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Trump admin loosens sanctions on Russian oil as prices skyrocket: report

President Donald Trump's administration temporarily lifted sanctions against Russian oil that is already at sea on Thursday in an effort to ease the oil price crisis caused by the recent war in Iran, according to a new report.

The New York Times reported that the new exemptions will be in place until April 11. The U.S. initially placed sanctions on Russian oil as a means of exerting economic pressure on the country to end its war in Ukraine.

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Ex-US official 'dumbfounded' Trump didn't plan for Iran to close vital oil checkpoint

A former senior U.S. official who served in both Republican and Democratic administrations delivered a blunt assessment when asked about the Trump administration's failure to plan for Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz: "I'm dumbfounded."

Trump's own top officials admitted to lawmakers behind closed doors that they never planned for the possibility that Iran would shut down the strait in response to U.S. military strikes, multiple sources familiar with classified congressional briefings told CNN. The scenario is among the most catastrophic economic scenarios American national security planners have war-gamed for decades.

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Trump names replacement for Kari Lake after court throws her out of key role

President Donald Trump named the new leader of the U.S. Agency for Global Media on Thursday, just one week after a federal judge ousted one of his allies from the post, according to a new report.

NBC News reported that Trump named Sarah Rogers, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, to lead USAGM after Trump ally Kari Lake was ousted by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth last week. Rogers is a First Amendment lawyer who formerly represented the National Rifle Association, or NRA, and challenged social media companies for allegedly censoring the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk and other conservative voices.

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Experts alarmed as Trump's latest 'laughable' legal theory inches toward becoming law

Legal experts were alarmed on Thursday as the latest "laughable" legal theory put forward by President Donald Trump's allies seemed to move closer to becoming law.

The Trump administration has been circulating a draft executive order that would federalize the U.S. election process in the event of a national emergency, The Washington Post reported. Even though the legal theory underpinning the order is "far from irrefutable," Anna Bower and Molly Roberts, senior editors at Lawfare, argued in a new article that "bits and pieces" of the order could still become law.

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MAGA firebrands at each other's throats over outlandish Erika Kirk claims

A pair of MAGA firebrands were at each other's throats on Thursday over claims made in a series about Erika Kirk, the widow of the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Ben Shapiro, editor emeritus of conservative media company The Daily Wire, posted a video on X sharply criticizing MAGA radio host Megyn Kelly for not criticizing another MAGA firebrand, Candace Owens, over her claims that Erika Kirk participated in the assassination of her husband. Owens has made similar outlandish claims about Kirk in a podcast series called "Bride of Charlie."

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'Absolutely incredible': Trump's immigration scheme blows up in his face

President Donald Trump instituted a drastic change to the legal immigration process in recent months, implementing a new $100,000 fee for noncitizens to enter the United States on an H-1B visa, a program used to import high-skilled workers like engineers.

However, with the program in force, the net effect has been a drop in revenue for the government.

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Trump admin to face 'reckoning' at hearing for blowing up drug boats: experts

President Donald Trump's administration is about to meet a "reckoning" for its international boat strikes, according to one expert.

Over the last several months, the Trump administration has conducted multiple bombing campaigns against boats in the Caribbean, operations that have killed at least 154 people. Now, the administration is expected to defend the legality of the boat strikes during a hearing on Friday with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a Guatemala-based international organization that is part of the Organization of American States, which the U.S. helped create in 1948.

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CNN anchor cuts off Jim Jordan as exchange gets testy: 'No one's talking about that'

CNN anchor Kasie Hunt was noticeably annoyed by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) during a fiery interview Thursday.

Hunt was asking Jordan to comment on the U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran and the Trump administration's objectives and rising gas prices when the conversation got heated.

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Republican who killed sex harassment bill to lead probe of scandal-plagued GOP colleague

A House Republican who helped kill a bill to release the records of sexual harassment allegations against lawmakers will lead the ethics probe of another House Republican who has been accused of sexually harassing his former aide, according to a press release.

The House Ethics Committee announced on Thursday that Rep. Michael Guest (R-MI) will lead theinvestigation into Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-TX). Gonzalez has been accused of harassing his former aide, Regina Santos-Aviles, who later killed herself by self-immolation, according to reports.

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Kash Patel roasted for FBI training gimmick with UFC fighters: 'Shameless boondoggle'

FBI Director Kash Patel was roasted by political analysts and observers on Thursday after he revealed his latest training gimmick for FBI agents.

Variety reported that the FBI is teaming up with the Ultimate Fighting Championship to train new agents at the bureau's headquarters in Quantico, Virginia. The report quotes a press release from the UFC that says fighters will train agents on "specific techniques and tactics, offering a unique perspective to the students as they prepare to enter the field office."

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Ex-DOGE staffer raises eyebrows with 'arrogant' deposition: 'Oh look, a felony'

A former staffer at Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, raised eyebrows on Thursday after analysts viewed his "arrogant" deposition tape.

Nathan Cavanaugh, an ex-DOGE staffer, was deposed as part of a lawsuit filed by the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Historical Association, and the Modern Language Association challenging the agency's use of ChatGPT to identify and cancel grants supporting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, or DEI, programs.

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Trump's own words hurled in Jim Jordan's face with devastating CNN supercut

A CNN host threw President Donald Trump's words in a Republican's face on Thursday as he tried to defend the president's decision to coordinate a bombing campaign against Iran.

CNN's Kasie Hunt and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) got into a heated exchange on "The Arena" while discussing the recent bombing strikes in Iran. Jordan argued that the strikes were necessary because the Iranian regime had killed American military troops as well as Iranian citizens. He also argued thatTrump was trying to ensure that Iran would never develop a nuclear weapon, even though Trump claimed last year that the U.S. had "completely obliterated" Iran's nuclear facilities in a different series of strikes.

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'Oh puke': Mockery abounds as Melania Trump refers to herself as 'a visionary'

The internet was quick to comment on first lady Melania Trump's remarks during her Women's History Month speech in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

Melania was speaking with her husband, President Donald Trump, at the event, and dropped a statement that caught the internet's attention.

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