Top of the mornin’ to ya and Happy Tuesday! Thanks for reading today. I’m not Irish, but both my kids, born in the early 2000s, have five-letter Irish names, which was the law back then.
On Sunday night, while the rest of us were either 1) watching the Oscars and yelling about who was left out of the “In Memoriam,” (Malcolm Jamal-Warner!) or 2) doing something else, Donald Trump was sitting around stewing about all his losses, as he’s wont to do.
The result was this:
Not necessarily BREAKING news: men with butterfly nets are desperate to capture the president after his latest delusional Truth Social rant:
— Brian J. Karem (@briankarem.bsky.social) 2026-03-16T05:03:16.333Z
First of all, Donald Trump complaining about media manipulation is like the organizers of the Westminster Kennel Club complaining about the wet dog smell. Trump, of course, is fine with media manipulation and disinformation as long as it benefits him, as demonstrated by his multiple lawsuits against media outlets that committed the cardinal sin of portraying him in a light he deems less than flattering.
But I’d like to direct your attention to this passage from Trump, in particular:
“The story was knowingly FAKE and, in a certain way, you can say that those Media Outlets that generated it should be brought up on Charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information!”
I don’t remember seeing any outlets mistakenly airing AI propaganda created by Iran, but even if that happened, let’s be clear about what Trump is saying. The President of the United States is calling for the death penalty for journalists. Treason, as a charge, carries the death penalty as a potential punishment. At the very least, Trump is calling for the imprisonment of journalists, an idea so antithetical to the United States that we used to joke about it.
This isn’t the first time Trump has been openly hostile to the media, having infamously insulted female reporters every time they ask him a question he doesn’t want to answer. And Sunday was no exception.
ABC: Can you say why we're sending 5,000 Marines and sailors? TRUMP: Shhhhh. You're a very obnoxious person
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-03-16T01:14:31.857Z
Since then, Trump has continued crashing out about the NATO allies that have refused to intervene in the Strait of Hormuz, despite Trump’s “demand” that they do so.
“The decision to wage war against Iran changed all that. Despite his earlier claims that the American military had already vanquished Iran and didn’t need partners to join the fight, Trump is now actively soliciting the help of other countries to reopen shipping lanes. And, sure enough, allies that once might have been eager to assist the United States in an area of mutual concern are reacting with, at best, a shrug—and in some cases with outright contempt.
As oil prices spike, Trump has called on a wide range of countries to assist in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, normally the passageway for a fifth of global oil output. Among the objects of his entreaties are China, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. “I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their territory,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One over the weekend. “It’s the place from which they get their energy.”
True to form, he has saved some of his most belligerent comments for European partners. aHe named France and Britain in a Truth Social post over the weekend, insisting that “Many Countries” will be sending “War Ships” to help reopen the shipping lane. (No countries have announced any such plans.) He then told the Financial Times in an interview that there would be consequences for a failure to comply with his demands. “If there’s no response or if it’s a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.” In answer to a question about what he had in mind, a White House spokesperson pointed to additional comments the president made today that disparaged NATO. “We were going to protect them, but I always said, when in need, they don’t protect us,” he told reporters. “Now this is a need.””
It’s hard to believe that at nearly 80 years old, Trump still hasn’t taken the old adage “you catch more flies with honey than vinegar” to heart. You see, Donald, when you insult people all the time, they no longer want to play with you. But I guess when you’re used to feckless sycophants falling at your feet constantly, you lose sight of how personal relationships work. Anyway, this is how Trump’s “demand” has gone over:
I’m starting to get the sense that Trump has finally realized it’s all falling apart, and that he’s got about seven months left ot throwing his weight around before Democrats take back Congress (knock on wood). The more he feels the walls closing in, the more he lashes out. Malignant narcissism combined with dementia is a terrible combination.
For example, in the last 24 hours, Trump has announced to the entire world that a sitting Republican congressman had a terminal diagnosis.
Johnson: “Congressman Neal Dunn of Florida had some real health challenges, and it was very serious and had a pretty grim diagnosis.” Trump: “He would be dead by June.” Johnson: “Ok, that wasn’t public.”
— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2026-03-16T22:05:53.814Z
…and falsely claimed that he predicted 9/11:
Trump: "I knew the Strait would be a weapon. I predicted it a long time ago. I predicted all of this stuff. I predicted Osama bin Laden would knock out the World Trade Center. I wrote it in a book."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-03-16T16:28:19.411Z
(This claim was debunked by CNN back in October.)
And, as Trump descends further into the addled corners of his mind, congressional Republicans still scramble to do his bidding, consequences be damned.
Starting with a procedural vote as soon as Tuesday, the Senate majority leader will kick off what could be two weeks of debate on the elections overhaul known as the SAVE America Act.
The bill is likely doomed thanks to bipartisan opposition and the GOP conference’s desire to protect the filibuster.
With SAVE’s fate all but sealed, the coming days will put Republicans to the test as they at least try to pass what President Donald Trump says should be their “No. 1 priority.”
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: The Founding Fathers saw Donald Trump coming a mile away. They did not, however, foresee a bunch of yes-men in Congress rolling over and showing him their bellies over and over.
In other news: A federal judge stops MAHA (for now); Greg Bovino is out (permanently); Cuba goes dark; and The High Note.
Here we go.
Federal judge smacks down RFK Jr.
In a rare bit of good news, a federal judge blocked RFK Jr’s attempt to change the childhood vaccine schedule. Okay, so the opinion was based on process, rather than substance, but we’ll stop this madman any way we can.
A federal judge in Massachusetts on Monday blocked Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent overhaul of the nation’s childhood vaccine schedule — a major blow to his vaccine agenda.
The ruling stems from a lawsuit the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and other medical groups brought against the Department of Health and Human Services, arguing that Kennedy’s changes to vaccine recommendations and to an influential vaccine advisory committee violated federal law.
***
The judge also put on hold the new members Kennedy has appointed to the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee since June. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices helps shape U.S. vaccine policy, including recommendations that influence the childhood vaccine schedule and which shots insurance must cover.
***
The ruling also stayed any of the votes Kennedy’s ACIP has taken since June, including a vote to no longer recommend the hepatitis B vaccine for all newborns.
I’m sure HHS will appeal, but I’ll support any action that slows the raw milk crowd down and saves lives.
Bovino, OUT
Greg Bovino is retiring from federal law enforcement. And while I’m happy to see this awful little human far away from Chicago, I’m holding out hope for his prosecution and imprisonment.
Gregory Bovino, the U.S. Border Patrol head who became the face of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, will retire at the end of the month, two Customs and Border Protection officials told NBC News.
Bovino was removed from his role as CBP commander at large in January and returned to his role as Border Patrol sector chief in El Centro, California. The move came after the deaths of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and aggressive immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis, Chicago and Los Angeles.
May this man never know a day of peace ever again.
Cuba goes dark
Cuba’s entire electrical grid went down on Monday.
HAVANA – Cuba's national electric grid collapsed March 16, the country's grid operator said, leaving around 10 million people without power amid a U.S.-imposed oil blockade that has crippled the island's already obsolete generation system.
Grid operator UNE said on social media it is investigating the causes of the blackout, the latest in a series of widespread outages that last for hours or days, sparking a rare violent protest in the communist-run country over the weekend.
As soon as I saw that news yesterday morning, I said to myself, “Oh please don’t let us be the cause….” and guess what!
President Donald Trump cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba and threatened to slap tariffs on any country that sells oil to Cuba, strangling the Caribbean island's already antiquated grid.
Cuba said on Friday that it has entered into talks with the United States in hopes of defusing the crisis. Trump has said in recent weeks that Cuba is on the verge of collapse and is eager to make a deal with the United States.
Of course, Trump is viewing this as yet another opportunity to destabilize a hostile nation.
As U.S. and Cuban officials negotiate over the future of the Communist-ruled and economically besieged Caribbean island, the Trump administration is seeking to push President Miguel Díaz-Canel from power, according to four people familiar with the talks.
The move would topple a key figurehead while keeping in place the repressive Communist government that has ruled Cuba for more than 65 years. The Americans have signaled to Cuban negotiators that the president must go, but are leaving the next steps up to the Cubans, the people said.
And while all of that may sound semi-reasonable, keep in mind that’s not what Trump said.
Trump's full rant on Cuba: "Cuba, in its own way, tourism and everything else, it's a beautiful island, great weather. They're not in a hurricane zone, which is nice for a change, you know? They won't be asking us for money for hurricanes every week. I do believe I'll have the honor of taking Cuba."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-03-16T22:00:32.559Z
Why do we always have to be the asshole country?
The High Note
Each Day, I do my best to leave you with a smile on your face, a song in your heart, and the will to fight another day.
Here’s 20 minutes of John Oliver destroying JD Vance.
Hey, survive and advance out there today, kids. Don’t let the bastards get you down.
