everything happens for a reason. Me and ‘Ciro’ had some tough conversations, but I’ve got nothing but love and respect for Ciro and this club.”

    The stint in reserve grade also reinforced what he stands to lose, he added: “When it’s all gone, you don’t realise what you’ve got. When I was playing NSW Cup, I was like ‘This is not where I belong, this is not where I want to be’. I came into training and just put my best foot forward.”

    Xerri thanked his teammates for checking in on his mental health throughout the stretch, saying “it was good to be back where I belong” after his stint in the lower grade. Against Penrith, he set up a try on his preferred left edge, but stressed he is willing to adapt to any role the coaching staff needs, even playing on the right side when Crichton returns from injury.

    “I definitely feel more natural on the left,” he admitted. “But I am capable of doing the job on the right. Ciro has spoken about that. I’ve always said to Ciro that I’ll do what’s best for the team, so wherever he wants to put me, that’s where I’ll play.”

    With one year remaining on his current contract, Xerri reaffirmed his intention to see out the full deal at Belmore. For his part, Ciraldo said he was thrilled with Xerri’s performance and maturity in his first game back, highlighting an underrated improvement that flew under the radar for spectators.

    “The most pleasing thing which no one would have seen is how well he was communicating out there. The players in there were all talking about that, and that was something he needed to go and work on,” Ciraldo said. “People in the stands might not see that or value that as much as we do, but it’s awesome to see that he’s brought that into his game.”

  • Bendigo Bank signals third interest rate hike for 2026 won’t be until August

    Bendigo Bank signals third interest rate hike for 2026 won’t be until August

    In a provocative deviation from consensus economic forecasts among Australia’s largest financial institutions, Bendigo Bank has staked out a contrarian position, predicting a third Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cash rate increase will land in August 2026 rather than the May timeline widely expected by the country’s biggest banks. The unusual forecast comes alongside the regional lender’s strong quarterly profit results that have lifted its stock, even as it cuts hundreds of roles to align with new long-term tech partnerships.

    Bendigo Bank’s chief economist David Robertson outlined the forecast in a public statement Tuesday, confirming that the bank joins the broader market in expecting the RBA to hold interest rates steady at its upcoming May monetary policy meeting. But unlike rival national lenders ANZ, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank, which all project a 25-basis point hike at the May gathering, Robertson said persistent economic pressures tied to global energy market disruptions will force the RBA to act three months later.

    The RBA last lifted the cash rate by 25 basis points at its March meeting, pushing the benchmark rate to 4.1% amid ongoing efforts to cool stubbornly high inflation. Robertson noted that the RBA’s May decision will hinge on how policymakers balance the risks of supply-demand imbalances stemming from the ongoing Middle East conflict against the threat of tipping the domestic economy into a technical recession.

    The call for a delayed rate hike, Robertson explained, is rooted in two competing forces shaping Australia’s current economic trajectory: a surprisingly resilient domestic labour market that has kept consumer spending steady, and growing inflationary risks spurred by geopolitical tension in the Middle East. With key global shipping chokepoint the Strait of Hormuz facing ongoing disruption amid regional conflict, Bendigo Bank warns that constrained energy supplies and sustained elevated commodity prices will create a domino effect that keeps inflation above the RBA’s 2-3% target range. Robertson added that all global energy shocks carry inherent risk of stagflation, a toxic combination of slow growth and persistent rising prices that would force central bank action.

    The interest rate forecast was released alongside a separate major announcement from Bendigo Bank this week, confirming the lender would cut a significant share of its workforce after locking in multi-million-dollar long-term partnership deals with global technology services firms Infosys and Genpact. The partnerships run for seven and six years respectively, with the bank stating the agreements will bring specialized expertise in process optimization and delivery, boost long-term productivity, and strengthen the bank’s enterprise risk management frameworks.

    Despite the controversy of workforce cuts, Australian equity markets reacted positively to the bank’s updates. Bendigo Bank ranked among the top-performing stocks on the Australian Securities Exchange following the announcements, climbing 8.41% in intraday trading. The regional lender also delivered better-than-expected financial results for the March quarter, reporting cash profit of $138 million that beat consensus market forecasts by 12%, reinforcing investor confidence in the bank’s strategic shift.

  • ‘I’m not ashamed’: Scott Sorensen tipped to lead the Bears next year as Panthers veteran reveals emotional meeting where tears flowed

    ‘I’m not ashamed’: Scott Sorensen tipped to lead the Bears next year as Panthers veteran reveals emotional meeting where tears flowed

    As the Penrith Panthers enter the final stretch of another competitive NRL season, one of their most beloved veteran forwards is preparing to close a cherished chapter of his career, with an iconic new leadership opportunity waiting on Australia’s west coast. Thirty-three-year-old Scott Sorensen, a four-time premiership champion with the Panthers since joining the club in 2021, confirmed he will depart Penrith at the end of the current season to join newly expanded NRL franchise Perth Bears on a two-year deal. Industry insiders and teammates alike have already thrown their full support behind Sorensen to take up the historic role of the Bears’ first ever club captain, when the side makes its competition debut in 2025.

    The news of Sorensen’s departure delivered an emotional moment for the entire Panthers squad last week, when the fan-favourite forward gathered his teammates to share his decision. In comments made to reporters ahead of this weekend’s NRL double-header in Perth, Sorensen opened up about the raw, tearful meeting, making no attempt to hide the depth of his connection to the Penrith organisation. “Absolutely there were tears. I’m not ashamed of that at all,” Sorensen said. “It was tough. Everyone in this organisation knows how much I love this place. That’s why saying I was leaving hit me so hard.”

    Despite the sadness of leaving a club where he has built so many memories and claimed four of the league’s top titles, Sorensen said he remains grateful for his time in Penrith and enthusiastic about the next step of his career. “I’ve been given an incredible opportunity to join the Bears and I’m very excited about that,” he explained. “I’m absolutely so grateful and love my journey here, and I continue to enjoy my journey here. So it was very difficult and very emotional, but I’ve still got a few games yet, so I’m going to enjoy those.”

    Sorensen revealed he had been weighing up the move since the Christmas holiday period, noting that proximity to his wife’s family based in Western Australia was a major factor in his final decision to accept the Bears’ offer. For the expansion franchise, which has been steadily building its inaugural playing squad over the past 18 months, sports analysts compare Sorensen’s expected leadership role to that of experienced veteran Jesse Bromwich, who anchored the Dolphins during their successful expansion entry into the NRL.

    Teammates have been quick to praise Sorensen’s leadership credentials and back his potential as the Bears’ first captain. Paul Alamoti, a young Panthers centre who credits Sorensen with shaping his early NRL career, said the announcement of Sorensen’s departure moved the entire squad. “When I first came into the NRL squad, he was the leader among the left edge and I slotted into that position outside him, and he pushed me to my limits,” Alamoti recalled. “When he broke the news to the squad as a whole, I did get touched by it because his influence on my career has been immense. I have no doubt he’d be a great captain. He has so much passion and he’s a true competitor.”

    Like all expansion sports franchises, the Perth Bears face lingering questions about whether their newly assembled squad can compete at the highest level from their first season, particularly as the club has not yet signed a high-profile marquee player. Sorensen, however, is unflinching about the scale of the challenge ahead, framing it as an exciting new adventure that echoes his 2021 move to Penrith, when he stepped into an unknown environment that ultimately led to multiple premiership wins.

    “I’m not going to shy away from that,” Sorensen said. “We know it’s a massive challenge going into the unknown, which I understand. But I suppose in a way, I went into the unknown coming here at Penrith in 2021. I didn’t know what was going to happen, and that was exciting, that was motivating. I guess it’s the same thing going to the Perth Bears. Being given an opportunity and going into the unknown a little bit, that’s exciting and that’s something I’m looking forward to.”

  • German leader says he does not want Nato to ‘split’ over war on Iran

    German leader says he does not want Nato to ‘split’ over war on Iran

    A growing rift is tearing at the foundations of the 76-year-old NATO alliance, after U.S. President Donald Trump escalated threats to impose consequences on member states that refuse to deploy military forces to the Strait of Hormuz amid America’s ongoing war with Iran, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz publicly pushing back against any potential fragmentation of the bloc.

    In a press briefing Thursday, Merz stressed that maintaining NATO unity remains a top priority for Berlin, emphasizing the alliance’s non-negotiable role as the cornerstone of European security. “We do not want — I do not want — NATO to split. NATO is a guarantor of our security, including and above all in Europe,” Merz told reporters. His remarks underscore the unprecedented strain Trump’s push to drag the alliance into a Middle Eastern conflict has placed on the transatlantic security bloc.

    Tensions boiled over shortly after Trump held a White House meeting Wednesday with new NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, with the U.S. president launching a blistering public attack on the alliance in a social media post. “NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN. REMEMBER GREENLAND, THAT BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE!!! President DJT,” the post read.

    Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister who took the alliance’s top job earlier this year, drew widespread backlash earlier this year after referring to Trump as “daddy” in a public remark. When pressed on the comment Thursday, the secretary general framed the choice of wording as a translation error, but did not back away from his warm stance toward the U.S. leader, adding “I like him so much.”

    Long labeled a “Trump whisperer” for his consistent approach of appeasing the U.S. president, Rutte faced renewed criticism this week for his response to questions about Trump’s public vow to destroy Iran’s civilization. Asked by CNN for his reaction, the NATO chief declined to criticize the remark, saying only: “I’m not commenting. I support the president.”

    Foreign policy analysts argue Rutte’s accommodating stance stems from a desperate bid to preserve the alliance amid broader tensions, as the Trump administration openly toys with cutting off U.S. military support for Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion. In comments after the White House meeting, Rutte acknowledged the discussions were tense, describing the talks as “very frank” and “very open” when addressing Trump’s long list of grievances against NATO members. “He is clearly disappointed with many NATO allies, and I can see his point,” Rutte told CNN.

    Trump first publicly demanded earlier this year that NATO contribute military forces to joint U.S. operations to seize control of the Strait of Hormuz from Iran. The U.S. president has repeatedly argued that since the U.S. imports very little Gulf energy, with Asian and European economies accounting for the vast majority of the region’s oil and gas exports, those states should take primary responsibility for securing the waterway. “You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the USA won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!” Trump wrote in a social media post last month.

    The U.S. call for involvement has been met with sharp pushback from multiple major European NATO members, revealing deep divisions within the bloc. Spain has closed its airspace to U.S. warplanes bound for the Middle East, while Italy has denied U.S. military aircraft permission to land at a key Sicilian base en route to the region. According to Trump, France has also barred U.S. planes carrying military equipment to Israel from accessing its airspace. French President Emmanuel Macron has publicly rejected Trump’s push for NATO to join offensive operations in Hormuz, directly calling the proposal “unrealistic.”

    The Trump administration’s anger at reluctant members has grown in recent weeks, with senior U.S. officials already signaling breaks with long-standing NATO security commitments. Last week, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth declined to explicitly reaffirm U.S. commitment to NATO’s Article 5, the core collective defense provision that states an attack on one member is an attack on all.

    White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt doubled down on the administration’s criticism Wednesday, arguing that the Iran war has put NATO to the test — and that the alliance has failed. “NATO allies have turned their backs on the American people,” Leavitt said.

    Ian Lesser, vice president of the German Marshall Fund in the U.S., previously told Middle East Eye that the White House’s grievances are largely disconnected from the perspective of most European capitals. “There is a basic concern that Europe is being asked to contribute to and approve of operations they had no role in shaping and a strategy they had no role in shaping,” he explained. “That’s not a good recipe for cooperation.”

    Not all European states have rejected the U.S. push, however. The White House has singled out several members that have offered full cooperation, with Greece granting U.S. forces access to its airspace and strategic Mediterranean ports. After the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier departed the Red Sea following an unexplained fire, the vessel docked for repairs at Greece’s Souda Bay naval base in Crete. Similarly, Romania has allowed the U.S. to use key military facilities for operations targeting Iran, according to a Stars and Stripes report.

    A Wall Street Journal report published Wednesday evening revealed the Trump administration is now planning a system of rewards and punishments for NATO members based on their support for the Iran war. The report stated the U.S. could withdraw American troops from uncooperative states and reposition those forces in allied countries that have backed the campaign. Poland, Romania, Lithuania and Greece are expected to see increased U.S. military presence under the plan, while Spain and Germany could face full closure of existing American military bases.

    For most European governments, particularly Eastern European states that share a border with Russia, the U.S. military presence on their territory has long been viewed as a critical security guarantee against Russian aggression. Trump has spent years pressing European capitals to increase their own defense spending, arguing the U.S. carries too much of the alliance’s cost burden.

  • North Korea and China agree to deepen cooperation in talks between foreign ministers

    North Korea and China agree to deepen cooperation in talks between foreign ministers

    On Friday, state media outlets from both China and North Korea released details of a high-profile diplomatic meeting between the two nations’ top foreign policy officials, where the sides committed to expanding bilateral exchanges and holding extensive, targeted discussions on pressing global affairs.

    The meeting marked a key milestone for China-North Korea diplomacy: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday for his first visit to the country in seven years. According to China’s official Xinhua News Agency, Wang and his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui held in-depth talks on major current international and regional issues, though the specific subjects covered were not disclosed in the official readouts. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency added that the two ministers also agreed to reinforce strategic communication between their respective foreign affairs institutions. Notably, neither official release mentioned whether discussions touched on the United States or ongoing conflicts such as the Middle East war.

    Wang’s visit comes ahead of a widely anticipated rescheduled summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, scheduled to take place in Beijing this May.

    The bilateral relationship between China and North Korea has long been framed by the iconic description “as close as lips and teeth,” but the stability of their ties has faced increased scrutiny in recent years. Over the course of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, North Korea has moved to deepen its partnership with Moscow, reportedly providing troops and ammunition to support Russia’s military campaign. By contrast, China has signaled reluctance to enter a formal anti-Western alliance alongside North Korea and Russia.

    Despite these shifting geopolitical currents, both Pyongyang and Beijing have made visible efforts to reinforce their bilateral alignment in recent months. Last September, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first bilateral summit in more than six years, during which the two leaders issued a formal pledge of mutual support. Just last month, the two countries also restored direct passenger flight and train services between their territories, which had been fully suspended after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

  • US military bases in Gulf ‘useless’ after Iranian strikes, experts say

    US military bases in Gulf ‘useless’ after Iranian strikes, experts say

    A group of leading Middle East policy experts warned Thursday that extensive damage to over a dozen U.S. military installations across the Gulf region from Iran’s retaliatory strikes has flipped the strategic calculus of America’s decades-long military presence in the area – turning long-held security assets into major liabilities that create more risk than they mitigate.

    Details of the severe damage to the bases, which multiple outlets have described as effectively uninhabitable, were first revealed in a New York Times report last month, but the Trump administration has still not publicly confirmed the full scope of the destruction.

    Speaking at the Arab Center Washington DC’s annual conference, Marc Lynch, director of George Washington University’s Project on Middle East Political Science, called the bases the physical foundation of decades of American primacy in the Middle East, noting Iran effectively rendered that infrastructure useless in just one month. Lynch emphasized that U.S. officials have failed to release a full, transparent accounting of the damage sustained across the installations, which are tightly restricted by both the Pentagon and host Gulf nations including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman.

    Lynch shared that regional contacts have shared on-the-ground imagery of damage to Naval Support Activity Bahrain, the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet that hosts roughly 9,000 U.S. military personnel. He argued that the widespread damage to regional bases has made the strategic position of the Fifth Force in Bahrain untenable, saying the risk of further attacks is too great to reestablish a full permanent presence there. “So in a sense, the entire purpose of ‘America’s Middle East’ has come crashing down [and] we don’t have an alternative way yet of articulating or thinking about what might replace it,” Lynch added.

    In total, 19 publicly acknowledged U.S. military sites are spread across the broader Middle East, stretching from Egypt to Iraq and from northern Syria to southern Oman, holding up to 50,000 total U.S. service members. The U.S. military presence in the region dates to the late 1950s, but the large-scale network of active bases in the Gulf took shape after the 1990 Gulf War, built on a long-standing core agreement: the U.S. would provide security guarantees to Gulf states in exchange for access to energy resources and a stable petrodollar system.

    That decades-old arrangement has now collapsed following the recent wave of Iranian strikes that came in response to U.S. and Israeli attacks, experts say. Gulf states have been forced to drain their air defense interceptor stockpiles, shut down civilian airports and schools, and suffer major damage to key energy production facilities, eroding any remaining benefits of the security agreement for host nations.

    Shana R Marshall, associate director of George Washington University’s Institute for Middle East Studies, told the conference that as the benefits of the transactional relationship between the U.S. and Gulf states have eroded sharply, the bilateral relationship is inevitably fraying. Marshall noted that tensions over U.S. basing are not new, pointing to the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing that killed 19 U.S. service members in Saudi Arabia, and al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden’s long-stated core grievance over the permanent presence of U.S. troops in the Gulf. “Close relations with the U.S., whether it’s U.S. military bases or promoting normalisation with Israel, or enforcing U.S. sanctions or maintaining the dollar peg of their currencies, is less a benefit now than actually a liability,” Marshall explained.

    Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, added that the seven-week escalation has made clear Gulf states can no longer count on the U.S. as a reliable security partner, a sentiment amplified by the recent ceasefire deal that failed to explicitly end Iranian attacks on U.S.-linked assets across the Gulf. The omission has left many Gulf leaders feeling betrayed, Parsi said.

    “Those bases were not a deterrent against Iranian attacks. Instead, they became the target of those attacks. They became magnets for those attacks, and as a result, reliance on the American security umbrella really seems to be in shatters,” Parsi explained.

    Parsi outlined one likely outcome of this shift: disillusioned Gulf states that cannot reach a new security accommodation with Iran may pivot toward Israel as an alternative security partner. Unlike the 2020 Abraham Accords, which were anchored by explicit U.S. security guarantees, Parsi said this potential shift could happen even without major new concessions from the U.S., driven purely by Gulf states’ loss of faith in American security commitments. “There may be some sort of a gravitation towards Israel among some of these [Gulf] states, if they believe that they either cannot or do not want to find a new relationship with Iran,” he added.