Trump downplays importance of Russia reportedly sharing intel with Iran to help it hit US targets

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2026/03/07/iran-russia-intelligence-sharing-trump-oil-prices/2382859a-1a87-11f1-aef0-0aac8e8e94db_story.html

President Donald Trump said Saturday that it was inconsequential if Russia has provided Iran with information to help Tehran target U.S. military personnel and assets in the Middle East as the week-old war rages .

The president dismissed the import of such information-sharing after he attended the dignified transfer for six Army reservists who were killed in a drone strike in Kuwait the day after the U.S. and Israel launched a war on Iran that has unsettled the global economy.

The president also waved off a question about how Russia assisting Iran in such a way might affect his view of the U.S.-Russia relationship .

Downplaying the significance of Russia handing off battlespace intelligence to Iran came after the U.S. Treasury Department announced earlier this week that it was temporarily allowing India to keep buying crude oil and petroleum products from Russia for a month, until April 4.

Will Iran undergo a regime change

 https://mishpacha.com/post-iran/

Option number two, a democratic Iran, is the most palatable but least plausible for two reasons.

Historically, more than half of all regime changes since World War II have simply replaced one autocracy with another, and fewer than 25% have resulted in democratic governments. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the numbers are even worse. Since the 2011 Arab Spring, regime changes have occurred in seven nations, most recently in Syria, but only Tunisia has experienced a brief period of democracy.

President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu have both stated that regime change is the overriding goal of the current military campaign. History and the odds are stacked against them, and the campaign must be approached with realistic expectations. Eliminating Iran’s military capabilities — and not leaving them to fight another day under a similar regime — is a more important and more achievable goal.

Jewish Hashkofa?

 

Moshe blamed G-d for the Jews Making Gold Calf

 Kli Yakar (Shemos 32:11) whom You brought out of the land of Egypt. A land full of idolatry, so it’s not so surprising if they were seduced by their old habits.

Rabbeinu Bachya  (Shemos 32:11) “Why, Hashem, should Your anger flare up against Your people, etc.” In Deut. 9,26 Moses elaborates in greater detail about this prayer he offered up pleading with G’d not to destroy the Jewish people. Our sages Shemot Rabbah 43,10, ask why Moses mentioned the Exodus at this time? They answer that Moses asked G’d to consider the background of the Jewish people, where they had been and under what circumstances He had taken them out of a land infested with all kinds of idolatry such as the land of Egypt. After all, it was probably not the first time Israelites had made a cast calf, though they could not make it out of gold because they were too poor. 

Shemos Rabbah (43:10) When Israel made the Golden Calf, God intended to destroy them, but Moses pleaded: ' Lord of the Universe! Didst Thou not bring them forth from Egypt, a place of idol-worshippers?

Tucker Carlson’s New Conspiracy Target: Chabad

 https://collive.com/tucker-carlsons-new-conspiracy-target-chabad/

During a recent monologue, Carlson suggested that the driving force behind Israel’s confrontation with Iran is not based in Israel’s government or military leadership, but in an unexpected place: the headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.

In the segment, Carlson advanced a theory that has been widely condemned as conspiratorial, asserting that Chabad is somehow directing Israel’s war strategy. He went further, alleging that the ultimate objective is to remove Islamic holy sites on the Temple Mount in order to build a Third Temple.

According to Carlson’s claims, the Chabad movement exerts hidden influence over Israeli political and military decision making, allegedly pushing Israel and the West toward broader conflict with Iran. He argued that this supposed agenda is incompatible with Christian beliefs and suggested that Americans are unaware of what he described as a religious motive behind the conflict.

Carlson’s remarks were quickly echoed by commentator Candace Owens, who posted on X amplifying similar accusations. In the post, Owens warned her followers to “be aware of where the Chabad is nearest your home,” and claimed the movement is “a radical sect of mystic occultists that follow the idea of a war messiah.” She also repeated widely disputed allegations about underground tunnels in New York and claimed Chabad groups are “taking over entire towns in New Jersey.”

Tucker Carlson’s latest baseless conspiracy blames Iran war on Chabad movement

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/tucker-carlsons-latest-baseless-conspiracy-blames-iran-war-on-chabad-movement/

New antisemitic theories surfaced this week after the outbreak of the Iran war, with far-right commentators blaming the conflict on the Chabad Hasidic movement, as a Jewish security group warned about potential threats.

The far-right media personality Tucker Carlson led his Wednesday show with baseless claims that the war’s aim was to destroy the Al Aqsa Mosque and rebuild the Jewish temple.

Carlson framed the conflict as a “global religious war,” sparked by Jews and fought between Christians and Muslims.

“Christians have a way of dying disproportionately in these wars, which tells you something about their real motives,” he said.

Israel’s war? Trump faces narrative battle shaping American support against Iran

 https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-888997

In headlines around the world, Rubio’s remarks quickly became this: Israel “dragged” the US into war.

That is a particularly damaging optic – both for Washington and for Jerusalem. It feeds directly into a narrative long advanced by voices on both the far Left and the far Right: the idea that the US is repeatedly being pulled into wars that primarily serve Israeli (read: Jewish) interests.

The “tail wagging the dog” trope is not new. But moments like this give it fresh oxygen.

That battle over perception – over whether this is Washington’s war or Netanyahu’s – may shape the level of support the war receives in the US.

Leading the charge on the far Right was, predictably, Tucker Carlson. On his podcast, he framed the question this way: how did “this tiny country” persuade the world’s greatest superpower – “the greatest military in history” – to do something that would hurt its own interests?

Iran’s regime maintains its grip, despite devastating losses

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/03/05/iran-regime-top-leadership/

Top officials have been heavily targeted, but experts and officials say the ruling structure in Tehran has remained surprisingly resilient.

Trump says the economy ‘went to hell’ under Biden. The opposite is true

 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/mar/16/trump-biden-economy

Donald Trump keeps saying he inherited a terrible economy from Joe Biden and many Americans believe him, even though that’s not true. During his White House marketing event for Tesla on Tuesday, Trump said the US and its economy “went to hell” under Biden. Last week, in his national address to Congress, Trump said: “We inherited from the last administration an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare.”

But the truth is that by standard economic measures, the US economy was in excellent shape when Biden turned over the White House keys to Trump, even though most Americans, upset about inflation, told pollsters the economy was in poor shape.

Trump often says job growth under Biden was terrible, but the fact is that the US added 16.6m jobs during Biden’s presidency, more than during any four-year term of any previous US president. Under Trump, job growth was far worse – during his first four-year term, the nation lost 2.7m jobs overall, making Trump’s presidency the first since Herbert Hoover’s during which the nation suffered a net loss in jobs. The pandemic was largely responsible for this, but even during Trump’s first three years in office, before the pandemic hit, job growth was only half as fast as it was under Biden.

Recently, Trump has repeatedly boasted how his tariffs will bring back manufacturing. Trump fails to note, however, that Biden had considerable success in bringing bring back manufacturing and factory jobs. Under most recent presidents, the US lost manufacturing jobs, but under Biden, the nation gained an impressive 750,000 factory jobs, the most under any president since the 1970s. A big reason for this was that as a result of Biden’s green jobs legislation and the Chips Act to boost semiconductor production, manufacturing investment boomed, more than doubling during Biden’s four years in office.

Trump is right: The economy is strong. But he’s missing the big problem

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/25/economy/economy-trump-sotu-affordability-biden

America’s economy is strong. But Trump is missing the point.

Affordability, not economic strength, drives voters to the polls. Most Americans don’t care a lick about GDP, CPI, PCE or any of the other acronyms or data points that show the economy is on the right track. They care about their job security and those financial fears that keep folks up at night: figuring out how to to pay for groceries, housing, health care, car payments, college and child care – all of which keep getting more expensive.

But Trump’s message largely focused on American exceptionalism, his economic achievements, low inflation and robust foreign investment. He blamed his predecessor for ruining the economy and praised his administration’s work to rescue it.

It hasn’t helped that Trump has called affordability a “hoax” and a battle he has won. In the meantime, Trump’s rah-rah message on the economy and trade is falling on deaf ears and risks making him look out of touch ahead of a crucial election.

In a polarized America, Iran war puts American Jews on the defensive

 https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/03/05/senate-iran-vote-american-jewish-diaspora-operation-roaring-lion/

Tensions among the American public and its leadership over the joint American-Israeli strikes on Iran peaked on Wednesday, when the Senate held a vote on a measure to limit President Donald Trump's authority in Iran. Though it voted against the measure, the criticism – which came primarily from the Democratic camp and framed the campaign as "a war the American public did not want" – also took on an Israeli dimension, with accusations that Israel had forced the hand of the US into yet another operation in Iran, a charge the president flatly rejected, arguing the opposite was true.

Still, the controversy has generated fresh friction within the American Jewish community and in Jewish diaspora communities worldwide, which have faced mounting difficulties since the Hamas attack on October 7.

"This is a critical moment for Israel to understand that the relationship with diaspora Jewry cannot be taken for granted," Ruderman said. "It is a long-term strategic asset built on partnership, listening, and mutual understanding – not only in times of crisis, but also in the day that follows."

Donroe Doctrine - NY Post

 

Trump ousts Noem as frustrations build among White House officials, GOP lawmakers

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/05/politics/kristi-noem-trump-homeland-security-replaced

President Donald Trump said Thursday on social media he was pushing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem out of her position and would nominate Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace her.

Noem, who was tapped by Trump to helm DHS at the start of his administration, has faced growing scrutiny over her conduct in the position, including her alleged romantic relationship with her chief adviser, distribution of the windfall of cash the department has received — particularly for an ad campaign that showcased her prominently — and her conflicting accounts over fatal incidents involving federal immigration agents.

How Americans Feel About Trump’s War With Iran, According to the Latest Polls

 https://time.com/7382231/iran-us-israel-war-support-polling-trump-republicans-democrats/

The majority of Americans disapprove of the strikes that President Donald Trump ordered against Iran over the weekend, early polling shows.

Only 27% of Americans approved of the U.S.-Israeli bombing of Iran, while 43% disapproved, according to a new poll by Reuters/Ipsos conducted over the weekend, before news that six U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iranian retaliatory attacks. And it’s not the only poll.

Trump appeared to shrug off the apparent unpopularity of his moves. In an interview with the New York Post on Monday, he said, “I think that the polling is very good, but I don’t care about polling. I have to do the right thing. I have to do the right thing. This should have been done a long time ago.”