Trump News for Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Nvidia's on-again off-again H200 sales in China are now on again

Tobias Mann, Theregister.com

Beijing appears to have eased its policy of pushing local GPUs GTC Nvidia has called on its supply chain partners to begin manufacturing its ageing H200 GPUs to meet demand for chips in China, CEO Jensen Huang said Tuesday.…

Chile’s President Kast tosses out dozens of environmental protections

Al Jazeera Staff, Al Jazeera English

Chilean Environment Ministry suspends 43 measures touching on issues such as pollution, emissions and national parks.

Zelensky calls for Trump and Starmer to meet and find common ground

BBC News

In an exclusive interview with the BBC after talks with Starmer, the Ukrainian president says the pair should meet to "re-load the relationship".

U.S. Wants to Mass Produce the Drone Design It Stole From Iran

Matt Novak, Gizmodo.com

It's all about cost.

Ireland’s Micheal Martin and Trump in awkward St Patrick’s Day exchange

Al Jazeera Staff, Al Jazeera English

Ireland, which took strong stance on Gaza genocide, is similarly robust on Iran, but Martin is criticised for passivity.

Trump Administration Moves to Allow Intelligence Agencies Easier Access to Law Enforcement Files

Tim Golden, Techdirt

This story was originally published by ProPublica. Republished under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. The Trump administration is loosening restrictions on the sharing of law enforcement information with the CIA and other intelligence agencies, officials said, over…

Argentina officially withdraws from World Health Organization, following US

Al Jazeera Staff, Al Jazeera English

Argentinian President Javier Milei has criticised the global health body for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

USS Ford has seen war, fire and plumbing woes as it nears a record long deployment

Steve Walsh, NPR

The Ford's crew left Norfolk, Va., on June 24, initially bound for the Mediterranean. More than nine months later, the crew is now in the Red Sea for the war with Iran with no clear return date.

Trump says US does not ‘need’ Strait of Hormuz help, despite appeal

Al Jazeera Staff, Al Jazeera English

US president strikes defiant tone as allies reject joining coalition, does not name countries he said 'on their way'.

Sam Alito’s Latest Reversal at the Supreme Court Is an Absolute Embarrassment

Hannah Story Brown, Slate Magazine

Alito offered no justification for his reversal.

The Cautionary Tale of Joe Kent

Yair Rosenberg, The Atlantic

The conspiracist anti-war activist completely misunderstood the movement and the president he served.

FIFA rejects Iran’s request to move World Cup matches from US to Mexico

Edna Mohamed, Al Jazeera English

The 2026 World Cup matches will be played as per schedule announced last year, the football organisation says.

Americans Recognize AI as a Wealth Inequality Machine, Pollster Finds

AJ Dellinger, Gizmodo.com

AI is a bigger issue election issue for voters than guns, climate change, or abortion.

Rubio says Cuba needs to ‘get new people in charge’ as US ratchets pressure

Al Jazeera Staff, Al Jazeera English

Washington continues to block fuel to island nation, as Trump floats 'doing something with Cuba very soon'.

I went to the Pentagon to watch Pete Hegseth scold war reporters

Tina Nguyen, The Verge

It is day 13 of America's surprise war with Iran - by sheer coincidence, it's Friday the 13th - and I am delirious. I haven't had a coffee since I woke up at 5AM, because I'm not allowed to bring outside beverages into the Pentagon (the security screening cut…

Chief Justice: 'Personally directed hostility is dangerous, and it's got to stop'

Devin Dwyer, Abcnews.com

As threats against judges surge, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts says "personally directed hostility is dangerous, and it's got to stop."

Starmer Turns His Attention To Ukraine (Or Tries To)

BBC News

Zelenksy comes to parliament, as Trump hits out at Starmer (again).

WATCH: New research on vitamins and longevity

ABC News, Abcnews.com

ABC News' Dr. Darien Sutton breaks down new research suggesting daily multivitamins may slow biological aging. GMA/wellness

Could the Iran war keep Netanyahu in power for longer?

Al Jazeera English

Huge support in Israel for joint US bombing campaign in Iran.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi subpoenaed for congressional Epstein probe

Al Jazeera Staff, Al Jazeera English

Bondi will face questions about the Trump administration's compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act in April.

Sources: China is penalizing people tied to Meta's $2B Manus acquisition, including by apparently restricting Manus executives from leaving China for Singapore (New York Times)

Techmeme.com

New York Times: Sources: China is penalizing people tied to Meta's $2B Manus acquisition, including by apparently restricting Manus executives from leaving China for Singapore  —  The country appears to be cracking down on people linked to the acquisition of …

Arizona accuses Kalshi of illegal gambling in first-ever criminal lawsuit against the online betting company

Bryan Metzger, Business Insider

Arizona AG Kris Mayes sued Kalshi, accusing it of running an illegal gambling operation and improperly betting on state elections.

Khamenei's killing renews questions about US assassinating foreign leaders

Ryan Lucas, NPR

Technology allowed the U.S. and Israel to kill Iran's Supreme Leader, but raised longstanding questions about whether the U.S. as a democracy should be assassinating foreign leaders.

US lawmakers Murphy, Casar push legislation to regulate prediction markets

Andy Hirschfeld, Al Jazeera English

The legislation aims to prevent bets made based on insider knowledge of wars, economic policy and controllable events.

Trump says it’s a ‘good thing’ counterterrorism director resigned over Iran

Al Jazeera English

US President Trump reacted to the resignation of the US National Counterterrorism Centre’s director, Joe Kent.

Trump Advisor Says Pain for U.S. Consumers ‘Last of Our Concerns’ as Other Countries Start Gas Rationing

Matt Novak, Gizmodo.com

Kevin Hassett claims the war will last 4-6 weeks.

A top Trump aide resigned over Iran. Liberals should stay away from him.

Zack Beauchamp, Vox

This morning, Joe Kent — the director of the National Counterterrorism Center — resigned in protest over the war in Iran. “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war,” he said in a resignation letter addressed to Trump and published on X. You’d think…

US confirms 157 killed in maritime strikes experts call ‘extrajudicial’

Al Jazeera Staff, Al Jazeera English

Defence official tells Congress that 47 alleged drug-trafficking vessels have been struck since campaign began.

WATCH: President Trump says 'it's a good thing' top counterterror official resigned

ABC News, Abcnews.com

Trump said that he always thought former top counterterrorism official Joe Kent was "very weak on security" after Kent resigned Tuesday morning.

DOJ Prosecutors Somehow Manage To Secure Terrorism Convictions Against Anti-ICE Protesters

Tim Cushing, Techdirt

The DOJ is filled with grossly incompetent prosecutors these days. It’s a bunch of subservients acting in obeisance to the zenith of gross incompetence: the current President of the United States. When not being sidelined by judges for not being legally appoi…

How Washington Can Help Lebanon

Bilal Y. Saab, The Atlantic

America has a historic opportunity for diplomacy, if Trump is willing to take it.

What smart people in markets are saying about the potential for the SEC to scrap quarterly reporting requirements for companies

sobrient@insider.com (Samuel O'Brient), Business Insider

Wall Street pros sounded off on a report the SEC could do away with quarterly reporting requirements for public companies.

A Major Offshore Wind Farm Just Finished Construction. Trump Is Already Plotting a Counterattack

Ellyn Lapointe, Gizmodo.com

Vineyard Wind is the first offshore wind farm to finish construction under Trump. The administration is now weighing a billion-dollar deal to stop the next one.

DOGE Didn’t Cut Government Waste. It Was Government Waste.

Mike Masnick, Techdirt

Look, I get it. Government waste is real. Bureaucratic bloat is real. The desire to have a federal government that spends taxpayer money wisely and operates without unnecessary friction? That’s a pretty standard and quite reasonable desire in American politic…

How a quarterly earnings shake-up could disrupt a sprawling white-collar ecosystem

Kaja Whitehouse,Bradley Saacks, Business Insider

The potential for fewer earnings reports could save publicly traded companies millions, including money spent on white-collar jobs.

Americans’ trust in the CDC’s vaccine recommendations declines markedly under Trump

Claire Cameron, Scientific American

One in three Americans trust childhood vaccine guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics more than the CDC’s recommendations, a new poll finds

She Was Just Released After a Full Year in ICE Detention. They Never Even Charged Her with a Crime.

Jim Vorel, Jezebel

ICE kept Columbia protestor Leqaa Kordia behind bars for a year. She was just released, never charged with a crime.

WATCH: Judge temporarily blocks RFK Jr.'s efforts to reshape childhood vaccine policy

ABC News, Abcnews.com

A Massachusetts judge ruled on Monday in favor of medical organizations in their litigation against HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over several of his changes to federal vaccine policy.

WATCH: Israel says Iran's security chief Ali Larijani killed in overnight attack

ABC News, Abcnews.com

The head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, was killed in an overnight attack on Iran, along with the paramilitary leader, the Israeli minister of defense said.

WATCH: Rescuers spot woman's hand reaching out in Ukraine Rubble

ABC News, Abcnews.com

Rescuers in Ukraine captured the remarkable moment they encountered a woman's hand, reaching for help, amidst rubble.

WATCH: President Trump says it would be an ‘honor’ to take Cuba

ABC News, Abcnews.com

When asked by a reporter, President Trump shared remarks about "taking Cuba" during an executive order signing on Monday.

US National Counterterrorism Center director Joe Kent resigns over Iran war

Al Jazeera Staff, Al Jazeera English

Kent, who advised Trump and national intelligence director on 'terror' threats, says Iran 'posed no imminent threat'.

Top US counterterrorism official resigns over Iran war and urges Trump to 'reverse course'

BBC News

National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent says Trump "started this war due to pressure from Israel" and its powerful American lobby.

Top Trump counterterror adviser resigns over Iran war: 'No imminent threat'

ABC NEWS, Abcnews.com

Joe Kent announced his resignation on Tuesday.

US envoys meet Hamas in Cairo to salvage fragile Gaza truce

Mohammad Mansour, Al Jazeera English

Rare US-Hamas talks come as the war on Iran strains the battered Gaza 'ceasefire' and post-war plans.

Brendan Carr, the FCC, and the Banality of Evil

Ryan Bort, Rolling Stone

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr is a brown-nosing bureaucrat, which is why he's so dangerous as Donald Trump's media minion.

Sounds Like the GOP Is Eager to Literally Fight Democrats in Order to Pass the Voter Suppression SAVE America Act

Danielle Han, Jezebel

Beginning Tuesday, Republicans are kicking off what could become at least a week-long floor fight over the bill that Trump said would "guarantee the midterms" for the GOP.

Iran blames US, Israel for Hormuz tensions as crisis risks energy supplies

Al Jazeera Staff, Al Jazeera English

Iran's Araghchi calls for global condemnation of ‘military aggression’ that disrupted transit through Strait of Hormuz.

What have other countries said about the Strait of Hormuz?

BBC News

US allies have either pushed back or remained cautious on Trump's request to send ships to the crucial oil route.

Brendan Carr Pretends To Be Tough, Demands Broadcasters Support Disastrous War

Karl Bode, Techdirt

Brendan Carr is once again doing Brendan Carr stuff. Carr has threatened to revoke the broadcast licenses of broadcasters that tell the truth about Trump’s disastrous war in Iran. In a post over at Elon Musk’s right wing propaganda website, Carr insists that …

Gecko Robotics lands $71M Navy deal to send wall-climbing robots inside warships

Ana-Maria Stanciuc, The Next Web

The Pittsburgh startup’s AI platform will create digital twins of Pacific Fleet vessels, starting with 18 ships, as the Navy races to fix a maintenance crisis costing up to $20 billion a year. Roughly 40% of the United States Navy’s fleet is unavailable at an…

Cuba Is in Total Blackout as the U.S. Watches Its People Die

Jim Vorel, Jezebel

Donald Trump is demonstrating with Cuba yet again that he doesn't actually want political or ideological change; he merely wants obedience.

I Remember a World Without Vaccines

The Atlantic

Readers respond to our January 2026 cover story.

Trump’s War Story Blown Up by Damning Intel Leak

Will Neal, Daily Beast

Donald Trump’s own intelligence officials say they definitely warned him about the consequences of attacking Iran, even as the president claims “nobody...

10 Tuesday AM Reads

Barry Ritholtz, Ritholtz.com

My early two for Tuesday morning train WFH reads: • Et Tu, S&P 500?: Robin Wigglesworth on the fascinating possibility that S&P index rules may be rewritten to accommodate SpaceX—the implications for passive investing and index integrity are enormous. (Financ…

Bought something from overseas last year? You might be owed a tariff refund.

Katherine Li, Business Insider

If you bought something overseas that required shipping last year, some shipping companies are willing to help claw back the IEEPA tariffs you paid.

The Border Wall Is Back

Nick Miroff, The Atlantic

With $46.5 billion to blow, Trump has resumed construction, even in remote areas with few illegal crossings.

One War, Two Mistakes

Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic

Those who favor the conflict with Iran and those who oppose it are each making a very large error.

The Pentagon is backing nuclear waste recycling for long-lasting military power sources

Sarah Scoles, Scientific American

A Rhode Island start-up is working to recycle spent nuclear fuel into long-lasting power systems for the military

The fight over transgender rights in America has entered a new phase

Rachel Cohen, Vox

For much of the past eight years, the political fight over transgender rights in America has centered on two questions: whether trans women and girls should play on sports teams matching their gender identity, and whether minors should have access to gender-r…

Could a global economy dependent on renewable energy see less war? Experts explain

Julia Jacobo, Abcnews.com

A mass transition to green energy could help to quell future international conflicts that stem from the control of oil, energy and climate change experts told ABC News.

Newsom Mocks Trump, 79, Over Embarrassing ‘President’ Blunder

Yahoo Entertainment

The Pentagon provided a rare inside look at Palantir's Project Maven and how the AI tool helps the military wage war

Brent D. Griffiths, Business Insider

Cameron Staley, the Pentagon's chief digital and AI officer, praised Palantir's tool for modernizing warfighting.

Reproductive health clinics scramble as Title X funding cliff approaches

Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR

Title X is a 56-year-old federal grant program that supports thousands of clinics that provide birth control and STI testing and treatment around the country. Now those clinics could face a funding gap because of a Trump administration delay.

The Palantir guide to stopping World War III

Jacob Silverman, Business Insider

Can one secretive Silicon Valley giant reshape how we fight wars?

Last protester in detention after Trump's campus crackdown has been released

The Associated Press, NPR

Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old from the West Bank who has lived in New Jersey since 2016, had been held in a U.S. immigration detention center in Texas since last March.

Iran war: What is happening on day 18 of US-Israel attacks?

Elizabeth Melimopoulos, News Agencies, Al Jazeera English

The US-Israeli attacks target Iranian cities as the conflict spreads to the region and causes a global energy crisis.

Netflix's Ted Sarandos says he asked Trump not to pursue movie tariffs. Here's what he proposed instead.

Dan Whateley, Business Insider

Netflix's co-CEO Ted Sarandos said he advised Trump to avoid tariffs on foreign-made movies. He pushed instead for tax incentives.

Zelenskyy says Russia has already earned back $10 billion of its 2026 deficit in 2 weeks of the Iran war

Matthew Loh, Business Insider

That's out of $100 billion that Zelenskyy said Russia has lost so far from oil sanctions and Ukrainian strikes on energy infrastructure.

Marine turned anti-war protester says Trump wrong on Israel, Iran

Al Jazeera English

Former Marine Brian McGinnis says Donald Trump is “wrong” on Israel and Iran.

Cuba tells exiles ‘doors are open’ to invest in businesses in the country

Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera English

Cuba also says it is removing impediments to US businesses and other foreign investors.

Top Democrat in US House slams Trump’s ‘reckless war of choice’

Al Jazeera English

Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries criticised Donald Trump for what he called a "reckless war on choice" on Iran".

Iran says wars are not won on social media

Al Jazeera English

A spokesperson for Iran's Central Headquarters said wars are decided on the battlefield, not social media.

Chris Mason: Why Starmer thinks he's called it right on war despite Trump barbs

BBC News

The BBC's Political Editor Chris Mason considers the US president's recent jabs at the UK prime minister.

Many killed, wounded after blasts hit Nigeria’s Maiduguri, witnesses say

Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera English

Police deploy explosives' clearance teams to three sites following suspected suicide attacks in the northeastern city.

Experts say global response may evolve over Hormuz security

Al Jazeera English

Experts say pressure could grow if disruption to the vital energy route continues.

NIH pivots away from agency-directed science

Max Kozlov, Nature.com

US biomedical funding behemoth says the approach will boost innovation, but some researchers worry that understudied areas of science will suffer.

How wealthy tech entrepreneurs seek to shape politics, culture and the future — and why we must resist

Ramesh Srinivasan, Nature.com

Silicon Valley’s billionaires have become ideological provocateurs, spreading rage and reshaping the public sphere.

Why the crisis in official statistics matters — and how it can be fixed

Nature.com

Governments that value effective policymaking should be alert to the perils of falling survey-response rates, inadequate funding and increased politicization of official data.