Donald Trump’s MAGA base appears to be in revolt over his administration’s Epstein findings. During the election, Trump promised to release the Epstein files but now says they don’t exist. Soraya Lennie explains the fallout.
Published On 18 Jul 202518 Jul 2025
For an entire decade now, Donald Trump has been immune to alienating his supporters — a base so loyal they’d drink bleach if he told them it would own the libs (and some probably did).
Stormy Daniels? A spiritual growth opportunity for evangelicals to witness a modern-day King David. Inciting a Capitol riot? Boosted his Q-rating (not to mention his QAnon rating). Bombing Iran? Sure, a few “America First” types grumbled into their microphones about endless wars before dutifully moving on.
Trump himself bragged he could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue, shoot somebody and not lose a single voter. He was right.
But the current wave of intra-MAGA criticism — over the Trump administration’s defensive insistence that Jeffrey Epstein (a) definitely committed suicide, and (b) never had a client list — feels categorically different.
Trump can usually smother an inconvenient news cycle by tossing a fresh carcass on the table, be it a deranged Truth Social post or a threat to jail an enemy.
This time, however, his suggestion that Rosie O’Donnell should have her citizenship revoked barely registered above ambient noise, as the mob kept hammering him over his refusal to release the Epstein files. His latest weapon of mass distraction is a not-so-subtle hint that he might fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. But even that hasn’t managed to shift the spotlight away from Epstein.
Having failed at distraction, Trump reverted to bullying. He scolded the press for dredging up old news (“Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?”) He took to Truth Social to tell his MAGA supporters not to “waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein.” He absurdly claimed the Epstein files were a “scam” and a “hoax” made up by Democrats, and described the folks who “bought into this bull—” as “weaklings” and his “PAST supporters.”
These efforts tamed some of the criticism inside the MAGA tent. But for others, it only reinforced the perception of a cover-up.
So why has the Epstein scandal — of all things — threatened civil war on the right? I have some thoughts.
First: It speaks to where the passions of MAGA really lie. For some percentage of Trump supporters, exposing the satanic, blood-drinking pedophile cabal was supposed to be the deliverable — his raison d’être — the payoff.
Instead they got, what, corporate tax cuts?
Second: The Epstein narrative is too lurid and concrete to be handwaved away. Epstein really was a sex trafficker. There really are those photographs of him palling around with Trump. He really was on “suicide watch.” Minutes really are missing from the surveillance video near Epstein’s cell. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi really did say on Fox News in February that Epstein’s client list was “sitting on my desk right now.” You don’t need to be in a tin-foil hat to notice the fishiness here.
And third: The incentives have changed for MAGA influencers. Trump finally feels like a lame duck, and the knives are out, not just to inherit the throne, but for the whole spoils system of the MAGA grift.
To be clear, plenty of the usual sycophants have decided to “trust the plan” and go along with the party line. But others — Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nick Fuentes and assorted alt-right B-listers — seem to have caught the scent of blood in the water.
Even the new cohort of MAGA-adjacent bro podcasters — guys like Andrew Schulz — have started to openly criticize him. Schulz recently called Trump’s failure to release the Epstein files “insulting our intelligence,” which, for that demographic, is tantamount to open revolt.
Here, Trump could really face some attrition. Unlike the evangelical core, these manosphere podcasters (and their legions of young male listeners) are not partisans or ideologues; their support for Trump has always been more middle finger than mission. And middle fingers, as everyone eventually learns, can be directed at new targets anytime.
So how does this end?
Eventually, this story will be suppressed or at least professionally ignored. But it won’t be fully memory-holed. It will linger somewhere between subliminal and ubiquitous, in much the same way that George W. Bush never fully escaped the stench of those nonexistent WMDs (even after Republicans agreed to stay the course).
So Trump survives — but he carries with him a dormant virus that could flare up again.
There’s a certain irony here that’s almost too obvious to point out, except that it’s also irresistible: Trump built an entire ecology of paranoia — a system that rewards its most theatrical paranoids. He spent years feeding his ravenous base suspicion and spectacle. And it worked. Until he finally got out-conspiracy-theoried.
Even the best carnival barker runs out of new tricks eventually. And when the crowd starts peeking behind the curtain, the spell is broken, and the jig is up.
Matt K. Lewis is the author of “Filthy Rich Politicians” and “Too Dumb to Fail.”
After a raucous night out in my 20s, the real afterparty was always at BCD Tofu House — hunched over bubbling Korean tofu stew and a sizzling-hot stone bowl of steamed rice. After I’d scooped most of it out, a server would pour warm tea into the bowl, loosening the rice clinging stubbornly to the bottom. Scraping up those crispy-chewy bits of scorched rice, known in Korean as nurungji, quickly became my favorite part of the meal.
Long before electric rice cookers, Koreans traditionally cooked rice over an open flame in an iron cauldron called a gamasot. As it steamed, the bottom layer would crisp up against the hot metal, forming golden-brown nurungji.
“Today, nurungji simply means the crispy layer of rice that forms at the bottom of any pot or cooking appliance,” says Sarah Ahn, who co-wrote the Korean cookbook “Umma” with her mother, Nam Soon Ahn. “Personally, and within Korean culture, I see nurungji as a deeply nostalgic food, especially for Koreans of my mom’s generation.”
Chef and cookbook author Debbie Lee adds, “Sometimes it’s intentional, sometimes it’s from overcooking — what I call a great culinary accident.”
Korea isn’t alone in its love for scorched rice. Persian tahdig is the crust that forms at the bottom of the pot, flipped and served with the crispy layer on top. Chinese guoba is crispy rice paired with saucy stir-fries to soak up every bit of flavor. In West Africa, kanzo refers to the caramelized layer left behind after cooking, often found in dishes like jollof rice. Spain’s socarrat forms the base of well-executed paella.
And in Korea, nurungji is endlessly versatile — enjoyed on its own, steeped in hot water or tea as sungnyung (thought to be a soothing palate cleanser and digestive aid), or transformed into nurungji-tang, where the rice becomes the crunchy base for a light broth with seafood or vegetables.
With its nutty, toasted flavor that highlights the grain’s natural aroma, nurungji is comfort food born out of practicality. “Like so much of Korean food, it represents our resourcefulness — nothing goes to waste! — and our ability to find flavor in humble things,” says Sarah. Rather than discarding it, Koreans embraced the crunchy layer as a snack or meal.
“My parents are from Pyongyang and fled during the war,” says Lee. “My mother told me that they’d find an abandoned house to rest in, and nine times out of 10, there was rice. They lived off porridge, steamed rice, and ultimately nurungji as a snack.”
SeongHee Jeong, chef and co-owner of Koreatown’s Borit Gogae, remembers eating it sprinkled with sugar — a delicious treat when sweets were scarce. While there’s no single way to make it today, Sarah and her mom swear by the traditional method. “Nothing compares to the flavor of rice cooked in a gamasot over a wood fire,” Sarah says. “That taste is so iconic, you’ll even find packaged snacks trying to replicate it.”
In L.A., some restaurants keep it old-school by serving nurungji simply steeped in tea or hot water, while others are getting creative with it. Think: nurungji risotto at Jilli, an iced nurungji crema at Bodega Park or a fried chicken and nurungi dish at Fanny’s. At her Joseon pop-up last year, Lee even spun it into a nurungji crème brûlée.
“It’s truly amazing how humble ingredients born from hardship always find their way back,” says Sarah.
Here are 13 of the best restaurants in L.A. serving nurungji in both traditional and unexpected ways.
Iran has attacked United States forces stationed at the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, saying it was retaliating against the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.
The attacks on Monday were confirmed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in a statement addressed to the Iranian people.
Consecutive flares, coupled with loud explosions, were seen in Qatar’s capital, Doha, and other parts of the country.
Here’s what to know about the Iranian attacks in Qatar.
The IRGC, in its statement, said it launched a “powerful and devastating missile attack” as part of Operation Annunciation of Victory in response to the “blatant military aggression” by the US on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The IRGC also said its “decisive action” sent a message to the White House and its allies that Iran would, “under no circumstances, leave any aggression against its territorial integrity, sovereignty, or national security unanswered”.
“US bases and mobile military assets in the region are not points of strength, but rather major vulnerabilities,” the statement warned.
Iran said it targeted the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar because it “serves as the command centre of the US Air Force and is the largest strategic asset of the American terrorist army in West Asia”.
Tehran also noted that the missile strike was conducted away from residential areas in Qatar.
“This action does not pose any threat to the friendly and brotherly country, Qatar, and its noble people, and the Islamic Republic of Iran remains committed to maintaining and continuing warm and historic relations with Qatar,” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said in a statement.
Al Udeid is the largest US military base in the Middle East, housing approximately 10,000 US troops.
The 24-hectare (60-acre) base, located in the desert southwest of Doha, was set up in 1996. It serves as the forward headquarters for US Central Command, which directs US military operations in a huge swath of territory stretching from Egypt in the west to Kazakhstan in the east.
The base houses the Qatar Emiri Air Force, the US Air Force, the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force and other foreign forces.
A US defence official, quoted by the Reuters news agency, said that “Al Udeid Air Base was attacked by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles originating from Iran”.
Qatar’s Ministry of Defence, meanwhile, said its air defence systems successfully intercepted the Iranian missiles targeting the base.
Qatar said it received information that bases in the region are being targeted, including Al Udeid Air Base.
“At 7:30pm (1630 GMT), we received reports that seven missiles were launched from Iran toward Al Udeid Air Base,” Qatari officials said in a briefing later on Monday.
They confirmed that Al Udeid Air Base was evacuated before the attack.
Its Foreign Ministry decried the attack, saying it is a “violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and airspace and the UN charter”, and that Doha reserves the right to respond.
Qatar’s Defence Ministry confirmed that the incident resulted in no deaths or injuries.
In a later press briefing, Qatar’s Ministry of Interior confirmed that a total of 19 missiles were fired from Iran. It added that only one of those hit Al Udeid Air Base, but caused no casualties.
“We are proud of the response to today’s attack and no damage was reported,” Qatari officials said.
In the hours leading up to the attack, the embassies of the US and the UK in Qatar released statements urging citizens in Qatar to shelter in place until further notice.
However, the advisory was lifted a few hours after the attacks had ceased.
Several British, American and European schools in the country said they would remain closed on Tuesday.
Qatar’s Ministry of Education said all exams set to take place on Tuesday had been rescheduled for Wednesday.
During its briefing, Qatar’s Ministry of Interior said the situation in the country was “completely stable” and that all authorities are working in coordination to ensure the safety of the public.
Jabr al-Naimi from Qatar’s Public Security said the safety of citizens, residents, and residents is of the “utmost priority”.
“We will not allow any international or external crisis or conflict to affect our life in Qatar,” he said in a televised press conference.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry also said life is going back to “normal” following the attack, and has reiterated its call for warring parties to negotiate.
Qatar shut down its airspace temporarily, saying it was “part of the measures taken to ensure the safety of residents and visitors.”
It was reopened more than five hours later.
Iran fired missiles at the US’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, saying it was retaliation for recent American strikes on its nuclear facilities. Qatar intercepted the missiles and said it reserves the right to respond “to this blatant aggression in accordance with international law.” No casualties were reported.
Published On 23 Jun 202523 Jun 2025
Iran has launched an attack on a United States military base in Qatar in retaliation for US strikes on several key Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend.
No injuries have yet been reported after Iran on Monday fired a missile barrage targeting the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which had been evacuated and was protected by Qatari air defences.
While some analysts believe the relatively limited Iranian response signals a desire to de-escalate tensions with the US, numerous countries have strongly condemned the attack.
Here are some of the statements released by various countries in response.
Posting on the Truth Social social media platform, US President Donald Trump wrote: “Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered. There have been 14 missiles fired — 13 were knocked down, and 1 was ‘set free,’ because it was headed in a nonthreatening direction. I am pleased to report that NO Americans were harmed, and hardly any damage was done. Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE. I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured. Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
“Advisor to the Prime Minister and Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari expressed the State of Qatar’s strong condemnation of the attack that targeted Al-Udeid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and considered this a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar, its airspace, international law, and the United Nations Charter.
“He affirmed that Qatar reserves the right to respond directly in a manner equivalent with the nature and scale of this brazen aggression, in line with international law.”
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses its condemnation and denunciation, in the strongest terms possible, [of] the aggression launched by Iran against the brotherly State of Qatar, which constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and the principles of good neighborliness, and an entirely unacceptable act that cannot be justified under any circumstances.”
“The United Arab Emirates condemned in the strongest terms the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s targeting of Al Udeid Air Base in the sisterly State of Qatar, considering it a flagrant violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and airspace, and a clear contravention of international law and the UN Charter. The UAE affirmed its categorical rejection of any attack that threatens the security and safety of Qatar and undermines the security and stability of the region.”
“The Kingdom of Bahrain affirms its full support for the sisterly State of Qatar following the Iranian attack on its territory.
“The Kingdom of Bahrain also expresses its full solidarity with the sisterly State of Qatar, as required by the bond of brotherhood and blood, which confirms the solidarity of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in these sensitive circumstances the region is going through to exert the necessary efforts to exercise self-restraint, avoid escalation, and resolve all disputes through peaceful means.”
“The State of Kuwait expresses its strong condemnation and denunciation of the attacks targeting Al Udeid Air Base in the sisterly State of Qatar by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. This attack constitutes a flagrant violation of Qatari sovereignty and airspace, as well as of international law and the United Nations Charter. It constitutes a dangerous escalation that threatens peace, security, and stability in the region.
“The State of Kuwait affirms its full support for the brothers in the sisterly State of Qatar, its leadership, government and people, and its full support for all measures taken to preserve its sovereignty, security and stability, including its right to respond directly in a manner commensurate with the magnitude of this blatant aggression.”
President Emmanuel Macron issued a statement saying: “France’s solidarity [is] with Qatar, which has been struck by Iran on its soil. I am in close contact with the country’s authorities and our partners in the region. I call on all parties to exercise the utmost restraint, de-escalate, and return to the negotiating table. This spiral of chaos must end.”
Posting on the social media platform X, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wrote: “We didn’t harm anyone. And we will not accept any harassment from anyone under any circumstances. And we will not submit to anyone’s harassment; This is the logic of the Iranian nation.”
Iran has responded to the United States’ direct involvement in the Iran-Israel conflict by targeting its military assets in the Middle East.
On Monday, Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced that bases used by US forces “in the region or elsewhere” could be attacked in retaliation for US attacks on Iran’s underground nuclear sites the previous day.
Later that evening, explosions were heard over Qatar’s capital, Doha, as Iran attacked Al Udeid Air Base, the largest US military base in the Middle East.
Here’s everything you need to know about Al Udeid:
Gas-rich Qatar, which lies 190km (120 miles) south of Iran across the Gulf, is home to the US’s largest military base in the region, Al Udeid.
The 24-hectare (60-acre) base, in the desert outside the capital Doha, was set up in 1996 and is the forward headquarters for US Central Command, which directs US military operations in a huge swathe of territory stretching from Egypt in the west to Kazakhstan in the east.
It houses the Qatar Emiri Air Force, the US Air Force, the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force, and other foreign forces.
It houses around 10,000 troops.
Earlier this year, The Hill, a Washington, DC-based newspaper, reported that Al Udeid’s “long, well-maintained runways enable rapid deployment, making it a critical component of US force projection”.
The Hill also reported that Qatar’s investment in Al Udeid has kept it “at the forefront of military readiness while saving US taxpayers billions of dollars”. Over the years, it said, Qatar had spent more than $8bn upgrading infrastructure.
The base has played a central role in air campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in humanitarian missions, including the 2021 evacuation of Kabul.
On Monday, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry announced it had temporarily closed its airspace amid threats of Iranian retaliation.
“The competent authorities announce the temporary suspension of air traffic in the country’s airspace, as part of a set of precautionary measures taken based on developments in the region,” the ministry said.
The closure came several hours after the US and UK embassies urged their citizens in Qatar to shelter in place out of what it said was “an abundance of caution”.
Later, news agency Reuters cited a Western diplomat as saying there had been a credible Iranian threat against Al Udeid since noon on Monday.
That evening, Qatar’s Defence Minister, cited by Al Jazeera, said the country’s air defences had intercepted missiles directed at Al Udeid.
Before targeting Iran’s nuclear sites, it appears that the US started taking precautionary measures.
As US President Donald Trump mulled direct involvement in the Iran-Israel conflict, news agency AFP reported that dozens of US military aircraft were no longer on the tarmac at the air base, basing its assessment on satellite images published by Planet Labs PBC.
Nearly 40 military aircraft – including transport planes like the Hercules C-130 and reconnaissance aircraft – were parked on the tarmac at the base, the regional headquarters of the Pentagon’s Central Command, on June 5. But in an image taken on June 19, only three aircraft were visible.
One US official who spoke to Reuters said aircraft that were not in hardened shelters had been moved from Al Udeid base. Additionally, he said US Navy vessels had been moved from a port in Bahrain, where the US military’s 5th fleet is located.
“It is not an uncommon practice,” the official said. “Force protection is the priority.”
No.
Prior to the US attack on nuclear sites on Sunday, it was reported that B-2 bombers were heading to Guam – a ruse, as it turned out.
As all eyes looked West, seven B-2 stealth bombers took off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri in the US at 00:01 EDT (04:01 GMT), according to the Pentagon. The top-secret flights flew straight over the Atlantic to Iran.
None of the US bases in the Middle East were deployed in the US offensive on Iran.
Qatar condemned the attack on the air base, calling it a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty.
“We express the State of Qatar’s strong condemnation of the attack on Al Udeid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and consider it a flagrant violation of the State of Qatar’s sovereignty and airspace, as well as of international law,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said in a statement.
Iran and Qatar enjoy fraternal diplomatic relations. Qatar has condemned the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.
The home secretary will move to proscribe Palestine Action group in the coming weeks, effectively branding them as a terrorist organisation, the BBC understands.
Yvette Cooper is preparing a written statement before Parliament on Monday – which if passed will make becoming a member of the group illegal.
The decision comes as a security review begins at military bases across the UK, after pro-Palestinian activists broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire and sprayed two military planes with red paint.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned the action as “disgraceful,” describing it as an “act of vandalism”.
South East counter terrorism police confirmed its specialist officers were investigating the incident alongside Thames Valley Police and the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Counter-terrorism police added the incident happened in the early hours of Friday and that enquiries were “ongoing to establish the exact circumstances”.
Footage posted online by Palestine Action on Friday showed two people inside the Oxfordshire airbase in darkness, with one riding on a scooter up to an Airbus Voyager and spraying paint into its jet engine.
After sharing the footage, a Palestine Action spokesperson said: “Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel US and Israeli fighter jets.”
The group claimed its activists had evaded security and had put the air-to-air refuelling tankers “out of service”.
However RAF engineers have been assessing the damage, with a defence source earlier telling the BBC that they did not expect the incident would affect operations.
Thames Valley Police earlier said it had received a report about people gaining access to the base and causing criminal damage.
“Inquiries are ongoing to locate and arrest those responsible,” the force said.
It is understood this incident was not the first time the group has targeted military sites.
RAF Brize Norton serves as the hub for UK strategic air transport and refuelling, including flights to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. The air force has conducted reconnaissance flights over Gaza out of the Cyprus base.
Washington, DC – After taking the oath of office for his second term in January, United States President Donald Trump said he would push to “stop all wars” and leave a legacy of a “peacemaker and unifier”.
But six months in, missiles are flying across the Middle East after Israel attacked Iran, risking an all-out regional war that could drag US troops into the conflict.
The Israeli strikes on Iran, which Trump has all but explicitly endorsed, are now testing the president’s promise to be a harbinger of peace.
They are also dividing his base, with many right-wing politicians and commentators stressing that unconditional support for Israel is at odds with the “America First” platform on which Trump was elected.
“There is a very strong sense of betrayal and anger in many parts of the ‘America First’ base because they have truly turned against the idea of the US being involved in or supporting any such wars,” said Trita Parsi, executive vice president at the Quincy Institute, a US think tank that promotes diplomacy.
“They have largely turned sceptical of Israel, and they strongly believe that these types of wars are what cause Republican presidencies to become failures — and what causes their broader domestic agenda to be compromised.”
Several conservatives questioned the Israeli strikes on Friday, warning that the US must not be dragged into a war that does not serve its interests.
Influential conservative commentator Tucker Carlson — seen as a major figure in Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement — said the US should not support the “war-hungry government” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“If Israel wants to wage this war, it has every right to do so. It is a sovereign country, and it can do as it pleases. But not with America’s backing,” the Tucker Carlson Network morning newsletter read on Friday.
It added that a war with Iran could “fuel the next generation of terrorism” or lead to the killing of thousands of Americans in the name of a foreign agenda.
“It goes without saying that neither of those possibilities would be beneficial for the United States,” the newsletter said. “But there is another option: drop Israel. Let them fight their own wars.”
Republican Senator Rand Paul also cautioned against war with Iran and slammed hawkish neoconservatives in Washington.
“The American people overwhelming[ly] oppose our endless wars, and they voted that way when they voted for Donald Trump in 2024,” Paul wrote in a social media post.
“I urge President Trump to stay the course, keep putting America first, and to not join in any war between other countries.”
Right-wing Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene also sent a message suggesting that she opposes the strikes. She has previously cautioned Trump against attacking Iran based on Israeli assertions that Tehran is about to acquire a nuclear weapon.
“I’m praying for peace. Peace,” she wrote on X. “That’s my official position.”
While many of Israel’s supporters have cited the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, the government in Tehran has long denied pursuing a nuclear weapon. Trump’s own intelligence chief, Tulsi Gabbard, testified in March that the US “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon”.
Charlie Kirk, a key Republican activist and commentator who is a staunch Israel supporter, also voiced scepticism about engaging in a war with Iran.
“I can tell you right now, our MAGA base does not want a war at all whatsoever,” Kirk said on his podcast. “They do not want US involvement. They do not want the United States to be engaged in this.”
Hours before Israel started bombing Iran on Friday — targeting its military bases, nuclear facilities and residential buildings — Trump said that his administration was committed to diplomacy with Tehran.
“ Look, it’s very simple. Not complicated. Iran can not have a nuclear weapon. Other than that, I want them to be successful. We’ll help them be successful,” Trump said at a news conference on Thursday.
A sixth round of denuclearisation talks between US and Iranian officials was set to be held in Oman on Sunday.
Nevertheless, on Friday, Trump told reporters he had known about Israel’s attacks in advance. He did not indicate he had vetoed the bombing campaign, though Secretary of State Marco Rubio did describe Israel’s actions as “unilateral”.
Instead, Trump put the onus for the attacks on Iran, saying its officials should have heeded his calls to reach a deal to dismantle the country’s nuclear programme.
“I told them it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told, that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come,” Trump wrote in a social media post.
Parsi said that, at the outset, Trump wanted to reach a deal with Iran, but his demands for Tehran to end uranium enrichment led to a deadlock in the talks.
“Instead of pursuing the negotiations in a reasonable way, he adopted the zero enrichment goal, which predictably would lead to an impasse, which predictably the Israelis used to push him towards military strikes and escalation,” he told Al Jazeera.
Parsi added that he believed Trump engaged in deception over the past week by pushing diplomacy while knowing that the Israeli strikes were coming.
“Trump deliberately made statements in favour of diplomacy, in favour of not having Israel attack, leading everyone to think that, if there is an attack, it would happen after the six rounds of talks on Sunday,” he said. “Instead, it happened sooner.”
While the Israeli strikes garnered some criticism in Congress, many Republicans and Democrats cheered them on.
But a key part of Trump’s base has been a segment of the right wing that questions the US’s unconditional support for Israel.
“They really are representative of a solid constituency within the Republican Party, especially if you look at younger individuals,” said Jon Hoffman, research fellow in defence and foreign policy at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.
Hoffman pointed to a recent Pew Research Center survey that suggested 50 percent of Republicans under the age of 50 have an unfavourable view of Israel.
“Among the electorate itself, the American people are sick and tired of these endless wars,” he told Al Jazeera.
Foreign policy hawks who favour military interventions dominated the Republican Party during the presidency of George W Bush, who launched the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan in the aftermath of the attacks on September 11, 2001.
But those two conflicts proved to be disastrous. Thousands of US soldiers were killed, and many more were left with lasting physical and psychological scars. Critics also questioned whether the wars advanced US interests in the region — or set them back.
The nation-building project in Iraq, for instance, saw the rise of a government friendly to Iran and the emergence of groups deemed to be a threat to global security, including ISIL (ISIS).
In Afghanistan, meanwhile, the Taliban returned to power in 2021, almost exactly two decades after the group was ousted by US forces. The US-backed Afghan government quickly crumbled as American troops withdrew from the country.
During his campaign for re-election in 2024, Trump tapped into the anger that the two conflicts generated. On multiple occasions, he sketched an alternative timeline where, if he had been president, the collapse of the Afghan government would have never occurred.
“We wouldn’t have had that horrible situation in Afghanistan, the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country,” Trump said at one October 2024 rally in Detroit.
The US president also slammed his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris for her alliance with Dick Cheney, who served as Bush’s vice president, and his daughter Liz Cheney, criticising them as “war hawks”.
“Kamala is campaigning with Muslim-hating warmonger, Liz Cheney, who wants to invade practically every Muslim country on the planet,” Trump told another crowd in Novi, Michigan. He added that Dick Cheney “was responsible for invading the Middle East” and “killing millions”.
But critics say Trump’s posture towards the Israeli strikes in Iran risks embroiling him in his own Middle East conflict.
Hoffman, for instance, pointed to the closeness of the US-Israel relationship and the persistence of officials within the Republican Party who have been pushing for conflict with Iran for decades, like Senator Lindsey Graham.
“There is a tremendous risk of the United States being dragged into this war,” Hoffman said.
SAN DIEGO — Fernando Tatis Jr. sat in front of his locker late Monday night, assessing his San Diego Padres in the wake of an extra-inning loss to the Dodgers. He did not have much to say, but he did not have to say much.
“We can still play better,” he said. “It’s that simple.”
Tatis reached base three times Monday, but his OPS is 78 points below his career average. The Padres dropped the highly anticipated opener of the season series of baseball’s best rivalry by one run, but their most productive and healthy starting pitcher got hit hard, one of their relievers threw away a comebacker, one of their outfielders misread a line drive, and their shortstop lost a pop fly in the twilight.
Yet, after all that, the Padres (37-28) awoke Tuesday nine games over .500 and two games out of first place in the National League West. At this point last season, the Padres were one game under .500 and eight games out of first place.
The Padres rallied to clinch a postseason spot and came within one game of eliminating the Dodgers in the first round of the playoffs. Then came winter, with the Padres going into hibernation as the Dodgers signed most of the free world.
The Padres did not win the winter, by choice. That did not endear them to their fans, particularly not after the Dodgers took home a championship trophy because no one could beat L.A. in October.
There was a preseason fan fest in San Diego. It was decidedly not festive.
“I don’t think we were ever bad,” Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove said. “People see the additions of big name players for a lot of money and think that directly correlates to the ability to win.”
That is true for fans, and truer still for major league owners operating in markets far smaller than San Diego, refusing to spend and then pointing fingers at the Dodgers. The Padres earned a playoff payoff last season, and they have sold out 27 of 31 home dates so far this season.
San Diego’s Jackson Merrill celebrates after hitting an run-scoring double against the Dodgers in the 10th inning Monday.
(Orlando Ramirez / Associated Press)
“I don’t think the fans are wrong for feeling how they felt,” Musgrove said. “That’s just a natural, knee-jerk reaction to seeing everyone move and you not move.”
The Padres lost Tanner Scott, Jurickson Profar and Ha-Seong Kim over the winter. They lost Juan Soto, Blake Snell and Josh Hader the previous winter.
That would frighten any fan base.
The Padres traded Soto and got two New York Yankees relievers — Michael King and Randy Vasquez — that now start in San Diego. The Padres replaced Soto in the outfield with a minor league shortstop, Jackson Merrill, who should have been the NL rookie of the year.
They didn’t use Scott as a closer when they traded for him; Robert Suarez closed then and closes now. Gavin Sheets, signed to a minor league contract, has 11 home runs, more than anyone on the team besides Tatis.
The top four batters in the San Diego lineup — Tatis, Luis Arraez, Manny Machado and Merrill — can hold their own against the Dodgers’ quartet of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernández.
Utilityman Tyler Wade scoffed at the winter notion that the Padres might not fare as well this season.
“Look around our room, man,” Wade said. “We’ve got a super-talented bunch. We basically have the same team as last year — minus a couple of key pieces, obviously.”
The Padres’ catchers have a negative WAR. So do their left fielders, and their .248 on-base percentage is the lowest among any team’s left fielders.
The Angels’ Taylor Ward would be a nice fit here. A.J. Preller, the Padres’ president of baseball operations, is the rare executive who trades actual prospects. He’ll make the Padres better in the seven weeks between now and the trading deadline.
Said Musgrove: “The people in this room felt extremely confident in the staff, and in the belief that we have in A.J. to put a good product on the field and make adjustments as necessary throughout the year.”
What might distinguish the Padres from the Dodgers this season — and vice versa — is how many starting pitchers return from the injured list, and how effective they can be.
The Dodgers have Snell, Roki Sasaki, Tyler Glasnow and Tony Gonsolin on the injured list. The Padres have King, Musgrove and Yu Darvish on the injured list.
Darvish has yet to pitch this season but has resumed throwing bullpen sessions. King is expected to miss several weeks because of a pinched nerve. Musgrove, who had Tommy John surgery last October, is not expected to rejoin the rotation this season but is hopeful he can pitch in relief in the postseason, if the Padres get there.
The Dodgers’ relievers have thrown the most innings in the league. Both the Dodgers and Padres’ starters rank among the bottom five in innings pitched. The relievers for both teams are pitching very well, but too often.
Ultimately, lest the bullpen arms become injured and/or ineffective, the manager said, “We’re going to need some depth out of some starters.” (The manager was the Padres’ Mike Shildt, but it could just as easily have been the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts.)
And, amid all the hype and analysis surrounding the Dodgers and Padres, there is one little wrinkle: The Dodgers lead the NL West, but the team in second place is not the Padres. It’s the San Francisco Giants. Did someone say rivalry?
THE trainee, in his 20s, was confronted by a maniac who attempted to steal the pet two miles away from the Swinton Barracks in Tidworth, Wiltshire.
The incident on Friday afternoon sent shockwaves through the camp, though the young victim, who suffered a facial wound, is expected to make a full recovery.
It is understood that police are now investigating the attack.
It is not thought to be linked to the victim’s role in the Army.
A source said: “It was a random attack while he was out walking a dog.
“The attacker approached him and produced a knife, and demanded that he hand the dog over.
“Obviously he refused. The knifeman made a lunge at him, and he was wounded in the face.
“The attacker wouldn’t have known he was in the military, but obviously, with the threats soldiers face, this is still an alarming incident.”
Military sources said Wiltshire Police were investigating the incident as a civilian matter.
Swinton Barracks is a 320-acre military estate on the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain, which is regularly used for Army drills.
It houses two Royal Engineer regiments and two Signal regiments.
Wiltshire Police said: “At around 3.45pm on Friday, we received a report that an unknown suspect had approached a man walking a dog in woodland near Perham Down and attempted to snatch the lead of the dog.
“The victim, a man in his 20s, suffered a minor injury to his face during the incident.
“Our enquiries into the incident are ongoing.”
1
ST. LOUIS — The Dodgers’ offensive woes went from worrisome to a five-alarm emergency Saturday when they were lost their second game in less than 24 hours, falling 2-1 to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Nolan Gorman started the winning rally with a ground-rule double in the ninth. He gave way to pinch-runner Jose Barrero, who moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Pedro Pages before scoring on Nolan Arenado’s pinch-hit single off Dodgers reliever Ben Casparius (4-1) to end the game.
The Cardinals appeared to have won the game in the eighth when Alec Burleson hit a one-hop comebacker that ricocheted off Casparius with two out. Casparius chased after the ball and made a hurried throw to first that pulled Freddie Freeman off the bag, allowing Masyn Winn to race home.
But the Dodgers matched that in the ninth on consecutive one-out singles by Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts. Freeman then struck out swinging, but the ball got away from catcher Pedro Pages, allowing Ohtani to score to tie the game.
The Dodgers left 12 runners on base and were hitless in 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position. They are one for 25 with runners in scoring position in their two games in St. Louis.
The slump couldn’t come at a worst team for the Dodgers, who begin a three-game series Monday in San Diego. The Padres entered Saturday a game back of the Dodgers in the National League West.
The Dodgers wasted a splendid performance from starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who allowed four hits while striking out nine in six scoreless innings, lowing his earned-run average to 2.20.
No Japanese pitcher has ever led an American major league in ERA; the Cubs’ Yu Darvish came closest when his 2.01 mark in the COVID-shortened 2020 season was second-best in the National League. Only two NL pitchers have better marks than Yamamoto this season.
The right-hander won four ERA titles in seven seasons with Orix in the Japanese Pacific League. Only Kazuhisa Inao, who debuted in 1956, won more. Three times Yamamoto had ERAs under 1.69 and his career mark in Japan was 1.72 in 188 starts.
WASHINGTON — Migrants placed on a deportation flight originally bound for South Sudan are now being held in a converted shipping container on a U.S. naval base in Djibouti, where the men and their guards are contending with baking hot temperatures, smoke from nearby burn pits and the looming threat of rocket attacks, the Trump administration said.
Officials outlined grim conditions in court documents filed Thursday before a federal judge overseeing a lawsuit challenging Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts to swiftly remove migrants to countries they didn’t come from.
Authorities landed the flight at the base in Djibouti, about 1,000 miles from South Sudan, more than two weeks ago after U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston found the Trump administration had violated his order by swiftly sending eight migrants from countries including Cuba and Vietnam to the east African nation.
The judge said that men from other countries must have a real chance to raise fears about dangers they could face in South Sudan.
The men’s lawyers, though, have still not been able to talk to them, said Robyn Barnard, senior director of refugee advocacy at Human Rights First, whose stated mission is to ensure the United States is a global leader on human rights. Barnard spoke Friday at a hearing of Democratic members of Congress and said some family members of the men had been able to talk to them Thursday.
The migrants have been previously convicted of serious crimes in the U.S., and President Trump’s administration has said that it was unable to return them quickly to their home countries. The Justice Department has also appealed to the Supreme Court to immediately intervene and allow swift deportations to third countries to resume.
The case comes amid a sweeping immigration crackdown by the Republican administration, which has pledged to deport millions of people who are living in the United States illegally. The legal fight became another flashpoint as the administration rails against judges whose rulings have slowed the president’s policies.
The Trump administration said the converted conference room in the shipping container is the only viable place to house the men on the base in Djibouti, where outdoor daily temperatures rise above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the declaration from an ICE official.
Nearby burn pits are used to dispose of trash and human waste, and the smog cloud makes it hard to breathe, sickening both ICE officers guarding the men and the detainees, the documents state. They don’t have access to all the medication they need to protect against infection, and the ICE officers were unable to complete antimalarial treatment before landing, an ICE official said.
“It is unknown how long the medical supply will last,” Mellissa B. Harper, acting executive deputy associate director of enforcement and removal operations, said in the declaration.
The group also lacks protective gear in case of a rocket attack from terrorist groups in Yemen, a risk outlined by the Department of Defense, the documents state.
Whitehurst writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Rebecca Santana contributed to this report.
US envoy says Syria strategy ‘will not be like the last 100 years’ as troops pull out.
The United States will shut down most of its military bases in Syria, consolidating operations to a single location, as part of a policy overhaul announced by its new special envoy.
Thomas Barrack, appointed by President Donald Trump last month as the US ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy for Syria, said the shift marks a rejection of Washington’s past century of failed approaches in Syria.
In an interview with the Turkish broadcaster NTV on Monday, Barrack said the troop drawdown and base closures reflect a strategic recalibration.
“What I can assure you is that our current Syria policy will not be close to the Syria policy of the last 100 years because none of these have worked,” he said.
US forces are expected to withdraw from seven of eight bases, including those in Deir Az Zor province in eastern Syria, with remaining operations centred in Hasakah in the northeast.
Two security sources told the Reuters news agency that US military hardware and personnel have already started relocating. “All troops are being pulled from Deir Az Zor,” one source told Reuters in April.
A US Department of State official later said troop levels would be adjusted “if and when appropriate”, depending on operational demands.
Roughly 2,000 American soldiers remain in Syria, largely embedded with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a key partner in the US-led campaign against ISIL (ISIS).
The SDF, dominated by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia, has been a longstanding point of contention with NATO ally Turkiye, which views it as linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The PKK, which recently announced its disbandment, fought a decades-long armed rebellion against the Turkish state.
Barrack called the SDF “a very important factor” for the US Congress, stressing that integrating the group into Syria’s national army is now a priority. “Everyone needs to be reasonable in their expectations,” he said.
Since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December, international engagement with Damascus has resumed under new President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Barrack recently raised the US flag over the ambassador’s residence in Damascus for the first time since 2012.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticised the SDF last week, accusing it of “stalling tactics” despite its agreement to join the Syrian armed forces.
It took the Dodgers until the ninth inning Monday night to erase their first two-run deficit.
But when Tanner Scott surrendered a pair of scores in the top of the 10th, they couldn’t do it again.
In a 4-3 extra-innings loss to the New York Mets on Monday, a night that started with frustration — then crescendoed with a late-game rally — ultimately ended in a familiar fizzle.
Despite tying it behind a seventh-inning home run and a ninth-inning sacrifice fly from Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers (36-24) once again stumbled beneath the weight of their slumping closer.
In the top of the 10th, Scott gave up an RBI double to Francisco Alvarez to lead off the inning. Francisco Lindor followed with a down-the-line single to bring another run for the Mets (38-22). The left-hander, who signed for four years and $72 million this offseason, has a 4.73 earned-run average in his first 28 outings.
And after coming back once on Monday night, the Dodgers’ magic ran out in the bottom of the 10th.
Although Freddie Freeman led off with a walk, and Andy Pages followed with an RBI single that made it a one-run score, the Dodgers came up empty the rest of the way.
Max Muncy struck out. Will Smith pinch-hit for Michael Conforto at the last second — literally running out of the dugout with Conforto already digging in at the plate — but flied out to center. Then Tommy Edman scorched a comebacker straight to reliever Jose Buttó, concluding a night in which the Dodgers went two for 11 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 men on base.
The result squandered a strong six-inning, two-run start from Dustin May. It let Ohtani’s late-game heroics go to waste.
And instead of a rollicking late-game comeback, the Dodgers instead suffered a second consecutive deflating defeat.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani hits a 424-foot home run to right field during the seventh inning Monday.
(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
Suzanne Garment, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, is the author of “Scandal: The Culture of Mistrust in American Politics” (Times Books)
WASHINGTON — In the wake of the Murphy Brown uproar, Vice President Dan Quayle has delivered another double-barreled commotion. First, in the past 10 days, he has made two more fire-breathing speeches on family values, one to a convention of Southern Baptists and the other to a National Right to Life gathering. Second, he has demonstrated he does not know how to spell potato .
My West Coast sources say politically aware people in the entertainment industry have made up their minds about the vice president’s “values” theme: It will not play in Peoria. Quayle’s distasteful traditionalist fervor, in this view, simply does not reflect the ethics or concerns of most Americans. Besides, how can you take a man seriously who doesn’t know the names of his vegetables?
But Quayle’s critics are kidding themselves, trying to suppress the message by deriding the messenger. They may think the vice president’s misspelling marks him as an irredeemable jerk, but many of his fellow citizens are not so sensitive, and some will even sympathize with him. (Pop quiz: Is it potatos or potatoes ?)
The same critics are surely right in seeing considerable daylight between most Americans’ general moral posture and the pungency of some of Quayle’s stronger words. Nonetheless, the “values” card might not only help the Bush-Quayle reelection effort, it may even play a moderating role in the campaign.
In his speeches, Quayle again criticized the “cultural elite” that “flees from the consequences of its self-indulgence.” But he also expanded on the idea of this elite as an alien force in American life. The country is made up, he said, of “the cultural elite, and the rest of us.” The elite “mock us in the newsrooms, sitcom studios and faculty lounges,” but “we Americans” must “stand up for our values, stand up for America.” The American people are “playing David to the Goliath of the dominant cultural elite,” he exhorted, “but remember the final outcome” of that battle: “The Philistines fled.”
This is unattractive stuff. It says only the people on Quayle’s side of the argument can lay legitimate claim to the label “American.” One of our worst national characteristics in politics is the tendency to read our opponents out of the rolls of American citizenship–and parts of the Quayle speeches serve as fair examples of this nasty habit.
But the recent Quayle sorties, despite the rough language, are not the beginning of a crusade–which would fail–to Puritanize American life. Instead, speeches like his accomplish two other things.
First, such talk shores up the Bush Administration’s base among social conservatives. They are not a majority in America, but they constitute a Peoria in which the vice president’s ideas will play to standing-room-only crowds. Solidifying a core constituency is a prudent thing to do for an electorally weak Administration facing a three-way presidential race. In olden times, national politicians could do this type of cheerleading in obscurity, with their most inflammatory words heard only by the special groups they were addressing. But now, because of modern communications, we are constantly eavesdropping on each other’s private political conversations.
Second, Quayle’s theme promises benefits for the Administration’s campaign even among many who do not share his moral fervor but do share a general unease with TV, movies and a popular culture that seems out of control. Often these are the same people now lured, to the Administration’s discomfort, by the siren song of Ross Perot.
Perot, it is becoming clear, is a strange man. He has displayed an authoritarian temperament in his business and public life and in the preemptory ways he proposes to deal with problems ranging from entitlements to the cost of U.S. troops abroad. He is cavalier about constitutionally rooted civil liberties and about institutions with which the Constitution says a President must share power. The different versions he gives of his own life are starting to make Ronald Reagan’s lapses in this area look trivial and benign.
In short, Perot is dangerous. Moreover, his attitudes do not reflect the considered views of the electorate: Americans of all kinds remain massively attached to the basic features of the American system. Yet Perot maintains his political strength because he has succeeded in presenting himself as the ultimate outsider to a citizenry that has been brought to mistrust all insiders.
We know today’s citizens are increasingly alienated from their government and public officials. Many Americans have come to see today’s politics and government as one vast sinkhole of incompetence and corruption. Even with the large problems our nation faces, this despair is out of proportion.
There is more than one reason for this mistrust, which has been building for a quarter-century. But the “cultural elite” cannot deny having had a hand in shaping it. If popular culture has shaken tradition regarding sexual morality, parts of the elite have also mounted a challenge in the arena of conventional politics.
To take the largest example, the national press, since Watergate, has given news consumers an unending stream of political scandal. Yet national politics is, by most measures, far cleaner than it was 25 years ago. But there is no way that newspaper readers and TV viewers absorbing this reportage can escape thinking that today’s politicians are incorrigibly dirty.
The view we get from movies that deal with politics is even darker, ranging from simple corruption to grand conspiracies to steal the presidency from the American people. “The “faculty lounges” that Quayle cited are, like the sitcoms, a mixed bag, but some major university campuses have been seedbeds for critiques of the profound structural racism, sexism and imperialism said to infest our conventional social and political institutions.
Those who have purveyed this radical political disaffection may have hoped it would lead to a more just America. Instead, what they begot was Perot, and they should recognize him as their child.
By pounding away at the theme of the cultural elite vs. America’s traditional values, Quayle is asserting that the Administration should be seen not as a bunch of political insiders but as the champion of all those cultural outsiders who feel denigrated and ignored by the media and popular culture. In other words, he argued that voters should exempt him and President George Bush from the “insider” curse of 1992.
More important, in appealing to traditional values, Quayle took the quickest and most powerful route to generally delegitimizing what have been called the “chattering classes” and casting grave doubt on whatever comes out of their collective mouths. Once people are reminded of how little they trust the “cultural elite,” they can be persuaded to exercise this mistrust in other areas. If members of the elite are insensitive to issues of family values, there is no reason to think them trustworthy on general politics. If they say American politics stinks, they should not be believed any more than they should be trusted on the issue of sex.
But if American politics does not stink in the way Hollywood says it does, then Perot should not get credit for being the outsider who champions the people against the Establishment. To the contrary: Perot can be portrayed as a creature of the cultural elite and its cynical view of American political life. His contempt for other politicians and his insistence on his unique ability to save us are perhaps messages not from the majority of Americans, but from an elitist fringe. Quayle has actually started in on this idea, chiding Perot for not showing sufficient respect for the Constitution.
If this strategy works, the “family values” issue will have tapped into some of the same anti-Establishment voter anger to which Perot appeals and will shake Perot loose from his position as the embodiment of average people’s sentiments. Even for those who do not like some of Quayle’s recent speeches, this is probably a good trade.
His smile has brightened the locker room, his bat has energized a once-impotent segment of the lineup and his speed has transformed their offense.
Hyeseong Kim belongs in the major leagues.
Manager Dave Roberts was asked the other night about the “difficult decision” the Dodgers will have to make on Kim when utilityman Tommy Edman and outfielder Teoscar Hernández return from the injured list in the next couple of weeks, but nothing about this decision should be difficult.
Kim will still belong in the major leagues.
There won’t be enough at-bats for him?
The Dodgers have to find them.
He can gain more experience in the minors?
A 26-year-old who played seven-plus seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization before he signed with the Dodgers, Kim isn’t a typical rookie.
President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said part of the reason catcher Dalton Rushing was called up this week was because of the competition in the National League West?
The same logic should be applied to Kim’s situation.
Make liberal use of the injured list. Release Chris Taylor. Do whatever is necessary for Kim to remain in Los Angeles.
“How he’s playing,” Roberts acknowledged, “certainly helps his case.”
Shohei Ohtani homered twice in a 19-2 victory over the Athletics at Dodger Stadium on Thursday night. Both times, Kim was on base.
Ohtani, who leads off for the Dodgers, drove in only 10 runs in his first 30 games of the season. The bottom of the order wasn’t hitting or drawing walks
In the first 12 games Ohtani played since Kim was called up from triple-A Oklahoma City, Ohtani collected 18 runs batted in.
Kim batted eighth or ninth in each of the eight games he started through Thursday, and he’d already been driven home by Ohtani five times. The only player Ohtani has driven in more this season: Ohtani.
“A lot easier to pitch to Shohei when nobody’s on base,” Roberts said. “Recently, certainly with Kim and his ability to get on base, there’s always traffic.”
Kim entered the Freeway Series opener on Friday batting .429, a pleasant surprise considering he looked completely overmatched at the plate in spring training. His ability to make contact has enhanced his greatest weapon, his legs.
“He’s really talented,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “He can do a lot of really special things that you can’t see from a lot of players.”
That game-changing speed was on display in just his second major league game when he was deployed as a ninth-inning pinch runner with a one-run deficit against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park. Kim stole second base and reached third on a dropped third strike, positioning him within 90 feet of the tying run. The next two batters struck out and the Dodgers lost the game, but the cameo performance was a preview of what was to come.
In his first 12 major league games, Kim stole three bases and plated nine runs. Three of his first 12 hits were infield hits.
“I tried to figure out what my role is in this organization, and I’m just trying to control what I can control,” Kim said through an interpreter.
Dodgers coaches also believe Kim’s speed has influenced how opponents attack Ohtani. One particular example that was cited was Ohtani’s three-run, ninth-inning home run in a 14-11 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 9.
Kim was on second base and Michael Conforto was on first when Ohtani came to the plate with one out and the score level, 11-11. Walking Ohtani would have moved the go-ahead run to third base, and with Kim’s speed, any ball put in play by the next batter would have likely resulted in a run. Diamondbacks reliever Ryan Thompson pitched to Ohtani, who launched a 1-2 pitch into the stands in right-center.
“With the speed dynamic [of Kim], it creates stress,” Roberts said. “He can steal a base, go first to third. It certainly opens some things up for the top of the order.”
The Dodgers have scored an average of 7.3 runs per game since Kim joined the team. In the process, he’s become a beloved figure in the clubhouse, overcoming a language barrier to form bonds with a wide range of players that includes everyone from Ohtani to Mookie Betts.
“That started in spring training,” Muncy said. “He was there with a couple of us and just immediately fit right in. He likes to have fun. He’s always smiling, he’s always laughing. He’s really fun to have out there.”
With a three-year deal that could be extended by the Dodgers for an additional two seasons, Kim figures to be a part of their future. But he’s already a reason for why they’re clicking now, and the returns of Edman and Hernández shouldn’t change that.
US President Donald Trump, who promised to end America’s foreign military campaigns, has paid a visit to US troops stationed in Qatar. Trump praised the US’s deadly arsenal, hit out at his predecessor and made fun of France.
Published On 15 May 202515 May 2025
UNIFIL says incident first of its kind since Israel and Lebanese-armed group Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire last November.
Direct fire from the Israeli military hit the perimeter of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon’s (UNIFIL) peacekeeping positions in south Lebanon, the mission said.
In a statement on Wednesday, UNIFIL added that the incident on Tuesday was the first of its kind since Israel and Lebanese-armed group Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire last November.
UNIFIL said one of its bases in the village of Kfarchouba in southern Lebanon was hit. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army.
“In recent days, UNIFIL has also observed other aggressive behaviour by the [Israeli military] towards peacekeepers performing operational activities in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1701,” it said in a post on X, referring to a UN resolution originally adopted in 2006 to end hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
UNIFIL is concerned by the recent aggressive posture of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) involving UNIFIL personnel and assets near the Blue Line, including yesterday’s incident in which a direct fire hit the perimeter of a UNIFIL position south of the village of Kfar Shouba.
— UNIFIL (@UNIFIL_) May 14, 2025
Tuesday’s incident occurred near the Blue Line, a UN-mapped demarcation separating Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, it added.
Any unauthorised crossing of the Blue Line by land or by air from any side constitutes a violation of Security Council Resolution 1701.
UNIFIL cited other alleged incidents it blamed on the Israeli army, including being targeted by lasers while it was performing a patrol with the Lebanese army in the southern border town of Maroun al-Ras on Tuesday.
“UNIFIL protests all such and we continue to remind all actors of their responsibility to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN assets and premises at all times,” it added.
Separately on Wednesday, Israel’s military said it killed a Hezbollah fighter in a strike on southern Lebanon.
“Earlier today [Wednesday], the [Israeli military] struck in the area of Qaaqaaiyet El Jisr in southern Lebanon, eliminating a Hezbollah terrorist who held the position of the commander of the Qabrikha area within the Hezbollah terrorist organisation,” a military statement said.
The November ceasefire ended a conflict in which Israel attacked Lebanon by air and invaded the country, devastating vast swaths of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah’s longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli attack in September.
The ceasefire terms require that neither Hezbollah nor any other armed group have weapons in areas near the border south of the Litani River, which flows into the Mediterranean some 20km (12 miles) north of the Israeli border.
They require Israel to withdraw troops from the south and the Lebanese army to deploy into the border region.
Although the truce officially ended hostilities, sporadic cross-border attacks have continued. Israel has regularly broken the truce and carried out air raids across southern Lebanon, also hitting neighbourhoods in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah retains strong support.
Israel still occupies five strategic hilltops along the border. While rockets have been fired into Israel from Lebanese territory on two separate occasions, Hezbollah has denied involvement.
Hezbollah’s leader, Naim Qassem, has maintained that the group no longer keeps weapons in the border zone, in accordance with the truce.