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

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Trump Makes U-Turn One Hour After Trying to Tout Bonkers War Victory

Trump said the U.S. has wiped Iran “off the map”—then threatened new strikes.

Donald Trump claimed he had wiped Iran “off the map” in a social media post, then quickly reversed course, threatening new military strikes just an hour later.

The president first erupted on Truth Social at 6:37 p.m. EST after an analysis by The New York Times questioned whether he was anywhere close to achieving his stated objectives in the military action against Iran.

“Washington has been consumed by the question of when he would call it a day — even if many of his war goals remain unaccomplished,” the piece noted.

“There is mounting evidence… that the repercussions of Mr. Trump’s excursion may outlast his interest in it.”

Trump responded with a furious post on Truth Social, insisting the United States had already secured a decisive victory.

“The United States has blown Iran off of the map,” Trump posted, insisting the country’s leadership, navy, and air force were “dead” and that Tehran had “absolutely no defense.”

But a little over one hour later, at 7:44 p.m. EST, Trump appeared to undercut his own claims of total victory with a stark ultimatum.

“If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS… the United States… will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS,” he blasted in the second post.

The escalation landed awkwardly alongside his earlier claims of total victory, and also raised legal red flags since targeting civilian infrastructure, like power plants, can be considered a war crime under international law.

In recent days, Trump has repeatedly suggested that the U.S. is “very close” to meeting its goals while simultaneously dismissing the idea of a ceasefire, even as thousands more troops are set to be deployed to the region, and strikes continue to escalate.

His definition of victory also continues to shift.

Early demands for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” have faded and been replaced by the far looser goal of keeping Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon—something Trump had already claimed to have achieved last year after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran’s key nuclear sites.

“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran...NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!” he wrote on Truth Social last June.

And yet, nearly a year on, Trump is still threatening new strikes, and redefining what victory looks like in a desperate scramble to find an off-ramp from the escalating conflict.

Trump has begun publicly signalling he may “wind down” operations, according to the Times, but the military action shows few signs of slowing.

Earlier this week, troops were moved to the Middle East amid preparations for a potential ground operation in Iran.

The mixed signals point to competing pressures pulling Trump in opposite directions. On the one hand, he has sought to project total victory. On the other, the ongoing economic and political fallout is becoming harder for the administration to ignore.

Instability in the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping lane for global energy supplies, has rattled oil markets and pushed up prices. While U.S. allies, largely sidelined from the conflict, have shown little appetite to step in.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reached for comment, New York Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander said: “David Sanger brings more than 40 years of experience as a foreign and Washington correspondent for The Times — and a reputation for non-partisanship — to his work. His piece is a fair and thorough analysis of what the U.S. military and American diplomats have and have not accomplished so far, and helps the country understand the state of the war and the president’s choices going forward. It’s exactly the type of analysis an independent journalist is supposed to be doing.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-makes-u-turn-one-hour-after-trying-to-tout-bonkers-iran-war-victory/?

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Trump Plumbs New Depths by Celebrating the Death of a True American War Hero

The draft-dodging president couldn’t resist celebrating the death of a decorated combat veteran.

President Donald Trump sank lower than low, even by his standards, after he learned on Saturday that former special prosecutor Robert Mueller had died.

“Good, I’m glad he’s dead,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “He can no longer hurt innocent people!”

Much of Trump’s rancor no doubt stems from Mueller’s investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The probe led to indictments against 34 individuals, but not Trump himself.

Trump declared himself exonerated.

But, as he now strives in his second term to play a wartime commander-in-chief, Trump cannot escape a stain from a past collusion—with a Queens podiatrist. Trump remains a draft dodger. And he has not likely forgotten comparisons that had been made between himself and Mueller, who not only enlisted but also overcame what had initially kept him from serving.

When Donald Trump secured his infamous bone spur draft deferment in September of 1968, Robert Mueller had spent a year waiting for a sports-related knee injury to heal so he could be cleared for combat duty with the Marine Corps.

That November, 24-year-old Mueller arrived in Vietnam and became a platoon leader in “The Magnificent Bastards,” Second Battalion, Fourth Marine Regiment. He had been there a month when his platoon became embroiled in an eight-hour battle.

“2nd Lt. Mueller fearlessly moved from one position to another, directing the accurate counterfire of his men and shouting words of encouragement to them,” the citation for his Bronze Star medal with a V for valor reads.

In April of 1969, Mueller rushed to support a squad of his Marines who were caught in an ambush. An AK-47 round tore through his right thigh, but he kept on fighting.

“Although seriously wounded during the firefight, he resolutely maintained his position and, ably directing the fire of his platoon, was instrumental in defeating the North Vietnamese Army force,” said the citation for his Bronze Star medal.

Trump, meanwhile, had gone into his father’s real estate business. He later called himself “a great and very brave soldier” for avoiding STDs as a nepo baby about town.

“It’s amazing, I can’t even believe it,” he told radio host Howard Stern in a 1997 interview. “I’ve been so lucky in terms of that whole world, it is a dangerous world out there. It’s like Vietnam, sort of. It is my personal Vietnam.”

Mueller went on to become an attorney and rose to the upper echelon of the U.S. Department of Justice before leaving for a job with a fancy Washington law firm where a secretary answered his phone with “Mr. Mueller’s office.”

But he remained too much of a Marine to just keep making money when the nation’s capital was also becoming its murder capital, with more than 400 unnecessary deaths a year. He telephoned the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Eric Holder, and said he wanted to become a frontline homicide prosecutor.

In 1995, at the age of 50, Mueller arrived at his new job with a Marine Corps pin on his suit lapel and became the oldest and most improbable rookie in the history of the homicide bureau. He now answered his own phone.

“Homicide, Mueller.”

The victim in Mueller’s first homicide case was 3-year-old Rhonda Morris. He impressed the victim’s mother as well as the detectives and his fellow prosecutors with his focus, energy, and unfailing attention to the smallest details.

“He takes a personal interest in whatever he is doing,” Rhonda’s mother, Valerie Morris-Murdock, previously told the Daily Beast. “He gave it his all. He didn’t take shortcuts. He didn’t hand it to his investigators.”

Mueller was gentle, supportive, and reassuring with Morris-Murdock, but all the more so with her surviving daughter, Remi, who witnessed the killing when she was just a year older than Rhonda.

Remi instantly recognized Mueller when she saw a news report about the new director of the FBI on Sept. 4, 2001.

“She said, ‘Mom, did you see Mr. Mueller on TV? You know he’s the director with the FBI,’” Morris-Murdock previously told me.

A high-ranking FBI official remembers that on his first day, Mueller asked to be walked through all the bureau’s critical emergency procedures. He was fully briefed when the planes flew into the World Trade Center seven days after his arrival.

“He actually understood how to crank up the FBI machine to full tilt and turn it on and make it effective,” the official told the Daily Beast following Mueller’s death. “You know, after 9/11, everybody wanted to make the FBI a scapegoat. He was the guy who saved the FBI.”

And Mueller kept at it.

“He showed up every day at 6:18 in the morning,” the official said. “If you wanted to set your watch by it, you could. Because at 6:18, that elevator door opened from the director’s elevator, and he stepped out into the office and he was there until six or seven at night, and then he left with a briefcase. Who the f--- still had a briefcase?”

“And what wouldn’t fit in the briefcase, he carried to the car, and then he read all that stuff at night at home.”

The official recalled a day in the director’s office when he urged Mueller to be more “out front” as the public face of the FBI. Mueller pointed out the window and to the left.

“He said, ‘What’s down at the end of that street?’ and I said, ‘The Capitol’,” he said. “Any time, I start what seems like the administration’s line there, they tell me I’m kowtowing to the White House.”

Mueller then pointed to the right.

“He said, ‘What’s down there?’ I said, ‘The White House.’ And he said, ‘And any time, advance the FBI’s interest in front of Congress, [the administration] says I’m going around them, and, you know, bending over to Congress.”

The official recalled Mueller then saying, “By not being out there all the time, taking positions on all of these things, by not being the face and the voice of the FBI and what some people would interpret as aggrandisement, people look at me as neutral.”

The official added, “What he meant was, ‘They look at me as an honest broker who’s not self-dealing. That’s more valuable than me being out there all the time.’”

Mueller remained unflaggingly disciplined and precise right up to when he retired on Sept. 4, 2013, 12 years to the day after he arrived.

In May of 2017, Trump fired FBI director James Comey. Then Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein called 72-year-old Mueller out of retirement to serve as a special counsel to investigate what Trump had been dismissing as the “Russian Hoax.” A special counsel’s report revealed Trump’s reaction to the appointment.

“Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I’m f---ed.”

As Trump must have feared, Mueller undertook his new duties just as he had as a platoon leader and as a homicide prosecutor. Mueller filed a final report for Congress that essentially led nowhere. Trump to this day continues to rage about “the Russian hoax.”

And, with the news of Mueller’s death, there also comes a reminder of that other collusion involving a Queens podiatrist.

That is a stain that only deepens as the draft dodger in chief mounts a war of his choosing. Trump compounds it by now going so low as to say he is glad a decorated and truly glorious war hero is dead.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/every-time-you-think-trump-cant-get-worse-he-does/?

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MAGA Rep Blows Campaign Cash on Limos and Boat Charters

Campaign filings reveal a trail of luxury spending—from limos to five-star resorts.

A MAGA congressman is under fire for blowing more than $150,000 on limos, restaurants, luxury hotels, and private boat trips.

Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, used donor funds to bankroll a string of high-end expenses, according to Federal Election Commission filings reported by The Daily Mail.

The records paint a picture of a campaign that did not skimp on the finer things, spending more than $7,000 on private boat charters at a resort on Lake George, nearly $5,000 across two visits to celebrity hotspot Nobu, and $1,300 on a “meeting” at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.

There were also stays at five-star hotels, including the Ritz-Carlton and The Breakers in Palm Beach, where rooms can run well over $1,000 a night.

In all, filings show roughly $152,000 spent on luxury hotels, restaurants, country clubs, and events between 2022 and 2025.

It may clear the legal bar, but watchdogs say the optics are hard to defend.

“This sounds like a person who tends to treat himself royally off the dime of his donors,” Craig Holman, a campaign finance reform lobbyist, told the Mail.

Under federal rules, campaign funds can be used for expenses tied to political or fundraising activity as long as they aren’t strictly personal. But critics argue that the distinction blurs when donor money is funneled into luxury hotels and fine dining.

Campaign finance expert Michael Beckel told the Mail that excessive spending is likely to “raise a lot of eyebrows” among both donors and constituents.

Some of the expenses are hard to ignore.

Nearly $50,000 was spent on repeated stays at the Sagamore resort on Lake George, with thousands more spent on private boat charters and high-end events.

Lawler’s campaign also dropped nearly $11,000 on limousine services, including a $2,085 charge labeled simply as “taxi” and another $1,390 for a “taxi to event.”

The campaign also racked up tens of thousands in restaurant bills, including hefty tabs at steakhouses and other upscale venues.

Critics say it all feeds into a broader concern about campaign cash underwriting a lifestyle far removed from the voters footing the bill.

“Politicians are able to enjoy a lot of these perks… on someone else’s dime,” Beckel told the Mail.

“If I’m a donor, I want to know that money is being used to support a campaign, not personal comfort.”

Rep. Mike Lawler’s office did not immediately respond to request for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-rep-mike-lawler-busted-for-blowing-campaign-cash-on-limos-and-boat-charters/?

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Trump Spends Another Weekend of War Partying at Mar-a-Lago

The president made an unscheduled appearance at a party in the midst of his Iran war.

Not even a war could keep President Donald Trump away from glitzy parties at Mar-a-Lago.

The commander in chief, 79, made an unscheduled appearance at a Republican fundraising event in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday night as his Iran war raged on.

A clip posted by right-wing news outlet Florida’s Voice showed the crowd going wild as Trump walked into the massive gilded hall, clapping his hands and pointing at faces in the fawning crowd. Lee Greenwood’s God Bless The USA, a beloved MAGA anthem, played in the background.

The president took his time mingling with the crowd as he made his way up to the podium. Once the cheers of “USA” died down, Trump made an admission.

“So, you know, I didn’t know I was going to be here today,” he said as the audience roared. “I’m supposed to be prosecuting the war, but the war’s going very well.”

“They have no navy, they have no air force, they have no anti-anything. All they can do is make a little ruckus,” he continued, repeating a claim that he has made even as a U.S. jet was struck by suspected Iranian fire.

Trump went on to claim that the U.S. didn’t need “the thing called the strait” in an apparent reference to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical Iran-controlled waterway where oil from the Persian Gulf passes through.

“The thing called the strait that we don’t need, that other countries need, that other countries don’t want to fight for—this is unbelievable. We’re fighting for everyone else,” he said as he redirected the attention back to himself.

“We had a great first term, and now I think this is not only a better term, [it’s] better than anybody’s had,” he went on.

In another clip posted by MAGA influencer Bo Loudon, Trump touted first lady Melania as “a movie star.” Her eponymous documentary topped the Amazon Prime streaming chart after its release last weekend, following massive blows at the box office.

“It bothers me because I’ve been telling her my whole life, ‘There’s only room for one star in the family,’” he quipped.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s appearance at the event.

On Friday night, the Republican Party of Palm Beach County hosted its Lincoln Day Gala at the Mar-a-Lago Club.

Tickets for the event, billed as “Palm Beach County’s premier Republican events of the year,” started at $1,200.

The guest list included Florida Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins and Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, who got a glowing endorsement from Trump onstage.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-spends-another-iran-war-weekend-partying-at-mar-a-lago/?

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U.S. Combat Veterans Tear Into Trump’s ‘Unnecessary’ War ‘Lies’

Veterans shared their anger on the 23rd anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.

Angry war veterans slammed President Donald Trump’s “unnecessary” war in Iran, which, they say, is propped up by “lies.” The president teamed up with Israel to launch the conflict on Feb. 28. Since then, thousands of people have died, including at least 13 U.S. service members, and a spiralling energy crisis has erupted. The conflict echoes the Iraq War, which began on March 20, 2003. The Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane, remains blocked, and other countries in the region are being drawn into the conflict. Worst of all, the Trump administration seems to be running out of ideas, with the promised early exit looking increasingly unlikely. “The lack of a clear strategy or end state only undermines U.S. credibility globally,” Jason Dozier, Atlanta City Council Member and Iraq and Afghanistan veteran, told the Daily Beast. “As an Iraq War veteran, I’ve seen firsthand the costs of conflicts like this, and I had hoped those lessons would guide future decisions. Unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be the case.”

John Kamin, who served in Iraq, recalled how he felt during the conflict.

Kamin told the Beast: “One of the daydreams I had in Iraq as a 21-year-old, and it was so grotesque I could only hold it for a brief moment, was imagining a future where the next generation would be fighting the same battles that we did. As we aged out and got fat, our children would take our place. It was a thought I could not hold... just too hard to imagine that our blood and sacrifice would not make America wise enough to spare those that followed. This hurts us all.”

According to Defense Department statistics, the Iraq war killed 4,492 U.S. soldiers and injured an additional 32,292. An estimated 200,000 Iraqi civilians died.

Naveed Shah, political director for Common Defense and an Army veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, said he sees through the facade of Trump, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and General Dan Caine, the main architects of the operation. “I deployed to Iraq 2009. I watched this country sell us a war on lies, and I watched my fellow soldiers pay the price for it,” he told the Beast.

He said Trump, Hegseth, and Caine are “running the same play by manufacturing urgency, failing to establish a clear objective, no exit strategy, and putting our service members in harm’s way.”

Invoking the messy and protracted Iraq War, Shah added, “History repeats itself because power-hungry leaders never learn and regular people pay the price. Veterans across this country see exactly what’s happening, and we’re not going to stay quiet while another generation is handed a war that politicians and their children won’t have to fight.”

Republican Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona is a former Navy SEAL who left college to enlist the week after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. He was an early GOP critic of the war that has caused a schism between “America First” Republicans and MAGA loyalists.

“As somebody who knows a lot of friends that didn’t come home and a lot of Gold Star families, that’s why the week before the attack, I was actually one of the ones that was talking about caution and why we needed to avoid at all costs getting into another long, drawn-out Middle Eastern war,” he said earlier this month.

However, Crane voted against a war powers resolution that would have halted attacks on Iran unless Trump got congressional approval. That came a day after the Senate blocked a similar war powers resolution.

It was spearheaded by Trump’s top critics, Republican Reps. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky, and Democrat Ro Khanna of California. Massie predicted the support for Trump’s conflict would waver quickly: “A war is never more popular than it is on the first day. And I think enthusiasm for this will decline.”

Indeed, support is in the gutter outside of his MAGA base. They are clinging to the president’s insistence that it is a “short-term” conflict, according to a fresh Politico poll. Trump predicted an exit after a maximum of five weeks, but three weeks in, there is no end in sight.

Crane’s comments came a day after an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia killed American Sergeant Benjamin Pennington, 26. Since then, six more U.S. service members have been killed, taking the total to 13. Officials in Iran say that almost 1,500 people, mostly civilians, have been killed during “Operation Epic Fury.”

Chris Purdy is the CEO and Founder of The Chamberlain Network, a non-profit veteran-led organization that aims to safeguard democracy. Chris served for eight years in the Army National Guard, where he was deployed to Iraq in 2011.

He told the Daily Beast that Trump has got the country into another war in the Middle East on “fictional” pretenses.

“The Iraq war was sold to the American public as a necessary to stop Saddam from using nuclear weapons, even though there’s no evidence he had them. Now, 23 years later, the U.S. is once again drawn into a war over fictional nuclear weapons in Iran,” Purdy said.

The Iraq war began in the spring of 2003, with a U.S.-led coalition invasion to remove Saddam Hussein. Officials justified that war by claiming that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and was actively pursuing nuclear capability.

Trump has continually justified his war by saying that Iran was close to producing nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles. “The major thing is that they cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told MS NOW on Friday morning.

 

Experts and his own administration have contradicted the president on this point. In an assessment from May last year, a month before Trump’s first strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) said it would actually take nearly a decade for Iran to produce such weaponry.

“The American people are tired of the forever wars and the politicians who continually drag us into them,” Purdy continued.

Dr. Maggie Seymour joined the Marine Corps in 2007 after her cousin, also a Marine, was killed in Iraq. She deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, and then Kuwait as an intelligence officer.

She is worried about the long-term effects of Trump’s war. “Not only is this war unnecessary, there is a strong possibility that it causes more harm than good,” she told the Beast.

She said politicians have a bad habit of “using” service members, veterans, and their families as “political props.”

“This is an aggravated and dangerous extension of that,” she said. “It’s an egregious disregard for the life and livelihoods of our military community, not to mention the lives of thousands across the Middle East. Our military exists to protect the people of our country, and to uphold the constitution that governs us, not the whims of its politicians and political appointees.”

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Politico on Friday that Trump “campaigned proudly on his promise to deny the Iranian regime the ability to develop a nuclear weapon, which is what this noble operation is seeking to accomplish.”

Ingle failed to mention that Trump also promised to “expel the warmongers” from government and branded himself as the “peace” candidate.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the war was meticulously planned, rather than haphazard. “Thanks to a detailed planning process, the entire administration is and was prepared for any potential action taken by the terrorist Iranian regime,” she told the Daily Beast.

She added that Trump knew that Iran would respond to his war by choking the world’s energy supply. “President Trump knew full well that Iran would try to stop the freedom of navigation and free flow of energy, and he has already taken action to destroy over 40 minelaying vessels,” she said.

And despite muddled messaging on the war, she said the president has always been “clear” in his communication.

“President Trump has been clear about the goals of this operation: destroy the Iranian regime’s ballistic missile and production capacity, annihilate the Iranian regime’s navy, end their ability to arm proxies, and guarantee that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon,” Kelly said.

“Unlike the years-long foreign entanglements of the past that lacked clear objectives, President Trump remains confident that these goals will be accomplished in swift fashion,” she explained.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-combat-veterans-tear-into-trumps-iran-war-lies/?

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Trump’s Goons Thirst Over His Twisted Insult to a Dead Hero

Trump’s vile post on Robert Mueller’s death set off a frenzy among his most loyal supporters online.

Donald Trump’s sick post celebrating the death of Robert Mueller set off a frenzy among his supporters online.

Trump sycophant and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer was among the most prominent voices backing the sentiment, writing: “We shouldn’t be sad when bad people die.”

It was a stark endorsement of Trump’s vile message that quickly gained traction among his base.

Conservative activist Andrew Pollack wrote that the former FBI director “deserves 0 respect, alive or dead,” accusing him of trying to “humiliate and jail” Trump and his family.

Former Trump official Michael Caputo lashed out at critics calling for restraint, saying they could “pound sand,” before posting a celebratory video of Trump dancing with the caption: “Let’s dance!”

Caputo also shared a graphic declaring: “ROBERT MUELLER IS BURNING IN HELL!”

Others veered into conspiracy theories.

Far-right online agitator Mike Cernovich falsely claimed Mueller had “tried to murder Trump and his family,” while also alleging—without evidence—that he had framed innocent people in other cases.

Conservative columnist Kurt Schlichter issued a grim post of his own, calling Mueller “garbage” and insisting, “I think Trump was too kind.”

Trump allies also worked to amplify the message.

Communications director Steven Cheung reposted the president’s comment, helping push it further into conservative media ecosystems where it quickly gained traction.

The wave of reactions followed Trump’s own post on Truth Social Saturday from Mar-a-Lago.

“Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people.”

Mueller, a Bronze Star combat veteran known for his devout faith, devotion to his family, and public service, led the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, earning the ire of Trump. He died, aged 81, on Friday night.

Trump’s post also drew swift backlash from critics, who pointed to what they described as glaring hypocrisy.

Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau warned the reaction could come back to haunt Trump’s supporters.

“One day, Donald Trump will die, and his supporters will try to punish the people who say things like this,” he wrote.

Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan made a similar point, arguing the response had effectively “opened the door” for others to mirror the same language in the future.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-goons-thirst-over-his-stunning-insult-to-a-dead-hero/?

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ICE officers soon will help with airport security unless Democrats end shutdown, Trump says

U.S. President Donald Trump said he will order federal immigration officers to take a role in airport security starting Monday unless Democrats agree on a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security. In a series of social media posts, Trump said he was making plans to put officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in airports if the congressional standoff continues. After the Senate failed to find a resolution at a rare weekend session, Trump appeared resolute in his plan: “ICE is ready to go on Monday,” he said. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

Nonprofits, unions and airports rally to feed TSA officers as shutdown drags For airline travelers, the shutdown answer is simple: Pay TSA officers   ICE to Augment Security at Airports Amid Partial Shutdown, Border Czar Says President Trump announced the measure on Saturday, first as a threat aimed at pressuring Democrats to agree to a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security. And then he cast it as an aggressive operation, saying agents would “do security like no one has ever seen before.” Read more

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Air Traffic Control Audio Reveals Cause of Deadly New York Crash

More than 40 people were rushed to the hospital after a horrifying runway collision.

Dramatic audio has emerged of panicked air traffic controllers responding to a deadly crash at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Sunday night.

The pilot and co-pilot of a Jazz Aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada were killed after the CRJ-900 aircraft collided with a Port Authority Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting vehicle that was responding to a separate incident on the runway.

At least 41 passengers and crew members were taken to the hospital, Kathryn Garcia, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, told a Monday-morning press conference, with 32 having since been released. Two Port Authority police officers inside the vehicle, reported by The New York Post to have suffered broken bones, are among those believed to have suffered serious injuries in the crash.

Air traffic control audio reveals the frantic moments leading up to the collision at LaGuardia, with one controller admitting he may have “messed up” while trying to handle the high-pressure situation.

A male air traffic controller can be heard granting permission for an operations truck to cross the runway before urgently telling the vehicle to stop multiple times, seconds before announcing that a collision had occurred.

“Truck One, stop, stop, stop!” the controller shouts moments before the crash, before addressing Air Canada Express Flight 8646.

“JAZZ 646, I see you collided with the vehicle. Just hold position. I know you can’t move. Vehicles are responding to you now.”

The controller also urgently instructed another incoming flight to divert from the runway.

Audio from the exchange appears to capture a pilot from another aircraft that was on the runway at the time reacting to the crash.

“That wasn’t good to watch,” the pilot says.

“I tried to reach out to stop them. We were dealing with an emergency earlier and I messed up,” the air traffic controller adds.

The Port Authority Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting vehicle had been responding to reports of an unknown smell coming from the cockpit of another plane when the crash occurred, CNN reported.

Officials said the collision happened at approximately 11:47 p.m. The preliminary passenger list indicates Air Canada Flight AC8646 was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members.

LaGuardia Airport is currently closed, with no flights arriving or departing until at least 2 p.m. ET Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The New York Police Department also said that all streets and highway exits leading into LaGuardia Airport will remain closed until further notice due to the emergency.

“Expect delays and avoid the area if possible,” the NYPD said in a post on X.

The Daily Beast has contacted Air Canada and the FAA for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/intense-air-traffic-control-recordings-reveal-chaos-around-laguardia-airport-crash-i-messed-up/?

ps:So we're back to what happened last year with the partial shutdowns!! This criminal-in-chief is just running this country into the ground!!

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Trump’s Threat Unleashes New Financial Panic as Deadline Looms

The price of oil ticked up a further 1.5 percent as the president promised more bombing.

President Donald Trump’s threat to “obliterate” Iran’s energy infrastructure if they don’t bow to his demands has created market madness and the potential for an unprecedented crisis. Trump appears to have grown increasingly irate with Tehran’s refusal to allow tankers to ferry Gulf energy around the globe by effectively choking the narrow shipping lane, the Strait of Hormuz. On Saturday evening, he delivered a stark ultimatum: open up in 48 hours, or face bedlam.

Iran has refused to obey, instead warning of revenge attacks if Trump went through with his pointed threat. As the clock ticks towards Monday evening’s deadline, the potential for disaster has triggered all-out financial panic.

In fact, the global economy faces a “major, major threat,” according to the head of the International Energy Agency.

Speaking on Monday, as Israel continued to attack Iran and the benchmark price of oil ticked up 1.5 percent to $114, Fatih Birol warned just how far-reaching the consequences of the conflict could become in less than 24 hours. “No country will be immune to the effects of this crisis if it continues to go in this direction,” he said at Australia’s National Press Club in Canberra.

The situation is so “severe,” he argued, that it is already worse than the two previous oil crises combined.

The oil crises of 1973 and 1979 were two of the most economically damaging energy shocks of the 20th century. The first was triggered by an Arab oil embargo against Western nations that had supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War, causing prices to quadruple almost overnight and plunging much of the Western world into recession. The second followed the Iranian Revolution and the fall of the Shah, which severely disrupted Iranian oil exports and sent prices spiralling again—a crisis deepened further by the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War in 1980.

Birol said the resulting market turmoil meant a reduction of 10 million barrels per day leaving the Gulf, causing “major economic problems around the world, the recessions. And today, only as of today, we lost 11 million barrels per day.”

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the gas markets, especially in Europe, were debilitated, Birol added. They “lost about 75 billion cubic meters, 75BCM. And as of now, as a result of this crisis, we lost about 140BCM, almost twice (as much).”

Echoing Trump’s requests, he surmised, “The single most important solution to this problem is opening up the Hormuz Strait as things stand now.” For now, his agency is deliberating on the release of more stockpiled oil to meet demand and quell market turmoil.

The situation took a turn for the worse following Trump’s threat over the weekend. “The United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!” he ranted in a Truth Social post. Global benchmark Brent rose above $114 a barrel, up for a fifth day in a row, according to The Financial Times, while West Texas Intermediate was near $100.

The ongoing blockage of the Strait of Hormuz means that Brent is expected to average $85 a barrel in 2026, up from an earlier forecast of $77, according to analysts.

Also amid the turmoil, European stocks entered correction territory and U.S. futures pointed to losses of around 1 percent on Wall Street. Gold fell more than 8 percent, according to Bloomberg, while the FT said silver tumbled by 10 percent.

“Now with this 48-hour deadline, Trump has posted himself into a corner,” Rory Johnston, oil market researcher and founder of Commodity Context Corp, told Bloomberg. “It is highly unlikely that Tehran will agree to Trump’s terms on such an accelerated timeline under the threat of attack. And Iran is clearly able and willing to match any escalation.”

Explaining Trump fanning the flames and upsetting global markets, his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday said, “sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate.”

The White House said in a statement that President Trump has “always been clear about temporary disruptions” as a result of Operation Epic Fury.

“America’s economic fundamentals and trajectory remain resilient: real wages are growing, CPI inflation has cooled, productivity growth remains robust, and trillions in investments continue to pour into American manufacturing,” the statement added. “The Trump administration remains laser-focused on a long-term pro-growth agenda of tax cuts, rapid deregulation, and energy abundance that has delivered historic progress over the past year while taking a whole-of-government approach with our allies to shore up any short-term economic impacts.”

It continued touting “astonishing progress towards neutralizing the Iranian terror regime and putting an end to current–and future–Iranian disruptions to the American and global economy.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-threat-unleashes-new-financial-panic-as-deadline-looms/?

[phkrause]

Senator Uses Vance’s Own Words to Call Out MAGA ‘Hypocrisy’

“Their hypocrisy knows no bounds,” the senator said.

Sen. Cory Booker has used Vice President JD Vance’s own words to call out the Trump administration’s latest display of hypocrisy.

The Democratic senator from New Jersey on Sunday posted a clip of Vance declaring that people deserve to be fired if they celebrate Charlie Kirk’s death.

“The First Amendment protects a lot of very ugly speech but if you celebrate Charlie Kirk’s death, you should not be protected from being fired for being a disgusting person,” Vance told Fox News in September, a few days after the 31-year-old right-wing influencer was assassinated.

But Booker overlaid Vance’s clip with a screenshot of President Donald Trump’s gleeful post celebrating the death of former special counsel Robert Mueller, who died at 81 on Friday night.

“Their hypocrisy knows no bounds,” Booker, 56, wrote alongside his post.

“Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!” Trump wrote in a bitter Truth Social post on Saturday, drawing swift backlash from critics, many of whom pointed to the administration’s response to commentary after Kirk’s killing and the double standards in how it treats speech. Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, reposted the president’s sick post, helping push it further into conservative media ecosystems where it quickly gained traction.In the full clip, Vance, 41, said, “If you are the kind of person who thinks that Charlie Kirk was justifiably murdered, sometimes the government can’t do anything about that. But you know what can — is, is civil society and I’ve actually been gratified to see all these people standing up and saying, ‘Yes, we have free speech and yes, we have free debate, but if you’re, if you’re celebrating the death of a young father, you ought to pay some consequences for it.’”

Yet, a number of MAGA figures joined Trump in rejoicing over Mueller’s death. Mueller, a Bronze Star combat veteran known for his devout faith, devotion to his family, and public service, earned the ire of Trump and his supporters after he was appointed to lead the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“President Trump says what everyone is thinking,” Trump sycophant Laura Loomer wrote on X. “He’s right. We shouldn’t be sad when bad people die.”

But others condemned the comment, with former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan arguing that the response had effectively “opened the door” for others to mirror the same language in the future.The Daily Beast has reached out to Booker’s office, Vance’s office, and the White House for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/senator-cory-booker-uses-jd-vances-words-against-him-to-call-out-maga-hypocrisy/?

[phkrause]

Trump’s shift on Strait of Hormuz strategy raises questions about US war preparation At war with Iran, President Donald Trump is cycling through an increasingly desperate list of options as he searches for a solution to the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz. He has jumped from calls to secure the waterway through diplomatic means to lifting sanctions and is now escalating to a direct threat against civilian infrastructure in the Islamic Republic. Read more.

Why this matters: There is growing urgency for Trump as soaring oil prices rattle global markets and pinch American consumers months before pivotal midterm elections. Trump and his allies insist they were always prepared for Iran to block the strait, yet the Republican president’s erratic strategy has fueled criticism that he is grasping for answers after going to war without a clear exit plan. On Saturday came his latest attempt, via an ultimatum to Iran: Open the strait within 48 hours or the United States will “obliterate” the country’s power plants. Trump’s aides defended the threat as a hard-edged tactic to press Iran into submission. Opponents framed it as the failure of a president who miscalculated what it would take to get out of a geopolitical mire.   Over the course of about a week, Trump has repeatedly shifted his approach on the crucial waterway for global oil and gas transport. Trump tried his hand at a diplomatic solution last weekend when he called for a new international coalition to send warships to the strait. Allies turned him down. Trump then said the U.S. could manage on its own. On Friday he suggested other countries would have to take over as the U.S. eyes an exit. Hours later he indicated the waterway would somehow “open itself.”

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Iran threatens to start hitting Gulf power plants as Israel launches new wave of attacks   International Energy Agency head says global economy faces ‘major, major threat’ because of Iran war

[phkrause]

😵‍💫 Dizzying Iran de-escalation

Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photos: Getty Images

President Trump suspended plans to strike Iran's power plants today over "VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE" talks toward a resolution to Middle East hostilities — and sent markets ripping. 🇺🇸 The U.S. government, an entity that has long been a source of stability in the world economy, is now a source of chaos, Axios' Neil Irwin writes. 🔎 Between the lines: An Israeli official told Axios' Barak Ravid that U.S. envoys had been in touch with the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Another source said there didn't appear to have been any direct talks yet between Ghalibaf and Trump's team, but that Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey passed messages between the U.S. and Iran yesterday. Ghalibaf himself denied any "negotiations" had taken place. 📈 Despite mixed evidence on the talks, traders worldwide liked what they heard. The surge appears less a reflection of confidence in Trump's proclamations than relief that he is seemingly seeking an off-ramp rather than escalating things further. Go deeper.

[Joe Knapp]

On 3/27/2026 at 9:00 AM, phkrause said:

Trump’s shift on Strait of Hormuz strategy raises questions about US war preparation

It seems clear they were not prepared for this level of war or the high level of preparedness that Iran had. 

This newest 10-day deadline may be a way of getting more resources to the battle. 

[Joe Knapp]

2 hours ago, phkrause said:

Ghalibaf himself denied any "negotiations" had taken place.

These people are not honest. 

[phkrause]

17 hours ago, Joe Knapp said:

These people are not honest. 

And neither is this administration! I know that Iran hasn't been very honest over the years, but I'll take there dishonesty above the most dishonest person that sits in the WH today!!!!!

[phkrause]

Iran Calls BS on TACO Trump’s Peace Talks Claim

Iranian officials were quick to undercut the U.S. president’s announcement.

Iran officials have contradicted Donald Trump’s claim of “productive” talks with the regime and suggested his decision to postpone strikes on Iranian power plants was a sign of a panicking president.

On Monday morning, merely hours ahead of a deadline that threatened further escalation in the Middle East, Trump announced he had given orders to postpone any military strikes against Iranian power plants for five days, noting the two countries have had “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East.”

In an all-caps statement on Truth Social, he added: “BASED ON THE TENOR AND TONE OF THESE IN DEPTH, DETAILED, AND CONSTRUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS, WITCH WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD, SUBJECT TO THE SUCCESS OF THE ONGOING MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS.”

He later told reporters that if the talks go well, “we’re going to end up settling this—otherwise we just keep bombing our little hearts out.”

However, moments after his post, Iran’s Fars news agency cited unnamed Iranian sources claiming there was no direct communication with the U.S. or through intermediaries.

“There is no direct or indirect contact with Trump. He retreated after hearing that our targets would be all power plants in West Asia,” the source said.

The Iranian Embassy in Kabul also stated on X, “After the Islamic Republic threatened that in the event of any American attack on Iran’s energy infrastructure, the energy infrastructure of the entire region would be targeted, Trump backed down and said he had issued an order to postpone the attack.”

Trump’s comments briefly sent the price of the Brent crude oil benchmark down around 13 per cent, to below $100 a barrel. However, this soon increased again to $105.

But the conflicting narratives have fueled criticism that the administration is struggling to maintain a coherent message about the war, which began with U.S. strikes on Iranian targets in late February.

What was initially framed by Trump as “a brief excursion” has since evolved into a broader standoff with significant economic and geopolitical consequences.

That prospect has triggered unease among Republican lawmakers, who are increasingly worried about the domestic fallout.

With gas prices now soaring due to the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, Trump last week begged America’s allies to join the conflict, only to be humiliated when they rejected his pleas.

Speaking to reporters in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump insisted Iran “wants to make a deal.” He said that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff had discussions with Iranian representatives yesterday.

He said the pair had been dealing with a “top person” in Iran, but wouldn’t name them, simply saying that person was not Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.

He also claimed that Iran was prepared to give up its nuclear ambitions, telling reporters, “they’re not gonna have a nuclear weapon... they agreed to that.”

When pressed about Iran’s contradicting claims, Trump also gave a novel reason: that it’s hard to get information from Iran because the U.S. is blowing up so much of its infrastructure.

“They’re going to have to get themselves better public relations people,” he added.

“We have a very serious chance of making a deal,” he said.

“I think if I were betting, man, I’d bet for it. But again, I’m not guaranteeing anything. They want to make a deal very badly.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/iran-calls-bs-on-taco-trumps-peace-talks-claim/?

[phkrause]

MAGA Melts Down as ICE Cowboy’s Replacement Is Revealed

Online influencers are not happy with the Oklahoma governor’s pick to replace Sen. Markwayne Mullin.

Some of MAGA’s most vocal online personalities blasted an oil and gas executive being considered to replace outgoing Sen. Markwayne Mullin after it was revealed he made political donations to one of President Donald Trump’s enemies. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt was scheduled to bring Alan Armstrong to Mar-a-Lago on Sunday to meet with President Donald Trump and discuss plans to appoint Armstrong to the remainder of Mullin’s term when the senator takes over at the Department of Homeland Security, NOTUS reported.

The appointment, however, was not a done deal, especially in light of the fact that Armstrong donated $5,800 to former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger after he voted to impeach Trump.

The donation was likely to be among the topics discussed, according to NOTUS, but some MAGA diehards decided they’d already heard enough.

“Has anyone told President Trump that the Governor of Oklahoma is bringing a Never Trumper who donated to a rabid anti-Trump Congressman who voted to impeach him after J6 to meet with him?” influencer and activist Laura Loomer, who has 1.8 million followers, wrote on X.com.

“Hey @SenMullin what do you think about your Never Trump replacement?” she added. “Now would be a good time for you to speak up!”

Her post was shared by influencers including Vince Langman, who has 547,000 followers, and Sue Knows Best, who has 114,000 followers, along with dozens of other MAGA accounts with tens of thousands of followers.

Trump ally Roger Stone noted the timing of the donation and accused Stitt of being a “Republican in Name Only.”

“Alan Armstrong the Oklahoma Oil Man RINO Governor Stitt wants to appoint to the vacancy in the US Senate gave thousands of dollars to Trump enemy Little Adam Kinzinger AFTER the Jan 6 Fedsurrection,” he wrote to his 928,000 followers on X.com.

Ryan Fournier, the co-founder of Students for Trump, also complained that Armstrong “donated thousands to Never-Trumper Adam Kinzinger after he voted to impeach Trump.”

Fournier has 1.2 million followers on X.com.

The Daily Beast has reached out to Armstrong, Stitt, and the White House for comment.

Armstrong chairs the board of directors for the energy company Williams.

During meetings in Washington, D.C., he was one of three top names that Stitt presented to replace Mullin, the other two being senior adviser to the governor Dustin Hillary, and oil baron Harold Hamm, NOTUS reported.

Under Oklahoma law, the eventual appointee must sign a sworn affidavit vowing to only serve out the remainder of Mullin’s current term, which ends in January 2027, and not seek re-election for a full six-year term.

Mullin, meanwhile, is on track to receive Senate confirmation to replace outgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem following a series of scandals at the department.

Last week, Democrat Sen. John Fetterman broke with his fellow party members to advance Mullin’s nomination out of Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, despite Republican chairman Rand Paul voting against the nomination.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-melts-down-as-markwayne-mullins-replacement-alan-armstrong-is-revealed/?

[phkrause]

Small businesses

American consumers are fed up with rising prices, and retailers say they can’t just keep charging more. CNN talked to four business owners about how they plan to deal with surging fuel costs for shipping and transportation.   ‘Waste, fraud and abuse’ Kristi Noem is no longer in charge of Homeland Security, but invoices show tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars were spent on hair, makeup and a horse for the ad showcasing her in front of Mount Rushmore.   Tax deductions A lot of people are expecting big refunds this year thanks to the much-touted new tax breaks for tips, overtime, seniors and car loan interest. Just make sure you pay attention to the fine print.

[phkrause]

Trump says US and Iran are talking. Iran calls that ‘fakenews’ President Donald Trump started the fourth week of his war against Iran by offering the world some guarded optimism that the U.S. could soon be winding operations down, a claim that markets cheered but Iranian officials dismissed as a ploy to buy time for a conflict that is causing economic pain around the globe. Read more.

Why this matters: Trump decided to hold back on targeting Iran’s critical infrastructure, Trump explained, because his envoys, son-in-law Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, had “very good” talks over the weekend with unnamed “respected” Iranian officials on ending hostilities.   “No negotiations have been held with the US,” Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, posted on X. “And fakenews is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped.”

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Iran’s parliament speaker is floated as a possible US contact in talks as war rages   Big worries grow as fuel prices surge globally   Live updates: Egypt minister and US envoy discuss potential Iran negotiations   WATCH: UNESCO concern about impact of war on important historical sites in Iran   Photos show life in Israel’s bomb shelters during the Iran war

[phkrause]

Frantic Trump, 79, Melts Down in 2 A.M. Truth Social Tirade

Under a tidal wave of pressure and plummeting approval ratings, the president just cannot get a decent night’s sleep.

Donald Trump combined two of his favorite grievances in a frantic early-morning social media post.

In a Truth Social rant posted just before 2 a.m. Tuesday, the 79-year-old president complained about hot-button issues surrounding his beloved SAVE Act and his hardline immigration policies.

“Democrats are desperate to keep illegals, no matter how bad or dangerous they may be, in the Country. They want them to VOTE! That’s why they are fighting so hard to neutralize ICE. We will fight them all the way, and WIN,” Trump wrote.

The extremely rare issue of non-U.S. citizens voting in federal elections is one reason Trump has been desperately pushing the Senate to pass the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility” Act.

The bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and would largely eliminate mail-in ballots in elections. The legislation also calls for banning transgender women from women’s sports and prohibiting gender-affirming surgeries for minors.

As it stands, the SAVE Act has virtually no chance of clearing the Senate. All Democrats in the chamber have said they will vote against it, meaning the bill will not reach the 60-vote threshold needed to pass.

There is also little appetite to scrap the filibuster, which would allow the SAVE Act to pass with a simple majority in the GOP-controlled Senate, a point Senate Majority Leader John Thune has tried to make clear to Trump.Critics have raised concerns that Trump’s push for stricter voter ID rules in a country where nearly half of residents do not own passports could be an attempt to meddle in the 2026 midterms, where Republicans are widely expected to suffer heavy losses.

On Monday, Trump urged Republicans to work through the upcoming Easter recess to pass the SAVE Act.

“You don’t have to take a fast vote. Don’t worry about Easter, going home. In fact, make this one for Jesus,” Trump told a roundtable event in Memphis, Tennessee.

Trump has become obsessed with the idea that non-U.S. citizens vote in elections, despite there being hardly any examples of it actually occurring

In 2025, the Michigan Department of State found just 15 instances of non-U.S. citizens voting in the 2024 presidential election, which amounts to just 0.00028 percent of the more than 5.7 million ballots cast.

Another swing state, Georgia, identified just 20 noncitizens who had registered to vote during an October 2024 audit of 8.2 million registered voters.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has also faced widespread criticism for the aggressive tactics used by ICE while carrying out the president’s hardline immigration and deportation policies.

Scrutiny of ICE intensified after Trump made the bizarre decision to send federal immigration agents to airports across the country to help deal with long lines and hours-long wait times as thousands of unpaid Transportation Security Administration employees call out from work during a partial government shutdown.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/frantic-donald-trump-79-melts-down-in-2-am-truth-social-tirade/?

[phkrause]

Lauren Boebert Humiliated After Attempting to Tout Bogus Trump Win

The congresswoman made a bold claim on her social media.

MAGA Rep. Lauren Boebert has been caught out in an embarrassing attempt to praise President Donald Trump’s demand to install ICE officers in airports.

ICE officers began deploying in airports across the U.S. on Monday, in an effort to assist understaffed TSA workers who have not been paid since a partial government shutdown cut began last month.

The ICE agents were sent to 14 airports, including New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, Pittsburgh International Airport and the world’s busiest airport, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Gushing over Trump’s installation of ICE officers, Boebert posted a gleeful video on her social media on Monday afternoon claiming there’d been an immediate impact in Minneapolis thanks to the new security.

“ICE agents show up at airports,” her video was captioned. She stated, “While the rest of our country has three-plus-hour waits–thanks Democrats–in Minneapolis Airport’s TSA, wait time right now is less than five minutes,” Boebert said.

She laughed, adding that she “called it” and “you can’t make this stuff up!!”

However, it appeared Boebert may have been woefully misinformed. No ICE agents had been deployed to the city’s biggest airport, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, or any other airports in Minnesota.Fox9 Minneapolis said on Monday that the MSP airport had not seen major security delays and is not on the list for ICE agent deployment.

Wait times had been reported as short as five minutes, without any need for ICE intervention.

A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Airports Commission told the Daily Beast they were “not aware of any planned changes for security checkpoint staffing at MSP at this time.”

They said the airport has managed to avoid long wait times, despite the partial government shutdown and chaos at other airports.

“TSA checkpoint wait times have consistently remained under 30 minutes at MSP Airport, despite heavy spring break travel. The relatively low wait times are a testament to the commitment of the local TSA team.”

The Daily Beast has contacted Boebert’s reps for comment.

DHS Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Lauren Bis told the Daily Beast: “For operational security reasons, we are not going to confirm the locations of our officers. Because of the Democrat shutdown, President Trump is using every tool available to help American travelers who are facing hours long lines at airports across the country—especially during this spring break and holiday season that is very important for many American families. This pointless, reckless shutdown of our homeland security workforce has caused more than 400 TSA officers to quit and thousands to call out from work because they are not able to afford gas, childcare, food, or rent. While the Democrats continue to put the safety, dependability, and ease of our air travel at risk, President Trump is taking action to deploy hundreds of ICE officers, that are currently funded by Congress, to airports being adversely impacted. This will help bolster TSA efforts to keep our skies safe and minimize air travel disruptions.”

Boebert proudly pinned the 18-second video to the top of her X page on Monday.

Despite Trump saying the “brilliant and patriotic” ICE agents would “do Security like no one has ever seen before,” photos from Monday show the federal officers being paid to hang around.

ICE officers were photographed wandering around Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s baggage claim with coffee cups and orange juice in their hands. At Newark Airport, agents were captured standing in a circle, with one wearing earphones, while another chugged from a can.

Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said on Sunday that they would provide extra security to lessen TSA queues, noting, “I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine because they’re not trained in that.”

Boebert appeared on The Matt Gaetz Show on Monday, where she did not discuss the ICE agents, but stood up for Trump’s discussion of a five-day pause on attacking Iran’s energy infrastructure after soaring global oil prices.

“President Trump is once again showing that he rides shotgun to no one,” Boebert said. “And world leaders would be wise to listen carefully to what he says, their life just may depend on it.”

However, Boebert questioned the need for a $200 billion supplemental spending bill, given the plans to put the conflict on hold. The extra funding would need to be approved by Congress, including Boebert.

“I’m not going to blindly support a bill without knowing what’s even in it,” she said. “And I’m not going to fund regime change wars in the Middle East without an actual answer as to what’s going on.”

She added, “President Trump certainly has destroyed Iran’s leadership and I’m for it, and now let’s get the heck out of Dodge and start focusing on getting prices down and returning back to America-First policies.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/lauren-boebert-humiliated-after-attempting-to-tout-bogus-trump-win/?

[phkrause]

MAGA Senator Exposes How Trump Killed Deal to End Shutdown

John Kennedy told Fox News he and Ted Cruz had a plan to end the TSA shutdown—but the president said no.

Donald Trump killed a plan to reopen the Department of Homeland Security and get TSA workers paid by the end of the week, a veteran Republican senator has revealed.

John Kennedy, 74, told Fox News’ The Will Cain Show on Monday that he and Republican colleague Ted Cruz had drawn up a two-step path out of the shutdown. That was to take Democrats’ offer to reopen the rest of the DHS, then pass ICE funding separately through reconciliation, where Republicans would not need Democratic votes.

Kennedy said the 79-year-old president rejected it. “No deals with the Democrats,” the Louisiana senator said Trump told them. “It would have worked. We could have had TSA paid by the end of the week.”

The public admission comes a day after the Daily Beast reported that Senate Majority Leader John Thune had taken a similar “everything but ICE” proposal to Trump, only for the president to shoot it down. It was also reported that Trump tied any DHS deal to passage of the SAVE Act, his proof-of-citizenship voting bill.

That leaves Republicans publicly blaming Democrats for an impasse that Kennedy now says Trump himself prolonged while the operational damage gets worse.

Reuters reported that more than 3,450 TSA officers—nearly 12 percent of the workforce—did not show up for work on Sunday, while more than 400 TSA workers have quit since the shutdown began in mid-February. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport told passengers to arrive four hours early on Monday. Reuters reported that more than 100 airport leaders, along with the heads of the two biggest airport trade groups, warned Congress on Monday that the funding gap was causing increasingly serious disruption for passengers and airport operations.

By late Monday, senators were back at the White House trying to salvage the same framework Kennedy described on Fox.

Multiple media outlets reported that negotiators were working on a package to fund most of DHS, including TSA, while leaving out ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations.

Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection would stay funded, with new guardrails amid Democratic demands that include body cameras, visible identification, and tighter rules on home entries. Senators said they hoped to take written language to Tuesday’s caucus meetings.

Whether Trump will accept that version remains unclear. He has already demanded that Republicans refuse “any deal” with Democrats until they also pass the SAVE America Act, even though that bill does not have the 60 Senate votes it would need.

If nothing breaks, TSA officers are set to miss a second paycheck on March 27.

In a statement emailed to the Beast, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson did not comment on Kennedy’s claims and instead blamed Democrats for having “recklessly shut down the Department of Homeland Security,” leading “countless TSA employees to work without pay.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-senator-exposes-how-trump-killed-deal-to-end-shutdown-on-fox-news/?

[phkrause]

Desperate Scramble Behind Trump’s Massive War U-Turn Revealed

On Saturday, the president threatened hellfire. By Monday, he was championing diplomacy.

President Donald Trump’s dramatic reversal on threats to bomb Iran’s energy infrastructure came about via a desperate diplomatic scramble behind the scenes.

Trump, 79, roiled markets and put the world on its toes when he announced on Saturday his intention to strike Iranian power plants “one by one” if the regime in Tehran refused to open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.

Tehran dug in and threatened revenge attacks, and by Monday morning, Trump had changed his tone, touting “VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS” between the two nations. Iran, however, denied talks had taken place and accused Trump of trying to placate the markets.

This was all played out in public. But what played out behind the scenes was just as dramatic, according to those who watched it all unfold.

Trump, who was reportedly rankled by how the markets reacted to his threats, gleefully accepted an off-ramp cooked up by regional partners in Riyadh on Thursday, days before Trump blew up on social media, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Foreign ministers from Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan gathered in the Saudi capital to discuss a diplomatic solution to the war.

They initially struggled to find a point man in Tehran, because U.S.-Israeli strikes had taken out Iran’s national security chief, Ali Larijani, who was considered a useful conduit to the regime.

A channel with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was opened, and the proposal to end hostilities for five days was born, insiders said. Word reached Mar-a-Lago, where Trump was on his regular weekend retreat. The result of the meeting is what acted as the material for Trump’s next Truth Social post, which, despite being in all caps, had a far more conciliatory tone than his first.

“I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD,” he declared.

The Atlantic reported that on Saturday, Trump was “seething” that NATO allies had refused to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow shipping lane currently on lockdown by Iran. He was also in a bad mood because of the reaction to a social media post where he said he was “glad” Robert Mueller, the ex-FBI chief who had investigated Trump during his first term, had died, advisers said.

Advisers and U.S. allies in the region had also warned Trump that his plan to strike Iranian power plants wasn’t a good one, insiders told the Atlantic. So when the off-ramp came from the Riyadh summit, he gobbled it up.

Between his angry post on Saturday, and his embrace of diplomacy post on Monday, Trump’s administration had been engaged in closed-door talks through Middle Eastern intermediaries that reportedly created hope that the war could end imminently.

People familiar with the matter said that Trump’s decision to cool it on the threats was also born out of the political and economic fallout from the conflict. Indeed, his reversal triggered a stock-market rally.

Wall Street surged with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 recording their biggest single-day gains since early February, while Brent crude—the international benchmark—tumbled 11 percent to just below $100 a barrel, its lowest level since March 11. Brent crude futures climbed above $102 per barrel on Tuesday after Iran’s pushback against Trump’s claims.

The picture had been much more bleak on Saturday, after his threats to hammer Iran. Brent crude, for one, was trading at over $114 a barrel.

Despite Trump’s jubilant tone in his Monday post, Arab mediators privately expressed skepticism that a deal is close and Iranian officials denied that the discussions were even taking place.

On Monday, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker and one of the country’s top remaining officials, said that the optimism whipped up by Trump “is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the U.S. and Israel are trapped.”

“These are sensitive diplomatic discussions, and the U.S. will not negotiate through the press,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. “This is a fluid situation, and speculation about meetings should not be deemed as final until they are formally announced by the White House.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/desperate-scramble-behind-trumps-massive-war-u-turn-revealed/?

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Trump casts Florida mail ballot as he pushes Congress to severely limit that voting option

Trump has cast another mail ballot in Florida as he continues to publicly bash the voting method as a source of fraud and push Congress to curtail the practice. Palm Beach County voter records show the president voted by mail in a Tuesday special election for state legislative seats and that his ballot has been counted. Early in-person voting in the contest ran through Sunday, when Trump was still at his south Florida estate. The White House did not immediately return a request for comment. Aides have said Trump’s ire is directed at states using universal mail-in voting, not individual voters who may not be able to get to a polling place. Read more.

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White House Confronted Over Huge Bets Made Minutes Before Trump’s Big War Move

“Somebody just got a lot richer.”

Traders placed nearly half a billion dollars in bets on falling oil prices just 15 minutes before President Trump’s announcement of “productive” talks with Iran sent prices tumbling.

“It’s hard to prove causality . . . but you have to wonder who would have been relatively aggressive at selling futures at that point, 15 minutes before Trump’s post,” one market strategist told the Financial Times of the transactions.

Roughly 6,200 Brent and West Texas Intermediate contracts traded between 6:49 a.m. and 6:50 a.m. on Monday, with unusually large bets in the oil futures market, worth roughly $580 million.

The trades seemed reminiscent of an anonymous bet on Polymarket in January that saw one lucky user win $436,000 by betting on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s ouster just hours before he was captured by U.S. forces.

On Monday, the trades came just minutes before Trump took to Truth Social to declare that he was postponing his threatened strikes on Iran, an announcement that caused oil prices to fall and stock futures to jump.

“My gut from watching markets for the last 25 years is this is really abnormal,” one unnamed portfolio manager told the FT. “It’s Monday morning, there’s no important data today, there aren’t any Fed speakers you’d want to front run. It’s an unusually large trade for a day with no event risk . . . Somebody just got a lot richer.”The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

In a statement to the FT, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said, “The White House does not tolerate any administration official illegally profiteering off of insider knowledge, and any implication that officials are engaged in such activity without evidence is baseless and irresponsible reporting.”

Iran’s foreign ministry dismissed any claims of negotiations with the U.S., telling state media that comments from “the U.S. president are part of efforts to reduce energy prices and buy time to implement his military plans,” according to the Associated Press.

Trump’s announcement marked a sharp reversal from his previous threats, when he warned he would “obliterate” Iran if it didn’t open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.

That threat sparked panic over the weekend, with analysts warning of a looming energy crisis. The International Energy Agency called it a “major, major threat” to the global economy.

The administration’s confrontational stance sent oil above $115 a barrel last week, while European natural gas surged more than 15 percent, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Officials have sought to downplay the impact. Vice President JD Vance said in Auburn Hills, Michigan, on Wednesday: “Look, gas prices are up. We know they’re up and we know people are hurting because of it. We’re doing everything we can to ensure that they stay lower.” He added the spike was “a temporary blip” and insisted, “Frankly, they’re not even as high as they were in certain parts of the Biden administration.”

On CNBC, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett admitted the administration had prioritized other matters over the consumer “hurt” caused by soaring prices.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/traders-made-huge-bets-15-minutes-before-trumps-major-war-u-turn/?

ps:Well does this surprise anyone? It shouldn't!!!!!