Trump backs FCC chair’s threat to pull licenses of news outlets over Iran war coverage
US president on social media said he was ‘thrilled’ that Brendan Carr was looking into broadcasters’ licenses
Donald Trump reinforced comments made by Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), threatening the broadcast licenses of news organizations that report unfavorably on the war in Iran.
In a Truth Social post Sunday night, Trump said he was “thrilled” that Carr was “looking at the licenses of some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic ‘News’ Organizations. They get Billions of Dollars of FREE American Airwaves, and use it to perpetuate LIES …”.
Carr wrote in a post on X on Saturday that broadcasters “that are running hoaxes and news distortions – also known as the fake news – have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up. The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”
Carr’s comments drew a rebuke from both Democrats and Republicans noting the first amendment protects news organizations from government censorship. Trump’s comments suggest he will widen his campaign against the media.
Trump described Iran as a “master of media manipulation”, noting – correctly – that AI-generated images had flooded the internet, which news organizations are cautiously navigating. But he then claimed that Iran is “working in close coordination with the Fake News Media” in disseminating these images, describing one in which a US aircraft carrier is shown falsely to be burning at sea.
“The story was knowingly FAKE and, in a certain way, you can say that those Media Outlets that generated it should be brought up on Charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information!”
Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary and a former Fox News host, lambasted the press at a media availability Friday for what he claimed was unfavorable news coverage. Hegseth barred press photographers from the briefing, reportedly because some photos published of Hegseth have been deemed “unflattering”.
Singling out CNN by name, Hegseth said: “The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”
It is not the first time Trump has threatened broadcasters’ licenses. Trump railed against an ABC News reporter who asked him about the Epstein files last year. “I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake and so wrong,” Trump replied. “And we have a great commissioner, a chairman, who should take a look at that.”
In February, Carr called for broadcasters to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary “by airing patriotic, pro-America content that celebrates the American journey and inspires its citizens by highlighting the historic accomplishments of this great nation from our founding through the Trump Administration today”.
'Not our war': U.S. allies balk at Trump's Strait of Hormuz demands
Many European governments expressed reservations Monday about providing military support to reopen the crucial waterway.
LONDON — President Donald Trump has berated and threatened America's NATO allies. Now he wants these same countries to help unblock the Strait of Hormuz — and their response has not exactly been enthusiastic.
"This is not our war, we have not started it," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters Monday.
That appeared to sum up the mood among U.S. allies, with leaders from Berlin to London expressing reservations about Trump's demands and indicating they had no immediate plans to provide military support to reopen the crucial waterway.
Iran effectively closed the trade route in response to the American-Israeli assault launched last month. This sent global oil prices surging and threatened an international economic shock, something economists had warned about before the war began.
Trump called upon "countries of the world that receive oil through the Hormuz Strait" to "take care of that passage," as he put it in a Sunday post on Truth Social. In an interview with the Financial Times the same day he went further, warning that NATO would have a “very bad future” if its members did not help free up the strait.
Though often wary of risking Trump's ire, many European governments have been reluctant to be pulled into the war with Tehran.
Some, such as the leftist government of Spain, outright refused the Hormuz demand.
"Spain will never accept any stopgap measures" to keep the strait open, Defense Minister Margarita Robles said, "because the objective must be for the war to end, and for it to end now."
Japan and Australia said they had no plans to send ships to aid Trump's request.
Even in Italy, whose Prime Minister Georgia Meloni has previously cast herself as something of a Trump-whisperer, the government declined to get involved.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters that "diplomacy needs to prevail."
Others asked for Trump to provide more information.
Europe needed to understand Trump's “strategic goals. What will be the plan?” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said.
In Britain, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been criticized by Trump for not taking part in the initial attack on Iran.
Starmer told a news conference Monday he was "working with all of our allies, including our European partners," to "restore the freedom of navigation" as quickly as possible.
"Ultimately, we have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ensure stability on the market," he said. "That is not a simple task."
But Starmer made it clear that he would not be drawn into “the wider war,” and that any Hormuz mission should be a broader effort — including the U.S. and Gulf states — rather than something for NATO.
There are other proposals on the table, such as top European diplomat Kaja Kallas on Monday floating a similar deal to the one in 2022 that ensured Ukraine could export grain amid Russia's invasion.
But ultimately, European skepticism over Trump's Hormuz demand seemed to stem from their wariness of the war itself.
"The European answer must be: the way to end the problem is to end the war, not to join it," said Sven Biscop, a director at the Egmont Institute, a Belgian think tank. He said the main thing was "not be intimidated by threats on NATO" by Trump.
Asked for comment on the European reaction, the White House directed NBC News to comments made by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who told reporters that these countries should help out because they "are benefiting greatly from the United States military taking out the threat of Iran."
She added that "the president is absolutely right to call on these countries to do more to help the United States to reopen the Strait of Hormuz so that we can stop this terrorist regime from restricting the free flow of energy."
Despite several ships being bombed as they attempt to cross the strait, Iran denies it has closed the narrow neck of water entirely. After the U.S. and Israel launched the war, it said it would attack vessels from those countries or their allies.
"From our perspective the Strait of Hormuz is open, and only closed to enemies," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on Telegram.
The wrangle over the strait marks the latest point of tension between the Trump administration and Washington's historic friends across the Atlantic.
Last year, the president refused to rule out using military force to seize the Danish autonomous island of Greenland.
He eventually said in January that he would not deploy the military to take Greenland, which sits in a strategic location amid the melting ice floes frequented by Russia and China, and has a wealth of natural resources.
However the damage had already been done, with officials and expert observers across Europe aghast that their most powerful member — which they fought alongside in World War II — would countenance using force against them.
Other presidents, such as President Barack Obama, have urged NATO members to pay more toward their militaries, and their administrations have been frustrated with Europe's perceived reliance on Washington to take care of its postwar defense.
However, none have done so as publicly or brusquely as Trump.
Trump Threatens Treason Charges for Reporters Covering Iran War
Donald Trump is accusing media outlets of committing treason over their Iran war coverage.
On Truth Social Sunday, Trump made a long-winded post accusing Iran of using AI to create fake videos of attacks on U.S. ships and American publications of “false reporting,” calling out The Wall Street Journal by name. In one instance, he cited a fake video of the USS Abraham Lincoln “burning uncontrollably in the ocean.”
“Not only was it not burning, it was not even shot at—Iran knows better than to do that! The story was knowingly FAKE and, in a certain way, you can say that those Media Outlets that generated it should be brought up on Charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information!” Trump ranted. “The fact is, Iran is being decimated, and the only battles they ‘win’ are those that they create through AI, and are distributed by Corrupt Media Outlets. The Radical Leftwing Press knows this full well, but continues to go forward with false stories and LIES.”
Trump went on to praise Federal Communications Commission chief Brendan Carr for threatening “the licenses of some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic ‘News’ Organizations.” Carr on Saturday threatened to revoke the broadcasting licenses of local outlets that he determined to be sharing “fake” news.
The president has long attacked media outlets for even the slightest bit of critical coverage against him, but the weaponization of the FCC in his second term adds cause for concern with this post. Under Carr’s tenure, the FCC has attacked multiple TV networks, including NBC, ABC, and CBS, citing various excuses, including DEI and new interpretations of existing statutes.
Trump officials, such as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, are also lashing out at the media, openly gloating as right-wing ownership gets closer to running CNN. As Trump’s war with Iran continues to go poorly, he will continue to lash out at anyone who points out the obvious. Will this come with an attempt to censor the press?
Trump said he spoke to a former president about bombing Iran. Four denials suggest otherwise.
Trump said twice Monday that he spoke to one of his predecessors about the Iran war and that the former president said he wished he had taken the action Trump did.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump told reporters Monday that one of his predecessors told him he wished he had been the one to bomb Iran.
It appears he did not speak to any of the four former presidents.
An aide for George W. Bush told NBC News that “they haven’t been in touch,” while an aide to Bill Clinton told NBC News that whoever Trump was referring to was not Clinton.
An Obama aide said “no recent conversations” have taken place between Barack Obama and Trump, and a source familiar with the matter said the former president Trump was referring to was not Joe Biden.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the denials Monday night.
Earlier in the day, Trump claimed twice to have spoken to a former president about Iran.
“I’ve spoken to a certain president — who I like, actually. A past president, former president, he said: ‘I wish I did it. I wish I did.’ But they didn’t do it. I’m doing it. Yeah?” Trump said at a lunch for Kennedy Center board members.
Later in the day, Trump repeated the claim in the Oval Office, saying: “I spoke to one of the former presidents who I actually like.”
“I actually speak to some,” Trump said. “And he said, ‘I wish I did what you did.’”
Asked by a reporter to elaborate on which president he was speaking to, Trump did not specify. He said it wasn’t Bush and then said “I don’t want to say” when he was asked it was Clinton.
“I don’t want to say because a member of a party, a member of a party, they have Trump derangement syndrome, but it’s somebody that happens to like me, and I like that person, who’s a smart person, but that person said, ‘I wish I did it.’ OK, but I don’t want to get into who. I don’t want to get him into trouble,” Trump said.
“You know, it’s interesting. And maybe he’d be proud,” Trump said about the former president. “And I could even ask him that: ‘Would you like me to reveal your name?’”
National Counterterrorism Center director resigns over war in Iran
WASHINGTON (TNND) — Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Joe Kent announced Tuesday that he would be resigning from his position due to the war in Iran.
“After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today,” Kent wrote on X.
He said that the U.S. only got into the war in Iran due to massive pressure from Israel and its American lobby.
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Kent wrote on X. “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.”
He concluded by saying it was an honor to serve under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and President Donald Trump.
“May God bless America,” his post concluded.
He also posted a picture of his resignation to Trump letter that said Israeli officials deployed a misinformation campaign to undermine the president's America First platform.
“This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that you should strike now, there was a clear path to victory,” the letter reads. “That was a lie and the same tactic that the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of men and women.”
Prior to becoming the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Kent ran for office in Washington state twice in 2022 and 2024.
He is a retired Green Beret and also a Gold Star husband. His first wife Shannon Kent was killed in a suicide bombing in Syria in January 2019.
He said he talked to a previous president-they said they didn’t
He said he talked to other countries about sending help for the Straight of Hormuz and they are sending help-they said they are not getting involved.
He called one of the other countries over the weekend and asked if they could send a minesweeper or two. Where are ours, you might ask-Well, all 4 were moved out of the Middle East and sent back to the US. The other country also said no-they aren’t sending any sweepers.
Trump said Iran is calling wilkoff and ready to talk. Iran said they have not called.
Trump Says 'WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!' In Iran War After NATO Rebuff
President Donald Trump said he doesn't need the help of allied nations in the war he started against Iran, just days after begging for help.
"The United States has been informed by most of our NATO 'Allies' that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon," Trump posted on Truth Social Tuesday.
On Saturday, Trump bragged about a "decapitated" Iran military while also asking nations for help in taking back the Strait of Hormuz.
"Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated," Trump posted on Truth Social.
And in another post later that day, Trump again made a plea for other nations to help the U.S. and Israel, promising everything will go "smoothly, and well."
"The U.S. will also coordinate with those Countries so that everything goes quickly, smoothly, and well," he wrote. "This should have always been a team effort, and now it will be — It will bring the World together toward Harmony, Security, and Everlasting Peace!"
On Monday, Trump got his answer: Other countries aren't coming to help.
“They should be in here very happily helping us,” Trump told reporters Monday. "They should be jumping to help us because we’ve helped them for years."
Trump's newest childlike strategy is to act like the U.S. has never needed help to begin with.
"Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer 'need,' or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID!" Trump raged in his Tuesday post. "Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea. In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!"
Oh what a difference a day makes. When they wouldn't help bail him out of his self inflicted mess he changed his story. The trumpian version of foreign policy.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Hegseth on $200B Iran war funding request: ‘It takes money to kill bad guys’
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended the Pentagon’s $200 billion funding request, which was sent to the White House for the ongoing war against Iran, saying it “takes money to kill bad guys.”
“I think that number could move. Obviously, it takes money to kill bad guys,” Hegseth told reporters during a Thursday morning briefing at the Pentagon.
“So we’re going back to Congress and our folks there to ensure that we’re properly funded for what’s been done, for what we may have to do in the future, ensure that our ammunition ––everything’s refilled, and not just refilled, but above and beyond,” Hegseth said when asked about the request from the Pentagon, which was first reported by The Washington Post.
It is unclear how much the White House will ultimately ask Congress to approve in the supplemental proposal, prospects of which have drawn opposition from Democrats in both chambers, while Republicans have indicated support for the upcoming funding request.
“At the height of combat the Iraq War cost around $140 Billion per year. If the Pentagon is asking for $200 billion they are asking for a long war. The answer is a simple no,” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), an Iraq War veteran, said Thursday night on social platform X.
The ask from the Pentagon comes as the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran is well into its third week, with both militaries continuing to hit thousands of Iranian targets, including ballistic missile launch sites and drone manufacturing posts.
Hegseth said Thursday morning that all 11 of the Iranian submarines have been destroyed and that the U.S. military damaged or sunk more than 120 of Iran’s ships.
The cost of the war has spiked, with Pentagon officials telling lawmakers last week the price tag for the conflict came out to more than $11.3 billion in the first six days of action, The Hill previously reported.
In early January, President Trump called on Congress to increase the U.S. defense budget from $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion, saying it would allow the country to build its “dream military.”
Hegseth praised Trump on Thursday for supporting the U.S. military and chastised his predecessor, former President Biden, arguing the previous administration depleted U.S. stockpiles by transferring some arms to Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia.
“Which is when every time we reach back and look at any sort of a challenge we have, it goes back to well, send it to Ukraine,” Hegseth said. “Ultimately, we think these munitions are better spent in our own interests at this point.”
Pit, What Trump is looking for from Allies (former allies I think) is confirmation. He wants them to join in so it doesn't look like it's simply Trumps war. We are all aware that it is just Trumps and Israels war..
If they help now, it sends a message that it's alright,, He Done Good... He's looking for an Atta Boy.
#GMSTRONG
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.” Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe." Damanshot
Pit, What Trump is looking for from Allies (former allies I think) is confirmation. He wants them to join in so it doesn't look like it's simply Trumps war. We are all aware that it is just Trumps and Israels war..
If they help now, it sends a message that it's alright,, He Done Good... He's looking for an Atta Boy.
There is nothing about the action taken in Iran that has anything to do with NATO. Nothing. It is why NATO partners have not taken any action or engaged. An illegal war of choice no matter how "evil" the regime is/was. No clear objective. Led by Netanyahu who has committed genocide in Gaza and who has been telling the world for decades that Iran was weeks/months away from Nuclear weapons.
Now calling NATO allies cowards while Hegseth says Biden depleted munitions by helping Ukraine fight Putin. Couldn't make this chit up if you tried - and its the sort of stuff only the staunchest unthinking fanboy could support. No doubt why there's so little commentary in these forums. Pretty much indefensible.
The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
Now calling NATO allies cowards while Hegseth says Biden depleted munitions by helping Ukraine fight Putin. Couldn't make this chit up if you tried - and its the sort of stuff only the staunchest unthinking fanboy could support. No doubt why there's so little commentary in these forums. Pretty much indefensible.
They take their notes from trump. Just like trump still blames Biden for everything, they blame us because they no longer post here. And just think, they used to claim they were the party of personal responsibility.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
US lifts sanctions on Iranian oil at sea in bid to ease supply pressures
Treasury secretary Scott Bessent says move will bring 140m barrels to market but insists Tehran will not benefit
The Trump administration has waived sanctions on Iranian oil purchases at sea for 30 days to ease surging oil prices driven by the US-Israeli war on Iran.
The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said the waiver would bring about 140m barrels of oil to global markets and help relieve pressure on energy supply.
The move reflects White House concern that soaring oil prices – up about 50% to more than $100 a barrel, the highest since 2022 – will hurt US businesses and consumers ahead of the November midterm elections, when Republicans hope to retain control of Congress.
However, Bessent’s earlier suggestion of a waiver raised concerns that it could benefit Iran’s war effort.
It is the third time the US has temporarily waived sanctions in about two weeks.
It had previously eased sanctions on Russian oil, and on Friday issued a general licence allowing the sale of Iranian crude oil and petroleum products loaded on vessels as of Friday to 19 April, according to the licence posted to the US treasury website.
“By temporarily unlocking this existing supply for the world, the United States will quickly bring approximately 140 million barrels of oil to global markets, expanding the amount of worldwide energy and helping to relieve the temporary pressures on supply caused by Iran,” Bessent said in a statement on X.
“In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against Tehran to keep the price down as we continue Operation Epic Fury.”
The licence, posted to the Treasury’s website after market hours, said Iranian oil could be imported into the US under the waiver when necessary to complete its sale or delivery. The US has not meaningfully imported Iranian oil since Washington imposed measures after the 1979 revolution.
It was unclear whether any Iranian oil would enter the country as a result of the waiver. Cuba, North Korea and Crimea are among the regions excluded from the license.
Bessent had floated lifting the sanctions in a Fox Business interview on Thursday, prompting analysts to point out the policy could actually benefit Iran’s war effort.
“To put it mildly, this is bananas,” the Blackstone Compliance Services director, David Tannenbaum, told the BBC. “Essentially, we’re allowing Iran to sell oil, which could then be used to fund the war effort.”
Bessent pushed back on that analysis in his Friday statement. “This temporary, short-term authorization is strictly limited to oil that is already in transit and does not allow new purchases or production,” he wrote.
“Iran will have difficulty accessing any revenue generated and the United States will continue to maintain maximum pressure on Iran and its ability to access the international financial system.”
Vital energy infrastructure in Iran and neighbouring Gulf states has been attacked, and Iran has effectively closed the strait of Hormuz, a conduit for about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.
Energy analysts, including Brent Erickson, a managing principal at Obsidian Risk Advisors, have said the administration’s efforts to control prices would not have a meaningful impact until the strait is opened to vessels.
“The easing of sanctions raises concerns about the rapid depletion of Washington’s economic toolkit,” to dampen oil prices, Erickson said. “If we’ve reached the point of loosening sanctions on the country we are at war with, we’re really running out of options.”
The move is expected to benefit China, the top buyer of Iranian oil. The US energy secretary, Chris Wright, said supplies could reach Asia within three or four days and hit the market after being refined over the next month and a half.
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, told a Japanese news agency Tehran had started talks with Tokyo about possibly opening the strait to allow the passage of Japanese-related vessels.
Japan depends on the Middle East for about 95% of its oil supplies and gets about 90% of its oil shipments via the strait. Japan is among the countries forced to release oil from their reserves amid the surging prices.
President Donald Trump said the U.S. is considering "winding down" war with Iran even as the Pentagon sends thousands of additional Marines and an amphibious assault ship to the Middle East.
The mixed messaging from the White House comes about three weeks into the conflict which launched on Feb. 28. Trump promised the war would be swift. On Friday evening, March 20, he said the country is "very close to meeting our objectives," including "never allowing Iran to get even close to Nuclear Capability."
But it remains unclear what exactly the White House needs to complete its mission and whether that will involve deploying to Iran some of the thousands of U.S. soldiers the Pentagon has mustered. Thousands have been killed in the war. Among them are 13 American soldiers and scores of children killed in an apparent U.S. strike on an Iranian school. Israel has also launched a campaign in Lebanon, followed strikes from inside that country by Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy group. Millions of people between Lebanon and Iran have had to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.
Iran’s move to close the Strait of Hormuz for many vessels has left the White House scrambling to come up with solutions to the burgeoning energy crisis. Average gas prices across the country topped $3.92 per gallon Friday evening, up almost a full dollar compared to before the war, according to AAA. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday the U.S. would lift sanctions on 140 million barrels of Iranian oil to ease the shortages driving rising prices.
"The reality is, jet fuel prices have more than doubled in the last three weeks," Kirby said in a statement. "That may sound scary, but the first piece of good news is that, for now at least, demand remains the strongest we've ever seen. The 10 biggest booked revenue weeks in our history have been the last 10 weeks. But it may be a challenge to continue passing through much of the increased fuel price if oil stays higher for longer."
Kirby said he expects oil prices to rise to $175 per barrel and won’t return to $100 per barrel until the end of 2027.
Most of the cuts would come to off-peak flights, Kirby said.
Iran: U.S.-based rights group HRANA said on Thursday that 3,186 people have been killed. It said 1,394 of those were civilians including at least 210 children.
Lebanon: Around 1,021 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since March 2, according to Lebanese authorities. The World Health Organization and Lebanese health authorities said more than 100 of those killed were children.
Iraq: At least 60 people have been killed, according to Iraqi authorities. Most of those were members of the Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces.
Israel: Fifteen civilians have been killed. The Israeli military said two of its soldiers were also killed in southern Lebanon. Four Palestinian women were killed in an Iranian missile attack in the occupied West Bank.
United States: Thirteen servicemembers have been killed in the Iran war.
United Arab Emirates: Eight people have been killed in Iranian attacks, including two army soldiers, according to the UAE defence ministry.
More: Syria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman have each reported small numbers of deaths.
While our War leaders talk like the war is winding down, reading the following might indicate the possibility of an increase in ground combat.
Warnings of Iran Invasion Grow as US to Send Up to 5,000 Marines, Sailors to Middle East “Bringing this war to an end,” said one former US intelligence analyst, “requires recognizing it can still get much, much worse.”
In what has been described as a potential “major escalation” of the Trump administration’s war with Iran, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has reportedly approved a request from US Central Command to move more warships and thousands of Marines to the Middle East following Iran’s attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
Citing three US officials, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the US was sending “an element of an amphibious ready group and attached Marine expeditionary unit, typically consisting of several warships and 5,000 Marines and sailors.”
According to the Journal, the Japan-based USS Tripoli and its attached Marines are already headed to the Middle East.
While the Journal did not explicitly report that the operation was tied to the volatile situation in the Strait of Hormuz, it noted that “the move comes as Iran’s attacks on the strait have paralyzed traffic through the strategic waterway, disrupting the global economy, driving up gas prices and posing a major military and political challenge for President [Donald] Trump.”
X post: Shashank Joshi
@shashj
A key indicator of a potential ground operation. "Hegseth has approved a request from Centcom for an element of an amphibious ready group and attached Marine expeditionary unit, typically consisting of several warships and 5,000 Marines..."
In his first address on Thursday, delivered by a news anchor on Iranian state TV, the country’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said that “the lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must definitely be used” to heighten economic pressure on the US.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has declared that “not a liter of oil” shall pass through the strait, and vowed to attack any ship linked to the US and Israel that may attempt to make the journey.
Iran has reportedly attacked at least six commercial ships in the area since Wednesday, including one marked with a Thai flag that still has three crew members missing. US intelligence sources have also accused Iran of laying mines in the Strait, which Iran has neither confirmed nor denied.
The blockage of the strait, through which about one-fifth of global oil shipments pass each year, has sent the global market into chaos. Prices of Brent crude have surged from under $70 less than a month ago to more than $100 per barrel on the global market, and US gas prices have leaped to $3.63 per gallon on average, up from $2.94 a month ago.
Prices have continued to climb even after the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced its largest-ever coordinated release of oil from nations’ strategic reserves on Wednesday to combat what it called “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.”
Shashank Joshi, the defense editor at The Economist and a visiting fellow at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, said that a deployment of such a large Marine force seems to be “a key indicator of a potential ground operation” in Iran.
Trump said earlier this week that he was “nowhere near” sending troops into Iran even as it ramped up threats to block the strait. But privately, he has reportedly been mulling plans to put “boots on the ground” within Iranian territory to accomplish a number of objectives, though officials have characterized them as limited special-operations missions.
Administration officials have reportedly suggested a commando raid on Iran’s nuclear sites to confiscate or sabotage its supply of uranium, according to Axios. They’ve also considered a plan to occupy Kharg Island, which sits 15 miles off Iran’s coast and handles about 90% of its oil exports, serving as an economic “lifeline” for the battered nation.
But Trump has also said that if Iran blocks the strait, “the US Navy and its partners will escort tankers through the strait, if needed.” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Dan Caine, has said the Pentagon is looking at “a range of options” to do this.
In an analysis published Tuesday by Zeteo, Harrison Mann, a former US Army major and executive officer of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Middle East/Africa Regional Center, suggested that the US may pursue an ambitious plan to “clear Iran’s coastline around the strait” to get tankers moving again.
Mann, who worked under the Biden administration but resigned in protest of its support for the genocide in Gaza, said this plan would require “an indefinite occupation–otherwise missile trucks could just get in position after US forces leave.” Doing this, he added, would require “a full-fledged invasion, possibly beyond even the 10,000 or so rapid-response forces at Trump’s disposal.”
“All of these ground operations risk high casualties while failing to accomplish their missions,” Mann said. “That’s a feature, not a bug. Even if one of these operations met its objectives, troops in peril behind enemy lines demand resupply, evacuation, and revenge, which puts more troops in peril behind enemy lines, and so on.”
X post: Harrison Mann
@Harrison_J_Mann · Follow Context: A MEU has only ~1200 *ground* troops. You're not invading Iran ("securing the Strait of Hormuz") with that. Adding the 5-10k available airborne troops might be enough to get a proper quagmire started, though.
Dave Brown @dave_brown24
The Pentagon is moving a Marine expeditionary unit to the Middle East, as Iran steps up its attacks on the Strait of Hormuz. Hegseth has approved a request from Central Command for the expeditionary unit, typically consisting of up to 2,500 Marines https://wsj.com/livecoverage/us-isr...unit-to-middle-east-WeoODg0XIIe31W3np2aI 12:51 PM · Mar 13, 2026
The movement of more troops comes as the US public expresses strong disapproval of Trump’s war with Iran. In a Quinnipiac poll published this week, 53% of registered voters said they opposed US military action against Iran, while just 40% approved.
About 74% said they feared that the war would cause oil and gas prices to rise, and 71% feared that the war would last “months” or longer.
Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, who remains one of his top allies in media, said on his War Room podcast that deploying such a large military force “sends a signal to Iran, but it also sends a signal to the American people: This is a major escalation.”
Mann said that putting troops on the ground in Iran will only “ensure that Trump can’t back out easily, which is exactly what [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, [US Sen.] Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and their ilk need to fracture Iran.
“Bringing this war to an end,” Mann said, “requires recognizing it can still get much, much worse, refusing to fall for the promise of ‘small special ops raids,’ and calling these courses of action what they are: a prelude to forever war.”
The question no-one has tried to attempt to address - what does success look like? What is the objective?
Trump declared they had won a few days ago ... won what? Obviously for fanboys its much better to try to derail the conversation than support the war and tell us what the objectives are. Regime change was the goal at one time, with Trump having control over the succession ... nope. Nuclear capability - they didn't have it before and don't have it now. During the negotiations they said they would hand over all their enriched uranium ... that's not happening now.
What I can see is that we've further alienated Western allies. Given Putin a massive windfall. Killed a bunch of school kids. Tanked or stalled the world economy. All in the name of replacing one leader with his son - sank a lot of Iranian Ships that were zero threat to the USA. Hit their missile sites - again, that were no threat to the USA. So ... what are the objectives? What does winning look like....
The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
