President Donald Trump has faced backlash from Americans who accuse him of pouring billions of taxpayer dollars into the Middle East conflict while oil prices and inflation skyrocket in the United States.

Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg shared the request with lawmakers this week, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the discussions.

Pentagon leaders have said they risk running out of money for operations in the coming months unless Congress passes a new wartime spending bill, the newspaper said.

The military may need to cut back on training and troop deployment along the US-Mexico border as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown, it added.

The Pentagon said last month the cost of the war with Iran had climbed to nearly $29 billion, although Democrats and other critics of the war have suggested the true cost — including damage inflicted by  Iran — could be far higher.

Concerns over the war straining US weapons stockpiles also deepened last month after Acting US Navy Secretary Hung Cao cited the conflict as a reason for pausing arms sales to Taiwan.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed the idea when asked in an interview if there was a crisis in munitions stockpiles.

Some of the $80 billion, if approved, would go towards munitions, personnel pay and ship operations, the Journal cited a source as saying.

The war, triggered by U.S.-Israeli strikes on Tehran in late February, has engulfed the crude-rich Middle East and choked the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the world’s oil supplies.

A deal to end the war was under strain on Friday after fighting flared between Israel and Iran-backed group Hezbollah in Lebanon and talks in Switzerland were postponed.

Some lawmakers have said they will not vote to back additional funding for the war unless the conflict receives congressional authorization.

Democrats have accused Trump of violating the Constitution by starting the war without Congress’s backing.

Under the War Powers Act, presidents have 60 days to obtain congressional approval after introducing US forces into hostilities.

That deadline passed weeks ago, and Democrats say Trump is now breaking the law.q

Historically, anyone born on U.S. soil automatically has the right to citizenship. Trump wants to end that as part of wider restrictions on immigration.

As Supreme Court justices prepare their ruling, Americans got a vivid illustration of the policy at work in the form of star US striker Folarin Balogun, who scored twice in the 4-1 rout over Paraguay.

Balogun may have shone in the U.S. jersey, but if not for an accident of fate he wouldn’t even be American.

“(My mother) came to the U.S. to visit her sister, and she had her return ticket but then they said that she was too pregnant. So I was born in New York,” Balogun said in an Instagram video posted by the U.S. team this week.

Even though Balogun grew up in London from the age of one month, he qualified for birthright citizenship.

Still so British that he prefers English tea over coffee, Balogun ultimately chose to play for the United States over England or his family’s native Nigeria.

“The way I was eligible to represent America…I’m not going to be the person to stand in the way of this story,” he said in his distinct London accent.

The three co-hosts of the World Cup — United States, Mexico and Canada — are among the few countries in the world, mostly in the Americas, that grant automatic citizenship to those born there.

Trump wants to restrict citizenship for babies born in the U.S. to those with at least one parent who is an American citizen or lawful permanent resident — none of which applied to Balogun.

– Football’s Silicon Valley –

Experts interviewed by AFP said Balogun’s citizenship story is an outlier in the world of football, but that it nevertheless is an example of how migration is increasingly interwoven into the sport.

Nearly one-quarter of players at this World Cup were born in countries other than the one they are representing, said Marissa Kiss of George Mason University’s Institute for Immigration Research.

“As with the World Baseball Classic, the Olympics, and the World Cup, countries are competing for talent and immigration policy is a competitive tool,” she said.

“Countries that make citizenship easier to obtain have an advantage in recruiting talent.”

Diaspora communities are increasingly playing a role in widening player pools, said Gijsbert Oonk, a professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam who studies the intersection of migration and sports.

This World Cup features 75 European-born players on African teams, according to data compiled by Oonk.

“France has become the world’s most important exporter of football talent. During the 2026 World Cup, close to 100 participating players were born in France. Yet only a minority of them represent the French national team,” he wrote in a recent blog post.

French-born players of African heritage are representing countries like Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Mali and Haiti — a reflection of France’s colonial history.

“The banlieues surrounding Paris have become football’s equivalent of Silicon Valley,” he said of the suburbs home to many immigrant families.

– Brothers and refugees –

According to the US team, half of its 26 players have at least dual nationality.

They include Tim Weah, the son of football legend George Weah, the only African player to win the Ballon d’Or and who later became president of Liberia.

The younger Weah choose to play for the Americans but had been eligible to represent Liberia, Jamaica and France.

Meanwhile, tiny Curacao has only one player born in the Caribbean island nation, according to David Storey, honorary professor of human geography at the University of Worcester.

The team’s other 25 members were born in the Netherlands, which counts Curacao as a constituent country.

“Although they have a small population (of 158,000), they have used their diaspora to expand the player pool,” he told AFP.

This World Cup also features four sets of brothers where each pair is playing for a different team.

For their next match on Friday, the Americans will play Australia, whose roster includes three players with refugee backgrounds.

They are joined by Canada’s captain Alphonso Davies, who was born in a refugee camp in Ghana to Liberian parents.

(Oranjestad)—Recently, Prime Minister Mike Eman officially placed the protected monument seal on Emanuel Chapel on Grote Bergweg in San Nicolas. With this, the chapel has officially become part of Aruba’s protected historical heritage.

Emanuel Chapel was built during the period when Father Bernardinus van Baars served as pastor of San Nicolas. Architect Virgilio Kock designed the building in the shape of an inverted “V,” with all walls, the ceiling, and the pews directed toward the altar and the central cross. During the ceremony, tribute was paid to architect Virgilio Kock, who designed Emanuel Chapel and gave the building its distinctive shape and identity.

His unique design contributed to the historical and architectural value that is now officially recognized.

The construction of the chapel was made possible thanks to the generosity of the parishioners of San Nicolas, funds raised through the Maria League and other parish organizations, together with a financial donation from LAGO. Construction began in September 1965 and the building was completed and consecrated on March 25, 1966, by Monsignor Holterman, Bishop of Willemstad.

Over the decades, Emanuel Chapel has served as a gathering place for faith and community. Parishioners from the neighborhood regularly came together for Mass and religious celebrations, especially during Christmas and Easter. Over time, the building suffered damage caused by salt air, wind, rain, and other natural factors.

The windows, tiles, and various other parts of the chapel gradually deteriorated. Despite several minor repairs in recent years, efforts were mainly focused on other maintenance projects such as St. Therese Mass, the Teresita Center, and the parish rectory building.

In 2003, Fathers Tony Peralta and Toti Fuentebella, together with the Parish Pastoral Council, decided to make Emanuel Chapel a priority in renovation efforts. With support from the “A Rose for St. Therese” program and various fundraising campaigns, sufficient funds were raised to replace the floor, altar, roof, ceiling, windows, lighting system, and to renovate the interior of the building.

The San Nicolas Business Association also provided support to improve the exterior of the chapel.

After more than forty years of service to the community, Emanuel Chapel continues to stand as a symbol of faith and unity for generations within the San Nicolas community. With its official designation as a protected monument, Aruba is ensuring that the history and unique value of the building will be preserved for future generations.

The American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act would levy a one-time tax — paid in stock rather than cash — equal to half the equity of firms with at least $200 million in annual AI revenue.

The shares would be held in a government-run fund worth an estimated $7 trillion, with a 5-percent annual dividend delivering direct payments of more than $1,000 to every American.

“We can no longer sit back and allow a handful of Big Tech oligarchs to determine the future of this revolutionary technology with no democratic input,” the Vermont independent said.

The bill has virtually no chance of passing Congress, but Sanders, among the country’s most visible politicians, is likely to use it to shape a growing debate over AI, jobs and inequality.

The proposal enters a debate in which the idea of public stakes in the technology is beginning to make headway — a rarity in a country where decisions about major investments are almost exclusively left to the private sector.

U.S. President Donald Trump recently weighed the idea of the government buying shares in AI firms in what he called a possible “partnership with the American public.”

In a surprise to many, his administration has separately taken equity-style stakes in several companies, from mineral and semiconductor firms to quantum computing players.

According to news outlet Semafor, White House officials are split on how to structure any stakes in AI firms, among the most valuable companies in the world.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent favors using the equity to seed so-called “Trump accounts” for American children, while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick prefers a sovereign wealth fund.

The idea of public participation in AI technology has been pitched to Trump by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and has been floated by Anthropic, the maker of Claude.

Despite increasing sales and usage, both loss-making companies are under pressure to raise enormous sums to finance the technology, which requires expensive computing to develop.

Sanders’ proposal is not the only Democratic push to tax the AI windfall.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is popular on the left, has separately called for a levy on AI firms to support workers displaced by the technology, arguing its gains should not flow only to the wealthy.

Most industry groups and Big Tech companies will fiercely resist a plan that would dilute founder and investor control of the sector’s most valuable firms.

Critics also note that Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, which Sanders cites approvingly, caps its holdings at 10 percent of any public company — far below the 50 percent he proposes.

White House officials bade farewell on Thursday to one of the two jets that have been used to transport US presidents for more than 30 years.

The goodbye messages fueled speculation that a Boeing 747 controversially gifted to President Donald Trump by the Gulf emirate of Qatar is now due to enter service.

“‘Well done, good and faithful servant. ‘The Last Ride,'” Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung said in a post on X with a picture of the iconic white and blue jet after returning from the G7 summit in France.

U.S. Chief of Protocol Monica Crowley also posted a photograph of the same plane on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews near Washington.

“I was honored to be aboard Air Force One last night on its final flight,” Crowley said on X.

“For nearly 40 years, it carried every President since George H.W. Bush. It wasn’t the most modern plane, but it was cozy. And every flight with President Trump was incredibly special.

“Farewell and thank you.”

The aging aircraft is one of two heavily modified 747s that entered service in 1990 and are designated Air Force One when the president is aboard. The fate of the second jet is not yet clear.

The White House did not immediately respond when asked by AFP to comment.

But Trump is considering taking the new Qatari jet on its inaugural flight when he travels to Mount Rushmore next month as part of celebrations for America’s 250th anniversary, NBC News reported.

The US Air Force said in May that the Qatari jet had completed flight testing and would soon be ready for action, adding that it was “on schedule to roll out in a new red, white and blue livery this summer.”

Qatar’s gift of the jet, valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars, has raised major ethical and constitutional issues about what kind of gifts a president should receive from abroad.

It has also raised security concerns about using an aircraft donated by a foreign power for use as the ultra-sensitive presidential plane.

The jets that serve as Air Force One are widely reported to have sophisticated countermeasures that can jam enemy radars and infrared tracking systems, plus dispensers for chaff — metal shavings that distract radar-guided missiles — and flares that blind heat-seeking missiles.

But billionaire Trump has been obsessed with replacing Air Force One since his first presidential term, even keeping a model of the jet in its new color scheme on his coffee table in the Oval Office.

Trump said last year that it would be “stupid” not to accept the gift, which the Pentagon formally acquired last year, and complained about the state of the current veteran planes.

He has said the Qatari plane will eventually be donated to his future presidential library as an exhibit.

The U.S. government has also contracted planemaker Boeing to deliver two new 747-8 aircraft to serve as the presidential jet but the program has suffered delays and cost overruns.