Zero Rss

$100 Billion & Climbing: Iran War Price Tag Believed Far Higher Than WH Estimates

While the Pentagon publicly clings to a $30 billion price tag for its war against Iran, internal Defense Department assessments (unsurprisingly) paint a far more staggering picture: the true cost is rapidly closing in on the $80 billion to $100 billion range, according to NBC News.

The Pentagon's Office of Management and Budget told Congress on June 30 that US military operations against Iran so far is $30 billion: "We’ve spent about $30 billion," OMB Director Russel Vought told the House Appropriations Committee. 

NBC's new assessment bluntly states the following, however: "The cost of the war with Iran could be more than triple the most recent estimate of roughly $30 billion, according to three U.S. officials and three people familiar with the internal cost estimates."

The lower figure was reportedly initially floated based a classic Washington accounting trick which only evaluates the cost of expended missiles and munitions while conveniently ignoring the charred remnants of American hardware and damaged bases littering the Gulf states after Iranian retaliatory attacks, the report explains.

The estimate featured in the NBC report accounts for actually rebuilding those installations previously attacked by Iran. Judging by how things are going this week - after five consecutive days of renewed fighting - the final bill from damage will only keep pushing up from here.

It has been well documented that while American troops at Gulf bases across the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf were by and large pulled back from near 'front lines' - large US military assets like refueling tankers were in some cases left behind, resulting in scenes like the following:

The Telegraph: In a picture verified by AFP, the mangled airframe of the US air force jet stands on the runway of Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia.

"Five U.S. Air Force refueling planes were struck and damaged on the ground at Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia, according to two U.S. officials," The Wall Street Journal reported in mid-March. Each one costs hundreds of millions.

"The tankers were hit during an Iranian missile strike on the Saudi base in recent days, the officials said," WSJ detailed at the time. "U.S. Central Command declined to comment. The tankers were damaged but not fully destroyed and are being repaired, one of the officials said. No one was killed in the strikes."

And in Bahrain, home of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, damage to military facilities is already estimated at $1 billion. Heavily fortified installations in Kuwait have also taken a severe beating, with both these tiny Arab Gulf states being favored targets of IRGC projectiles of late.

In the meantime, with a $1.5 trillion budget battle looming this autumn, the Pentagon is currently urging Congress to approve $68 billion supplemental funding package just to keep the lights on, but as the Iran war drags on with few clear objectives outlining an endgame, defense officials are hitting a wall of bipartisan skepticism among lawmakers.

One D.C. watchdog group, Public Citizen, has stated this week: "The American people are fed up with spending more on bombs and less on basic needs. And they are furious with a pointless, deadly, illegal, unconstitutional and protracted war that is costing lives and driving up gas prices."

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 20:30

Why Washington Is Challenging The International Criminal Court

Authored by William Brooks via The Epoch Times,

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent announcement of a “whole-of-government” campaign to challenge the International Criminal Court (ICC) has generated predictable discourse worldwide.

The Trump administration is applying diplomatic pressure on allied governments to reconsider their support for the Court. Washington is calling for expanded sanctions against ICC officials, visa restrictions, and renewed insistence that the Court has no lawful authority over citizens of sovereign nations.

For the usual globalist critics, this is just another example of Trumpian unilateralism. But for sensible Americans, it reflects the president’s determination to place “America First” ahead of international institutions.

In fact, the issue deserves thoughtful examination that goes beyond ideological rhetoric. At its heart lies one of the oldest questions in constitutional government: Who has the ultimate authority to judge the citizens of a sovereign nation—its own national institutions, or an international tribunal whose judges are beyond the reach of that nation’s electorate?

The answer explains why every American administration since the ICC’s creation has refused to recognize the Court’s jurisdiction over American servicemen and government officials.

The International Criminal Court was established under the Rome Statute in 1998 and formally began operations in 2002. It was created with an admirable purpose: to prosecute individuals responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and, more recently, the crime of aggression when national courts either cannot or will not act.

The horrors of Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia convinced many that the “international order” needed a permanent institution capable of bringing the world’s worst criminals to justice. Few people disputed that objective.

Since World War II, the United States has played a significant role in shaping modern international criminal law. From the Nuremberg trials to the creation of temporary tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, successive American governments have supported the prosecution of genuine war criminals.

What Washington has never accepted is the proposition that an international court may exercise criminal jurisdiction over American citizens without the United States’ consent.

Global Overreach

Bill Clinton authorized the signing of the Rome Statute during the final days of his administration, but he deliberately declined to submit it to the Senate for ratification, acknowledging significant constitutional concerns.

George W. Bush later informed the United Nations that the United States did not intend to become a party to the treaty. Congress reinforced that position through the American Service-Members’ Protection Act of 2002, declaring that American military personnel should never be surrendered to the ICC without U.S. consent.

Subsequent administrations differed in tone but not in principle. Barack Obama cooperated with the Court in certain cases involving foreign atrocities while continuing to reject its jurisdiction over Americans.

Joe Biden lifted some sanctions imposed during Donald Trump’s first term but tacitly maintained that the ICC possessed no lawful authority over U.S. personnel. The American constitutional objection has remained remarkably consistent across the partisan divide.

The present controversy over the court’s power arose from the ICC’s contention that if an alleged offense occurs within the territory of a country that has ratified the Rome Statute, the Court may prosecute even citizens of countries that have never accepted its jurisdiction.

The Court’s reasoning formed the basis for investigations involving American personnel in Afghanistan and has also underpinned recent proceedings involving Israeli leaders. Sovereign nations are right to see this as global overreach.

America in Opposition

History offers good reasons for American concern. International organizations, such as the United Nations, are not immune from politicization. Their legitimacy depends not only upon noble aspirations but also upon public confidence that they exercise their authority impartially and within clearly defined legal limits.

Whenever global institutions expand their jurisdiction beyond what states originally contemplated, they inevitably invite resistance.

This concern echoes an argument made 50 years ago by the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. In his influential 1975 book “A Dangerous Place” and in articles and speeches during his tenure as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Moynihan argued that the United States had entered an era of permanent “opposition” within international institutions.

He believed that organizations originally established to foster cooperation had increasingly become grievance forums for a multinational majority of former European colonies that were determined to disparage the United States and its longstanding allies.

Moynihan did not reject international cooperation; quite the opposite. He believed that international institutions were valuable—but only when they respected truth, legal restraint, and the sovereign equality of nations. When those institutions exceeded their proper authority or became instruments of political activism, he believed democratic governments had both the right and the obligation to resist.

Half a century later, Moynihan’s warning is remarkably relevant. The present dispute is not just about whether war crimes should be prosecuted. Every civilized nation supports bringing genuine perpetrators of genocide and crimes against humanity to justice.

The real question is whether or not an international court has an independent right to define the limits of its own authority.

Washington Rejects the ICC’s Jurisdiction

American constitutional tradition holds that treaties bind only those nations that freely consent to them. The Senate never ratified the Rome Statute. Consequently, successive administrations have maintained that no international body can acquire criminal jurisdiction over Americans through the unilateral decisions of other governments.

This is not merely a legal technicality. It goes to the heart of democratic accountability. American judges answer to constitutional procedures established by the American people. Congress writes the laws. Presidents appoint judges under constitutional safeguards. Elections provide ultimate political accountability.

The judges of the International Criminal Court answer to no American electorate. American citizens cannot vote them out of office, alter their mandate, or amend the Rome Statute under which they operate. This exempts the Court from democratic accountability and permits it to exercise extraordinary powers over individuals who never consented to its authority. Within this order of things, Americans are as inclined to trust the impartiality of international judges as they are to trust the neutrality of international soccer referees.

Washington’s position is not unique. Other major democracies, including India, have also declined to join the Court. The objections vary, but many share the concern that international institutions should not gradually acquire powers that sovereign governments never delegated. Dismissing concerns about sovereignty as ultra-America-first nationalism diminishes the importance of an issue that has occupied constitutional scholars for decades.

That is a profound constitutional issue. In spite of the usual virtue signaling and anti-American theater, there is a principle at stake that has united every U.S. administration for more than a quarter century. The United States never consented to place its citizens under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

Whether one agrees with Rubio’s assertion or not, it is hardly an extremist position. It reflects a long-standing understanding of constitutional government—that the legitimacy of law rests ultimately upon the consent of the governed. This is not just another battle in the culture wars or more evidence of presidential brinkmanship—it’s an issue that deserves to be taken seriously.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 20:05

Organized Insanity: Why ICE Shootings Are Usually Justified

It has been noted by many deportation advocates that the enforcement of basic immigration laws has always been a responsibility of government.  It's not a new, unique, bizarre or despotic policy - It's simply common sense.  However, in the past decade, the common sense enforcement of the law is being treated like a humanitarian crisis akin to slavery, ethnic cleansing and genocide.  Why?

It's not because the general public sees it that way.  The citizenry did not suddenly change their views on mass immigration overnight.  Most Americans are not particularly enthusiastic about "multiculturalism" or ethnic replacement and they never have been.  The big change was the focus of the progressive spin machine. 

The multiculturalists turned up the heat on their propaganda from moderate to full-blown "we are the world" cult insanity, and they did this in the span of a few years.  In other words, the pro-mass immigration movement is not a real movement; it's astroturf largely created by an army of non-profit organizations with wealthy globalist backers.

  

Without these NGOs, "anti-ICE" protests and disruption groups would not exist.  These people get compensated for the things they do.  That's how they're able to spend most of their day tracking ICE agents without losing their jobs - because provocation is their job.  

You may have heard of the recent ICE related shooting in Maine this past week, in which a confrontation between agents and an illegal migrant from Columbia led to a deadly outcome.  Maine activists took to the streets to protest the fatal shooting of the illegal by an ICE officer in Biddeford.  What they don't mention is that 26-year-old Joan Guerrero reportedly attempted to run the agent over with his van and that's why he was shot. 

DHS almost put a hold on traffic stops by ICE in response to the event, but Trump immediately brought the hammer down on that decision and traffic stops will continue unabated.  Any capitulation, any sign of weakness in the face of left-wing disruption, only emboldens them further.

\

There is no training that can be conducted that will make ICE agents safer from migrants and leftists trying to kill them.  Deadly force is the only response that makes a difference.  

The establishment media has tried desperately to make Guerrero into a martyr, much like they did with Renee Good and Alex Pretti, but with little success.  The reason should be obvious and predictable:  Americans are fed up with far-left activism and illegal immigration, and they're tired of the disinformation surrounding these incidents.

Almost no one talks about Renee Good or Alex Pretti because the narratives around their deaths were debunked.  When video footage was released showing Good attempting to run over an ICE agent and Pretti (armed with a pistol) attacking an ICE agent in the middle of an arrest, the outrage fizzled and the public realized they were being played. 

🚨 UPDATE: ICE has just announced that IN ONE OPERATION across one day, 238 illegal aliens have been arrested — a new record for the Rio Grande Valley

The illegals' crimes included s*xual battery, attempted kidnapping and more

KEEP PUSHING, ICE! Vehicle stops are back on! The… pic.twitter.com/ysPnrah0mW

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 16, 2026

At bottom, the NGO's want these shootings.  They want the chaos and they want to sacrifice low-IQ activists to create martyrdom scenarios.  Watch these groups in their post-killing demonstrations; they look almost happy or giddy.  They believe that with each tragic sacrifice they are getting closer to a popular consensus against deportations.  

Evidence suggests they are mistaken. 

The majority of Americans in polling still widely support deportations and strict controls on the southern border.  What the NGOs didn't take into consideration was the factor of fatigue.  The American populace is tired.  The public is growing increasingly acclimated to the idea that when activists and illegal migrants engage in violent encounters with ICE, those people are likely to be killed in the process.   

It seems like common sense, but the past decade of propaganda has conditioned many Americans to the idea that immigration enforcement is supposed to be soft and unseen.  This is naive.  The truth is, most incidents would not have occurred if it weren't for leftist disruption teams, and the public is starting to figure this out.  They are also starting to figure out that much of the hysteria around deportations has been conjured from thin air by left-wing news outlets. 

The goal is organized insanity - An engineered atmosphere of chaos.  It is the attempt to overwhelm the brains of the citizenry and train them to associate all immigration enforcement with constant tension and random violence. They hope that the public will eventually beg for it all to stop, even if it means keeping borders open.  

But, as noted, there's another potential outcome; the public stops caring completely.  When activists and migrants engage in organized insanity and get killed, no one flinches.  That's what is happening today.  Ultimately, the solution to ICE related deaths is simple:  Just don't interfere with or attack ICE agents.        

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 19:40

California Grocery Stores Use Facial Recognition Technology To Combat Theft

Via American Greatness,

Faced with a shoplifting epidemic that has battered California retailers for years, Grocery Outlet is fighting back with technology.

Customers are not thrilled about it.

The Emeryville-based discount grocery chain has begun installing facial recognition software called SAFR at a handful of Bay Area stores, including its Pleasant Hill “Bargain Market” location, CBS News San Francisco reported.

Customers walking through the doors will find signs warning them the system is in use, a disclosure the company says is meant to keep shoppers informed.

The rollout comes as California tries to combat a shoplifting problem that has spiraled out of control.

FBI data cited by CBS shows theft in the state has jumped 50 percent since the COVID-19 pandemic, a surge that has forced retailers from big-box chains to neighborhood grocers to spend millions on security measures, or in some cases, shutter stores altogether.

For June Guerrero, who spent years managing a retail store, the new technology is a welcome and overdue response to a problem she saw firsthand.

“I worked for years as a manager of a store and the theft was just unbelievable,” Guerrero told CBS News. “I agree with it.”

Not every customer sees it that way. Barbara Jackson told the outlet she’s uneasy about having her face scanned every time she shops for groceries.

“I do understand, but invading my privacy with my picture, I don’t agree on that,” Jackson said. “You gotta find a better way.”

Shopper Steve Burdette raised a different concern: the risk of the system misidentifying innocent customers as thieves.

“It could lead to a lot of problems, I think for companies and businesses and people,” he said.

SAFR president Charisse Jacques pushed back on the notion that the technology amounts to mass surveillance. She said the company does not maintain a database of every customer who walks through the door, retains information on suspected shoplifters only for a limited window, and does not share data with outside agencies — including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the New York Post.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 19:15

Hard Evidence: Prosecutor Accused Of Having Romantic Relationship With Illegal Immigrant

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

A prosecutor in Missouri had a romantic relationship with an illegal immigrant being prosecuted for sexual assault, Missouri's attorney general said on July 16.

A gavel in a file photograph. Demetrius Freeman/Pool/Getty Images

Ray County Prosecutor Camille Johnston at one point lived with the man, a citizen of Mexico who has been in the United States illegally since 2019, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said in court filings.

Johnston allegedly declined to disclose the whereabouts of the man, described in court documents as J.G., when he was identified as a suspect in a sexual assault case; visited the illegal immigrant in Mississippi, where he had fled; went on vacation with the man to Florida; and provided her personal vehicle to him.

"This assistance in absconding included making a vehicle available to J.G. so that he could abscond and with knowledge that he would likely return to his native country of Mexico to avoid detection and apprehension," the court document reads.

The man was arrested in Ohio in 2024 and is awaiting trial for sexual offenses.

Johnston is also accused of having a romantic relationship with a prospective defendant who had been charged with carrying out domestic violence, as well as a romantic relationship with a defense attorney who was representing multiple people being prosecuted by Johnston.

When a staff member discovered the relationship with the prospective defendant, Johnston fired the employee, according to Hanaway.

That was one of the actions that created "an atmosphere of fear and tension" within the office of the Ray County Prosecuting Attorney, the filings state.

"When an elected official treats public office like their personal playground, betraying the public trust, ignoring legal obligations, and putting self-interest first, removal isn't a suggestion, it's a necessity," Hanaway said in a statement.

"Johnston's record reflects a sustained pattern of misconduct and willful neglect that has undermined the integrity of the prosecutor's office and poses a serious threat to public safety. In Missouri, public office is public trust, not a personal entitlement, and no one is above accountability."

A receptionist at the Ray County Prosecutor's Office told The Epoch Times on Friday that no one was available to comment on the situation.

Missouri law authorizes the attorney general to lodge a petition to remove any official who is believed to have illegally held office or forfeited the ability to hold office through willful neglect, abuse of duty, or misconduct.

State law says that people hinder prosecution when they prevent the apprehension or prosecution of another person by providing that person with money, transportation, or other means to aid him in avoiding discovery or apprehension.

A judge overseeing the case on Thursday entered a preliminary order temporarily removing Johnston from office, pending further order from the court.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 18:25

Humanoid Loses Its Head In World's First Full-Size Robot Combat Tournament... And Keeps Fighting

A humanoid robot was knocked headless during the world's first free-combat tournament for full-sized machines, but that didn't stop it from swinging, Newsweek reports.

The bizarre scene unfolded at the Ultimate Robot Knock-out Legend (URKL) competition, which kicked off Thursday in Shenzhen, China.

A white robot named White Eagle landed a high kick on its black opponent, "Matador," sending the loser's head rocking violently before it popped completely out of place.

china’s URKL robot fight is absolute cinema

a robot got its head kicked off.. and kept fighting like it was completely normal 🤣 pic.twitter.com/A6KSfC0CTc

— el.cine (@EHuanglu) July 17, 2026

Even with its head dangling, Matador kept throwing punches and kicks at its rival. The bot eventually toppled over, crushing its own head beneath its body. As it tried to get back up, the head flew off entirely and the machine collapsed.

Organized by Shenzhen robotics company EngineAI, the event featured 32 international teams battling with the company's T800 humanoid robots.

The spectacle is the latest and most extreme entry in a fast-growing genre of robot combat. In May 2025, rival Chinese firm Unitree staged what was billed as the first humanoid robot kickboxing match in Hangzhou, pitting four of its smaller, remote-operated G1 machines against one another on state broadcaster CCTV - an event we covered at the time. The format has since gone global: earlier this year, San Francisco venues began hosting VR-controlled bouts using Unitree's humanoid robots, matches one researcher dismissed to Rest of World as little more than "robot theater." EngineAI itself teased this moment in December, unveiling the full-size T800 in a viral clip that showed the machine throwing spinning kicks - and, in a follow-up, booting the company's own CEO across a room. URKL raises the stakes further: full-sized humanoids, a standardized platform, and 32 teams whose edge comes down to software and tuning rather than hardware.

Watch the entire event here:

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 18:00

"Glaring Subsidization": Virginia Questions Cost Allocation For Data Centers

By Diana DiGangi of UtilityDive

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s office, Meta, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and others weighed in on Dominion Energy’s proposal for allocating the cost of transmission projects driven by data center development at a hearing held by the Virginia State Corporation Commission on Tuesday.

Louise White, Spanberger’s deputy energy officer, said that the governor’s office wants the SCC to apply three solutions in the case: a “but for” cost causation standard; requiring transmission level-contributions in aid of construction, or CIAC, payments; and transitioning to the summer/winter peak and average cost allocation method.

Attorney and lobbyist Will Cleveland testified on behalf of Google that Dominion only recently completed its shift to a 12 coincident peak demands allocation factor, and its new GS-5 rate class for large loads hasn’t yet gone into full effect, saying it’s “simply too early in the process” to know whether these changes alone might fairly reallocate the data center cost burden.

The SCC’s hearing concerns Dominion’s proposed change to its Rider T-1, a line-item charge allocated to cost recovery for transmission investments, which the utility seeks to increase in order to recover around $1.5 billion in transmission costs. Dominion originally estimated that the average residential ratepayer’s bill would increase by around $2.90 a month as a result but lowered that estimate to $0.94 a month based on updated forecasting.

Cleveland said that SCC’s final order in Dominion’s 2025 rate case approved large load provisions like the creation of the GS-5 rate class, with cost shifting as the provisions’ “entire premise ... Why is that not sufficient?” He asked the SCC to direct Dominion to revise its line extension policy to allow for voluntary CIAC payments, which he called a “win-win.” 

Andrew Major, an SCC attorney testifying on behalf of commission staff, said that if the commission chooses to adopt a methodology other than 12CP, staff “recommends transitioning over a multi-year period in order to facilitate gradualism and cost responsibility.”

“However, regardless of the cost allocation methodology that is chosen, there remains a glaring cross-class subsidization occurring to the benefit of new GS-5 customers,” Major said. He noted that Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta signed a ratepayer protection pledge at the White House in March, adding, “Curiously, none of those companies mentioned this pledge in either pre-filed testimony or opening statements today.”

The SCC continued to hear arguments on Wednesday, and must issue a decision in the case by Aug. 1.

In testimony filed June 11, Amazon witness Cameron Brooks also requested the adoption of voluntary CIAC payments “as a way to reduce ratepayer burden,” saying this would make “the customer’s financial responsibility for the identified facilities … clear, enforceable, and integral to mitigating subsidization and stranded cost risks.”

Jonathan Zader, senior assistant county attorney for Loudoun County — where the bulk of Virginia’s data centers are being developed — testified that “the stakes are particularly high” for Loudoun County, which requests cost recovery under Rider T-1 include direct allocation and CIAC payments for upgrades that are “but for” caused by interconnecting large load customers.

Methodology arguments

Michael Goggin, of Grid Strategies, testified on behalf of Appalachian Voices that concerns about stranded asset risk — enabled by what Brooks called the “socialization of speculative investment” from data center developers — is driving advocacy for CIAC payments as well as direct assignment, which allocates the cost of upgrades directly to the customer or rate class they’re serving.

But Goggin argued that “direct assignment only helps address part of the problem here. Dominion is still far too reliant on supplemental projects and needs to be directed to utilize the PJM regional competitive transmission planning process for the bulk of its transmission investment, so that we can reduce costs for all ratepayers,” he said.

John Farmer, section chief of the insurance and utilities regulatory section within the office of consumer counsel at the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, said the consumer council office “generally supports direct assignment conceptually when it is possible to identify a cost causer,” and “believes that the situations in which we may be able to identify a specific cost causer are growing.”

“But unlike allocating costs among the different classes, something this commission has done with regularity for many many years, there are uncertainties when it comes to the direct assignment of transmission costs that may warrant additional analysis,” Farmer said. For instance, he said, additional analysis on the relative merits of direct assignment to specific customers versus direct assignment to the overall GS-5 rate class “could be helpful.”

Farmer also said that the summer and winter peak average methodology of calculating cost, or an average and excess methodology used alongside 12CP, could be “reasonable alternatives” to the current 12CP methodology.

“Consumer Council does not find [Dominion’s] counterarguments to testimony recommending the SWPA method, in particular, to be persuasive, and expects the evidence that will come before this commission will support a movement to that methodology,” he said.

Dominion uses SWPA for cost-of-service studies and rate structures in North Carolina, but Dominion regulatory analyst Robert Miller said the company “believes that 12CP is the more appropriate allocation methodology for the companies for the Virginia jurisdiction.”

Miller reasoned that Dominion has a much smaller service territory in North Carolina, and he is not aware of any new high load factor customers in that area. He said that 12CP is a preferable methodology for use in Virginia, but agreed with Southern Environmental Law Center senior attorney Nate Benforado that SWPA “is in the zone of reasonableness.”

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 17:40

Trump Wants To Revoke Broadcast Licenses Of Networks That Didn't Air His Election Meddling Speech

President Donald Trump on Thursday said that US TV networks that refused to air his primetime address on election integrity should have their licenses revoked. 

President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the East Room of the White House on July 16, 2026 in Washington, DC. Saul Loeb/Pool - Getty Images

During the address, Trump said that both NBC and ABC News said they "would not cover the speech" - something he called a "rare move." 

"They knew what it was about because of the fact that they don’t like the topic, because they know how corrupt our system is, and they don’t want to reveal it," he said, adding "Fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses. They use our public, multi-billion-dollar in value airwaves for absolutely no money. They pay nothing. All we want is honesty in our elections and honesty in reporting."

ABC News said on Thursday that they would run the speech - but only on their live streaming platform and ABC News Radio - but not on its broadcast channel. NBC News also aired the speech on its streaming platform. 

As the Epoch Times notes further, Trump announced the declassification of information that he said reveals large-scale Chinese hacking of American voter information, saying that China obtained 220 million voter records during the 2020 election.

The president also detailed the findings of a Homeland Security Department review that found 278,000 noncitizens were registered to vote in federal elections. Trump said he had ordered the agency to notify states and direct them to remove all ineligible voters from their voter rolls.

White House communications director Steven Cheung called out NBC and ABC News for not airing the president’s address and encouraged viewers to watch it on the White House’s platform instead.

“NBC and ABC don’t want you to hear the truth. All they want to do is hide the facts from YOU. Tune in @WhiteHouse at 9:00pm EDT, where we always get bigger ratings than any of the networks,” Cheung said in a post on X.

Trump had previously called for the broadcast licenses of ABC News and NBC to be revoked over what he described as “unfair coverage of Republicans and/or Conservatives.” He also accused the networks of being “an arm of the Democrat Party.”

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in April ordered an early review of license renewals for eight Disney-owned ABC television stations. The FCC was also looking into whether ABC’s daytime talk ​show “The View” violated federal rules requiring broadcast stations to provide equal airtime to all political party candidates.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 17:20

US Embassy Offers Large Cash Sums For Groups In Lebanon To Promote America's Image

Via The Libertarian Institute

The US Embassy in Lebanon announced that the State Department is offering grants of up to $250,000 to groups that help promote American propaganda. 

"The US Embassy in Beirut is opening a new Notice of Funding Opportunity for 2026," a statement published this week explained. "We’re looking for partners to implement programs that strengthen ties between the US and Lebanon, with a focus on highlighting US-led peace and stabilization efforts, and advancing digital literacy to help people identify and push back on false, adversarial narratives."

American Embassy in Beirut.

The State Department website says the program is expected to award $500,000 to at least two groups to promote US propaganda in Lebanon.

It adds that the program’s goal is to “strengthen local public understanding of US-led peace and stabilization efforts, and its role as a partner committed to security, economic opportunity, and responsible regional leadership.”

Washington is attempting to broker a peace agreement between Tel Aviv and Beirut. However, Israel is at war with Hezbollah, a non-state military that operates outside of the control of the Lebanese government. 

While Beirut and Tel Aviv inked a deal last month, Hezbollah rejected the agreement because it allowed the IDF to occupy Lebanon until the militia is dismantled. 

According to some of the latest from The Associated Press:

After two days of U.S.-mediated talks in Rome, Lebanon and Israel took steps toward implementing “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon where Israeli forces would withdraw and turn over control to the Lebanese army, the U.S. State Department said Wednesday.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began when the Lebanese militant group fired rockets into Israel days after Israel and the U.S. launched their war on Iran on Feb. 28. Israel invaded Lebanon and has since occupied a large swathe of the country’s south. Hezbollah has been vehemently opposed to the direct Lebanon-Israel talks.

The attempt to negotiate a peace agreement between Tel Aviv and Beirut is making it more difficult for President Donald Trump to end the war against Iran.

🇮🇱🇱🇧 Reports claim the Israeli army is actively paving roads and modifying routes inside the occupied town of Odeisseh, Lebanon

That's despite an agreement with the Lebanese Government where they promise to pull out of Lebanon, eventually...

Source: BintJbeilNews/Writer: Samuel pic.twitter.com/u6R8FgLk1e

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 17, 2026

Iran has linked any ceasefire and peace agreement with Israel ending its war against Lebanon - but Israel has rejected this effort to link the two conflict threatres. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 17:00

The Maine Democratic Senate Debate To Replace Platner Was - Quite Something

The field of eight candidates was split into two groups of four, running the top-tier candidates first and dishing the rest out for a second round. By the time it wrapped, these eight took turns explaining why they, specifically, are the ones who can finally unseat an incumbent who has outlasted six presidential administrations, and ended up making Graham Platner look pretty good in the process.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows participated in the first segment. She previously challenged Collins for this same Senate seat in 2014 and lost by 37 points. She is also widely known for trying to remove Trump from the Republican primary ballot in 2024 by invoking the 14th Amendment's insurrection clause, which was shot down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bellows found a new way to look unprepared on stage Thursday night, as she was unable to answer simple questions about her own policy positions.

MODERATOR: "What qualifications do you have to serve in the U.S. Senate?"

Maine Democrat Ashley Webb: "I'm a songwriter and I write my own books." pic.twitter.com/csMIFkmt4Q

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 17, 2026

Asked about the military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, she attacked Collins directly, "What Susan Collins has failed to stop is a completely unstable foreign policy," she said.

Moderator Phil Hirschkorn was forced to point out the inconvenient fact that Collins voted for a war powers resolution limiting Trump's options in Venezuela back in January.

Bellows had nothing. "Forgive me," she said. "A week ago, I was on vacation on a river on the Kennebec, and I've been running for governor for a long time."

She added, "When I need to know the facts, I will," she added. "I'll do my homework."

The most amusing candidate was Ashley Webb, a trans-identifying man whose qualifications for the United States Senate are, objectively, dubious. "I ran for office several times, didn't win, but I did run. And then I'm a songwriter, and then I write my own books, and then I suppose my transparency," Webb said. "I wouldn't lie to the people and I wouldn't deceive the people like we're being deceived right now."

Webb created a viral moment by mistakenly referring to "pork bellying" instead of "pork barreling," the practice of allocating federal funds for local projects.

Checking in on the Maine Senate Debate: “I believe they called it pork bellying by cutting out the pork belly from all the bills, sure that would save a lot of money as well…” pic.twitter.com/Gv66Ks43rh

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 17, 2026

Another clip of Webb that has gone viral is him involves his position on transgender bathroom policy. "With the trans community, we're being dehumanized, they say that we want to hurt people. I don't want to hurt anybody. I just want to use the bathroom and if they want me to use the men's room, I will. But I don't want to be assaulted," he said.

Nobody on either panel closed the sale, and left-leaning media outlets couldn't deny it.

"The debate laid bare the reality of how difficult replacing Platner and mounting a serious challenge against Collins will be," CNN reported. "None of the candidates in Thursday night's debate could replicate the political skills that allowed Platner to emerge as a viral sensation, elbow a two-term governor out of the race and poll neck-and-neck with Collins before he ended his campaign after a woman accused him of rape - allegations he has denied. Shah's delivery was one-note and Bellows' was halting. Wood often turned to his notes. Jackson frequently cleared his throat and changed directions mid-sentence."

The candidates on stage Thursday were unprepared, uninspiring, and exactly the kind of opposition Susan Collins should be thanking her lucky stars for. Eight Democrats took the stage looking for a breakout moment and what voters got was more of a blooper reel instead.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 16:40

After Trump's 'Election Cyber-F**kery' Speech, "The Game Is Gonna Get Rough Now"...

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

“. . . the Democrat Party. . . are morally bankrupt nincompoops who have been beaten by the establishment like the rented mules they are. “

- Kurt Schlichter on X

Strange to relate, in last night’s speech to the nation on election chicanery, President Trump managed to both overwhelm and underwhelm public expectation.

He touched on voting machine shenanigans, registration skullduggery, cyber-fuckery, labor union toolery, ballot fraud, and especially China meddling.

Internal CIA / FBI docs at the time said that China’s policy around the 2020 US election was to “leverage all domestic and foreign elements” opposed to the President to prevent his re-election. The Intel bunch never sent that memo to the White House. They were too busy pushing fake Russia meddling, fake impeachment, and a fake Covid-19 pandemic. Then they declared the 2020 was “the most secure election in history.”

As of yesterday, the President de-classified many thousands of Intel agency documents for the public (and news media) to peruse.

And naturally, the major cable news networks (except Fox) declined to broadcast the speech.

As of Friday morning, The New York Times leads the offensive to disparage the actual news.

He’s Obsessed, that Trump!

The actual news: China hacked over 220-million voter registrations, plus social security files; manufactured and shipped tens of thousands of fake US driver’s licenses to be used in motor-voter states; and paid favored US journalists to write negative articles about Mr. Trump. The Department of Homeland Security reported 278,000 non-citizens were registered to vote in federal elections. But that number was compiled only from states that complied with DOJ demands for voter rolls. California, New York, and Illinois and many other states refused, so the number is probably more than double the DHS figure.

The big take-away was that US Intel agencies withheld all this intel from the President of the US, Mr. Trump, in the lead-up to the 2020 vote.

Yes, there really is Deep State, as seen starkly in a now-declassified memo from the then-chief of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, one Nikki Floris, who wrote “I’m basically running a shadow government at this point” by hiding information from POTUS.

Ms. Floris is now employed as Microsoft’s Director of Insider Risk (former Deputy Attorney General under “Joe Biden,” Lisa Monaco, is President of Microsoft Global Affairs.)

According to the NY Post’s Miranda Devine, in August 2020, Nikki Floris also tried to hoodwink Senators Chuck Grassley and Rob Johnson, telling them the Hunter Biden laptop was a Russian op — a gag later ratified by fifty-one former intel officers (including five former CIA Directors) who signed the notorious October letter to the news media.

All of this activity, Mr. Trump averred, amounted to a cover-up of a conspiracy by members of the permanent bureaucracy to overthrow the government. And that is exactly why more than one federal grand jury is convened in Fort Pierce, Florida, right now, to sort out who, exactly, is going to account for these rather grave crimes. The new document release is apt to accelerate the work of US Attorneys there, since declassification is the biggest routine holdup in the process.

On the “underwhelming” side of the president’s speech, there was little mention of the swing-state ballot fraud enabled and conducted by local election officials in Fulton County, Georgia, Maricopa County, Arizona, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Antrim County, Michigan, Mesa County, Colorado, and Philadelphia, PA. But you know that the FBI raided Fulton County election headquarters months ago and seized around 700 boxes of evidence, and then reassigned 260 FBI agents to examine all the material. All that might still be to-come.

Then there is the question of the millions of dollars that Hunter Biden winkled out of China over the years before the 2020 election — records of which were stuffed in his infamous laptop, along with photos and video of his sexual exploits there — and whether Hunter’s father, Joe, was a blackmail captive of China leading up to that election. Stay tuned on that.

Altogether, Mr. Trump’s speech and document drops are obviously an effort to move election reform, the Save America Act, through Congress, where it has languished in a procedural miasma for months due to one man: Senate Majority Leader John Thune. The President’s emphasis last night on China’s election meddling is purposeful in ways not broadly apprehended, but I will tell you:

If Congress does not find a way to vote that bill out to Mr. Trump’s desk before they recess for the rest of the summer in late July, Mr. Trump will invoke an executive order under the National Emergencies Act (NEA) — Public Law 94-412; codified at 50 U.S.C. §§ 1601–1651 — requiring the fifty states to employ all the same provisions that are in the SAVE America Act for the 2026 midterm elections. Under the NEA, the federal courts cannot be used to fight or strike down the executive order; it can only be stopped by a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate.

If that is the course that this takes, you can expect Antifa and the Democratic-Socialist foot-soldiers to take to the streets this fall in a violently-amplified episode of “No Kings” demonstrations — because fair and honest elections with citizens-only voting will mean the end of the Democratic Party, and they know it. Last night’s move by President Trump is only the opening bid of a quickening game against the Deep State, and their partners-in-sedition.

The game is gonna get rough now.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 16:20

PJM Capacity Auction Results Compound "Alarm Bells": FERC Chairman Swett

By Ethan Howland of UtilityDive

The PJM Interconnection’s just-held capacity auction cleared nearly 7 GW below its reliability target and only drew roughly 500 MW of new power supply, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Laura Swett said Thursday.

“These numbers compound the alarm bells for a call to action in PJM,” Swett said during the agency’s monthly meeting. “Am I surprised that PJM failed to deliver? No, I am not,” Swett said later during a media briefing.

However, FERC isn’t trying to “target” PJM, she said.

“This is a problem that involves people at the federal level, at the market level, the state level, the registered entities, the market participants … all the utilities, the companies there,” Swett said. “This is a very complex issue that everyone has to coalesce around, coming up with a solution.”

FERC aims to address some of the problems at a technical conference on July 23 focused on PJM’s governance issues.

“The current stakeholder process in PJM is slow where it must be fast, opaque where it must be transparent, and vulnerable to vetoes and agenda control exactly when the region needs immediate action,” Swett said.

From the conference, FERC expects to get “ideas on paper, on a record,” Swett said. “I am very optimistic that certain proposals will be front runners that are grounded in the record that we collect next week, so that there should be a more clear path forward for PJM after that.”

FERC Commissioner Lindsay See also highlighted the need for reforms at PJM, the nation’s largest grid operator, serving 67 million people in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions.

“PJM has to be able to get reforms across the finish line in a timely and transparent way,” See said. “Part of that also includes the need for a governance structure that can not only deliver concrete results but that can give parties the type of confidence in those reforms that’s necessary to drive investment where and when it’s needed.”

Last week, FERC Commissioner David LaCerte said the status quo at PJM was “untenable.”

Here are five other takeaways from FERC’s meeting.

Data center reliability standards

FERC set deadlines for the North American Electric Reliability Corp. to develop reliability standards for computational loads — data centers and crypto-mining operations — and the rules for registering those loads by Dec. 31. The grid watchdog is already developing those standards and rules.

FERC also directed NERC to file by March 1 a plan detailing the next steps in its standards development process for computational loads.

“I applaud NERC’s proactive efforts on these matters,” Swett said. FERC set the deadlines because “they are a great mechanism for producing results,” she said.

As part of its Large Loads Action Plan, NERC expects to issue the proposed reliability standards and draft registry criteria for public comment in August, it said Thursday.

FERC orders CAISO, SPP Western seams report

FERC ordered the California Independent System Operator and the Southwest Power Pool to file a report by Sept. 30 on how they plan to manage the seams between their markets and neighboring balancing authority areas in the West. The CAISO-run Extended Day-Ahead Market started operating in May. SPP expanded its footprint into the Western Interconnection in April, and its Markets+ initiative is expected to go live in October 2027. 

“While the increased deployment of organized markets is intended to bring substantial reliability and economic benefits to the West, the resulting seams create reliability, operational, and market efficiency hurdles that warrant proactive attention,” FERC said.

Earlier this month, CAISO President and CEO Elliot Mainzer said the grid operator was working with SPP to develop a joint operating agreement before Markets+ begins operating.

Complaint over PSE&G cost recovery advances

FERC advanced a complaint over Public Service Electric and Gas Co.’s cost recovery of a $546 million transmission project it built in New Jersey. The agency ordered an administrative law judge to conduct hearings on Public Citizen’s January complaint alleging that the costs were imprudently incurred.

In December 2024, PSE&G agreed to pay a $6.6 million fine to settle a FERC enforcement office investigation into the utility’s justifications to PJM for building the Roseland-Pleasant Valley transmission project.

FERC rejects complaint over Duke transmission rates

FERC rejected a complaint that sought to stop Duke Energy Progress from including the costs of four transmission lines that could benefit solar developers into its overall transmission rates. 

The agency dismissed arguments made by North Carolina Electric Membership Corp. in its complaint, saying, “Rolled-in rate treatment for the costs of the four … projects is consistent with longstanding Commission precedent that favors rolled-in rate treatment for integrated transmission facilities.”

FERC eyes changes to ‘hypothetical capital structure’ incentive

FERC approved a 50/50 hypothetical debt to equity capital structure for two transmission projects that Basin Electric Power Cooperative plans to build in North Dakota for about $469.3 million. FERC offers hypothetical capital structures as an incentive for transmission development.

“They can help new transmission companies secure financing for large projects and allow developers to move forward even when their actual capital structure may not yet reflect a project’s long-term financial profile,” Swett said. 

However, FERC is considering changes to the incentive, which increases consumer costs, Swett said at the agency’s meeting.

“This is a very complex topic with significant implications for financing, project development, regional planning, and customer affordability. Even small changes to utilities’ return can have significant impacts,” she said. “I am confident that working with my colleagues, we can get that balance right and ensure that our policies promote needed transmission investment while protecting consumers.”

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 15:40

Apple And DOJ In "Early Settlement Talks" Over 2024 Antitrust Lawsuit

Apple and the U.S. Department of Justice are reportedly in early discussions to settle the government's 2024 antitrust lawsuit against the iPhone maker, though no agreement has been reached and no trial date has been set, Bloomberg reported today.

Apple has made multiple settlement offers this year in an effort to resolve the case, but negotiations remain ongoing and could still fall apart. Neither Apple nor the DOJ commented.

The lawsuit, originally filed under the Biden administration by the Justice Department along with 19 states and the District of Columbia, accuses Apple of illegally maintaining a monopoly in the smartphone market by making it harder for competing products and services to gain traction.

Regulators pointed to restrictions involving messaging apps, smartwatches, digital wallets, cloud gaming services, and so-called "super apps," arguing the company's practices harmed developers, competitors, and consumers. Apple lost its attempt to dismiss the case in June 2025.

Since the lawsuit was filed, Apple has already made several changes that address parts of the government's complaint. The company now supports RCS messaging, allows cloud gaming apps on the App Store, has opened the iPhone's NFC payment chip to third-party developers, and introduced a framework for mini apps. Apple still does not allow the Apple Watch to work with Android devices, though it has added features that improve compatibility between iPhones and non-Apple smartwatches.

The report also comes as the Trump Justice Department has shown a greater willingness to settle antitrust cases inherited from the previous administration, arguing negotiated agreements can deliver faster consumer benefits while avoiding years of costly litigation. It remains unclear whether the state attorneys general involved in the lawsuit are participating in the settlement talks.

While the Biden Justice Department launched a series of aggressive cases against Big Tech, including lawsuits targeting Apple, Google, Amazon and Meta Platforms, Trump's DOJ has shown a greater willingness to resolve inherited cases through negotiated settlements rather than years of courtroom battles.

That doesn't necessarily mean antitrust scrutiny is disappearing, but it does suggest the administration may be more focused on securing practical concessions from technology companies than pursuing lengthy, high-profile litigation.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 15:20

DOJ, DHS Launch Election Integrity Website

Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times,

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday launched a joint website featuring an interactive map of federal enforcement actions aimed at election security, transparency, and integrity.

“Excited to launch the joint @TheJusticeDept @DHSgov election integrity website, an interactive map showing what actions the federal government is taking to improve election security, transparency, and integrity for all Americans! Updated regularly!” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon announced on X on July 16.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington on Sept. 29, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The website displays a nationwide map of states and the District of Columbia, with users able to click any jurisdiction to view linked enforcement records.

The page lists Justice Department actions targeting states that fail to produce voter registration rolls.

The Civil Rights Division said the effort was to protect the right to vote by ensuring accurate rolls and removing ineligible voters.

The page urges the public to “Get involved and learn more about the division’s election-integrity enforcement actions” and to “Support Election Integrity: Help the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security protect the vote by reporting concerns and staying informed.”

The launch comes as the division continues to press states for full voter registration lists under federal laws, including the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. Officials have described clean rolls as essential so that every eligible citizen’s vote counts equally and without dilution.

The interactive map and linked press releases centralize the volume of recent litigation and immigration-related arrests in one place. The site will be updated regularly as additional actions are taken.

Recent Justice Department filings listed include February 2026 lawsuits against five additional states for failure to produce voter rolls; January 2026 actions targeting Virginia, Arizona, and Connecticut; and multiple 2025 cases.

DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) entries detail arrests of noncitizens who allegedly voted in federal elections, including a New Jersey case and an Australian national charged with voting in multiple elections, along with a Mexican national’s guilty plea for falsely claiming U.S. citizenship.

The site opens with a quote from President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14248, issued March 25, 2025: “Free, fair, and honest elections unmarred by fraud, errors, or suspicion are fundamental to maintaining our constitutional Republic.”

The executive order highlights that the United States does not enforce basic and necessary election protections, noting that countries like India and Brazil tie voter identification to biometric databases, whereas the United States relies on self-attestation for citizenship.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 14:40

HSBC Upgrades Apple To Buy, Sees "AI Boost" Sparking Device-Upgrade Cycle

Days after KeyBanc analysts Brandon Nispel and John Vinh downgraded Apple over concerns that soaring memory chip costs and rising iPad, Mac, and iPhone prices could spark a growth slowdown, HSBC analysts took the opposite view, upgrading the stock to a "Buy" rating to end the week.

HSBC analyst Nicolas Cote-Colisson upgraded Apple to "Buy" from "Hold" on Friday morning and raised his price target to $366 from $260, telling clients that an "AI boost comes at the right moment" and could unleash a major device-upgrade cycle.

Cote-Colisson explained:

A new cycle ahead.

Thus far, we had retained a cautious approach on Apple with a Hold rating.

We had preferred other segments of the AI value chain, more prompt to exploit the bottlenecks created by the high demand in computing power, including hyperscalers or memory makers.

We think Apple is now at an operational turning point: not only can the company stay away from the (too) high capex debate (it only invests 2.5% of its 2026e sales vs 39% for hyperscalers, see page 10), we think it is also well placed to leverage its 2.5bn installed device base with its forthcoming revamped Apple Intelligence.

This AI boost comes at the right moment, when we think Apple has one of its most innovative product pipelines in place.

Cote-Colisson pointed out that Apple is at an "inflection point" as it prepares to deploy an agentic version of Siri capable of accessing information across applications and executing more complex tasks:

• New AI features coming this year represent a key catalyst for an acceleration in Apple's hardware and Services revenue
• Recent price hikes show confidence from Apple that pricing power can limit the negative impact of memory pricing on margin

HSBC expects the AI overhaul to coincide with a strong product pipeline that includes the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, a book-style foldable iPhone, an iPhone Air, a 20th-anniversary model and eventually AI-powered smart glasses. The combination could accelerate upgrades across Apple's installed base of more than 2.5 billion active devices, particularly among owners of the iPhone 15 and 16.

Putting this all together, the analyst expects the AI overhaul and robust pipeline to begin the "start of a fundamental shift that will force a faster hardware refresh across the 2.5bn+ active device installed base."

Cote-Colisson also raised Apple's 2027 and 2028 revenue estimates by 7% to 9%, including an 11% to 13% increase in his iPhone forecasts. He expects iPhone sales to rise 11.6% in fiscal 2027, compared with the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 8.3%. He also lifted his 2027 Services revenue forecast by 5.4%.

His fiscal 2027 earnings-per-share estimate increased about 8% to $10.26, or 7.5% above consensus. Cote-Colisson expects EPS growth of roughly 16% that year, compared with a 12% median among Apple's peers.

Cote-Colisson pointed out that rising memory prices remain a significant risk: "Downside risks include competition from AI labs introducing new form factors that could challenge smartphones and a longer-than-expected global memory chip shortage compressing margins, although we believe Apple can command a significant degree of pricing power."

Earlier in the week, KeyBanc analysts Brandon Nispel and John Vinh downgraded Apple from "Sector Weight" to "Underweight" amid fears that rising device prices due to the memory crunch will hit sales in the coming quarters.

In mid-June, Apple CEO Tim Cook told the WSJ in an exclusive interview that price hikes were "unavoidable" because of the memory chip crunch.

Latest Bloomberg data shows 36 "Buy" ratings, 18 "Neutral" ratings, and 4 "Sell" ratings on the stock, with an average 12-month price target of $322.

$322 PT 

Professional subscribers can read more on Apple at our new Marketdesk.ai portal. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 14:25

Meta Eyes $10 Billion Deal To Lease AI Computing Power To Anthropic

Meta is standing up a cloud business to sell excess computing capacity from its massive data-center buildout, as we detailed earlier this month. The new business line would put Meta in direct competition with industry leaders such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.

Meta is in talks to rent computing power from its AI data centers to Anthropic in a deal that could be worth as much as USD 10bln over two years: NYT

Now "excess power"

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) July 17, 2026

The New York Times reported that Meta is considering selling excess computing capacity to Anthropic in a deal that could be worth up to $10 billion over the next two years.

Here's more color from NYT:

Meta is in talks to rent computing power from its artificial intelligence data centers to Anthropic in a deal that could be worth as much as $10 billion over two years, three people with knowledge of the discussions said, a potential step toward a new A.I. business for the social networking company.

Anthropic proposed the deal in June and Meta is considering it, said the people, who were not authorized to discuss confidential conversations. While the specifics were in flux, Anthropic would pay Meta in monthly increments over the two-year period, the people said. The companies would be able to opt out of any agreement early, they added.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently acknowledged that AI agent development over the past four months "hasn't accelerated in the way we expected."

• "Agent Development Hasn't Accelerated The Way We Expected": What Zuckerberg's AI Agent Confession Means For Token Demand

The company has also said it may build more data centers than it needs based on the number of customers using its AI products. Selling excess computing power to companies such as Anthropic would open a new revenue stream and potentially alleviate investor concerns following Meta's multiyear data-center buildout spree.

"A generational transfer in free cash flow is taking place: BofA pic.twitter.com/4K9fMrs8II

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) July 8, 2026

It's not just Meta. Elon Musk's SpaceX, which acquired his AI startup xAI earlier this year, has been renting massive amounts of computing capacity from its Memphis data centers to Anthropic PBC. That strategy could help xAI generate more than $50 billion in revenue by 2028 and $100 billion by 2030.

Amid a fast-moving AI race...

... Meta's models are nowhere to be found. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 13:45

Pentagon Chief Backs Blue Angels Pilots Following Low-Altitude Pass Over Florida Beach Crowd

Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times,

War Secretary Pete Hegseth offered support for U.S. Navy Blue Angels pilots on Thursday after a review of a low-altitude jet maneuver over Pensacola Beach, Florida, the day before.

Dramatic video shows the U.S. Navy Blue Angels making a low-altitude flyover above Pensacola Beach, Florida, on Wednesday. Navy officials confirmed in a statement that Blue Angels leadership is "reviewing the circumstances surrounding the maneuver and conducting a thorough safety… pic.twitter.com/ZUa1ryk4X8

— ABC News (@ABC) July 15, 2026

Video posted online showed one of the demonstration jets flying unusually close to the ground during an arrival maneuver on Wednesday.

The jet kicked up sand and beach items among spectators at a “Breakfast with the Blues” event. Children were seen covering their ears with their heads bowed.

The maneuver occurred during events tied to the squadron’s 80th anniversary.

“The flyovers will continue until morale improves,” Hegseth posted on X.

The Blue Angels said it is conducting a review of the maneuver.

“The safety of our hometown community, spectators, and our pilots is our highest priority. Team leadership is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the maneuver and conducting a thorough safety review to ensure all operations adhere to strict Navy and FAA safety standards,” the squadron said in a statement.

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said later Thursday that a flight debrief had been completed and there would be no reprimands.

“No reprimands. No firings. No problem. That’s the sound of Freedom,” Cao wrote on X. “Semper fi and Hooyah.”

Wednesday’s incident took place during preparations for the Pensacola Beach Air Show. The show features expanded performances this year for the anniversaries. Organizers predicted large crowds.

No injuries were reported. One spectator told local media she had been in attendance at the air show for 10 years and never witnessed such a pass. She said she thought the jet might hit them but called the experience amazing.

This was at least the third time in recent months that Hegseth supported pilots after aerial maneuvers that drew scrutiny over safety concerns. The Pentagon lifted suspensions of helicopter pilots who flew low over the coast of South Carolina. In March, Hegseth said Army pilots would not be punished after flying attack helicopters near singer Kid Rock’s house.

Some lawmakers criticized the maneuver.

“Aviation safety rules are written in blood. Glamorizing and excusing reckless behavior like this will only lead to more, until we reach the point where a horrific tragedy occurs because of brazen, careless rhetoric like this,” Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) said on X.

The Blue Angels were created in 1946 and perform precision maneuvers at air shows and other events. Its home base is located in Pensacola.

Military aviation is closely regulated. Low-altitude flying limits reaction time for pilots. Blue Angels operations follow strict parameters on minimum altitudes.

The review followed standard Navy procedures for deviations from flight profiles. Past investigations into demonstration squadron incidents have examined precision requirements.

The Blue Angels squadron is made up of pilots and supporting personnel who perform for millions of spectators annually. The team remains set to continue its demonstrations.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 13:10

Musk Buys Florida-Based Energy Company

Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times,

Elon Musk has acquired a power company based in Jacksonville, Fla., paying $1 billion for the mobile gas-turbine provider as a possible solution to data center energy needs.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lists Musk as the acquiring party, with New APR Energy, LLC listed as the acquired entity.

Neither party issued public statements on the deal that closed May 14. Local business news outlet Jacksonville Daily Record first reported on the news in June before it gained national media attention in recent days.

The potential cost of the deal was found in a separate filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in which Technologies Group reported selling its 5 percent non-voting stake in New APR Energy in a May 28 SEC report.

Duos said its sale generated $50.4 million in net proceeds, which implies the Musk deal was worth at least $1 billion.

Musk continues to invest in artificial intelligence (AI) development with the research company he founded, xAI, and its chatbot Grok.

His xAI company runs the Colossus data center in Tennessee, a $20 billion facility near a power plant site, where he has had to rent turbine units as he waits for grid power to the site.

New APR Energy owns and maintains a fleet of gas turbines with more than 1 gigawatt of power generation capacity, according to a statement from the company in January, when it expanded capacity.

The company has been delivering power to clients for more than 20 years, deploying its fleets “in as little as 30 to 90 days,” the statement said.

Grok is a generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) chatbot developed by xAI, based on a large language model (LLM). It was developed at the initiative of Elon Musk in response to the rise of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Riccardo Milani/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

Musk’s purchase of the Florida company represents his second investment in the energy sector. In 2006, Musk helped fund SolarCity, a company founded by his cousins, Peter and Lyndon Rive, which grew to be the largest residential solar installer in the United States.

Tesla bought SolarCity in an all-stock deal worth about $2.6 billion in 2016 and turned it into Tesla Energy.

Tech expert and podcaster Aakash Gupta said Musk’s latest transaction exposed the AI industry’s current problems.

“What [Musk] bought tells you where the real bottleneck in AI is,” Gupta said in a July 16 post on X.

New APR Energy operates a fleet of mobile gas and diesel turbines with over 1 gigawatt of generation capacity—enough to power 750,000 homes at once.

The fleet, which was built for disaster response, arrives on trucks and can be delivered, installed, and commissioned in a month.

The fast set-up time makes sense for Musk, who has already lived through delays with xAI’s first Memphis plant, Gupta said.

“Environmental groups sued. The [Justice Department] intervened to keep the turbines running. He was renting the most important input to his most important company,” Gupta said. “So he bought the landlord. … Every AI lab can buy the same chips. Only one of them now owns a power plant fleet that ships by truck.”

New APR Energy and Tesla did not return requests for comments about the purchase by publication time.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 12:35

US Sends Dozens More Refueling Planes To Israel Amid Widening Iran War, Oil Climbs Summary

• Surge in more large US refueling planes headed to Mideast, signaling likely expansion of strikes on Iran.
• US attacks hit Iranian energy and transport infrastructure.
• Iran threatens stronger retaliation and claims strike on US base in Qatar - and deepens attacks to include US outposts in Jordan, Syria.
• Iran urges power conservation; Hormuz shipping traffic declines further.
• Oil prices rise to session highs on fears of broader regional conflict.

//--> //--> //--> Will the U.S. invade Iran before 2027?
Yes 27% · No 74%
View full market & trade on Polymarket Trump Sends Dozens More Refueling Planes in Sign Of Widening War

Oil prices are climbing on fresh reports Friday that President Trump is ready to continue escalating and expanding strikes on the Islamic Republic, after a Situation Room briefing this week where the Commander-in-Chief was presented with various options. It bears repeating that the White House in the opening days of Operation Epic Fury promised the American public a fast and hasty, limited military engagement - but this is where we are four months later...

"The Trump administration notified Israel it is sending dozens more refueling planes to the country ahead of a potential expansion of military operations against Iran, three U.S. and Israeli officials said," reports Axios. "After he was presented with several new military plans in a Situation Room meeting Tuesday, President Trump is considering a massive offensive in Iran that would be wider in scope than the current strikes around the Strait of Hormuz." This is but the latest signal that the ceasefire and negotiations are fully dead, and the potential for runaway escalation is bigger than ever:

• OIL RISES TO SESSION HIGHS, BRENT TRADES ABOVE $87/BBL
• US YIELDS RISE TO DAY'S HIGH ON REPORTS OF US-IRAN ESCALATION
• US TO SEND DOZENS MORE REFUELING PLANES: AXIOS

War Secretary Pete Hegseth boasted Friday of taking out this Iranian maritime monitoring tower on the southern coast:

Meanwhile, another US attack on an Iranian oil tanker is being widely reported:

US forces have attacked an Iranian oil tanker docked near Iran’s Kharg Island for the second time in two days, according to an Iranian official speaking to the Fars news agency.

“The empty, Belma N.I.22 oil tanker, which was hit two days ago, was attacked again today by two US missiles”, the deputy governor of Bushehr told Fars.

Iranians Urges to Conserve Power

Iran has on Friday warned of a "more crushing" retaliation following the conclusion of last night's sixth consecutive day of US attacks, targeting military targets and logistics infrastructure, but also civilian sites connected to the power grid. By all accounts this current wave goes beyond the prior strikes in size and scope compared to the past several days.

Iranian state media has reported that eight people were killed from the overnight attacks, and that several bridges had been attacked overnight.

Illustrative wartime image from earlier in the conflict.

The country is feeling the strain under what is now nearly a week of constant US heavy attacks. This is being seen in that Iran's energy ministry has urgently called on citizens to reduce electricity use after the power grid came under strain following US strikes on energy infrastructure in the south.

In a statement on Friday, the ministry said those areas in the south "are currently experiencing extreme heat and attacks on power infrastructure." But as Al Jazeera notes, "The ministry however did not elaborate on whether it was power plants, transmission lines or other equipment that had been attacked." According to more details:

Iran's Energy Ministry urged citizens to reduce electricity consumption to help stabilize power supply in the country’s southern provinces following US strikes on energy facilities, citing extreme heat and infrastructure damage, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported Friday.

The ministry asked subscribers to turn off air conditioners for one hour during peak consumption periods to help ensure a more stable electricity supply to the affected provinces, ISNA said.

Report: Hormuz Strait transit falls to three week low--

Hormuz traffic reaches three week low

MarineTraffic data indicate confirmed crossings through the monitored Strait of Hormuz zone fell to eight on 16 July, down from 15 a day earlier and marking a three week low. Seven of the eight transits followed the Iranian route, with no… pic.twitter.com/mEXVxsx40d

— MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) July 17, 2026

Friday was the first time that Iran's government acknowledged American "attacks on power infrastructure" during the campaign, which comes after Trump's prior warning to go after key civilian infrastructure.

Attacks on Bridges

And on the bridges: "Iranian media reported that five bridges were hit in the latest round of US strikes, as well as the train station in coastal Bandar Khamir and Iranshahr Airport ​in southeastern Iran," Reuters reports. An airport has also reportedly been attacked.

Iran has warned of an "infrastructure for infrastructure" tit-for-tat:

Kuwait says that one of the country's power and water desalinations plans suffered "severe damage" after an Iranian attack.

— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) July 17, 2026

There are signs of renewed attacks on rail as well, per NBC:

A railway junction station just west of Bandar Abbas was also hit, the state-owned IRIB news agency said. The highway and railway bridge strikes appeared aimed at cutting off Bandar Abbas, Iran’s main port, from roads leading toward Tehran, the capital.

While other routes still are open, the U.S. strikes could expand further, potentially disrupting both the movement of military materiel and goods needed for Iran’s 90 million people.

Regional Arab states which host American bases say they were busy overnight intercepting missiles and drones sent from Iran, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and with reports of projectiles inbound even in Syria.

'Powerful Attack' on Qatar Base

The IRGC announced Friday that it carried out an attack on the US Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, asserting that it destroyed a long-range radar system and several US aerial refueling aircraft.

Iran's Chabahar port control tower COLLAPSES after more than a week of US strikes — Pete Hegseth boasts of destruction in X photo

Iranian FM Araghchi calls the attacks one of many US 'war crimes' committed over the past week pic.twitter.com/lDBz6ufJ5j

— RT (@RT_com) July 17, 2026

Its Aerospace Force described that carried out a "surprise and powerful" attack on Al Udeid Air Base, claiming to have taken out a long-range radar system along with the refueling aircraft parked there.

Per IRIB news agency, the elite Iranian force stated, "The American enemy and the hosts of its bases in the region should know that crossing red lines and attacking people and civilian infrastructure will have a very severe and miserable price. If the enemy continues this trend, more crushing responses are on the way; responses that will remain in the history of battles."

Iran's bridges have come under fresh strikes, via social media/X.

The IRGC further warned that American forces will "pay a heavy price" for what it called crossing "red lines" and targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. Tehran has not backed off its assertion of 'control' over the Strait of Hormuz - also calling this its red line.

The day or evening prior saw US Marines having conducted "a verification boarding" of a tanker in the Gulf of Oman - which the Pentagon characterized as part of operations enforcing the new naval blockade of Iranian ports.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 12:25

NY Times Asks Court To Throw Out Subpoena Of Its Reporters

Authored by Stacy Robinson via The Epoch Times,

The New York Times on July 15 asked a court to toss out grand jury subpoenas of three of its reporters who published a story about the new Air Force One plane that Qatar gifted to President Donald Trump.

The paper published the story earlier this month alleging the new plane lacked some defensive features of the older Air Force One aircraft, which the White House denied. That led Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to issue subpoenas to find out where the reporters were getting their information.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, during his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, said the subpoenas were issued to find out who leaked information to the NY Times. Justice Department rules required him to authorize the subpoenas.

“We’re not targeting reporters,” Blanche told Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), later adding, “The question we want to ask them is who provided them with classified national security information.”

David McCraw, senior vice president and deputy general counsel of The NY Times, said the subpoenas were “brought in bad ⁠faith to punish The Times for its coverage."

“We are going to court to ​defend our journalists’ ⁠rights to report freely on the administration and to provide the public with stories that matter,” McCraw said.

Motions to quash a subpoena are usually sealed. McCraw has asked the court to make the contents of his motion public, arguing that people have a right to know about the case.

Like Blanche, Clayton is under congressional scrutiny this week as he looks to the Senate to confirm him as Director of National Intelligence. He hopes to replace Bill Pulte, who is filling in for Tulsi Gabbard. She stepped down from the role earlier this year to be with her husband, who she revealed has cancer.

Clayton told Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) that he did not want to publicly go into details about the subpoenas—or who asked that they be issued.

But he said that he was “absolutely committed to” respect for the First Amendment and journalists. He added that he and his team “followed the processes that we’re required to follow.”

First Amendment advocacy groups like the National Press Club have asked the Justice Department to withdraw the subpoenas.

“A free and independent press serves the people, not the government,” the organization’s president, Mark Schoeff Jr., said in a statement.

“The greatest danger isn’t the subpoena itself. It’s the message it sends. It tells sources to stay silent. It tells whistleblowers to think twice.”

Days after subpoenas were issued to the New York Times journalists, War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on July 13 that the War Department and the Department of Justice launched a joint task force to investigate and prosecute anyone involved in leaking sensitive information to the media.

“Access to confidential and secret information is a sacred trust,” Hegseth said in a video posted on X.

“And those who betray that trust will be met with the full force of the law.”

Hegseth did not mention the past week’s incident but spoke in general about threats that leaks pose to national security and the U.S. military.

“The unauthorized disclosure of War Department information has the very real potential to cause exceptionally grave damage to our national security and the operational integrity of our armed forces,” Hegseth said.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 12:00