Gloves come off in Steve Bannon's war on Fox News after lunch with Trump
The long-time Donald Trump ally, who was spotted having lunch with the president Thursday ahead of his strike on Tehran this past weekend, has been ardently against U.S. involvement and even predicted it would begin World War III.
Bannon personalized it even more on Sunday, when he blamed the Murdoch family for pushing to go to war.
'People on the right are now confronting an unpleasant reality, a great unmasking: The Murdochs don't put America's interests first,' he told Semafor.
'There needs to be a thorough FARA investigation into Fox's relationship with a foreign power,' he added.
The FARA is the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law that demands public disclosure obligations on persons representing foreign interests.
At the same time, Bannon dismissed the network's true influence, saying its 'audience is geriatrics - it's people 70 and over.'
He also suggested they were powerless because 'it's not an activist base' being broadcast to.
Bannon also made the statement on his War Room show Monday, saying: 'I think we need to see if they represent a foreign government as an agent.'
'What are they pushing on the American people? Where'd this information come from?' he asked.
He clarified that while he agrees that Iran should not get a nuclear weapon, that 'there are many paths to do that' that do not involve bombing.
'None of those paths were going on the path to kinetic warfare!'
DailyMail.com has reached out to a spokesperson for Fox News for comment.
Bannon, who served as Trump's chief White House strategist during his first term and continues to be an influential voice in the MAGA movement, referenced the looming attack on his 'War Room Pandemic' podcast hours before U.S. bombers carried out the strike.
'I'm just reporting what I'm hearing from pretty good sources. The party is on,' Bannon said on his podcast.
'So another big weekend in this unfolding aspect of the Third World War – and no, anyone that's telling you that the Third World War is not here, is absolutely, does not understand the development and evolution of kinetic energy,' he said.
Hours later, Trump surprised the world a little before 8 p.m. ET Saturday by announcing on Truth Social that he had given the go-ahead to attack Iran.
Trump used six massive 30,000-pound 'bunker buster' bombs and 30 Tomahawk missiles to destroy Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan.
Trump addressed the nation, calling the strikes on a trio of Iranian nuclear sites a 'spectacular military success.'
'Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.'
He also gave a stark warning to Tehran that more attacks would be coming if the regime didn't make peace.
But his ally Bannon lunched with Trump at the White House on Thursday, and reportedly argued against the U.S. joining in Israel 's attacks on Iran.
Bannon connected the dots on his 'party is on' comment, clarifying that it meant the operation was set to go.
On Monday, Trump announced that Iran and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire, two weeks after they started exchanging missile strikes and two days after he bombed the Islamic Republic's nuclear labs.
The president said the '12 day war' will 'end' in 24 hours, despite both nations warning of future strikes and just hours after Tehran attacked America's largest military base in the Middle East.
He announced the ceasefire deal in a Truth Social post, claiming it is set to go into effect into six hours.
While Israel and Iran have not confirmed if there is a deal, Trump congratulated everyone involved and said the ceasefire will begin once in-progress missions are completed.
Trump broke his silence on Iran's retaliatory strikes on Monday by demanding the end of the conflict in the Middle East and taunting the Ayatollah for his 'very weak response.'
The president said on Truth Social that US forces 'effectively countered' Iran's targeting of the Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar, two days after he bombed three Iranian nuclear sites.
Trump said that no Americans were harmed in Iran's retaliatory strikes on Monday and declared, 'they've got it all out of their system', as he thanked Iran for giving early notice to allow the US to evacuate the base beforehand.
'Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same,' he wrote, before adding in a follow-up post: 'CONGRATULATIONS WORLD, IT'S TIME FOR PEACE!'
World leaders quickly condemned Iran's strikes and expressed support to Qatar, which said that it has not ruled out retaliatory strikes of its own against Iran.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
4 minutes ago
- The Guardian
What the culture war over Superman gets wrong
We've entered the era of the superhero movie as sermon. No longer content with saving the world, spandex saviors are now being used to explain, moralize and therapize it. And a being from Krypton has shown up once again in a debate about real life; about borders, race and who gets to belong. Superman. Of all symbols. I've read reactionary thinkpieces, rage-filled quote tweets and screeds about the legal status of a fictional alien – enough to lose count. This particular episode of American Fragility kicked off because James Gunn had the audacity to call Superman 'the story of America'. An immigrant, by definition, as he was always meant to be. What set things off wasn't just the sentiment – it was who said it, and how plainly. Gunn, now headlining DC's cinematic future, told the Sunday Times that Superman was 'an immigrant who came from other places and populated the country'. He spoke of Superman's inherent kindness as a political statement in itself, noting that the film would play differently in some parts of America before adding, bluntly, that 'there are some jerks out there who are just not kind and will take it as offensive just because it is about kindness'. 'But screw them,' he added. It was that line – less the immigrant metaphor, more the unapologetic framing – that sent the usual outrage machine into motion. Enter Dean Cain, a former TV Superman. Cain accused Gunn of politicizing the character, which is remarkably foolish, considering Superman's been swatting at fascism since 1941. Meanwhile, over at Fox News, it's been a full meltdown over the idea that Superman, canonically not of this Earth, might be played as … not of this Earth. Liberal brainwashing, they suggested. Identity politics in a cape. But have they actually looked at David Corenswet? The man looks like he was made to sell oat milk in a Ralph Lauren ad. All cheekbones and cleft chin. If this is the foreign body in question, no wonder middle America has historically shrugged over Supes being an immigrant by definition. Even still, there's something telling about any collective gasp over a white, blue-eyed man with an immigrant backstory. The scramble to defend him says more than intended. For all the hand-wringing over Superman's alienness, what rarely gets named is how meticulously his story was crafted to cushion the unease of the topic at hand: otherness itself – the very thing people pretend was always central to his character. There are plenty of ways to frame the ridiculousness of this argument, clever ways to connect the dots, but the real fracture in Superman's myth hits, oddly enough, during a quiet scene in Tarantino's meditation on vengeance, Kill Bill: Vol. 2. In the scene, the villain, Bill (David Carradine) unpacks what makes Superman different from every other hero. 'What Kent wears – the glasses, the business suit – that's the costume,' Bill says. 'That's the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us.' It's one hell of a tell – the kind of observation that pulls back the curtain on how Superman was engineered to understand the world, and how the world, in turn, reinforced how he should fit within it. From the start, Superman was never meant to be an outsider. His creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster – sons of Jewish immigrants – didn't craft him as a symbol of difference but as a projection of pure Americanness. They gave him a midwestern upbringing, an Anglo name in Clark Kent, and that square-jawed charm. Siegel and Shuster were working against the backdrop of unchecked antisemitism, at a time when Jewish immigrants faced hostility. But instead of exploring immigrant 'otherness', the artists imagined a version of America where that alienness could be easily discarded via an outfit change. Superman wasn't an outsider – he was the ideal immigrant, effortlessly slipping into a world that required no resistance. His story wasn't about struggling to belong, but about the fantasy of belonging, with the privilege of choosing whether or not to fight for it. That projection of safe, silent Americanness hasn't remained confined to the pages of comic books. Today's immigration politics run on the same fantasy. The myth of the 'good' immigrant – quiet, grateful, easy to assimilate – still runs wild. It's the same story that fuels the strange spectacle of politicians praising white South African farmers as victims of racial persecution, all while demonizing migrants from Latin America, the Middle East or sub-Saharan Africa. The notion of who deserves to stay has always been racialized, selective and violent. Tom Homan, Trump's border czar, has said that a person's physical appearance could be a factor in the decision to question them. He later said it could not be 'the sole reason'. But in April, Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a US-born citizen from Georgia, was detained in Florida even after his mother showed authorities his birth certificate. In New York, Elzon Lemus, an electrician, was stopped because he 'looked like someone' agents were after. Maybe he didn't wear his suit and glasses that day. Superman, the immigrant who makes people comfortable, has never been just a comic book character. He's been a metaphor and living testament to the kind of 'other' that wealthy nations have always preferred: those who blend in, assimilate and rarely challenge the systems that demand their silence. If you're still not convinced that Superman's assimilationist fantasy is alive and well, just look at a White House meme from 10 July 2025: Trump dressed as Superman, with the words 'Truth. Justice. The American Way.' It's a glaring example of how cultural symbols are repurposed – hijacked, really – to serve a narrow and self-congratulatory vision of America. That's the trick of Superman: he's been a blank canvas of a both-sides heroism, which makes everyone feel seen. You don't even need to like or dislike Superman for the Maga debate to pull you in, as it was always meant to. The culture war still appointed a celebrity to govern the most powerful nation on Earth. It still turned a corporate diversity initiative into a national crisis. And it took a serious conversation about immigration and made a polished, all-American character its face. The culture war distorts, and it continues, relentless as ever. Noel Ransome is a Toronto-based freelance writer
NBC News
4 minutes ago
- NBC News
Trump's ‘big beautiful bill' includes these key tax changes for 2025 — what they mean for you
It's been about two weeks since President Donald Trump 's 'big beautiful bill' became law, and financial advisors and tax professionals are still digesting what the sweeping legislation means for clients. Meanwhile, several changes are effective for 2025, which will impact tax returns filed in 2026. While the Trump administration has been promoting ' working family tax cuts,' the legislation's impact depends on your unique situation — and some updates are complex, experts say. 'There are just so many moving pieces,' said certified financial planner Jim Guarino, managing director at Baker Newman Noyes in Woburn, Massachusetts. He is also a certified public accountant. Currently, many advisors are running projections — often for multiple years — to see how the new provisions could impact taxes. Without income planning, you could reduce, or even eliminate, various tax benefits for which you are otherwise eligible, experts say. When it comes to tax strategy, 'you never want to do anything in a silo,' Guarino said. Here are some of the key changes from Trump's legislation to know for 2025, and how the updates could affect your taxes. Trump's 2017 tax cut extensions The Republicans' marquee law made permanent Trump's 2017 tax cuts — including lower tax brackets and higher standard deductions, among other provisions — which broadly reduced taxes for Americans. Without the extension, most filers could have seen higher taxes in 2026, according to a 2024 report from the Tax Foundation. However, the new law enhances Trump's 2017 cuts, with a few tax breaks that start in 2025: The standard deduction increases from $15,000 to $15,750 (single filers) and $30,000 to $31,500 (married filing jointly). There is also a bump for the child tax credit, with the maximum benefit going from $2,000 to $2,200 per child. If you itemize tax breaks, there is also a temporary higher cap on the state and local tax deduction, or SALT. For 2025, the SALT deduction limit is $40,000, up from $10,000. The higher SALT benefit phases out, or reduces, for incomesbetween $500,000 to $600,000, which can create an artificially higher tax rate of 45.5% that some experts are calling a 'SALT torpedo.' This creates a 'sweet spot' for the SALT deduction between $200,000 and $500,000 of earnings, based on other provisions in the bill, CPA John McCarthy wrote in a blog post this week. Trump's new tax changes for 2025 Trump's tax and spending bill also introduced some temporary tax breaks, which are effective for 2025. Some of these were floated during his 2024 presidential provisions include a $6,000 'bonus' deduction for certain older Americans ages 65 and over, which phases out over $75,000 for single filers or $150,000 for married couples filing jointly. There are also new deductions for tip income, overtime earnings and car loan interest, with varying eligibility requirements. This chart shows a breakdown of some of the key individual provisions that are effective for 2025 compared to previous law. Premium tax credit 'subsidy cliff' returns During the pandemic, Congress boosted the premium tax credit through 2025, which made Marketplace health insurance more affordable. But Trump's legislation didn't extend the enhanced tax break, which could raise Affordable Care Act premiums for more than 22 million enrollees if no action is taken, according to KFF, a health policy organization. That could impact enrollees when choosing ACA health plans this fall, according to Tommy Lucas, a CFP and enrolled agent at Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo in Orlando, Florida. Starting in 2026, enrollees need to prepare for the ACA subsidy cliff, where enrollees lose the premium tax credit when income exceeds the earnings thresholds by even $1, he said. Currently, most ACA enrollees receive at least part of the premium tax credit. However, the subsidy cliff means enrollees lose the benefit once earnings exceed 400% of the federal poverty limit. For 2025, that threshold was $103,280 for a family of three, according to The Peterson Center on Healthcare, a nonprofit for healthcare policy, and KFF.
The Guardian
27 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ice secretly deported Pennsylvania grandfather, 82, after he lost green card
An 82-year-old man in Pennsylvania was secretly deported to Guatemala after visiting an immigration office last month to replace his lost green card, according to his family, who have not heard from him since and were initially told he was dead. According to Morning Call, which first reported the story, long-time Allentown resident Luis Leon – who was granted political asylum in the US in 1987 after being tortured under the regime of the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet – lost his wallet containing the physical card that confirmed his legal residency. So he and wife booked an appointment to get it replaced. When he arrived at the office on 20 June, however, he was handcuffed by two Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers, who led him away from his wife without explanation, she said. She herself was kept in the building for 10 hours until relatives picked her up. The family said they made efforts to find any information on his whereabouts but learned nothing. Then, sometime after Leon was detained, a woman purporting to be an immigration lawyer called the family, claiming she could help – but did not disclose how she knew about the case, or where Leon was. On 9 July, according to Leon's granddaughter, the same woman called them again, claiming Leon had died. A week later, however, they discovered from a relative in Chile that Leon was alive after all – but now in a hospital in Guatemala, a country to which he has no connection. According to Morning Call, the relative said Leon had first been sent to an immigration detention center in Minnesota before being deported to Guatemala – despite not appearing on any Ice detention deportation lists. A recent supreme court decision ruled the Trump administration could deport immigrants to other countries beside their country of origin. In his nearly 40 years living in the US, Leon spent his career working in a leather manufacturing plant, and raised a family. He had since retired. His condition at the hospital in Guatemala is unknown. He suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and a heart condition, according to his family, who said they are planning to fly to Guatemala to see him. An Ice official told the Morning Call it was investigating the matter.
