Trump thinks war objectives can be achieved through a deal, Netanyahu says

2 hours ago

US President Donald Trump believes the objectives of the war with Iran could be achieved through a deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said following a phone call with Trump.

Netanyahu said in a video statement released by his office thatTrump saw a chance to use the war achievements to secure an agreement that would protect Israel’s vital interests.

Iran International English

@IranIntl_En

US President Donald Trump believes the objectives of the war with Iran could be achieved through a deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said following a phone call with Trump.

Netanyahu said in a video statement released by his office that Trump saw a chance to use the war achievements to secure an agreement that would protect Israel’s vital interests.

https://x.com/IranIntl_En/status/2036167664222261565?s=

(What’s going on here, Trump saw the Jerusalem Post condemnation of Trump. And Bibi got a phone call)

Open Source Intel

@Osint613

Defense officials told The New York Times that senior military leaders are considering deploying a brigade combat team from the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, about 3000 paratroopers assigned to the Immediate Response Force (IRF), capable of deploying anywhere in the world within 18 hours, along with elements of the division’s headquarters at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to support U.S. military operations in Iran.

2:28 PM · Mar 23, 2026

·227.4K

https://x.com/Osint613/status/2036148119230877978?s=20

IRGC outlet denies Ghalibaf's talks with US, calls it plot to sow division

4 hours ago

“There is consensus among officials on continuing the war,” IRGC-affiliated outlet Sabereen News said, denying reports that Ghalibaf held talks with the US as a plot to sow division among Iranian officials, tarnish his image, and provoke his reaction to target him.

(Behind the scenes, the leader said to Trump, we can’t admit we are negotiating, so we have to lie and say, we never did this. Trump says, no worries, I get it!)

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202603236278

ANALYSIS

Weaponizing ambiguity: how US shadow diplomacy may be fracturing Iran regime. ==(1/2)=0.5=

Mehdi Parpanchi 4 hours ago

Iran International executive editor

Whether real or not, President Donald Trump’s statement that Iran has reached out for talks is already having an impact:fueling mistrust within Tehran leadership while easing tensions in global oil markets, even as Iranian officials deny any such contact.

President Trump said on Monday that Iran had reached out to Washington for talks after the US threatened to strike Iranian energy infrastructure.

He said,“They called, I didn’t call. They want to make a deal, and we are very willing to make a deal.”

He also claimed that theUnited States had been speaking to “a top person” in Iran, though not to the new supreme leader, and added that “we don’t know whether he is living.”

At the same time, Trump said the threatened strike on Iran’s major power plants had been paused for five days.Oil prices fell after his remarks, while Iran’s foreign ministry denied that any such talks had taken place.

But the importance of Trump’s remarks is not only in the news itself. It is also in what the statement is designed to do.

Trump is trying to achieve two things at once.

First, he is using ambiguity as a political and psychological weapon inside the Islamic Republic. By saying he has been talking to a very senior Iranian figure without naming that person, he is planting doubt and suspicion among what remains of the leadership.

• In current conditions, that matters.

• Iran’s leaders are living in hiding.

• Command centers are disrupted.

• Communications are limited out of fear of interception and assassination.

• Meetings are difficult, if not impossible.

In that setting, a statement like this will be deeply unsettling. ==Each senior figure will now be asking:

• Who is talking to Washington? Who is looking for an off-ramp?

• What is being hidden from the others?

By naming no one, Trump makes everyone in Tehran wonder who is talking to Washington.

This does not affect only the top.

Lower-ranking officials also hear the same message. If they begin to believe that some of their leaders are quietly searching for a way out, they will become more uncertain, more demoralized, =and more open to defection.==

At the same time,hardliners will turn even more aggressively against figures they see as less rigid and begin looking for the supposed traitor within the system, especially after Trump suggested that even Mojtaba Khamenei is unaware of these contacts.

Some reports pointed to Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf as the possible figure involved. Ghalibaf himself Hasdeniedthat and called the reports fake news aimed at influencing financial and oil markets.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202603234812

>>24418849

==(2/2)=1

But in an atmosphere like this, denial does not cancel out the effect.It creates new questions instead of closing them down.

Some will ask:What if Ghalibaf is lying? Others will ask: what if someone else is involved?

The foreign ministry’s denial will have the same effect.In a system already shaped by fear and mistrust, public denials can deepen suspicion rather than contain it.

In a leadership living in hiding, ambiguity is not just rhetoric. It is a weapon.

Somehardline membersof parliament, including Hamid Rasaei,have already gone publicand started asking questions.That is exactly what Trump wants to achieve.

Second, Trump is also sending a message to the markets. By talking about a possible deal and pausing strikes on critical Iranian infrastructure, he signaled that the conflict will not move immediately into a more dangerous phase.

The effect was immediate: oil prices fell. This also gave Trump an off-ramp of his own.It allowed him to step back, for now, from a strike on Iran’s power plants while still claiming momentum and leverage.

So even if these contacts are real, limited, exaggerated, or deliberately ambiguous,the statement is already producing an outcome Trump wants:psychological pressure inside Tehran and calmer energy markets outside it.

That is the core point. This is not a normal diplomatic process. We do not know whether these talks are real, serious, or meaningful in any conventional sense.But that is no longer the only question. The statement itself is already doing political and economic work.It is widening mistrustinside the Islamic Republic and helping calm panic in global oil markets.

But there is a deeper question. Even if the reports are true, even if someone inside the system is involved in real contacts,can he actually deliver anything that matters?.

Will IRGC commanders listen?Will the men sitting behind the missile launchers take their cue from a political figure seeking an off-ramp?

Or will they see whoever is talking to Washington not as a decision-maker, but as a traitor who deserves punishment or death?

That is the real uncertainty. The problem is not only whether there is a channel. It is whether anyone on the Iranian side still has the authority to make that channel meaningful.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202603234812

Anarchists blew themselves up when building bomb in Rome(1/2)

Sun, March 22, 2026 at 12:27 PM EDT

The bodies of ananarchist couple were found beneath the rubble of a cottage on the outskirts of Rome after they blew themselves up while making a bomb.

Police believedAlessandro Mercogliano, 53, and 36-year-old Sara Ardizzone were plotting an attack against a police stationand Leonardo, a defence contractor, which made parts for F-35 jets.

Traces of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used to make explosives, werefound in the debris of the abandoned building beside an ancient Roman aqueduct on Friday.

Police said the pairwere supporters of Alfredo Cospito, the jailed figurehead of a looselyorganised anarchist network called the Informal Anarchist Federation.

Cospito, 58, is serving a 20-year sentence for a series of parcel bombsand attacks targeting authorities. In 2012, he was sentenced to 10 years for kneecapping the head of the Italian nuclear power company Ansaldo Nucleare.

‘Risk of mass-casualty attacks’

Otello Lupacchini, a retired judge and mafia expert, said that the incident indicated a dangerous resurgence among those opposed to the state and warned that it could lead to more violence.

“There has been an increase in the risk level,” Mr Lupacchini told The Telegraph.“It could escalate to a high-intensity level with a risk of mass-casualty attacks.”

Counter-terror police have also been concernedafter threats of revenge and “war against the oppressors” were plastered on the walls of one of Rome’s metro stations at the weekend.

Matteo Piantedosi, Italy’s interior minister, called an urgent anti-terrorism meeting with police and intelligence agencies on Saturday, while Antonio Tajani, the deputy prime minister, accused anarchists of creating tension.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/anarchists-blew-themselves-building-bomb-162716176.html

>>24418922

(2/2)

“There is a climate of tension that anarchists and far-left elements want to continue to create in our country,” Mr Tajani, who is also the foreign minister, told Italian TV. “It worries us greatly because it confirms everything that was said during the most violent demonstrations that took place in many Italian cities.”

‘Partners in life and in the struggle’

Italy has a long and complex history of anarchism across the political spectrum. There was a resurgence during the 1960s, with anarchists held responsible for several violent incidents, including a bombing in Milan’s Piazza Fontana that killed 17 people in 1969.

More recently, anarchists were blamed for staging violent anti-government protests in many cities, including a protest in Turin in which many police officers were injured, including one who suffered broken bones after being hit with a hammer.

Anarchists were suspected of sabotage after three incidents during last month’s Winter Olympics, including a fire on the railways that caused major delays for those travelling to the games.

Mercogliano had previously been convicted at first instance of association with terrorist intent, although he was subsequently acquitted on appeal.

Ardizzone had been investigated alongside Cospito and other anarchists on charges of incitement to crime and evasion aggravated by terrorist intent. During a preliminary hearing, she described herself as an enemy of the Italian state.

During a trial last year, Ardizzone told a court that she and Mercogliano were “partners in life and in the struggle”, according to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

She defended violent protest, telling the court:“There’s an enormous difference between the violence of the oppressed and that of the oppressors: the former follows an ethical code, the latter, none.”

Supporters of the couple reportedly hailed them as martyrs and called them “a shining example”, according to Italian media. “Sara and Sandro died in action, they died fighting,” the statement said.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/anarchists-blew-themselves-building-bomb-162716176.html

The Treasury just declared the U.S. insolvent. The media missed it

Steve H. Hanke, David M. Walker

Mon, March 23, 2026 at 11:14 AM EDT. (1/2)

(We all knew this was coming, the bankruptcy of the U.S. of America Corporation. Trump told us blatantly at the end of the 2016 - 2020. He also wrote Executive Orders. Get ready anons.)

The U.S. government is insolvent. That’s not hyperbole — it’s the conclusion drawn directly from the Treasury Department’s own consolidated financial statements for fiscal year 2025, released last week to near-total media silence. The numbers: $6.06 trillion in total assets against $47.78 trillion in total liabilities as of September 30, 2025.

Importantly, the $47.78 trillion in reported liabilities does not include the unfunded obligations of social insurance programs like Social Security and Medicare — those are disclosed separately in the off-balance-sheet Statement of Social Insurance (SOSI).

The government’s consolidated balance sheet position, excluding the SOSI, deteriorated by nearly $2.07 trillion between FY 2024 and FY 2025, reaching a staggering negative $41.72 trillion. Total liabilities are now nearly eight times the value of reported assets. The largest drivers were a $2 trillion increase in federal debt and interest payable (now $30.33 trillion) and a $438.8 billion increase in federal employee and veteran benefits payable (now $15.47 trillion).

The Off-Balance-Sheet Iceberg

The off-balance-sheet picture is even more alarming. The 75-year unfunded social insurance obligation surged by $10.1 trillion in a single year, rising from $78.3 trillion in FY 2024 to $88.4 trillion in FY 2025 — driven primarily by a $6.9 trillion jump in projected Medicare Part B shortfalls and a $2.5 trillion increase for Social Security. The Treasury’s Statement of Long-Term Fiscal Projections shows the 75-year fiscal gap widening from 4.3% of GDP in FY 2024 to 4.7% in FY 2025.

If the $88.4 trillion in 75-year off-balance-sheet obligations were added to the $47.8 trillion in official balance sheet liabilities, total federal obligations would now exceed $136.2 trillion — roughly five times U.S. annual GDP.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a disclaimer of opinion on the U.S. government’s FY 2025 financial statements — the 29th consecutive year it has been unable to determine whether the statements are fairly presented. This is primarily due to serious, ongoing financial management problems at the Department of Defense and weaknesses in accounting for interagency transactions.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/finance/economy/policy/articles/treasury-just-declared-u-insolvent-151425143.html

>>24418997

(2/2)

What $136 Trillion Looks Like in Your Living Room

Not only has the financial press ignored the consolidated financial statements, but most members of Congress and members of the general public will not read the consolidated financial statements.

Documents like the consolidated financial statements are not the kind of thing you want to read before driving. If that’s not bad enough, most people cannot relate to the trillion-dollar numbers in the financial statements. Therefore, it is appropriate to translate them into terms that people will understand.

Most people cannot relate to trillion-dollar figures on a government ledger.

So consider this: divide every number by 100 million — drop eight zeros — and federal finances look like a household budget in freefall.

That household earns $52,446 and spends $73,378 — running a $20,932 annual deficit. Its total liabilities and unfunded promises amount to $1,361,788 against just $60,554 in assets, leaving it $1.3 million in the hole. Uncle Sam, by any accounting standard, is insolvent.

Congress has clearly lost control of the nation’s finances. America is facing a fiscal catastrophe. The reckoning, long deferred, is becoming impossible to ignore.

Two Bills That Could Change Everything

Addressing this crisis — and preventing recurrence — requires two specific legislative actions.

First, Congress should pass the bipartisan H.R. 3289 — Fiscal Commission Act, sponsored by Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA), and 41 co-sponsors.

Such a commission would force a public reckoning with the facts, the trade-offs, and the hard choices that restoring fiscal health requires.

Second, Congress should call an Article V Convention limited to proposing a fiscal responsibility amendment to the U.S. Constitution. H.Con.Res. 15, sponsored by Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX), would do exactly that.

Modeled on Switzerland’s Debt Brake, such an amendment would mandate a balanced budget over the business cycle and prohibit federal spending from growing faster than the U.S. economy.

These two bills represent the most credible path forward — if Congress has the will to act.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/finance/economy/policy/articles/treasury-just-declared-u-insolvent-151425143.html

USS Gerald Ford back at Crete naval base: AFP

Soúda (Greece) (AFP) – The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier that has been part of Middle East war operations, on Monday returned to a naval base in Crete, an AFP photographer said.

Issued on: 23/03/2026 - 12:51

USS Gerald R. Ford arrives at Souda Bay naval base in Crete on March 23, 2026.

The vessel, which took on food, fuel and ammunition at Souda Bay in February, reported a laundry fire on March 12 which injured two crew members.

The United States and Israel launched a massive air campaign against Iran in late February following a major US military buildup in the Middle East that included the Ford and another aircraft carrier, the Abraham Lincoln.

Both ships which have air wings made up of dozens of aircraft have played key roles in Iran operations, and the withdrawal of the Ford leaves a gap for US forces in the region.

"Taking the Ford off the board for any significant length of time means less US support to war efforts," said Daniel Schneiderman, director of global policy programs at Penn Washington.

"The Ford's role in the defence of Israel is significant," he said, while noting that if some of the ships accompanying it which have key air defence capabilities remain near Israel, then "the immediate term operational impact of its departure is somewhat mitigated."

The Ford has been at sea for nearly nine months – a deployment that has already seen it take part in US operations in the Caribbean, where Washington's forces have carried out strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats, interdicted sanctioned tankers and seized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

A fire broke out in a laundry room aboard the carrier on March 12, injuring two sailors and causing major damage to some 100 beds, according to the US military.

The carrier has also reportedly suffered significant problems with its toilet system while at sea, with US media reporting clogs and long lines for restrooms on the ship.

Senator Mark Warner, the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has sharply criticised the extended deployment of the ship.

"The Ford and its crew have been pushed to the brink after nearly a year at sea, and they have been paying the price for President Donald Trump's reckless military decisions,"he grumbled.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20260323-uss-gerald-ford-back-at-crete-naval-base-afp

Barack Obama Admits to “Deep Deficit” in Marriage with Michelle

(He can never stop trying to get attention and sympathy.Just tell Michelle to get an extension on her dick. No more deficit then.)

Barack Obama is offering a rare glimpse into his relationship with Michelle Obama.

The former president revealed that since completing his two consecutive terms in the White House in 2017, he’s been enjoying more quality time and fun activities with his wife.

“I was in a deep deficit with my wife,” the Democratic leader told Hamilton College President Steven Tepper at an April 3 event “so I have been trying to dig myself out of that hole by doing occasionally fun things.”

The former president also opened up about his home life with Michelle and their daughters, Malia, 26, and Sasha, 23, reflecting on moments whenhe struggled to communicate as clearly as he had hoped.

“First of all, I constantly lose arguments to my wife, my daughters. They mock me and ridicule me at the dinner table.”

Obama offered a candid look into his marriage with Michelle during a conversation with Hamilton College President Steven Tepper, who asked what he’s been up to lately. Barack shared that much of his time is dedicated to the Obama Foundation and working on the second volume of his presidential memoirs — which he jokingly compared to writing “50 term papers.”

Although the Obamas have been married since 1992, they haven’t been seen together in public much this year, even as Barack says he’s been making an effort to enjoy more fun moments with Michelle.

According to TMZ, in March alone, Barack was spotted at a Los Angeles Clippers game and dining out in L.A.—both times without Michelle. She was also noticeably absent from Jimmy Carter’s funeral and Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration.

As reported by Page Six, a former colleague of the Obamas addressed speculation about their marriage, saying, “They’ve never claimed to have a perfect, fairy-tale relationship. They’re not trying to portray themselves as some ideal, storybook couple.”

While rumors circulated that the two were heading for divorce—sparked by Barack’s solo appearances at several major events in Washington, D.C.—another source told The Independent that Michelle simply has no desire to spend time in the nation’s capital.

https://tiphero.com/barack-obama-admits-to-deep-deficit-in-marriage-with-michelle?