America is a place where there’s now an ‘immunity to the unacceptable’
At the heart of the latest twist in the Trump story is a question you can pose a few different ways.
Is there a line for Donald Trump? Is there a point of no return for the former president? Could a sex offender be president?
So often it’s said that the people of the rural counties in just a few of America’s states are those who can swing the country’s direction.
In the shadow of Virginia’s Blue Ridge mountains, Donald Trump has always found his loyalists and there are, of course, those who will never be moved.
Driving south along the west side of the Shenandoah National Park, I passed a house that’s barely visible behind the Trump flags, banners and yard signs. One said “Behead Biden”.
But beyond this unwavering loyalty, what about the more nuanced Republican voters?
Shenandoah County has voted for a Republican presidential candidate in every election since 1932.
The whole electoral district in this part of Virginia has not supported a Democrat for president since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.
Bobbi Rosenberger told Sky’s Mark Stone she was willing to forgive Trump
‘Everyone makes mistakes. Nobody’s perfect’
In a break from mowing her lawn in the small town of Mount Jackson, Bobbi Rosenberger agreed to a quick chat.
Self-deprecating, she wondered aloud if her hat would make her look like a “redneck” – her word.
The conservative values here are as strong as they get. It’s a Republican heartland, and the conversations are a lesson for those who choose to ridicule or dismiss the people here as thoughtless Trumpian rednecks, as so many do.
“I am not stuck in my political designations. I follow what candidate I think would be best,” she told me.
“I am not going to pigeonhole myself into one candidate. I want to see who decides to run. I probably would vote for Trump. But I want to see all the other candidates before I make my final decision.”
I asked about the fact that a jury has concluded that he is a sex offender. Her answer was telling. Yes, she was willing to forgive him but that’s a judgement based as much on how much she despises the alternative.
“Everyone makes mistakes. Nobody’s perfect.”
Read more: What other investigations is Donald Trump facing?
In our conversation, her despair about what she sees as the damaging, liberal, woke direction of the country under Biden was palpably clear.
“Biden is a shameful disgrace as a leader for our country. Someone who cannot even give a speech properly, who can’t hold the train of thought. He obviously has dementia.”
Some don’t believe the sex offender story. They think the complainant, E Jean Carroll, was just after the money. They buy the Trump line that it’s all a witch-hunt.
Others accept that his moral compass might be off, but it doesn’t matter to them.
They feel his ‘no bull’ attitude represents them. He is their street fighter, he says it like it is, he isn’t like other politicians. Warts and all, they’ll take him over all the others.
Bobby Jones believes Donald Trump is better than the alternative – Joe Biden
‘Welcome to America’
Up the road, on the back of his tractor, I met Bobby Jones.
“It’s sad to see – the Republicans and the Democrats; it ain’t like it used to be where they had just small differences. Now they stand like two completely different countries,” Mr Jones said.
I asked about the latest Trump twists.
“I’m not gonna say he’s a good man or bad man,” he told me.
“All I’m saying is that on my standard of decency, he at least did try to help get rid of abortion.
“He did try to help keep jobs going. He did try to keep jobs in the United States. He tried to look out for the people. If he did something immoral, I don’t agree with that. I think it’s terrible. But look at what Biden is doing. Have mercy here!
“In DC and all the northern areas we hear about how they vote for the Democrats. Well, how can they with all that going on?” he asked.
A few fields away, another revealing conversation with factory worker Rick Lutz.
“He’s just paying the price because they are scared of him. They just want to crucify Trump. Like I said, they’re all dirty. But I like Trump better!” Mr Lutz told me, adding with a laugh: “Welcome to America.”
You might think the most damaging part of this latest twist in the Trump story was his own response, in recorded evidence played at the E Jean Carroll trial, where he was asked about comments he’d made in 2005 in the infamous Access Hollywood tapes.
“It’s true with stars that they can grab women by the pussy?” he was asked by E Jean Carroll’s lawyer.
Trump replied, “Well if you look over the last million years, I guess that’s been largely true. Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately or fortunately.”
Or fortunately?
It so often feels like America has got to a place where the entrenchment, the polarisation and the distrust of the other is so deep that nothing shifts views. It is a place where there’s now an immunity to the unacceptable.
A senior US senator who supports Donald Trump has told Sky News why he believes the US would be right to intervene in Iran.
Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas who ran against Mr Trump in 2016 but now backs him, told US correspondent David Blevins that Iran is an “acute threat to the national security of the US”.
He went on to claim that because “Iran is also building ICBMs (intercontinental ballistc missiles)” and “You don’t need an ICBM to go to Israel”, it indicated Iran’s intention “to take a nuclear weapon to the United States to murder Americans”.
“Nobody is talking about invading Iran,” Mr Cruz added. “We’re not going to see boots on the ground.”
Middle East latest: Trump says he ‘may or may not’ strike Iran
It comes after the US president said he “may do it, I may not do it” when asked if he would launch a strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.
So far, Israel has been attacking Iran alone since it ramped up its military action last Friday, launching strikes against what it says are Tehran’s facilities for developing a nuclear weapon and also destroying its air defences.
Iran has always denied seeking the ability to make a nuclear weapon from its uranium enrichment programme.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Blevins’s fellow US correspondent Mark Stone says that while figures like Mr Cruz back military action, “a whole host of other figures are saying ‘do not do it'”.
“The social media space is absolutely full of MAGA [Make America Great Again] figures from the right… saying ‘we absolutely must not go into Iran’.”
If the US were to decide to take military action against Iran, it could have implications for the UK, as America may ask to station refuelling aircraft at a British base in Cyprus and B-2 bombers, which could carry the bunker buster bombs required to attack Iran’s Fordow nuclear enrichment facility, could launch from the British base of Diego Garcia.
Mr Cruz told Sky News that while many of Mr Trump’s support base did not want to see the US involve itself in another war, “the overwhelming majority of Americans, nearly 80%, support President Trump, and support President Trump defending us against an Iranian nuclear weapon.”
America is deploying more fighter planes to the Middle East in a “demonstration of force” as tensions escalate and speculation about a possible US strike on Iran continues.
Pictures and flight tracking data show F-35 jets and tanker aircraft being moved towards the region, as well as the tasking of an aircraft carrier, providing options in case President Donald Trump decides to intervene in the conflict.
But one particular aircraft that has not been seen just yet – the B-2 stealth bomber – could reveal the most about America’s intentions towards Iran…
Why is America moving more aircraft to the Middle East?
“It’s giving them options,” says military analyst Michael Clarke. “They have got four types of aircraft – including fighters, interceptors and fighter-bombers – all in the right region.”
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Clarke: What could US involvement look like as Iran attacks ease
The new arrivals can be spread around several existing military bases that the US has in the region in Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
“More is better and also it’s a demonstration of force,” Prof Clarke added. “There’s a political element behind it, to show the Iranians what they can do, but also to other allies.
“The Americans want to be taken seriously in all of this.”
A Boeing KC-46A Pegasus, primarily used for aerial refueling, is seen on tracking in the eastern Mediterranean. Pic: Flightradar24
Analysis: What aircraft have moved to the region?
Sky News analysis of flight-tracking data shows more than 30 US military planes have been active over parts of Europe and the Mediterranean Sea over the past three days.
These include planes used for reconnaissance, refuelling in mid-air as well as carrying cargo.
Map of US military bases in the Middle East
An air-traffic control recording from the US suggests F-22 Raptors are being sent across the Atlantic. Two refuelling tankers are visible on flight tracking data leaving the US east coast, likely escorting the stealth fighter jets.
In images taken by photographer Glenn Lockett in Suffolk, three US air tankers were seen flying over England, each accompanied by four F-35 jets.
F-35s are one of the most advanced warplanes in the world, known for their ability to evade enemy radar.
A US air tanker seen flying over England, accompanied by F-35 jets. Credit: Instagram/g.lockaviation
Flight tracking data shows that the tankers travelled to the Mediterranean and then returned to the UK.
Most of the US military planes tracked by Sky News regularly turn off their locations and final destinations, according to the data from Flightradar24.
Some of the planes moved from the US to Europe, while others appeared to move closer to the Middle East. At least five of the US military aircraft landed at Chania Airport on the Greek island of Crete.
An air-traffic control recording from the US also suggests F-22 Raptors are being sent across the Atlantic. Two refuelling tankers are visible on flight tracking data leaving the US east coast, likely escorting the stealth fighter jets.
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US insists deployments are defensive
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth stressed that the deployment of more aircraft was defensive in nature, as Washington looks to safeguard its forces in the region.
Fighter aircraft have been used to shoot down drones and projectiles in the past.
America already has a substantial force in the Middle East, with nearly 40,000 troops as well as air defence systems, aircraft and warships.
But as the conflict between Israel and Iran carries on – and President Trump continues to make threats against Tehran – it’s possible that multiple options could be on the table for intervention.
B-2 bombers – the ones to watch?
Asked what he’s looking out for as speculation about whether the US will intervene directly continues, Prof Clarke pointed to one particular aircraft that hasn’t been seen moving towards the region yet: The B-2 stealth bomber.
Known for its iconic triangle shape and ability to penetrate deep air defences undetected, the B-2 has lesser-known capability that could be crucial for any action over Iran: it can carry ‘bunker buster’ bombs.
So far Israel has not been able to damage Iran’s secretive Fordow uranium enrichment plant, which is buried deep beneath a mountain.
A B-2 stealth bomber flies over Washington DC during a 4 July celebration. File pic: AP
The only bomb believed to be powerful enough to penetrate the facility is America’s GBU-57, a 14-ton bomb that is so heavy it can only be launched from the US fleet of heavy bomber aircraft.
Any movement of B-2 bombers to the joint UK-US base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean could “indicate the likelihood that the Americans are going to use bunker busters in Iran,” Prof Clarke says.
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