The Marjorie Taylor Greene Problem Is Bigger Than Trump Knows & Hostages Released, But Trouble Ahead
PDS Published 10/13/2025
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The ceasefire seems to be holding, all 20 living hostages have been released by Hamas, and nearly 2,000 Palestinians have been freed from Israeli imprisonment and detention.
But with all that, there’s still violence in Gaza, and there are a lot of questions about what happens next that still haven’t been answered.
But to start with the good news, as we talked about, Israel and Hamas agreed on the first phase of a ceasefire and hostage release deal on Thursday.
And on Friday, Israeli forces withdrew to a new defensive line inside Gaza – leaving them in control of 53 percent of the territory and also triggering a 72-hour deadline for the hostage exchange.
And with that, fast forward to this morning, Hamas first released seven hostages at around 8am local time – handing them over to the Red Cross, who then transferred them to the Israeli military. (BROLL: 0:57-1:02)
At around 11am, the Red Cross received the final 13 living hostages.
And we soon started to see the first images of these people reuniting with their families after more than two years in captivity (BROLL: 0:01-0:21)
And you have some similar scenes playing out as you then had Israel releasing 1,968 Palestinians – who have most often been described in mainstream media as “prisoners” (BROLL: 0:20-0:30).
Although, for many, that label is in dispute, because among those released there were only 250 who had actually been sentenced to prison terms.
With most of them convicted of murder and terrorism in deadly attacks on Israelis according to Israel’s Justice Ministry.
Although, notably, some were convicted in military trials that rights advocates say often lack due process.
And beyond that, the remaining 1,700 or so Palestinians released? They were among several thousand Palestinians that Israeli troops have taken from Gaza and have held without charge.
And in fact, even now, about 1,300 Palestinians from Gaza remain in Israeli custody – according to a recent count by an Israeli human rights group.
With most detainees held under new laws passed in Israel at the start of the war that allowed Palestinians to be detained for months as “unlawful combatants” without judicial review or access to lawyers.
With rights groups, the U.N. and detainees themselves all having reported routine torture and abuse in the facilities where Palestinians have been held – with at least 75 dying in custody according to the UN.
And with that, as far as the ceasefire and hostage release deal, there’s still the matter of returning the bodies of those who have died.
Right, specifically, the remains of at least 26 hostages who died in Gaza are meant to be handed over in exchange for the remains of deceased Palestinians held by Israel
But both Israeli and Hamas officials said it would be difficult for Hamas to gather all of the bodies in the three-day window stipulated by the cease-fire agreement – which has already sparked anger.
The Hostage Families Forum, for example, accused Hamas of dragging its feet, saying in a statement:
“This represents a blatant breach of the agreement by Hamas.”
You’ve also had the Israeli defense minister writing on X if Hamas failed to do return all the bodies it would be “a violation of its commitments” – adding:
“Any delay or deliberate avoidance will be considered a gross violation of the agreement and will be responded to accordingly.”
But of course, despite these concerns, you had Trump hailing today as the "historic dawn of a new Middle East" today when he became the first American president to address the Israeli parliament since George W. Bush in 2008 (BROLL & BROLL: 2:42:08)
And in typical Trump fashion you had him veering off script, bashing Joe Biden and Barack Obama, and heaping praise on himself and his administration.
You also, notably, had him urging Israel’s president to pardon Netanyahu – who is in the middle of a long-running criminal trial on corruption charges.
And with that, you also had Netanyahu and other Israeli politicians heaping praise and applause on Trump – although not all of them.
Right, at one point, two lawmakers belonging to a joint Palestinian-Israeli political party were escorted out for displaying signs that said “Recognize Palestine!” (BROLL: 1:27-1:32)
With one of them writing on social media afterward:
“To crown Netanyahu through flattery the likes of which has never been seen…does not absolve him and his government of the crimes against humanity committed in Gaza, nor of the responsibility for the blood of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian victims and thousands of Israeli victims.”
With him later adding: “There are two peoples here, and neither is going anywhere”
But with all that, you then had Trump leaving for Israel and heading to Egypt for a summit on the cease-fire deal along with other world leaders.
And we’ll have to wait and see if that leads to any questions being answered about what happens next.
For example, as of now, it’s not totally clear which, if any, countries are planning to send troops to join an “international stabilization force” that Trump has said would handle security in postwar Gaza.
And then, more than that, there’s the question of whether Hamas will be disarmed and stripped of its power in Gaza and how the territory will be governed after the war.
Right, because that’s a demand of Israel, but we’ve already seen reports that Hamas has been moving to reassert its control over the territory.
With the BBC reporting that Hamas has recalled about 7,000 members of its security forces to move into areas recently vacated by Israeli troops.
With the mobilisation order reportedly announcing that their aim would be to "cleanse Gaza of outlaws and collaborators with Israel."
And seemingly connected to that, you also the BBC reporting that at least 27 people were killed over the weekend in clashes between Hamas and armed members of a major clan in Gaza city.
With a senior source in Gaza’s Ministry of Interior telling Al Jazeera Arabic that the clashes in Gaza City involved “an armed militia affiliated with the [Israeli] occupation.”
Right, and for context there, Netanyahu confirmed way back in June that Israel had been arming clans in Gaza that he said were opposed to Hamas.
With international aid workers later alleging that the leader of one of those groups – who Israeli and Palestinian analysts claimed had been involved in drugs and weapons smuggling before the war and also did business with the Islamic State – was behind the systematic looting of aid entering the Gaza Strip last fall.
And with that, analysts and historians have said that providing weapons, money and other support to these types of groups is a strategy Israel has used several times in the past to divide Palestinians and undermine their national aspirations.
With one Columbia University scholar saying “It’s the oldest colonial strategy in the book” – and adding:
Israel wants “a state of chaos, because if the Palestinians are unified, then they might have to actually negotiate or deal with them.”
And with that, you’ve also had a retired security officer who previously served with the Palestinian Authority in Gaza claiming:
"Gaza is flooded with arms. Looters have stolen thousands of weapons and rounds of ammunition from Hamas stores during the war, and some groups have even received supplies from Israel” – adding:
"This is a perfect recipe for civil war: weapons, frustration, chaos, and a movement desperate to reassert control over a shattered and exhausted population."
And so with that, all we can do really is keep hoping for the best, but we gotta be ready for the worst.
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Is Marjorie TaylorGreene actually moving to the left or is this just a new side of the same grift?
Those are the questions people are asking as she is repeatedly bucking both her party and Trump lately.
Just over the weekend, she got a ton of attention over comments she made regarding Trump’s ICE raids and immigration policies, saying on Tim Dillon’s podcast:
“TD: But I look at going to a high school graduation and deporting someone’s father, that seems to me inhumane…MTG: yeah that is hard to watch.” (1;07:40-1:07:52)
“Having a secure border? Oh hell yeah, unapologetically. Immigration laws? You have to follow our laws, those are our laws.” (1:08:10-1:08:20)
“However, let’s just be in reality for a minute.” (1:08:33-1:08:35)
“We have a labor force in America that has been built on illegal labor in many industries. That is a fact that also cannot be ignored.” (1:09:00-1:09:07)
“As a conservative, and as a business owner in the construction industry, and as a realist, I can say we need to do something about labor, and that has to be a smarter plan than just rounding up every single person and deporting them just like that.” (1;09:37-1:09:55)
With her also just saying her party is not doing enough to address costs of living and other everyday issues Americans are dealing with:
“I’m really upset with the direction Congress is going in lately. When we are not doing anything to address the cost of living, we are not doing anything about Blackstone buying up houses where most young people can;t find a house and have to compete in bidding wars, and we are not doing anything about health insurance premiums, then for the love of god, what are we doing?” (;8:53-1:47)
And this is just the latest in what has been kind of a trend for Greene lately, right, in the past few months she has called the war in Gaza a genocide, she is one of few Republicans pushing for the Epstein files to be released.
Amid the shutdown, she has also been very outspoken, just last week pinning the blame on her Republican colleagues and leaders like House Speaker Mike Johnson:
“So you’re putting them blame on the leadership of your party?...Absolutely! We control the House, we control the Senate, we have the White House. I have been vocal saying, you can use the nuclear option in the Senate. This doesn’t have to be a shutdown.” (4:30-4:44)
She also has been condemning her party for not having solutions when it comes to healthcare, saying that Mike Johnson:
“should really bring the House back in session for many reasons.”
“This cliff is coming for millions and millions of Americans where their health insurance premiums are about to skyrocket, so put your money where your mouth is.”
And this has all prompted tons of responses from people on all political sides, right, the likes of Johnson saying he had a meaningful conversation with her about issues like healthcare.
Though other Republicans seem a little more annoyed with her, arguing it is unfair to pin all these issues on her own party.
Bu then on the left, you have some seeing her comments and asking: is this a new ally?
Right, there are pieces titled “Marjorie Taylor Greene, Welcome to the Resistance.”
A columnist for The Atlanta Journal Constitution putting out a piece saying she is the:
“singular Republican voice in Washington willing to speak truth to power, her own party politics be damned.”
Adding: “Even if you don’t agree with Greene on everything — or even most things — you have to admire her willingness in this moment to say what is true, even when other Republicans refuse to. Maybe it’s career suicide, or maybe it’s leadership.”
But others are less sold on this, right, arguing that her pivot "isn't a moral awakening. It’s a political calculation that recognizes Trump’s political weakness.”
Right, noting that if you look at these interviews, she does still praise Trump’s leadership, she has not made a full 180 turn.
Go to her Twitter page and you’ll see recent tweets with anti-vaxx rhetoric or her claiming Antifa was at January 6.
And even though she is slamming the Republican's handling of healthcare, she also still is pointing fingers at Democrats and Obamacare.
So you had one columnist for USA Today saying:
“keep in mind that Greene – like so many MAGA figures – is a Grade-A grifter who craves the thing all good opportunists need: attention.”
“Trump is unpopular. He’s aging swiftly. The economy, as Greene so boldly noted, is not good for most Americans.”
“Before long, MAGA will need a new figurehead, and you can bet every fast-talking, fact-averse tail-kisser who helped Trump build his faux-populist racket wants a shot at the con artist crown.”
“I don’t think Greene has come to her senses… I think she’s a gifted grifter dipping a toe in the pool of Trump defiance to see if it makes waves she can ride.”
But then, regardless of her motivate, outlets like TIME have noted that:
“Either way, Greene’s growing independence poses a risk to Republican power: with a thin majority in the lower chamber, every non-party-line voter could upend Trump’s and the GOP’s agenda.”
So, I would love to know your thoughts here, do you think this is a shift that can be trusted, or are you skeptical of her viewpoints?
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The U.S. is NOT letting Qatar open a military base in Idaho.
That is actually a thing that many people thought was going to happen after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a VERY confusing announcement during a meeting with Qatar’s Defense Minister.
With Hegseth thanking Qatar for its role as a mediator in peace talks between Israel and Hamas, and then adding:
“And I'm also proud that today we're announcing… or signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatari Emiri Air Force facility at the Mountain Home Air Base in Idaho. The location will be… host a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase lethality, interoperability. It’s just another example of our partnership, and I hope you know, Your Excellency, that you can count on us.” 1:16 - 1:42
Right, and so you had a ton of people online taking that to mean that the U.S. is letting Qatar build its own military base on American soil.
With that including some prominent conservative and MAGA voices who absolutely tore into the idea.
Like Laura Loomer, who posted a series of tweets slamming the announcement, writing at one point:
“Never thought I’d see Republicans give terror financing Muslims from Qatar a MILITARY BASE on US soil so they can murder Americans. I don’t think I’ll be voting in 2026.”
And adding: “This is where I draw the line.”
And then, because of all that backlash, we actually saw Hegeseth posting a statement on X where he made an “Important clarification,” writing:
“The U.S. military has a long-standing partnership w/ Qatar, including today’s announced cooperation w/ F-15QA aircraft. However, to be clear, Qatar will not have their own base in the United States—nor anything like a base. We control the existing base, like we do with all partners.”
And with that clarification, you had many noting that this is actually not an unusual arrangement at all.
Right, air force units from countries like Singapore and Germany regularly train at U.S. facilities, and pilots from some NATO countries have done so for decades.
But, despite the clarification, you still had Hegseth getting a ton of backlash.
With many people arguing that this is just another example of him totally fumbling the ball because the way he phrased this announcement really made it sound like he was saying the U.S. was allowing a foreign air force base in the U.S.
And beyond that, you also had plenty of folks still slamming the partnership, with Loomer responding to Hegseth’s clarification by doubling down, writing:
“Nobody wants the funders of HAMAS in America being trained to fly fighter jets on US soil.”
And claiming that the move is “a threat to our national security.”
With others also condemning the move as a quid pro quo.
Arguing that Trump is doing Qatar a favor because the Trump Organization is building a multi-billion dollar golf resort in the country, which also gave the president that luxury $400 million jet to replace Air Force One.
Right, and then yesterday, you had Vice President JD Vance going on Fox News, where he seemingly tried to blame the fake news media for all the confusion that Hegeseth created:
BARTIROMO: “What is the function of this Qatar facility? People are wondering is this an airbase? What is Qatar gonna be developing in Idaho?”
VANCE: “Yeah, I saw some reporting about this, Maria. I actually talked to the Secretary of War Pete Hegseth this morning. This is largely a fake story. We continue to have, with countries that we work with, we have relationships where sometimes their pilots work on our bases, sometimes that we train together, sometimes we work together in other ways. The reporting that somehow there’s going to be a Qatari base on United States soil, that’s just not true. We are continuing to work with a number of our Arab friends to ensure that we are able to enforce this peace, but we’re not gonna let a foreign country have an actual base on American soil, so there was a bit of misreporting on that, as there often is, as you know, Maria.” 5:54 - 6:45
But Vance’s use of the phrase “largely a fake story” appears to have created even MORE confusion here.
With many people on X seemingly just running with that first line and not really listening to the rest of the explanation, and arguing that either Vance or Hegeseth is lying.
Now, to Vance’s credit, what he said does make sense if you know the full context of the situation.
But if you’re just seeing these competing clips on social media — as many people are — it’s easy to understand how it looks like Hegseth saying one thing and then Vance saying the complete opposite.
Right, Vance could have just explained the misunderstanding, but apparently, he wanted to blame the media for some reason instead of just admitting that Hegseth misspoke, which just made everything even messier.
So yeah, long story short, Qatar is not building a military base in the U.S., but if you were confused about that, that’s not on you at all, and you absolutely aren’t alone — they really bungled this one in an extra special way.
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A factory making munitions for the US military exploded - leaving 16 people presumed dead and no survivors.
Right, the factory was Accurate Energetic Systems in Humphreys County, Tennessee - a privately owned facility that processed ammunition and explosives for the Army and Navy.
Specifically, they reportedly had contracts for products like landmines and smaller breaching charges to get through doors.
But early Friday morning, an explosion completely leveled the building - with the shockwave being felt by residents in a town 20 minutes away.
With those living closer saying they were scared for their lives - one resident telling the AP,
“I thought the house had collapsed with me inside of it.”
Notably, the facility was situated on roughly 1,300 acres of rural, wooded area pretty far away from most populated areas. [B Roll]
But following the explosion, charred debris and mangled vehicles littered roughly half a square mile - with some debris being found up to 2 miles away. [B Roll 2:15-1:10]
With those who live nearby being told that any debris found should be reported to the authorities so that trained professionals can come take care of it.
Right, because we’re talking about a factory that processed explosives.
And that is precisely the reason it may take a while to get any answers about what happened here.
The authorities have said they are moving at a “snail’s pace” - going foot-by-foot through the explosion site to make sure it’s safe as they look for evidence.
With Special Agent Guy McCormick with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives saying there are certified explosives specialists and bomb technicians on the scene to help make sure the area is safe.
“In a situation like this, what we find is that when these explosives are subject to the event that took place — which is heat, the explosion being thrown, pressure — they can change, and they can become different than how we know them to act.”
But once investigators are able to safely make it to where they believe the blast originated, they’ll be able to construct a clearer picture of what happened.
And be able to give answers to the community - notably, whether this was an accident or foul play.
Though local authorities say that answer could be weeks or even months out.
With Tyra Cunningham, assistant special agent in charge at the Nashville division of the ATF, saying that the bureau will ensure, quote, “that if criminal activity is involved, those responsible will be held accountable, and if it was accidental, that lessons have been learned to prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again.”
According to the local authorities, there were no survivors found in the wreckage and 16 people are currently presumed dead.
With a rapid DNA team being brought onto the scene to identify any remains recovered by investigators.
And this shocking tragedy has devastated a relatively small, tight-knit community - with the local sheriff, Chris Davis, getting choked up at a press conference after the explosion.
[0:10-0:23“It’s truly devastating. It’s a tremendous loss, it’s a great loss. And at this time, we have recovered no survivors.”
As of now, the names of the dead haven’t been released but we have seen the community come tight together to support each other.
With vigils popping up - including one where the senior pastor noted that many of the attendees knew the victims and their families, saying,
“There’s a lot of people hurting. A lot of people who are crying a lot of tears.”
“They can hardly speak or anything, they are so emotional. I think as this goes on, it’s going to hit more people. The depth of this, the reality of it. That’s when they’re going to need people the most.”
With Sheriff Davis saying,
“I never want to give up hope. Hope’s always been my heart, but I don’t want to give false hope either.”
“We need our communities to come together and understand that we’ve lost a lot of people. This [doesn’t] only affect those families, it runs deeper … this could be people that you grew up with.”
And he also noted that this tragedy comes just a few short years after the area was shaken by another disaster - a flood back in 2021 that killed 20 people and destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses.
But as far as accountability?
Accurate Energetic Systems released a statement Friday evening - calling the explosions a “tragic accident” and saying,
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families, coworkers, and community members affected by this incident. We extend our gratitude to all first responders who continue to work tirelessly under difficult conditions.”
BUT, key thing, there’s been multiple safety concerns raised about this specific plant in the past.
In fact, they were slapped with a $7,200 fine from OSHA back in 2019 for violations relating to personal protective equipment, employee exposure to contaminants, and inadequate safety training.
Though the company contested the findings and eventually reached a formal settlement.
There was also a fire back in 2020 that broke out in the same building that exploded - with the company laying the blame on Sammy Creech, a former employee who lives about 12 miles from the site.
Creech, however, sued for wrongful termination - saying the investigation into the fire didn’t even try getting a statement from him about the situation.
Telling CNN,
“I tried to talk and reason with them…they seemed to enjoy the dismissal. I was very ashamed that I was fired.”
That case was eventually dropped during mediation but we may see it referenced in the conversation surrounding Friday’s explosion in the coming weeks as more information comes out.
But for now, we’re just going to have to wait to see what the investigation produces.
In the meantime, let me know your thoughts about this whole thing in those comments down below.
