In igniting a war against Iran on Feb. 28, President Trump billed the U.S. campaign as an unprecedented step toward transforming the Middle East and terminating the threat from what he called a “wicked, radical dictatorship.”
Roughly 100 days later, as the United States and Iran have reached a somewhat vague memorandum of understanding to end the war, skeptics are expressing bafflement over what exactly has transformed.
Neither the war nor the agreement ended what U.S. and Israeli officials regard as the main threats emanating from Iran. The country’s nuclear program, while heavily damaged, was not eliminated — its fate punted to future negotiation.
The same goes for its ballistic missiles, which the deal does not address. Iran’s authoritarian regime endured, albeit with new leaders. Its proxies remain a threat to the region. Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia in Lebanon, persisted in attacking each other.
U.S. President Donald Trump was forced to backtrack on a previous claim that the U.S. doesn't "need" oil from the Middle East.
An embarrassing video clip montage created by MediasTouch shows Trump making remarks on at least two occasions amid the Iran war that the U.S. has "so much oil and gas" and is "totally independent of the Middle East." However, while speaking at length about the Iran deal struck earlier this week, Trump admitted that global oil reserves were running low, which put pressure on the White House to strike a deal with Iran to reopen the Hormuz Strait.
CBS News’s Margaret Brennan began her interview with UN Ambassador Mike Waltz Sunday by citing some uncomfortable statistics on American attitudes toward the Iran war.
“Our CBS News poll out this morning shows that more than three-quarters of Americans want to end the conflict now,” Brennan said of the war with Iran — as a graphic on screen showed the exact number to be 78%. “With 69% saying the conflict with Iran was not worth the costs for the U.S. More than half — 57% — say the president’s war with Iran created more problems than it solved. And two in three say the administration reached agreement with Iran mainly because it wanted the conflict to be over.”
Brennan turned to Waltz saying, “Ambassador, the war is unpopular, as you just heard, but how it ends matters, as you know.”
She continued, “CBS’s Olivia Gazis is reporting that senior members of Trump’s national security team, including Secretary [Marco] Rubio, remain doubtful Iran will comply with this deal’s terms. The CIA director presented [President Donald] Trump with intelligence indicating inconsistencies with Iran’s commitments. So, if even the president’s own team doubts this is a win, how do you sell this to the public?”
A wild new story on former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and her Hare Krishna guru’s influence on her policy actions has sent shockwaves through social media.
Sunday’s Washington Post article by investigative journalist Jon Swaine comes just days after Gabbard stepped down to manage her husband’s cancer treatments.
Swaine wrote that Gabbard grew up in “eccentric religious leader” Chris Butler’s breakaway Hare Krishna group that has been described by some ex-members as a “cult,” although the group denies that characterization.
Swaine set out on a year-long investigation to learn whether the “reclusive guru been secretly trying to steer Gabbard’s actions as a public official.” He reviewed tends of thousands of documents, declaring that “Their content was extraordinary.”
“Dozens of attached memos appeared to document directives and advice for Gabbard from her time in Congress. Some contained instructions on what legislation she should propose, which policies she should embrace and how she should conduct herself on television. They had an air of authority,” Swaine wrote.
Research fellow Kareem Rifai wrote on social media, “This is an utterly insane story: 25,000 documents reviewed by WaPo indicate that throughout Tulsi’s career, her political moves were controlled by her guru, cult leader Chris Butler. This woman was leading the world’s largest intelligence apparatus.”
In a letter to Mullin and Venturella, Padilla and Durbin demand the Trump Administration halt ICE detention expansion until deficiencies are corrected
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, and Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sounded the alarm over the dramatic increase in deaths among detainees in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody since January 2025. In a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin and ICE Acting Director-Designate David Venturella, the Senators highlighted the staggering death toll at ICE detention centers and expressed concern over the announcement of the 50th reported death in ICE custody under the Trump Administration.
“The deaths of Mr. [Mamuka] Artmeladze and the 49 others who have died in ICE custody must be understood in the context of this Administration’s deliberate policy choices,” wrote the Senators. “DHS has aggressively expanded the use of detention, sought to subject broad categories of undocumented immigrants to mandatory detention without individualized bond hearings, and continued to defend that policy even after losing in federal court more than 13,000 times. With more people in detention for longer periods of time, this has predictably placed more pressure on a system already plagued by medical neglect and dangerous conditions. Your Administration either failed to account for this predictable result or proceeded despite it.”
The Senators also cited a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on ICE’s Camp East Montana facility at Fort Bliss where at least three detainees have died. GAO’s report found serious issues with the facility’s conditions, including unsanitary dormitories medical failures, and a death by use of force later ruled a homicide. The Senators raised concerns that the Administration is expanding detention facilities without the proper safety and legal measures in place. They demanded DHS and ICE pause any expansion, reopening, new population increases, or contract modifications at facilities with recent deaths and other failures until corrective action is taken and shared with Congress.
“ICE custody should provide safer, less restrictive, and more normalized conditions, including adequate medical and mental health care, safe and sanitary houses, limits on force and segregation, outdoor recreation, and restrictions no broader than necessary to serve a legitimate civil detention purpose,” continued the Senators. “That standard also underscores why this administration’s sweeping mandatory detention policy is so lawless. A legitimate civil detention purpose requires some relationship between confinement and an actual need, such as flight risk, danger, or the lawful execution of removal. It does not permit DHS to detain broad categories of people by default, simply because the Administration wants to maximize detention numbers or encourage those in detention to self-deport.”
The Senators concluded the letter by requesting records and information related to ICE custody death reviews, asking for specifics on the death toll across several ICE facilities.
“The American people deserve an immigration system free of corruption, that is lawful, orderly, humane, and accountable,” concluded the Senators. The record number of deaths in detention under this administration demand more than press statements, notices, and assurances that the system is functioning as intended. Congress and the public are entitled to know whether these facilities are safe, whether medical care is adequate, whether contractors are meeting their obligations, and whether DHS is taking meaningful action when people die on its watch.”
Padilla has been leading the attack against President Trump’s cruel and indiscriminate mass deportation agenda and dangerous denial of basic services and Constitutional rights for detained individuals. In February, Padilla joined Durbin in sending a letter to Former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Former ICE senior official Todd Lyons, sounding the alarm on the dramatic increase in deaths in ICE detention centers. In January, Padilla joined Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) in introducing the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act to end the use of private, for-profit detention facilities, prohibit the practice of detaining families, and ensure due process for detained individuals. Last year, Padilla cosponsored the Restoring Access to Detainees Act, a bill to ensure DHS allows detained noncitizens to contact legal counsel and their families.
Full letter is available here.
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