Middle East crisis US bombing of Iran

Trump lashes out at critics: “Lazy, bloated, ineffective”

US President Donald Trump lashes out at Republican Congressman Thomas Massie after the Kentucky politician said that the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities violates the Constitution.

In a long post on Truth Social, he writes that Massie “is not Maga” even though he himself claims to be part of Trump’s movement.

“Maga is not about lazy, bloated and ineffective politicians – which Thomas Massie definitely is”.

In a long post on X, the usually Trump-loyal Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene is critical of the president’s actions and the US’s involvement in conflicts abroad. Otherwise, most Republicans have rallied behind Trump, notes The Hill.

White House Wants Direct Negotiations with Tehran: “We Don’t Want War”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio tells Fox News that they have no plans to attack Iran again and instead calls for direct negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

He says that the US sees no problem with Iran having a nuclear energy program but has a red line against it being used to enrich uranium.

– The Iranian regime should wake up and say: “Okay, if we really want nuclear energy in our country, there is a way to do it.” That offer is still there. We are prepared to talk to them tomorrow and start working on it, he says.

According to Rubio, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff has traveled the world trying to get such an agreement in recent months but that Iran has not taken the negotiations seriously.

– We do not want a war with Iran, but we want to make sure that they can never produce nuclear weapons, he says.

US reportedly recalls personnel in the Middle East

The White House has ordered American diplomats and their families to leave Iraq and Lebanon, according to information to AFP. The decision is said to be part of a process that began last week due to the “volatile and unpredictable” security situation in the Middle East.

After last night’s US attacks on three nuclear energy facilities in Iran, the regime in Tehran has identified US bases in the region as legitimate targets for a retaliatory attack. Iran-backed militia groups have also threatened attacks on American interests.