The agreements, signed at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, focus on creating alternative routes for shipping oil out of the Persian Gulf without passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has repeatedly tried to close the Strait since the U.S.-Iran war began Feb. 28. About a fifth of the world’s oil flows through the waterway — and Tehran knows it.

“This will make the Strait of Hormuz an afterthought.”

That’s Thomas Barrack, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, describing what the pipeline agreements will accomplish once operational.

The deals also covered healthcare, communications, and infrastructure — but the oil pipeline projects are the strategic centerpiece.

Chevron signed three separate agreements with Baghdad. Jake Spiering, Chevron’s president of corporate business development, said two focus on boosting oil production, while a third involves “investing in a pipeline that’s going to create another export route out of Iraq to world markets.”

Spiering called it “very important for energy security.”

The new pipeline will connect southern Iraq’s Basra to western Iraq’s Haditha, then run to the Ceyhan port in Turkey and the port of Baniyas on Syria’s coast. Iraqi officials project the pipeline will carry about 2 million barrels per day.

Goldman Sachs estimates seven different pipelines under development in the region could carry roughly 60% of the oil currently shipped through Hormuz by the end of 2028.

That’s about 14 million barrels per day — out of the roughly 23 million barrels per day that flowed through Hormuz before the war.

The timeline isn’t instant. Goldman Sachs notes that pipelines in just one country take at least two and a half years to build — and these pipelines cross multiple nations.

But the signing follows Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falah al-Zaidi’s Thursday meeting with Chevron executives in Houston, where he urged the company to expand and accelerate its investments in Iraq.

In a speech Friday, al-Zaidi said Iraq’s economy is seeking long-term investment and partnerships — not merely contractors to carry out projects.

Al-Zaidi stressed his government’s commitment to communication and cooperation with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, calling it “the place where economic decisions are made.”

The State Department welcomed a separate agreement between Iraq and Syria “to advance the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Iraq-Syria crude oil pipeline as a priority infrastructure project.”

The department added: “The United States welcomes the engagement of a U.S.-led international consortium to execute the technical and financial aspects of this project.”

Oil prices Friday reflected the ongoing volatility. West Texas crude rose nearly 5% to $88 a barrel — up from about $67 before the war began. It had topped $110 in early April before falling after a truce, then climbed again on renewed U.S.-Iran conflict.

Iraq — home to both Iran-backed militias and U.S. bases — found itself in the crosshairs after the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran Feb. 28.

Syria, meanwhile, has stayed on the sidelines and promoted itself as a bastion of stability. Damascus is positioning Syria as an alternative transit route for energy shipments despite still grappling with the aftermath of its own 14-year civil war.

Some oil shipments have already been trucked from Iraq into Syria and shipped to European markets via Syria’s Baniyas port, bypassing Hormuz. A key border crossing between northern Iraq and Syria reopened in April after being closed for more than a decade.

The overland route is less efficient and more expensive than shipping through the strait. The pipeline project would allow exporting a much larger volume of oil from Iraq to Syria and Turkey — and strip Tehran of its leverage.

Trump made the announcement Tuesday at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit in Carlisle, promising aggressive federal enforcement targeting both the illegal drivers and the schools that train them.

“My administration will soon take historic action to get illegal alien truck drivers off the roads who are just killing a lot of people,” Trump said. “They can’t read signs. Many of them are on drugs or alcohol, and they shouldn’t be driving these things.”

“They can’t read signs. Many of them are on drugs or alcohol, and they shouldn’t be driving these things.”

The president cited the July death of Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael Pahira, who was run down by an illegal migrant from Haiti while conducting a safety check on Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County.

The driver, Michael Bon, 33, had been living in the U.S. illegally for over a year. He entered during the Biden administration on July 2, 2024, applied for Temporary Protected Status in October 2024, but was never granted it. The Department of Homeland Security notified him in June 2025 that he would have to return to Haiti — but he stayed anyway and obtained a Massachusetts-issued commercial driver’s license.

“We’re here in Pennsylvania, where State Trooper Michael Pahira, Jr., was killed just two weeks ago by an illegal alien operating a semi-truck on a commercial driver’s license, which he should never have had,” Trump said.

The Trump administration is now deploying a multi-agency crackdown. In February, the Department of Transportation announced inspections of more than 550 truck driver schools nationwide, looking for violations of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration safety standards.

“For too long, the trucking industry has operated like the Wild, Wild, West, where anything goes and nobody asks any questions. The buck stops with me,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement.

“For too long, the trucking industry has operated like the Wild, Wild, West, where anything goes and nobody asks any questions. The buck stops with me.”

This month, Fox News’ Bill Melugin reported that 75 schools are now being charged with fraud — suspected of falsifying training records, providing improper certifications, and failing to properly train drivers.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the fraud has cost American lives.

“Too many American lives have been lost in completely avoidable accidents because illegal aliens have been granted commercial driver’s licenses to drive trucks and 18-wheelers on America’s roadways,” Mullin said.

“DHS law enforcement is partnering with the Department of Transportation to eliminate CDL fraud, strengthen the integrity of the CDL system, and investigate commercial driver’s license schools throughout the country. This is a whole of government approach to keep America’s roads safe.”

Transportation Secretary Duffy said the crackdown is already producing results.

“USDOT has spent the last year rooting out bad actors from our trucking industry,” Duffy said. “We’ve knocked over 24,000 drivers off our roads for failing to speak English, forced states to cancel over 28,000 licenses illegally issued to foreign drivers, and purged over 9,500 unqualified training schools from our FMCSA registry.”

“DHS will be a force multiplier of our efforts to clean up America’s roads. President Trump is using every lever at his disposal to ensure the safety of American families.”

Duffy added on X: “FRAUDSTERS CAN RUN, BUT THEY CAN’T DRIVE.”

“If you cheat the system by giving illegal aliens commercial driver’s licenses: WE WILL FIND YOU, AND YOU WILL PAY A HEAVY PRICE. Our @DHSgov partnership is a massive force multiplier as we shut down these corrupt operations. President Trump is using every lever to clean up our roads and keep Americans safe.”

Too many American lives have been lost in completely avoidable accidents because illegal aliens have been granted commercial driver’s licenses to drive trucks and 18-wheelers on America’s roadways. @DHSgov law enforcement is partnering with the @USDOT to eliminate CDL fraud,… https://t.co/oaT4ovzidJ

— Secretary Markwayne Mullin (@SecMullinDHS) July 16, 2026

NEW: DHS and DOT have announced they've identified 75 entry level truck driver CDL schools across the US that are suspected of fraudulently helping non-citizen drivers qualify for CDLs, and the agencies are partnering to investigate them, with HSI and DOT already visiting some of… pic.twitter.com/o6MiZBTWA5

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) July 16, 2026

A Washington Examiner analysis of Federal Election Commission records revealed that the 103 Democrats who supported ending aid to Israel have taken roughly $11 million from AIPAC through direct donations and earmarked contributions. Forty-eight of them actively solicited AIPAC’s support since 2022.

The stunning reversal came during a vote on Rep. Thomas Massie’s amendment that would have struck $3 billion in foreign military aid to Israel from the annual foreign affairs spending bill. The amendment ultimately failed — but the Democrat defections exposed deep fractures in the party.

“I will be voting yes, not because I agree with the entirety of the amendment, or the GOP’s cynical motivations for its consideration, but because I believe we must change course.”

That quote came from House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, the No. 2 Democrat in leadership. Clark broke ranks with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to support the Massie amendment — after taking $1.4 million from over 1,000 AIPAC-linked contributions.

Clark wasn’t alone. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi voted for the amendment after taking more than $19,000 from AIPAC. She said in a statement, “For the good of the Israeli people and the Palestinian people, it is clear that U.S. policy must change to attain that goal.”

Rep. Jake Auchincloss, a centrist Massachusetts Democrat who has taken heat from the online left in recent months, was one of the biggest AIPAC beneficiaries. He raised $1.9 million from direct and earmarked contributions.

Rep. Valerie Foushee rejected AIPAC’s support earlier this year while fending off a left-wing primary challenger who attacked her for accepting the pro-Israel group’s money. Foushee had received more than $850,000 from AIPAC. She voted yes on the Massie amendment.

House Oversight Committee ranking member Robert Garcia also voted to suspend aid to Israel after taking over 200 contributions totaling $145,700 from AIPAC.

One Democrat went the other direction. Rep. Pat Ryan voted against the Massie provision and vowed to return funds to AIPAC, though he didn’t specify how much. Records show Ryan has received $791,782 through AIPAC since 2022.

AIPAC moved quickly. The fundraising portals for Democrats who voted for the amendment were turned off on AIPAC’s website as of Friday. It’s not clear if any of the Democrats who received AIPAC money and voted for the amendment will return donations.

Jeffries pushed back hard against the narrative of party division. When asked Thursday if there was discord in his caucus over the amendment, the minority leader replied, “Absolutely not.”

In a letter to colleagues, Jeffries wrote that the amendment is “overly broad” and could limit “humanitarian aid, refugee resettlement, peace-building and U.S. embassy operations.”

“While Democratic Members will make different decisions on this amendment in good faith, we are absolutely united in our shared goal of permanent peace.”

The Massie amendment targeted the $3.3 billion in annual foreign military aid Israel receives under the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act. It did not touch an additional $500 million Israel gets each year in defensive weaponry, including Iron Dome missile systems.

A separate amendment to repeal that defensive funding attracted only four Democrats and two Republicans when put to a vote last year. Massie was one of the two Republicans.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this year that he supports phasing out American aid to Israel and wants to begin the process now.

Israel has become a fracture point in the Democratic Party as support among Democrats for the Middle Eastern ally has deteriorated rapidly in recent years, particularly on the left flank.

And she’s not alone. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is calling for rural bans. The panic is spreading.

The left’s new target isn’t fossil fuels or pipelines this time. It’s the infrastructure that powers American technological dominance.

China just drafted a five-year plan to invest $295 billion into AI buildout while Democrats slam the brakes on ours.

Polls show 70% of Americans oppose new data centers in their area, with 48% strongly opposed. Only 27% favor them, according to Gallup.

The campaign against data centers mirrors the anti-fracking hysteria — same junk science, same scaremongering, same result: economic suicide.

The economic case for data centers is indisputable.

A single hyperscale facility brings billions in capital investment, creates high-paying jobs from construction to engineering, and floods local governments with tax revenue.

In Loudoun County, Virginia — home to the largest concentration of data centers in the country — tech tax revenue accounts for 95% of the county’s operating budget. One study found homeowners would need to make up $5,800 a year in property taxes if the data centers disappeared.

That revenue funded a $100 million plan for new schools in the county of 455,000 residents.

Because energy price spikes have coincided with the data center debate, opponents claim utility bills will skyrocket.

The data says otherwise.

A City Journal investigation found the sharpest electricity rate increases are in states with the most aggressive climate policies — not those with the most data centers. California has few data centers and fast-growing rates. Virginia leads the country in data center energy consumption and has seen prices increase at the national average.

There’s considerable evidence data centers have actually eased electricity rate hikes over the past decade as companies took on a growing share of utility costs.

The solution to high energy demand isn’t fewer data centers. It’s more energy generation.

The environmental attacks don’t hold water either.

WNBA player Sophie Cunningham asked on X: “So how do we save our farm land and stop all these dumb data centers?”

Save farmland? Data centers are predicted to use around 1,400 square miles of land by 2028. Farmland already uses around 880 million acres. There’s more than enough land for both.

If anything, data centers might save farming communities. A large data center project in rural Prince Edward County, Virginia, will bring a $5 billion investment into that community.

Data centers consume somewhere around 2% to 4% of total freshwater withdrawals — a tiny fraction compared to agriculture, manufacturing, or mining. Nationally, data centers consume significantly less water than golf courses.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez produced two jars with brown water at a congressional hearing, alleging that was “drinking water” near a Meta data center in Georgia.

Earlier reports found only four households in the county had sediment-clogged taps. Brown drinking water was not widespread, as Ocasio-Cortez claimed.

Construction projects that burst wells on occasion aren’t unique to data centers. In a major solar project in upstate New York, crews accidentally struck an aquifer while drilling. Does Ocasio-Cortez believe we should ban solar panel projects?

If you care about the environment, data centers facilitate considerable efficiencies elsewhere — remote work that reduces commuting emissions, better supply chain organization that cuts waste, and cloud computing that’s far more efficient than everyone running their own servers.

The data center debate is about whether we want to remain the technological leader or cede to adversaries like China.

Beijing just drafted a five-year plan to invest roughly $295 billion into an AI buildup while Democrats block American infrastructure.

NIMBYism is part of the opposition. If a local community doesn’t want a new data center nearby, they should be able to stop the project. But if a local community wants a data center, governors and Congress shouldn’t stop them from bringing in jobs and tax revenue.

The voices against data centers are the same activists who’ve spread environmental apocalypticism to stop pipelines, power plants, and fracking.

Most of their arguments don’t hold water. That doesn’t mean they’re not winning.

so how do we save our farm land and stop all these dumb data centers?

— Sophie Cunningham (@sophaller) July 16, 2026

The basin sustained a massive 250-foot slash during what Trump described as deliberate vandalism by “deranged” attackers.

“The Reflecting Pool, so badly damaged by Deranged Vandals, has been emptied as the massive slash gets repaired,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We got it through the great July Fourth Weekend. What kind of animals would do such a thing?”

“We are looking for a Vandal Proof material, but such a thing should not have been necessary. The Scum in Court will hopefully be prosecuted to the MAX.”

Multiple arrests have been made in connection with the alleged vandalism. Trump said the attackers used “some form of knife or blade” to carve the 250-foot gash into the newly renovated surface and poured “corrosive and destructive chemicals into the pool.”

The Reflecting Pool restoration was part of Trump’s larger effort to refurbish Washington landmarks ahead of America’s 250th anniversary celebration.

According to court documents, U.S. Park Police responded to a vandalism report at the Reflecting Pool on June 9. Investigators discovered caulk spread over foam sealant that had been cut with a sharp knife or razor, damage to the newly applied surface coating, and roughly 70 fence post caps thrown into the pool.

Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn, 67, was indicted on a felony destruction of property charge following his arrest in connection to a June 19 incident at the landmark.

Hearn denied damaging the pool, claiming he stopped during a bike ride and touched a loose piece of the peeling blue coating “to satisfy my curiosity as a citizen.”

He has pleaded not guilty.

The project faced complications earlier this year when an algae bloom appeared and sections of the new blue coating began peeling from the bottom of the pool.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum defended the administration’s vandalism claims after CNN questioned whether the damage was deliberate, telling the network “We can prove it.”

The pool has been drained again as the National Park Service works to repair the damage and complete the restoration ahead of the 250th anniversary.

The Minnesota Board of Pardons, comprised of Walz, state Attorney General Keith Ellison and state Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, granted clemency to Laotian national Tou Lue Vang, 42, on June 10. Vang was scheduled to be deported from the United States before the pardon.

State Department Assistant Secretary Dylan Johnson didn’t mince words.

“Governor Walz’s pardon of a convicted foreign sex offender was a grave and unconscionable betrayal of the very people he is supposed to defend.”

Vang was convicted for repeatedly raping a 10-year-old girl between 2002 and 2004. After his arrest, he told authorities “it is a cultural thing… to marry and have sex with girls as young as 12.”

Rubio revoked Vang’s visa earlier this month, and he was deported back to Laos.

At a Tuesday press conference, Walz offered a strange defense of the clemency move — arguing that deporting a convicted child rapist somehow didn’t make America safer.

“Did that make us any safer?” Walz asked. “Did that make the children that are left behind any more stable? Did it improve the idea that we can’t all be judged by our worst day?”

Walz did admit that Vang’s crimes were “horrific.”

But that admission didn’t stop Johnson from unloading again.

“Walz sides with foreign criminals. Secretary Rubio sides with the American people. Walz wants open borders. This administration ended the era of mass migration. Walz endangered the American people. Secretary Rubio protected them.”

When Rubio announced last week that the State Department had bypassed Walz’s pardon and deported Vang, he blasted the Minnesota governor for shielding a predator in the first place.

“Americans should never have to live in fear that foreign sex predators — shielded from deportation by their own elected officials — could endanger them or their children,” Rubio said.

“That’s why I terminated his legal status in the United States. Vang has now been removed from our country and will never pose a threat to any American ever again.”

At the time of Vang’s pardon, the Department of Homeland Security feared that the move would shield the criminal illegal alien from deportation.

“Governor Tim Walz’s decision to pardon an illegal alien convicted child rapist so he can remain in our country is disgusting,” DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said at the time.

“These are the criminal illegal aliens he and his Minnesota sanctuary politicians are protecting.”

The charges remain allegations. The case has not been proven in court.

The image resurfaced ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final, where Messi’s Argentina will face Yamal’s Spain in what fans are calling a storybook moment 19 years in the making.

When Yamal first burst onto the international scene in 2024 during the UEFA European Championship, his father Mounir Nasraoui posted the baby photo to Instagram with a prophetic caption.

“The beginning of two legends.”

The photoshoot was part of a charity raffle organized by Spanish newspaper Diario Sport and UNICEF in December 2007. Winners earned a slot with a professional FC Barcelona player for a promotional calendar photo.

Yamal’s family won the raffle and chose to pair their infant son with a 20-year-old Messi — before the fame, before the trophies, before anyone knew either would become legends.

Lionel Messi with Lamine Yamal as a baby back in December 2007, from Spanish newspaper @sport.

It was a photoshoot organised for a charity calendar. pic.twitter.com/C7jCKbYnp7

— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) July 5, 2024

The shoot took place at Camp Nou, FC Barcelona’s legendary stadium. The same stadium where Messi blossomed into one of the greatest players of all time. The same stadium that is now home to Yamal, who joined the Barcelona program at age seven.

Freelance photographer Joan Monfort captured the now-viral images. When the photos exploded online in 2024, he told The Athletic he was just as stunned as everyone else.

“It’s something incredible,” Monfort said. “Back then, nobody could imagine that this baby would be who he is now – and you could have not known that Messi would become who he became, either. We are talking about 2007. Messi was only beginning at Barcelona then. Destiny plays an important role in these things.”

Spain punched their ticket to the final by dominating France 2-0 in the first semifinal, keeping Yamal undefeated against the French through three career matches.

Argentina had to grind. Messi and his squad scored two goals in seven minutes to storm back and beat England 2-1 late in their semifinal.

The two legends will now face each other on soccer’s grandest stage — the infant from the charity calendar photo versus the young star who held him.

The DSA’s own platform calls for abolishing capitalism, police, prisons, immigration enforcement, and the U.S. Senate — replacing them with a centrally planned “classless society” where government controls all economic life.

But the real story is who now controls the group’s National Political Committee.

Multiple committee members — including one of its two co-chairs — belong to the Red Star caucus, a Marxist-Leninist faction that aims to “abolish capitalism and, ultimately, to achieve communism.”

Others were elected from the Marxist Unity Group, whose stated objective is to “fight to overthrow the Constitution” so the revolutionary working class can “take power by any means necessary.”

“Fight to overthrow the Constitution so that the revolutionary working class can take power by any means necessary and institute a fully liberated classless society: communism.”

A third caucus with multiple committee seats is Reform & Revolution, which describes its politics as rooted in “the Bolshevik Tradition.”

The DSA’s 2025 national convention made opposition to “the Palestinian cause” — including uttering the phrase “Israel has a right to defend itself” — an expellable offense.

When Hamas launched its October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, the DSA issued declarations of Palestinian solidarity and cries of “long live the resistance!” The group blamed the massacres on the Israeli victims.

The DSA has also found common cause with Marxist-Leninist one-party states such as China and Cuba, and attacked the United States as “the heart of a global capitalist empire that has wrought untold suffering on billions of people and the environment.”

This represents a total betrayal of the group’s founding vision. Michael Harrington, the DSA’s ideological founder who died in 1989, was a committed democratic socialist who explicitly rejected communist totalitarianism. He was deeply troubled by the Port Huron Statement in 1962 because he felt it was insufficiently anti-communist.

Harrington was also avowedly pro-Israel.

The DSA operates as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit funded overwhelmingly through membership dues, which accounted for over 87 percent of its $6.38 million in total revenue in 2024. Despite its modest budget, it commands outsized influence in Democratic Party politics.

The group claims over 120,000 members today — a dramatic surge from just two years ago, when it appeared on the verge of fiscal collapse.

That growth has been accompanied by steady political radicalization. What was once a left-wing democratic socialist organization has become an organ of the revolutionary far-left, with leadership controlled by factions that openly seek communist revolution.

The DSA’s newly updated platform seeks to abolish federal checks-and-balances by making the executive and judicial branches explicitly subordinate to the legislative branch. It calls for defunding the U.S. military and eliminating the Senate entirely.

Robert Stilson, a senior research analyst at the Capital Research Center, notes the group is “neither particularly democratic, nor socialist, nor American” — a Holy Roman Empire-style misnomer.

The DSA’s next move remains to be seen. The American radical left has historically demonstrated a pattern of factional infighting and organizational implosion. Whether the current iteration avoids that fate is an open question.

For now, the undercurrent of revolutionary radicalism that has existed on the American Left since the 1960s has found an institutional home — one with over 120,000 members and growing influence in the Democratic Party.

On July 4, 2026, Democratic Socialists of America passed 120,000 members, making us the largest socialist organization in United States history and surpassing the Socialist Party of America under Eugene Debs, which reached its peak dues-paying membership in 1912.

Join us:… pic.twitter.com/XUFr8eDTyg

— DSA (@DemSocialists) July 5, 2026

Trump brought her home.

“Iran has allowed an American Citizen, who was wrongfully detained in December of 2024 under the ‘presidency’ of Sleepy Joe Biden, to leave the Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday evening. “She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition.”

“The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran!”

Human rights lawyer Jared Genser — nicknamed “The Extractor” for freeing political prisoners worldwide — identified the freed detainee as his client, 53-year-old Dena Karari.

“This would not have happened but for the extraordinary and relentless efforts of President Donald Trump,” Genser said. “Dena is now safe and traveling back to the United States.”

Karari is a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen who works in the U.S. tech industry. She also ran a charity called the Children of Mehr Foundation, a U.S.-registered nonprofit raising money for impoverished children in Iran.

The Iranian regime targeted her for that charity work.

Genser told CNN that Karari was trying to return home after visiting family in Shiraz when both her American and Iranian passports were seized at the airport. Tehran viewed her foundation as a subversive organization.

Karari was slapped with a “coercive exit ban” and hauled in for interrogation dozens of times over the ensuing year and a half. The regime accused her of espionage but never formally charged, tried, or imprisoned her.

Genser said Karari “suffered enormous physical and psychological hardship” during these interrogations.

In April 2025, the exit ban expired “for reasons we don’t entirely understand,” but Iran still prevented her from leaving.

After Iran signed its Memorandum of Understanding with the United States to suspend hostilities in June, Genser redoubled his efforts to secure her release. He said the Trump administration was very responsive.

“They were doing everything they can and pushing from every direction they could.”

Karari reportedly suffered a heart attack on July 8, adding urgency to her case. Genser called it a “minor miracle” that she was released during active hostilities between the U.S. and Iran.

Neither Trump nor Genser indicated whether Iran received any inducements for releasing Karari, such as a prisoner swap.

In a Wednesday social media post, Genser expressed gratitude to Elizabeth Richards, director of hostage advocacy at the James Foley Legacy Foundation — named after journalist James Foley, kidnapped from Syria in 2012 and murdered by the Islamic State in 2014.

“In moments of celebration, it is crucial to remember that every victory is a team effort and countless people known and unknown work relentlessly to make it happen,” Genser said.

“Without her, I’m sure, today would not have come.”

I am delighted and excited to report that my client U.S. citizen #DenaKarari, who had been trapped in #Iran since December 2024 on bogus charges is now free. This would not have happened but for the extraordinary and relentless efforts of President @realDonaldTrump. Dena is now…

— Jared Genser (@JaredGenser) July 15, 2026

I want to offer my profound thanks to the @JamesFoleyFund, @FoleyDi, & most especially #LizRichards for helping us bring our client #DenaKarari, who had been trapped in #Iran on bogus accusations since December 2024, home. In moments of celebration, it is crucial to remember that…

— Jared Genser (@JaredGenser) July 16, 2026

Trump seized on newly declassified emails Thursday night that he says reveal intelligence officials deliberately hid significant reporting from his presidential briefings.

“We have deliberately massaged our one pending (presidential daily brief) to avoid any direct links to the election,” an NSA analyst allegedly wrote in one of the emails.

“Those responsible for sounding the alarm instead kept the information secret and hidden. They did not disclose it to me as president or to anyone else.”

Trump did not claim China changed votes or altered election results. Instead, he argued Beijing engaged in an influence campaign aimed at shaping U.S. public perceptions.

The newly released emails show analysts disagreed over whether Chinese influence operations should be explicitly linked to elections. After the NSA analyst described “massaging” the President’s Daily Brief, other intelligence officials questioned the decision.

One wrote “the mind boggles.” Another called the approach “highly irregular.”

One official alleged the intelligence community was “deliberately avoiding mentioning a connection to elections for non-substantive reasons,” according to a November 2020 email. That official sought to reconnect the intelligence to the election-security assessment and prevent what another described as an “analytic objectivity mistake.”

Trump used the disclosures to press Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, casting the newly released intelligence as evidence that lawmakers must tighten federal election rules before the midterms.

“Most importantly, addressing this crisis of election security demands that Congress must pass the SAVE America Act,” Trump said. “These reforms are urgently needed to stop the vulnerabilities that I’ve mentioned.”

The SAVE America Act passed the House in February but stalled in the Senate in March, when a 53–47 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance it.

The legislation would require documentary proof of citizenship to register for federal elections, photo identification to vote, and ongoing state efforts to identify and remove noncitizens from voter rolls. Absentee voters would be required to submit a copy of an eligible photo ID when requesting a ballot and again when returning it.

Trump also called for eliminating mail-in voting except in cases of illness, disability, military deployment or travel. The current text of the SAVE America Act does not include that prohibition.

Trump urged Americans to call their senators and representatives and demand its passage “without delay.”

Trump went further Thursday, claiming an FBI official wrote that she was running a “shadow government” to prevent the China intelligence from becoming public.

Trump directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Justice Department, FBI and CIA Thursday to investigate why the intelligence was withheld, fire anyone found to have participated in a cover-up and pursue criminal charges “if appropriate.”

China denied any interference in U.S. elections.

“China has all along adhered to the principle of non-interference in other’s internal affairs,” Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Chang told Fox News Digital. “The U.S. election is an internal matter of the U.S. Its outcome is determined by the votes of the American people. China has never and will never interfere in the presidential elections of the U.S.”

Trump is still expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in September, a senior White House official told Fox News.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in response to the address: “Americans heard the president once again repeat claims about our elections that have been investigated for years and repeatedly rejected by the Intelligence Community.”