Trump reportedly wants to seize Iran's Kharg Island. He floated the idea 40 years ago

 

"US President Donald Trump mulled over taking over Iran’s oil-export hub Kharg Island as a way to assert US power in the Gulf and punish the Islamic Republic. The idea came to him nearly 40 years ago.

"I’d be harsh on Iran. They’ve been beating us psychologically, making us look [like] a bunch of fools,” Trump told the Guardian in 1988.

"“One bullet shot at one of our men or ships, and I’d do a number on Kharg Island. I’d go in and take it,” he added.

"The interview is notable now as several news sites have reported US and Israeli discussions about seizing the island, where Iran exports around 90 percent of its crude.

"Axios reported that the US and Israel held discussions about seizing Kharg Island last week.

"The 1988 Guardian interview demonstrates that this idea is not new. In the interview, he also said that "It’d be good for the world to take them (Iran) on". 

"Trump’s comments then came against the backdrop of the Iran-Iraq War, a brutal conflict against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and the Islamic Republic, which saw around 500,000 people killed.

"In the late 1980s, the US Navy escorted vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and attacked Iranian oil installations and mines.

"Trump’s hostility to Iran can be traced back to the Guardian interview.

“Iran can’t even beat Iraq, yet they push the United States around. It’d be good for the world to take them on,” he said." . . .

More...

Top 30 Things That Will Not Happen in 2026

Oleg Atbashian

1. A WaPo fact-check will conclude with: “we were wrong, sorry.”
   
2. A celebrity will say: “maybe I should shut up about politics” & follow through on it.
   
3. A major university will finally discover the value of diversity of opinions.
   
4. A media outlet will run a headline: “this story has no racial angle.”
   
5. Media will start referring to the political right without adding ultra-, far-, or extreme.
   
6. A war will end because of a really powerful hashtag and social media filters.
   
7. A school board will prioritize math and reading over “feelings-based grading.”
   
8. Congress will pass a bill after reading it, understanding it, and not adding pork.
   
9. A climate conference will end with: “we’re flying coach next time.”
   
10. “Rising waters” celebrities will abandon their oceanfront properties and move to higher ground.
    
11. European officials will call an Islamist terror attack by its real name.
    
12. A debate moderator will ask both sides the same hard questions.
    
13. A prosecutor will charge a rioter, and the headline won’t include “legitimate grievances.” More...

Phyllis Chesler: My Take on the News of the Moment..."Don't Like Any of It"

 Phyllis Chesler 

 "Sixth: When will President Trump really understand that negotiations with radical, political Muslims and Jihadists can never, ever be trusted? I could say a lot more here but will stop for now. I welcome all your views on this particular matter."

"I'm on record about refusing to jump on the breaking news and jumping up and down with righteous indignation about it all. I know: It's a very retro position to have. So--here's what I'm thinking about our sad and sorry world.

"First: Isn't the endless rollout of the Epstein scandal and the ties he had to American universities truly a diversion, a deft way of failing to acknowledge that Arab oil money has spent many billions over a 50-year period to take over and take down American education? Why not at least mention that there is far more than one toxic influencer at work here?

"Second: What is this three-week non-stop coverage about Nancy Guthrie's disappearance really about? What dark and voyeuristic passion does such coverage feed? What I'm asking is this: While many thousands of non-violent Iranian protestors have been murdered on the streets and in their hospital beds; while the Taliban have legalized slavery (what can they possibly mean by this since all their women are already enslaved?); while many thousands of Ukrainians have been murdered in a four-year aggressive war launched by Czar Putin; while Israelis are being forced to permanently fight a non-stop war against barbarians (who still refuse to disarm, who are still storing their weapons in hospitals); while murderous and verbal attacks against Jews around the world continue to escalate--my God! And it's Nancy Guthrie 24/7. (Of course, may she soon be found unharmed and may the Iranian mullahcracy evaporate, etc.)

"Third: Europe--which is no more--has been Islamified, and there is no turning back and yet, Europeans still continue with their Jew hatred, now cleverly disguised as anti-Zionism. Oh yeah. Take the ongoing Olympics. The entire Israeli bobsled team, first time contenders, had their uniquely fitted gear, shoes, passport, and suitcases stolen as well as their money--but there's more. As the Israeli bobsled team stormed down the slope, the Olympics’ Swiss announcer kept talking about the Israeli "genocide in Gaza," etc. (The truth is I cannot forget the 1972 Olympics in Munich and the Muslim terrorist murder of Israeli champions and, for that matter, the 1936 Olympics in Berlin as we all saw, courtesy of that Monster propagandist--Leni Riefenstahl--the film Olympia).

"Fourth: Talking about the Swiss: When are they ever going to relinquish all their Nazi bank accounts, stolen from Jews during the Holocaust? They insist on the importance of protecting the privacy of their depositors just as hotly and righteously as the Free Speech fanatics in America, who go to great lengths to protect the right of hate speech but who do not fight for the rights of truth speech.

"Fifth: Why, oh, why was Bad Bunny's half time performance so widely praised? What am I missing? . . . More...

Phyllis Chesler, Ph.D., is an Emerita Professor of Psychology at City University of New York. She is a best-selling author, a legendary feminist leader, and a retired academic and psychotherapist. She has lectured and organized political, legal, religious, and human rights campaigns in the United States, Canada, Europe, Israel, Central Asia, and the Far East.

‘The Perfect Partner’: Meet the Left-Wing PR Firm That Works With George Soros To Elect Progressive Prosecutors

Free Beacon 

"BerlinRosen has received millions from the Soros-funded PACs used to back prosecutors like Philadelphia's Larry Krasner."

"When George Soros spends millions of dollars to elect soft-on-crime prosecutors in many of the United States’ biggest cities, much of that money ends up in the hands of a single Manhattan-based communications firm that’s boosted prosecutors’ campaigns.

"Campaign finance records reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show that the PACs Soros uses to fund left-wing DA campaigns have steered millions of dollars to BerlinRosen, a PR firm that "happens to be the largest expenditure item for nearly all Soros DA campaign spending," according to the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund.

"When George Soros spends millions of dollars to elect soft-on-crime prosecutors in many of the United States’ biggest cities, much of that money ends up in the hands of a single Manhattan-based communications firm that’s boosted prosecutors’ campaigns.

"Campaign finance records reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show that the PACs Soros uses to fund left-wing DA campaigns have steered millions of dollars to BerlinRosen, a PR firm that "happens to be the largest expenditure item for nearly all Soros DA campaign spending," according to the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund.d by former New York Senate Democratic campaign operatives Valerie Berlin and Jonathan Rosen, the firm’s clients have included former New York City mayor Bill de Blasio and former speaker of the New York State Assembly Sheldon Silver, who was convicted of corruption, as well as a host of progressive advocacy organizations." . . .More...

. . . "George Gascón, the former Los Angeles DA, slashed police budgets and eliminated cash bail. He faced two recall attempts before losing his reelection campaign in 2024. Two years prior, San Francisco voters ousted far-left DA Chesa Boudin, the son of Weather Underground terrorists Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert, in a recall election after he eliminated cash bail. He prosecuted just three drug cases in 2021 as overdose deaths in the city surged." . . .

Putting an end to Iran’s 47 year war on the U.S.

"It is crystal clear that the good people of Iran — and surely there are some — must take control of their government ASAP. And put an end to what is effectively a death cult that rules Iran now and has done so since the Iranian revolution in 1979."

Rich Terrell

Trump Stands Tall on Iran  "The place: The American Embassy in Tehran, Iran.

"On that day, in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution that had overthrown the Shah, followers from the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam’s Line descended on the U.S. Embassy. Supported by the leader of the Revolution, one Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the students took 66 hostages from the Embassy staff, both diplomatic personnel and civilians. (RELATED: Reagan’s Shadow, Trump’s Moment)

"The flashpoint was the Jimmy Carter administration granting asylum to the cancer-ridden Shah of Iran for treatment in New York. The student revolutionaries held the American hostages for 444 days. At one point, Carter authorized a U.S. military rescue attempt. The mission failed dramatically.

"This was a presidential election year in the United States, and the hostage crisis became a daily issue in the campaign between President Carter and the GOP nominee, former California Governor Ronald Reagan. Without doubt, the ongoing crisis contributed to the hard-liner Reagan’s landslide 44-state victory over Carter.

"As if to humiliate Carter, negotiations for the release of the hostages finally succeeded on Jan. 19, 1981, the day before Carter was to leave office. Dramatically, with Reagan literally sworn in and giving his inaugural address on Jan. 20, the hostages were released to American authorities, then flown out of Iran first to Algeria and then to a U.S. airbase in Germany where now former President Carter had been sent by the new President Reagan to greet them and escort them first to Ireland (for refueling) and then on to the U.S. and the National Guard base in Newburgh, New York. Days later, after health check-ups and rest, the hostages were given a huge ticker tape parade in New York City." .. . .  . .

Why the strike on Iran was legal, overdue, and a strategic earthquake.

Now the Iranians have fired missiles at practically every other country in the region. So it isn’t just the Israelis and the Saudis who have had it with them.

No, There’s No ‘Forever War’ in Iran  

Trump’s stance on Iran long predates his presidency (and by extension, any relationship he had with Israel) and stretches as far back as the 1980s, following the Iranian hostage crisis.  Since becoming president, he has continued to oppose Iran’s nuclear ambitions, reimposed sanctions after withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal, and maintained pressure on the Iranians to agree to a denuclearization deal.  Throughout the early to mid-2010s, well before he even announced his candidacy, Trump’s Twitter feed was filled with posts articulating his consistent stance: that Iran must end its targeting of U.S. citizens, stop funding terrorism, and never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon.  All of these tweets (now on X) still exist today.

All about Gavin: UPDATED: Newsom’s Rocky Month Shows the Risks of Running on Style Over Substance

Victor Davis Hanson

"Add it all up, and he’s got only one campaign slogan. Gavin Newsom will have to run as “I want to do to the United States what I did to California.” We’ll see how that works out."

. . . "As far as dyslexia goes, it’s very hard to find him credible. Not that he doesn’t have it, but when he says, “I can’t read,” I can’t believe that’s true, because not too long ago, he bragged to us, I think, that he was reading a 260-page book in an hour and a half, as if he was a speed-reader.

"And my gosh, anybody who is a governor of a huge state like California, a governor of any state, gets page after page daily in memoranda and policy papers and speeches. So, when he says he can’t read, it wouldn’t convince most people.

"And why did he say that he couldn’t read? Because he’s flailing, and he wants to have some sympathy. I think that’s the reason." . . .

"Finally, what’s the elephant in the room? All of what I talked about is a camouflage, a mask for the problem. And that is 300,000 people are leaving his state per year since he’s been governor. He’s taken paradise and turned it into purgatory. Whether it’s the fires, the high-speed rail boondoggle, the highest income taxes in the nation, the recent billionaires tax—it’s already driven $1 trillion out of the state.

"We have the highest number of homeless people. We have one-third of all welfare recipients. We have the highest poverty rate, I think we’re 21% to 22%. We have no plans to assimilate a culture rate or integrate 27% of the population that was foreign-born. We have the highest number of illegal aliens. About one out of every three people that enters our now-bankrupt health system has diabetes. And Louisiana and Mississippi have higher test scores in their elementary schools than we do." . . .

The Unfortunate Truth in Gavin Newsom’s Gaffe Regarding the SAT  

Newsom is either the first or the third among those cohorts.  Historically speaking, proudly referencing unimpressive academic results would be an odd thing for an American presidential candidate to tout on the campaign trail, but such are the times.  The Democrat cult, as Newsom knows well, is devout in its adherence to the gospel of DEI.  It prefers to celebrate mediocrity and equitable outcome rather than to celebrate pure exceptionalism.

Iranian drones over California? The mullahs know California has a very incompetent governor    

"Beside's Newman's proven record of incompetence, another answer to that question is Joe Biden's Open Border. Biden allowed all comers, including those on the U.S. terror watchlist, to enter the U.S. to file their phony "asylum" claims. Iranians entering during that border surge would naturally gravitate to areas with large Iranian expatriate communities -- which would mean Los Angeles, San Diego and even San Francisco. They could be good Iranians, such as the many we know -- or bad ones, the Iranians who still support the regime. Open borders don't distinguish."

Could This New Rifle-Mounted Drone Buster Be a Game Changer?

Ward Clark   

"Man-portable, deployable to the grunts in the field. There's nothing grunts like more, after all, than shooting stuff, and shooting stuff with a laser, that's a whole new level of cool."

Every new military technology, every new weapon, sooner or later, was countered by some other new weapon or technology. Armor was rendered obsolete by the musket. Castle walls were rendered obsolete by cannons. Battleships were rendered obsolete by aircraft carriers. 

Today, drones are one piece of new tech that military forces around the world are still learning how to employ, and how to defend against. And now, there's a new counter: A rifle-mounted drone-killer device.

A new chapter in counter-drone defense begins as Nuburu’s Lyocon subsidiary completes initial trials of a next-gen, portable non-kinetic laser system built to hunt drones in contested airspace.

Designed for rapid deployment, the lightweight weapon can be mounted on rifles, letting soldiers carry and aim it with minimal effort in the field.

It leverages a multi-wavelength directed-energy setup and operates across green, blue, and infrared laser bands to disrupt a wide range of drone types.

Now, to me, this doesn't look like something that could be slung under the barrel of an M4 or M16, like the M203 grenade launcher." . . . More...

Ward Clark hails from Alaska’s Susitna Valley, where he maintains his rural household in one of America’s last free places.  Ward is a twelve-year veteran of the U.S. Army, including service in Operation Desert Storm and (in Germany in support of) Operation Joint Endeavor, and today is a staunch minarchist libertarian, along with being an author, novelist, self-employed small businessman, woods bum, and semi-professional bad influence.

Shooter killed after driving car into Detroit synagogue with preschool and opening fire, as cops say all children and staff survived the attack UPDATED

 Daily Mail

"The shooter who drove a truck carrying explosives into a Michigan synagogue with an attached preschool has been killed, officials say.

"The truck caught fire after 'something ignited' when the gunman smashed into the Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township on Thursday.

A man armed with a rifle was found dead inside the vehicle, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard. Officials have not yet disclosed how he died, but law enforcement sources said his body is 'badly burned.'  More...

Meanwhile: The Old Dominion University Shooter Has Been ID'd and It Looks Like Islamic Terrorism   Jalloh was arrested in 2016, according to a press release from the Department of Justice, "attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).  According to the complaint, Jalloh is alleged to have attempted to provide services by assisting in the procurement of weapons to be used in what he believed was going to be an attack on U.S. soil committed in the name of ISIL.  In addition, the complaint alleges that Jalloh attempted to provide material support to ISIL by providing money to assist in the facilitation of individuals seeking to join ISIL." . . .

 Hero ROTC cadet fatally stabbed ISIS-supporting Old Dominion gunman to prevent more carnage  . . . "Jalloh, a naturalized US citizen from Sierra Leone, was a member of the Virginia National Guard before he was sentenced to 11 years in prison for attempting to provide material support to ISIS, but was released from custody early in 2024, sources said.

" 'Old Dominion University faced a tragedy on our main campus,” Old Dominion University president Brian Hemphill said in a statement." . . .

The cardboard cutout that is Iran’s new Supreme Leader

VIDEO UPDATE: Iran CAUGHT hiding NEW Supreme Leader  "Some say he's just a picture on a cardboard cutout. The IRGc will shoe him in with all the ballot stuffing votes".

 The cardboard cutout that is Iran’s new Supreme Leader    

"The Economist explains away this loving eulogy by saying it writes the obituaries the dead would have written for themselves were they still alive. And yes, that is weird and non-journalistic."

"Here’s the funniest story of the week, maybe the year: The IRGC, having bullied the surviving members of Iran’s ruling council into nominating as the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the very dead former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was reduced to putting up a cardboard cutout of Mojtaba at the official announcement. The reason is that he was seriously injured in the attack that killed his father (and his mother and wife). Rumor is that he lost a leg and may be unconscious or even dead.

"While Normals had a blast coming up with memes reflecting that cardboard cutout moment, certain segments of the media had a different approach to Iran’s Supreme Leaders, with one lovingly eulogizing Ali Khamenei and the other trying to say that Mojtaba is really just like Trump.

"Allegedly, the late Ali Khamenei was very explicit: Do not make my son Mojtaba the Supreme Leader when I die. Not only was he concerned about nepotism, as one analyst summed it up, Khamenei senior understood that his son was “an impotent young cleric who has achieved nothing in terms of political life.” . . .

The cardboard cutout that is Iran’s new Supreme Leader   

US President Donald Trump unveiled the cardboard Ayatollah 😂 pic.twitter.com/36LTML3O7s    — Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) March 11, 2026

“We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men".

"Here’s the funniest story of the week, maybe the year: The IRGC, having bullied the surviving members of Iran’s ruling council into nominating as the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the very dead former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was reduced to putting up a cardboard cutout of Mojtaba at the official announcement. The reason is that he was seriously injured in the attack that killed his father (and his mother and wife). Rumor is that he lost a leg and may be unconscious or even dead.". . . 

2012: . . . "To this day the Ayatollah remains widely loved in Iran, and the anniversary of his return is commemorated each year with events across the country.

"As he passed away in 1989, personal appearances are sadly out of the question, but the Iranian authorities had a solution this year: three giant cardboard cutouts of the Ayatollah, each carried down the steps of a plane and then marched around the airport. On their short tour, the cardboard constructions ‘inspected’ lines of troops as soldiers saluted and looked dutifully serious.

"The bizarre and endearingly lo-fi ceremony ended with one of the cardboard Ayatollahs being paraded around the airport in an open-top army truck, as a marching band tooted its approval in the background. Wacky stuff indeed. Here are some more photos:" . . .

Tucker's next guest...

Social media propaganda and the campaign against America’s Iran policy.

The American Spectator

"If these memes only appeared occasionally, one could perhaps ignore them…. But their massive presence hints at something deeper, more malign, more frightening."

. . . "We know all this, and political analysts and policymakers have learned to discount polling results accordingly. But there is another and far more insidious thumb on the scale of public opinion, one that pretends objectivity while in fact propagandizing for the various leftist causes of the day. This takes the form of social media “questions” that pretend to be objective while hiding — and at the same time promoting — the leftist messaging of the day." . . .

"We know that China’s influence operations are well-developed. We’ve recently seen significant documentation, for example, of how American billionaire Neville Roy Singham, now an honored guest of Xi in Shanghai, has used his own funds to support anti-American influence operations. One suspects that these funds have been further subsidized by the Chinese government. And across the entire spectrum of leftist enterprises, one sees similar activity.

"We can’t know how many of the current anti-U.S., anti-Trump memes are funded directly or indirectly by China, but to suggest otherwise is to ignore a well-established pattern of political behavior. Counteracting these pervasive influence operations won’t be easy, particularly since they align so neatly with the Democrats’ domestic political interests.

"In a political environment shaped by “useful idiots” and the easily duped, a righteous effort to eliminate a decades-long threat from Iran can be easily undermined — we’ve seen this happen over and over again with past efforts. A successful and, hopefully, brief campaign in Iran will be the ultimate difference maker, but we can’t win the fight for American “hearts and minds” if we simply sit back and allow the lies to go unchallenged. Every present and future sacrifice by our troops will come to naught if the American people are seduced into turning their backs and walking away. More...

CNN Actually Made Abby Phillip Apologize On-Air for Lying About the Attempted ISIS-Inspired NYC Bombing   

 Few people were impressed by this, as Phillip still implied Mamdani was a target of the attack even in her apology, and many wondered whether she'd address the false comments on her show rather than just on X.

 And then she proceeds to let Anna Navarro spew the same BS unchallenged.

"Apology rejected."

Here's What an Israeli Pilot Said to His American Counterpart Before a Bombing Run

 Matt Vespa   

Here's What an Israeli Pilot Said to His American Counterpart Before a Bombing Run    "The only people who will be upset with these communications are progressives, Democrats, pro-Hamas clowns, and some influencers on the Right who laughably see Jerusalem’s hand, or any Jewish hand, in anything the United States does abroad. It’s a tired trope, but here we are. Operation Epic Fury is raging. US-Israeli forces are picking apart this insane Iranian regime, and the radio chatter between an Israeli pilot and an American one before a bombing run was pretty cool. 

"Here’s one clip, showing an Israeli pilot thanking and offering encouragement to his American counterparts before a bombing run. 

“ 'It is a great honor for us to fight with you. You are doing a great job,” said the IDF pilot

“ 'Thank you very much—likewise, gentleman,” replied the US pilot. “Please be safe out there. Strike hard. See ya,” he added.  

"Operation Epic Fury has destroyed the Iranian Navy, decimated their ballistic missile stockpile and related infrastructure, and halted Tehran’s quest for nuclear weapons. We have air supremacy, and we killed the core of their political and military leadership. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead." . . .

 Iran: The cardboard ayatollah and the inflatable Air France jet - BBC News

. . . "The reason is that he was seriously injured in the attack that killed his father (and his mother and wife). Rumor is that he lost a leg and may be unconscious or even dead." . . .

James Talarico Quietly Deletes Endorsement Page Showcasing His Most Radical Supporters

Joseph Chalfant 

 "TALARICO: "Our trans community needs abortion care too." This is the guy the Democrats think is going to flip Texas blue." Greg Price

"James Talarico, the Democrat nominee for the U.S. Senate race in Texas, has quietly removed the endorsement page from his campaign website. The page formerly featured a slew of endorsements from the most radical of Texas outlets and a wide-array of far-left organizations across the state.

"An archived version of Talarico’s site showed that he was proudly backed by groups like Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus, the 134 PAC, Stonewall Democrats, and Mothers Against Greg Abbott. The archive was taken on the date of the Democrat primary in Texas, but was suddenly removed once he advanced to the general.

"The groups who have backed Talarico have espoused a radical, pro-transgender agenda for children as young as seven-years-old, promote “drag queen story hours” for kids (which are subject to prosecution in Texas), and have pushed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies on Texans. Another group fighting for Talarico, the Stonewall Democrats, set out on an agenda of “holding candidates accountable” should they not toe the line of far-left transgender ideology.

"The Waco chapter of Indivisible has also backed Talarico, which has called ICE operations to remove dangerous criminals from American communities a “Terror Machine” and labeled the Minneapolis surge as an “invasion.” Mothers Against Greg Abbott called ICE agents “monsters” in an ad pushed by the organization and proudly sell merchandise in promotion of the campaign.

"Talarico will not be able to run from his radical past by obscuring who has helped him earn the nomination. Countless clips of the state representative have gone viral since winning the primary, showing just how steeped into the far-left ideology he is." . . .  More