Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Acting Comptroller Jules Hurst told Congress last week that the Iran War had cost $25 billion through the first 60 days. The next day, CBS reported that officials familiar with the Pentagon's internal assessments estimated the cost was actually closer to $50 billion " double the amount department leadership had just stated publicly. However, even the figure reported as the war's "true cost" is at least $22 billion too low. Popular Information conducted a cost estimate of the Iran War based on officials' statements, military procurement and operations data, and reporting on deployments and armament use. Through 60 days, the US spent an estimated $71.8 billion on the Iran War, or $1.2 billion per day on average.
President Donald Trump's abrupt reversal on his plan to help ships go through the Strait of Hormuz came after a key Gulf ally suspended the U.S. military's ability to use its bases and airspace to carry out the operation, according to two U.S. officials. Trump surprised Gulf allies by announcing "Project Freedom" on social media Sunday afternoon, the officials said, angering leadership in Saudi Arabia. In response, the Kingdom informed the U.S. it would not allow the U.S. military to fly aircraft from Prince Sultan Airbase southeast of Riyadh or fly through Saudi airspace to support the effort, the officials said. A call between Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did not resolve the issue, the two U.S. officials said, forcing the president to pause Project Freedom in order to restore U.S. military access to the critical airspace.
While the IDF has been intensifying its brutal operations in Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, photos of an IDF soldier smoking while putting a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary surfaced, the latest IDF effrontery against Christianity.
IDF Sacrileges and Looting Will Continue
GEO Group CEO George Zoley, the head of a private prison group that owns and operates 23 ICE detention facilities, whined to investors that lawsuits over the deplorable and inhumane conditions at their for-profit gulags are "fundamentally unconstitutional."
Oligarch George Zoley is not a good human being
"Starting 1 July, ICE is reverting to 72 days of instruction at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, Georgia, scrapping a 42-day accelerated program implemented last fall. The change is taking place because the agency has completed a hiring surge that more than doubled the number of immigration officers to 22,000."
Too Little, Too Late
SDNY USDJ Kenneth M. Karas unsealed the suicide note purportedly left by Jeffrey Epstein in July 2019:
MCC Prison Cell
What if we're becoming the cable company of countries?
Physical assaults against Jewish people in the U.S. last year reached the highest levels since 1979, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) announced Wednesday. Why it matters: An overall decline in anti-Jewish harassment and vandalism didn't extend to a reduction in violence. Read more
May 6, 2026
Stephen Colbert travels to Chicago to interview former President Barack Obama at the newly-completed Obama Presidential Center.
Watch as they discuss the president's love for Chicago, his long-term hopes for his legacy, and which presidential powers are ripe for abuse.
Keep watching for three more segments with President Obama and grab tickets to the Museum at the Obama Presidential Center starting May 6th.
Oil prices have plunged on on reports that the US and Iran are nearing a peace deal, a development that paid off big for traders that happened to be shorting crude just ahead of the news.
The Institute for Primary Facts has compiled more than 3.5 million pages of the Epstein files for public display at the newly opened Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Reading Room. 17,000 pounds of analog evidence and documents related to Jeffrey Epstein's crimes and his association with Donald Trump.
Acquitted killer Kyle Rittenhouse said he was hospitalized after a venomous spider bite on Wednesday.
The right-wing darling, who was acquitted of murdering two people and shooting another with an AR-15-style rifle during a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest when he was 17, shared photos of himself in the hospital and where the apparent spider bite was located on his leg.
Iran says a US proposal to end the war is "still being considered", after reports the two sides could be close to an agreement.
US news outlet Axios reported on Wednesday that the White House believes it could be closing in on a 14-point memorandum of understanding with Iran.
A senior member of Iran's parliament dismissed it as a "wish list", while a foreign ministry spokesman said Tehran would share its views of a US proposal with Pakistani mediators.
The US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, appeared before the House oversight and reform committee on Wednesday to answer questions over his past ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
After the hearing concluded, Democrats on the committee lambasted Lutnick's performance.
"Now we know why that interview was not videotaped. If Donald Trump had seen the video transcript, he would've fired Howard Lutnick," said Ro Khanna, a Democratic congressman of California, who has helped lead efforts in Congress to force the release of the justice department's files related to Epstein.
"It was just contortions and lies ... He made a farce of the English language."
Tennessee-based Pentecostal televangelist Perry Stone and founder of Perry Stone Ministries, claimed that his friend told him a group of pastors were recently briefed by US officials to prepare their congregations for the disclosure of UFOs and extra-terrestrials.
"They're here!"
The FBI has launched a criminal leak investigation focusing on an Atlantic magazine journalist who wrote a deeply unflattering account last month of Director Kash Patel's work habits, two people familiar with the matter told MS NOW. The sources said the so-called insider threat investigation is highly unusual because it did not stem from a disclosure of classified information and because it is focused on leaks to a reporter. The agents involved are part of an insider threats unit based in Huntsville, Alabama, the sources added. Typically, leak investigations look into government officials who may have disclosed state secrets or classified documents. Journalists who receive and publish such information have typically only been involved as potential witnesses.
