The Promise Of A Quick Victory Turns Into A Stagnating Conflict – Pressing Lawmakers As New Fears Of A “Forever War” Are On The Rise

The Promise Of A Quick Victory Turns Into A Stagnating Conflict – Pressing Lawmakers As New Fears Of A “Forever War” Are On The Rise

The Promise Of A Quick Victory Turns Into A Stagnating Conflict – Pressing Lawmakers As New Fears Of A “Forever War” Are On The Rise
July 16, 2026

Plumes of smoke from two simultaneous strikes rise over Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohsen Ganji)

In February 2026, the United States and Israel conducted military strikes against Iran, which resulted in the death of the Iranian dictator, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and started another major war in the Middle East. Five months later, it has become unclear how long this war will last or what the objective even is.

The past few months have seen a nonstop back-and-forth on the status of the war, creating a lot of confusion for the general public. Throughout the war, Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most vital energy chokepoints and an important trading route. The closure of the straight has brought massive inflation to the U.S., with gas price averages rising close to $4 a gallon.

One moment, President Trump says that a peace deal is on the horizon; the next moment, U.S. strikes against Iran intensify. One moment talks about reopening the Strait of Hormuz see progress; the next moment, Iran closes the strait once again.

The Gateway Pundit spoke to lawmakers on Capitol Hill as fears arise that a new “forever war” is brewing in the Middle East and could last for years, even decades.

Senator Josh Hawley, R-MO, is hoping that the war will end very soon, while expressing gratitude that President Trump reimposed heavy oil sanctions on Iran:

“I’m glad the President put oil sanctions back on Iran. I don’t know why we’d want to give them any money. I’m glad the President said that we will never, ever, ever give them a dime of U.S. money,” Hawley told TGP in an exclusive interview.

“These people are unbelievable terrorists. Having said that, I wanna see the fighting stop as soon as possible. So y’know, we’ll see. I think the President’s doing a good job.”

Senator John Kennedy, R-LA, expressed support for President Trump’s handling of the Iran war and believes the president is “doing the right thing.”

“He’s reimposed sanctions on Iran. He’s imposed the blockade again. Iran is effectively going to starve to death. I hate to see it for the Iranian people, but their government they’re as crazy as a bedbug. It’s like dealing with the son of Sam or Charlie Mason,” Kennedy told TGP in an exclusive interview.

Kennedy then called on various allies of the U.S. to pitch in and help out with the Iran war:

“A lot of countries depend on oil that comes through the Strait of Hormuz, and they should be helping us. The other Middle Eastern countries, Saudi Arabia has planes and guns, and so does the UAE. They should be helping. Europe should be helping. It’s not just an American problem, it’s a world problem.”

Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-FL, took the opportunity to criticize the war in Iran, calling it an “illegal war.”

“It shouldn’t have even started to begin with, you know? Americans are paying for this at the gas pump. We’re paying for it with our tax dollars. Innocent people are dying,” Frost told TGP in an exclusive interview. Frost then decided to throw in a negative comment about President Trump:

“This is the guy who said he wouldn’t put us in more forever wars. So it’s just another tick in the thing of politicians lying to people and people having no faith in our system. It’s pretty disgusting.”

Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-VA, called on President Trump to “figure out a diplomatic solution” and end the war soon.

@morellmediaThoughts?♬ original sound – morellmedia

“He needed to do that back in February, and he got impatient, decided to go to war instead, when he didn’t have the buy-in of Congress or the American people,” Subramanyam told TGP.

“The first thing I would do if I were him is come to Congress and get approval for this war. The second thing I would do is figure out a way to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and it seems that’s a difficult thing for him to do these days.”

Unlike Frost and Subramanyam, Senator Roger Marshall, R-KS, urged the country to stand behind President Trump and insisted that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons:

“I think this is a time to stand behind our President, a time to support our troops, and at the end of the day, we cannot let the Iranian theocracy have nuclear weapons. So to some extent it’s up to them, but I do think it’s time for us to take action,” Marshall told TGP in an exclusive interview.

“Look, I hate war, just like President Eisenhower said, ‘I hate war only as a soldier who lived it,’ but the consequences of Iran having nuclear weapons is something that’ll have an impact for generations to come. I just wish someone else had taken care of this before, but now it falls upon us.”

President Trump promised the American people a quick end to the conflict back in February, but that is starting to seem unlikely as the conflict drags on and peace is uncertain. The more time that passes, the less confidence there is that this will be a quick and easy conflict.

Will this war end very soon, or are we headed into a repeat of the decades-long previous conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan?

The post The Promise Of A Quick Victory Turns Into A Stagnating Conflict – Pressing Lawmakers As New Fears Of A “Forever War” Are On The Rise appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Author: Myles Morell

Must Watch-Secretary Rubio Delivers Powerful Warning: Civilized Nations Must Unite Against Rising Far-Left ‘Darkness’- “They despise the West because the West is great”(Video)

Must Watch-Secretary Rubio Delivers Powerful Warning: Civilized Nations Must Unite Against Rising Far-Left ‘Darkness’- “They despise the West because the West is great”(Video)

Must Watch-Secretary Rubio Delivers Powerful Warning: Civilized Nations Must Unite Against Rising Far-Left ‘Darkness’- “They despise the West because the West is great”(Video)
July 16, 2026

Secretary of State Marco Rubio/Image: Video screenshot via @StateDept/X

On Thursday morning, Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism at the State Department. The event brought together ministers and officials from over 60 countries to address the significant and rising international threat of far-left political violence and terrorism.

Secretary Rubio delivered a powerful warning about the threat of leftists and pushed for greater international cooperation to combat their violence and extremism.

“The overwhelming share of that violence came from left-wing extremists,” Rubio stated. “Between 1970 and 1980, 93% of terrorist attacks in the West came from the far extremist left.”

“These are numbers that would shock most Americans today because we’ve been taught to believe that this kind of political violence, it simply doesn’t exist or it’s being exaggerated. But it does exist, and we’re actually underestimating it, and our nations bear the scars to prove it. And today we face a new wave of this old evil.”

“Here in the United States, the share of left-wing terrorist attacks and plots has risen to levels not seen in decades. In Germany, far-left violence has jumped by more than 40% in just the last year alone. In Greece, More than 80% of radical violence is now driven by far-left and anarchist actors.”

“These, these are not abstract statistics. Americans have seen what those numbers mean: an all-out assault on our immigration officers, sniper attacks, explosives, armed ambushes, a transgender shooter opening fire on Catholic elementary school students as they pray, his gun marked with slogans like ‘Where is your God now?’”

He continued, “This is a distinctive and unique evil. It has always been driven by a hatred, above all else, a hatred for civilization itself.”

“It is a revolt of the worst against the best, a revolt of the weak and the cowardly against the strong and the good. It is perpetrated by those who cannot build, who cannot create, who cannot achieve great things, and take their revenge upon the world for their own inadequacy by seeking to destroy those who can.”

“This is what radical leftism is.”

“It may wear various different slogans and ideologies across place and time. They can call themselves anti-capitalists or anti-imperialists or communists or anarchists or Marxists, but the fundamental character is always the same. It’s always the same.”

“It is a poisonous resentment cloaked in the language of equality and justice, liberation, an overwhelming need to tear down what greater men have built, to wreck what is beautiful and what is right on behalf of people who are only filled with ugliness and have nothing else to offer the world.”

“Through violence and through terror, they once again seek to impose their ugliness on all of us.”

“The old dogma was wrong. The old dogma was wrong. None of this is driven by idealism. It is not utopian. In fact, it is the opposite.”

“One of the criticisms you sometimes hear of communism, for example, is that it sounds good in theory but it never works in practice. That’s actually not true. Communism does not sound good in theory. The world it envisions for all of us is small, flat, gray, leveled of all exception, drained of all that is good and noble in the human soul.”

“The world it envisions is a world without courage, a world without creativity or ambition, a world without heroes or glory or great causes to strive towards, without— a world without miracles, without myths, without men who rise above the rest to do incredible and extraordinary things.”

“And the world communism envisions is a world without God. For these architects of revolutionary violence, the towering achievement of our civilization, for them, it’s an unbearable humiliation, a reminder of what they cannot do and a reminder of what they cannot be. So they choose instead to destroy.”

“They attack pipelines. They attack railroads. They attack power grids and laboratories, the physical embodied symbols of power and invention and achievement. This is the nature of the terrorism we face today. They despise the West because the West is great.”

Watch the full speech below:

The post Must Watch-Secretary Rubio Delivers Powerful Warning: Civilized Nations Must Unite Against Rising Far-Left ‘Darkness’- “They despise the West because the West is great”(Video) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Author: Margaret Flavin

HILARIOUS! White House Chimes in on Chuck Schumer’s Fart With a Classic (VIDEO)

HILARIOUS! White House Chimes in on Chuck Schumer’s Fart With a Classic (VIDEO)
July 16, 2026

Chuck Schumer trolled by the White House after farting during Senate Floor speech

The White House has chimed in on Chuck Schumer’s stinker on the Senate Floor on Tuesday, trolling him with a new meme. 

Schumer couldn’t hold it in while delivering a speech in the Senate earlier this week and appeared to acknowledge the toot with a pause and a chuckle mid-speech.

“Now on Iran and the NDAA,” Schumer said as a loud fart was heard.

“When all the Trump administration can say about his disastrous war with Iran is that Vietnam was worse,” he tried to continue after obviously ripping one.

The White House trolled Schumer with an edit of the clip, adding the classic, colorful Sombrero, previously used to troll Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for prioritizing illegal aliens. It must’ve been the Mexican food.

“Only edit needed,” the White House wrote on X.

WATCH:

As The Gateway Pundit reported, Schumer set the internet on fire when he farted loudly on the Senate floor while railing against the Republicans’ National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The video quickly went viral, and Schumer got roasted across social media.

He now joins the ranks of Eric Swalwell.

MORE:

WATCH: Internet Goes Crazy After Chuck Schumer Appears to Loudly Pass Gas During Senate Floor Speech

The post HILARIOUS! White House Chimes in on Chuck Schumer’s Fart With a Classic (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Author: Jordan Conradson

HOPE IS KINDLED: French Rightwing Leader Marine Le Pen’s Poll Numbers SURGE After Lawfare Conviction

HOPE IS KINDLED: French Rightwing Leader Marine Le Pen’s Poll Numbers SURGE After Lawfare Conviction

HOPE IS KINDLED: French Rightwing Leader Marine Le Pen’s Poll Numbers SURGE After Lawfare Conviction
July 16, 2026

French Presidential Favorite Marine Le Pen – Wiki Commons

Elon Musk called her ‘France’s last hope’.

The lawfare conviction against RN leader Marine Le Pen did not kill her candidacy, but – on the contrary – her poll numbers are surging with the French Republic citizens.

Le Pen extended her poll lead ahead of the April 2027 French presidential election, after the appeal judges shortened a previous electoral ban, allowing her to enter the race again.

The fourth time is the charm?

Bloomberg reported:

“[The] National Rally candidate would get between 34% and 35.5% of the vote in the first round if it were to take place this Sunday, according to the poll of 1,503 adults by Elabe for BFM TV and La Tribune Dimanche newspaper. That’s a gain of 3 points from a survey in March.”

Emmanuel Macron’s centrist candidates Edouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal, as well as leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon come well behind.

The poll also says that Le Pen would beat all three in the May runoff.

“’She’s in the lead among retirees and in major urban areas, and is neck and neck with Edouard Philippe among the working population’, said Bernard Sananes, head of Elabe. ‘What used to be her areas of weakness are no longer’.”

Read more:

French Rightwing Leader Marine Le Pen Still Leading the Polls for Next Year’s Presidential Election, Despite Lawfare Conviction

The post HOPE IS KINDLED: French Rightwing Leader Marine Le Pen’s Poll Numbers SURGE After Lawfare Conviction appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Author: Paul Serran

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert Fails to Protect Caitlin Clark

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert Fails to Protect Caitlin Clark

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert Fails to Protect Caitlin Clark
July 16, 2026

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is unable to protect Caitlin Clark.

A quarter of the WNBA’s revenue is related to Caitlin Clark.  This is a part of her impact on the league and basketball in general.

Clark puts up stats like this.

But rather than protecting her, the league is doing the opposite.

Last year, opponents bounced Clark around like a beach ball. (Clark ended up getting a technical foul on this series of events – wth – the WNBA refs are horrible).

A couple weeks ago, Clark was beaten by an opponent who kneed her in the groin, then shoved her fist on Clark’s throat and tried to stomp on her. The refs saw it and called no foul. The woman who did it – Alyssa Thomas – played the victim after she and her wife – DeWanna Bonner – attacked Clark.

Former NBA basketball announcer Dick Vitale and a former NBA team doctor commented on the constant attacks on Caitlin Clark.

Clark’s coach is not on her side.

The WNBA commissioner backed the abuser as well. No word about Clark being assaulted. How dare anyone complain about a white player in your league getting assaulted by two black married women.

This latest attack led to the US House GOP Study Committee asking for answers from the league. How can the WNBA allow this to happen?

Here is what ESPN wrote about Thomas last year:

Phoenix Mercury star Alyssa Thomas lowered her right shoulder and banged into Napheesa Collier to back the Minnesota Lynx forward down closer to the hoop. One attempt wasn’t quite enough for Thomas to get where she wanted to go, so she did it again.

Collier grabbed one of Thomas’ arms to prevent her from getting a shot up, and as the two got tangled, they stood chest to chest. Thomas — regarded as one of the best trash talkers in the WNBA — gave Collier an earful.

The WNBA is blind and tone deaf.  It turns out that the NBA Commissioner had to step in recently and demand that Engelbreecht penalize Thomas for her abuse (Thomas is the reason Collier is injured and not playing this year.)

The WNBA has things upside down in every way. Violence is accepted if Caitlin Clark is on the receiving end. It’s insane.

 

The post WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert Fails to Protect Caitlin Clark appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Author: Joe Hoft