Donald Trump has sweeping plans for a second administration. Here’s what he’s proposed

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⚠️ Exclusive: Costly drone snafu

A slide from a Ukrainian PowerPoint presentation on a proposed drone deal with the U.S. 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 Middle East war. The Trump administration dismissed the Ukrainians, only to reverse course last week because of more-than-expected drone strikes from Iran, Axios' Marc Caputo, Barak Ravid and Colin Demarest write. Why it matters: Snubbing Ukraine's offer ranks as one of the administration's biggest tactical miscalculations since the bombing of Iran began Feb. 28, two U.S. officials tell Axios. 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. "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. 🔭 Zoom in: 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 invasion of its western neighbor. Ukraine has developed a low-cost interceptor drone, among other sensors and air defenses, to shoot down Shaheds. Ukrainian PowerPoint includes a proposal for Drone Combat Hubs across Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. 👀 Inside the room: At a closed-door White House meeting on Aug. 18, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered the interceptor drones to President Trump as a way to strengthen ties. 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." 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. "We wanted to build the 'drone walls' and all the things necessary like the radar, et cetera," a Ukrainian official said. 🔎 The intrigue: A U.S. official who saw the PowerPoint said Zelensky's team showed the presentation to the administration. "We figured it was Zelensky being Zelensky," the official said. "Somebody decided not to buy it." Zelensky told The New York Times that the U.S. requested anti-drone help last Thursday. He said that the next day, he dispatched interceptor drones and a team of drone experts to help protect U.S. bases in Jordan. ps:That's because we have the must ignorant administration ever!!!!!

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White House preps Claude purge

The White House is preparing an executive order directing the federal government to purge Anthropic's AI from its operations, Axios' Maria Curi reports.

• Why it matters: The move would escalate the administration's fight with Anthropic, which is already suing the Pentagon over its supply chain risk designation.

It would also formalize a broad push across agencies to remove Claude after President Trump said his administration would not use "woke" AI.

• Government agencies, including the Treasury Department, have already begun to offboard Anthropic.
• Anthropic said in a lawsuit yesterday that procurement laws don't give the administration the authority to blacklist a U.S. company over protected speech.

🔮 What's next: The order could be issued as soon as this week, a source said.

ps:Another ignorant decision!!!!!

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The Miami Trial Exposing Foreign Influence In Trumpland

Inside a $50 million Venezuelan lobbying deal and a court battle ensnaring White House power brokers — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and chief of staff Susie Wiles.

https://www.levernews.com/the-miami-trial-exposing-foreign-influence-in-trumpland/?

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Friends of CBS Star Spill MAGA-Coded Anchor’s Role in His Exit

Fallout behind the scenes is ripping the network apart.

Newly installed CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil is reportedly among the reasons why the network’s top Justice Department correspondent left.

Scott MacFarlane, who announced his exit Monday, was the latest high-profile talent to depart the network, joining the likes of 60 Minutes correspondent Anderson Cooper. And like Cooper, Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss’ transformation of CBS was determinative, a new report claims.

MacFarlane, multiple people familiar with the situation told Status, wasn’t on board with Weiss’s overtures to conservative audiences.

For instance, MacFarlane was “appalled and disheartened” when Dokoupil, on CBS Evening News, noted the five-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection with a both-sides treatment.

MacFarlane, who extensively covered the fallout from Jan. 6, vented to some colleagues about the coverage, according to Status, but it’s unclear if he did so to Weiss or other network leaders.

Dokoupil’s Jan. 6 broadcast was just his second official day in the anchor’s chair. That same night, the former MS NOW correspondent and Daily Beast reporter drew negative attention—just 24 hours after a troublesome debut—by giving a “salute” to Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the “ultimate Florida man.”

Some CBS staffers trashed Weiss’ selection of Dokoupil at the time. The 45-year-old previously co-hosted CBS’s morning show.

“It’s an insult to the storied news giants who came before him,” one reporter told The Independent.

MacFarlane’s announcement, Status added Monday, also came at a time when he was stretched thin at CBS, where he oversaw coverage of complex, evolving topics, like Jan. 6, Donald Trump’s pardons, and the Epstein files.

Representatives for CBS News and Weiss did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast. A CBS News spokesperson and a representative for MacFarlane declined to comment to Status.

MacFarlane, who joined CBS in 2021, told colleagues in his departure note that he would be looking forward to “some independence.”

“I will always value the opportunity I had to work alongside the talented and committed professionals here. I’m proud to have had the words “CBS correspondent” next to my name—always will be,” he said. “For the next phase of my career, I look forward to some independence and finding new spaces to share my work in line with my personal goals. I thank you all. The work will not stop, and I’ll always be a call away.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/cbs-stars-friends-spill-maga-coded-anchors-role-in-his-exit/?

ps:So what other networks are going to be going down because of these people?????

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Megyn Kelly Loses It at ‘Homicidal Maniac’ Trump Ally as MAGA Civil War Explodes

The conservative commentator questioned who is really behind the Iran bombing as civil war spirals out of control.

MAGA podcaster Megyn Kelly has lashed out at Sen. Lindsey Graham as he pushes for the U.S. to get involved in more foreign conflicts.Kelly, who has been outspoken against the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, accused the South Carolina Republican and Donald Trump ally of being a “homicidal maniac” with his warmongering comments on Fox News over the past few days.

On Sunday, Graham called in an interview with Maria Bartiromo for direct intervention in Cuba and implored the president to join Israel in attacking the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Speaking to Sean Hannity on Monday, Graham also urged other Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia, to “up your game” and assist the U.S. war effort. He also told Spain that it had “lost your way” after its prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, strongly opposed the attacks on Iran. The senator called for the U.S. to cut ties with Spain and pull its military air base out of the European country.

“When did Lindsay [sic] Graham become our president? In the past 24 hours he’s threatened Lebanon, Cuba, the Saudis, the wider Arab region and now—checks notes—Spain,” Kelly posted on X while sharing a clip of Graham’s comments.

“Let’s get real. The problem with Lindsay Graham isn’t (just) that he’s a homicidal maniac, it’s that Trump likes and is listening to him, and Trump’s favorite channel is parading him around like a Hefner bunny in stockings on every show,” she added.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Graham had traveled to Israel multiple times to meet privately with Israeli intelligence officials and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to advise him on how to convince Trump to join the attacks on Iran.Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers also believe Graham—one of the biggest Iran hawks in Congress—helped persuade the so-called “Peace President” to begin bombing Iran.Kelly, along with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and firebrand MAGA exile Marjorie Taylor Greene, is on the front lines of a MAGA civil war that is tearing the Trump-loyalist “America First” movement apart. Trump has even taken the drastic step of declaring that Carlson—who called the war in Iran “absolutely disgusting and evil”—is no longer part of the MAGA movement after voicing fierce criticism of the Middle East conflict.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has attempted to downplay the tensions within MAGA over the Iran war, telling reporters on Friday that X is “not real life.”

“This president lives in the real world,” Leavitt said. “And with respect to MAGA, President Trump is the leader of MAGA. He’s the creator of the MAGA movement, and there is nothing more America First than taking out terrorists.”

The Daily Beast has contacted Graham’s office for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/megyn-kelly-loses-it-at-homicidal-maniac-donald-trump-ally-lindsey-graham-as-maga-civil-war-explodes/?

ps:So who's actually running our  country? MAGA?

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Pentagon Leak Reveals Staggering Cost of Trump’s War

The military burned through billions in munitions in just the first two days of Operation Epic Fury.

The Pentagon used $5.6 billion in advanced munitions in just the first two days of its Iran war, according to new figures shared with Congress.

The estimate, provided by three U.S. officials on Monday and reported by The Washington Post, reflects only the opening salvos of Operation Epic Fury, before the military began shifting away from expensive precision munitions—including Tomahawk cruise missiles and advanced air defense interceptors—toward more plentiful laser-guided bombs.

The news has sparked alarm on Capitol Hill over how quickly U.S. forces are burning through America’s most high-end weaponry, according to the Post.

Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell insisted to the outlet that the Defense Department had “everything it needs to execute any mission at the time and place of the President’s choosing and on any timeline.”

But the Post reports that Donald Trump’s administration is now expected to send Congress a supplemental defense spending request worth potentially tens of billions of dollars as early as this week to help bankroll the campaign.

That plea, it says, is certain to face fierce opposition from Democrats whose efforts to restrain further military action in Iran have so far come up empty.

The Daily Beast reported last week that the war has been costing American taxpayers an estimated $1 billion a day, a pace that could push the total bill toward $215 billion if the conflict drags on through September as some U.S. officials have warned.

None of that appears to have punctured Trump’s confidence. At a House Republican retreat at his Trump National Doral resort in Doral, Florida on Monday, he told lawmakers the conflict would be “a short-term excursion” that was going to be “finished pretty quickly,” according to Punchbowl News.

He also used the occasion to claim Democrats had stopped attacking his economic record.

“You noticed you don’t hear that word anymore, Mike,” he told House Speaker Mike Johnson from the stage, referring to the word “affordability”—a claim Punchbowl noted was flatly contradicted by the reality of Democratic messaging on both sides of the Capitol.

Behind the munitions costs, though, lies a deeper set of anxieties. The Pentagon has begun moving parts of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system from South Korea to the Middle East, along with Patriot interceptors previously stationed across the Indo-Pacific.

Mark Cancian, a weapons inventory expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the Post that the reallocation carries its own dangers: “The more THAADs and Patriots you shoot, the more risk you assume in the Indo-Pacific and in Ukraine,” he said. The two systems are considered the most advanced air defenses in the world.

The concerns are not new. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine had warned Trump, 79, before the war began that a prolonged conflict could dangerously deplete America’s stocks of precision weaponry, already eroded by years of military aid to Ukraine and operations across at least seven other countries.

The administration has sought to play down that warning. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, 45, and Caine told reporters last week that the campaign was transitioning away from its reliance on precision munitions. Cancian said the shift would dramatically cut the per-strike cost—from several million dollars per round to as little as $100,000 in some cases.

Iran has continued to strike back with unexpected sophistication. Russia has been supplying Iranian forces with intelligence to sharpen the targeting of their attacks on U.S. and Israeli positions, according to the Post.

Three American F-15 fighter jets were also destroyed in a friendly-fire incident involving Kuwait—at an estimated $100 million apiece, according to Cancian.

Seven U.S. servicemembers have now died in the conflict—six in an Iranian drone strike on a military facility in Kuwait, and a seventh following an attack in Saudi Arabia.

The Daily Beast contacted the Pentagon and the White House for comment. The Pentagon declined to discuss the matter.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pentagon-leak-reveals-staggering-cost-of-trumps-iran-war-amid-affordibility-crisis/?

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Supreme Court Justices’ Feud Over Trump Cases Spills Into Public View

Liberal and conservative justices clashed over the use of the shadow docket.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson slammed the conservative-majority Supreme Court for waving through some of Donald Trump’s more extreme policies while legal challenges against them are still playing out in the courts.

A legal event in Washington, D.C., on Monday highlighted the internal division in the nation’s highest court over the use of the so-called “shadow docket” and a string of decisions pandering to the president.

During the gathering of lawyers and judges at the federal courthouse, Jackson, nominated by President Joe Biden in 2022, claimed that the Supreme Court’s swift handling of Trump’s emergency cases has led to a “warped” process that is an “unfortunate” departure.

Her complaint was rebuffed by conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was appointed to the court during Trump’s first term and insisted nothing had changed.

Under the court’s emergency docket system—referred to by critics as the “shadow docket” for its lack of transparency compared with the court’s regular cases—justices have signed off on the Trump administration’s ban on transgender soldiers in the military, the firing of federal workers to cut costs, an increase in hard-line immigration enforcement, and an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education.

The emergency cases generally do not feature arguments and justices often do not explain their rationale for the rulings, which often happen before lower courts have finished examining the cases.

The Supreme Court has backed the Trump administration in 80 percent of these emergency cases, a far higher share than during the Biden administration.

“This uptick in the court’s willingness to get involved with cases on the emergency docket is a real unfortunate problem,” Jackson said at the event. “I think it is not serving the court or our country well at this point.”

Jackson did not specify which emergency cases she was referring to.

There have been 25 wins in emergency dockets presented by the administration in Trump’s second term, leading the court’s three liberal justices to claim the conservative majority in SCOTUS is working in favor of Republicans.

Countering Jackson’s argument, Kavanaugh claimed that the Supreme Court had treated Trump similarly to Biden. He cited Biden-era policies that were approved, including military vaccine mandates and access to the abortion drug Mifepristone.

“This is not a new phenomenon in the Trump administration,” Kavanaugh said.

He insisted there were now more emergency cases presented to SCOTUS “because it’s difficult to get legislation through Congress.”

Jackson argued Biden’s emergency docket victories usually upheld the legal status quo, while Trump was offering new initiatives that potentially changed the law.

“What is happening now is the administration is making new policy, but then insisting that the new policy take effect immediately before a challenge about its lawfulness is determined,” Jackson said.

She pointed out that the Trump administration was now pushing through more cases on an emergency basis because “the Supreme Court has shown a willingness to grant these emergency motions.”

The two eventually found common ground in their conversation at the event. Kavanaugh said “none of us enjoy” the shadow docket trend, adding, “We have to have the same position regardless of who is president.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/supreme-court-justices-feud-over-trump-cases-spills-into-public-view/?

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Lackeys Beg Trump to Find a Way Out of the War He Started

The president’s advisers are reportedly encouraging him to find an exit ramp from the war he just begun.

Donald Trump’s advisers have been privately urging him to figure out an exit strategy for the war in Iran he started just over a week ago, a new report has claimed.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that some of the president’s aides have expressed concerns about the length of the war amid rising oil prices, citing the risk of political backlash that could further tank the 79-year-old’s already abysmal approval rating.

While Trump has declined to give an exact timeline for when U.S. and Israeli forces might stop their bombardment of Iran, he said on Monday, “We’re way ahead of schedule,” and that he thought it would be over “very soon.”

Speaking to reporters in Florida, he described the strikes as a “short excursion into something that should have been done for 47 years,” adding, “Forty-seven years it’s taken to do this, and no president had the guts to do it.”

Asked by a reporter about the possibility of implementing regime change, particularly in light of the news that slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son was chosen to replace his father, Trump did not commit, instead saying, “We want a system that can lead to many years of peace, and if we can’t have that, we might as well get it over with right now.”

The Journal quoted some White House officials as saying that as long as Iran continues to attack other countries in the region—including strikes on U.S. bases that have killed seven U.S. service members—a swift U.S. withdrawal was unlikely.

One senior administration official told the Journal that Trump won’t stop fighting “until he can claim a satisfactory victory,” noting the U.S. continues to have a military advantage.

Despite this, some advisers have reportedly been urging the president to devise a plan to pull the U.S. out of the region and argue that the military had achieved most of its objectives. According to the Journal, these advisers note that while many of the president’s supporters are still in favor of military action in Iran, an extended campaign could change things.

Several prominent right-wingers have criticized the president’s actions in Iran, including Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, both of whom expressed concerns about Israel’s influence on the president, while others who advocate for an ‘America First’ agenda have criticized him for neglecting domestic concerns to focus on foreign wars.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment. In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “This story is full of crap from anonymous sources who, I can guarantee, are not in the room with President Trump.”

“The president’s top aides are focused 24/7 on ensuring Operation Epic Fury continues to be a tremendous success, and the end of these operations will ultimately be determined by the commander in chief.”

Concerns about engaging in a drawn-out war come amid surging oil prices, with the cost soaring above $110 a barrel for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 this week, and incredibly negative polling for both the president and his war.

A CNN poll found that nearly six in 10 Americans oppose the strikes on Iran, while 56 percent believe that despite the president’s claims of a short timeframe, a long-term military conflict is at least somewhat likely.

The president’s own approval ratings are somehow even worse, with his net approval rating falling to -21 points as just 38 percent of Americans surveyed approved of his job performance while 59 percent disapproved, resulting in the lowest approval rating of his second term.

The Journal also reports that the president’s advisers have received calls from Republicans concerned about the potential impact of Trump’s war on the upcoming midterm elections. An outside economic adviser to Trump, Stephen Moore, told the Journal, “When the price of gas and oil rise, so does everything else. Given affordability was already an issue, this leads to real challenges.”

The strikes on Iran, which began on Feb. 28, have killed an estimated 1,255 people in Iran, including dozens of schoolchildren and multiple senior political figures, including Khamenei. Seven U.S. service members have died in retaliatory strikes on U.S. bases across the Middle East.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/lackeys-beg-trump-to-find-a-way-out-of-the-war-he-started/?

 

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Americans Call BS on Trump’s Big War Promise

The president hasn’t been clear on when the fighting with Iran might wrap up.

Americans appear unconvinced by President Donald Trump’s assurances that his war on Iran will be swift and decisive.

The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted between March 6-9 among 1,021 adults, shows that 60 percent of Americans expect U.S. military involvement in Iran will “go on for an extended period of time.”

That view is shared by 38 percent of Republicans and 77 percent of Democrats.

Since the launch of joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on Feb. 28, with the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in the opening salvos, Trump has been under pressure to define his endgame in Iran.

He previously said the war was “projected [to last] four to five weeks,” but has since wavered on a specific timeline.

In the meantime, retaliatory strikes have continued against countries with U.S. military bases, which have so far killed at least seven U.S. service members.

During a speech at a Republican lawmakers’ retreat in Miami on Monday, Trump gave mixed messages about the conflict, saying the war with Iran would “be finished pretty quickly.”

He added that “We’ve already won in many ways,” but admitted, “We haven’t won enough. We go forward, more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long-running danger once and for all."

He also told CBS News, “I think the war is very complete, pretty much”, and said the U.S. was “very far ahead of schedule.”

But polling suggests Americans are still uncertain about why the war was started in the first place.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents—64 percent—said Trump has failed to clearly spell out the objectives of the U.S. military campaign, a view shared by roughly one in four Republicans and about nine in 10 Democrats.

Meanwhile, overall support for the strikes remains low, with just 29 percent of Americans saying they approve of them.

Americans are also nervous about the possible financial implications of the war as it drags on with no clear end in sight.

Nearly half of Americans—49 percent—believe the war in Iran will hurt their personal finances, including about a third of Republicans and two-thirds of Democrats.

Roughly one in three Republicans said they were unsure how the conflict would affect them financially. Meanwhile, concern over fuel costs is widespread: 67 percent of respondents expect gas prices to rise over the next year, a view shared by 44 percent of Republicans and 85 percent of Democrats.

In response, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told The Daily Beast: “President Trump has been clear that these are short-term disruptions and that Americans will see oil and gas prices drop rapidly again once the necessary objectives of Operation Epic Fury have been achieved and the regime’s capabilities are neutralized.”

The survey is a red flag for Trump and the Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, when Democrats hope to seize control of the House and Senate by campaigning on the cost-of-living crisis and arguing the GOP has failed to lower everyday prices for American families.

Trump returned to the White House last year after pledging to rein in inflation and end overseas conflicts and “forever wars.”

But since he ordered airstrikes on Iran, oil prices have climbed above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022, and gasoline has jumped by about 50 cents per gallon—roughly a 17 percent increase since the war began on Feb. 28. Analysts say fuel costs could stay elevated for weeks or even months worldwide, even if the fighting ends quickly.

The president has brushed off concerns about the spike, arguing the surge “doesn’t really affect us,” even as some Republicans worry higher prices could weaken the party’s economic message ahead of the November elections.

Speaking in Florida on Monday, Trump insisted prices were “artificially up” because of the conflict and promised they would fall once it ends, though he offered no timeline. In a Truth Social post, he also urged Americans to accept the temporary hit.

“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,” he wrote. “ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/americans-call-bs-on-trumps-big-war-promise/?

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udge Nukes Pam Bondi’s Prosecutor Plot in Scathing Ruling

He warned that “scores of dangerous criminals could have their cases dismissed” as a result of the administration’s scheming.

A federal judge has called out Attorney General Pam Bondi for illegally installing leadership of New Jersey’s top prosecutor’s office—for the second time.

Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann issued the sweeping, 130-page ruling Monday, disqualifying the trio of DOJ lawyers—Jordan Fox, Philip Lamparello, and Ari Fontecchio—from the role.

Bondi, 60, had put them in charge of the District of New Jersey after her previous pick, former Trump personal attorney Alina Habba, 41, was pushed out last December.

Brann was withering in his assessment of Bondi’s latest maneuver, describing the government’s defense of the arrangement as a “rhetorical smokescreen” and warning the administration it had put thousands of criminal prosecutions at risk.

“One year into this administration, it is plain that President Trump and his top aides have chafed at the limits on their power set forth by law and the Constitution,” wrote the Pennsylvania-based judge, as reported by Politico.

He warned that “scores of dangerous criminals could have their cases dismissed” as a result of the Trump administration’s insistence on installing attorneys “handpicked” by the president even when they are unlawfully appointed.

The trouble began when Habba—installed by Trump as interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey in March 2025—was ruled to be serving unlawfully once her 120-day term expired without Senate confirmation. The administration deployed a series of increasingly convoluted legal tricks to keep her in the job, all of which Brann rejected before the Third Circuit upheld his ruling last December.

Bondi had scrambled to save face by naming Habba a senior adviser while vowing the courts had gotten it wrong—a position that looks considerably shakier after Monday’s ruling.

Habba has continued angling to return to her post even after being forced out.

Rather than pursue the lawful routes to fill the vacancy—principally, a Senate-confirmed nomination—Bondi instead tried splitting the U.S. attorney’s role across three lawyers. The judge promptly swatted down that workaround.

“Why does the fate of thousands of criminal prosecutions in this district potentially rest on the legitimacy of an unprecedented and byzantine leadership structure?” Brann asked, before supplying his own answer: “The government tells us: the President doesn’t like that he cannot simply appoint whomever he wants.”

Brann stayed his ruling pending a DOJ appeal, but warned the administration it proceeds “at its own risk,” and that any further illegal appointments will result in criminal charges being dismissed.

He also mocked Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s claim, made twice via social media, that courts have no say in picking U.S. attorneys, pointing out that Congress has explicitly granted judges that power under precisely the circumstances now at play in New Jersey.

New Jersey is now among at least five states where courts have disqualified a Trump-installed prosecutor. Brann said that pattern reflects an administration that “cares far more about who is running” the office “than whether it is running at all.”

Habba, who remains a senior adviser to Bondi, dismissed the ruling on X as “another ridiculous ruling from Judge Brann,” adding: “Judges may continue to try and stop President Trump from carrying out what the American people voted for, but we will not be deterred.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Justice for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/judge-nukes-attorney-general-pam-bondis-prosecutor-plot-in-scathing-new-jersey-ruling/?

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Trump Finds New Way to Disrespect Fallen Heroes After Hat-Gate

The president did not attend after ruffling feathers during his last appearance at a dignified transfer.

President Donald Trump was absent at the dignified transfer of the seventh U.S. service member killed during his war in Iran after facing a backlash following his attendance at a transfer just days earlier.

The transfer of U.S. Army Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, who died on March 8 from injuries sustained in an Iranian attack on an air base in Saudi Arabia, took place on Monday night at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware.

It was attended by Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine.

Notably absent was the president, who previously ruffled feathers during his appearance at the dignified transfer of six U.S. soldiers killed in Kuwait when he opted to wear a Trump-branded baseball cap with “USA” emblazoned on the front and “45-47″ on the side.

According to the president’s schedule and press pool reports, Trump was traveling back to Washington D.C. from Florida at the time of the transfer. The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

The president’s sartorial choice during Saturday’s dignified transfer drew significant criticism, particularly from Democrats like California Governor Gavin Newsom, who posted footage on X and wrote, “Take your hat off, you disgusting little man.”

Republicans also criticized the decision, including former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele writing, “This fool has ABSOLUTELY no sense of dignity or appreciation for the moment. It is called the Dignified Transfer for a reason. Take your damn hat off!!”

Others pointed out that the hat broke military custom for those in civilian dress, highlighting guidance from the Veterans of Foreign Wars department that, for military funerals, “it is appropriate (and a visible sign of respect) to remove the hat or headdress and place it over your heart.” Based on publicly available images, no other U.S. president has worn a baseball hat during a dignified transfer.

The official White House @RapidResponse47 account shared footage of the transfer on X, tagging Vance and noting his attendance, writing of Sgt. Pennington, “May God grant eternal rest to this American hero, be with his family, and forever bless the United States of America.”

Pennington, 26, was the seventh U.S. service member killed in retaliatory strikes conducted by Iran after the U.S. and Israel began their campaign against the country on Feb. 28.

Pennington, a Kentucky native, was stationed at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on March 1 when it was struck, dying from his injuries a week later. He was assigned to the 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade based at Fort Carson, Colorado.

“Sgt. Pennington was a dedicated and experienced noncommissioned officer who led with strength, professionalism and sense of duty,” said Col. Michael F. Dyer, commander of the 1st Space Brigade.

Pennington will be posthumously promoted to staff sergeant.

Other service members killed in the days since the U.S. and Israel first struck Iran include the six service members killed after a drone attack in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait. The Defense Department also announced the death of Maj. Sorffly Davius on March 6 in Kuwait as a result of what it called a “non-combat related incident.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-bails-on-dignified-transfer-of-seventh-soldier-to-die-in-his-war/?

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The Brutal Price Americans Will Pay for Trump’s War

With the death toll and prices at the pump rising, the war is already coming home.

When Donald Trump was asked by Time magazine if he was worried the war could come to America’s backyard, he replied, “I guess.”

Like the San Diego Padres winning the pennant. It could happen, but nobody is holding their breath.

Well, I have news for the president, it has already arrived.

With news of another U.S. service member’s death, seven families are mourning the passing of a loved one. Seven families are surely wishing that Trump had resisted the impulse to go to war with Iran.

The shock and awe that Trump, Pete Hegseth, and co. sought to engender in the days after unleashing missiles at Tehran has lost a little of its fury. Trump is meeting soccer players in the White House and playing golf in Miami.

The needless deaths of people in far-flung countries are suddenly a side note to a Cabinet member’s alleged long-running affair and her sudden departure.

Trump can try to explain away his reasons for a war with a country many Americans couldn’t place on a map. He can even say that “some people will die” in war.

But he will have more trouble explaining why the price of gas has rocketed to $5 a gallon.

He may think it is a “very small price to pay” for peace. But those struggling to cope with an affordability crisis, their bills mounting, their debts growing, will beg to differ.

Since the war began, gas prices have skyrocketed, rising more than 51 cents a gallon. The national average for a gallon of gas is now $3.45, according to GasBuddy.com.

On Monday, oil prices soared past $100 for the first time in four years

Billions are being spent to destroy the Iranian regime, and Congress will soon be asked for more. These sums may come from taxpayers’ money, but they are so beyond most people’s experience that they mean little.

A 51-cent increase at the pumps means a lot to just about everybody. Except maybe Trump’s billionaire friends.

And it could be Trump’s downfall. He was in Miami on Monday to talk at the House Republicans’ Winter Retreat. His take on gas prices is that they will correct themselves when the war is over.

But that isn’t looking like it’s going to be anytime soon.

And soon, the midterm elections will define the remainder of Trump’s term.

The Republicans in Congress won’t be telling this to Trump in Miami, but their future could be tied to the gas prices, too.

The odds on Polymarket of the Democrats winning the House in November have shot up since the war began to 85 percent, up 14 percent, while the Republican Party’s odds have slumped to 15 percent, down 16 percent.

A tighter race is also predicted in the Senate, with the GOP’s odds falling 18 percentage points to 53 percent, and the Democrats’ rising 17 percentage points to 47 percent.

An NBC survey taken since the war began shows 54 per cent of Americans disapprove of the way Trump has handled Iran.

All those MAGA folks who followed the party line and celebrated Dear Leader’s decision to meddle in another nation’s business will start having second thoughts when the lines start appearing at their local gas stations.

Or when their Easter and Spring Break flights are getting canceled or doubling in price.

We haven’t fallen victim to an Iranian attack on our shores. Not yet.

But the war is already much too close to home for most Americans.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-brutal-price-americans-will-pay-for-trumps-war/?

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ICE Barbie’s Replacement Makes a Killing From Trump’s Wars

Markwayne Mullin is having a great 2026 under Trump.

Donald Trump’s new pick to run the Department of Homeland Security has made big money thanks to his boss’s attacks on Venezuela and Iran—and stands to make even more.

Markwayne Mullin, 48, was nominated by Trump as the next DHS secretary to succeed Kristi Noem, 54.

Noem, nicknamed ICE Barbie, was ousted after two bruising days of congressional hearings in which she declined to deny having an affair with her key aide Corey Lewandowski, and was questioned on a $220 million ad campaign featuring her riding a horse.

Mullin has emerged as one of the biggest stock traders in the Senate.

Five days before military action in Venezuela, Mullin purchased substantial positions in defense contractor RTX Corp. and oil giants Chevron and ConocoPhillips, according to Capitol Trades.

Based on those federal disclosure filings and publicly available share price data, Mullin made up to $35,050 from the trio of positions by Monday. That’s equal to around 20 percent of his $174,000 annual Senate salary, or approximately to what the average American earns in six months, according to Forbes.

Mullin was a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which receives classified briefings on U.S. military operations.

Disclosure rules require members of Congress to report stock trades only within broad ranges, not as precise figures, meaning the exact scale of any gains cannot be determined.

On Dec. 29, 2025, according to financial disclosures first flagged by financial website Quiver Quantitative, Mullin bought between $15,000 and $50,000 each in Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and RTX. Five days later, U.S. forces launched Operation Absolute Resolve against Venezuela.

At the close of trading on Jan. 20, Chevron alone had climbed by around 9.5 percent, while RTX had risen by approximately 6 percent.

Then came Iran. On March 2, when markets reopened after the weekend that bombs had first dropped, RTX leapt up five percent and ConocoPhillips roughly four percent.

By Monday, just four days after Mullin was nominated for the DHS Secretary position, all three positions had seen significant gains since Mullin first bought them: Conoco was up 30 percent, Chevron 26 percent, and RTX nearly 15 percent, according to Yahoo! Finance’s stock tracking software.

After the Venezuela strike, Mullin was interviewed on CNBC’s Squawk Box, where he discussed the attack’s potential impact on shareholders.

“When you start looking at Venezuela, if they stabilize, most of these majors, including Exxon, [are] going to run there,” he said. “We’ve had relationships, I mean, look at Chevron.”

“Once [Chevron] stabilizes, every major company is going to be buying to get involved in that area, because there’s a tremendous amount of opportunity for the company and for their shareholders.”

The Daily Beast has contacted a representative for Mullin for comment.

Mullin previously failed to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock and bond trades, NOTUS reported last July. It found that while he was working as a senator for Oklahoma, seven of his stock trades were reported two and a half years late. The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, or STOCK Act, requires members of Congress and their immediate family to make declarations within 45 days.

“Much like tax returns, financial disclosures occasionally need to be amended to reflect the most accurate, up-to-date information,” a spokesperson for Mullin said at the time. “That’s what we did here.”

Mullin’s latest trades have drawn criticism from Democrats. Evanston Mayor and Illinois congressional candidate Daniel Biss told the Daily Beast, “Members of Congress and high-ranking cabinet officials should not trade or hold individual stocks—period. Holding individual stocks creates an obvious conflict of interest that lets government insiders cash in while destroying trust in government.”

Biss, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s ICE crackdown in Illinois, added: “With the Trump Administration engaging in unprecedented corruption every day, it is more important than ever that we put the government back on the side of the people, and eliminate these shady insider deals.”

Trump has said that Mullin would take over at DHS on March 31, although that is subject to a Senate confirmation being held quickly enough. He got the job after supposedly impressing Trump with his TV appearances, CNN first reported.

However, Mullin has found himself at the center of several live bloopers since the fighting with Iran began, including calling Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “President Hegseth” twice in one interview.

He also accidentally said the U.S. wanted to liberate the people of Iraq, despite attacking neighboring Iran, and called the conflict a war during a press conference where he was trying to argue that it was not a war.

Among her list of errors, Noem was accused of orchestrating a $220 million advertising campaign that heavily featured her own face. However, in November, it was reported by ProPublica that the campaign had been partly filmed by a strategy group that the husband of her assistant secretary, Tricia McLaughlin, worked for. McLaughlin has since resigned.

Benjamin Yoho’s firm was said to have helped film Noem’s “Stronger Border, Stronger America” campaign despite not being listed in any filings.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-barbie-replacement-markwayne-mullin-makes-a-killing-from-trumps-wars/?

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Credit Bureaus Are Leaving More Mistakes on Frustrated Consumers’ Reports Under Trump’s CFPB

Rebecca Sheppard specializes in untangling other people’s financial messes. But for nearly a year, the Colorado accountant has been unable to fix a glaring error on her own credit report. 

https://www.propublica.org/article/credit-report-mistakes-cfpb-experian-transunion?

ps:Exactly!!!!!

Documents Reveal a Web of Financial Ties Between Trump Officials and the Industries They Help Regulate

Thousands of companies are jockeying for billions of dollars in Defense Department contracts to build a shield designed to intercept and destroy missiles launched against the United States.

https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-administration-financial-disclosures-steve-feinberg?

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Trump says Iran war could be over soon, but oil disruption would trigger harsher US strikes Iran launched new attacks on Tuesday at Gulf Arab countries as it kept up pressure on the Middle East in a war that has stunned global economies. U.S. President Donald Trump sent contradictory signals about how long the war could last. Read more.

What to know: Trump, who has previously said that the war could last for a month or longer, on Monday sought to downplay growing fears that it could be a long-term regional conflict, saying it was “going to be a short-term excursion.” Hours later, Trump posted on social media: “If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far."     In addition to firing missiles and drones at Israel and at American bases in the region, Iran has also been targeting energy infrastructure.   In an apparent response to Trump’s remarks published in Iranian state media, a spokesperson for the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Ali Mohammad Naini, said “Iran will determine when the war ends.”

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Iranians fleeing cities under attack seek refuge in the countryside   Prewar US intel assessment found intervention in Iran wasn’t likely to change leadership   Trump says Vance was ‘philosophically’ different on Iran while downplaying split

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How the Iran war and surging oil prices are affecting consumers The price of crude oil surpassed $110 a barrel Monday, reaching heights not seen since 2022. You don’t have to drive a car to be affected. Nearly all goods — including food — that are bought and sold must travel from where they’re produced. Those costs will climb with higher gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices. Read more.

Why this matters: Gasoline, diesel and jet fuel are made from crude oil. As the cost of crude climbs, so do the prices of those widely used products, which keep equipment, cars, buses, delivery trucks and airplanes running.  Gasoline prices have increased about 17% since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.   The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz already has caused problems for the shipping industry. Quickly rising oil and gas prices will add to the burden. Fuel surcharges will also rise — as shipping companies aim to pass along higher costs to their customers, ultimately making goods more expensive.   Heating your home and cooking food with natural gas are also likely to cost more as the war grinds on. The spike in oil prices likely won’t be felt immediately at U.S. grocery stores, said David Ortega, a professor of food economics and policy at Michigan State University. But if oil prices remain high for a month or more, he said, “we’re in different territory.”

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ In time of Iran war, Americans unite in aggravation over gasoline prices   War with Iran delivers another shock to the global economy   As Iran war shakes energy system, some see powerful argument for renewable energy

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The Trump administration widens its probe of the 2020 election as it obtains records from Arizona The Republican leader of Arizona’s state Senate said Monday he has handed over records related to the 2020 presidential election to the FBI in the latest sign that the Trump administration is acting on the president’s longstanding falsehoods about a race he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Read more.

What to know: Senate President Warren Petersen said in a social media post that he complied “late last week” with a federal grand jury subpoena for records related to a controversial audit of the election in Maricopa County that had been ordered by legislative Republicans.   It marks the second time this year that the FBI has obtained records related to the 2020 election from the most populous county in a presidential battleground state, both of which Trump lost as he sought reelection.   Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, issued a scathing statement in response to Petersen's post, noting that multiple audits, independent investigations and legal challenges related to the 2020 presidential election found no evidence of widespread fraud that could have affected the outcome.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Trump pushes GOP on voting bill, demanding an end to most mail balloting   Sharing a stage, Justices Jackson and Kavanaugh spar over Supreme Court orders favoring Trump   Trump administration criticizes court rulings slowing immigration agenda in Supreme Court appeal   Judge disqualifies trio of lawyers tapped to lead New Jersey’s federal prosecutor’s office   Judge in Oregon limits federal officers' tear gas use at Portland ICE building protests   A federal jury awards $667K to Muslim men who were pepper-sprayed by prison guards while praying   White House says it fired NTSB member over misconduct but Todd Inman denies the allegations   Long airport lines highlight concerns about unpaid security officers in the shutdown   New Mexico prosecutors launch search of Jeffrey Epstein's secluded former Zorro Ranch

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Iran war timeline

US President Donald Trump has given mixed messages on when the war in Iran will end. “We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough,” Trump said in a speech to House Republicans in Florida on Monday. Minutes later, he told a news conference that his administration will “not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.” That comes as a top Iranian official told CNN that Tehran is prepared for a long war. Meanwhile, current and former US government officials have told CNN that last year’s sweeping cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have hampered the government’s abilities to monitor terror threats, broadcast US information into Iran, and quickly help US citizens stranded in the Middle East.

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Trump Cooks Up Bizarre Test to Decide Between Vance and Rubio

The peace president is war-mongering at home, too.

President Trump has reportedly been pitting two of his top officials against each other in a bizarre succession game.

Within hours of the first strikes on Iran last month, he hosted an event at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, where he asked guests whether he should endorse Secretary of State Marco Rubio or Vice President JD Vance to succeed him.

Conversations about the two men have been heating up for months, as MAGA starts to muse about life after Trump, and more and more chatter suggests that, in Trump’s head, Rubio is starting to win out.

That was the case on Feb. 28, as Trump asked a room of Republican donors to cheer for which of the two men they would rather see run in 2028, NBC News reports.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump asked the two dozen or so supporters which of the two they’d prefer, and it was Rubio who got the louder cheer.

Speaking to NBC on the condition of anonymity, one attendee said, “It was almost unanimous for Marco.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” a second said. “It was clear, at least that night.”

A third, however, said it was more “evenly split,” which may come as a surprise given Florida is Rubio country. He’s Miami-born and raised, attended Miami University, and served as the state’s senator for 14 years before being tapped to join Trump’s cabinet.

The Journal reports that sources who have spoken to the president have echoed that he has lately favored Rubio, 54. The president is said to seek his counsel regularly, and as State Department boss he has been front and center in Trump’s foreign policy-heavy approach to governance.

Speaking to the same outlet, a former administration official said, “The Mar-a-Lago donor crew are not JD people… He did not get picked [to be vice president] because of the Mar-a-Lago crowd. If you remember, that crowd was lobbying the president to pick Marco.”

“So, I’d say stuff like that is a bit gamed… If there were a poll taken tomorrow, I’d bet JD is still up by 40 [points], or whatever it is.”

The Journal cites Vance, 41, as the frontrunner, and reports that Rubio has said he would not go against him were he to run.

In a statement to the Daily Beast, White House communication director Steven Cheung said, “The President has assembled an all-star team that has achieved unprecedented success in just over one year. No amount of crazed media speculation about Vice President Vance and Secretary Rubio will deter this Administration’s mission of fighting for the American people.”

Rubio, once derided as “Little Marco” by Trump when he ran against him in the 2016 Republican primary, has more recently won public praise from the president.

Amid the war in Iran, Trump said, “Marco is going to go down, I think, as the best secretary of state in history. That’s my opinion. Now, I’m a little prejudiced because I like him.”

Vance, meanwhile, has been noticeably quiet since the fighting started in the Middle East, having repeatedly said on the campaign trail that he was opposed to foreign wars.

An NBC News poll from last week found that among conservatives, 77 percent liked Vance and 66 percent liked Rubio.

In an interview with the same outlet in February, Trump said without naming names, “I would say one is slightly more diplomatic than the other… I think they’re both of very high intelligence.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-cooks-up-bizarre-test-to-decide-between-vance-and-rubio/?

ps:How sad that these people have grovel (not sure of the spelling) to this man!!!!!!!!!!

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Pentagon Pete Blew a Fortune on Crabs in Multibillion-Dollar Spending Frenzy

Figures show the Defense Department took drastic measures to spend its allocated funds.

The Pentagon spent millions of dollars on luxury crabs and other food items in a single month as part of a frantic end-of-year spending spree to maintain its immense funding.An analysis by the government watchdog Open the Books found that the department led by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spent more than $93 billion in September 2025, the end of the fiscal year, on various grants and contracts, the highest total since at least 2008.

Included in this spending was $2 million on Alaskan king crab last September alone, as well as $6.9 million on lobster tail and $1 million on salmon. The Defense Department also spent nearly $140,000 on doughnuts, $124,000 on ice cream machines, $26,000 on sushi preparation tables, and a whopping $15.1 million on ribeye steak.

As Open the Books explained, the Pentagon tries to spend as much of its congressionally allocated budget as possible at the end of every fiscal year because of federal “use-it-or-lose-it” rules. If the department ends the year with leftover funds, it risks having its budget reduced the following year.

On top of the billions of dollars spent on technologies, contracts, and purchases from foreign governments and businesses, the department also found inventive ways to ensure it used as much of its budget as possible in the final month.

This reportedly included spending $1.8 million on musical instruments, such as a $98,329 Steinway & Sons grand piano for the Air Force chief of staff’s home, a $26,000 violin, and a $21,750 custom handmade Japanese flute.

The Pentagon found a way to spend more than $12,000 on fruit baskets, as well as a total of $3,160 on stickers featuring beloved children’s characters from Dora the Explorer, Frozen, and Paw Patrol. The department also spent $5.3 million on Apple devices, including purchasing 400 of the more expensive 512-gigabyte edition iPad Air M3s rather than cheaper models with less storage.

Elsewhere, the Pentagon maintained its habit of spending vast sums on high-end office furnishings.

The data showed that the Defense Department spent more than $225 million on furniture, the highest level since 2014, including one chair that cost $1,844. Since 2008, the DOD has spent an average of $257.6 million on furniture every September.

Mike Weiland, CEO of Govly, a company that helps businesses get government contracts, said the last day of the fiscal year is like “Amazon Prime Day” for the federal government as agencies rush to spend their remaining funds.“The loss of their surplus funds, combined with the threat of a decline in future funding, is a recipe for serious fear among government agencies,” Weiland told Open the Books. “Hence why they hit the panic button in August and September to spend.”

John Hart, CEO of Open the Books, called the Pentagon’s multibillion-dollar spending in September 2025 “unacceptable.”

“American taxpayers expect their dollars to support critical defense priorities, not lavish dinners,” Hart told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pentagon-pete-hegseth-blew-a-fortune-on-crabs-in-multibillion-dollar-spending-frenzy/?

ps:DOGE come to mind? This supposedly was why this group was put together, to find corruption. Now they have even more if not worse corruption than ever before!!!!!

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Hegseth Amps Up War Despite Trump Calling it ‘Very Complete’

The defense secretary’s latest update merely deepened confusion about how long the war with Iran would last.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has amped up how long American soldiers could be embroiled in the deadly war with Iran, despite Donald Trump claiming it was “very complete.”After days of shifti rhetoric by the president, Hegseth addressed reporters on Tuesday morning to provide an update on the Middle East conflict, only to add to the confusion about the endgame.

“Our will is endless,” the defense secretary told reporters, before adding in the same breath: “But what I want the American people to understand is this is not endless.”

“It’s not protracted. We’re not allowing mission creep. The president has set a very specific mission to accomplish, and our job is to unrelentingly deliver that,” he told reporters.

“Now he gets to control the throttle. He’s the one deciding. He’s the one elected on behalf of the American people when we’re achieving those particular objectives. And so it’s not for me to posit whether it’s the beginning, the middle, or the end.”

The comments come after Hegseth told 60 Minutes on Sunday that the U.S. was just “getting started,” only for Trump to come out on Monday to declare that the conflict could end “very soon” as soaring oil prices resulted in members of his administration hitting the panic button over the political fallout.

Then, on Monday evening, a few hours later, Trump made a furious Truth Social post that threatened even more aggressive action if Iranian leaders continue to choke off oil tanker traffic.

Iranian officials responded by insisting they had no intention of ending the conflict, with Iran’s speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, saying in a social media post: “We are definitely not looking for a ceasefire.”

“We believe that the aggressor should be punched in the mouth so that he learns a lesson so that he will never think of attacking our beloved Iran again,” he wrote.

As confusion ensued, and with eight U.S. soldiers now dead, Hegseth said on Tuesday that this would be the fiercest day of attacks so far.

“We’re crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force. We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated. But we do so on our timeline,” the former Fox presenter said.

The mixed messaging has added to uncertainty in Washington over whether the administration is preparing for a prolonged campaign or seeking a near-term off-ramp.

Behind the scenes, some of Trump’s advisers are urging him to articulate a clearer exit strategy for the war, concerned about the political and economic fallout if the conflict drags on.

Officials close to the president have argued that the U.S. could claim its main objectives—crippling Iran’s military infrastructure and limiting its nuclear capabilities—have largely been achieved.

The conflict is also rippling through global energy markets. Disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply, have pushed crude prices higher and driven gasoline prices upward in the United States, adding pressure to inflation and consumer costs.

According to price-tracking service GasBuddy, the average price of U.S. retail gasoline nationwide had hit $3.49 a gallon by Monday afternoon. The average price per gallon had also jumped by over 50 cents since the war with Iran began.

Hegseth’s latest briefing also comes as the administration faces uncomfortable political and humanitarian questions over a strike on a girls’ school in the southern Iranian city of Minab, killing more than 160 people.

Video analysis and satellite imagery suggest the blast was likely caused by an American Tomahawk missile targeting a nearby Revolutionary Guard facility.

Trump, however, has offered shifting explanations about the strike. After initially suggesting Iran was responsible, he later said he did not “know enough” about the incident and indicated he would accept the findings of a military investigation into who carried out the attack.

Hegseth managed to avoid being grilled about the matter on Tuesday, but told reporters that only Iran targeted civilians.

“We do not and I can tell you this, this administration and this Pentagon focuses on that very, very closely,” he said.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/hegseth-amps-up-war-despite-trump-calling-it-very-complete/?

ps:So now we've completely got rid of there nukes, but they still have them? Now we've completely beaten them, but now we're going to continue to bomb them, etc.!! Sounds like when we completely got rid of ISIS, but yet they seem to still be around!! One lie after the next and we still bye this guys bull manure, over and over and over!!!!!

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Putin Clowns Trump After Their ‘Frank’ One-Hour Chat

The Kremlin offered a coy response when asked if it was feeding Iran intel on U.S. military positions.

President Donald Trump’s phone chat with Russian President Vladimir Putin apparently did not go as well as he thought it did as the Kremlin seized the chance to twist the knife early Tuesday.

Hours after Trump bragged that Putin told him he was “impressed” by his moves in Iran, the Kremlin undermined the U.S. president’s version of the discussion.

“Trump didn’t ask about a ceasefire in Ukraine during his conversation with Putin,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, apparently pushing back on Trump’s claim that he’d urged his Russian counterpart to get “the Ukraine-Russia war over with.”Most of the conversation focused on Iran, with Putin proposing ways to ease tensions and find a way out of the conflict, Peskov said. He declined to elaborate further on what Putin’s proposals entailed, saying only that “Russia would be glad” to lend its help in mediating the conflict. The fact that Trump floated the idea of easing Russian oil sanctions just minutes after the phone call was only a coincidence, according to Peskov, who surmised that Trump was likely just reacting to the rattled world economy.

At the time of their conversation Monday, Trump and his aides had repeatedly shrugged off reports of Moscow providing Tehran with assistance in targeting U.S. positions in the region. It was not clear if the two broached that subject in their lengthy discussion.

Asked if there was any truth to those reports, Peskov offered no denial, saying instead, “We are not commenting.”

Trump, speaking at his golf resort in Doral, Florida, on Monday, had put a different spin on the conversation, saying he’d had a “good call” with Putin about the Russia-Ukraine conflict that has now entered its fifth year.

“We were talking about Ukraine, which is just a never-ending fight, and when his tremendous hatred between President Putin and President Zelensky, they can’t seem to get it together,” Trump said. “But I think it was a positive call on that subject.”

Putin aide Yuri Ushakov went even further in humiliating Trump in his version of the phone call. He stressed that Trump had been the one to initiate the call, phoning up the Russian leader to discuss a “number of highly important issues” on Monday.

Calling their chat “frank and constructive,” he went on to suggest the two leaders had perhaps missed each other.

“They had not spoken by telephone for quite some time–their previous conversation took place at the end of December 2025," Ushakov said.

“Today’s call, incidentally, lasted about an hour. The U.S. president noted that, as previously agreed, such communication should, of course, take place on a regular basis, and both leaders expressed their readiness for this.”

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump boasted that he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine within “24 hours” of being back in the White House. But Trump has now spent more than a year lamenting how difficult the negotiations have been to end the war, even as Putin’s top aides reportedly mock the U.S. leader in private for his eagerness to take the Russian president at his word.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/putin-clowns-trump-after-their-frank-one-hour-chat/?

ps:So with friends like putin who needs enemies?????

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Trump Forced to Crawl Back to World Leader He Humiliated With Embarrassing Plea

After ridiculing Ukraine’s president, Trump is now seeking the anti-drone help his team waved away.

Donald Trump has been forced into an awkward climbdown after shrugging off Volodymyr Zelensky’s offer to help counter Iranian drones—then going back to ask for it after all.

In February last year, the U.S president, 79, and his Vice President JD Vance, 41, publicly humiliated the Ukrainian President, 48, during an explosive Oval Office confrontation.

The meeting turned into what was widely seen as an ambush as Vance scolded Zelensky over a perceived lack of gratitude towards America for its support in Ukraine’s war with Russia. Trump mocked Zelensky’s appearance and accused him of “gambling with World War III” before later declaring he could come back when he was “ready for Peace.”

Now the balance has shifted. Axios reported Tuesday that Zelensky had already tried to sell Trump on Ukrainian anti-drone expertise at a closed-door White House meeting last August.

His team showed U.S. officials a presentation warning that Iran was improving its Shahed design and proposing regional hubs to defend American bases and allies from the threat.

The presentation warned that Iran was improving the drones’ design and proposed “drone combat hubs” in allied states near U.S. bases. Despite Zelensky’s team pitching it in Trump-friendly terms, with a discussion of jobs, manufacturing, and a share in production, the administration demurred.

Two U.S. officials now see that decision as a massive blunder, Axios reports. “If there’s a tactical error or a mistake we made leading up to this [war in Iran], this was it,” one was quoted saying.

One U.S. official who saw the presentation told Axios the pitch was essentially written off as “Zelensky being Zelensky,” while a Ukrainian official said Trump asked his team to work on the idea but “they have done nothing.”

But last Thursday, the U.S. formally asked Zelensky for anti-drone help, and Zelensky later said Ukrainian interceptor drones and specialists had been sent to help protect U.S. bases in Jordan.

The reasons for the reversal are obvious, according to Axios, which reported that Iranian Shahed strikes have been linked to the deaths of seven U.S. servicemembers and have forced the U.S. and its allies to spend heavily on interceptions.

The Associated Press separately reported that American officials described the anti-drone response so far as “disappointing,” even as the Pentagon moved to deploy its own Merops system to the region.

All of which means the technology Trump shrugged off months ago is now urgently useful. And Zelensky, whom Trump and Vance dressed down in public, is now being treated as the leader of the one country with the deepest real-world experience in stopping the very drones that have exposed a hole in U.S. planning.

Even Trump’s tone has changed. Asked about Zelensky’s offer of help last week, Trump said: “Certainly, I’ll take, you know, any assistance from any country.”

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told the Daily Beast that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the military had planned for “all possible responses” from Tehran, while insisting Operation Epic Fury had been an “undisputed success.”

The Pentagon declined to comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-forced-to-crawl-back-to-world-leader-he-humiliated-with-embarrassing-plea-to-volodymyr-zelensky/?

ps:What goes around comes around. He has to stop burning bridges!!!!!

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Top Trump Goon Faces New Epstein Files Headache

Norm Eisen, the former White House ethics czar under Barack Obama, has called for action.

Howard Lutnick is facing a fresh Epstein files headache as two organizations have teamed up to call for his head, with a former White House ethics czar bashing his muddled excuses.

The watchdogs, Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF) and Public Citizen (PC), have demanded the commerce secretary’s resignation in an open letter, seen first by the Daily Beast.

They cite his murky messaging over a relationship with fellow billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, which persisted for years after he was convicted of sex crimes. The saga has put Lutnick in the spotlight, risking Trump’s ire as he tries to distance himself from the ongoing Epstein saga.

Norm Eisen, former White House ethics czar and ambassador to the Czech Republic under President Barack Obama, told the Daily Beast that Lutnick’s alleged behavior is “a direct assault on every American who does everything right and still gets less.”

“Government corruption has a price—and the American people are the ones paying it, in the form of their hard-earned money and a destabilized economy," Eisen, who also co-founded DDF, said.

“We have now learned that a top economic official concealed his financial and personal ties to Jeffrey Epstein while testifying under oath, and allegedly buried evidence of his own fraud.”

Eisen, a prominent lawyer and former CNN legal analyst, added: “That is a profound betrayal of the public trust. When the well-connected get to play by a different set of rules, it is not only unfair, but is a direct assault on every American who does everything right and still gets less.”

Eisen is one of Trump’s most persistent legal foes, and he made repeated manoeuvres to force the DOJ and FBI to cooperate and release files relating to Trump’s own relationship with Epstein.

Noting that Lutnick’s relationship with Epstein “did not end until at least 2018,” 10 years after he was convicted in Florida of soliciting a minor for prostitution, another DDF director said he “can’t be trusted.”

“He appears to have lied about his relationship with a child predator and faces serious allegations both from his time in the private sector and as Commerce Secretary,” said Virginia Canter, chief counsel and director of ethics and anti-corruption at Democracy Defenders Fund.

The “lies” Canter references relate to the hard-to-decipher story Lutnick has tried to use to explain away his Epstein links.

The 64-year-old, who has been photographed hanging out on Epstein’s island, claimed he was so creeped out by the disgraced financier’s massage room that he cut ties.

He told a New York Post podcast last year that he met Epstein in 2005 when he and his wife moved next door to him, before embarking on a tour of his Manhattan townhouse—where he made the apparently alarming discovery.

“I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again,” he declared.

However, files released by the Justice Department in late January revealed that Lutnick and Epstein traded emails well beyond 2005. His most recent emails to Epstein were in 2018, a year before officials say he died via suicide in prison.

“Every day he continues to serve as a Cabinet member, the public’s trust in our government is further eroded. He must resign immediately,” Canter remarked.

Her comments about “serious allegations both from his time in the private sector and as Commerce Secretary” relate to alleged misgivings not connected to Epstein.

These include allegations that Lutnick engaged in a Ponzi scheme and a money-laundering operation through Cantor Fitzgerald, the investment firm he used to head.

The open letter also noted that his stint in public office “has been marked by several alleged violations of the ethical standards intended to safeguard the impartial and competent administration of the Commerce Department.”

Namely, Lutnick has faced allegations that he has promoted Tesla stock contrary to rules that indicate that he should not promote any outside enterprise while serving as the commerce secretary.

Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO, was briefly a part of the Trump administration as part of his work in the Department of Government Efficiency.

The duo of watchdogs also called out Lutnick for an apparent attempt to affect the New York City mayoral race, mainly by trying to panic detractors into voting against the eventual winner, Zohran Mamdani.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel, raising serious concerns about this, citing his comments to Fox Business.

He told Larry Kudlow on that channel in August last year, that “the people in New York had better get off their butts and get out there and vote and make sure this communist [Mamdani] doesn’t run New York City.”

In December, twenty-five members of Congress requested that the Acting Inspector General of the Department of Commerce investigate his involvement in promoting artificial intelligence data centers at the same time as his adult children held immense interests in the AI data center industry.

“The American public deserves leadership that it can trust. Because you can no longer fulfill that role, you must step down,” Canter said.

Craig Holman, Ph.D., government ethics expert at Public Citizen, added: “As new personal and political scandals come to light and confidence in his tenure continues to plummet, it’s time for Lutnick to resign for the good of the American people.”

The Commerce Department has been approached for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/watchdogs-demand-scalp-of-top-trump-goon-howard-lutnick-for-epstein-mess/?

[phkrause]

Musk Makes Big Mistake While Trying to Smear Ex-CNN Legal Analyst Norm Eisen

The billionaire DOGE chief found a woman with the same last name as a lawyer he hates. Cue the conspiracy.

Elon Musk falsely accused prominent lawyer and former CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen of leading a “crime family” after Musk found out about a woman with the same last name who worked for an organization that accepted funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The only problem? The woman, Tamar Eisen, is of no relation to Norm Eisen.

On X, Musk amplified a post which falsely stated that Tamar, an employee of the nonprofit National Democratic Institute, was Eisen’s daughter.

The post took aim at the elder Eisen for being “the mastermind behind a slew of lawsuits” that seek to stifle the so-called Department of Government Efficiency’s gutting of USAID.

Tamar Eisen, the post alleged, “was strutting her stuff as a Program Officer for the NDI’s Gender, Women and Democracy team for almost three years.”

Musk wrote in response Thursday afternoon: “The Eisen crime family.”

Yet the two have no familial connection, a source familiar told the Daily Beast.

Eisen, founder of the State Democracy Defenders Fund, is a central figure in several lawsuits targeting the Trump administration as DOGE continues to gut the federal government.

“Every time Trump and Musk flood the zone, we do two cases,” he told The New Republic recently. “It’s called rule of law shock and awe.”

Thursday’s mishap by the billionaire de-facto cabinet member comes on the heels of another Musk-involved case of mistaken identity.

The group Building America’s Future, which Musk funds, ran an ad earlier this week targeting the liberal candidate in the race for Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, Susan M. Crawford. But the image of the woman in the ad was instead of Susan P. Crawford, a Harvard Law School professor.

As noted first by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, that image appears to be same photograph as the one on Crawford’s Wikipedia page.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/elon-musk-makes-big-mistake-while-trying-to-smear-cnn-legal-analyst-norm-eisen/