Oct 16, 2019 - Politics & Policy

Castro slams Trump for letting "ISIS prisoners run free" but "caging kids"

Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julían Castro slammed President Trump during Tuesday night's debate for "caging kids on the border and effectively letting ISIS prisoners run free," following Trump's decision to pull U.S. troops from northern Syria.

"You asked the question about how we are going to get people to trust us again? The first thing is we got to boot Donald Trump out of the Oval Office so people will trust us again. The folks this week that saw those images of ISIS prisoners running free to think about how absurd it is that this president is caging kids on the border and effectively letting ISIS prisoners run free. He has made a tremendous mistake, a total disaster in Syria."

— Former HUD Secretary Julían Castro

What he's saying: Castro continued to say that Trump's recent actions will make it difficult for other leaders to "believe anything that this president says." Castro points to the ongoing discussion with North Korea's Kim Jung Un about nuclear weapons:

"Why in the world would you believe anything that this president says to contain your nuclear weapons program when he tore up an Iran nuclear agreement that we just signed 4 years ago, which was the strongest agreement to contain Iran’s nuclear weapons program, and now he’s abandoned the very people we gave our word to? "

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Barak Ravid

21 mins ago - World

U.S. threatens to veto UN peacekeeping in Lebanon over Hezbollah concerns

Peacekeepers with Lebanese troops in southern Lebanon. Photo: Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty

The Trump administration is threatening to veto a resolution to extend the UN's long-standing peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon if its mandate isn't changed, Israeli and U.S. officials tell me.

Why it matters: The U.S. is the main funder of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which has an annual budget of $250 million. The veto threat is a tactical move, and part of a broader effort to put pressure on Iran and its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah.

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Axios

Updated 1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 10:30 a.m. ET: 20,388,408 — Total deaths: 743,599— Total recoveries: 12,616,973 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 10:30 a.m. ET: 5,150,590 — Total deaths: 164,681 — Total recoveries: 1,714,960 — Total tests: 63,252,257 — Map.
Business: U.S. already feeling effects of ending unemployment benefits — U.S. producer prices rose last month by the most since October 2018.
Public health: America is flying blind on its coronavirus response.

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Fadel Allassan

2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Trump congratulates QAnon conspiracy theorist on GOP runoff win

Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

President Trump on Wednesday tweeted congratulations to Marjorie Taylor Greene, a vocal QAnon conspiracy theorist who won the Republican nomination in Georgia's deep-red 14th Congressional District runoff.

Why it matters: The president's approval illustrates how the once-fringe conspiracy theory has gained ground within the GOP. Greene is among the at least 11 GOP candidates for Congress who have openly supported or defended the QAnon movement or some of its tenets, per Axios' Jacob Knutson.