The &#8220;case has been closed&#8221; at the White House after the high-profile leak of a Signal group chat in which leading Trump administration officials discussed plans for airstrikes on Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Monday.
Leavitt also indicated that National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who has taken responsibility for the breach, will stay on the job.
&#8220;As the president has made it very clear — Mike Waltz continues to be an important part of his national security team and this case has been closed here at the White House as far as we are concerned,&#8221; Leavitt <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXWhrp20VKg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> reporters.
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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on the Signal group chat:
&quot;As the president has made it very clear &#8212; Mike Waltz continues to be an important part of his national security team. This case has been closed here at the White House.&quot;<a href="https://t.co/Hz9Ow3YTEj">pic.twitter.com/Hz9Ow3YTEj</a>
&mdash; The American Conservative (@amconmag) <a href="https://twitter.com/amconmag/status/1906766213209878693?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Since The Atlantic&#8217;s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-administration-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans/682151/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">broke</a> the news last week that he was added to the Signal chat and revealed its contents, some have called for Waltz to resign or be fired. Waltz <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg12ewv7xyo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News that he took &#8220;full responsibility&#8221; for the breach in which Goldberg was added to the chat because he built the Signal group. President Donald Trump <a href="https://x.com/Acyn/status/1904615849450971537" target="_blank" rel="noopener">informed</a> reporters that Waltz was a &#8220;good man&#8221; and &#8220;would continue to do a good job.&#8221;
The controversy that stemmed from the breach, which has become known as &#8220;Signalgate,&#8221; has embroiled other top members of the Trump administration who took part in the thread. One of those officials, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has also faced calls to resign over the information he shared in the conversation. Some lawmakers have <a href="https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/press-releases/chairman-wicker-ranking-member-reed-request-inspector-general-probe-into-signal-incident" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushed</a> for an investigation by the Pentagon&#8217;s inspector general. Hegseth has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hegseth-fires-back-at-the-media-over-signalgate-reporting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> his &#8220;job&#8221; was to &#8220;provide updates in real-time, general updates in real-time, keep everybody informed.&#8221;
In a post on X last week, Leavitt <a href="https://x.com/PressSec/status/1904512527699968437" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that no classified material was included in the thread and warned that Goldberg &#8220;is well-known for his sensationalist spin.&#8221; She also rejected Goldberg&#8217;s characterization that &#8220;war plans&#8221; were discussed, affirmed that the National Security Council was &#8220;looking into how Goldberg&#8217;s number was inadvertently added to the thread,&#8221; and noted that the White House Counsel&#8217;s Office had provided guidance on communications across different platforms.
On Monday, Leavitt said there have been &#8220;steps made to ensure that something like that can obviously never happen again and we&#8217;re moving forward and the president and Mike Waltz and his entire National Security team have been working together very well if you look at how much safer the United States of America is because of the leadership of this team.&#8221;

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz

‘This Case Has Been Closed’: White House Shuts Book On Signalgate, Stands By Mike Waltz

White House: Signalgate 'Case Has Been Closed,' Stands By Mike Waltz

Donald Trump

Executive

Houthis

Karoline Leavitt

Mike Waltz

National Security

Politics

Scandals

White House

Yemen

The United States launched airstrikes against Yemeni cities controlled by Iran-backed Houthi militants over the weekend in a renewed effort to beat down the terror group.
The strikes began on Friday and ran into Saturday. The Houthi-run SABA news agency said bombs killed at least one civilian and wounded four others, according to the <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/03/29/world-news/us-airstrikes-pound-houthi-controlled-yemen-cities-killing-1-reports/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Post</a>. Houthi soldiers often dress in civilian clothing and the group is known for undercounting its casualty numbers.
The United States has yet to confirm the strike. Houthi-run media reported that bombs struck the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, as well as targets in the governorates of al-Jawf and Saada, all areas under Houthi control, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthis-us-airstrikes-israel-hamas-war-b46abf73435b3c340b7fba3d0fff877f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Associated Press</a>.
The strikes came a day after the United States escalated its retaliation against the Houthis by hitting their general command headquarters. The U.S. military released a video of the strike on Friday.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
CENTCOM Forces Attack Houthi Positions&#8230;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HouthisAreTerrorists?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HouthisAreTerrorists</a> <a href="https://t.co/6pOZhOmTp6">pic.twitter.com/6pOZhOmTp6</a>
&mdash; U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) <a href="https://twitter.com/CENTCOM/status/1905716545667617196?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
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U.S. airstrikes have increasingly pummeled the Houthis in recent weeks in an effort to deter the terror group from striking Israel or commercial ships in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea and Suez Canal. The Trump administration has ratcheted up pressure on the terror group, expanding targets from the missile launch sites hit under former President Joe Biden to include top Houthi commanders and key military sites.
The Houthis have threatened commercial shipping and launched attacks on Israel in solidarity with Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza. The increased military action against the Houthis from the United States has yet to stop the terror group.
On Thursday, Israeli missile defenses intercepted two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis. On Sunday morning, Israeli defenses again intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile, the eighth such missile fired from the Houthis at the Jewish state since March 18, the day Israel’s military renewed operations against Hamas in Gaza after ceasefire negotiations fell apart.
The Houthis as recently as Thursday have also launched attacks against the USS Harry S. Truman, an aircraft carrier stationed in the Red Sea. The terror group has targeted over 100 commercial ships sailing near Yemen since November 2023.

USS Harry S. Truman

U.S. Pummels Houthi-Controlled Cities In Yemen In Latest Wave Of Airstrikes: Report

Israel

United States

Sen. James Lankford (R-LA), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Sunday that he does not believe there is an &#8220;issue of leadership&#8221; with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following the leak of a Signal group chat in which Trump administration officials discussed plans for airstrikes on Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen.
During an interview on CNN&#8217;s &#8220;State of the Union,&#8221; anchor Dana Bash asked Lankford if Hegseth should take responsibility after noting that the defense secretary &#8220;shared the specific information about the timing and aircraft being used&#8221; in the Signal chat.
&#8220;I think he just joined into an encrypted app,&#8221; Lankford said, adding that he did not &#8220;see it as much of an issue&#8221; because &#8220;they all believed that this was a closed circle of conversation&#8221; and Hegseth was trying to give them &#8220;a heads up&#8221; of the attack plan &#8220;as we had given a heads-up to our foreign partners overseas as well.&#8221;
The White House has <a href="https://x.com/PressSec/status/1904512527699968437" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who publicized the contents of the conversation, was &#8220;inadvertently added&#8221; to the Signal chat and the breach would be investigated by the National Security Council.
In response to the Signal controversy, Hegseth <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hegseth-fires-back-at-the-media-over-signalgate-reporting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> his &#8220;job&#8221; was to &#8220;provide updates in real time, general updates in real time, keep everybody informed.&#8221; Meanwhile, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg12ewv7xyo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taken</a> &#8220;full responsibility&#8221; for the leak, noting that he built the Signal group.
Lankford said the Signal app was being used for &#8220;normal communication&#8221; and what was &#8220;not normal&#8221; was having a reporter &#8220;in the middle of the&#8221; conversation.
When Bash pressed Lankford on whether he had any doubts about Hegseth&#8217;s leadership, the senator <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1906336511341064491" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, &#8220;No, I don&#8217;t see this as an issue of leadership.&#8221;
Lankford, who had earlier said an inspector general inquiry into the leak would be appropriate, went on to say that people calling for Hegseth for Hegseth to resign was &#8220;way overkill.&#8221;
Hegseth &#8220;is stepping in and has actually led a very successful first attack here on somebody that had attacked the United States over and over again,&#8221; Lankford said. &#8220;During the Biden administration, they had very limited response. Pete Hegseth has actually organized and coordinated an initial response to pushback and make them stop.&#8221;
Lankford also <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1906334416953114725" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>: &#8220;The story behind the story here is that Houthis have attacked American ships 170-some-odd times. So, for the Trump administration to push back on them is an entirely appropriate thing to be able to do. And they are pushing back on them strong to be able to stop their attack on American warships.&#8221;

Pete Hegseth

No ‘Issue Of Leadership’ With Hegseth After Signal Leak: Senate Intel Republican

Congress

James Lankford

U.S.

U.S. Senate

Satellite images have emerged showing a massive staging of B-2 Spirit heavy stealth bombers in the Indian Ocean that have been moved within range of being able to bomb the Houthis in Yemen and nuclear facilities in Iran.
The bombers arrived at the Diego Garcia base this week after taking off from their base in Missouri.
Images showed at least three B-2 bombers on the tarmac alongside multiple C-17A Globemaster III cargo planes, which would be used to transport munitions and other equipment to support a strategic bombing campaign.
However, there may be an additional four B-2 bombers at the base that cannot be seen by satellite because they could be in the four hardened aircraft shelters at the base.
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A U.S. official told Axios that the deployment of B-2 bombers to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean is &quot;not disconnected&quot; from President Trump&#39;s two-month deadline for Iran, signaling this is preparation of a military contingency plan should diplomatic efforts fail. <a href="https://t.co/ksZfLwS5Gg">pic.twitter.com/ksZfLwS5Gg</a>
&mdash; GMI (@Global_Mil_Info) <a href="https://twitter.com/Global_Mil_Info/status/1905363355549728905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
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A fourth B-2 bomber was en route to the base earlier this week when it was forced to make an emergency landing in Hawaii and there were reports that additional B-2 bombers were preparing to take off from Missouri en route to the base.
Seven B-2 bombers represents more than one-third of America&#8217;s fleet of the bombers, all of which are based out of Missouri.
John Hannah, who served as a national security adviser to former Vice President Dick Cheney, told The Wall Street Journal that the amassing of the bombers was an &#8220;unprecedented concentration&#8221; of firepower.
“This unprecedented concentration of overwhelming U.S. firepower in close proximity to the region is intended to signal to the Houthis that…unless they stand down immediately, things are about to get much, much worse for them,” he said.
Rebeccah Heinrichs, a senior fellow at Hudson Institute and the director of its Keystone Defense Initiative, agreed.
&#8220;Iran is vulnerable and outmatched. It’s not even close,&#8221; she told The Daily Wire. &#8220;If the president of the United States is serious about ensuring Iran never gets a nuclear weapon on his watch, there will not be a better time for him to guarantee that.&#8221;
President Donald Trump and his national security team have made it abundantly clear to Iran that they will not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon and that they have less than two months to enter a nuclear agreement or else the United States military will remove their program for them.
Top Trump senior adviser Dan Scavino posted a video on X this week showing B-2 bombers flying after news surfaced that they were being deployed to the base.
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B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber🔥 <a href="https://t.co/cw5SRsNSAQ">pic.twitter.com/cw5SRsNSAQ</a>
&mdash; Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸🦅 (@DanScavino) <a href="https://twitter.com/DanScavino/status/1904710834527363553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The B-2 bomber is the only aircraft in the world capable of carrying the the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), a 30,000-pound bunker buster that is designed to penetrate 200-feet of rock and concrete underground before it detonates a 6,000-pound high explosive warhead. The MOP is the most powerful non-nuclear bunker buster bomb ever built.
The munition could be critical to operations in Yemen where the Houthis have deep, underground munition sites.
In Iran, some of the Islamic regime&#8217;s nuclear facilities are located under the side of a mountain — thus ensuring that the MOP would be needed to destroy them.

Future 30,000-pound bomb reaches mile stone

Trump Stages ‘Unprecedented Concentration Of Overwhelming U.S. Firepower’ At Base Near Mideast

Global Politics

Iran

Iran Nuclear

Military

World

On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said he did not believe anyone should lose their job in response to a controversy regarding a journalist &#8220;inadvertently added&#8221; to a Signal group chat in which Trump administration officials discussed plans for airstrikes on Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen.
While some Democrats have called for <a href="https://x.com/MarkWarner/status/1904535761304576311" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resignations</a>, Johnson emphasized how the White House <a href="https://x.com/PressSec/status/1904512527699968437" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> no &#8220;war plans&#8221; were discussed in the conversation, which was how Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg characterized the Signal thread to which he was included. Johnson also pointed out the White House denied that classified materials were sent to the thread and is looking into how the number was &#8220;inadvertently added&#8221; to the chat.
&#8220;Obviously that was a mistake and a serious one, but I just want to say: thanks to President Trump and his strong leadership and &#8230; everybody on that group chat — the leaders on that group chat — are extraordinary people,&#8221; Johnson said during a House GOP leadership press conference on Capitol Hill.
&#8220;I know them all personally. They&#8217;re patriots, they&#8217;re doing a great job for the country, and that was a successful mission,&#8221; the speaker added. &#8220;I mean, we&#8217;re taking out Houthi terrorists. That&#8217;s what the American people expect the administration to do — to restore peace through strength and to act decisively.&#8221;
The Signal thread had a number of top officials from President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration, including Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
Johnson, a Trump ally, dismissed the notion that he would have responded more harshly if such a breach had happened to the previous administration under former President Joe Biden.
&#8220;Look, they&#8217;ve acknowledged that there was an error, and they&#8217;re correcting it, and I would have asked the same thing of the Biden administration,&#8221; Johnson said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think anyone should have lost their job over that — because an errant number, you know, found its way onto a dialogue between leaders. It&#8217;s a mistake, but we got to correct it going forward and they will.&#8221;
Johnson declined to get into whether he believed the use of Signal to discuss national security matters was appropriate.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t use Signal. &#8230; I don&#8217;t know all the parameters of it, so it&#8217;s not my — I&#8217;m not in a position to determine whether 
that&#8217;s appropriate or not,&#8221; Johnson explained. &#8220;You have to leave that to others but I would just say obviously we got to be careful with these things and I know that they will.&#8221;
Trump <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-stands-national-security-adviser-leaked-military-plans-saying-mi-rcna197944" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> NBC News that one of Waltz&#8217;s staffers put Goldberg in the Signal chat. Yet he defended his national security adviser, saying, &#8220;Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man.&#8221;
Johnson also vouched for Waltz and noted that they were former colleagues in the House. He also said Waltz &#8220;was born for the job. He is highly qualified&#8221; and stressed that &#8220;the president said he has total confidence in him, and we do as well.&#8221;
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerJohnson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SpeakerJohnson</a> on Signal group chat: &quot;They&#39;ve acknowledged that it was an error and they&#39;re correcting it&#8230;I don&#39;t think anyone should have lost their job over that.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/afOPw8XPTr">pic.twitter.com/afOPw8XPTr</a>
&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1904579992203203034?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
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U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA)

Speaker Johnson Responds To Signal Group Chat Fracas

Mike Johnson

Trump Administration

U.S. House of Representatives

The big news from the weekend is that President Trump announced attacks by the United States military on the Houthis, a group of America-hating, Jew-hating, anti-Israel, anti-American, near-Satanic terrorists in Yemen, who have been at war with the Saudi government for a very long time.
The Biden administration pushed the Saudis to give up their war with the Houthis on “humanitarian grounds.”
After October 7, 2023, the result was that the Houthis decided to target Israel with missile strikes and to target shipping in the Red Sea, a major artery for international shipping and trade. The Houthis are almost entirely funded and staffed by the Iranian military, which has propped up the Houthis for years.
How much has international shipping been affected by the Houthi attacks? Global consumer goods inflation increased by approximately 0.6% to 0.7% in 2024 alone, due to higher shipping rates caused by Houthi attacks.
That is a significant amount. The current inflation rate in the United States is hovering around 2.8% to 3%. Imagine subtracting 0.6% or 0.7% from that. That amount would be much closer to normalcy.
A huge chunk of the hike in inflation could theoretically be attributed to the attacks that the Houthis are launching on international shipping.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2159-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
The average cost for shipping a 40-foot container has risen to around $3,000, up from less than $1,500 before the attacks. Why? Because shipments that used to take the shortcut through the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea are now forced to go all the way around the Horn of Africa, which takes much longer and is much more costly.
Additional fuel costs for rerouting ships around Africa are roughly $1 million more per voyage. About 90% of ships are now avoiding the Red Sea route due to those Houthi attacks. Container shipping through the Red Sea has declined by approximately 90%. The number of merchant ships passing through the Red Sea annually has dropped from 25,000 to 10,000. Such rerouting adds an average of 10 to 14 days to voyage time.
For those wondering why receiving packages takes longer than it did just a few years ago, that would be one reason. Seventy-five percent of all United-States- and United-Kingdom-affiliated vessels and 60% of European-Union-affiliated vessels are now rerouting around Africa instead of transiting the Red Sea. At least 30 ships have been damaged by Houthi attacks. Normally, the Suez Canal handles about 12% of all global trade. That&#8217;s $1 trillion of goods per year, and that number is shrinking to close to zero because of the Houthi attacks.
Yes, it&#8217;s about time we went after them.
So, President Trump announced over the weekend that the United States military was targeting the Houthis. He <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114167864888304754" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>: 
<blockquote>The Houthi attack on American vessels will not be tolerated. We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective. The Houthis have choked off shipping in one of the most important Waterways of the World, grinding vast swaths of Global Commerce to a halt, and attacking the core principle of Freedom of Navigation upon which International Trade and Commerce depends. 
Our brave Warfighters are right now carrying out aerial attacks on the terrorists’ bases, leaders, and missile defenses to protect American shipping, air, and naval assets, and to restore Navigational Freedom. No terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels from freely sailing the Waterways of the World.
To all Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY. IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!</blockquote>
This is what I signed up for — because it turns out that freedom of the seas is unbelievably important. And the United States, as the global hegemon, is the guarantor of the freedom of the seas.
Launching attacks on pirates is a United States tradition that dates back to Thomas Jefferson fighting the Barbary pirates who were attacking American shipping.
What President Trump is doing is an excellent use of the United States military.
This is the “peace through strength” model that President Trump has always applied. Guaranteeing freedom of the seas is also a very good international signal. The Chinese government has been exploring farther away from land masses it controls into waterways in the South China Sea, which is a massive shipping artery as well, holding up boating and shipping from places like the Philippines.
Thus, this attack on the Houthis is a very powerful signal (to countries such as China) that the United States is not going to allow the shutdown of international waterways.
The White House shared some pictures of President Trump overseeing the strikes on the Houthis. I love it. President Trump came in from his game of golf wearing his MAGA hat with headphones on.
I love the casual nature of President Trump coming off the golf course so he could watch what was happening. I think that&#8217;s wonderful, because it&#8217;s with that level of casualness that we should treat America&#8217;s enemies.
If you screw with us, we will stomp you into the ground. We should smash you like a giant boot on a worm.

President Trump Participates In A Kennedy Center Board Meeting And Tour

Trump Stomps On Houthis. No More Screwing With America.

Ben Shapiro

Opinion

President Trump

Red Sea

Shipping

U.S. Military

U.S. Navy

Democrats are openly criticizing party leadership after they got steamrolled in budget negotiations, President Donald Trump unleashed strikes on terrorist targets in Yemen, and two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station for months prepare for their journey home.
It’s Monday, March 17, and this is news you need to know to start your week. If you&#8217;d rather listen to your news, today&#8217;s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/democratic-party-divides-trump-targets-houthis-3-17-25/id1576594336?i=1000699470192" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2>Dems in Disarray</h2>
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Topline: Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown this weekend after a stunning turn that saw Democratic leaders give in to Republican demands.
On Friday, Republicans passed a continuing resolution through the Senate, which will fund the government for the next seven months. The bill had already passed through the House but could have been stalled in the Senate by a filibuster. The deadline to avoid a government shutdown was midnight on Friday. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who had been vocally opposed to the bill, reversed himself at the last minute along with seven other Democrats, including John Fetterman (PA), Kristen Gillibrand (NY), Dick Durbin (IL) and Gary Peters (MI).
Context: Much of the saber-rattling surrounding the bill was driven by criticism of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), President Trump’s memetic initiative for cutting government spending headed by Elon Musk. Critics of DOGE have claimed that the executive branch is overstepping its constitutional authority and wanted to leverage a potential shutdown to rein in their activities.
However, behind closed doors, many Congressional Democrats argued that they would receive the lion’s share of the blame for a government shutdown. Democrats are also in a tenuous position politically, as recent polls have found that public perception of the Democratic Party has reached record lows. A recent CNN poll found that just 29% of Americans have a favorable view of Democrats, the lowest number since the survey began in 1992. Recent NBC polling is even more grim for Democrats, finding only 27% of Americans approve of the party.
Some Democrats also concluded that an attempt to force a shutdown to protect their spending priorities could backfire since the president would have more authority to curb government spending and furlough or fire workers he deemed non-essential.
“A shutdown would allow DOGE to shift into overdrive,” Schumer said, explaining his reversal. “It would give Donald Trump and DOGE the keys to the city, state, and country.”
Backlash: Democrats in both chambers publicly slammed Schumer and the Senate Democrats who voted with him. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), for example, said Schumer’s effort “only makes matters worse.” In perhaps the most remarkable example, Schumer’s counterpart in the House, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), all but threw Schumer under the bus, saying, “House Democrats will not be complicit. We remain strongly opposed to the partisan spending bill.”
&nbsp;
<h2>War and Peace</h2>
<div id="attachment_892619" style="width: 908px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-892619" class="wp-image-892619 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Bomber-Formation-898x576.jpg" alt="" width="898" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Bomber-Formation-898x576.jpg 898w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Bomber-Formation-300x192.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Bomber-Formation-768x493.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Bomber-Formation-1536x985.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Bomber-Formation-2048x1314.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 898px) 100vw, 898px" />(Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)</div>
Topline: The Trump administration took drastic action over the weekend to advance its foreign policy objectives, attacking Iranian proxies in the Middle East while making peace overtures to Russia to end the ongoing war with Ukraine.
The Middle East: On Saturday, President Trump announced that the United States had launched a strike on Iran-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen, killing at least 19. The U.S. military attacked by air and sea, destroying missiles, drones, and missile defense systems.
The objective included opening the shipping lanes in the Red Sea, which the Houthis have obstructed for months. Since November 2023, the Houthis have launched more than 100 attacks on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea. But the attack also sends a clear signal to Iran (and, quite likely, adversaries around the world), that Trump is willing to take a more aggressive approach than his predecessor.
Trump designated the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization at the end of his first term, a decision former President Joe Biden reversed. Trump touched on this on Saturday, saying that Biden’s attempt to clear the Red Sea “was pathetically weak, so the unrestrained Houthis just kept going.” The president also issued a warning to Iran, saying: “Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY!”
Ukraine: Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to speak this week for the second time since Trump took office in January. Ukraine agreed to a temporary ceasefire last week, which will take effect if Putin agrees.
While the ceasefire has not yet been finalized, early talks have reportedly been promising: Steve Witkoff, the U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, met with Putin late last week and told CNN’s Jake Tapper that the meeting was “positive” and “solutions-based.”
<h2> Space X To The Rescue</h2>
<div id="attachment_892621" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-892621" class="wp-image-892621 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Space-X-Falcon-Launch-3142025-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Space-X-Falcon-Launch-3142025-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Space-X-Falcon-Launch-3142025-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Space-X-Falcon-Launch-3142025-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Space-X-Falcon-Launch-3142025-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Space-X-Falcon-Launch-3142025-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Space-X-Falcon-Launch-3142025-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Space-X-Falcon-Launch-3142025-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Manuel Mazzanti/NurPhoto via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: A SpaceX Crew-10 Dragon capsule docked at the International Space Station (ISS) early Sunday morning to relieve two American astronauts who have been stuck in orbit for nine months. NASA&#8217;s SpaceX Crew-10 mission launched from Florida on Friday.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled the Dragon capsule into orbit carrying a mixed crew from the United States, Japan, and Russia.
Who&#8217;s getting rescued? NASA astronauts Butch Willmore and Suni Williams docked at the ISS on June 6 and were scheduled to spend eight days aboard the space station. They were testing a new space capsule from Boeing, the Starliner. However, the Starliner experienced technical problems, and NASA delayed their return, citing unacceptable risks to the astronauts. Boeing maintained that the craft was safe and could have returned Willmore and Williams to Earth, but NASA had the final call.
During their extended stay on the ISS, Williams broke the record for the most time spent spacewalking by a woman: 62 hours and 6 minutes.
The Politics: According to President Trump, former President Biden effectively abandoned Willmore and Williams. Trump asked Musk, who is SpaceX&#8217;s CEO, to rescue them.
“[They] shouldn&#8217;t have been up there so long,” Trump said earlier this month. “The most incompetent president in our history has allowed that to happen to you, but this president won&#8217;t let it happen. We&#8217;re going to get them out.”
NASA has disputed Trump&#8217;s characterization, saying that the astronauts weren’t stranded and that nine months on the space station isn’t unprecedented by any stretch, considering astronauts have stayed on the ISS for more than a year. But judging by their reaction to the replacement crew&#8217;s arrival, they are definitely ready to leave. They could be back home as early as Tuesday evening.

Rep. Cori Bush Sleeps Outside Capitol Building In Push To Extend Federal Eviction Moratorium

Morning Brief: Dems Divided, Trump Hits Terrorists, And A Space Rescue Unfolds

Chuck Schumer

Democrats

Elon Musk

International Space Station (ISS)

Media

Morning Wire

NASA

SpaceX

Ukraine-Russia War

A gutsy Yemeni Arab journalist blasted the UN and its fellow Israel haters after the U.N. High commissioner condemned Israel for its war against Hamas.
“Nothing justifies the appalling manner in which Israel has conducted its military operations in Gaza, which consistently breached fundamental principles of international humanitarian law,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk declared.
That prompted Yemeni journalist Luai Ahmed, invited to speak by UN Watch, to fire back.
“High Commissioner, my name is Luai Ahmed and I come from Yemen,” he began. “I ask the UN, the Arab League, and everyone who has been raising the Palestinian flag since October 7: Where is the flag of Yemen? In my country, half a million people have died in the last 10 years, the biggest famine and humanitarian crisis in modern history.”
“Why does no one care what half a million Yemenis die?” he asked. “What about Sudan? In less than two years, more than 150,000 people have been killed. Where is the flag of Sudan? What about Syria? Half a million Syrians have been killed? Where is the Syrian flag?”
Then Ahmed came directly to the point, snapping, “High commissioner, why is it that when Arabs kill millions of Arabs, no one bats an eye? Where is the outrage? And where are the protests?”
“Why don’t you mention the Houthis in Yemen who have spent millions of dollars firing missiles at Israel instead of feeding my starving people?” he questioned. “May I ask why your report mentions Israel 188 times yet fails to mention the Islamic regime in Iran even once? How can you speak about the conflict while ignoring the party that has armed, trained, and funded terrorist proxies like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis who have been bombing Israel thousands of times?”
He did not forget Qatar, either: “And why is Qatar sitting here as a member of the Human Rights Council when they host the Hamas terror leaders in luxury hotels?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
“High Commissioner, my name is Luai Ahmed, and I come from Yemen. 
May I ask why your report mentions Israel 188 times — yet fails to mention the Islamic Republic of Iran even once?
How can you speak about the conflict while ignoring the party that has armed, trained, and…
&mdash; Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) <a href="https://twitter.com/HillelNeuer/status/1895944166518968646?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

SWITZERLAND-UN-RIGHTS

Gutsy Arab Yemeni Journalist Blasts UN, High Commissioner For Targeting Israel

United Nations

The U.S. military said in a statement on Saturday that it launched airstrikes against terrorist targets belonging to Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/yemen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yemen</a>.
The statement from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) comes after the Houthis have launched hundreds of attacks on merchant and naval vessels operating in and around the Red Sea for more than a year.
U.S. forces “conducted precision airstrikes against a missile storage facility and a command-and-control facility operated by Iran-backed Houthis within Houthi-controlled territory in Sana&#8217;a, Yemen, on Dec. 21 Yemen time,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
The operation involved the use of U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy assets, including F/A-18s.
CENTCOM said that the strike was made to “disrupt and degrade Houthi operations, such as attacks against U.S. Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb, and Gulf of Aden.”
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During the mission, CENTCOM said that they shot down “multiple Houthi one way attack uncrewed aerial vehicles (OWA UAV) and an anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) over the Red Sea.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
CENTCOM Conducts Airstrikes Against Iran-Backed Houthi Missile Storage and Command/Control Facilities in Yemen
TAMPA, Fla. &#8211; U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted precision airstrikes against a missile storage facility and a command-and-control facility operated by… <a href="https://t.co/YRWWQJIweP">pic.twitter.com/YRWWQJIweP</a>
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) <a href="https://twitter.com/CENTCOM/status/1870576182934323203?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 21, 2024</a></blockquote>
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CENTCOM has also conducted strikes in Syria over the last couple of weeks after Islamic terrorists overran dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime, forcing him into exile in Russia.
The strikes successfully eliminated the leader of ISIS and more than a dozen ISIS terrorists.

F/A-18F Super Hornet

U.S. Military Hits Houthi Terrorist Targets In Yemen

Terrorism

The U.S. military carried out airstrikes against Islamic terrorists on Monday in Syria and Yemen.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) first announced strikes against ISIS in Syria as officials are becoming increasingly worried that the terrorist group could reestablish a caliphate there with the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
The precision airstrikes targeted &#8220;known ISIS camps,&#8221; CENTCOM said in a statement.
At least 12 ISIS terrorists were killed during the operation and damage assessments were underway to determine the overall effectiveness of the strike.
&#8220;The strikes against the ISIS leaders, operatives, and camps were conducted as part of the ongoing mission to disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS, preventing the terrorist group from conducting external operations and to ensure that ISIS does not seek opportunities to reconstitute in central Syria,&#8221; the statement said.
The strikes were carried out in areas that the Syrians and Russians used to control to prevent ISIS from taking over.
“CENTCOM, working with allies and partners in the region, will not allow ISIS to reconstitute and take advantage of the current situation in Syria,” said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla.
CENTCOM also targeted Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen on Monday, carrying out
CENTCOM Conducts Precision Airstrike Against Iran-Backed Houthi Facility in Yemen &#8220;a precision airstrike against a key command and control facility&#8221; in Sana’a.
&#8220;The targeted facility was a hub for coordinating Houthi operations, such as attacks against U.S. Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,&#8221; a separate statement said.
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The strike comes as there have been scores of attacks on merchant and naval vessels traveling around the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over the last 14 months following Hamas&#8217; October 7 terrorist attack in Israel.
&#8220;The strike reflects CENTCOM’s ongoing commitment to protect U.S. and coalition personnel, regional partners, and international shipping,&#8221; the statement added.

Chained Down

U.S. Conducts Airstrikes Against Islamic Terrorists In Syria, Yemen

ISIS

Syria

terrorist

Video surfaced late this week of an attack that Iranian-backed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/houthis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Houthi terrorists</a> carried out at the start of the month on another tanker in the Red Sea.
The Islamic terrorists rammed a cheaply made explosive-loaded boat drone into the side of the ship, causing a massive explosion that ripped into the vessel&#8217;s ballast tanks, according to <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/houthis-drone-slams-into-ship-missile-hits-another-in-red-sea-attacks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Times of Israel</a>.
The attack on the Panama-flagged oil tanker Cordelia Moon happened less than 100 miles off the coast of Yemen, where the terrorist group is based.
The report said that the terrorists have increasingly started to use the drone boats.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Iranian-backed Houthis attacked this commercial vessel in the Red Sea on the same day Iran launched its massive ballistic missile attack on Israel.<a href="https://t.co/qvuaOM0Qkg">pic.twitter.com/qvuaOM0Qkg</a>
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/LucasFoxNews/status/1842143402986533325?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2024</a></blockquote>
A private security firm said that the ship had armed security guards.
Video posted online appeared to show the security guards shooting at the relatively slow moving drone boat with rifles trying to stop it before it rammed into the ship.
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The report said that the Houthis attacked a second ship that was traveling north to the Suez Canal with a missile.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), said that the ship was attacked by a missile and that it &#8220;sustained damage.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
UKMTO WARNING &#8211; INCIDENT 125 &#8211; ATTACK UPDATE 001<a href="https://t.co/ye4ZO0L5nC">https://t.co/ye4ZO0L5nC</a>…… <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MaritimeSecurity?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MaritimeSecurity</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MarSec?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MarSec</a> <a href="https://t.co/cpREPPCMhM">pic.twitter.com/cpREPPCMhM</a>
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) <a href="https://twitter.com/UK_MTO/status/1841026309532586012?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2024</a></blockquote>
At the end of last month, the Houthis <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/iranian-backed-terrorists-fire-dozens-of-missiles-drones-at-u-s-navy-an-act-of-war">fired dozens of missiles</a> and drones at U.S. Navy ships after Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike.
“Three U.S. Navy warships shot down nearly two dozen incoming missiles and drones launched by Iran’s rebel army in Yemen earlier today while transiting the narrow entrance to the Red Sea,” said Fox News defense correspondent Lucas Tomlinson.
No U.S. ships were hit, no sailors were hurt, and it appears as though all of the projectiles that were fired were either shot down or missed.
“A pair of guided-missile destroyers, the USS Stockdale and USS Spruance, along with a littoral combat ship, the USS Indianapolis, were transiting the Bab al-Mandab Strait when the American warships came under attack from a barrage of incoming ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones,” he added.
The Biden-Harris administration had no immediate military response to the terrorist attack and did not even release a statement on it.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/israel-blasts-iranian-backed-houthi-terrorists-in-yemen">Israel Blasts Iranian-Backed Houthi Terrorists In Yemen</a>

Cordelia Moon

WATCH: Iranian-Backed Houthi Terrorists Strike Another Oil Tanker

President Joe Biden appeared to confuse a military strike with a labor dispute when speaking to reporters over the weekend, responding to a question about Israeli air strikes in Yemen by stating that he was in support of “collective bargaining.”
Biden was exiting a vehicle when reporters began to shout questions at him, and he answered a few related to Israel and escalating military actions targeting Iranian-backed terror proxies like Hezbollah — but when a reporter followed up with a question about the “strikes in Yemen,” Biden answered as though he believed the issue was a simple labor dispute.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
REPORTER: &quot;Any comment on the strikes in Yemen, Mr. President!?&quot;
BIDEN (or whatever&#39;s left of him): &quot;I&#39;ve spoken to both sides. They gotta settle the strike. I&#39;m supporting the collective bargaining effort. I think they&#39;ll settle the strike.&quot;
🤔 <a href="https://t.co/iFawNWdWyH">pic.twitter.com/iFawNWdWyH</a>
&mdash; RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1840575813986423293?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Mr. President, will you deploy more U.S. troops to the Middle East?” one reporter shouted, and Biden said, “No.”
First lady Jill Biden also exited the vehicle and quickly walked away, turning her back on the press while her husband walked toward reporters.
“Mr. President, has Netanyahu gone too far?” another reporter asked.
Biden did not appear to answer that question but approached the gathered reporters.
“Any comment on the strikes in Yemen, Mr. President?” a reporter asked.
“I&#8217;ve spoken to both sides. They gotta settle the strike. I&#8217;m supporting the collective bargaining effort. I think they&#8217;ll settle the strike,” Biden replied.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1726313279401000&amp;usg=AOvVaw115_qPFFEePDP86-Fvo-Vd">Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here!</a>
“Just so we&#8217;re all clear on what&#8217;s happening here — Jill Biden walks off without him, he is then asked about the Israeli IDF missile strikes in Yemen, and his reply is that he supports a union collective bargaining agreement and thinks that the strike will end soon,” conservative pundit Stephen L. Miller explained in an X post.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Back in June, you were called a conspiracy theorist and a cheap fake artist for pointing things like this out.
&mdash; Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) <a href="https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/1840587978990649811?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Miller then drew attention to the fact that Biden’s administration — including Vice President Kamala Harris — had covered for Biden long after it was obvious to everyone that he was struggling cognitively.
“Back in June, you were called a conspiracy theorist and a cheap fake artist for pointing things like this out.”

President Biden Returns To The White House After Quad Summit

Biden Confuses Military Strike With Labor Strike, Supports ‘Collective Bargaining’ In Yemen

Biden Confuses Military Strike With Labor Strike, Supports 'Collective Bargaining' In Yemen

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