All posts tagged: Breaking News: Politics

Iran threatens Elon Musk companies in Middle East: State media

Iran threatens Elon Musk companies in Middle East: State media

Published by Sam Flores

Tesla CEO Elon Musk holds a mobile phone as he arrives to attend a state banquet with U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, May 14, 2026. Evan Vucci | Reuters Iran will treat all of Elon Musk’s companies in the Middle East, including SpaceX’s Starlink internet service, as military targets as it retaliates against the U.S., Iranian state media outlet Fars reported Thursday. Iran is targeting “all interests related to economic holdings managed by Elon Musk in West Asia,” including a regional Starlink ground station, according to a translated post on Fars’ Telegram page. Starlink has played a key role in U.S. military operations against Iran, supporting high-tech ordnance ranging from aerial attack drones to unmanned surveillance and strike vessels. Iran asserts the U.S. has committed war crimes against it with the support of Musk-related companies, Fars reported, citing an “informed source.” “The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the right to attack all facilities related to [Musk]-managed holdings in the region and occupied …

Trump says U.S. will seize Iran’s Kharg Island, oil infrastructure

Trump says U.S. will seize Iran’s Kharg Island, oil infrastructure

Published by Sam Flores

US President Donald Trump during an executive order signing in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. Shawn Thew | Bloomberg | Getty Images The U.S. military will attack Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT,” and will soon take over the country’s “oil infrastructure points,” President Donald Trump said Thursday morning. An operation to “assume total control” of Iran’s oil and gas markets and infrastructure, including taking Kharg Island, will occur “at some point in the not too distant future,” Trump vowed in a Truth Social post. Trump compared the forthcoming action to the U.S. operations in Venezuela, “which is working out brilliantly for both Venezuela and the United States of America,” he wrote. This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news. Source link

Kuwait closes airspace, Israel warns of launches from Lebanon after U.S strikes in Iran

Kuwait closes airspace, Israel warns of launches from Lebanon after U.S strikes in Iran

Published by Sam Flores

Kuwait closed its airspace Thursday local time due to “Iranian aggressions” as it intercepted “hostile aerial targets,” following U.S. strikes against Tehran. Israel’s Home Front Command also warned of launches from Lebanon toward several communities in northern Israel. Iran “struck and destroyed eighteen important targets” belonging to U.S. forces at Kuwait’s Ali Salem and Ahmad al-Jaber air bases, as well as the Sheikh Issa air base in Bahrain, according to the state run Tasnim news agency. The media adviser to Bahrain’s king said the country’s air defense systems had intercepted and destroyed “Iranian aerial attacks.” Earlier in the day, Bahrain’s interior ministry had urged civilians to head to a safe place. The escalation follows U.S. attack on multiple targets in Iran Wednesday stateside at President Donald Trump’s direction, following “Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression.” Centcom said strikes were completed at 9:04 p.m. ET Wednesday, adding it hit Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defense sites. U.S. forces fired on Iranian targets that “posed a threat to U.S. forces and international commercial ships transiting …

Rollins called screwworm a ‘little pest.’ Last year, she said ‘terrifying’

Rollins called screwworm a ‘little pest.’ Last year, she said ‘terrifying’

Published by Sam Flores

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told CNBC on Monday that the New World screwworm is a “little pest.” In the past, she called the parasite “terrifying.” The discrepancy in messaging before and after the flesh-eating pest was detected in the U.S. offers a window into how Rollins is managing the screwworm threat now that it has reached inside the border. And it shows how the administration is racing to alleviate fears that the parasite could further raise the price of beef amid rising inflation. Since screwworm was detected in Texas last week, Rollins has hit the airwaves to reassure the U.S. public that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is ahead of the infestation and that it does not pose a risk to the food system. She has also heaped blame on the Biden administration for the spread, arguing that lax immigration enforcement of the southern border helped the parasite move forward. “The food supply is not at risk. This is not a virus, it’s not a disease, it’s just a little pest, a larvae that lands …

Trump loves inflation. Why that should be music to Kevin Warsh’s ears: Analysis

Trump loves inflation. Why that should be music to Kevin Warsh’s ears: Analysis

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives with incoming Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh for Warsh’s swearing-in ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 22, 2026. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters A strange thing may happen in the coming days. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh may do exactly what his predecessor Jerome Powell had done about interest rates — only to get a completely different response from President Donald Trump. Trump’s unexpected comments Wednesday on the latest inflation figure may give Warsh some space on interest rates. “I love the inflation,” he said in the Oval Office hours after the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that annualized inflation jumped by 4.2%. If the president is unconcerned with the highest inflation in three years, that may buy Warsh a reprieve from expectations to quickly lower interest rates. The president spent years railing against and trying to undermine Powell for what Trump saw as a stubborn refusal to cut interest rates faster and deeper than the Fed was willing to go. But now that Warsh has been …

Trump keeps saying an Iran deal is close. Markets keep believing it

Trump keeps saying an Iran deal is close. Markets keep believing it

Published by Sam Flores

President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room at the White House, in Washington, May 27, 2026. Evan Vucci | Reuters President Donald Trump this week said a sweeping peace deal with Iran could be signed very soon, echoing dozens of similar claims he has made over nearly three months. The latest example may not resonate with the average listener — after all, no deal has emerged following any of Trump’s dozens of claims so far. But despite the lack of follow-through, markets continue to react to the president’s repeated promises. Trump has signaled or stated outright more than 30 times that a deal is nearly at hand, according to a CNBC review of the president’s social media posts and public remarks. Stocks and oil markets, which have squirmed amid a global energy supply shock caused by the war, continue to pay close attention to Trump’s signals about a forthcoming deal, even when they don’t pan out. Meanwhile, more than 100 days into the war, Washington and Tehran seem to be …

Trump says ‘I love the inflation’ after CPI hits 3-year high

Trump says ‘I love the inflation’ after CPI hits 3-year high

Published by Sam Flores

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said, “I love the inflation” after being asked if he was concerned about new consumer price index data that showed the annual inflation rate at 4.2%, a three-year high. Trump, speaking with reporters in the Oval Office, also predicted that inflation is “going to come down like a rock” after the United States’ war against Iran is over. The president linked that prediction to a confusing statement about the U.S. “taking” oil and ships. “No, I love it, the numbers were great,” Trump said when a reporter asked him about the CPI number issued earlier in the morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “You know what I really love? I love the inflation. You know why?” Trump said. “Because as soon as this war is over, you know I can say it now … you know we’ve been taking out millions of barrels of oil.” “Nobody knows it. You know who doesn’t know about it? Iran, until right now,” Trump said. Read more CNBC politics coverage “We took out …

Trump signs billion immigration funding bill after months of delay

Trump signs $70 billion immigration funding bill after months of delay

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. President Donald Trump displays the signed Secure America Act in the Oval Office of the White House on June 10, 2026 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong | Getty Images President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a $70 billion bill to fund immigration enforcement agencies through the end of his term. The package to pay for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection passed out of Congress in the last week after months of debate and delays amid Democratic concerns about overly aggressive immigration enforcement. At a signing ceremony in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said the bill would “give the heroes of ICE and border patrol … the support and resources they need to defend our borders, protect our homeland and to keep America safe.” Democrats had refused to fund the two Department of Homeland Security subagencies since January, when an immigration surge in Minneapolis led to the deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal agents. Read more CNBC politics coverage Republicans, in response to Democratic opposition, pursued …

Company that bet big on Trump-backed crypto says its fortunes have improved

Company that bet big on Trump-backed crypto says its fortunes have improved

Published by Sam Flores

Donald Trump Jr., left, and Eric Trump at the Nasdaq MarketSite before ringing the opening bell to celebrate the closing of Alt5 Sigma’s adoption of its cryptocurrency deal with World Liberty Financial, in New York, Aug. 13, 2025. Eduardo Munoz | Reuters AI Financial Corp., a publicly traded company that took heavy losses after making a billion-dollar bet on a cryptocurrency backed by the Trump family, said Wednesday that its outlook had improved. Its shares are down 92% since it made that bet to 65 cents a share as of Wednesday’s market open. The Trump family earned about $500 million in that transaction, CNBC reported. A spokeswoman for the Trump brothers said previously they have no visibility into or involvement in AI Financial. The company now says, in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, that the problems that led it to warn investors about its future “have been substantially mitigated.” AI Financial told investors in May it wasn’t clear it would be able to continue as a going concern for another 12 months. AI Financial …

Trump doubles down on Pulte DNI, calls for short-term extension of FISA

Trump doubles down on Pulte DNI, calls for short-term extension of FISA

Published by Sam Flores

Bill Pulte, Federal Housing Finance Agency director, speaks on CNBC, Jan. 8, 2026. CNBC President Donald Trump on Wednesday doubled down on his choice of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, despite bipartisan pushback on the pick that could result in the lapse this week of a foreign surveillance program with major national security implications. Earlier this month Trump tapped Pulte, who leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency and has used his perch to launch a series of probes into several of the president’s political opponents over allegations of mortgage-related wrongdoing. The move drew swift criticism from both sides of the aisle and calls for Trump to ditch his choice of Pulte or quickly find a permanent replacement for the role. It also increased the odds that Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the government to collect the communications of people outside the U.S., including when they are interacting with Americans, would expire at the end of the week as Democrats vowed to withhold their support. Read more CNBC politics …