Coming up next hour on The Briefing! Amb. Michael McFaul @mcfaulmike.bsky.social Ben Rhodes @rhodesben.bsky.social Rep. Suhas Subramanyam @repsuhas.bsky.social Rep. Chris Deluzio @deluzio.house.gov

I think my favorite quote of the day was Mike Johnson saying that Markwayne Mullin taking over DHS was going to save Republican candidates in the midterms. Dude just needs to keep strategizing exactly like that from now until Nov.

Here comes Gundlach.

This is like watching Trump bankrupt a casino in real time. Except this time we are the casino.

It’s really pissing me off that Donald Trump keeps claiming everything is fine in the Strait of Hormuz today. Everything is not fine. Tankers have been blown up all day by Iran. Bro is getting people killed with his delusional words. 😡

“Trump is like your friend who’s borderline. You need compliant news orgs who will keep their coverage within the drama & not stepping back from the crisis du jour to look at the bigger context, which is that these situations are almost always of Trump’s own making, & inflamed by his incompetence.”

🔥 NEW VIDEO: JD Vance is the most online VP in American history. So why did he suddenly stop showing up online when Trump launched a war with Iran? Even the biggest MAGA influencers are calling him out. I explain what’s really going on in my latest video. 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0bW...

Time to address the elephant in the room: it is time for Pete Hegseth to go. ⬇️

It doesn’t seem like Trump gamed this out very well ahead of time.

“Rather conveniently, Comer made no mention of who was president in 2019: Donald Trump. Nor did he mention that Trump appointee Bill Barr was leading the Department of Justice when this purported chicanery took place.” www.ms.now/news/james-c...

Is there a reason why OGR has not subpoenaed Maurene Comey? She'd need a proper subpoena to get by privilege (but her dad mastered that for his 2007 hospital hero testimony, so she knows how it works). But ... she would have a lot of insight on all this.

NEW: Two teenagers have been arrested for a school shooting hoax at Adams City High School in Commerce City today. Investigators say the students were found covered in fake blood after a 911 caller reported an active shooter.

We have gained so many new friends during the Trump presidency.

That's not Tricia, btw. That's Madison Sheahan, Noem's wildly underqualified Deputy, now running against Marcy Kaptur in OH. She ALSO was part of this grift.

It's really hard to understand how Tricia McLaughlin found time to steer her hubby a sweet propaganda contract, what with her non-stop lying (it may help that she told the same lies every time an ICE goon assaulted a protester). But DailyWire describes she did! www.dailywire.com/news/firm-at...

By the way, if this is true, it means Noem potentially lied under oath, or alternatively was so uninterested in the day-to-day operations of DHS that she had no clue (but that would be surprising given that the winner was a firm she’d used before. The right wing is really knives out for Noem.

Trump won’t say what happens if Iran keeps its uranium stockpiles

Meet the new boss same as the old boss.

Guards have taken away crayons, colored pencils and paper during recent room searches at Dilley, according to detainees and others. After one inspection, the children just “cried and cried and cried,” a mother said. The facility denies the claims.

When the President decides photojournalists can’t take pictures at Sec’y Hegseth’s Iran briefings, it’s not a small thing. We’re connecting the dots to the larger efforts to erode our 1st Amendment rights, just when we need them the most. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

NEW POLL: As radicals Barrett & Pody push their abortion death penalty bill, “most Tennesseans support medical exceptions to abortion and IVF… voters across both parties want life of the mother protections and rape & incest exceptions…” nashvillebanner.com/2026/03/09/t...

Apparently Marco Rubio doesn’t work for the American people nor does Susie Wiles or Cruella Conway. www.alternet.org/trump-admini.... When do we put these people in jail where they belong?

Inside a $50 million Venezuelan lobbying deal and a court battle ensnaring White House power brokers — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and chief of staff Susie Wiles. www.levernews.com/the-miami-tr...

🚨 A Miami trial is exposing a sprawling foreign-influence network tied to Venezuela and pulling in Trump power brokers including Marco Rubio and chief of staff Susie Wiles. At the center: a $50M lobbying deal, cartel figures, secret meetings, and coded messages.

Inside a $50 million Venezuelan lobbying deal and a court battle ensnaring White House power brokers — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and chief of staff Susie Wiles.

He looks fucking terrible

At this rate Trump might have to release the rest of the Epstein files to distract from gas prices.

Jeffrey Epstein’s massive sex trafficking ring would not have been possible without the consistent payments and services of his long-time accountant Richard Kahn.

NEW: The DOJ has established an ongoing pattern of obstruction regarding the Trump accuser’s records, which they still haven’t fully released, and which they still haven’t explained in a coherent way. Here’s a look at where the case stands today open.substack.com/pub/sollenbe...

Winning!

Trump at wartime

In South Burlington, Vermont, protesters are being tear-gassed by ICE and local police as they attempt to prevent a kidnapping.

DOOCY: If Iran tries to hit us back, have you been briefed about how many Iran sleeper cells there could be inside the US right now? TRUMP: I have been, and a lot of people came in through Biden with his stupid open border. But we know where most of them are.

🚨 Pentagon officials told Congress that the war with Iran has cost the U.S. more than $11 billion in its first week

“.. Chris Wright gave his counterparts in the Group of Seven nations the White House’s position Tuesday morning: A massive intervention in oil markets was premature .. “.. Less than two hours later, U.S. officials reversed their earlier position ..” @wsj.com www.wsj.com/business/ene...

Trump: "The Straits are in great shape"

Trump: "Most people say it's already been won, it's just a question of when. When do we stop. We don't want to let it regrow, and ideally we'd like to see somebody in there that knows what they're doing."

Trump: "We could take apart their electric capacity within one hour and it would take them 25 years to rebuild it"

Duckworth: "The Trump administration is hiding behind the valor of our men and women in orders. The problem is who is giving those orders. Donald Trump has not done his job."

Pictures of burning oil tankers running nonstop on CNN, oil up sharply. Huge tactical success for Iran’s apparent “okay let’s stop being cagey and just make a bunch of stuff go boom in front of cameras” plan

Oil is up 7.6% just since the markets closed at 6:00pm eastern, which is around the time Iran blew up the oil tankers. Seems that Iran is indeed trying to send a message, and it’s being heard.

Burgum goes full war is peace: "The actions that have been taken by this administration have been exclusively to increase American national security and lower prices for Americans"

"Former Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan on Thursday undercut Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, saying local law enforcement will ignore an emergency bill signed by Moore that prohibits cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement."

Former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is criticizing Gov. Wes Moore’s decision to sign emergency legislation banning 287(g) agreements in Maryland. The latest: https://www.wbal.com/former-gov-hogan-criticizes-gov-moore-for-ending-marylands-287g-immigration-agreements

Former Maryland governor Larry Hogan suggests law enforcement will ignore the law.

Trump endorsed fellow Hitler book owner Brandon Herrera

FETTERMAN: We should kill every last member of Iran's leadership VARGAS: His son is now in charge FETTERMAN: They should kill him too

"The spirit of liberty requires moral courage among the people who are elected to Congress... but it also requires all of us It requires us to speak out without fear It requires us to tell others unpleasant truths that they do not want to hear."

Duckworth: "If they're gonna retaliate, this is all on Donald Trump. He decided to do this."

Trump on Newsom: "Black People are angry because he is obviously a racist. While we all want to be politically correct, having a mental disorder is not a positive campaign event. The only thing he didn’t say is he is losing his look, but nobody wants to say that about one’s self."