Elon Musk offered to pay the salaries of all TSA employees during the partial shutdown impacting the Department of Homeland Security.
Russia Proposed Staging an Assassination Attempt
“In the run-up to Hungary’s pivotal election in April, a unit of Russia’s foreign intelligence service last month began sounding the alarm over plummeting public support for Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose friendly ties to Moscow have long given the Kremlin a strategic foothold inside NATO and the European Union,” the Washington Post reports.
“Officers from the intelligence service, or SVR, suggested that drastic action might be necessary — a strategy they called ‘the Gamechanger.’ In an internal report for the SVR… the operatives proposed a way to ‘fundamentally alter the entire paradigm of the election campaign’ — ‘the staging of an assassination attempt on Viktor Orban.’”
Trump Family Is Back in the Betting Business
“With his Atlantic City casinos in duress in the 1990s, Donald Trump saw a potential lifeline in sports betting and aggressively campaigned to legalize it in New Jersey. But when state powerbrokers shut him down, Trump vowed that he’d eventually find a way to win,” CNN reports.
“More than three decades later and no longer in the casino business, the Trump family has found a new avenue to profit off sports wagering: prediction markets, a fast-growing industry where people can bet on almost anything.”
Gas Prices Have Soared Under Trump
“President Donald Trump has long touted low gas prices as an improvement of his administration compared to former President Joe Biden’s administration,” USA Today reports.
“Now, as of March 20, the average price of a gallon of regular gas is higher than it has been since October 2022, according to AAA. At $3.912, AAA shows the price of gas has risen more than $1 per gallon since the beginning of February.”
Trump Is at the Center of the Economy
CNBC: “Trump is singlehandedly shaping the course of global events to a degree that far outstrips even the power he wielded in his first presidency. With his presidency unshackled, his military and other policy decisions are reshaping the economy in real time — and clouding the economic outlook.”
Why Energy Is Such a Potent Target in the Iran War
“At least 39 energy oil refineries, natural gas fields and other energy sites in nine countries have been damaged since the United States and Israel began bombarding Iran… Some have been struck by drones. Several have been hit more than once,” the New York Times reports.
“As the attacks escalate, both sides increasingly view energy as a potent target — one that is capable of inflicting severe economic pain. Iran depends on oil and natural gas to keep the lights on and its government running, while the United States wants to prevent prices from soaring further and damaging the underpinnings of the global order.”
“The question is no longer just when Iran’s tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow but critical passage on its southern coast, will ease enough for most ships to pass. It is also how long it will take to complete repairs needed to produce and process oil and natural gas in the first place.”
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‘Boots on the Ground’ Is Trump’s Toughest Decision Yet
CNN: “For many Trump allies in Washington, the deployment of thousands of US troops to the Middle East would mean the swift end of their public support for the war— and likely threaten the administration’s ability to deliver the hundreds of billions of dollars in supplemental funding the White House will soon seek.”
“But for Trump, fully realizing his objectives and mitigating the war’s fallout could require sending in American troops, a legacy-defining endeavor the president — while not ruling it out — tried to downplay this week.”
High Gas Prices Loom Over the Midterms
“As they entered this midterm year, many Democratic and Republican politicians agreed on one central campaign theme. This would be an election about affordability, with both parties battling over who best addressed the high costs of housing, child care, groceries, health care, utilities and gas,” the New York Times reports.
“But President Trump’s decision to attack Iran has complicated the equation, and left Republicans pushing a different message: Please ignore the price at the pump.”
“From Congress to the campaign trail, Republican leaders, elected officials and candidates are promising that the increase in energy prices will be temporary, asking voters to bear short-term pain to their pocketbooks for what they promise will be long-term gains for their country.”
U.S. Lifts Sanctions on Some of Iran’s Oil
“Sanctions on some Iranian oil will be temporarily lifted to allow the sale of shipments already in transit,” Politico reports.
“The partial pause on sanctions is intended to help ease what the administration sees as a short-term shock to the global market as a result of the attack on Iran launched by the U.S. and Israel three weeks ago.”
Washington Post: “The order to ‘unsanction’ the oil comes as President Donald Trump’s war in Iran has triggered a global energy crunch, with the price of oil soaring more than 50 percent since the U.S. attacked Iran late last month.”
For members: Trump Gives a Lifeline to an Enemy
Frustration With Schumer Spurs Talk of Replacing Him
“Sen. Chris Murphy was dining with progressive activists at a French restaurant in Washington’s Georgetown neighborhood when the conversation about how to advance their legislative priorities turned to a thorny question: what to do about Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“To the surprise of some attendees, the Connecticut Democrat—a rising star in the party’s left flank—responded that some lawmakers had been doing informal counts to see whether enough votes existed to remove the New York Democrat from his leadership position, according to people familiar with the mid-February dinner. Murphy explained that Schumer had enough backing to remain as leader.”
“But the disclosure stood out nonetheless, because it revealed that frustration inside the Senate had reached a high enough level that some Democrats were actively contemplating how to oust Schumer.”
Trump Mulls Seizing Iran’s Nuclear Stockpiles
“The Trump administration has been strategizing methods and options to secure or extract Iran’s nuclear materials, according to multiple people briefed on the discussions, as a U.S.-Israel-led military campaign against Tehran enters a more uncertain phase,” CBS News reports.
“The timing of any such an operation — if President Trump were to order it — remained unclear Friday night. One source said he has made no decision yet.”
Democrats Rage Over Fetterman
“Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) is under heavy fire from fellow Democrats for casting the deciding vote to advance Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s (R-OK) nomination for DHS secretary, with some openly calling for his ouster,” Axios reports.
“The idea of trying to unseat Fetterman is never far from many Democrats’ minds, but rarely has it been discussed so explicitly and so openly.”
Iran War Puts U.S. Diplomatic Missions in the Crosshairs
“The U.S. war with Iran has triggered the broadest and fastest wave of attacks against U.S. embassies and consulates in the post-9/11 era, current and former officials said, as the Trump administration grapples with continuing threats to its overseas posts,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The series of missile and drone strikes has yielded no injuries to U.S. personnel and collectively caused limited damage to U.S. diplomatic compounds.”
“Taken together, however, the barrage underscores how Iran and its supporters are widening retaliation beyond U.S. military targets or even the region itself.”
Trump Digs Powell In Deeper at the Fed
“By doubling down on the investigation into Jerome Powell, President Donald Trump is ensuring that the Federal Reserve chair won’t go anywhere soon,” Semafor reports.
“After Powell said he would remain at the central bank until the Justice Department drops its investigation into Fed renovations, Trump on Thursday put his weight behind the probe, telling reporters: ‘There is criminality.’”
Cuba Rejects U.S. Embassy Attempt to Bring In Fuel
“The Cuban government this week refused a request by the U.S. Embassy in Havana to import diesel fuel for its generators, calling the ask ‘shameless,’ given the Trump administration’s fuel blockade on the island,” the Washington Post reports.
Paxton PAC Buys Anti-Cornyn Ads for Mar-a-Lago
“A super PAC supporting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is buying new ads in the Palm Beach media market, trying again to get President Donald Trump’s attention at Mar-a-Lago while his endorsement in the state’s Senate race remains unsettled,” Semafor reports.
Judge Says Pentagon’s Press Policy Is Illegal
“A federal judge on Friday voided various parts of a restrictive press policy rolled out by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last year, ruling that they trampled on the constitutional rights of reporters who seek to cover the U.S. military from within its sprawling headquarters,” CNN reports.
“The ruling from senior U.S, District Judge Paul Friedman is a major blow to Hegseth’s effort to exert greater control over press coverage and comes as reporting on the Defense Department has ramped up amid the war in Iran and the US operation earlier this year in Venezuela.”
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