Raw Story

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told his GOP colleagues on Tuesday that they should stop worrying so much about the rising tide of constituents protesting the planned Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" on tax cuts for the wealthy.

The speech came during a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill, reported by Punchbowl News' Andrew Desiderio.

"Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) warned GOP senators during closed-door mtg that their Medicaid provider tax framework will cost Republicans seats in 2026, comparing it to their 'Obamacare' — a reference to Dem losses due to rocky rollout," wrote Desiderio.

Tillis, one of the holdouts on the Medicaid cuts, got into an argument with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) "over the provider tax language."

"Tillis said Senate should use House framework. Thune defended Senate approach as key component of spending cuts target. But Tillis, Moran, Hawley, Collins, others still oppose it," Desiderio continued.

After that, Desiderio noted, McConnell, who previously served as GOP Senate leader himself, "gave a short speech saying 'failure is not an option' and added: 'I know a lot of us are hearing from people back home about Medicaid. But they’ll get over it.'"

The House-passed version of the tax cut bill already cut $600 billion from Medicaid, largely by requiring states attach draconian work requirements to enrollment in the program that could deny care to millions of people, including some who are working.

The Senate GOP, however, want to cut Medicaid even further. Their version sharply caps the rates at which state governments can tax health care providers, which is a common source of revenue for Medicaid and increases the federal government's funding match.

Such a change to the formula would sharply decrease how much money states can raise for the program, which would particularly devastate rural hospitals and force states to cut many more people from the program. Tillis has been one of the biggest opponents of this change, saying that North Carolina would be hit hard by these cuts and that as a former speaker of the North Carolina General Assembly, "I just don't know how my current speaker is going to manage it."

President Donald Trump named some of his top supporters to the Homeland Security Advisory Council, or HSAC, and the group includes former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Bikers for Trump founder Chris Cox.

In an announcement on Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security revealed that Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem had made the selections.

"HSAC leverages the experience, expertise, and national and global connections of its membership to provide the Secretary of Homeland Security with real-time, real-world and independent advice on homeland security operations," the notice said.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) was named as chair, and Florida state Sen. Joseph Gruters (R) was appointed vice chair.

Other notable names included actor Richard "Bo" Dietl, Fox News host Mark Levin, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, and former Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH).

"America First HSAC will draw upon a deep well of public and private sector experience from homeland security experts committed to fulfilling President Trump's agenda," DHS said in a statement.

The group was expected to hold its first meeting on July 2.

President Donald Trump is falling further underwater with the American public after bombing Iran's nuclear sites over the weekend.

The New Republic's Greg Sargent noted in his Tuesday column that the post-bomb polls are being released, showing that Americans don't trust Trump to handle the attack appropriately. But for those who spent decades of GOP flag-waving and "freedom fries," repelling from support of a president during war is an evolution.

"For politicians and pundits of a certain age, it’s normally assumed that military action will unleash a 'rally around the flag' effect, leading the public to reflexively approve of the decisions by the 'commander in chief'—particularly if he’s a Republican—and automatically see criticism of him as unpatriotic," wrote Sargent. "But it’s unlikely that we’ll see a similar dynamic this time around."

He cited "a surprising new CNN poll" and a Reuters poll, which delivered a startling wake-up call for the five-month-old administration.

Reuters shows just 36% of Americans support Trump's bombing. Sargent asked, "Will this hold amid an enduring truce? I think it might. Paint-by-numbers pundits are assuming voters like war. Let's not assume this."

The CNN poll shows 56% of people are against the bombing, and 55% don't trust Trump to make the right decisions on Iran. The startling number of that group, however, comes from a whopping 62% of independents.

"People who lived through the run-up to Iraq assume war is good politics for GOP presidents," but no more, he said.

Some critics question if Trump's urgency to bomb Iran has to do with his failure to "fix" the economy he promised could be done "on day one." He's also failed to stop the war between Ukraine and Russia, despite saying it would be "easy" and that he could probably do it before taking the oath on Jan. 20.

"It’s no accident that the CNN poll also finds that 58 percent of Americans say Trump’s bombing will make Iran more of a threat to the U.S.," Sargent assessed, noting that the two things might be connected: Americans against the bombing and those who don't trust him.

"This will surprise those who were snakebit by George W. Bush’s popularity in the run-up to the Iraq War and Karl Rove’s political warfare at the time," said Sargent. "The grounds for that war were visibly thin. Yet it’s hard to convey to people who didn’t live through it how unshakable Bush’s grip on public opinion seemed after September 11, 2001; how rampant war fever and rank Islamophobia were in this country; and how deeply it all penetrated into every crevice of American life."

Things are different two decades later, and Sargent said it isn't difficult to see why. Even Trump attacked the war in Iraq and pledged to stop "forever wars" during his campaign. Unlike with Bush, there wasn't a 9/11 attack to bring Americans together around a strong leader. Instead, it has been a contentious decade, and the economy has been limping along after the global pandemic.

"No matter how hard Trump and his propagandists spin otherwise, the bombing was unjustified and probably illegal, the runup to it was a clown show, and we'd be better off with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Folks shouldn't assume voters will forget all that," he noted on X.

Ultimately, it's clear that a majority of the country doesn't trust Trump to handle national security decisions, and even though Americans want Congress more involved, Sarget said it's clear they're all "on a very short political leash."

Read the full column here.

Three different news reports are saying that Iran has fired missiles at a U.S. military base in Qatar.

Wall Street Journal national security reporter Lara Seligman noted just before noon EST Monday, "Iran is moving missile launchers into place for a potential attack on U.S. forces in the Middle East in response to the surprise American strike on three nuclear sites over the weekend, according to U.S. officials. DOD tracking a 'credible' threat to U.S. forces in the region."

Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a post on X that it suspended air traffic around the same time "to ensure the safety of citizens, residents and visitors."

"Iran has fired missiles at US bases in Qatar and Iraq. Extent of damage--and whether there are US casualties--will be crucial in determining whether there is additional escalation," Gregory Brew, senior analyst of Iran and Energy at The Eurasia Group, reported.

Axios global affairs correspondent Barak Ravid said on X that an "Israeli official" told him "Iran launched 6 missiles towards U.S. bases in Qatar."

Fox News also confirmed the report.

Al Udeid Air Base, which is based in Qatar, is the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East, with approximately 10,000 U.S. personnel.

Democratic pundit Paul Begala claimed Monday that President Donald Trump has doomed the GOP for the upcoming midterm elections because he failed to get the American people on board with his attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

On CNN Monday, Begala conceded, "Nobody wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon. Nobody. I mean, nobody."

Begala then argued that Trump "needs to make the case that it was the last option, the only option, and that it worked, and that he has now postured us to defend ourselves. And I know he has not done that. He is running around deporting people at Home Depot instead of engaging in counterterrorism on the homeland."

Host John Berman asked about Democrats who are slamming Trump for bypassing congressional authorization before bombing Iran.

"Is there anything to gain for [Democrats] at this point by, you know, yelling and screaming, 'Hey, you should have contacted us. Hey, we need to vote on this.'"

"Well, yeah. They're sending a signal they're going to win the House, okay? Mark it," Begala exclaimed. "It's 500-and-some-odd days away, but Trump is handing the House to the Democrats. And then to stand up and say, 'This is what we need in this country: We need checks and balances.' This man is unchecked and unbalanced."

Begala claimed American voters are not buying Trump's latest flip-flop on regime change in Iran.

"He's musing about killing the Ayatollah. Now he's talking about regime change!" Begala declared. "Pretty soon it's going to be invade, conquer, and occupy, and nation building. And, you know, 'Shock and Awe' can turn into an awful quagmire very quickly. And that's what the American people don't want."

Watch the video below via CNN.

During his run to retake the White House in 2024, U.S. President Donald Trump promised to avoid "endless war" and serve as a "peace president."

"We will measure our success not only by the battles we win," Trump said during his second inaugural address in January, "but also by the wars that we end and, perhaps most importantly, the wars that we never get into."But after he launched airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites and called for "regime change" this weekend, critics accused him of blatantly misleading the American public.

"Trump, who proclaimed upon his inauguration he wanted to be remembered as a 'peacemaker,' couldn't even wait a half a year into his term to do the thing that he had told everyone he wouldn’t do, and which he built his entire political brand on opposing," wrote columnist Branko Marcetic in Jacobin.

On the campaign trail, Trump lambasted his predecessor, Joe Biden, as a "warmonger," promising to end the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. However, both conflicts not only continue to rage, but have grown bloodier.

Massacres by Israel Defense Forces soldiers in U.S.-administered aid sites have ramped up in recent months as Israel advances with what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described in February as "U.S. President Trump's plan for the creation of a different Gaza.”

As Trump has abandoned talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russian aerial attacks on Ukraine have likewise surged in recent weeks. Shortly after Trump's airstrikes on Iran, the Kremlin launched over 300 drones and dozens of missiles at Kyiv, leaving seven people dead and 31 injured, according to The Washington Post.

"Trump said he could end Russia’s war against Ukraine before his inauguration. He said he would negotiate an end to the war in Gaza with a phone call," wrote civil and labor rights leader Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II on X. "He said Biden was going to drag the US into World War III, but he would be a peace president. It was all lies."

Since he entered the political arena Trump has railed against the wars launched by former President George W. Bush. On the Republican primary debate stage in 2015, he described the Iraq War as a "big, fat mistake," building his credibility with Americans seeking a break from the GOP's interventionist foreign policy consensus.

After Trump's airstrikes on Saturday, his associates attempted to downplay the obvious comparisons with Bush's disastrous legacy.

Vice President JD Vance—who on the campaign trail called out Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris' coziness with Bush's vice president, Dick Cheney, and his ex-congresswoman daughter, Liz Cheney—went on NBC to do damage control and explain how Trump's actions were somehow different from those of the 43rd president.

"I empathize with Americans who are exhausted after 25 years of foreign entanglements in the Middle East. I understand the concern," he said. "But the difference is that back then we had dumb presidents and now we have a president who actually knows how to accomplish America's national security objectives."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio both assured the public that this would not be another war of "regime change," like Bush waged in Iraq.

But Trump thoroughly undermined their claims on Sunday night, when he posted on Truth Social: "It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!"

In a Sunday column for The Guardian, Mohamad Bazzi, director of the Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies and an associate professor of journalism at New York University, argued that Trump is following Bush's model.

"Donald Trump has dragged the U.S. into another war based on exaggerations and manipulated intelligence," Bazzi wrote. "The people of the Middle East will pay the highest price for yet another reckless war built on a lie."