Trump vs. Christians (Of All Kinds) & Meet Hungary's New PM

Hi readers, happy Tuesday! Today we’re covering a new era in Hungary, the U.S.’s blockade on Iran, Trump vs. the Pope, a deadly airstrike in Nigeria, Trump posing as Jesus (?), the Truth about Trump and Epstein, & Colombia’s anti-hippo campaign

“Too often we participate in the globalization of indifference. May we strive instead to live global solidarity.” – Pope Francis

Hungary’s Hungry For New Leadership

After 16 years, Viktor Orbán’s rule over Hungary has finally come to an end. In elections held on Sunday, Hungarian voters cast their ballots overwhelmingly in favor of Péter Magyar, the leader of the center-right Tisza Party. Magyar is a 45 year-old lawyer and politician who was a close Orbán ally just a few years ago. His platform promised to undo some of Orbán’s more unpopular policies, fight corruption, and dismantle something called the System of National Cooperation (NER), which allowed Orbán to pour state funds into the pockets of loyalist businessmen.

Beyond beating Orbán, Magyar’s Tisza Party also appears to have secured a supermajority in Hungary’s parliament. While final vote counts aren't officially in yet, Tisza appears to be on course to secure a whopping 138 seats in parliament, well above the 133 needed to make changes to the country’s constitution.

Magyar is now looking ahead to his time in power; his first diplomatic trip will see him visit Poland, a historical ally of Hungary. His second trip will bring him to the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, where he’ll try to negotiate for the government to release €17 billion in funds earmarked for Hungary – that money was held back due to Orbán’s corruption and attacks on the country’s judicial branch. Beyond that? Analysts aren’t really sure what to expect from the new prime minister. “He's someone you cannot be absolutely sure of,” said one supporter, “but we're at a point where we need to hope for something better, which he promises - and we truly hope his promises come true.”

Blockading The Blockade

It’s official – the U.S. military is now blockading the Strait of Hormuz, which is also being partially shut down by the Iranian military. So you could almost say that the warring countries are like partners working on a group project!

The U.S. blockade went into effect at 5:30 p.m. Iranian time yesterday. Here’s how it will work: under the initial Iranian effort to shut down the strait, Tehran stated that it would only block ships from the U.S., Israel, and their Western allies from moving through the vital shipping artery. Vessels from Iran, China, Russia, India, Iraq, Malaysia, Thailand, and Pakistan were still allowed through, meaning Iran had some degree of access to the outside world. Now, though, the U.S. has promised to block any ships from entering or leaving Iranian ports, and the Navy will also target any ship that has paid a toll to Iran. Effectively, this means that the strait is even more closed than it was before.

“With the so-called ‘blockade’, soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4-$5 gas,” said Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker. Currently, a gallon of gas in the U.S. is averaging roughly $4.13, up more than a dollar compared to the $2.98  it cost before the U.S. and Israel started the war in Iran at the end of February.

Vitriol For The Vatican

• The pope and the president – a pair of the most prominent people on the planet – are getting pugnacious. Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pope in history, has been calling for an “off-ramp” to the U.S.-Israel-Iran war for weeks at this point. Apparently, the criticism got to Trump over the weekend, prompting him to accuse Leo of being “weak on crime” and “catering to the Radical Left” (we’re not sure how the pope is supposed to influence criminal policy, either).

• On Monday, the pope clapped back for the first time ever, saying, “I have no fear, neither of the Trump administration, nor of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel. And that’s what I believe I am called here to do.” When asked about Trump’s TruthSocial posts about him, he added, “It’s ironic — the name of the site itself. Say no more.” 

• Surprisingly, Trump’s attacks on the pope even prompted some of his closest international allies to speak up for the religious leader. “The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal for him to call for peace and to condemn every form of war,” said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, adding that Trump’s comments were “unacceptable.” 

No Good News In Nigeria

• On Saturday, an airstrike hit a crowded market in Nigeria, killing over 100 people. It appears that the Nigerian Air Force was behind in the deadly incident, as the military said the attack was part of “a carefully, well-coordinated planned and intelligence-driven operation,” and claimed that it had “successfully conducted a precision air strike on a known terrorist enclave and logistics hub located near the abandoned village of Jilli.”

• Without mentioning civilian deaths, the military said that “scores of terrorists” were killed in the strike. Locals and Amnesty International are contesting that narrative, claiming that most of the dead are civilians. “We have their pictures and they include children,” said Amnesty International’s Nigeria director, adding, “We spoke with the person in charge of casualties, and we spoke with the victims.” In response to those claims, Nigeria’s Air Force said it had sent a team “to immediately proceed to the location on a fact-finding mission on the allegation.”

Additional World News

• In Myanmar, Even Flowers Stoke Fear (NYT, $)

• Carney secures Liberal majority after special election wins (BBC) 

• Israeli forces fire teargas at schoolchildren holding West Bank sit-in (Guardian)

• The Strait of Hormuz blockade is causing a slow-moving food crisis (Verge)

• Chinese EV exports jump 124% amid energy crunch (Semafor)

• Attack on oil pipeline in Italy threatened fuel supplies across southern Germany (Politico)

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He Thinks He’s Jesus…?

• In a rare occurrence – one might even call it a miracle – the president seems to have genuinely found himself in hot water with a large number of his Christian supporters. After getting into a spat with Pope Leo XIV, Trump decided to post an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure. The image has Trump wearing the white robes  and red sash that Jesus is frequently pictured in – the president is also bathed in heavenly light, has a group of angels behind him, and seems to be healing a man with some divine aura coming out of his hand.

• After receiving criticism from a wide range of online Christians, the president deleted the TruthSocial post. He defended the image on Monday, saying, “I viewed that as a picture of me being a doctor in fixing — you had the Red Cross right there, you had, you know, medical people surrounding me. And I was like the doctor, you know, as a little fun playing the doctor and making people better. So that’s what it was viewed as. That’s what most people thought.” When asked why he took the image down, the president didn’t apologize, but claimed that “he didn’t want to have anybody be confused” by it.

Where’s The Lie, Mr. Trump?

• On Monday, a federal judge dismissed a Trump lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and its owner, conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Trump had initially sued the paper for defamation over its reporting on his well-established relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, as well as publishing a sexually suggestive letter that Trump had allegedly sent to the now-deceased sex offender for his 50th birthday. While Trump claimed that the letter was fake, it was eventually publicly released by Congress, which obtained it by subpoenaing Epstein’s estate.

• In his decision, Judge Darrin Gayles wrote that Trump had not “plausibly alleged” that the Journal had published the article with “actual malice.” For public figures to successfully claim defamation, they need to prove that the defendant acted with “actual malice,” meaning they knowingly published false information or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. The judge chose to dismiss Trump’s case without prejudice, meaning the president can file the suit again – Trump’s lawyers say they plan to do just that in the near future.

Additional USA News

• More than a quarter of private colleges are at risk of closing, a new projection shows (NPR)

• JD Vance had two high-profile opportunities to prove himself. Both fell flat (CNN) 

• Republican Tony Gonzales to step down from Congress amid expulsion threat (Guardian) 

• Rising US wholesale prices likely to hit consumers (Semafor)

• Swalwell says he plans to resign from Congress amid sexual misconduct allegations (CNN)

• Troubled Lake Erie is being transformed into a vast water research facility (Guardian)

They Put A Hit Out On Hippos

• Colombia is kicking off a national campaign to kill dozens of hippos. Not because Colombians hate large semi-aquatic mammals, but because they’re actually an invasive species brought into the country by drug lord Pablo Escobar. According to environment minister Irene Vélez, the multi-ton beasts are disrupting ecosystems in a roughly 100-kilometer radius around a ranch formerly owned by the King of Cocaine, where he kept their ancestors in a private zoo.

• “If we don’t do this we will not be able to control the population,” said Vélez. “We have to take this action to preserve our ecosystems.” Up to 80 hippos are expected to be hunted down as part of the campaign, as Colombia’s environmental officials say they’re threatening the lives of wildlife and humans who live along local river systems. One study estimates that there were over 170 hippos roaming the country in 2022.

• Some environmentalists are understandably opposed to the culling, saying that the decision to kill the giant mammals is just the government taking the easy way out. “Killings and massacres will never be acceptable,” wrote one animal rights activist. “These are healthy creatures who are victims of the negligence” of the government, which failed to control their numbers for decades.

Additional Reads

• Elon-Headed Robot Dog Spotted In San Francisco (SFist) 

• Did Neuralink make the wrong bet? (Verge)

• BYD’s Fastest-Charging Car in the World Is Astonishing—in Good and Bad Ways (Wired, $)

• If we avoid sadness in life, why do we seek it in art? (Psyche)

• These Chimps Began the Bloodiest ‘War’ on Record. No One Knows Why. (NYT, $)

• The Centuries-Old History of the Super El Niño (Nautilus) 

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Peanut For Your Thoughts

Trump is making some very questionable PR decisions heading into midterm season…

Editor + Writer: Marcus Gee-Lim

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