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

[phkrause]

Trump Target Vows to Kill Americans and Inflict Pain at Pumps

As gas prices rise, Iran’s new Supreme Leader vowed to use it as leverage in Trump’s war.

Iran’s new Supreme Leader has used his first statement to threaten ongoing oil chaos for Americans as he seeks to “avenge the blood” of his family being assassinated in Donald Trump’s war.

As gas prices continue to spike, Mojtaba Khamenei declared on Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz—the most vital oil chokepoint in the world—would continue to be used as “a tool to pressure the enemy,” setting the scene for U.S. consumers to feel even more pain at the pump.

Khamenei also warned that all U.S. military bases in the Middle East should close immediately as “those bases will be attacked,” fueling fears of casualties mounting as strikes escalate across the Gulf.

The comments were the first made by the new Supreme Leader since being elevated on March 9, an appointment Trump admitted was “disappointing” after U.S.-Israeli strikes took out his dictator father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Trump had also wanted a say in picking Iran’s new leader, telling Reuters last week: “We’re going to have to choose that person along with Iran.”

But this did not happen, and global markets have spent the past few days roiling as energy flows in the Strait of Hormuz have come to a halt.

In another ominous sign for the president, the International Energy Agency, a global authority on oil and gas supply, also warned that conditions would worsen unless shipping traffic resumes quickly.

“The war in the Middle East is creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market,” the agency said in a report released Thursday.

Khamenei’s purported statement was read on state television by a female anchor, with a banner displaying his face, but he did not appear on camera.

 

The 56-year-old hardline cleric was injured in the initial strikes, according to Iranian and Israeli officials, but the full circumstances and extent of his injuries are unclear. His mother, wife, and daughter were also killed.

But as the war entered its 13th day, and as markets tumbled following the Khamenei’s remarks, Trump sought to put his own spin on skyrocketing prices, declaring on Truth Social that the surging cost of oil was actually a good thing.

“The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” Trump declared.

“BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping [sic] an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World. I won’t ever let that happen!”

Energy Secretary Chris Wright also sought to allay fears, insisting that using the U.S. Navy to escort ships through the Strait was one option being considered.

“It will happen relatively soon, but it can’t happen now. We’re simply not ready,” Wright said during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

The Strait is a narrow passage between Iran and Oman through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply typically flows.

However, global trade has come to a screeching halt since Trump began the war in February as tankers with large volumes of crude have largely avoided the waterway amid missile threats, naval clashes and the growing risk of mines.

Iran’s determination to use the Strait as ongoing leverage is an ominous sign for America, and for a president who came to office promising to reduce cost-of-living pressures.

“When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day 1,” he said during the 2024 election campaign.

However, the average price of gas was $3.60 per gallon on Thursday, according to GasBuddy.com. The average price for diesel hit $4.86 per gallon.

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.

Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, a former assistant secretary of state, said if he were advising Trump, he would suggest the president find an end game immediately.

“In many ways, this war will end when the Iranians want it to end,” Kimmitt told CNN.

“We may stop the military operations, but in terms of winning this war or finishing this war, it’s more up to the Iranians than it is us.”

Trump, however, insists the war, which he described as a “little excursion” is going well.

“We’re just riding free range over that country,” he said on on Tuesday night. “The Straits are in great shape.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-target-vows-to-kill-americans-and-inflict-pain-at-pumps/?

[phkrause]

Raging Trump Allies Scramble to Stop Him From Burying Key MAGA Promise

Even the White House is aware that one of its much-hyped policies is actually putting voters off.

A team of Donald Trump allies has formed a lobbying group to try to convince the administration to carry on with its hardline mass deportation policies.

The MAGA loyalists formed the “Mass Deportation Coalition” after becoming irate at suggestions that the White House is trying to get Republicans to tone down their messaging around Trump’s top 2024 pledge to carry out the “largest mass deportation program” in U.S. history, Politico reported. Instead, GOP lawmakers are being urged to say the focus is just on hardened criminals.

White House deputy chief of staff James Blair reiterated that guidance earlier this week, reportedly telling House Republicans to soften their messaging about removing undocumented migrants from the country. The backtracking comes after Trump and ICE’s hardline tactics received intense condemnation following the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.

The Mass Deportation Coalition—whose members include Mark Morgan, the former acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection under Trump, former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince, and conservative think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation, the group behind Project 2025—still believes that efforts to deport every undocumented person in the country are a vote-winner.

The group hopes a poll could convince the White House that its mass deportation efforts will help the GOP’s gloomy outlook in the 2026 midterm elections.

The survey, conducted by the top Trump polling group McLaughlin & Associates, found that 66 percent of likely midterm voters support deporting migrants who enter the country illegally. A majority (58 percent) also said they would support plans to deport all undocumented migrants, not just violent criminals.“Overwhelmingly, Trump voters expect this from the administration. They don’t just support it—they expect it,” Chris Chmielenski, president of the conservative Immigration Accountability Project, told Politico. “This is a good way to re-energize the base as we move into the midterms, the same way that Trump was able to do so in the lead-up to the 2024 general election.”However, multiple other surveys show the public has largely been against the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies. A Politico poll in January found that 49 percent say Trump’s mass deportation campaign is too aggressive, including one in five voters who supported the Republican in 2024.A February Washington Post–ABC News–Ipsos poll also revealed that 58 percent of U.S. adults believe the president has gone “too far” with his plans to deport undocumented immigrants, up from 50 percent last October.

There have been signs that the administration is aware its hardline deportation plans are unpopular with the public. This includes removing Kristi “ICE Barbie” Noem and top Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino from immigration operations in Minneapolis and replacing them with White House border czar Tom Homan.

Trump unceremoniously fired Noem as Homeland Security secretary last week as the constant scandals surrounding her personal and professional life became too much for the president.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson denied that the administration wants to change its deportation approach.

“President Trump’s highest priority has always been the deportation of illegal alien criminals who endanger American communities,” she told Politico.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for further comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/raging-donald-trump-allies-scramble-to-stop-him-from-burying-key-maga-promise/?

[phkrause]

Trump Makes Bonkers War Brag as Oil Tankers Burn

The president’s claim came after a fatal drone strike.

President Donald Trump claimed that a critical and strategic area in the Middle East is “in great shape,” even as images of burning oil tankers in the region were posted online.

Trump spoke to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland as the Persian Gulf burned, further jeopardizing global fuel supplies that are causing Republicans cost-of-living headaches.

The Strait of Hormuz provides the only access to the Persian Gulf and is critical for ships carrying oil to enter and exit. The conflict in the region has seen oil prices soar since the beginning of the war, as 20 percent of the global oil supply passes through the Strait.

When asked about the price of oil after appearing at a rally in Maryland on Wednesday, Trump bragged about the Strait and of Iran’s apparent lack of control, despite intelligence reports suggesting the Iranian government is intact.

“We’re going to look very strongly at the Straits,” the president said, appearing to reference the Strait of Hormuz. “The Straits are in great shape, we’ve knocked out all of their boats. They have some missiles but not many. I think we’re in very good shape.”

Trump added Iran is “pretty much at the end of the line... they have no systems of control. We’re just riding free-range over that country.”

Trump’s claim the Strait is “great” comes after two foreign oil tankers were struck by Iranian underwater drones in Iraq’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday. The attack killed at least one crew member, with 38 others rescued.

Iran claimed responsibility for the attacks according to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB. It also claimed that the U.S. should prepare for $200 barrels of oil in defiance of Trump’s claims that his war is won.

The Strait of Hormuz, had become a “battlefield of its own making,” Kaitlan Collins said on Wednesday‘s The Source. The CNN host said 30 ships in the region were attacked on Wednesday alone.

Iraq’s Ministry of Oil called the attacks on the tankers in the maritime routes in the Persian Gulf “a worrying indicator of escalating tensions” and said the energy supply lines “must remain free from regional conflicts and rivalries.”

There are now 12 ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, down from its daily average of 60, according to hormuzstraitmonitor.com.

Wednesday’s attacks follows U.S. attacks on 16 Iranian minelaying vessels and multiple Iranian warships near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.

The president’s surprise war on Iran has cost cash-strapped U.S. taxpayers over $11.3 billion dollars in its first week.

The Pentagon briefed Congress about the estimated cost of “Operation Epic Fury” earlier this week, according to the Associated Press.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-makes-bonkers-war-brag-as-oil-tankers-burn/?

[phkrause]

Trump’s War Forces Airlines to Hike Prices on Flights

The conflict in the Middle East is sending oil prices skyrocketing.

Airlines have announced that they are raising their ticket prices or canceling flights as a direct result of President Donald Trump’s war in Iran. At least three airlines have said they are being forced to make changes because of the oil crisis triggered by the conflict in the Middle East and attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. Thai Airways said it is raising ticket prices by about 10 to 15 percent due to “overwhelming” demand and rising fuel costs, and warned that journeys on its normal European routes and other destinations will be “extremely limited” for the foreseeable future. Hong Kong aviation giant Cathay Pacific said it will increase fuel surcharges for travelers as fuel costs have nearly doubled since the war broke out. Air New Zealand has also announced it will need to raise prices, with the Kiwi airline’s CEO, Nikhil Ravishankar, confirming that it will cancel about 1,100 flights until May 6, affecting about 44,000 passengers. “It’s an unprecedented issue as far as fuel price is concerned, but managing fuel spikes is a well-trodden path if you’re running an airline,” Ravishankar told Radio New Zealand.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-war-forces-airlines-to-hike-prices-on-flights/?

🚢 The Trump administration may suspend a rule that only U.S. ships can carry cargo between domestic ports, as officials look to control rising gas prices. Go deeper.

[phkrause]

How to Spend It

View in browser

Readers’ faith in publications and writers relies on a belief that the information provided is true and accurate to the best of the writer’s knowledge. When I get something wrong, I owe it to you to correct myself. Today, I have that unpleasant task.

For years, I have argued that the idea of balancing the budget by eliminating government “waste, fraud, and abuse” was a canard. In 2020, I wrote that “there really isn’t that much waste, fraud, and abuse in the system.” In 2024, when President-Elect Trump announced the creation of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, I said that the phrase was a meme with no real substance to it—Trump claimed DOGE would save money in part by weeding out fraudulent uses of social services, an unrealistic strategy based on an exaggerated problem. Politicians invoked the phrase waste, fraud, and abuse because no one could possibly be against those things, but for the same reason, those things would have been eliminated long ago if they were common and easy to spot.

Three recent stories have forced me to wonder if I was just looking in the wrong places.

The first example of government waste is the luxury airplane that appears to have helped end Kristi Noem’s tenure as homeland-security secretary. NBC News first reported last month on the Boeing 737 that the Department of Homeland Security had leased and requested to buy for $70 million, along with two Gulfstream jets purchased for a reported $200 million. The 737 features “a bedroom with a queen bed, showers, a kitchen, four large flat-screen TVs and even a bar.” DHS claimed that the plane was intended for, among other uses, deportations; the government typically charters flights to deport people. Given the conditions that the Trump DHS favors for migrants in custody—my colleague Caitlin Dickerson recently wrote about one facility that had “an austere courtroom that reeked of bleach, and an airless cafeteria with a rancid smell”—this excuse is “far-fetched,” a DHS source told NBC. The plane seems like it could be described as waste, fraud (in the colloquial, if not also legal, sense), and abuse.

Even Trump, a walking advertisement for conspicuous consumption, reportedly found this a bit much, and the plane was a factor in Noem’s abrupt, um, reassignment to a newly concocted envoy role. The fallout from Noem’s departure has revealed another embarrassing case. The Washington Examiner reports that ICE’s former No. 2 Madison Sheahan spent about $2.5 million to buy a fleet of new SUVs and wrap them in flashy decorations with ICE’s name and logo. For reasons that should have been obvious, these vehicles are largely useless to an agency that tries to move secretively and usually employs unmarked cars. (This is perhaps one reason that ICE officials reportedly referred to Sheahan, whose previous experience was at Louisiana's Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, as “fish cop.”) The agency is now trying to get rid of the white-elephant vehicles. This example looks like waste, though the fact that a big part of the SUV contract went to a prominent Republican donor means that it also looks a little like a kickback, which would constitute abuse.

Over at the Pentagon, a watchdog group’s analysis found some outlandish outlays: $98,329 on a grand piano for the Air Force chief of staff’s home, almost $9 million on lobster tail and crab, and $15.1 million on rib-eye steak—all from September alone. These, too, look like waste and abuse. Although the Iran war cost an eye-popping estimated $11.3 billion in its first week, and continues with no clear goal or strategy, at least it’s related to national defense.

These are just the appalling expenditures the administration isn’t advertising. What about the ones that are matters of declared policy? The administration has imposed tariffs that hurt American farmers who grow corn and soybeans. In response, Trump announced plans for a $12 billion bailout for farmers, which is both cynical and wasteful: government spending to fix a problem created by the government itself. His One Big Beautiful Bill Act also allocated $40 billion in subsidies for fossil-fuel producers, some of which are highly profitable.

When Trump launched DOGE, he promised it would root out waste, fraud, and abuse; its leader, Elon Musk, vowed to cut $2 trillion in federal spending. In practice, the DOGE team appears to have been intended mostly to attack areas of the government that Trump, Musk, and the budget director, Russell Vought, didn’t like. As an engine of efficiency or savings, DOGE failed miserably. CNN reported this week that DOGE cuts “have hampered the US government’s abilities to prepare for domestic emergencies; monitor terror threats; guard against cyber-attacks; broadcast US information into Iran; and quickly help US citizens stranded abroad.” Spending actually rose on DOGE’s watch. Maybe DOGE was just focused on the wrong things—some of its staffers don’t seem like the sharpest crew—but it’s probably not a coincidence that the top Trump aides who were spending frivolously escaped scrutiny.

These cases are relatively tiny in the scope of the federal budget—the Pentagon received more than $2 trillion in funding in fiscal year 2025. That’s another problem with the “waste, fraud, and abuse” trope: Contrary to what those invoking the phrase wish to suggest, balancing the federal budget would take much more than rooting out individual instances of overspending. It would require steep cuts to programs, real increases in tax revenue, or both. But the cost of government leaders participating in wasteful, fraudulent, and abusive behavior is high in ways not best measured in dollars.

Related:

• The government waste DOGE should be cutting
• DOGE’s reign of ineptitude

[phkrause]

Dems' investigative wish list

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

House and Senate Democrats are starting to have preliminary discussions to coordinate potential congressional investigations into companies, colleges and law firms in the next Congress, multiple sources tell us. Why it matters: The early strategizing on how Democrats could use the investigative power of committees, including subpoenas, is another indication of the party's growing confidence of victory in November. Sens. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), all on the Senate Judiciary Committee, have been involved in the planning discussions on the Senate side. Schiff, the lead manager during President Trump's first impeachment, would bring significant experience to any Senate investigation. 📢 What we're hearing: Lawmakers in both parties believe the House is more likely to fall into Democratic hands than the Senate. The House also has some institutional advantages, including broader subpoena authority. Zoom out: Democrats expect the White House to either stonewall or grandstand in any investigation. They also anticipate Trump officials invoking executive privilege at every turn. But companies, colleges and private citizens won't have that luxury — especially when faced with congressional subpoenas. Democrats want to know how and why major institutions — including billionaires, major law firms and universities — chose to cooperate with the Trump administration, according to people familiar with the conversations. That could include everything from donations for the East Wing renovation to funding agreements involving universities. 🔎 Zoom in: Democrats in both chambers have already signaled where their investigative interests might lie if they flip the House or Senate. This month, House and Senate Democrats requested information from a major law firm that agreed to provide pro bono legal services to the Trump administration. Senate Democrats last year questioned a fundraiser and lobbyists who were reportedly soliciting donations from major corporations and billionaires for Trump's proposed ballroom. And a group of House and Senate Democrats last summer questioned Harvard about its communications with the administration amid escalating tensions with Trump, Axios previously reported. Between the lines: These conversations are happening even though neither chamber is guaranteed to flip. 🤔 The intrigue: There's a difference between investigations and impeachments. Despite efforts from party leaders to tamp down the idea, talk of impeachment is likely to bubble up again. House Democrats have already introduced impeachment resolutions against Trump officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi. The bottom line: Companies are bracing for congressional investigations if one or both chambers flip. And Democrats in both the House and Senate want a piece of the action. — Stephen Neukam

[phkrause]

Trump's war claims

The Strait of Hormuz, which carries about 25% of the world's seaborne oil supply, is 21 nautical miles wide at its narrowest point, and skirts Iran's southern border. Satellite image: Gallo Images via Getty Images 🇺🇸 Bulletin: U.S. Central Command said this morning that four of six crew members have been confirmed dead after a U.S. military refueling plane crashed in western Iraq. Rescue efforts continue. The loss of the tanker wasn't due to hostile fire or friendly fire, CENTCOM said. Get the latest. President Trump told G7 leaders during a virtual meeting on Wednesday that Iran is "about to surrender," Axios' Barak Ravid reports from three officials from G7 countries briefed on the contents of the call. Why it matters: Trump is as confident about the war's outcome in private as he is in public. But his assessment is colliding with a more complex reality on the ground. 24 hours after the call, Iran's new supreme leader issued his first public statement vowing to keep fighting. The Iranian regime has shown no signs of imminent surrender or collapse — and on Day 14 of the war, is moving to gain more leverage by choking off the Strait of Hormuz. 🔎 Behind the scenes: Trump boasted about the results of Operation Epic Fury on the G7 call Wednesday morning, telling allies, "I got rid of a cancer that was threatening us all." While claiming Iran was about to surrender, he also suggested there were no officials left alive in Tehran with the power to make that decision. "Nobody knows who is the leader, so there is no one that can announce surrender," Trump said, according to two officials briefed on the call. Trump has mocked Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, as a "lightweight," previously telling Axios that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's son would be "unacceptable" to the U.S. In a message read out on state television yesterday, Mojtaba Khamenei said Iran will continue to threaten the Strait of Hormuz, where attacks on tankers have already pushed oil prices above $100 a barrel and triggered fears of a global economic crisis. 🌐 The big picture: All of the other leaders on the call urged Trump to end the war quickly, stressing that the Strait of Hormuz must be secured as soon as possible, two officials briefed on the call tell Axios. Trump said the Hormuz situation is improving and that commercial ships should resume operations in the area, an official briefed on the call said. At least two tankers were set ablaze off the coast of Iraq that night. Trump was "ambiguous and noncommittal" on his objectives and timeline for ending the war, sources said. Some participants left the call believing he wants to wind it down — others felt the complete opposite. Trump gave no deadline but said "we need to finish the job" to avoid another war with Iran in five years. Today's New York Times, Financial Times headlines 💡 Between the lines: As the Hormuz crisis drives oil prices above $100, Russia — a major oil producer — stands to benefit. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron urged Trump on the call not to allow Moscow to exploit the war or receive sanctions relief, two officials said. Hours later, Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev met in Florida with Trump advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to discuss the global energy crisis.

[phkrause]

🔬 Trump admin's discovery push

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios The Trump administration has ambitious deadlines to accelerate scientific discovery, Energy Department undersecretary Darío Gil and Dell CEO Michael Dell tell Axios' Maria Curi. Why it matters: Government agencies and companies are mobilizing to use AI for energy, drug discovery and national security, while promising new jobs. The Genesis Mission, unveiled late last year, is a federal initiative led by the DOE and its national labs to use AI and emerging tech to accelerate scientific discovery. Gil said that includes quantum computers that aren't error-prone by 2028, commercially viable fusion power plants in the 2030s, and a trained workforce of 100,000 scientists and engineers within the next decade. What's next: Dell and DOE are aiming to deliver a supercomputer by the end of 2026 that the department and company say could be the blueprint for other agencies. Go deeper.

[phkrause]

Trump Has Twisted Midnight Meltdown as More U.S. Troops Die

The president said killing people was his “great honor.”

President Donald Trump made a bloodthirsty late-night social media post boasting that it is his “great honor” to be “killing” Iranians as part of his war, shortly before more U.S. troops were confirmed to have died in the conflict.

In a typically unhinged Truth Social post, the 79-year-old said that the U.S. is “totally destroying the terrorist regime in Iran” while reeling off a list of apparent accomplishments during the war.

Trump shared the post just hours before it was confirmed that all six crew members of a KC-135 military refueling plane that crashed in western Iraq on Thursday have died. The incident is under investigation, but it is not believed to have been the result of hostile fire or friendly fire in the ongoing war in the Middle East.

“We have unparalleled firepower, unlimited ammunition, and plenty of time - Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today,” Trump warned in his unhinged post.

“They’ve been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them. What a great honor it is to do so!”

Trump, 79, made the Truth Social post at 00:33 a.m. Friday, repeating his well-worn refrain that the U.S. has “decimated” Iran.

“Iran’s Navy is gone, their Air Force is no longer, missiles, drones and everything else are being decimated, and their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth,” the president posted.

He appeared to be triggered by media reporting on the rising costs of the conflict, as well as the ongoing deflection over America’s involvement in the strike on Shajarah Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minabl on day one of the conflict. The strike, using a Tomahawk missile, killed at least 175 people, mainly children.

In his post, Trump was particularly angry with The New York Times. His beef with the publication has been brewing for days. Times reporter Shawn McCreesh asked him directly on Tuesday during a White House press briefing who was responsible for the lethal missile strike.

“You just suggested that Iran somehow got its hands on a Tomahawk and bombed its own elementary school on the first day of the war,” McCreesh said to Trump.

“But you’re the only person in your government saying this,” he continued. “Even your Defense Secretary wouldn’t say that, when he was asked, standing over your shoulder, on your plane, on Saturday. Why are you the only person saying this?”

Trump replied, “I just don’t know enough about it. I think it’s something that I was told is under investigation.”

In his Thursday night post, the president claimed, “We are totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, militarily, economically, and otherwise, yet, if you read the Failing New York Times, you would incorrectly think that we are not winning.”

The strikes on Iran by the U.S. and Israeli military forces have paralyzed the transit of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, leading to increased gas and energy prices globally.

Oil prices hit $3.65 a gallon in the U.S. on Thursday, according to Gasbuddy, after being as low as $2.82 last month.

This week, the Pentagon revealed that Trump’s “Operation Epic Fury” has already cost U.S. taxpayers $11.3 billion.

Curiously, the previous post on Trump’s Truth Social account on Thursday also had an army theme. The president posted a throwback photo of himself, aged 18, at the New York Military Academy in 1964.

His caption read, “At Military Academy with my parents, Fred and Mary!”

The photo was taken six years before his future wife Melania was born, and four years before Trump was diagnosed with bone spurs in his heels at age 22, seven years before the Vietnam War ended.

Trump received five deferments at the height of the Vietnam War. Four were for education, the fifth was the medical waiver, after his graduation from military school.

In 2018, the daughters of podiatrist Dr. Larry Braunstein said their late father diagnosed Trump with bone spurs to enable him to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War as a “favor” to his father Fred.

“It was family lore,” Elysa Braunstein told The New York Times, noting that the story was “something we would always discuss” among family and friends.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-makes-chilling-iran-war-boast-in-late-night-meltdown/?

[phkrause]

Trump Hands Humiliating Oil Victory to Putin Thanks to Iran War Chaos

Washington felt forced to ease sanctions on Moscow, but oil prices remained above $100 a barrel in early trading.

President Donald Trump has handed an embarrassing victory to Vladimir Putin amid his self-inflicted economic crisis.

The price of crude oil has spiraled since Trump, 79, launched “Operation Epic Fury” against Iran on Feb. 28. In response, Tehran has choked the world’s energy supply, using drones and mines to strike tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow shipping lane that connects Gulf oil to the rest of the world.

So, in an attempt to quell market tumult and ease prices, the Trump administration has announced that it will allow Russia to begin selling previously sanctioned oil stuck on tankers at sea, through April 11.The commodities data tracking service Kpler states that this amounts to some 130 million barrels, which could net the Kremlin billions of dollars.

Oil prices spiked to nearly $120 per barrel this week, their highest level since the pandemic. At the opening of the Asian markets on Friday, the price stayed above $100 per barrel, despite Trump bending the knee to the Kremlin dictator.

The Financial Times reported Thursday that Russia was already the biggest winner from Trump’s war, raking in as much as $150 million per day in extra budget revenues from oil sales.

But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, after announcing the move to release the sanctioned oil, said it “will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government.”

He was more candid in a podcast interview on Thursday, saying that it was “unfortunate” that Russia stood to gain financially from Trump’s war. He said he hopes this amounts to only a “micro period.”

The Russians, though, are taking a victory lap. Moscow boasted on Friday, saying that it’s clear the global energy market “cannot remain stable” without its oil.

Russia’s economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev even asserted that it was “increasingly inevitable” that Washington would lift more sanctions.

“The United States is effectively acknowledging the obvious: without Russian oil, the global energy market cannot remain stable,” Dmitriev posted on Telegram.

“Amid the growing energy crisis, further easing of restrictions on Russian energy sources appears increasingly inevitable, despite resistance from some in the Brussels bureaucracy,” he added.

Some G7 leaders are annoyed that Trump has eased sanctions, put in place as punishment for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that the Strait of Hormuz shutdown “in no way” justified the move. “The consensus was that we should not change our position on Russia and should maintain our efforts on Ukraine,” Macron said after a call with other leaders.

The move marks a U-turn from the summer when the Trump administration doubled tariffs on India as punishment for buying oil from Russia.

“In one fell swoop, we’ve undone a huge amount of pressure on Russia,” Edward Fishman, a senior fellow and director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told The New York Times.

In an attempt to ease energy anxiety, Trump posted on Truth Social, essentially telling Americans to suck up the fallout. “The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” Trump declared. “BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping [sic] an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World. I won’t ever let that happen!”

Bessent was more circumspect in an interview with British broadcaster Sky News on Thursday. He said the U.S. Navy will escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, “perhaps with an international coalition,” as “soon as it is militarily possible.”

Energy Secretary Chris Wright echoed Bessent during an interview with CNBC, also on Thursday. It comes after he moved markets earlier this week by posting about the apparent successful passage of ships through the strait. However, this was untrue, and he quickly deleted the post, forcing an embarrassing walk-back from the administration. The episode left markets confused.

Iran has been peppering the strait with drones, attacking ships from all over the world. Reports suggest it has also laid mines. However, on Thursday, Wright said that the U.S. aims to guide tankers through the passage by the end of the month.

However, ClearView, an independent research firm based in Washington, D.C., said, “Iranian officials show little sign of relenting.”

The Trump administration will also try to address the issue by releasing 172 million barrels of oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserves starting next week, the Energy Department announced Wednesday night.

The White House has been contacted for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-hands-humiliating-oil-victory-to-vladimir-putin-thanks-to-iran-war-chaos/?

[phkrause]

Congressional Democrats say Trump tariffs will cost US households more than $2,500 this year President Donald Trump is scrambling to replace the revenue the federal government lost when the Supreme Court struck down his biggest and boldest tariffs last month. A report from Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee, out Friday, finds that the new tariffs will increase the burden on American households this year. Read more.

Why this matters: If the administration's tariff efforts succeed, congressional Democrats warn in the study, the administration’s import taxes will cost American households an average of $2,512 in 2026, up 44% from $1,745 in tariff costs last year.   That is partly because the tariff revenue would be collected for the full year; Trump needed time to impose tariffs in 2025 and occasionally suspended them. The Democrats also assume that American households will absorb 100% of the tariff cost. They cite a Congressional Budget Office report concluding that importers can pass along 70% of the tariff costs to consumers and also allow domestic producers to raise prices.   Calling the study “phony,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said “President Trump will continue using tariffs to renegotiate broken trade deals, lower drug prices, and secure trillions in investments for the American people.”

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Under pressure from Trump, Republicans plan long talkathon on voting bill   Trump bragged about low gas prices. The Iran conflict has him doing an about-face   Bessent will meet China's vice premier in Paris ahead of Trump's visit to Beijing   Democratic senators file war powers resolution to check Trump on Cuba   Venezuela's Machado calls Trump a 'fundamental ally' despite US support for Delcy Rodríguez   International court drops investigation into US sanctions on Venezuela   Eswatini receives third batch of migrants deported by the US   Missouri judge rejects a challenge to new US House districts backed by Trump   Illinois' open US Senate race tests Gov. JB Pritzker's influence ahead of possible presidential bid   Utah judge in Charlie Kirk killing case weighs media access   Trump administration sues California over the state's nation-leading vehicle-emission rules

[phkrause]

Jaw-Dropping Scale of Troops Wounded by Trump’s War Is Leaked

Scores of U.S. soldiers were gravely injured—but the Pentagon has not been upfront about it.

The devastating toll of Iran’s counterattack on U.S. service members after President Donald Trump’s surprise strikes on the country is even more severe than previously known.

A deadly attack that killed six U.S. service members has also left dozens of others suffering from traumatic brain injuries, memory loss, and other “urgent” health issues at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, the largest U.S. military hospital abroad, CBS News reported Wednesday.

As of Tuesday night, more than 30 military personnel remained hospitalized at Landstuhl and other military hospitals following the strike on a tactical operations center at the Shuaiba port outside Kuwait City on March 1. The 20 who arrived at Landstuhl on Tuesday have injuries designated “urgent” by the military, according to CBS.

Iran’s counterattack was a “chaotic” rescue scene, sources told CBS. Billowing smoke from the blast hindered rescue efforts inside the operations center, and two of the service members initially missing after the attack were reportedly found under rubble.

One soldier who survived the attack and was one of 12 injured soldiers to be sent to Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., described the moments before the strike occurred.

“I remember turning my head to the left and I’d seen the nose of that drone pop through, and as soon as it did I knew what it was, it was either a missile or a drone,” Sgt. First Class Cory Hicks told ABC Minneapolis affiliate KSTP. “So I turned to my right, and that’s when it blew up and just blew the whole building apart.”

Hicks, a Minnesota native, said that “everything was just smoke and fire and crazy and chaos.” Hicks suffered a lacerated kidney, a severed spleen, shrapnel injuries, and facial fractures, according to KSTP.

More than 100 medical personnel were sent to Landstuhl to assist with the total of roughly 25 soldiers sent there from the Kuwait attack.

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt admitted only on Monday that about 150 American troops have been wounded in the war with Iran as the conflict enters its 12th day.

“I can’t confirm the exact number. I know it’s within that ballpark, but I would defer you to the Pentagon for a specific number,” she said.

Before that, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the strike under different circumstances while addressing the Pentagon last week.

“You have air defenses, and a lot’s coming in, and you hit most of it. Every once in a while, you might have one, unfortunately, we call it a squirter, that makes its way through,” he said. “And in that particular case, it happened to hit a tactical operations center that was fortified, but these are powerful weapons.”

Following Leavitt’s comments on Tuesday, the Pentagon confirmed that about 140 U.S. service members have been injured. But according to spokesman Sean Parnell, “the vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and 108 service members have already returned to duty.”

Trump joining Israel in its decades-long attempt to annihilate the Iranian regime hasn’t solely taken a physical toll, but a financial one, too, according to new figures shared with Congress.

Within the first two days of Trump’s Iran war, the Pentagon used $5.6 billion in advanced munitions.

The six service members killed were all part of the 103rd Sustainment Command. They were Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35; Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39; Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20; Maj. Jeffrey R. O’Brien, 45; and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan, 54.

Following their deaths on March 1, Trump said, “Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That’s the way it is.”

At least one other American was killed in a separate strike in Saudi Arabia. Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky, served in the 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade.

Last week, he doubled down in a statement to Time magazine: “…You know, we expect some things. Like I said, some people will die. When you go to war, some people will die.”

The Daily Beast has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/military-hospital-flooded-with-injured-troops-from-trumps-iran-war/?

[phkrause]

D Vance’s Desperate Spin Campaign Tries to Distance Him From Trump’s War

Trump’s No. 2 seems determined to paint himself as the sole voice of reason in the administration.

JD Vance appears to be desperately trying to rewrite his role in the administration’s Iran war as his rival to be President Donald Trump’s chosen MAGA successor in 2028 gains favor.

The vice president, known for speaking out against forever wars, was outed as a driving force behind “Operation Epic Fury” in a New York Times report last week that quoted insiders who said he’d urged President Donald Trump to “go big and go fast” if he wanted to strike Iran. Soon after, with public support for the war shockingly low, anonymous sources embarked on a campaign to offer a new narrative painting Vance as the sole voice of reason in the administration.

That spin campaign picked up again Friday with an unnamed “senior Trump official,” apparently speaking on Vance’s behalf, telling Politico the vice president is “skeptical” of the war effort and “worried about success.”

The official claimed Vance “just opposes” the war.

A second unnamed Trump official reiterated that narrative, telling the outlet the vice president’s “role is to provide the president and the administration, you know, all points of views of what could happen from many different angles and, you know, he does that. But once the decision has been made, he’s fully on board.”

Both officials claimed Vance had pushed back against the war in the days before it began on Feb. 28. But those claims don’t appear to line up with the account given by officials who told the Times the vice president had actually talked Trump out of a limited strike, which is the option the president had initially wanted to go with.

Trump himself gave some credence to the Times’ report by telling reporters his vice president “did not take persuading” when it came to launching strikes on Iran. That came after newly MAGA-curious CBS News had aired Vance’s apparent damage control with a report claiming he’d been “personally against” the strikes.

Publicly, Vance has defended the war and echoed White House talking points about it being “different” from all the earlier overseas U.S. military interventions he has long campaigned against. But he has been conspicuously missing in action, raising some eyebrows earlier this week with an announcement he’s going to debate college kids next month.

Even that, however, suggests he’s trying to shore up support while his potential 2028 rival, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, outshines him as Trump’s mouthpiece for U.S. operations in Iran.

Turning Point USA, the conservative youth movement founded by the late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, has Vance appearing alongside Kirk’s widow, Erica Kirk, at the University of Georgia in April.

It comes as Vance and Rubio are increasingly touted as frontrunners to succeed Trump as the GOP presidential candidate in 2028. Rubio’s odds have reportedly shot up as he’s taken center stage during the Iran war. In a statement to the Daily Beast, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said, “Efforts to drive a wedge between President Trump and Vice President Vance are totally misguided. The President listens to a host of opinions from his talented national security team and ultimately makes decisions based on what is best for our country and national security. Vice President Vance is a tremendous asset to the President and the entire administration.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/jd-vances-desperate-spin-campaign-tries-to-distance-him-from-trumps-war/?

[phkrause]

Leak Exposes Shock Trump Blunder on Worst-Case War Scenario

Officials say they’re “dumbfounded” by the lack of foresight that has now plunged the world into crisis.

The Trump administration had no plan for what to do if Iran closed off the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the U.S. bombing the country, according to a report.

The Pentagon and the National Security Council had completely underestimated how willing Iran would be to shut off the vital shipping lane between Iran and Oman, through which around one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes, multiple sources told CNN.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sparked a worldwide oil crisis, with prices rising above $100 a barrel for the first time in four years. Multiple sources familiar with the war operations said they are in shock that Trump’s national security team failed to plan for what was considered the “worst-case scenario” after starting a war with Iran.

“Planning around preventing this exact scenario—impossible as it has long seemed—has been a bedrock principle of U.S. national security policy for decades,” a former U.S. official who served in Republican and Democratic administrations told CNN. “I’m dumbfounded.”

Top Trump administration officials admitted to lawmakers during classified briefings that they had not planned for the possibility of Iran closing the passage. Multiple Democrats emerged from those meetings expressing shock and outrage at the lack of planning and justification for launching the war.

The administration did not expect Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz because it believed doing so would hurt Iran more than the U.S., sources said. Officials argued that the view was justified because Iran did not close the passage when the U.S. targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities with airstrikes in June 2025.

 

Oil tankers and cargo ships have been left stranded by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran reportedly attacking vessels that attempt to sail through amid the conflict.

The U.S. Navy has reportedly refused requests from ships seeking military escorts through the strait since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28 because it would be too dangerous.Energy Secretary Chris Wright suggested that naval escorts for oil tankers could begin later this month.“It’ll happen relatively soon, but it can’t happen now. We’re simply not ready,” Wright told CNBC on Thursday. “All of our military assets right now are focused on destroying Iran’s offensive capabilities and the manufacturing industry that supplies those capabilities.”

New Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei—the son of the country’s former leader, Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a strike on the first day of the war—said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed as a “tool of pressure.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/leak-exposes-how-trump-failed-to-plan-for-worst-case-war-scenario/?

[phkrause]

Trump Humiliated as Bets on Republican Election Catastrophe Explode

The Democrats are within spitting distance of retaking the Senate this fall, prediction markets say.

President Donald Trump’s midterms headache is trending toward all-out GOP catastrophe since going to war with Iran.

Top prediction markets are in agreement that the Democratic Party now has an 85 percent chance of regaining control of the House in November, and are inching closer to being the favorite to retake the Senate, too.

Kalshi and Polymarket, which have accepted millions in wagers on the matter, each list the GOP as having just a 15 percent chance of maintaining a House majority—down from a 43 percent chance in October.

House Speaker Mike Johnson appears to be in denial about this harsh reality for Republicans.

“I’m very bullish about the midterms,” Johnson told the Daily Wire on Thursday. “I’m absolutely convinced we are going to win the midterms and grow the majority. It will defy historic trend.”

 

Republicans are still favored to maintain control of the Senate, but those chances are shrinking by the day as Americans grapple with spiking fuel prices, and reports continue to filter in that American troops are continuing to die in the Middle East.

Data guru Nate Silver said the political ramifications of the Iran war have to be “one of the dumber moves in recent memory.”

“Maybe the base case is that things get back to normal, but the risks for Trump are weighted to the downside,” he added on X.

Polymarket and Kalshi list the Democratic Party at 48 percent to retake the Senate—something that would have been considered a long shot as of the fall, when the party had just a 17 percent chance.

Flipping the Senate, which only has 35 seats up for grabs in November, will still be a tall task for Democrats, even with approval ratings for Trump and his party of sycophants trending sharply down.

Republicans currently hold 53 Senate seats. Democrats hold 45 seats, plus two independents who caucus with the party.

The Cook Political Report lists four Senate races as true toss-ups: Georgia, Maine, Michigan, and North Carolina. Only two of those seats are currently held by Republicans, meaning that even a Democratic sweep of those seats would not be enough to deliver them a majority.

That means Democrats will have to flip seats the Cook Political Report considers “leaning” red, including in Alaska and Ohio, while not being upset in any of their own vulnerable states, like in New Hampshire.

The report says a Democratic upset is possible in Iowa and Texas, which it lists as “likely” Republican.

The Democratic path to a majority in the House, where every seat is up for grabs, is much clearer.

Republicans hold a four-seat majority in the chamber, but the Cook Political Report says there are 17 toss-up races in the midterms. That includes two seats in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Iowa, as well as one each in California, Colorado, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Trump, of course, is not up for re-election—but his prospects would be horrendous if he were. A CNN poll found this week that Trump’s approval rating among independents, who delivered him the 2024 election, is now 38 points underwater.

Trump’s overall approval rating—now just 40 percent, according to The Economist—has not been over 50 percent in over a year.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-humiliated-as-bets-on-republican-election-catastrophe-explode/?

[phkrause]

MAGA Goons Turn on Trump Over White House’s Insane Iran Memes

The White House has vowed to continue with its “cringe” posting.

Even people who participated in the Jan. 6 riots are turning on President Donald Trump because of the White House’s insane Iran memes.

In a bid to sell 79-year-old Trump’s unpopular conflict, the country’s highest office has deployed a social media strategy that some say “trivializes” an operation that has killed over 1,000, including at least 175 people, mostly children, at a school. One Jan. 6er, Nathan Hughes, said on Friday that the incessant posting from the White House is “cringe.”

The White House press team has rattled off roughly a dozen videos featuring references to memes, popular computer games, and movies.

Hughes, who was convicted of multiple felony and misdemeanor offenses related to his conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol, invoked the strike on a children’s school as he lamented the posting.

“Why is the @WhiteHouse posting cringe memes of us dropping bombs on Iran after they just blew up an elementary school full of children?“ he wrote on X.

“And no I’m not a ‘libtard’ I’m a Jan 6er that voted Trump 3 times, but I didn’t vote for this ret---ed a-- s--t,” he said using a derogatory term for a liberal person and later a slur for a person with disabilities.

He later added that “the only people it appeals to are boomers that have been psyop’d to support this war.”

Many more voters agreed in the comments. “Thank you for speaking out. I’m a three time Trump holder and feel the same way you do. We didn’t change, he did,” another disgruntled voter said.

Beyond sour Trump supporters, the posts have been broadly criticized.

“Are you trying to appeal to 12 year olds?” one critic asked on X, after the official White House account posted a bizarre bowling-themed video.

Iran also released an AI-generated propaganda movie featuring demented Lego-style figurines wreaking revenge for U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on the country.

Other eyebrow-raising productions from the White House parody the Grand Theft Auto computer game series, MLB players slugging balls (which turn into explosives), NFL stars tackling opponents, and Nintendo characters from Wii games.

In another, they ripped off movies Braveheart, Deadpool, Top Gun, Superman, Transformers and Tropic Thunder, as well as series Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul and others. Star and director of Tropic Thunder, Ben Stiller, asked them to remove it. “We never gave you permission and have no interest in being a part of your propaganda machine. War is not a movie,” he wrote on X.

Several NFL players have spoken out against the administration for using their athletic prowess to make light of the war, and now disillusioned Trump voters are joining them.

Mike Wilnau, a Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida’s 11th Congressional District, expressed his dissatisfaction. “Trump is the only president I’ve ever voted for (turned 18 in 2016), and I’m done with all of it,” the 27-year-old wrote.

In a separate post, he shared the Wii video from the White House and said, “This would be so funny if we were talking about mass deportations, lowering the cost of living, arresting the deep state criminals, and publicly executing the Epstein class (I’m looking at you, Howard). This is the Goy Slop they’re feeding you instead of fulfilling the mandate.”

Despite the pushback, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the social media strategy is here to stay. She hyped up the military action that the U.S. has dubbed “Operation Epic Fury,” and added, “The legacy media wants us to apologize for highlighting the United States Military’s incredible success, but the White House will continue showcasing the many examples of Iran’s ballistic missiles, production facilities, and dreams of owning a nuclear weapon being destroyed in real time.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-goons-turn-on-trump-over-white-houses-insane-iran-memes/?

[phkrause]

Kennedy Center shake-up coming

New signage appeared at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in December. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP Ric Grenell plans to transition out of his role as president of Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center on Monday, as the nation's premier performing arts venue finalizes plans to shut down for renovations, Axios' Alex Isenstadt has learned. Grenell will be succeeded by Matt Floca, the vice president of facilities operations at the national cultural center — which was renamed the Trump Kennedy Center after a December board vote. Grenell, who also serves as President Trump's envoy for special missions, will still be active in the organization as an unpaid consultant. The change is set to be announced at a board meeting at the White House on Monday. Trump is expected to attend. Trump has taken a liking to Floca, who previously worked for the D.C. government as associate director for sustainability and energy. 📱 Trump has been calling Floca to hash out possible changes to the center — including paint color, seating and new marble. Grenell took the helm in February 2025 as part of a Trump-driven shake-up. The president, promising a "golden age" of American arts and culture, wrote on Truth Social: "RIC, WELCOME TO SHOW BUSINESS!" Under Grenell's tenure, the organization has undergone a significant overhaul — including the installation of a Trump-aligned board. Trump has taken a special interest in the center, hosting its annual honors awards and presiding over FIFA's World Cup draw. 🏗️ Grenell's move comes ahead of a major overhaul. Trump announced last month that the venue will close in July for two years for "Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding." He promised a "new and spectacular Entertainment Complex," with a "Grand Reopening that will rival and surpass anything that has taken place with respect to such a Facility before." Go deeper. ps:What a joke this administration is!!!!!

[phkrause]

A Test for the Faithful

View in browser

Let’s get this out of the way: Rumors of a major MAGA schism have been greatly exaggerated. For all the discussion on the ways in which prominent conservative voices are speaking out against the war in Iran (and against President Trump’s consistent hawkishness more broadly), the polling doesn’t point to a split of any real significance—77 percent of Republicans approve of the decision to take military action in Iran, according to CNN, and 90 percent of self-identified MAGA Republicans back the attacks, according to NBC.

Some Republicans are indeed openly upset about the war. Marjorie Taylor Greene, famous for her early association with Trump and her more recent split from MAGA, has called supporters of the Iran war “blood thirsty maniacs.” Tucker Carlson, a consistent critic of foreign intervention, has now devoted multiple episodes of his show to critiquing the conflict. And Megyn Kelly, another right-wing media personality who split off from the Fox contingent, said last week that “no one should have to die for a foreign country.” Even America’s most popular podcaster, Joe Rogan—who endorsed Trump in 2024 but has said that he doesn’t identify with either political party—described the war as “insane” in the context of the president’s campaign promises.

But these public instances of anger have not actually swayed Trump’s base. He has indeed reneged on his “America First” pledge to extract the United States from foreign wars, bombing Middle Eastern nuclear facilities, deposing global leaders, and threatening to attack long-held American allies such as Denmark and Mexico. In each of these cases, anti-interventionist Republicans have criticized him—without chipping away at loyalists’ support for the president’s moves. Two weeks into the war with Iran, Trump’s critics are once again attacking him from the right. The difference this time is that, as the conflict drags on, it risks creating tail effects that could be difficult for even the most faithful followers to ignore.

As my colleague Yair Rosenberg put it in his January story about the MAGA-schism myth, Trumpism is more about following the leader than it is about adhering to a particular set of ideological or political principles. Two weeks before U.S. forces snatched Nicolás Maduro, one poll showed that Republican support for invading Venezuela was at 43 percent. Once Trump actually intervened, that number rose to 74 percent. This somewhat mirrors the numbers on the Iran strikes; Republicans went from 58 percent supporting an attack late last month to 76 percent once the strikes actually began.

Despite the fact that, by historical standards, the Iran war is extremely unpopular with much of the country, the president isn’t working to sell it. That’s because he feels confident that his base will stand by him, a few people close to Trump told my colleague Jonathan Lemire this week. It would take something truly paradigm-shifting to test the fealty of the president’s supporters, but that moment may be coming.

The Iran war’s potential for economic devastation far outweighs that of other recent foreign interventions. Energy markets are experiencing historic volatility; oil nearly hit nearly $120 a barrel last weekend. This has already affected the average price of gasoline in the United States, which is now more than $3.60 a gallon. As the price of fuel goes up, so does the cost of shipping large containers around the country. That could end up increasing the price of groceries as well as that of virtually all the goods that businesses and consumers order online. As the war continues and ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively impossible, the likelihood of a broader economic crisis will only increase.

Sixty-two percent of all registered voters disapprove of the president’s leadership on inflation and the cost of living. But according to an Economist/YouGov poll, 86 percent of MAGA acolytes approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, suggesting that the movement is, as usual, taking Trump at his word. It’s one thing to write off rising costs (and costs have been rising for some time now) as a force majeure, as with COVID-19, or as an aftereffect of Bidenomics, as with inflation. How will that group react when costs go up explicitly because of Trump’s decision to attack Iran? “The Iran war is clearly Trump’s choice, and his voters will know that,” Yair told me.

Some of Trump’s critics on the right have been trying to create the perception of a rift in MAGA as a way to bring new converts over to their side, even if the polling doesn’t bear out anything quite so dramatic. Yesterday, Greene wrote on X that the administration and the Republican Party have been “hijacked” by the neoconservative establishment “we all voted against.” It’s an us versus them framework—a distinction between the interests of the broad conservative coalition that voted for Trump in 2024 and the reality of the administration’s goals. She’s right to say that the president has broken his core promise to stay out of foreign wars. But Trump’s most ardent supporters just don’t see it that way.

If Trump wants credit for what he’s already claimed is a victory in Iran, he should also get credit for the economic consequences. It’s telling that, rather than simply shrugging off rising prices, he suggested this week that high oil prices may actually be a good thing (true for energy companies, not as true for everyone else). Many Americans won’t buy it. The question is whether Trump loyalists, confronting a crisis that the president definitively owns, will ever start to share their doubts.

ps:What I've been saying all along, I'll believe it when I see it!!!!!!!!!!

Related:

• The biggest myth about Trump’s base (and why many believe it)
• What happens if oil hits $200 a barrel?

[phkrause]

Gamifying war

Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photo: U.S. Navy via Getty Images

The U.S. government is treating strikes on Iran like a video game, inviting the country to watch as memes and montages subsume the human cost of war, Axios' Zachary Basu writes. Why it matters: The Trump administration didn't invent the gamification of war, nor did it invent wartime propaganda — a tool of statecraft as old as armed conflict itself. But packaging live combat as social media content — scoring real kills in real time, and broadcasting it to an audience of millions — is a first in the history of American warfare. 🎮 Zoom in: Two weeks into Operation Epic Fury, much of the White House's online messaging has been gleefully trollish — a stream of videos splicing real missile strikes with footage from Call of Duty, Wii Sports and Hollywood blockbusters. One video wove clips from "Top Gun," "Iron Man" and "Braveheart" between images of Iranian targets being destroyed, ending with the "Mortal Kombat" audio: "Flawless victory." Another opened with a Grand Theft Auto meme — "Ah sh*t, here we go again" — before cutting to live strike footage from Iran. 📱 When CNN aired a segment on the jarring content, White House communications director Steven Cheung thanked the network for covering "all of our banger videos." Cheung later posted a Grand Theft Auto cheat code for unlocking weapons, and greeted critics with a mocking reference to livestream culture: "W's in the chat, boys!" White House principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told Axios: "The legacy media wants us to apologize for highlighting the United States Military's incredible success, but the White House will continue showcasing the many examples of Iran's ballistic missiles, production facilities, and dreams of owning a nuclear weapon being destroyed in real time." "No one is mocking our soldiers — we are highlighting the lethality and successes of our military." 💥 Zoom out: The videos have worked exactly as the White House intended — projecting strength, generating shock value and reinforcing President Trump's image as a leader who hits hard and answers to no one. But they've also drawn searing criticism: Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich condemned the gamification of war as "a profound moral failure" that "strips away the humanity of real people." The big picture: The White House videos are the most visible expression of a broader phenomenon — a country that has built an entire ecosystem around the consumption of war as content. Take prediction markets: Modern conflicts have become live gambling exchanges, with more than $1 billion wagered on Iran strikes and regime change since the bombing began.

[phkrause]

Trump rejected Putin offer to move Iran's uranium to Russia

On a call with President Trump this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed moving Iran's enriched uranium to Russia as part of a deal to end the war. Trump turned him down, sources tell Axios' Barak Ravid and Marc Caputo.

• Why it matters: Securing Iran's 450 kilograms of 60%-enriched uranium — convertible to weapons grade within weeks, and enough for more than 10 nuclear bombs — is one of the key war objectives for the U.S. and Israel.

Between the lines: In theory, Putin's offer could help facilitate the removal of Iran's nuclear stockpile without U.S. or Israeli boots on the ground.

• Russia is already a nuclear power and previously stored Iran's low-enriched uranium under the 2015 nuclear deal, making it one of the few countries with the technical capacity to accept the material.

🔎 Behind the scenes: On Monday's call, Putin raised several ideas for ending the war. The uranium proposal was one of them.

• Keep reading.

[phkrause]

White House wants big dig

The White House on Feb. 24. Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AP The White House wants to build an underground center to provide security screening for visitors, the latest step in the Trump administration's plan to overhaul the grounds, AP's Darlene Superville reports. The 33,000-square-foot center would have seven lanes. Construction could begin as early as August: The White House said it wants the facility open by July 2028, six months before President Trump's term ends. The plans were included in an agenda released yesterday for next month's meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission. Dig in: The screening facility would be built under Sherman Park, southeast of the White House and directly south of the Treasury building. White House visitors used to line up before entering a series of trailers and walking into the East Wing. After Trump tore down the East Wing last fall to build a ballroom, visitors are lining up near Lafayette Park, across Pennsylvania Avenue. The monument to Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in the center of Sherman Park wouldn't be removed, according to plans for the project, which is a collaboration of the Executive Office of the President, the Secret Service and the National Park Service. Also on the April 2 agenda is a debate and a final vote on Trump's plans to build a 90,000-square-foot building, including a large ballroom, where the East Wing stood.

[phkrause]

Trump, 79, Uses Jaw-Dropping Show of Disrespect to Beg For Money

The president is now attempting to cash in on his war-dead disgrace.

Not content with wearing his own merchandise at a dignified transfer, President Donald Trump is now doubling down on the “shameful” insult by attempting to cash in on the controversial photo op.

In a twisted turn of events, the 79-year-old has used an image of himself saluting the coffin of a soldier killed in his war on Iran to drum up cash for his own campaigning.

Last week, Trump became the first president in history to wear a baseball hat while honoring returning service members who made the ultimate sacrifice. The move drew condemnation from across the political spectrum.

As six flag-draped coffins arrived at Delaware’s Dover Air Force Base last week, Trump was seen donning a gold-embroidered white cap with “USA” on the front and “45-47″ on one side. The hat is for sale on the president’s for-profit merch website for $55.

In an email to his supporters on Friday, Trump doubled down on the disrespect by using a shot of the transfer to promote a private newsletter group receiving “national security briefings.”

“This is President Donald J. Trump,” the email reads. “I made a special announcement to the public an hour ago.”

“For the very first time ever, I’m opening up spots on the National Security Briefing Membership.

“CLAIM YOUR SPOT. VERY FEW SPOTS REMAINING!”

The email links supporters to a website by Never Surrender Inc. and asks them to contribute up to $1,000 and beyond to support the “MAGA agenda.”

The email has been widely criticized online, with California Governor Gavin Newsom blasting the campaigning on his X press account.

“Donald Trump is fundraising off of dead soldiers. He is a deeply SICK and DISGUSTING MAN!” Newsom wrote.

“Trump sent a fundraising email featuring a dead soldier’s casket… who was killed in a reckless war that Trump himself started. This is the most disgraceful thing I have ever seen,” wrote Pod Save America host and former Barack Obama staffer, Tommy Vietor.

“Retract this and fire whoever in your office approved this @realDonaldTrump,” wrote Arizona Senator and Iraq war veteran Ruben Gallego. “Have you no shame?”

“13 brave Americans have been killed in Trump’s illegal war in Iran. And now he’s using it to fundraise?!” wrote New York Rep. and veteran Pat Ryan. “The American people deserve a Commander in Chief. Not a Grifter in Chief.”

Since “Operation Epic Fury” began on Feb. 28, 13 U.S. service members have been killed across the Middle East. Around 140 more have been injured.

“Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That’s the way it is. Likely be more. But we’ll do everything possible where that won’t be the case,” Trump said about American deaths during the conflict in a video address on March 1.

The president has since said that the war with Iran will drag on until he feels it “in my bones.” In a message to Truth Social on Friday, the president added that it was a “great honor” to be killing Iranian leaders, despite the ongoing U.S. losses, not to mention the more than 1,300 civilians who have been killed in Iran.

Former GOP congressman Joe Walsh expressed his disgust with the president’s latest fundraising efforts with the succinct: “f---ing despicable.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-79-fundraising-off-jaw-dropping-show-of-disrespect/?

[phkrause]

Frantic Trump Ramps Up War by Personally Ordering Major Strikes

Trump claimed bombing raids “obliterated” all military targets on a key Iranian island.

President Donald Trump announced on Friday night the bombing raid on an Iranian island intended to get Iran to reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

The raid “obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island,” Trump, 79, wrote on Truth Social.

Trump said the U.S. did not strike oil infrastructure on the island “for reasons of decency.”

Iran exports 90 percent of its crude oil through that island’s facilities, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Trump added that he reserved the right to “immediately reconsider this decision” and strike those facilities if Iran shows no cooperation.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran, which has threatened passing ships with mines and strikes, has contributed to rising oil and gasoline prices.

The bombing of Kharg Island comes one day after it was revealed that the Trump administration had been caught off-guard by the closing of the strait.The Pentagon and the National Security Council, sources told CNN on Thursday, had underestimated Iran’s willingness to shut down the shipping lane, partly because it hadn’t done so after Trump ordered strikes on the country’s nuclear facilities last June.

“Planning around preventing this exact scenario—impossible as it has long seemed—has been a bedrock principle of U.S. national security policy for decades,” a former U.S. official told the network. “I’m dumbfounded.”

Trump said earlier Friday that the Navy would be escorting oil tankers through the strait “very soon.” On Monday, he had shrugged off safety concerns by telling oil tankers to “show some guts.”

Meanwhile, the Journal reported that the Pentagon has sent 5,000 Marines to the region as part of an “Amphibious Ready Group.”

Thirteen U.S. service members have died thus far in the war, which will hit its two-week mark on Saturday. The cost to the U.S. over just the first week was approximately $11.3 billion, the Pentagon told lawmakers.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/frantic-donald-trump-ramps-up-iran-war-by-personally-ordering-major-strikes/?

[phkrause]

Trump, 79, Contradicts His Own War Lie With Heinous Weapons Brag

The president’s change of tune follows reports that the U.S. struck an Iranian girls’ school.

Donald Trump is changing his story about one especially horrifying military action on the opening day of his Iran war.

The 79-year-old president on Friday discussed Tomahawk missiles, one of which destroyed an Iranian girls’ school on Feb. 28, killing at least 175 people, many of whom were children. Trump initially claimed on March 7 that the strike was “done by Iran.” Then, two days later, Trump said the strike was being investigated but still claimed that Iran possessed Tomahawk missiles. Now, that part of his narrative is changing too.

“Look, nobody has the technology or the weapons that we have,” he said on Brian Kilmeade’s Fox News radio show. “And the Patriot [missiles] are an example of it. We have the Tomahawks, we have the Patriots, we have stuff that nobody’s been able to produce, and they can’t produce it like us.”

On Monday, when asked whether the U.S. would take responsibility for the strike, Trump had claimed that Iran “also has” Tomahawks.

“I will say that the Tomahawk, which is one of the most powerful weapons around, is sold and used by other countries,” Trump said. “And whether it’s Iran, who also has some Tomahawks—they wish they had more—but whether it’s Iran or somebody else, the fact that a Tomahawk—a Tomahawk is very generic.”

When he initially blamed Iran for the strike on March 7, even Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—who has fervently supported Trump’s war mission—wouldn’t commit to the statement.

Instead, when asked if Trump’s allegations against Iran were true, Hegseth answered noncommittally, “We’re certainly investigating.”

Iran does not have Tomahawk missiles, or the right to purchase them, and a preliminary U.S. military investigation found that it was a U.S. Tomahawk missile that hit the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school building in the city of Minab, The New York Times reported Wednesday.The school building used to be attached to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps naval base. The U.S. was targeting that base, using outdated information from the Defense Intelligence Agency, according to the paper.

Trump’s brag to Kilmeade on Friday that “nobody” else has Tomahawk missiles is not only a reversal and direct contradiction of his earlier statements—it’s also misleading.

The U.K. and Australia also possess Tomahawk missiles, which are manufactured by the American company Raytheon. Additionally, in 2024, the U.S. agreed to sell 400 such missiles to Japan, and last year sold 163 to the Netherlands, though neither country’s stockpiles are readily available.

 

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.

The death toll in Iran and Lebanon exceeds 2,000 after nearly two weeks of war. A reported 13 U.S. service members have been killed.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-contradicts-his-own-iran-war-lie-with-heinous-weapons-brag/?

[phkrause]

Trump offered 'national security briefings' access to donors. Details are unclear

The fundraising bid hit supporters' inboxes on March 12, offering "unfiltered updates on the threats facing America."

Claim:

In March 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump offered donors access to what he called "National Security Briefings" in exchange for campaign contributions.

Rating:

True

Context

It's unclear what information would be shared at these so-called briefings and whether it would be sensitive or unclassified. We wrote to the White House seeking clarity and did not immediately receive a response.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-national-security-briefings/?

ps:Well ain't that interesting? Not really, this is what he does all the time! He puts this country in jeopardy everyday that he sits in the White House!!!!!!!!!!