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Hegseth Says U.S. Troops Are Fighting for Jesus

April 3, 2026 at 6:33 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked the American people to pray “every day, on bended knee” for a military victory in Iran “in the name of Jesus Christ,” the New York Times reports.

Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pontiff, has a starkly different take on what should be done in Jesus’s name.

In a homily during a Mass on Thursday morning before Easter, the pope said that the Christian mission has often been “distorted by a desire for domination, entirely foreign to the way of Jesus Christ.”

Iran Shoots Down Second U.S. Aircraft Today

April 3, 2026 at 5:19 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A U.S. A-10 aircraft has been hit by Iranian air defenses, Iranian state media reported, the AP reports.

How Did You Do on the Weekly News Quiz?

April 3, 2026 at 5:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

So far, just 21% of today’s quiz takers have gotten every answer right.

Can you compete? Click here to test yourself.

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Pete Hegseth’s ‘Paranoia’ Explains Purge of Top General

April 3, 2026 at 4:56 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s “paranoia” about Army Secretary Dan Driscoll taking his job fueled the firing of the Army’s top general, the New York Post reports.

Said one administration official: “This is all driven by the insecurity and paranoia that Pete has developed since Signalgate. Unfortunately, it is stoked by some of his closest aides who should be trying to calm the waters.”

23 States Sue Trump Over His Mail Voting Order

April 3, 2026 at 4:17 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

CBS News: “Officials from 23 Democratic states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to block President Trump’s latest executive order that aims to restrict mail voting, arguing the directive unconstitutionally attempts to interfere with states’ administration of elections.”

Judge Upholds Block on Subpoenas Targeting Powell

April 3, 2026 at 3:52 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Wall Street Journal: “A federal judge denied the Justice Department’s request to reconsider his decision to quash a pair of subpoenas issued to the Federal Reserve, rejecting the government’s arguments in a sharply worded six-page opinion.”

Still Waiting for Trump Phone

April 3, 2026 at 3:51 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Verge: “Despite recent signs of life, another week has come and gone without the Trump T1 Phone. We’re now over nine months since its announcement in June of last year, and it just keeps missing ship dates.”

White House App Is Riddled With Cybersecurity Flaws

April 3, 2026 at 3:46 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

NOTUS: “Cybersecurity researchers warn that the White House’s new app regularly shares users’ IP addresses, time zones and other data to third-party services. But most of its users wouldn’t know that, because the app doesn’t disclose its data sharing the way most others do.”

Trump Wants $152 Million to Reopen Alcatraz

April 3, 2026 at 3:45 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Donald Trump is seeking $152 million to cover the first year of costs to reopen the infamous Alcatraz prison as a secure facility, CNN reports.

The Myth of American Oil Independence

April 3, 2026 at 3:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Trump is right: The flow of oil from the Persian Gulf to the U.S. is far less than it used to be. But no matter what he says, the industry is keenly aware of how important that oil still is. That’s why CEOs have been pleading with Trump for weeks to end Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait, which remains vital to the global market in which they operate.”

Macron Calls on Allies to Unite Against U.S.

April 3, 2026 at 2:09 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Bloomberg: “French President Emmanuel Macron is calling on medium-sized powers to join forces and stand up to the US and China.”

“Macron hammered the message during his tour of Asia this week, where he discussed maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz and closer cooperation with South Korea and Japan — two countries badly suffering from high energy costs as the war in Iran keeps the strait closed.”

Americans Have a Dim View of the Iran War

April 3, 2026 at 1:57 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds 86 percent of Americans are concerned for the lives of U.S. military personnel in Iran — and 56 percent believe the war will have a negative impact on their personal financial situation.

A Huge Strategic Defeat

April 3, 2026 at 1:49 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Andrew Sullivan: “Compared with before the war, Iran’s strategic position is enhanced, not weakened, because a regime that survives this kind of asymmetric war wins it. Buoyant oil prices are now providing Iran with twice the oil revenue it had before the war! IRGC control of the Strait of Hormuz opens another stream of tolls — up to $2 million a ship — for the regime, funding rearmament.”

“If Iran ends the war with strategic control of almost a fifth of the world’s oil supplies, the Gulf states will have to accommodate it. That’s a huge strategic defeat for us.”

“And for what? Iran’s nuclear threats had already been defanged last year. There was no immediate threat. There was no looming threat. There was simply an immediate temptation: to exploit Iran’s weakness by launching Netanyahu’s long-sought-for war. And Trump was dumb enough and vain enough to fall for it.”

What Trump’s Iran War Means for Republicans

April 3, 2026 at 1:18 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Associated Press: “It’s hard to overstate how dramatically the political landscape has shifted.”

“At this time last year, many Republican leaders believed there was a path to preserve their narrow House majority and easily hold the Senate. Now they privately concede that the House is all but lost and Democrats have a realistic shot at taking the Senate.”

“Republicans are also struggling to coalesce around a clear midterm message on Iran.”

Hegseth’s War on America’s Military

April 3, 2026 at 1:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Tom Nichols: “The United States is in the middle of a major war, but that didn’t stop Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Thursday from firing General Randy George, America’s most senior Army officer. George was the Army’s chief of staff, and he was cashiered along with another four-star general, David Hodne, and Major General William Green Jr., the top Army chaplain, in what has been a rolling purge by Hegseth of senior officers—particularly those close to the secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll.”

“Why were these men fired while U.S. forces are fighting overseas? The Defense Department has given no official reason for their dismissals, but likely they are the latest victims of Hegseth’s vindictive struggles with the Army, which he feels treated him poorly—the service ‘spit me out,’ he said in his 2024 book—as he struggles in a job for which he remains singularly unqualified.”

All Guns, No Butter

April 3, 2026 at 1:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Axios: “A sharp rise in defense spending. Steep cuts elsewhere. All against a backdrop of rapid growth.”

“That is the Trump administration’s formal 2027 budget proposal, in a nutshell.”

“As always, the presidential budget is more of a statement of the White House’s goals than a road map that is likely to be enacted by Congress. This one shows a president who is eager to spend big on the military while bringing austerity to the rest of the federal budget.“

Trump Seeks More Resources to Detain Immigrant Families

April 3, 2026 at 1:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

NOTUS: “President Donald Trump asked Congress for funds to massively increase detention of immigrant families, proposing an expansion to up to 30,000 beds.”

U.S. Doubles Hormuz Insurance Guarantees

April 3, 2026 at 12:50 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Bloomberg: “The US is doubling, to $40 billion, its commitment to provide reinsurance guarantees to ships willing to travel through the Strait of Hormuz with the addition of new insurance partners, including AIG and Berkshire Hathaway.”

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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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