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Donald Trump's most loyal Iran war hawks are experiencing buyer's remorse as what they envisioned as a quick military victory threatens to metastasize into a prolonged, unpopular quagmire requiring American boots on the ground, according to a report.More than two weeks into the campaign, insiders close to the White House are sounding the alarm — the president has lost control of the conflict's trajectory, Politico reported. Iran now holds the upper hand, they warn, and Trump may have boxed himself into a corner where escalation — potentially including a full ground invasion — becomes the only face-saving option."They decide how long we're involved — and they decide if we put boots on the ground. And it doesn't seem to me that there's a way around that, if we want to save face," one White House insider told Politico.The core problem: securing oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz against Iranian attacks almost certainly requires seizing Iranian territory — a step that would inevitably mean deploying American troops on Iranian soil."The terms have changed," said a second person familiar with U.S. operations in Iran. "The off-ramps don't work anymore because Iran is driving the asymmetric action."The deteriorating situation is rattling Trump's "America First" coalition, which fears the president is stumbling into exactly the kind of open-ended Middle East morass he spent a decade condemning. With Iran weaponizing oil market disruption to drive up gas prices, Republicans worry the conflict has become a political time bomb — especially heading into midterms when voters are already furious about inflation and affordability."For the White House, now the only easy day was yesterday," the insider added bluntly. "They need to worry about an unraveling."Some Trump allies are still urging restraint, arguing the administration retains non-military tools to pressure Tehran. But they acknowledge each U.S. escalation narrows the exit ramps further.The severity of the initial strikes compounds the problem. By killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei along with dozens of senior commanders and family members, Trump may have made Iranian capitulation impossible. The new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei — the late leader's son — has far less incentive to back down than his predecessor."You've killed one guy, the next guy up is even more radical. You killed his dad and his wife," one White House source said. "Do you think he's gonna be more — or less — reasonable?"You can read more here.

More than 100 others injured in bombings targeting post office, market areas and hospital in MaiduguriAt least 23 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured in multiple suspected suicide bombings in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, shattering its reputation as a relative oasis of calm in recent years as a long-running insurgency was pushed to the rural hinterlands.Authorities said the explosions went off at the post office and market areas, as well as the entrance to the University of Maiduguri teaching hospital, on Monday evening during iftar, the breaking of fast in the month of Ramadan. Continue reading...

Ex-GOP strategist Rick Wilson on Monday predicted what he thinks will be next for President Donald Trump as talks about who will succeed him in 2028 have heightened and questions over whether it will be Vice President JD Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Wilson was talking to MS NOW host Katy Tur about the dilemma Vance, who has been vocal about his stance against long wars in the Middle East, was facing. Vance has not publicly said he was opposed to the Iran war; however, reports have surfaced about his views on the conflict as Trump has shifted his messaging to his MAGA coalition about the military strikes. "I think it's been notable, Rick, that we've seen so little of JD Vance lately," Tur said. "He's got a thing with the president that we might have to dip into at some point during this conversation, but other than that, he has been out of sight."The last appearance the two apparently made was with the entire Trump administration Cabinet on March 7 at Dover Air Force Base, during the dignified transfer of six slain U.S. Army service members who were killed in Kuwait."I don't believe that's a coincidence, Katy," Wilson said. "I think that is a feature, not a bug, of the Vance position right now. He does come from a part of the party or the part of the MAGA movement that is very anti-interventionist. And they built the 'Peace President' illusion around Trump in 2024. And Vance put the bit in his teeth and ran with it. But now he's got a president who has launched a singularly reckless effort in the Persian Gulf that will end up sending American troops to fight and die in a pointless war. And I think Vance is very uncomfortable right now."Trump has appeared to favor Rubio as his potential successor, according to reports. "Marco's been getting a lot of praise," Wilson said. "Vance has been, you know, hiding in the tall grass. What goes on today in this presser with Trump could go either way. He could cut Vance's head off right there in public. And I wouldn't, if I was Vance, you know, act without getting a food taster going forward, if Trump really digs in on this war."Last week, Vance dodged a direct question about how he viewed the military action in the Middle East. Vance was taking questions from reporters following his speech in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where he campaigned for GOP candidates in a district Republicans were hoping to flip. Associated Press reporter Bill Barrow asked the vice president what advice he gave the president regarding military strikes and the economic fallout, including surging gas prices."Did you express any concerns like those you've expressed in the past on the possibility of those extended wars?" Barrow asked.Vance refused to directly say whether he supports the joint U.S.-Israeli war in Iran."We're in the Situation Room, where you can't even take your iPod in there, or your AirPods, I guess what they're called, you can't take your iPhone in there, you can't take anything in there — because it is the most classified space anywhere in the world," Vance said."And I sit there with Pete Hegseth, and Gen. Caine, and Marco Rubio, and the entire White House team, and the president and I, and the entire senior team are talking about the options and about what we need to do and how we must best protect the American people," Vance added."I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not going to show up here in front of God and everybody else and tell you exactly what I said in that classified room partially because I don't wanna go to prison and partially because I think it's important for the President of the United States to talk to his advisors without those advisors running their mouth to the American media."

FBI insiders had sharp critiques of FBI Director Kash Patel's leadership amid rising terrorism threats, according to reports on Monday. Patel has come under fire after four separate terror-related incidents since the Iran war began four weeks ago, and an overall increase in terrorism, The Daily Beast reported. Experts warned that Patel's missteps could lead to even bigger problems ahead. A former FBI agent told Miranda Devine, conservative commentator for The New York Post, during her podcast Pod Force One that the FBI should have acted more urgently to review its surveillance methods, including its flagging systems, investigative and screening processes, and its threat monitoring systems.“The FBI should be directly questioned on these matters on their prior knowledge and applicable actions,” the agent said. “If not, then this violence will continue to happen and intensify.”Another former agent said that Patel had spent more time worried about the Epstein files and immigration, instead of focusing on safety. “It is a zero-sum situation,” the other agent said. “When people are being redirected away from their primary national security duties, some things are bound to be missed.”Ben Williamson, Assistant Director for Public Affairs at the FBI, was quick to respond to Devine's interview with the former FBI agents. "This banger of an article blames Kash Patel for a convicted terrorist who was released from prison under the previous administration," Williamson wrote on X.

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes announced he was "no longer MAGA," even though he was headed to Mar-a-Lago on Friday to ask President Donald Trump for a pardon.While guest-hosting for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Monday, Rhodes revealed that he had broken with Trump over the war in Iran."We can't shut our eyes to the obvious role of the influence of Zionism in our government, of the Israeli people, intelligence services, Mossad, and others in our government," he began. "So that's why I no longer call myself MAGA. I am an America-only patriot. I'm a Christian nationalist, an American Christian nationalist. I have to open my eyes to the reality in front of my face, and it's caused a division inside of MAGA, and it's caused a division on the political right. But so be it.""I don't want any foreign influence in our government whatsoever. And so, that's where we are," he continued. "There's a lot of Americans that are now becoming red-pilled and even black-pilled on the influence of Israel in our country and also on what's happening inside the Trump administration."Rhodes noted that he was traveling to Mar-a-Lago on Friday and had "been invited there by the Republican Party chair of Palm Beach to come in and give us a shot, us and the other J6ers who have not yet been pardoned.""And so I hope to be able to shake President Trump's hand and ask him for that pardon," he explained. "Again, my oath won't let me shut my eyes or shut my mouth about what's happening in our country. And so I can't let the fact that I'm still waiting for a pardon along with seven other Oath Keepers and those four Proud Boys.""I can't let that shut me up about calling out what I see happening in our country," Rhodes added. "And so if I lose my pardon because of that, then so be it. That's where my mind's at. And I think I owe that to everybody who ever swore the oath like I did."

Charlie Kirk Show hosts Blake Neff and Andrew Kolvet pressed for the defeat of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), an ally of President Donald Trump, by hosting his two opponents, Paul Davis and Mark Lynch."I have been very loud about my criticisms of Sen. Lindsey Graham, the neocon warmonger from South Carolina, who has just seemed to stay in office for a very long time," Kolvet said on Monday's broadcast. "Charlie Kirk — Charlie always called him Lady Graham, as he called it... I'm pretty sure that's what a lot of people call him."The host pointed to a 2023 quote from Kirk: "The base is done with neocons who want to spend our money to bomb faraway lands.""Feels very relevant to our current moment," Kolvet told Davis. "And I'm saying, as long as it's not Lindsey Graham, I'm excited. That's how I feel right now.""Well, as of today, Lindsey Graham's going down," Davis replied. "He's way below 50%. In South Carolina, we have a runoff state. So top two people going to runoff two weeks later.""I'm a guy who's been MAGA from the jump," he continued. "I helped President Trump as a volunteer get elected. I served in his first term. I was what they call one of his killers."For his part, Lynch criticized Graham for pledging to send South Carolinians to fight in the Middle East."Well, the people in South Carolina have said, 57% of them back when we polled in May, that they will not vote for Lindsey Graham again," Lynch explained. "They love Trump. They know Trump endorsed Lindsey, but that endorsement won't save him this time.""You're not taking our children over there for your bloodlust financial gain," he added. "And we say no to that in South Carolina, and enough's enough. We've had enough in Lindsey.""I think that's the bloodlust really resonates," Kolvet remarked. "It resonates with me. It resonates, I'm sure, with Blake. And of course, it resonated with Charlie."