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President Donald Trump posted a graphic on Truth Social this evening drawing attention to the duration of major U.S. military conflicts, contrasting them with what he described as a brief “Iran Excursion.”
In the post, Trump wrote, “Wow. Study this Chart! President DJT,” alongside an image titled “Length of Wars.”
The chart lists several major conflicts and their durations in weeks, including the Afghanistan War at 543 weeks, the Iraq War at 457 weeks, and the Vietnam War at 439 weeks.
Also included are earlier conflicts such as the U.S. Civil War at 209 weeks, World War II at 196 weeks, the Korean War at 161 weeks, and the War of 1812 at 139 weeks.
At the bottom of the chart, a smaller highlighted entry labeled “Iran Excursion” is marked at just six weeks.
Trump did not provide additional commentary.
{Matzav.com}
Kash Patel said the FBI misled a secret court in order to secure surveillance warrants used to monitor Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential race and into his presidency, alleging a wider pattern of misconduct within federal law enforcement.
Speaking Tuesday on “Hang Out with Sean Hannity,” Patel told Sean Hannity that he spent years uncovering what he described as a coordinated effort involving political actors and intelligence channels. “It took me two years of my life to prove the following: that a political party in the United States of America, in the 21st century, would go overseas and hire some bogus intelligence asset to manufacture fraudulent, fake, unverified information,” Patel said.
He continued by describing how the material was allegedly used, stating that it was “funnel[ed] … to, not just the intelligence community, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” before being presented in court. According to Patel, authorities then took “those packaged lies that they had paid for with campaign finance funds and go into a secret surveillance court,” and “illegally spy on your opponent to be the next President of the United States.”
Recounting the outcome of his investigation, Patel said, “That took two years of my life,” adding, “And what did we find out? The FISA court themselves came back and said these warrants were illegal, that the FBI did not provide evidence of exculpatory evidence and innocence, and that the FBI essentially lied in those applications.”
Patel indicated that the issue extended beyond those initial findings, calling the episode only the beginning. “I knew it didn’t stop there,” he said.
He went on to claim that the practices continued during the years when Trump was out of office. “I knew in the four years that we were out of office that they continued to regenerate that institution of weaponization,” Patel said, asserting that during that time he discovered, “I was illegally spied on by the likes of [former U.S. deputy attorney general] Rod Rosenstein and [former FBI director] Chris Wray.”
According to Patel, others were also affected. He stated that “ten other staffers on the Hill, and people who were elected to serve this country in the halls of Congress” were similarly targeted.
“They were actually continuing the weaponization that Donald Trump and I exposed during Trump One [President Trump’s first term], and we caught them,” Patel said.
He further argued that officials involved documented their own actions. “I knew walking in the door the following: These individuals, these purported leaders of law enforcement and government are so arrogant that they write the stuff down themselves to memorialize how great they are,” Patel said.
Pointing to the origins of the evidence, he added, “That’s how we caught them in RussiaGate. It wasn’t my documents. It was their emails.”
Patel continued by citing specific materials, saying, “It was their FISA application. It was their bogus Steele dossier. It was their unverified reporting that was documented in FBI holdings that we put out and that you covered.”
He concluded by noting that additional information had been uncovered. “I knew there were other places that that information was hidden,” he said. “So, day one I set out to find it and we found it.”
Patel’s remarks come at a time of renewed attention on federal surveillance authorities, following Congress’s recent 45-day extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
WATCH:
{Matzav.com}
[Video below.] Barack Obama argued that the justice system and military must remain free of political influence during a wide-ranging interview with Stephen Colbert, in which he suggested that President Donald Trump had contributed to politicizing key institutions.
Speaking in a pre-recorded segment for one of the final episodes of CBS’ “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” Obama said, “We can’t overcome the the politization of the criminal justice system,” as he discussed concerns about the role of politics in law enforcement.
He continued by warning against the use of government power for partisan purposes, stating, “You can’t have a situation where whoever is in charge starts using that to go after their political enemies.”
Obama went on to emphasize the importance of independence within the Justice Department, saying, “Restoring some sense of the Justice Department being independent in making judgements about specific cases and prosecutions.”
Turning to the armed forces, Obama said, “The second thing is the military,” adding, “Don’t politicize our military.”
He elaborated on the role of the president as commander in chief, explaining, “As president, you are commander in chief,” and adding, “You are responsible for directing our military, but there had been a whole series of norms that were in place to ensure that you weren’t trying to make that military loyal to you as opposed to the constitution and the people of the United States.”
Obama said structural safeguards are needed, stating, “We’re going to have to find mechanisms to restore that,” and added, “And a good policy that I’d like to see followed is that the President of the United States shouldn’t have a bunch of side hustles.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Obama engaged in a lighter exchange with Colbert, encouraging him to consider a political run and remarking, “The bar has changed.”
Colbert responded by noting, “I’m looking for a new gig soon, and a lot of people tell me I should run for president,” prompting Obama to reply, “Well, you certainly have the look.”
The host dismissed the idea, saying, “Well, for the record, I think it’s a stupid idea,” and asked, “How dumb do you think it is for people to say that I should run for president?”
Obama answered, “Well, you know, the bar has changed,” adding, “Let me put it this way, I think that you could perform significantly better than some folks that we’ve seen.”
He concluded, “I have great confidence in that,” leading Colbert to ask, “Was that an endorsement?” to which Obama replied, “It was not.”
The interview comes shortly before “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” is scheduled to air its final episode on May 21, bringing an end to the long-running CBS program.
WATCH: {Matzav.com}Violent antisemitic attacks in the United States climbed to unprecedented levels in 2025, even as the total number of reported incidents dropped sharply, according to a newly released audit by the Anti-Defamation League. The findings indicate that while fewer overall cases were recorded nationwide, physical violence against Jews intensified significantly.
The ADL’s annual report, published Wednesday, documented 203 antisemitic assaults in 2025. That figure marks a four percent rise from the 196 assaults recorded in 2024 and represents the highest number since the organization began tracking such data in 1979.
Incidents involving weapons rose dramatically, with cases increasing by 39 percent—from 23 the previous year to 32 in 2025. The report also noted that at least 300 individuals were victims of these violent attacks.
Three people lost their lives in antisemitic incidents during 2025, making it the first year since 2019 in which Jews were killed in such attacks in the United States.
Among the fatal cases were two Jewish individuals who were shot and killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, last May. Another victim later died from injuries sustained in a firebombing attack in Boulder, Colorado, which targeted a “Run for Their Lives” event held in support of Israeli hostages.
Additional high-profile attacks cited in the report included the firebombing of the residence of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and the stabbing of an Orthodox Jewish man leaving a synagogue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
“Our 2025 Audit, which shows it was one of the most violent years for American Jews on record, is a reminder of how dramatically the threat landscape has shifted,” said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. “Numbers that would have shocked us five years ago are now our floor.”
“People are being murdered because of antisemitism on American soil, and thousands more are threatened,” he added.
In total, the ADL recorded 6,274 antisemitic incidents across the country in 2025, including assaults, harassment, and vandalism. While that figure reflects a 33 percent decline from the 9,354 incidents reported in 2024, it still stands as the third-highest annual total since tracking began.
On average, the data translates to roughly 17 antisemitic incidents occurring each day across the United States.
Breaking down the numbers further, the report identified 4,003 cases of harassment—a 39 percent drop from the previous year—and 2,068 instances of vandalism, down 21 percent.
New York recorded the largest number of incidents at 1,160, followed by California with 817, New Jersey with 687, Florida with 319, and Pennsylvania with 281.
New York also saw a disproportionate share of violent assaults, accounting for 90 cases. Nationwide, Orthodox Jews were the targets in 38 percent of all antisemitic attacks, according to the findings.
The ADL attributed the overall decline in incidents largely to a sharp reduction in campus-related activity. Cases tied to college campuses dropped 66 percent, falling from 1,694 in 2024 to 583 in 2025, as the wave of anti-Israel encampments that drove last year’s surge subsided and universities faced mounting pressure to respond.
Similarly, incidents connected to anti-Israel protests on campuses fell by 83 percent. Overall, 45 percent of antisemitic incidents in 2025 were linked to Israel or Zionism, down from 58 percent the year before.
The decrease follows heightened federal scrutiny under President Donald Trump, whose administration took aggressive steps against universities accused of failing to protect Jewish students.
In May of last year, World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder praised President Donald Trump for cutting federal funding to institutions accused of tolerating antisemitism, stating Trump was “the only president with the courage to do this.”
Several months later, in August, Greenblatt himself acknowledged that the administration had “leaned in in ways that have been constructive,” saying that federal pressure had compelled universities that had previously resisted action to begin addressing antisemitism more seriously.
Federal efforts have continued, with the Department of Education opening an investigation late last month into New York City schools over allegations of discrimination against Jewish students and the activities of “NYC Educators for Palestine.”
“No child should be taught by his or her teachers to hate their peers,” said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey, adding that the administration would not “turn a blind eye to antisemitic harassment.”
The ADL report was released a day after President Donald Trump issued a proclamation marking Jewish American Heritage Month, in which he said his administration is “aggressively fighting the violence against Jewish Americans,” including by “working to end the scourge of antisemitism throughout our institutions, especially on college campuses.”
Oren Segal, the ADL’s senior vice president for counter-extremism and intelligence, cautioned that the decline in overall incidents should not obscure the growing danger posed by violent antisemitism.
“Behind every one of these incidents is a real person: a family threatened at their synagogue, a rabbi attacked on the street, a student harassed on campus,” Segal said.
“2025 brought some of the most violent antisemitic attacks in recent memory,” he added. “Even as overall incidents declined, the surge in physical assaults is a stark reminder that a historically high level of antisemitism puts Jewish lives at risk.”
{Matzav.com}
Israeli media personality Yinon Magal publicly called on Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu to move forward with the long-delayed draft law, warning that failure to do so would deepen frustration within the chareidi community and damage the coalition.
Magal, host of the program “The Patriots,” was responding Wednesday night to a report by political correspondent Avraham Freund indicating that Netanyahu had asked senior chareidi party officials to remove the draft law from the agenda and delay its advancement until after the elections.
Despite public denials from Moshe Gafni regarding efforts to advance the legislation, Magal said that messages coming from Netanyahu’s inner circle suggest a different reality. “I will be very disappointed if Netanyahu does not pass this,” Magal said.
“I hear from Netanyahu’s circle that he does not want to pass the law,” Magal stated, explaining that the hesitation stems from polling data indicating potential political fallout if the law is approved. However, he argued that failing to pass the measure could inflict even greater harm on the coalition. “The chareidim are ‘on the ropes,’ very frustrated and deeply disappointed. They feel they were screwed over in this coalition.”
Magal elaborated on what he described as a growing sense of grievance in the chareidi street, contrasting their situation with the achievements of other coalition partners. “Smotrich built an entire empire in Judea and Samaria; everyone in the coalition got what they wanted—and they (the chareidim) feel they got messed over,” he said. He also pointed to recent tensions surrounding events in Meron, incidents of police violence, and concerns over the arrest of draft evaders as factors fueling unrest.
“I trust Netanyahu knows what he’s doing; he’s a bigger politician than I am,” Magal added. “But personally, I think this law needs to be passed. It should be expedited—within two weeks, pass the law. Don’t count anyone, draft chareidim; this is an important and historic law.”
Concluding his remarks, Magal noted what he believes is a six-month window before elections and expressed hope that Netanyahu will act during that time. “I will be very disappointed if Netanyahu does not pass this.”
{Matzav.com}Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, is recovering after a serious medical emergency that left him hospitalized last weekend, with one source describing his turnaround as extraordinary.
Giuliani, 81, was admitted in critical condition suffering from severe respiratory distress, later diagnosed as a life-threatening case of double pneumonia. In recent days, his condition has improved enough for him to be transferred out of the intensive care unit.
“It was touch and go,” the source said of this past weekend. “But his recovery over the last several days has been remarkable.”
News of his improvement has brought relief to friends and political allies, many of whom had been closely following updates since his condition first became known.
Despite the severity of his illness, Giuliani is already said to be looking ahead to resuming his public role, particularly his media appearances in support of President Donald Trump.
“Rudy is anxious to get back on the media circuit,” the source said. “He wants to be out there fighting for President Trump as soon as doctors allow it.”
Giuliani has remained a steadfast and vocal supporter of Trump through years of political disputes and legal challenges.
After reports of his hospitalization surfaced, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Our fabulous Rudy Giuliani, a True Warrior, and the Best Mayor in the History of New York City, BY FAR, has been hospitalized, and is in critical condition.”
The relationship between the two men dates back decades, well before Trump’s entry into politics.
They became closely linked during Giuliani’s tenure as mayor in the 1990s, when Trump was a prominent real estate figure in New York City.
Their connection grew stronger during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, when Giuliani was among the earliest high-profile figures to publicly support him.
In the years that followed, Giuliani became one of Trump’s most prominent defenders, frequently appearing on television and at campaign events.
More recently, Giuliani has served as a contributor to Newsmax, where his podcast is also featured on the network’s streaming platform, Newsmax2.
Medical professionals are expected to continue monitoring Giuliani following his release, though those close to him say confidence is growing regarding his recovery and overall condition.
{Matzav.com}