Prepared for the Office of Public Affairs (OPA)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Editorial Note: The DHS Daily Briefing is a collection of news articles related to Department’s mission. The inclusion of particular stories is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse the political viewpoints or affiliations included in news coverage.

The New York Times [3/7/2026 6:24 PM, Annie Correal and Shawn McCreesh, 148038K] reports that, at the first Shield of the Americas summit in Florida on Saturday, President Trump said a new organization of Latin American and Caribbean countries that he called the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition would employ military force to defeat drug trafficking groups. Speaking at the Trump National Doral Miami, his golf resort outside Miami, Mr. Trump said the “brand-new military coalition” would “eradicate the criminal cartels plaguing our region.” He said the U.S. military was “knocking the hell out of them, where we can and we’re going to go heavier.” Addressing the regional leaders, he added, “We need your help, you have to — just tell us where they are.” The summit, held as the U.S. military is engaged in a war with Iran that is spreading across the Middle East, brought leaders from 12 Latin American and Caribbean countries together with senior officials from the Trump administration. So far, 17 countries have committed to joining the coalition. U.S. officials said that the group would aggressively target cartels and organized crime across the Western Hemisphere — a central focus for Mr. Trump, who has embraced a vision of reasserting U.S. dominance in the region through what has been called the “Donroe Doctrine.” “Just as we formed a coalition to eradicate ISIS in the Middle East, we must now do the same thing to eradicate the cartels at home,” Mr. Trump said. The one-day summit drew some of Mr. Trump’s staunchest allies, such as President Javier Milei of Argentina and President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador. The leaders of Bolivia, Costa Rica, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago also attended. (The Bahamas, Belize, Guatemala, Jamaica and Peru, while part of the coalition, were not represented at the event.) Several Trump administration heavyweights were also in attendance, among them the secretary of state, Marco Rubio; the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth; the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent; the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick; and Stephen Miller, the deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser. Kristi Noem, the recently dismissed homeland security secretary, was named a special envoy to the summit. While Mr. Trump lavished praise on Mr. Rubio and Mr. Miller, he said nothing about Ms. Noem outside of reading her name. At a lunch for the leaders, Ms. Noem thanked the president for her new role. “Now that America is secure and our borders are secure,” she said, “we want to focus on our neighbors.” The administration has already deployed U.S. military resources to the region on a scale not seen in decades. More than a dozen groups in Latin America and the Caribbean have been designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations; the majority of them received the label during Mr. Trump’s second term. Reuters [3/7/2026 6:09 AM, Nandita Bose, Sarah Morland and David Brunnstrom, 2314K] reports Trump framed the effort as an aggressive campaign to confront drug cartels, citing them as a primary reason for ramping up U.S. involvement in Latin America, including a pressure campaign against Venezuela that culminated in the January capture of President Nicolas Maduro. At one point, Trump suggested the United States could use missiles against cartel leaders if partners requested it. He also singled out Mexico as the center of cartel activity and predicted major political change in Cuba, saying the country was "very much at the end of the line" and repeating previous statements that Cuban officials are negotiating with him and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. At ​least a dozen leaders from Central America, South America and the Caribbean joined the "Shield of the Americas" summit, where Trump signed a proclamation launching ⁠the coalition. "Leaders in this region have allowed large swaths of territory in the Western Hemisphere to come under the direct control of transnational gangs, and they’ve run areas of your country," Trump said. "We’re not gonna let that happen." In an opening speech that ran more than 30 minutes, Trump also touched on topics far beyond drug cartels, including Iran, Ukraine, Pakistan and India, political endorsements, former president Jimmy Carter, Dominican sugar, building battleships, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s "soothing" personality, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s "beautiful voice," and the importance of interpreters. Trump joked about language differences between himself and the mostly Spanish-speaking group of leaders. "I’m not learning your damn language," he said. "I don’t have time." Rubio, a son of Cuban immigrants, later delivered brief remarks in English and Spanish, while Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth echoed Trump’s stance. "I only speak American," Hegseth joked. Trump also joked about Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, saying that her name looked similar to that of former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump has pushed to build a coalition of regional partners around a more forceful approach to combating drug cartels and organized crime. Saturday’s event also gave him an opportunity to project strength closer to home as the war with Iran escalates and threatens to push up global oil and gas prices.

The Wall Street Journal [3/7/2026 3:07 PM, Ken Thomas and Vera Bergengruen, 646K] reports President Trump is sending a blunt message to Latin America: If you’re with us in fighting drug cartels, you need to use your military. And the U.S. stands ready to help. The president convened a group of conservative Latin American and Caribbean leaders Saturday to launch a new security initiative, called the Shield of the Americas, as the White House seeks to exert a dominant role in the region by rooting out drug trafficking. The gathering didn’t include major regional powers Mexico, Brazil or Colombia. The unusual gathering inside a ballroom at Trump’s South Florida golf club showed how the president is seeking to create an ideologically aligned bloc around an openly militarized U.S. role in Latin America—an approach long unpopular in many parts of the hemisphere. “The only way to defeat these enemies is by unleashing the power of our militaries,” he told the assembled leaders, who posed for a group photo and later gathered around Trump as he signed a proclamation launching the “counter-cartel coalition.” “We have to use our military. You have to use your military,” Trump told the summit, which included presidents Javier Milei of Argentina, Nayib Bukele of El Salvador and Daniel Noboa of Ecuador. The event came days after the U.S. and Ecuador conducted a joint military operation against two violent gangs in the South American country. The event also marked the debut of outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in her new role as special envoy to the Shield of the Americas. Trump said he was removing the embattled DHS secretary this week, replacing her with Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.). Univision [3/7/2026 4:39 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports "The heart of our agreement is the commitment to use lethal military force to destroy these sinister cartels and terrorist networks. Once and for all, we are going to end them," Trump declared to his guests. "The leaders of this region have allowed large swathes of territory in the Western Hemisphere to fall under the control of transnational gangs. (...) We’re not going to let that happen. We’re going to help," the Republican president added. "You want us to use a missile? They’re extremely accurate. Whoosh! We send it right into the living room and that’s the end of the cartel member." Before his announcement, Trump greeted his 12 guests, including loyal allies such as Argentina’s Javier Milei, Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa, and El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele , whom he called a "great president".

USA Today [3/7/2026 4:12 PM, Francesca Chambers, 70643K] reports former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is making her debut as the president’s special envoy for the Shield of the Americas — a brand new position that President Donald Trump moved her into after demoting her last week. Noem will serve as the administration’s liaison to the coalition of likeminded Latin American nations that the Trump administration says it created to combat narcotrafficking and solidify American primacy in the western hemisphere. Trump said in a March 5 social media post that he was tapping Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin to lead the Department of Homeland Security. The New York Post [3/7/2026 4:31 PM, Gabrielle Fahmy, 40934K] reports Trump gathered a dozen allied Latin American leaders in his golf resort outside Miami to announce the newly formed US-led coalition of conservative Latin American governments aimed at fighting cartels and countering Chinese influence in the hemisphere. Noem did not speak during the announcement, with Trump handing the microphone to Rubio, and then Hegseth after his remarks. The president indicated the initiative would operate under Rubio’s supervision, meaning Noem would be working under him.

FOX News [3/7/2026 4:44 PM, Michael Dorgan, 37576K] Video: HERE reports during the Shield of the Americas summit in Florida on Saturday, outgoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem thanked President Donald Trump for appointing her to a newly created role after she was ousted from overseeing the agency. Noem, who is moving to the newly created position of special envoy for the Shield of the Americas, showed no ill feelings toward the president and said she was proud of her work at DHS, arguing the department had secured the border and eliminated public safety threats. "I do want to thank the president for creating this and for giving me the honor and the opportunity to serve as a special envoy to this region, to the Western Hemisphere," Noem said during the summit at Trump National Doral outside Miami. "This Shield of the Americas will be a powerful example to the rest of the world about what’s possible." Noem framed the initiative as an effort to expand border security cooperation beyond the United States. "The way that we cooperate on our shared ideals of freedom and of democracy and safety and security will be a shining light to all of those who wish to be more like all of us," she said.[Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Examiner [3/7/2026 5:18 PM, Robert Stewart, 1147K] reports Kristi Noem made her first public appearance as special envoy to the "Shield of the Americas" on Saturday, telling leaders from across the Western Hemisphere gathered near Miami about her objectives in her new role. Two days after President Donald Trump announced the removal of Noem from her post atop the Department of Homeland Security, she promoted "migration control" to "reverse these harmful foreign influences into many of our businesses" and to achieve economic prosperity. "This Shield of Americas will be a powerful example to the rest of the world about what’s possible," Noem said. "There is nothing like this happening today anywhere else in the world, and the way that we cooperate on our shared ideals of freedom and of democracy and safety and security will be a shining light to all of those who wish to be more like all of us.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio introduced Noem to attendees, telling them that they "will see a lot of her," as she will be "very involved with each of you at a personal level, and on a daily, and weekly, and monthly level." The group, Noem said, is intended to "make sure that we’re each defending our own sovereignty" and build "economic prosperity that blesses all of our people."

Daily Caller [3/7/2026 6:41 PM, Mark Tanos, 803K] reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio skipped the interpreter and took matters into his own hands Saturday, switching to fluent Spanish to deliver President Donald Trump’s agenda directly to a dozen Latin American leaders at the Shield of the Americas Summit. "We don’t need an interpreter for this one," Rubio told Trump before addressing the room in Spanish, as shown in the video shared by The White House. The moment went viral across social media. Trump looked on with approval as his top diplomat assumed translation duties. The exchange set the tone at Trump National Doral in Miami. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth followed Rubio to the podium and told the president, "I only speak American," PJ Media reported from the scene. Rubio responded by joking that he speaks Cuban, according to a social media post cited by PJ Media. (RELATED: Everything Is Coming Up Marco Rubio). Reporter Sarah Anderson, who attended the event, noted warm personal rapport between Rubio and the attending heads of state. The secretary of state told the group that alliance with America "is a good thing. It’s reciprocated," per the State Department feed cited by PJ Media. President Trump Delivers Remarks to the Shield of Americas Summit https://t.co/9nl7pUDQVq. Trump signed a proclamation creating the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition before departing for Dover Air Force Base to receive the remains of six U.S. troops killed in the Iran conflict, Fox News reported. The White House framed the 12-nation gathering as a historic push to dismantle drug cartels and counter foreign interference across the Western Hemisphere. With Trump headed to Delaware, Rubio ran a working lunch and introduced Kristi Noem in her new capacity as Special Envoy. He told leaders they would "see a lot of her" and that Noem would engage with each country "at a personal level and on a daily and weekly and monthly level," according to the State Department’s official transcript. Saturday’s event added yet another responsibility to Rubio’s expanding portfolio. Trump tapped the secretary of state to oversee the Shield of the Americas initiative alongside Noem just days before the summit.

Reuters [3/7/2026 6:31 PM, Nicole Jao, Ted Hesson and Nandita Bose, 38315K] reports the White House has halted, at least for now, a federal security bulletin warning of a heightened threat to the U.S. in light of the conflict in Iran, a Trump administration official told Reuters. The bulletin from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and National Counterterrorism Center is meant for state and local law enforcement agencies. The Trump administration asked an agency to hold the immediate release ​of the bulletin for review to ensure its accuracy, said the ⁠official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal government matters. The warning, which was drafted by DHS’ Office of Intelligence and Analysis, did not offer sufficient insight and was not well written, the official told Reuters. The Daily Mail reported on Friday the White House blocked the release of the bulletin that contains specific details on how Iranian proxies may carry out attacks across the United States. The FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A U.S. ⁠Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Reuters it is normal procedure for the agency to share intelligence bulletins with the White House for review before they are sent out. "The White House is coordinating closely with all government agencies to ensure information being disseminated is accurate, up ⁠to date, and has been properly vetted — even if that means taking additional time to review to ensure nothing is done in a vacuum," the White House said in a ⁠statement. The attack on Iran is the biggest U.S. military operation in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Since last week, the U.S. completed over a ⁠dozen charter flights and evacuated thousands of Americans from the Middle East, the State Department said on Saturday.

Breitbart [3/7/2026 11:00 AM, Ian Hanchett, 2238K] reports on Friday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) said that she is worried about terrorism threats and said that multiple asks from Democrats on ICE need to be agreed to “so we can reopen the Department of Homeland Security.” Co-host Joe Mathieu asked, “Do you worry, as well, about an increased threat when it comes to domestic terrorism?” Wasserman Schultz answered, “It is deeply concerning, because there was not a day-after plan, because there was not the kind of preparation necessary. You have Iran that is now attacking our allies. We have a concerning act of potentially domestic terrorism that occurred in Austin, TX.” She added, “We obviously have a lot of concerns when it comes to, particularly, DHS, as you mentioned. They need to rein in ICE and ensure that, when they’re engaged in enforcement actions, that they take the masks off, that they put identification on, that they are not barreling people’s doors down and engaging in illegal searches and seizures, that they follow the Constitution. Pretty simple asks. We need to make sure that we can get that accomplished so we can reopen the Department of Homeland Security.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Wall Street Journal [3/7/2026 8:21 PM, Brian Whitton, Belle Cushing, Brenna T. Smith, Emma Scott, and Hannah Critchfield, 646K] reports to analyze the U.S. government’s claims about assaults on federal immigration agents, The Wall Street Journal reviewed posts from 66 government and senior official accounts on X from Jan. 1, 2025, to March 2, 2026. The accounts included Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, the White House and regional field offices for Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland Security Investigations, as well as the accounts of senior officials, including former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and former DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin. The Journal reviewed more than 100,000 posts from those accounts and identified 1,456 posts in which the government alleged an assault, impediment, attack or conspiracy or attempt to harm a federal officer. Among those identified, the Journal also used artificial intelligence to find posts in which the government-cited assault statistics or issued warnings about violence against officers; those classifications were also reviewed by reporters. For each claim by the government that identified a person, the Journal tracked the cases from the initial allegation through the legal process, recording whether charges were brought, under what statute, at what level, whether charges were later modified, as well as the final disposition. The analysis included charges brought under 18 U.S.C. § 111, 372 and 1114, which cover assaulting or conspiring to assault federal agents, as well as attempted murder of federal agents. Outcomes were determined by a review of federal court records, HSI investigative reports and government news releases. Outcomes were determined by a review of federal court records, HSI investigative reports and government news releases. The Journal determined citizenship status through interviews with defense attorneys, public records and government statements. AI was used to classify federal charging documents, including identifying which cases referenced video evidence; those classifications were reviewed by reporters for accuracy. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Daily Caller [3/7/2026 9:26 PM, Anthony Iafrate, 803K] reports Fox News host Tomi Lahren blasted outgoing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s taxpayer-funded $220 million ad campaign two days after President Donald Trump announced his intention too replace her. On Saturday’s episode of “The Big Weekend Show,” Lahren singled out the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) costly 60-second advertisement from late 2025, which notably featured a cowboy hat-clad Noem riding a horse as Mount Rushmore is visible in the background. She went on to compare the nine-figure ad’s apparent misuse of taxpayer money to Minnesota’s fraud scandal. “I don’t how you spend $220 million riding a horse by Mount Rushmore,” Lahren said. “I’m from Rapid City, South Dakota. Mount Rushmore is the backdrop of where I grew up. I don’t you know how you spend that much to do that.” “We have to be very, very fair here. If we’re calling out Democrats in Minnesota for their fraud and their ‘learing centers,’ then you got to call it out on your own side as well,” the commentator stressed, referring to the misspelled sign of a since-shuttered Somali-run Minneapolis daycare center prominently featured in independent journalist Nick Shirley’s viral video looking into fraud. “And you gotta say, ‘Hey, the math ain’t mathing here. What was going on with this ad?’ You’ve become a sideshow. You’ve become the topic of conversation,” Lahren emphasized. “That’s not a good when immigration is so important to this president. So important to those who voted for President Trump. First and foremost, a lot of folks voted based on immigration,” the Fox News host continued. Polls likewise showed voters who considered immigration an important issue during the 2024 election cycle backed Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris. “So, yes, the border is sealed, thank goodness. [Border czar] Tom Homan has done a fantastic job. We can give her flowers for what she did to add to that effort, but when you become the story and your antics off the job become the story, then you lose the plot,” Lahren added, calling Trump’s Thursday decision to replace Noem with Republican Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, pending Senate confirmation, “fantastic.” “Kristi had to go. And also I will say, ‘Justice for Cricket,’” Lahren said at the end of her rant, referring to a 14-month-old puppy Noem justified shooting in her 2024 book because she was “untrainable.” Clocking in just shy of a quarter-billion dollars, the taxpayer-funded one-minute DHS ad carried a price tag roughly equivalent to the production budget of the 2021 superhero film “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” “Why do I love these wide-open spaces? They remind me of why our forefathers came here. Not just for its beauty but for the freedom only America provides. I’m Kristi Noem,” the secretary says on horseback as the ad starts while a guitar country riff plays in the background. The minute-long video concludes with the on-screen text, “Sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security.”

New York Times [3/7/2026 3:06 PM, Nicholas Nehamas, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Hamed Aleaziz, Albert Sun and Julie Bosman, 148038K] reports after months of high-profile, militarized immigration raids in major American cities, the Trump administration has scaled back its deportation strategy, leading to a dip in arrests last month, according to three federal officials and internal government data. In recent weeks, immigration agents have focused on conducting more targeted enforcement operations, rather than indiscriminate street sweeps, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy. Those arrests have been less visible and chaotic than the campaign that led to violent clashes with protesters — including the fatal shootings of two American citizens in January — and generated intense political blowback against President Trump. The retreat from some of its most aggressive enforcement efforts underscores the challenges the administration faces in meeting its goal of deporting millions of undocumented immigrants. Although hard-line immigration policies were at the heart of Mr. Trump’s appeal to voters in the last election, many Americans have balked at seeing the crackdown put into practice, forcing the White House to recalibrate its approach. In February, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested roughly 11 percent fewer people per day than they had the previous month, according to internal government figures reviewed by The New York Times. The drop was driven in part by ICE arresting fewer immigrants without criminal records, the data show. Overall, arrests have fallen to their lowest levels since September.

Wall Street Journal [3/7/2026 8:32 PM, Brenna T. Smith, Hannah Critchfield, Brian Whitton, Belle Cushing, Emma Scott, and Annie Ng, 646K] reports prosecutors were ready for troublemakers. Federal officer Dinko Residovic had spoken with the U.S. Attorney’s Office before heading out to arrest two immigrants held at a jail in Washington, D.C. “They were, like, ‘If you need anything, let us know. Anybody interferes, assaults, let us know. Get them on camera. We’ll prosecute,’” Residovic said in a recorded conversation. “I’m, like, f—k yeah.” After he and other federal agents arrived at the jail, they spotted 44-year-old Sidney Lori Reid, who was recording them on her phone. Reid moved for a clearer view, and an agent grabbed her. He pinned Reid to a wall while a man was escorted from the jail to a government vehicle. That is what videos later showed. But that wasn’t what Immigration and Customs Enforcement alleged after Reid’s July 22 arrest. Reid was one of the targets in an aggressive public-relations tactic in the Trump administration’s war on illegal immigration, an enforcement campaign praised for record-low southern border crossings but widely criticized for its treatment of U.S. citizens. Protesters, observers and passersby taken into custody by federal agents were declared terrorists and attackers in hundreds of social-media posts by U.S. officials and departments since the start of the immigration sweeps in cities. This includes Minneapolis, where two citizens were excoriated by officials after they were killed by federal agents in January. The Wall Street Journal found that the Department of Homeland Security, created in 2002 to protect Americans, has turned its force against citizens. Of the 279 people accused by officials on X of attacking federal officers in the past year, 181 were U.S. citizens, the Journal found. Close to half of those Americans were never charged with assault. None have been convicted at trial. Yet names, mug shots and other identifying details posted by the government put a bull’s-eye on them. They had to explain the accusations to family, friends and employers. In a few cases, their home and workplace addresses were leaked online, drawing death threats.

New York Post [3/8/2026 12:50 AM, Anna Young, 40934K] reports "Saturday Night Live" mocked former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for being "reassigned under the bus" after President Trump fired her this week. Ashley Padilla’s Noem – decked out in the 54-year-old’s signature coiffed hair and caked-on makeup – opened the sketch show by claiming she wasn’t axed, she "self-deported," while taking aim at her rumored plastic surgery and a shocking excerpt from her book about killing her dog. "I just want to make it clear that I didn’t get fired, I self-deported," she joked, skewering Noem’s controversial ads that pushed immigrants to leave the US voluntarily. "And though I may be leaving this job, I will not be ending my mission. As I told my plastic surgeon, the work is never done. But I gave my all to the DHS and I have no regrets, because like they say, you miss 100% of the dogs you don’t shoot.” Padilla went on to roast the married former South Dakota governor for her $220 million TV ads and her alleged romantic entanglement with top DHS aide Corey Lewandowski. "I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished … and I think I really nailed it, and by it, I mean my married co-worker in a big, beautifully, flying bedroom 30,000 feet over Minneapolis," she jested. "And while I look forward to what comes next, leaving is bittersweet, but the time has come for me to turn in my badge, gun, lips, lashes, teeth and forehead.” She claimed her goodbye wasn’t permanent, but Colin Jost’s Pete Hegseth jumped in: "Yeah, except that it is.” Noem, nicknamed ICE Barbie, was ousted Thursday after a string of flubs, from claiming Trump approved her pricey TV spots to dodging questions about her rumored fling with Lewandowski. Trump tapped her for a brand-new gig as special envoy for "Shield of the Americas.” Oklahoma GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin is set to replace her at DHS. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [3/7/2026 10:24 PM, Jaimie Ding, 35287K] reports the Pentagon and the Federal Aviation Administration agreed to conduct anti-drone laser tests in New Mexico after the military’s deployment of the lasers led the FAA to suddenly close airspace in Texas twice in the last month. The newly announced testing was being carried out to "specifically address FAA safety concerns," the military said Friday in a statement. It was to take place Saturday and Sunday at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Lawmakers were concerned about an apparent lack of coordination after the Pentagon allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to use an anti-drone laser in early February without notifying the FAA. The federal agency that ensures safety in the skies decided to close the airspace over El Paso for a few hours, stranding many travelers. The Trump administration said it was working to halt an incursion by Mexican cartel drones, which are not uncommon along the southern border. On Feb. 26 the U.S. military used the laser to shoot down a "seemingly threatening" drone flying near the U.S.-Mexico border. It turned out the drone belonged to Customs and Border Protection, lawmakers said. The incident led the FAA to close the airspace around Fort Hancock, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of El Paso. "We appreciate the coordination with the Department of War to help ensure public safety," the FAA said of the testing, in a separate statement. "The FAA and DOW are working with interagency partners to address emerging threats posed by unmanned aircraft systems while maintaining the safety of the National Airspace System.” The military is required to formally notify the FAA when it takes any counter-drone action inside U.S. airspace. Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, the ranking member on the Senate’s Aviation Subcommittee, called previously for an independent investigation after the two February incidents.

AP [3/7/2026 7:57 AM, Giovanna Dell’Orto, 35287K] reports the long-held practice of faith leaders ministering to detained migrants has become far more contentious — and consequential — as detention numbers soar across the United States during the federal government’s immigration crackdown. Clergy are pushing for more access at detention centers, especially during the ongoing holy seasons of Lent and Ramadan. After celebrating an Ash Wednesday service with four migrants who had just arrived at a detention center near Chicago, clergy there are working with immigration authorities to set up regular visits. At the start of Ramadan, a Muslim chaplain was allowed to visit two women held for many months in immigration detention in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She is hoping to return throughout the fasting month. “In systems that are made to break them, it is very important that they not only get that care, but they also get adequate care with someone that can help them make meaning of their situation by bringing God,” chaplain Nosayba Mahmoud said. After months of liaising with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Prairieland Detention Facility in Texas, she was allowed to bring the women dates to break the Ramadan fast as well as softcover Qurans. But it took a lawsuit — one of two recently filed after clergy said they were denied access in Illinois and Minnesota — for a Catholic contingent to get into the ICE facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview on Ash Wednesday. “It’s an important victory,” said the Rev. David Inczauskis, a Jesuit priest and member of the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership, which filed the Chicago lawsuit. “But also we recognize that it’s just one step along the way to migrant justice.”

Washington Examiner [3/8/2026 6:00 AM, Anna Giaritelli, 1147K] reports a former Trump administration official wasted millions of taxpayer dollars given to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to purchase thousands of employee vehicles that the agency cannot use to arrest illegal immigrants, according to three sources. ICE’s top brass are quietly searching for a way to amend the remainder of a massive order of pick-up trucks and SUVs that were ordered last year and slated to be wrapped with the agency’s name, logo, and motto, as well as storing away many vehicles that have been delivered to ICE facilities across the country, the Washington Examiner has learned. “ICE has never had marked vehicles,” the first person familiar with the purchases said in a phone call. “In talking to people, they’re like, ‘We don’t want to use these, we can’t.’“ The saga is the latest controversial expenditure of taxpayer money within the Department of Homeland Security and speaks to the different ways political appointees at the department have tried to approach operations versus how career law enforcement officials have historically done so. Over the past year, assaults against ICE personnel have risen 8,000%, according to the DHS, and federal police have opted to hide their faces and identities while working in public.

Univision [3/7/2026 5:41 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports Mahady Sacko, a 50-year-old undocumented immigrant who lived in Philadelphia, was accused of illegally voting in Pennsylvania in 5 different US presidential elections and of registering more than 10 times with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ). According to Fox News , Sacko voted in person in every election, except for the 2020 primaries, which he voted digitally. In each election, he stated that he was a " U.S. citizen ." If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of five years in prison. According to Sacko’s lawyer, a Philadelphia immigration judge in 2000 had ordered his deportation, but Mahady appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, which allowed him to stay in the country for another 2 years. However, in 2002, the BIA dismissed his appeal, meaning he now had to leave, but Sacko ignored it. In 2007, he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) in Philadelphia, but he did not have a valid passport. Although they tried to provide him with one, they were unable to obtain it, so he was only placed under supervision . Because of this, Mahady Sacko was able to vote in so many elections, as he only had to present himself at the offices as a foreign national.

FOX News [3/8/2026 4:00 AM, Breanne Deppisch, 37576K] reports former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow appeared on Capitol Hill this past week to urge lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee to pass legislation to better combat child exploitation, trafficking, and abuse — describing the effort as a fight "for people who cannot fight for themselves" and in their "darkest hour of need." Tebow, the founder and chair of his eponymous Tim Tebow Foundation, used the impassioned testimony before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee to shore up support for the Renewed Hope Act of 2026, or bipartisan legislation that seeks to increase federal resources to fight child exploitation and abuse. Framing the crisis as a "fight for people who cannot fight for themselves in their darkest hour of need," Tebow said his foundation is working "imperfectly, but in every way that we can" to support the fight against child exploitation, including by providing additional support to law enforcement, and funding long-term restoration efforts to support victims. His foundation currently provides support for some 52 safe homes, and is in the process of expanding the support to an additional 19 homes. "It is a thin line between tortured and treasured," Tebow told lawmakers Tuesday. "And you are that thin line," he said, urging the chamber to take swift action to approve the bill. "I spent way too much of my life chasing a much less important MVP," Tebow added. "I want to spend the rest of my life chasing the most vulnerable people." The Renewed Hope Act of 2026, which cleared House committee markup earlier this year, seeks to establish a dedicated workforce of more than 200 analysts, investigators, and forensic specialists working within DHS’s Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, to "deconflict, coordinate, and synchronize child sexual exploitation investigations." The bill would equip and specially train officers on victim identification, location, and rescue operations for unknown children or children identified in sexual abuse databases. Support for the legislation comes as the number of unidentified child victims in exploitation databases has surged in recent years. According to the Tim Tebow Foundation, there are an estimated 57,000 unidentified victims of child trafficking. The foundation emphasizes that these children remain hidden from official statistics and protection systems — as echoed by others who testified in Tuesday’s emotional hearing. In the last six months alone, Tebow noted that more than 338,000 unique IP addresses based in the U.S. have been identified trading child sexual abuse images across so-called "peer-to-peer" networks. "Every day, [these children] are praying that we are going to respond," Tebow said in his testimony. "But how are we going to respond?"

New York Times [3/7/2026 11:06 AM, Emily Cochrane and Hamed Aleaziz, 148038K] reports on Tuesday, Estefany Maria Rodriguez Florez, a journalist for a Spanish-language news outlet in Nashville, reported on four immigration-related arrests in Middle Tennessee. On Wednesday, Ms. Rodriguez was herself being tracked by immigration agents and then was taken into custody, accused of violating the conditions of her visa. The arrest of Ms. Rodriguez, an immigrant who was seeking asylum in the United States after she said she received threats for her reporting in her native Colombia, prompted an immediate outcry in Nashville and beyond. And some wondered whether her work documenting the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown had made her a target. In a written statement, a spokeswoman for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said on Friday that Ms. Rodriguez had overstayed her tourist visa “and currently has no lawful immigration status.” But even amid the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement operations, Ms. Rodriguez is an unusual target for detention. She has an active asylum case, a pending green card application through her American husband and no criminal record. In the past, immigrants applying for green cards through their American spouses were not subject to detention, even if they had overstayed their visas. It was not clear why Ms. Rodriguez had been targeted for arrest, but internal government documents reviewed by The Times show that immigration authorities had been tracking Ms. Rodriguez all morning, following the couple as they waved goodbye to their daughter on her bus to school. In court filings on Friday, Mr. Coxander said he believed that there were indications that Ms. Rodriguez had been targeted because of her reporting. He also accused ICE of arresting Ms. Rodriguez without a valid warrant, which the ICE spokeswoman denied. Judge Eli J. Richardson of the Middle District of Tennessee, who was appointed during President Trump’s first term, will decide whether to approve an emergency request for Ms. Rodriguez’s release. A hearing could come as early as Monday.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [3/7/2026 8:36 AM, Kelly Milan, 18170K]

CBS Chicago [3/7/2026 4:21 PM, Nick Lentz, 51110K] reports an EF-3 tornado moved through Union City, Michigan, during Friday night’s severe storms in the southwest part of the state, according to the National Weather Service. The federal agency said three people were killed and 12 others were injured in the Branch County twister, which had a wind speed of at least 165 mph — just 1 mph shy of an EF-4 classification on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Several homes in the area of Tuttle Road and Prairie Rose Lane were severely damaged by the twister, according to the agency. Officials said Saturday that only a small portion of the tornado’s possible track has been assessed and that other details, including how far it went and how long it lasted, "will be released as they become available." Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Saturday on social media that she would be declaring a state of emergency for Branch, Cass and St. Joseph counties. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Times [3/7/2026 10:04 AM, Stephen Dinan, 1323K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has cut its deployment in Minnesota down to 47 deportation officers, and they’re focused on picking up deportation targets from prisons and jails, the agency told a federal judge Friday. That marks a major downshift from the heady days of Operation Metro Surge, the enforcement push that saw ICE focus on at-large arrests — those made out in the community — in the Minneapolis area. David Easterwood, ICE’s acting field office director in St. Paul, said another batch of deportation officers will arrive over the next couple of weeks. The new agents are rotating in for officers who are heading out, with the manpower remaining at 47 people concentrating on the Criminal Alien Program. ICE has an additional 435 Homeland Security Investigations agents focused not on civil deportation cases, but on criminal cases of fraud and money laundering, Mr. Easterwood said in court papers filed with U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez, who has been overseeing a case challenging Homeland Security’s interactions with demonstrators in Minnesota. Customs and Border Protection, the other major immigration enforcement agency, has already pulled all of its extra people out of Minnesota. The last 67 of them were “demobilized” on Feb. 23, Marty Raybon Sr., CBP’s lead coordinator for the surge, told the court. At the peak, roughly 3,000 extra ICE and more than 1,000 CBP agents and officers were assigned to Operation Metro Surge. They made 4,000 arrests during the two months of the operation.

Washington Post [3/7/2026 11:55 PM, Robert Klemko and Samuel Oakford, 24826K] reports video released by investigators in the fatal shooting last March of a U.S. citizen by a federal immigration agent calls into question a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson’s claim that the victim “intentionally ran over” a different agent before being shot. The investigative material released Friday by the Texas Department of Public Safety shows that Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was given conflicting instructions as he encountered law enforcement officers from multiple agencies near the scene of a previous vehicle accident in South Padre Island, Texas, in the early-morning hours of March 15. His car moved forward very slowly in the moments before Homeland Security Investigations Agent Jack C. Stevens fired three shots into Martinez’s blue Ford sedan. The footage does not show Martinez speeding up rapidly or appearing to target a second Homeland Security Investigations agent, Hector Sosa. Martinez was under the influence of alcohol and had marijuana in his system, according to autopsy records, as different officers allowed him to keep going and shouted at him to stop. Sosa told investigators that Martinez’s car struck his legs, causing him to fall over the hood before Stevens opened fire. It is not clear from the nighttime footage whether the slow-moving car actually hit Sosa. Footage from a nearby business shows the hood of the Ford. But the video is grainy and skips through some portions and does not definitively show whether there is a figure on top of the hood. Geoffrey P. Alpert, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of South Carolina, said the chaotic scene, and its handling by law enforcement, raises “a lot of red flags.” “The contradictory orders are confusing and may have been a strong influence,” Alpert said. “The speed is slow and doesn’t appear threatening. Could the officer have moved away? At worst, all he has to do is step aside. We call it officer-created jeopardy.” The body-camera and surveillance footage was released along with witness statements and other material after a grand jury in Texas declined to indict Stevens in connection with Martinez’s death. In an emailed statement, acting ICE director Todd M. Lyons said: “We stand by the grand jury’s unanimous decision that found no criminality. This incident was investigated from every possible angle by an independent body, and it cleared our officer.” The evidence provides a raft of new information about the first known DHS fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen since President Donald Trump returned to office and began his aggressive immigration crackdown. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

ABC News [3/7/2026 10:30 PM, Armando Garcia, 34146K] reports videos released by the Texas Department of Public Safety appear to cast doubt on the Department of Homeland Security’s account of a fatal agent-involved shooting of U.S. citizen that occurred in South Padre Island, Texas, in March 2025. Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was fatally shot by a Homeland Security Investigations agent on March 15, 2025. The incident was initially reported by local news outlets as an officer-involved shooting. DHS did not reveal the involvement of its agent until February when media outlets reported that the agents were involved. In a statement given to San Antonio ABC affiliate, DHS said HSI agents were helping South Padre Island Police officers control traffic after an unrelated accident at the popular spring break destination when a driver "intentionally ran over" an agent "resulting in him being on the hood of the vehicle." The statement went on to say: "Upon witnessing this, another agent fired defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public." DHS said an agent was taken to the hospital with a knee injury after the incident. In a statement provided to ABC News, attorneys for Martinez’s mother said the video footage calls the DHS account of the shooting into question. "These new videos confirm that Ruben’s car was barely moving when he was shot," the statement from attorneys Charles M. Stam and Alex Stamm said. "That he was braking, not accelerating. That nobody was on the hood of his car. That nobody was in front of his car when he was shot. That he was shot at point-blank range through his side window by an ICE agent who was in no danger." The statement went on to say: "This batch of evidence shows no justification for Ruben’s killing. In a statement, Todd Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said: "We stand by the grand jury’s unanimous decision that found no criminality. This incident was investigated from every possible angle by an independent body, and it cleared our officer." Footage from the body-worn camera of a South Padre police officer appears to show Martinez’s blue Ford slowly approaching the intersection and moving forward when someone is heard saying, "Keep going." Martinez’s vehicle slows to a crawl or a possible stop as a group of pedestrians are seen crossing the street. Martinez moves forward after the pedestrians pass and officers appear to become concerned and yell, "Stop him" and "Get him out." Three shots can be heard as the officer with the camera runs toward the vehicle. A toxicology report released shows Martinez has a blood alcohol level of 0.12% above the legal limit of 0.08%. In his statement to ABC News, Lyons, the acting head of ICE, pointed to an investigative report done by the Texas Rangers which included analysis of multiple body cameras, and which showed Martinez holding a bottle of Crown Royal Whiskey and "rolling toward an officers location," Lyons said in the statement.

Reuters [3/7/2026 7:49 AM, Nate Raymond, 38315K] reports a divided U.S. appeals court has refused to let the Trump administration revoke legal protections that allow more than 350,000 Haitians to live and ​work in the U.S. and avoid being returned to their gang-violence-stricken country. A 2-1 ‌panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit late on Friday rejected the administration’s bid to pause a February 2 ruling that blocked the U.S. Department of Homeland ​Security from ending Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status. The administration had asked the D.C. Circuit to stay U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes’ February order while it appeals. Her decision came in a class-action lawsuit brought by ​Haitians seeking to prevent DHS from exposing them to deportation. Reyes found that Noem’s November ​move to end the Haitians’ legal protections likely violated TPS termination procedures and the U.S. Constitution’s ‌Fifth ⁠Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law. The administration on appeal noted that the U.S. Supreme Court had twice allowed it to end TPS for Venezuelans. But U.S. Circuit Judges Florence Pan and Brad Garcia, both appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, distinguished the cases ​and said Haitians sent ​home would "be vulnerable ⁠to violence amid a ‘collapsing rule of law’ and lack access to life-sustaining medical care." U.S. Circuit Judge Justin Walker, a Trump appointee, ​dissented, saying the case and the earlier Supreme Court litigation involving ​Venezuelans were "the ⁠legal equivalent of fraternal, if not identical, twins." Univision [3/7/2026 10:59 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports Haiti ‘s Temporary Protected Status ( TPS) was initially implemented in 2010 following a catastrophic earthquake and has been extended multiple times. The country is plagued by gang violence, which has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. The Trump administration has aggressively sought to eliminate protections, which will leave more people vulnerable to deportation. These actions are part of the administration’s broader effort to carry out mass deportations. In addition to Haitian migrants , Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem —whose dismissal was announced Thursday by Trump —has ended protections for some 600,000 Venezuelans, 60,000 people from Honduras , Nicaragua , and Nepal , more than 160,000 Ukrainians, and thousands of people from Afghanistan and Cameroon . Some cases have pending lawsuits in federal court.

Reported similarly:
AP [3/7/2026 12:35 PM, Staff]

San Diego Union Tribune [3/7/2026 8:00 AM, Alex Riggins, 1257K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers discovered a woman being smuggled inside an SUV’s gas tank last week at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, according to court records. While CBP officers regularly find drugs hidden inside the gas tanks of vehicles, it’s much less common — if not unprecedented — to find a person concealed inside one. The woman, a Mexican citizen, was discovered when a CBP officer inspecting the SUV “observed a human foot sticking out” of the gas tank, according to a criminal complaint against the driver filed in San Diego federal court. Officers then began taking apart the tank, which was not factory standard, and discovered the woman lying in a puddle of gasoline, appearing disoriented and suffering from apparent chemical burns to her legs and feet; she was taken to a hospital for medical evaluation, treated and quickly released. In an interview later that night, the woman told officers that she was going to pay $10,000 to be smuggled into the U.S., according to the complaint. She said she’d been instructed where to go and what vehicle to get into. The SUV’s driver was arrested on suspicion of human smuggling for financial gain, and according to the complaint, he allegedly admitted to investigators that he knew he was smuggling a person inside the tank and had expected to be paid $5,000. The woman from the tank is not facing charges for trying to enter the U.S. but instead is a material witness in the case against the driver, which is typical for human smuggling cases.

Washington Times [3/7/2026 3:17 PM, Staff, 1323K] reports a Southwest Airlines flight bound for Fort Lauderdale was diverted to Atlanta on Friday evening after a potential security threat was reported onboard, though federal investigators ultimately determined there was no danger. Southwest Airlines Flight 2094 departed Nashville International Airport before being rerouted to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to address what the airline described as a possible security matter. Atlanta police removed one passenger from the aircraft after it landed. The FBI’s Atlanta field office later said its investigation found no credible threat, and no charges were filed against the person who was detained.

New York Post [3/7/2026 1:14 PM, Sonya Gugliara, 40934K] reports at least eight people were killed by catastrophic tornadoes in Oklahoma and Michigan – as meteorologists warn there may be more devastation to come throughout the weekend. Raging storms will bring flash floods, heavy hail and possible tornadoes from the Southern Plains to the Midwest on Saturday, according to forecasts. The severe weather threat is targeting nearly 70 million people, spanning more than 1,500 miles from Texas to Michigan, this weekend. There are more than 85,000 power outages across the US as of Saturday morning, according to poweroutage.com. Arkansas has been hit the hardest, with over 25,000 homes and businesses without power. Michigan is experiencing over 12,500 outages, while Ohio and Texas have roughly 8,700 and 8,300 respectively. Meteorologists suspect that harrowing weather patterns may persist into next week, according to AccuWeather. Twisters claimed four lives in southwestern Michigan on Friday. Three people died near Union Lake and one was killed in Cass County, according to officials. Dozens of others were injured, although the extent of their injuries is unclear. Authorities announced on Friday that two Oklahomans were killed by the disastrous conditions in Beggs, where trees fell over and residents had to be evacuated. A mother and daughter, Jodie and Lexi Owens, were also found dead inside their car in Major County, Oklahoma after a tornado hit them on Thursday night. Stitt has declared a state of emergency in several counties across the state including Alfalfa, Creek, Grant, Major, Okmulgee, Rogers, Tulsa and Wagoner. The state of emergency will last 30 days as The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management works with local and federal partners to mitigate the extensive damage.

Reported similarly:
FOX News [3/7/2026 4:59 PM, Staff, 37576K]
USA Today [3/7/2026 10:12 AM, Dinah Voyles Pulver, 70643K]

AP [3/7/2026 5:38 PM, Dave Collins, Steve Karnowski And Mike Householder] reports authorities in southern Michigan on Saturday were searching through rubble and debris after suspected tornadoes tore through the region and killed four people, including a 12-year-old boy, during powerful storms also blamed for two deaths in eastern Oklahoma. The threat of severe weather continued Saturday in the nation’s midsection, with strong thunderstorms possible stretching from Texas and to the northeast all the way to Ohio and western parts of Pennsylvania and New York. Three people were killed and 12 were injured in the Union Lake area, according to the Branch County Sheriff’s Office. About 50 miles (81 kilometers) southwest of Union Lake, the Cass County Sherriff’s Office said a 12-year-old boy died and several other people were injured during a possible tornado. Sheriff Clint Roach said in a Facebook post that Silas Anderson’s parents found him injured and provided first aid, but he later died at a hospital. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she would be declaring a state of emergency in Branch, Cass and St. Joseph counties. In Oklahoma, just south of Tulsa, a tornado in Beggs was blamed for the deaths of two people in a house on Friday, the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office said. Two other people were taken to a hospital. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said Saturday that he declared a state of emergency in several counties to free up support and resources for affected areas. The Oklahoma deaths came a day after storms killed a 47-year-old woman and her 13-year-old daughter in Fairview in the western part of the state. Authorities said they were found dead in a vehicle.

New York Times [3/7/2026 6:56 PM, Chris Hippensteel, Sam Easter and Kristi Eaton, 148038K] reports after tornadoes swept across Michigan and Oklahoma late Friday, killing at least six people, residents spent Saturday surveying the damage to their homes, schools and businesses. Between the two states, the National Weather Service had fielded 13 tornado reports through Friday night. The deadliest of the tornadoes, which tore through Union City, a village in southwestern Michigan, killed three people and injured at least 12 others. A tornado near Edwardsburg, Mich., in Cass County in the southwestern part of the state, killed a 12-year-old boy and injured several other people, according to Clint Roach, the county’s sheriff. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan said on Friday that people had also been injured in neighboring St. Joseph County. In Tulsa, Okla., there were damaged buildings and downed power lines, the city’s mayor, Monroe Nichols, said on social media. Some 30 miles south, two people were killed and several others were injured after a tornado destroyed a house near the small city of Beggs, Okla. For millions of Americans, the danger isn’t over. Going into the weekend, the risk for additional thunderstorms remains high from central Texas to western New York, with the potential for flash floods, damaging winds and additional tornadoes. The risk for tornadoes is highest on Saturday in eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and parts of West Virginia.

Washington Post [3/7/2026 9:13 AM, Matthew Cappucci and Ben Noll, 24826K] reports an intense and deadly tornado tore through south central Michigan on Friday afternoon, laying siege to neighborhoods in Union City, about 25 miles east-southeast of Kalamazoo, with additional tornado damage reported in the town of Three Rivers about 25 miles away. It’s as of yet unclear if the tornado’s path was continuous, or if there were multiple touchdowns. The afternoon tornado was particularly striking because it passed over several frozen lakes, including Union Lake. And it did so in an area that may not have been expecting it — the National Weather Service forecast Michigan to have a marginal (Level 1 out of 5) severe weather risk. Only weak, low-end tornadoes were considered plausible, and the main focus of potentially damaging tornadoes on Friday was on the Plains and mid-Mississippi Valley. The worst damage appears to have hit Union City, where homes were destroyed, vehicles were tossed and trees were left stripped and partially debarked. At least four people have been killed in at least two counties across the region, according to local authorities. At the very least, it was the strongest tornado on record so early in the season in Michigan. The impact suggests winds may have reached 145 mph to 170 mph, which could mean the tornado was in the high-end EF3 to perhaps EF4 range on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which rates tornado damage on a scale from 0 (weakest) to 5 (strongest). If that figure — which will later by assessed and confirmed by the National Weather Service — achieves an EF4 rating, it will be the strongest statewide in nearly five decades — since an F4 struck Kalamazoo and Eaton Counties on April 2, 1977.

The Hill [3/7/2026 4:16 PM, Ryan Mancini, 18170K] reports California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Friday called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to direct the more than $220 million that went to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s ad campaign that led to her firing toward the Los Angeles fire recovery. “While Kristi Noem poured $220 million of taxpayer money into a political ad campaign featuring herself on horseback, more than $500 million in FEMA funding for LA fire recovery sat stalled on her desk,” Newsom said in a statement. “Families in Los Angeles shouldn’t have to wait while she and Donald Trump play politics,” he added. “Release the funding now and redirect those dollars to help communities rebuild.” The Hill has reached out to DHS for comment regarding Newsom’s request. Newsom’s office accused Noem of “cosplaying on horseback” while failing to sign key recovery contracts that held up Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) funding. Noem personally reviewed expenditures of over $100,000, which left “a long line of pending FEMA awards waiting only on her sign-off, including more than $500 million to help communities and survivors of the LA firestorm.” “With Noem’s departure and bipartisan concern mounting over the delays, the administration should end this $100,000 dollar bottleneck, rely on FEMA’s professional review, and move these dollars to LA fire survivors and hard-hit rural communities instead of keeping them in limbo under a policy that has clearly failed to deliver faster or better oversight,” the statement reads. A DHS spokesperson previously told The Hill that there was “no evidence” of any holdups in FEMA funding. “In fact, Secretary Noem’s review process was specifically designed to break through bureaucratic red tape and expedite funding requests that had previously languished for years under prior administrations,” the spokesperson said.

Reported similarly:
FOX News [3/7/2026 10:23 AM, Michael Dorgan, 37576K]

Washington Post [3/7/2026 7:40 PM, Rachel Siegel, 24826K] reports a Pakistani man was convicted Friday of a plan to work with the Iranian government to murder President Donald Trump and other high-ranking officials, in a trial that coincided with the United States’ escalating war with Iran. Asif Merchant was arrested in July 2024 and found guilty of attempted terrorism and murder for hire. His case in federal district court in Brooklyn focused on what prosecutors said was an attempt to steal documents, launder money and hire hit men to attack American politicians. In court this week, Merchant said he had been recruited by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, though he said he was motivated to act because he feared for his life and safety. In an email, Merchant’s lawyer, Avraham Moskowitz said, “although we are disappointed in the result, we are grateful for the jury’s careful attention and hard work.” He added, “there are complex and significant legal issues yet to be decided. We remain confident that we will ultimately achieve a favorable result for Mr. Merchant.”

CNN [3/7/2026 8:05 PM, Emma Tucker, 612K] reports two people were arrested after two "suspicious" devices, which are still being analyzed, were ignited outside the New York City mayor’s mansion as tensions escalated between two opposing protest groups, police said. "Witnesses reported seeing flames and smoke as it traveled through the air before it struck a barrier and extinguished itself a few feet from police officers," NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said at a news conference. Six people in total were arrested in connection with the events that unfolded between the groups. The bomb squad responded and examined both devices, preliminarily determining they were slightly smaller than a football, appeared to be a jar wrapped in black tape containing bolts, screws and a hobby fuse that could be lit, Tisch said. Both devices were sent for further testing and analysis, as it’s not yet clear whether they were functional and improvised explosives or hoax devices, Tisch said. No injuries were reported. FBI New York’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is working with the NYPD on the investigation, the bureau said. The incident took place during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan outside Gracie Mansion where New York City’s first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani, and his wife Rama Duwaji live. An anti-Islam protest organized by right-wing influencer and pardoned January 6 rioter Jake Lang drew roughly 20 participants, while the counter-protest, "Drive the Nazis Out of New York," was attended by about 125 people at its peak, Tisch said. The two groups were separated into "designated protest areas" by NYPD officers, the commissioner said. Mamdani’s spokesperson called the Lang-organized protest "despicable and Islamophobic," saying the events "are a stark reminder of the threats they both face regularly." The mayor and his wife are safe, and Mamdani has been in contact with Tisch, said press secretary Joe Calvello. Tensions escalated shortly before noon between the two groups and were further inflamed when a protester associated with Lang’s group used pepper spray against counterprotesters at around 12:15 p.m., Tisch said. About 20 minutes later, a 18-year-old counterprotester "lit and threw an ignited device toward the protest area," which landed on a crosswalk, she added. The man who threw the first device ran southbound to retrieve a second device from another man, who is 19-years-old, before also lighting that device and starting to run with it, she said. He dropped the second device on a street and officers secured the area, taking both men into custody, Tisch added. NewsMax [3/8/2026 5:56 AM, Staff, 3760K] reports New York counterterror police said they were investigating on Saturday after a man threw "ignited devices" near far-right protesters demonstrating outside the mayor’s home. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the devices contained nuts, bolts and screws as well as a fuse -- but it was not yet clear if they were functional improvised explosive devices, or hoax imitations. The FBI New York said in an X post that its Joint Terrorism Task Force was "actively investigating", along with New York City Police. There was no indication the incident was related to the ongoing hostilities in Iran, Tisch added. Police arrested six people over unrest at the protest, she said, including two suspects in connection with the devices. The New York Times [3/7/2026 8:33 PM, Emma Goldberg, 148038K] reports that the turbulent scene in one of New York City’s swankiest neighborhoods began with a plan by the far-right provocateur Jake Lang for a “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City” demonstration near the Upper East Side home of New York’s first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani. Mr. Lang showed up with a goat and about 20 followers, who were wearing American flag hats and “Freedom” sweatshirts, echoing the slogan on a shirt worn by the slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk. As the day wore on, and the crowd of counterprotesters shouting at Mr. Lang grew to more than 100, tensions swelled. One of Mr. Lang’s fellow protesters sprayed mace at a group of counterprotesters, sending some doubling over in tears. Fistfights broke out among the crowd, and raw eggs flew through the air. Then a counterprotester threw two smoking objects, one of which landed on East 87th Street in flames, prompting protesters to run for cover. The devices, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said, were “a bit smaller than a football” and appeared to be jars wrapped in tape and containing nuts, bolts, screws and a “hobby fuse.” The bomb squad had not yet determined whether they were live explosive devices or dummies, Ms. Tisch said. The F.B.I.’s New York office later said it recovered two “suspicious objects” from Gracie Mansion during the protest and that its joint counter terrorism division was investigating the matter alongside the police. Those arrested included Emir Balat, 18, the counterprotester accused of throwing the devices; Ibrahim Nikk, 19, who is accused of supplying one of them; and a man identified by a law enforcement official as Ian McGinnis, 21, who the police say pepper-sprayed the counterprotesters. Charges against Mr. Balat, of Langhorne, Pa., and Mr. Nikk had not been determined as of Saturday evening, pending police analysis of the devices, a former senior law enforcement official said. Mr. McGinnis was expected to be charged with reckless endangerment, the former official said.

AP [3/7/2026 5:11 PM, Seung Min Kim and Julia Demaree-Nikhinson, 35287K] reports President Donald Trump on Saturday joined grieving families at Dover Air Force Base at the dignified transfer for the six U.S. soldiers killed in the war in the Middle East. The dignified transfer, a ritual that returns the remains of U.S. service members killed in action, is considered one of the most somber duties of any commander in chief. During his first term, Trump said bearing witness to the transfer was "the toughest thing I have to do" as president. "It’s a very sad day," Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he returned to Florida later Saturday afternoon, saying that he was "glad we paid our respects." He said the relatives of the deceased are "great people, great parents, wives, family" and said that the "parents were so proud.” Both Trump and Vice President JD Vance were present for the transfer, as were their spouses. A host of top administration officials were in attendance, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who wrote in a social media post Friday of "an unbreakable spirit to honor their memory and the resolve they embodied"; Attorney General Pam Bondi, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence. Also present for the solemn event were governors and senators from Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Florida. Those killed in action were Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; and Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, lowa, who was posthumously promoted from specialist. As is protocol, Trump — wearing a blue suit, red tie and a white USA hat — did not speak during the transfer. The president saluted as each flag-draped transfer case was carried from the military aircraft to awaiting transfer vehicles, which would take them to a mortuary facility to prepare them for their final resting place. The families were largely silent as they observed the ritual, which lasted about a half hour. The six members of the Army Reserve, who were killed by a drone strike at a command center in Kuwait, were all from the 103rd Sustainment Command based in Des Moines, Iowa, which provides food, fuel, water and ammunition, transport equipment and supplies. They died just one day after the U.S. and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran. "These soldiers engaged in the most noble mission: protecting their fellow Americans and keeping our homeland secure," Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a combat veteran, said earlier this week after the six were identified. "Our nation owes them an incredible debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.”

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CBS News [3/7/2026 7:53 PM, Kerry Breen and Kiki Intarasuwan, 51110K]
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Washington Post [3/7/2026 8:31 PM, Michael Birnbaum, 24826K] reports the remains of the first six service members killed in the war with Iran were carried off a dull-gray Air Force transport plane on Saturday as President Donald Trump and other senior U.S. leaders silently saluted. It was the opening chapter in the story of an intensifying conflict that will bend the arc of the nation and Trump’s presidency. The outcome is still unclear: whether Trump will succeed in his quest to reshape Iran in a few tight weeks without more trips to Dover, the grim stop for fallen U.S. service members slain overseas — or whether the conflict instead resembles Middle Eastern wars that have dragged on for decades. Trump on Saturday called the war a “short excursion” that will likely last just a few weeks, but he has also left open the possibility of it going longer. And though the military effort has so far been confined to airstrikes, the president also said in response to a question from Washington Post that he would send in ground troops if there were “very good reason” — a far riskier move that could cost more lives and suck the country more deeply into war against a nation with a population twice that of Iraq. Saturday’s ritual here brought Trump together with Vice President JD Vance, two leaders who have long declared their firm opposition to a generation of U.S. nation-building in the Middle East but who are now jointly presiding over an effort to depose the Iranian regime and pick its successor. “It’s a very sad day, and I’m glad we paid our respects. It’s a tough situation,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after the solemn event in Dover. “I hate to do it, but it’s a part of war,” Trump said. “It’s a sad part of war. It’s the bad part of war.” The other times Trump traveled here to witness the return of the remains of U.S. service members killed overseas, they died in wars he didn’t start. But the six who were carried off the C-17 Globemaster on Saturday perished in Kuwait in a war of Trump’s choice — one that several of his predecessors considered and dismissed. “This is a short excursion into something that should have been done for 47 years,” Trump said Saturday, comparing it to taking out a cancer. Trump spent more than an hour on Saturday afternoon meeting with the families of the fallen soldiers, whose operation center in Kuwait was struck by an Iranian drone six days earlier. Then, in a dark blue suit, a bold red tie and a white baseball cap that said “USA” on the front in gold stitching, he saluted silently. He was flanked by senior leaders of the administration, the military and Congress. Some were Trump’s age. Others, like Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, are members of a generation that not only fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, but could inherit whatever comes of this new war. Trump and the dignitaries stood for more than 30 minutes as the soldiers’ remains were carried out in metal cases topped by the U.S. flag: Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan, 54, of Sacramento; Maj. Jeffrey R. O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; and Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska.

New York Post [3/7/2026 11:50 PM, Nina Joudeh, 40934K] reports hundreds of Iranian-Americans gathered in Los Angeles on Saturday to voice support for the attacks against Iran’s ruling regime a week after US-Israeli airstrike killed the supreme leader. Demonstrators rallied near the federal building in Westwood on Saturday, chanting for the return of democracy to authoritarian Tehran. Many praised former President Donald Trump and called the moment a long-awaited turning point for the Iranian people. Waving flags and sharing stories of exile, protesters said the conflict is not a war but a chance to end the Islamic Republic’s grip on power. Mars, who was born in Shiraz in south central Iran and still has family living in in the country, told The Post many Iranians see Trump as a "hero.” "He will be remembered by Iranians the way that Jewish people remember Cyrus the Great, who freed the Jews and led them to practice whatever religion they wanted," he said. Many rejected the idea that the current strikes amount to war — and took Democratic politicians to task for opposing military intervention. Nazanin Jalalian, who was born in Iran and now lives in Los Angeles with her mother, urged American politicians like former Vice President Kamala Harris to try to better understand life under the regime. "Try living in Iran. Try going to Iran," Jalalian said in response to Harris’ comments that she was opposed to regime change. She also criticized Democrats who hold similar positions. "If they aren’t against the regime change, they cannot talk about human rights, women’s rights, children, or anything," Jalalian said. Shahrokh, who was born in Tehran and still has a sister living there, said "we are very grateful" for Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Responding to criticism from Harris and other Democrats, he said they fail to grasp the reality on the ground. "They are not thinking about the people of Iran. They don’t know what’s going on," he said. "Talk to them and ask her — where were you when the regime of Iran killed 50,000 innocent people in just two days?". Mimi Israel, a US citizen born in the Philippines who attended the rally in support of Israeli and Iranian. Many protesters said their families fled Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and still cope with its consequences. Amin, who was born in Tehran and whose parents still live there, said the demonstrations represent hope for the future. "They stole our country 47 years ago," he said. "We had to move to the U.S. as refugees.” He described the current situation as a fight against terrorism rather than a war. "I think everybody should support what’s happening in Iran right now because it’s not a war," Amin said. "It’s saving humanity. It’s a war against terrorists in Iran.”

FOX News [3/7/2026 9:11 PM, Alexandra Koch, 37576K] reports President Donald Trump on Saturday said that U.S. and Israeli forces have "wiped out" Iran’s navy, air force and much of its missile capability in just one week of war, declaring the regime’s military "almost nonexistent" as he continues to press Tehran to surrender for "a much safer world." Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, the president said the sweeping offensive has exceeded expectations, noting Iran’s navy "is now at the bottom of the sea." "We’ve wiped out their Navy — 44 ships. We’ve wiped out their air force — every plane. We’ve wiped out most of their missiles — you see their missiles aren’t coming much anymore," Trump said. He added military strikes have hit missile manufacturing areas "very hard," and the country’s drone capacity is "way down." The president said he is seeking an "unconditional surrender" from Iran, explaining the term means "they cry uncle, or when they can’t fight any longer." "Or there’s nobody around to cry uncle to, because we wiped out their leadership numerous times already," he continued. "It’s if they surrender, or if there is nobody around to surrender, but they’re rendered useless in terms of military [capabilities]." Discussing atrocities allegedly carried out by the regime, Trump said the war was 47 years coming and "no president had the guts to do it." "They are about the most evil people ever on Earth," he said. "They cut babies’ heads off. They chop women in half. Take a look at Oct. 7, take a look at what they’ve done over the last 47 years.… When this ends, we’re going to have a much safer world." Despite concerns about rising gas prices on the home front, Trump said he is not worried. "They’ll come down very fast, and we will have gotten rid of a major, major cancer on the face of the earth," the president said. "We’ll have taken out a cancer.… What we’re doing is a great thing, not only for our country, not only for Israel, not only for the Middle East, but for the world." It is unclear if ground troops will be sent to secure the enriched uranium at Iranian nuclear sites targeted by joint forces, though the president described the attacks as "a total obliteration." "They haven’t been able to get to it, and at some point, maybe we will be," he said. "It would be a great thing, but right now, we’re just decimating them. We haven’t gone after it, but [it’s] something we could do later." Trump concluded by calling the war "a minor excursion" that in the end will make the world a safer place. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Politico [3/7/2026 5:41 PM, Gregory Svirnovskiy, 21784K] reports President Donald Trump announced plans to launch yet more strikes against Iran on Saturday, escalating his threats as the conflict with Iran enters its second week. “Today Iran will be hit very hard!” he wrote on Truth Social Saturday morning. “Under serious consideration for complete destruction and certain death, because of Iran’s bad behavior, are areas and groups of people that were not considered for targeting up until this moment in time.” Trump’s threat came after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian labeled the president’s earlier call for Tehran’s “unconditional surrender” a “dream that they should take to their grave” in a speech broadcast on state television Saturday. Pezeshkian also said his country would no longer strike its neighbors in the Middle East — so long as attacks against Iran weren’t being launched from those countries. Trump took credit for the new policy, writing on Truth Social that it “was only made because of the relentless U.S. and Israeli attack.” “It is the first time that Iran has ever lost, in thousands of years, to surrounding Middle Eastern Countries,” he said. “They have said, ‘Thank you President Trump.’ I have said, ‘You’re welcome!’ Iran is no longer the ‘Bully of the Middle East,’ they are, instead, ‘THE LOSER OF THE MIDDLE EAST,’ and will be for many decades until they surrender or, more likely, completely collapse!” The White House launched its operation in tandem with Israel last Saturday, with a barrage of strikes that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as multiple senior officials in the country. Trump has since insisted on total surrender and pushed for a voice in selecting the country’s next supreme leader. “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” the president wrote Friday on Truth Social. “After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before.” Six American troops have been killed since the start of the conflict. Trump traveled to Delaware’s Dover Air Force Base on Saturday to witness the dignified transfer of their bodies. Amid the Middle East conflict, gas prices were up by 32 cents a gallon on Friday as compared to a week prior, and the price of a barrel of crude oil had jumped more than $20 from the beginning of the war, the largest one-week leap in history. The price shocks are largely being attributed to chaos at the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit lane for 20 percent of the world’s crude oil.

Bloomberg [3/7/2026 5:19 PM, María Paula Mijares Torres, 18082K] reports President Donald Trump said he has told Kurdish forces not to enter the Iran war as the US and Israel continue launching strikes against Tehran. “We’re very friendly with the Kurds, as you know, but we don’t want to make the war any more complex than it already is. I have ruled that out, I don’t want the Kurds going in,” Trump said on Air Force One Saturday on his way back to Florida after attending a military service for six fallen US soldiers. Israel’s military had been working to open the way for Kurdish forces to take up positions in Iran’s northwest, with the ultimate aim of encouraging armed Kurds to rise up against Tehran. Trump said he’s “had a good relation” with the Kurds and they have told him they’re “willing to go in” to Iran. “But we really, I’ve told them, I don’t want them to go,” he added. Airstrikes have targeted Iranian military and law enforcement in the largely Kurdish region next to northern Iraq, where US aerial protection in 1991 helped establish a semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdish administration in Erbil. The US and its allies relied on the Kurds, the world’s largest ethnic group without a state of its own, in neighboring conflict zones. Kurds entering the war against Iran could have wider repercussions and Iraqi Kurd leaders are reticent to commit, according to a person familiar with their thinking.

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Washington Examiner [3/7/2026 9:20 PM, Robert Stewart, 1147K]

New York Post [3/7/2026 6:22 PM, Geoff Earle, 40934K] reports President Donald Trump did not rule out sending US troops to Iran, but pledged to do so only for a "very good reason" – against a virtually obliterated opponent. Trump initially said he didn’t want to answer the question, as he flew back to Florida Saturday from Dover Air Force Base on Air Force One. "Could there be? Possibly for a very good reason," Trump said when asked about American boots on the ground in Iran. "And I would say if we ever did that, they would be so decimated that they wouldn’t be able to fight at the ground level.” Trump also didn’t rule out using such a force to deal with securing Iranian nuclear material. "We haven’t talked about it. But it was a total obliteration. They haven’t been able to get to it. And at some point maybe we will. That would be a great thing.” He called it "something we could do later" if needed. And as for the length of the mission, Trump was firm. "Whatever it takes," he said. Trump raised the possibility of additional attacks on large numbers of Iranian military personnel – after firing off a cryptic post Saturday morning mentioning the idea of going after additional "areas and groups of people.” "The military is almost non-existent. If you look, we could hit the military itself very hard, but maybe we will, maybe we won’t. We haven’t made that determination.” "We’ve wiped out their navy, 44 ships. We’ve wiped out their air force, every plane. We’ve wiped out most of their missiles … We’ve also hit their manufacturing areas where they make the missiles very hard. Their drone capacity is way down. "And we’ve hurt ‘em where it hurts, including about every form of leadership you can have we’ve wiped out," he said. "We’re winning the war by a lot," the president said, adding, "We decimated their whole evil empire. It’ll continue I’m sure for a little while.” Trump also fielded questions about an explosive report that Russia was supplying information to Iran – with whom it has close ties – about the location of US assets that Iran could target. He said he had "no indication whatsoever.” "We don’t know, but it’s not doing very well. If they are, it’s not helping much," Trump said, brushing off a potential concern. "I hope they’re not," added Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who was traveling with the president and who has also been co-leading talks with Moscow on its war with Ukraine.

New York Times [3/7/2026 8:58 PM, Julian E. Barnes, Tyler Pager, Christiaan Triebert, Eric Schmitt and Ronen Bergman, 148038K] reports American intelligence agencies have determined that Iran or potentially another group could retrieve Iran’s primary store of highly enriched uranium even though it was entombed under the country’s nuclear site at Isfahan by U.S. strikes last year, according to multiple officials familiar with the classified reports. Officials familiar with the intelligence said that Iran can now get to the uranium through a very narrow access point. It is unclear how quickly Iran could move the uranium, which is in gas form and stored in canisters. U.S. officials have said that American spy agencies have constant surveillance of the Isfahan site and have a high degree of confidence they could detect — and react — to any attempt by the Iranian government or other groups to move it. That stockpile of uranium would be a key building block if Iran decided to move toward making a nuclear weapon. With Iran in chaos from the ongoing strikes by the United States and Israel, the fate of the uranium and the options for securing it have become critical issues for the Trump administration. On Saturday, President Trump was asked by reporters on Air Force One if he would consider sending in ground forces to secure the highly enriched uranium. “Right now we’re just decimating them, but we haven’t gone after it,” he said. “But something we could do later on. We wouldn’t do it now.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said on Saturday that the decision to go to war with Iran was motivated, in part, by the Iranian government’s decision to move its nuclear and missile projects so far underground that they would be “immune to any assault.” The United States chose not to try to retrieve the uranium last year after the 12-day war in which Iran’s nuclear sites came under intense bombardment. Mr. Trump determined that doing so at that time would be too dangerous. Any insertion of ground forces — presumably Special Operations commandos — would be highly risky. U.S. officials said that the air campaign against Iran would need to continue for days to further weaken Iranian defenses before any final decision on the viability of that type of raid. The option to conduct a raid on nuclear sites was earlier reported by Semafor. New York Times reported in January that Mr. Trump was considering inserting commando teams into Iran. On Saturday, Mr. Trump alluded to the risks, suggesting that there was a need to wait to conduct such an operation. “I would say if we ever did that, they would be so decimated that they wouldn’t be able to fight at the ground level,” he said. This article is based on interviews with U.S. officials and others familiar with intelligence assessments around Iran’s nuclear stockpile. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive intelligence.

Daily Wire [3/7/2026 1:10 PM, Brecca Stoll, 2314K] reports that, after touting the destruction of 42 Iranian naval vessels in three days and the disruption of the country’s communications systems and air force, President Trump credited the success to policies from his first term. "I built the military and rebuilt it and made it very strong in my first administration along with many other things," the president said. "And now we are using it, unfortunately we have to.” During Trump’s first four years in office, more than $2.2 trillion was directed toward defense spending. That funding went to modernizing nuclear forces and missile defenses, upgrading cyber defenses, and advanced missile defense capabilities and regional alliances. Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller declared the United States military had been "unleashed" after ditching political correctness. "One of the reasons I fear that some people in this country lost faith in the military and the capacity to use that military to defend us is because we had a Woke Pentagon — because we had a military who, at the very highest levels—not the warfighters—was forced to fight a less than full fight," stated Miller on Thursday. "What you’re seeing now is a military that is unleashed in all of its lethal prowess to go out and seek, destroy, and kill the enemy.” President Trump’s U.S. Space Force, established in 2019, helps feed intelligence across the military. Space Force develops and defends communication satellites, engineers global cybersecurity networks, supports rocket launches, and uses space systems to connect operations on land, sea, air, cyber, and space. Space Force provides the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines with GPS/navigation, missile warning systems, and intelligence from space. The strength of the United States military is known worldwide, with world leaders praising it as well. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told EU lawmakers, "If anyone thinks here … that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the U.S., keep on dreaming.” President Trump said he did the world a favor by targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities. "They were very close to a nuclear weapon. They would have had one if we didn’t do our B2 hit, Midnight Hammer. They would have had it eight months ago. They would have had a nuclear weapon and they’re crazy and they would have used it.” When asked to rate the success of Operation Midnight Hammer on a scale from 1-10, the president responded, "About a fifteen, I would say—with ten being the best." He added, "There’s no military on earth like it, not even close. We are doing very well in Iran. You see the result. It’s been amazing.”

Reuters [3/7/2026 9:39 PM, Parisa Hafezi and Maayan Lubell, 38315K] reports Israeli forces expanded their bombardment of Iran overnight, striking fuel depots near Tehran, while Bahrain said an Iranian attack had damaged one of its desalination plants, signalling a widening assault on vital infrastructure across the region. As the fighting escalated on day nine of the U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran, Tehran moved closer to naming a new supreme leader after the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with every indication suggesting his powerful son could take charge. Israel’s military threatened to kill any replacement for Khamenei, while U.S. President Donald Trump said the war might only end once Iran’s military and rulers had been wiped out. Video from Tehran showed thick, choking black smoke hanging over the city early on Sunday after strikes on oil storage facilities had lit up the night sky with plumes of orange flame. An Israeli source said the fuel was used to manufacture and develop weapons and to operate military bases. Iran’s oil distribution company said four of its employees were killed in the blitz, adding that rationing would be introduced temporarily in some areas "to ensure fair and sustainable supplies".Shortly after the attack, which appeared to mark a new phase in the war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ⁠said his government would press on with the assault and strike Iran’s rulers "without mercy". "We have an organised plan with many surprises to destabilise the regime and enable change," he said in a video statement. "We have many more targets." Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he was not interested in negotiating an end to the conflict that has sent energy prices skyward, hurt business and snarled global travel. "At some point, I don’t think there will be anybody left maybe to say, ‘We surrender’," Trump said. The governments of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain reported Iranian drone attacks in their countries on Saturday and early Sunday, with a huge fire engulfing a government office block in Kuwait. Kuwait’s interior ministry said two of its officers were killed "while performing duties". Bahrain said on Sunday that an Iranian drone attack had caused "material damage" to a desalination plant, though the country’s electricity and water authority said the strike had not disrupted water supplies. It was the first time an Arab country has said Iran targeted a desalination facility during the conflict. On Saturday, Iran said a U.S. attack had struck a freshwater desalination plant on its Qeshm Island, disrupting water supplies in 30 villages, calling it "a dangerous move with grave consequences". Saudi Arabia has told Tehran that continued Iranian attacks on the kingdom and its energy sector could push Riyadh to respond in kind, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. In an apparent attempt to cool anger across the Gulf, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian apologised ⁠to neighbouring states for its attacks on U.S. bases in those countries on Saturday. His comments faced backlash from some hardliners in Iran, prompting his office to reiterate Iran’s military would respond firmly to attacks from U.S. facilities.

Univision [3/7/2026 4:07 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports the escalating conflict in the Middle East has heightened concerns for American citizens imprisoned in Iran. Organizations and family members warn that the war adds new risks for them, from potential harm from nearby airstrikes to retaliation by Iranian authorities. According to the Associated Press (AP) news agency, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation revealed that at least six Americans are being held in Iran, although the identities of only four of them are publicly known. Among the confirmed cases are a journalist, a jewelry businessman, and two citizens who traveled to the country for personal or family reasons.

Washington Examiner [3/7/2026 2:00 PM, Mike Brest, 1147K] reports Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has declared that the U.S. military has “no stupid rules of engagement” in its war against Iran. The military’s unrelenting bombing campaign has included hitting thousands of targets from land, sea, and air, while Iranian forces have fired hundreds of ballistic missiles and thousands of drones at Israel and several other countries in the region. U.S. forces have sunk or destroyed around 30 ships in the Iranian navy, targeting ballistic missile stockpiles and production facilities. "No stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy building exercise, no politically correct wars. We fight to win, and we don’t waste time or lives," he said on Monday. The goals of the war, Hegseth continued, boil down to, "destroy the missile threat, destroy the navy, no nukes.”

AP [3/8/2026 6:23 AM, Serra Yedikardes, 31753K] reports a land crossing near eastern Turkey’s Van province is one of the few routes connecting Iranians to the rest of the world amid an airspace shutdown in Iran since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Tehran over a week ago, triggering war in the Middle East. Most travelers at the border gate in recent days had connections with Turkey through work, family, and friends, and many had moved up preplanned visits because of the war. Some had residency or citizenship in a third country and were transiting through Turkey. Only a small number of Iranians who spoke to The Associated Press at the Kapikoy crossing said they planned to stay in Turkey to escape the war for an indefinite period. Reza Gol, a 38-year-old plastic surgeon, said the war was not the only reason for his trip. He was traveling from Urmia in western Iran to see patients in Istanbul, where he used to live. “It’s not clear whether we will leave Iran for good, but I can clear my head a little bit in the meantime,” he said. “You can see it’s not that crowded at the border. Everyone is staying in their houses. For now, people are not leaving everything they have behind and running away.” Pooneh Asghari and her husband, Iranian-Canadian citizens, were reluctantly preparing to fly to Canada, although they no longer have a house there and both of them work in Iran. Asghari said they are hoping the trip will be brief. “We’ve been living in Iran for over the last five years,” she said. “All our life is there.” Fariba, a woman who asked to be identified only by her first name out of security concerns, was headed to İzmir in western Turkey to wait out the war with her son. She said most of her friends and neighbors don’t have the means to escape — which might explain the lack of a major exodus across the border. “People are very poor now,” she said. “So they are staying at home, and they are scared.”

The Hill [3/7/2026 8:08 PM, Ryan Mancini, 18170K] reports President Trump on Saturday accused Iran of bombing an Iranian girls’ school, while several media outlets reported that the explosions were likely caused by U.S. airstrikes. A reporter asked Trump about the strike while aboard Air Force One, after the president attended the dignified transfer of six U.S. service members killed in Kuwait on March 1. “No, and based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran,” Trump answered before the question was asked to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who stood next to the president. “We’re certainly investigating,” Hegseth said. “The only side that targets civilians is Iran.” Trump added that “we think” Iran bombed the school, and called the strike “very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever. It was done by Iran.” Neither the U.S. nor Iran have accepted responsibility for the attack. The strike caused the highest reported civilian death toll since the joint U.S.-Israeli operation began. Over 165 people, mostly children, at Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab were killed in the attack, according to The Associated Press, citing Iranian state media. The school was located adjacent to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps compound. U.S. military investigators told Reuters that a U.S. strike likely destroyed the school in an apparent strike, though the investigation remains ongoing. Experts reviewing the damage from satellite photos said it was consistent with a targeted airstrike, the AP reported. Wes J. Bryant, a former senior adviser on civilian harm at the Pentagon, told New York Times that the school and nearby buildings were hit with “picture perfect” targeted strikes. He added that the school was likely hit due to “target misidentification,” with U.S. forces not realizing that a large number of civilians were in the school. Two Iranian first responders and one of the children’s parents told Middle East Eye, a United Kingdom-based news outlet covering the region, that the school was struck twice. The second strike killed sheltering survivors. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked Wednesday if U.S. airstrikes attacked the school and answered, “Not that we know of.” She added that the Department of Defense was investigating the attack. She accused reporters of falling for Iranian “propaganda.” “So I would caution you from pointing the finger at the United States of America when it comes to targeting civilians, because that’s not something these armed forces do,” she added.

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Politico [3/7/2026 5:56 PM, Ben Johansen, 21784K]
USA Today [3/7/2026 8:22 PM, Jonathan Limehouse, 70643K]

AP [3/7/2026 8:38 PM, Aamer Madhani, Seung Min Kim, 3760K] reports President Donald Trump said Saturday that it was inconsequential if Russia has provided Iran with information to help Tehran target U.S. military personnel and assets in the Middle East as the week-old war rages. The president dismissed the import of such information-sharing after he attended the dignified transfer for six Army reservists who were killed in a drone strike in Kuwait the day after the U.S. and Israel launched a war on Iran that has unsettled the global economy. Trump stopped short of confirming reports by The Associated Press and other news outlets that U.S. intelligence officials believe Russia has provided Iran with such targeting information. But if Moscow is passing on such details, he said Iran was getting little out of it. “If you take a look at what’s happened to Iran in the last week, if they’re getting information, it’s not helping them much,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he flew to Miami, where he’s spending the rest of the weekend. The president also waved off a question about how Russia assisting Iran in such a way might affect his view of the U.S.-Russia relationship. “They’d say we do it against them,” Trump responded. “Wouldn’t they say that we do it against them?” Ukraine, in the four years since it was invaded by Russia, has received U.S. intelligence to help defend against incoming missiles from Russia as well as to help Kyiv hit certain Russian targets. Downplaying the significance of Russia handing off battlespace intelligence to Iran came after the U.S. Treasury Department announced earlier this week that it was temporarily allowing India to keep buying crude oil and petroleum products from Russia for a month, until April 4. The administration decision to grant the world’s most populous country a temporary exemption faced bipartisan blowback. Critics charge that Trump was giving Russia a break that will provide Moscow with badly needed revenue as it looks to keep funding its war machine.

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