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Mar 30, 2026
Steve Bannon mocks Trump allies escalating Iran war to retrieve 'nuclear fairy dust'
MAGA influencer Steve Bannon slammed President Donald Trump's allies, like Fox News host Mark Levin, who called for escalating the war in Iran to retrieve nuclear materials that he likened to "fairy dust.""I wonder why Mark Levin, why are we not talking about a combination, IDF, Arab, you know, get the UAE Special Forces," Bannon said Monday on his War Room broadcast. "So my recommendation, all this talk about combat troops and ground troops, let's start with the IDF and let's start with the Arab nations.""Let's throw them over, then let's take the first wave," he continued. "It'll draw out the Iranians, and maybe we can kill the Persians easier. Use them as bait. I don't give a damn. I don't want to use American kids. Let's use theirs. If you got nuclear fairy dust over there, you got to get."Bannon noted that suggestions that ground troops be sent into Iran to obtain nuclear material were the "latest thing" to escalate the war."We got nuclear fairy dust you got to get," he mocked. "Well, send the IDF in there. They got all the special forces... Let them go get the nuclear fairy dust.""Tel Aviv and our Arab and our great Arab allies who still have not committed to the to, understand something, they have not committed to this war yet," he added. "They're kind of sitting there going, oh, this is horrible. We're getting shelled... Let's get your military. First wave in Kharg Island, the All-Arab, second wave, IDF."
Mar 30, 2026
'Trump is in trouble' as he faces 'his Waterloo' in Iran: columnist
One month into the Iran war, Donald Trump is discovering that his signature tactic — construct a narrative, declare it true, and force the world to submit — doesn't work when the other side refuses to play along.According to Guardian columnist David Smith, Trump's decades-long operating principle has finally collided with an immovable object: geopolitical reality that cannot be wished away or spun into submission.Because of that, "Trump is in trouble," he asserted."Donald Trump keeps declaring victory in Iran. But saying it over and over does not make it so." While the president insists his military campaign is a historic success, "the world is bracing for a conflict that continues to metastasize and could wreak havoc on the global economy."Trump's strategy has worked before — in Manhattan boardrooms, on reality television, even at the highest levels of Washington power. But Iran represents something fundamentally different: a conflict where "Trump's unique brand of 'truthful hyperbole' has collided with the truthful truth. His reality distortion field has run into a brick wall," Smith wrote.The track record of Trump's fantasy-based policymaking is well documented. During his first term, he made more than 30,000 false and misleading claims, according to the Washington Post. He constructed entire alternate realities. But that strategy catastrophically failed when COVID-19 arrived — hundreds of thousands of deaths couldn't be wished away — and voters rejected him in 2020.Now the Iran war is exposing the same fatal vulnerability at catastrophic scale. The conflict has already cost 13 American lives and billions of dollars, yet the Iranian regime shows no signs of collapse. Instead, exactly as predicted, "Tehran has triggered a global energy crisis by blocking the strait of Hormuz." Opinion polls show the war is deeply unpopular, and a ground invasion would be even more so. "There is no obvious exit strategy."Joel Rubin, former deputy assistant secretary of state, articulated the core problem: Trump's belief in his own mental supremacy fundamentally misunderstands how warfare actually functions."Trump clearly is a real believer in the power of the mind to control events and to shape how people perceive events and shape reality," Rubin said. "The problem with that in the case of the war is the Iranians don't have to bend to that. There are time-tested ways to win wars and end wars through force of arms or diplomacy that have nothing to do with the mind and willpower and willing it because the other side will do what we want. He's going to buck up against that and the sooner he relies not just on the reality of military power but the reality of diplomatic power the more likely he is to be successful."Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota, was more blunt about the implications."Iran is Trump's Waterloo. This is the demolition of the Donald Trump myth. His supporters rave about his instincts and his improvisational style but the other interpretation is that he doesn't know what he's doing, that he hasn't taken care to investigate the devastating consequences of his actions and so he's digging himself deeper and deeper into a quagmire. This is plain to all."
Mar 30, 2026
ABC host busts Marco Rubio contradicting Trump on Iran: 'Is that the case or is it not?'
ABC News host George Stephanopoulos called out Secretary of State Marco Rubio after he said the U.S. was negotiating with "lunatics" in Iran, even though President Donald Trump had suggested new negotiators were reasonable people."You call them lunatics, but the president just had this post where he says we're in discussions with a new and more reasonable regime," Stephanopoulos told Rubio in a Monday interview on Good Morning America. "Let me try to pin you down on that. Who is this new and more reasonable regime?""Well, I'm not going to disclose to you who those people are because it probably would get them in trouble with some other groups of people inside of Iran," Rubio insisted. "Look, there's some fractures going on there internally. And at the end of the day, I think that if there are people in Iran who now, given everything that's happened, are willing to move in a different direction for their country, that would be great.""It's unfortunate the people of Iran are incredible people, the people who lead them, these this clerical regime that is the problem and there are new people now in charge who have a more reasonable vision of the future that would be good news for us, for them, for the entire world but we also have to be prepared for the possibility, maybe even the probability, that that is not the case."The ABC host pressed: "But the president said they are. Is that the case or is it not?""Well, what I mean is, yeah, you know, so you have people that are saying some of the right things privately," Rubio hedged. "Obviously, they're not going to put it out in press releases, and what they say to you or put out there for the world doesn't necessarily reflect what they're saying in our conversations.""There are clearly people there talking to us in ways that previous people in charge in Iran have not spoken to us in the past," he added. "We're going to test that proposition very strongly because we always prefer to settle things through negotiation and diplomacy. But we also have to be prepared for the fact that that effort might fail.""If it fails, the war expands?" Stephanopoulos wondered."Well, the war is about," Rubio replied before catching himself. "This operation, okay, and that's what this is, it's about very specific objectives."The secretary of state insisted that the "objective from the beginning" had been to destroy the Iranian air force, navy, missiles, and factories."We are on pace and, in fact, ahead of schedule in some of those things," he said. "And we are going to achieve those things in a number of weeks, not in a number of months."
Mar 30, 2026
MS NOW panel pounces on Trump's early-morning threat to commit 'war crimes'
Moments after Donald Trump posted online that he is considering destroying Iran's entire power infrastructure and desalination plants, MS NOW host Jonathan Lemire and national security analyst David Rohde expressed shock that the president is admitting that he is willing to commit what are undeniably war crimes.Coming back from a commercial break, Lemire broke the news that the president had posted, in part, on Truth Social, “... if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet ‘touched.’ This will be in retribution for our many soldiers, and others, that Iran has butchered and killed over the old Regime’s 47 year ‘Reign of Terror.’”After reading from the president’s post, Lemire observed, “It's an extraordinary threat here from the president. So two beats: one is, do we have any evidence that these are actually a new regime in place and these talks are going anywhere? And secondly, talk to us about what it would mean if the president follows through on these threats, which some have already said, these are like war crimes targeting electrical plants, desalinization plants. The impact would be immense for Iran in the region.”Rohde agreed.“In terms of this tweet, it's shocking. It is a war crime to destroy all of a country's power plants,” he told Lemire before elaborating, “That's what Russia is doing in Ukraine. And then, what's extraordinary also is to: ‘and possibly all desalination plants.’ That's water plants that this entire region relies on. ““You would, I mean, the Iranians struck one desalination plant in the Gulf, and it sort of sparked panic because huge cities depend on those plants for water supply,” he added. “So Tehran itself would have a problem if the U.S. did this. Riyadh would have to be evacuated. Dubai would have to be evacuated. This is a whole new level of warfare that he's talking about. And again, they are war crimes. This is the American president saying we will threaten to do this to you.”"It can't be said enough, they would be war crimes,” Lemire repeated. - YouTube youtu.be
Mar 30, 2026
Trump's bid to 'calm the markets' failing as he now has 'zero credibility' on Iran: expert
Any hope that Donald Trump might have that he can reassure Wall Street that the war in Iran is going well is quickly falling by the wayside as investors and financial advisers turn a deaf ear to the president's victory boasts.As Joe Scarborough put it on Monday, the president has failed to "calm the markets."On MS NOW’s “Morning Joe,” co-host Jonathan Lemire spoke with contributor Katty Kay and remarked, “I just think we have to be clear here: The president of the United States has zero credibility in terms of how this war is going. He has declared victory about two dozen times.”“He also, he's shifting timetables, he's shifting goals,” he added. “And the Iranians seem to be realizing they might be able to wait him out. And Trump is saying so often about trying to sound optimistic for the markets. The last handful of days, the markets seemingly haven't listened, despite the good news coming out of Trump's mouth.”“Yeah,” Kay replied. “The president keeps saying and has done several times over the course of the last few days, we've won, putting that in the past tense and that there has been regime change. But as you pointed out, the markets don't seem to be buying that.”“I spoke to an economist over the weekend who said to me, traders aren't really buying the TACO [Trump Always Chickens Out] trade anymore,” she added. “They think this is an escalate situation. They're looking at all of these American forces coming into the region.”“As we found, this is not Venezuela and the regime has not changed,” she pointed out. “Nobody else buys the idea that the regime has changed just because the president and Karoline [Leavitt] say that we've got rid of the people at the top.” - YouTube youtu.be
Mar 30, 2026
Weather tracker: Thunderstorms drench UAE and Saudi Arabia
Abnormally strong jet stream triggers deluge in Middle East, while north Africa braces for 60-80mph gustsAn unusual weather pattern unleashed severe thunderstorms across parts of the Middle East last week, battering countries including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The Arabian peninsula – typically dominated by arid desert climates – received up to 150mm of rain in just a few days.The deluge was caused by an abnormally strong jet stream, which helped a deep area of low pressure to develop north of Saudi Arabia. This, in turn, drew moist tropical air from the Indian Ocean and triggered intense storms. Continue reading...
Mar 28, 2026
'The world is watching': Analyst warns Trump against destroying American Dream ideals
Donald Trump could be judged harshly by the world if he breaks a promise at the heart of the American Dream, an analyst has claimed. The president and his administration have cracked down hard on immigration in a way that could undermine the "credibility" of the country, Brent McKenzie argued. The Hill columnist considered the crackdown on immigration as a move that could shatter the American Dream in the eyes of the world. "The process might be long and complicated, but immigrants who followed the rules would eventually find opportunity," McKenzie wrote. "The U.S. was not only a place where people could succeed; it also openly welcomed those willing to work, contribute and build a life. Increasingly, people outside the U.S. are beginning to wonder whether that promise still holds."McKenzie went on to argue that the "cultural confidence" of the United States depends on immigration, and that the Trump administration is actively undermining the future of the country. He added, "But recent policy decisions are testing that narrative. When lawful permanent residents are excluded from government programs designed to help small businesses grow, or when people deep in the legal immigration process are suddenly caught in policy pauses and reversals, the message is larger than any single rule."In recent years, that confidence has eroded. Immigration has become a central point of political conflict. Today, immigration is no longer just a policy debate. It has become a cultural and political dividing line. And for people watching from outside the U.S., that shift is impossible to miss."The question facing the U.S. today is not whether immigration policy should evolve. Every country revises its policies over time. The question is whether the larger promise that once defined the American experience still holds."Trump's changes to immigration policy in the US could, McKenzie argues, change the tide in countries across the world. This, he believes, is the reason there is such a close eye on the president. "How the U.S. answers that question will shape not only immigration policy but the country’s place in the world," he wrote. "If the U.S. wants the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs and builders to continue choosing America, it must do more than defend its borders. "It must also defend the promise that’s drawn them here for generations. The world is watching to see whether that promise still stands."
Mar 28, 2026
'No going back' for next president as Trump makes US reversal 'impossible': analyst
Donald Trump has made life harder for his Oval Office successor with a series of changes that will likely be impossible to undo, an analyst claimed.The president's tough stance on geopolitical relations during his second term has hindered the chance of reconciliation under the 48th President of the United States, Salon writer Mike Lofgren argued. The political analyst suggested that Trump's team was undermining steps taken by previous administrations to improve international relations. Lofgren claims that Trump has pressed the US into a position where there is "no going back to the status quo ante" of previous administrations. Actions taken against Venezuela and Iran, as well as a period of time where the president appeared set on subsuming Greenland into US territory has seemingly worn international relations thin. This, Lofgren suggests, is a point of no return that a future president from either party would struggle to navigate. He wrote, "Yet another future president might have retraced a path toward more balanced economic or security policies once the disadvantages of trade wars or diplomatic and military isolation became obvious."But Trump, in large part through his feral nastiness and adolescent vulgarity, has made that sort of reversal all but impossible. A hypothetical president might have distanced himself from NATO, but it’s inconceivable that he would covet an alliance partner’s territory to the point where that government made plans to blow up the airfields in the coveted territory in case of invasion."Lofgren went on to suggest that longstanding treaties and decades-old friendships between the US and other countries had been ground down slowly, and that Trump had simply sped up the process of a breakdown. "Trump hates reading, as his spotty education and lack of general knowledge testify," Lofgren wrote. "That reflects his profound lack of intellectual curiosity. "He attempts to disguise this deficiency with endless boasting about himself and endless denigration of others. He is obsessed with popular media and showbiz and the shabby values they embody."It is almost certain, to this observer anyway, that after the last hanging chad in Florida, after the rubble of the World Trade Center had cooled, after the first improvised roadside bomb exploded in Iraq, and after Lehman Brothers collapsed, Trump, or someone like him, was inevitable."
Mar 28, 2026
KP Sharma Oli: Nepal’s former prime minister arrested over alleged role in deadly protest crackdown
At least 77 people killed in anti-corruption youth uprising in September, which began over a brief social media banNepal’s former prime minister KP Sharma Oli was arrested early on Saturday morning over his alleged role in the deaths of dozens of people who took part in the gen Z protest that toppled his government last year.Police detained the three-time former prime minister at his residence in the capital Kathmandu, and also arrested his former home affairs minister Ramesh Lekhak. Continue reading...
Mar 28, 2026
Trump mocked after floating new name for Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump is facing mockery after floating the idea of renaming the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important shipping lanes, after himself – or the United States. At an investor forum in Miami Friday night, Trump referred to the waterway as the “Strait of Trump” before correcting himself and insisting the remark was intentional.“Excuse me, I’m so sorry. Such a terrible mistake,” Trump said to the crowd. “The Fake News will say, ‘He accidentally said.’ No, there’s no accidents with me.”The Daily Beast reported Friday that Trump has also privately discussed rebranding the vital global oil corridor as the “Strait of America” if the United States were to help wrest control of it from Iran.The waterway has become a major flashpoint in the MAGA administration’s escalating conflict with Tehran, which has disrupted shipping and helped send oil and gas prices higher. One administration official told the New York Post that the U.S. is “taking the Strait back” and questioned why it should still be called Hormuz if Washington ends up policing it. But even some Trump allies appear uneasy with the idea. A former administration official told the Post that Trump’s self-promotion while in the White House is “getting tiresome and tacky,” and risks “tarnishing his legacy.” .@POTUS: "We're negotiating now, and it would be great if we could do something, but they have to open it up. They have to open up the Strait of Trump—I mean Hormuz. Excuse me, I'm so sorry. Such a terrible mistake." ???? pic.twitter.com/TqZptrkEo0— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 27, 2026
Mar 27, 2026
One move could be 'Trump's undoing' as 'nightmare' scenario looms: expert
Donald Trump could be facing a total collapse of his administration should he make one wrong move, an expert has warned. Describing the president as a "bad gambler," defense expert Chris Hughes suggested Trump could be taken down a worrying path during the war with Iran. Writing in The Mirror, Hughes outlined a scenario in which the US would not win against Iran, and that this may be a path Trump wishes to pursue. Trump could be "tempted into a ground war against hundreds of thousands, perhaps a million, of Iranian IRGC and Artesh regular forces that cannot be won," according to Hughes, who warned there would be no victory with a boots on the ground display from the US in Iran. "It does not take 17,000 ground troops to win against those odds and it is likely Trump has already been told this," Hughes wrote. "Even with defections and airstrikes a ground invasion of Iran would be a long-term and bloody nightmare. "The same goes for the taking of Kharg Island and perhaps a special forces raid on Iran’s nuclear sites to seize its enriched uranium. This will be Trump’s undoing, and the same goes for anyone else who goes along with it."Part of the problem regarding Trump's potential decision, Hughes warns, is in underestimating Iran's forces. He wrote, "The deathly irony remains that whilst it would prefer not to have been attacked in the first place, the latter is exactly what Iran too wants - it is a great big trap. "As we have said repeatedly the Iranian regime has always known it cannot take on America head-on - but it can draw it into a humiliating guerilla war that will cost huge numbers of lives."And it can try and out-cost the US, forcing it to spend even more than the billions it has already cost, whilst also costing the Gulf States billions in Patriot missiles. And this is by using £30,000 drones against multi-million pound Patriot defence missiles to bankrupt Trump’s war machine into a retreat."He has constantly bragged Iran has no navy or air force. The same could have been said for the Viet Cong and the Taliban and look where that got the States and other militaries that sacrificed troops, such as the UK, helping its war against terror."
Mar 27, 2026
CPAC gets sobering warning of 'burning American warships' in Iran from Blackwater founder
Blackwater founder Erik Prince revealed that he warned President Donald Trump against going to war in Iran.At the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, in Texas on Friday, Prince had a sobering message about Operation Epic Fury."I counseled as loud as possible against doing this in the first place," he explained. "We face an extremely difficult challenge. The Iranians learned their lesson from what happened to Iraq. Decapitation of the leadership structure of the Iraqi army. The Iranians have done the exact same thing. There's 31 different military districts. All clear direction given to those 31 commanders is to continue to wage war against whoever they can with whatever they can.""The only person that can countermand that order is the supreme leader," he continued. "And we've killed the supreme leader now, his father, his wife, his sister, other family members in an ancient society — in an ancient society that understands blood oath.""I don't share the optimism of the administration that there's going to be a peaceful stop to this."Prince noted that Iran would "burn it down" if the U.S. tried to deploy troops in the country."If they try to put boots on the ground, force the Strait of Hormuz, you will see imagery of burning American warships in the next couple of weeks," he advised. "And I don't think people are really prepared for that.""So I would, look, Iran doesn't have an independence day because they've not really been conquered since Alexander the Great," Prince added. "For all the talk of regime change, there's never been a real preparation of an armed opposition inside the country. And a lot of ways to do that from the periphery that doesn't require U.S. boots."
