Michael Waltz Leaving Trump Administration Following War Plan Group Text Fiasco: Reports

Posted on 01/05/2025 by Boris Clair

National security adviser Michael Waltz is reportedly leaving the Trump administration following a bombshell report in The Atlantic that revealed he accidentally added a reporter to a group chat discussing highly sensitive national security matters.

Trump himself confirmed the development on social media on Thursday afternoon, adding that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be assuming Waltz’s responsibilities in an interim capacity.

His imminent departure, alongside that of his deputy Alex Wong, comes after he inadvertently invited Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg to join a group thread with senior administration officials, including Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance, on encrypted messaging app Signal to discuss upcoming military strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

In the days since, more stories have emerged about security concerns in his department. The week after the Atlantic story dropped, Politico reported that Waltz’s team regularly set up Signal chats to coordinate work on Ukraine, China, Gaza, Middle East policy, Africa and Europe. Politico sourced the news from four people who have been personally added to Waltz’s Signal chats.

The Washington Post also found that Waltz used his personal Gmail account for government communications and that one of his senior aides used it to discuss sensitive military positions and powerful weapons systems relating to an ongoing conflict.

And earlier, Wired uncovered a Venmo account apparently belonging to Waltz that was open to the public until the magazine asked his office about it, potentially giving adversaries a way to target people connected to him.

National security adviser Mike Waltz on a visit to Greenland on March 28.

Trump and the White House initially stood by Waltz after the Atlantic story broke.

“Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” the president told NBC News.

And White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement: “President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.”

Waltz even suggested that Goldberg may have hacked his way into the Signal chat.

“I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but of all the people out there, somehow this guy who has lied about the president … he’s the one that somehow gets on somebody’s contact and then gets sucked into this group,” he said on Fox News.

“I don’t text him. He wasn’t on my phone, and we’re going to figure out how this happened,” he continued.

Waltz, a retired Army Special Forces officer and war veteran, has been a close ally of Trump and supported his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The former GOP congressman from Florida won reelection in November but resigned from Congress after he was picked to serve as Trump’s national security adviser. During his time in the House, he served on several committees related to national security.

Waltz also worked for the Pentagon and advised then-Vice President Dick Cheney on counterterrorism in the George W. Bush administration.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Michelle Obama Reveals What ‘No One Tells You’ About Fertility Struggles

Posted on 01/05/2025 by Boris Clair

Michelle Obama continues to open up about her fertility journey and the hardships she faced along the way – despite thinking she had it all figured out.

“You imagine your life as you’re checking boxes,” the former first lady said during an appearance on The Diary of A CEO podcast released Wednesday.

“I’m waiting, I delayed having kids, I’ve found the love of my life, and now I’m gonna get pregnant,” Obama shared. “And no one tells you that there really is a biological clock – like, that’s not false.”

Obama spoke about listening to someone talk about women’s fertility recently, and her first thought was, “Why didn’t anybody tell me this? Why weren’t people talking about this?”

Obama said that by the time she and her husband, Barack, started really trying – “which worked perfectly for our careers and maturing and having everything set” – they began to run into roadblocks.

“While we’re waiting for our lives to be perfect, that biological clock is ticking,” she said of their experience.

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“So you start trying and it’s not working, that’s when you go to the doctor,” she said. “And they tell you, ’Oh! You’re running out of eggs – this is normal. You’re gonna have trouble getting pregnant. And so try a little bit, and now it’s time for IVF, if you can afford it.”

Obama described the news as “just a shock to the system,” especially as someone who likes learning and knowledge.

She also disliked that the knowledge or information felt like “such a secret,” which is why Obama said she speaks openly about her fertility journey, including experiencing pregnancy loss, and doing in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

Obama first opened up about undergoing IVF and having a miscarriage in her powerful 2018 memoir, Becoming.

“I felt like I failed because I didn’t know how common miscarriages were because we don’t talk about them,” the author said in an interview on Good Morning America in 2018. “We sit in our own pain, thinking that somehow we’re broken.”

She also wrote about feeling alone during IVF, as her “sweet, attentive husband” was away at the state legislature.

She said his absence left her “largely on my own to manipulate my reproductive system into peak efficiency”.

Help and support:

Sands works to support anyone affected by the death of a baby.
Tommy’s fund research into miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth, and provide pregnancy health information to parents.
Saying Goodbye offers support for anyone who has suffered the loss of a baby during pregnancy, at birth or in infancy.

‘Muddled And Misleading’: Why Tony Blair’s Criticism Of Net Zero Misread The Room

Posted on 30/04/2025 by Boris Clair

Tony Blair sent a shockwave though Labour circles this morning after he appeared to criticise the push to achieve net zero by 2050.

In a foreword to a report by the Tony Blair Institute, the former prime minister said political leaders know that the debate around the policy “has become irrational”.

He also said that the government’s plan to phase out fossil fuels is “doomed to fail”, in what was seen as a dig at Downing Street’s flagship policy to reduce net carbon emissions to zero in the next 25 years.

Keir Starmer is known for sharing many values with New Labour and has taken advice from his predecessor, meaning Blair’s words were a major blow to No.10.

The Tony Blair Institute quickly tried to downplay the split, and claimed the current government has the “right” approach – but it was too late.

The damage was already done, and the story swept through the country, and even secured a mention in PMQs.

Here’s a look at why Blair’s comments completely missed their mark.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer with Tony Blair

A win for Labour’s opponents

Although Blair himself has emphasised the importance of addressing the climate crisis, his words appeared to validate concerns from climate sceptics.

For instance, Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that the party has “newfound fans like Tony Blair” who agree with their anti-net zero policy – although he admitted he was “teasing”.

DUP MP Sammy Wilson adopted the same tone in PMQs when he told Starmer his net zero policy “is not only bad, it is mad” – and claimed even Blair agrees.

Of course, Blair’s former political secretary John McTernan suggested the opposite to Times Radio, saying the ex-PM was just explaining “grievance is the energy source for populist movements”.

He claimed that he was encouraging politicians to engage with “people’s feelings” to deter support for groups like Reform UK – not that Blair was against net zero altogether.

While the former PM might be winning backing from Labour’s opponents, those affiliated with the party said otherwise.

Unite the Union issued a firm warning that Blair’s net zero intervention must be a wake up call for government.

General secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite is not against net zero but it will not be achieved without serious investment in new jobs.

“Unite has warned time after time, that all the rhetoric about a joined up industrial strategy and future jobs must be backed up with serious investment that actually delivers. What is Labour waiting for? The time to act is now.

“If they fail to do this, then Labour cannot expect workers to support their net zero plan.”

To make matters worse, Blair’s intervention came just before local elections in 23 councils and the Runcorn by-election – the current government’s first big test since it won a landslide in July.

Net zero is not the main concern

Blair’s remarks were also criticised for being “misleading” amid the already hotly-contested climate debate.

An organisation which promotes debate on climate policy, the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit said: “Given the clarification the TBI has had to issue, this seems like a bizarre case of naivety on how parts of the media and politicians might misinterpret some of the statements in the foreword.”

The Blair government’s former climate guru, Nicholas Stern – now chair of the Grantham Research Institute – called Blair’s report “muddled and misleading”.

“The UK’s leadership on climate change, particularly the elimination of coal from its power sector, is providing an influential example to other countries,” Stern continued.

“So, too, its climate change legislation and its Climate Change Committee. If the UK wobbles on its route to net zero, other countries may become less committed. The UK matters.”

Stern, who launched a landmark report on climate change in 2006 under Blair’s government, found the costs of inaction outweigh the costs of action.

PM Keir Starmer, center, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, right, and Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband

He warned that the report “downplays the science in its absence of a sense of urgency and the lack of appreciation of the need for the world to achieve net zero as soon as possible”.

Meanwhile, Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on climate change at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said: “This report provides weak analysis and the wrong solutions. It fails to recognise that the longer it takes to reach net zero emissions in the UK and around the world, the more that households and businesses will suffer from growing impacts of climate change.”

He added that the challenge is to “accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels, not to slow down”.

Helen Clarkson, CEO of Climate Group, said the report set up a “false binary” between climate strategies of either phasing out fossil fuels or investing in new low-cardon technologies.

And even the Social Market Foundation’s Theo Betram – a former special adviser to Blair – wrote on X that his old boss had “got it wrong on net zero” and his words “has only served to help populist opponents” of the policy.

There also appears to be limited public support for Blair’s take.

A recent YouGov poll found 61% of people either strongly support or somewhat support the government’s commitment to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.

Overshadowed climate warnings

Then there’s the fact that Blair’s intervention overshadowed fresh warnings from the government’s climate watchdog, too.

The Climate Change Committee – the statutory adviser on the issue to the government – published a report today calling for Downing Street to go further and faster on climate action, particularly with flood defences.

Chair Lady Brown said: “We are seeing no change in activity from the new government, despite the fact that… it’s clear to the public that the current approach just isn’t working.

“The country is at risk, people are at risk, and there is not enough being done.”

Brown also warned that there were already too many cuts to flood defences, adding: “I can’t be clear enough about our message: we cannot wait to take action.”

But Blair’s remarks overshadowed her points on the environment.

As she later told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “My concern is that people might take away a message from that report that we should do adaptation instead of mitigation, and that is absolutely the wrong message.

“We need to do adaptation, because even if we get to net zero by mid-century, there’s still a huge amount of climate change to come, and we need to be ready for that. But we can’t adapt to everything.”

Tony Blair Accused Of ‘Mimicking Nigel Farage’ Over Net Zero Comments

Posted on 30/04/2025 by Boris Clair

Tony Blair has been accused of trying to “mimic Nigel Farage” after claiming the government’s attempts to tackle climate change are “doomed to fail”.

The former prime minister said Labour’s attempts to achieve net zero by 2050 would only have a “minimal” impact on global warming.

His comments, in the foreword to a report by the Tony Blair Institute, triggered an angry backlash from No.10.

A source told HuffPost UK: “Net zero is a growth opportunity, and as the PM said last week at the energy summit, we are already seeing the benefits.”

Labour insiders are also furious that his comments emerged on the eve of the local elections, handing the Tories and Reform UK ammunition to attack the party.

In an attempt to defuse the row, the TBI insisted that its report supported what the government is doing on climate change.

A spokesperson said: “The report is clear that we support the government’s 2050 net zero targets, to give certainty to the investors and innovators who can develop these new solutions and make them deployable.

“People support climate action, and it is vital that we keep the public’s support for how we do it.”

But Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party, said: “Tony Blair has decided to mimic Nigel Farage on net zero and sounds like he is speaking on behalf of petrol-states like Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan for whom he has lobbied for more years than he was prime minister.

“It is vital that the government distance itself from this latest dodgy dossier from Blair.”

She added: “Labour must not allow yesterday’s man to drag us back into the dark ages. The government must press ahead with the drive towards clean energy and the green economy and all the advantages that will bring in creating good quality jobs, cutting energy bills and creating a healthier society.”

A spokesman for Keir Starmer also defended the government’s backing for net zero.

He said: “The PM has said previously that we will deliver net zero in a way that treads lightly on people’s lives, not telling them how to live or behave.

“We are focused on our mission to be a clean-energy superpower.”

Even Reform UK Voters Are Getting Sick And Tired Of Donald Trump

Posted on 29/04/2025 by Boris Clair

Even Reform UK voters are growing sick and tired of Donald Trump, according to a new poll marking his 100th day in office.

The US president’s favourability has declined in Britain since his inauguration in January.

But his fall in popularity is even more pronounced among Reform backers – who were previously his biggest supporters in the UK.

According to the More in Common think-tank, when he re-entered the White House at the start of this year, Trump’s net favourability rating among all British voters was minus 36.

With Labour voters that figure stood at minus 42, while with Tories it was minus 27.

However, Reform UK voters gave him a net favourability rating of plus 31. Barely three months later, however, that figure has plummeted by 30 points to just plus 1.

Among British voters as a whole, it has fallen by 8 points to minus 44.

The findings may explain why Reform leader Nigel Farage – a close ally of Trump – has become noticeably more critical of the president in recent weeks.

He said Trump’s plan to end the war in Ukraine “rewards Putin too much”, and has also hit out at the tariffs the president has imposed on virtually all imports to America, including from the UK.

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🇺🇸100 days into the 2nd Trump presidency and his approval among Brits has fallen further since his inauguration to -44. The biggest drop is among Reform UK voters who previously gave Trump positive net approval of 31 and its now just 1. pic.twitter.com/gv4SAYq7YE

— Luke Tryl (@LukeTryl) April 29, 2025

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🇺🇸100 days into the 2nd Trump presidency and his approval among Brits has fallen further since his inauguration to -44. The biggest drop is among Reform UK voters who previously gave Trump positive net approval of 31 and its now just 1. pic.twitter.com/gv4SAYq7YE

— Luke Tryl (@LukeTryl) April 29, 2025

Meanwhile, 67% of Brits believe Trump’s return to the White House has been bad for the world, 61% think it has been bad for the UK and 57% say he has been bad for America.

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67% of Brits think Trump has been bad for the world, 16% good. 59% bad for the UK, 17% think he’s been for UK good. And for the USA 57% think he’s been bad and 27% think he’s been good. pic.twitter.com/4IHx1TXVxR

— Luke Tryl (@LukeTryl) April 29, 2025

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67% of Brits think Trump has been bad for the world, 16% good. 59% bad for the UK, 17% think he’s been for UK good. And for the USA 57% think he’s been bad and 27% think he’s been good. pic.twitter.com/4IHx1TXVxR

— Luke Tryl (@LukeTryl) April 29, 2025

Keir Starmer was already enduring a particularly rocky first few months in office when Donald Trump returned to the White House in January.

Not only does the prime minister have little in common politically with his American counterpart, but he and his top team openly criticised Trump during his first term in office.

Now, Starmer is much more muzzled. He has to act in the national interest, and he needs to keep the UK-US special relationship alive.

But Trump, while still friendly to the prime minister, has certainly not made life easy for him.

Here’s a look at just some of the chaos the US president has caused for Downing Street in his first 100 days…

Ukraine

Trump upended the west’s united approach to the Ukraine war when he came to office by aligning the US with Vladimir Putin over Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

While the Republican made it clear during his campaign that he would push to end the war as soon as possible, his public condemnation of Kyiv left many allies stunned – and delighted the Kremlin.

So Starmer has been walking a tightrope as he tries to make it clear that he still supports Ukraine while also avoiding any direct criticism of Britain’s supposed closest ally.

For instance, whenever Trump has repeatedly accused Ukraine of starting the war, Starmer has been forced to point out that Putin was the one who invaded Ukraine.

Trump has also echoed Kremlin claims that Zelenskyy was a “dictator without elections”, leaving Starmer to point out that the Ukrainian leader was democratically elected in 2019 and that Ukraine cannot have more elections while under martial law.

Vice President JD Vance, right, speaks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, as President Donald Trump listens in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington.

And while Starmer’s government has made it clear that it would support Ukraine for as long as possible and that Kyiv would be at the heart of any negotiations, Trump has tried to force Zelenskyy’s hand over the peace talks.

He withdrew military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv after their disastrous meeting in the Oval Office, only resuming the support once Zelenskyy said he was ready to accept a ceasefire deal.

Some reports even credited Starmer with using direct diplomacy to get the US president and Zelenskyy talking again.

But the prime minister’s spokesperson has still had to address Trump’s outlandish claims about the war.

For instance, when the president called one particularly deadly Russian strike on the Ukrainian civilians “a mistake”, Starmer’s representative said the attack was “beyond the pale” and “barbaric”.

And, when Trump suggested Ukraine give up the occupied peninsula of Crimea in the name of peace, the PM made it clear: “It’s up to Ukraine to determine its own future.”

Defence

Trump effectively forced Europe to spend more rearming itself by announcing the US would no longer provide a military backstop for the continent.

This did enable Starmer to step forward as a new leader in Europe, less than a decade after Brits voted for Brexit.

Not only did the UK PM introduce a hike to defence spending, taking it from 2.3% to 2.5% of national income by 2027 – a move which impressed Trump and meant Starmer could present himself as an example to the rest of the continent – but he also created the “coalition of the willing”.

This group of countries have promised to back Ukraine in the event of a US-brokered deal with Russia, and Starmer has even offered to put British “boots on the ground” as peacekeepers.

However, Starmer is still tethered to Trump on this issue, because he has insisted Europe cannot act without a US security guarantee in Ukraine. And so far, the White House has refused to offer any such support.

The PM’s hike in defence also hit him on the domestic front, as he had to take funding from the international aid pot to boost the military – meaning even members of his own party accused him of “betraying the world’s most vulnerable children”.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer addresses military personnel onboard HMS Iron Duke in Tallinn, Estonia, Tuesday Dec. 17, 2024.

Tariffs

Starmer and his team have spent months both before and after Trump was elected trying to curry favour with the Republican.

The PM even extended an invitation for an unprecedented second state visit to the UK, to try and appeal to Trump’s fondness for the Royal Family.

But Trump still slapped the UK with a 10% import tax on all British goods going into the States on April 2, in his sweeping tariff announcement.

That came on top of a global 25% levy on cars and aluminium. So much for the UK’s special relationship with the US.

US tariffs are expected to deliver a 0.7% hit to the UK economy, according to the UK Trade and Business Commission.

That’s seven times the 0.1% growth the government secured between July and September.

Trade deals

Starmer is trying to boost the British economy after putting “growth” at the heart of his government – but has failed to deliver on it so far.

His team have been desperate to do what the Tories never could and secure a trade deal with the States.

The hope is that an economic partnership would not only lower the tariffs on UK goods entering the US.

But in the absence of any firm action from the States, Starmer has also started to look over to the EU.

He is set to sign a formal declaration committing to “free and open trade” with the bloc, according to a leaked draft seen by POLITICO.

The two allies will look at a “new strategic partnership” between London and Brussels based on “maintaining global economic stability and our mutual commitment to free and open trade.”

But the UK prime minister could now be on a collision course with the Trump administration, as such a deal may upset the US agenda.