All over the map.
President Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia this morning, beginning a three-nation visit to the middle east and the first international trip of his second administration. Saudi Arabia is the first stop on a historic four-day trip, and he was greeted on the tarmac at the airport in Riyadh by Saudi's ruler: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The trip will cover many issues including investment in the US, economic deals and maybe even a bit of diplomacy. If called upon, the President could even make a stop in Turkey to engage in the direct talks between Zelensky and Putin, provided that they go anywhere.
As far as the first stop is concerned, Saudi Arabia is of key diplomatic importance to President Trump, especially amid ongoing efforts to negotiate a deal with Iran over its nuclear program and Saudi Arabia's longstanding dispute with the Houthis, whom Trump just decimated. Business is also on the agenda as high-profile business leaders, such as Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Palantir's Alex Karp, Citigroup's Jane Fraser, BlackRock's Larry Fink, Franklin Templeton Investments' Jenny Johnson, Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi, BDT & MSD Partners' Dina Powell McCormick and Blackstone's Steve Schwarzman are all expected to attend the business portion of the meeting.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to accompany the president in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the State Department said, where they will "look to strengthen ties between the United States and Gulf partners."
In other news:
President Trump is having a great week as a US negotiation with Hamas led to the release of the last remaining American hostage in Gaza: Edan Alexander. In addition, a trade deal is being forged with China and the Stock Market has surged beyond the level it was at when Trump first imposed sanctions. In another day the SCOTUS will hear arguments related to the authority that District Judges have.
Steve Moore the tariff skeptic now admits he was wrong about the Trump tariffs.
Border encounter statistics for April 2025 have been released showing that encounters are down 93% from last April. Drug seizures were up by 13%.
The Energy Department is set to repeal efficiency rules for household appliances.
President Trump named Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, as acting Librarian of Congress. Certain staff members refused access to two of his team, saying Congress must have input on the appointment. They may be facing termination.
The government asked the Supreme Court to let it deport about 200 Venezuelans who are gang members. The court blocked the deportations in an emergency ruling last month.
Dozens of white South Africans enduring racial discrimination in their home country have been granted refugee status.
Gavin Newsom, who is now pivoting to the center, asked hundreds of cities and towns in California to ban homeless encampments.
Two more protestors were arrested for trespass at an ICE facility in New Jersey.
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Reporting from Riyadh:
I'll be doing a lot of shoe-leather reporting in the next few days, so bear with me.
I wish the best of luck to President Trump in this historic trip.
Did Trump let you shine his shoes this morning?
I believe he just finished a delicious Shakshuka.
Any chance he choked on it ?
I'm sure that some hate-filled maniac will take another shot at him.
Don't worry.
= patriot
Assassins are patriots?
I want our readers to remember that.
patriots defend the constitution and america's enemies try to subvert it ...
Trump and the Republicans are defending the Constitution, why are the progressives and liberals trying to subvert it?
They don't do it by assassination, or burning cars or threatening people.
Despite more media panic than occurred when we were in an actual inflation explosion, inflation was 2.3% annualized in April, the lowest since 2021.
They just keep lying about everything. It won't help them.
Trump is getting it done!
www.nbcnews.com /politics/national-security/trump-operation-houthis-cost-1-billion-rcna205333
Trump operation against Houthis cost more than $1 billion
Courtney Kube, Gordon Lubold 7-9 minutes 5/8/2025
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s fight against the Houthis never dealt a crippling blow to the militant group, but it has cost America more than $1 billion since March, including the thousands of bombs and missiles used in strikes, along with seven drones shot down and two fighter jets that sank, according to two U.S. officials briefed on the cost.
After weeks of operations by the U.S., the Houthis seemed to still be able to strike outside Yemen, launching an attack that targeted Israel’s main international airport just this week. But the surprise deal that Trump announced Tuesday, in which the U.S. would suspend strikes and other operations against the Iran-backed Houthis in exchange for the group halting its attacks on U.S. ships, might be enough to declare mission accomplished, for now.
Details about the deal have been sparse. It is still unclear how it was made, how long it might last and what it meant in the long term for a conflict that began weeks after Hamas — which, like the Houthis, is backed by Iran — attacked Israel in October 2023.
https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/t_fit-560w,f_auto,q_auto:best/rockcms/2025-05/250508-yemen-houthis-us-strikes-mn-0930-cea4d6.jpg 1x" > https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best/rockcms/2025-05/250508-yemen-houthis-us-strikes-mn-0930-cea4d6.jpg 1x" >What is known is that the agreement, which was brokered in part through the Omani government, according to two U.S. officials, pertains only to U.S. ships. The Houthis are expected to continue firing on Israel and on other countries’ ships.
“The administration was clearly looking for an off-ramp for this campaign against the Houthis,” said one U.S. official familiar with the military operations against the Houthis.
Success in the fight since March was hard to measure: U.S. drones sent to determine if targets had been hit were often shot down by the Houthis and there were no American forces on the ground in Yemen who could assess the effectiveness of the campaign for the Pentagon, the official said.
But the effort under Trump came at great cost and was depleting American stockpiles, the two U.S. officials said.
https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/t_fit-560w,f_auto,q_auto:best/rockcms/2025-05/250508-yemen-houthis-us-strikes-mn-0931-7c588c.jpg 1x" > https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best/rockcms/2025-05/250508-yemen-houthis-us-strikes-mn-0931-7c588c.jpg 1x" >Since March 15, when the Trump administration announced its current campaign against the Houthis, known as Operation Rough Rider, the Pentagon has expended roughly 2,000 bombs and missiles worth more than $775 million against the group, according to the two U.S. officials briefed on the cost. That includes hundreds of 2,000-pound bombs; which can cost $85,000 apiece; at least 75 Tomahawks, which run about $1.9 million apiece; at least 20 AGM 158 air-launched cruise missiles at about $1.5 million per missile; and many other munitions.
After this article was initially published, a Defense Department official told NBC News that these munitions cost figures are inaccurate and overstated, saying they’re closer to $400 million. But other defense officials disputed that.
The U.S. also spent at least $10 million moving at least two Patriot missile defense systems and military supplies to sustain the systems to the region by ship, according to a U.S. military tally provided to NBC News. That does not include the cost of equipment it moved by air. During congressional testimony last month, Adm. Sam Paparo, who heads U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said the military used 73 C-17 flights in moving a single Patriot air defense system from his region to the Middle East. A C-17 costs about $27,000 per hour to fly, and the U.S. military moved two Patriot systems to the region.
But there was mounting concern that the Trump administration’s approach to fighting the Houthis would never be long term.
“Washington has little patience and a short attention span and was unlikely to commit the resources and high-level attention necessary to see this campaign through to a meaningful outcome,” said Dana Stroul, who was the top policy official for the region at the Pentagon during the Biden administration.
If the agreement Trump announced Tuesday holds, it could allow the U.S. to justify suspending operations against the Houthis but it won’t likely change the reality that the Houthis can still be disruptive to shipping in the Red Sea.
“The Houthis will stop shooting at U.S. ships for some period of time,” said Stroul, now the research director at the Washington Institute. “But they will not stop firing missiles at Israel, commercial shipping will not return, and nothing will change in the Yemen civil war,” she said.
Washington Post reporter David Ignatius said on Morning Joe today that Trump quickly grew tired of the bombing campaign against the Houthis, concluded it wasnt working, and called it off.
I guess we all have opinions. IMO, the US Navy was losing far too much sophisticated equipment. You will note that Isreal quickly picked up the slack:
"Israel struck targets in Yemen on Monday night, the Israeli military said, one day after the Iranian backed Houthis fired a ballistic missile that hit Israel’s main airport.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to retaliate at a time and place of Israel’s choosing and promised Sunday that a powerful response would be coming."
Israel strikes targets in Yemen for the first time in months, a day after Houthis attack Tel Aviv airport
Apparently no one of consequence believes Trump just decimated the Houthis.
Let us know if they attack another American ship.
Tell Stroul that the deal was only between the US and the Houthis.
It would be nice if you would add the link line.
The quote is from the article I posted a couple spots up the line. I thought that was obvious.
On behalf of our readers: thanks
I'm just trying to make it easy for those on the home page.
It had to be done.
It won't cost very much at all to let Isreal have the special bombers to take out Iran's nuclear program.
So $1 billion in 7 weeks. Seems cheap to me as the Afghanistan war ran about $16 billion a month.
CORRECTION: He is NOT "the last remaining hostage in Gaza." There are 20 more who are still alive and others who are dead. He was the last remaining AMERICAN hostage - he has dual citizenship with Israel. .
Yes, thank you for that correction. I just fixed it. We both only want the FACTS.
President Trump leaves for the Gulf on Monday and is aiming to return home with $1 trillion worth of deals and investment pledges, according to two current and former U.S. officials and two Arab officials.
Why it matters: Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE is almost all about money. "His regional agenda is business, business and business," one Arab official said.
The big picture: Trump made Saudi Arabia the first foreign trip of his first term, and would have again if not for Pope Francis' funeral.
Breaking it down: The Qataris are also expected to announce $200-300 billion in deals and investments, including a huge commercial aircraft deal with Boeing and a $2 billion deal to purchase MQ-9 Reaper drones, a source with knowledge of the issue said.
Between the lines: Trump clearly sees the Gulf as a place where there's big money to be made, for the U.S. and for businesses like his.
Trump seeks $1 trillion in deals during Middle East trip
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ now in court.
Tough guy with women.
Trump is a lifelong proven grifter, which is why he thinks it is normal to accept an airplane from a foreign country as a gift.
Not to mention the spit in the face it is to the United States Air Force.
Name calling always indicates that one lacks an argument. Whether a gift from one nation to another is illegal is highly questionable, but since the President's name is Trump, I'm sure that many democrats will want to make a mountain out of it. Trump should have erred on the side of being above the fray and refused it. He does love the fight, so what can I say.
Calling him a grifter is not name calling , it is pure fact.
As someone famous recently said: "That is the Pee-Wee Herman reply."
I'll take care of the FACTS.
[Deleted][✘]
This Just In:
DNC Vice Chair David Hogg has been BOOTED from his position at the DNC after a late-night vote.
"The Democratic National Convention voted to void its election of David Hogg as vice chair of the Democratic Party on Monday.
The vote comes after mounting internal criticism of Hogg, though party officials say the vote was based on a procedural challenge made in February claiming Hogg and another official were improperly elected. The DNC will vote later this year on whether to remove Hogg."
Democratic National Committee panel voids David Hogg's election as party vice chair
Even being gay can't save a white male in the Democrat's diversity olympics.
So much for their "defense of democracy."
He went a bit too far, didn't he? Seeking to decapitate democrat party leadership was never going to end well.
Perhaps he can work for Soros now as a professional protestor.
he was kicked out for being a man and violating gender diversity rules. If he would have identified as a gay woman, he would he have been untouchable. White males, even gay ones, can be discriminated against in the Democrats' naziesque dystopia of biological determinism.
They are going after Fetterman now. Have you seen what they are trying to do to him?
Inflation numbers coming in:
Assessing the democrats at this point:
When it rains it pours:
"New York business groups are blasting Attorney General Tish James for a pro-consumer push that they fear would be a legislative misfire — boosting greedy lawyers and unleashing “legal shakedowns.”
James’ FAIR Business Practices Act looks to tighten up consumer protections to crack down on shady crimes like deed theft, junk fees and hard-to-cancel subscriptions, but critics said it will open up small businesses to frivolous lawsuits and legal threats.
“The so-called FAIR Act would be anything but fair to New York’s business community, especially Main Street businesses,” said Tom Stebbins, executive director of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of NY."
Exclusive | Tish James' pro-consumer push could spark 'legal shakedowns' and boost greedy lawyers, businesses say
For the normal mind it was all so obvious.
I'm afraid I've dumped too many FACTS on them today. I don't want to see them diving out of windows.
I'll be back later with more news from Riyadh.
self satire.
On his show last night Jon Stewart played a clip of Trump claiming to have invented the word "equalize".
Dont ask for a link, look it up for yourself.
Nah, it's not that important.
Without looking, and knowing Trump, he meant a whole new meaning to the word. But let's jump on this shit stirring once again.
I don't watch idiots like Stewart.
It may be a new word in Trump's vocabulary. Yup, I'm sure that is what Trump meant.
No one cares