George Conway, once a leading Never-Trump Republican and now a Democratic congressional candidate, has issued a stark warning, saying that Americans remain perilously unprepared for President Donald Trump’s potential interference in November’s election.

Conway, who founded the Anti-Psychopath PAC, said in a video posted on Friday that Trump’s “brain is mush, and he says, with conviction, things that he said the opposite of five minutes before or five days before.”

He says that Trump “has the capacity to declare that the polls are fake — and that if an election goes the same way that the polls do, well, that’s fake, too, and that’s why we need to ignore an election, and that’s why we need the voter rolls.”

But Conway warns that despite what happened on January 6, 2021, the American public is not ready for what Trump could do to the 2026 election.

“I don’t think people are sufficiently prepared, notwithstanding what happened in 2021, for the possibility that he will try to f — — with this election. And he will.”

“I mean, he’s already basically telling us that’s what he’s gonna do, just the same way he told us he would do that in 2020.”

Conway warns, “I don’t think truth means anything to him.”

Trump, he adds, “doesn’t care about the distinction between truth and lies. And so, does he know he’s lying? It doesn’t matter to him. Truth has no meaning to him. All that has any meaning to him in any given moment is whether or not he’s receiving praise or adulation, or some kind of a reward — like money, or a peace prize.”

“And what comes out of his mouth is whatever is in his head at the moment that he wants to believe or he wants other people to believe,” Conway says. “He’s divorcing himself from reality because he thinks he can create his own reality and the great megalomaniacs of history have always done that.”

Trump is in a “very dangerous place psychologically,” says Conway,”and he is a man, don’t forget — he talked about nuclear weapons the other day — he’s got 5,500 nuclear weapons.”

“He’s gonna trash everything once and for all,” Conway warns.

A senior Federal Emergency Management Agency official with a history of violent rhetoric and promoting conspiracy theories says he once teleported to a Waffle House 50 miles away.

“Teleporting is no fun,” said Gregg Phillips, who leads FEMA’s critical Office of Response and Recovery, according to a CNN File report. “It’s no fun because you don’t really know what you’re doing. You don’t really understand it, it’s scary, but yet um – but so real. And you know it’s happening but you can’t do anything about it, and so you just go, you just go with the ride. And wow, what just an incredible adventure it all was.”

CNN describes Phillips as “a far-right activist who spread conspiracy theories about voter fraud and frequently used violent rhetoric toward political opponents.” In December, when Phillips started at FEMA, CNN described him as a “longtime Republican operative” and an “election fraud crusader” who “rocketed into the spotlight with his unsubstantiated fraud claims, which were touted by Trump.”

Phillips has a highly consequential job which, FEMA officials said, involves decisions that affect search-and-rescue operations, emergency aid, infrastructure restoration and ultimately distribution of billions of dollars in disaster assistance.

In addition to describing multiple instances of teleportation, Phillips has repeatedly used violent rhetoric and shared conspiracy theories, CNN reported, including, in a deleted social media post targeting former President Joe Biden.

“I would like to punch that b—— in the mouth right now,” Phillips said in January 2025 podcast. “He is a nasty, s——, c—— human being, and he deserves to die. And I hope he does.”

CNN also reported that in May 2023, Phillips said a Chinese army of “10 million people” was being imported to kill Americans at the border.

“We’ve got Chinese migrants or foreign fighting force moving into the United States and about to cross our border from Texas to California. And there’s really not much we could do about it, y’all,” he added.

The following year, in a video that was posted to social media, Phillips charged that migrants are coming to the United States to kill Americans, and urged Americans to learn to shoot firearms.

“Please protect yourself, protect your family, protect your babies, protect your everyone around you,” he said, CNN reported. “They’re coming from everywhere and they’re coming here to kill you. Be well armed. Take care of your family. Take care of your, your wives, your children, your daughters, everyone. Don’t let this happen.”

“They want you dead,” he added. “They’ve come here to kill you. And if anybody believes it any differently, they’re wrong. These people are here to fight. They’re here to fight us. They’re here at war.”

The left’s long‑simmering anger and increasingly fraught relationship with Democratic Senator John Fetterman boiled over on Thursday, when the Pennsylvania Democrat cast the deciding vote to advance Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin’s nomination for Secretary of Homeland Security out of committee and toward a full confirmation vote.

Democrats have provided numerous reasons they, unlike Fetterman, oppose Senator Mullin’s nomination. They cite Mullin’s lack of qualifications: he is the only current U.S. Senator without a bachelor’s degree, he has no national security or law enforcement experience — he ran his family’s plumbing business before being elected to Congress in 2012. And they cite his temperament.

The nonpartisan Union of Concerned Scientists called Mullin “uniquely unqualified to lead the third largest federal department with a half a million employees, nine agencies including ICE, FEMA and the Coast Guard among others, and roughly a $100 billion budget.”

And the Republican chair of the Homeland Security Committee, Rand Paul, said on Wednesday that Mullin “applauds violence” against his political opponents.

But Senator Fetterman on Thursday had a different perception of Mullin.

Explaining why he voted yes, Fetterman wrote, “I truly approached the confirmation of my colleague and friend, Senator Mullin, with an open-mind.”

Critics noted that he had immediately declared his support as soon as Mullin’s nomination was announced, saying last week, “I will vote for him, of course.”

Fetterman added Thursday that his “AYE” vote is “rooted in a strong committed, constructive working relationship with Senator Mullin for our nation’s security.”

Fox News quickly reposted Fetterman’s remarks.

Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts asked, “Can Pennsylvanians sue him for impersonating a Democrat?”

Democratic strategist Jon Cooper commented, “As someone who strongly backed John Fetterman‘s run for the Senate in 2022, I’m sorry to say that he’s an absolute disgrace. I’ll support whoever challenges him in the 2028 primary.”

The Pennsylvania Working Families Party called for Fetterman to be primaried.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, after his fellow Pennsylvania lawmaker’s vote to advance Mullin, wrote: “Once again Sen Fetterman shows why he is Trump’s favorite Democrat. He needs to go.”

The top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee is accusing a prominent Department of Justice official, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, of blocking access to the details of what he is calling a “mysterious Epstein investigation.”

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) called the move “stunning interference,” and said that the document “literally says ‘unclassified’ at the top.”

“Given Blanche’s close personal ties to Donald Trump,” Wyden added, “this reeks of a continued coverup to protect key names in the Trump administration.”

Wyden also said that Blanche, whom he noted was Trump’s personal attorney, and “was also responsible for Ghislaine Maxwell’s transfer to a cushy club fed … has intervened to block the DEA [Drug Enforcement Administration] from providing details of a mysterious Epstein investigation to my Finance Committee team.”

Wyden wrote: “Recent reporting revealed that Epstein was one of several targets of a big drug trafficking investigation a decade ago. DEA has key info. Based on what we know, Epstein was likely pumping his victims, young women and girls, with incapacitating drugs to facilitate abuse.”

The Democratic lawmaker pointed to a Bloomberg News article that said, “A Department of Justice document combined with interviews reveal that a long-running investigation into organized crime led law enforcement to suspect the serial sex abuser of money laundering, distributing ‘club drugs’ and operating a prostitution ring.”

He said that his team “immediately sought key documents from that investigation.”

“What was the result, and why did the investigation end?” he asked. “We were notified that the DEA intended to release those documents to the Finance Committee. Then Deputy AG Todd Blanche intervened.”

A separate Bloomberg Government report stated that “Blanche is blocking the Drug Enforcement Administration from releasing an unredacted document from the Jeffrey Epstein files about an investigation involving drug trafficking and money laundering, according to a letter Democratic Senator Ron Wyden sent to Blanche on Tuesday.”

A prominent former senior adviser to President Donald Trump is disputing his claim that “nobody” knew Iran would target neighboring nations or close the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. attacked, saying that he personally warned him of those possibilities.

John Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser during his first term, “said that on multiple occasions he brought up scenarios in which Iran was attacked and responded with retaliatory strikes in the Strait of Hormuz and elsewhere,” The Hill reported.

“Well, I know for a fact that he was aware of those potentials. I raised the option of regime change in Iran several times during the time I was national security adviser,” Bolton told CNN.

“If you’re going to embark” on attacking Iran, Bolton added, “you better have answers” to how Iran would respond, “and certainly closing the Strait of Hormuz was always one of them and so were attacks on the Gulf Arab states, particularly their oil infrastructure, so he knew about it in his first term.”

“I find it hard to believe that he forgot about it in the intervening years,” the former Trump NSA said.

“Nobody, nobody, no, no, no,” President Trump said when asked if anyone had told him how Iran would retaliate. “No, the greatest experts, nobody thought they were going to hit – they were – I wouldn’t say friendly countries, they were like neutral. They lived with them for years.”

Trump also said this week that Iran wasn’t “supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East. Those missiles were set to go after them. So they hit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait. Nobody expected that. We were shocked.”

Three top House Democrats have requested the Department of Homeland Security preserve all records concerning longtime Trump ally Corey Lewandowski, a DHS special adviser to outgoing Secretary Kristi Noem. The Democrats have also separately requested that the Inspector General open a review into Lewandowski.

Investigative reporter Scott MacFarlane reported in an exclusive that the three top Democrats on the House Homeland Security, Oversight, and Transportation and Infrastructure Committees alleged Lewandowski, a Special Government Employee, served as a “shadow chief-of-staff” to Noem. They also “alleged Lewandowski might have violated rules and restrictions of designated Special Government Employees.”

“We write with grave concern regarding reports alleging serious misconduct at the highest levels of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),” reads the letter from the three ranking members to Secretary Noem’s office.

“At the center of these allegations sits Mr. Corey Lewandowski, who continues to use his access to DHS leadership to wield outsized and undue influence over the Department,” they charge. “We demand DHS preserve all communications and internal records concerning Mr. Lewandowski’s role within the Department, as well as the Department’s practices, policies, and procedures related to contracting, personnel, and the handling of classified materials.”

“Any deviation from standard record-keeping will be treated as an attempt to hide or destroy evidence,” they warned.

They also “alleged Lewandowski might have violated rules and restrictions of designated Special Government Employees,” MacFarlane reported.

The letter requests a broad range of records, including communications between Lewandowski and DHS personnel, contractors, and advisers regarding personnel, contracting, and other department operations, as well as “all communications between Mr. Lewandowski and personnel associated with the United States DOGE Service.”

Lawmakers are also seeking documents on Lewandowski’s finances, recusals due to potential conflicts of interest, and involvement in DHS decision-making.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's future in the Trump administration is being questioned after her top aide and "closest adviser," Joe Kent — who served as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center — abruptly resigned in protest against the Iran war on Tuesday.

Trump White House reporter Jake Lahut commented that Kent's resignation "puts Tulsi in an even more precarious position."

"Embarrassing for Tulsi," remarked Sarah Longwell, publisher of The Bulwark.

Gabbard's standing in the administration has at times appeared tenuous, and has been questioned before, including over Iran — the reason Kent quit.

As The Hill reported last June, Gabbard's "strength and standing within the Trump administration" were coming under question "after the president twice publicly brushed off her testimony that Iran is not close to developing a nuclear weapon, and amid reports of tensions between the two."

Gabbard's "anti-war stance" at the time fit in with the "MAGA movement’s aversion to getting the U.S. sucked into foreign conflicts," although now Trump voters largely support his Iran war.

Gabbard was told by the White House to fire Kent for being a "known leaker," but "she never did," according to Fox News' Aishah Hasnie, citing a senior Trump administration official. Hasnie also reported that Kent "was cut out of" the president's intelligence briefings "months ago," and that Kent "has not been part of any Iran planning discussions or briefings at all."

MS NOW national security contributor Marc Polymeropoulos, a former CIA officer, called Kent's resignation a "nuke from a true MAGA member," and commented, the "big question, is Tulsi next?"

Michael V. Hayden Center director Larry Pfeiffer asked, "Over/under on how quickly Gabbard throws Kent under the bus at the hearing tomorrow?" Last year, Pfeiffer called Gabbard "the perfectly dangerous mix of incompetence, narcissism, sycophancy, and malign intent."

Gabbard is slated to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday and before the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday.

Republican former U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock summed it up, asking, Gabbard "kept on a known leaker in a national security position?"

"Let’s face it," she added, "Tulsi has been cut out too because she agrees with Kent - or at least always did before Trump flipped his position."

Far-right political activist Laura Loomer, who at times has had the ear of President Trump, responded to Kent's resignation by predicting that Gabbard "will resign next."

A top Trump economic adviser is under fire after declaring that consumers hurt by an extended Iran war are the “last of our concerns right now.”

Despite some expert predictions of possible recession or even stagflation, Kevin Hassett, the Director of the National Economic Council (NEC), on Tuesday called the U.S. economy “very sound,” and insisted that the Iran war “wouldn’t really disrupt the U.S. economy very much at all” if it were to continue for an extended period of time, MS NOW reported. The war is in its 18th day.

“It would hurt consumers, and we’d have to think about, if that continued, what we’d have to do about that, but that’s really the last of our concerns right now,” he said, claiming that the war is “ahead of schedule.”

Consumers are feeling the pain, especially at the pump.

As of Monday, five states were hovering near $4 a gallon and several others were seeing sharp increases. “The national average is up 80.0 cents from a month ago and is 66.1 cents per gallon higher than a year ago,” WANE reported on Monday, citing data from GasBuddy.

Critics rushed to denounce Hassett’s remarks.

“In any normal administration, a senior advisor to the President (basically) saying they don’t care that Americans are being harmed financially by something the President has done would resign before 5 pm today b/c the media outrage would be THAT extreme,” wrote one social media political commentator.

“This is what this Administration of billionaires for billionaires really thinks. The consumer is an inconvenience,” said Democratic congressional candidate Fred Wellman.

“It has been clear all along that consumers, aka the American public, are the least of this administration’s concerns,” observed Jared Ryan Sears, who writes at The Progressive Capitalist. “Fits right in with claiming that affordability is a hoax, as Americans are draining their 401ks and savings trying to stay afloat. Pretending the economy is good is a joke. Instead of creating jobs, the US has been losing jobs over the past 10 months, and GDP growth was just 0.7% last quarter. Trump has ruined the economy.”

The New Republic’s Greg Sargent called Hassett’s comment “an extremely serious political blunder” that “will end up in a lot of Dem ads.”

“If Republicans were trying to lose the midterms on purpose, they wouldn’t need to change a thing,” wrote podcaster Hemant Mehta.

President Donald Trump is facing criticism and mockery after admitting he was "shocked" that Iran fought back against Operation Epic Fury.

"Trump just admitted publicly that his administration underestimated the Iranian response to his attack," The Washington Post's Josh Rogin reported.

During a meeting of the board governing the Kennedy Center, Trump said, "look what happened. In the last two weeks, they weren't supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East. Those missiles were set to go after them. So they hit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait. Nobody expected that. We were shocked."

Focusing on Trump's "shocked" remark, some critics blasted the president, once again, for what many have previously said is a Commander-in-Chief who was unprepared to go to war against Iran.

The New Yorker's Susan Glasser called Trump's comments a "Remarkable admission."

Former Republican U.S. Rep. Justin Amash declared, "We are governed by complete morons."

Podcaster Clint Russell noted, "Just FYI, this is the EXACT reason our generals have consistently advised against a war with Iran. Even Charlie Kirk had laid this all out on his show a couple years ago. Iran was no threat to America but they were fully capable of destroying the global economy by striking oil facilities and transit throughout the region."

Robert Manning, a Distinguished Fellow in Global Foresight at the nonpartisan Stimson Center, wrote: "If so, he was the only one surprised. Strategic planners have war games this for 40 years. Hard to believe JCS [Joint Chiefs of Staff] didn’t advise Trump this was likely."

"I'm pretty confident every war plan US has ever done in last 30 years gaming out this conflict was based on expectation that Iran could in fact [and] would in fact do this," noted The Nation's Jeet Heer.

"Every institution built to prevent exactly this outcome existed, was bypassed, and we are now watching the president express shock at conclusions that were already written in the classified assessments he didn't read," observed Christine Villaverde, the chairwoman of Anchoring Democracy.

Trump: They weren't supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East. So they hit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait. Nobody expected that. We were shocked pic.twitter.com/4bAHIat1kI
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 16, 2026

READ MORE: Kristi Noem at Center of Push for DOJ Perjury Probe: Report

Image via Reuters

Gas prices are continuing to substantially increase, with five states now hovering near $4 a gallon and several others seeing sharp increases as President Donald Trump’s war in Iran enters its 17th day.

“Big gas price hikes just now starting to happen in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Missouri today, which will likely push the national average to $3.75-$3.80 by mid-week,” reports Patrick De Haan, the head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy.

But, he also notes that Michigan and the Chicago area are already seeing $3.99 per gallon as of Monday. Indiana drivers are seeing $3.89, and Ohio and Kentucky are seeing $3.79 per gallon.

De Haan directly attributes the increases to the summer gasoline changeover and the ongoing Iran situation.

“The national average is up 80.0 cents from a month ago and is 66.1 cents per gallon higher than a year ago,” WANE reports, citing GasBuddy’s data.

Drivers should not expect to see prices come down significantly anytime soon.

“Until we see a meaningful resumption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, upward pressure on fuel prices is likely to persist,” De Haan said. “At the same time, seasonal forces are beginning to intensify as several regions complete the transition to summer gasoline, creating a double headwind that could continue driving pump prices higher in the weeks ahead.”

The White House is coming under fire after attacking as “fake news” a CNN report that indicated the administration failed to plan for Iran shutting down the economically critical Strait of Hormuz, which has now been deemed impassable amid Iranian threats of bombing which have helped push the price of oil at times over $100 per barrel despite despite emergency reserve releases.

“The Pentagon and National Security Council significantly underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to US military strikes while planning the ongoing operation, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter,” CNN reported on Friday.

Calling the report “garbage,” Leavitt specifically pointed to this portion of CNN’s report in her harsh criticism:

“Top Trump officials acknowledged to lawmakers during recent classified briefings that they did not plan for the possibility of Iran closing the strait in response to strikes, according to three sources familiar with the closed-door session.”

Leavitt insisted that President Donald Trump had been briefed on the possibility that Iran could effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, and noted that the Pentagon had been planning for that possibility for decades.

“The Pentagon has been planning for Iran’s desperate and reckless closure of the Strait of Hormuz for DECADES, and it has been part of the Trump Administration’s planning well before Operation Epic Fury was ever launched,” Leavitt wrote on social media.

She went on to suggest that it is not Iran that has shut down the strait, but rather, “rogue Iranian terrorists.”

“The President was fully briefed on it, and a goal of the Operation itself, to annihilate the terrorist Iranian regime’s navy, missiles, drone production infrastructure, and other threat capabilities is quite literally intended to deprive them of their ability to close the Strait,” she wrote, despite the Strait is now effectively closed as little commercial traffic is crossing it for fear of being attacked.

“President Trump will not allow rogue Iranian terrorists to stop the freedom of navigation and the free flow of energy,” Leavitt claimed.

But some critics asked why, if President Trump had been briefed on the possibility that the Strait could be closed, he attacked Iran without an apparent plan to keep the Strait open.

Political commentator Dan Hodges wrote of Leavitt’s remarks: “Not sure why they continue to peddle this line when the whole world has just seen the US Defence Secretary state that he believes the Strait is open, save for the fact Iran keeps firing missiles at vessels trying to transit it…”

“So then what was the plan?” asked Navy veteran Jared Ryan Sears, who writes at The Progressive Capitalist. “Let it happen, let oil and gas prices soar, use up 40% of our oil reserves, help Russia sell their oil, and then tell the American people to suck it up and deal with it? Great plan…”

Award-winning investigative journalist Mike ‘Thomas Paine’ Moore remarked, “Thank you for admitting that you decided to proceed regardless. Thereby jacking up oil prices. You basically just admitted you did this on purpose.”

Some critics pointed to a Wall Street Journal article that noted, “U.S. officials said Wednesday that Iran had laid mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries 20% of the world’s oil exports from the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world. The U.S. Institute for the Study of War estimated that 10 mines had been laid, though President Trump cast doubt on such reports and encouraged shippers to traverse the strait.”

Earlier this week The New York Times reported that “In the lead-up to the U.S.-Israeli attack, President Trump downplayed the risks to the energy markets as a short-term concern that should not overshadow the mission to decapitate the Iranian regime.”

Political commentator Robert Elisberg remarked, “given the administration’s lack of credibility, even if others were briefed on your plans doesn’t mean those WERE the plans. And even if they were – man, were Trump/Hegseth’s plans terrible.”

Commenting on CNN’s report, foreign policy analyst Jimmy Rushton noted: “To my knowledge, every war-game that has ever attempted to simulate a full-scale war between Iran and the U.S. has assumed the Iranians would attempt to close Strait of Hormuz. It is amazing they didn’t understand or predict this.”

Also commenting on CNN’s report, Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) commented, “I worked at Pentagon, State and White House on Middle East and every assessment about possible conflict with Iran started with the real possibility of closing Strait of Hormuz. I guarantee Trump leaders were warned. They just thought they were better than the experts.”

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is facing strong criticism for his remarks during Friday’s press conference, where he lashed out at CNN’s war reporting before mentioning the four U.S. service members killed overnight.

Punchbowl News’ Briana Reilly reported, “Hegseth opens DOD briefing criticizing media coverage of the Iran war.”

“The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better,” Hegseth said of CNN and the CEO of Paramount Skydance, which is set to acquire the parent company of CNN.

Reilly also reported that the defense chief mentioned “the tragic crash” of the KC-135 aerial refueler that killed four service members at the end of his remarks.

On MS NOW, Willie Geist, speaking to co-host Jonathan Lemire, noted the contrast, saying that when General Caine took the mic he “immediately talked about the four American service members killed in Western Iraq.”

Geist also noted that it took Hegseth “several minutes” to mention them.

Hegseth, he added, “first complained about the media, whined, and started to rewrite cable news banners, suggesting what they should say versus what they have said based on reporting.”

“And then, later, got to the acknowledgement of the death of those four service members — sort of tells you the whole story about where his mind is, deeply worried about the way the war is being perceived, the way he’s being talked about, perhaps, that seemed to be throughout the briefing, front and center to him.”

Critics slammed Secretary Hegseth’s remarks.

“It seems Secretary Hegseth watches the ongoing tv coverage of Iran given the editorial criticism he opened the briefing with in regard to the on screen graphics/chyrons he’d prefer be used to describe the state of the battlefield,” noted CBS News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Margaret Brennan.

“Just confirms they expect the new [CNN] owner to serve as state sanctioned media. Only pushing the admin’s narrative,” observed attorney Fernando Antonio.

Barbara Starr, a former CNN Pentagon and national security reporter for two decades, blasted Hegseth:

“Listen up Mr. Defense Secretary. CNN has had personnel in combat zones for decades. CNN has had killed and wounded and all with lives changed forever. You have a legal and moral obligation to defend the free press, even the ones you don’t personally like,” she wrote.

She suggested that it would be “extraordinary” if he countered what he didn’t like with facts. “Flood the zone with actual information rather than vanity statements. Always possible Mr. Ellison wont appreciate your public comments about him,” she continued.

Starr added: “Bottom line for those busy looking at photos of themselves…the press corps will endure regardless of affiliation or ownership. All should be accredited and admitted to the Pentagon briefings regardless of affiliation. All any reporter needs is pencil, paper and a phone.”

Calling the Secretary’s remarks “Ominous,” political science professor Brendan Nyhan warned: “Competitive authoritarianism watch.”

Speaking to Hegseth’s David Ellison remark, health care activist and nonprofit cofounder Melanie D’Arrigo wrote: “Really shouting the quiet part out loud that Trump’s billionaire allies are buying up news publishers and controlling social media and AI platforms to push Trump’s lies and propaganda.”

Democratic congressional candidate Fred Wellman, a graduate of West Point and the Harvard Kennedy School, and an Army veteran of 22 years who served four combat tours, called Hegseth’s remarks “fascism.”

President Donald Trump says not only does he not know if his war against Iran will help win him the Nobel Peace Prize, he also doesn’t care, and doesn’t want to talk about it.

“Trump claimed to have ‘no idea’ if Operation Epic Fury will ‘get him over the finish line’ with committee members,'” the Washington Examiner reported on Thursday, after a telephone call with the president.

“I don’t know,” Trump told the Washington Examiner. “I’m not interested in it.”

“No, I don’t talk about the Nobel Prize,” Trump also said, when asked if the topic came up in his recent talks with foreign leaders.

The Examiner’s Christian Datoc, who spoke to the president, reported via video that Trump “appears to be having a massive about-face about winning the Nobel Peace Prize amid his war with Iran.”

“He told me over the phone that he’s not sure if he’s deserving of this award anymore,” Datoc added. “This is a massive change in the president’s rhetoric from really anything he’s said over the past thirteen months.”

FBI Director Kash Patel is facing criticism after inviting Ultimate Fighting Championship, better known as the UFC, stars to Quantico to train his agents.

New FBI agents already receive some of the most intense training in the world — more than 800 hours at Quantico, according to the bureau’s website.

In a statement, Variety reported, Patel called the training seminar a “tremendous opportunity for our FBI agents to learn and train with some of the greatest athletes on earth — helping the world’s premier law enforcement agency be even better prepared to protect the American people.”

UFC CEO Dana White, Patel added, “has changed the game in the mixed martial arts industry and we’re extremely honored to be partnered with him, the professionals and the UFC. We are grateful for their shared love of our nation, so that we can better defend her.”

Critics slammed Patel online.

“Hey maybe instead of playing karate with celebrities @Kash_Patel could do his f—— job for once and manage the terrorist threats from Iran?” commented former Obama National Security Council spokesperson Tommy Vietor.

“With a pressing counter intelligence/terrorist need, Kash Patel deems training agents to fight in cages as a priority. We are not a serious country,” remarked former U.S. Ambassador Luis Moreno.

“Expect ridiculous photos and content of Patel training jiu jitsu and shamelessly boondoggling around UFC fighters while trying to look cool and tough,” noted political commentator Paul Rieckhoff, the founder of several veterans’ nonprofits. “While Nancy Guthrie remains missing, a makeshift bomb was thrown near Gracie Mansion, and homeland threats coming out of Iran from drones and other attack methods skyrocket nationwide.”

Rieckhoff called Patel “not a serious leader,” whose “incompetence is making us all less safe.”

“And no way UFC tactics will be used against protesters and dissenters, right?” asked journalist Nancy Levine Stearns.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended what she claimed is President Donald Trump's right to share his opinion that Iran has U.S. Tomahawk missiles, a major weapon currently only in the possession of the United States, Australia, and the U.K.

On Monday, President Trump said Iran had U.S.-made Tomahawk missiles when asked if the United States would accept responsibility for the killing of at least 165 people at an Iranian girls' school.

“Whether it’s Iran or somebody else … a Tomahawk is very generic,” Trump said, Newsweek reported. He also claimed that the missile is “sold and used by other countries” and that Iran “also has some Tomahawks.”

Newsweek noted that when pressed on why he appeared to be the only one making that claim, Trump said, “Because I just don’t know enough about it.”

He added that he was "willing to live with" the findings of any official investigation.

"There has never been an indication that Iran has any Tomahawks," CNN reported, "which are made by US defense manufacturer Raytheon for the US military, subject to strict export controls and not the 'generic' product Trump claimed Monday."

On Tuesday, Leavitt chastised a reporter who asked about the president's apparently erroneous claim.

"The president has a right to share his opinions with the American public," she said, "but he has said he'll accept the conclusion of that investigation, and, frankly, we're not going to be harassed by the New York Times, who's been putting out a lot of articles on this, making claims that have just not been verified by the Department of War to quickly wrap up this investigation, because the New York Times is calling on us to do so."

The Atlantic's Tom Nichols, a retired U.S. Naval War College professor, mockingly responded, "Stop pointing out that the president has no idea what he's talking about."

Reporter: On the Iranian school, why did President Trump say yesterday that Iran may have tomahawk missiles when there are only three US allies, plus the US, that have those missiles?
Leavitt: The president has a right to share his opinions with the American public…
And… pic.twitter.com/cjE13HTslD
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 10, 2026

President Donald Trump's claim that his war against Iran may soon be coming to an end is being rejected by Senate Democrats, who warn that the administration may be on a path to putting boots on the ground in a "forever war."

After attending a bipartisan briefing, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who sits on the Armed Services Committee, told reporters, "I emerged from this briefing as dissatisfied and angry, frankly, as I have from any past briefing in my 15 years in the Senate."

"We seem to be on a path toward deploying American troops on the ground, in Iran," he said, warning about "potentially huge consequences to American lives."

U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) also expressed grave doubts.

“What I heard is not just concerning, it is disturbing,” said Senator Rosen, who also serves on the Armed Services Committee, as CNBC reported. “I’m not sure what the endgame is or what their plans are."

She said that if President Trump "does want to put us in a forever war — which it seems like he does — he needs to come out and let us be able to have that discussion.”

CNBC reported that the "concerns from Democrats who attended a bipartisan classified briefing with military brass on Tuesday stand in stark contrast with the president, who on Monday suggested the U.S. may be nearing the completion of its operation. Trump’s statements sent slumping markets soaring and cratered oil prices that had skyrocketed in recent days."

Democrats are warning that there is no end in sight, CNBC noted, and reported that the "war dragging on could also see markets whip back and oil costs continue to soar, especially as the Strait of Hormuz, which carries roughly 20% of the world’s oil remains largely impassible."

After the Senate briefing, CBS News reported that "U.S. intelligence assets have begun to see indications Iran is taking steps to deploy mines in Strait of Hormuz shipping lane."

.@SenBlumenthal remarks after Iran briefing: "I emerged from this briefing dissatisfied and angry frankly that I have for any past briefing in my 15 years in the Senate.. We seem to be on a path toward deploying American troops on the ground in Iran." pic.twitter.com/e2qv0dcAds
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 10, 2026

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth quoted the Bible — specifically the Old Testament — on Tuesday during remarks on the progress of the war against Iran, leaving some to express concerns about Christian nationalism and his potentially executing a holy or religious war.

Noting that he had just returned from Dover Air Force Base to accept the dignified transfer of another service member killed in the Iran war, Hegseth said, “I’ll close with Scripture, drawing strength from Psalm 144.”

“Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle,” he said. “He is my loving God and my fortress. My stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge. May the Lord grant unyielding strength and refuge to our warriors. Unbreakable protection to them in our homeland. And total victory over those who seek to harm them. Amen.”

Critics slammed his introduction of the religious text.

At The New Republic, Malcolm Ferguson wrote: “The Christian nationalist undertones of this war are getting even more obvious.”

“Listening to Hegseth read Psalm 144 feels like an ominous justification for further aggression rather than a comforting message,” Ferguson said.

“While it’s a lovely verse traditionally attributed to King David, it does not accurately portray the reality of the situation whatsoever,” he wrote. “The United States is the Goliath of this story, along with Israel. The countries’ joint attacks of aggression have killed over 1,200 Iranians, many of them young schoolgirls. Iranian fuel depots were hit so hard that oil rained from the sky in Tehran on Sunday. Seven American service members have died because a president who promised peace sent them to war for money and regime change, not liberation.”

Professor of public policy Josh Cowen responded to Secretary Hegseth’s reading of scripture: “He could have chosen Jesus’s words ‘Blessed are they who mourn’ or if he was really craving a psalm, ‘The Lord is my shepherd.'”

“Instead he’s sporting militant quotes not to assuage grief but to justify his actions that caused it,” Cowen said.

Dutch journalist Michael van der Galien, according to a translation on X, called it “concerning that Pete Hegseth uses a passage from the Old Testament to suggest that God would bless a specific war between America, Israel, and Iran.”

“From a Catholic perspective, war is always a tragedy and only justified under strict conditions of just war theory, such as self-defense and the protection of innocents, not as a divine mandate.”

Professor Massimo Faggioli, a Church historian, according to a translation on X, wrote of Hegseth’s Scripture quoting, “they’ll do absolutely anything to make it look like a religious war.”

President Donald Trump is facing opposition from some prominent Republicans over his hardline voter ID bill.

The controversial SAVE America Act barely scraped by in the House of Representatives and has languished in the Senate for weeks, but President Trump is pressuring Republicans not only to pass it — he has added demands that would make it even harder for Republicans and Democrats to support the legislation.

Trump wants the bill to curtail mail-in voting and has called for anti-transgender language to be added to it.

Now, as House Republicans convene for a three-day meeting at his Doral Golf Resort in Florida, he’s urging GOP leaders to act immediately.

On Monday, Trump told House Republicans in a televised speech that they must pass the SAVE Act because if they do, Democrats “probably won’t win an election for 50 years, and maybe longer.”

He also threatened to sign no other legislation until the SAVE Act comes to his desk — a proposition some Democratic lawmakers did not find objectionable.

“GOP leaders now have to drum up support from members reluctant to dive into the culture war of transgender politics when they’d prefer to focus on affordability,” Politico reports. “And the mail voting provision was left off the package last time for a reason.”

Over in the Senate, several Republicans “signaled Monday they aren’t behind the president’s call to significantly limit mail-in ballots, touting the success of the practice in their own states.”

“I don’t want the federal government telling me that I can’t have mail-in voting or absentee ballot voting,” Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) told reporters. “There’s nothing wrong with mail-in voting if you have the right standards in place.”

Trump is also continuing to pressure Senate Republican Majority Leader John Thune to commit to a talking filibuster to pass the bill — a move Thune strenuously opposes.

Leader Thune “delivered a public reality check on the ‘complicated and risky’ idea Monday,'” Politico noted.

“Having studied it and researched it pretty thoroughly, you have to show me how, in the end, it prevails and succeeds,” Thune told reporters on Monday, as NBC News reported. “Because I think what has been promised out there is that it would actually, in the end, get an outcome. And I find it very hard to see that based on actual past experience.”

“We can’t find a piece of legislation in history that’s been passed that way,” he added.

Seeking to avoid “a bruising internal filibuster fight,” Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) “floated passing the SAVE America Act through reconciliation Monday, despite the lack of a clear budget connection.”

President Donald Trump told CBS News on Monday that his war in Iran could be almost over — just after the Pentagon tweeted, “We have Only Just Begun to Fight.”

“In a phone interview, President Trump told me the war could be over soon,” reported CBS’s Weijia Jiang on Monday afternoon, less than one hour after the social media post. “I think the war is very complete, pretty much. They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force.”

Trump added that the U.S. is “very far” ahead of his initial 4-5 week estimated time frame,” Jiang added.

The Commander-in-Chief’s prediction also came just days after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told CBS News’ “60 Minutes” that this is “just the beginning” of the war in Iran, as The Washington Post’s John Hudson reported.

Earlier on Monday, the Pentagon posted another Iran tweet: “This is just the beginning—we will not be deterred until the mission is over.”

One week ago, after President Trump specifically alluded to the war in Iran being about regime change, Secretary Hegseth declared it was not.

“Trump repeatedly emphasized regime change was a goal — and possibly even the goal,” CNN reported.

“America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force,” Trump said to the Iranian opposition in the early hours of the war. “Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach. This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass.”

“When we are finished, take over your government,” Trump added. “It will be yours to take.”

Barely days later, Hegseth told reporters, “This is not a so-called regime change war.”

Some Washington Post readers are mocking the paper and its op-ed that suggests a link between Starbucks’ lattes, and loneliness and the destruction of society.

The op-ed’s author, professor of politics Jakub Grygiel, writes that the “atomization of society begins with your morning coffee.”

He immediately points out that 46 percent of Americans have had a specialty coffee drink in the past day, and “54 percent of U.S. adults feel isolated and half of them feel bereft of companionship ‘often or some of the time,’ according to the American Psychological Association.”

Grygiel then says that ordering a latte your way is wasting everyone else’s time, which, he surmises, makes you feel lonely.

“As specialty coffee consumption has surged (84 percent since 2011), so has the loneliness epidemic. Just a correlation? Consider what your coffee order reveals,” he suggests.

“The salted caramel mocha latte, the iced brown sugar soy milk shaken espresso, the white chocolate macadamia cream cold brew are the triumph of hyper-individualization over communal norms,” he writes. “When you order a dirty spiced chai with oat milk, you are not only wasting the time of other customers in line but also are signaling that your personal appetites demand an elaborate, customized response. You are asserting your primacy, unique in the complexity of your desires, and stand apart from your nation’s simple rituals. No wonder you’re alone.”

Grygiel makes no mention of the fact that a significant portion of Starbucks’ business model is based on customized coffee drinks.

Some readers slammed Grygiel, with several questioning whether his work was satire.

“This is satire, people. This has to be satire. I know it’s satire. Please tell me it’s satire,” wrote one reader.

Others tried to bring the conversation back to politics, which is the author’s stock in trade.

“The atomization of society begins with you taking about coffee and not the Trump administrations efforts to destabilize our democracy,” chastised another.

“I think the largest problem with American society is all the fascists, but that is just my opinion,” suggested a reader.

“I don’t know,” said another reader. “I think the American obsession with assault rifles and the fact that the number of guns in private hands in America far exceeds the population may be a bigger threat to our society. But that’s just me. I can’t remember the last time a salted caramel mocha latte killed someone.”

Others blasted the paper.

Some Washington Post readers are mocking the paper and its op-ed that suggests a link between Starbucks’ lattes, and loneliness and the destruction of society.

The op-ed’s author, professor of politics Jakub Grygiel, writes that the “atomization of society begins with your morning coffee.”

He immediately points out that 46 percent of Americans have had a specialty coffee drink in the past day, and “54 percent of U.S. adults feel isolated and half of them feel bereft of companionship ‘often or some of the time,’ according to the American Psychological Association.”

Grygiel then says that ordering a latte your way is wasting everyone else’s time, which, he surmises, makes you feel lonely.

“As specialty coffee consumption has surged (84 percent since 2011), so has the loneliness epidemic. Just a correlation? Consider what your coffee order reveals,” he suggests.

“The salted caramel mocha latte, the iced brown sugar soy milk shaken espresso, the white chocolate macadamia cream cold brew are the triumph of hyper-individualization over communal norms,” he writes. “When you order a dirty spiced chai with oat milk, you are not only wasting the time of other customers in line but also are signaling that your personal appetites demand an elaborate, customized response. You are asserting your primacy, unique in the complexity of your desires, and stand apart from your nation’s simple rituals. No wonder you’re alone.”

Grygiel makes no mention of the fact that a significant portion of Starbucks’ business model is based on customized coffee drinks.

Some readers slammed Grygiel, with several questioning whether his work was satire.

“This is satire, people. This has to be satire. I know it’s satire. Please tell me it’s satire,” wrote one reader.

Others tried to bring the conversation back to politics, which is the author’s stock in trade.

“The atomization of society begins with you taking about coffee and not the Trump administrations efforts to destabilize our democracy,” chastised another.

“I think the largest problem with American society is all the fascists, but that is just my opinion,” suggested a reader.

“I don’t know,” said another reader. “I think the American obsession with assault rifles and the fact that the number of guns in private hands in America far exceeds the population may be a bigger threat to our society. But that’s just me. I can’t remember the last time a salted caramel mocha latte killed someone.”

Others blasted the paper.

“Here’s some more compelling evidence that we’re confronting the end of days: WaPo is running this fluff piece while Trump is hard at work starting WWIII,” warned a reader.

And while some declared they “agree with every word,” others lamented the “absolute swill coming out of the WaPo opinion section these days.”

“This might be the thing that finally prompts me to cancel my WaPo subscription,” wrote an apparent subscriber.

Prominent anti-Trump conservatives are speaking out, sensing a weakened president prosecuting an unpopular war as oil prices soar and markets plunge.

“You know, in the end, Trump’s name will be synonymous for the single most evil and destructive person to ever hold the Presidency, and it won’t even be close,” wrote The Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson.

In a parody of President Trump, Wilson wrote: “I killed 500,000 people by botching COVID, wrecked our economy with a foolish trade war, set loose murderous domestic secret police, ripped off Americans in billion-dollar crypto scams, covered Epstein, sold out our allies, started a second Great Depression and World War III.” He then called it “a hell of a resume.”

Former Trump Homeland Security Chief of Staff Miles Taylor noted, “My former GOP colleagues are still ‘standing by their man’ — the month he starts a war, slaughters civilians, starts a global financial panic, puts Americans in the crosshairs of terrorist attacks, and is accused of raping a 13-year-old girl.”

“Good luck in the midterms,” he added.

Taylor also wrote: “The ‘American experiment’ doesn’t mean what is used to. Now it means testing what happens when you give a senile sociopath nuclear weapons.”

Wilson continued, writing, “At least when we’re paying $8 a gallon for gas, the global economy is in a shambles, World War III is raging, and the living envy the dead, Donald Trump will have a new shiny ballroom.”

Pointing out that the president wore a USA baseball cap when he attended the dignified transfer of American service members killed in Kuwait, Wilson noted, “Trump wearing a ball cap at Dover is repugnant beyond words. He is grotesque. As always, imagine what Fox et al would have done if Biden or Obama did so.”

Predicting a possible Democratic wave in November, The Bulwark’s Bill Kristol noted: “Democrats at +6 on the generic ballot among registered voters. 74% of Dems say they have high interest in the fall’s election, compared to 61% of Rs. So among likely voters probably at something like +7 or 8. On the way to a Dem wave, but not yet there.”

The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols, a retired U.S. Naval War College professor, commented, “It’s almost as if we don’t have a strategy.”

And he warned, “Don’t have a war led by people who are in over their heads.”

And on Saturday, responding to a Trump social media post, Wilson wrote: “Just so we’re quite clear, the President is insane.”

Washington Post readers are pushing back against the paper and an op-ed that laments what its author sees as a shortage of evangelical Christians in the “halls of power.”

“Evangelicals are 23 percent of U.S. adults and one of the most loyal Republican voting blocs, with 81 percent backing Donald Trump in 2024,” writes author Aaron M. Renn. “Yet despite six of the nine Supreme Court justices being appointed by Republican presidents, there are no evangelicals on the Supreme Court.”

The Supreme Court “is just one of the many elite institutions in which evangelicals are absent or underrepresented,” he continues. Declaring that evangelicals “have excelled in politics,” he points to U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) and House Speaker Mike Johnson as examples.

Arguing that evangelicals “are also prominent in well-run and profitable businesses with relatively low cultural impact, such as food processing (Tyson Foods) and retail (Hobby Lobby),” he says that “they are all but absent from the leadership of prestigious universities, major foundations, Big Tech companies, leading financial firms and large media companies.”

“A stronger evangelical presence in elite institutions could strengthen them while addressing polarization and public mistrust,” he continues. “The lack of evangelicals in the halls of power contributes to anti-institutional public sentiment. It also deprives those institutions of an important pool of talent.”

Washington Post readers scorched the op-ed and the paper.

“The author remarked, more than once, of the lack of formal education among the vast numbers of evangelicals,” wrote one reader. “He then questions the lack of said evangelicals on corporate and college boards and in executive offices. Am I the only one seeing a connection here?”

“Is this not a request for a new DEI program to benefit evangelicals?” asked a reader.

“I am an evangelical Christian,” said a critic. “Please don’t hold up Mike Johnson or Josh Hawley as an example of what Christ calls us to be. Perhaps the reason for our absence in the halls of power is the fact that the majority chose to elect an amoral, corrupt narcissist to be president. We should be absent from that depth of depravity.”

One reader encouraged the author to “go see the musical Godspell and see just how far off the mark the American Evangelicals are.”

“Since when did adherence to fundamentalist religious beliefs become a litmus test for government or institutional leadership?” asked a reader. “Aren’t we currently bombing a country based on that system? This ‘newspaper’ is devolving into an internet forum.”

“So now MAGA wants DEI for Evangelicals,” said one reader. “This is fantastic stand-up comedy material.”

“In some cases, not all, the author is confusing evangelical with fundamentalist,” wrote one critic. “The author is also narrowing the meaning of evangelical by using a political frame, not a theological frame. Many evangelicals define themselves via strict adherence to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (or the Plain) … I wish the author had explored at least modestly the increasing breadth of what the designation ‘evangelical’ represents in Christianity, not on Capital Hill.”

“Do you expect to be trusted in fields of science when you deny evolution?” asked a reader.

“Evangelical Christianity is the antithesis of intellectual pursuit, science, and progress,” wrote a reader.

And one critic, appearing to refer to “The Handmaid’s Tale,” charged: “Dreaming of Gilead, are you?”

Economic experts are stunned by the latest jobs report that found the Trump economy lost 92,000 jobs in February despite expectations of an increase of 50,000. Unemployment rose to 4.4 percent. Some are sounding the alarm that a recession — or even stagflation — could be on the way.

The Washington Post called the results “a striking loss signaling a warning flag for the economy.”

Describing the report as “grim,” NBC News called the loss of 92,000 jobs “a number that will raise alarms about the state of the economy.”

Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY News called the report “simply ugly.”

“The labor market is flashing red,” warned Professor of Economics Arin Dube.

“The economic story just changed dramatically,” declared Professor of Economics and frequent cable news guest Justin Wolfers. “Recession questions are back on the menu.”

Pointing to a chart that reads, “Job growth has stalled and may even be going backwards,” Wolfers responded, “This is not good.”

Navy Federal Credit Union chief economist Heather Long called the results “dismal.”

“Let me put this another way,” she continued. “The US economy has LOST jobs since April 2025. Total job gains since from May 2025 to February 2026 are now -19,000. Companies are not hiring in the face of all of these headwinds and uncertainty. And even healthcare is starting to slow down.”

Veteran finance reporter Ron Insana concluded, “Mini-stagflation remains the operating description of the current economic environment.”

“This is the ‘Welcome Back, Kotter’ economy!” Insana quipped. “It’s 1975 and the ‘sweathogs’ are in vogue … weak jobs and rising inflation bringing back stagflation like its 1975!”

The rumor mill was spinning fast on Thursday as news reports from multiple outlets revealed President Donald Trump was considering firing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Within hours, he did, announcing the nomination of U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) as her replacement.

Some critics pointed to Noem's damaging testimony before Congress this week, when she declared that President Trump had approved her spending $220 million in an ad campaign that, as one GOP senator said, boosted her name recognition. On Thursday, Trump told Reuters, "I never knew anything about it."

The Wall Street Journal reported that the "final straw for Trump was Noem’s combative hearing Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The president watched the testimony and was apoplectic about her performance, telling advisers that evening he would remove her from the job, according to people familiar with the matter."

But according to NBC News, Noem was not fired only because of her testimony.

"An administration official told NBC News that the president decided to fire Noem due to 'a culmination of her many unfortunate leadership failures including the fallout in Minnesota, the ad campaign, the allegations of infidelity, the mismanagement of her staff, and her constant feuding with the heads of other agencies, including CBP and ICE,'" the news outlet reported.

The allegations of infidelity were in full swing during her congressional testimony, as U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) grilled the DHS chief.

"Secretary Noem, at any time during your tenure…have you had sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski?" the Congresswoman asked.

"That is garbage and it is offensive that you have brought that up," Noem responded..

"It is about your judgment and decision-making," Kamlager-Dove replied.

Lewandowski, according to Fox News, is also expected to exit DHS.

FOX: Corey Lewandowski expected to leave with Kristi Noem pic.twitter.com/jA4uzFxxNX
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 5, 2026