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Top counterterrorism official Kent resigns over Trump's Iran war, says Iran posed no imminent threat

(AP) Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation on Tuesday, saying he “cannot in good conscience” back the Trump administration’s war in Iran. Kent said on social media Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.” Kent, a former political candidate with connections to right-wing extremists, was confirmed to his post last July on a 52-44 vote.

riversedge

All four living former presidents deny Trump's bizarre Iran bombing claim

(Raw Story) Aides to all four living presidents confirmed to CNN on Monday that none of them have spoken with President Donald Trump about his bombing strikes in Iran, as Trump claimed during a press conference. Trump claimed in the Oval Office that he had spoken to a former president about bombing Iran, and that the former president had approved of the operation. Trump added that the former president claimed he "wished" he had made the decision to bomb Iran. The president also declined to identify which president he was talking about.

BumRushDaShow

Trump upset as US partners reject call for Hormuz warship escorts

(Reuters) Several U.S. allies rebuffed Donald Trump's call on Monday to send warships to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, drawing criticism from the U.S. president, who accused Western partners of ingratitude after decades of support. The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is in its third week with no end in sight. The critical Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas flow, remains largely closed off, raising energy prices and fears of inflation.

surfered

Trump Stuns CNN Anchor With Head-Spinning Flip-Flops In Minutes

(Huff Post) CNN’s Kasie Hunt on Monday aired a montage showing Donald Trump contradicting himself multiple times within a matter of minutes on the ongoing crisis in the Strait of Hormuz caused by his Iran war. Trump’s demand that traditionally allied nations send warships to help the U.S. Navy safeguard the narrow channel off the coast of Iran — through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes — has received, at best, a muted response.

babylonsister

Trump Has Lost Working Class White Voters

(Political Wire) G. Elliot Morris: “In our data, this group recalled voting for Trump by 22 points in 2024. But these voters now give him a net approval of -4 — or a 26-point swing against him.” “The working-class whites who powered Trump’s rise are, for the first time, opposed to how he’s handling his job as president.”

Pototan

We're frightened here

For those who may not know, I'm retired in the Philippines and live here about 10 or 11 months a year. I'm 73 years old and my Filipina wife is 71. The Philippines gets 98% of its fuel from the Middle East. Already the price of diesel (most passenger vehicles run on diesel) has skyrocketed. The price at the pump today in Iloilo Province was 98 Philippine Pesos (PHP) per liter. That translates to $6.28 a gallon. That's really not the worst part. This country only has a 50-day supply of reserve. If this war goes on for two more months, we're out of fuel.

Zorro

Trump Presidential Library Fund Paid by Companies He Sued Has Dissolved With No Public Accounting, Lawmakers Allege

(International Business Times) Tens of millions of dollars that ABC, Meta, X and Paramount paid to settle Donald Trump's lawsuits, intended for his future presidential library, allegedly ended up in a fund that quietly dissolved in Florida without any public disclosure of where the money went. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), together with Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), sent formal letters on March 11, 2026 to the chief executives of all four companies demanding answers about the terms of their deals and the current location of the pledged funds.

Zorro

Trump Orders Scores of Kennedy Center Staff Fired in Final Insult

(Daily Beast) In his presidential sidequest to overhaul the Kennedy Center, Donald Trump wants to get rid of most of the people who make it work. Dozens of employees of the historic performing arts center are on the chopping block after its board of trustees, handpicked by Trump, 79, voted to approve a two-year renovation project on Monday, CNN reported. Monday’s meeting minutes said that “approximately 75 to 175 of the Center’s roughly 300 employees” would be impacted by the two-year full shutdown, according to the outlet.

BumRushDaShow

Postmaster Warns of 'End of Postal Service as We Know It'

(Newsweek) The head of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is expected to tell Congress on Tuesday that the agency needs to increase its borrowing capacity or face "the end of the Postal Service ​as we know it now." "In order to ensure our survival beyond next year, we need ⁠to increase our borrowing capacity so that we don't run out of cash," Postmaster General David Steiner's written testimony ​obtained by Reuters said. "The failure to do this could lead to the end of the Postal Service ​as we know it now."

Latest Breaking News

Judge Ejects Federal Prosecutor From Court and Orders Bosses to Testify

36 min ago - Judge Ejects Federal Prosecutor From Court and Orders Bosses to Testify Judge Zahid Quraishi ordered a hearing on who had the authority to lead New Jersey's top federal law enforcement office. The events on Monday in Judge Zahid N. Quraishi's courtro ... (New York Times)

MTA sues Trump administration over order to halt Second Avenue subway funding

45 min ago - Published Mar 17, 2026 at 10:25 a.m. ET Modified Mar 17, 2026 at 11:28 a.m. ET The MTA sued the Trump administration on Tuesday for withholding federal funding for the expansion of the Second Avenue subway into East Harlem. The lawsuit, filed in the ... (Gothamist/WNYC New York, NY)

Sonic boom from a meteor shakes Ohio and Pennsylvania

57 min ago - According to the National Weather Service out of Cleveland, the sonic boom that many reported hearing in Ohio and Pennsylvania on Tuesday morning was from a meteor. More and video/audio at link. ... (https://earthsky.org/earth/sonic-boom-from-a-meteor-cleveland-ohio-and-pennsylvania-mar-17-2026/)

Hassett says consumer pain over Iran war 'the last of our concerns right now'

1 hr ago - National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on Tuesday said that the economic toll that American consumers are feeling as a result of the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran is “the last of our concerns right now.” “The fact is that t ... (The Hill)

Sears Exposed AI Chatbot Phone Calls and Text Chats to Anyone on the Web

1 hr ago - -snip- Since Sears is still a trusted name but largely out of the public eye, security researcher Jeremiah Fowler was surprised and alarmed last month when he found three publicly exposed databases containing massive troves of chat logs, audio files, ... (Wired)

Mitsotakis says Europe won't join military efforts near Iran

2 hrs ago - 3h (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Greece and Europe will not participate in any military operations near Iran, after US President Donald Trump demanded that allies send vessels to help restart shipping through the Strait of H ... (msn/Bloomberg)

Top counterterrorism official Kent resigns over Trump's Iran war, says Iran posed no imminent threat

3 hrs ago - WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation on Tuesday, saying he “cannot in good conscience” back the Trump administration’s war in Iran. Kent said on social media I ... (AP)

Iran negotiating with FIFA to move World Cup games to Mexico from US

3 hrs ago - Updated Mar 17, 2026, 7:19 AM ET PUBLISHED Mar 17, 2026, 7:18 AM ET (Reuters) - Iran’s soccer federation is in discussions with FIFA about moving their World Cup matches to Mexico from the United States due to concerns about the safety of their ... (CNN Sports/Reuters)

Poll shows Missouri voters back abortion ban, but value abortion rights. Why"

3 hrs ago - The poll results could serve as a warning sign for abortion rights supporters, who have long attacked the ballot measure as misleading. In addition to the abortion ban, the measure also purports to ban gender-affirming care for minors, which is curre ... (Kansas City Star)

Apache women seek court intervention as federal land is turned over for copper mining

4 hrs ago - Updated 11:52 PM EDT, March 16, 2026 The transfer of federal forest land in Arizona to a pair of international companies that plan to mine one of the largest copper deposits in North America is complete, but a group of Apache women is asking the U.S. ... (AP)

Poland will not send its troops to Iran, PM Tusk says

4 hrs ago - March 17, 2026 8:16 AM EDT Updated 28 mins ago WARSAW, March 17 (Reuters) - Poland will not send troops to Iran as the conflict does not directly ​affect its security, Prime Minister Donald ‌Tusk said on Tuesday, adding that the United Sta ... (Reuters)

Missouri poll finds ban on transgender care boosts support for outlawing abortion

4 hrs ago - Lawmakers put the abortion ban on the ballot in order to overturn a constitutional amendment narrowly passed in November 2024 that made abortion legal in the state. The poll shows the proposal, which will be Amendment 3, is supported by a 47% to 40% ... (Missouri Independent)

Alleged Capitol Hill pipe bomber argues charges should be tossed out under Trump pardons

4 hrs ago - Updated on: March 16, 2026 / 11:33 PM EDT A man who was accused of planting pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters on the eve of the Jan. 6 attack in 2021 is asking a judge to dismiss the c ... (CBS News)

Army general left classified maps on train, concussed after 'overindulgence' in alcohol: Inspector general report

5 hrs ago - by Filip Timotija - 03/16/26 7:05 PM ET U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Aguto, who oversaw the command that coordinated, trained and equipped Ukraine’s military, left a tube of classified maps on a train to Poland for more than 24 hours and was conc ... (the hill)

Ousted Hegseth aide accused of leaking lands intelligence post

5 hrs ago - 03/16/26 10:48 PM ET A former aide to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was accused of leaking classified information, was hired by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), an administration official told The Hill on Monday. Dan ... (The Hill)

'Lindsey Graham Is Going Down': Charlie Kirk Show Declares War On 'Lady Graham'

6 hrs ago - Charlie Kirk Show hosts Blake Neff and Andrew Kolvet pressed for the defeat of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), an ally of President Donald Trump, by hosting his two opponents, Paul Davis and Mark Lynch. By David Edwards — March 17, 2026 Charlie Kirk ... (crooksandliars.com)

Jared Kushner Reportedly Seeks $5B From Middle East Governments for His Firm While Serving as Envoy

6 hrs ago - Mar 16th, 2026, 8:57 pm Jared Kushner, husband to Ivanka Trump, is allegedly soliciting $5 billion in funding for his private equity firm while serving as a diplomatic advisor to his father-in-law, President Donald Trump. Kushner has been participat ... (MEDIAite)

PCC students in limbo as first-ever community college strike in Oregon enters second week

6 hrs ago - by KATU Staff Mon, March 16, 2026 at 4:27 PM Updated Mon, March 16, 2026 at 10:47 PM PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — Oregon's first-ever community college strike entered its second week Monday with staff and some students still holding picket lines outs ... (KATU)

Last protester in immigration detention after Trump's campus crackdown has been released

6 hrs ago - Updated 8:36 PM EDT, March 16, 2026 ALVARADO, Texas (AP) — A Palestinian woman who was the last person still in immigration detention after the Trump administration’s 2025 crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism on college campuses was freed ... (AP)

All 4 living former presidents deny Trump's bizarre Iran bombing claim

6 hrs ago - Robert Davis March 16, 2026 7:11PM ET Aides to all four living presidents confirmed to CNN on Monday that none of them have spoken with President Donald Trump about his bombing strikes in Iran, as Trump claimed during a press conference. Trump cl ... (raw story)

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