Trump tells CNBC ‘we are very intent on making a deal’ with Iran

PUBLISHED MON, MAR 23 20267

KEY POINTS

• President Donald Trump said the U.S. and Iran held talks about resolving the war, although Iranian media denied discussions had taken place.

• Trump spoke Monday morning with CNBC’s Joe Kernen, saying he is “very intent on making a deal” with Iran.

• Trump earlier Monday in a Truth Social post said he would pause strikes on power plants and other energy infrastructure.

President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post Monday that, following talks with Iranian authorities, he ordered the U.S. military to postpone strikes on Iran’spower plants and energy infrastructure for five days.

He told CNBC’s Joe Kernen in a phone call shortly after the post that “we are very intent on making a deal with Iran.”

However, Iranian state media, citing an unnamed “senior security official” in a post on Telegram disputed Trump’s description of conversations, saying direct or indirect talks have not taken place between Washington and Tehran.

“There is been no negotiation and there is no negotiation, and with this kind of psychological warfare, neither the Strait of Hormuz will return to its pre-war conditions nor will there be peace in the energy markets,” state media reported the official as saying.

Trump countered that the most recent talks between U.S. negotiators and their Iranian counterparts had occurred Sunday night, according to Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo, describing a Monday morning phone call with the president.

“When I asked about the Iranian TV saying that no talks have happened, he said,‘It’s hard to get any information there, because of, the U.S. is blowing up so much of their infrastructure,’”Bartiromo said on air.

Trump said his son-in-law Jared Kushner and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff had participated in the talks with Iran, according to Bartiromo. “Iran wants to make a deal badly,” she said Trump told her.

Trump said earlier in the Truth Social post that the U.S. and Iran had “VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST.”

The U.S. president said these talks would continue through the week. It was not immediately clear who participated in the talks or when and where they were held.

U.S. stock futures rallied, the dollar fell

against other major currencies, and oil prices tumbled on the news.

Speaking with Kernen, Trump said discussions with Iranian authorities had been very intense and that he remains hopeful something very substantive can be achieved.

The U.S. president also insisted on the same call that what is unfolding in Iran can be described as regime change, Kernen reported.

The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for additional information about the purported talks, and did not immediately respond to Iran’s claim that no such negotiations are underway.

The U.S. president on Saturday issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on Iran’s power plants.

The narrow waterway is a key maritime corridor that connects the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Roughly 20% of global oil and gas typically passes through it.

The deadline had been due to expire on Monday evening in Washington.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/23/trump-iran-war-power-plants-energy-infrastructure-middle-east.html

Trump says Iran deal could be reached within days- Fox Business

2 hours ago

US President Donald Trump told Fox Business that Iran wants to make a deal “badly” and that anagreement could be reached within five days or sooner.

According to the report, talks on adeal with Iran took place on Sunday night involving US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff and their counterparts.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202603234637

CNBC says Trump sees Iran talks as ‘regime change’

2 hours ago

CNBC host Joe Kernen said US President Donald Trump described ongoing contacts with Iran aseffectively amounting to “regime change,”according to remarks on air.

Kernen said Trump told him the talkswere not with a single leader but with “representatives,” adding Iran presents itself as having a broader structure.

He said Trump You know“went on to say, or insist that this is regime change, because it’s totally different people that were involved.”

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202603236931

Barak Ravid

@BarakRavid

• Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan have been passing messages between the U.S. and Iran over the pasttwo days in an effort to de-escalate, U.S. source says

•Senior officials from the three countries held separate talks with White House envoy Steve Witkoffand Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the U.S. source says (where’s Jared? KEK)

• "The mediation is ongoing and making progress. The discussion is about ending the war and resolving all outstanding issues. We hope to have answers soon," the source say.

https://x.com/BarakRavid/status/2036060744010129453?s=20

Barak Ravid

@BarakRavid

PresidentTrump said he suspended his plan to strike Iran's power plants, citing what he called progress in negotiations with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war. My story on

@axios.

https://x.com/BarakRavid/status/2036051249280233528?s=20

(It looks like Iran is afraid of losing there “All Powerful Terrorist Country!They keep on saying we haven’t talked to Trump, silly, of course Trump wouldn’t talk to them, it would be other leaders and negotiators in America.)

IRGC media denies talks with Trump after extension of Hormuz ultimatum

3 hours ago

IRGC-affiliated Fars News said on Mondaythere had been “no direct or indirect contact” with US President Donald Trump, rejecting his remarks about constructive talks with Iran. (Meaning they are talking with Witkoff. KEK)

“There has been no direct or indirect contact with Trump,” Fars reported, citing an Iranian source.

The source added thatTrump “backed down” after being warned Iran would target “all power plants in West Asia.”

Trump had earlier said Washington and Tehran held “very good and productive conversations” and ordered a five-day postponement of strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202603234008

No talks are underway between Tehran and Washington, Iran says

3 hours ago

There are no talks between Tehran and Washington, Iran’s foreign ministry said, rejecting remarks by US President Donald Trump,semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

The ministry saidTrump’s comments were part of an effort to lower energy prices and buy time for his military plans.

It said there have been initiatives by regional countries to reduce tensions, but added that Iran’s response to all of them was clear: “We are not the party that started this war, and all these requests should be referred to Washington.”

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202603232730

IRGC media denies talks with Trump after extension of Hormuz ultimatum

3 hours

IRGC-affiliated Fars News said on Mondaythere had been “no direct or indirect contact” with US President Donald Trump, rejecting his remarks about constructive talks with Iran. (How about talking to US negotiators? They are not very subtle.)

“There has been no direct or indirect contact with “Trump,” Fars reported, citing an Iranian source.

The source added thatTrump“backed down” after being warned Iran would target “all power plants in West Asia.”

Trumphad earlier said Washington and Tehran held “very good and productive conversations” and ordered a five-day postponement of strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202603238435

Pretty Desperate when they say it 3x, we didn’t talk to Trump!

UPDATED MON, MAR 23 202611:38

Dow jumps 900 points after Trump says U.S. and Iran have held ‘productive’ talks: Live updates

Stocks rallied Monday after President Donald Trump said the U.S. and Iran have held talks and that he was halting strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure, giving investors hope that the Middle East conflict that spiked oil prices and raised fears of a global recession was nearing an end.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average

jumped 960 points, or 2.1%. The S&P 500

rose 1.8%, while the Nasdaq Composite

gained 2%. Before Trump’s comments, which he posted on Truth Social on Monday morning, futures were pointing to more losses for equity markets under siege from skyrocketing oil prices and uncertainty about the duration of the Iran conflict. But after Trump’s comments, Dow futures briefly surged more than 1,000 points.

Crude prices dropped after Trump’s post with West Texas Intermediate futures

falling more than 10% to around $87 a barrel. International benchmark Brent

fell more than 11% to $99 a barrel.

“I AM PLEASED TO REPORT THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE COUNTRY OF IRAN, HAVE HAD, OVER THE LAST TWO DAYS, VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST,” Trump wrote in his post.

“BASED ON THE TENOR AND TONE OF THESE IN DEPTH, DETAILED, AND CONSTRUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS, WHICH WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD, SUBJECT TO THE SUCCESS OF THE ONGOING MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS,” the president wrote.

Later Monday morning, Trump said that both Iran and the U.S. wish to “make a deal” and that the two countries are “going to get together today by, probably, phone.”

Stock futures were off their highest levels of the session after Iranian state media said there were no direct talks between the U.S. and Iran.

Trump’s announcement came as the Iran war entered its fifth week, with tensions escalating over the weekend on an ultimatum from the president. Trump had threatened an attack on Iranian power plants in 48 hours if the Strait of Hormuz — a key shipping route for oil and other energy products — wasn’t reopened.

Iran in turn said it would target U.S. infrastructure, including energy and desalination facilities ​in the Persian Gulf region, if the U.S. carried out its threat.

“The market’s move today is more about the direction that they can tell the administration wants to go, but I would view getting something done this week that just brings things back to normal with a heavy dose of skepticism, given all the various complications,” Ross Mayfield, Baird investment strategist, told CNBC.

“What does Israel want? What does Iran want? What do our allies in the Gulf want? Has there been structural damage to LNG and crude oil exportingand refining facilities that even if we end this thing this week that structurally alter the price of oil and put more of a premium on it?” he remarked.

Before Monday’s rebound, the Dow and Nasdaq Composite were each threatening to fall into correction territory — a 10% pullback — with both down around 9.8% from their record levels through Friday. The S&P 500 was off by 7% from its high before Monday’s turnaround.

It was a broad rebound during the session, with cyclical shares such as banks and industrials surging as well as technology shares. JPMorgan Chase

climbed more than 2%, while Morgan Stanley

was 3% higher. Caterpillar

added 3%, while Deere

climbed 1%. Nvidia

and Apple

were both higher by around 2%. Airline stocks such as Delta Air Lines

and United Airlines

were up 4% and 5%, respectively, as oil prices slid.

The Dow and Nasdaq fell around 2% each last week, while the S&P 500 lost 1.5%as the Iran conflict continued to drag down markets. For the Dow, it was the first four-week losing streak since 2023.

“The market has been desperate for any good news, and this appears to be, at least on the surface, the best news we can expect,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth Management.

“If we were able to see any downward pressure on energy prices, the market is like a coiled spring looking for a reason to move higher.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/22/stock-market-today-live-updates.html

Moment air traffic controller shouts 'stop' before jet smashes into vehicle at LaGuardia killing two(1/2)

05:08 EDT 23 Mar 2026, updated

Audio has been released of the moment an air traffic controller pleaded for a fire truck to stop before an Air Canada jet crashed into it while landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing the pilot and co-pilot.

The flight from Montreal was landing at around 11.40pm on Sunday when the aircraft struck a fire truck on the runway.

Air traffic control audio shared by NBC New York revealed the moments leading up to the collision, which began with another flight reporting an emergency on the other side of the airport.

The fire truck was cleared to cross the airport's Runway 4 before air traffic controllers frantically urged a Frontier plane bound for Miami – and the vehicle – to stop.

'Truck One, stop, stop, stop!' an air traffic controller is heard saying, before addressing the plane seconds later: 'JAZZ 646, I see you collided with the vehicle. Just hold position. I know you can't move. Vehicles are responding to you now.'

Air traffic controllers told the Frontier crew that the runway would be closed, asking if they would like to return to the ramp.

'We got stuff in progress for that man, that wasn't good to watch,' a Frontier pilot said.

“Yeah, I tried to reach out to them. We were dealing with an emergency, and I messed up,' the controller replied, before the Frontier pilot tries to reassure him, saying: 'No, you did the best you could.'

The plane could be seen on the tarmac after the incident, with its nose badly damaged, front tilted into the air.

The flight was affiliated with Jazz Aviation, a regional airline in Nova Scotia, andwas operating on behalf of Air Canada.

Two pilots were left dead following the collision, and 41 people were hospitalised.

According to unnamed sources via the NY Post,a female flight attendant was ejected through the front of the jet while still in her seat during the crash. She survived and was rushed to the hospital.

'Emergency response protocols were immediately activated. The Port Authority Police Department is on scene along with the agency's Chairman and Executive Director,' a Port Authority spokesman said in a statement.

Two dead and multiple injured after Air Canada flight crashes at New York City's LaGuardia Airport

'The Port Authority Police Department is working closely with our airline partners as well as federal authorities, and will provide additional updates as more details become available.'

The New York Fire Department confirmed to the Daily Mail that its crews had received reports of an incident involving an aircraft and a vehicle on Runway 4.

HTTPS://WWW.DAILYMAIL.CO.UK/NEWS/ARTICLE-15670709/MOMENT-AIR-TRAFFIC-CONTROLLER-PLEADS-TRUCK-1-STOP-STOP-STOP-AIR-CANADA-JET-SMASHES-EMERGENCY-VEHICLE-RUNWAY-LAGUARDIA-KILLING-PILOT-PILOT.

>>24417145

(2/2)

The Bombardier CRJ-900 aircraft was carrying 76 passengers and crew during the incident.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced a ground stop due to an aircraft emergency,effectively closing LaGuardia Airport at 11.50pm EST.

Photos of the aftermath showedPort Authority Police removing the front half of the plane.

Port Authority's vehicle waspictured after the collision turned on its side as several emergency responders flooded the runway.

The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into the collision.

The Daily Mail has reached out to LaGuardia Airport, the FAA, and Air Canada for comment.

LaGuardia warned of flight disruptions due to weather conditionsat 8.30pm EST as New York experienced rainy conditions.

The incident comes as airports are already facing mounting pressure amid a DHS funding standoff.

LaGuardia is among many airports facing challenges, with employees forced to work without pay and passengers facing long security lines.

Travelers reported lines spilling through the parking lot on Sunday morning, with some saying they waited for up to three hours.

Donald Trump announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be sent to airports on Monday to help TSA agents.

'If the Democrats do not allow for Just and Proper Security at our Airports, and elsewhere throughout our Country, ICE will do the job far better than ever done before!' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Saturday.

'I look forward to moving ICE in on Monday, and have already told them to, 'GET READY. NO MORE WAITING, NO MORE GAMES!'

Border czar Tom Homan told CNN that he had been working to finalize a plan with ICE Director Tedd Lyons and acting TSA administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill to deploy ICE agents.

He added that the officials would have a plan, including which airports would be targeted, in place by the end of the day on Sunday.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15670709/Moment-air-traffic-controller-pleads-Truck-1-stop-stop-stop-Air-Canada-jet-smashes-emergency-vehicle-runway-LaGuardia-killing-pilot-pilot.html

Trump warned the Democrats, now their treasonous actions have killed peopleAnd they probably don’t care and will blame Trump and Duffy!

Staff revolts, secret meetings: Inside the tense fight between Mike Pence and the Heritage FoundationBy Isaac Dovere Edward-Isaac Dovere. (1/5)

(New Title:The toxic mix of Mike Pence the Ultra wealthy Bush Family along with Deep state working to go back to inadequate leaders, destroy MAGA, and President Trump, and their greedy sloppy politics and blackmail of America. Pence is a gay creature that should have been kicked out in the first term by being so weak. Sorry for red text and the length of the article, but it reveals how the politicians that hate Trump and America go back to usual of shafting America while they make billions more; interesting this article says nothing about Pence being paid and embedded in the Bush DS.This is why Trump needs to be elected for a third term, of course, Pence will never be elected, but the DS will never stop to destroy our county

Mike Pence used to dream of following two successful Donald Trump terms with his own turn in the White House.

Now, sitting in offices with a great view of the National Archives and adorned by photos of Republican presidents,Pence is trying to find a way for his brand of conservatism to outlast Trump’s.

To do that,he’s steered his think tank, Advancing American Freedom, into a battle with the Heritage Foundation, a citadel of American conservatism since the days of Ronald Reagan.Heritage has shifted in a distinctively pro-Trump direction— echoing the party Trump has remade in a MAGA image — and designed Project 2025, the policy proposals that became a blueprint for Trump’s second term.

The fracture and ensuing fight are not just an esoteric drama for think-tank academics and the Washington cocktail party circuit,but the early tremors of a coming war over the meaning of conservatism and what the Republican Party will be once Trump leaves office.

Before Trump labeled him a coward and wrote him off for not moving to overturn the 2020 election, Pence and Heritage used to love each other. They worked together for decades and had staff in common. But after months of AAF executives swiping donors and poaching dozens of staff, they’re locked in a bitter, potentially litigious and sometimes petty battle that’s included one man on the verge of retirement being escorted from his office by a security guard.

Pence has a 10-year business plan and a 2026 budget of what his group says will be at least $26 million, designed by his close aides Tim Chapman and Marc Short. In a sign of AAF’s growing influence, conservative . Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito attended a dinner and lecture hosted by the group on Thursday.==

Discussing his plans with CNN recently,Pence offered a reference to a movieabout a town fighting a terrorizing shark: “We’re definitely going to need a bigger boat.”

Heritage officials scoffat his challenge and tout their own new hires and ramped-up fundraising.

“Mike Pence is waiting for a train back to relevance that ain’t comin’,”Andy Olivastro, Heritage’s chief advancement officer, told CNN.

A revolt begins

John Malcolmis probably the only man on the planet who talks about his devotion to Ed Meese, the now-94-year-old onetime Ronald Reagan attorney general, and he looks the part: grayed beard, academic bearing, remnants of a gentle patrician accent and a still slightly bemused air to discussing howhis 13 years at the Heritage Foundation abruptly ended in mid-Decemberwith a security guard escorting him out in the middle of the day. (These creatures fail to consider that we don’t live in the 60’s to the 90’s, and those creatures are no longer relevant)

https://archive.is/jXmFv#selection-2767.8-2793.19

>>24417410

(2/5)

What Malcolm had been expecting to do last fall was publish the third edition of the Heritage Guide to the Constitution, pulling together the work of 150 authors of conservative legal thought, with a big release event at the Federalist Society. Several Supreme Court justices (he won’t name which ones) called to praise the book and were looking forward to a celebratory group book signing for the 1,400 copies he was going to bring.

Then came what everyone involved refers to as the video.

Heritage president Kevin Roberts posted a defense of Tucker Carlson for hosting Nick Fuentes, a podcaster who has long voiced antisemitic and White supremacist views.

A former academic himself — his Ph.D. is in American history — Roberts quickly made his political agenda clear after taking over in 2021.He said he didn’t think Joe Biden had really won in 2020, he said he felt the institution’s mission should be about carrying forward the work of Trump’s first term, and he oversaw the construction of Project 2025.(oh so he was believing the truth, while all others went with the DS message!)

Now, Roberts went further: Carlson, he claimed at the end of October, was the victim of a “venomous coalition” trying to cancel him. He made several references to a “they” that was out to get Carlson.Roberts said he wanted to make clear that Heritage considered Carlson a friend.(Carlson worked there early on in his career)

In an internal town hall a week after the video’s release — a recording of which was first published last fall by the right-leaning Free Beacon —Roberts said he knew he’d let both the staff and institution down. He said he hadn’t meant to play into antisemitic tropes by referencing a “venomous coalition.”

The larger internal damage was clear. Staffers were speaking out against one another and leaking their conversations. And Pence and his allies offered a landing spot.

Antisemitism taking root among conservatives, Pence said, “is inexplicable and cannot be tolerated.”

“When people reached out to us around Thanksgiving and said that they wanted to join Advancing American Freedom, I thought it was more about what we’re for and them seeing ourstill relatively new organization as a consistent voice for the conservative movement,” Pence said. “And I’m grateful for that.”

Malcolm said that most of the guests for his release event pulled out after the Roberts video, and that was the final straw.

“I did not want to send a signal at the end of my career that I found any of this to be acceptable,” he told CNN.

A firing, then a coordinated exit

By then, Malcolm was in constant contact with Richard Stern, an economist at Heritage just over half his age. Sitting next to each other at the town hall,Stern had bet Malcolm a bagel that the board was going to fire Roberts.

Roberts kept his job even as some board members quit. Not long after, Stern took a leap of faith. He walked into Malcolm’s office and said, “You can’t be very happy with what’s going on here.”

Stern had already been working backchannels to AAF, gauging potential allies and exit strategies, but getting Malcolm’s team on board, he thought, would make a clearer statement about Heritage’s decline and create a better beachhead at their landing spot.

The conversation moved quickly from there.Word spread so quickly that donors were approaching Malcolm, who knew in his gut why he soon got a call out of the blue to come to a management office.

https://archive.is/jXmFv#selection-2767.8-2793.19

>>24417418

(3/5)

“They’re after me, they know something,” he told Stern in a phone call just before he went up.

The day before, Stern had bet him another bagel that leadership didn’t know any of what was going on.

Malcolm says Heritage staff berated him as disloyal and asked repeatedly which donors he’d been talking to.After he left, he got a phone call in the cab on his way to a long-scheduled lunch.He was being fired, allegedly for having misappropriated intellectual property and violated their ethics rules. When he got back, a security guard walked him to his office to get his briefcase, then out.

Heritage says that only scratches the surface. The Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, which Malcolm led,was proving irrelevant, they say, so of course they cut funding. They’d caught him fishing among their donors, they say, and using internal information to lure them in.

But there were other complaints:They were annoyedthat he was constantly bringing up his problems with Trump and moves like pardoning the rioterswho breached the Capitol on January 6, 2021.They hated that he’d said Biden’s Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson was a good pick. Theysuspect that he may have orchestrated the cancellations for the Federalist Society eventto embarrass them and give him a reason to cite for his departure.

To Heritage’s claims that Malcolm stole intellectual property,Malcolm told CNN, “They publicly defamed me.”

“If they had just come out and said, ‘We found out that he was looking to leave and was talking to other people, we demanded to know the substance of those conversations, he refused to tell us, and we fired him,’ I would have said, ‘That’s right, that’s fine,’” Malcolm added. “I have enough friends in the conservative legal movement and elsewhere who have known me for decades who could see through all this.”

Stern had been at Heritage 4 ½ years, arriving just before Roberts. An economist who in college became more religious and more conservative than his now Florida-based Jewish family, his frustrations had been building for years. Roberts even joked in the town hall about how well he took all of Stern’s complaints.

For years, Stern and others felt they had a moral obligation to stay and fight for what they wanted Heritage to be.He pointed not just to the video, but to Project 2025.

Trump “does a lot of good stuff, does a lot of bad stuff, from a conservative standpoint,” Stern said. “But what’s very clear at Heritage is the order that comes out from on top is, ‘He does nothing wrong, period.’”

Stern’s next three days after Malcolm’s firing were a flurry of calls, confirming who was really willing to jump ship with him, urging them to quietly remove any personal items from their offices, clearing files off their office computers.

That Sunday afternoon,December 21, Stern had a group of Heritage employees he’d carefully siloed to minimize leaksall together on a conference call for the first time. Several, though, reached out to tell him Malcolm had been fired before he got a chance to hear from his new ally directly. (He hasn’t yet paid off the two bagels he bet Malcolm.)

They finalized their resignation emails. Stern had them CC each other because, he said,after what happened with Malcolm, they did not trust Heritage to tell the truth about why they left.

They counted down together.A little before 6 p.m., two dozen emails went out almost simultaneously.

“The Heritage Foundation is greater than any single President,” wrote Josh Blackman, who had been the senior editor of the Heritage Guide to the Constitution,at the end of his email which he later published and pointed the finger right at Trump. “But one President has done what was once unthinkable.”

https://archive.is/jXmFv#selection-2767.8-2793.19

>>24417423

(4/5)

Pence plans AAF’s future — and his own(fully funded by Bush family and DS that made billions on US war. Interesting this article don’t mention Bush etc.)

Pence still praises Trump, including for launching the US attack on Iran in arguably stronger terms than the current vice president, JD Vance.But to Pence, Trump’s embrace of extensive tariffs, backing away from supporting Ukraineand even allowing a pro-abortion-rights health secretaryare just passing fads that he can reset once the man he now usually just refers to as “the president” is out of office.

“I’m convinced,” Pence told CNN, “that while in those respects, the president has changed aspects of the Republican agenda, I don’t believe he’s changed the Republican Party.”

For Pence, it means a life of bizarre juxtapositions. No Republican running has been near him on the campaign trail recently, as Heritage employees tauntingly point out.But a receptionAAF hosted in the basement of its office buildingbefore the anti-abortion March for Life in Januaryshowed he still commands attentionamong some of the same advocates who still cleave to the president. He and his wife, Karen, led a prayer to finish off the donuts and hot chocolate AAF served.

Over on the National Mall a few minutes later, Pence spoke. Trump didn’t.

He remains a political animal with a long resume, but no apparent future in Republican elected leadership. Pence aides say the scars of his 2024 presidential run, which he suspended months before the first votes, are on their minds as they plot a future for AAF rather than one tied to a candidate.

“Our path is far more clearif we’re not about electoral politics but standing for certain principles— and hopefully those candidates then say, ‘See, that that’s where the right answers are. I want to be a part of that,’ not vice versa,” said Short, who worked with Pence in the White House and on his presidential campaign before joining him at AAF.

“To attach to a candidate is actually far riskier,” Short said. “A candidate could flame out, and then it looks like your ideas have flamed out.”(Is he saying Pence can never win and get elected again…while yes he is!)

For now, that looks like hosting twice-a-month issue briefings for young congressional staffers they hope to win over in windowless basement meeting rooms in the Capitol complex, with catered Chick-fil-A sandwiches stacked on a side shelf at one CNN attended in January. It looks like breakfasts with prominent Republican members of Congress and even having some at fundraising events.

But notable names like rising Republican leader Utah Rep.Blake Mooredeclined comment, and representatives of Oklahoma Sen.James LankfordandGeorgia Gov. Brian Kempdid not respond to CNN’s inquirieswhen asked about their relationships with AAF.

‘We remain focused on crushing the left’

Roberts didn’t respond to multiple interview requests from CNN, butHeritage officials reject pretty much every claim made by the AAF refugees as sour grapes or virtue signaling.

“While some want a fight on the right, we remain focused on crushing the left and saving the republic,” Olivastro, the chief advancement officer for Heritage, told CNN.

Heritage’s policy work, Olivastro said, is focused on creating actual results, and he pointed to recent national security and military strength research that he said has been influential in the White House and in Congress. He and others note the number of administration officials who have appeared at their events or media appearances their fellows make.

https://archive.is/jXmFv#selection-2767.8-2793.19

>>24417435

(5/5)

Heritage officials don’t deny they’re rowing in the Trump direction, working on “institutionalizing Trumpism,” as Roberts put it in a 2024 interview with The New York Times. But they reject being made out as White House apparatchiks.

For 53 years, Heritage allies argue, they’ve been calling balls and strikes on the right,and that hasn’t changed even though they’re rooting for a team that has never been fully accepted by the world of traditional conservative intellectuals.

“People don’t want multimillion-dollar think tanks lecturing them and telling them what they’re doing wrong,” saidMike Howell, a former visiting fellow at Heritage who remains close even after starting his own group called the Oversight Project.

Despite the controversy, Olivastro said Heritage raised 7% over its $90 million goal for 2025 and brought on 21 new employeessince November.

“Kevin Roberts’ tenure has been the most profitable for the Heritage Foundation — and every single dollar we raise is put back into executing our mission,” Olivastro said.

Advancing American Freedom, Howell said, is a “retirement home” for people upset that the Republican Party isn’t what they want it to be anymore.

As for AAF’s claims that they will be the ones defining conservatism post-Trump, Howell added, “They will say that. Their problem is no one’s going to be listening.”

(Pence is a cock sucking treasonous coward.)

https://archive.is/jXmFv#selection-2767.8-2793.19

Barak Ravid

@BarakRavid

Vice President Vance spoke by phone on Monday morning with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu & discussed efforts to open negotiations with Iran, per source familiar. The source said Vance & Netanyahu discussed the components of a possible agreement to end the war with Iran(you notice it was not Trump that spoke with Bibi?)

Barak Ravid@BarakRavid

·3h

President Trump told reporters that his envoys held talks on Sunday with a senior official in the Iranian leadership and claimed the parties are in agreement on many points.My story on @axios

1:26 PM · Mar 23, 2026

·

25.6K

Views

https://x.com/BarakRavid/status/2036132499521204682?s=20

N. Korea's parliamentary meeting reinforces Kim Jong-un's leadership, appoints new deputy

Across the border.

Pyongyang played host to the first session of the Supreme People's Assembly this past weekend, during which Kim Jong-un was re-appointed as the head of the political body.

Our foreign affairs correspondent Oh Soo-young reports.

North Korea has re-appointed Kim Jong-un as chairman of the State Affairs Commission, in a leadership reshuffle that indicates tighter regime control.

The North's state media said Monday that the Supreme People’s Assembly, the regime’s rubber-stamp parliament, held the first meeting of its 15th term on Sunday.

Kim was once again elevated to the top state post, while one of his closest aides, Jo Yong-won, replaced Choe Ryong-hae as president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, a position equivalent to parliamentary speaker.

Jo was also named first vice chairman of the State Affairs Commission, seemingly sealing his status as one of the most powerful figures in the regime.

By appointing Jo Yong-won, a longtime close aide, Kim Jong-un appears to be placing loyalists not only in the Workers’ Party but also in state bodies, tightening his grip on power.

At the same time, Kim Jong-un’s younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, was removed from the State Affairs Commission.

Kim Yo-jong has mainly issued statements attacking the United States and South Korea, and is known to have been involved in policy toward both. The absence of her Cabinet reappointment may indirectly reflect that Kim Jong-un has no intention of resuming dialogue with Washington or Seoul for now.

The reshuffle also pointed to changes in the military and security bureaucracy.

The Second Economy Commission, the body overseeing the planning and production of military goods, was placed under the Cabinet.

That suggests an effort to emphasise Cabinet influence across the full economy, including the defense-industrial sector.

The Supreme People’s Assembly sets out new appointments, legal revisions and budget approval, in line with last month's Party Congress which sets out the regime's new strategic line every five years.

The focus now shifts to the remainder of the session, and to whether Kim Jong-un’s “hostile two-state” doctrine will be further reflected in constitutional revisions.

Kim first laid out the concept at a year-end party meeting in late 2023, when he said the two Koreas were no longer moving toward reunification, but had become two hostile states.

Oh Soo-young, Arirang News.

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