Donald Trump messed with the wrong pope

Trump fought with Pope Francis before. He’s finding Pope Leo XIV to be a tougher foil.
by Christian Paz

Apr 15, 2026, 10:30 AM PDT

The White House cannot stop fighting with the pope.

On Tuesday night, Vice President JD Vance — who converted to Catholicism in 2019 — accused Pope Leo XIV of not understanding the Church’s stance on war, saying it was “very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.” Later in the evening, President Donald Trump continued to berate the pope for not supporting his strikes on Iran.

Exclusive: Pentagon plans possible Cuba operation awaiting Trump

Kim Hjelmgaard Rick Jervis Francesca Chambers
USA TODAY
Updated April 15, 2026, 

1:07 p.m. ET
Exclusive
WASHINGTON — Military planning for a possible Pentagon-led operation in Cuba is quietly ramping up, in case President Donald Trump gives an order to intervene there, USA TODAY has learned.

Trump Posts AI Photo With Jesus—Days After He Was Slammed For ‘Blasphemy’

By Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes Staff. 

Mary Roeloffs is a Forbes breaking news reporter covering pop culture.

Topline

President Donald Trump on Wednesday reposted an AI-generated image of himself and Jesus in a close embrace in front of the American flag, calling the image “quite nice” days after another image, in which he himself was depicted as Jesus, was slammed as "blasphemy” by conservative Christians.

The Crypto Bros Want to Get Their Hands on Anthropic’s ‘Super Dangerous’ Model

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
... before it cracks cryptography entirely

BY AJ DELLINGER PUBLISHED APRIL 14, 2026, 5:35 PM ET READING TIME 2 MINUTES

The crypto bros might be able to cut the line to get into any club in Miami, but they’re stuck trying to bribe the bouncer at Club Mythos. Anthropic’s new model, Claude Mythos, is currently only available in a limited capacity due to concerns that it may be a little too capable of exploiting cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Anthropic has given access to only a select few partners, and the cryptocurrency community would really like to get on the list.

Iran War Live Updates: Iran Threatens Retaliation Over U.S. Blockade

 

Iran’s armed forces said they would attempt to expand their influence over sea lanes beyond the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. military continued to block Iranian shipping.

Updated April 15, 2026, 11:26 a.m. ET
Ali Watkins, Peter Eavis, Aaron Boxerman, and Erika Solomon

Picture: A billboard depicting the Strait of Hormuz with a banner that says “Forever in Iran’s hands” in Tehran on Monday.Credit...Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times

Chinese tanker goes through Strait of Hormuz, defying Trump

by CHARLOTTE HAZARD | The National News Desk 

Tue, April 14, 2026, at 7:42 AM

Updated Tue, April 14, 2026 at 7:45 AM

WASHINGTON (TNND) — A tanker from China passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday in defiance of President Donald Trump’s naval blockade that started on Monday.

Pope Leo issues warning on democracy after Trump criticism

By Joshua McElwee

April 14, 2026, 7:14 AM PDT

Updated 1 hour ago

ANNABA, Algeria, April 14 (Reuters) - Pope Leo warned of the risk of democracies sliding into "majoritarian tyranny" on Tuesday, in a ​letter issued by the Vatican two days after U.S. ‌President Donald Trump attacked the pontiff on social media.

The economic game of chicken between Iran and the US is about to enter a dangerous new phase

Analysis by David Goldman
7 hr ago
Iran has been winning its economic game of chicken with President Donald Trump

Trump’s extraordinary blockade of the Strait of Hormuz this week shows the United States isn’t backing down just yet. But America’s significant new step adds substantial risk – to more than just the economy.

Hezbollah official says the group won’t abide by any agreements from Lebanon-Israel talks in the US

BY ABBY SEWELL
Updated 3:28 AM PDT, April 14, 2026
BEIRUT (AP) — The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah will not abide by any agreements that may result from the direct Lebanon-Israel talks in the United States, negotiations it firmly opposes, a senior Hezbollah official said Monday.

Graphic: Tracking ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz

Twenty percent of the world’s natural gas and oil used to pass through the strait.

April 14, 2026, 8:22 AM PDT

By Jiachuan Wu, Max Burman, and Joe Murphy

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been at a near-standstill for weeks amid the Iran war, sending prices of oil and other key goods soaring. President Donald Trump made reopening the strait a condition of the ceasefire with Tehran, but with little change and no deal reached in peace talks, he announced a naval blockade of Iran.

Trump and Putin just lost their ‘poster boy’ in Europe. What now for Hungary?

CNN World > Europe

By Christian Edwards 

Budapest, Hungary — In recent decades, the United States and Russia have rarely backed the same candidate in a foreign election. Hungary’s Viktor Orbán was an exception. But as it turned out, they backed the loser.

Liberals set to form historic majority government after sweeping three byelections

Liberal Danielle Martin wins Toronto byelection
Sarah Ritchie
Mon, April 13, 2026 

OTTAWA — It took nearly a full year and a handful of byelections and defections for Prime Minister Mark Carney to assemble enough members of Parliament to turn his minority government into a slim majority — a feat that has never happened in Canadian politics before.

Live updates: Trump vows to ‘kill’ Iranian warships that near US blockade of ports

President Donald Trump confirmed Monday a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports is underway, saying “we can’t let a country blackmail” the world.

Edited By BRIDGET BROWN, LORIAN BELANGER, HRVOJE HRANJSKI, MIKE HARRISON, MICHAEL WARREN, LUENA RODRIGUEZ-FEO VILEIRA, DREW CALLISTER, and NELL CLARK
April 13, 2026

Trump posts AI image of himself as Jesus-like figure, drawing outrage

By Helen Coster and Joseph Ax

April 13, 2026

Summary

• Trump's post depicts him in a white robe with his hand on a man's head
• Some supporters criticize the image, which was later deleted
• Pope Leo says he has no fear of the Trump administration

Inside Trump’s Effort to “Take Over” the Midterm Elections

Animation by Matt Rota and Henrike Lendowski

by Doug Bock Clark and Jen Fifield

April 13, 2026

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.

Reporting Highlights

• Safeguards Destroyed: In advance of this year’s midterm elections, President Donald Trump has systematically demolished federal guardrails that prevented him from overturning the 2020 election.
• Changing of Guard: At least 75 career staff are gone. Two dozen appointees, including many from the election denial movement, have been hired. Ten helped try to overturn the 2020 vote.
• Political Interference: Once-fringe actors now have access to vast powers, which they’ve already used to push forward unprecedented actions that critics say amount to partisan interference.

These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.

Trump threatens 50% tariffs on China as report suggests plans for arms shipment to Iran

World Politics
Published Mon, Apr 13 2026

3:47 AM EDT

Updated 4 Hours Ago
Matthew Chin

Key Points

• U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to impose a 50% tariff on China, after a report suggested Beijing was preparing to deliver a shipment of air defense systems to Iran.
• Speculation has mounted over Beijing’s role in Iran’s war efforts.
• But just as China’s reported weapons shipment remains unverified, Trump’s intention to follow through on tariff threats is similarly unclear, ahead of a May summit.

UK ‘will not be involved’ in Trump’s Strait of Hormuz blockade

INDEPENDENT
Trump has threatened to stop tankers from entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz
Sophie Wingate
Sunday 12 April 2026 13:45 EDT

The UK is not going to be involved in Donald Trump’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, it is understood.

Hungary election: Trump ally Viktor Orbán concedes defeat after 16 years as prime minister

Updated 3:49 PM EDT, 

Sun, April 12, 2026
CNN World 

What to know

•  BREAKING:  Veteran Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has conceded defeat in a parliamentary election and congratulated Péter Magyar, leader of the opposition party Tisza and a former member of the ruling Fidesz party.
• Record turnout: Sunday’s election had the highest turnout in Hungary’s post-Communist history, officials said shortly before the polls closed, with almost 78% of eligible voters having cast their ballots.
• Trump ally: The nationalist, pro-Russian Orbán, in power for 16 years and seeking his fifth straight election win, was endorsed by US President Donald Trump and hailed as a model for the rest of Europe by Trump administration officials.