Beltway Insider: Trump, Defense Spending Bill, Iran War Escalates, Tariffs, Imports, and Oil, WH Press Corp, Minnesota Shooter

Details

Category: Beltway Insider

Published on Saturday, 25 July 2026 15:19

Written by Janet Walker

President Trump returned to the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, and stunned the members of the media, with his profanity laced tirade against many members of the media, and other, leaving the tony Washington crowd stunned.

The President's job approval rating, according to The New York Times for the period ending July 25, 2026, of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President remained consistent at 39% and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as president increased by 1% to 59%. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

Beltway Insider: Trump Touts Disinformation Distraction, China, Ukraine, Senator Lindsey Graham

Trump Proposes Billion Dollar Defense Spend Bill

President Trump, who entered the war on Iran as an ally of Israel, has become entangled the United States in a wider middle east war, that is poised on encompassing the Iranian backed Houthi rebels.

The Iranian War, which the U.S. entered in order to facilitate a regime change, as the former Iranian leader was slaughtering citizens in the streets, on a human rights level the change was necessary.

However, as the recent week long state funeral for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei revealed, the memories of those slaughter at his hands were short lived. As Khamenei and several family members traveled throughout the country, millions of mourners crowded the streets, vowing support for the regime and the retaliation against the United States and Israel.

What President Trump expected in February, a quick strike, one and done essentially, has become a millstone, as the war drags on, and with it now, currently, a proposal for a billion dollar defense spending bill.

As the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed an historic $1.5 Trillion defense policy resolution, by a vote of 216-212, with six democrats supporting the bill and six republicans against the measure, the concern is that the presidents various global efforts are costing the American taxpayer.

The resolution, which is unlikely to pass the senate in its current form, any while many of the elements are needed and necessary, other provisions provide the president with more military force to conduct his mini-wars and operations around the globe.

World News: French Presidential Candidates Overlook Raging Wildfires, Global Warming

Iran War, Back to Strait of Hormuz Blockade

The Iranian war, now entering its sixth month, has cost the United States an estimated $37.5 billion. However, with munitions, equipment, and other direct military cost the estimate is closer to $113 billion. In addition, the costs to the American consumer, absorbed in the rising cost of fuel from the supply chain to the gas pumps adds another $68 Billion to the cost.

"Tuesday marked the 11th consecutive day of U.S. airstrikes after the breakdown of a truce between Washington and Tehran that had paused the war while negotiators sought to reach a peace agreement. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has pledged to retaliate for the deaths of several American service members in Iranian attacks last week," reported The Washington Post.

While the White House has made efforts for a peace deal, using a hard sell approach, which is a favorite of the president, has not made any headway. The administration, also failed to recognize that the same negotiation, for a long-term nuclear deal with Iran was only secured after two years of negotiation by then Secretary of State John Kerry.

Using the pressure of war time, and the hardship of constant bombing raids was expected to be an accelerant for the Iranian regime. When in fact they walked away prepared to dig in and fight.

Houthis Enter War

The Iranian backed Houthi rebels have continued to slowly play a larger role in the widening middle eastern war. With Iran blocking the Hormuz Strait, the Houthis are applying pressure, with minimal blockage of the Red Sea.

The shipping traffic in the Rea Sea, has continued to increase, although as in the Hormuz Strait, the total number of vessels passing on any given day is considerably less than pre-war totals. The Houthis have also declared blockades on all oil tankers originating from Saudi.

As they are funded by Iran, the Houthis are organized and rooted in Yemen's Zaydi Shia Islamic tradition. They are part of what is known as "The Axis of Resistance," an Iran-led military network of state and non-state actors in the Middle East. Headed by Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the coalition opposes Israeli, the U.S., and regional adversaries. The states making up the Axis are Syria, Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and various factions, and other fringe terrorist groups.

World News: Le Pen Will Run, Bardella Assured Prime Minister Position

Trump Tariffs

The recent announcement of new tariffs, in which President Trump, has indicated he is trying to force Americas to be less dependent on foreign imports, is in direct response to the skyrocketing costs of the Iran war.

In simple terms, tariffs are taxes levied against goods arriving in the United States. Tariffs are levied on consumer products ranging from Italian pasta and French wines to Chinese computers and Saudi Arabian oil.

When the goods arrive in the United States, the import company, the domestic distributor of the product pays the levy. In order for the company to recoup the additional cost, the distributor of foreign products then passes the cost onto the consumer. What the president is attempting to do is to wean American consumers and manufactures from foreign dependency on imported products.

So instead of French wines, vino consumers should be consuming Napa Valley or other American vintages. Buying American made, grown, and manufactured, should, theoretically, lower the cost of the products as the tariff will increase the cost of the imported brands.

"The move provides fresh evidence of Mr. Trump's intention to transform global trade, despite numerous court challenges and the protests of U.S. consumers and businesses that have been stuck with higher tax bills. Over the past 17 months, the Trump administration has cycled through trade law after trade law as it tries to build a system to shield the U.S. economy from foreign competition," The New York Times reported.

World News: Middle East War A Millstone For Trump

Trump Tariffs, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela

With no end in sight to the Iranian war, and subsequently no way around the Iranian blockade of the  Hormuz Strait, the U.S. import supply chain is confronting the same spike in fuel prices, which translates to higher consumer prices, as the importers of products, primarily oil, that use this waterway, will need to recoup the additional costs, hence the higher gas prices consumers are facing at the pumps.

Although the president hasn't presented any ideas to circumvent the Saudi oil issue, his recent Oval office meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and what appears to be a strong regional partnership, could allow for a friends and family discount on any additional tariffs.

However, when Trump captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January, the United States also seized the marketing and shipping of 50 million barrel of crude daily, unfortunately, the lack of transparency regarding the seizure of Venezuelan oil refineries has caused a black out of the current location of the crude, and where the money, which was allegedly directed to the Department of treasury, is.

When the takeover occurred in January, few details were released, although, "The oil would most likely come from existing stockpiles, energy analysts said. But 30 to 50 million barrels is the equivalent of one to two months of Venezuelan oil production. Early estimates from Bloomberg suggest the oil could be worth up to $2.8 billion (€2.4 billion) at current prices. Venezuela sits on about a fifth of the world's oil reserves and used to be a leading oil producer. But after years of decline, today it contributes less than 1% of global output," DW.com reported.

The Council on Foreign Affairs had this to say about the Venezuelan oil, "In the first four months of the United States exerting control over Venezuela's oil exports, almost one hundred million barrels of oil worth an estimated $8 billion have flowed through a process marked by no transparency and minimal oversight."

But now, as the unfavorable Iran war has contributed to the rise in gasoline prices, which also increases the cost of living index, which forces an increase in consumer spending, the president is left to decide which is more important, keeping constituency support, which as the midterms are quickly approaching, the republicans need all the help they can get or continuing down a path that continues to drive up consumer costs leaving the American taxpayer to shoulder the majority of the burden.

Trump may be many things, but when it comes to how to win over the people, kitchen table economics will drive this election, and Trump needs to redirect American consumers to American products, while using American oil reserves and those from Venezuela to bring down the astronomical gasoline prices.  

World News: Heat Domes, Disease, and The Melting Permafrost

Coronavirus Total

At the order of the President of the United States, the U.S. no longer recognizes the value of The World Health Organization. The CDC has recommended every person from age six months, including senior citizens should receive at least one shot of an updated COVID-19 vaccine, annually.  The death toll from Covid-19 has dramatically decreased, as has transmission of the virus. Even as confirmed new cases continue each week, fewer are dying from each new variants.

For the 7 days ending July 25, 2026, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases reported by the World Health Organization increased by 10,936 to 779,253,344. The total worldwide death toll did not increase over the past seven days increased by 63 to 7,115,974 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated July 6, 2026, from the World Health Organization).

Tech News: The Evolution of Wearable Technology and Body Implants - A 25-Year Perspective

Minnesota Shooter Sentenced

Vance Boelter, 59, the man who, impersonated a police officer and, murdered Minnesota lawmaker Representative Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark, was sentenced this week to life in prison.

At the sentencing hearing, two other victims, John Hoffman, 59, a state senator and his wife, Yvette, were also confronted and shot in their home, by Boelter, spoke on the long lasting post traumatic stress that has accompanied the horrors of that evening.

"Daniel N. Rosen, the U.S. attorney in Minnesota, told reporters last month that Mr. Boelter's willingness to strike a deal that meant spending life in prison was "an opportunity that we could not pass up." According to the plea agreement, which provided a detailed account of the attacks, Mr. Boelter spent months gathering information about Minnesota elected officials," The New York Times reported.

Boelter, who professes to be a preacher by trade, agreed, once the death penalty was removed, to plead guilty. His comprehensive statement indicated that he arrived at the Hoffman home, in a modified vehicle that included police sirens, and was able to convince Mr. Hoffman that he was a police officer. Once inside he shot them both, at point blank range, in the presence of their daughter.

He then proceeded to the Hortman home, where he encountered Mr. Hortman first, and explained he was performing a welfare check, in response to the other shootings. Hortman demanded identification. Boelter then shot Hortman, and entered the home and shot his wife, Melissa. Before arriving at the Hortman home, he went to two other lawmakers homes. He was unable to make contact.

The judge, U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim, imposed two consecutive life sentences plus 40 years.

White House Correspondents Dinner 2.0

The White Correspondents Association Dinner 2.0, which was interrupted on April 25, 2026 when a well-dressed gunman charged the Secret Service attempted to enter the ballroom in an attempted assassination of the president, was held this week.

The annual event which includes the president and his cabinet members, is a night that celebrates those brave, especially in these dark days in newsgathering, journalists who report on the White House and the Administration.

"CNN's Wolf Blitzer welcomed a group of reporters from The Wall Street Journal to the stage to accept an award for their "courageous reporting on President Trump's past relationship with financier Jeffrey Epstein" that "triggered the release of the so-called Epstein files." Mr. Blitzer reminded the crowd that "Trump quickly filed a $20 billion lawsuit against The Journal, revealing reporter Khadeeja Safdar's home address. Her family had to be relocated. The Journal was kicked off of Air Force One,"' reported The New York Times.

Medical Science: Depression's Effects on the Brain - Neurological, Biochemical, and Genetic Dimensions

For more information on President Donald Trump: Whitehouse.gov.

Sources: Various © Articles covered by Copyright protection.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade.  A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five award-winning screenplays "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," a non-fiction narrative, "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," and "Songs of Freedom: A Collection of Biblical Teachings," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Authors Guild, the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.