A fast-moving wildfire in Southern California has burned hundreds of acres, forced evacuations, and prompted the closure of the Reagan Presidential Library. According to the Ventura County Fire Department, the Sandy Fire started around 10:50 a.m. “As of 11:30 a.m. local time, the brush fire was estimated at 184 acres and was threatening nearby structures,” Fox News stated. Watch below: UPDATE: The Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California has been EVACUATED as this brush fire explodes Almost 200 acres have been burned, and at least one home is on fire. Pray firefighters get a quick handle on this pic.twitter.com/7tAKC6dZtZ — Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 18, 2026 Fox News shared further: Evacuation orders were issued for residents in parts of Simi Valley—located about 41 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles—and into the Thousand Oaks area. “We have a good number of air resources on hand,” a fire department spokesperson told “America Reports.” Around 200 personnel were battling the fire, as well as five helicopters and three air tankers, he said. Winds were gusting at 10 mph, with northeast Santa Ana winds expected to continue for the next few hours and weaken through the afternoon, before shifting onshore from the southwest fairly around 4 p.m. Warm and dry conditions are expected to continue through Tuesday. In an update, KTLA said the fire had “exploded to 500 acres as firefighters work to steer it away from hundreds of homes in the area.” UPDATE: The wind-driven #SandyFire burning in Simi Valley on Monday has exploded to 500 acres as firefighters work to steer it away from hundreds of homes in the area. https://t.co/JSUZvpAJyO pic.twitter.com/y2LQh51vRG — KTLA (@KTLA) May 18, 2026 “More than 23,000 people were ordered to evacuate Simi Valley,” The New York Times noted. Breaking News: More than 23,000 people were ordered to evacuate Simi Valley, California, as a fast-moving brush fire threatened homes, officials said. https://t.co/iiLIFwcJpY — The New York Times (@nytimes) May 18, 2026 More from The New York Times: Scott Dettorre, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department, said that the large-scale evacuations were prompted by offshore winds that were fanning the flames. Santa Ana winds from the northeast were blowing between 10 to 20 miles per hour with gusts of up to 35 m.p.h. on Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service. The winds were coming from the northeast, but expected to shift to the southeast in the late afternoon, according to N.W.S. “In the long game, it should push the fire back onto itself, but for the hour or so when the winds are trying to shift, it can be challenging for firefighters because the winds can be erratic,” said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The fire was burning near several schools in Simi Valley. Officials had canceled outdoor activities and were keeping children inside classrooms because of poor air quality, according to the Simi Valley Unified School District. At least two campuses, Crestview Elementary School and Mountain View Elementary School, had their students and staff evacuated to Simi Valley High School, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. The Ronald Reagan Library, on a hilltop in Simi Valley, closed early on Monday because of the fire. The museum isn’t in an evacuation zone but closed “out of an abundance of caution,” said Melissa Giller, a museum spokeswoman. Watch additional coverage below:

An American doctor working with a medical missionary organization in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has tested positive for Ebola, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced. The individual is being transported to Germany for treatment. “U.S. missionary organization Serge says one of its medical missionaries in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dr. Peter Stafford, has tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola after treating patients at a hospital,” Fox News reports. “Serge says two other missionaries who treated patients in the region, including Stafford’s wife, remain asymptomatic and are following quarantine protocols as officials respond to a growing Ebola outbreak in the region,” it added. BREAKING: An American missionary has tested positive for Ebola. U.S. missionary organization Serge says one of its medical missionaries in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dr. Peter Stafford, has tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola after treating patients at a… — Fox News (@FoxNews) May 18, 2026 NBC News shared further: The World Health Organization over the weekend declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. More than 330 suspected cases and at least 88 suspected deaths have been reported in Congo. Uganda has two confirmed cases, including one death, among people who traveled from Congo. The Bundibugyo virus involved in the outbreak leads to a rare type of Ebola for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment. There have been only a couple of previous Bundibugyo outbreaks — one in Uganda in 2007 and one in Congo in 2012. The fatality rate during those outbreaks ranged from 30% to 50%, according to the WHO. Pillai said the CDC and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response are “looking at monoclonal therapies,” which use antibodies to neutralize the virus. The therapies have shown some potential to prevent or treat Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo virus in rhesus monkeys The disease usually starts with symptoms like fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache and sore throat, then progresses to gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pain, with bleeding or bruising in some cases, as well. It spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids (such as blood, vomit or feces) or surfaces contaminated with those fluids. The CDC also announced a U.S. entry ban on foreign travelers who have recently been in the African countries impacted by the outbreak – the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda, and South Sudan. CDC Announces Travel Restrictions For African Countries Impacted By Ebola Outbreak “This suspension Order applies to covered aliens who have departed from, or were otherwise present within, DRC, Uganda, or South Sudan during the last 21 days (regardless of their country of origin). This Order is based on an assessment of the most recently available data and current conditions regarding the Ebola disease outbreak,” a CDC order read. “This order is time-limited and shall be in effect for 30 days from the date of issuance. This Order is intended to address the serious risk of introduction of Ebola disease into the United States, while allowing the U.S. Government the time necessary to conduct a full assessment of the unique public health risks posed by Ebola disease, assist with implementing surveillance, diagnostic capabilities and contact tracing, and develop a comprehensive mitigation and containment strategy in consultation with other stakeholders,” it continued. CBS News has more: The first suspected case in this outbreak was a health worker who reported symptoms starting on April 24 and died at a medical center in Bunia, the WHO said. Since then, suspected cases have grown significantly and crossed country borders. Several factors, including the location of the outbreak — an urban area with significant population mobility — and attacks by armed groups in the region, have health officials concerned about further spread. The outbreak is only the third known outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain, one of the viruses that causes Ebola disease. Unlike the more common Zaire strain, there is no vaccine or treatment for this strain, which was first discovered in Uganda in 2007.

Most politicians would take a victory lap and move on. President Trump looked at the Intel deal and said Washington left money on the table. In a wide-ranging interview with Fortune, Trump was blunt about the government’s equity stake in Intel, the chipmaker that received billions in federal support to keep advanced semiconductor manufacturing on American soil. Fortune Editor-in-Chief @ajs spent an hour in the Oval Office with President Trump. Tariffs. Intel. AI. Rate cuts. Boeing. Iran. And what happens to his dealmaking when his term ends? "I make one of those deals every day that no normal person would make." :… pic.twitter.com/MNZolniwoO — FORTUNE (@FortuneMagazine) May 18, 2026 Fortune laid out the key Intel exchange this way: Fortune’s CEO Daily account said President Trump described his equity-stake approach as something critics call un-American, while he framed it as a patriotic way to make American companies stronger and make taxpayers part of the upside. The Intel example was the center of that point. Trump said he asked Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to give the country a 10 percent ownership stake. When Tan agreed, Trump realized the government had enough leverage to press harder and said he should have asked for more. Fortune also noted Trump’s broader argument that there is no private personal benefit in the strategy. His stated point was that he wants American companies to do well, and if Washington is going to put national power behind strategic firms, the country should get a real return. That is why the Intel story matters beyond one chipmaker. It is a test case for whether federal industrial policy becomes another corporate handout or a taxpayer-backed investment with upside for the public. That one line tells you everything about how Trump thinks about these deals. He is not celebrating the stake itself. He is already calculating what a better negotiator would have squeezed out of it. According to the White House, the government’s Intel stake is now worth more than $50 billion, a figure the administration is framing as a direct taxpayer windfall. The White House made the taxpayer-return argument even more directly: The White House said President Trump’s America First agenda is producing major gains for the American people by turning strategic government action into taxpayer value while supporting a stronger stock market. On Intel, the administration described the agreement as a groundbreaking deal that gave taxpayers a direct equity stake in a major American technology company. The release said the position has climbed to more than $50 billion in value in roughly eight months. The statement framed that increase as both a taxpayer windfall and a domestic-manufacturing boost, arguing that the Intel deal is evidence that decisive action, smart trade policy, and a focus on American workers can rebuild national strength. The political point is obvious: Trump wants voters to see the government not as a passive dispenser of checks, but as a negotiator that can secure a return when the country steps in to support critical industries. That is a remarkable return on a deal that critics originally dismissed as a corporate giveaway. The logic behind it is straightforward. If American taxpayers are going to underwrite a company’s survival or expansion in a strategic industry, they should get equity upside instead of a thank-you note and a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Trump’s argument is that Washington has spent decades handing out subsidies, grants, and bailouts to massive corporations without ever demanding a real seat at the table. He wants that to change. President Donald Trump said ‌he "should have asked for more" of a stake in Intel on behalf of the U.S. government, in an interview with Fortune magazine published on Monday. https://t.co/4mchAoBnBT pic.twitter.com/o1SoK9EwQm — NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) May 18, 2026 As Newsmax reported, Trump told Fortune he believes the U.S. should be thinking like an investor, not a charity, when it steps in to prop up or strengthen companies that are critical to national security. That is an America First economic philosophy applied directly to industrial policy. Now, Fortune’s reporting also raised the predictable Beltway alarm bells about the “unorthodox” nature of the federal government holding equity in a private company. The usual crowd worries about government overreach, conflicts of interest, and the slippery slope toward state capitalism. Here is what those critics always leave out: the alternative is worse. For decades, Washington’s approach to strategic industries was to either do nothing while jobs moved to China, or throw money at corporations with zero accountability. The CHIPS Act under the previous administration was a perfect example. Billions in subsidies, minimal strings attached, and no equity upside for the taxpayers footing the bill. Trump is saying that if the government is going to act, it should act like a smart investor, not a doormat. The fact that his instinct is still “I should have gotten more” rather than “look how great this turned out” is exactly the mentality that has been missing from Washington for generations. (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said he "should have asked for more" of a stake in Intel on behalf of the U.S. government, in an interview ‌with Fortune magazine published on Monday.$INTChttps://t.co/fBTKnrvmWg — Nicholas Brown (@NicholasABrown_) May 18, 2026 As Fortune noted in its broader interview, this approach extends beyond Intel into Trump’s thinking on tariffs, AI, and dealmaking with China. In the broader Fortune interview, the Intel deal fit into a much larger Trump economic worldview: Fortune described an Oval Office conversation that ranged from tariffs and AI data centers to Boeing, China, Iran, interest rates, and what happens to Trump’s dealmaking approach after he leaves office. The interview portrayed Trump as applying a real-estate and CEO-style mindset to government: direct negotiation, fast decisions, leverage first, and a willingness to challenge the economic norms that shaped Washington for decades. Fortune also reported that Trump sees equity stakes, tariffs, and trade megadeals as tools for correcting trade imbalances, drawing investment back into the United States, and offsetting the national debt. The magazine noted that critics raise ethics and legality concerns about this model. But the piece also makes clear why supporters see it differently: Trump is trying to force government to bargain for the country the way private negotiators bargain for themselves. That matters because the old Washington model treated leverage like something embarrassing. Trump treats leverage like the whole point of sitting across the table. The through line is consistent: the United States has leverage, and it should use that leverage to get returns, not applause. Republicans in Congress should be paying close attention. For too long, the GOP has been the party that talks tough about fiscal responsibility while rubber-stamping corporate welfare with nothing to show for it. Trump is showing them what it looks like to negotiate on behalf of the people who actually pay the taxes. A $50 billion stake is a good start. But Trump is right. They should have asked for more. And next time, they will.

President Trump just gave Iran one more chance. He said Monday that a U.S. military strike on Iran had been scheduled for Tuesday, but he called it off after Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates asked him to allow serious negotiations to continue. The message to Tehran was direct: the strike is paused, not forgotten. Trump said the military remains ready for a full, large-scale assault if Iran refuses an acceptable deal that ends its nuclear threat. AP moved the breaking alert as soon as Trump announced the decision. BREAKING: President Trump says he’s called off an Iran strike planned for Tuesday at the request of Gulf allies to allow for “serious negotiations.” https://t.co/2t8CYfrxUM — The Associated Press (@AP) May 18, 2026 This is what peace through strength looks like. Trump had the strike ready. Then the leaders of three key Gulf nations personally asked him to hold fire because they believe a deal can be made. CBS News reported the details of Trump’s announcement: President Trump said Monday that he called off a U.S. attack on Iran that had been scheduled for Tuesday. The decision came after Gulf partners asked the United States to allow continued negotiations. The request came from Qatar’s emir, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed. Trump said those leaders told him serious negotiations were taking place and that, in their view, a deal could be reached. Trump said any deal must include no nuclear weapons for Iran. He then instructed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Daniel Caine, and the American military that the scheduled Tuesday attack would not take place. That order came with a warning. Trump also instructed the military to be ready to move forward with a full, large-scale assault on Iran at a moment’s notice if an acceptable deal is not reached. CBS also noted that Iran says it has relayed amended terms for a possible deal through Pakistani mediators. Over the weekend, Trump warned Tehran that the clock was ticking and that there would not be anything left of them if they failed to move fast. That is the leverage Biden never had. Iran knows Trump has already shown he is willing to use force. Gulf allies know he is willing to listen when they bring him a serious diplomatic opening. Disclose.tv summarized the same key point: the request came from major regional allies, and Trump expects a deal to be made. JUST IN – Trump says that after UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar asked him, he has agreed to hold off on the “planned Military attack” of Iran, “which was scheduled for tomorrow,” as “serious negotiations are now taking place,” and that he expects a deal to be made. https://t.co/y4LxNVElyw — Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) May 18, 2026 AP also confirmed the timing and the wider pressure around the Iran standoff: Trump is holding off on a military strike that had been planned for Tuesday because serious negotiations are now underway. The announcement came one day after Trump warned that Iran’s clock was ticking to reach a deal. His warning raised the possibility that fighting could resume if Tehran refused to accept a permanent resolution. Trump did not provide details about the planned target package. He did say the U.S. military had been instructed to be prepared for a full, large-scale assault if an acceptable deal is not reached. The pressure was already hitting global markets. World shares mostly retreated and oil prices jumped after Trump warned Tehran that the clock was ticking while negotiations over a permanent end to the war remained stalled. That market reaction shows why the Gulf allies had an urgent interest in buying time for negotiations. A wider conflict with Iran would hit energy markets, regional security, and American allies all at once. The timing also matters because Trump had warned Tehran one day earlier to move fast. Iran is now being offered a narrow diplomatic window with the military option still fully visible. The old Washington foreign-policy class will try to call this confusion. It is actually controlled pressure. Iran is being told the door is still open, but the door is attached to a deadline and backed by U.S. firepower. The Gateway Pundit framed the military warning clearly after Trump’s announcement. UPDATE: Trump Calls Off Planned Military Strikes Against Iran – Says “Full, Large Scale Assault” Is Ready “on a Moment’s Notice” READ: https://t.co/Ou5nLLqe5h pic.twitter.com/g1eTyTy1dZ — The Gateway Pundit (@gatewaypundit) May 18, 2026 Gateway Pundit reported the right-leaning takeaway: Trump called off planned military strikes against Iran after Gulf partners asked for more time. The strikes were scheduled for Tuesday, and Trump said serious negotiations were now taking place. The report emphasized Trump’s core demand: no nuclear weapons for Iran. That remains the point of the entire standoff, and Trump made clear he is not backing away from that condition. The article also highlighted Trump’s warning that a full, large-scale assault remains ready at a moment’s notice if negotiations fail. That is the key difference between surrender diplomacy and diplomacy backed by power. The strike was held because allied leaders made a request and claimed a deal was possible. The threat remains because Iran has not yet delivered an acceptable agreement. That is not weakness. It is a president using American military power as leverage while giving trusted regional allies a chance to bring the deal home. Iran should understand exactly what happened. The United States did not stand down because Tehran won a concession. Trump held back because America’s Gulf allies asked for a short diplomatic window. If Iran uses that window to stall, the military option is already waiting. That is the point of the announcement. Trump is offering Iran a final off-ramp while making sure the regime knows the road ends in overwhelming force if it chooses the wrong path.

President Trump’s Justice Department just turned years of lawfare complaints into a formal compensation process. The DOJ announced Monday that it is creating a $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund for Americans who say they were targeted by government weaponization and political lawfare. The fund is part of a settlement tied to President Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over the illegal leak of Trump family tax returns. Under the deal, President Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization receive a formal apology but no monetary payment. Conservative accounts quickly picked up the core point: President Trump is getting an apology, while the fund creates a formal claims process for alleged victims of federal abuse. DOJ Launches $1.776 Billion Anti-Weaponization Fund in Major Trump IRS Lawsuit Settlement • The Trump family and Trump Organization sued the IRS after their tax returns were illegally leaked to the media in 2019–2020. • As part of the deal, the lawsuit is being dropped,… pic.twitter.com/duwVWrkZHc — MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) May 18, 2026 In its announcement, the Justice Department laid out the terms of the new fund and the settlement behind it: The Anti-Weaponization Fund is being established as part of the settlement in President Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS after the leak of Trump family tax returns. DOJ said the Trump plaintiffs will receive a formal apology, but no monetary payment or damages of any kind. In exchange, they agreed to drop the lawsuit with prejudice and withdraw two administrative claims tied to the Mar-a-Lago raid and the Russia-collusion hoax. The department said the fund can issue formal apologies and monetary relief to claimants. Submitting a claim is voluntary, and DOJ says there are no partisan requirements to file one. The fund will receive $1.776 billion from the federal judgment fund, send quarterly reports to the Attorney General, and can be audited at the Attorney General’s direction. DOJ also said the fund must protect private information and avoid fraud. Any money left when the fund stops operating will return to the federal government, and the fund must stop processing claims no later than December 15, 2028. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche framed the move as a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress. That is the part the media framing keeps trying to blur. President Trump is not walking away with $1.776 billion. The DOJ says the Trump side gets an apology, not a damages payout. The money goes into a claims process for people who can make their case that the government targeted them. The left’s immediate line was obvious: call it self-dealing, call it corrupt, and try to block it before a single claim is heard. But the DOJ is already pointing to an uncomfortable precedent for Democrats: the Obama-era Keepseagle settlement. One reporter flagged that comparison as the announcement started circulating Monday. NEW: DOJ is defending its new $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” by pointing to an Obama-era precedent: the Keepseagle settlement, which created a $760 million federal compensation fund for Native American farmers alleging discrimination by the government. pic.twitter.com/PoAgVe2wq1 — Kaelan Deese (@KaelanDC) May 18, 2026 The DOJ release says the Obama administration used the Keepseagle case to create a $760 million fund to redress discrimination claims against the federal government. DOJ also drew a sharp contrast between that settlement and this one. The department said hundreds of millions of dollars left over in Keepseagle eventually went to nonprofits and NGOs that had not made claims. By contrast, DOJ says leftover money in the Anti-Weaponization Fund will return to the federal government. CBS News confirmed the settlement and the lawsuit context behind the announcement: The case centered on President Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS and Treasury Department after his tax records were leaked. The leak was tied to former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn, who was sentenced to prison after illegally obtaining and disclosing tax information involving President Trump and others. The settlement announced Monday creates the Anti-Weaponization Fund as the lawsuit is dropped. The fund is designed to hear claims from people who say they were targeted by government weaponization or lawfare. The announcement follows months of legal and political attention around the case. That attention included questions about the structure of any settlement involving the president and agencies inside the executive branch. The key distinction in the DOJ announcement is that President Trump and the Trump family do not receive a cash payment. The public fight now shifts to whether other claimants who say they were targeted by the federal government will be allowed to seek apologies or monetary relief through the new process. The settlement also turns the tax-return leak from a backward-looking lawsuit into a broader lawfare accountability process. That is why the fund became the real headline the moment DOJ announced it. Democrats are already trying to stop it. House Judiciary Democrats said their litigation task force filed to block the settlement: The Democratic attack is that the settlement is a sham and an act of self-dealing. Their filing argues that President Trump cannot use a lawsuit against an agency he now oversees to create a taxpayer-funded settlement structure. They are asking the court to intervene before the fund becomes the mechanism DOJ described Monday. That is their argument. The DOJ’s stated terms tell a different story: no damages payment to President Trump, no partisan requirement for claimants, quarterly reporting to the Attorney General, possible audits, fraud safeguards, privacy protections, and unused money returning to the Treasury. If Democrats believe those guardrails are not enough, they can make that argument in court. What they cannot honestly do is pretend the tax leak never happened, pretend lawfare complaints came from nowhere, or pretend the Obama administration never used a federal settlement fund to compensate people who claimed the government mistreated them. This is why the new fund matters. For years, conservatives were told that concerns about government targeting were paranoid. The IRS targeting of Tea Party groups was minimized. The leak of presidential tax returns was treated as journalism rather than a federal crime. Every lawfare prosecution was framed as the system working. Now the Trump DOJ has created a structured, funded, auditable process for people who say it happened to them. And the same crowd that spent years defending the machinery of government suddenly wants the machine unplugged before any lawfare victim can file a claim. This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.