Meet the Russian Dubbed ‘Putin's Brain' Who Is Courting Trump Supporters
One of the hottest guests on MAGA podcasts nowadays is a bearded philosopher from Moscow who argues that Russian soldiers should march across Ukraine and obliterate what he calls the country's 'Nazi regime.'
Alexander Dugin, a longtime fixture of Russian far-right politics, spent years calling for Moscow to reject Western-style liberal democracy and restore its lost empire, before Vladimir Putin embraced such policies himself. Some analysts have dubbed him 'Putin's brain,' although he rejects the label and says his influence over the Russian president is exaggerated.
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38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Hegseth defends $961.6B Defense Department budget request
June 11 (UPI) -- The proposed Department of Defense budget puts "America first" while addressing Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday. Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine fielded questions during a more than 2-hour hearing regarding the proposed $961.6 billion DOD budget for the 2026 fiscal year. The Defense Department is improving pay, housing, healthcare and other services to improve the quality of life for military members and their families, Hegseth told committee members. "This budget puts America first and gives our warriors what they need," he said during his opening statement. The proposed budget request also would "end four years of chronic underinvestment in our military by the Biden administration," Hegseth added. Russia and the Ukraine war Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., opened the hearing with questions about the Ukraine War, including who is the aggressor and preferred outcomes. Hegseth said Russia is the aggressor and China would prefer to keep the conflict going as long as possible to distract from its moves in the Indo-Pacific region. Europe needs to do more to defend its territory against Russian aggression, Hegseth said, and the United States must remain strategic in its handling of the war while addressing matters in the Indo-Pacific region. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., cited ongoing Russian aggression against civilian targets in Ukraine as evidence that Russia has no intention of ending the war there. The 2026 budget request eliminates aid to Ukraine, while senators are working to impose more sanctions on Russia, Coons said. "What message do you think it sends" when Russia "attacks civilian centers in Ukraine and the United States does not send additional air defense and interceptors to Ukraine?" Coons asked. Hegseth said arms are still flowing to Ukraine, but other NATO allies are not doing enough to end the war. "You're not a real coalition, you're not a real defense alliance, unless you have real defense capability and real armies that can bring those to bear," Hegseth said. "That's a reality that Europe is waking up to quickly," he added, "and we're glad." Coons said the United States should not negotiate a cease-fire in Ukraine "at any cost" and instead should continue supporting Ukraine to achieve an enduring peace. "Putin will only stop when we stop him," Coons said. "The best way to stop him is through a stronger NATO." Chinese military threats and Hegseth's DOD leadership Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said China has more than 400 warships and is rapidly expanding its fleet versus 293 ships for the United States. She asked why the Defense Department only seeks funding to build two submarines and an ocean surveillance ship, plus some destroyers. Hegseth said the 2026 budget request reflects a 13% increase for investing in national defense over the current fiscal year. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., then questioned Hegseth's leadership. "I am repeatedly hearing that your policy and personnel changes at the Pentagon are only undermining [and] not strengthening our military's preparedness to protect our country," Murray said. She accused Hegseth of using the military to police areas in the United States, including sending the National Guard and Marines to California to use against "peaceful protesters." Murray then asked Hegseth if the Defense Department would continue to fire shipbuilders, which he denied it has done. "We are investing historically in our shipbuilding defense industrial base and workforce and ships in this budget," Hegseth said. Murray said the Navy is firing shipbuilder staff in the state of Washington and accused it of asking welders if they ever donated to the Democratic Party. Hegseth said no welders are subject to litmus tests to work on naval projects and denied that political questions are asked. Iranian, Russian, Chinese and North Korean coalition Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked Hegseth and Caine if the world is underestimating Iran's intent to "kill all the Jews," including using a nuclear weapon against Israel if Iran had one. Caine said Iran would use one to pressure Israel but doesn't know if Iran would use it to "wipe out Israel." Hegseth said a radical cleric in Iran would use one to wipe out Israel. "They're going to use a nuclear weapon if they get it," Graham said. He also asked if China intends to "take Taiwan by force if necessary." Hegseth said the DOD doesn't know that China has made the decision to do so. Caine suggested China might use military force against Taiwan, and the United States needs to prepare for it. Coons said China, Russia, North Korea and Iran are aligned and pose the greatest threat to world peace since the Cold War. He cited Ukraine as an example of the future of warfare, but said the Department of Defense is "internally divided" and operating on a continuing resolution for the first time. The current state within the Defense Department "cannot continue," Coons added. Next-generation fighter and collaborative drones are planned The Defense Department also wants to spend $4 billion during the 2026 fiscal year to develop the F-47 fighter and "collaborative combat" drone aircraft, according to DefenseScoop. The $4 billion request is just part of the 2026 budget request, but the amount of the entire proposed budget has not been released. The Air Force wants to spend $3.5 billion on the F-47 fighter project, which would give it a fighter capable of exceeding Mach 2 with a range of more than 1,000 nautical miles. The current F-22 and F-35A fighter jets have top speeds of greater than Mach 2 and Mach 1.6 and ranges of 590 and 670 nautical miles, respectively. The Air Force wants to buy up to 185 F-47 fighters during the program's duration. The Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft program would promote the development of next-generation drone aircraft that are capable of flying with the manned F-47 and other next-generation fighters.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Jesse Watters, who said Comey's ‘86' post was a ‘hit' on Trump, celebrates that ABC ‘86'd Terry Moran'
Last month, Fox News star Jesse Watters melted down over James Comey's '8647' social media post, insisting that it proved the former FBI director 'obviously was trying to put out a hit on' President Donald Trump. Three weeks later, the MAGA host let slip that his outrage over Comey was all a performative show when he reacted to the firing of Terry Moran by celebrating that the ABC News correspondent had been '86'd' by the network. MAGA world absolutely erupted in mid-May when Comey, a vocal critic of the president who was fired by Trump as FBI chief in 2017, posted an image of seashells on the beach that were arranged to spell out the numbers 8647. Based on '86' being a restaurant-based slang term meaning to 'get rid of' or 'throw out,' Trump immediately claimed that the image 'meant assassination,' as he is the 47th president. The Secret Service would soon launch an investigation into Comey, who claimed there was no 'dark intention' and that it was 'crazy' to suggest he was trying to get the president killed. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard would tell Watters that the ex-FBI director should be 'put behind bars' over the since-deleted post, while FBI deputy director Dan Bongino fumed that Comey 'brought shame to the FBI again' with the image. Of course, many of the conservatives who were apoplectic about Comey's Instagram pic had previously used similar terms in reference to other politicians or impeaching former President Joe Biden, and pro-Trump retailers are still selling '8646' merchandise. Matt Gaetz, the former GOP congressman who now hosts a show on far-right conspiracy channel One America News, once boasted that he had '86'd' several prominent Republicans from leadership roles. 'I was speaking in the past tense about things that had already happened,' Gaetz told The Independent last month. 'Comey was putting out a call for future action. These are distinct.' Watters, meanwhile, was one of the loudest voices in pro-Trump media condemning the former FBI director and calling for action to be taken over the 'death threat' against the president. 'He obviously was trying to put out a hit on Trump, got caught, and deleted it,' Watters grumbled on the May 16 broadcast of The Five, adding: 'Anybody with common sense knows what this guy meant.' He would go on to complain that Comey was 'calling for [Trump's] head' and that he hoped the Secret Service would soon pay him a visit 'because this can't stand.' During his primetime show later that evening, Watters aired a lengthy segment about the Comey post and even went so far as to call for the feds to check for 'sand under [Comey's] fingernails' to see if he was the one who arranged the seashells on the beach. He also took issue with mainstream and liberal media outlets not taking the 'threat' against Trump seriously. 'The media pretending not to know what 8647 means, the same way they pretended not to know that MS-13 was on an American dad's knuckles,' Watters fumed. 'Suddenly, it is legal to threaten the president's life.' Fast forward a few weeks, though, and it appears that the Fox News host has now learned that '86' could have a more ambiguous meaning. 'ABC just 86'd Terry Moran for calling Stephen Miller a hateful bigot,' he declared on Tuesday night, referencing Moran's termination following a late-night tweet criticizing Trump and Miller. 'This was probably the easiest thing that ABC ever had to do.' As he spoke with fellow Fox News host Julie Banderas about ABC parting ways with its longtime correspondent and gaining 'credibility with the White House,' an on-air graphic blared 'TERRY MORAN 86'D BY ABC' across the screen. Meanwhile, Watters' sudden realization that the term '86' doesn't necessarily mean murder was not lost on his critics, who were more than happy to point out his hypocrisy and faux indignation on the Comey situation. 'The entire '86'd' thing was basically a litmus test for who is an honest broker and who is not,' American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick reacted. 'Those who seriously claimed it was a death threat simply should not be trusted to make honest arguments.' 'Starting to think these guys may not be entirely on the level,' Media Matters writer Matt Gertz flatly stated, sharing screenshots of Watters' segments from last month and Tuesday night.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Advocates optimistic that Congress could renew downwinder compensation in budget bill
One year to the day since federal lawmakers let compensation for downwinders expire, advocates say they feel more optimistic than they have in months about getting an expansion of the program through Congress. Although a majority of senators voted to renew and expand the program last year, the bill was never considered in the House of Representatives. But some now see President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful' budget bill as a potential vehicle and are urging lawmakers to include compensation in the Senate version of the bill. 'As we know, fallout knows no boundaries,' said Steve Erickson, a longtime volunteer with Downwinders Inc, during a press conference outside the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building Tuesday. 'There's plenty of evidence — it's overwhelming, in fact — that hundreds of thousands of cancers were caused by atomic fallout, and so it's time that — past time now for some years — that RECA be expanded to cover far more of those who suffered from those unwitting exposures.' Erickson was referring to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990, which provided some restitution to people with illnesses linked to exposure to nuclear fallout from tests conducted by the U.S. government at the Nevada Test Site and others. Downwinders from 10 counties in southern Utah were covered under the act, along with people who lived in northern Arizona and Nevada at the time of the tests. The act was renewed for two years in 2022, but advocates have sought to have the pool of eligible applicants be expanded to cover downwinders across several Western states – including all of Utah — and miners exposed to uranium in Missouri. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, sponsored the Senate expansion bill last year and is said to be working on reintroducing some version of the legislation as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Utah downwinders say they've been in touch with Hawley's office and that the senator is optimistic about the progress being made behind the scenes. They praised Utah's congressional delegation for working toward a solution — Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Celeste Maloy in particular, who sponsored a two-year extension of the program last year — but urged Utah's elected officials to support something similar to the expanded bill Hawley pushed last year. Lee gave a statement to advocates, saying, 'I am proud to work toward RECA reauthorization and to ensure that the Americans who rely upon it continue to receive the care they need.' The first nuclear test was conducted 80 years ago next month, and downwinders are urging Congress to act quickly to preserve compensation for aging Americans who are suffering from illnesses likely caused by exposure to radiation. They say the federal government has a responsibility to help those who were exposed to radiation from tests without knowledge of the long-term effects. 'I've watched families, friends, colleagues and neighbors suffer from the consequences of the decisions that were made. Those people had no say in any of those decisions,' Claudia Peterson, a downwinder from St. George, said in a statement. 'Tomorrow, I will be sitting at the bedside of my childhood friend as she goes through another surgery related to another cancer, and she is scared to death. There are no words to say what it takes to watch the heartache, to paint a true picture of watching a loved one suffer.' 'And the legacy is what has been left by decisions made by our government,' she added. A bipartisan group of 41 state lawmakers wrote to Congress urging the extension and expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in April, but Erickson said he hasn't heard a response from Washington. Although the program has expired, the Justice Department has continued to process claims that were submitted prior to its sunset, but those are dwindling, and the program will soon be shuttered. 'Those few claims that are left are still being settled, and when they are done, the program is done, the doors will close, and it will shut down,' Erickson said. 'It'll be harder and more expensive to restart the Justice Department compensation program under RECA if it isn't renewed soon, so it's imperative that Congress act now.'
