Summary:

Trump: War will be over "soon" after which "oil prices will drop like a rock"; We are "not ready to leave Iran yet" but will in "near future". Brushes off potential for 'Vietnam-style quagmire.'

Trump on China and delayed Xi meeting - "Looks like it'll happen in five weeks."

Macron: "We are not party to the conflict and therefore France will never take part in operations to open" Strait of Hormuz. Trump says we don't need NATO.

Israel issues widest evacuation order for southern Lebanon since the major 2006 war.

Israel claims major decapitation strike: Says Ali Larijani and Basij chief Gholamreza Soleimani were killed, but Iran disputes. Iran rejects ceasefire, vows escalation.

Trump confirmed earlier he asked China to delay Xi meeting 'a month or so' due to Iran war.

New oil targeting phase as Tehran pledges to be gatekeeper of Hormuz: Ships pass only "in coordination" with Tehran - talk of separate deal-making with BRICS capitals, while Iraq is in contact with Iran to persuade Tehran to allow some Iraqi oil tankers to pass through Hormuz.

Allies hesitate as Trump issues contradictory rhetoric: Key NATO states are refusing to join US efforts to secure Hormuz, amid lack of confidence in Trump's often shifting articulation of operation.

Johnson Hits Back After Counterterrorism Chief Quits; Says Iran Threat To Americans Was 'Imminent'

Update (1220ET): Shortly after the departure of Joe Kent as director of the National Counterterrorism Center over the Iran war - insisting that Iran posed "no imminent threat to our nation," House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) insisted there was.

"I’m on the Gang of Eight. I got all the briefings. We all understood there was clearly an imminent threat," Johnson said during a press conference, referring to the classified briefings that top Congressional leaders receive. "I don’t know where Joe Kent is getting his information, but he wasn’t in those briefings, clearly."

https://twitter.com/i/status/2033919110749253641

Fire Erupts Atop Manhattan Skyscraper

The FDNY is operating at a fire on East 43rd Street in Manhattan.

https://twitter.com/i/status/2033910556139135130

I have an issue with fags claiming to be Godly

Ecuador Launches Anti-Drug Operations With US Logistical Support – Colombia’s Petro Says Ecuadorean Air Force Is Striking Cartel and Guerilla Camps Across the Border

🇺🇸🇪🇨Ecuador launched a massive military crackdown on drug cartels over the weekend, backed by U.S. logistical support, targeting criminal strongholds in Guayas, Los Ríos, and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas.

A nationwide curfew from 11 PM to 5 AM is in effect in coastal provinces

https://twitter.com/i/status/2033779109814558725

Nazis honored in EU country’s capital

Riga has hosted a march commemorating Latvians who fought in Hitler’s Waffen SS during WWII

Hundreds of people marched in the Latvian capital Riga on Monday to commemorate Latvians who served in a Waffen SS unit for Nazi Germany during World War II.

While the country’s law bans the public display of Nazi symbols and glorification of Nazism, the annual march is permitted to proceed under the pretext of freedom of expression. At the same time, celebrations of the Soviet Union’s WW2 victory over Nazi Germany have been outlawed since 2022.

The unofficial Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires, held on March 16, honors two divisions raised by Adolf Hitler to fight the Soviet Union’s Red Army as it pushed through the Baltics and to Berlin in 1944.

It has been held in the EU country annually since the 1990s. The event has been condemned by Moscow but largely overlooked by Brussels.

Critics argue that honoring a Waffen SS unit amounts to a glorification of Nazism. Of some 93,000 Jews who lived in Latvia before the German invasion in 1941, an estimated 70,000 were killed, according to the European Jewish Congress.

https://www.rt.com/news/635314-nazis-honored-march-latvia/

Trump has declared that the US does not need and has never needed the help of NATO allies in its war against Iran.

“We no longer ‘need,’ or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance – WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea,” he wrote in a lengthy post on Truth Social.

He argued that Washington spends hundreds of billions of dollars annually defending its allies. “We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need” he said.

“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!”

Just days earlier, Trump called on countries that receive oil through the Strait of Hormuz to help secure it, after Iran effectively closed off the route by barring vessels from countries it sees as hostile.

https://www.rt.com/news/635011-iran-us-israel-war-updates/

6.0 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Cuba Less Than 24 Hours After Country’s Power Grid Shut Off

A 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Cuba early on Tuesday (17 March), the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.

There were no immediate reports of damage.

The quake hit at a depth of 11.6 kilometres about 49 kilometres south-southwest of the port of Maisi at 12:28am (0428 GMT), according to the USGS.

The USGS put the alert level for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses at green, meaning “low likelihood for casualties and damage”. The towns of Imias and San Antonio del Sur may have experienced moderate shaking, the USGS added.

https://www.tbsnews.net/world/magnitude-58-earthquake-hits-cuba-usgs-1389221

Trump Delivers Ultimatum to Opponents of SAVE America Act.

President Donald J. Trump has issued an ultimatum on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, declaring he will never endorse any lawmaker who votes against the legislation. In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump described the bill as one of the most significant pieces of legislation in congressional history. He positioned it as a critical safeguard against “RIGGED ELECTIONS” and made clear that opposition would cost his political backing.

He framed support for the measure as a test of sanity in Congress, stating: “The Save America Act is one of the most IMPORTANT & CONSEQUENTIAL pieces of legislation in the history of Congress, and America itself. NO MORE RIGGED ELECTIONS! Voter I.D., Proof of Citizenship, No Rigged Mail-In Voting (We are the only Country in the World that allows this!), No Men in Women’s Sports, No Transgender MUTILIZATION of our Children. 90% to 99% ISSUES ALL! Only sick, demented, or deranged people in the House or Senate could vote against THE SAVE AMERICA ACT. If they do, each one of these points, separately, will be used against the user in his/her political campaign for office – A guaranteed loss! Get your Senators, REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT, to VOTE ‘YES’ ON ‘THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.’ I WILL NEVER (EVER!) ENDORSE ANYONE WHO VOTES AGAINST ‘SAVE AMERICA!!!'”The SAVE America Act would require proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration and also includes provisions addressing the participation of males in women’s sports and the mutilation of children in transgender surgeries and drug “treatments.”

However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has rejected the bill, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD)—while officially promoting it—has declined to abolish the filibuster or attempt a talking filibuster to pass it, making its failure all but certain. Republicans do not currently have the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture and advance the measure.

In recent years, the Senate has operated under a “silent filibuster,” allowing bills to stall without extended floor debate. Shifting to a traditional “talking filibuster” would force Democrats to deliver prolonged speeches on the floor. Thune has resisted this approach because it would require Republicans to maintain a continuous 51-vote quorum to avoid adjournment.

The standoff is already influencing key political races. In Texas, the contentious Republican Senate primary runoff between anti-Trump incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and America First state Attorney General Ken Paxton has centered heavily on the issue. Cornyn, long a staunch defender of the 60-vote threshold, recently wrote in a New York Post op-ed claiming that he is now open to altering Senate rules to help pass the SAVE America Act. Paxton, a longtime supporter of the SAVE Act, has dismissed this shift as a last-minute, pressure-driven change to secure Trump’s backing.

https://thenationalpulse.com/2026/03/17/trump-delivers-ultimatum-to-opponents-of-save-america-act/

>>24392871

hmmm