A CNN political insider floated a new theory on Monday about the "former president" that President Donald Trump claims he spoke to about his decision to strike Iran.
Trump claimed during a press conference in the Oval Office that he had spoken with a "former president" who said he "wished" he had made the same decision to bomb Iran as the Trump administration. When pressed by reporters about the claim, Trump did not reveal who he was referring to. Former President Bill Clinton's team told CNN Senior Reporter Daniel Dale that Trump has not spoken with Clinton about Iran. Trump also denied speaking with presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
CNN political insider Kate Bedingfield floated a mocking new theory about who the president could have been referring to during a segment on "The Lead" with Jake Tapper.
"Not for nothing, Donald Trump is also a former president," Bedingfield said. "I think it is totally reasonable to question whether Donald Trump was looking in the mirror, having a discussion with himself in the bathroom this morning."
Bedingfield's comments come at a time when the Trump administration is facing increased scrutiny over its decision to coordinate bombing strikes against Iran with Israel.
A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that 53% of Americans oppose the war in Iran.
Ex-GOP strategist Rick Wilson on Monday predicted what he thinks will be next for President Donald Trump as talks about who will succeed him in 2028 have heightened and questions over whether it will be Vice President JD Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Wilson was talking to MS NOW host Katy Tur about the dilemma Vance, who has been vocal about his stance against long wars in the Middle East, was facing. Vance has not publicly said he was opposed to the Iran war; however, reports have surfaced about his views on the conflict as Trump has shifted his messaging to his MAGA coalition about the military strikes.
"I think it's been notable, Rick, that we've seen so little of JD Vance lately," Tur said. "He's got a thing with the president that we might have to dip into at some point during this conversation, but other than that, he has been out of sight."
The last appearance the two apparently made was with the entire Trump administration Cabinet on March 7 at Dover Air Force Base, during the dignified transfer of six slain U.S. Army service members who were killed in Kuwait.
"I don't believe that's a coincidence, Katy," Wilson said. "I think that is a feature, not a bug, of the Vance position right now. He does come from a part of the party or the part of the MAGA movement that is very anti-interventionist. And they built the 'Peace President' illusion around Trump in 2024. And Vance put the bit in his teeth and ran with it. But now he's got a president who has launched a singularly reckless effort in the Persian Gulf that will end up sending American troops to fight and die in a pointless war. And I think Vance is very uncomfortable right now."
Trump has appeared to favor Rubio as his potential successor, according to reports.
"Marco's been getting a lot of praise," Wilson said. "Vance has been, you know, hiding in the tall grass. What goes on today in this presser with Trump could go either way. He could cut Vance's head off right there in public. And I wouldn't, if I was Vance, you know, act without getting a food taster going forward, if Trump really digs in on this war."
Last week, Vance dodged a direct question about how he viewed the military action in the Middle East. Vance was taking questions from reporters following his speech in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where he campaigned for GOP candidates in a district Republicans were hoping to flip. Associated Press reporter Bill Barrow asked the vice president what advice he gave the president regarding military strikes and the economic fallout, including surging gas prices.
"Did you express any concerns like those you've expressed in the past on the possibility of those extended wars?" Barrow asked.
Vance refused to directly say whether he supports the joint U.S.-Israeli war in Iran.
"We're in the Situation Room, where you can't even take your iPod in there, or your AirPods, I guess what they're called, you can't take your iPhone in there, you can't take anything in there — because it is the most classified space anywhere in the world," Vance said.
"And I sit there with Pete Hegseth, and Gen. Caine, and Marco Rubio, and the entire White House team, and the president and I, and the entire senior team are talking about the options and about what we need to do and how we must best protect the American people," Vance added.
"I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not going to show up here in front of God and everybody else and tell you exactly what I said in that classified room partially because I don't wanna go to prison and partially because I think it's important for the President of the United States to talk to his advisors without those advisors running their mouth to the American media."
Last week, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that Newsom showed he is a "cognitive mess" during a recent interview. "While we all want to be politically correct, having a mental disorder is not a positive campaign event," Trump wrote in the post, adding that Newsom had disqualified himself from running for President during the interview.
Trump seemed to admit that he said "horrible things" about the California Democrat during a bill signing ceremony in the Oval Office.
"Honestly, I am all for people with learning disabilities but not for my president," Trump said. "I think a president should not have a learning disability. I know it's highly controversial to say such a horrible thing."
Political analysts and observers reacted to Trump's statement on social media.
"He's such an a------," Democratic strategist Mike Nellis posted on X.
"Oh my god," podcaster Jordan Crucchiola posted on X.
"He's just the worst person ever. No redeeming qualities at all," MS NOW columnist Michael A. Cohen posted on X.
"Says the guy that can barely read from a teleprompter," political commentary account "Wu Tang is for the Children" posted on X.
Trump: Gavin Newsom has admitted he has learning disabilities. Honestly I am all for people with learning disabilities but not for my president. I think the president should not have learning disabilities. pic.twitter.com/fY0cAox9Ep — Acyn (@Acyn) March 16, 2026
President Donald Trump got more than he bargained for during an exchange with a Fox News reporter in the Oval Office on Monday.
Trump and multiple administration officials gathered in the Oval Office to commemorate his formalization of a new federal anti-fraud task force, which he announced during his State of the Union address in February. During a question-and-answer segment, Trump was asked by Fox News' Peter Doocy whether the U.S. can wrap up the war in Iran this week.
"If Iran, as you say, [were] totally obliterated. Got the missiles, the first two rounds of leadership. Army gone. Navy gone. Can we wrap this war up this week?" Doocy asked.
"Sure, I guess," Trump said.
"Will we?" Doocy continued.
"I don't think so, but it will be soon," Trump said. "It won't be long."
Doocy's question underscored the contradictory accounts of the war in Iran coming out of the White House. When Trump first announced the U.S. was coordinating strikes against Iran with Israel, he said one of the goals was to create the conditions for the Iranian people to rise up and form their own government.
Since then, Trump has said the war began to ensure that Iran doesn't get nuclear weapons. Last year, the Trump administration bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities and claimed they were "totally obliterated" in the process.
Trump and several administration officials held a ceremony in the Oval Office commemorating the signing of an executive order to establish a federal anti-fraud task force. During the question and answer portion, Trump was asked about the prospects of Congress approving the SAVE Act, which Trump said was "imperative" for lawmakers to pass. Trump seemed noncommittal about the bill passing, but he quickly digressed into a diatribe about the Supreme Court.
"Democrats have horrible policy. It's just incredible. But they stick together. It's the one thing they do," Trump said. "Their Supreme Court members stick together. Those appointed by a Democrat stick together. If Barack Hussein Obama appoints a member of the Supreme Court, that member never goes against him, and they're proud about it."
"Republicans go the opposite way," he continued. "If Donald Trump appoints someone, they say 'I'm gonna show the world that I can be totally just and I can be independent of Donald Trump. He's not controlling me!' I don't want to control them. I just want smart decisions."
Trump also said the Supreme Court's recent ruling declaring his tariffs illegal "won't change tariffs."
"I can do it in a different way; I always knew I could do it in a different way," he said. "A little quicker, a little easier, a little better. But they gave us a decision that could cost this country $500 billion to pay people back."
President Donald Trump appears to be having a hard time getting his story straight about whether the U.S. needs international help reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to one CNN host.
During a press conference on Monday, Trump made several contradictory claims about the Strait of Hormuz, which is the key shipping corridor that Iran has effectively shut off to U.S. and Israeli vessels following the coordinated bombing campaign by both countries.
In one statement, Trump said the international community "won't be there for us" if the U.S. asked them for help. He also claimed that some countries are "really enthusiastic" about helping the U.S. reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and that the U.S. "needs" the help of "one of the big boys" to clear the Strait.
CNN host Kasie Hunt played a compilation of the contradictory clips during the opening of her show, "The Arena," on Monday. She said Trump "waffles by the minute" about the U.S. needing help.
"Did you follow that? We had a hard time following that," Hunt said with a shrug.
Trump's comments come at a time when the war in Iran is starting to have an impact in the U.S. Energy prices have skyrocketed since the U.S. coordinated strikes in Iran with Israel beginning in late February. The war has also fractured Trump's already fragile MAGA coalition.
President Donald Trump on Monday asked his new federal fraud task force to investigate a Democratic lawmaker.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump told Vice President JD Vance and Andrew Ferguson, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, to ensure the new fraud task force they are leading will investigate Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). Republicans have routinely accused Omar of marrying her brother as a way of skirting U.S. immigration law. Omar has denied the accusation, and Snopes has said the rumor "lacks evidence."
"Somalia is a third-world, maybe a fourth-world nation," Trump said. "One of the worst. One of the most dangerous. They don't have councils. They don't have a government. They don't have police. They shoot each other all over the place."
Trump also linked the alleged social services fraud connected to the Somali community in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Omar, who is a Somali-American.
"They come here, and they steal $19 billion. It's crazy," Trump said. "And Ilhan Omar, I hope this is part of it, but she married her brother, supposedly. I mean, there is a lot of documentation. That means she's here illegally, and she's a Congresswoman. I hope you're going to be looking at that or somebody is because she's one of the ring leaders here. She's bad news."
Trump first announced plans to establish a new federal fraud task force during his State of the Union address in February. On Monday, he signed an executive order establishing the task force and appointing Vance as its leader.
The task force will primarily operate in blue states like California, Illinois, New York, Maine, and Colorado, according to the executive order. However, Trump said fraud investigators will travel to red states, too, even though he noted that "most of the issues are in blue states."
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes announced he was "no longer MAGA," even though he was headed to Mar-a-Lago on Friday to ask President Donald Trump for a pardon.
While guest-hosting for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Monday, Rhodes revealed that he had broken with Trump over the war in Iran.
"We can't shut our eyes to the obvious role of the influence of Zionism in our government, of the Israeli people, intelligence services, Mossad, and others in our government," he began. "So that's why I no longer call myself MAGA. I am an America-only patriot. I'm a Christian nationalist, an American Christian nationalist. I have to open my eyes to the reality in front of my face, and it's caused a division inside of MAGA, and it's caused a division on the political right. But so be it."
"I don't want any foreign influence in our government whatsoever. And so, that's where we are," he continued. "There's a lot of Americans that are now becoming red-pilled and even black-pilled on the influence of Israel in our country and also on what's happening inside the Trump administration."
Rhodes noted that he was traveling to Mar-a-Lago on Friday and had "been invited there by the Republican Party chair of Palm Beach to come in and give us a shot, us and the other J6ers who have not yet been pardoned."
"And so I hope to be able to shake President Trump's hand and ask him for that pardon," he explained. "Again, my oath won't let me shut my eyes or shut my mouth about what's happening in our country. And so I can't let the fact that I'm still waiting for a pardon along with seven other Oath Keepers and those four Proud Boys."
"I can't let that shut me up about calling out what I see happening in our country," Rhodes added. "And so if I lose my pardon because of that, then so be it. That's where my mind's at. And I think I owe that to everybody who ever swore the oath like I did."
Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) confronted Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) after crashing his press conference on funding the Transportation Security Administration amid the ongoing partial government shutdown.
Before Cornyn could begin his press conference at the airport in Austin, Casar began speaking to members of the media. The incident was caught on video by Texas Tribune correspondent Kayla Guo.
"Well, you know, the only acting award should go to Senator Cornyn, who has refused to fund TSA," the Democrat said. "Just last week, the Democrats in the Senate and the House offered a bill to fully fund TSA, and Senator Cornyn and the Republicans blocked it."
"So I'm kind of confused about why Senator Cornyn would be here having a press conference at the airport about funding TSA," he continued, "when it's him who has blocked the funding."
Several minutes later, Cornyn arrived and began arguing with Casar in the airport's parking lot.
"Senator, I was hoping that we could..." Casar said before being interrupted.
"Why don't you tell your Democrats to vote to pay these poor agents?" Cornyn asked.
"Let's do it," Casar agreed.
"No, you do it!" Cornyn shouted.
"Let's talk for a second, Senator," Casar pleaded. "There's a bipartisan bill to fund just the TSA."
Charlie Kirk Show hosts Blake Neff and Andrew Kolvet pressed for the defeat of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), an ally of President Donald Trump, by hosting his two opponents, Paul Davis and Mark Lynch.
"I have been very loud about my criticisms of Sen. Lindsey Graham, the neocon warmonger from South Carolina, who has just seemed to stay in office for a very long time," Kolvet said on Monday's broadcast. "Charlie Kirk — Charlie always called him Lady Graham, as he called it... I'm pretty sure that's what a lot of people call him."
The host pointed to a 2023 quote from Kirk: "The base is done with neocons who want to spend our money to bomb faraway lands."
"Feels very relevant to our current moment," Kolvet told Davis. "And I'm saying, as long as it's not Lindsey Graham, I'm excited. That's how I feel right now."
"Well, as of today, Lindsey Graham's going down," Davis replied. "He's way below 50%. In South Carolina, we have a runoff state. So top two people going to runoff two weeks later."
"I'm a guy who's been MAGA from the jump," he continued. "I helped President Trump as a volunteer get elected. I served in his first term. I was what they call one of his killers."
For his part, Lynch criticized Graham for pledging to send South Carolinians to fight in the Middle East.
"Well, the people in South Carolina have said, 57% of them back when we polled in May, that they will not vote for Lindsey Graham again," Lynch explained. "They love Trump. They know Trump endorsed Lindsey, but that endorsement won't save him this time."
"You're not taking our children over there for your bloodlust financial gain," he added. "And we say no to that in South Carolina, and enough's enough. We've had enough in Lindsey."
"I think that's the bloodlust really resonates," Kolvet remarked. "It resonates with me. It resonates, I'm sure, with Blake. And of course, it resonated with Charlie."
President Donald Trump announced that he had "essentially" won the war against Iran and complained that it was "unfair" for the country to close its Strait of Hormuz after the so-called victory.
During a press conference on Monday, Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked Trump why he could not immediately open the Strait.
"Now that you've announced that the U.S. has destroyed all of Iran's mine-laying ships, why can't the U.S. just immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz?" Doocy wondered.
"Well, we could, but it takes two to tango," Trump argued. "We have to get people to take their billion-dollar ship and and, you know, drive it up."
"They can cost up to $2 billion. So they don't want to take a chance that, gee, I think you'll be okay. They got to know it," he continued. "We don't know if they even set any mines."
Trump noted that it only took one mine-laying ship from Iran to destroy vessels in the Strait.
"So it's a little unfair," he griped. "You know, you win a war, but they have no right to be doing what they're doing. But we're hitting them very hard, and today is a big day where we're pounding a certain area that has very much to do with the strait."
"In addition, we do have other nations coming in," the president added. "You need people to watch and people to see. We have other nations coming in."
MS NOW host Chris Jansing was irritated during a live broadcast on Monday as President Donald Trump spoke to press, cutting him off and initiating a fact-check on the commander-in-chief's comments.
Trump was at a Kennedy Center board meeting with his cabinet and congressional leaders discussing a variety of subjects, including the Iran war, when he started rambling — and Jansing wasn't having it. She cut away from the president and responded to what he said.
"We're going to wait until we hear some questions that are addressed to the president," Jansing said. "But can I have this? Because I just wanted to fact check one thing that the president said, that he had predicted that Osama Bin Laden would hit the World Trade Center. He was referring to a book that was published in January of 2000."
Jansing then read an excerpt from Trump's book.
"One day, we're all assured that Iraq is under control," Jansing read. "UN inspectors have done their work. Everything's fine. Not to worry. The next day the bombing began. One day we're told that shadowy figure with no fixed address named Osama Bin Laden is public enemy number one, and U.S. jet fighters lay waste to his camp in Afghanistan. He escaped back to some rock. And a few news cycles later, it's a new enemy and a new crisis. And then he says that 'dealing with many different countries at once may require many different strategies, but there isn't any excuse for the haphazard nature of our foreign policy. We have to reinvent the wheel for every new conflict.'"
Jansing pushed back and described why Trump's claims were inaccurate.
"So it's a hyperbolic claim that the president just made," she said. "The rest of the statements about the war, I think, are very much familiar to anybody who is following it, that the United States is far ahead, that they've decimated much of what Iran has. And yet he asked for help from NATO allies to get the Strait of Hormuz open. So far, no takers."
President Donald Trump drew audible gasps while speaking at the Kennedy Center on Monday after apparently revealing that a GOP lawmaker had received a “terminal” diagnosis and was expected to be “dead by June.”
Sitting beside House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Trump was discussing the Republican Party’s slim majority in the House and how the deaths of several GOP members in recent years have made it harder for Republican speakers to advance the president’s agenda.
“We had one man who was very ill, it looked like he wasn't gonna make it, I don't know, I won't mention his name,” Trump said before turning to Johnson. “Should I? Do other people know his name? You want to mention it? He'll be proud, go ahead, tell them the story.”
After being pressed to share details, Johnson revealed that Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL) had recently dealt with “some real health challenges” that he described as “very serious.”
“[He] had a pretty grim diagnosis, and I mentioned it to the president and I said Congressman Dunn is a real champion and a patriot because he's still coming to work, and if others got this diagnosis, they would be apt to go home,” Johnson said.
“What was the diagnosis?” Trump asked.
“I think it was a terminal diagnosis,” Johnson said.
“He would be dead by June!” Trump blurted out.
A visibly taken-aback Johnson paused for a moment before responding.
“Okay, that wasn't public,” he said, sparking audible gasps in the room. “But yes, okay. It was grim, that's what I was going to say.”
