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“Iran on Monday toughened its threats to retaliate after the United States attacked and seized an Iranian cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz, an escalation that put pressure on the fragile cease-fire set to expire this week,” the New York Times reports.
CNN: “Tehran ‘will take the necessary action’ against US forces, state news reported on Monday, after the US military captured an Iran-flagged ship along the choked Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.”
“President Trump and his administration officials are working aggressively behind the scenes to court Joe Rogan, even as the podcast titan torches the president over the Iran war,” Axios reports.
“Rogan’s backing, and his pull with young male listeners, helped power Trump to a second term. The president knows that keeping him close still matters.”
“Rogan made a surprise appearance in the Oval Office on Saturday, lauding Trump as he signed an executive order on an issue the podcaster had pushed to the president in a text message — speeding federal review of psychedelic drugs to help serious mental illness.”
“Michigan officials are pushing back on a demand from the Trump administration that the state provide election materials — including ballots, ballot receipts and ballot envelopes — to prove election fraud did not occur in November 2024,” the New York Times reports.
“The Department of Justice, in a letter last week addressed to the Wayne County clerk, threatened a court order if the records weren’t produced in a timely fashion.”
Punchbowl News: “Republican leaders are entering yet another legislative gauntlet, with just a couple of weeks to pass a pair of high-profile bills despite a badly divided House Republican Conference, frustrated GOP senators and an itchy White House. The House and Senate are in for the next two weeks and then lawmakers leave town for a 10-day recess.”
Semafor: Republicans face down massive April to-do list.
New York Times: “Democrats are also expanding their ambitions in Senate elections, where the four-seat pickup needed for control once felt impossible. Democrats initially focused on maintaining seats in Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire, with possible pickups in Maine and North Carolina. Now they are looking at Ohio, Alaska, Texas and Iowa — and wondering how to support independent candidates challenging Republicans in Nebraska and Montana.”
“And in the House, there are plans to soon add more seats that Mr. Trump carried by as many as 20 percentage points.”
“Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said on Sunday that gasoline prices in the United States had probably peaked but acknowledged that they could remain elevated for months, undermining President Trump’s earlier claim that high fuel prices would be ‘short-term,'” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Wright had said in early March that the average gas price in the United States would fall below $3 a gallon within ‘weeks’ after President Trump and Israel initiated airstrikes against Iran in late February. But on Sunday, Mr. Wright appeared to backtrack in an appearance on the CNN program State of the Union after the host, Jake Tapper, asked him when it would be ‘realistic’ for Americans to see $3 per gallon prices at the pump.”
“The United Arab Emirates has opened talks with the U.S. about obtaining a financial backstop in case the Iran war plunges the oil-rich Persian Gulf state into a deeper crisis,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Soon after his first day at the Pentagon in early 2025, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll walked into his boss’s office with a proposal. Driscoll, a longtime friend and aide to Vice President JD Vance, offered to organize a visit by Vance and President Trump to meet soldiers and talk about reforming the Army,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth raised his voice, telling Driscoll that he, Hegseth, was in charge and ordered Driscoll to stay in his lane, according to people familiar with the encounter.”
“The encounter, which hasn’t been reported previously, was just one early episode in what has become a rocky relationship between the Pentagon chief and the Army secretary.”
“President Donald Trump said Sunday that the U.S. military seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that tried to bypass the American blockade of the vital Strait of Hormuz, hours after he renewed his threats of broad attacks on Iran’s infrastructure if no deal is reached in talks expected this week in Pakistan,” the Washington Post reports.
The Washington Post finds that President Trump has brought the proposed White House ballroom up publicly on about one-third of the days in 2026 so far — roughly equivalent to how often he’s mentioned affordability.
CNN: “Upward of two dozen Democrats are already writing books, touring potential early primary states or otherwise setting up presidential campaigns-in-waiting. Most are better known than Landrieu. But with few registering as more than a blip in early polls, plenty of less familiar names see an opening to make their case and see if they can catch on.”
“Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran’s civilian infrastructure again on Sunday in an effort to bring the regime to the table for 11th-hour talks before the ceasefire expires next week,” The Independent reports.
Said Trump: “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY! They’ll come down fast, they’ll come down easy and, if they don’t take the DEAL, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran, by other Presidents, for the last 47 years.”
“Vice President Vance will lead a U.S. delegation for another round of talks with Iran in Islamabad before the ceasefire is scheduled to end on Tuesday,” Axios reports.
Wall Street Journal: “He is veering between belligerent and conciliatory approaches and grappling behind the scenes with just how badly things could go wrong.”
“At the same time, the president sometimes loses focus, spending time on the details of his plans for the White House ballroom or on midterm fundraisers—and telling advisers he wants to shift to other topics…”
“Still, he has made risky pronouncements without input from his national security team—including his post about plans to destroy the Iranian civilization—saying seeming unstable could help spur the Iranians to negotiate.”
“At one point he even mused he should award himself the nation’s highest military honor, the Medal of Honor.”
“President Donald Trump’s job approval rating has sunk to a new low as Americans express growing concerns about rising costs and the war with Iran,” according to an NBC News Decision Desk Poll.
“Overall, 37% of adults approve of Trump’s performance as president, while 63% disapprove — including 50% who said they disapprove strongly — putting his job rating at the lowest point of his second term… Two-thirds of respondents also disapproved of Trump’s handling of inflation and the Iran conflict.”
“President Donald Trump said Sunday that U.S. representatives are returning to Pakistan for negotiations to end the war with Iran – but renewed his threats of broad attacks to destroy the country’s infrastructure if no deal is reached,” the Washington Post reports.
“Trump accused Iran of violating a fragile two-week ceasefire as it closed the vital Strait of Hormuz again on Saturday and two ships reported attacks while attempting to cross, after a brief reopening brought hope for an end to the war.”
“Trump said representatives would be in Islamabad on Monday evening but did not share further details. The ceasefire is set to expire on Wednesday.”
“The world has lost over $50 billion worth of crude oil that has not been produced since the Iran war began nearly 50 days ago and the aftershock of the crisis will be felt for months and even years to come,” Reuters reports.
Robert Pape: “In a matter of a day, the system snapped back to escalation. This is not a story about fragile diplomacy or poor sequencing. It is a story about zero-sum conflict, where the core issues cannot be divided, traded, or deferred without forcing one side to accept a strategic loss—a direct contest over relative power.”
“At the center of the war is a fact that cannot be negotiated away: Iran either retains a nuclear capability on the threshold of weapons, or it does not. There is no stable middle ground that satisfies both sides. For the United States, allowing Iran to sustain that capability would fundamentally alter the regional balance of power, weaken deterrence, and undermine the credibility of long-standing nonproliferation commitments. For Iran, relinquishing that capability—especially under coercion—would expose the regime to future pressure and potential regime-threatening vulnerability.”
“This is not a bargaining problem where incremental concessions can produce equilibrium. It is a zero-sum condition, where the outcome directly determines the security of both sides—because it determines their relative power.”
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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