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A new Quinnipiac poll finds 53% of voters oppose the U.S. military action against Iran, while 40% support it.
Sixty-two percent of voters think the Trump administration has not provided a clear explanation of the reasons behind the United States’ military action against Iran, while 35 percent think the Trump administration has provided a clear explanation.
“Although Obamacare sign-ups have fallen significantly this year over skyrocketing monthly premiums, Dr. Mehmet Oz believes enrollment is still too high,” NBC News reports.
“Oz said some people enrolled in ACA plans should not be there and expects enrollment to fall further — to around 19 million.”
Said Oz: “In fact, the fact that we have 23 million makes me think we have too many participants in the ACA. It’s too high of a number.”
“Airports are warning travelers to prepare to spend hours in security checkpoint lines, with the partial government shutdown stretching federal security workers,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
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Adam Serwer: “This rejection of empiricism makes selling falsehoods easier and contradicting them harder, which creates a fertile environment for anyone with something to sell, whether shady businesses or authoritarian governments.”
“The spread of anti-vax conspiracy theories is just another example of the gullicism that defines our age. The cynicism is highly selective: Gullicists see everyone’s hidden motives—except when they don’t. They are able to reject any claim rooted in actual evidence—whether in science, politics, or history—while embracing the most breathtakingly absurd assertions on the same topics. Indeed, documentation is often taken as further evidence of conspiracy, while assertion (that this or that will ‘detoxify’ your blood or that COVID deaths were exaggerated) is taken as gospel.”
President Trump said that the war against Iran could be over soon, CNBC reports.
Said Trump: “I think the war is very complete, pretty much”
Wall Street Journal: “The hottest and most exclusive MAGA status symbol is a pair of leather oxfords… Trump has been gifting footwear to agency heads, lawmakers, White House advisers and VIPs.”
“Trump has fallen in love with Florsheim, the American brand that’s been pairing comfort and style for more than a century… The president has taken to guessing people’s shoe size in front of them. He asks an aide to put in an order and, a week later, a brown Florsheim box arrives at the White House. Trump sometimes signs the box or attaches a note of gratitude.”
“Jeffrey Epstein ordered a 16-year-old girl to give him a massage while he was on the phone with Donald Trump — moments before sexually assaulting her, an FBI memo newly released by the Justice Department claims,” the Daily Mail reports.
“In an interview with investigators, the teenage alleged victim said Epstein urged her to hurry, saying: ‘Let’s go, let’s go’, before climbing onto a massage table as she got undressed.”
“Republicans are still waiting on President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the Texas Senate race. And every week without him settling it means more costly spending in the GOP runoff battle between Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton,” Semafor reports.
“When Trump said he would weigh in ‘soon,’ Republicans hoped it meant he’d have backed Cornyn by now. That hasn’t happened, and attacks continue to fly, potentially weakening the eventual GOP nominee.”
“President Donald Trump promised that 2026 would be a bumper year for economic growth, but instead it has kicked off with job losses, rising gasoline prices and more uncertainty about America’s future,” the AP reports.
Said Trump, just two weeks ago: “The roaring economy is roaring like never before.”
“There is a gap between the boom that Trump has predicted and the volatile results he has produced — one that could set the tone in this year’s midterm elections as he tries to defend his party’s majorities in the House and Senate. With Trump’s tariffs drama ongoing, the war in Iran has suddenly created inflationary concerns regarding oil and natural gas. To the White House, it is still early in the year and stronger growth is coming.”
New York Times: “The U.S.-Israeli war in Iran risks redirecting world attention away from the war in Ukraine. But it has also given Kyiv an opportunity to use its hard-won expertise and advanced technology on a new front.”
“Kyiv is hoping to score points with the United States in American-brokered peace talks.”
President Trump told the New York Post that he has “a plan” to tackle surging oil prices caused by the war with Iran after the cost per barrel briefly neared $120.
Said Trump: “I have a plan for everything, okay?”
He added: “I have a plan for everything. You’ll be very happy.”
Bloomberg: “As oil prices soared past $100 a barrel and the Trump administration’s end-game for Iran looked increasingly elusive, last week’s wait-and-see stance in financial markets is giving way to something more ominous: Fears that a deeper and longer-lasting supply shock will rekindle inflation and slam the brakes on the global economy.”
“Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) announced Monday that his decision to leave the Republican Party and register as an Independent will take effect immediately,” Axios reports.
Kiley said he will still caucus with Republicans for “administrative purposes” but noted that he’s been a less-than-reliable vote for Speaker Mike Johnson even as a Republican.
“Muslims don’t belong in American society. Pluralism is a lie.”
— Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN), on X.
President Trump “left open the prospect of acquiring Iranian oil as the U.S. proceeds with a war officials have said is aimed at depriving Iran of a nuclear weapon and defanging it so that it no longer poses a threat to the U.S. or Middle East neighbors,” NBC News reports.
Trump said he did not want to discuss whether he would like the U.S. to seize Iranian oil, but added: “Certainly people have talked about it.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Iran of “trying to hold the world hostage” by attacking other Middle Eastern nations even as the United States and Israel continue to bomb Iranian sites, Punchbowl News reports.
Said Rubio: “They are attacking neighboring countries, their energy infrastructure, their civilian population, they’re attacking embassies.”
He added: “This is a terrorist government, this is a terroristic regime. And we are seeing them conduct terrorism using nation-state elements. Using weapons like missiles and one-way attack drones. And the objective of this mission is to destroy their ability to continue to do that. We are well on the way to achieving that mission.”
The U.S. has intercepted encrypted communications believed to have originated in Iran that may serve as “an operational trigger” for “sleeper assets” outside the country, ABC News reports.
The alert cites “preliminary signals analysis” of a transmission “likely of Iranian origin” that was relayed across multiple countries shortly after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“President Donald Trump is expected to review as early as Monday a set of options to tame oil prices, which have spiked to more than $100 a barrel due to the Iran war,” Reuters reports.
“The effort reflects White House worries that the surge in oil prices will hurt U.S. businesses and consumers ahead of the November midterm elections when Trump’s fellow Republicans are hoping to retain control of Congress.”
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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