Monday March 16th, 2026
- "It Is Not A Question of Who Is Right Or Wrong But What Is Right Or Wrong That Counts."
- --Geoff Metcalf
- Providing an on line Triage of the news since 1998
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World & Nation
US 'locked and loaded' to destroy Iran’s 'crown jewel' 'if we want,' Trump warns
Kharg Island was struck on Friday as part of Operation Epic Fury
President Donald Trump said Sunday the United States is "locked and
loaded" to destroy Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub, but has chosen
not to do so.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump referenced previous
U.S. strikes on the island, which he described as the country’s "crown
jewel," leaving only the section that handles oil pipelines intact.
"We can do that on five minutes' notice. We have it all locked and
loaded and ready to go if we want to do it," he said. "We chose not to
do it. I chose not to do it again. We'll see what happens."
Trump suggested the threat is intended to pressure Iran into talks,
saying Tehran wants to "negotiate badly" but is not yet ready to make
the concessions the United States expects.
Trump to Announce Ship Escort Coalition in Hormuz
The Trump administration is preparing to announce that
several countries have agreed to form a naval coalition to escort
commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global
shipping lane threatened by Iran's recent actions, The Wall Street
Journal reported Sunday.
The announcement could come as soon as this week, though discussions
are ongoing about whether escort operations would begin immediately or
wait until hostilities in the region subside, the Journal reported.
Trump said Sunday he is pressing several countries to send warships to
help keep the Strait of Hormuz open as oil prices surge amid the
ongoing conflict with Iran.
Starmer Rules Out Joining Wider Iran War, Says Reopening Hormuz Strait Will Not Be Easy
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday Britain would
not be drawn into a wider war in Iran but would work with allies on a
"viable collective plan" to reopen the key Strait of Hormuz, though he
acknowledged that would not be a simple task.
President Donald Trump has heavily criticized Starmer for not initially
supporting the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Tehran, and said at the weekend
that Britain, China, France, Japan, and South Korea should send
warships to the region to reopen the waterway.
Starmer told a press conference that reopening the strait was the only
way to stabilize energy markets, and that he was talking to allies in
Europe, the Gulf and the U.S. on a plan to secure freedom of
navigation. He said it would not be a NATO-led mission.
Trump briefed that Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is probably gay — and president has priceless reaction
President Trump was stunned to learn last week that US intelligence
indicates new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei may be gay — and
that his father, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, feared his
suitability to rule the Islamic Republic for that reason, The Post can
reveal.
Trump couldn’t contain his surprise and laughed aloud when he was briefed on the intel, according to sources.
The shocking claim was described to The Post by two intelligence
community officials and a third person close to the White House.
Two of the sources said the intelligence indicated that Mojtaba, who
earned the nickname “the power behind the robes” while serving as his
aging dad’s gatekeeper, has had a long-term sexual relationship with
his childhood tutor.
Trump to formally name Vance chair of fraud task force — with California, New York among states in crosshairs
President Trump will sign an executive order Monday afternoon formally
creating a benefits fraud task force chaired by Vice President JD Vance
— the president’s designee to lead a nationwide “war on fraud.”
Vance will join Trump in the Oval Office for the signing, underscoring
the president’s continued emphasis on the project after highlighting a
social-services scam scandal in Minnesota which has lead to dozens of
indictments, including for phony nutrition and autism care programs.
A document describing the looming order says “there is strong reason to
believe similar vulnerabilities exist in California, Illinois, New
York, Maine, and Colorado, where insufficient safeguards and weak
oversight increase the risk of large-scale fraud.”
Wicked winds, severe storms to wreak havoc in US, forcing school closures and even Congress to cancel votes
A severe storm system — including damaging winds, thunderstorms and a
potential for tornadoes — is threatening to wallop the Washington, DC,
area Monday afternoon, with school closures already planned and
Congress nixing votes.
Several school districts in the nation’s capital announced closures or
early dismissals for students after the National Weather Service warned
wind gusts as high as 80 mph and tornadoes could pummel the region
through Monday night.
Congress also informed lawmakers that any votes for Monday would no
longer be expended due to the widespread flight delays caused by the
wild weather.
Life-threatening blizzard bomb cyclone to unleash feet of snow, destructive winds as storm rapidly intensifies
Iranian drone strike takes out fuel tank at Dubai airport, temporarily halting flights
A fuel tank at Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates
was struck by an Iranian drone attack on Monday morning, temporarily
halting flights as plumes of smoke poured from the site.
Dramatic video shows thick black smoke emanating from an enormous fire
following the attack on a fuel tank at the Middle Eastern transit hub.
The airport, which is one of the busiest in the world, was forced to suspend flights briefly.
Air-aggedon — Flyer chaos rages as 300 TSA officers quit while Dems refuse budget deal
Hundreds of TSA officers have quit over the federal budget battle that
left them working without pay –fueling hours-long flight delays and
Department of Homeland Security videos blaming Dems for the travel
nightmare.
More than 300 TSA officers have tossed in the towel since the shutdown
began Feb. 14, while a slew of other workers have been taking
unscheduled absences, CBS News reported, citing internal TSA statistics.
Hobby Airport in Houston saw 53% of its TSA officers call out March 8
and 47% the next day, while other airports have seen double-digit
call-out averages since the shutdown started.
Trump challenged 50 years of Iran fears — and revealed the rotten, decaying truth
By Victor Davis Hanson
For some 46 years, until 2025, Iran enjoyed a North Korea-like
reputation in the heart of the Middle East: unpredictable, reckless,
dangerous, self-destructive, nihilistic and inevitably, one day,
nuclear.
But was it really ever all that formidable?
The mullahs came into power after the removal of the shah and subsequently the interim secular socialists.
In other words, these were gruesome people, but they didn’t necessarily have a competent military.
FBI Director Kash Patel’s flamboyant lifestyle hits agency morale — while terror attacks strike US
By Miranda Devine
The day Operation Epic Fury began in Iran, FBI Director Kash Patel
announced he was putting the bureau’s counterterrorism and intelligence
teams on “high alert” for threats to the homeland over concerns about
terror attacks from Tehran or its proxies.
“While the military handles force protection overseas, the FBI remains
at the forefront of deterring attacks here at home,” Patel tweeted.
The same day, the Department of Homeland Security issued a law
enforcement bulletin warning of potential lone-wolf attacks on home
soil by “US-based violent extremists or hate crime perpetrators.”
A few hours later, Senegalese migrant and naturalized US citizen Ndiaga
Diagne, 53, opened fire on a crowded bar in Austin, Texas, killing
three people and injuring 13 while wearing a “Property of Allah” hoodie
and an undershirt with an Iranian flag design.
After he was shot dead by police, a Quran was found in Diagne’s car and
photographs of Iranian regime leaders at his home, leading the FBI to
conclude that the attack was “potentially an act of terrorism” and the
Texas Tribune immediately to report an alleged surge in “Islamophobia”
and “anti-Muslim backlash.”
