President Donald Trump claims to have lost interest in winning a Nobel Peace Prize following the war he started with Iran.
In a Thursday interview with the Washington Examiner, Trump seemed to have cast aside his hopes for the peace prize, saying he had "no idea" if the war in Iran would "get him over the line" with the Nobel Committee.
"I don't know," the president sulked. "I'm not interested in it."
"No, I don't talk about the Nobel Prize," he added.
Trump's remarks follow a preliminary assessment finding that the U.S. was responsible for an apparent Tomahawk missile strike on an Iranian school that left around nearly 200 girls dead.
The White House's "Rapid Response" team quickly went to work attacking CNN after the network broadcast the first public message from new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
The White House included a clip from CNN with part of the Iranian message in its attack.
"Mojtaba Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, in their first public speech, addressing the great nation of Iran and the brave fighters of Iran, the fatalities, those who were injured and also the address the leaders of some neighboring countries. The Islamic leader said that it has been very difficult to be the successor of Khamenei," an Iranian news reader said in a CNN clip amplified by the White House's social media account.
The White House responded by smearing the American network.
"Fake News CNN just aired four straight minutes of uninterrupted Iranian state TV, run by the same psychotic and murderous regime that has prided itself on brutally slaughtering Americans for 47 years," a post by the "Rapid Response" team on X said.
The catastrophic rise in oil prices as a result of the war with Iran will last far longer than experts had first expected, a political analyst has warned.
Elizabeth Saunders has suggested that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz will lead to a price hike on oil that will stick around for much longer than experts had first suggested. Speaking to Greg Sargent of The New Republic, Saunders claimed the longer-term struggles of the oil price hike would be felt in the US for some time yet.
She said, "This is one of those shocks that is going to be very hard to get back to any sort of status quo before the war. And there’s also no end in sight, because this is not like when the container ship got stuck in the Suez Canal, right? Remember, istheboat stuck.com? Once the boat is unstuck, the canal reopens."
"This is not going to be like that, because the Iranians have so much weaponry and power and they’re not going anywhere, because that’s where they live. And so you now basically have 20 percent of the world’s oil flow held hostage, essentially, by Iran.
"And this has always been a threat. And one of the big reasons why presidents for 20 years who’ve considered striking Iran have been deterred from doing so is because this is such a dramatic shock to the world economy. The oil market is global. And so it’s not as though we can just pump more oil out of the ground in the U.S. to make up for it. It’s a global energy market."
Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman also wrote at the time, "Although we import some oil, mainly from Canada and Mexico, while exporting even more oil, mainly from Texas, we buy hardly any oil from the Persian Gulf.
"Some people have been shocked at the way U.S. gasoline, diesel and heating oil prices have soared over the past few days. But they shouldn’t have been surprised."
"It’s almost inconceivable that 1970s-type price controls or excess profits taxes would be imposed today. So US prices of gasoline and other oil products reflect world crude prices, and the fact that America produces a lot of oil doesn’t matter at all."
Trump is seething over Iran's exploitation of one of his biggest political vulnerabilities as soaring oil prices threaten to undermine his ability to declare victory in the war and devastate his economic messaging ahead of midterms.
According to Axios, Trump administration officials warn that the conflict could extend indefinitely if Iran successfully throttles the Strait of Hormuz and drives prices beyond Trump's tolerance threshold. "The Iranians f------ around with the Strait makes him more dug in," a senior administration official told Axios, describing a vicious cycle where energy market manipulation only hardens Trump's commitment to prolonging the conflict.
Oil has already become Trump's obsession, consuming as much of his attention as battlefield intelligence. A Trump adviser acknowledged the internal tension: "The president sees the briefings. He sees the numbers. And he feels good about his decision, militarily. Oil is another matter. No one is panicking, but it's a concern. He's pulling out the stops. There's plenty of oil. It's just getting it on the market that's the thing."
Trump's preferred price point is $50 per barrel. The oil industry targets around $60. Despite Trump's intervention, crude topped $100 Wednesday night after spiking as high as $120 earlier in the week.
Iran has threatened to push prices to $200 per barrel—a move that would translate to approximately $5 per gallon at U.S. pumps, according to analysts.
Domestically, the war is deeply unpopular. Trump's personal approval ratings are at historic lows, and gas prices—once his signature economic achievement—have become his most visible political liability heading into critical midterm elections.
Two weeks into the war with Iran, President Donald Trump said that he had concluded that high oil prices benefit America.
"The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money," the U.S. President wrote in a Truth Social post on Thursday. "BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping [sic] an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World. "
"I won’t ever let that happen! Thank you for your attention to this matter," he added.
As of Wednesday, the average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. had spiked 17% since the war began.
President Donald Trump's energy secretary stumbled over his words when CNN's Kate Bolduan challenged him on global oil disruptions caused by the war in Iran.
Oil tankers are unable to pass through the crucial Strait of Hormuz due to the threat of Iranian drones, missiles and mines, and the price of oil has surged past $100 a barrel, but Energy Secretary Chris Wright insisted on "CNN News Central" that Americans should be willing to shoulder the burden of higher gas costs.
"We're going through short-term energy disruption for justhuge long-term gain," Wright said. "You'reseeing Iran's behavior, they're attacking every country."
"Could that mean $200 a barrel?" Bolduan interrupted.
"I, um, I would say unlikely, butwe are focused on the militaryoperation and solving a problem," Wright stammered. "I'm not going to guess on short-term trading. That's based onpsychology more than flows ofoil. The world is very wellsupplied with oil right now. Thanks to President Trump'sleadership, we're by far and awaythe world's largest oilproducer, by far and away theworld's natural gas producer.Both of those are growing. Weare, we have been moving into anage of energy security, andwe're fixing the huge overhangon global energy security, whichis Iran's behavior and Iran'sarsenal."
After their discussion, co-host John Berman reacted to the secretary's remarks.
"I've got to say a fascinatingdiscussion," he said. "One of the firstuses of short-term sacrificeI've heard from anadministration official. Also,the idea that oil could reach$200 a barrel, unlikely, he said."
There might be only one way to put an end to President Donald Trump's war in Iran — something Supreme Court Justice John Roberts pointed out years earlier, according to a report Wednesday.
Roberts has been questioned over his views on the unitary executive theory, the idea that the president should have broad control over the government, and Roberts has even helped grant this administration multiple Supreme Court wins. But Roberts previously took a firm stance on how presidents can control the government and who can ultimately stop wars, The Lever reported.
As the United States has entered the 12th day of joint strikes with Israel against Iran, questions have surfaced over who can end the conflict and Roberts had offered a legal basis for war and congressional war powers.
"But in this era of judicial deference to executive authority, Congress’ power to limit spending remains largely unchallenged, even by some of the most hardline proponents of presidential authority, such as U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts," according to The Lever.
"As a Reagan administration lawyer, Roberts told his bosses in 1985, 'Our institutional vigilance with respect to the constitutional prerogatives of the presidency requires appropriate deference to the constitutional prerogatives of the other branches, and no area seems more clearly the province of Congress than the power of the purse,'" The Lever reported.
Congress could throttle Trump's power to continue the conflict.
"This contrast — between the weakness of Congress’s non-budgetary legislation and the supremacy of its spending power — explains why modern presidents’ ill-advised wars tend to only conclude when lawmakers threaten to use the latter," according to The Lever.
A new report on Wednesday revealed that more American service members were left with serious injuries — including brain trauma, burns, shrapnel wounds and at least one person requiring a limb amputation — than the Trump administration initially reported following a targeted Iranian drone attack in Kuwait that left six troops dead.
Multiple sources told CBS News about the "grim and chaotic scene" following the strikes at a tactical operations center at Shuaiba port on March 1 that has now left more than 30 American military members hospitalized with injuries.
"Smoke quickly filled the building, making it difficult to rescue those inside," according to CBS News.
About 20 of the injured service members were taken on a C-17 military transport aircraft to Landstuhl, Germany on Tuesday with injuries designated as 'urgent' by the military, requiring their evacuation. Those injuries included traumatic brain injuries, memory loss and concussions, three sources told CBS News. More than 100 medical personnel were sent to Germany to help the injured military members.
"Defense Department officials initially didn't specify how many had been hurt in the Kuwait attack, but said on March 1 that five were seriously wounded and 'several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions,'" according to CBS News.
Two military members who went missing after the attack were found under the rubble.
One other service member was killed in Saudi Arabia on March 1 during a separate strike. It was unclear how many other people were injured.
The Pentagon announced Tuesday that 140 American service members had been injured so far in the 11 days of the war. The details around their injuries were not revealed.
"The vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and 108 service members have already returned to duty. Eight service members remain listed as severely injured and are receiving the highest level of medical care," Sean Parnell, Pentagon spokesperson, said in a statement.
The FBI has warned California law enforcement that Iran could retaliate against American strikes by launching drones on the West Coast of the United States, including locations in California, ABC News reported.
The outlet said it had reviewed an alert showing the warning from recent days.
“We recently acquired information that as of early February 2026, Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles from an unidentified vessel off the coast of the United State Homeland, specifically against unspecified targets in California, in the event that the US conducted strikes against Iran,” according to the alert late February.
"We have no additional information on the timing, method, target, or perpetrators of this alleged attack,” the alert stated.
Iran has launched multiple retaliatory drone strikes at locations across the Middle East following the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that began 12 days ago.
President Donald Trump was lining his pockets and simultaneously making MAGA lawmakers pay up for their stays at his Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami this week, according to reports Wednesday.
The four-star luxury resort has rooms starting at $600+ per night, and "nothing was on the House" during the Republican policy retreat this week in Florida, according to The Swamp, The Daily Beast's Substack.
"America is at war and casualties are mounting, gas prices and the cost of living are skyrocketing, and federal workers forgotten in a government shutdown are wondering when they’ll get their next paycheck," The Swamp reported. "So what better for GOP lawmakers to do than to head for the Miami sunshine for the annual House Republican policy retreat?"
The resort also apparently has a 125-foot water slide, $420 spa treatments and a $31 burger on the menu.
"Super suckup Speaker Mike Johnson gushed it was an 'amazing' venue and insisted attendees among the House’s 218 Republicans had 'so much' to celebrate while they were chatting by the pool," according to The Swamp.
Republicans were reportedly using the venue to discuss talking points and consider how they could develop a legislative agenda to appeal to more voters ahead of the midterm elections this fall, according to The New York Times.
Johnson also admitted there was work for Republicans ahead, as concerns over the GOP's performance grow as the party tries to maintain a sense of optimism despite a potentially grim outlook in the elections.
“We’ve got a little hiccup with some of the Hispanic and Latino voters for certain, because some of the immigration enforcement was viewed to be overzealous,” Johnson said in an onstage interview.
“And, you know, everybody can describe it differently. But here’s the good news: We’re in a course correction mode right now,” Johnson added. “We’re going to have a new Secretary of Homeland Security.”
Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy seemed to tire of President Donald Trump's doublespeak on the Iran conflict and pressed him to define the operation.
"And we did a little excursion. We had to take this little couple of weeks, a few weeks of excursion, but it's been incredible," Trump said while touring a factory in Ohio on Wednesday. "Our military is unbelievable, the job they're doing. I would say, to put it mildly, way ahead of schedule. We've knocked out their Navy, their military in it, all forms. We've knocked out just about everything there is, including their leadership, twice. We knocked out twice their leadership."
"Now they have a new group coming up," he continued. "Let's see what happens to them. But 47 bad years we suffered with them, not only us, the rest of the world. We're doing our jobs. So we had to take an excursion, but it's going well."
"You just said it is a little excursion, and you said it is a war," Doocy noted. "So which one is it?"
"It's both," Trump replied. "It's an excursion that will keep us out of a war. And the war is going to be, I mean, for them it's a war. For us, it's turned out to be easier than we thought."
"But think of it, they had thousands of missiles, 7, 8,000 missiles," he added. "We got many of them before they got to launch. They have drones all over the place. We got many now, we're knocking out the drone plants, as you know, going fast."
White House insiders divulged what President Donald Trump was considering next after the U.S. and Israel started launching military strikes in Iran, a Wall Street Journal reporter said Wednesday.
Josh Dawsey, WSJ political investigations reporter, told a CNN panel that although Trump hasn't mentioned an exact exit strategy, his administration was panicking amid rising oil prices, looming midterms, and Americans' dissatisfaction over the escalating conflict to figure out what the off-ramp would be to leave the war in the Middle East.
"He doesn't have an appetite for a long term war, at least according to my sources that I've talked to, he's looking for ways to sort of message 'We've done this, we've done that. Now it's time to leave,'" Dawsey said. "Thequestion is, have they said howmuch of that can he control?Right. If he says we're out ofhere, and then let's say the Iranians keep attacking with themissiles or drones or they haveleft, what does the presidentdo? The president has a lot ofpower. He's obviously, youknow, in a lot of ways, the mostpowerful figure in the world buthe can't control everything,right. And some of these thingsare beyond his control. But hewants to get out at some point."
Trump has appeared to be influenced by a variety of factors, which could ultimately determine how the U.S. strategizes its moves with Iran.
"He watches the markets closely, you see when he makes comments, when he wants the markets to sort of go back up, he watches the markets closely, watches oil prices closely," Dawsey said. "He watches the MAGA supporters closely. I mean, Joe Rogan, I can quite tell you the president notices that he's watching voices, he's watching polling in his party. He's watching the midterms. And I don't think he has an appetite for a long term sustained conflict with Iran, at least according to what I'm told by folks inside the White House."
Trump has plenty on his mind — and it's not just the war.
"He launches a war, and then he goes to a MAGA fundraiser where he polls everyone in the room. 'Do you think it should be JD Vance or Marco Rubio?' That's what he does the first weekend," Dawsey said. "He's done college football events. He goes in the White House and he's talking about the ballroom. I mean, I'm not saying he's not focused on the war. I'm just saying he has so many other things that he's talking to people about."
Dawsey argued that the Trump administration doesn't appear to be making an aggressive case for the public as to why Americans should support the war. Instead, the president has focused on multiple things at once.
"He's spent two hours on Friday afternoon of the college sports, and NIL roundtable, he had all these celebrities, he's talking to them," Dawsey added. "I'm not saying president couldn't weigh in on that. A lot of people care about college sports but I mean, it's sort of discordant from what's going on in the world."
President Donald Trump claimed not to know that the U.S. military determined that it was responsible for killing about 150 people in the accidental bombing of an Iranian girls' school.
"Day 11, and as you know, we're doing something that nobody ever thought was possible to do," Trump announced to reporters outside the White House on Wednesday. "Our military is the best, it's the most powerful in the world, and they're hitting them very hard."
"A new report says that the military investigation has found that the United States struck the school in Iran," one reporter noted. "As Commander and Chief, do you take responsibility for that?"
"That is what?" Trump asked.
"The school in Iran. A new report says the military investigation has found it was the United States that struck the school," the reporter repeated.
"I don't know about it," Trump replied dismissively.
The president has previously blamed Iran for striking the school.
