5 Big News Stories Overnight - Saturday, February 21, 2026

U.S. Trump Rails Against the Supreme Court

Trump posted:

The Supreme Court’s Ruling on TARIFFS is deeply disappointing! I am ashamed of certain Members of the Court for not having the Courage to do what is right for our Country. I would like to thank and congratulate Justices Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh for your Strength, Wisdom, and Love of our Country, which is right now very proud of you. When you read the dissenting opinions, there is no way that anyone can argue against them. Foreign Countries that have been ripping us off for years are ecstatic, and dancing in the streets — But they won’t be dancing for long! The Democrats on the Court are thrilled, but they will automatically vote “NO” against ANYTHING that makes America Strong and Healthy Again. They, also, are a Disgrace to our Nation. Others think they’re being “politically correct,” which has happened before, far too often, with certain Members of this Court when, in fact, they’re just FOOLS and “LAPDOGS” for the RINOS and Radical Left Democrats and, not that this should have anything to do with it, very unpatriotic, and disloyal to the Constitution. It is my opinion that the Court has been swayed by Foreign Interests, and a Political Movement that is far smaller than people would think — But obnoxious, ignorant, and loud!
 
This was an important case to me, more as a symbol of Economic and National Security, than anything else. The Good News is that there are methods, practices, Statutes, and other Authorities, as recognized by the entire Court and Congress, that are even stronger than the IEEPA TARIFFS, available to me as President of the United States of America and, in actuality, I was very modest in my “ask” of other Countries and Businesses because I wanted to do nothing that could sway the decision that has been rendered by the Court.
 
I have very effectively utilized TARIFFS over the past year to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. Our Stock Market has just recently broken the 50,000 mark on the DOW and, simultaneously, 7,000 on the S&P, two numbers that everybody thought, upon our Landslide Election Victory, could not be attained until the very end of my Administration — Four years! TARIFFS have, likewise, been used to end five of the eight Wars that I settled, have given us Great National Security and, together with our Strong Border, reduced Fentanyl coming into our Country by 30%, when I use them as a penalty against Countries illegally sending this poison to us. All of those TARIFFS remain, but other alternatives will now be used to replace the ones that the Court incorrectly rejected.

U.S.: American Deficit Expected to Explode

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said:

The Supreme Court has upheld lower court decisions in striking down a wide swath of President Trump’s tariffs on the grounds that he exceeded his legal authority in imposing them. 

The court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Power Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. Our preliminary estimate suggests that, absent alternative executive or legislative action to replace the tariffs, this ruling could increase projected deficits by about $2 trillion over the next decade. The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:

With today’s Supreme Court ruling affirming the illegality of President Trump’s emergency tariffs, the country will now be about $2 trillion deeper in the hole. With the national debt already the size of the entire U.S. economy and interest on the debt costing more than $1 trillion this year, this is very bad news. Congress should work quickly to fill that hole.

Whatever one feels about the tariffs themselves, the country needs that $2 trillion in fiscal improvements, all of which should be dedicated to deficit reduction. Congress should work to quickly replace at least that amount – whether through a border adjusted cash flow tax, cuts to tax breaks, or spending reductions. There is no shortage of options.

We are in a dismal fiscal situation, and it just got worse. More than ever, we need Washington to put forward an agenda to truly address the debt. That means cutting spending, raising revenue, lowering health care costs, and securing our trust funds.

Relying on legally questionable sources of revenue was clearly less than ideal. It’s Congress that needs to get our debt under control.

U.S.: "Bannon Went Quiet About the Epstein Files. MAGA Noticed"

CNN reports:

Earlier this month, as the latest disclosures in the Epstein files rippled through right-wing media, the conservative morning television show “American Sunrise” devoted several segments to calls for harsher consequences and sustained attention on the scandal.

“We need to make an example of all of this,” co-host Emily Finn said during the February 9 broadcast on the pro-Trump cable channel Real America’s Voice. “And not just let this go and let this slip under the radar.”

Moments later, the program handed off to the conservative network’s marquee show, “War Room,” hosted by Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist. Over the next two hours, Bannon ticked through topics animating his audience — from Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance to a contentious Republican Senate primary in Texas.

PHOTO: USDOJ

Syria: Mass Release of ISIS Terrorists

Wall Street Journal reports:

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that 15,000 to 20,000 people, including Islamic State affiliates are now at large in Syria, after an exodus from a camp that held jihadists’ families, U.S. officials familiar with the estimate said.

Security experts have long warned that the wives of Islamic State fighters were effectively raising the next generation of militants at the sprawling Al-Hol facility. Security at the camp fell apart in recent weeks after Syria’s government routed the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which had guarded Al-Hol for years, raising concerns about the release of people who might have become radicalized during the years held behind the razor wire.

The size of a small city, the camp in Syria’s eastern desert at one point held more than 70,000 people after U.S.-backed forces destroyed what remained of Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria in 2019. At the end of 2025, more than 23,000 people were there, according to a report this week from the Pentagon’s Inspector General.

PHOTO: Mahmoud Sulaiman, SYRIA Daraa, Unsplash

Norway: U.S. Reduces Number of NATO Exercises

Norwegian media reports:

The Cold Response exercises, which are held annually, gather thousands of NATO troops in and around Northern Norway. The US alone is still due to send nearly 4,000 soldiers this year, but now their numbers will be reduced along with the number of American aircraft, especially F35 fighter jets.

“They’ll be heading to other parts of the world,” Lt Col Espen Solemdal told newspaper Fremover, based in Northern Norway. Flight radar data has also shown how several F35, F22 and F18 figher jets are in the process of being sent to the Middle East. Oslo newspaper VG called it the biggest military aircraft build-up in the area for two decades, including surveillance, refueling, personnel, and supply planes.

Maritime radar has also shown major movement of US military vessels to the Persian Gulf off Iran, including several US aircraft carriers. The US is demanding that Iran shut down its entire nuclear program, while Iran has responded by carrying on military exercises of its own.

Norwegian defense officials, meanwhile, confirmed to VG that they’ve been moving some Norwegian soldiers out of the region. That includes around 60 soldiers based in both Iraq and Jordan.

PHOTO: Edoardo Bortoli, Unsplash