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President Trump said the focus right now is on Iran but he’ll “take care” of Cuba, Axios reports.
Said Trump: “Cuba’s at the end of the line. They’re very much at the end of the line. They have no money. They have no oil. They have a bad philosophy. They have a bad regime that’s been bad for a long time.”
“As Democrats wage an aggressive public campaign to convince Virginia voters to redraw the state’s congressional maps ahead of November, some Republicans complain the state’s most prominent GOP figure is missing from their counterattacks: former Gov. Glenn Youngkin,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“A group of House Republicans approached Youngkin in November, shortly before he left office, and implored him to help campaign against the voter referendum, they say. They want to see Youngkin, a former co-chief executive officer of the Carlyle Group, help with fundraising, ad messaging and other efforts to drive their voters to turn out. But so far, Youngkin hasn’t engaged in raising money or appeared in ads to drive opposition to the Democratic plan.”
“Saudi Arabia has told Tehran that while it favors a diplomatic settlement to Iran’s conflict with the United States, continued attacks on the kingdom and its energy sector could push Riyadh to respond in kind,” Reuters reports.
Axios: “Trump fancies himself a high-risk, high-reward president, a confidence cheered by the vast majority of Republican officials and voters. But risk is risk — and by most measures, it’s rising everywhere.”
“U.S. investigators believe hackers affiliated with the Chinese government are responsible for a cyber intrusion on an internal Federal Bureau of Investigation computer network that holds information related to some domestic surveillance orders,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The scope and severity of the intrusion aren’t known, and the investigation is in its early stages, the people said. Any preliminary conclusions could change as investigators gather more information.”
“If China is confirmed to be responsible for the breach, it would signal the latest intrusion by Beijing’s hackers of computer systems related to law-enforcement surveillance orders, which contain highly sensitive material.”
“You’re right, I got Trump Derangement Syndrome. I hate the motherfucker. And you know what? I don’t wanna get rid of it. I don’t wanna get better. I wanna get worse. I wanna hate him more. I pray to God in heaven… Pray for me, Lord. I’m your vessel on this earth. Pray for the people that listen to this. We want more. We wanna hate the son of a bitch so much that we can’t see straight!”
— James Carville, on his podcast.
“One in eight members of Congress now say they plan to leave their current seats after this election cycle, the second-highest total in the last century,” NPR reports.
“According to NPR’s congressional retirement tracker, as of March 6, there are 68 current representatives and senators who are retiring or running for a different office — 13 senators and 55 House members.”
New York Times: “On Friday, the Labor Department released a report saying that U.S. employers had cut 92,000 jobs in the previous month — surprising economists and raising fears that the labor market could be worse than they had realized.”
“Many Republicans suddenly went quiet.”
“The lack of triumphant social media posts or news releases from the Republican National Committee and the party’s House and Senate political groups pointed to growing anxiety on the right that the economy could sink the party in the midterm elections.”
“The warning signs for Republicans are piling up. Mr. Trump is pressing forward with a war in Iran that is unpopular among voters, has caused gas prices to rise nationwide and has led to a drop in the stock market. He has also promised to forge ahead with his sweeping tariffs despite a Supreme Court ruling knocking down some of them, and despite warnings that the fees will lead to higher prices and job losses.”
National Review: “White House officials, lawmakers, and government contractors told NR that they have long suspected that Lewandowski and his political allies inside and outside of DHS are financially profiting from DHS contracts and multiple offices and committees on Capitol Hill are actively investigating the matter.”
“If you combine an economy that people don’t like with a prolonged war that you know nobody in his base believes they voted for, that’s a toxic problem.”
— A Trump ally, quoted by Politico.
“American allies are watching in disbelief as the Pentagon reroutes weapon shipments to aid the Iran war, angry and scared that arms the U.S. demanded they buy will never reach them,” Politico reports.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is “definitely” running for president in 2028, according to his estranged cousin, Jack Schlossberg, the New York Post reports.
Said Schlossberg: ““He’s going to run. He’s got a real following. Those MAHA guys and women are cultish about him… I mean, I’ll give him credit for being a brilliant mythologizer. He’s good at what he’s doing.”
Mediaite highlights the craziest moments from Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), President Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
The White House is blocking top U.S. intelligence agencies from warning law enforcement across the country about rising threats to the homeland tied to his war with Iran, the Daily Mail reports.
The FBI, Homeland Security, and the National Counterterrorism Center were preparing to put out a joint intelligence statement on Friday to state and local authorities alerting them of a heightened threat due to the ongoing war in Iran.
The five-page bulletin blocked by the White House provides specific details on how Iranian proxies may carry out attacks across the country.
New York Times: “Everywhere Mr. Talarico went he stuck to the same campaign message: unity against billionaires who want to divide people, the power of love, the willingness to embrace political difference and welcome independents and Republicans into the fold — an unlikely winning formula in an era of partisan flame throwing.”
“At times, his campaign seemed more Sunday sermon than political barnburner.”
Rogé Karma: “The job market is weakening, inflation is still too high, and we’re at serious risk of a once-in-50-years oil shock. This is almost the exact set of conditions that triggered the stagflation of the 1970s, which at the time was America’s worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.”
“At the moment, the economy is still far from that kind of doomsday scenario, but the direction of travel is disquieting. The economy’s warning lights might not yet be flashing red, but they are certainly flashing yellow.”
Washington Post: “In the predawn darkness Saturday, around 4 a.m., staff with the Architect of the Capitol bolted the bronze plaque to a granite wall near an entrance on the west front, close to where the armed crowd had amassed and scaled scaffolding set up for the inauguration. They wheeled the plaque, stored in plywood, across the stone basement floor and guided it through the double doors. They raised the tribute with a jack table and began bolting it to the wall, the clang of their tools ringing out through otherwise empty hallways.”
“There was no announcement, no ceremony, no news cameras — just two employees on their routine overnight shift working while most of Washington slept. The quiet installation, which Congress ordered completed by mid-March 2023, marks the latest turn in the contested effort to remember Jan. 6, as Trump continues to reframe the riot as patriotic and the rioters as victims of a weaponized justice system.”
Tom Nichols: “The war in Iran has reaffirmed two truths. One is that the United States is blessed with the most professional and effective military in the world. The men and women of the American armed forces can conduct missions of almost any size with formidable competence, from special operations to seize a rogue-state president to a large-scale war. The other truth is that the Trump administration, when it comes to strategy, is incompetent.”
“Strategy is about matching the instruments of national power—and especially military force—to the goals of national policy. The president and his team, however, have not enunciated an overarching goal for this war—or, more accurately, they have presented multiple goals and chosen among them almost randomly, depending on the day or the hour. This means that highly effective military operations are taking place in a strategic vacuum.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
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— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
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