Trump says ‘massive Armada’ heading to Iran, warns time is running out for nuclear deal
U.S. President Donald Trump walks over to reporters to make a brief statement before departing from the South Lawn of the White House in Marine One on January 20, 2026 in Washington, DC. Samuel Corum/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday said a “massive Armada” was heading toward Iran and warned Tehran to make a nuclear deal or the attack will be “far worse.”
“A massive Armada is heading to Iran. It is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose. It is a larger fleet, headed by the great Aircraft Carrier Abraham Lincoln, than that sent to Venezuela. Like with Venezuela, it is, ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary,” Trump wrote in a social media post.
“Hopefully Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal – NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS – one that is good for all parties. Time is running out, it is truly of the essence! As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL! They didn’t, and there was ‘Operation Midnight Hammer,’ a major destruction of Iran. The next attack will be far worse!” Trump added.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Army soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 82nd Artillery Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division artillery lookout atop a M109 A7 Paladin self propelled Howitzer during live fire training on April 29, 2026, in Fort Hood, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images, FILE)
(WASHINGTON) — The Army is grappling with a sudden budget crunch and scrambling to slash training costs across broad swaths of the force, according to internal documents reviewed by ABC News and multiple U.S. officials.
The move is to make up for a shortfall of some $4 billion to $6 billion, according to one of the officials, as the service has drastically expanded its operational footprint at home and abroad.
The cuts, which range from elite schools to unit-level training, have triggered a wave of abrupt cancellations and unusually aggressive spending scrutiny months before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30.
The service’s multibillion-dollar shortfall is the product of a widening set of operational demands and rising costs across the force.
Major drivers, a U.S. official noted, have been costs associated with the Iran war and an expanding mission securing the southern U.S. border.
Additionally, expansive National Guard missions, including the ongoing deployment in Washington, D.C., which alone is projected to cost roughly $1.1 billion this year, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
At the same time, the service is absorbing ballooning personnel expenses and stepping in to cover missions tied to Department of Homeland Security funding lapses, including at the southern border and construction projects. The Army is expected to be reimbursed for covering down for some of DHS’ expenses incurred during the record 76-day DHS shutdown.
The Army’s III Armored Corps, an umbrella of the Army’s heavy armor and cavalry units, is expected to bear a lot of the brunt, a document outlining projections to units on consequences of funding cuts shows.
That internal plan warns that the corps’ aviation units will deploy next year at “a lower state of readiness,” and “career stagnation” of mid-level officers who would oversee key training events and noted it would take a full year for units to rebuild “combat proficiency.”
The corps commands some 70,000 soldiers representing nearly half of the service’s combat power.
The reductions there include slashing roughly half of the formation’s budget and gutting pilots’ flight hours down to minimum mandatory levels.
The cuts to flights come as the Army’s aviation enterprise faces mounting scrutiny following a string of high-profile mishaps, much of that historically been attributed to fatigue and dwindling pilot flying time in recent years.
Also among the moves: an upcoming Army Sapper Course, the service’s premier combat engineering school, was canceled, while an artillery course set to begin Monday at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was abruptly called off. Other units and military training courses are also auditing more closely how many soldiers it can train, two U.S. officials explained.
“Army commanders are taking all necessary measures to prioritize critical readiness and operational requirements, ensuring we operate responsibly within our currently enacted funding levels,” Col. Marty Meiners, an Army spokesperson, said in a statement.
The Defense Department declined to say whether similar training cuts are being made across the military or are largely confined to the Army, referring ABC News questions to the individual services.
The cuts come amid skyrocketing fuel costs, which can quickly drive up the price of large-scale training exercises, aviation operations and travel. But it remains unclear whether those soaring costs are directly behind the moves now rippling through Army commands.
The Pentagon’s belt-tightening measures were briefly mentioned on Capitol Hill Tuesday as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testified before lawmakers on the Pentagon’s request for a $1.5 trillion budget. But defense officials never directly addressed the concerns.
“We need to know the impact of what it’s having on the services executing missions beyond the war, the department notified us that the standard fuel price for the services has increased from $154 to $195 a barrel,” Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., said Tuesday during a hearing on the Pentagon’s budget.
“That’s more we have to pay for fuel. Then there’s less money available for training and exercise that the services need to perform,” she added.
Scaling back training late in the summer as the fiscal year winds down is relatively routine inside the Pentagon. But officials say it is far less common to see such sweeping cuts and cancellations this early in the budget cycle.
Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) (R) speaks during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in the U.S. Capitol Building on March 04, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The House Oversight Committee is set to depose Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime accountant on Wednesday, potentially shedding light on how the disgraced financier was able to manage his multimillion-dollar fortune.
Richard Kahn served as Epstein’s accountant for over a decade, and some of Epstein’s victims allege he played an instrumental role in creating the “complex financial infrastructure” that enabled the financier’s crimes.
Kahn has consistently denied any wrongdoing and says he was unaware of Epstein’s crimes while serving as his accountant. The closed-door deposition — a recording of which is expected to be released by the committee — could provide a rare window into how Epstein paid for his lavish lifestyle and funneled thousands of dollars to his victims.
While some of the recent witnesses deposed by the House Oversight Committee — including Bill and Hillary Clinton and retail billionaire Leslie Wexner — have drawn immense publicity, the interviews have largely left unchanged the public’s understanding of Epstein’s life and crimes.
By turning to Epstein’s former inner circle with Kahn and his longtime lawyer Darren Indyke — who is set to be deposed next week — the congressional investigation could offer a broader window into Epstein’s life, legal troubles and the complex web of bank accounts and shell companies that comprised his fortune.
Kahn began working as Epstein’s in-house accountant in the mid-2000s and worked for Epstein until his death in 2019. Kahn and Indyke served as the co-executors of his will, and Epstein planned to give Kahn $25 million, according to documents released by the Department of Justice earlier this year.
Following Epstein’s death, his estate was valued as much as $650 million, though the fortune has decreased over the last decade as the estate has paid out multiple settlements to Epstein’s victims.
Last month, Kahn and Indyke agreed to settle one of the last class-action lawsuits filed by victims of Epstein for at least $25 million without an admission of wrongdoing. The estate was last valued at approximately $127 million, according to a court filing last October.
The class action complaint alleged that both men were “personally essential” for Epstein by helping structure his back accounts, managing cash withdrawals, and creating a complex financial infrastructure “created to simply facilitate the illegal sex-trafficking venture.” The lawsuit also alleged that the men helped Epstein facilitate at least three “sham marriages” to obtain immigration status for Epstein’s victims.
“Knowing that they would earn millions of dollars in exchange for facilitating Epstein’s sex abuse and trafficking, Indyke and Kahn chose money and power over following the law,” the complaint said.
The settlement did not include an admission of wrongdoing and still needs to be approved by a federal judge. While both men were named as defendants in the case, the settlement will also be paid through Epstein’s trust, rather than by them directly.
“Neither of the co-executors has made any admission or concession of misconduct,” said Dan Weiner, an attorney for both men said in a statement to ABC News last month. “That is not surprising — not a single woman has ever accused either man of committing sexual abuse or witnessing sexual abuse, nor claimed at any time that she reported to them any allegation of Mr. Epstein’s abuse.”
Lawmakers last year began increasing their scrutiny of both Kahn and Indyke following a report in the Wall Street Journal that both men were never questioned by law enforcement investigating Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
“In light of the work Indyke and Kahn performed for Epstein and the outsize role they played in his personal and financial affairs; it is inexcusable that the DOJ and the FBI never questioned these individuals in connection with investigations into Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,” a group of five Democratic Senators wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel last year. “A failure of this magnitude cannot be attributed to simple oversight or misunderstanding, and it is incumbent on Congress to understand why such a failure occurred.”
Documents released earlier this year offered some new details about Kahn’s role, managing expenses for Epstein and serving in roles in some of the companies that comprised the complex web of Epstein’s finances. According to a 2020 lawsuit against the Epstein estate filed by the U.S. Virgin Islands government, Epstein paid Kahn more than $10 million dollars between 2011 and 2019 for his services.
Ahead of the deposition, Daniel Ruzumna, an attorney for Kahn, declined to comment.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and other dignitaries were removed by security after an shooting incident outside the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, D.C., on Saturday night.
The incident took place near the main magnetometer screening area at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, according to the Secret Service.
Trump and the other dignitaries who were evacuated were safe, according to the Secret Service. The Secret Service and the president said that a suspect has been apprehended.
Law enforcement is continuing to conduct the investigation.
This was the first correspondents’ dinner that Trump attended as president. He was scheduled to speak.
Other dignitaries who were escorted out included House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Vice President JD Vance.
Trump praised the Secret Service for their work.
“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely,” he said in a social media post.
Trump added the he “recommended that we “LET THE SHOW GO ON” but, will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement.”
“They will make a decision shortly. Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again,” he said.
White House Correspondents’ Association President Weijia Jiang told the crowd at the Washington Hilton ballroom that the program would continue at some point.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
