The U.S. government has confirmed that Tesla and South Korea’s LG Energy Solution have signed a supply agreement to build a $4.3 billion lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cell factory in Michigan.
The project, to be located in Lansing, is expected to begin production in 2027, according to a March 16 statement by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
“Tesla and LG Energy Solution are expanding their partnership with a supply agreement to build a $4.3 billion LFP prismatic battery cell manufacturing facility in Lansing, Michigan, launching production in 2027,” the statement said.
“American-made cells will power Tesla’s Megapack 3 energy storage systems produced in Houston, creating a robust domestic battery supply chain.”
The announcement was included in the results from the Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial and Business Forum held in Tokyo over the weekend.
The deal was one of several investments highlighted by the Trump administration at the forum as part of its “American energy dominance” agenda.
In July 2025, LG Energy Solution said it had signed an LFP battery supply deal with an overseas client, but did not name the buyer.
The Korean battery maker said in its July 25, 2025, quarterly results that it had begun producing batteries at its first North American energy storage manufacturing hub in Michigan and planned to expand capacity further.
“By proactively adjusting its capacity expansion plans, the company now aims to expand its annual production capacity for ESS [energy storage systems] batteries to 17GWh by the end of this year,” LG said in July.
In the same statement, the company said it plans to continue expanding its ESS business in North America and aims to secure more than 30 GWh of annual production capacity in the region by the end of 2026.
In financial results released on Jan. 29, LG Energy Solution CFO Chang Sil Lee said the company had seen strong growth in energy storage sales even as electric-vehicle demand slowed.
He added that profitability improved due to a better product mix, lower material costs, and production incentives tied to stable North American sales.
Domestic Supply
The Michigan factory’s output will feed Tesla’s Megapack 3 systems, large integrated batteries designed to store electricity and stabilize power grids.
Tesla says Megapack stores energy when supply is high and releases it when demand rises, helping balance renewable generation and prevent outages.
Megablock systems using Megapack 3 are designed for 20 megawatt-hours of alternating current capacity with a 25-year life and more than 10,000 charge cycles, Tesla said in a Sept. 9 post on X, adding that deliveries will start in the second half of 2026.
The Tesla-LG project was announced alongside other initiatives aimed at strengthening U.S. energy exports and supply chains.
Among them, the Export-Import Bank issued a term sheet for the $14 billion Delfin LNG project, an offshore liquefied natural gas facility planned off Louisiana with a capacity of about 13 million metric tons per year.
The Interior Department also said the United States and South Korea are exploring a memorandum of understanding on critical minerals through the Department of Energy to bolster supply chain resilience.
The Tokyo forum generated more than $56 billion in announced investments across sectors, including nuclear energy, liquefied natural gas infrastructure, critical minerals, advanced manufacturing, and clean energy technologies, the department said.
Commenting on the deals, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a March 16 post on X, “American Energy Dominance continues to deliver historic investment into the U.S. economy.”
Details Of Fire On US Navy’s Largest Carrier Much Worse Than Previously Known
There was chaos aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford after a major onboard fire knocked out a big swathe of living quarters, leaving hundreds of US sailors without beds in the middle of a live war deployment, in what marks a much bigger incident than what the Pentagon previously disclosed
The fire occurred last week, raising immediate questions of whether it was hit by an Iranian drone or missile attack, as Tehran has claimed, amid Pentagon insistence that it was none of these – but just an accidental fire.
Already the crew and ship are strained to their limits, given the carrier is on its way to achieving a record deployment, entering ten months. The crew has reportedly been informed that they will be deployed into May, which would make an entire year at sea, after the prior Caribbean deployment focused on the Venezuela anti-Maduro operation.
The NY Times says this marks twice the length of a normal carrier deployment – one wrought with extreme difficulties and a major emergency, as the report details:
It took more than 30 hours for sailors to put out the fire aboard the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford last week, sailors and military officials said, as the beleaguered ship continued its monthslong slog through President Trump’s military operations.
The fire started in the ship’s main laundry area last Thursday. By the time it was over, more than 600 sailors and crew members had lost their beds and have since been bunking down on floors and tables, officials said.
The U.S. military’s Central Command said two sailors received treatment for “non-life-threatening injuries.” People on the ship reported that dozens of service members suffered smoke inhalation.
CENTCOM has said that the fire caused “no damage to the ship’s propulsion plant, and the aircraft carrier remains fully operational.”
The nuclear-powered vessel has indeed been running around the clock fighter jet operations connected to Operation Epic Fury, amid ongoing heavy aerial bombardment of Iranian cities.
Biden’s former national security spokesman, Rear Adm. John F. Kirby, has been cited as saying “Ships get tired too, and they get beat up over the course of long deployments.” And ultimately, he explained: “You can’t run a ship that long and that hard and expect her and her crew to perform at peak capacity.”
Skeptics have raised eyebrows at the abundance of major incidents listed as ‘accidents’ by the Pentagon:
Three F-15s shot down.
One KC-135 “crashed”.
The US’ largest aircraft carrier on fire.
Several US troops dead due to “health-related incidents”.
But don’t worry — all of this is pure coincidence and not combat-related. The Pentagon would never lie to you. pic.twitter.com/0HRNyT6cmR
There are some 4,500 crew on board, and as is standard during sensitive deployments and at wartime there’s a communications block-out in effect, at a moment some media correspondents have tried to get quotes and information.
Currently Washington has two carrier strikes groups forming the core of its Iran operations, the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford – and they operate with at least a dozen other supporting warships, including Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
Multiculturalism is on the march in California: A Democratic state lawmaker has introduced a bill to recognize two Muslim holidays as official state holidays.
Fox 11 reports that California State Assembly member Matt Haney (D–San Francisco) has introduced AB 2017, which would designate Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as state holidays and would, in Haney’s words, ensure that Muslims are “seen, valued and treated with the same dignity as every other community in our state.”
According to the New York Post, Eid al-Adha is among the most important holidays in Islam alongside Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan—the month in which faithful Muslims fast from dawn until sunset.
A bill introduced by California State Assembly member Matt Haney would make Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha official state holidays in California. Supporters say the measure would allow students and workers to observe the holidays without penalties and better recognize the state’s… pic.twitter.com/OjDXwB2F2w
— Hot Takes Nobody Asked For (@HotTakesNobody) March 17, 2026
Haney says the California Muslim community is among the largest in the country, yet they do not have major holidays recognized by the state in the way Christianity does—for example, Christmas or Easter.
In a news release, Haney said, “No student should have to choose between celebrating one of the holiest days of their faith and showing up to school, and no worker should feel they have to sacrifice their religious observance.”
AB 2017 is cosponsored by the California chapter of the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR–CA), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization.
CAIR–CA Legislative & Government Affairs Director Oussama Mokeddem celebrated the introduction of AB 2017, saying, “This is a historic moment for California’s over one million Muslims. The climate of heightened fear and anti-Muslim hostility in our country remains a daily reality.”
Mokeddem added, “In this environment, publicly celebrating these holidays is a powerful way for California to show Muslim constituents that their joy, traditions, and presence in our state are deeply valued and protected.”
The bill was also sponsored by the Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs in California, which called it a “step toward ensuring that California’s policies reflect the diversity of the communities that call this state home.”
According to Fox 11, the bill will be heard in the Assembly Governmental Organization and Assembly Public Employment committees over the next few weeks.
If it passes, California would become the second state in the U.S. to formally recognize both Eid holidays.
Democrats Claim Thwarted Terror Attack Proves That Americans Don’t Need Guns
Virginia Democrats have sent a sweeping gun-control package to hard-left Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk this past week. The assault weapons ban was introduced in January at the very start of the expanded Democratic majority’s rule in Richmond and is considered one of the most divisive issues facing Virginia residents as leftists seek to assert dominance over the state.
The firearms ban drafted by Sen. Saddam Salim (an immigrant from Bangledesh) would ban a wide range of firearms and features, including semi-automatic center-fire pistols with magazines exceeding 15 rounds, rifles with detachable magazines and weapons with certain characteristics such as collapsible or thumbhole stocks and threaded barrels.
Salim asserts that there are “so many assault weapons in circulation” and that his bill will “gradually” take them off the street, but stop short of retroactively criminalizing possession of any of the slew of newly-categorized “assault weapons.”
As we have seen in progressive controlled countries like Canada and Australia this past year, though, the leftist strategy is always to ban new guns first, then move to confiscation later. It’s a primary reason why Democrats in the US can never be allowed to take majority power in the US again.
The Virginia legislation is considered one of the worst attacks on the 2nd Amendment in recent memory by gun control advocates, and has triggered a series of pro-2A protests at the state capitol.
🚨JUST IN: Pro-2A activists were seen handing out free 30-round AR-15 magazines outside the Virginia State Capitol ahead of a bill that is expected to ban their sale in the state.
In the wake of this attempt to disarm law abiding Virginia citizens, a former Army National Guard member (Mohamed Bailor Jalloh) who had spent eight years in prison for attempting to aid the Islamic State, opened fire on a classroom at Virginia’s Old Dominion University last week. The terrorist screamed “Allahu Akbar”, shooting one person and wounding two others before ROTC students subdued him and, reportedly, stabbed him with a knife and beat him to death with their bare hands.
The incident was just one example of multiple Islamic attacks that were thwarted by regular citizens in the past two weeks. Rather than praising the actions of the ROTC students as a shining example of American bad-assery, Virginia Democrats have decided to use the event as a rationale to push forward their gun ban. They claim that the students successful unarmed self defense is proof that civilians don’t actually need guns to protect themselves from mass shooters.
BREAKING – Virginia Democrats are now using the ODU shooting, in which a Muslim was disarmed by ROTC cadets who did not have weapons themselves, to push their new gun control agenda.
“It’s not true that you need a gun to fight back, because those cadets didn’t.” pic.twitter.com/UH1zaOYNlv
— Right Angle News Network (@Rightanglenews) March 15, 2026
It’s hard to wrap one’s mind around the insanity of this argument. Obviously, those students would have preferred to have firearms on hand to defend themselves, rather than just a knife or their mitts. And, it is likely that had they been armed, the attacker would not have had the opportunity to shoot three people. Furthermore, not all mass shootings occur in close quarters where victims have the option of engaging hand-to-hand.
The attack itself was clearly designed to send a message that America’s young military trainees are not safe at home, but only because they are stuck on campuses where concealed carry is prohibited. The need for an armed citizenry has never been more apparent, given the number of left-wing and Islamic inspired terror attacks in the past couple years. But Democrats are not truly concerned about public safety.
Virginia’s new left-wing state government has, for some reason, made firearms bans their first and most important legislative goal. This is taking place at a time when gun restrictions are in retreat due to growing court challenges across the US. One has to wonder if Virginia Democrats are disappointed that Mohamed Bailor Jalloh was killed before he could shoot more people.
Now they have to try and make lemonade from lemons by spinning the heroic actions of Virginia students against an active shooter into a “we told you so” moment for gun control.
A new bill introduced last week in the Kansas Legislature would prohibit government agencies, employers, schools, and businesses from denying services or employment based on a person’s medical decisions, including whether they accept or refuse vaccines, tests, masks, or other medical interventions.
The legislation, Kansas Senate Bill 522, was introduced March 2, 2026, during the 2025–2026 legislative session and is currently pending before the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee, where lawmakers are scheduled to consider the measure in a committee hearing.
The bill was requested for introduction by the Kansas Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs, a legislative committee responsible for advancing policy proposals related to statewide governance and regulatory matters.
SB522 would establish the “Kansas Medical Freedom Act,” prohibiting both government and private entities from denying services, employment, access to events, or public benefits based on whether an individual accepts or refuses a medical intervention.
The legislation defines “medical intervention” broadly to include vaccines, masks, diagnostic tests, medications, devices, and other health-related treatments.
Under the proposal:
Private businesses could not deny services or access to individuals based on their use or refusal of medical interventions.
Employers—both public and private—could not require medical interventions as a condition of employment.
Schools, conferences, and educational institutions could not require medical interventions for entry or participation.
Government agencies could not condition licenses, permits, benefits, or access to public buildings or transportation on compliance with a medical intervention.
The bill also states that these protections would apply even during declared emergencies, meaning they could not be suspended during a public health crisis or state of emergency.
Individuals who believe their rights were violated under the law could file complaints with the Kansas Attorney General, who would be authorized to investigate and impose civil penalties of up to $50,000 per violation.
Strengths of the Bill – & Areas Lawmakers May Want to Strengthen
One of the strongest provisions of SB522 appears in Section 5, which states:
“The provisions of this act shall apply at all times and shall not be suspended, nullified or otherwise disregarded during any declared emergency, public health crisis or state of emergency issued by any local, state or federal authority.”
This language is significant because pandemic mandates were largely justified under emergency powers.
By stating the law cannot be suspended during emergencies—including those declared by federal authorities—the bill attempts to close the same legal pathway used during COVID-19 to impose vaccine mandates, mask mandates, and other public health orders.
At the same time, several areas could be strengthened before final passage.
First, while the bill is titled as legislation “relating to medical mandates,” its core mechanism is to prohibit the penalties used to enforce those mandates. The bill bars governments, employers, schools, and businesses from denying employment, services, or access to venues based on an individual’s acceptance or refusal of a medical intervention. By removing the primary enforcement tools used during COVID—such as job loss, service denial, or exclusion from public spaces—the legislation effectively makes medical mandates extremely difficult to enforce in practice. Lawmakers may nevertheless wish to clarify this further by explicitly stating that governments cannot impose universal mandates for vaccines, testing, masking, or other medical interventions.
Second, the bill does not address quarantine or isolation powers, which were heavily used during the COVID response. Current public health statutes often allow officials to restrict movement or isolate individuals during outbreaks. Legislators could consider adding due-process protections, such as requiring individualized medical evidence or court orders.
Third, although the bill effectively blocks discrimination tied to vaccination status, it does not explicitly prohibit vaccine passport systems. Stating this directly could remove ambiguity.
Fourth, the legislation does not address insurance or financial discrimination tied to medical decisions, such as premium surcharges or employer penalties imposed on individuals who decline certain medical interventions.
Finally, enforcement depends largely on investigations by the Kansas Attorney General, who may issue civil penalties for violations. Some lawmakers may consider adding a clearer private right of action, allowing individuals to sue directly if their rights under the law are violated.
Taken together, SB522 represents a significant attempt to prevent COVID-style medical mandates and discrimination, while leaving several areas where lawmakers could further strengthen the protections before the bill reaches final passage.
Tulsi Too? GOP Hits Back After Counterterrorism Chief Quits; Says Iran Threat To Americans Was ‘Imminent’
Update (1902ET): DNI Tulsi Gabbard (yes that Tulsi Gabbard) backed Johnson and Trump officials claiming that Iran posed an imminent threat, posting on X;
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is responsible for helping coordinate and integrate all intelligence to provide the President and Commander in Chief with the best information available to inform his decisions.
After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion.
I get that someone might stay in an administration to use their influence to steer it in a better direction.
But Tulsi has zero influence. She’s a joke. Trump said he didn’t give a shit what she thinks. And worse, she’s dumping on Joe Kent for his act of conscience and courage. pic.twitter.com/SUGPfG39KI
Update (1220ET): Shortly after the departure of Joe Kent as director of the National Counterterrorism Center over the Iran war – insisting that Iran posed “no imminent threat to our nation,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) insisted there was.
“I’m on the Gang of Eight. I got all the briefings. We all understood there was clearly an imminent threat,” Johnson said during a press conference, referring to the classified briefings that top Congressional leaders receive. “I don’t know where Joe Kent is getting his information, but he wasn’t in those briefings, clearly.”
Mike Johnson: “We all understood there was clearly an imminent threat that Iran was very close to the enrichment of nuclear capability … I don’t know where Joe Kent is getting his information … the president felt he had to strike first to prevent mass casualties” pic.twitter.com/r9VgPqfW8Y
Top Democrats who were in those meetings, however, disagree – saying they were not presented with evidence of an imminent attack from Iran, according to The Hill.
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In a massive break from President Trump and MAGA, Joe Kent, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), announced his immediate resignation on Tuesday, citing irreconcilable opposition to the ongoing U.S. military operations against Iran.
Kent declared he could not “in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” stating unequivocally that Iran posed “no imminent threat to our nation” and that the conflict was initiated “due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.” The move comes weeks into active strikes targeting Iranian nuclear sites, leadership, and infrastructure, with Iranian retaliation underway and global oil markets feeling the strain.
After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today.
I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this… pic.twitter.com/prtu86DpEr
Kent, a retired Green Beret with 11 combat deployments, former CIA paramilitary officer, and Gold Star husband who lost his wife Shannon in a 2019 ISIS-claimed suicide bombing in Syria, framed his exit as a defense of the “America First” principles Trump championed during his 2016, 2020, and 2024 campaigns. He praised Trump’s first term for decisively striking Qasem Soleimani and defeating ISIS without escalating into endless wars, noting that until June 2025, Trump recognized Middle East conflicts as a “trap” draining American lives and wealth. However, Kent alleges that “early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign” that undermined Trump’s platform, deceived him into believing Iran posed an imminent threat with a “clear path to a swift victory,” and echoed tactics used to draw the U.S. into the “disastrous Iraq war.” He explicitly compares the current situation to Iraq, warning against repeating the mistake that cost thousands of American lives.
“As a veteran who deployed to combat 11 times and as a Gold Star husband who lost my beloved wife Shannon in a war manufactured by Israel, I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people,” Kent wrote.
The resignation carries profound weight as Kent was a Senate-confirmed Trump loyalist installed in July 2025, not a career holdover. As head of the NCTC – tasked with assessing terrorist threats from Iranian proxies and beyond – Kent is directly challenging the administration’s justification for the conflict. The letter, addressed personally to the president and thanking DNI Tulsi Gabbard, signals deeper fractures in the MAGA coalition or prompts a policy pivot, Kent’s bombshell exit underscores the high personal and political stakes of America’s latest Middle East engagement.
The resignation effectively places Kent within a growing bloc of Republicans who have opposed the Iran campaign from the outset, elevating what had been a vocal but limited faction into a more institutionally significant challenge to the administration’s approach.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), longtime advocates of non-interventionist “America First” foreign policy, were among the earliest critics of the strikes, warning they risk entangling the U.S. in another costly and open-ended Middle East conflict. Both have argued in recent weeks that the operation mirrors the strategic missteps that led to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, calling for de-escalation and greater congressional oversight.
The most prominent political voice amplifying that message has been former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who has emerged as one of the war’s fiercest critics within Trump’s base. Since the first strikes in late February, Greene has repeatedly denounced the operation in media appearances and on social platforms, calling it a betrayal of Trump’s campaign pledge to avoid new foreign entanglements.
On Saturday, Greene told CNN that the Republican base is fractured“along generational lines.”
“Many of the older Americans from the Baby Boomer generation that watch Fox News all day long very much believe the talking points on Fox News, and they have spent decades of their lives convinced that fighting these wars is the right thing to do,” she explained.
Marjorie Taylor Greene: “It’s turned into some perverted, deranged version of MAGA now that nobody wants” pic.twitter.com/OceBnJpLnp
Meanwhile, the knives are out. Trump’s former Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich said that Kent is a “crazed egomaniac who was often at the center of national security leaks, while rarely (never?) producing any actual work.”
Joe Kent is a crazed egomaniac who was often at the center of national security leaks, while rarely (never?) producing any actual work.
He spent all of his time working to subvert the chain of command and undermine the President of the United States.
Iran Confirms Death Of Ali Larijani In Another Key Loss Of Leadership
Summary:
Iranian state media confirms deaths of top national security chief Larijani and Basij chief Gholamreza Soleimani. Israel issues widest evacuation order for Lebanon since the major 2006 war.
Russia is trying to keep its regional ally Iran “in the fight”; Pentagon eyes ramping up Kamikaze drone use and production.
Trump: War will be over “soon” after which “oil prices will drop like a rock”; We are “not ready to leave Iran yet” but will in “near future”. Brushes off potential for ‘Vietnam-style quagmire.’Trump on China and delayed Xi meeting – “Looks like it’ll happen in five weeks.”
Macron: “We are not party to the conflict and therefore France will never take part in operations to open” Strait of Hormuz. Trump says we don’t need NATO. Key NATO states are refusing to join US efforts to secure Hormuz, amid lack of confidence in Trump’s often shifting articulation of operation.
New oil targeting phase as Tehran pledges to be gatekeeper of Hormuz: Ships pass only “in coordination” with Tehran – talk of separate deal-making with BRICS capitals.
* * *
State Media Confirms Larijani Death
It’s official: Iranian state media confirmed late Tuesday that Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, is dead, hours after Israel first announced he and another senior Iranian official were killed in overnight airstrikes
“Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, has been martyred,” the Fars News Agency wrote on X, translated from Persian. “Martyr Ali Larijani, one of the country’s prominent and prudent officials, along with his son, one of his deputies, and a group of bodyguards, was targeted by American and Zionist regime fighter jets at his daughter’s home in the Pardis area and was martyred,” the news agency wrote in follow-up.
Larijani was speaker of Iran’s parliament until 2020, is the second most senior Iranian official to be assassinated since Ayatollah Ali Khameini was killed on the first day of the war. One problem this potentially presents is that it will now by anything but clear what official external states can deal with, in terms of potential negotiations to wind down or end the war.
Internationalization of Kamikaze Drone War over Gulf
On Tuesday afternoon the WSJ is reporting on two trends which suggesting a creeping internationalization of the Iran conflict. First, it says Russia is trying to keep its regional ally Iran “in the fight” through expanded intelligence-sharing. “Russia has been expanding its intelligence sharing and military cooperation with Iran, providing satellite imagery and improved drone technology to aid Tehran’s targeting of U.S. forces in the region, people familiar with the matter said,” the publication writes. This might prolong the war, keeping the US and Israel bogged down, to the geostrategic benefit of Moscow. There are reports that China too is doing more to step up support, but there’s little in the way of specifics that can ultimately be verified. Are superpowers starting to get into a drone-lobbing competition over the Gulf?
The technology provided includes components of modified Shahed drones, which are meant to improve communication, navigation and targeting, the people said. Russia has also been drawing on its experience using drones in Ukraine, offering tactical guidance on how many drones should be used in operations and what altitudes they should strike from, said the people, who included a senior European intelligence officer. –WSJ
Another big headline, from the same publication, is that the Pentagon is looking to mass produce a kamikaze drone the U.S. recently used to strike Iran – this according to a top US defense official. “The one-way attack drone, called Lucas, is an American-made copy of Iran’s Shahed drones, which have terrorized Iran’s neighbors in the current conflict with the U.S. and Israel,” the WSJ writes.
The Pentagon plans to mass-produce the LUCAS kamikaze drone after successful use in recent strikes on Iran.
A top defense official said it has performed well and is being refined for large-scale production.
“After only a few years, we continue to refine that and make that something that we can mass produce at scale,” Emil Michael, the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, was quoted as saying. “They’ve worked very well so far and it’s proven out to be a useful tool in the arsenal. It was further reported SpektreWorks has manufactured “dozens” of the drones – but it’s unclear how many have been used in combat.
Trump: “Not Ready to Leave Iran Yet” But Will in “Near Future”
President Trump met with Irish Prime Minister Taoiseach Micheál Martin on Tuesday late morning in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, and the Q&A focused almost exclusively on Iran, with Trump again signaling an eventual US exit from the Iran war – but not just yet, and really with no set timeline (amid at least a “five week” delay until Xi summit). “We’re not ready to leave yet, but we will be leaving in the near future,” he said, adding that US-Israeli strikes have set Iran back so severely it could take “a decade” to rebuild.
Important: Trump on China and Xi meeting – “Looks like it’ll happen in five weeks.”
Crucially (and alarmingly) Trump also brushed off warnings from Tehran that deploying US ground troops could trigger a Vietnam-style quagmire. “No, I’m not afraid of – I’m really not afraid of anything,” he said.
At the same time, Trump is lashing out at NATO allies for sitting on the sidelines. “We help them, and they didn’t help us, and I think that’s a very bad thing for NATO,” Trump said. “Everyone agrees with this, but they don’t want to help,” he said.
Still, he stopped short of threatening immediate consequences, calling it simply “not good for a partnership.” All the while, Trump kept touting that the world faced “nuclear holocaust” from Iran if he didn’t give the order to attack. He even claimed nuclear conflict would have reached Europe if he hadn’t taken action.
BREAKING: TRUMP SAYS HE IS NOT AFRAID TO PUT BOOTS ON THE GROUND IN IRAN:
Q: Are you afraid that if you put boots on the ground in Iran, it could be another Vietnam?
US Doesn’t Need NATO to Help with Iran Mission: Trump
President Trump is not happy with NATO and is letting the world know it. First countries like Spain, Germany, and Greece made it clear they would not heed his call for a coalition to open the Strait of Hormuz, and on Tuesday France’s Macron stated it is “not our war”.
Trump said in a fresh Truth Social Post “I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need.” And more:
Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer “need,” or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea. In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World…
Without doubt, these countries have memories of Iraq and Afghanistan, which were multi-national efforts (and largely failures in terms of becoming unanticipated ‘forever wars’ and quagmires).
Macron: France Won’t Join Trump’s Hormuz Ops
President Emmanuel Macron has just slammed the door on Trump in a huge way, though he did so in his classic meager and weak, somewhat ambiguous fashion.
He said Tuesday that though France will not immediately take part in efforts to militarily unblock the Hormuz Strait, it will continue to prepare for a potential future coalition that could provide freedom of navigation once the conflict ends.
“We are not party to the conflict and therefore France will never take part in operations to open or liberate the Strait of Hormuz in the current context,” Macron said at the start of a cabinet meeting.
As a reminder, Trump on Monday said of Macron: “I have spoken to him. On a scale of 0 to 10, he’s been an eight. Not perfect, but it’s France…” And the US president added, “I think he’s going to help. I spoke to him yesterday. I don’t do a hard sell on them because my attitude is that we don’t need anybody. We’re the strongest nation in the world. We have the strongest military by far in the world.”
Expanding Lebanon War: IDF Issues Widest Evacuation Order Since 2006
A new – or perhaps it should be renewed – ground war between Israel and Lebanon has fully opened, also as Beirut continues to get hit from the air. Israel told residents of southern Lebanon that its military would be conducting airstrikes against Hezbollah. The area under immediate evacuation orders is seeing the biggest Israeli-drive evacuation going all the way back to the major 2006 war.
“Remaining south of the Zahrani River could endanger your life and the lives of your families,” the Israeli military’s Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X. Israeli officials have meanwhile signaled readiness to fight in Lebanon even beyond the conclusion of the Iran war, which itself hasn’t been subject of a timeline.
⚡️U.S KC-135 refuelling tanker seen in the background of an interception above Israel pic.twitter.com/orFDwBFztZ
Via Rabobank note: Trump has announced his long-awaited looming trip to Beijing is unlikely to happen because of the war: he wants a delay of a month or so. In short, only if the war ends without a US retreat can Trump and Xi discuss the US-China relationship.
The messaging is crystal clear. So is that China can get energy from the Western hemisphere to replace Iran and the GCC if needed. So is the US ability to then put a foot on the hosepipe in certain geopolitical circumstances – as it is now doing with Iran at far greater distance, risk, and cost. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t part of a future deal.
Trump said when asked about the trip Monday, “I don’t know, we’re working on that right now.” He added: “We’re speaking to China. I’d love to, but because of the war, I want to be here. I have to be here, I feel.”
Israel Claims Big Decapitation Strike: Larijani & Basij Chief
Israel is making another big ‘decapitation strike’ claim, saying it has taken out Iran’s top security believed to be effectively running the country and the war, Ali Larijani. Israel further announced early Tuesday the longtime head of the Basij militia, Gholamreza Soleimani, was also killed.
If true it would mark one of the most significant blows to Tehran’s leadership since the war began. But in classic fog-of-war fashion, Tehran is pushing back against Israeli statements. Tehran has presented a handwritten message attributed to him, though not exactly what passes for proof of life.
The note was released ahead of funeral ceremonies for Iranian sailors killed in a recent US strike, and urges citizens to show support for the national ‘martyrs’ – but in the end does little to clarify whether Larijani is alive or dead. Just days ago he was seen marching defiantly in the streets of Tehran with other high-ranking officials as US-Israeli bombs fell not too far away.
The IDF announcement proclaiming his alleged death:
🔴Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and the regime’s effective leader, has been eliminated.
Throughout the years, Larijani was considered one of the most veteran and senior figures within the Iranian regime leadership, and was a close associate… pic.twitter.com/kBIgSSGBm0
“The martyrdom of the brave members of the Navy of the Army of the Islamic Republic in Dena is part of the sacrifices of the proud nation that has emerged in this time of struggle against international oppressors,” Larijani wrote, in what could prove to be his last message. If he is deceased, he is likely to quickly be replaced.
No Peace Yet: Must Be ‘Brought to Their Knees’
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is calling on citizens to flood the streets for mass funerals of sailors killed when the IRIS Dena was sunk off the coast of Sri Lanka. Enemies “should know that in the shadow of the name of each of these high-ranking martyrs, thousands of other brave men will rise,” he said.
Most importantly, he announced that Islamic Republic leadership is rejecting any talk of de-escalation. Iran will exact a steep cost against its aggressors, he vowed. It is not “the right time for peace until the United States and Israel are brought to their knees, accept defeat, and pay compensation,” a senior official was quoted in Al Jazeera as saying, describing the position as “very tough and serious.”
Iran’s messaging here has been consistent. On Monday when President Trump claimed Tehran was “talking” – and later there were reports of text messages between Iran’s FM Araghchi and White House envoy Steve Witkoff, Iran’s government was quick to call this fake news.
“We don’t ask for ceasefire, but this war must end, in a way that our enemies never again think about repeating such attacks,” Araghchi has said. Central Israel has also continued to see inbound projectiles, also from Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iran: Hormuz Isn’t Officially Shut, But it Controls Who Gets Through
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei pushed back on blockade claims, while signaling Tehran is effectively managing traffic through the critical chokepoint – as it tries to play nice with its BRICS allies but tries to keep the leverage on Washington, its allies, and the global economy.
“Ships from some countries passed through the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said, framing Iran’s position as ultimately as the gatekeeper of the world’s most important oil artery. “Iran has always been the guardian of the Strait of Hormuz and the safe passage of ships.”
This could include pledges for Indian, Chinese, and Russian safe passage – and there’s been evidence of some of these getting through, just as in the Houthis Red Sea crisis of last year.
On Tuesday, Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said: “The Strait of Hormuz cannot be the same as before and return to its previous conditions,” adding that “there is no longer any security.”
Bombardment of US Bases, Embassy, Oil Sites
“We have no hostility toward regional countries,” Baghad also said. “What we target are American bases and assets.” This after a likely Iranian-made drone hit the US Embassy in Baghad to start of this week, and also a drone slammed into the central Al-Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad’s highly protected Green Zone.
Air defenses in the Green Zone engaged incoming threats, but to no avail – the drones still got through. At the same time, energy infrastructure is increasingly in the crosshairs.
A drone attack forced the shutdown of a gas field in Abu Dhabi, while a tanker was reportedly hit by an “unknown projectile” near a UAE oil port – only adding more pressure to already volatile markets and pushing oil prices higher.
C-RAM System reportedly seen in action, but is Green Zone’s defense crumbling?
An Iranian-backed militia successfully used a (likely fiber optic) FPV drone to carry out a reconnaissance mission through the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad yesterday.
Seen here, the drone flies unchallenged through the embassy complex for nearly two minutes. pic.twitter.com/S1Ky3eVUv0
Still, amid all this, NATO allies are holding back – perhaps confused and lacking confidence in President Trump’s daily shifting rhetoric, and as sometimes Trump issues contradictory messaging on the same day, or even in the very same presser.
“What does … Donald Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful US Navy cannot do?” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters on Monday. “This is not our war, we have not started it.“
Some leading NATO powers have made clear they won’t directly support any military effort to unblock the strait – including Germany, Italy, and Spain.
President Trump himself has conceded this week of Western partners: “Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some aren’t. Some are countries that we’ve helped for many, many years. We’ve protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren’t that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me.” Naturally they might be looking back only to last year and the Gaza War, when the major US-led naval coalition in the Red Sea struggled to halt Houthi attacks on global shipping, resulting in a stalemate and uneasy status quo where the Iran-linked Houthis built a lot of leverage.
Iran’s “New Phase Of Oil War”
Bloomberg Opinion and commodities columnist Javier Blas has written on X. “Further ominous developments today. For the first time, Iran successfully targeted oil and gas production facilities, rather than refining, terminals, and storage,”
Blas listed the IRGC’s attacks on Gulf oil and gas facilities:
Oil and gas field in the UAE (Shah) hit
Oil field in Iraq (Majnoon) attacked
Plus Saudi Arabia saw large drone swarms
He explained that these attacks suggest “Iran has started a new phase of its oil war” against Gulf states aligned with the US. “Tehran is clearly going after the Strait of Hormuz bypass route, with Fujairah (UAE) coming under attack. But so far, the Saudi pipeline bypass hasn’t been attacked, and neither the Yemeni Houthis have tried to close the Red Sea,” Blas said. Brent crude has jumped more than 40% since the start of Operation Epic Fury in late February, but out-of-control spikes in crude markets have largely been capped so far by the IEA’s 32-nation “historic” emergency SPR release. Read our fuller analysis here.
The federal Iraqi government is in contact with Iran to persuade Tehran to allow some Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, Iraq’s Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani said on Tuesday.
“There is communication with Iran regarding allowing the passage of some Iraqi oil tankers,” the minister said in statements carried by the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
Iraq, unlike Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), doesn’t have any options – even partial – to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, which has been closed for over two weeks now, forcing Baghdad to slash oil production as storage sites and tankers available in the Gulf filled up.
Iraq was the first to announce more than a week ago it was slashing crude oil production amid the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
“That Wasn’t Public”: Trump Stuns Johnson By Blurting Out GOP Rep.’s Dire Medical Condition
President Donald Trump casually revealed Monday that Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL) was facing a terminal heart diagnosis and would have been “dead by June” without the president stepping in to connect him with top White House doctors.
The stunning disclosure came during a White House lunch with Kennedy Center Board members, where Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) chatted with reporters about the brutal Republican math of holding onto power with just a couple-vote edge.
President Trump on Rep. Neal Dunn’s initial terminal diagnosis: “He would be dead by June.”
“Death is very bad when you’re the speaker, and you have a majority of two or three. But we had it, and then we had another death,” Trump said. “We had one man who was very ill. It looked like he wasn’t going to make it. I don’t know. I don’t I won’t mention his name.“
Then the president went straight for it: “He would be dead by June.”
Johnson looked blindsided, quipping, “That wasn’t public, but, yeah, it was grim.”
The speaker quickly identified the mystery lawmaker as Dunn, the Panhandle Republican who’s a retired surgeon himself.
“Congressman Neal Dunn of Florida had had some real health challenges, and it was very serious,” Johnson explained. “And I mentioned it to the president, and I said, ‘Congressman Dunn is a real champion and a patriot, because he’s still coming to work, and if others got this diagnosis, they would be apt to go home and retire.’”Trump pressed: “What was the diagnosis?”
“I think it was a terminal diagnosis,” Johnson replied, prompting Trump’s blunt follow-up, saying, “dead by June.”
Trump then credited his fast action of hooking Dunn up with White House physicians and specialists for the dramatic turnaround, giving the congressman a “new lease on life” and sparing Republicans a devastating special-election headache.
Dunn announced back in January he won’t seek a sixth term and will retire at the end of this Congress.
The Trump administration is working on securing alternative fertilizer supplies for U.S. farmers as conflict with Iran threatens shipping through the Gulf, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on March 17.
Washington had already taken steps to offset potential shortages, including authorizing increased production in Venezuela and opening discussions with Morocco, Hassett said, speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
“We’ve put established licenses for Venezuela to produce more fertilizer. We’ve had discussions with Morocco, which has the largest reserve of potash anywhere on Earth,” the White House adviser said.
“And so we’ve been all over the fertilizer problem. And I’m not saying that we can eliminate what disruption there is so far, but we can minimize it for sure.”
Fertilizer is critical to crop yields and the global food supply. Most fertilizers contain nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, the three primary nutrients needed for plant growth, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Because of its importance, fertilizer supply disruptions can ripple through food systems.
The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz following the onset of the Iran war last month has led to a sharp disruption to global shipping, particularly for oil and energy flows, driving up prices and forcing importers to seek alternative routes.
A March 11 report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies said that 20 to 30 percent of global fertilizer exports, including about 35 percent, of urea shipments, transited the Strait of Hormuz in 2023.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned on March 16 that shortages could have long-term consequences.
“If there is a lack of fertilizers this year, there’s going to be also food deprivation next year,” she said.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also cautioned on March 16 that shipping disruptions in the Gulf could drive up global food prices because fertilizers move through the region.
Hassett acknowledged disruptions could not be fully eliminated but said they could be reduced.
Asked whether alternative supplies would be prioritized for domestic use, Hassett said the focus was squarely on U.S. agriculture. He said fertilizer supplies were a top concern, because U.S. farmers apply large quantities during the spring planting season.
He noted that common fertilizers include ammonia-, urea- and nitrogen-based products, as well as potash, which is typically applied in the fall but still crucial to crop yields.
“A lot of this stuff is made from liquid natural gas,” Hassett said, adding that one major facility in Qatar supplies a significant share of fertilizer used in the United States. “It supplies maybe about 20 percent of the fertilizer in the U.S.,” he said.
Supply Chains
Fertilizer distribution in the United States depends on a complex transportation network linking imports, domestic production, and inland distribution.
According to U.S. Department of Agriculture transportation data, imports typically arrive at major ports on dry bulk vessels or enter by rail from Canada, then move inland by barge, rail, pipeline, and truck.
In the Middle East region, Saudi Arabia accounted for 24 percent of U.S. phosphorus fertilizer imports and 4 percent of nitrogen fertilizer imports over the past year. Israel supplied 16 percent of U.S. phosphorus fertilizer imports, while Lebanon accounted for 5 percent.
Import volumes also follow a seasonal pattern tied to farming cycles. USDA data show shipments rise sharply in late winter and early spring ahead of planting, fall during the growing season, and increase again toward winter preparation.
Between February 2025 and January 2026, potassium imports were consistently the largest, at roughly 928,000 tons in April and about 573,000 tons in December.
Nitrogen imports peaked at around 923,000 tons in March 2025, then dropped from nearly 360,000 tons to around 309,000 tons in June and July, respectively, while phosphorus imports were far smaller and more variable.
War Outlook, Economic Impact
Hassett expressed confidence that the conflict would be relatively short, citing the administration’s planning and coordination with allies.
“We are basically getting briefed on every nuance of the war every day and then thinking through the economic implications,” he told CNBC on March 17, adding that officials had prepared for disruptions across sectors “from fertilizer to getting fuel to the West Coast.”
He said the administration believed the conflict would last weeks rather than months, consistent with President Donald Trump’s earlier timeline.
“The bottom line is that the timeline that President Trump has stated over and over is that it’s a four- to six-week war and that we’re ahead of schedule,” Hassett said.
Despite higher fuel costs, he said the U.S. economy remained resilient.
“The U.S. economy is fundamentally sound,” he stated, adding that Iran had not significantly damaged U.S. economic performance.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 16, officially creating an anti-fraud task force headed by Vice President JD Vance, a job that could be one of the most important in the country, the president said during an Oval Office signing ceremony.
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson will serve as co-chair of the task force alongside Vance, Trump said, calling both men “extremely brilliant and just very talented.”
Their work could return hundreds of billions of dollars to American taxpayers, Trump said.
Officials have estimated that fraudsters steal up to $300 billion per year from government programs across the nation.
“This is a very big thing that we’re doing,” the president said.
“The kind of money we’re talking about is country-changing.”
Referring to Ferguson and Vance, Trump said, “If you guys can’t do it, we’ve got a problem—because nobody else will be able to do it.”
The executive order formalizes an announcement that Trump made during his Feb. 24 State of the Union address, when he announced that Vance, who is a lawyer, would spearhead a “war on fraud” for the White House.
Trump said fraud would be targeted “wherever it’s taking place” and denied critics’ accusation of political motivations for the fraud crackdown. However, he said, the problem seems to be dominant in Democrat-controlled states such as Minnesota. Trump said he believes that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) are both “complicit” in that state’s fraud problem.
The Epoch Times sought comment from Walz and Omar but did not immediately receive a response.
Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, said illegal immigrants are using benefits from government programs, and he believes that this is the “first-ever effort in American history” to reclaim trillions of dollars in government benefits that were taken improperly.
“If all of it were stopped, it would be enough to balance the budget. The extraction of wealth from American taxpayers to people who don’t belong here is the primary cause of the national debt,” Miller said.
As soon as he started looking into fraud, Vance said, it became apparent that “one big hold that existed is that the agencies of the government weren’t actually talking to each other.” He said the president’s order will fix one major issue: how agencies share information.
Ferguson said millions of Americans pay into these programs for “completely fake businesses,” robbing people who ought to receive that help.
About three weeks ago, Vance and Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, temporarily withheld $259 million in Medicaid from the state of Minnesota, following reports of rampant fraud in that state.
Although billions of dollars’ worth of fraud also has surfaced in California, Minnesota’s fraud problems have been a focal point for months, leading to multiple federal investigations and congressional hearings.
On March 4, Walz and the state’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, testified to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
During the hearing, both men defended their work, but congressmen pointed out that payments kept flowing to recipients who were suspected of fraud dating back to 2020.
Walz, in written testimony filed with the committee, said, “In Minnesota, if you defraud public programs, if you steal taxpayer money, we will find you, we will prosecute you, we will convict you, and we will throw you in jail.”
He acknowledged that the governor has an important role in fighting fraud and that “the buck ultimately stops” with him.
“I do not shy away from that responsibility, and I am prepared—as I have always been—to have a serious conversation with our federal partners about how to ensure fraudsters cannot take advantage of Minnesota taxpayers,” Walz wrote.
In addition to federal actions, numerous states are trying to clamp down on fraud.
The State Financial Officers Foundation—which includes members from 28 mostly conservative states—has been working to root out fraud. It found $5.7 billion in waste and returned $22.3 billion to taxpayers, according to that group’s 2025 report, released in February.
