作者： root

Takeaways from Kristi Noem’s combative Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

By Holmes Lybrand, Priscilla Alvarez, Michael Williams
Updated Mar 3, 2026, 4:28 PM ET
PUBLISHED Mar 3, 2026, 3:09 PM ET

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced tough questions from Democrats and some Republicans during a hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

Senators grilled Noem about her early descriptions of two US citizens who were killed by federal officers in Minneapolis, her agency’s use of administrative warrants to search homes and private property, her use of executive jets and whether immigration officers will be deployed to polling places ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Noem and several GOP senators criticized Democrats for the ongoing partial shutdown of DHS in a time of heightened security, but while the secretary said the department has started to re-vet some migrants in the wake of the US attacks on Iran over the weekend, she offered no specifics about possible threats as a result.

Here are the takeaways from the hours-long hearing:

Noem defends her early descriptions of Alex Pretti and Renee Good

Noem tried to split hairs during the hearing by claiming she never called Alex Pretti, the man shot and killed by DHS officers in Minnesota earlier this year, a domestic terrorist, but rather said his actions were an act of domestic terrorism.

Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar asked Noem if she had anything to say to Pretti’s parents after calling their son a domestic terrorist.

“I can’t even imagine what they have gone through in the loss of their son,” Noem said, declining for the second time Tuesday when asked to apologize to Pretti’s family.

Noem then defended her comments, saying, “I did not call him a domestic terrorist. I said it appeared to be an instance of” domestic terrorism.

“I think the parents saw what it was,” Klobuchar responded.

In the initial aftermath of the killing of Pretti, Noem was asked at a press conference whether she agreed with White House officials calling Pretti a domestic terrorist and, if so, what evidence she had to support such a claim.

“When you perpetuate violence against a government because of ideological reasons and for reasons to resist and perpetuate violence, that is the definition of domestic terrorism,” Noem said at the time.

Shortly after Pretti was killed, Noem also claimed that Pretti had “brandished” a firearm he was carrying when he had been shot. But video of the killing later contradicted that claim, showing his handgun was not visible until officers had already put their hands on him. The gun was taken off Pretti seconds before he was shot.

Earlier during the hearing, she declined to retract her initial descriptions of both Pretti and Renee Good, who was also killed in Minneapolis by DHS officers weeks before Pretti.

In an exchange with Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, Noem called both situations “tragic” and explained that her description of Pretti and Good were based on reports on the ground.

“Do you retract these statements identifying these individuals as domestic terrorists?” Durbin asked.

“When we have these situations happen, we always offer our condolences to these families. These are tragic situations,” Noem said, adding: “We always work to provide the American people with as much information as possible. We’re relying on reports on the ground and agents who are there.”

The Department of Homeland Security came under intense scrutiny over actions in Minneapolis and conflicting accounts provided by senior officials over the deaths of Pretti and Good.

“Is it so hard to say you were wrong?” Durbin asked.

“I absolutely strive to provide factual information,” she said.

Republican presses Noem on ad buy

Some of the fiercest exchanges with Noem came from Republican Sens. Tillis and John Kennedy of Louisiana.

Kennedy confronted Noem about her agency’s advertising campaign, which, as the senator pointed out, often prominently showcase Noem. ProPublica reported last year the recipient of a lucrative subcontract was Ben Yoho, the husband of a former DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

While Noem argued that bids for the advertisements were properly submitted, Kennedy said his research “shows that you did not bid them out” and, in one instance, chose a company that was formed “11 days before you picked them.”

“Look, we all have friends who are qualified. I’m not quibbling with that,” Kennedy said.

The Republican senator added that the $220 million price tag “troubles me” especially when, Kennedy said, Congress “is scratching for every penny.”

“I just can’t agree,” Kennedy said of the spending.

Noem said she had nothing “to do with picking those contractors” and said the president had “tasked me with getting the message out to the country” on the department’s deportation efforts.

Yoho’s company, the Strategy Group, claimed on social media after the hearing it did not have a contract with DHS directly but instead obtained a sub-contract with Safe America. In total, Yoho’s company made “$226,137.17 total for 5 film shoots, 45 produced video advertisements and 6 produced radio advertisements,” according to the company.

GOP senator brings up Cricket and asks Noem to resign

Tillis railed against Noem and the administration’s deportation efforts during the hearing, accusing her office of not providing information on immigration efforts in North Carolina and stalling FEMA aid.

Tillis is not seeking re-election.

He honed in on statements Noem made before she was part of Trump’s cabinet, including accounts she wrote about in her memoir of her killing her 14-month-old dog, Cricket, and a family goat. Noem wrote in her book that the dog was “untrainable” and that the goat was “nasty and mean.”

“A 14-month old dog is basically a teenager in dog years,” Tillis said.

“You decided to kill that dog because you had not invested the appropriate time and training, and then you have the audacity to go into a book and say it’s a leadership lesson about tough choices,” Tillis said. “And you killed a goat because you said it was behaving badly. You are a farmer. You don’t castrate a goat, they behave badly. You should have probably done that before.”

Tillis accused DHS of arresting innocent American citizens and highlighted the death of several individuals at the hands of DHS agents.

“We’re beginning to get the American people to think that deporting people is wrong,” Tillis said of what he called Noem’s disastrous leadership. “It’s the exact opposite. The way you’re going about deporting them is wrong.”

Tillis also criticized Noem for failing “admit to a mistake” in the shootings of Good and Pretti.

“Law enforcement needs to learn,” he said, “that you don’t protect them by not looking at the facts.”

‘No plans’ to send ICE officers to polling locations. But…

Noem said her department had “no plans” to send immigration enforcement officers to polling locations ahead of this year’s midterm elections.

But pressed repeatedly by Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, Noem declined to rule out the possibility entirely.

Coons asked Noem about comments from Stephen Bannon, a former White House adviser during the first Trump administration, indicating he believed immigration agents should be deployed to polling places.

“Will you rule out the deployment of ICE or CBP to polling places this November?” Coons asked.

Noem responded: “There are no plans to have ICE officers at our polling locations.”

Coons pressed Noem to explicitly rule it out.

Noem responded: “Do you plan on illegal aliens voting in our elections?” She then again repeated that there were “no plans” to deploy immigration officers at polling places in November.

Confronted over plane use

Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse confronted Noem over the use of an executive jet — displaying a picture, which was first reported by NBC News, of a bedroom inside the jet. NBC reported that the jet cost $70 million.

“What kind of deportee justifies being flown out of the country in a luxury jet with a bedroom and accommodations?” Whitehouse asked.

Noem responded that the picture was not accurate, and that the jet was being refurbished to get rid of the bedroom and would be used for deportation flights along with executive travel.

She said she had been on the plane once.

“The department has found that in purchasing our aircraft that we will save the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars,” she said.

Outside the hearing room, Kennedy sharply criticized Noem’s responses.

“I want to see her succeed, but I’m not going to sit here and watch this kind of spending porn of a cabinet secretary putting herself on TV to the tune of $220-plus million dollars without saying something, and the advertisements are still running,” Kennedy said.

CNN’s Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.

CBS News poll analysis on Hispanics, a key group, as primary season kicks off

March 3, 2026 / 6:10 PM EST / CBS News

By Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus

Donald Trump made gains with Hispanics nationally in 2024 in some key battlegrounds, and particularly in Texas. He led Kamala Harris with Hispanics in the state, helping boost his overall winning margin in the state. It marked a reversal from recent elections when Latinos backed Joe Biden in 2020 and Hillary Clinton in 2016.

As the primary season gets underway, Tuesday’s primaries in Texas, a state where roughly a quarter of 2024 voters were Hispanic, will be closely watched. (Hispanics also make up nearly one in 10 voters in North Carolina, another state holding primaries Tuesday.)

Part of what helped President Trump make those gains was the economy. It was the top issue for Hispanic voters nationally in 2024, and those who picked it overwhelmingly backed Mr. Trump over Harris. And the portion of Hispanics who said inflation had been a “severe hardship” (about a quarter of them) also backed him in big numbers.

Economic expectations unmet so far?

More than a year into Mr. Trump’s second term, most Hispanics overall continue to rate the nation’s economy badly, don’t feel their incomes are keeping up with inflation, and most don’t feel his policies have made their finances better.

Mr. Trump’s overall approval rating has declined among Hispanics over the course of this past year (as it has among other groups). Like the broader public, most Hispanics feel his administration has not focused enough on lowering prices, and most disapprove of how he is handling the economy and inflation.

(This is based on polling conducted before the start of U.S. military action against Iran.)

Deportation and the border

During Biden’s presidency, most Hispanics thought he should have been tougher on those trying to cross the border. Most have acknowledged that border crossings have gone down under Mr. Trump’s policies, but their views on the administration’s overall deportation program and the way ICE conducts its operations are not as positive.

About half of Hispanics approved of the Trump administration’s deportation program at the start of this presidential term, but that has dropped to about a third who approve of it now.

This decline comes as most Hispanics don’t think the administration has been prioritizing criminals for deportation, and most think ICE has been too tough in its operations that detain people.

They also think Hispanics are being subject to more searches from ICE, compared to people of other races and backgrounds, and they believe that isn’t fair.

It’s too early to know how the U.S. conflict with Iran will impact elections this year. Before the U.S. took military action in Iran, Hispanics, like most Americans, felt the administration had not clearly explained its position regarding potential action, so they may be looking for more clarity now that a conflict is underway.

Does discontent with the Trump administration help with the Democrats?

This dissatisfaction among Hispanics with some of the administration’s policies has not translated into especially positive views of the Democratic Party.

While Hispanics’ overall impression of the Republican Party is more negative than the Democratic Party, their overall views of the Democratic Party are more unfavorable than favorable.

But on both economic and immigration policy, Hispanics do prefer the Democrats’ approach to that of President Trump and the Republicans, indicating the Democratic Party’s priorities on two key issues may be more in line with their own.

This analysis is based on CBS News exit polls and CBS News/YouGov polls.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/how-latino-voters-are-impacting-the-texas-primaries/

西班牙政府称有能力应对美国贸易威胁 | 联合早报

发布/2026年3月4日 07:42

针对美国总统特朗普威胁切断与西班牙贸易关系的言论，西班牙政府回应称，西班牙拥有必要资源来应对可能产生的影响，并将支持受冲击行业，推动供应链多元化。

新华社报道，西班牙第二副首相兼劳工与社会经济部长迪亚斯星期二（3月3日）批评特朗普的相关言论“不可接受”，强调西班牙不会接受外部施压。

当天早些时候，特朗普在白宫会见到访的德国总理默茨时说，西班牙不同意将军费增至国内生产总值（GDP）5%的北约目标，而且在此次美国打击伊朗的军事行动中，西班牙拒绝美国使用其军事基地。

特朗普说，“西班牙的表现非常糟糕”，他已指示财政部长贝森特“切断与西班牙的一切贸易往来”。

他还说：“西班牙根本没有我们需要的东西。我有权中止所有与西班牙有关的商业活动。禁运——我想怎么做就怎么做——我们可能对西班牙这么做。”

延伸阅读

西班牙拒绝美军使用基地 特朗普恫言实施贸易禁运

西班牙拒为美以攻伊提供基地 美军机离境

西班牙国防部长罗夫莱斯和外交部长阿尔瓦雷斯2日在接受西班牙国家电视台采访时说，位于西班牙南部的莫龙-德拉弗龙特拉和罗塔的两处军事基地未向美国提供任何形式的帮助，也不会被授权用于针对伊朗的军事打击行动。

EXCLUSIVE:House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., is warning Democrats not to play politics with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) funding, particularly as the country is on high alert for any fallout from the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.

“Put the safety and security of the American people first and stop playing political games to appease the far-left base, especially at a time like this,” Scalise said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

The ongoing partial government shutdown centered on DHS, now in its 18th day, has taken on new significance in the wake of President Donald Trump’s military action in Iran.

Bipartisan deals have funded 97% of the federal government through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, but divisions between Democrats and Republicans over Trump’s immigration crackdown have prevented any such compromise on DHS.

House GOP leaders announced over the weekend that the chamber would vote this Thursday on a bipartisan DHS funding bill that passed in January in a bid to pressure Democrats to end the shutdown.

That bill failed to advance in the Senate multiple times, with Democrats demanding new guardrails on immigration enforcement that Republicans have deemed nonstarters.

“We are on a higher level of alert, and this is not the time for Democrats to be playing games and shutting down the department that is focused on keeping Americans safe here at home,” Scalise said. “So we’re bringing this bill back up again to try to get them to come to their senses and open the Department of Homeland Security.”

The bill passed in a 220-207 vote in late January, with just seven Democrats crossing the aisle in support. All but one House Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., voted in favor.

However, Scalise said “any responsible member of Congress” should vote for the legislation this time.

“The country is watching and expects members of Congress to take the safety of the American people at heart. And so I hope we get a much larger vote this time,” he said.

DHS is a wide-ranging department that was created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

While it’s most recently grabbed headlines for actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), DHS is also responsible for a variety of national security-focused offices like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the U.S. Secret Service.

Scalise pointed out that it’s also critical to keeping the U.S. safe during global events being hosted within its borders.

“We had a hearing last week on the World Cup, the people in charge of security for the World Cup were saying that they may have to start canceling some events,” he said. “And that was before Iran.”

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

Trump says Iran strikes eliminated most leadership succession candidates | Fox News

White House says 49 top Iranian leaders were eliminated in opening phase of military campaign

By Morgan Phillips, Efrat Lachter
Fox News
Published March 3, 2026 1:20pm EST

Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin reports the latest on Operation Epic Fury, what’s next in the mission and more during ‘America’s Newsroom.’

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President Donald Trump said U.S. military strikes on Iran have eliminated much of the regime’s anticipated leadership succession bench, raising new questions about who will emerge to lead the Islamic Republic after the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“Most of the people we had in mind are dead,” Trump told reporters Tuesday. “So, you know, we had some in mind from that group that is, is dead. And now we have another group. They may be dead also based on reports. So, I guess you have a third wave coming in. Pretty soon we’re not going to know anybody.”

The president said the worst-case scenario would be someone taking over “who’s as bad as the previous person.”

“That could happen,” Trump said. “We don’t want that to happen. It would probably be the worse you go through this, and then, in five years, you realize you put somebody in who was no better. We’d like to see somebody in there that’s going to bring it back for the people, and we’ll see what happens with the people. You know, they have their chance.”

The remarks come as Israeli strikes hit the building in the holy city of Qom, Iran, associated with the country’s Assembly of Experts, the 88-member clerical body constitutionally responsible for selecting the next supreme leader, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Effie Defrin confirmed to Fox News Digital.

“We struck a few targets involved in terrorism,” Defrin said.

Iranian media has claimed the building was empty at the time of the strikes. Israel does not yet have a battle damage assessment, Defrin said.

The White House has said 49 top Iranian leaders were taken out in the opening phase of the campaign, which Trump said put the operation “ahead of schedule.”

Defense officials, however, have stressed the operation was not designed to force regime change.

“This is not a so-called regime change war,” War Secretary Pete Hegseth said. “But the regime sure did change, and the world is better off for it today.”

That distinction now sits at the center of a critical geopolitical question: If the U.S. did not intend to overthrow Iran’s ruling system but has eliminated much of its top leadership and succession chain, what happens next?

Trump said U.S. strikes eliminated much of Iran’s succession bench, meaning it’s unclear who will lead after the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.(Iranian Leader Press Office/Anadolu/Getty Images)

How Iran’s succession process is supposed to work

Under Iran’s constitution, the Assembly of Experts selects a new supreme leader when the position becomes vacant. In the interim, a three-person council — composed of the president, the head of the judiciary and a senior cleric — carries out the leader’s duties until a permanent successor is chosen.

After Khamenei’s death, Iranian authorities moved to activate that constitutional mechanism. President Masoud Pezeshkian, judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei and senior cleric Alireza Arafi are overseeing the interim phase.

The structure is designed to prevent exactly the kind of vacuum that can destabilize authoritarian systems. But Trump’s assertion that multiple potential successors were killed has intensified uncertainty about whether Tehran’s clerical establishment still has a clear and viable path forward.

While Israeli officials have indicated that senior figures were targeted in recent strikes, Iran has not publicly confirmed a full list of clerical or succession-level casualties. The extent to which the Assembly of Experts itself was directly disrupted remains unclear.

Potential successors and reported losses

Judiciary chief Mohseni-Ejei has long been viewed as a senior insider within the succession framework and remains part of the interim leadership council.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had quietly begun preparing for a potential transition during last year’s 12-day war between Iran and Israel, according to prior reporting by The New York Times.

Possible successors reportedly included his chief of staff Ali Asghar Hejazi, Mohseni-Ejei and Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Ayatollah Alireza Arafi is seen as a potential successor to Khamanei as supreme leader.(Courtesy Iran International)

Israeli officials have claimed Hejazi was killed in recent strikes, though Iranian authorities have not publicly confirmed his death.

Ayatollah Alireza Arafi has also been viewed by some analysts as a potential contender within the clerical hierarchy.

Trump’s claim that “second or third place is dead” suggests U.S. intelligence assessed that multiple tiers of leadership were affected. However, no comprehensive public accounting of succession-ranking figures killed has been released.

OPERATION EPIC FURY: HOW AMERICA’S AIR POWER IS CRUSHING IRAN’S TERROR REGIME

Risk of power shifts

Some analysts warn that wiping out multiple tiers of leadership risks creating the kind of power vacuum that has destabilized other countries after the removal of entrenched rulers.

After Moammar Gadhafi was removed in Libya in 2011, rival militias and competing governments fractured the country. The U.S. invasion of Iraq similarly led to prolonged insurgency and regional upheaval.

Iran’s situation is not identical. The country retains formal succession rules, centralized institutions and a functioning state bureaucracy.

But if clerical leaders struggle to agree on a successor, competing power centers could emerge.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which controls vast military, intelligence and economic assets, could move to consolidate influence if civilian religious leadership falters.

“When clerics cannot agree, power does not disappear. It shifts,” analysts at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies wrote in a recent assessment, warning that sustained instability could empower the IRGC. “The most likely beneficiary of sustained instability is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”

Domestic unrest and opposition figures

Iran’s leadership already has faced intense domestic unrest.

Nationwide protests erupted in late December 2025 concerning economic hardship and political grievances, prompting a sweeping government crackdown. Trump has claimed 32,000 people were killed during the regime’s response, a figure significantly higher than official Iranian statements and independent estimates.

To stifle communication and hinder coordination among demonstrators, Iranian authorities imposed a near-total internet blackout during the unrest and again after the start of U.S. strikes.

Outside the regime, opposition figures have positioned themselves as potential transitional voices in the event of broader political realignment.

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, has cast himself as a symbol of the opposition and a potential transitional figure who could steer Iran toward a democratic system if the clerical order collapses.

But Pahlavi lives in the U.S., and Trump said Tuesday someone within Iran might be more “appropriate.”

“Some people like him, and we haven’t been thinking too much about that,” Trump said. ‘It would seem to me that somebody from within maybe would be more appropriate. I’ve said that he looks like a very nice person, but it would seem to me that somebody that’s there that’s currently popular if there is such a person.”

Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran — a coalition of exiled opposition groups led by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) — advocates for the overthrow of the clerical regime and establishment of a democratic republic.

Both figures have international supporters, but their actual influence inside Iran remains uncertain and contested.

A plume of smoke rises after a strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026.(Mohsen Ganji/AP)

Not regime change — but what is it?

Critics of U.S. intervention in the Middle East often point to past regime-change efforts that produced instability rather than stability.

Trump has instead pointed to Venezuela as a more relevant comparison.

In January, U.S. forces captured President Nicolás Maduro, and Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assumed power under Venezuela’s constitutional process. The country’s governing institutions continued functioning while Washington exerted influence through economic pressure, legal action over oil assets and diplomatic engagement rather than direct rule.

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Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier that the Venezuela operation was a template for leadership that “takes over” and one the United States can work with, suggesting the administration sees a pathway where entrenched systems adjust under pressure rather than collapse outright.

Whether Iran follows that model — maintaining institutional continuity despite devastating leadership losses — or whether deeper fractures emerge inside the clerical establishment remains one of the most consequential unanswered questions in the Middle East.

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Pentagon official flags return of ‘Cold War mentality,’ as Trump admin reshapes NATO alliance

Elbridge Colby defends strategy shift as senators question whether it leaves Europe to handle Russia

By Rachel Wolf
Fox News

Published March 3, 2026 1:13pm EST

Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby defended the 2026 National Defense Strategy as he was grilled on Capitol Hill before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

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Undersecretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby told lawmakers that the administration’s latest defense strategy proposal does not sideline the U.S.’ European allies, but rather it aims to go back to a

Sir Isaac Newton postulated that for every action, there is always an equal and opposite reaction. It’s Newton’s Third Law of Motion and one of the most important rules in all of science.

And Newtonian physics can tell you a great deal about reactions in politics.

We don’t yet know the dimension or the impact of the war in Iran. But there will be a political reaction of great importance as we head toward the midterms. It’s just too early to understand how the war will go, what unexpected twists it may take and how its consequences might reverberate through the midterms.

A screengrab from a video released on President Donald Trump’s Truth Social account shows him making statements regarding combat operations on Iran on Feb. 28, 2026, in Palm Beach, Fla.(President Trump via Truth Social/Anadolu via Getty Images)

How things unfold is unclear. But an event of this breadth and proportion always poses some political impact. And the war may chart the course for the midterms.

Let’s start with President Donald Trump’s campaign promises that he was “America First” and would keep the U.S. out of foreign conflicts. Well, that’s out the window. And there’s already some friction with the MAGA base. They may bolt if they believe the president reneged on one of his key campaign promises.

But so far, most congressional Republicans are standing beside the president. A handful of congressional Republicans — including Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Warren Davidson, R-Ohio — agree with Democrats and assert that Trump must come to Congress before sending troops into harm’s way.

Not to downplay this, but it’s almost a “technical” argument. Yes, there are important questions about the Constitution, war powers and who has the right to “declare war.” But the war powers debate probably doesn’t resonate with a lot of voters. However, the decision to go to war when the president promised otherwise could pose potential problems for the president and congressional Republicans this fall. Voters who feel betrayed by the president could just stay home. Especially since it appears to fly in the face of the president’s campaign promise against starting wars.

Then there’s the body bag factor.

President Donald Trump confirmed the launch of U.S. strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, 2026.(Contributor/Getty Images)

Trump has been forthright, suggesting that there are possibilities of casualties. And there have already been some. He also doesn’t feel inhibited about a protracted war or even putting boots on the ground.

Remember what happened during the first Gulf War as the U.S. and allies went after Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in 1991. Then-President George H.W. Bush studiously courted other nations during a multi-month buildup in the region and secured the blessing from Congress. That’s not to say there was support across the board. But Bush and those aligned with him on Capitol Hill made the case to voters. Granted, Bush lost re-election in 1992. But some months earlier, the public embraced the campaign. There was flag waving. There were patriotic marches. There was the legendary performance of the national anthem by Whitney Houston at the Super Bowl.

The president’s approval rating spiked to a staggering 89% in the early days of the war. But it cratered to around 30% 17 months later because of the economy.

So let’s say the war goes well and casualties are limited. Congressional Republicans could ride the coattails of Trump. Republicans may even be able to put a few districts into their camp if a wave of patriotism sweeps over the country.

But watch out if this is a drawn-out campaign and casualties are high. Or, if Americans don’t understand why the U.S. is involved. So far, Trump has given a litany of reasons why the U.S. attacked Iran. Congressional Democrats don’t like the answers they are hearing.

Regime change is certainly good if you toss out dictators. But that means little to a day laborer who voted in Wisconsin and is struggling to make ends meet.

A driver refuels a vehicle at a Wawa gas station in Media, Pa., on March 2, 2026.(Matthew Hatcher/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Also, watch the price of gasoline. The Strait of Hormuz is the only shipping lane from the Persian Gulf to the open sea and a notorious choke point. The transport of oil through the strait is already declining rapidly. Another commodity moved through the strait is liquefied natural gas (LNG). It wasn’t that long ago that Democrats and voters were convinced that the 2026 midterms were going to be about affordability. Voters will balk if inflation sets in with fuel — to say nothing of the cost of goods and services because it’s more expensive to transport things.

There’s a risk that the war is a tipping point for the region and the Middle East devolves into chaos. Again, mayhem in the Middle East won’t matter much to a swing voter in northern Maine. But instability of that magnitude has the potential to shock markets, drive up prices and impact the availability of products on store shelves. And the risks are geometrically more complicated if China or Russia somehow get involved.

Then there is the biggest wild card: terrorism.

It’s possible that a heinous terrorist attack — especially on U.S. soil — could spur voters to rally ‘round the flag and actually help the GOP. Look at how President George W. Bush gained support after 9/11. And consider the fact that Republicans went against the historic norm and actually gained seats in the 2002 midterms. The party of the president usually loses an average of 27 House seats in the first midterm. But 2002 was one of only three instances that the president’s party picked up seats in a modern midterm election.

That said, some voters may argue that the consequences and carnage of a terrorist attack weren’t worth bombing Iran. So that has the potential to backfire on the president and congressional Republicans.

However, Democrats have some exposure to the terrorism issue. Democrats have refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)for nearly three weeks as they demand changes to ICE. Fighting against ICE resonates with the Democratic base. But Democrats could be in trouble if there’s a major terrorist attack. That’s why House Republicans are forcing a vote this week to get Democrats on the record on a bill to fund DHS.

Yes, Republicans believe DHS should be fully operational. Especially now. But Republicans want voters to understand who blocked funding DHS as the U.S. enters a tumultuous period on the world stage and the war in Iran deepens. Continuing to oppose money for DHS could come back to haunt Democrats if, God forbid, there’s a major terrorist attack during the funding lapse. The ads for the midterms practically write themselves.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, said Newton in his Third Law of Motion. We can’t yet calculate the equal pushback that’s likely coming as a consequence of the war in Iran in the fall midterms. But there will be something.

But perhaps Newton’s First Law of Motion has even broader application to understanding the impact in the midterms. Newton wrote that an object at rest stays at rest. And an object in motion stays in motion.

Things were “at rest” with Iran until Trump started the war. And now the Iran issue is “in motion.” That makes it more challenging to stop it.

Beijing braces for economic impact as Iran war threatens Chinese oil: “A manmade crisis”

2026-03-03T13:29:00-0500 / CBS News

Beijing — China is bracing for the full economic impact of the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran as its energy supplies are severely disrupted. China is the largest importer of energy in the world, and the disruption to oil imports caused by the conflict could be a potential Achilles’ heel for Beijing, just weeks before President Trump’s highly anticipated state visit to China.

China imports 70% of its oil and gas overall and a majority of its energy comes from the Persian Gulf, according to analysis from Det Norske Veritas, an independent global assurance and risk management provider.

Henry Wang, president of the Centre for China & Globalization, told CBS News Tuesday that China’s supply line will be seriously impacted by what he calls a “manmade crisis.”

“I think this will certainly hurt China, but not just limited to China, I think the whole world will be hurt. The Strait of Hormuz has been blocked and it’s going to impact not only China, but also Asia, Europe, Latin America, even the U.S.,” Wang said.

On Sunday, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi condemned the war, accusing the U.S. of assassinating a sovereign leader, violating international laws, and pushing the region “to the brink of a dangerous abyss.”

China and Iran’s diplomatic relationship dates back more than five decades. After U.S. sanctions were reimposed on Tehran over its nuclear weapons program following the first Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement in 2018, Iran has sold up to 80% of its oil to China, according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler.

Pedestrians walk next to a screen showing the commodity futures for crude oil in Shanghai on March 2, 2026. Jade GAO /AFP via Getty Images

Some experts believe Beijing has propped up the regime with its purchase of Iranian oil. Last year, China bought 1.38 million barrels per day of Iranian oil, data from Kpler shows.

But Wang told CBS News that it’s merely transactional for Beijing and an unfair representation of how China sees the relationship.

“I just think that is a normal trade,” Wang said. “Just like we see the Russian war with Ukraine and we see all the BRICS countries like India buying from Russia. So just because one country doesn’t like Iran, you cannot really ask the rest of the world that you cannot buy its oil.”

While Beijing is rolling out renewables and nuclear energy at a pace its government has called the fastest growing green economy in the world, the Chinese demand for oil continues to rise.

“I think even though China does have a lot of green power now and has greatly enhanced its capability in alternative energy sources, 50% of China’s energy still depends on petroleum and many other natural gas and other sources,” Wang told CBS News.

Last year, off the coast of Malaysia in the Riau Archipelago, CBS News witnessed a shadow fleet transporting Iranian oil and conducting ship-to-ship transfers with Chinese tankers — a supply route that will abruptly halt if the war drags on. Wang says China has petroleum reserves of up to four to five months in the event of prolonged conflict.

Many analysts believe the U.S.-led strikes on Iran are part of a White House strategy to contain China by targeting its energy supplies. Wang said that while there is no denying the effect this will have on China’s supplies, it could also cripple the U.S and its allies.

“I think President Trump is doing self-harm. It hurts European countries, it hurts G7 countries, and it hurts the U.S. as well. Not just China. The whole global economy. We’re not living in an isolated environment. It’s all intertwined,” he said.

Mr. Trump will travel to China for a summit with President Xi Jinping at the end of the month. The two leaders last spoke on the phone in February when the issue of Taiwan and U.S. arms sales to the island were raised in the conversation.

Last year, the U.S. and China were also engaged in an escalating tariff war before they reached a fragile détente. But the war in Iran and events in the Middle East will only add another level of tension to the relationship between the world’s two superpowers.

Trump administration relaunches defense of law firm executive orders

By Mike Scarcella and David Thomas
March 3, 2026 5:42 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

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Item 1 of 2 Signage is seen outside of the law firm Jenner & Block LLP in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 30, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

[1/2]Signage is seen outside of the law firm Jenner & Block LLP in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 30, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

March 3 (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday said it would pursue its bid to ​revive President Donald Trump’s executive orders punishing four prominent law firms, ‌abruptly reversing course just a day after seeking to withdraw its appeals in the cases.

The Trump administration had appealed last year after federal judges struck down executive orders targeting Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Jenner & Block ​and Susman Godfrey over their legal work, diversity programs and political affiliations.

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The ​administration on Monday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District ⁠of Columbia Circuit to dismiss its appeals. On Tuesday the Justice Department asked ​the court to withdraw its request.

The government in its filing said it is the

The State Department has so far helped more than 130 Americans evacuate Israel during the war with Iran, an official told Fox News on Tuesday.

“Hundreds of American citizens have left Israel since the start of the conflict. Over the last few days, the State Department has assisted over 130 American citizens [in departing] Israel, with an additional 100 American citizens expected to depart today,” the State Department official said.

“The Department is in direct contact and aiding nearly 500 American citizens [with arranging] travel out of Israel currently,” the official added.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said overnight, “We are getting a lot of requests regarding evacuating from Israel from American citizens who are currently in Israel or who have family here,” and that there are “very limited” options available.

“As of now, the best is utilizing Israel’s Ministry of Tourism shuttle bus to Taba, Egypt and getting flights from there or going on to Cairo for flights back to the U.S.,” Huckabee said on X. “Not sure when Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv will reopen. Hopefully soon, but even when it does, there will be VERY limited flights with priorities to those who already were ticketed by El Al. Doubtful that other airlines will fly in/out for a while.”

The State Department also has warned Americans in more than a dozen countries across the Middle East to depart immediately due to risks tied to the conflict with Iran.

Officials have warned that conditions in the region remain volatile and that security situations can change quickly as fighting tied to the Iran conflict continues.

The warnings come days after the United States launched Operation Epic Fury, striking command-and-control centers, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites.

Israel has been striking Iran as part of its Operation Roaring Lion.

Fox News Digital’s Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.