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.”
Crew Member from Downed U.S. Fighter Jet Was Rescued
At least one crew member from the U.S. fighter jet shot down over Iran was rescued by American forces, CBS News reports.
Photos and video circulating on social media suggested at least one U.S. C-130 aircraft and two Black Hawk helicopters were spotted flying low over central and southwest Iran in what was described as a possible effort to locate and recover the crew.
CNN reports the pilot was alive, in U.S. custody and receiving medical treatment. It wasn’t clear what the status of the second crew member was.
Pam Bondi’s Portrait Taken Down at Justice Department
MS NOW: “t didn’t take long for the pictures to come off the wall.”
“Within hours of the news that President Trump had fired Attorney General Pam Bondi, images began to circulate of her official framed portrait, unceremoniously removed from its place of honor near the President and Vice President on the walls of Justice Department offices.”
“Current and former Justice Department officials say it’s a reflection of how deeply unpopular Bondi was with career officials and agents, thousands of whom left the department rather than follow her orders.”
Justice Alito Was Taken to a Hospital Last Month
CNN: “Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was taken to a hospital after becoming ill last month at a Federalist Society dinner in Philadelphia, according to people with knowledge of the March 20 incident.”
“The justice was evaluated and administered fluids for dehydration. He returned to his home in Virginia that night with his security team.”
The Most Unpopular President of the Modern Era
G. Elliot Morris: “Donald Trump’s approval rating hit a new low this week. As of April 2, the FiftyPlusOne average puts his net approval at -21.4 — 37.2% approve, 58.6% disapprove. That’s the lowest mark of his second term.”
“How bad is -21.4? When compared to past presidents, Trump’s ratings are the lowest of any president at this point in their term, going back to FDR. The spaghetti chart below lines up every president’s net approval by time in office. Trump’s red line is all the way at the bottom. Fourteen months in, no one else was this far underwater. Only Joe Biden, at the beginning of the 2022-23 inflation crisis, was close — and Trump is outrunning him by about 10 points:”
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Quote of the Day
“To the Iranians, the Strait of Hormuz now matters more than the nuclear program. The nuclear program was symbolic, but didn’t provide them with any deterrence. Now, the only reason why they are surviving this war is because of the strait. The Iranian thinking is that, at the end, the strait must remain under their control because it is their only deterrence and only source of revenue.”
— Ex-State Department official Vali Nasr, quoted by the Wall Street Journal.
Search and Rescue for Fighter Jet Crew Underway
The fate of the crew of the U.S. fighter jet shot down over Iran was unclear, as American officials scrambled to mount a search and rescue operation before Iran could get to any survivors, the New York Times reports.
“The situation creates a military and diplomatic challenge for the United States, as President Trump has threatened in recent days to bombard Iran ‘back to the Stone Ages.’ Over the past 24 hours, the United States and Iran have been trading attacks on military and civilian infrastructure in the region.”
Trump Could Have Two More Supreme Court Picks
New York Times: “Demand Justice, a liberal organization, has mounted robust efforts to block President Trump’s appointees to the Supreme Court in the past, but never before a vacancy existed.”
“For now, none of the nine Supreme Court justices have announced plans to retire, and Mr. Trump has no looming opportunity to keep stocking the court with younger conservative justices.”
“That isn’t stopping Demand Justice from preparing a multimillion-dollar effort to oppose potential Trump Supreme Court appointees before they happen — with a warning that Mr. Trump could be replacing two justices this year.”
Iran Says U.S. Fighter Pilot Ejected
A local channel of Iranian state television claimed Friday that a U.S. fighter pilot ejected from their aircraft over southwestern Iran, the AP reports.
The anchor on the channel read the following announcement: “If you capture the enemy pilot or pilots alive and hand them over to the police, you will receive a precious prize.”
Trump Asks for a ‘Little More Time’ in Iran
President Trump, on Truth Social this morning:
“With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE. IT WOULD BE A ‘GUSHER’ FOR THE WORLD???”
Wall Street Journal: “It is a tone shift for Trump, who last week said he was willing to end the war without a reopened strait and also has urged allies to lead such a mission, including in a Wednesday-night address to the nation. Trump in that speech also signaled a possible escalation in the war, saying the U.S. would hit Iran “extremely hard” over the following two to three weeks.”
More Jobs Created Than Expected in March
CNBC: “The U.S. labor market bounced back in March, with job creation much stronger than expected though the broader picture of a slow-growth labor market held intact.”
“Nonfarm payrolls rose by 178,000 during the month, a reversal from the 133,000 decline in February and better than the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 59,000. February’s number was revised down by 41,000 while January was revised up by 34,000 to 160,000, putting the three-month average around 68,000.”
“With job creation higher, the unemployment rate edged lower to 4.3%.”
Trump Again Threatens to Hit Iranian Infrastructure
President Trump threatened to escalate U.S. military strikes on Iran to include infrastructure like bridges and electric power plants as he urged the regime to agree to a peace deal “FAST.”
Daily Beast: “The president is becoming increasingly frantic as he sinks deeper into a crisis of his own making.”
An Army Shake-Up in the Middle of a War
The Atlantic: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Army’s top officer, and the White House is discussing the potential departure of the Army secretary in what together would be the biggest wartime military shake-up in decades.”
NATO Is on Life Support
Axios: “NATO is a promise, and now it’s broken.”
“The alliance was built on the premise that an attack on one member is an attack on all. President Trump has made that conditional: if you won’t help me in my war, I might not show up for yours.”
“NATO’s mutual defensive framework doesn’t actually apply in the case of Iran, a war taking place far from the alliance’s territory. But it could be the death knell for the most powerful and consequential alliance of the past eight decades.”
Control Over Strait Will Determine Who Wins Iran War
Wall Street Journal: “Tehran’s ability to control this international waterway, through which one-fifth of the worldwide oil supply used to pass, has become Iran’s biggest leverage against the U.S., its Gulf neighbors and the global economy.”
“Whether the war ends in a success or defeat for Iran depends first and foremost on whether Tehran emerges from this conflict still holding the strait—and, with it, the keys to the worldwide energy markets.”
World Views China Better Than U.S.
Semafor: “China has a better approval rating across the world than the US does, representing a shift since President Donald Trump took office.”
“According to new Gallup polling, a median of 36% of those polled across more than 130 countries approve of China’s leadership, while 31% approve of US leadership — the largest edge Beijing has had over Washington in almost two decades.”
Trump’s Effort to Target Eric Swalwell Could Backfire
“The Trump administration’s interest in reviving a long-closed investigation into California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell could backfire against it — by elevating his profile and boosting his on-the-bubble California gubernatorial campaign,” Semafor reports.
