Source: Axios
“President Trump on Tuesday attacked European allies for not doing more to support the U.S. in its war with Iran and signaled they will have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz on their own. This was the third time in recent days that Trump signaled publicly he could end the war in Iran without reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. would be leaving other countries to clean up a hugely consequential economic quagmire and restore the flow of roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply. When asked about Trump’s post on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stopped short of calling the strait’s reopening a core objective.” (03/31/26)
https://www.axios.com/2026/03/31/trump-europe-strait-hormuz-iran-uk-france
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Snider
“As recently as March 3, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi said the IAEA ‘has found no evidence that Iran is building a nuclear bomb.’ On March 18, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told a Senate Intelligence Committee that since the first round of bombing Iran in Operation Midnight Hammer, ‘[t]here has been no efforts … to try to rebuild their enrichment capability.’ … The United States opted for an offensive war of choice. The White House made that choice unilaterally. That is not hegemony: that is primacy that expects its vassal states to follow. NATO allies and EU friends were not consulted. Gulf States and Muslim partners lobbied with ferocity against it. Neither the American relationship with NATO nor with the Gulf States will end, but both have been badly damaged and will not look the same in the future.” (03/31/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_snider/2026/03/30/in-iran-the-us-manufactured-an-enemy-and-lost-all-its-friends
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Trump Looking For ‘Off-Ramp?’ It’s Not That Easy.” (03/31/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1vJpPrBpPmOJE
Source: CBS News
“The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in favor of a Colorado counselor who challenged a state law that bans ‘conversion therapy’ for minors, ruling that lower courts failed to apply ‘sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny’ in the case. The high court ruled 8-1 that Colorado’s law, when applied to talk therapy provided by counselor Kaley Chiles, regulates speech based on viewpoint. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the lone dissenter. The Supreme Court reversed a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit that found the law did not violate Chiles’ free-speech rights. The appeals court instead concluded that it regulates professional conduct and only incidentally burdens speech. The ruling from the high court is a narrow one and requires the lower courts to apply a more stringent level of review when evaluating the constitutionality of Colorado’s law.” (03/31/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-colorado-conversion-therapy-ban-chiles-v-salazar/
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“As it happens, I’m extremely skeptical of ‘conversion therapy.’ So far as I can tell, sexual orientation isn’t something that can be consciously/intentionally altered using talk or any other kind of ‘therapy.’ Nor, for that matter, is it a ‘medical condition’ at all. It doesn’t need to be ‘treated.’ It’s just a characteristic (and perhaps an evolving, rather than static/permanent characteristic) that people discover in themselves. But that doesn’t mean people shouldn’t be able to think or say otherwise, or to attempt to ‘convert’ consenting others through speech. Note the qualifier: ‘Consenting.'” (03/31/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20471
Source: USA Today
“President Donald Trump moved to exert federal control over voter rolls and mail-in ballots with an executive order that cracks down on a form of voting he frequently criticizes, even as he used it to cast his own ballot this year. … Trump’s order requires the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate with the Social Security Administration to create lists of voting-age U.S. citizens who are residents of each state and transmit them to state voting officials at least 60 days before an election. The U.S. Postal Service would then oversee mail-in ballots, with the order directing the agency to develop rules establishing ‘uniform standards’ for the ballots and preventing it from transmitting ballots of individuals who are not approved. … States have the authority under the Constitution over ‘the times, places, and manner’ of federal elections.
Source: Reason
by Eric Boehm
“Ten years ago today, Donald Trump said he would pay off the national debt in the span of just eight years. That did not happen. Instead, the gross national debt has doubled since that day — from about $19 trillion to over $39 trillion. Much of that additional borrowing has taken place during Trump’s five-plus years in the White House. The gap between Trump’s outlandish promise and the brutal fiscal reality of the past decade is not just a political gotcha. It’s also an apt illustration of how far and how fast the debt has spiraled. And it’s a painful reminder of a missed opportunity that Americans will be facing for a long, long time. The bill for these 10 years of fiscal profligacy will be coming due long after Trump has finally departed from the political scene.” (03/31/26)
https://reason.com/2026/03/31/10-years-ago-today-trump-promised-to-eliminate-the-national-debt-instead-it-has-doubled/
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Ukrainian drones have struck Russia’s Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga for the fifth time in 10 days, as Kyiv continues to step up attacks on Russia’s oil export infrastructure. Regional governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Tuesday that three people, including two children, were treated for injuries and several buildings were damaged in the overnight attacks. … Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russia’s oil export infrastructure over the past month, launching its heaviest drone attacks of the more than four-year war against the Baltic ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk. … The European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas and several EU foreign ministers reiterated their support for Ukraine as they arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s massacre in Bucha, where Ukrainian officials and rights groups say Russian troops killed more than 400 people.” (03/31/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/31/drones-strike-russias-ust-luga-port-again-as-eu-officials-visit-ukraine
Source: Pierre Lemieux
by Pierre Lemieux
“To understand politics, we must presume that a head of state or other political ruler is, like the rest of us, primarily concerned with his own interests. When he does favor somebody else’s interests, it is as he interprets them (as a normal human being does toward his children), or simply because he thereby buys the beneficiary’s support. Thus, political and social institutions should be such that when a ruler acts foolishly or self-interestedly, he still furthers the common interests of his subjects (‘citizens’), instead of the interests of a favored group or his own interests against other people.” (03/31/26)
https://pierrelemieux.substack.com/p/dumb-or-self-interested-political
Source: NBC News
“A federal judge in Washington has issued an order temporarily blocking the construction of President Donald Trump’s expansive new White House ballroom and any further demolition of the East Wing. ‘I have concluded that the National Trust is likely to succeed on the merits because no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have,’ wrote U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon, an appointee of President George W. Bush. … Leon paused his order from taking effect for 14 days to allow time for an appeal. The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal roughly 90 minutes after he issued his ruling.” (03/31/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/federal-judge-temporarily-blocks-demolition-white-house-trumps-ballroo-rcna266095
