Trump Bans Foreign Nationals from Small Business Loans

It stands to reason that government programs intended to support the development of small businesses, programs which are funded by the taxpayers, should be available to American citizens - and only American citizens. But that has not been the case. Until now, anyway. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has slammed the door on foreign nationals and non-citizens for the SBA's loan programs. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced a new policy that would ban foreign nationals and

<p>The <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/08/iran-ground-troops-special-forces-nuclear" target="_blank">Iran war's</a> fuel-price shock is slamming states that could decide Senate control in November, a potential headache for Republicans defending their majority.</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/iran-war-trump-gas-prices" target="_blank">Affordability</a> was already Democrats' central midterm message, and now the cost of <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">President Trump's</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/10/us/politics/polls-wars-us-support.html" target="_blank">unpopular war</a> is on display at the pump.</p><hr /><ul><li>Just 29% of Americans approve of the strikes, and two-thirds — including 44% of Republicans — expect gas prices to keep rising, according to a <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2026-03/Ipsos%20poll%20on%20U.S.%20strikes%20on%20Iran%20Topline%20March%202026.pdf" target="_blank">Reuters/Ipsos poll</a> conducted through Monday.</li></ul><p><strong>By the numbers: </strong>Three of the top four weekly jumps in diesel prices hit key midterm Senate races: Texas (+111.6¢), North Carolina (+110.5¢) and Georgia (+107.9¢), according to GasBuddy's <a href="https://x.com/GasBuddyGuy/status/2030987311484432489" target="_blank">Patrick De Haan</a>.</p><ul><li>Regular gasoline <a href="https://x.com/GasBuddyGuy/status/2030985932615131528" target="_blank">spikes</a> also hit battlegrounds. Ohio and Michigan tied for the third-largest jumps at 55 cents. </li><li>A month ago, just nine states averaged gas prices above $3 per gallon, according to GasBuddy. Now that <a href="https://fuelinsights.gasbuddy.com/biggestmovers" target="_blank">number is 48</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>State of play: </strong>Prices vary by state, based on factors like local competition or because producers can sell overseas at surging global prices, De Haan explains to Axios.</p><ul><li>That's why <a href="https://x.com/GasBuddyGuy/status/2030637134399365131" target="_blank">Texas</a>, the nation's top oil-producing state, saw the biggest diesel spike in the country, which may be good news for producers but bad news for everyone filling up.</li><li>The national average for regular gasoline hit $3.55 on Tuesday, up 61 cents from a month ago, according to <a href="https://fuelinsights.gasbuddy.com/home" target="_blank">GasBuddy</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>Trump dismissed the fuel price surge <a href="https://truthsocial.com/%40realDonaldTrump/posts/116196014942465383" target="_blank">on Truth Social</a>, calling it a "very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace."</p><ul><li>That's a tough sell without a clear threat that "demanded immediate action," says Jon Krosnick, a Stanford political science professor.</li><li>No <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/07/trump-iran-risks-economy" target="_blank">rally-around-the-flag effect</a> has materialized, <em>Axios' Zachary Basu</em> writes. </li></ul><p><strong>Meanwhile,</strong> <a href="https://x.com/MarkWarner/status/2031081885930074267" target="_blank">Democrats</a> are <a href="https://jeffries.house.gov/2026/03/08/leader-jeffries-on-meet-the-press-were-spending-billions-of-dollars-to-drop-bombs-and-doing-nothing-to-drop-the-high-cost-of-living/" target="_blank">hammering</a> Trump, who <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/us/politics/state-of-the-union-transcript-trump.html#:~:text=Gasoline%2C%20which%20reached,gallon%20for%20gasoline." target="_blank">touted</a> low gas prices in his State of the Union just days before launching strikes, on cost-of-living concerns. </p><ul><li>Krosnick says gas prices are uniquely visible. The "price of milk," he notes, "is not on a sign outside of grocery stores."</li><li>And the spike presents an unusual case of "attributional clarity," he says: "It's so clear what just happened."</li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines: </strong>Karen Young, a senior research scholar at Columbia's Center on Global Energy Policy, tells Axios the market can't reorient until traffic resumes through the Strait of Hormuz.</p><ul><li>"For the American consumer, yeah, maybe gasoline prices are jumping a bit, but that's kind of the least of your problems," Young says. </li><li>Oil is the invisible cost inside nearly everything Americans buy. It ships the goods, makes the plastics, feeds the fertilizer and fuels the flights.</li></ul><p><strong>The bottom line: </strong>De Haan says the eight months until November could be enough time to put pump-price shock in the rearview mirror.</p><ul><li>But if Trump "doesn't reverse course, he certainly could start to bring about a situation that will be more memorable to Americans ahead of the midterms."</li></ul><p><strong>Go deeper: </strong><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/07/trump-iran-gas-fuel-strikes" target="_blank">Trump vows to step up Iran bombing, as gas price surge worsens</a></p>

<p>Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang wrote in a <a href="https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/ai-5-layer-cake/" target="_blank">blog post</a> Tuesday that decisions about how fast to build AI, who gets access and how to govern it will determine the technology's legacy.</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>Huang — whose company underpins the AI boom — <a href="https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/author/jen-hsun-huang/" target="_blank">rarely</a> publishes long essays about the tech's broader impact, offering other industry players and investors a rare window into his thinking.</p><hr /><p><strong>The big picture:</strong> Huang argues that chip demand, expansion and hiring are still in the early stages of what he calls a long buildout.</p><ul><li>"AI is one of the most powerful forces shaping the world today. It is not a clever app or a single model; it is essential infrastructure," he writes in his seventh blog post since 2016.</li><li>"Every company will use it. Every country will build it."</li></ul><h2>AI is different from software</h2><p><strong>Huang made the case </strong>that AI breaks the model of how traditional software worked.</p><ul><li>Traditional software runs on pre-written rules coded by humans. AI systems, he argues, generate answers in real time based on context.</li><li>"Every response is newly created. Every answer depends on the context you provide. This is not software retrieving stored instructions. This is software reasoning and generating intelligence on demand," he writes.</li></ul><h2>The boom can create more jobs</h2><p><strong>Huang argues AI will create new kinds of jobs</strong>, especially in infrastructure and skilled trades.</p><ul><li>As the technology handles routine tasks, he writes, companies can serve more customers and expand. This dynamic, he says, ultimately drives hiring.</li><li>"Productivity creates capacity. Capacity creates growth," he writes.</li></ul><p><strong>Reality check: </strong>There's <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/06/ai-chatgpt-claude-jobs-brain-fry" target="_blank">relentless debate</a> on how <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/26/ai-ceo-openai-chatgpt-microsoft" target="_blank">AI</a> impacts the labor market, including how it speeds up work and <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/14/ai-jobs-productivity-workslop" target="_blank">makes people busier</a>.</p><ul><li>Huang has previously suggested "everybody's jobs will be different" from AI. He also famously said at the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/28/nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-youll-lose-your-job-to-somebody-who-uses-ai.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank">Milken conference</a> in 2025: "You're not going to lose your job to an AI, but you're going to lose your job to somebody who uses AI."</li></ul><h2>AI is a five-layer cake</h2><p><strong>Zoom in: </strong>AI can be understood by looking at the "five-layer stack" that Huang describes as "Energy → chips → infrastructure → models → applications."</p><ul><li>"Every successful application pulls on every layer beneath it, all the way down to the power plant that keeps it alive," he writes.</li></ul><p><strong>Flashback: </strong>The "five-layer cake" framework was originally introduced at the <a href="https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/davos-wef-blackrock-ceo-larry-fink-jensen-huang/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a> in Davos in January.</p><h2>"Trillions" more needed for AI infrastructure</h2><p><strong>What's next: </strong>Huang notes that the AI boom is only just beginning and will require trillions of dollars in additional investment.</p><ul><li>"We have only just begun this buildout," he writes of data centers and infrastructure. "We are a few hundred billion dollars into it. Trillions of dollars of infrastructure still need to be built."</li></ul><h2>AI boom has only just begun</h2><p><strong>The bottom line: </strong>"We are still early. Much of the infrastructure does not yet exist. Much of the workforce has not yet been trained. Much of the opportunity has not yet been realized. But the direction is clear."</p><p><strong>Go deeper: </strong><a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/03/joe-rogan-jensen-huang-podcast-trump" target="_blank">Nvidia CEO to Joe Rogan: Nobody "really knows" AI's endgame</a></p>

<p>Nearly seven months ago, Ukrainian officials tried to sell the U.S. their battle-proven technology for downing Iranian-made attack drones. They even made a PowerPoint presentation — obtained exclusively by Axios — showing how it could protect American forces and their allies in a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/iran-war-countries-gulf-qatar-us" target="_blank">Middle East war</a>.</p><ul><li>The Trump administration dismissed the Ukrainians, only to reverse course last week because of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/04/politics/us-air-defenses-iran-attack-drones-challenge" target="_blank">more-than-expected </a>drone strikes from Iran.</li></ul><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>Snubbing Ukraine's offer ranks as one of the biggest tactical miscalculations by the administration since the bombing of Iran began Feb. 28, two U.S. officials tell Axios.</p><hr /><ul><li>Iran's inexpensive Shahed drones have been linked to the deaths of seven U.S. service members, and have cost the U.S. and its friends in the region millions of dollars to intercept.</li><li>"If there's a tactical error or a mistake we made leading up to this [war in Iran], this was it," a U.S. official acknowledged.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in:</strong> Ukraine is the world's most experienced country in combating Shaheds, which Russia has bought, reproduced and labeled as Geran drones by the thousands for its <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/17/ukraine-russia-negotiations-zelensky-donbas" target="_blank">invasion</a> of its western neighbor.</p><ul><li>Ukraine has developed a low-cost interceptor drone, among other sensors and air defenses, to shoot down Shahed-style drones.</li></ul><p><strong>Inside the room: </strong>At a closed-door White House <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/08/18/zelensky-trump-summit-white-house-russia-ukraine" target="_blank">meeting </a>on Aug. 18, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered the interceptor drones to President Trump as a way to strengthen ties and, according to one official, show his thanks for U.S. support in the face of Russian aggression.</p><ul><li>The Ukrainians made a PowerPoint presentation to U.S. officials that displayed a map of the Middle East and had this prophetic warning: "Iran is improving its Shahed one-way-attack drone design."</li><li>The presentation included the idea of creating "drone combat hubs" in Turkey, Jordan and the Persian Gulf states, where U.S. bases are located, to address the threat from Iran and its proxies. </li><li>"We wanted to build the 'drone walls' and all the things necessary like the radar, et cetera," a Ukrainian official said.</li></ul><p><strong>The intrigue:</strong> "At that meeting ... in August, Trump asked his team to work on it, but they have done nothing," the Ukrainian official said.</p><ul><li>A U.S. official who saw the PowerPoint confirmed that Zelensky's team showed the presentation to the administration and theorized the Ukrainian leader is seen by some in the Trump administration as too much of a self-promoter of a client state that doesn't command enough respect.</li><li>"We figured it was Zelensky being Zelensky. Somebody decided not to buy it," the official said.</li><li>On Thursday, the U.S. formally asked Zelensky for anti-drone help, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/world/middleeast/ukraine-shahed-drone-middle-east.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>"Iranian retaliatory attacks are down by 90% because their ballistic missile capabilities are being totally demolished," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said.</p><ul><li>"This characterization made by these cowardly unnamed sources is not accurate and proves that they are simply outside looking in. [Defense] Secretary [Pete] Hegseth and the armed forces did an incredible job planning for all possible responses by the Iranian regime, and the undisputed success of Operation Epic Fury speaks for itself."</li></ul><p><strong>Reality check: </strong>U.S. officials have reported shooting down the overwhelming majority of Iranian missiles and drones. So far, they say, the seven U.S. deaths have been well below initial estimates of 40 fatalities for the opening of the conflict.</p><ul><li>On Friday, the U.S. <a href="https://abcnews.com/US/wireStory/us-send-anti-drone-system-mideast-after-successful-130839591" target="_blank">announced plans </a>to deploy its own Shahed-killing drone system, called Merops, amid complaints from regional allies about the attacks. </li><li>One U.S. official told the Associated Press that the response to Iran's drones has so far been "disappointing."</li><li>Another U.S. official acknowledged the Ukrainian drones would have helped if deployed sooner, but added that "our performance in theater has been remarkable."</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom out: </strong>The need for new technology is of acute interest to <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/11/26/dan-driscoll-ukraine-russia-negotiations" target="_blank">U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll</a>, nicknamed "the drone guy" in the Pentagon. </p><ul><li>Hegseth rolled out <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hegseth-tears-up-red-tape-orders-pentagon-begin-drone-surge-trumps-command" target="_blank">changes </a>last year aimed at outpacing China and Russia in unmanned aerial combat. The Biden administration also had drone-counter-drone initiatives, dubbed Replicator.</li><li>The need for the technology is so great that Trump's sons <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/trump-sons-back-new-drone-company-targeting-pentagon-sales-2f74abca?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqcVcnuOtHnCgV-yw4pEfPycPgWn7edyqcEnxiGJk11nyMQZ5gsbPvMjE__iCFc%3D&amp;gaa_ts=69af5ce4&amp;gaa_sig=QkPOJgjIFjxLUB2-NgjNhUIV2fqllS40y0EloKXWlCzzcfqPUSFGc-j9ZVfYdwBu4F6WQVJqxhy-e-bw5rUCLA%3D%3D" target="_blank">announced </a>a new business venture Monday to supply the Pentagon with Ukrainian drone technology.</li></ul><p><strong>By the numbers: </strong>An Iranian Shahed is said to cost $20,000 to $50,000, depending on the model. The Ukrainian interceptors are even cheaper.</p><ul><li>Concerns about intercepting such a cheap, simple target with a multimillion-dollar munition spiked during U.S. fights against Houthi rebels in Yemen, and have remained high since.</li><li>Other countermeasures exist: Footage has emerged of AH-64 Apaches blasting Iranian drones. And the U.K. has promised to send Wildcat helicopters strapped with counter-drone Martlet missiles.</li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines: </strong>Knowing Trump's "Art of the Deal" mindset, the Ukrainians structured the drone defense offer like a business partnership, promising to help create manufacturing jobs in the U.S.</p><ul><li>In return for giving the U.S. access to its drone and anti-drone system production and know-how, Ukraine proposed to buy American weapons. </li><li>"Our problem was money. Our resources allowed us to produce only 50% of what we can produce. So we wanted the U.S. to invest the other 50% and have a share of the production," the Ukrainian official said.</li><li>Ukraine estimated it could help build as many as 20 million of the weapons to "unleash American drone dominance," the PowerPoint said.</li></ul><p><strong>Months later, in November,</strong> another U.S. official told Axios that military personnel have "been wanting to go to Ukraine and pull the tech and the tactics from the Ukrainian military ... so that we're innovating and learning." </p><ul><li>"The Ukrainians are in a life-and-death, existential crisis, 100%."</li></ul>

<p><strong>Your social media feed </strong>is designed to keep you scrolling.</p><p><strong>Most platforms rely</strong> on black-box algorithms to study what captures your attention and drum up more of it.</p><ul><li>What keeps your attention? Typically content that makes you laugh, cry or rage — because that keeps you locked in.</li></ul><hr /><p><strong>Your brain is exhausted</strong> from hours of high-octane content. And with the advent of <a href="https://www.axios.com/technology/automation-and-ai" target="_blank">AI</a>, it's getting harder and harder for all of us to tell the difference between truth and fiction.</p><ul><li>Platforms don't make it easy to sidestep their algorithms. But if you're committed to keeping the apps, you can get much closer to the experience you actually want. </li><li>That might mean seeing more posts from friends, family and trusted news sources, and fewer random recommendations built to hijack your attention.</li></ul><p><strong>That's why we're</strong> launching a new Finish Line mini-series to help you clean your feed — and your mind. We're going app by app, giving you tips on settings or tricks to help escape algorithms and have a better experience online.</p><ul><li><em><a href="https://www.axios.com/signup/am-pm" target="_blank">Get Axios Finish Line</a>.</em></li></ul><p><strong>Let's start with <a href="https://www.axios.com/technology/tiktok-news" target="_blank">TikTok</a> —</strong> which has one of the most formidable algorithms, powering one of the most addictive apps of our time.</p><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> It learns what you linger on — not what you "like" — and feeds you more of it at scale. If you don't actively steer it, it will steer you.</p><p><strong>There's no way</strong> to fully turn off TikTok's algorithm, but you <em>can</em> blunt its influence on your feed.</p><ol><li><strong>Ditch the "For You" feed:</strong> This is where TikTok flexes its algorithmic muscle, serving up videos it thinks will keep you on the app. Instead, explore the "Following" feed, which only shows you TikToks made by friends or creators you've intentionally chosen.</li><li><strong>Prune your algorithm: </strong>If you can't escape it, train it. Be ruthless about flagging videos you <em>don't</em> want to see more of — whether that's incendiary personalities or buckets of content, like politics. Press on a video for a bit, and you'll see an option to tap "Not Interested." Use it!</li><li><strong>Seek out the good stuff: </strong>Training works both ways. There's a lot of great content on TikTok. Use the search bar to actively look for the videos you <em>do </em>want to see. That could be "how Congress works," "plant care tips" or "guided meditation."</li><li><strong>Scroll <em>away</em>: </strong>TikTok's algorithm is a black box. But we <em>do</em> know it pays more attention to how long you spend watching a video than whether or not you "like" it. So hate-watching garbage — like health misinformation or rage-bait hot takes — is going to signal that you want more of it.</li><li><strong>Be extreme: </strong>You have the option of clearing all your data and rebooting your algorithm. Head to "Settings," then "Content preferences," then tap "Refresh your For You feed." You can do it whenever you want to make TikTok forget what it's learned about you.</li></ol><p><strong>The bottom line: </strong>TikTok is relentless, but it's trainable. Every scroll is a signal. Make yours intentional.</p>

<p>President Trump said the war with <a href="https://www.axios.com/world/iran" target="_blank">Iran</a> will be over "very soon" but made clear it will not happen this week. </p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>Ten days after the war started, <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump</a> has begun for the first time to point to the possibility of it winding down soon.</p><hr /><ul><li>His comments at a press conference were in line with several other public signals from him on Monday.</li><li>Some U.S. officials think Trump's comments were aimed at calming the <a href="https://www.axios.com/economy/stock-market" target="_blank">stock markets</a> in the U.S. and around the world, which were shaken by the war. </li></ul><p><strong>The latest: </strong>Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in response to Trump's comments that they "are the ones who will determine the end of the war," per state media.</p><ul><li>The IRGC added that Tehran would not allow the export of "one litre of oil" from the region if the U.S. and Israeli attacks continued — prompting Trump to <a href="https://truthsocial.com/%40realDonaldTrump/posts/116202054617775180" target="_blank">respond</a> with a counter-threat on Truth Social:</li></ul><img src="https://images.axios.com/i8dMgXmQYi4oRYNKzaPNFd4Qptw=/2026/03/10/1773103621647.jpeg" /> <div>Screenshot: President Trump/Truth Social</div><p><strong>Driving the news:</strong> In a speech before his press conference, Trump said: "We've already won in many ways, but we haven't won enough." </p><ul><li>When asked about those remarks during the press conference, Trump said he wanted to reach a situation where Iran would not be able to have a nuclear weapons program and would need a long time before it could threaten the region again with ballistic missiles.</li><li>Trump claimed that after 10 days of fighting, the U.S. military is where it thought it would be only after a month of war. </li><li>He listed U.S. military achievements of the war so far: the destruction of the Iranian navy, air force, anti-aircraft systems, radar and telecommunications, and the decimation of Iran's leadership. </li><li>"It's all gone," he said. "We could call it a tremendous success right now. I could call it or we could go further, and we're going to go further, but the big risk on that war has been over for three days." </li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in:</strong> Trump focused in his remarks on the rising <a href="https://www.axios.com/energy-climate/oil-companies" target="_blank">oil</a> prices and claimed it is a short-term situation. Once Iran no longer poses a threat to the region or to commercial shipping, the oil market will be much more stable, he said.</p><ul><li>"If Iran will try harming oil supply it will be hit much stronger by the U.S.," he said.</li></ul><p><strong>What to watch:</strong> Trump said he was "disappointed" with the decision to appoint <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/08/mojtaba-khamenei-iran-supreme-leader" target="_blank">Mojtaba Khamenei</a> as the new Iranian supreme leader following his father's killing in an Israeli airstrike last month. </p><ul><li>"It will lead to more of the same problem for the country," he said. </li></ul><p><strong>Yes, but: </strong>Trump refused to say whether Mojtaba Khamenei "has a target on his back," telling reporters it would be "inappropriate" of him to address this.</p><ul><li>He said he wants a new Iranian leader who comes from within Iran, like <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/06/us-venezuela-diplomatic-consular-relations" target="_blank">in Venezuela</a>, without tearing down completely the country's system like the U.S. did in Iraq. </li><li>But he stressed the new Iranian leader should adopt a different policy than his predecessor.</li><li>"We need a system that could lead to many years of peace, and if we can't have that we might as well get it over with right now," Trump said, hinting that the U.S. and <a href="https://www.axios.com/world/israel" target="_blank">Israel</a> could take more action to change the Iranian regime.</li></ul><p><strong>The bottom line: </strong>"It is going to be ended soon, and if it starts up again, [Iran] will be getting hit even harder," Trump said.</p><p><strong>Go deeper: </strong><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/09/oil-prices-gas-iran-war" target="_blank">Iran war's energy price shock is likely to spiral economy-wide</a></p><p><em>Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional details throughout.</em></p>

<p>The White House is preparing an executive order formally instructing the federal government to rip out Anthropic's <a href="https://www.axios.com/technology/automation-and-ai" target="_blank">AI</a> from its operations, sources familiar with the matter told Axios. </p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>The move would escalate the administration's fight with <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/05/anthropic-ai-jobs-claude" target="_blank">Anthropic</a>, which is already suing the Pentagon over its supply chain risk designation.</p><hr /><ul><li>It would also formalize a broader push across agencies to remove Claude after <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/27/anthropic-pentagon-supply-chain-risk-claude" target="_blank">President Trump said</a> his administration would not use "woke" AI.</li></ul><p><strong>State of play: </strong>Government agencies like the Treasury Department have already begun to <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/treasury-trump-ai-anthropic-pentagon" target="_blank">offboard Anthropic</a>.</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/09/anthropic-sues-pentagon-supply-chain-risk-label" target="_blank">Anthropic in a lawsuit</a> on Monday said Congress in its procurement laws did not give the administration the authority to blacklist a U.S. company over protected speech. </li><li>The administration has argued that Anthropic's "safeguards" pose a national security threat in the context of industry intervening during military operations. </li></ul><p><strong>Context: </strong>In his first term, Trump used executive orders to target foreign tech firms on national security grounds, including actions involving Chinese telecom companies and TikTok.</p><ul><li>But there's little precedent for an order severing ties with a specifically named U.S. company outside standard procurement processes.</li><li>In the case of Huawei, Trump did not explicitly name the company in his <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-securing-information-communications-technology-services-supply-chain/" target="_blank">executive order</a> — that took an act of Congress.</li></ul><p><strong>What's next: </strong>The order could be issued as soon as this week, one source familiar said.</p><ul><li>The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.</li></ul><p><strong>The bottom line: </strong>Trump is known for taking an expansive view of presidential authorities and getting creative with the law. </p>

<p>Rep. <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/23/2026-house-election-democrat-targets-trump" target="_blank">Andy Ogles</a> (R-Tenn.) sparked furious backlash from congressional colleagues Monday with a social media post stating that "Muslims don't belong in American society."</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>Ogles is one of several hard-right Republicans who have inflamed tensions on Capitol Hill in recent months by making <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/02/11/ilhan-omar-deport-brandon-gill-fundraisng" target="_blank">nakedly anti-Muslim public statements</a>.</p><hr /><ul><li>Just last month, Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/17/randy-fine-anti-muslim-post-censure-resignation" target="_blank">came under fire</a> from colleagues for a post stating: "If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one."</li><li>Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a retiring centrist who called out Fine's remarks, told Axios of Ogles' comment: "The Constitution says there can be no religious litmus test for those holding public office or government jobs, and I think that applies to citizenship as well."</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>The condemnation was far more scathing from Democrats, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) calling Ogles a "malignant clown" in a <a href="https://x.com/hakeemjeffries/status/2031047848448401865?s=20" target="_blank">post on X</a>.</p><ul><li>He also called Ogles a "pathological liar who has fabricated his whole life story" — referring to <a href="https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/my-body-of-work-speaks-for-itself-tennessee-andy-ogles-says-in-response-to-inflated-resume-claims" target="_blank">reports that Ogles inflated his resumé</a>.</li><li>House Minority Whip <a href="https://x.com/WhipKClark/status/2031028117590962584?s=20" target="_blank">Katherine Clark</a> (D-Mass.) said in her own post: "This disgusting sh*t doesn't belong in American society. And Republicans who support it don't belong in Congress."</li><li>Said Rep. <a href="https://x.com/RepDebDingell/status/2031096200049385635?s=20" target="_blank">Debbie Dingell</a> (D-Mich.), another member of leadership who represents a large Muslim community: "This is as unAmerican as it gets. My Republican colleagues must denounce this immediately."</li></ul><p><strong>The other side: </strong>Ogles shot back in a post on X addressed to Jeffries, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and "the high-ranking Democrats flooding X to condemn me," pointing to a spate of alleged terrorist incidents in <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2026/03/02/austin-shooting-victims-named" target="_blank">Austin</a> and <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/08/new-york-city-explosive-mamdani-gracie-mansion" target="_blank">New York City</a>.</p><ul><li>"A Muslim shot and killed three Americans in Texas. Two Muslims tried to blow up New York City...again," he said.</li><li>"Meanwhile, all DHS counterterrorism programs are unfunded because you shut them down."</li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines: </strong>Last summer, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) introduced a <a href="https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hres576/BILLS-119hres576ih.pdf" target="_blank">censure resolution</a> against Ogles for repeatedly calling for the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/06/27/schumer-mamdani-new-york-city-mayor-deportation" target="_blank">deportation of now-New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani</a>.</p><ul><li>"Anti-Muslim hate, racism, and ethnic slurs have no place in public discourse, and only serve to divide and endanger diverse communities as well as subject public officials across the country to harassment and death threats," the measure says.</li><li>Torres and a spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment about whether he planned to force a vote on the measure.</li><li>House Democrats told Axios there was minimal internal chatter about any kind of coordinated censure effort in the immediate aftermath of Ogles' post.</li></ul><p><strong>Yes, but: </strong>Democrats have Ogles as <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2026/02/23/national-democrats-name-columbia-mayor-chaz-molder-a-priority-candidate" target="_blank">one of their sleeper targets</a> in the November midterm elections.</p><ul><li>The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is hoping that Ogles' proclivity for scandal, combined with their strong recruit in Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder, will help them win in the heavily Republican seat.</li><li>Jeffries, in his <a href="https://x.com/hakeemjeffries/status/2031047848448401865?s=20" target="_blank">post on X</a>, said: "Disgusting Islamophobes like you do not belong in Congress or in civilized society. And that's why House Democrats will defeat you in November."</li></ul>

<p>Anthropic on Monday sued the Pentagon, alleging its designation as a "supply chain risk" violates the company's First Amendment rights and exceeds the government's authority.</p><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> Supply chain risk designations are usually reserved for foreign adversaries that pose a national security risk — a punishment that could be hard for the government to square as it relied on Claude for operations in Iran.</p><hr /><p><strong>State of play:</strong> The Pentagon last week <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/06/pentagon-anthropic-amodei-apology" target="_blank">designated</a> Anthropic a supply chain risk, meaning companies must stop using Claude in cases directly tied to the department.</p><ul><li>President Trump also <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/27/anthropic-pentagon-supply-chain-risk-claude" target="_blank">told</a> the federal government in a Truth Social post to stop using Anthropic's technology, and some <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/treasury-trump-ai-anthropic-pentagon" target="_blank">agencies</a> have begun offboarding the tools.</li></ul><p><strong>Anthropic is asking courts </strong>to undo the supply chain risk designation, block its enforcement and require federal agencies to withdraw directives to drop the company.</p><ul><li>The company says its two lawsuits are not meant to force the government to work with Anthropic, but prevent officials from blacklisting companies over policy disagreements.</li></ul><p><strong>What's inside: </strong>The first lawsuit — filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California — claims the designation punishes Anthropic for being outspoken about its views on AI policy, including its advocacy for safeguards against its technology being used for mass domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons.</p><ul><li>The Pentagon has a right to disagree and choose not to work with Anthropic, the company argues, but it can't stigmatize the company as a security risk over protected speech.</li><li>The case challenges the statutory authority underpinning the Pentagon's designation, 10 U.S.C. 3252, arguing that Congress required the department to use the least restrictive means to protect the government and mitigate supply chain risk, not punish a supplier.</li></ul><p><strong>Procurement laws passed by Congress</strong> do not give the Pentagon or President Trump the power to blacklist a company, Anthropic says.</p><ul><li>Companies including Microsoft and Google have said they'll be able to continue non-defense related work with Anthropic.</li></ul><p><strong>A second, shorter lawsuit was filed </strong>in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals because another statute the government invoked can only be challenged there and similar arguments are being made there, Anthropic says.</p><ul><li>The company is seeking relief in both jurisdictions.</li></ul><p><strong>The other side: </strong>The Pentagon argues the dispute is about operational control, not speech.</p><ul><li>Department officials say this has always been about the military's ability to use technology legally, without a vendor inserting itself into the chain of command and putting warfighters at risk.</li></ul><p><strong>The big picture:</strong> This doesn't preclude the two sides from reaching an agreement.</p><ul><li>Defense undersecretary Emil Michael last week told <a href="https://www.piratewires.com/p/inside-pentagon-anthropic-deal-culture-clash" target="_blank">Pirate Wires</a> he would be open-minded: "I have a responsibility to the Department of War, and if there was a way to ensure that we had the best technology, I have no ego about it."</li></ul><p><strong>What's next: </strong>Anthropic says it's committed to continuing to serve the Pentagon amid major combat operations.</p><ul><li>"Seeking judicial review does not change our longstanding commitment to harnessing AI to protect our national security, but this is a necessary step to protect our business, our customers, and our partners," an Anthropic spokesperson said. </li><li>"We will continue to pursue every path toward resolution, including dialogue with the government." </li></ul>

<div>Data: <a href="https://financialmodelingprep.com/" target="_blank">Financial Modeling Prep</a>; Chart: Axios Visuals</div><p>In the first week of the American and Israeli attack on Iran, the economic ripples were looking pretty minimal. But as Week 2 begins, the risks to the global economy are growing much more serious.</p><p><strong>The big picture: </strong>You can't decapitate the leadership of a country of 90 million people, with expansive military and intelligence capabilities, in the heart of some of the world's most economically important supply chains, without a huge cost.</p><hr /><ul><li>The hours and days and weeks ahead are all about quantifying that cost.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in: </strong>Oil skyrocketed 25% overnight, to just under $120 a barrel, fueling worries that higher energy costs will stoke inflation and curb spending by U.S. consumers. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index plunged more than 5%.</p><ul><li>That's the highest oil price since about four years ago, when energy prices surged due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.</li><li>Patrick De Haan — a widely cited gas price expert and an analyst for GasBuddy — <a href="https://x.com/GasBuddyGuy/status/2030769059562704964" target="_blank">estimates</a> there's an 80% chance the national average gas price will hit $4 per gallon in the next month.</li></ul><p><strong>The latest: </strong>As of 5am ET, a barrel of the global crude oil benchmark was going for about $107 on futures markets, up 15% from Friday and 47% from 10 days ago, before the Iran attack. Brent crude prices approached $120 overnight before receding on reports of coordinated global action to release oil reserves.</p><ul><li>The oil price rise is poised to translate into a rapid increase in the cost of retail gasoline, which was already up about 51 cents per gallon before the weekend run-up in oil prices.</li></ul><p><strong>The risk of a broader</strong> economic slump is rising with the disruption to oil supplies. S&amp;P 500 futures are down 1.3% overnight, setting Wall Street up for its third consecutive day of losses.</p><ul><li><strong>Japan's Nikkei index</strong> was down 5.2% and South Korea's KOSPI down 6%, reflecting those economies' more direct dependence on Middle Eastern oil now at risk of a protracted blockade.</li></ul><p><strong>Of note: </strong>The odds of a U.S. recession this year spiked to 38% in overnight trading on Polymarket, from 24% at the start of the month.</p><p><strong>State of play: </strong>Iran is seeking to block the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf with the rest of the world, and is threatening to attack ships that seek to pass through.</p><ul><li>The war has already caused the largest oil disruption in history, taking out roughly 20% of the world's supply, according to <a href="https://x.com/Bob_McNally" target="_blank">Bob McNally</a>, president of <a href="https://www.rapidanenergy.com/" target="_blank">Rapidan Energy</a> and a former George W. Bush energy adviser.</li><li>That's double the previous record set during the Suez Crisis in the 1950s, which disrupted just under 10% of global supply.</li><li>The weekend also brought apparently successful Iranian attacks on desalination plants in the Gulf region that are critical for drinking water.</li><li>President Trump has raised the possibility of U.S. ground forces in Iran.</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>Trump wrote on Truth Social Sunday night: "Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace."</p><ul><li>"ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!" he added.</li></ul><p><strong>Reality check: </strong>The U.S. economy has proven exceptionally resilient to global shocks — including throughout the Ukraine war, which initially caused an unpleasant spike in prices but not a recession.</p><ul><li>The United States is a net exporter of oil, which means that from the macroeconomic standpoint, higher prices at the pump are likely to be offset by higher income for energy extraction industries.</li></ul><p><strong>Yes, but: </strong>Solid GDP growth is no consolation for higher day-to-day prices for American consumers, which doomed Joe Biden's popularity. If the recent energy price surge is sustained, that will be Trump's burden as well.</p>

<p>Oil prices on Sunday crossed into triple digits for the first time since 2022 — a stark sign of how the <a href="https://www.axios.com/world/iran" target="_blank">Iran</a> war is throttling global supplies and raising consumers' costs.</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>The psychologically important $100-a-barrel mark is going to increase pain for consumers, many of whom don't support the war and didn't have any real warning that it was coming.</p><hr /><ul><li>It's also a political setback for President <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump</a>, who has relished in touting lower gasoline prices on his watch.</li></ul><p><strong>Driving the news: </strong>The global benchmark Brent <a href="https://www.axios.com/energy-climate/oil-companies" target="_blank">crude</a> was trading initially Sunday evening at $101.81, while WTI, the main U.S. metric, was at $101.56. Brent later climbed over $108.</p><ul><li>U.S. oil prices <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-soars-25-gold-drops-iran-war-jolts-global-commodity-markets-2026-03-09/" target="_blank">surged</a> further later in the evening and were <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/08/stock-market-today-live-updates.html" target="_blank">near</a> $120 a barrel ‌overnight ahead of the start of the week's trading.</li></ul><div>Data: <a href="https://financialmodelingprep.com/" target="_blank">Financial Modeling Prep</a>; Chart: Axios Visuals</div><p><strong>Stunning stat: </strong>The Iran war has disrupted 20% of global oil supply for nine days and counting, said Rapidan Energy Group in a note Sunday evening.</p><ul><li>That's "more than double the previous record set during the Suez Crisis of 1956-57, which disrupted just under 10%," according to the statement.</li></ul><p><strong>Friction point:</strong> U.S. drivers are already feeling the effects of crude prices that have now climbed more than 30% since military strikes on Iran began.</p><ul><li>Average U.S. regular gasoline prices have shot up from roughly $3 per gallon before the strikes to $3.45 on Sunday, per AAA tracking, and more increases loom.</li></ul><p><strong>The big picture: </strong>High risks are keeping tankers away from the narrow Strait of Hormuz off Iran — a vital transit point for energy shipments.</p><ul><li>The price also reflects other risks the expanding conflict poses to regional oil production, processing, storage and export infrastructure.</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/%40realDonaldTrump/posts/116196014942465383" target="_blank">wrote</a> on Truth Social Sunday evening: "Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace. ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!"</p><p><strong>Flashback:</strong> It's the first time oil prices have reached $100 since 2022, when dislocation and risk from <a href="https://www.axios.com/world/russia" target="_blank">Russia's</a> invasion of Ukraine occurred alongside the post-COVID demand surge.</p><p><strong>State of play:</strong> Trump administration officials are scrambling to contain the cost increases.</p><ul><li>The U.S. International Development Finance Corp. is offering political risk insurance and guarantees, though the usefulness to the shipping industry remains <a href="https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20260305266/trump-has-a-plan-to-open-the-strait-of-hormuz-here-are-the-obstacles-it-faces" target="_blank">unclear</a>.</li><li>Trump has also floated potential naval escorts, and on Thursday the Treasury Department issued a 30-day sanctions <a href="https://link.axios.com/click/44542613.66637/aHR0cHM6Ly9vZmFjLnRyZWFzdXJ5Lmdvdi9yZWNlbnQtYWN0aW9ucy8yMDI2MDMwNV8zMz91dG1fc291cmNlPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249bmV3c2xldHRlcl9heGlvc2dlbmVyYXRlJnN0cmVhbT10b3A/68da272a17a3b9f8320eb3eeBe97f7e72" target="_blank">waiver</a> to enable Indian refiners to buy more Russian oil.</li><li>Energy Secretary <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/08/trump-oil-prices-iran-fear-strait-hormuz" target="_blank">Chris Wright</a> said on "Fox News Sunday" that higher prices are "a small price to pay to get to a world where energy prices are returned back to where they were, and I'm talking weeks, certainly not months."</li></ul><p><strong>Yes, but:</strong> White House options are limited.</p><ul><li>"Oil and LNG prices will continue climbing until credible measures enable resumed shipment through the strait," Eurasia Group analysts said in a note Friday while prices were still in the $90s.</li><li>Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Sunday <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/08/schumer-republicans-trump-oil-reserve-gas-prices" target="_blank">called on</a> Trump to release oil from the national stockpile — an idea that Republicans have been slow to embrace.</li><li>Tapping the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/03/31/strategic-petroleum-reserve-gas-prices-biden" target="_self">Strategic Petroleum Reserve</a> could deprive Republicans of a talking point: that then-President Biden's <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/03/31/biden-strategic-petroleum-reserve-oil-release" target="_self">move to do so</a> in 2022 was done for purely political reasons.</li></ul><p><strong>Context: </strong>Despite the recent spikes, prices at the pump are nowhere near historical highs.</p><ul><li>The average price briefly breached $5 per gallon in mid-2022.</li></ul><p><strong>What we're watching:</strong> The strains on the system are likely to get worse as storage space runs out.</p><ul><li>"Production shut-ins in Iraq and Kuwait are already happening and might spread to UAE and even Saudi Arabia over time," Barclays' Amarpreet Singh said in a note Friday.</li></ul><p><strong>The bottom line:</strong> If the current situation persists for another couple of weeks, Brent prices could test $120, Singh wrote — a stunning turnabout from what had been a pretty soft and well-supplied global market.</p><ul><li>"These numbers might seem too high, especially given widespread pessimism about the oil market outlook heading into this year, but we reiterate that fundamentals are stronger and risks are bigger than the Russia-Ukraine conflict, when we saw these levels materialize," he wrote.</li></ul><p><strong>Go deeper... </strong><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/08/us-dismayed-israel-iran-fuel-strikes" target="_blank">Scoop: U.S. dismayed by Israel's Iran fuel strikes, sources say</a></p><p><em>Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from President Trump and Rapidan Energy Group and with further details on surging oil prices, including a graph.</em></p>

<p>Mojtaba Khamenei will succeed <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/iran-khamenei-killed-israel" target="_blank">his father</a>, Ali <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/iran-leader-ali-khamenei-what-to-know" target="_blank">Khameni,</a> as Iran's next supreme leader, Iranian state media reported Sunday.</p><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> The move consolidates hardline control even as U.S. and Israeli strikes pound the country.</p><hr /><ul><li>The regime is at its most vulnerable state since the 1979 revolution, and critics have previously <a href="https://www.cfr.org/reports/leadership-transition-in-iran" target="_blank">railed</a> against Mojtaba's rise, citing his limited formal experience, modest theological credentials and the regime's aversion to dynastic rule.</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>Assembly of Experts issued a statement calling on the Iranian people to "keep unity and pledge allegiance to the new supreme leader."</p><ul><li>Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps pledged allegiance to the new leader and said it's "ready to fully obey" his commands, according to Tehran's Farns news agency.</li></ul><p><strong>The other side: </strong>President <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_self">Trump</a> acknowledged to Axios during a Thursday interview that the younger Khamenei was the most likely successor, but he made clear he found this outcome unacceptable.</p><ul><li>"Khamenei's son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/06/us-venezuela-diplomatic-consular-relations" target="_blank">Delcy [Rodriguez]</a> in Venezuela," <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/05/iran-leader-trump-khamenei" target="_blank">Trump told Axios</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>Catch up quick: </strong>The U.S. and Israel killed Ali Khamenei in "<a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/iran-attack-trump-us-israel-strikes" target="_blank">major combat operations</a>" after Iran refused to agree to a nuclear deal.</p><ul><li>The attacks also targeted Mojtaba and other senior officials, but the younger Khamenei survived. </li><li>Ali Khamenei's top security adviser Ali Shamkhani, IRGC commander Mohammad Pakpour and Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh<strong> </strong>are <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/iran-khamenei-killed-israel" target="_blank">dead</a>, scrambling the top of the Iranian government.</li></ul><p><strong>The intrigue:</strong> Ali allegedly floated potential successors with stronger administrative and theological credentials, and Mojtaba wasn't among them, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.</p><p><strong>Mojtaba, </strong>Ali's second-eldest son, was born in 1969. His childhood was shaped by both the 1979 Iranian Revolution that toppled the previous dynasty and by his father's rise to power, first as president in 1981, then as supreme leader in 1989.</p><ul><li>A <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-leaders-son-hardliner-with-backroom-influence-2025-06-23/" target="_blank">cleric</a>, Mojtaba <a href="https://www.unitedagainstnucleariran.com/mojtaba-khamenei-supreme-leaders-gatekeeper-guardian#:~:text=Mojtaba%20Khamenei%20is%20the%20second%2Deldest%20son%20of,installing%20allies%20and%20influence%20in%20the%20IRGC**" target="_blank">studied</a> under the late Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, who called for killing Iranian youths who promoted "Western immorality."</li></ul><p><strong>Mojtaba joined</strong> the Revolutionary Guard at 17, serving during the Iran-Iraq War in the Habib Battalion.</p><ul><li>The battalion is a "notoriously ideological unit" led by one of the founders of Hezbollah, <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/mojtaba-khamenei-iran-reform/" target="_blank">according</a> to the Atlantic Council. Many of its alumni later became high-ranking members of the regime's security and intelligence bodies.</li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines: </strong>Mojtaba is expected to be more hardline than his father, and his ascent means the Iranian regime may get more repressive. </p><ul><li>He has close ties to some of the most "ideologically extremist clerics" who have been at the forefront of the regime's most violent crackdowns, per the Council.</li><li>Mojtaba also allegedly engineered the 2005 election that installed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president. In the 2009 election, protesters <a href="https://iranprimer.usip.org/resource/green-movement" target="_blank">flooded</a> the streets to insist Ahmadinejad didn't win again, and Mojtaba reportedly personally supervised how the IRGC crushed these demonstrations.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in:</strong> Mojtaba reportedly oversees a massive business empire of luxury properties and investments worldwide, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-01-28/how-iran-supreme-leader-khamenei-s-son-built-a-global-property-empire" target="_blank">according</a> to Bloomberg.</p><ul><li>He does not list the investments under his name but has amassed wealth despite 2019 U.S. <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm824" target="_blank">sanctions</a> for his role in his father's inner circle.</li><li>At the time, the Treasury said Mojtaba worked to "advance his father's destabilizing regional ambitions and oppressive domestic objectives." </li></ul><p><strong>Go deeper:</strong> <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/iran-attack-supreme-leader-ali-khamenei" target="_blank">Israel targets Khamenei, top leaders in bid to bring down Iran's regime</a></p><p><em>Editor's note: This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.</em></p><p><em>Barak Ravid contributed reporting.</em></p>

<p>Democratic National Committee chair <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/02/01/ken-martin-dnc-chair-2024" target="_blank">Ken Martin</a> is facing a growing crisis of confidence within his party, more than two dozen Democrats tell Axios.</p><ul><li>Donors, operatives and some DNC members are questioning his leadership, fundraising ability and handling of the party's still-secret <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/22/dnc-2024-autopsy-harris-gaza" target="_blank">"autopsy"</a> of the 2024 election loss.</li></ul><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> The DNC's dysfunction likely won't affect this year's midterms, and Democrats have <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/19/republican-angst-voter-turnout" target="_blank">overperformed</a> in recent elections. But it could have huge consequences for the party's ability to meet the challenges of the 2028 presidential race.</p><hr /><ul><li>The DNC will play a crucial role in organizing Democrats' 2028 primary and in building the infrastructure for the party's next presidential<strong> </strong>nominee.</li><li>But the DNC has been in a perpetual state of near-insolvency, mired by internal finger-pointing since the 2024 election, and Martin hasn't been able to fix the problems.</li><li>It's not just the usual DNC critics — Martin's allies and would-be allies who want him to succeed say they're increasingly worried and believe he hasn't created space for candid feedback and a course correction.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in: </strong>Democratic sources tell Axios that Martin has shown a thin skin and that he personalizes criticism in a way that can be self-defeating.</p><ul><li>Many DNC officials, donors, and other Democrats believe honest feedback would be greeted with hostility.</li><li>Thirteen months into his tenure as DNC chair, the limelight — and the criticism that has come with it — appear to have taken a toll on Martin, who often seems melancholy and put-upon, his allies told Axios.</li></ul><p><strong>There's also been internal frustration </strong>about Martin's reliance on longtime allies from Minnesota, whom some insiders refer to as the "Minnesota Mafia."</p><ul><li>Some Democrats say Martin hasn't grown to trust many people in the DNC office and has become more insular in recent months.</li></ul><p><strong>National Democrats also say Martin </strong>has a habit of over-promising and under-delivering.</p><ul><li>Martin frustrated many party leaders last fall by promising much more money to Virginia and New Jersey for their elections than the party was able to afford. While the party made historic investments, the exaggerated commitments annoyed many national Democrats. </li></ul><p><strong>As recently as January, </strong>Martin<strong> </strong>was still privately pushing the idea of a midterm Democratic convention despite being advised that he was committing money the party didn't have.</p><ul><li>The DNC recently canceled its midterm convention plans.</li><li>Martin told those inside the DNC this wasn't because of the expected costs, but because state parties wanted to focus on this year's primaries instead.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom out: </strong>Many<strong> </strong>Democrats agree on one thing — the DNC chair's first priority is fundraising, and Martin is falling short on that.</p><ul><li>The DNC has teetered on the edge of insolvency during the past year. It has about $15 million cash on hand but is more than $17 million in debt.</li><li>Last October, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/20/dnc-loan-elections-fundraising-00663982" target="_blank">the DNC took out $15 million</a> in loans to help keep the committee afloat.</li></ul><p><strong>Leaders privately have discussed</strong> the possibility of limited layoffs in the coming months. A DNC official told Axios the committee has no plans for staff layoffs.</p><ul><li>Some Democrats have bristled at Martin's media-heavy schedule while the party is struggling financially.</li><li>Several donors told Axios they met with Martin or had a call with him early in his tenure, but haven't heard from him since.</li></ul><p><strong>Would-be allies say Martin has held a grudge </strong>against donors who opposed him in the race for chair last year.</p><ul><li>One donor who didn't support Martin in the race put it bluntly: "He needs all of us, and he's not asking us to do anything."</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>DNC spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said Martin "has invested early and aggressively in the Democratic Party's infrastructure .... Winning now, in 2028, and for years to come is the DNC's North Star. Anything else is just gossip and noise."</p><p><strong>Reality check: </strong>It's always difficult for a party chair to raise money in the first year after the party loses the White House — as Democrats did in 2016 and 2024.</p><ul><li>Martin <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/06/20/dnc-fundraising-record-ken-martin" target="_blank">had good fundraising initially</a>, but he's been <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/10/22/dnc-kamala-harris-campaign-debt" target="_blank">burdened by a $20 million-plus debt</a> from Kamala Harris' campaign.</li></ul><p><strong>Donors and activists remain angry</strong> about Donald Trump's return to the presidency, and the DNC is often a convenient punching bag.</p><ul><li>Many of the party's stars who may run for president in 2028 haven't been as helpful as they could be despite requests to do more. </li><li>Several other groups in the Democratic ecosystem also have struggled with fundraising since the 2024 election because of some donors' disillusionment.</li></ul><p><strong>While Martin has many critics</strong>, they often have contradictory ideas of what he should or shouldn't be doing.</p><ul><li>Despite the swipes at Martin's leadership, Democrats have been winning up and down the ballot over the past year. The party has benefitted from anger over Trump's policies, and Martin has invested a large amount of money in state parties.</li><li>The DNC has announced the dates of the 2028 Democratic convention and is on course to settle its presidential primary calendar in the coming months.</li><li>"The DNC is on track financially to deliver wins this November, in 2028, and for years to come thanks to strategic and aggressive early investments that are already paying off," said Chris Lowe, co-chair of the DNC's national finance committee.</li></ul><p><strong>The intrigue:</strong> Few issues will set off Martin's critics more quickly than his handling of the DNC's "autopsy" on the 2024 campaign. </p><ul><li>They say it was a debacle that reflects larger problems with his leadership that need to be addressed before the presidential campaign officially starts next year.</li><li>Allies advised Martin not to do an autopsy or promise to make the report public, but he did both.</li></ul><p><strong>Martin entrusted his confidante Paul Rivera </strong>with the task despite Rivera's lack of experience on recent presidential campaigns.</p><ul><li>Some people interviewed for the report said the process felt disorganized, and that Rivera appeared to tell people what they wanted to hear when he interviewed them.</li><li>Many Democratic campaign and super PAC leaders from the 2024 presidential race told Axios they never spoke with Rivera.</li><li>Late last summer, Rivera's team made hasty attempts to contact some top Democrats before the report's intended release.</li></ul><p><strong>After repeated delays</strong> on one of his signature promises, Martin <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/19/dnc-2024-election-autopsy-backlash" target="_blank">said in December </a>he wouldn't publish the report — infuriating many Democrats and teams for potential 2028 candidates.</p><ul><li>It also further alienated some donors. </li><li>"You spent donor money to do the autopsy and then didn't provide" it, one told Axios. "It's not your money." </li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines:</strong> People briefed on the report told Axios there essentially are two versions: a large, "Frankenstein monster" of documents that includes interviews without any narrative or through-line, and a shorter, vague document that's similar to what Democrats have said publicly.</p><ul><li>Martin hiding the document has made it an object of fascination among activists who believe it includes details the DNC is hiding for nefarious purposes.</li><li>Martin argued in December that releasing the report would result in more finger-pointing and wouldn't help the party move forward. Many of his allies agree.</li></ul><p><strong>Even now, few people</strong> outside of Martin's inner circle have read the autopsy, though he says its recommendations are being implemented.</p>

<p>The U.S. and <a href="https://www.axios.com/world/israel" target="_blank">Israel</a> have discussed sending special forces into <a href="https://www.axios.com/world/iran" target="_blank">Iran</a> to secure its stockpile of highly enriched uranium at a later stage of the war, according to four sources with knowledge of the discussions.</p><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> Preventing Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon is one of President Trump's <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/iran-attack-trump-us-israel-strikes" target="_blank">stated war objectives</a>. The regime's 450 kilograms of 60%-enriched uranium — convertible to weapons grade within weeks — is one key to that goal.</p><hr /><p><strong>The big picture: </strong>Any operation to seize the material would likely require U.S. or Israeli troops on Iranian soil, navigating heavily fortified underground facilities in the middle of a war.</p><ul><li>It remains unclear whether it would be an American, Israeli or joint mission.</li><li>It would likely only take place after both countries are confident Iran's military can no longer mount a serious threat to the forces involved.</li></ul><p><strong>Behind the scenes: </strong>At a congressional briefing Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked whether Iran's enriched uranium would be secured. "People are going to have to go and get it," he said, without specifying who.</p><ul><li>An Israeli defense official said Trump and his team are seriously considering sending special operations units into Iran for specific missions.</li><li>A U.S. official said the administration has discussed two options: removing the material from Iran entirely, or bringing in nuclear experts to dilute it on-site.</li><li>The mission would likely involve special operators alongside scientists, possibly from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).</li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines: </strong>Two sources with knowledge of the issue said such operations were part of a menu of options presented to Trump before the war.</p><ul><li>NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-privately-shown-serious-interest-us-ground-troops-iran-rcna262176" target="_blank">reported</a> on Friday that Trump has discussed the idea of deploying a small contingent of U.S. troops in Iran for specific strategic purposes.</li><li>Semafor <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/03/07/2026/trumps-iran-options-include-special-operations-raid-on-nuclear-sites" target="_blank">reported</a> Trump's Iran options include Special Operations raids on nuclear sites.</li></ul><p><strong>The U.S. official laid out </strong>the operational challenge of securing Iran's uranium: "The first question is, where is it? The second question is, how do we get to it and how do we get physical control?"</p><ul><li>"And then, it would be a decision of the president and the Department of War, CIA, as to whether we wanted to physically transport it or dilute it on premises."</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying:</strong> Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday that ground troops were possible — but only "for a very good reason."</p><ul><li>"If we ever did that, [the Iranians] would be so decimated that they wouldn't be able to fight on the ground level," he said.</li><li>Asked specifically whether troops might go in to secure nuclear material, Trump didn't rule it out. "At some point maybe we will. We haven't gone after it. We wouldn't do it now. Maybe we will do it later."</li><li>White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Axios that Trump "wisely keeps all options available to him open, and does not rule things out."</li></ul><p><strong>The intrigue: </strong>Beyond the uranium, administration officials tell Axios there has also been discussion of seizing <a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/the-oil-island-that-could-break-iran/" target="_blank">Kharg Island</a>, a strategic terminal responsible for roughly 90% of Iran's crude oil exports.</p><p><strong>Zoom in: </strong>The U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities last June buried Iran's uranium stockpile under rubble. The Iranians themselves haven't been able to reach it since, U.S. and Israeli officials say.</p><ul><li>The strikes also destroyed nearly all of Iran's centrifuges, and there's no evidence that enrichment has resumed. </li><li>U.S. and Israeli officials say most of the stockpile sits in the underground tunnels of the nuclear facility in Isfahan, while the rest is split between Fordow and Natanz.</li><li>In the opening days of the war, U.S. and Israel conducted strikes on Natanz and Isfahan that appeared aimed at sealing the entrances, likely to prevent any material from being moved.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom out: </strong>The U.S. and Israel see Iran's 450 kilograms of 60%-enriched uranium as a serious threat, as it would take only weeks to enrich it to weapons grade.</p><ul><li>If the entire stockpile reached 90% purity, it would be enough material for 11 nuclear bombs.</li></ul><p><strong>The bottom line: </strong>"Boots on the ground for Trump is not the same as what it means for the media," a senior U.S. official said.</p><ul><li>"Small special ops raids — not a big force going in," another source added.</li><li>"What has been discussed hasn't been thought of in terms of boots on the ground," a third source said. "People think Fallujah. That's not what has been discussed."</li></ul>

<p>The United States has an extensive history of <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/trump-iran-war-iraq-venezuela" target="_blank">interventionism</a>, but President <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump</a> has grown especially frank about his intentions abroad in recent months. </p><p><strong>The big picture: </strong>Trump <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/05/iran-leader-trump-khamenei" target="_blank">told</a> Axios this week that he must be involved in picking Iran's next leader, which — alongside his recent moves in Cuba and Venezuela — demonstrate that aggressive military force has become part and parcel of his foreign policy. </p><ul><li>It wouldn't be the first time, however, that the U.S. has pushed for specific leaders to fill the vacancies it helped create. </li></ul><hr /><p><strong>Catch up quick: </strong>Trump on Thursday acknowledged that Mojtaba Khamenei, son of assassinated supreme leader Ali Khamenei, is his most likely successor — a move the president opposes. </p><ul><li> "Khamenei's son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy [Rodriguez] in Venezuela," Trump said.</li><li><a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_self">Trump</a> in January ousted that nation's dictator, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/03/maduro-capture-trump-venezuela-operation" target="_self">Nicolás Maduro</a>, and exerted de facto control over its oil-rich petroleum company.</li></ul><p><strong>The latest: </strong>"As we achieve a historic transformation in Venezuela, we're also looking forward to the great change that will soon be coming to Cuba," Trump said on Saturday at the first <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/07/trump-shield-americas-summit-noem-envoy" target="_blank">Shield of the Americas Summit</a>, adding the country's "at the end of the line." </p><p><strong>Context: </strong>The American government frequently cited the spread of communism as a reason for intervening abroad during the 20th century, but many scholars have <a href="https://kjis.org/journal/view.html?pn=search&amp;uid=33&amp;vmd=Full#N33" target="_blank">suggested</a> that in these instances, the U.S. was primarily <a href="https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/united-fruit-company-instigates-coup-guatemala" target="_blank">protecting its own financial interests</a> overseas. </p><ul><li>According to one <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0738894216661190" target="_blank">2016 study</a>, the U.S. performed at least 81 interventions in foreign elections between 1946 to 2000.</li></ul><p><em>Here are times the U.S. has facilitated foreign leadership appointments: </em></p><h2>Guatemala</h2><p><strong>The CIA</strong> orchestrated a coup in Guatemala in 1954, overthrowing democratically-elected President Jacobo Árbenz. </p><ul><li>The operation, called <a href="https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000134974.pdf" target="_blank">PBSuccess</a>, replaced the left-leaning Árbenz with military dictator Carlos Castillo Armas, ostensibly to freeze the spread of communism. </li><li>U.S.-organized rebels played a crucial role in the plan to oust Arbenz, with the CIA picking Castillo Armas as their leader, according to political scientist <a href="https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/guatemala-invasion" target="_blank">Gordon L. Bowen</a>. </li><li>After Arbenz officially resigned, the U.S. flew Castillo Armas into Guatemala City and he was named president shortly after. </li></ul><p><strong>Reality check:</strong> Fear that<strong> </strong>Árbenz's land reforms would threaten the American-owned United Fruit Company, which owned <a href="https://www2.umbc.edu/che/tahlessons/pdf/historylabs/Guatemalan_Coup_student%3ARS01.pdf" target="_blank">42%</a> of Guatemala's land and paid no taxes, was likely what spurred the CIA into action, historians say. </p><ul><li>Former President Eisenhower's "decision to topple Árbenz was influenced more by commercial interests than by geostrategic interests," political scientist Jaechun Kim <a href="https://kjis.org/journal/view.html?pn=search&amp;uid=33&amp;vmd=Full#N33" target="_blank">noted</a> in a 2010 journal, but "it is true that security and economic interest are intertwined to a certain extent." </li></ul><h2>Iran</h2><p><strong>The CIA </strong>orchestrated a coup to topple Iran's democratically-elected prime minister, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/in-first-cia-acknowledges-1953-coup-it-backed-to-overthrow-leader-of-iran-was-undemocratic" target="_blank">Mohammad Mosaddegh</a>, in 1953. </p><ul><li>Declassified CIA <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/19/cia-admits-role-1953-iranian-coup" target="_blank">documents</a> include a draft internal history of the coup titled <a href="http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB435/docs/Doc%202%20-%201954-00-00%20Summary%20of%20Wilber%20history.pdf" target="_blank">"Campaign to install a pro-western government in Iran,"</a> which outlines the CIA's intent to "effect the fall of the Mosaddeq government" and "replace it with a pro-western government under the Shah's leadership with Zahedi as its prime minister." </li><li>Zahedi became prime minister shortly after the coup. </li><li>The documents claim the <a href="https://history.stanford.edu/news/aug-19-1953-operation-ajax-priya-satia" target="_blank">coup</a> was meant to prevent possible <a href="https://www.cjfp.org/untangling-a-diplomatic-history-an-analysis-of-american-interventionist-policy-in-iran-from-1951-1954/" target="_blank">Soviet influence</a> in Iran.</li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines:</strong> Historian Ervand Abrahamian has argued the U.S. was mainly concerned with <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/119/article/505494/pdf" target="_blank">securing its oil interests</a>, given that Mosaddegh had nationalized the Iranian oil industry. </p><h2>Other interventions </h2><p><strong>Zoom out:</strong> The United States has financially and militarily backed many other coups abroad, whether or not it played an outsized role in picking leaders to fill vacancies. </p><ul><li>Notable examples include <a href="https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/congo-decolonization" target="_blank">the Republic of Congo</a> (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), in which the CIA <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/10/17/patrice-lumumba-congo-washington-00121755" target="_blank">encouraged and assisted in the assassination</a> of the country's first elected prime minister in 1961. </li><li>In Chile, former President Nixon and the CIA spent <a href="https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/94chile.pdf" target="_blank">$8 million</a> on covert actions to oust Salvador Allende, a socialist president elected in 1970. Eventually, Allende was overthrown in a Chilean military coup, which the U.S. government <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/09/10/1193755188/chile-coup-50-years-pinochet-kissinger-human-rights-allende" target="_blank">denied</a> having a direct hand in. </li><li>The CIA attempted to facilitate regime overthrows or intervene in governments across Latin America in particular, targeting countries such as the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/13/archives/cia-is-reported-to-have-helped-in-trujillo-death-material-support.html" target="_blank">Dominican Republic</a>, <a href="https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB465/" target="_blank">Brazil</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/27/us-honduras-coup" target="_blank">Honduras</a> and <a href="https://cri.fiu.edu/us-cuba-relations/chronology-of-us-cuba-relations/" target="_blank">Cuba</a>.</li></ul><p><em>Editor's note: This story has been updated with Trump's latest remarks.</em></p>

<p>President <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump</a> said Saturday "we've knocked out 42 navy ships" in three days, adding that the US is doing "very well" in Iran.</p><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> Trump bragged about dominance in Iran and hinted at possible action in Cuba at the first Shield of the Americas Summit, which has outgoing Homeland Security Secretary <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/05/markwayne-mullin-homeland-security-secretary-nominee" target="_blank">Kristi Noem</a> at the helm.</p><hr /><ul><li>The summit underscores Trump's willingness to reassert American control under his so-called "<a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/07/trump-monroe-donroe-doctrine-venezuela-greenland-cuba-colombia" target="_blank">Donroe Doctrine</a>," though modern U.S. presidents have typically shied away from exerting as much American influence over the Western Hemisphere.</li><li><strong>"</strong>We knocked out their Air Force. We knocked out their communications, and all telecommunications has gone," Trump said of Iran. </li></ul><p><strong>The other side:</strong> Iranian foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi <a href="https://x.com/araghchi/status/2030338085783826477?s=20" target="_blank">said</a> on X Saturday the Iranian president "expressed openness to de-escalation within our region-provided that our neighbors' airspace, territory, and waters are not used to attack the Iranian People."</p><ul><li>"Gesture to our neighbors was almost immediately killed by President Trump."</li></ul><p><strong>State of play: </strong>The U.S. president said the focus right now is on Iran but he'll "take care" of Cuba.</p><ul><li>The Trump administration had already indicated an openness to regime change in the country and is investigating the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/18/marco-rubio-cuba-secret-talks" target="_self">Cuban</a> government's claim it <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/25/us-trump-4-americans-killed-cuba-florida-boat-republican" target="_blank">killed four people</a> aboard a Florida-tagged boat near the Villa Clara coast last month.</li><li>"Cuba's at the end of the line," Trump said. "They're very much at the end of the line. They have no money. They have no oil. They have a bad philosophy. They have a bad regime that's been bad for a long time."</li></ul><p><strong>Context: </strong>The summit comes as the president devotes much of his second term reshaping global trade while strong-arming southern leaders to commit more resources to stopping illegal immigration.</p><ul><li>"After years of neglect, President Trump established the 'Donroe Doctrine' to restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Axios in an emailed statement.</li><li>"The President has successfully strengthened our relationships in our own backyard to make the entire region safer and more stable."</li></ul><p><em>Here's what to know about the summit:</em></p><h2>Who's attending?</h2><p><strong>Secretary of State</strong> Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer join Trump in Doral, Florida on Saturday.</p><ul><li>Noem also attended in her new role as special envoy to the Shield of the Americas.</li></ul><p><strong>The coalition is stacked </strong>with America's "strongest likeminded allies" in the hemisphere, a brief State Department <a href="https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/03/the-united-states-to-host-the-shield-of-the-americas-summit/" target="_blank">news release</a> notes.</p><p><strong>They include,</strong> per a White House official:</p><ul><li>Argentine Republic President Javier Milei</li><li>Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz Pereira</li><li>Chile President-elect José Antonio Kast</li><li>Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves Robles</li><li>Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader</li><li>Ecuadorian Constitutional President Daniel Noboa</li><li>El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele</li><li>Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali</li><li>Honduran President Nasry "Tito" Asfura</li><li>Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino Quintero</li><li>Paraguayan President Santiago Peña</li><li>Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar</li></ul><p><strong>The intrigue: </strong>Trump-installed Venezuelan President <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/06/us-venezuela-diplomatic-consular-relations" target="_blank">Delcy Rodríguez</a> — who came to power after Trump captured former leader Nicolás Maduro, in one of Trump's most high-profile examples of executing the "Donroe Doctrine" — will not attend.</p><h2>What's the summit's goal?</h2><p><strong>A White House spokesperson </strong>told Axios that the initiative will "advance cutting-edge strategies to defeat narco-terrorist cartels and stop illegal mass migration to make America and the entire Western Hemisphere safer."</p><ul><li>The president is also expected to tout a newly-signed joint security <a href="https://www.southcom.mil/MEDIA/NEWS-ARTICLES/Article/4423347/hegseth-promotes-regional-border-security-signs-joint-security-declaration-at-i/" target="_blank">declaration</a> that reaffirms the U.S. and 17 leaders across the hemisphere's "commitment to peace, sovereignty and stability in the region."</li></ul><p><strong>Go deeper:</strong> <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/06/kristi-noem-dhs-trump-inside-firing" target="_blank">How the ice finally broke under Kristi Noem</a></p><p><em>Editor's note: This story has been updated with remarks from President Trump and the Iranian foreign minister.</em></p>

<p>Just 54 Black-owned bookstores were identified across the U.S a decade ago. Today, a new report counts 306.</p><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> As public schools and libraries <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/02/08/education-department-book-bans-censorship" target="_blank">remove books</a> by Black authors — from <a href="https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/toni-morrison" target="_blank">Beloved</a> to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html" target="_blank">The 1619 Project</a> — Black-owned bookstores are increasingly serving as places where readers can access <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/11/29/funding-cuts-erasing-black-history-blackout-report" target="_blank">contested titles</a> and authors' full bodies of work — and gather in community to discuss them.</p><hr /><p><strong>The big picture: </strong>Though the first <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/68754abb3dfcf348f0ea4662/t/69a0d60530cfe30dafc4ffa5/1772148229164/NAB2%2BReport%2B-%2B2026_Web_2.26.26.pdf" target="_blank">State of the Black Bookstore report</a> documented growth, that uptick masks economic fragility, a reality many owners say is forcing bookstores to evolve beyond traditional retail.</p><ul><li>"We're in a climate right now where our history is being erased and debated in schools and libraries," Jill Gibson, CEO of the National Association of Black Bookstores, said. </li><li>"It points to a need more than ever for visibility into our voices, our stories and our history."</li></ul><p><strong>By the numbers: </strong>90% of the <a href="https://www.nab2.org/directory" target="_blank">stores</a> report annual revenue under $250,000.</p><ul><li>36% operate without a permanent brick-and-mortar location.</li><li>14 states have no Black-owned bookstore at all, and sales of books by Black authors declined 14% even as overall print sales slightly rose.</li><li><a href="https://aalbc.com/bookstores/" target="_blank">Black-owned bookstores</a><strong> </strong>represent about 8% of independent bookstores— even though only 4% of the publishing workforce identifies as Black. </li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>Atlanta's 44th and 3rd Bookseller owner Warren Lee told Axios, "We saw the shelf space for Black books shrinking — from a bookcase and a half to half a bookcase — even for major authors."</p><ul><li>Lee said independent bookstores play a role in preserving access to the full body of work by Black authors — a motivating factor in opening the store with his wife, Cheryl Lee.</li><li>The store functions as a convening space — hosting authors, mentoring young writers and investing in literacy initiatives.</li></ul><p><strong>Lee called </strong>the industry's economics sobering.</p><ul><li>"Increased revenue is good. Profitability is always the challenge," Lee said, noting independent bookstores average roughly 3% net profit margins.</li><li>"If that's considered successful," he added, "it means a lot of stores are operating at 2%, zero or even negative."</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom out:</strong> Black-owned bookstores — from <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/pittsburgh/2026/02/26/black-owned-bookstores-rebound-pennsylvania" target="_blank">Pittsburgh</a> to Seattle — are leaning into curation, programming and partnerships to diversify revenue and deepen community ties.</p><ul><li>In Philadelphia, <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/philadelphia/2024/05/08/philadelphia-best-book-stores-online" target="_blank">Harriett's Bookshop</a> founder Jeannine Cook said, "Our community has always revered the power of establishing institutions."</li><li>"Opening a shop to host and bring folks together in addition to nourishing a hunger for knowledge is a noble act of confronting real-world problems with practical solutions."</li></ul><p><strong>At Estelita's Library in Seattle,</strong> co-founder Edwin Lindo, a professor at the University of Washington, launched the nonprofit bookstore with his wife, surgeon Estell Williams, as a way to invest in their community beyond their day jobs.</p><ul><li>"I don't think book selling is a lucrative proposition," Lindo said. "The space is the proposition."</li><li>Founded in 2018 as a nonprofit social-justice library and bookstore, Estelita's archives one of the largest collections of original Black Panther Party newspapers and has raised about $16 million toward a project that will include affordable housing.</li><li>"Historically, organizing around Black liberation happened in the back rooms of bookstores," Lindo said. "They weren't just selling books — they were creating space."</li></ul><p><strong>The bottom line: </strong>The resurgence of Black-owned bookstores shows renewed demand for Black literature and identity-focused spaces, but many owners say survival now depends on becoming more than just retail.</p><ul><li>"Books are the appetizer," Lindo said. "They bring people in, but the real work is the people who gather around them."</li></ul>

<p>President Trump threatened early Saturday morning to step up the bombing campaign in <a href="https://www.axios.com/world/iran" target="_blank">Iran</a>, saying it may expand to people and regions that hadn't been targeted previously.</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>The war is entering its second week, with no let-up in sight.</p><hr /><ul><li>The domestic impacts, meanwhile, are compounding — especially the surge in energy prices that threatens to complicate <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/iran-war-trump-gas-prices" target="_blank">Trump's affordability</a> agenda.</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>"Today Iran will be hit very hard! Under serious consideration for complete destruction and certain death, because of Iran's bad behavior, are areas and groups of people that were not considered for targeting up until this moment in time," the president <a href="https://truthsocial.com/%40realDonaldTrump/posts/116187586876366061" target="_blank">said</a> in a Truth Social post just after 6 a.m. ET Saturday. </p><ul><li>Trump also said Iran had promised to cease any further strikes against neighboring countries. That was an apparent reference to an overnight <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/live/ceqvwrydzpqt?post=asset%3A3b995012-6019-4586-838f-4c5da824b0a6#post" target="_blank">video broadcast </a>from Iran's president, ordering the country's armed forces not to attack neighbors unless struck first. </li></ul><p><strong>The intrigue: </strong>The war's impacts are already being felt clearly at home, with a historic spike in energy prices that could add up to tens of billions of dollars in higher<a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/06/oil-gasoline-prices-trump-hormuz-russia" target="_blank"> consumer and business fuel costs.</a></p><ul><li>Retail gasoline prices rose another 9 cents Friday, <a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/" target="_blank">per AAA</a>, and are up 43 cents in the last week, to the highest levels since late 2024. The national average a week ago is roughly the national low today.</li><li>Diesel prices have risen even faster — an all-time record surge of 22.3 cents just on Friday, per <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/gasbuddyguy.bsky.social/post/3mggy4on2yk2c" target="_blank">GasBuddy's</a> Patrick De Haan. The crucial trucking fuel is now up more than 71 cents in just the last week.</li></ul><p><strong>By the numbers:</strong> Both of those will add up in different ways. </p><ul><li>Consumers will spend an extra $175 million a day at the pump versus a week ago, De Haan <a href="https://gaspriceguy.substack.com/p/global-oil-shock-why-gasoline-and?utm_source=post-email-title&amp;publication_id=1173467&amp;post_id=190202805&amp;utm_campaign=email-post-title&amp;isFreemail=true&amp;r=whc4&amp;triedRedirect=true&amp;utm_medium=email" target="_blank">said</a>.</li><li>The problem for commercial drivers and their customers is as bad or worse. Truckers commonly add fuel surcharges when diesel prices rise; at current levels, some <a href="http://national-delivery.com/Fuel_Surcharge" target="_blank">will charge</a> more than $600 extra per 1,000 miles driven.</li></ul><p><strong>For the record: </strong>The administration insists it's taking measures that will get energy prices in check quickly. </p><ul><li>"President Trump's entire energy team, from the White House to the National Energy Dominance Council to Secretaries Wright and Bessent, have a game plan to keep oil prices stable throughout Operation Epic Fury," press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Friday night.</li></ul><p><strong>The bottom line: </strong>The war isn't stopping — and neither, for now, is the surge in gas prices either. </p><p><strong><em>Ben Geman contributed reporting to this story. </em></strong></p><p><em>Editor's note: This story has been updated with industry background and White House comment. </em></p>

<p>President <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump</a> is mired in risk:</p><ul><li>Risk his <a href="https://www.axios.com/world/iran" target="_blank">Iran war of choice</a> goes bad.</li><li>Risk the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/06/jobs-february-unemployment-trump" target="_blank">February job losses</a> are a trend, not a blip.</li><li>Risk the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/04/stock-market-today-live-updates-iran-war.html" target="_blank">stock market</a> keeps dropping.</li><li>Risk his <a href="https://www.axios.com/economy/tariffs" target="_blank">tariffs</a>, and now <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/06/oil-gasoline-prices-trump-hormuz-russia" target="_blank">soaring oil costs</a>, are pushing prices higher.</li><li>Risk that <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/11/trump-signs-executive-order-state-ai-laws" target="_blank">deregulated AI</a> accelerates job losses.</li><li>Risk that <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/05/democrats-texas-talarico-voter-turnout" target="_blank">Democratic enthusiasm</a> leads to a midterm wipeout.</li></ul><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>Trump fancies himself a high-risk, high-reward president, a confidence cheered by the vast majority of Republican officials and voters. But risk is risk — and by most measures, it's rising everywhere.</p><hr /><p><strong>By the numbers:</strong> Early polling on the Iran war suggests there may be little or no reward to be had, particularly with the swing voters Trump has lost over affordability concerns.</p><ul><li>Pollster <a href="https://elliott.gelliottmorris.com/" target="_blank">G. Elliott Morris</a> took an <a href="https://www.gelliottmorris.com/p/polls-us-iran-attack-2026-03-06" target="_blank">average of high-quality surveys</a> and found just 38% of Americans support U.S. military strikes in Iran — lower than retrospective support for the war in Iraq in 2014.</li><li>Most Republicans support the war. But no broader rally-around-the-flag effect has materialized.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in: </strong>For years, Trump, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/03/02/vance-trump-iran-war-00806812" target="_blank">Vice President Vance</a> and the broader MAGA movement argued that war with Iran would be catastrophic — too costly, too risky, too likely to spiral.</p><ul><li><a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-military-deaths-0a3f1532ec1953d51898e5b5e2b625d6" target="_blank">Six U.S. service members</a> have died <a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-military-deaths-89d44a0fa557d026794e5cee132d724d" target="_blank">since the opening strikes</a>. Trump <a href="https://time.com/7382697/trump-iran-war/" target="_blank">told TIME</a> when asked whether Americans should be worried about retaliatory attacks at home: "I guess ... When you go to war, some people will die."</li><li>The first 100 hours of the war alone are <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/37-billion-estimated-cost-epic-furys-first-100-hours" target="_blank">estimated</a> to have cost $3.7 billion. Oil prices are up more than 25%, with the instability threatening <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/ab7d597d-5e72-4cbf-8d3b-53815695d68f" target="_blank">Persian Gulf investments</a> that Trump has made central to his economic vision.</li><li>Trump <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/05/iran-leader-trump-khamenei" target="_blank">told Axios</a> he must be "involved" in selecting Iran's next leader — but also acknowledged the worst-case scenario: "We do this, and then somebody takes over who's as bad as the previous person."</li></ul><p><strong>The intrigue: </strong>Some Middle East experts, including hawkish Trump allies in Washington, believe the president is playing with fire by encouraging <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/05/iran-war-us-israel-kurds-cia-mossad" target="_blank">Kurdish militants</a> to cross into Iran and fight the regime.</p><ul><li>The possibility of a brutal civil war — in an ethnically diverse country of 93 million — could tip Iran into the prolonged chaos that defined George W. Bush's legacy in Iraq.</li><li>Trump, asked about polls showing most Americans oppose the war, told the <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/03/02/us-news/trump-wont-rule-out-sending-us-troops-into-iran-if-necessary-tells-the-post-i-dont-care-about-polling/" target="_blank">New York Post</a> he's not worried: "I think that the polling is very good, but I don't care about polling. I have to do the right thing."</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom out: </strong>Even before his attack on Iran rattled global markets, Trump was losing the argument on the economy — historically his strongest issue.</p><ul><li>New data show the economy shed 92,000 jobs in February — far worse than the 60,000-job gain economists expected, and the third time in five months the labor market has contracted.</li><li>Surging oil prices threaten to reverse the genuine progress Trump has made on gas prices and inflation, with new risks to the kitchen-table costs at the core of voters' affordability concerns.</li><li>His tariffs — sold as a path to cheaper goods and more American jobs — have so far delivered neither, with prices rising and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/06/economy/us-jobs-report-february" target="_blank">manufacturing shedding jobs</a> for 13 of the past 14 months.</li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines: </strong>The Trump administration has gone all-in on AI accelerationism, pressuring <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/06/white-house-red-state-ai-laws-scrutiny" target="_blank">GOP state lawmakers</a> to back off on safety regulations that could constrain the technology's explosive growth.</p><ul><li>This might be Trump's biggest bet of all: AI could supercharge the economy and cement his legacy as the president who unleashed the next industrial revolution.</li><li>But most Americans are <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/24/ai-biggest-threats-2028-election" target="_blank">deeply skeptical and anxious</a>, fearing AI could accelerate job displacement, hollow out the middle class and eventually threaten humanity itself.</li></ul><p><strong>White House deputy press secretary Kush Desai </strong>said in a statement to Axios: "The biggest risk America faces is backing down from President Trump's America First agenda and abandoning the president's push to secure our borders, mass deport criminal illegal aliens, safeguard our national security, and restore America as the most dynamic economy in the world."</p><ul><li>"The so-called 'experts' have repeatedly predicted doom and gloom since President Trump took office, and they have repeatedly been proven wrong. President Trump and his administration are laser-focused on continuing to deliver for the American people."</li></ul><p><strong>What to watch: </strong>Trump's biggest political risk is losing Congress in November, and watching his second term collapse into investigations, impeachment and legislative gridlock.</p><ul><li>The midterm environment is trending against Republicans across every early indicator — primary turnout, generic ballot polling and special election results.</li><li>A swift, clean victory in Iran could help stabilize Trump's numbers. A prolonged conflict — with casualties, spiking prices and no clear endgame — could turn a difficult midterm map into a wipeout.</li></ul><p><em><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/06/behind-the-curtain-trump-iran-war-tariffs-anthropic" target="_blank">Go deeper</a>: Trump's power play.</em></p>

<p><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/05/trump-iran-war-kurds-soldiers-iraq" target="_self">Iraq's Kurds</a> are caught in a three-way vise as the Iran war spills across their border:</p><ul><li>They're uncertain, based on <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-iran-war-will-trump-help-iranian-kurdish-fighters-attack-regime/" target="_blank">President Trump's messaging</a>, whether the U.S. actually wants regime change next door.</li><li>They're under pressure to open the border from Iranian Kurds who want to fight the regime.</li><li>And they're facing a public threat — backed by a private warning — that Iran will retaliate if those militants attack from Iraqi Kurdish soil.</li></ul><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>The Kurds of northern Iraq have carved out a stable, semi-autonomous region in one of the world's most volatile neighborhoods. Now, the war next door is threatening to make their neutrality impossible to hold.</p><hr /><ul><li>"The Kurds must not be the tip of the spear in this conflict," a senior Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) official told Axios.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in: </strong>Iraq's Kurdish government prides itself on talking to all sides. But Iran changed its otherwise friendly tone Friday in a stark communique about Iranian Kurdish militants sheltering across the border.</p><ul><li>"Should their continued presence and plotting be permitted, or should these groups or [Zionist] regime elements enter the borders of the Islamic Republic through the Region, all facilities of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq ... will be targeted on a massive scale," Ali Akbar Ahmadian, an Iranian Defense Council official, said in a written statement.</li><li>Iranian officials called the Iraqi Kurdish government on Friday to draw attention to the post and make clear it was official policy, the KRG official said.</li><li>"They don't need hypersonic missiles to hurt us. 200 Shahed drones could cause a lot of damage here. We have no air defense systems. We don't have any ways to knock these things out of the skies," the official warned.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom out: </strong>Trump has sent multiple different signals about what he wants to see unfold in Iran, calling for regime change without communicating what that looks like or how the U.S. will enforce it.</p><ul><li>"Certainly, we are staying neutral as Iraqi Kurds because there is no clarity for us on what the U.S. policy is. Is it full regime change? Or just a change in personnel?" the KRG official said.</li><li>"Our assessment is there cannot be regime change without boots on the ground, and our assessment is that the U.S. is not sending boots on the ground," they added.</li><li>Trump <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/trump-iran-war-kurds-iraq" target="_self">spoke to two Iraqi Kurdish leaders</a> after launching the war Saturday but did not seek their support for an invasion, the official claimed.</li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines: </strong>Though Israel and the U.S. are carrying out a joint operation, their interests and activities diverge in both Iran and Iraq .</p><ul><li>"Israel is far more aggressive on this, both on the on the military side of it, but also in terms of pushing Iranian Kurds ... to be part of this war," the official said, adding that he saw no evidence of U.S. efforts to arm or incite Kurds to attack Iran.</li><li>"Israel wants an annihilation of the current order in Iran and they will not stop until that happens. It's very existential," they said. "I can't see them accepting Regime Lite. I can see the United States accepting Regime Lite...Venezuela Plus."</li></ul><p><strong>The intrigue: </strong>Amir Karimi, co-chair of the Iranian Kurdish group PJAK, told Axios that armed members of his group are already inside Iran — but said a significant uprising won't happen without U.S. backing.</p><ul><li>"In the past, two major uprisings were not supported, which allowed the regime to prolong its survival," Karimi said, noting his group is contact with U.S. officials but not the Israeli government or its Mossad spy agency.</li></ul><p><strong>Another official </strong>with the Iraqi Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) told Axios that the Peshmerga — Iraq's Kurdish armed forces — have so far managed to prevent Iranian Kurdish militants from launching an offensive into Iran from Iraqi territory.</p><ul><li>Iraqi Kurdish leaders decided to stay neutral in the war for now, partially because they're concerned the U.S. might abandon them at some point, the official said.</li><li>"We have trust issues from the past and we don't want to get involved. Who is going to defend us if the Iranian regime ends up surviving this?" they asked</li><li>The Iranian Kurdish fighters inside Iraq are also not as battle-hardened as Kurdish forces who fought in Syria, and they lack the training, numbers and equipment to mount an effective invasion force, Iraqi Kurdish officials say.</li></ul><p><strong>What's next: </strong>Iraqi Kurdish officials expect Trump to measure success narrowly, pointing to the four goals he has laid out: destroying Iran's navy, missile program, terrorist proxies and nuclear program.</p><ul><li>But they also recognize — as does Iran — that Trump only has three years let in office.</li><li>"The Iranians have thousands of years of built-up patience," one Kurdish official said. "They know that in a couple of years, there might be a new president in the United States, and who knows what's going to happen in Israel. Their goal right now is to outlast this."</li></ul>

<p>President <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump</a> told Axios Friday that his demand for Iran's "unconditional surrender" could mean the complete destruction of the regime's military capabilities — not necessarily a formal surrender.</p><ul><li>"Unconditional surrender could be that [the Iranians] announce it. But it could also be when they can't fight any longer because they don't have anyone or anything to fight with," he said in a phone interview.</li></ul><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>Trump's explanation came hours after he appeared to leave no visible off-ramp for Iran, ruling out any kind of "deal" as he demanded "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER" in a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/%40realDonaldTrump/116182551337254643" target="_blank">post on Truth Social</a>.</p><hr /><ul><li>White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later said on Fox News that "unconditional surrender" means Trump determining "that Iran can no longer pose a threat to the U.S. and our troops in the Middle East."</li><li>Leavitt listed U.S. objectives as destroying Iran's navy, eliminating its ballistic missile threat, ensuring it cannot obtain a nuclear weapon and weakening its regional proxies.</li></ul><p><strong>Driving the news: </strong>Several hours before Trump's statement, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian <a href="https://x.com/drpezeshkian/status/2029877231942590545" target="_blank">wrote on X</a> that "some countries have begun mediation efforts" to stop the war. </p><ul><li>"Let's be clear: we are committed to lasting peace in the region yet we have no hesitation in defending our nation's dignity &amp; sovereignty. Mediation should address those who underestimated the Iranian people and ignited this conflict," he wrote. </li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying:</strong> "There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!" Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday morning.</p><ul><li>He added that after the current regime surrenders, "GREAT &amp; ACCEPTABLE Leader(s)" must be selected. </li><li>Trump pledged that the U.S. and its allies would help rebuild the country and make it prosperous after the war: "IRAN WILL HAVE A GREAT FUTURE. MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!)" he wrote.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom out: </strong>On Thursday, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/05/iran-leader-trump-khamenei" target="_blank">Trump told Axios</a> he wants to be personally involved in selecting Iran's next supreme leader to ensure the successor doesn't pursue policies that lead to another war.</p><p><strong>The other side: </strong>The speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf <a href="https://x.com/mb_ghalibaf/status/2029964090618085864?s=20" target="_blank">wrote on X</a> that Iran will not allow Trump to "dictate terms to a nation."</p><ul><li>"Trump still doesn't realize what calamity he has brought upon himself and the American soldiers by martyring our Imam," he said, adding that Iran's fate "will be determined solely by the proud Iranian nation, not by Epstein's gang."</li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines:</strong> "If this is the official position of the U.S. administration, and given the fact that the current regime in Iran will not surrender, then the campaign will have to continue until the collapse of the current regime," said Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran expert at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies and the Atlantic Council.</p><ul><li>"Anything short of that would effectively be considered a failure, despite all the operational successes of the campaign," he added.</li></ul><p><strong>Behind the scenes:</strong> Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Arab foreign ministers in a series of phone calls Thursday that the war is expected to last several more weeks, according to sources with direct knowledge of the conversations.</p><ul><li>Rubio said the current military focus is on Iran's missile launchers, stockpiles and factories.</li><li>He told the ministers the U.S. goal is not regime change — while simultaneously making clear Washington wants different people running the country, the sources said.</li></ul><p><strong>Rubio added that there is currently</strong> no U.S. dialogue with the Iranian regime, and that any talks now would undermine ongoing military objectives.</p><ul><li>Trump said Thursday that Iran wants to negotiate but that he told them they are "too late."</li><li>The State Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. </li></ul><p><strong>State of play:</strong> U.S. and Israeli strikes entered their seventh day Friday with growing intensity. Iran and its proxies — <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/06/lebanon-israel-iran-irgc-hezbollah" target="_blank">Hezbollah in Lebanon</a> and Shia militias in Iraq — continue launching missiles and drones at U.S. bases, Israel and Gulf states.</p><ul><li>But the pace and scope of Iranian attacks has significantly decreased: CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said Iranian missile attacks have fallen 90% since the war's first day.</li><li>U.S. and Israeli officials claimed Thursday that 60% of Iran's missile launchers and stockpiles have been destroyed.</li></ul><p><strong>On Friday,</strong> Israeli fighter jets struck a heavily fortified bunker beneath the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's compound — his emergency command center.</p><ul><li>IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Efi Defrin said Israel believes senior Iranian officials had been using the bunker in recent days and is still assessing whether anyone was inside at the time of the strike.</li></ul><p><em>Editor's note: This story has been updated with responses from Iranian officials.</em></p>

<div>Data: <a href="https://financialmodelingprep.com/" target="_blank">Financial Modeling Prep</a>; Chart: Axios Visuals</div><p>Oil and gasoline prices are marching upward again Friday, even as Trump administration officials seek ways to get more barrels into the market.</p><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> Ships avoiding the Strait of Hormuz and military threats to regional infrastructure are together shocking oil and natural gas markets. </p><hr /><ul><li>"There's no doubt that what's happening now is an order of magnitude bigger — in terms of potential fallout for oil markets — than Russia's invasion of Ukraine," <a href="https://robinjbrooks.substack.com/p/oil-tanker-traffic-in-the-straits" target="_blank">writes Robin Brooks,</a> a Brookings Institution economist.</li></ul><p><strong>The big picture: </strong>The global benchmark Brent crude is trading around $89 Friday morning, up roughly $16 since military strikes against Iran began.</p><ul><li>And don't forget that prices had already jumped in anticipation of the strikes, so the true rise attributable to the conflict is even higher.</li><li>U.S. average regular gasoline prices are up 32 cents per gallon this week to $3.32, per AAA. </li></ul><p><strong>Stunning stat: </strong>The national average gasoline price is up 10.8% over the past four days, the largest spike since the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, per <a href="https://x.com/KevRGordon/status/2029885957856538681" target="_blank">Schwab analyst Kevin Gordon</a>.</p><p><strong>The latest:</strong> The Trump administration is making various moves to try to temper the shock. Energy Secretary Chris Wright<strong> </strong>said Friday on "Fox &amp; Friends" that it would take "weeks, not months" for gas prices to decline.</p><ul><li>"We have a little bit of an interruption right now to finally put an end to their ability to wreak havoc," Wright said.</li></ul><p><strong>The Treasury Department</strong> on Thursday night announced a 30-day sanctions <a href="https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20260305_33" target="_blank">waiver</a> to enable Indian refiners to buy more Russian oil.</p><ul><li>"This deliberately short-term measure will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government as it only authorizes transactions involving oil already stranded at sea," Secretary Scott Bessent <a href="https://x.com/secscottbessent/status/2029714253725262232?s=46" target="_blank">posted on X</a>.</li><li>Still, some analysts <a href="https://x.com/Rory_Johnston/status/2029726975166718071" target="_blank">call</a> the move a <a href="https://x.com/gbrew24/status/2029725539578106178" target="_blank">win for Russia</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>Energy Secretary Chris Wright </strong>said Friday on "Fox &amp; Friends" that it would take "weeks, not months" for gas prices to decline.</p><ul><li>"We have a little bit of an interruption right now to finally put an end to their ability to wreak havoc," Wright said.</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>"While this might help put some immediate downward pressure on the market, it is not a game-changer," ING analysts said in a note.</p><ul><li>"The only way for prices to come down on a sustained basis is a resumption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz," it adds.</li></ul><p><strong>What we're watching:</strong> Other triage efforts. </p><ul><li>"Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is increasing shipments from the Red ‌Sea, but the volumes are far from enough to offset the drop from the crisis-hit Strait of Hormuz," <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/saudi-aramco-boosts-red-sea-oil-shipments-hormuz-disruption-curbs-exports-2026-03-06/" target="_blank">Reuters reports</a> Friday morning.</li></ul><p><em>Editor's note: This story has been updated with comments from Energy Secretary Chris Wright.</em></p><p><em>Sign up <a href="https://www.axios.com/signup/axios-future-of-energy" target="_blank">here</a> for Axios' Future of Energy newsletter.</em></p>

<p>President <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump</a> seethed when the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/20/trump-tariffs-supreme-court-illegal" target="_blank">Supreme Court stripped away</a> his unilateral tariff authority, the first real check on his presidency.</p><ul><li>Then he set out to impose his will on every remaining vector of American power — smashing norms and shrugging off Congress in a historic, 14-day show of executive force.</li></ul><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>Over the past two weeks, Trump launched a massive Middle East war, blacklisted the hottest AI company on the planet, ordered new global tariffs, and presided over the biggest media merger in two decades.</p><hr /><ul><li>He did it all unilaterally — without passing a single law, and without pretending he needed to. <em>Axios' Zachary Basu narrates this epic fortnight:</em></li></ul><p><strong>The tariffs: </strong>On Feb. 20, hours after the Supreme Court ruling, Trump imposed a new 10% global tariff under a separate emergency law — daring the courts to stop him again.</p><ul><li>By sidestepping the court's ruling rather than accepting it, Trump sent an unmistakable message: No institution — not Congress, not the judiciary — would constrain his ability to reshape the global economy.</li></ul><p><strong>The merger: </strong>On Feb. 26, Netflix walked away from the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery — handing Trump allies Larry and David Ellison control of CNN, HBO and Hollywood's two most storied studios.</p><ul><li>Paramount's David Ellison privately assured Trump officials last year that he would make sweeping changes to CNN, a network despised by the president, The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/media/paramount-netflix-warner-bros-battle-ellisons-a86fe15c?st=PTJrJQ&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink" target="_blank">reported</a>.</li><li>The Ellisons' emerging media empire — CBS, TikTok and soon CNN — gives Trump allies unprecedented influence on what Americans watch, read and scroll.</li></ul><p><strong>The blacklist: </strong>On Feb. 27, Trump <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/27/anthropic-pentagon-supply-chain-risk-claude" target="_blank">ordered every federal agency</a> to stop doing business with Anthropic after the $380 billion AI startup refused to give the Pentagon unfettered access to its technology.</p><ul><li>The Pentagon then designated Anthropic a "supply chain risk" — a label typically reserved for adversarial foreign companies, and one that a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/trump-anthropic-supply-chain-risk-reaction" target="_blank">former Trump AI adviser</a> called "attempted corporate murder."</li><li>"I fired Anthropic like dogs," Trump <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/05/trump-unleashed-president-bullish-on-iran-eyeing-regime-change-in-cuba-and-impatient-with-ukraine-00814292" target="_blank">told Politico</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>The war: </strong>On Feb. 28, Trump did what no president before him had dared — launch a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/iran-attack-trump-us-israel-strikes" target="_blank">full military assault</a> on an Iranian regime that has tormented the United States since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.</p><ul><li>Some U.S. officials have been careful not to call it a "war" — a label that <a href="https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/declarations-of-war.htm" target="_blank">connotes</a> congressional approval — or admit that "regime change" is the goal. The president hasn't bothered with either pretense.</li><li>On Thursday, Trump told Axios he <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/05/iran-leader-trump-khamenei" target="_blank">must be personally involved</a> in selecting Iran's next leader just as he was in Venezuela, where interim President Delcy Rodríguez has become a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/05/trump-us-venezuela-gold-deal" target="_blank">compliant conduit</a> for U.S. interests.</li><li>In the same interview with Axios' Barak Ravid, Trump demanded that Israel's president <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/05/trump-netanyahu-pardon-israel-iran-war" target="_blank">pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu</a> — seeking to simultaneously pick Iran's next leader and shield his war partner from criminal prosecution.</li></ul><p><strong>The big picture: </strong>Trump has spent his second term <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/09/23/trump-unprecedented-presidency-behind-the-curtain" target="_blank">systematically testing</a> how much power a president can seize without Congress, the courts or public opinion stopping him. The answer, so far: almost limitless.</p><ul><li>Trump has signed fewer laws than any modern president at this stage — because he doesn't need them. Executive orders, military force and the bully pulpit have proven more efficient.</li><li>Trump's advisers say he's content using unilateral powers, and congressional Republicans — with rare exceptions — have cheered him on at every turn.</li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines: </strong>What's all the more remarkable is that Trump is doing this with most of America opposed to his performance in office — and to these specific actions.</p><ul><li>A <a href="https://yougov.com/en-us/articles/54224-donald-trump-record-low-net-job-approval-second-term-february-27-march-2-2026-economist-yougov-poll" target="_blank">Economist/YouGov poll</a> conducted as the Iran war began found Trump's disapproval at 59% — a second-term record. His net approval, according to <a href="https://www.natesilver.net/p/trump-approval-ratings-nate-silver-bulletin" target="_blank">Nate Silver's average</a>, sits at -13.</li><li>An <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26490187/cnn-poll-on-trump-at-one-year.pdf" target="_blank">January poll by CNN</a> found 58% of Americans say Trump has already gone too far in using presidential power — a figure collected before the most aggressive stretch of his presidency.</li></ul><p><em><a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/09/23/trump-unprecedented-presidency-behind-the-curtain" target="_blank">Go deeper</a>: "The most unprecedented presidency in 250 years."</em></p>

<p>GOP lawmakers in several red states want to pass AI safety bills, but their efforts are being chilled by the fear of angering the White House.</p><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> State lawmakers eager to tackle AI over concerns about kids, jobs and privacy are facing pushback from the White House, with tensions poised to spike next week.</p><hr /><ul><li>The Trump administration's <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/11/trump-signs-executive-order-state-ai-laws" target="_blank">pending</a> list of "onerous" state AI laws could set up a federal crackdown on state regulation and reshape who writes the rules for AI.</li></ul><p><strong>Driving the news:</strong> The White House has made it clear — states should back off on AI laws in almost all cases until a federal framework passes. </p><ul><li>Next week, the administration<strong> </strong>is expected to announce <a href="https://www.justice.gov/ag/media/1422986/dl" target="_blank">which</a> state-level AI laws it has identified as "onerous" that should be referred to the AI Litigation Task Force at the Justice Department, per President Trump's <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/12/eliminating-state-law-obstruction-of-national-artificial-intelligence-policy/" target="_blank">executive order</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>This week, 50 Republican state lawmakers <a href="https://ari.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/State-Lawmaker-Letter-Let-States-Legislate-on-AI.pdf" target="_blank">wrote to</a> President Trump that they are "deeply concerned by the work of officials seeking to pressure lawmakers in Utah and other states to abandon legislation aimed at mitigating risks at leading AI labs and safeguarding constituents, including young people, from AI's worst harms."</p><ul><li>"We firmly believe state-led efforts are fully consistent with conservative principles and with your stated goals of promoting human flourishing while accelerating innovation."</li></ul><p><strong>In Utah, </strong>White House meddling<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/15/white-house-utah-ai-transparency-bill" target="_blank">completely knocked</a> an AI bill off-course, Axios first reported, driving pro-AI safety advocates in the state to take out <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/26/utah-billboards-david-sacks-ai-bill" target="_blank">billboards</a> targeting White House AI czar David Sacks.</p><ul><li>"The bill is unfortunately dead," Melissa McKay, policy director for Utah-based advocacy group Child First Policy Center,<strong> </strong>told Axios. "The mid-session attack memo from the White House created enough confusion and conflicting opinions to doom it."</li></ul><p><strong>In Florida, </strong>the Gov. Ron DeSantis-backed AI Bill of Rights passed the state Senate this week, but <a href="https://floridianpress.com/2026/03/florida-senate-passes-ai-bill-of-rights-house-approval-unlikely/" target="_blank">intervention</a> in the House will keep it from hitting the floor.</p><ul><li>State House Speaker Daniel Perez told <a href="https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/03/04/desantis-ai-bill-of-rights-clears-senate-but-house-wont-touch-it/" target="_blank">reporters</a> this week that he won't bring up the bill and he shares the White House's view on state AI laws.</li><li>A spokesperson for DeSantis declined to comment on the future of the bill.</li></ul><p><strong>In Ohio,</strong> <a href="https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/11/17/whats-in-ohios-proposal-banning-ai-personhood/" target="_blank">a bill that would ban AI from any form of legal personhood</a> is currently being overhauled, said its sponsor, state Rep. Thad Claggett, who signed onto the 50-lawmaker letter.</p><ul><li>"We know how incredibly difficult it is for Congress to deal with leading-edge stuff, and that's okay. But, we are very interested in protecting our people, and so we're going to continue to work," he told Axios. </li><li>He said he will engage the White House at some point to see if they have any input on his bill, but he won't reach out until the bill is ready.</li></ul><p><strong>The other side:</strong> The White House did not directly respond to questions about the GOP state lawmaker letter, the AI litigation task force or the Ohio bill.</p><p><strong>What we're watching:</strong> The executive order calls for the administration to identify laws, not bills that are in the works. </p><ul><li>So it's most likely that <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/09/29/newsom-signs-major-california-ai-bill" target="_blank">California</a> and <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/19/new-york-ai-safety-bill-hochul" target="_blank">New York</a>'s AI frontier safety laws will be targeted first. Plus, Colorado's <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2025/12/17/colorado-ai-law-trump-executive-order" target="_blank">AI law</a> was the only one specifically called out by name in Trump's order.</li></ul><p><strong>The bottom line:</strong> The tension between GOP state lawmakers who want to pass AI bills and a White House dead set on fending off as many state AI laws as possible is only heating up.</p>

<p>The Pentagon has formally designated <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/04/pentagon-anthropic-white-house-amodei" target="_blank">Anthropic</a> a supply chain risk, as CEO Dario Amodei apologized Thursday for a leaked memo criticizing the Trump administration. </p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>The dispute has raised fundamental questions over AI governance and cast a shadow over the industry's relationship with Washington. </p><hr /><ul><li>Amodei won a legion of fans — and Anthropic's Claude a flood of new users — for his initial strong stance in a dispute over how AI could be used by the military. </li></ul><p><strong>State of play: </strong>Despite the apology, Anthropic still plans to sue over the Pentagon's designation of the company as a supply chain risk, which Anthropic says is narrow and only restricts certain activities. </p><p><strong>"It was a difficult day for the company,</strong> and I apologize for the tone of the post," a new blog post from Amodei said Thursday, referring to an <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/04/pentagon-anthropic-white-house-amodei" target="_blank">explosive internal memo</a> to staff that put negotiations in jeopardy. </p><ul><li>"It does not reflect my careful or considered views. It was also written six days ago and is an out of date assessment of the current situation," Amodei said in the post, a copy of which was obtained by Axios. </li><li>Amodei says Anthropic did not leak the post or ask anyone else to do it. </li><li>The company's "most important" goal now, he added, "is making sure that our war fighters and national security experts are not deprived of the important tools in the middle of war."</li></ul><p><strong>The other side: </strong>"DOW officially informed Anthropic leadership the company and its products are deemed a supply chain risk, effective immediately," a senior Pentagon official said in a statement. </p><ul><li>"The military will not allow a vendor to insert itself into the chain of command by restricting the lawful use of a critical capability and put our warfighters at risk." </li></ul><p><strong>Others in the industry viewed </strong>the Pentagon's supply chain designation as narrow as well. </p><ul><li>"Our lawyers have studied the designation and have concluded that Anthropic products, including Claude, can remain available to our customers—other than the Department of War—through platforms such as M365, GitHub, and Microsoft's AI Foundry and that we can continue to work with Anthropic on non-defense related projects," a Microsoft spokesperson said.</li></ul><p><strong>Tension point: </strong>As of Thursday night, the Pentagon was still actively using Claude to provide support for military operations, including in Iran, according to a source familiar.</p><p><strong>Behind the scenes: </strong>The Pentagon's deadline for Anthropic to adhere to its "all lawful purposes" standard came and went last Friday at 5:01pm, but days passed and no formal designation of a supply chain risk had been sent. </p><ul><li>OpenAI announced a deal with the Pentagon soon after the deadline passed, but it was quickly criticized as lacking the proper protections for mass domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons, prompting CEO Sam Altman to come back with <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/openai-pentagon-ai-surveillance" target="_blank">stronger language</a> on Tuesday.</li></ul><p><em>Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from Microsoft. </em></p>

<p>The Trump administration is reportedly weighing rules that would require foreign buyers to obtain licenses from the U.S. government to <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/11/19/white-house-block-bill-restricting-ai-chip-exports" target="_blank">buy American AI chips</a>.</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>The <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/06/ai-s-changing-fortunes-closer" target="_blank">AI chips</a> sector has been flourishing as tech companies ramp up their spending on data centers and new AI models, underpinning the broader market.</p><hr /><p><strong>The big picture: </strong>The draft regulations<strong> </strong>would give "Washington broad control over whether other countries can build facilities for training and running artificial-intelligence models — and under what conditions," Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-05/us-drafts-rules-for-sweeping-power-over-nvidia-s-global-sales" target="_blank">reported</a> Thursday.</p><ul><li>Such a requirement would add a layer of bureaucracy to foreign sales of chips from the likes of Nvidia and AMD that could slow sales or serve as the regulatory structure to expedite their export.</li></ul><p><strong>The impact: </strong>Nvidia and AMD shares initially fell on the news but later regained ground. </p><ul><li>Nvidia closed up 0.2%, while AMD closed down 1.3%.</li></ul><p><strong>Behind the scenes:</strong> Chipmakers have been awaiting the Trump administration's approach to exports after the White House scrapped the Biden administration's "diffusion" rule.</p><ul><li>AI companies and chipmakers had <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/05/07/ai-rule-trump-biden-nvidia" target="_blank">argued</a> the Biden rules imposed an overly complex framework that would have made it difficult for American companies to sell abroad.</li></ul><p><strong>The big question: </strong>How restrictive will the new rules be?</p><ul><li>If the new system swiftly processes applications and awards approvals, chipmakers will likely welcome it. </li><li>If it constricts exports or results in major applications being rejected, it could brew opposition.</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>"The Commerce Department is committed to promoting secure exports of the American tech stack," a Commerce Department spokesperson said in a statement, acknowledging "ongoing internal government discussions about formalizing that approach."</p><ul><li>"We will not" return to former President Biden's "burdensome, overreaching and disastrous" rule, the spokesperson added. </li></ul><p><strong>Representatives for</strong> Nvidia and AMD did not immediately respond to requests for comment.</p><p><em>Editor's note: This story has been updated with a comment from the Commerce Department.</em></p>

<p>Republican senators celebrated President Trump's <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/05/kristi-noem-trump-ice-dhs" target="_blank">decision to replace</a> Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with Sen. <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/05/markwayne-mullin-homeland-security-secretary-nominee" target="_blank">Markwayne Mullin</a> (R-Okla.). </p><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> Congressional Republicans — along with the White House — are eager to turn the page on a department that's dragging down the party's <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/04/trump-ice-support-abolish-half-americans-record-poll" target="_blank">image on immigration</a>, the very issue it rode to victory in 2024.</p><hr /><ul><li>Trump wasn't a "happy cowboy" about Noem and her <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/10/15/trump-self-deportation-ads-noem" target="_blank">$200 million media campaign</a>, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said. Many Senate Republicans were just as angry as the president and were already preparing Thursday afternoon for a fast confirmation process for Mullin. </li><li>Mullin is "pretty well vetted around here, so hopefully we can get the process going because I think that's a position that's going to need to be filled quickly," Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said.</li></ul><p><strong>State of play:</strong> Democrats, while declaring good riddance to Noem, insisted that a change at the top would not unlock <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/05/kristi-noem-dhs-shutdown-democrats-funding-trump" target="_blank">funding for DHS,</a> which has been shut down since Feb. 14.</p><ul><li>"No one person can straighten this up until the president changes the whole agency," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). "This is not an issue of personnel. This is an issue of policy."</li><li>"I'm not going to vote for $1 more for that agency as long as they are body-slamming American citizens, barging into American homes without warrants or murdering Americans," Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said.</li></ul><p><strong>Still, Booker acknowledged</strong> that Mullin's confirmation is likely a foregone conclusion.</p><ul><li>"If it's a 50-vote threshold, I would imagine he will be confirmed," Booker told Axios. Cabinet nominations require only a simple majority.</li></ul><p><strong>The intrigue:</strong> There's a serious beef between Mullen and Sen. Ran Paul (R-Ky.), the chair of the Committee on Homeland Security &amp; Governmental Affairs, which will handle Mullin's nomination.</p><ul><li>"Rand Paul's a freaking snake," Mullin told a group at home in Tulsa last month. "And I understand completely why his neighbor did what he did," he said, apparently referring to a 2017 assault on Paul that <a href="https://www.axios.com/2017/12/15/paul-suffered-five-broken-ribs-in-attack-1513306692" target="_blank">left him with five fractured ribs</a>. </li><li>"And I told him that to his face," <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5746273-markwayne-mullin-rand-paul-gop-rift/" target="_blank">Mullin said</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in:</strong> Trump's Truth Social announcement that he was replacing Noem was read aloud by Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), who was hosting a lunch for colleagues off the Senate floor.</p><ul><li>"Jim Banks was flagging me down. He's like, 'Look at your phone. Look at your phone,'" Schmitt said. "So I saw it and just announced it to the group."</li><li>"Markwayne will do a great job. He's strong on the border, and that's what we need," Schmitt added.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom out:</strong> Trump had been sounding out GOP senators in recent days about naming Mullin and made clear his anger at Noem for spending more than $200 million on an advertising campaign.</p><ul><li>"The president asked me what I thought about him, and I told him that I was very fond of Markwayne. I think he's smart," Kennedy said.</li><li>In a contentious Tuesday hearing, Kennedy grilled Noem over a $200 million ad campaign that she said the president had authorized. </li></ul><p><strong>Sen Thom Tillis </strong>(R-N.C.) berated her<strong> </strong>for her overall performance and brought up an anecdote in her memoir where she <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/05/02/scoop-kristi-noem-needled-by-launch-of-new-house-group" target="_blank">bragged about killing a dog</a>. </p><ul><li>"Senator Markwayne Mullin is a great guy and a great choice to lead DHS," Tillis said Thursday <a href="https://x.com/SenThomTillis/status/2029642281997770948" target="_blank">on X</a>. </li><li>"Another big positive: he likes dogs."</li></ul>

<p>Department of Homeland Security Secretary <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/26/kristi-noem-impeachment-democrats-minnesota-ice" target="_blank">Kristi Noem</a> is leaving the department and he will nominate Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) as her replacement, President Trump said Thursday. </p><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> Noem's exit leaves Trump's <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/24/trump-deportation-judges-margolin" target="_blank">mass deportation</a> agenda without its most prominent face amid a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/04/trump-ice-support-abolish-half-americans-record-poll" target="_blank">public backlash</a>.</p><hr /><p><strong>What he's saying:</strong> Trump said Noem will be "moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida." </p><ul><li>He also said Mullin will start on March 31, calling him a "A MAGA Warrior" who "truly gets along well with people, and knows the Wisdom and Courage required to Advance our America First Agenda." </li><li>"Markwayne will work tirelessly to Keep our Border Secure, Stop Migrant Crime, Murderers, and other Criminals from illegally entering our Country, End the Scourge of Illegal Drugs and, MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN." </li></ul><p><strong>Catch up quick:</strong> Noem drew bipartisan fury after accusing<strong> </strong>Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti and mother <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/twin-cities/2026/01/07/ice-shooting-victim-identified-renee-nicole-good-minneapolis" target="_blank">Renee Nicole Good</a> of being <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/25/trump-officials-stick-terrorist-label-on-americans-killed-by-dhs" target="_blank">domestic terrorists</a> after both were shot and killed by federal agents in January.</p><ul><li>She also criticized Pretti for carrying a gun with ammunition to protest ICE enforcement, suggesting he was "wishing to inflict harm on officers."</li><li>Some <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/16/trump-polling-immigration-approval-rating-ice-noem" target="_blank">Trump administration advisers</a> have discussed "recalibrating" the White House's immigration enforcement approach as polling shows declining support for Trump's immigration policies.</li><li>Half of Americans supported <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/04/trump-ice-support-abolish-half-americans-record-poll" target="_blank">abolishing ICE</a> in an early March YouGov poll, a sign of how much support has eroded for one of Trump's signature political strengths on Noem's watch.</li></ul><p><strong>Noem thanked Trump </strong>for the reassignment in a <a href="https://x.com/Sec_Noem/status/2029647010002055467" target="_blank">statement</a> on X Thursday afternoon, saying she looked forward to working with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the new post.</p><ul><li>"In this new role, I will be able to build on the partnerships and national security expertise" forged at DHS, she said, going on to tout "historic accomplishments" at the department.</li></ul><p><strong>Context: </strong>Noem is the first Cabinet secretary to depart Trump's second term. </p><ul><li>Across his first term, Trump's Cabinet saw <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/tracking-turnover-in-the-trump-administration/" target="_blank">turnover</a> of 14 secretaries.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in:</strong> As of March 5, roughly 190 co-sponsors had expressed support for <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/26/kristi-noem-impeachment-democrats-minnesota-ice" target="_blank">impeaching Noem</a> after the Pretti shooting. </p><ul><li>Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) posted on <a href="https://x.com/SenFettermanPA/status/2016134093256200369" target="_blank">X</a> asking Trump to "immediately fire" Noem, saying she is "betraying DHS's core mission." </li><li>Republican Sens. Thom Tillis (N.C.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) — both of whom voted to confirm Noem — demanded her resignation in January. </li><li>At a March 3 Senate Judiciary oversight hearing, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/noem-tillis-senate-oversight-testimony-dhs" target="_blank">Tillis called</a> Noem's tenure "a disaster" and threatened to block all of Trump's nominations until she answered his questions.</li></ul><p><strong>The big picture: </strong>Noem oversaw a series of militarized immigration surges in major U.S. cities, operations that put the most aggressive enforcement tactics on vivid, often violent display.</p><ul><li>The controversies didn't stop at immigration enforcement. She <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/climate/noem-dhs-fema-delays.html" target="_blank">bottlenecked FEMA's Hurricane Helene disaster relief</a> by requiring her personal approval on <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026/03/04/noem-fema-aid-delay-report/" target="_blank">expenses</a> over $100,000, cycled through three acting FEMA administrators, and presided over mass cuts to that agency's workforce. </li><li>She also spent nearly $300 million in border security funds on a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/noem-luxury-jets-dhs-deportations" target="_blank">luxury jet fleet</a> and $220 million more <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/noem-defends-220-million-ad-campaign-amid-lawmaker-scrutiny-2026-03-04/" target="_blank">on ads featuring her</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>Go deeper:</strong> <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/16/trump-polling-immigration-approval-rating-ice-noem" target="_blank">Trump's immigration erosion worries his team</a></p><p><em>Editor's note: This story was updated with additional details.</em></p>

<p><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/20/noem-lewandowski-homeland-security-firings" target="_blank">Kristi Noem</a> is on her way out at the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/27/republicans-trump-immigration-dhs-noem-minnesota" target="_blank">Department of Homeland Security</a> after a tenure marred by personal controversies and an unpopular immigration crackdown. </p><p><strong>The big picture:</strong> Noem has long been a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/27/jeffries-trump-kristi-noem-impeachment-fire-dhs" target="_blank">target</a> for Democrats, but her leadership also angered some congressional <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/28/republicans-congress-noem-impeachment" target="_blank">Republicans</a>. She becomes the first Cabinet secretary to be removed from their post in President <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump</a>'s second term.</p><hr /><p><strong>Driving the news: </strong>Trump announced Thursday that he plans to tap Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) to replace Noem.</p><ul><li>Noem will move to a position as special envoy for the Shield of the Americas, a "new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere" that Trump said will be announced Saturday. </li></ul><p><em>Here are the controversies that led up to Noem's departure:</em></p><h2>1. Alex Pretti comments</h2><p><strong>Noem came under fire</strong> for claiming that Alex Pretti, a protester who federal immigration agents shot and killed in Minnesota, wanted to "kill" agents and "committed an act of domestic terrorism."</p><ul><li>The incendiary and misleading rhetoric set off <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/27/trump-stephen-miller-massacre-minnesota-shooting" target="_blank">a blame game</a> within the administration.</li></ul><p><strong>Catch up quick: </strong>The DHS statement <a href="https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2015115351797780500" target="_blank">shared</a> to X soon after Pretti was killed said an agent "[f]earing for his life" fired "defensive shots" after attempting to "disarm" Pretti, saying it "looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement."</p><ul><li>Noem also inaccurately said Pretti was "brandishing" his weapon. </li><li>Bystander videos showed Pretti never reached for his gun and had been disarmed before he was shot.</li></ul><h2>2. Ad blitz</h2><p><strong>DHS spent millions </strong>on ads promoting Trump's <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/10/15/trump-self-deportation-ads-noem" target="_blank">mass deportation agenda</a> through videos starring Noem.</p><ul><li>Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT8dyabbffs" target="_blank">questioned</a> Noem in early March during a congressional hearing about how the ads square with her "concern for [government] waste."</li><li>Noem responded that Trump "tasked me with getting the message out to the country" and beyond.</li></ul><p><strong>The intrigue: </strong>Noem was also pressed on whether Trump<strong> </strong>asked her to run the advertisements. She said that they "had that conversation, yes, before I was put in this position ... and since then as well."</p><ul><li><a href="https://punchbowl.news/article/border/immigration/is-noem-done/" target="_blank">Multiple</a> <a href="https://x.com/AudreyFahlberg/status/2029553600439972174" target="_blank">outlets</a> reported that Noem's contention that Trump approved the ad blitz enraged the president.</li><li> A ProPublica <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/kristi-noem-dhs-ad-campaign-strategy-group" target="_blank">investigation</a> uncovered ties to a company run by Noem's former chief spokesperson's husband. Noem said she had nothing to do with picking the contractors for the ads.</li></ul><h2>3. Luxury jets</h2><p><strong>Noem's plan </strong>to use border funds for a multi-million-dollar jet fleet <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/noem-luxury-jets-dhs-deportations" target="_blank">horrified top officials</a>.</p><ul><li>Noem <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/us/politics/kristi-noem-dhs-gulfstream.html" target="_blank">purchased</a> two Gulfstream G700 luxury jets. A third plane, a Boeing 737, was being leased with plans to buy it for about $70 million.</li><li>The funding comes from the One Big Beautiful Bill's DHS infusion.</li></ul><p><strong>Pressed about the jets</strong> in her recent Senate hearing, Noem said they were used for "long-range command and control aircraft" and said purchasing the aircraft will "save the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars."</p><ul><li>A DHS spokesperson told Axios in a statement late last month, "Anyone who runs a business in the real world will tell you that owning a work vehicle is less expensive than dealing with long-term rental costs."</li></ul><h2>4. Lewandowski's role</h2><p><strong>Corey Lewandowski, a top aide </strong>acting as Noem's de-facto chief-of-staff, has been <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/23/corey-lewandowski-kristi-noem-homeland-security" target="_blank">a source of controversy</a> himself.</p><ul><li>A Wall Street Journal report about Lewandowski <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/chaos-kristi-noem-homeland-security-f095ac95?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqdgf8yHgjqoSHmmhQSsbQZXpgdzFFeHNO18WbNCJTIGa1uOv2uHIax6RwXmeKY%3D&amp;gaa_ts=69a9c42a&amp;gaa_sig=1HLf5RCUiJe8nJd5WW9lXDZdEhyHKPNckRhGQGVm1uPRncdX8ok9DN4Ywu-WWvca0f_uH3uBbXfr3gBnQhkhRA%3D%3D" target="_blank">firing a pilot</a> over Noem's misplaced blanket became new <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6hD-PQj_m0" target="_blank">fodder</a> for her critics.</li><li>Once Noem's political adviser, his<strong> </strong>outsized influence at DHS as a "special government employee" has <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/08/14/white-house-dhs-lewandowski-noem" target="_blank">raised eyebrows</a>.</li></ul><h2>5. A Capitol Hill castigation</h2><p><strong>Noem's final appearance</strong> on the Hill as a Cabinet secretary drew a number of <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/republicans-noem-dhs-grassley-tillis-kennedy" target="_blank">fiery rebukes</a> from both sides of the aisle.</p><ul><li>Sen. <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/noem-tillis-senate-oversight-testimony-dhs" target="_blank">Thom Tillis</a> (R-N.C.) called her a "disappointment" and said that "what we've seen is a disaster under your leadership." He had previously called for her to resign.</li><li>He also cited a letter from DHS's Office of the Inspector General as evidence of Noem's leadership missteps, saying the office has "10 different instances under Ms. Noem's leadership where they've been misled and not allowed to pursue investigations that they think are critically important."</li></ul><p><strong>The bottom line:</strong> As <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/09/ice-approval-rating-plummets-trump-immigration" target="_blank">Americans sour</a> on Trump's immigration crackdown, there's no guarantee the DHS drama will end with Noem's departure. </p><p><strong>Go deeper: </strong><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/03/noem-dhs-border-wall-construction-contracts" target="_blank">Scoop: 200 miles of Trump's border wall held up by Noem's DHS</a></p>

<p>President <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump</a> told Axios on Thursday that Israeli President Isaac Herzog must pardon Prime Minister <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/04/iran-netanyahu-trump-white-house-talks" target="_blank">Benjamin Netanyahu</a> "today" — calling Herzog "a disgrace" for failing to act over the last year.</p><ul><li>"Every day I talk to Bibi about the war. I want him to focus on the war and not on the f*cking court case. I want the only pressure on Bibi to be the fighting against Iran," Trump said in a phone interview.</li></ul><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>Trump has been <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/06/25/trump-cancel-netanyahu-corruption-trial" target="_blank">pushing for a Netanyahu pardon</a> since last June, arguing that his trial on corruption charges — ongoing since 2020 — is a "witch hunt" akin to the U.S. president's own legal troubles.</p><hr /><ul><li>But Thursday's comments — which Trump raised himself, unprompted — marked a dramatic escalation and <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/11/03/trump-netanyahu-corruption-trial-60-minutes" target="_blank">direct intervention</a> in Israel's legal system at a moment of active war.</li></ul><p><strong>What he is saying:</strong> "The president ... should give Bibi the pardon today. I don't want anything on Bibi's mind other than fighting against Iran," Trump told Axios.</p><ul><li>Trump claimed Herzog promised him five times over the past year that he would grant the pardon and never followed through. "He told me he would give it to him. But he has held it over Bibi's head for a year."</li><li>"Tell him I am exposing him. That president better damn well give him the pardon right now — and stop using it as leverage for his own political career," he said.</li></ul><p><strong>The other side: </strong>A senior Israeli official pushed back on Trump's account, saying Herzog never promised a pardon.</p><ul><li>Herzog told Trump advisers Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee that he would consider the request in line with legal procedures, the official said.</li></ul><p><strong>"At a time when we are all mobilized</strong>, the President is not dealing with the issue of a pardon for Prime Minister Netanyahu," Herzog's office said in a statement.</p><ul><li>The statement praised Trump as "the leader of the free world" and "a central ally of Israel" — before delivering a pointed rebuke: "Israel is a sovereign state governed by the rule of law."</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in: </strong>Trump said Netanyahu "should not be on trial over wine and cigars" — a reference to <a href="https://www.axios.com/2019/11/21/netanyahu-indicted-for-bribery-fraud-breach-of-trust" target="_blank">charges alleging</a> he received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cigars, champagne, jewelry and other gifts from billionaires in exchange for political favors.</p><ul><li>Trump added that Netanyahu is a wartime prime minister who "should not be in jail" and said he refuses to meet Herzog until the pardon is granted.</li><li>A Trump adviser who has spoken to the president about the pardon told Axios: "Half of us know Bibi's full of crap, and half of us kind of think Bibi's a genius." Some believe both, the adviser added.</li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines:</strong> Trump's public pressure may be self-defeating.</p><ul><li>Israeli legal experts say that if Herzog grants the pardon now, it could be challenged before the Supreme Court on the grounds that it was the product of foreign political coercion rather than a legitimate legal process.</li><li>Netanyahu's trial has been suspended regardless — the courts are closed under the emergency measures declared since the start of the war, other than for urgent matters.</li></ul><p><strong>State of play: </strong>The legal process of reviewing Netanyahu's pardon is still ongoing, with Herzog not yet receiving final legal opinions from all relevant government lawyers.</p><ul><li>"[O]nce the process is complete, the President of the State will examine the request in accordance with the law, the best interests of the state, and his conscience, and without any influence from external or internal pressures of any kind," Herzog's office said.</li></ul><p><strong>Netanyahu has refused to admit</strong> any wrongdoing or express remorse — two key conditions for receiving a pardon under Israeli law.</p><ul><li>His testimony remains ongoing, with Netanyahu and his lawyers repeatedly using delay tactics to shorten or cancel hearings. He has contradicted himself at points in his testimony</li><li>"The President has previously expressed publicly his position that it would be appropriate for the relevant systems to engage in substantive dialogue with the aim of reaching an agreed arrangement, including the possibility of a plea deal, in the Prime Minister's case," Herzog's office said.</li></ul>

<p>The <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/iran-war-expanding-israel-lebanon-gulf-cyprus" target="_blank">war in Iran</a> has rapidly expanded beyond the Middle East, pulling in U.S. allies and bystanders alike.</p><p><strong>The big picture:</strong> Since the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/iran-attack-trump-us-israel-strikes" target="_blank">U.S. strikes</a> began on Saturday, Iran has retaliated against Israel and multiple Gulf states, plunging the region further into chaos.</p><hr /><ul><li>U.S. embassies across the region remain on high alert, with the State Department urging Americans to <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/state-department-iran-trump-flights-middle-east-americans" target="_blank">leave immediately</a>.</li></ul><p><em>Here's what we know about the countries involved.</em></p><h2>Countries involved with Iran war</h2><p><strong>United States:</strong> President Trump ignited the conflict last Saturday with a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/iran-us-israel-strikes-operation-epic-fury" target="_blank">massive military operation</a> aimed at destroying Iran's nuclear program, its missile arsenal and its proxy networks — and ultimately forcing <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/trump-iran-war-iraq-venezuela" target="_blank">regime change</a>.</p><ul><li>At least <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/3-us-fighter-jets-friendly-fire-kuwait" target="_blank">six U.S. service members</a> have died since the conflict began.</li></ul><p><strong>Israel: </strong>The U.S. and Israel coordinated the attack after months of <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/26/iran-nuclear-talks-geneva" target="_blank">failed negotiations</a> over Iran's nuclear program.</p><ul><li>Israeli strikes <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/iran-khamenei-killed-israel" target="_blank">killed</a> Supreme Leader <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/iran-leader-ali-khamenei-what-to-know" target="_blank">Ali Khamenei</a>, along with dozens of senior Iranian officials.</li></ul><img src="https://images.axios.com/_d45K3nsH66wxzhgJhTf3kbKX88=/2026/03/03/1772561309533.jpeg" /> <div>Cars driving on a highway with thick black smoke rising over industrial buildings in Doha after reported Iranian strikes. Photo: Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images</div><p><strong>United Arab Emirates:</strong> The U.S. ally has absorbed some <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/uae-iran-missiles-strike-israel" target="_blank">800 projectiles</a> from Iran since the war began.</p><ul><li>Iranian drones struck a luxury hotel on Dubai's Palm Jumeirah and ignited fires at <a href="https://x.com/Reuters/status/2028058918153277638" target="_blank">Jebel Ali Port</a>, one of the region's most critical commercial hubs.</li><li>The UAE closed its embassy in Tehran and is now <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/uae-iran-missiles-strike-israel" target="_blank">considering military action</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>Qatar: </strong>The tiny Gulf nation, which has historically had friendly ties with both the U.S. and Iran, suspended most of its natural gas production after Iranian drones struck two of its energy facilities.</p><ul><li>Qatar's air force also <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/2/qatar-says-it-downed-two-iranian-fighter-jets-as-conflict-widens" target="_blank">shot down</a> two Iranian Su-24 fighter jets.</li></ul><p><strong>Kuwait:</strong> Iran attacked Kuwait on the first day of war in an attack that led to the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/02/politics/six-soldiers-killed-in-iranian-strike-kuwait" target="_blank">first American deaths</a>.</p><ul><li>U.S. officials said <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-jets-downed-kuwait-friendly-fire-iran-f15-1151e092db4597e93e83c04f3b44bddc" target="_blank">American fighter jets</a> were mistakenly downed by friendly Kuwaiti fire on Monday. All six members ejected and are in stable condition.</li></ul><p><strong>Bahrain: </strong>Iran targeted U.S. bases in Bahrain, with <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/c9q5p44y3pyo" target="_blank">videos showing smoke</a> rising from near the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters in Manama.</p><ul><li>Iranian drones also hit several residential buildings in Bahrain's capital.</li></ul><p><strong>Oman: </strong>Iran expanded its strikes to include <a href="https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2028553001644736808?s=20" target="_blank">U.S. bases in Oman</a> on the second day of the war.</p><ul><li>Notably, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/06/iran-us-nuclear-talks-oman" target="_blank">Oman</a> had been mediating indirect nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran.</li></ul><p><strong>Saudi Arabia: </strong>Iran targeted U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia on the second day of strikes. </p><ul><li>On Monday, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/iran-us-embassy-riyadh-saudi-arabia-drones" target="_blank">Iran attacked the U.S. embassy</a> in Riyadh.</li><li>Iranian drones struck the Ras Tanura oil refinery — one of the world's largest — forcing a <a href="https://x.com/ReutersBiz/status/2028520711061663916" target="_blank">partial shutdown</a>. Israeli officials believe Saudi Arabia may also take military action in response, Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/uae-iran-missiles-strike-israel" target="_blank">reports</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>Jordan: </strong>Iran fired missiles and drones at U.S. military installations in the country. </p><p><strong>Lebanon:</strong> <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/iran-war-israel-hezbollah-lebanon" target="_blank">Hezbollah entered the war</a> on Iran's side, launching missiles and drones at Israel on Monday — breaking a ceasefire that had been in place since November 2024.</p><ul><li>Israel responded with heavy airstrikes across Lebanon, killing at least 40 people, including several Hezbollah commanders. Israel also launched an incursion into southern Lebanon.</li></ul><img src="https://images.axios.com/pO3I_6vy48-O3zUuCDANRLZ0sd8=/2026/03/03/1772561432077.jpeg" /> <div>Thick plumes of smoke rising above buildings in the southern suburbs of Beirut following heavy bombardment by Israeli forces. Photo: Ibrahim Amro/AFP via Getty Images.</div><p><strong>Iraq:</strong> Iran struck the Kurdish region of Iraq, which it views as closely aligned with the U.S.</p><ul><li>Pro-Iranian militias also attacked U.S. bases in Iraq, and their supporters attempted to storm the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/iran-war-expanding-israel-lebanon-gulf-cyprus" target="_blank">U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>Cyprus: </strong>Drones struck the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/british-air-base-cyprus-hit-by-suspected-drone-strike-sky-news-reports-2026-03-02/" target="_blank">British Royal Air Force base</a> at Akrotiri in Cyprus, pulling the U.K. and the European Union into the conflict. Cypriot press <a href="https://cyprus-mail.com/2026/03/02/new-security-threat-declared-at-akrotiri" target="_blank">reported</a> the strikes likely came from Hezbollah.</p><p><strong>Azerbaijan: </strong>Iranian drones hit a local airport and civilian areas in the country on Thursday, attacking, <a href="https://mod.gov.az/en/news/statement-by-the-ministry-of-defense-of-the-republic-of-azerbaijan-56665.html" target="_blank">Azerbaijani Defense Ministry</a> said.</p><ul><li>Azerbaijan said it would prepare for "necessary retaliatory measures to defend the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty."</li></ul><img src="https://images.axios.com/f1s6yKBGhILCDMKXduU4FVVo_Lk=/2026/03/03/1772561545871.jpeg" /> <div>Military aircraft approaches RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus on March 3. Photo: Alexis Mitas/Getty Image</div><p><strong>United Kingdom: </strong>After an Iranian drone struck the U.K base in Cyprus, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer authorized the U.S. to use British air bases to strike Iranian missile sites and dispatched a Royal Navy destroyer and counter-drone helicopters to the region.</p><p><strong>France and Germany: </strong>Both EU powers initially called for a return to negotiations, but opened up to the possibility to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/iran-strikes-2026/card/france-germany-and-u-k-open-door-to-striking-iranian-launchers-PhfbLLjEI6oueLay5W7e?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqdobC8kLdcUWoreNqrk_Iax1xWPn2vjnCr4U41XUeBWLVkSqWutApZogt0S_-8%3D&amp;gaa_ts=69a741e4&amp;gaa_sig=kRuZufmGsdNQIiIRSYJOiEOtvJk9W4iM-DApp27tBbwRKoEn5hg-C5CC_bb8WieALeA4x0LoyYRi5LVuQOr6iw%3D%3D" target="_blank">striking Iran</a> after Iranian strikes hit their personnel — including a German army camp in Jordan. </p><ul><li>German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited the White House on Tuesday and discussed the conflict with Trump.</li></ul><p><strong>More from Axios:</strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/trump-iran-war-iraq-venezuela" target="_blank">How Trump's Iran gamble breaks from past regime overthrows</a></li><li><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/rubio-trump-iran-israel-attacks" target="_blank">Rubio's war remarks blow open MAGA's Israel divide</a></li><li><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/senate-democrats-iran-war-funding" target="_blank">Inside Democrats' long game on Iran</a></li></ul><p><em>Editor's note: This story was updated with new developments.</em></p>

<p>The dollar is so back. The <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/27/trump-dollar-currency-yen" target="_blank">U.S. currency</a> — subject to a good deal of bad press for the past year or so — has strengthened in value against other currencies since the Iran war began.</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>It's not that people are falling in love with America again. It's more as if investors are running for safety toward the best option. And, like it or not, that's still the U.S. dollar.</p><hr /><p><strong>The big picture: </strong>The spike in oil prices was the catalyst for a major global market disruption that's only beginning to play out. Uncertainty abounds.</p><ul><li>Since Sunday, the dollar's value has grown relative to other currencies.</li><li>This is how the currency market always reacts to big risks, says Robin Brooks, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former FX strategist at Goldman Sachs.</li><li>"This is completely normal price action, and it does mean that people still think of the U.S. dollar as a safe haven." (He writes more <a href="https://robinjbrooks.substack.com/p/what-this-weeks-rise-in-the-dollar" target="_blank">about it here</a>.)</li></ul><p><strong>How it works: </strong>Investors are selling holdings in overseas stocks and assets in Europe and Asia, and they're cashing out into dollars.</p><ul><li>That dynamic increased demand for the greenback, pushing up its value against other currencies.</li></ul><p><strong>Another factor:</strong> Those rising oil prices. Oil trades on a global market, but it trades in dollars. Higher energy prices mean you need more dollars, again pushing up demand.</p><ul><li>There's also a bit of rate differentials at play. The rise in energy prices will likely be more inflationary for other countries than in the U.S., which is more insulated from oil or natural gas shocks.</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>"It's completely normal that after a year and change of Americans putting money to work overseas — and they made a ton of money off it — now they're saying, 'I'm going to lock in some gains,'" says Rebecca Patterson, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who once ran JPMorgan Private Bank's global currency and commodity trading desk.</p><ul><li>"And that process benefits the dollar," she notes.</li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines: </strong>Since President Trump took office last year, and especially in the wake of the "Liberation Day" tariffs, there have been concerns over de-dollarization.</p><ul><li>Perhaps the U.S. standing in the world had become so worrisome that the dollar would lose its status as the reserve currency, writers speculated.</li><li>Perhaps other nations would see their currencies gain as the dollar lost.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom out: </strong>The dollar's standing really was never in question, Brooks says.</p><ul><li>"There's a difference between news stories that get written and reality. Obviously Trump is unpopular in half the country, so it makes for good reading."</li><li>He notes that throughout the tariff chaos, Asian sovereign wealth funds showed no change in their allocations to the dollar.</li><li>"That's actually pretty remarkable, and kind of a reminder that the hurdle for the U.S. dollar to lose its reserve currency status is really, really high."</li></ul><p><strong>The bottom line:</strong> The dollar's still got it, and probably never even lost it.</p>

<p>Texas Rep. <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/02/25/dan-crenshaw-tucker-carlson-kill" target="_blank">Dan Crenshaw</a> owes his defeat in this week's Republican primary to a billionaire megadonor who was hellbent on ending Crenshaw's career, sources tell Axios.</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>Texas banker <a href="https://x.com/HOUBizJournal/status/1971798220612178020" target="_blank">Robert Marling</a>'s role in funding an anti-Crenshaw advertising blitz starkly illustrates how a lone billionaire can banish a member of Congress.</p><hr /><ul><li>In this case, Marling's clout meant Crenshaw was the first House incumbent to be ousted in 2026. Crenshaw lost to Texas state Rep. <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/steve-toth-texas-dan-crenshaw-21953975.php" target="_blank">Steve Toth</a>, a hard-line conservative who doesn't have Crenshaw's independent streak. </li></ul><p><strong>Zoom out: </strong>Marling donated $675,000 in the GOP primary, accounting for roughly two-thirds of the amount spent by a super PAC opposed to Crenshaw. </p><ul><li>Marling's contributions bankrolled a stream of mailers and TV ads that have inundated Crenshaw's southeastern Texas district since the beginning of the year.</li></ul><p><strong>Marling — a prolific donor </strong>to <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">President Trump</a> and conservative causes — played a "massive" role in the race, one person involved in the primary told Axios.</p><ul><li>"Short of Robert's involvement, Dan would be reelected," said another.</li></ul><p><strong>The backstory:</strong> There's an ongoing feud between the Crenshaw and Marling camps — and a dispute about how it began.</p><p><strong>Sources close to Marling</strong> say it started several years ago, when he invited Crenshaw to appear at an annual conservative youth summit. Crenshaw said he would speak only if audience members wore masks, so the story goes, and Marling said no. (A person close to Crenshaw denies this happened.)</p><ul><li>Then, a year ago, Crenshaw told a person close to Marling that he wanted to put Marling's "head through a wall." (Crenshaw's team also denies this.)</li></ul><p><strong>A Crenshaw ally </strong>said the bad blood has to do with the peculiarities of Texas' 2nd District — specifically that Crenshaw represents the Harris County (Houston) portion of the district, and Marling resides in the Montgomery County portion, in Houston's northern suburbs.</p><ul><li>This source said there's been a rivalry between the two counties, and that Marling wanted the district's representative to be from Montgomery County, which he found in Toth.</li><li>Others point to ideology: Marling simply didn't regard Crenshaw as conservative enough, they say. </li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying:</strong> "There was no 'feud,' " Crenshaw told Axios. "A feud requires two people. I've never met Marling or even know him. Marling is a conspiratorial old man."</p><ul><li>Marling declined to comment.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in: </strong>In December, a strategist from a pro-Toth super PAC visited Marling, asked for a $250,000 donation and outlined how the money would be spent. Marling said yes.</p><ul><li>Marling cut a $25,000 check in January, and another for $200,000 on Feb. 10.</li></ul><p><strong>By early February,</strong> the Marling-bankrolled offensive had taken a toll on Crenshaw. The pro-Toth super PAC's polling indicated Toth had cut substantially into Crenshaw's lead.</p><ul><li>Marling also worked behind the scenes, telling people around Trump — including House Speaker Mike Johnson — that he hoped the president wouldn't endorse Crenshaw.</li><li>Trump ended up not endorsing in the primary.</li></ul><p><strong>Things then took a turn</strong> on Feb. 24, when Crenshaw took to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CrenshawforCongress/posts/follow-the-money-steve-toths-super-pac-is-almost-entirely-funded-by-a-colony-rid/1486551489495501/" target="_blank">social media</a> to attack Marling, who he said was "funding all those slanderous mailers ... about me."</p><ul><li>Crenshaw also accused Marling's Woodforest National Bank of loaning $20 million to Colony Ridge, a residential development near Houston that conservatives say is a haven for undocumented immigrants.</li><li>A person close to Marling said he wasn't involved with Woodforest at the time of the loan.</li></ul><p><strong>Marling then struck back — </strong>launching an <a href="https://x.com/marling_robert" target="_blank">X account</a> devoted to attacking Crenshaw.</p><ul><li>"Dan is feeling the pressure because he has lost his way in our district," Marling wrote.</li></ul><p><strong>Marling cut a final $200,000</strong> check during the last week of the primary campaign. The money funded an ad in which Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) endorsed Toth. </p><p><strong>Between the lines: </strong>Cruz had several reasons for getting involved in the race, including his longstanding relationship with Marling, sources familiar with Cruz's thinking told Axios.</p><ul><li>Marling has been a donor to Cruz since 2011, and was a major backer of his 2016 presidential bid. Cruz attended the funeral of Marling's daughter in 2022.</li><li>"It's a family affair in Cruzworld," said one of the people involved in the primary.</li></ul><p><strong>The Club for Growth</strong>, a conservative group Marling has funded in the past, also chipped in to run the ad. (Turning Point USA, another organization Marling has bankrolled, also backed Toth.)</p><p><strong>In the end, the primary wasn't close: </strong>Crenshaw lost to Toth, 55% to 40%.</p><p><strong>Marling was vacationing </strong>with his wife, Kim, in the Caribbean when Tuesday's results came in.</p><ul><li>"This is so great," he texted a friend.</li></ul><p><em>This story has been updated to include a comment from Crenshaw.</em></p>

<p>Militants from several Kurdish Iranian factions are preparing for a possible ground offensive against <a href="https://www.axios.com/world/iran" target="_blank">Iran's</a> regime in the northwestern part of the country, according to U.S. and Israeli officials and a senior official in one of the factions. </p><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> A <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/trump-iran-war-kurds-iraq" target="_blank">Kurdish</a> ground offensive coordinated with the U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign against Tehran could increase pressure on the regime and encourage an internal rebellion that could spread to other parts of Iran.</p><hr /><p><strong>Driving the news:</strong> Six days before the war began, five dissident Kurdish Iranian groups sheltering in Iraq <a href="https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2026/02/iranian-kurdish-groups-unite-against-tehran-regime-as-iraqi-militias-threaten-kurdistan-region.php" target="_blank">announced</a> the formation of the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan to fight Iran.</p><ul><li>These Kurdish factions have thousands of soldiers along the Iran-Iraq border and control strategic areas. </li><li>In recent weeks, the Kurdish Iranian factions sent hundreds of their members from the camp on the Iraqi side of the border to the Iranian side as part of preparation for a possible attack against regime forces, a source close to one of the factions said.</li></ul><p><strong>Behind the scenes:</strong> The Iranian Kurdish militias are backed by the Mossad and the CIA, two U.S. and Israeli officials and a third source with knowledge said.</p><ul><li>The goal is to try to take over a specific territory in the Kurdish region inside Iran in order to challenge the regime and inspire a broader uprising, a U.S. official said. </li><li>"The war started with a kinetic phase by the U.S. and Israeli militaries, but as the war continues there will be other efforts by the Mossad and the CIA," an Israeli official said. </li><li>Secretary of State <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/rubio-trump-iran-israel-attacks" target="_blank">Marco Rubio</a> told Congress in a closed-door briefing on Tuesday: "We're not arming the Kurds. But you never know with the Israelis."</li><li>The role of the CIA in the plan was first reported by <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/03/politics/cia-arming-kurds-iran" target="_blank">CNN</a>. </li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in: </strong>The idea to support the Kurdish Iranian factions and use them for a ground offensive from Iraq into Iran came initially from Israeli Prime Minister <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/trump-netanyahu-call-iran-war-israel-coordination" target="_blank">Benjamin Netanyahu</a> and the Mossad, with the CIA joining the effort at a later stage, a second U.S. official said.</p><ul><li>Israeli officials promised the Kurdish Iranian factions not only military support but also political support for a Kurdish autonomous region in a future Iran if the regime collapsed, the official claimed.</li><li>"The problem is that the Kurdish Iranian factions don't have enough military power and could end up as cannon fodder," the official said. </li><li>White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Wednesday that President <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_self">Trump</a> hasn't agreed to any plan for supporting an offensive by Kurdish Iranian militias against the regime.</li><li>The CIA and Mossad declined to comment. </li></ul><p><strong>The big picture:</strong> Trump spoke by phone on Sunday with Kurdish leaders in Iraq Masoud Barzani and Bafel Talabani to discuss the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/iran-war-expanding-israel-lebanon-gulf-cyprus" target="_self">U.S.-Israeli war</a> with Iran and what might come next, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/trump-iran-war-kurds-iraq" target="_blank">Axios reported</a>.</p><ul><li>A U.S. official said the call went well but both Barzani and Talabani expressed reservations about getting involved in any ground invasion into Iran. </li><li>CNN reported that Trump spoke separately to the leader of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), Mustafa Hijri.</li><li>Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi spoke on Wednesday with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and expressed concern about a possible ground incursion by the Kurdish Iranian factions into Iran. </li><li>"The Iraqi prime minister emphasized that the Iraqi government will under no circumstances allow any threat to be directed at Iran from Iraqi territory," the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement. </li></ul><p><strong>State of play:</strong> In the days since the war with Iran started, Israeli fighter jets conducted airstrikes against Iranian military border positions in the Kurdistan region and against Iranian revolutionary guards' bases and police stations in the area. </p><ul><li>Iranian news agency Tasnim reported on Wednesday that the city of Bukan in northwestern Iran, near the border with Iraq, was under heavily bombing.</li><li>On Wednesday, the Kurdish Iranian factions denied that they started a ground offensive. A Kurdish source said such an offensive could start later this week, but said the different factions are waiting for a U.S. "green light" to go in. </li></ul><p><strong>Go deeper... </strong></p><p><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/05/trump-iran-war-kurds-soldiers-iraq" target="_blank">Who are the Kurds and why they could play a big role in the Iran war</a></p><p><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/trump-iran-war-kurds-iraq" target="_blank">Scoop: Trump calls Kurdish leaders in Iran war effort</a></p>

<p>The U.S. and Israel's war with <a href="https://www.axios.com/world/iran" target="_blank">Iran</a> is likely to impact people around the world as tensions escalate around the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/01/trump-us-sinks-9-iran-warships-strait-of-hormuz" target="_blank">Strait of Hormuz</a>, a waterway on Iran's southern coast, where traffic has <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-04/marine-traffic-data-shows-no-oil-tankers-strait-of-hormuz/106413082" target="_blank">ground to a halt</a>. </p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>Trade disruptions along this key waterway on Iran's southern coast that handles 25% of the world's maritime oil trade and 20% of liquefied natural gas shipments will likely produce a domino effect across the global economy.</p><hr /><ul><li>About 33% of the world's fertilizers, including sulfur and ammonia, travel through the strait, according to the trade analysis firm <a href="https://www.kpler.com/blog/global-fertiliser-dependency-on-gulf-exports-what-if-hormuz-is-disrupted" target="_blank">Kpler</a>. • It's a key route for <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/04/iran-war-gas-prices-trump" target="_blank">alumimum and sugar</a> as well.</li><li>Blocked access to the strait will likely impact the price of some products, including clothing, cookware, medical equipment, and more.</li></ul><p><strong>State of play: </strong>The strait is "closed" and any vessel attempting to pass through the waterway would be set "ablaze," an Iran Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) commander <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/2/iran-says-will-attack-any-ship-trying-to-pass-through-strait-of-hormuz" target="_blank">said</a> Monday.</p><p><strong>Driving the news: </strong>President <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump</a> said on Truth Social on Tuesday that the U.S. will "immediately" offer "political risk insurance and guarantees" for energy tankers and other ships in <a href="https://www.axios.com/world/iran" target="_self">the Gulf region</a>, and that the Navy would escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz if needed.</p><ul><li>The U.S. has been <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/01/trump-us-sinks-9-iran-warships-strait-of-hormuz" target="_blank">striking</a> Iranian warships in order to reduce Iran's stronghold over the strait. </li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>"The scale of what is at stake cannot be overstated," Hakan Kaya, senior portfolio manager at investment management firm Neuberger Berman, said in a <a href="https://www.nb.com/en/global/insights/article-risks-to-oil-from-iran-the-price-of-uncertainty-flows-through-hormuz" target="_blank">blog</a> post this week.</p><ul><li>Oil companies can likely absorb a one- to two-week slowdown, he said.</li><li>"A full or near-full closure lasting a month or more would require demand destruction at levels that could push crude well into triple digits and European natural gas prices toward or above the crisis levels seen in 2022," Kaya added.</li></ul><p><em>Here's what to know: </em></p><h2>Gas prices</h2><p><strong>Threat level: </strong>With access to oil restricted, oil prices and gasoline prices have spiked. </p><ul><li>Tom Kloza, an oil analyst working for Gulf Oil, told Axios that he expects the national average <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/iran-war-gas-prices-oil" target="_blank">gas price to reach a high</a> of $3.25 to $3.50 a gallon in the coming weeks.</li><li>Prices won't just sting at the gas pump — the cost of jet fuel is spiking as well, which likely means travel will get more expensive. </li></ul><p><strong>Yes, but: </strong>The U.S. is the world's largest oil producer and <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/04/iran-war-oil-gas-price" target="_blank">far less dependent</a> on the fuel now than it was in 1979, when a crisis in Iran caused widespread disruption in the United States.</p><h2>Impact on farmers</h2><p><strong>Between the lines: </strong>The hit to the world's fertilizer supply will likely hurt U.S. farmers. </p><ul><li><a href="https://x.com/qatarenergy/status/2028786864476266700?s=46&amp;t=MNhA9SE7-xqWn11juzJUkw" target="_blank">QatarLNG</a>, a subsidiary of Qatar Energy, a state-run oil and gas company, said on Tuesday that it would cease production of many products following drone strikes on some of its facilities. </li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in: </strong>Veronica Nigh, a senior economist at the Fertilizer Institute, a U.S.-based industry advocacy organization, told <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/trumps-war-on-iran-could-screw-over-us-farmers/" target="_blank">Wired</a> that in the U.S. most fertilizer demand goes to large row crops like corn, soy, wheat, and cotton. </p><ul><li>For fertilizers, Nigh said almost 30% of ammonia's global production is "either involved or at risk in this conflict" and it's 50% for urea.</li><li>Farmers of those crops will likely experience increased prices for necessary fertilizers if the war keeps going, Nigh said. </li><li>Saudi Arabia, for instance, supplies about 40% of all U.S. phosphate imports, which are used to make any fertilizers, according to Nigh.</li></ul><p><strong>More from Axios:</strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/04/iran-attacks-polls-americans-disapprove" target="_blank">Americans aren't sold on Iran attacks, new polls show</a></li><li><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/iran-war-countries-gulf-qatar-us" target="_blank">Here are all the countries now involved in the Iran conflict</a></li><li><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/04/iran-war-gas-prices-trump" target="_blank">The products and services likely to surge in price due to the Iran war</a></li></ul>

<p>Progressive groups are preparing to primary any House Democrat who votes against a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/26/democrats-iran-war-powers-vote-trump" target="_blank">War Powers Resolution</a> constraining the Trump administration from carrying out military operations in Iran, Axios has learned.</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>The threat raises the stakes of a highly charged Thursday vote that has split a group of hawkish Democratic centrists from the rest of their party.</p><hr /><ul><li>"Any Democrat voting against this resolution is really voting against the base of the party, and it will be a very politically perilous vote," a senior progressive House Democrat told Axios.</li><li>The lawmaker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that have not been previously publicized, said there are "several progressive groups that will primary anyone" who votes no.</li><li>"They're already preparing. If the filing deadline has passed, they'll do it in '28," the House Democrat added. "It's basically inviting a primary challenge."</li></ul><p><strong>Another House progressive</strong> told Axios that progressive groups are "organizing calls into their districts to make sure that every Democrat votes for" the resolution.</p><ul><li>"My understanding is that if they're doing that level of organizing now, they're going to hold them accountable," the lawmaker said.</li><li>"As they should," the lawmaker added.</li></ul><p><strong>What we're hearing: </strong>The first lawmaker cited Justice Democrats, MoveOn, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and OurRevolution as groups involved in the effort.</p><ul><li>Justice Democrats spokesperson Usamah Andrabi told Axios: "Any Democrat that votes against war powers is supporting Trump's war on Iran and deserves to be primaried because all voters across the political spectrum are wholeheartedly against it." </li><li>Said MoveOn spokesperson Britt Jacovich: "MoveOn members have no plans to throw their support behind members of Congress who refused to do their job and stop Trump from expanding his war. All options are on the table to make sure that our members' voices are heard loud and clear."</li><li>OurRevolution spokesperson Paco Fabian told Axios: "When elected officials ... fail to stand with working people demanding peace and accountability, they risk losing the trust of the voters who put them in office. And when that trust is broken, voters often begin looking for leaders who will fight for them."</li></ul><p>The PCCC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.</p><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>"I'm voting no," said Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), adding that these groups should "focus on affordability."</p><ul><li>Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) declined to say how he plans to vote and, asked if he is concerned about backlash, quipped, "I'm Jewish, I always have anxiety."</li><li>Another undecided House Democrat, who declined to speak on the record, told Axios: "I live my life doing ... what I believe is the right thing. Bring it."</li><li>A group of six House Democrats has introduced an <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/democrats-iran-war-powers-trump-vote-house" target="_blank">alternative War Powers Resolution</a> that would give the administration more time to withdraw, though several of them have said they support both measures.</li></ul><p><strong>Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.)</strong> also wouldn't say Wednesday afternoon how he was voting. </p><ul><li>Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), standing next to Suozzi, asked him, "Are you going to do the right thing?"</li><li>"I'm going to do the right thing," Suozzi replied, without specifying which way he believes that to be.</li><li>"He's going to do the right thing," Huffman said.</li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines: </strong>This measure is supported by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and the rest of Democratic leadership, putting these holdouts on an island.</p><ul><li>Jeffries and other top Democrats, including Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes (D-Conn.), made "emphatic" cases for the resolution in a closed-door caucus meeting Wednesday, sources told Axios. </li><li>Jeffries, in the meeting, cited <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-views-divided-us-action-against-iran" target="_blank">Fox News polling</a> that shows middling approval for military intervention in Iran and called it a "war of choice," according to sources.</li><li>House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) told Axios on Tuesday that she is whipping the vote, meaning that her deputies are privately cajoling colleagues not to break ranks.</li></ul><p><strong>The bottom line: </strong>As with members like Rep. <a href="https://www.startribune.com/ice-agent-surge-minnesota-protests-federal-enforcement/601591429" target="_blank">Angie Craig</a> (D-Minn.), who now says she regrets voting for the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/01/29/laken-riley-act-what-to-know-trump-immigration-law" target="_blank">Laken Riley Act</a> last year, this is a vote that could follow members well beyond a single news cycle.</p>

<p>Some five days into the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/iran-war-countries-gulf-qatar-us" target="_blank">sprawling Middle East conflict</a> sparked by <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/iran-attack-trump-us-israel-strikes" target="_blank">U.S.-Israeli strikes</a> on Iran, significantly more Americans disapprove than approve of the attacks across several polls.</p><p><strong>The big picture: </strong><a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">President Trump</a> has offered a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/trump-iran-strike-plan-timeline-interviews" target="_blank">mixed bag of motivations</a> for the strikes and his plans to resolve the rapidly escalating conflict that has <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/3-us-fighter-jets-friendly-fire-kuwait" target="_blank">killed six</a> U.S. service members.</p><hr /><ul><li>If early polling is any indication, the White House's reasoning isn't resonating with Americans.</li></ul><p><strong>Case in point:</strong> Nearly six in ten Americans disapproved of the decision to take military action in Iran, according to a Feb. 28 to March 1 CNN <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27693899-rel3a-iran/" target="_blank">poll</a> conducted by SSRS of 1,004 U.S. adults. Forty-one percent said they approved.</p><ul><li>Six in ten also said they don't think Trump has a clear plan for handling the situation, and 39% said the U.S. did not put in enough diplomatic effort before using military force.</li><li>There is a sharp partisan divide: While 82% of Democrats and 68% of Independents or others strongly or somewhat disapproved, just 23% of Republicans shared that sentiment.</li></ul><div>Data: <a href="https://yougov.com/en-us/articles/54201-how-americans-feel-about-the-us-attack-on-iran" target="_blank">Yougov poll</a>; Chart: Axios Visuals</div><p><strong>Zoom out: </strong>That party divide is shown across numerous <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2026/trump-iran-strikes-poll-americans/" target="_blank">polls</a> which repeatedly depict a wary public, though significant shares of Republicans said they approve the strikes.</p><ul><li>A Monday YouGov <a href="https://yougov.com/en-us/daily-results/20260302-7d911-1" target="_blank">survey</a> of more than 1,600 U.S. adults found that nearly half (48%) strongly or somewhat disapproved of the attack, including the vast majority of Democrats (78%) and Independents (55%). Republicans overwhelmingly approved (76%). </li><li>43% of Americans disapproved the strikes in a Reuters-Ipsos <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/more-americans-disapprove-approve-us-strikes-against-iran" target="_blank">poll</a> released Sunday<strong> </strong>of more than 1,200 U.S. adults, though more than half of Republicans (55%) approve. Notably, 31% of Republicans polled said they weren't sure if they approved or not. </li><li>Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-views-divided-us-action-against-iran" target="_blank">polling</a><strong> </strong>found a more even split, with half of voters saying they approved of the strikes. A vast majority of the GOP agreed (84%), compared to 20% of Democrats and 40% of Independents.</li></ul><p><strong>Still, the strikes</strong> put Trump on a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/rubio-trump-iran-israel-attacks" target="_blank">collision course</a> with influential <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/maga-iran-strikes-reaction-trump" target="_blank">MAGA world voices</a> who oppose the war but are more out of step with the president's base than he is.</p><ul><li>White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement provided to Axios that "President Trump makes decisions based on what's in the best interest of the United States and the American people."</li><li>She continued, "Right now, the White House's main priority is working alongside the Pentagon and the interagencies to ensure the continued and ultimate success of the operation."</li></ul><p><strong>The bottom line: </strong>The administration is <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/04/iran-assassination-plot-trump-leader-killed" target="_blank">striking a victorious tone</a>. But the public appears cautious of a conflict <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/01/trump-speech-iran-war-us-combat-deaths" target="_blank">Trump warned</a> would "likely" take more American lives.</p><p><em>Methodology: The margin of error for the March 2 YouGov survey is approximately 3%. The CNN study was conducted Feb. 28-March 1 with a margin of error of </em>±<em>3.9. The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted Feb. 28 – March 1 by Ipsos with a margin of error of ± 2.8 points. The Fox News survey was conducted Feb. 28-March 2 and includes interviews with a sample of 1,004 registered voters with a margin of error of ±3 percentage points.</em></p><p><strong>Go deeper: </strong><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/26/iran-trump-nuclear-talks-trust-poll-ap-norc" target="_blank">Americans fear Iran but question Trump's judgment: poll</a></p>

<p>Texas state Rep. <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2025/09/09/democrat-james-talarico-us-senate" target="_blank">James Talarico</a> of Austin defeated U.S. Rep. <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/12/jasmine-crockett-house-democrats-senate-texas" target="_blank">Jasmine Crockett</a> of Dallas for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Texas.</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>Talarico's victory sets the stage for a battle royal that promises to be among the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/10/01/james-talarico-raises-62-million-for-texas-senate-bid" target="_blank">most expensive contests</a> of the year, as Democrats hope President Trump's unpopularity translates to red-state victories.</p><hr /><ul><li>It also further raises the profile of Talarico, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/17/colbert-cbs-talarico-interview-fcc-trump-carr" target="_blank">a media darling</a> who has framed his argument against Republicans in <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2025/10/15/how-texas-talarico-is-leveraging-social-media-in-his-bid-for-the-senate" target="_blank">terms of his Christian faith</a>. </li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying:</strong> "Tonight our campaign is shocking the nation," Talarico <a href="https://www.c-span.org/program/campaign-2026/james-talarico-primary-night-remarks/674469" target="_blank">said</a> Tuesday night in Austin.</p><p><strong>The latest:</strong> Crockett issued a statement Wednesday conceding the race to Talarico and called on the party to unify behind him. </p><ul><li>As of noon CST Wednesday, Talarico had 52.8% of the vote, and Crockett 45.9%, per results from 92% of polling locations statewide according to the Texas Secretary of State's Office.</li></ul><p><strong>The intrigue:</strong> Voting in Dallas County, Crockett's home base, was wracked with <a href="https://www.votebeat.org/texas/2026/03/04/dallas-county-precinct-voting-problems-jasmine-crockett-james-talarico-democrats-gop/" target="_blank">confusion</a>. </p><ul><li>Ahead of the election, Dallas and Williamson counties had closed centralized voting centers, which had been commonly used by voters of both parties, at the <a href="https://www.votebeat.org/texas/2026/01/09/dallas-williamson-2026-primary-election-countywide-find-my-voting-precinct/" target="_blank">behest of local Republicans</a>.</li><li>Some voters reported scrambling to figure out their polling place and district court judges <a href="https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/vote-texas/williamson-county-extended-polling-location-hours-georgetown/269-13bc2ddf-03a3-4eb6-b01e-b6d0a2f5cefb" target="_blank">extended</a> <a href="https://www.fox4news.com/news/judge-extends-polling-hours-after-dallas-county-voters-turned-away" target="_blank">polling hours</a> in both counties.</li><li>But late Tuesday the Texas Supreme Court <a href="https://www.txcourts.gov/supreme/orders-opinions/2026/march/march-3-2026/" target="_blank">ordered</a> the counties to separate any votes cast by voters not in line by 7pm.</li><li>"I can tell you now that people have been disenfranchised," Crockett told supporters Tuesday night.</li></ul><p><strong>Context: </strong>Texas has not elected a Democratic candidate statewide <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/dallas/2026/02/24/texas-democrat-primary-turnout-high" target="_blank">since 1994</a>.</p><p><strong>Follow the money:</strong> Ahead of the final weeks of the race, Talarico's campaign had $4.8 million and Crockett's campaign had $3.5 million in cash on hand, per the most recent campaign finance filings.</p><ul><li>On top of that, millions of dollars <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2026/02/01/cornyn-paxton-talarico-crockett-senate-texas-fundraising" target="_blank">flooded the race</a> from political action committees supporting the candidates.</li><li>Talarico for TX Senate and Lone Star Rising PAC, a pro-Talarico committee, were slated to spend about $16 million in advertising over the final month of the race, per data from advertising analytics site AdImpact.</li><li>Over the same period, Crockett for TX Senate was scheduled to spend about $3.5 million, with another $500,000 from the Texas Forward PAC, per AdImpact.</li></ul><p><strong>What's next: </strong>Talarico will face the winner of a <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2026/03/04/cornyn-paxton-runoff-texas-republican-senate-primary" target="_blank">Republican primary runoff</a> between U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.</p><p><strong>Flashback: </strong><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/17/colbert-cbs-talarico-interview-fcc-trump-carr" target="_blank">Colbert defies CBS over interview with Texas Senate candidate</a></p>

<p>Half of Americans now <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/14/abolish-ice-protests-trump-administration" target="_blank">support abolishing ICE</a>, compared with just 39% who oppose eliminating the agency, according to a new YouGov <a href="https://yougov.com/en-us/articles/54225-support-for-abolishing-ice-reaches-50-percent-february-27-march-2-2026-economist-yougov-poll" target="_blank">poll</a>. </p><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> It's the first time in YouGov's polling history that support for abolishing ICE has reached 50%, capping a steady rise since January amid the Trump administration's <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/15/trump-insurrection-act-minneapolis-ice-protests" target="_blank">immigration crackdown</a>. </p><hr /><ul><li>While Democrats have largely supported abolishing ICE in 2026 polling, this survey also marks a new high for Independents, with 52% backing the idea. </li><li>A majority of Republicans (68%) still oppose abolishing ICE, but in another record-high finding, 23% now say they support eliminating the agency. </li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in:</strong> Even among Americans who don't favor abolishing ICE, there's broad support for restricting <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/11/18/california-trump-ice-id-mask-lawsuit-administration-agents" target="_blank">federal agents' powers</a>. </p><ul><li>Three-quarters of Americans say ICE officers should be required to wear uniforms identifying them as agency personnel, while just 14% disagree. </li><li>Large majorities across party lines support uniform requirements — 92% of Democrats, 57% of Republicans and 77% of Independents.</li><li>Most Americans (59%) say ICE agents shouldn't be allowed to <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/07/19/states-cities-bans-ice-agents-masks-id" target="_blank">wear masks</a> that cover their faces, including 87% of Democrats and 68% of Independents. </li></ul><p><strong>Yes, but:</strong> Republicans are more supportive of agents wearing face coverings, with 65% saying they should be allowed to hide their faces, compared with 20% who disagree. </p><p><strong>Go deeper:</strong> <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/27/ice-trump-alex-pretti-minnesota-minneapolis-americans-poll" target="_blank">Americans' confidence in ICE plummets after Minneapolis shootings</a></p><p><em>Methodology: This online survey was conducted among 1,515 U.S. adults, Feb. 27 to March 2. Respondents were selected from YouGov's opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3.4%.</em></p>

<p>Last Monday, Israeli Prime Minister <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/07/netanyahu-trump-iran-negotiations" target="_blank">Benjamin Netanyahu</a> called President <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump</a> with a stunning tip: Iran's supreme leader and his top advisers were all set to meet at one location in Tehran on Saturday morning.</p><ul><li>They could all be killed in a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/iran-khamenei-killed-israel" target="_blank">single devastating airstrike</a>, Netanyahu told Trump and his team, according to three sources briefed on the discussion.</li></ul><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> The Feb. 23 call — held from the White House Situation Room and unreported until now — was a pivotal moment that set the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/iran-war-countries-gulf-qatar-us" target="_blank">Iran war</a> in motion.</p><hr /><ul><li>It answers the question that lawmakers, MAGA skeptics and world leaders have all been asking since Saturday: why now?</li><li>The answer: Ayatollah <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/iran-leader-ali-khamenei-what-to-know" target="_blank">Ali Khamenei</a> and his inner circle were irresistible targets of opportunity that neither Trump nor Netanyahu wanted to pass up.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in:</strong> Trump was already <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/01/trump-iran-war-attack-behind-scenes" target="_blank">leaning toward striking Iran</a> before learning the new intelligence about Khamenei. What he hadn't decided was when — until Netanyahu called.</p><ul><li>The Feb. 23 call was part of months of intensive coordination between the two leaders, who met twice and spoke by phone 15 times in the two months leading to the war, according to U.S. and Israeli officials.</li><li>The U.S. and Israel had considered striking a week earlier than Saturday, but <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/iran-war-strike-israel-delay-trump" target="_blank">postponed</a> for intelligence and operational reasons, including bad weather.</li></ul><p><strong>Inside the room: </strong>An initial CIA check, conducted at Trump's direction, confirmed the information about Khamenei gathered by Israeli military intelligence.</p><ul><li>Preparations accelerated as Trump told Netanyahu he would consider moving forward — but first came the president's <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/25/trump-sotu-speech-takeaways" target="_blank">State of the Union address</a> the following night.</li><li>U.S. officials said Trump made a "deliberate decision" not to focus excessively on Iran so as not to spook the ayatollah and drive him underground before the strike could be executed.</li></ul><p><strong>By Thursday</strong>, the CIA had fully "confirmed that these people were all going to be together, and we needed to take advantage of it," a source said.</p><ul><li>That same day, Trump's envoys Jared Kushner and <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/25/witkoff-iran-deal-indefinite-geneva-talks" target="_blank">Steve Witkoff</a> called from Geneva after hours of talks with Iranian officials and delivered a blunt verdict: negotiations were going nowhere.</li><li>"If you decide you want to do diplomacy, we will push and fight to get a deal. But these guys showed us they weren't willing to make the deal you will be satisfied with," a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the call said Trump was told.</li></ul><p><strong>Trump was now convinced</strong> of two things: the intelligence was solid, and diplomacy was dead. On Friday at 3:38 p.m. EST, he gave the final order.</p><ul><li>Eleven hours later, bombs fell on Tehran, Khamenei was killed and the war had begun.</li></ul><img src="https://images.axios.com/B1w_B893dDErjukltK_HrVFhf8w=/2026/03/03/1772580040951.jpeg" /> <div>An Iranian flag is planted in the rubble of a police station on March 3 in Tehran. Photo: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images</div><p><strong>Behind the scenes:</strong> Trump saw Netanyahu as a close partner and was genuinely open to his counsel on Iran — but he was also determined to exhaust diplomacy first.</p><ul><li>"One side of the house was negotiating and the other side of the house was doing joint military planning" with Israel, a U.S. official said. "He was assessing both things all the time."</li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines: </strong>Under fire for suggesting the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/rubio-trump-iran-israel-attacks" target="_blank">U.S. had been dragged in by Israel</a>, Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted Tuesday that this operation "had to happen anyway," and that it was simply "a question of timing."</p><ul><li>"This weekend presented a unique opportunity to take joint action against this threat," he told reporters on Capitol Hill. "We wanted this to have maximum success."</li><li>"Trump wanted to strike earlier — in early January. It was Bibi who asked to delay," one Israeli official said, stressing that the timing was "fully coordinated" with "the understanding that it would be carried out jointly."</li></ul><p><strong>The intrigue: </strong>The original plan called for a strike in late March or early April, giving the administration time to build public support. Netanyahu pushed to move faster, a U.S. official told Axios.</p><ul><li>The official said Netanyahu began "agitating" and warning that Iranian opposition leaders sheltering in safe houses were in danger of being killed by the regime.</li></ul><p><strong>The accelerated timeline</strong> left the administration flat-footed: Rather than spending weeks building the public case for war, the White House found itself justifying the strikes after the bombs had already fallen.</p><ul><li>"We didn't make the case in advance as well as we could have because the opportunity came on us so fast," the official said. </li><li>Another official acknowledged there was <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/rubio-trump-iran-israel-attacks" target="_blank">muddled messaging from Rubio</a> and from the White House, which started making the case for war after the attack, rather than before.</li></ul><p><strong>Friction point:</strong> Because Trump and Netanyahu disguised their Saturday attack, many U.S. citizens were caught completely unaware and stranded as Iran launched retaliatory strikes across the Gulf.</p><ul><li>Rubio's State Department scrambled to <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/state-department-iran-trump-flights-middle-east-americans" target="_blank">mount an emergency evacuation</a> effort for more than 1,500 Americans who requested assistance getting out of the region.</li><li>Asked by reporters Tuesday why there was no evacuation plan, Trump replied: "Well, because it happened all very quickly."</li></ul><p><strong>The other side: </strong>Israeli Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter declined to comment on the specifics of the Feb. 23 call, but denied that Netanyahu was "agitating" or ever raised the threat to Iranian opposition leaders as a reason to accelerate.</p><ul><li>"Over the past year, we have worked more closely than ever with our partners in the United States regarding Iran, and we see eye to eye on the danger Iran poses to Israel, to the United States, and to the free world," Leiter told Axios.</li><li>"Anyone who knows President Trump understands that he is a strong leader who cannot be steered," the ambassador said.</li></ul><p><strong>The bottom line: </strong>Trump was equally dismissive Tuesday of any suggestion that Netanyahu drove the decision.</p><ul><li>"We were having negotiations with these lunatics and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first. I felt strongly about that. If anything, I might have forced Israel's hand," he said.</li><li>The White House did not dispute Axios' reporting and pointed to Trump's and Rubio's public comments Tuesday.</li></ul>

<p>The <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/28/us-israel-strikes-iran-middle-east-dubai-airports" target="_blank">United Arab Emirates</a> is considering taking military action to stop Iranian missile and drone strikes on the country, two sources with knowledge of the matter tell Axios. </p><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> An Emirati strike on <a href="https://www.axios.com/world/iran" target="_blank">Iran</a> would be unprecedented. The fact that it's being considered reflects the enormous anger among Gulf countries over Iranian attacks that have targeted civilian infrastructure and oil and gas facilities.</p><hr /><ul><li>The UAE has been the country most attacked by Iran since the start of the war — even more so than <a href="https://www.axios.com/world/israel" target="_blank">Israel</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying:</strong> "The UAE is considering taking active defensive measures against Iran. Although it has not been involved in the war in any way, it has still endured 800 projectiles," a source familiar with Emirati policy discussions said.</p><ul><li>"The view in the UAE is that no country in the world would fail to evaluate its defensive posture under such circumstances," the source added.</li></ul><p><strong>The latest: </strong>The Emirati foreign ministry said in a statement that the "UAE retains its right to self-defense." It added that the UAE "has not taken any decision to alter its defensive posture in response to the repeated Iranian attacks."</p><p><strong>Driving the news:</strong> On the first day of the war, Iran attacked the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. On the second day, the strikes expanded to also include Oman and Saudi Arabia.</p><ul><li>The attacks led Qatar to suspend most of its natural gas production, and on Monday, an Iranian drone struck the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh.</li><li>Debris from intercepted missiles ignited fires at Jebel Ali port, and a drone struck a luxury hotel on Dubai's Palm Jumeirah.</li></ul><p><strong>The intrigue: </strong>Israeli officials believe Saudi Arabia might also take military action in retaliation for Iranian attacks.</p><p><strong>Anwar Gargash,</strong> foreign policy adviser to the UAE president, <a href="https://x.com/AnwarGargash/status/2028022728725545351?s=20" target="_blank">wrote on X</a> that Iran's attacks against Gulf states "was a miscalculation and has isolated Iran at a critical juncture."</p><ul><li>"Your war is not with your neighbors, and this escalation only reinforces the narrative that Iran is the primary source of danger in the region and that its missile program is a constant source of instability," he wrote.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in:</strong> The Emirati Defense Ministry said Tuesday that Iran had launched 186 ballistic missiles at the UAE — 172 were intercepted, 13 fell into the sea and one landed on Emirati territory.</p><ul><li>An additional 812 drones were detected, of which 755 were intercepted and 57 made impact within the country. Three foreign nationals have been killed and around 70 wounded.</li><li>"The UAE reserves its full right to respond to this escalation and to take all necessary measures to protect its territory, citizens and residents," the Defense Ministry said.</li></ul><p><strong>The big picture:</strong> Iran's retaliatory strikes have turned the war into a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/iran-war-expanding-israel-lebanon-gulf-cyprus" target="_blank">sweeping regional crisis</a>, pulling in countries that never wanted to be part of the conflict.</p><ul><li>Since the U.S.-Israel bombing campaign began, Iran has targeted U.S. bases and other targets in UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq — including the Kurdish region.</li><li>President <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_self">Trump</a> said Monday that Operation Epic Fury is designed to <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/trump-address-iran-war-length" target="_self">last four to five weeks</a>, giving the conflict significant room to expand further.</li></ul><p><em>Editor's note: This story has been updated with comment from the Emirati foreign ministry.</em></p>

<p>Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, once a Manhattan neighbor of <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/epstein-files" target="_blank">Jeffrey Epstein</a>, voluntarily agreed to an interview with the House Oversight Committee over past ties to the convicted sex offender, Axios has learned.</p><ul><li><strong>Lutnick told Axios: </strong>"I look forward to appearing before the committee. I have done nothing wrong and I want to set the record straight."</li></ul><hr /><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>Lutnick's past association with Epstein has been under growing scrutiny since the Cabinet secretary appeared in Justice Department files. </p><ul><li>White House spokesman Kush Desai told Axios: "Secretary Lutnick continues to be a critical asset for President Trump, having played a key role in securing major trade and investment deals. The entire Trump administration, including Secretary Lutnick, remains focused on delivering more wins for the American people."</li></ul><p><strong>Driving the news: </strong>The closed-door interview, with a transcript to be released, will take place in the coming weeks. </p><ul><li>Lutnick hasn't been accused of wrongdoing.</li></ul><p><strong>House Oversight Chair </strong>James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a statement to Axios: "Secretary Lutnick has proactively agreed to appear voluntarily before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for a transcribed interview."</p><ul><li>"I commend his demonstrated commitment to transparency and appreciate his willingness to engage with the Committee. I look forward to his testimony."</li><li>Axios is told the transcript will be released after review by Lutnick's attorney — standard committee practice for transcribed interviews.</li></ul><p><strong>The big picture: </strong>Democrats in both the <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/02/27/congress/dems-will-force-lutnick-subpoena-vote-00803881" target="_blank">House</a> and <a href="https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases/van-hollen-merkley-press-lutnick-for-answers-on-epstein-ties" target="_blank">Senate</a> have been raising pressure on Lutnick. </p><ul><li>Senate Democrats, in <a href="https://www.merkley.senate.gov/van-hollen-merkley-press-lutnick-for-answers-on-epstein-ties/" target="_blank">a letter</a> to Lutnick on Friday, asked him to turn over all records of his connection to Epstein and Epstein allies, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/27/epstein-lutnick-democrats-probe" target="_blank">Axios scooped</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>President Trump </strong>has repeatedly backed Lutnick, and <a href="https://apnews.com/video/trump-tells-reporters-he-doesnt-like-seeing-former-president-bill-clinton-deposed-d3926a335fcb496da9939658ead09291" target="_blank">said Friday</a> about possible testimony: "Howard would go in and do whatever he has to say. He's a very innocent guy — doing a good job."</p><ul><li>A slew of high-profile Americans are named in Epstein files released by the Justice Department, and few have given a detailed public accounting of their interactions with the disgraced financier, whose death in jail in 2019 was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-jail-suicide-prison-death-8d194a756f2b429067f009a0c70f96c0" target="_blank">ruled a suicide</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>Behind the scenes:</strong> Lutnick, 64, called Comer to tell the chairman he's willing to address any questions from the committee, an administration source told Axios. </p><ul><li>Lutnick <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/democratic-senator-questions-us-commerce-secretarys-fitness-job-amid-epstein-2026-02-10/" target="_blank">also testified</a> about Epstein at a Senate Appropriations hearing on Feb. 10. Lutnick said: "I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with that person."</li></ul><p><strong>The backdrop:</strong> Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was asked about Lutnick during last week's <a href="https://apnews.com/article/epstein-hillary-bill-clinton-deposition-house-investigation-299d82e8549f4d994dcb081c3876585c" target="_blank">six hours</a> of House testimony about Epstein. </p><ul><li>In video <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/release/oversight-committee-releases-bill-and-hillary-clinton-deposition-videos/" target="_blank">released by the committee</a> on Monday, Clinton sparred with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) when asked about her connection to Lutnick. </li><li>Clinton worked with Lutnick in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, and became visibly perturbed and pounded her palm on the table as she responded to Mace, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-bill-clinton-hillary-clinton-deposition-3d5cf44a6b2f5c0333e41a3e3f86c06c" target="_blank">AP reports</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>Lutnick said</strong> on a <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/10/01/us-news/howard-lutnick-calls-ex-neighbor-jeffrey-epstein-greatest-blackmailer-ever/" target="_blank">New York Post podcast</a> last fall that after seeing the creepy "massage room" during a tour of Epstein's townhouse in 2005, "my wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again."</p><ul><li>But the DOJ's Epstein files <a href="https://apnews.com/article/bill-clinton-jeffrey-epstein-deposition-congress-9ea23ac5a5ffd1c7b9511e46308e8b21" target="_blank">later showed</a> Lutnick had two engagements with Epstein years later: He met at Epstein's home in 2011, and in 2012 his family had lunch with Epstein on his private Caribbean island.</li><li><a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5731446-lutnick-admits-epstein-island-visit/" target="_blank">Lutnick told</a> the Senate Appropriations Committee last month that he visited the island with his wife, children and nannies. "I don't recall why we did it," he said.</li></ul><p><em><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/19/prince-andrew-yoon-suk-yeol-epstein-america" target="_blank">Go deeper</a>: Global leaders in Epstein files.</em></p>

<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=65178100&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0" /><br /><br /><p>The Texas Senate Republican primary is heating up after neither John Cornyn nor Ken Paxton secured a majority of the vote, and President Trump — who previously declined to endorse either candidate — may be about to make a decision.</p><p>And that decision will likely be influenced by Paxton’s announcement that if the Senate passes the long-awaited SAVE Act, he will drop out of the race.</p><p>“The Republican Primary Race for the United States Senate in the Great State of Texas, a State I LOVE and won 3 times in Record Numbers ... cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer. IT MUST STOP NOW,” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social.</p><p>“We have an easy to beat, Radical Left Opponent, and we have to TOTALLY FOCUS on putting him away, quickly and decisively! Both John and Ken ran great races, but not good enough. Now, this one, must be perfect!” he continued.</p><h3></h3><br /><span class="rm-shortcode" style="display: block; padding-top: 56.25%;"></span><p>“I will be making my Endorsement soon, and I will be asking the candidate that I don’t Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE! Is that fair? We must win in November!!!!” he concluded.</p><p>“Of course, Ken Paxton is a Texan patriot,” BlazeTV host John Doyle says on “The John Doyle Show.” “So Senate Majority Leader John Thune encouraged Trump to endorse pro-amnesty John Cornyn, and the rumors are essentially that John Thune is using the SAVE Act, a policy by the way that is supported by 80% of Americans, as a kind of leverage of Trump.”</p><p>“Essentially like extorting him into endorsing this Cornyn character. So basically, he’s saying he’s not going to pass the SAVE Act unless Trump personally intervenes to endorse, like, literally this establishment RINO pro-amnesty,” he continues.</p><p>Doyle also points out that Thune has “been an extremely ineffective Senate leader.”</p><p>“He’s passed the fewest bills ever. He’s blocked Trump’s recess appointments. Generally, just slowed down the administration, right? He’s failed on the SAVE Act despite promising repeatedly to pass it,” he says, adding, “This is literally the most important thing that could ever be done, literally ever.”</p><h2>Want more from John Doyle?</h2><p>To enjoy more of the truth about America and join the fight to restore a country that has been betrayed by its own leaders, <a href="https://get.blazetv.com/doyle/?utm_source=theblaze&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=article_shortcode_rufo-lomez" target="_blank">subscribe to BlazeTV</a> — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.</p>

<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/mullin-inherits-a-mess-at-dhs-heres-how-he-can-still-save-trumps-legacy.jpg?id=65174115&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;coordinates=0%2C25%2C0%2C82" /><br /><br /><p>A few weeks ago, <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/phase-one-was-quality-control-phase-two-needs-to-be-quantity-control">I wrote</a>: “Everyone in America has an opinion on what has gone right or wrong at the Department of Homeland Security and its component agencies, particularly Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.” I added — a little too coyly — that I had “a pretty good sense of what happened.”</p><p>That restraint served a purpose at the time. It also left too much unsaid.</p><p class="pull-quote">The mass deportation agenda remains central to Trump’s legacy. Markwayne Mullin has a chance to deliver what the last year only promised. We’re counting on him.</p><p>Now that President Trump has removed Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary and <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/trump-removes-dhs-secretary-noem-and-announces-her-replacement">nominated Senator Markwayne Mullin</a> (R-Okla.) to replace her, it’s worth putting real detail behind the diagnosis. Not to salt the wound, but to fix what needs fixing. Trump’s <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/09/13/trump-deportation-immigrants-springfield-ohio-aurora-colorado" target="_blank">signature promise</a> — “the largest deportation operation in American history” — matters too much for anyone to pretend the last year went smoothly.</p><p>Start with the numbers. They’re too low to fulfill the promise.</p><p>ICE stopped releasing deportation data. The congressionally mandated annual report still hasn’t arrived. In the vacuum, we’ve been left with third-party estimates — the New York Times put removals at <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/01/18/us/trump-deportation-numbers-immigration-crackdown.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">about 230,000</a> in 2025 — and with shifting DHS press-shop claims that bounce between hundreds of thousands and “millions.” The Times figure sits closer to reality than the chest-thumping.</p><p>Instead of mass deportations, we got mass communications.</p><p>The department’s strategy leaned heavily on television ads, memes, charged language, and <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/10/12/trump-mass-deportation-statistics" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">inflated-sounding claims</a> meant to create the impression that deportations were happening at historic scale. The result landed in the worst possible place: It antagonized the left and the media without delivering results big enough to justify the noise. I don’t lose sleep over angry leftists. I do care when the administration absorbs political heat without gaining operational ground.</p><p>Trump World isn’t immune to polling, media narratives, and the feedback loop they create. A loud rollout without the matching numbers gave activists, consultants, and industry a pretext to flood weak-kneed Republican offices on Capitol Hill. Those calls turned into pressure on the administration. The incentive became delay, and delay followed.</p><p>Then came the optics problem.</p><p>Turning the DHS secretary role into a traveling cosplay routine didn’t land, and it didn’t project command. Instead, it projected awkwardness — and in a department built for seriousness, that matters.</p><p>The larger issue was always fit. Excitement around Trump’s cabinet picks made people charitable, and that’s understandable. The president earned that deference. But putting Noem in charge of DHS — the department most central to the core thesis of Trump’s campaign — never quite made sense. People in the enforcement world tried to build working relationships. Many got brushed off. Meanwhile, operational leaders inside DHS did what Noem didn’t: They cultivated the advocates who could help the mission move.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/phase-one-was-quality-control-phase-two-needs-to-be-quantity-control"><strong>‘Phase one’ was quality control. ‘Phase two’ needs to be quantity control.</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image image-crop-16x9"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" id="9ddb5" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=65174110&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;quality=50&amp;coordinates=0%2C21%2C0%2C85" /> <small class="image-media media-photo-credit">Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images</small></p><p>The divide became public. Post-Minneapolis, Tom Homan’s profile rose quickly as Trump tapped him to manage the response. Inside DHS, the camps had already formed. Anyone in Washington with a foot in the enforcement world knew who was on “Team Kristi and Corey [Lewandowski]” and who wasn’t. <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/16/dhs-border-chief-office-renovation-00735316" target="_blank">Leaks followed</a>. Finger-pointing followed. Journalists got fed a steady diet of dysfunction. Morale dropped as firings and reassignments became the department’s background music.</p><p>What drove most of the internal warfare was money — specifically, contracts — and the scramble to control tens of billions authorized through the One Big Beautiful Bill.</p><p>DHS adopted a policy requiring Noem personally to review and sign off on contracts over $100,000. Combined with stripping authority from agency heads, that amounted to centralized control in the secretary’s office.</p><p>In practice, the authority filtered through a small circle and ran through Corey Lewandowski in a “special government employee” capacity. The backlog became delay, and the delays hit the mission: Border wall contracts sat for months while steel prices rose. Detention capacity grew slowly because leadership chased flashy, low-capacity facilities with catchy names — Cornhusker Clink, Speedway Slammer, Louisiana Lockup — announced with social media fanfare but built at higher cost, higher litigation risk, and lower throughput than traditional providers.</p><p>It looked like a communications strategy pretending to be a detention strategy.</p><p>Personnel choices compounded the problem. Noem brought in people with little operational or policy experience in immigration enforcement. Her decision to install a late-20s former Wildlife and Fisheries official as deputy ICE director raised eyebrows. Outside the formal chain of command, an equally inexperienced cast appeared in spaces normally reserved for officials who have spent years in homeland security. Over time, <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/how-kristi-noems-chief-corey-lewandowski-ran-her-dhs-tenure-into-the-ground/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">allegations of self-dealing spread</a> — and the pattern made it harder to dismiss them as rumor.</p><p>The best example was the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/kristi-noem-border-immigration-kennedy-ad-campaign-bc1525f1d10a468c892d0cb5cf3907b0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">$220 million ad campaign</a> that prominently featured Noem. Reports of unusual processes and favored vendors circulated. When lawmakers — Republicans and Democrats — pressed for answers, Noem did little to restore confidence. Given the broader self-promotion pattern, any benefit of the doubt evaporated.</p><p>Then came the hearings. <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/noem-house-dems-clash-tension-filled-oversight-hearing" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">They were brutal</a>.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/memo-to-trump-stop-negotiating-and-ramp-up-deportations"><strong>Memo to Trump: Stop negotiating and ramp up deportations</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image image-crop-16x9"> <img alt="Memo to Trump: Stop negotiating and ramp up deportations" class="rm-shortcode" id="84a60" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/memo-to-trump-stop-negotiating-and-ramp-up-deportations.jpg?id=65174101&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;quality=50&amp;coordinates=0%2C78%2C0%2C30" /> <small class="image-media media-photo-credit">Photo by Sean Bascom/Anadolu via Getty Images</small></p><p>Before both the House and the Senate, Noem failed to convince members that she could lead the department, and she struggled to answer accusations of scandal and self-dealing. But the fatal error came when she violated the one rule for any Cabinet witness: Don’t drag the president into your mess.</p><p>Under questioning from Sen. John Kennedy about the ad campaign, Noem told him the president personally approved the spending. Kennedy looked stunned. Trump later denied it — and the claim never made much sense in the first place. That answer ended whatever internal support remained. In the middle of a sudden war, it still managed to blow up the news cycle. With few defenders inside the building or outside it, the wagons never circled.</p><p>So what now?</p><p>Markwayne Mullin has a massive job ahead of him. He inherits some real wins — especially the restored control of the southern border — but he also inherits a department bruised by internal warfare, low output numbers, and credibility damage.</p><p>A few suggestions, offered plainly:</p><p>First, “<a href="https://x.com/MHowellTweets/status/2030112714392035708" target="_blank">commas, not drama</a>.” Let the mission speak louder than the messaging. Raise the deportation numbers. If the numbers move, everything else gets easier.</p><p>Second, cauterize the past. If Mullin doesn’t create distance from what happened before, he’ll spend the next year answering for it — including under subpoena if Democrats take the House.</p><p>Third, build a firewall through oversight. Let Trump-appointed Inspector General Joseph Cuffari review the controversies. Put the facts on paper, separate the department from the personalities, and move forward. Mullin needs the ability to say, credibly, that he’s fixing the mission, not protecting a mess he didn’t create.</p><p>Fourth, trust the serious people already inside DHS. The department has highly capable operators. Back them. Empower them. Leadership requires followers, and followers don’t materialize through threats, leaks, and infighting.</p><p>The mass deportation agenda remains central to Trump’s legacy. Mullin has a chance to deliver what the last year only promised.</p><p>We’re counting on him.</p>

<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=65174338&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0" /><br /><br /><p>Last week, President Trump announced that Kristi Noem would be replaced as Secretary of Homeland Security by Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) and reassigned to the newly created position of Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas.</p><p>“Let me translate what this usually means in Washington and may mean this time,” Glenn Beck says.</p><p>“When a president moves somebody into a job that hasn’t been fully defined yet, it usually means one of two things: either A, yeah, bye-bye, you’re being pushed aside, or B, you’re being moved in to run something that is bigger but isn’t public yet.”</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube"> <span class="rm-shortcode" style="display: block; padding-top: 56.25%;"></span> </p><p>Which category does Noem fall into?</p><p>Glenn speculates that it’s the latter.</p><p>“If you look at the timing, this doesn’t feel like a demotion,” he says.</p><p>Despite the “mixed signals” coming from Trump, who at times does appear “pissed at her,” Glenn believes that Noem’s reassignment has more to do with the “reorganization of the battlefield.”</p><p>“It’s the shield of the Americas. I know that doesn’t mean anything, but follow me on this. Right now, the United States is looking at a hemisphere and a hemisphere problem that most Americans still don’t fully understand or see,” he says.</p><p>“When Donald Trump was running for re-election, we were standing backstage someplace, and he was getting ready to go on. He said, ‘You want to look like a prophet? You know what you need to talk about? You just keep talking about Panama,”’ he recounts, noting that Trump’s words were deeply confusing to him at the time.</p><p>However, shortly after the election, the president sure enough divulged intentions to take back the Panama Canal.</p><p>“He understood what was happening with Panama and China. China had taken the entire Panama Canal and was controlling it,” Glenn says.</p><p>The Panama plans were soon followed by talk of Greenland, then Venezuela, Cuba, cartels in Mexico and Central America, Russia in Caracas, and Iranian proxies in the region.</p><p>“The southern hemisphere has become the new front line of great power competition. [President Trump] is declaring the western hemisphere is ours, OK? And DHS, the Department of <em><em>Homeland</em></em> Security, was not designed for that,” Glenn says.</p><p>What Trump is up against, he explains, is “hemisphere-level instability.”</p><p>“We have the migration waves. We have state collapse. We have cartels that are moving people and drugs and weapons and intelligence. We have foreign adversaries embedding themselves inside of all of that chaos,” Glenn explains. “So if you’re the president ... you’re saying, ‘We have got to shore up America to make sure we last another 150, 250 years.’”</p><p>Perhaps Noem’s reassignment has more to do with this: “[making] sure that our darkest, Russia, China, Iran, are not running operations in this hemisphere.”</p><p>“Shield of the Americas. Think about the name. It’s not border control; it’s not immigration enforcement. It’s a shield of the Americas, the entire western hemisphere,” Glenn says. “That doesn’t sound like DHS. That sounds more like strategic security architecture for the western hemisphere, doesn<strong></strong>’t it?”</p><p>To hear more of his theory on Kristi Noem’s reassignment, watch the video above.</p><h2>Want more from Glenn Beck?</h2><p>To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, <a href="https://get.blazetv.com/glenn/?utm_source=theblaze&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=article_shortcode_glennbeck" target="_blank">subscribe to BlazeTV</a> — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.</p>

<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/data-centers-are-a-hidden-tax-on-your-burger.jpg?id=65174023&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;coordinates=0%2C58%2C0%2C150" /><br /><br /><p>Last September, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reels/DO9y9vEDdIJ/" target="_blank">warned</a> that the United States has “offshored our food, our beef cattle, our citrus.” She put the problem plainly: “If we can’t feed ourselves, this is a national security issue.” Fair enough. So why does so much of government land-use policy push projects that devour farmland — hyperscale data centers, utility-scale solar farms, and the sprawling infrastructure that comes with them?</p><p>If Washington wanted to drive up land prices, make farming harder, and funnel a generation of acreage into non-agricultural uses, it couldn’t improve on the current playbook. The uniparty does this everywhere, and red states often lead the charge.</p><h2>Data centers: The ‘cloud’ that drains the water</h2><p>Texas is suffering through a long drought. Yet Amarillo has approved an 18 million square-foot data center on what used to be cattle country. Land-grabs tell only part of the story. Data centers also drink water — and they don’t act like the kind of clouds that bring rain.</p><p>Reports indicate the Amarillo facility alone could use <a href="https://x.com/mavsmarie/status/2027413768981074287?s=46" target="_blank">912 million gallons</a> of water per year. Large data centers can guzzle up to 5 million gallons per day, matching the daily use of a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people. That kind of demand crowds out ranchers and farmers who already operate under tight margins and tight water allocations.</p><p class="pull-quote">If food security is national security, then farmland is strategic territory. Let’s start acting like it.</p><p>Texas data centers used roughly <a href="https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/land-lines-magazine/articles/land-water-impacts-data-centers" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">49 billion gallons of water</a> in 2025, rising to 399 billion gallons by 2030 — enough to lower Lake Mead by more than 16 feet annually. Meanwhile, ranchers face reduced access, higher pumping costs, and deeper draws from shrinking aquifers. Less water means <a href="https://worldpressinstitute.org/in-arid-texas-data-centers-are-thirsty-for-water/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">smaller herds</a>, smaller harvests, and <a href="https://andthewest.stanford.edu/2025/thirsty-for-power-and-water-ai-crunching-data-centers-sprout-across-the-west/#:~:text=Beans%20to%20bits%20The%20agricultural,from%20nearby%20Columbia%20River%20hydropower." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">more pressure to sell</a>.</p><p>That’s how the cycle locks in. Water becomes scarce. Ranching becomes less viable. Landowners get squeezed. Tech developers show up with wads of cash and tax incentives. Grazing land disappears for good.</p><p>On what planet does it make sense to trade the beef and food we need for speculative gains from chatbots and cloud-based generative AI?</p><p>Maybe Elon Musk has the right idea when he suggests building data centers in space. Texas doesn’t need them planted on top of its ranches.</p><p>Some red states now treat these projects as untouchable “economic development,” even when they wreck local quality of life. Ohio offers <a href="https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/columbus/ohio-epa-weighs-allowing-data-centers-to-release-wastewater-into-rivers/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a telling example</a>. An Ohio EPA draft permit for a data center states: “It has been determined that a lowering of water quality … is necessary to accommodate important social and economic development in the state of Ohio.”</p><p>That sentence says everything. Regulators will sacrifice water quality to accommodate the newest corporate appetite. Families and landowners can adapt.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/return/living-brain-cell-chatbot" target="_self"><strong>Living human brain cells are training a chatbot to be ‘more like us’</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image image-crop-16x9"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" id="37b05" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=65173975&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;quality=50&amp;coordinates=0%2C53%2C0%2C54" /> <small class="image-media media-photo-credit">Photo by Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images </small></p><h2>Solar ‘farms’ crushing farmland</h2><p>President Trump has criticized the solar agenda from day one. He has called utility-scale solar inefficient and ugly — and he’s right about the aesthetics. Yet the administration now treats <a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/interior-jump-starts-solar-energy-permitting/" target="_blank">solar as a power source</a> for data centers, while some MAGA influencers and pollsters try to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/03/02/katie-miller-solar-power-trump/" target="_blank">sell the right on the plan</a>. Pairing solar with hyperscale AI facilities accelerates the transfer of land out of food production.</p><p>Utility-scale solar typically requires five to 10 acres per megawatt. A solar build meant to feed a one-gigawatt hyperscale facility can swallow 5,000 to 10,000 acres. Supporters respond with percentages: Solar uses only a small share of total farmland. That dodge ignores where developers build. They don’t chase scrub. They target flat, well-drained, <a href="https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/renewable/solar/solar-power-depletes-farmlands-of-rich-soil/" target="_blank">high-quality fields</a> with cheap and easy access to transmission.</p><p>Follow the incentives. In states such as Indiana and Illinois, solar leases reportedly offer $900 to $1,500 per acre annually — far above the average return from corn and soybean ground. Landowners take the deal. Young farmers get priced out. Rural communities lose working land and the local economies that depend on it.</p><p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/solar-capacity-grows-some-americas-most-productive-farmland-is-risk-2024-04-27/?utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=Newsletter&amp;utm_campaign=Weekend-Briefing&amp;utm_term=042724&amp;user_email=b1f33c724f72e6ae81530a646d129e79a9988a48c9ad389eee85b1a662118766" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a> that in Indiana counties such as Pulaski, Starke, and Jasper, solar projects have secured 4% to 12% of some of the most fertile cropland. That’s not “marginal land.” That’s the kind of ground America needs to keep producing.</p><p>Tax breaks pour gasoline on the fire. Federal and state subsidies for data centers, solar farms, and battery installations push up land values and rents. In Pulaski County, Indiana, cropland rents reportedly <a href="https://www.fb.org/market-intel/solar-energy-expansion-and-its-impacts-on-rural-communities" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">jumped 26% since 2020</a> amid solar growth, outpacing state and national averages. Young families trying to farm don’t compete with subsidized megaprojects.</p><p>Indiana Republicans have compounded the damage by <a href="https://archive.is/20260302201607/https:/www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2026/03/02/a-carbon-sequestration-bill-failed-then-lawmakers-bent-the-rules-to-revive-it/88904748007/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">greasing the skids</a> for carbon capture pipelines and special regulatory favors tied to the “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/p/Stop-the-Mid-States-Corridor-Project-100068231971578/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mid-States Corridor</a>,” which will take even more farmland out of service.</p><p>Indiana’s own Department of Agriculture reports the state lost roughly 345,000 acres of agricultural land between 2010 and 2022. Residential sprawl drives much of that loss. Industrial conversion is accelerating — and data centers paired with solar build-outs speed it up.</p><p>So what exactly are these conservatives conserving?</p><p>Imports keep climbing. In 2023, imports supplied 59% of fresh fruit availability and 35% of fresh vegetables — up from 50% and 20% in 2007. America has the land to feed itself and then some, yet policymakers keep nudging production overseas. Mexico alone accounts for over half of imported fruits and vegetables, valued at more than $20 billion.</p><p>God gave this country an abundance of fertile land. He gave sun and rain to grow food. Our leaders now treat that ground as a blank canvas for industrial build-outs that don’t feed anyone.</p><p>If food security is national security, then farmland is strategic territory. Let’s start acting like it.</p>

<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/dad-accused-of-killing-daughter-s-alleged-rapist-wins-republican-sheriff-nomination-we-re-just-getting-started.png?id=53827144&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;coordinates=6%2C0%2C7%2C0" /><br /><br /><p>An <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/tag/arkansas" target="_blank">Arkansas father</a> who is facing second-degree murder charges for allegedly killing his teen daughter's suspected sexual abuser has won the Republican nomination for county sheriff.</p><p>As <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/how-an-arkansas-dad-accused-of-shooting-67-year-old-male-who-was-with-his-missing-daughter-just-14-could-beat-murder-charge" target="_self">Blaze News reported in October 2024</a>, Aaron Spencer woke up to find his 14-year-old daughter missing from the family’s home. Police were notified about the missing girl.</p><p class="pull-quote">'Michael Fosler is [expletive] dead on the side of the road for trying to kidnap my daughter. I had no choice.'</p><p>Spencer got in his vehicle to try to track down his missing daughter and spotted a white Ford truck on the highway owned by Michael Fosler — the 67-year-old man accused of raping Spencer's daughter.</p><p>The Lonoke County Sheriff's Office said in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lonokecountysheriffsoffice/posts/pfbid02qetBstG2FAKse1bio1QQnhmjrzmpgYvbWbGqtzxvnehRuqqmoJBLUoARcj2MZaokl" target="_blank">press release</a>, "While en route, deputies were notified that the father, Aaron Spencer, had located the juvenile in a vehicle with Michael Fosler."</p><p>The affidavit said Spencer used his vehicle to rear-end Fosler’s Ford F-150 truck at an intersection, which forced it off the road and into a ditch.</p><p>Citing court records, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/03/06/aaron-spencer-arkansas-sheriff-primary-murder-charge/89005179007/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">USA Today</a> reported that Spencer "then got out of his car and started firing a gun at Fosler. He fired 16 times, court records state, noting 15 bullets hit Fosler."</p><p>Court documents said Spencer pistol-whipped Fosler in the face after firing the shots.</p><p>Court records show Spencer then called 911 and said, "Michael Fosler is [expletive] dead on the side of the road for trying to kidnap my daughter. I had no choice."</p><p>Police said Fosler was pronounced dead at the <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/tag/crime" target="_blank">crime scene</a>.</p><p><span></span>Spencer was arrested, charged with second-degree murder in connection with Fosler's death, and then released from the Lonoke County Detention Center after posting bail.</p><p>Court documents said Spencer went to the home of a female acquaintance of Fosler on July 8, 2024, told the woman that Fosler raped his underage daughter, and then demanded Fosler's phone number and home address.</p><p>Spencer instructed the woman not to call anyone, including the police, according to court documents.</p><p>However, Fosler's acquaintance revealed the situation to one of her family members, who was a mandated reporter. According to USA Today, "Mandated reporters are required to notify law enforcement officials or social services about suspected cases of child abuse."</p><p>The mandated reporter alerted the Lonoke County Sheriff's Office about the rape allegations, court records stated.</p><p>Court records said two officers went to Spencer's residence as part of the investigation into the rape of his minor daughter.</p><p>Court docs said the interaction between Spencer and officers was recorded on a police bodycam, and one of the officers is heard telling Spencer, "We still don't live in a country where you can take the law into your own hands," to which Spencer responded with an expletive.</p><p>Officials with the Wade Knox Children's Advocacy Center interviewed Spencer's daughter, according to court records.</p><p> USA Today reported that police obtained an arrest warrant for Fosler for a charge of rape and one count of internet stalking of a child — both of which are felonies.</p><p>USA Today said Fosler was arrested and then released from jail on $50,000 bond on July 17, 2024.</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/anna-kepner-murder-cruise-ship-stepbrother" target="_self">'Want him buried': Family's explosive words surface after cheerleader's stepbrother reportedly charged in her death on cruise</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube"> <span class="rm-shortcode" style="display: block; padding-top: 56.25%;"></span></p><p>Spencer's sister-in-law in 2025 launched a <a href="https://www.givesendgo.com/SpencerFamilySupport?utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_medium=post&amp;utm_campaign=SpencerFamilySupport&amp;fbclid=IwY2xjawQby55leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEem8NOIYBAgSDNmed7F0SWVCKG85P-E5rYfc8eqXpYYLGePvo1D6x3YRZeCBM_aem_Fb41Z5OylhyA5EFzV-lGEw" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">GiveSendGo</a> crowdfunding campaign, which has raised over $100,000 in an effort to keep their "family afloat amid Aaron’s daunting legal proceedings."</p><p>"Beginning in the spring of 2024, my then 13-year-old niece was targeted by a predator, groomed, and assaulted multiple times," the crowdfunding listing said.</p><p><span></span>As <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/aaron-spencer-murder-case-child-sex-crimes" target="_self">Blaze News reported in October 2024</a>, Spencer launched a political campaign to become the new Lonoke County Sheriff despite awaiting trial in connection with the alleged murder of Fosler.</p><p>The <a href="https://enr.totalresults.com/arkansas/lonoke#election=7f77a178-af02-40ec-92db-c5cc50882c68&amp;contest=4bf4fc06-4f9e-45b1-b931-dc44e2e79c00&amp;filter=County&amp;search=Spencer&amp;bucket=results" target="_blank">Arkansas secretary of state</a> revealed that Spencer won more than 53% of the vote in last Tuesday's three-person GOP primary, easily defeating incumbent Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley and David Bufford.</p><p>Spencer <a href="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0myT2CaZ2VDNX6V57LKuqscQHFLzX4msUjoaADyo5mSu418H7jSRUVtRoHiVUFwHgl&amp;id=61582302083686" target="_blank">said</a> of his victory, "Lonoke County sent a clear message last night, and we're just getting started."</p><p>"I'm running to restore accountability and integrity to the sheriff's office, and the people of this county just showed they want the same thing," the father said on his campaign Facebook page. "Let's finish the job and build a safer, stronger Lonoke County together."</p><p>Sheriff Staley congratulated Spencer by saying in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ElectJohnStaley/posts/pfbid02cxfBox6d7HgqPR1JXqhA91XwboJwVt3GuVpY5eYUefDSTqkXycSJbpTo6wmFNVqfl" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">statement</a>, "Tonight, the voters made their decision in the Republican Primary, and I respect the decision."</p><p>Staley had been the Lonoke County Sheriff for the last 13 years.</p><p>Spencer — a husband, father, combat veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division, contractor, and farmer — now will face off against Democrat nominee Brian Mitchell Sr. in November.</p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/arkansas-man-accused-killing-daughters-alleged-abuser-wins-sheriff-race-gop-nomination" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Fox News</a> noted that Spencer will be prohibited from serving as sheriff if he is convicted of the murder charge.</p><p>Spencer's trial initially was scheduled for January but has been postponed. He has pleaded not guilty.</p><p>Spencer's lawyers released a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LassiterandCassinelli/posts/pfbid02CJfMNDbf3AB9EAHAjrci9HxhEabYu2fk9MzgQDiXC5GnpGzxpHesJmmDkS5SGsifl" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">statement</a> Friday: "Aaron did exactly what Arkansas law allows and exactly what any father would do: He protected his daughter and himself from harm."</p><p>"We said from the beginning that Aaron was justified under Arkansas law in protecting his daughter, and every time the facts have come into focus, that conclusion has only become clearer," the Lassiter & Cassinelli legal team proclaimed.</p><p>His lawyers also characterized Spencer's supporters as "parents, veterans, and neighbors who watched the system fail and support a father who stepped up."</p><p>"Lonoke County residents have rallied behind Aaron Spencer not just in his legal defense, but in his broader mission to bring accountability to a county government that has long operated without it," the statement said.</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a>!</em></p>

<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=65169858&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0" /><br /><br /><p>President Donald Trump spent years campaigning against the failures of American foreign policy — but not necessarily against American power itself.</p><p>Which is why Trump’s bold global moves suggest a doctrine that rejects nation-building and ideological crusades in favor of something far simpler: an America First approach to global dominance.</p><p>“It’s only March, but already it’s proven to be a pretty remarkably action-packed year. You know, just three days in, Trump successfully plucks up Nicolas Maduro from his bed in Venezuela, extradites him back to the United States, where he’s facing numerous felony charges stemming from involvement in narco-terrorism,” John Doyle explains.</p><p>“Then, the end of February, Trump launches Operation Epic Fury, of course, a military campaign to destroy Iran’s offensive capabilities,” he continues.</p><h3></h3><br /><span class="rm-shortcode" style="display: block; padding-top: 56.25%;"></span><p>“On Tuesday, though, the U.S. and Ecuador launched a joint military operation against narcoterrorists in the South American country,” he adds.</p><p>But it appears that Trump is only getting started.</p><p>“A lot of analysts, I’ve been seeing this, are saying that Trump is perhaps planning an intervention in Cuba. ... In his second term, he’s floated the idea of, you know, a friendly takeover. We can guess how friendly such a takeover would actually be. But Trump’s clearly trying to frame Cuba as a failing state, which it is,” Doyle says.</p><p>And while many Americans are skeptical of Trump’s recent actions, particularly Operation Epic Fury, Doyle points out that Trump is “doing what he thinks is best for America, not what’s best for abstractions like liberal democracy, not what’s best for transgender people in Timbuktu, what is best for America.”</p><p>“He does think in terms of empire. All of his criticism about American Empire has not been so much on the empire itself, but more on the people managing it. What does he say? ‘Our leaders are stupid,’” Doyle explains.</p><p>“His problem with us going into Iraq was not that we went into Iraq necessarily, but that we went in to pursue a nation-building project, and we didn’t even take the oil. He said this as it was going on. He said this on the debate stage in 2016. This is pretty consistent for Donald Trump,” he says.</p><p>“And, of course, it’s true that Trump won the election in 2016 by denouncing, again, certain aspects of the American Empire — you know, our involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan. But it is incorrect ultimately to characterize Trump as opposed to empire itself,” he continues.</p><p>“In fact, if anything, the American Empire is actually doing a lot better with Trump at the helm,” he adds.</p><h2>Want more from John Doyle?</h2><p>To enjoy more of the truth about America and join the fight to restore a country that has been betrayed by its own leaders, <a href="https://get.blazetv.com/doyle/?utm_source=theblaze&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=article_shortcode_rufo-lomez" target="_blank">subscribe to BlazeTV</a> — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.</p>

<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/david-french-catches-flak-for-claiming-talarico-a-pro-abortion-democrat-acts-like-a-christian.jpg?id=65172995&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C107" /><br /><br /><p>New York Times opinion writer David French, a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/08/opinion/james-talarico-christian-democrat-texas-primary.html" target="_blank">self-described</a> evangelical conservative, has made a habit out of supporting radical leftists over those Republican officials who have time and again delivered meaningful results for the causes of life and liberty.</p><p>French <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/11/opinion/harris-trump-conservatives-abortion.html" target="_blank">announced</a> in 2024, for example, that he was supporting then-candidate Kamala Harris over President Donald Trump "to save conservatism."</p><p class="pull-quote">'French always saves his most demonic takes for Sunday morning columns.'</p><p>The former National Review writer's rationale was that the GOP supposedly wouldn't survive another Trump term but could be rebuilt as a "force for genuine good" in the event that Harris — an advocate for <a href="https://reproductivefreedomforall.org/lawmaker/kamala-harris/" target="_blank">abortion</a>, <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/prominent-victim-of-the-sex-change-regime-endorses-trump-in-gut-wrenching-ad" target="_blank">child sex-rejection procedures</a>, and <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/harris-not-only-threatened-to-storm-the-homes-of-legal-gunowners-she-supported-a-pistol-ban" target="_blank">infringements on the Second Amendment</a> — won.</p><p>Although his propaganda didn't work in 2024, French clearly hasn't given up on promoting radical leftists and is now promoting James Talarico, the Democrat state representative hoping to succeed Republican John Cornyn in the U.S. Senate.</p><p>French — who has not only <a href="https://archive.ph/G4cha" target="_blank">embraced</a> homosexual "marriage" but also non-Christian speech codes about <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/shows/relatable/trans-ideologys-newest-victim" target="_blank">gender</a> — <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/08/opinion/james-talarico-christian-democrat-texas-primary.html" target="_blank">claimed</a> in an editorial on Sunday that "Talarico shines" as "one of the few openly Christian politicians in the United States who acts like a Christian, and by acting like a Christian he reveals a profound contrast with so many members of the MAGA Christian movement that’s dominated American political life for 10 years."</p><p>French proffered Talarico's Senate primary victory speech, during which he criticized competition, as an example of the Democrat's supposed Christianity in action, "right heart," and loving ways.</p><p>"I am tired of being pitted against my neighbor. I’m tired of being told to hate my neighbor. It’s been more than 10 years of this kind of politics," said Talarico. "Politics as blood sport, politics as trolling and owning, politics as total war. It tears families apart. It ends friendships, and it leaves us all feeling terrible all the time."</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/democrats-swapped-crocketts-preening-for-talaricos-pulpit-and-it-worked" target="_blank">Democrats swapped Crockett’s preening for Talarico’s pulpit — and it worked </a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" id="958b3" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=65173001&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;quality=50&amp;coordinates=0%2C53%2C0%2C54" /><small class="image-media media-photo-credit">Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Image</small></p><p>Though gushing about Talarico's supposed Christian decency and compassionate public face, French neglected to mention any of the Democrat's nastier remarks about those political opponents and fellow Christians with whom he fundamentally disagrees.</p><p>Talarico <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/08/opinion/james-talarico-christian-democrat-texas-primary.html" target="_blank">previously suggested</a>, for example, that Trump is a "business cheat, a pathological liar, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/03/politics/doug-emhoff-acknowledges-affair-during-first-marriage/index.html" target="_blank">a serial adulterer</a>, a twice-impeached insurrectionist, a convicted felon, an adjudicated rapist," many of whose supporters "have forgotten all about Jesus."</p><p>Trump sued ABC News over host George Stephanopoulos' false on-air assertion that the president had been found civilly liable for rape. Per the terms of the late 2024 settlement, ABC News <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/12/14/nx-s1-5229089/abc-e-jean-carroll-trump-george-stephanopoulos" target="_blank">ultimately agreed</a> to pay $15 million toward Trump's presidential library.</p><p>Despite the apparent narrowness of Talarico's love and understanding, French — making no secret of his soft spot for Cornyn and hard liking for Talarico — presented the Democrat challenger as the supposedly virtuous antithesis of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.</p><p>French's case relies not only on selective outrage and his apparent ability to judge the hearts of men but on severing both candidates from their relevant activities, namely their work in office.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube"> <span class="rm-shortcode" style="display: block; padding-top: 56.25%;"></span></p><p>"For too long we've evaluated Christians in politics primarily through their policy positions," wrote French. "Yet this is exactly backward."</p><p>French expressed outrage over Paxton's failed marriage and portrayed him as an exemplar of vice while strategically ignoring Talarico's:</p><ul><li>support for the dehumanization and elimination of the unborn, as signaled by his <a href="https://texasrighttolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/House-050-2025.pdf" target="_blank">0% score</a> on the Texas Right to Life's pro-life scorecard and his correlated <a href="https://choicetracker.org/tx/people/james-talarico/82771968" target="_blank">recognition</a> as "a Pro-Choice Champion" by the Texas Choice Tracker;</li><li><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/align/james-talarico-bible-abortion" target="_self">attempted use</a> of scripture, specifically Genesis 2:7 and the Annunciation, to justify the slaughter of the unborn;</li><li>votes <a href="https://legiscan.com/TX/rollcall/SB14/id/1324381" target="_blank">against</a> sparing children from sex-rejection mutilations as well as <a href="https://legiscan.com/TX/rollcall/SB15/id/1327441" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">against</a> keeping men out of girls' sports;</li><li><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/06/16/james-talarico-texas-democrats-00101231" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">claim</a> that displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms is "deeply un-Christian";</li><li><a href="https://x.com/jamestalarico/status/1589402191764533248" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">claim</a> that the Supreme Court's <em></em><em>Dobbs</em> ruling was effectively "un-Christian";</li><li><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/god-non-binary-texas-dem-nominee-talaricos-past-remarks-abortion-race-gender-draw-scrutiny" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">claim</a> that God is "non-binary";</li><li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheBlaze/videos/tx-dem-nominee-for-us-senate-modern-science-proves-there-are-six-genders/1122203806658333/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">claim</a> that there are six sexes, despite the clear <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201%3A27&amp;version=KJV" target="_blank">assertion</a> in Genesis, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them"; </li><li><a href="https://x.com/jamestalarico/status/1655699432627683334?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">complaint</a> that "Republican politicians are banning drag queens in the name of protecting children"; and</li><li><a href="https://x.com/SteveGuest/status/2030815371473633435?s=20" target="_blank">claim</a> that "you can't call yourself a Christian and destroy God's creation with greenhouse gases."</li></ul><p>Critics blasted French over his commentary, suggesting that his understanding of "decency" is confused if not outright deceptive.</p><p>Radio host Erick Erickson <a href="https://x.com/EWErickson/status/2030719709264662913?s=20" target="_blank">noted</a>, "It is not decent to twist scripture to lead others to hell. It is not decent to claim whiteness itself is like a virus. It is not decent to use Christ’s conception as a justification for abortion. It is not decent to reduce women to 'neighbors with uteruses.' Only if you have been radicalized by your critics can you land at this position."</p><p class="pull-quote">'Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape.'</p><p>"David French is endorsing a guy who wants free abortion mills in every courthouse and who also claims God is trans," <a href="https://x.com/seanmdav/status/2030707511049728430?s=20" target="_blank">wrote</a> Sean Davis, CEO of the Federalist. "That French always saves his most demonic takes for Sunday morning columns is a pretty good indicator of who he actually worships now."</p><p>William Wolfe, executive director for the Center for Baptist Leadership, alluded to the conspiring demons in C.S Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters," <a href="https://x.com/WilliamWolfe/status/2030735520158933001?s=20" target="_blank">writing</a>, "Now tell them that pro-abortion, pro-child mutilation politician who preaches that God is non-binary is a 'shining' example of a Christian. Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape."</p><p>Weeks prior to French's opinion piece, BlazeTV host Steve Deace suggested that Talarico was an "object and a vessel of malevolence. All right? When he speaks, he's not deceived; he's the deceiver. ... He is who Paul would have said in Acts, 'You are a son of the devil.' He knows what he is doing."</p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>!</em>

<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/ivy-league-techies-invent-ai-scam-callers-but-don-t-worry-it-s-only-for-research.png?id=65171834&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;coordinates=0%2C0%2C1%2C0" /><br /><br /><p>Cornell University says chatbots have the capability for gross misuse, and its researchers are proving it.</p><p>The school announced recently that it had created a large language model that demonstrated fluency and reasoning capabilities advanced enough to make scam phone calls.</p><p class="pull-quote">'ScamAgent constructs persistent personas, ... and uses deception strategies that unfold over time.'</p><p>ScamAgent, Cornell <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.06457" target="_blank">wrote</a>, is an autonomous AI that can generate realistic scam-call scripts that simulate real-life scenarios where a call recipient is on the receiving end of fraud.</p><p>Simply put, it works like a chatbot that has the goal to deceive and persuade the call recipient. </p><p>Scam scripts were transformed into "lifelike voice calls using modern text-to-speech systems, completing a fully automated scam pipeline," Cornell wrote.</p><p>At the same time, the research <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2508.06457" target="_blank">explained</a> that the chatbot showed the remarkable ability to circumvent or ignore safety guardrails built into the language model, meaning it would ignore certain prompts and content filters.</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/return/mamdani-allies-chatbot-profession-ban" target="_blank">Mamdani allies push to ban chatbots from answering questions about law, medicine, and psychology</a></strong></p> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube"> <span class="rm-shortcode" style="display: block; padding-top: 56.25%;"></span> </p> <p>"ScamAgent constructs persistent personas, maintains conversational context, and uses deception strategies that unfold over time. This design allows it to bypass existing safety guardrails by decomposing harmful tasks into benign subgoals and leveraging contextual carryover to avoid triggering filters."</p><p>The agent was used in a series of real-world fraud scenarios that Americans have become all too familiar with, like medical insurance verification scams, impersonations, prize or lottery fraud, and government benefit enrollment scams. However, researchers used a different chatbot as the recipient, not real people.</p><p>Researchers also noticed that it was not very difficult to convert scripts into audio to be used for scams and recreate an automated call without requiring much technical expertise.</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/return/farming-with-lasers-ai-pesticides" target="_blank">This new laser farming technique could free us from pesticides — forever</a></strong></p> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" id="e5497" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=65172714&amp;width=980" /> <small class="image-media media-photo-credit">Photographer: Kuni Takahashi/Bloomberg via Getty Images</small></p> <p>For those wondering what the purpose of building such a deceptive AI agent would be, Cornell researchers said they wanted to highlight an urgent need to detect and disrupt conversational deception powered by AI agents.</p><p>They added that even "state-of-the-art" AI models are vulnerable to being used for deception, while also calling for "proactive safeguards" and "regulatory oversight."</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>!</em></p>

<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/isis-inspired-here-s-what-we-know-about-the-weekend-nyc-terror-attack-suspects.jpg?id=65173100&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;coordinates=0%2C15%2C0%2C92" /><br /><br /><p>Two Pennsylvania residents with alleged ties to radical Islam were <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/counter-protester-lights-explosive-amid-anti-mamdani-protest-utters-allahu-akbar-but-nyc-mayor-rips-bigotry-and-racism" target="_blank">arrested</a> in New York City on Saturday after homemade explosive devices were ignited in an apparent attempt to target anti-Islam protesters gathered outside Gracie Mansion, the residence of the city’s first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani (D).</p><p>The New York Police Department identified the two suspects as 18-year-old Emir Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi.</p><p class="pull-quote">'All praise is due to Allah lord of all worlds!'</p><p>NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch claimed that Balat lit and threw an improvised explosive device toward a group of demonstrators participating in the “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City” protest outside Gracie Mansion.</p><p>A video of the suspect appeared to show him yelling, “Allahu Akbar,” as he threw the smoking device toward the crowd. Balat then allegedly ran southbound, grabbing a second device from Kayumi. Balat was accused of lighting the second device and dropping it near police officers as he ran away.</p><p>Tisch confirmed that the devices were IEDs and “could have caused serious injury or death.” However, no explosions or injuries were reported after the devices seemingly malfunctioned. </p><p>Balat’s parents were born in Turkey and became U.S. citizens nearly a decade ago, <a href="https://x.com/annaschecter/status/2030817903746965817" target="_blank">CBS News</a> reported. Balat, who was living with his parents, is a U.S. citizen. He reportedly traveled to Turkey recently and returned to the U.S. in January. He reportedly spent several months in Turkey last year. </p><p>Kayumi’s parents are reportedly from Afghanistan and became U.S. citizens over 15 years ago. He reportedly traveled to Turkey and Saudi Arabia in 2024.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/counter-protester-lights-explosive-amid-anti-mamdani-protest-utters-allahu-akbar-but-nyc-mayor-rips-bigotry-and-racism" target="_blank"><strong>Counter-protester lights explosive amid anti-Mamdani protest, utters 'Allahu Akbar' — but NYC mayor rips 'bigotry and racism'</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" id="6eb23" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=65173102&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;quality=50&amp;coordinates=0%2C53%2C0%2C54" /> <small class="image-media media-photo-credit">Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images</small></p><p>FBI agents were observed on Sunday searching the suspects’ homes in Bucks County, <a href="https://6abc.com/post/fbi-raids-homes-2-bucks-county-men-accused-throwing-explosive-device-nyc-protest/18694022/" target="_blank">ABC News</a> reported. </p><p>Balat is a student in the Neshaminy School District, and Kayumi graduated from Council Rock High School North in 2024, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/zohran-mamdani-gracie-mansion-philadelphia/" target="_blank">CBS News</a> reported. Both are located in Bucks County.</p><p>The federal <a href="https://x.com/GainerTV/status/2031047847412408441" target="_blank">criminal complaint</a> revealed that Balat and Kayumi are facing several charges, including attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, the use of a weapon of mass destruction, transportation of explosive materials, interstate transportation and receipt of explosives, and unlawful possession of destructive devices.</p><p>According to the complaint, while in law enforcement custody, Balat stated, “This isn’t a religion that just stands when people talk about the blessed name of the prophet. … We take action! We take action! ... If I didn’t do it, someone else will come and do it.”</p><p>Balat, who waived his Miranda rights, requested officers provide him with a piece of paper, on which he allegedly wrote, “All praise is due to Allah lord of all worlds! I pledge my allegience [sic] to the Islamic State. Die in your rage yu [sic] kuffar! Emir B.”</p><p>The complaint explained that “kuffar” is an Arabic word that refers to “non-believers” or “infidels.” It also noted that “die in your rage” is a verse in the Quran often invoked by ISIS. </p><p>Balat also allegedly told law enforcement that he hoped his attack attempt would be “even bigger” than the Boston Marathon bombing in 2023.</p><p><strong><span></span>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/liberal-media-covers-for-sundays-nyc-terror-attack-suspects-then-the-facts-come-out" target="_blank"><strong>Liberal media covers for Saturday's NYC terror attack suspects — then the facts come out</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" id="1b44a" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=65173107&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;quality=50&amp;coordinates=0%2C53%2C0%2C54" /> <small class="image-media media-photo-credit">Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images</small></p><p>The criminal complaint accused Kayumi of stating that he was motivated by ISIS. After waiving his Miranda rights, he allegedly suggested to law enforcement that he was affiliated with the terrorist group. He also allegedly admitted to watching ISIS propaganda. </p><p>An FBI special agent explained in the complaint that a preliminary analysis found that the first explosive device, which Balat was accused of throwing into a crowd of protesters, contained triacetone triperoxide.</p><p>“Based on my training and experience, I know that TATP is colloquially known as the ‘Mother of Satan’; is extremely sensitive to impact, friction, and heat; and has been used in multiple terrorist attacks over the last decade,” the agent wrote. </p><p>Following the arrests of Balat and Kayumi, police identified a parked vehicle several blocks south of Gracie Mansion that had a New Jersey license plate registered to one of Balat’s family members. </p><p>Kayumi’s mother filed a missing person report on or about March 7, stating that she last saw her son at their Pennsylvania residence at approximately 10:30 a.m. earlier that day, the criminal complaint noted.</p><p>Balat and Kayumi remain in custody.</p><p><em><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em></em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self"><em><em>Sign up here</em></em></a><em><em>!</em></em></p>

<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/china-is-at-war-with-us-start-acting-like-it.jpg?id=65173073&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;coordinates=0%2C54%2C0%2C125" /><br /><br /><p>Communist China isn’t hiding its ambitions. Beijing wants to displace the United States as the world’s leading power. It <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/3874713-cia-director-cant-say-what-chinese-leadership-knew-about-spy-balloon/" target="_blank">flies spy balloons</a> over our country, runs influence operations, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-china-technology-disputes-intellectual-property-europe-e749a72e" target="_blank">steals technology</a>, pressures neighbors, <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/china-america-navy-taiwan-strait-transit-freedom-overflight-1783997" target="_blank">menaces Taiwan</a>, and <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3343917/how-china-overtook-us-hypersonic-arms-and-may-leave-air-defences-powerless" target="_blank">builds missiles</a> and ships meant to <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/satellite-images-expose-china-practising-blowing-up-us-warships/news-story/564e6ac42ad821f7227eab88683717ad" target="_blank">drive America out</a> of the Western Pacific.</p><p>The Pentagon’s newly released <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2026/Jan/23/2003864773/-1/-1/0/2026-NATIONAL-DEFENSE-STRATEGY.PDF" target="_blank">National Defense Strategy</a> puts the People’s Republic of China at the center of the threat picture. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth frames the task in blunt terms: “peace through strength,” including a favorable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific so that China can’t “dominate us or our allies.”</p><p class="pull-quote">China won’t ‘take over the world’ in some comic-book way. But it will keep testing the seams of American power — and it will keep exploiting our habits of denial and delay.</p><p>That doesn’t mean the United States and China are “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Destined-War-America-Escape-Thucydidess/dp/0544935276" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">destined for war.</a>” China’s weaknesses cut against that. It lacks the kind of soft power that makes alliances easy and coercion unnecessary. Outside its borders, China inspires far more fear than admiration. <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/china-is-facing-a-demographic-bomb-and-it-could-handcuff-beijing-s-ambitions/ar-AA1UWT7S" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Demographic collapse</a> also looms. The one-child policy left China facing an aging population and a shrinking workforce.</p><p>None of that makes Beijing harmless. A declining regime can still lash out. It can still intimidate neighbors, manipulate markets, and exploit American openness. It can also run influence operations in plain sight — through front companies, academic partnerships, lobbying, investment vehicles, and the slow capture of key choke points in tech and infrastructure.</p><p>That calls for something Washington too often refuses to do: enforce rules like a serious country.</p><p>Start with basic <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/05/23/house-ethics-committee-ends-probe-into-swalwells-interaction-with-fang-fang/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">counterintelligence hygiene</a>. Aggressively investigate covert foreign influence. Enforce FARA. Protect sensitive research. Tighten screening around critical supply chains. Treat strategic industries like strategic industries. Strip Chinese “<a href="https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/01/17/manchurian-generation-ballot-flood-more-than-1-million-chinese-with-u-s-citizenship-could-vote-in-2030-elections/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">paper Americans</a>” of their citizenship and <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/exclusive-meet-the-chinese-congressman-accused-of-abusing-21-kids-in-us-surrogacy-scheme/ar-AA1JEA2W" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">deport them</a>.</p><p>This is where internal discipline matters as much as external posture. A national strategy collapses when parts of the bureaucracy slow-walk it, freelance against it, or treat it like optional guidance.</p><p>Consider the recent ouster of Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater. She was in charge of the Department of Justice’s antitrust division until last month. But she butted heads repeatedly with Attorney General Pam Bondi. Their disagreements slid into <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/02/12/gail-slater-pam-bondi-antitrust-doj-jd-vance-hewlett-packard/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">insubordination</a>. Slater <a href="https://x.com/reaganreese_/status/2022071636812345536" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">allegedly lied</a> to Bondi on national security matters that appeared to help China.</p><p><strong>RELATED:</strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/iran-china-and-trumps-art-of-the-squeal" target="_self"><strong> </strong><strong>Iran, China, and Trump’s ‘art of the squeal’</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image image-crop-16x9"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" id="24fe4" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=65173069&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;quality=50&amp;coordinates=0%2C35%2C0%2C72" /> <small class="image-media media-photo-credit">White House via X Account/Anadolu via Getty Images</small></p><p>For example, Slater opposed the Hewlett-Packard Enterprise <a href="https://www.hpe.com/us/en/newsroom/press-release/2025/07/hewlett-packard-enterprise-closes-acquisition-of-juniper-networks-to-offer-industry-leading-comprehensive-cloud-native-ai-driven-portfolio.html" target="_blank">acquisition</a> of Juniper Networks, which national security experts say is essential to combat Chinese tech dominance. Blocking the deal would have hurt U.S. industry and helped Chinese telecom giant Huawei. Happily, the administration overruled her and approved the deal.</p><p>Washington can’t run a serious China policy with internal sabotage, bureaucratic drift, or officials acting like they answer to a different set of priorities.</p><p>The same standard applies to national security decisions in the tech arena. If competition with Huawei and China’s tech ecosystem matters — and it does — then Washington should evaluate mergers, procurement, and infrastructure policy through that lens, not just through abstract theories divorced from geopolitical reality. America needs to win the next generation of networks, not regulate itself into strategic dependence.</p><p>China won’t “take over the world” in some comic-book way. But it will keep testing the seams of American power — and it will keep exploiting our habits of denial and delay.</p><p>Peace through strength isn’t a slogan. It’s a posture: defend critical systems, enforce the law, remove vulnerabilities, and stop treating strategic competition like a seminar topic. The first step is simple and unglamorous: clean up our own house, then face Beijing with the seriousness the moment demands.</p>

<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/activist-judge-rules-trump-appointee-doesn-t-have-authority-to-order-mass-layoffs-at-voice-of-america.png?id=65172892&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C51" /><br /><br /><p>Another federal judge has <a href="https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/kari-lake-dismantle-voice-of-america?taid=69ae4246e9e7b00001532dcf&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=trueanthem&amp;utm_source=twitter" target="_blank">ruled</a> against the Trump administration after a group of fired employees filed a lawsuit to oppose layoffs ordered at Voice of America.</p><p>President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/trump-admin-to-dismantle-irretrievably-broken-government-media-agency" target="_blank">nominated</a> Kari Lake to oversee the federal multimedia broadcaster in March 2025 as part of an order to reduce redundant government agencies.</p><p class="pull-quote">'We don't have anyone in our foreign bureaus. We don't have anybody, basically, to cover the news.'</p><p>On Saturday, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that Lake did not have the authority to order the layoffs, but it is unclear how the agency will proceed after the ruling.</p><p>"Only the Appointments Clause or the Vacancies Act's exclusive structure may authorize service as a principal officer, and Lake satisfies the requirements of neither the statute nor the Constitution," Lamberth wrote in the ruling.</p><p>Lamberth also noted that Lake had not been approved by the U.S. Senate.</p><p>The journalists who filed the lawsuit included Voice of America White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara, Kate Neeper, and Jessica Jerreat.</p><p>"We feel vindicated and deeply grateful. The judge's ruling that Kari Lake's actions shall have no force or effect is a powerful step toward undoing the damage she has inflicted on this American institution that we love," reads a <a href="https://x.com/savevoanow/status/2030461339139731808" target="_blank">statement</a> from the journalists.</p><p>"Even as we work through what this ruling means for colleagues harmed by her actions, it brings renewed hope and momentum to the next phase of our fight," they added, "restoring VOA's global operations and ensuring we continue to produce journalism, not propaganda."</p><p>About 85% of the staff at VOA and the U.S. Agency for Global Media has been fired since March 2025, which includes about 1,400 workers.</p><p>"There's about 120 working right now, and that's all based in D.C.," Widakuswara <a href="https://wtop.com/local/2026/03/future-of-voice-of-america-unclear-after-judge-rules-kari-lake-had-no-authority-to-overhaul-voa/" target="_blank">said</a>. "We don't have anyone in our foreign bureaus. We don't have anybody, basically, to cover the news."</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/judge-trump-slavery-nps-site" target="_blank"><strong>Judge orders Trump administration to restore slavery exhibits to presidential home site</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube"> <span class="rm-shortcode" style="display: block; padding-top: 56.25%;"></span> </p><p>Lake excoriated the judge and indicated the government would appeal the ruling.</p><p>"The American people gave President Trump a mandate to cut bloated bureaucracy, eliminate waste, and restore accountability to government," she wrote on social media.</p><p>"An activist judge is trying to stand in the way of those efforts at USAGM," she added. <br />"Judge Lamberth has a pattern of activist rulings — and this case is no different."</p><em><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em></em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self"><u><em>Sign up here</em></u></a><em><em>!</em></em>

<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/spring-break-blues-dhs-highlights-outrageous-airport-conditions-amid-democrat-shutdown.jpg?id=65172523&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;coordinates=0%2C107%2C0%2C0" /><br /><br /><p>Since <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/03/congress-ends-shutdown-00762482" target="_blank">last month</a>, the Department of Homeland Security has been hamstrung by a Democrat-led government shutdown singling the agency out. Now, citizens — and especially air travelers — are paying the price due to a lack of department funding. </p><p>Security lines at airports across the nation have reportedly been "out the door" in some instances in the past couple of days, as DHS <a href="https://x.com/TSA/status/2030727104019698150?s=20" target="_blank">highlighted</a> on Sunday. </p><p class="pull-quote">'The best advice we can share with travelers is simple: plan ahead, arrive early and stay in communication with your airline.'</p><p>DHS <a href="https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2030726477990461933?s=20" target="_blank">wrote</a> on X: "SECURITY LINES OUT THE DOOR. Americans are now missing their flights because of the Democrats [sic] shutdown of DHS. Their political stunt is forcing patriotic TSA officers to work without pay — leading to financial hardship, absences, and crippling staffing shortages. Enough is enough: Democrats must fund DHS NOW."</p><p>TSA <a href="https://x.com/TSA/status/2030727104019698150?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">seconded</a> the post: "Enough is enough. The Democrat shutdown of DHS must end!"</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/it-s-about-time-passengers-who-refuse-to-use-headphones-may-be-kicked-off-this-airline" target="_self"><strong>'It's about time': Passengers who refuse to use headphones may be kicked off this airline</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" id="64c42" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=65172537&amp;width=980" /> <small class="image-media media-photo-credit">Photographer: Mark Felix/Bloomberg via Getty Images</small></p><p>Airports across the country have warned passengers to arrive at the airport several hours ahead of their scheduled flight.</p><p>For example, Louis Armstrong New Orleans Airport posted an <a href="https://x.com/flyneworleans/status/2030952799811355119?s=20" target="_blank">update</a> on Monday morning telling passengers to plan to arrive three hours before their flight, adding that TSA security lines could take up to two hours to get through. </p><p>Likewise, Houston's William P. Hobby Airport cautioned passengers to arrive "4-5 hours before their flight to allow extra time for TSA screening." </p><p>The warning added that TSA wait time "may exceed 180 minutes." </p><p>Jim Szczesniak, director of aviation for the City of Houston's Department of Aviation, <a href="https://x.com/AirportsHouston/status/2030818362222150131?s=20" target="_blank">estimated</a> that area airports are expecting 2.2 million travelers during the busy spring break season. The increased numbers of travelers paired with the decreased staff numbers at TSA because of the government shutdown have caused dramatic delays. </p><p>"The best advice we can share with travelers is simple: plan ahead, arrive early and stay in communication with your airline," reads a statement from Szczesniak.</p><p>Press secretary Karoline Leavitt <a href="https://x.com/PressSec/status/2031029702370918558?s=20" target="_blank">posted</a> a White House article Monday morning showcasing the frustrations of federal workers and travelers alike at various airports. The article also mentioned that over 100,000 DHS employees are working without pay.</p><p>Phoenix TSA worker Jovan Petkovich <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2030995087618895987?s=20" target="_blank">told</a> Fox: "We're fed up. We've had enough. This is the third shutdown in a matter of six months. ... How many delays is it? How many flight attendants are being impacted?"</p><p>The White House's Rapid Response 47 account added to Petkovich's statement, <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2030995087618895987" target="_blank">saying</a>, "Democrats need to fund [DHS] and stop playing politics with people's livelihoods." </p><p><em><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em></em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self"><em>Sign up here</em></a><em><em>!</em></em></p>

<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/liberal-media-covers-for-saturday-s-nyc-terror-attack-suspects-then-the-facts-come-out.jpg?id=65172636&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C107" /><br /><br /><p>Many news outlets glossed over key details about the <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/counter-protester-lights-explosive-amid-anti-mamdani-protest-utters-allahu-akbar-but-nyc-mayor-rips-bigotry-and-racism" target="_blank">attempted bombing</a> in New York City over the weekend, in some instances misleadingly portraying the attack outside Gracie Mansion as a threat to the city's first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani (D), and omitting the motivations and apparent Islamic radicalization of the suspects.</p><p>Mamdani refused to acknowledge the suspects' identities and instead focused his messaging on blaming the initial protest, "Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City," which the mayor claimed was "rooted in bigotry and racism."</p><p class="pull-quote">'What any honest person would call an IED, the New York Times calls "smoking jars of metal and fuses."'</p><p>The <a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/suspicious-devices-outside-nyc-mayors-gracie-mansion/6473590/" target="_blank">media</a> initially <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/gracie-mansion-suspicious-devices-rcna262237" target="_blank">echoed</a> Mamdani's <a href="https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/northeast/suspicious-device-thrown-outside-gracie-mansion-police/" target="_blank">framing</a>.</p><p>The New York Times released an early <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/nyregion/gracie-mansion-protests.html" target="_blank">report</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nytimes/posts/the-police-in-manhattan-arrested-six-people-on-saturday-during-a-clash-between-f/1316120247037102/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">titled</a>, "Smoking Jars of Metal and Fuses Thrown at Protest Near Mayor's House," in which the outlet was quick to label the anti-Islamic protesters as "far-right" and led by "the far-right provocateur Jake Lang." </p><p>The report detailed how the "turbulent scene" began with Lang's demonstration, noting that one of his fellow protesters sprayed counter-protesters with mace before a counter-protester threw two smoking objects in their direction. The framing of the report suggested that the anti-Islam protesters were the initial aggressors in the confrontation.</p><p>The Times described the two suspects accused of bringing the "smoking objects" merely as "counterprotesters," without delving into their potential motivations, political leanings, or signs of radicalization.</p><p>No explosions or injuries were reported.</p><p><strong><span></span>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/counter-protester-lights-explosive-amid-anti-mamdani-protest-utters-allahu-akbar-but-nyc-mayor-rips-bigotry-and-racism" target="_blank"><strong>Counter-protester lights explosive amid anti-Mamdani protest, utters 'Allahu Akbar' — but NYC mayor rips 'bigotry and racism'</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image image-crop-16x9"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" id="c1b4a" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=65172641&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;quality=50&amp;coordinates=0%2C9%2C0%2C98" /> <small class="image-media media-photo-credit">New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Photo by Leonardo MUNOZ/AFP via Getty Images</small></p><p>Author Hans Mahncke criticized the Times' headline, writing in a <a href="https://x.com/HansMahncke/status/2030688999543537754" target="_blank">post</a> on social media, "What any honest person would call an IED, the New York Times calls 'smoking jars of metal and fuses.'" The headline of the Times' article was later updated to "Homemade Bomb Thrown at Protest Near N.Y.C. Mayor's House, Police Say." </p><p>At the same time that early news reports were surfacing, videos posted to social media showed one of the suspects shouting, "Allahu Akbar," while tossing an IED toward anti-Islam protesters. </p><p>Even with the release of this and similar videos, the <a href="https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2026/03/islamophobic-demonstration-outside-gracie-mansion-leads-6-arrests/411968/" target="_blank">media</a> was slow to <a href="https://abc7.com/post/gracie-mansion-investigation-6-arrested-suspicious-devices-thrown-outside-mayor-zohran-mamdanis-home-new-york-city/18690548/" target="_blank">report</a> that Islamic radicals potentially carried out the attempted bombing.</p><p>The media began covering this angle only after the New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-investigation-terrorism-explosive-device-new-york-city-mayor-mamdani-gracie-mansion/" target="_blank">stated</a> that the attempted bombing was being investigated as ISIS-inspired terrorism.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/03/09/nyregion/gracie-mansion-bomb-investigation-nyc" target="_blank">Times</a> later reported that the suspects had viewed ISIS videos online, according to two anonymous officials. The homemade bombs reportedly contained triacetone triperoxide, made from precursor materials that have been linked to ISIS in the past, including in the Paris <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/10-years-after-bataclan-massacre-paris-is-still-scarred-by-islamic-state-attacks" target="_blank">attacks</a> in 2015.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/shows/the-glenn-beck-program/glenn-beck-exposes-commie-mamdanis-free-day-care-scam-36k-per-kid-55-more-than-private-and-the-socialist-trap-coming" target="_blank"><strong>Glenn Beck exposes commie Mamdani's 'free' day-care scam: $36K per kid — 55% more than private — and the socialist trap coming</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image image-crop-16x9"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" id="cb63e" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=65172645&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;quality=50&amp;coordinates=0%2C53%2C0%2C54" /> <small class="image-media media-photo-credit">Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images</small></p><p>Tisch, who confirmed that the IEDs were real and potentially lethal, released more details about the suspects in a <a href="https://x.com/NYPDPC/status/2030695186410463401" target="_blank">post</a> on X.</p><p>"Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi were arrested on scene yesterday and are in custody in connection with this matter. The NYPD is working on this investigation with our partners at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI through our Joint Terrorism Task Force," Tisch wrote.</p><p>Despite Tisch's announcement, Mamdani held fast to his original position. </p><p>During a Monday-morning <a href="https://x.com/NYCMayor/status/2030992802629255313?s=20" target="_blank">press conference</a>, Mamdani again criticized "white supremacy" and condemned the anti-Muslim protest. While he denounced violence, he described many of the counter-protesters as "peaceful." He did not mention that the suspects appear to be radicalized Muslims.</p><p><em>Editor's note: This article's headline has been corrected after publication to make clear that the act took place on Saturday, not Sunday.</em><br /></p><p><em><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em></em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self"><em><em>Sign up here</em></em></a><em><em>!</em></em></p>

<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/per-mile-driving-taxes-the-latest-way-to-punish-those-who-drive-the-most.jpg?id=65172002&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0" /><br /><br /><p>A growing number of states are considering a new way to tax drivers: charging you for every mile you travel.</p><p>The idea is called a per-mile driving tax, and if it moves forward, the cost of simply using your car could rise dramatically.</p><p class="pull-quote">To tax driving by the mile, governments need to know exactly how far a vehicle travels. That raises immediate questions about monitoring and data collection.</p><p>On a recent episode of "The Drive with Lauren and Karl," Karl Brauer and I discussed how these proposals are spreading — and why they could mean both higher costs and more government monitoring of drivers.</p><h2>Pay as you go?</h2><p>States such as California and Massachusetts are exploring mileage-based road charges as a replacement or supplement to traditional fuel taxes. The idea is simple on paper: Instead of paying taxes at the pump, drivers pay based on how many miles they drive.</p><p>But in practice, that means a new bill tied directly to your mobility.</p><p><a href="https://www.reformcalifornia.org/campaigns/stop-the-mileage-tax#:~:text=Stop%20California%20Politicians%20from%20Imposing,being%20determined%20by%20government%20bureaucrats." target="_blank">Estimates</a> from California state Rep. Carl DeMaio (R) suggest the impact could be substantial. Under proposals being discussed in California, drivers could be charged six to nine cents per mile they travel.</p><p>For a typical driver covering about 15,000 miles a year, that translates to roughly $900 to $1,200 annually in new taxes. DeMaio notes that when those charges are layered on top of existing gas taxes and vehicle taxes, the total burden for a two-car household could exceed $4,200 per year just for the privilege of driving.</p><p>That’s not a minor adjustment. For many families, it would function like another recurring household bill — tied directly to how much they drive.</p><p>And unlike discretionary spending, driving often isn’t optional. Millions of Americans rely on their vehicles to get to work, transport children, care for relatives, and handle everyday errands.</p><h2>Commuter looter</h2><p>One of the biggest problems with per-mile taxes is who ends up paying the highest price.</p><p>The drivers most likely to rack up mileage are often the ones who can least afford it. In expensive states like California, many workers commute long distances because housing near job centers is out of reach. Living farther out keeps rent or mortgage payments manageable — but it also means driving more miles.</p><p>A mileage tax effectively punishes those drivers for circumstances they can’t control.</p><p>Karl points out the obvious math: The longer your commute, the higher your tax bill. That means lower-income workers who travel farther to reach their jobs could end up paying more than wealthier drivers who live closer to work.</p><h2>I spy</h2><p>There’s another practical issue: How would states measure those miles?</p><p>To tax driving by the mile, governments need to know exactly how far a vehicle travels. That raises immediate questions about monitoring and data collection.</p><p>Modern cars already gather significant amounts of information through connected systems, insurance telematics, and onboard software. But a statewide mileage tax would likely require even more precise tracking.</p><p>Older vehicles without built-in connectivity present another challenge. Any mileage-tax program would still have to account for them, which could mean external tracking devices, reporting systems, or other work-arounds.</p><p>However the system is built, the bottom line is that taxing miles requires knowing how many miles you drive — and that opens the door to broader monitoring of driver behavior.</p><h2>Kill switch 2.0</h2><p>During the episode, we also talk about how this issue overlaps with new driver-monitoring technology already appearing in modern vehicles.</p><p>Under provisions in the 2021 infrastructure law, new vehicles will eventually include <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/kentucky/articles/2026-02-14/federal-law-would-stop-the-cars-of-drunk-or-impaired-drivers-but-it-isnt-happening-yet#:~:text=The%20measure%2C%20often%20referred%20to,that%20final%20approval%20is%20near." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">systems designed to detect impaired driving</a>. The concept is often described as a safety feature, but the broader concern is how much control these systems could exert over the vehicle itself.</p><p>If software determines that a driver is impaired or unsafe, it could prevent the car from operating.</p><p>Karl and I agree that no one wants impaired drivers on the road. But once vehicles are equipped with systems capable of monitoring behavior and controlling vehicle operation, the question becomes how those systems might be used — and who ultimately controls them.</p><p>For drivers, that raises an uncomfortable possibility: a vehicle that can track, interpret, and potentially restrict how you use it.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/align/salvage-title-cars-are-showing-up-at-dealerships-should-you-buy-one" target="_self"><strong>Salvage title cars are showing up at dealerships. Should you buy one?</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image image-crop-16x9"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" id="d965a" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=65172021&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;quality=50&amp;coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0" /> <small class="image-media media-photo-credit">Mike Simons/Getty Images</small></p><h2>Engine trouble</h2><p>Even without mileage taxes, the cost of owning and operating a vehicle has been climbing.</p><p>Vehicle prices remain high. Insurance premiums have increased significantly in many states. Repairs are more expensive as cars become more technologically complex. Fuel prices remain volatile.</p><p>Layering a per-mile tax on top of those costs would make daily transportation even more expensive.</p><p>Take California, where drivers already pay <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=in+places+like+California%2C+drivers+are+already+paying+some+of+the+highest+fuel+taxes+in+the+country&amp;oq=in+places+like+California%2C+drivers+are+already+paying+some+of+the+highest+fuel+taxes+in+the+country&amp;gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRiPAtIBBzI0MGowajSoAgCwAgE&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8" target="_blank">the highest fuel taxes</a> in the country. A mileage-based charge might not replace those taxes — it could simply add another layer on top of them.</p><h2>A broader trend</h2><p>Mileage taxes also fit into a larger pattern in transportation policy.</p><p>Governments are experimenting with new ways to regulate emissions, reshape travel behavior, and generate revenue from road usage. But the people who feel the impact most directly are ordinary drivers.</p><p>Policies that make driving more expensive or more restricted don’t affect abstract “vehicle usage.” They affect real people who rely on their cars every day.</p><p>That includes workers commuting to jobs, parents transporting children, caregivers helping elderly relatives, and small-business owners who depend on vehicles for their livelihoods.</p><h2>The bottom line</h2><p>For most Americans, a car isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity.</p><p>That’s why proposals like per-mile driving taxes deserve close scrutiny. They could dramatically increase transportation costs while expanding the amount of information collected about how drivers use their vehicles.</p><p>If states move forward with mileage-based taxes, drivers will be the ones paying the bill — both financially and in terms of how their mobility is monitored.</p><p>Listen to the full episode of “The Drive with Lauren and Karl” below:</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube"> <span class="rm-shortcode" style="display: block; padding-top: 56.25%;"></span></p>

<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/schumer-versus-schumer-damning-footage-exposes-democrat-flip-flop.jpg?id=65172405&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;coordinates=0%2C72%2C0%2C0" /><br /><br /><p>U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is a vociferous opponent of the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/22" target="_blank">Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act</a>, sometimes referred to as the <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116196711651701576" target="_blank">SAVE America Act</a>, which would require individuals to provide proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/favorability/chuck-schumer" target="_blank">unpopular</a> senator has <a href="https://www.democrats.senate.gov/news/press-releases/leader-schumer-floor-remarks-on-how-the-save-act-would-disenfranchise-millions-of-american-voters-says-it-is-dead-on-arrival-in-the-senate" target="_blank">characterized</a> the act — the passage of which President Donald Trump has <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116193527873859174" target="_blank">made a condition</a> of his ratification of other bills — as "Jim Crow 2.0," a "fringe piece of legislation," and as "extreme as it gets."</p><p class="pull-quote">'Americans see the hypocrisy.'</p><p>Schumer was not, however, always opposed to measures protecting the benefits owed only to American citizens.</p><p>Decades-old footage has once again <a href="https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/2030770603959968105" target="_blank">gone viral</a> online, showing Schumer previously making the case that valid U.S. identification ensures against rampant fraud by noncitizens.</p><p>When discussing a proposed amendment to the Republican-sponsored <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/104th-congress/house-bill/3734" target="_blank">Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act</a> in March 1996, then-Rep. Chuck Schumer <a href="https://www.c-span.org/clip/house-proceeding/user-clip-schumer-on-social-security-illegal-immigration/5161974" target="_blank">stated</a>, "Let's admit the truth: Everywhere people go, they're asked for a Social Security card. In fact, one way to prove you’re a bona fide person who can have a job is to ask for a driver’s license and a Social Security card."</p><p>“This is an anti-fraud amendment. All over, where we go, people say, 'Well, why can't you stop illegal immigrants or others from coming here?' And the number-one answer we give our constituents is, 'When they come here, they can get jobs, get benefits against the law because of fraud,'" said Schumer.</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/illegal-alien-allegedly-voted-in-2024-federal-election-when-trump-and-kamala-were-on-the-ballot" target="_blank">Illegal alien allegedly voted in 2024 federal election, when Trump and Kamala were on the ballot</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" id="4e74a" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.png?id=65172358&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;quality=50&amp;coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0" /><small class="image-media media-photo-credit">Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images</small></p><p>In the video — an excerpt of which the White House <a href="https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/2023791635436630393?s=20" target="_blank">shared</a> online last month — the Democrat also blasts opposition to the "anti-fraud measure."</p><p>Responding to the remarks made by the Schumer of yesteryear, Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) <a href="https://x.com/SenAshleyMoody/status/2024193760855269516?s=20" target="_blank">wrote</a>, "Americans see the hypocrisy. Pass the Save America Act."</p><p>"The only thing that's changed here is Democrat messaging," <a href="https://x.com/RepRalphNorman/status/2023868832105037879?s=20" target="_blank">wrote</a> Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.). "EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON recognizes that securing U.S. elections is commonsense."</p><p>North Carolina Rep. Mark Harris (R) <a href="https://x.com/RepMarkHarrisNC/status/2023844240804208812?s=20" target="_blank">urged</a> Schumer, "Listen to your past self."</p><p>"I guess new Chuck Schumer changed his mind," <a href="https://x.com/BasedMikeLee/status/2024641323207446766?s=20" target="_blank">wrote</a> Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).</p><p>On Sunday, Schumer <a href="https://x.com/SenSchumer/status/2030666289602072866?s=20" target="_blank">recycled</a> his "Jim Crow 2.0" talking point and claimed that the SAVE Act would "disenfranchise tens of millions of people."</p><p>"If Trump is saying he won’t sign any bills until the SAVE Act is passed, then so be it: there will be total gridlock in the Senate," continued Schumer. "Senate Democrats will not help pass the SAVE Act under any circumstances."</p><p>A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll from February <a href="https://harvardharrispoll.com/press-release-february-2026/" target="_blank">revealed</a> that a supermajority — 71% — of U.S. voters support the SAVE Act, including 50% of Democrats. When polled on the particulars of the legislation, 75% of U.S. voters said they supported proof of citizenship; 81% said they supported voter ID; and 80% said they supported states removing noncitizens from voter rolls.</p><p>The poll also found that 85% of respondents, including a majority across all political parties, said that only American citizens should be able to vote.</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>!</em></p>

<p>President Donald Trump’s Small Business Administration (SBA) is banning foreign nationals from securing federal dollars via more small business loan programs, the agency announced Monday.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/03/09/trump-admin-bans-foreign-nationals-from-more-small-business-loans/" rel="nofollow">Trump Administration Bans Foreign Nationals from More Small Business Loans</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.breitbart.com" rel="nofollow">Breitbart</a>.</p>

Rep. Kevin Kiley is ditching the Republican Party and re-registering as an independent, but he still plans to caucus with the party facing a razor-thin majority in the House. Republicans now hold just 217 seats, and Kiley’s exit makes him the only member of the House not registered under any party. Kiley is running in ...

Cory Pesaturo isn’t the typical musician in the crowd at the Grammys.  Firstly, He’s a three-time accordion world champion and maybe the only attendee known for his work with the box-shaped instrument popular in various folk traditions. Secondly, and perhaps making him more unique in that audience, he wasn’t infatuated with Bad Bunny and the ...

WASHINGTON—The Department of Justice has charged two &#8220;alleged ISIS-inspired terrorists&#8221; who authorities say attempted to bomb a New York City protest, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Monday. Defendants Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, are charged with five counts, including knowingly attempting to provide &#8220;material support or resources&#8221; to ISIS, a foreign terrorist ...

As President Trump gives conflicting statements about the length and objectives of the war he launched with Israel against Iran, fears are growing that the conflict could continue to expand throughout the region and beyond. Lawrence Wilkerson, retired U.S. Army colonel and former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, says the U.S. and Israel are committing wanton &#8220;war crimes&#8221; in Iran. &#8220;We have bombed civilians relentlessly. We have bombed a school. We have bombed a hospital,&#8221; says Wilkerson, who also suggests Western media outlets are downplaying the extent of the damage in Israel and how successful Iran has been in defending itself.</p> <p>&#8220;This is a war with long legs. Trump has completely misinterpreted it,&#8221; says Wilkerson. &#8220;The only one who&#8217;s interpreted it correctly is Bibi Netanyahu, and I think he&#8217;s ready to use a nuclear weapon, should it become as bad as it looks like it might right now, because Iran has not even began to shoot its most sophisticated missiles.&#8221;

Kristi Noem has been ousted from her position as homeland security secretary after intensifying calls for her resignation. Noem&#8217;s tenure has been marked by allegations of corruption, deadly immigration raids and legal challenges. ProPublica reporter Justin Elliott has reported extensively on Noem&#8217;s tenure, including a $200 million ad campaign that may have been the inciting incident for her firing. &#8220;This did not go through the normal competitive process,&#8221; says Elliott. Instead, the ad &#8220;went to a Delaware <span class="caps">LLC</span> that was formed only a few days before.&#8221;</p> <p>President Trump has announced Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma as the new homeland security secretary. Mullin &#8220;has been known as a hard-liner,&#8221; says Chris Stein, senior politics reporter for <em>The Guardian US</em>. Stein adds that the Trump administration will continue its aggressive immigration policies despite the change in leadership.

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is now in its fifth day. Following the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Israel has made it clear that it intends to target any official successors. Observers also warn that Israel could soon deploy its &#8220;Dahiya doctrine,&#8221; a military strategy it first developed in Lebanon that involves carpet-bombing densely populated residential areas. Despite U.S. hopes for a short engagement, however, Iran appears to be settling in for a &#8220;war of attrition&#8221; against &#8220;the biggest military superpower in world history, and the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East,&#8221; says scholar Narges Bajoghli. &#8220;This could turn into a regional war of a scale that will make the past 25 years of forever wars in the Middle East seem like a walk in the park.&#8221;

Ofer Cassif, a member of leftist Hadash-Ta&#8217;al coalition in the Israeli Knesset, speaks with <em>Democracy Now!</em> from Israel about the war on Iran. As U.S. and Israeli officials claim that their military actions are against the regime, Cassif says their real goal is pursuing &#8220;imperialist interest&#8221; at the &#8220;expense of the peoples, including the people of Iran and the people of Israel​​.&#8221; Though the war has led to deadly strikes in Israel, the majority of the public supports the government and aggression against Iran, he notes.

Trump administration launches unprecedented military campaign spanning Venezuela to Iran in assertive foreign policy shift under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

President Donald Trump erroneously claimed Monday that Iran has access to the American Tomahawk cruise missile, the weapon likely used to strike a girls' school in Iran, killing 165 people. When asked why he was the only person in his administration making the claim, Trump replied: "Because I just don't know enough about it."

Millions of Americans connect online, but do they know who is receiving their messages?

<p>Yes, many Americans are struggling, but it’s good to know the first family can still afford Earth’s most expensive provisions. Morale is everything, isn’t it?</p><p>In the absence of any clearly and consistently stated aims from the US administration, maybe each day of the Iran war just needs a moodboard description. In which case, Sunday was a tale of two nepo babies. In Iran, the high-level executive search for the new ayatollah concluded that the old ayatollah’s son was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/08/ali-khameneis-son-mojtaba-chosen-as-irans-new-supreme-leader">the best man for the position</a>. It’s not for me to assess his job prospects, but you’d hope his supermarket order doesn’t contain any “ripen at home” pears.</p><p>Meanwhile, across the world, in LA, Donald Trump’s eldest granddaughter <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDa8__sXB3o&amp;t=335s]">posted a YouTube video</a> titled “I Brought My Secret Service to Erewhon”. By way of background, Erewhon is Earth’s most pretentiously extravagant hipster food shop, and, as Kai was at pains to brag, “the most expensive grocery store pretty much out there. Everything’s crazy expensive! So we’re going to get my favourite stuff.”</p><p>Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist</p><p><em><strong>Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tone/letters"> letters</a> section, please <a href="mailto:guardian.letters@theguardian.com?body=Please%20include%20your%20name,%20full%20postal%20address%20and%20phone%20number%20with%20your%20letter%20below.%20Letters%20are%20usually%20published%20with%20the%20author%27s%20name%20and%20city/town/village.%20The%20rest%20of%20the%20information%20is%20for%20verification%20only%20and%20to%20contact%20you%20where%20necessary.">click here</a>.</strong></em></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/10/shock-awe-trump-granddaughter-kai-war-effort-shopper">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Trump is wielding imperial powers created by a decades-long master plan. The only way to stop his war is to cut off the money</p><p></p><p>Donald Trump has now ordered <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/peace-president-donald-trump-breaks-record-for-attacking-the-most-countries/">military attacks</a> on more countries than any prior president. These assaults do not merely betray his <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/01/trump-promised-no-wars-now-hes-a-bush-style-regime-change-president">campaign promises</a>. Launched without congressional authorization, Trump’s bombings and incursions also betray the constitution – an inherently anti-monarch document that exclusively vests warmaking powers in the legislative branch in order to prevent such grave decisions from being made by any one person determined to become a king.</p><p>Trump clearly perceives himself in such royal terms – he’s <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/king-trump-rcna192912">said</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/06/donald-trump-sean-hannity-dictator-day-one-response-iowa-town-hall">as much</a>. But as we show in the new season of our investigative podcast series <a href="https://www.masterplanpodcast.com">Master Plan: The Kingmakers</a>, Trump did not create the kingly authority he is now employing. He is exercising powers concentrated in the executive branch by previous presidents and courts. And if history is any guide, the only weapon that can stop a mad king is Congress’s power of the purse – a power that Democrats once effectively wielded, but today seem hesitant to brandish, even amid a wildly unpopular Iran incursion that some fear is a precursor to the second world war.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/10/democrats-trump-iran-war">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Calls for a popular uprising and empty promises of help are reckless in the extreme – and no answer to my country’s plight</p><ul><li><p>Nasrin Parvaz is a women’s rights activist and torture survivor from Iran</p></li></ul><p>I have been watching the news from inside Iran, unable to hold in my sorrow. As an Iranian who was imprisoned and tortured by the regime, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/15/iran-protests-survivors-regime-freedom">I have been pleading</a> with the world’s human rights organisations and media to keep a focus on the country’s plight. But now I see US-Israeli bombs falling on Iran, and some Iranians celebrating this war while innocent people die. My heart is breaking for my country.</p><p>Let us be clear: when Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu conspired to launch their war, it was not out of a desire to free the Iranian people from the tyranny of the regime. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/03/trump-israel-iran-war">Netanyahu said on the second day of the war</a>: “This coalition of forces allows us to do what I have yearned to do for 40 years.” He has named this operation “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/28/us-israel-strikes-iran-tehran-response-visual-guide">Lion’s Roar</a>”. Meanwhile, Iranian monarchists celebrate the carnage, waving the shah’s version of the country’s flag with its crowned lion and sun.</p><p>Nasrin Parvaz is a women’s rights activist and torture survivor from Iran. Her books include A Prison Memoir: One Woman’s Struggle in Iran, and the novel The Secret Letters from X to A</p><p><em><strong>Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/letters">letters</a> section, please <a href="mailto:mailto:guardian.letters@theguardian.com?body=Please%20include%20your%20name,%20full%20postal%20address%20and%20phone%20number%20underneath%20your%20letter.%20Letters%20are%20usually%20published%20with%20the%20author’s%20name%20and%20city/town/village.%20The%20rest%20of%20the%20information%20is%20for%20verification%20only%20and%20to%20contact%20you%20if%20your%20letter%20is%20used.">click here</a>.</strong></em></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/10/us-israel-war-iranian-people">Continue reading...</a>

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the only Republican senator to vote last week for a resolution to halt military action against Iran, says it will be very hard to persuade GOP colleagues to vote to limit President Trump’s authority as commander-in-chief now that U.S. forces are actively engaged in strikes against Iran. Paul sounded pessimistic about&#8230;

There is an awful lot of straight-line projecting going on about the Iran war right now.&#160; As I sat down to write this, my fingers twitched with hesitation because of the remoteness of the possibility of writing anything that will still be relevant in 12 hours about an offensive still only in its ninth day&#8230;

Republicans on Capitol Hill are growing worried about President Trump&#8217;s bet that Americans are willing to swallow higher gas prices due to the conflict with Iran, especially ahead of the November elections.&#160; The president, only weeks ago in his State of the Union address, had pointed to lowering gas prices as a major victory for&#8230;

While President Trump has left the door open to putting boots on the ground in Iran, he told the New York Post on Monday he is “nowhere near” taking that step. “We haven’t made any decision on that. We’re nowhere near it,” Trump said, regarding sending ground troops to safeguard nuclear material in Isfahan, Iran.&#160;&#8230;

<p>Israeli bombing left cars in Gaza immobile and roads impassable. The assault on Iran has only spiked prices and worsened conditions.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2026/03/09/israel-gaza-iran-war-transportation/">Israel Destroyed Gaza’s Roads and Transit. Now, We Walk Everywhere.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>

<p>The conflict in the Middle East is now also driving up demand for and increasing scarcity of various kinds of air-defense effectors.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.twz.com/air/ukrainian-f-16s-had-only-a-handful-of-sidewinder-missiles-available-report">Ukrainian F-16s Had Only A Handful Of Sidewinder Missiles Available: Report</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.twz.com">The War Zone</a>.</p>