Beltway Insider: Trump, Iran War, Saudis Join US, Embassies Threatened, Euro/US Immigration, Idaho College Killer, GA School Shooter

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Category: Beltway Insider

Published on Saturday, 01 August 2026 15:49

Written by Janet Walker

President Trump has, once again, challenged Iranian leaders, with threats of severe escalation, as the widening Middle East conflict appears to enter into a new phase, and Americans are urged to ready regional U.S. Embassy's for departure.

The President's job approval rating, according to The New York Times for the period ending August 1, 2026, of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President decreased by 2% to 37% and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as president increased by 1% to 60%. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

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Trump Threatens Iran

President Trump announced this week that the U.S. military will retaliate against the Iranians, after an apparent ballistic missile attack was fired at U.S. forces, and then intercepted.

"Trump said that Iran launched five ballistic missiles "going 8,600 miles an hour, big ones, coming right at us, and all five were shot down," The Washington Post reported.

Although its seems doubtful that Iran would launch such an aggressive attack, especially with the remnants of the recent months of ballistic and drone attacks on the nation still so present, the announcement would most certainly demand an response from the United States.

If the White House was simply taking the global temperature on a renewed level of hostilities, the immediate response should be clear enough to inform the president that continued escalations, do less to stabilize the confidence in the republican party and more to destabilize global markets and cause oil prices to jump and the American Stock Exchange and the Dow to drop.

As war with Iran, a forever war, and one the United States should have never entered. President Trump is now saddled with a millstone as escalations in the middle east threaten the stability, not only of the upcoming midterm elections, but also domestic terror attacks as multiple states report cyber attacks that targeted water supplies.

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Saudis Join Widening Middle East War

Securing the Saudi government as a regional partner in the fight against Iran, President Trump does more than secure the beginnings of a coalition to fight against the Iranian regime, it draws the Switzerland of the Middle East into a raging conflict that seems to have no end.

Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammed Bin Salman announced that fighter jets from Riyadh, along with U.S. fighter jets carried out an attack on the Eastern area of Iran. Iran's regional partners, part of the Axis of Evil, includes the Houthi rebels, who show no restraint and attack indiscriminately.

"Getting embroiled in a broader conflict would be a risky and potentially costly option for Riyadh. Over the last decade it has been focused on opening the kingdom up to foreign investment and making it the regional economic powerhouse. That in part drove its policy of détente with Iran long before the war, which led to an agreement mediated by China in 2023," CNN.com reported.

Tehran believes they have the capabilities to wage smaller, targeted, and devastating attacks in the region, including attacks on Saudi oil fields, and on American Embassy's.

American Urged to Ready Embassy for Departure

Foreign service employees, from Jerusalem to Jordan, have been ordered by the U.S. State Department, to prepared local embassy's for departure, as Iran and regional partners are expected to responded to recent retaliatory strikes with targeted attacks.

"The United States Department of State issued an updated advisory on Saturday, asking nationals to be prepared to leave the Middle East and to reconsider traveling to and through the region. It warned that Iran and affiliated groups could target "locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world, including US businesses and other institutions," reported BreakingtheNews.com.

The region may also be experiencing an increase in volatility as the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the Pentagon, The World Center, and Shanksville, are nearing. Always considered a day of celebration in the region, as Al Qaeda, for all intent and purpose is now defunct, managed to penetrate the walls of the great Satan America.

The 2012 Benghazi attack, which occurred at the ten year anniversary of the attacks, killed four Americans including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya. And while subsequent anniversaries have passed without any further uprisings, the war with Iran and now the Houthi rebels, create the possibility of a larger, singular, regional attack.

The Times of Israel reported nearly an identical message, ""Due to heightened tensions in the Middle East, the security environment remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation," embassies from Cairo eastward say in identical messages published on their respective websites. "The Iranian regime is unpredictable, as seen by its recent decisions to attack areas in the region without warning or provocations as well as to expand attacks to areas not previously targeted (such as Egypt)," the messages say."

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Euro/US Immigration Challenges Leaders

European immigration has once again propelled itself to the global stage, as an estimated 50,000 Moroccan immigrants rushed an outpost of Spain, in North Africa and arrived by swimming, or boating, overtaking the port city of Ceuta.

Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez quickly explained human traffickers had taken to social media and presented a fabrication of the recent immigrations statements. Thus, the crush of people, believed entry into Spain would be unimpeded. Unfortunately, the majority of those who made the three mile swim, were returned to their country.  

The swell of Moroccan Immigrants forced members of the European Union, of which Spain is a member, to address the growing desperation of individuals willing to risk death to find a better life or greater opportunity.

U.S. Immigration

While U.S. immigration remains a hot button topic with the Trump Administration, logical ideas have yet to be presented. On the Southern border the wall, which was built during the president's first term has had some success in stopping the flow of illegals from high trafficked areas, however it has also become simply an obstacles to the cartels who have divested their operations to include human trafficking.

For those immigrants who are attempting to gain entry through legitimate means, the United States should begin by taking direction from requirements from Canada, the northern border partner.

The United States does not require proof of funds to relocate to the United States. The words on the Statue of Liberty, "give me your tired your poor, you huddled masses yearning to breath free," have seemed to pave the way to our current immigration problem.

Creating a relocation fee, much like Canada, a proof of funds, available and accessible, might possibly stem the flow of those from Latin and South American attempting to relocate. As Birth Right Citizenship laws has created advantages for many, the law must regulate strict enforcement as the newborn may stays but the parent is illegal and must be repatriated to their home country.

Asylum Rule Becomes Law

Nearly 450K Asylum seeking immigrants are facing a severe reckoning as the Trump Administration initiated a new rule, which barely registered a pulse in the media, until now, as it goes into effect.

"Trump officials said in a statement that the rule is necessary because the asylum system is facing a "crisis." "For far too long the asylum system has been exploited for purposes of delay and work authorization, not legitimate claims of protection," USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow said in a statement. "America's asylum system exists to protect individuals who genuinely fear persecution and this rule will help ensure that resources are directed to the timely adjudication of those claims instead of to those seeking to use the system as a loophole," The Washington Post reported.

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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 August 1, 2026, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases reported by the World Health Organization increased by 9,286 to 779,262,630. The total worldwide death toll did not increase over the past seven days increased by 54 to 7,116,028 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated July 12, 2026, from the World Health Organization).

Idaho College Murders: Police Arrest Suspect

Idaho College Killer Files New Trial Demand

Bryan Kohberger, the admitted killer for four Moscow, Idaho college students, Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, in 2002, has filed a petition to have his plea deal guilt thrown out and seeks a trial.

The Ph.D. candidate from Washington State University, explained to The New York Times, he felt compelled to take the plea deal, and aspects of it, including "visitors and employment," were fabricated or untrue.

"In the plea agreement that Mr. Kohberger signed, he acknowledged that he "knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently waives all rights to appeal any and all issues in this case." Still, defendants can make other claims about the legal process through post-conviction relief," The New York Times reported.

While it is doubtful Kohberger will see a new trial, his effort is based on manipulation, and a belief that enough time has passed to create reasonable doubt. His level of intelligence, whether he had trouble academically or not, cannot be switched on or off contingent on need.

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Georgia School Shooter Sentenced

Colt Gray 16, the Georgia school shooter who murdered two students and two teachers in 2024, was sentenced this week to life in prison, without the possibility of parole.

Throughout the sentencing hearing, in which victims spoke on those lost and how the shooting had altered their lives, supporters for Colt, also spoke, explaining the time in jail has helped him, mentally, to which the judge rebutted with transcripts from phone calls made to his mother, name, in which he explained he was "in the big league now." His desperation to be somebody, to seek infamy, and a fan worship of the gunman in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in which 17 students lost their lives in a Valentine day massacre.

After pleading guilty to 55 charges, the young man, understood that the judge could only decide if he would have the possibility of parole.

Throughout the sentencing hearings mental health experts and family members attempted to explain the 14-year-olds' actions, explaining the brains frontal lobe is not fully formed until a human reaches mid-20s to 30s and this area is responsible for among other things, reasoning and self-control, of which Mr. Gray was unable to control, and his neglected childhood. The rational behind the arguments failed to justify the possibility of parole.

Piedmont County Superior Court Judge Nicolas Primm, stated, during the sentencing hearing, the crimes committed by Colt, "done in pursuit of infamy, [. . . ], placed Mr. Gray in "an irredeemable moral wasteland. You understood the horror of what you were going to do," Judge Primm said. "You wrote, 'I want to make history. I want people to remember the pain I caused.' And there you succeeded — the pain that you visited upon this community is unlikely to disappear in my lifetime," reported The New York Times.

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Father Held Accountable

Colin Gray, 55, the father of convicted school shooter, Clay Colt, was held accountable this week, in one of the first trials of its kind, and sentenced to 15 years in prison for not securing the weapon that his son was given as a Christmas gift and failing to provide him with counseling when it became apparent that his behavior could pose a threat to those around him.

"Gray was convicted of murder and manslaughter earlier this year for buying his son an AR-15-style rifle as a Christmas gift and leaving it unsecured — despite warnings the teen was a danger to others. The charges were based on his "criminal negligence" rather than any intention to cause harm," CNN.com reported.

As it has become clear, the boundaries in society need to be reset. Society has allowed to many guilty individuals to walk free, to commit crime with impunity, boost of guilt, present themselves as above the law, and mock of the system, and moreover, the law for far too long has refused to hold parents accountable for heinous act perpetrated by their children. Now that the courts are holding the parents responsible, perhaps, the nation will experience fewer school shootings and parents will become more sensitive to when a child is in need of mental help.

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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.