Tag: Iran war

MOU Explained?

Your tax dollars hosting Sunday night's United Fighting Champtionship Freedom 250/Trump 80th birthday party/ Flag Day event on the South Lawn of the White House [UFC image].

WEDNESDAY 6/17/26

What’s the Deal? – Um. Still don’t know. Speaking at the end of the G7 summit in Evian, France, President Trump said allies there “love” the memorandum of understanding, or tentative agreement, with Iran, but earlier Wednesday said the US would resume bombing Iran if “they don’t behave,” The New York Times reports. 

“Nobody knows what it is,” the president said of the MOU, “but it’s very strong.” 

What The Associated Press knows from leaked copies of the interim agreement “that broadly matches the document” everyone was expecting to see Wednesday is that as soon as it is signed – which one guesses, means this Friday in Geneva -- Iran will immediately take steps to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and will be allowed to sell its oil without restrictions. 

Trump also said that “most people” and most importantly, the “market” are happy with the agreement. By midday Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Averages had hit an all-time high of 52,212.40 points, up 0.41% for the day so far.

“The one president I did not want to be was the late great Herbert Hoover,” Trump said (NYT again), who presided over the Wall Street crash of late-October 1929.

As Israel has not committed to withdrawal from Lebanon, which is said to be a major plank in the MOU, Trump said Tuesday that Israel has been fighting Hezbollah there “too long” (The Independent). “Too many people have been killed. You don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you’re looking for somebody, because there are a lot of people in apartment houses and they’re not all Hezbollah.”

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Trumpian Chess Move – President Trump said Wednesday he is suspending his nomination of Jay Clayton as his permanent director of national security until Congress passes his Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, with “Trump Jr.,” Bill Pulte remaining as acting director in the meantime, The New York Times reports.

Passage of the SAVE Act, which would require documented proof of US citizenship to register to vote and meant to help shore up the GOP’s thin majorities in the House and Senate, will not pass with Democrats having 47 votes in the Senate. Upshot is that Pulte, who does not have complete support of congressional Republicans, let alone any Democrats, could be acting director at least through the midterms.

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Still More Fuel Price Relief – The national average for a gallon of unleaded regular came down another 1.9 cents Wednesday to $4.025, says AAA. That’s up $1.05 from February 28, when the Strait of Hormuz was still open to oil tankers. Diesel is down 3.3 cents Wednesday, AAA says, to $5.162 per gallon average, up $1.347 from late February.

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It’s a Ballroom Ritz – As workers began to demolish the East Wing of the White House last autumn, President Trump promised his grand ballroom would cost $200 million and be financed by private donations (though the potential quid pro quo for such donations usually does not equate to a free lunch). Last March 31, Trump told reporters the ballroom would cost up to $400 million. 

“This is taxpayer-free,” Trump said. “We have no taxpayer putting up 10 cents.”

Showing signs of enterprise-journalism life, The Washington Post reported Tuesday Golden Grand Ballroom de Trump will cost taxpayers far more than one thin dime. 

Cost is now estimated to be $600 million, according to a copy of the detailed project summary prepared by the ballroom contractor for the White House three weeks before the president’s “taxpayer-free” misstatement and obtained more recently by the WaPo. –TL

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TUESDAY 6/16/26

Zelenskyy at G7 – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy showed President Trump pictures of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, the religious landmark last week hit by a direct Russian attack, in a half-hour G7 summit meeting Tuesday that included French President Emmanuel Macron, The Kyiv Independent reports.

Trump was “visibly disappointed” and “appeared moved” by the photos of the 11th Century monastery, sources familiar with the meeting in Evian-les-Baines, France, told the Ukrainian newspaper. 

Zelenskyy, Trump and Macron also took part in a joint working session with other G7 leaders, according to the Independent, where Russia’s war against Ukraine was a key topic. G7 leaders agreed on supplying air defense support to Ukraine, Zelenskyy said.

“We talked about both the systems and the missiles,” he told reporters.

•••

Doubt Accumulates – We were going to headline this news item “Doubt Builds,” but that would be too generous about the memorandum of understanding President Trump said Monday has been signed electronically with the Islamic Republic’s shadowy leadership. No text of that 1.5-page MOU has been released. 

The formal, signed-in-person deal set for Geneva Friday starts the 60-day ceasefire clock running and will be signed on the US side by Vice President JD Vance [hmm -- and not Secretary of State Marco Rubio].

What’s more, bipartisan senators are ready to challenge the deal, as the law gives Congress 30 days after such a deal is transmitted to review the agreement and vote on a resolution of disapproval, CQ Roll Call reports. 

“Trump must release the details publicly, brief Congress immediately and end this war for good,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), said, somewhat predictably.

Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), a MAGA-in Trump supporter who also is among the most hawkish Republicans on Capitol Hill lately, expressed concerns that “Iran’s view of the agreement seems different” than what the administration is laying out.

“Under our law, any nuclear deal with Iran will be sent to Congress for review and a vote,” Graham social media’d, according to Roll Call. “I look forward to reviewing the final product and I believe it is imperative that the architects of the deal, Vice President Vance and his negotiating partners, be part of this process in presenting the final deal to Congress.”

This could be an issue … Israel will not be bound by a US-Iran agreement that it withdraw from southern Lebanon, Michael Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the US told NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition Tuesday. “We’re not withdrawing from Lebanon,” he said.

•••

Trump Attorney Defends Fraud Suspect – Latest potential case of the Trump White House favoring the filthy rich over the populous comes from The Wall Street Journal, which reports that the president’s personal attorney, Boris Epshteyn, has quietly joined the criminal defense for an Indian billionaire accused of fraud.

According to the WSJ’s scoop, attorneys for Gautam Adani, founder and chair of energy and logistics giant Adani Group, in 2025 pressed the Justice Department to drop his 2024 fraud case. But senior officials last year refused and gave the DOJ the “green light” to proceed.

Then, Epshteyn, who also is Trump’s legal coordinator and advisor, joined Adani’s law team from Sullivan & Cromwell, seven people familiar with the matter told the WSJ. 

After two meetings between the legal team and DOJ officials, the WSJ reports, the Justice Department officials “took the unusual step” of asking a judge to dismiss charges against Adani and other defendants. The May 18 motion awaits the judge’s approval. 

•••

More Gas Relief – AAA’s national average for a gallon of unleaded regular fell to $4.044 Tuesday, 2.1 cents cheaper than on Monday and $1.069 more than February 28. Diesel is $5.185 Tuesday, down 1.2 cents from Monday and $1.379 since before March. –TL

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MONDAY 6/15/26

Flow, Oil, Flow – Iran’s Supreme National Security Council confirmed Sunday that the Islamic Republic has finalized a 60-day ceasefire after “months of long and difficult negotiations” that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with both Iran and the US removing their blockades. The US and Iran are to sign the deal in Geneva on Friday and then begin negotiating limiting nuclear arms and lifting sanctions on Iran.

“The deal with the Islamic Republic is now complete,” President Trump posted on Social Media Sunday, according to The New York Times. 

“Ships of the World, start your engines,” Trump wrote. “Let the oil flow!”

In a 28-minute phone interview with the NYT, Trump said the agreement, when reached, will assure a “permanently toll free” Strait of Hormuz.

“Following intense talks, we are pleased to announce that the peace deal between the United States of America and Islamic Republic of Iran has been REACHED,” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif posted in social media, according to The Wall Street Journal. “Both sides have declared the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”

Beside the two-month ceasefire, the agreement ends military operations on all fronts, including fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. Earlier on Sunday, the NYT reports, Israel bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs in retaliation for rocket fire by Hezbollah.

Trump posted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed “no judgment” and demanded all sides “stand down.”

The president called both the NYT and WSJ later Sunday, before his UFC Freedom 250/birthday party/Flag Day event Sunday night.

He told the WSJ the deal includes Iran’s agreement not to obtain nuclear weapons, though he didn’t mention this in any of his myriad social media posts. He’s not in a hurry to extract Iran’s nuclear material, apparently.

“We’ll get the nuclear dust later on when we’re ready to go in and do it,” he told the WSJ. “I’d say over the next month or two, there’s no rush.”

Sen. James Langford (R-OK) told NBC News’ Meet the Press Sunday that unlike the Obama administration’s Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action, or JCPOA, Trump’s deal will prevent Iran from ever reaching nuclear weapon capability.

But there is no indication the agreement to be worked out in Geneva will prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons capability in perpetuity.

Before the breakthrough was announced, the NYT citing sources reported that the US was seeking a 20-year moratorium on Iranian nukes, while Iran wanted 10 years – and, The Art of the Deal ahoy, they’re likely to settle on 15 years.

But if the Islamic Republic fails to reach a final deal with the US on nukes, Trump told the NYT he would restart military operations against Tehran and make the US “the guardian of the Middle East in return for 20% of the Mid East region’s revenues.”

Front page of the New York Post pictured a stern President Trump with the headline “Locked and Loaded” while The Atlantic called the peace deal with Tehran “an Iranian victory.”

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Gas Relief – Oil prices continue to fall with the AAA’s national average for a gallon of unleaded regular dropping to $4.065 Monday, down 6.4 cents from last Thursday and up $1.09 from February 28. Average price of diesel is $5.197, down 10 cents from last Thursday and up $1.391 from the end of February.

•••

Trump Down – Following a federal court order, the letters spelling out “Donald Trump And” have been removed from the side of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts building in Washington, D.C. Crowds cheered the removal even as workers hid their de-lettering under a tarp, according to NPR.

Matthew Floca, chief operating officer and executive director confirmed to Politico that work crews had removed “all physical signage” from the building and grounds “that purports to rename the Kennedy Center after President Trump or any individual beside President Kennedy.” – Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 6/15/26

Iran War, Week Seven

Arch d’Trump is GO – The Commission on Fine Arts, hand-picked by the White House, Thursday unanimously approved the president’s massive triumphal arch in Washington near Arlington National Cemetery, Politico reports.

FRIDAY 4/17/26

UPDATE: The Strait of Hormuz is “fully open” to all commercial vessels according to a Truth Social post by President Trump and an X-Twitter post by Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghachi, The Associated Press reports Friday.

But… About 12 minutes following the above posts, Trump Truth Socialed that the US blockade of Iranian ports remains UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE. …

THIS PROCESS SHOULD GO VERY QUICKLY IN THAT MOST OF THE POINTS ARE ALREADY NEGOTIATED.

Meanwhile … New York Stock Market futures indicate a record day ahead as crude oil prices drop 10%, AP reports.

•••

Ceasefire Upon Ceasefire – Israel’s 10-day ceasefire on Lebanon announced Thursday appears to be holding, NPR’s Morning Edition reports, as thousands of families displaced from Southern Lebanon by the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah are returning to their homes, according to The New York Times. The two-week truce between the US and Iran due to end next week extends to Lebanon, Tehran said, building hopes the new ceasefire could remove a major hurdle to ending the war. 

Meanwhile, President Trump says he could attend peace talks soon with Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan.

•••

Holy War – In his press conference Thursday, war/Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth compared “the legacy, Trump-hating press” (and not others, presumably MAGA-right bloggers and influencers) with the pharisees who persecuted Jesus. 

Hegseth, who frequently quotes scriptures, earlier at a Pentagon prayer service repeated word-for-word Samuel L. Jackson’s Jules Winnfield-interpretation of Ezekiel 27:17 in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. 

On NPR’s Morning Edition former Republican congressman and Obama administration Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told A Martinez that we all have religious beliefs, but a Defense secretary should not impose his beliefs on young soldiers.

“It confuses the mission by introducing that element,” Panetta said. 

Hegseth’s mission, in other words, seems to be Christian Nationalism v. Islamic Republic.

On the blockades … Panetta also told Martinez “there was no question,” his Defense Department and others pre-Trump planned for enemy closure of the Strait of Hormuz. “That was all in the plan for war with Iran,” he said.

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AAA National Average Unleaded Regular, Friday: $4.076 per gallon, down 3.2 cents from Thursday, up $1.079 over February 26. Diesel: $5.593 per gallon, down 2.1 cents from Thursday, up $2.331 over February 27. --TL

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THURSDAY 4/16/26

UPDATE: Lebanon, Israel Agree to Ceasefire – Lebanese and Israeli diplomats have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire after meeting in Washington earlier this week, The Hill reports. President Trump Truth Socialed Thursday he had an “excellent conversation” on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and has invited him to Washington to work out a permanent peace deal.

Hegseth Warns Iran Again – Iran should “choose wisely” or face US military “maximally postponed” to resume attacks, war/Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a Pentagon briefing Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reports. Hegseth told reporters the US blockade will continue as long as necessary, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine said US military will “actively pursue” dark-fleet vessels aiding Iran, even those outside the Persian Gulf. 

Ships sanctioned by the US already are subject to boarding, search and seizure according to United States Naval Forces Central Command, though up to now only those ships entering or exiting Iranian ports.

•••

Trump Threatens Powell Again – President Trump threatened to fire “incompetent” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell – whom he nominated during his first term – in an exclusive interview Wednesday with Fox Business Mornings With Maria host Maria Bartiromo. Powell says he will remain Fed chairman past May if Trump’s nominee to succeed him, Kevin Walsh, is not confirmed by the Senate in time. What’s more, Powell’s seat on the Fed board runs to 2028. 

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) says he will “oppose the confirmation of any Federal Reserve nominee, including for the position of chairman, until the DOJ’s inquiry into Chairman Powell is truly and transparently resolved.”

The president plans to advise US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro (who is actively campaigning for the attorney general seat vacated by Trump's firing of Pam Bondi) to end the investigation of Powell regarding spending for Fed headquarters renovations “that I would have done for $25 million that’s going to cost maybe $4 billion. Don’t you think we have to find out what happened here?”

•••

Another War Powers Resolution Blocked – The Senate blocked Democrats’ fourth effort to impose a war powers resolution on the Trump administration’s incursion into Iran Wednesday by 47-52 vote, largely along party lines, CQ Roll Call reports. The vote killed a Foreign Relations Committee resolution by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) that would direct President Trump to “remove the United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Iran, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or a specific authorization for use of military force.”

As in the earlier resolutions, the two crossover votes were Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and John Fetterman (D-PA). Earlier this week, Democrats filed seven more war powers resolutions to force Republican senators on the record in coming weeks. 

Unless more Republicans cross over in the coming weeks the Trump administration has to May 1 before the 1973 War Powers Resolution kicks in, Roll Call notes, in which the president must withdraw forces from military conflicts in 60 days if Congress has failed to authorize the war. This can be extended to 90 days – so, to June 1 – to safely withdraw US military forces.

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AAA National Average Unleaded Regular, Thursday: $4.108 per gallon, down 1.5 cents from Wednesday, up $1.111 over February 26. Diesel: $5.614 per gallon, down 2.1 cents from Wednesday, up $2.352 over February 27. --TL

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WEDNESDAY 4/15/26

Latest Mixed Messages on Iran War – There is a “high chance” Tehran will host a delegation of Pakistani mediators Wednesday in indirect talks with the US, spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry Esmail Baghei told a news conference in Tehran, The New York Times reports. 

“Following the discussions that took place in Islamabad, as well as the talks the Pakistani side has had with the United States, our views have been conveyed, heard,” Baghei said. 

Meanwhile on Fox Business’ Mornings With Maria Bartiromo, President Trump said the end of the war may be near, but not because of diplomacy. 

“I think it’s over. I think it’s very close to being over,” Trump told Bartiromo, a refrain he has been repeating for weeks. “I don’t know how much longer they can survive. I don’t know how much longer they can go because they’re being hit very hard.

“We could take out every one of those bridges in one hour. We could take out their powerplants, electricity plants, in one hour. … We don’t want to do that, because some day you have to rebuild it, and it takes you 10 years to rebuild the bridges, even if you’re Trump, it takes a long time.”

It seems like there could be something to Jonathan Karl’s report on ABC’s Good Morning America last week that Trump had floated the idea of partnering with Iran to “manage and secure” traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. 

But Iran has threatened retaliation over the US naval blockade of its Strait of Hormuz ports, according to the NYT, while the US military says it has “completely halted” trade in and out of Iran by sea, with more than 10,000 US soldiers and dozens of airplanes and warships deployed.

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AAA National Average Unleaded Regular, Wednesday: $4.108 per gallon, down 1 cent from Tuesday, up $1.126 over February 26. Diesel: $5.635 per gallon, down 1.5 cents from Tuesday, up $2.373 over February 27.

•••

Meanwhile, World Economy – Global economic growth is projected to slow to 3.1% in 2026 and 3.2% in 2027 if the war in Iran and Lebanon remain limited in duration and scope, the International Monetary Fund says in its preliminary World Economic Outlook, “Global Economy in the Shadow of War” (hat tip to NPR’s Morning Edition). And global headline inflation is projected to rise modestly before resuming its decline in 2027 (NOTE: This means slowdown in the rate of inflation in ’27, not prices coming down.)

However … There are much greater “downside risks” if the conflict is longer, broader, and “worsening geopolitical fragmentation, a reassessment of expectations surrounding artificial intelligence-driven productivity or renewed trade tensions could significantly weaken growth and destabilize financial markets.” 

The summary continues: “Elevated public debt and eroding institutional credibility further heighten vulnerabilities” though with economic gains from AI development a potential mitigation. 

The IMF releases its full World Economic Outlook report at the end of April. –TL

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TUESDAY 4/14/26

Those Aren’t Scrubs – Donald J. Trump as Jesus marks the second time this year that the president has quickly removed a social media post. First was Trump’s video depicting the Obamas as apes, The Wall Street Journal's Politics newsletter notes. After immediate criticism as ‘blasphemy’ from right as well as left, Trump took down this image. He admitted it was his, saying “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor. Making people better. And I do make people better.”

•••

US, Iran to Try Again? – Peace talks between the US and Iran did not end with Vice President JD Vance’s 21-hour effort in Islamabad last weekend. Two anonymous Pakistani officials not authorized to speak officially told The Associated Press those first negotiations were part of an ongoing diplomatic process. 

On Monday, two US officials said the next round could begin as early as this Thursday in either Islamabad or Geneva.

•••

AAA National Average Unleaded Regular, Tuesday: $4.118 per gallon, down 0.7 cents from Monday, up $1.136 over February 26. Diesel: $5.65 per gallon, down 0.2 cents from Monday, up $2.388 over February 27.

•••

Swalwell, Gonzales Out – Rather than face House Ethics Committee investigations over sexual misconduct allegations, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) Monday stepped down from the House of Representatives. A frequent Trump critic on cable news, the seven-term congressman withdrew as frontrunner in this year’s race for California governor after four women approached The San Francisco Chronicle and CNN with allegations of the congressman’s sexual misconduct.

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) announced Monday on X-Twitter he would resign Congress but did not specify the date. Gonzales faced a bipartisan expulsion effort later this week, Politico reports. Earlier this month, he admitted to an affair with a staff member, Regina Santos-Aviles, who later committed suicide. 

Cal gov … Swalwell’s withdrawal from California’s gubernatorial race leaves seven Democrats and two Republicans vying for the June 2 primary, from which the two frontrunners will head into the November 3 election regardless of party. With Swalwell out, the two new frontrunners are also Democrats; former US Rep. Katie Porter and billionaire and former presidential candidate Tom Steyer. –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

Editor’s Notebook on Hungary’s Elections – The outcome shows the limits of right-wing populism, and this American of Hungarian descent is glad to hear it! It’s an untimely defeat for Trump and renewed hope for Zelenskyy. The new Hungarian leader can earn friends in the EU if he endorses a package of aid to Ukraine. –Charles Dervarics

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TUESDAY 4/14/26

…meanwhile…

Citing solid economic expansion but low job gains and 'somewhat' elevated inflation, the Federal Open Market Committee left the Federal Reserve's interest rates unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75%. Chairman Jerome Powell (above) voted with 10 FOMC members to leave the rates unchanged, while President Trump's latest appointee, Stephen Miran, preferred lowering the target rate by a quarter-point. [From Federal Reserve video]

THURSDAY 3/19/26

UPDATE: The Pentagon is seeking $200 billion in funding for the war in Iran, The New York Times reports, citing an administration official and a military official. The request was sent to the White House, the military official told the newspaper, which would review it before formally submitting it to Congress. If passed, the requested amount would equal about 24% of the military budget for the entire fiscal year.

This War Goes to 11 – The US-Israeli war on Iran is different from previous US operations in the Middle East, War/Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a press conference Thursday morning. Iran, he said, cannot be trusted to abandon its nuclear arms program on its own, The Wall Street Journal reports.

“We will finish this,” Hegseth promised. 

“Our objectives given directly from our America-first president remain exactly what they were on Day One,” he said, without offering any more insight than what the rest of the country understood on Day One.

We can infer from Hegseth’s comments that the war, now in its third week, will not end after three or four weeks as President Trump indicated on Day One unless Iran stops fighting back. On Wednesday, Israel struck the “crown jewel” of Iran’s energy industry (which means it’s not just for Iran but to be sold to much of the rest of the world) which, inconveniently is shared with US ally Qatar. The South Pars gas field is “by far the largest in the world,” says the WSJ.

Iran retaliated, the WSJ continues, with two attacks on a major gas hub in Qatar, across the Gulf. Iran also fired at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with debris landing nearby. 

Meanwhile, Hegseth said the US has sunk more than 120 Iranian warships and struck more than 7,000 targets across Iran. A-10 attack planes and Apache attack helicopters are striking targets on Iran’s south flank, he said. 

Iran’s military has warned that targeting its infrastructure (still the WSJ) is a “major mistake.” Meanwhile, Hezbollah fired long-range missiles south into Israel.

•••

Dinosaurs’ Revenge – Brent crude oil surged overnight to $113 per barrel, from about $103 per barrel, APR’s Marketplace reports.

March 19 AAA National Average Unleaded Regular: $3.884 per gallon, +6 cents over Wednesday and +90.2 cents over February 27. Diesel: $5.099 per gallon, up 3.1 cents over Wednesday and up $1.342 over February 27. –TL

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Venezuela for 51st? – Step aside, Greenland and Canada. After Venezuela’s 3-2 win over the United States team Tuesday in the World Baseball Classic at Loan Depot Park in Miami, this popped up on Truth Social, according to The Guardian: “STATEHOOD!!! President DJT.”

President Trump’s sentiment apparently was buoyed over Venezuela’s enthusiasm for baseball, the nation’s most popular sport according to the Miami Herald and the administration’s quick, clean attack in which the US Military extracted President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

Lest you think Trump’s Tuesday post was too subtle or vague, let’s go back to his post Monday following Venezuela’s 4-2 win over Italy in a semifinal game: “Good things are happening in Venezuela lately! I wonder what the magic is all about? STATEHOOD, #51, ANYONE?”

•••

Counterterrorism Chief Quits Over Iran – National Counterterrorism Center Director Joseph Kent stepped down over the Trump administration’s war on Iran Tuesday with a tweet that shook Washington and MAGA World.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Kent posted on X-Twitter. “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

Kent has been a Trump true-believer whose split from the president on the US-Israeli war on Iran is yet another example of the schism led by the likes of former Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Green (R-GA), former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and other America First absolutists.

“Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran,” Kent’s tweet continued. “This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory. This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women. We cannot make this mistake again.”

In his formal resignation letter, Kent, a Gold Star husband, wrote about his “beloved wife,” Navy Chief Petty Officer Shannon Kent, who was killed in January 2019 by a suicide bomber in Syria, The New York Times reports. Shannon Kent, who was 35, had been assigned as a Navy linguist to a unit that supports the National Security Agency and military special operations forces. 

Trump’s nomination … The president nominated Kent, “a 2020 election conspiracy theorist with links to the Proud Boys and white supremacists” according to The Atlantic Daily, to be director of the National Counterterrorism Center in February 2025.

Kent served as an aide to National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard until the Senate confirmed him to the counterterrorism job last July by 52-44 vote along party lines. 

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) called Kent “patently unqualified” in voting against him, according to the Washington State Standard.

“It is sober, serious work that requires a level head and a commitment to putting the mission before politics,” Murray said, adding she was “deeply concerned” Republicans would put the Counterterrorism Center “under the thumb of a conspiracy theorist who espouses white supremacist views.”

Trump’s reaction … “I always thought he was weak on security,” the president said in reaction to Kent’s very public resignation (per Newsweek). “It’s a good thing that he’s out.” Trump said he does not want people who do not think Iran is a threat.

“They’re not smart people, or they’re not savvy people. Iran was a tremendous threat.” 

•••

CORRECTION: We miscalculated the price increase for a gallon of automotive diesel fuel since before the US-Israeli war on Iran, as calculated by the AAA, in Wednesday’s front page. Diesel was up $1.311 per gallon from February 27 to March 18.

AAA National Average Unleaded Regular: $3.824 per gallon, +3.4 cents over Tuesday and +84.2 cents over February 27. Diesel:$5.068 per gallon, up 2.4 cents over Tuesday and up $1.811 over February 27. –TL

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TUESDAY 3/17/26

IDF Assassinates Iran’s Military Leaders – Israeli Defense Forces assassinated Iran’s head of the National Security Council in a Tehran safe house, Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed Tuesday, according to Haaretz. 

“I have just been updated by the IDF chief that (Ali) Larijani and the head of the Basij were killed overnight and have joined Khamenei, the architect of the destruction program, and all the eliminated ‘Axis of Evil’ in the depths of hell,” Katz said. 

Also killed by the IDF were Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of the Basij, and his deputy, Rassem Qureshi, in Tehran. 

Apparently trying to dispute Katz’s statements, Iran’s official media said a statement from Larijani soon would be released.

Trump’s test … Meanwhile, President Trump has demanded seven countries provide warships to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. Germany, the UK and pretty much the rest of Western Europe have refused, NPR’s Frank Ordoñez reports Tuesday on Morning Edition. Euro leaders say the war on Iran is not their war.

That did not sit well with the president.

“Because my attitude is, we don’t need anybody,” he told reporters at the White House Monday. “We’re the strongest nation in the world. We have the strongest military by far in the world. We don’t need them. But it’s interesting. I’m almost doing it not because we need them but because I want to find out how they react.”

Prelude to pull the US out of NATO?

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AAA National Average Unleaded Regular: $3.79 per gallon. Diesel: $5.044 per gallon. Up 80.8 cents and $1.787 respectively, since February 27.

•••

I’ll Take Cuba – Why not? Cuba has been a thorn in the sides of American presidents since the late-Eisenhower administration, while Iran goes back only to President Carter (though Ike also is credited for the CIA-assisted overthrow of Iran’s last democratically elected leader, Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and installation of the Shah of Iran in 1953). 

Now President Trump, seeing an opening for another takeover, indicated in his Oval Office press scrum Monday that after the invasion of Venezuela and while the Iranian war rages on, it may be time for the Western Hemisphere communist holdout of the Soviet era. 

“I think Cuba sees the end,” Trump said. “All my life I’ve been hearing about the United States and Cuba. When will the United States do it? I do believe I’ll be the honor of – having the honor of taking Cuba.”

A US “blockade” of oil tankers from Venezuela is hampering Cuba’s efforts to grapple with the island nation’s energy crisis, rare violent protests and pressure from the Trump administration, NBC News reports. Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga told NBC’s George Solis Monday his country is negotiating with the US to allow the Cuban diaspora, especially in Miami – just 229 miles north of Havana -- to invest in Cuba’s private sector and own businesses in their homeland.  –TL

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MONDAY 3/16/26

Trump Strongarms NATO on Straits – President Trump said in an eight-minute interview with the Financial Times Sunday that NATO – and China -- must help reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ensure their own energy security. 

“It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there,” Trump told the newspaper. Europe and China depend heavily on the Strait for oil, he said, not the US.

But Iran’s choking of the Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world’s oil passes through, has sent global oil prices skyrocketing. They hovered in the $103-106 per barrel range Monday. 

The president called on China, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom to join a “team effort” to reopen the Strait and suggested a planned late March summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping would be called off or delayed.

“If there’s no response or if it’s a negative response” to Trump’s comments to the FT, “I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.”

FCC threat … This came after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, who last year managed to get Jimmy Kimmel Live! suspended briefly, threatened on Saturday to revoke broadcasters’ licenses because of what he called “liberal bias” in their coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran. 

And this in turn followed War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s objections to reports that the Trump administration was not prepared for Iran playing the card it can easily play, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. With the result that global oil prices skyrocket.

"CNN is Lying to Undermine Operation Epic Fury's Crushing Success," reads a headline from the White House official website.

Hegseth says he believes “liberal” media want the US – the Trump administration – to fail in the war.

“Broadcasters must operate in the public interest,” Carr said last weekend, according to The New York Times. Carr’s warning comes after Trump Truth Socialed his objections to a Wall Street Journal headline that Iran hit US Air Force refueling planes at the Prince Sultan airbase in Saudi Arabia. 

The Wall Street Journal’s headline: “Five Air Force Refueling Planes Hit in Iranian Strike on Saudi Arabia.”

The story says an official told the newspaper the airplanes were damaged but not fully destroyed and are being repaired. No one was killed in the attack.

Gas and diesel … AAA reports Monday the national average for unleaded regular is $3.718 per gallon, up 73.6-cents since the Friday before the US and Israel launched the war on Iran, while diesel fuel is $4.988 per gallon, up $1.231.

Notable quote … In his acceptance speech as writer and co-director of the Academy Award winner for documentary feature Sunday night, David Borenstein said, “Mr. Nobody Against Putin is about how you lose your country. What we saw when working with the footage is that you lose it through countless small little acts of complicity. When we act complicit when a government murders people on the streets of major cities. When we don’t say anything when oligarchs take over the media and control how we can produce it and consume it.” –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 3/16/26