US Military Eyes 10,000 Troop Surge to Middle East Amid Iran Nuclear Tensions 
U.S.-Iran Peace Talks Gain Momentum Amid Ongoing Conflict 
Iran Demands Lebanon Be Part of Any Ceasefire Deal With Israel and the U.S. 
Russia-Iran Military Alliance Deepens With Drone Shipments Amid Middle East Tensions 
Trump Signs Executive Order to Pay TSA Workers Amid Airport Security Crisis 
Russia Strikes Kharkiv and Izmail as Cross-Border Drone War Escalates 
Jay Bhattacharya to Continue Leading CDC as White House Searches for Permanent Director 
Pakistan's Diplomatic Rise: Mediating U.S.-Iran Peace Talks 
G7 Foreign Ministers Gather in France Amid Global Tensions and U.S. Policy Uncertainty 
WTO Reform Talks Begin in Cameroon Amid Global Trade Tensions 
US Accelerates Taiwan Arms Deliveries Amid Rising China Threat 
Maduro Faces Rare Narcoterrorism Charges in U.S. Court 
FEMA Reinstates $1 Billion Disaster Prevention Grant Program After Court Order 
Kristi Noem Ends Western Hemisphere Tour in Diminished Role After DHS Firing 
Iran Allows Oil Tankers Through Strait of Hormuz Amid U.S. Negotiations 
Trump Votes by Mail Despite Calling It "Cheating" as Democrat Wins Mar-a-Lago District 
Trump to Visit China in May for High-Stakes Xi Summit Amid Iran War 
President Donald Trump has been criticized for forcefully dispersing peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square so he could go to St. John’s Church on Monday. But a new report claims that the idea of staging a photoshoot actually came from his senior adviser from Ivanka Trump.
Mark Meadows, White House Chief of Staff, reportedly said during a senior staff meeting on Tuesday that Ivanka Trump “deserved the credit for that decision,” according to Insider. This was revealed by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman who cited two unnamed White House officials as her sources.
“Meadows said that while others were getting credit for the church appearance, it was Ivanka Trump who deserved the credit, per two officials,” Maggie Haberman posted on Twitter.
The reporter also said that Ivanka even thanked Meadows and his team for implementing her idea. “She thanked him and thanked the team for carrying it out, the officials said,” Haberman added.
To carry out the plan, law enforcement officers used tear gas and rubber bullets to remove peaceful protesters from the square on Monday. Donald Trump then walked to St. John’s Church where he declared himself as “your president of law and order” and “an ally of all peaceful protesters,” according to The New York Times. He was also photographed carrying a bible that was provided by his daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump.
The use of force against non-violent protesters has been criticized by many. “I don’t think the military should be used in the streets of American cities against Americans,” Mayor Muriel E. Bowser of Washington said. “And I definitely don’t think it should be done for a show.”
“When peaceful protesters are dispersed by the order of the president from the doorstep of the people's house, the White House — using tear gas and flash grenades — in order to stage a photo op at a noble church, we can be forgiven for believing that the president is more interested in power than in principle,” Joe Biden also said in his Philadelphia speech.
