Trump Energy Sec. Deletes Claim That Navy Is Escorting Oil Tankers

Energy Secretary Chris Wright deleted a social media post Tuesday claiming that the U.S. Navy had begun escorting oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, where hundreds of ships have been stopped amid Donald Trump’s illegal war in Iran. Apparently, it wasn’t true.

Wright’s now-deleted post claimed that the U.S. Navy escorted a ship “to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets.” But no U.S. assets had escorted oil tankers through the Persian Gulf’s essential passageway, military sources told Fox News’s Jen Griffin.

At a White House press briefing Tuesday afternoon, press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed she hadn’t had a chance to speak with Wright about the post.

“I know the post was taken down pretty quickly, and I can confirm that the U.S. Navy has not escorted a tanker or a vessel at this time,” she said. When pressed on whether there would be consequences for the errant announcement, Leavitt deferred questions to the Department of Energy.

Last week, Trump offered to send the U.S. Navy to escort ships through the essential passageway, but the surplus of stopped ships is likely too great for American assets to assist. On Sunday, more than 1,000 vessels waited to sail through, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Wright pledged on Sunday that “energy will flow soon” through the Strait of Hormuz, and that energy prices were only rising out of concerns that the conflict could become a “drawn-out crisis.”

But the Trump administration has done little to assuage those fears. It’s still unclear how long Trump intends to keep his military campaign going, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth saying that the bombing could last up to eight weeks, while U.S. Central Command has been preparing for a campaign that lasts until September. Hegseth announced that Tuesday “will be the most intense day of strikes,” just hours after Trump claimed the war “was very complete.”

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal offered an alarming message regarding the growing likelihood of U.S. boots on the ground in Iran and the looming prospect of yet another forever war in the Middle East.

“I emerged from this briefing as dissatisfied and angry, frankly, as I have from any past briefing in my 15 years in the Senate,” Blumenthal said after a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday. “I am left with more questions than answers, especially about the cost of the war. My questions have been unanswered, and I will demand answers because the American people deserve to know.”

“I am most concerned about the threat to American lives, of potentially deploying our sons and daughters on the ground in Iran,” he continued. “We seem to be on a path toward deploying American troops on the ground in Iran, to accomplish any of the potential objectives here. And there is also—as disturbingly as anything else—the specter of active, Russian aid to Iran, putting in danger American lives. Literally, Russia seems to be aiding our enemy actively and intensively with intelligence.” Blumenthal alleged that China was helping Iran, as well.

This is the most compelling warning from a government official to date, and directly contradicts President Trump’s claim on Monday that he was “nowhere near” a boots on the ground invasion of Iran. But that statement also pushes back on White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s assertion that Trump “does not remove options off of the table” regarding U.S. military presence in Iran.

This war is already incredibly unpopular, and Americans across the political spectrum are questioning what the actual aims and plan of action are here, if not just blatant regime change. If what Blumenthal says is true, national disapproval for the Trump administration could skyrocket.

Donald Trump’s war in Iran is weakening U.S. military resources and weapons surpluses around the world.

The Washington Post reports that military assets are being rerouted to the Middle East, including from East Asia, where high-end weapons systems are typically kept to defend against possible action from China and North Korea. Parts of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system are now being moved from South Korea, and Patriot missile interceptors are also being moved from East Asia to defend against Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.

An unnamed official told the Post that the moves were precautionary to defend against a possible increase in Iranian retaliatory attacks, and not due to an immediate weapons shortage in the Middle East. But this puts the U.S. at risk in the places now missing these air defense systems, which are considered the most advanced in the world.

“The more THAADs and Patriots you shoot, the more risk you assume in the Indo-Pacific and in Ukraine,” Mark Cancian, who monitors American weapons inventories at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the Post.

Last year, during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran, the U.S. used about 25 percent of its THAAD interceptors, as well as large amounts of ship-borne interceptors. A THAAD battery usually needs 95 soldiers, six truck-mounted launchers, 48 interceptors (eight for each launcher), one radar system, and a fire control and communications component. As of the middle of last year, there were only nine active THAAD batteries worldwide. One of them costs anywhere from $1 billion to $1.8 billion.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned the president last month that a protracted war with Iran could deplete U.S. weapons stockpiles, especially considering other U.S. military actions in at least seven countries, as well as U.S. support for Ukraine. If the U.S. runs low on these systems and needs to buy more, it will cost taxpayers billions of dollars and put national security at risk. It’s abundantly clear that Trump didn’t factor this into his decision to go to war.

Yet another massive piece of anti-Epstein class protest art has appeared on Washington, D.C.’s National Mall—this time depicting President Donald Trump and disgraced sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein embracing in the Jack and Rose pose from the movie Titanic.

The statue is titled “The King of the World.” Trump stands right up behind Epstein, holding out his outstretched arms while slightly nuzzling his cheek. The accompanying plaque reads, “The tragic love story between Jack and Rose was built on luxurious travel, raucous parties, and secret nude sketches. This monument honors the bond between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, a friendship seemingly built on luxurious travel, raucous parties, and secret nude sketches.”

This is at least the fourth piece of protest art placed by a group called the Secret Handshake, whose members choose to remain anonymous. They also placed a poop statue in critique of the January 6 insurrectionists, a statue of Trump and Epstein holding hands, and most recently a giant replica of Trump’s unsettling birthday letter to Epstein.

This statue comes as questions swirl around an FBI interview mentioned in the Justice Department’s Epstein files, in which a woman says she was assaulted by Trump when she was around 13 years old. The DOJ has withheld some files related to the allegation and removed other documents that also mention Trump.

The installation will be on the Mall until Friday, March 13.

Florida gubernatorial hopeful James Fishback is a hero of the Republican Party’s growing sect of young white nationalists. He’s also a laughingstock among his own staffers, according to a series of text messages obtained by The Bulwark.

Fishback is $200,000 in debt due to a legal battle with his former employer Greenlight Capital, a hedge fund at which he was reportedly a low-achieving junior “research analyst.” When he started his own firm, that title was mysteriously bumped to “head of macro”—a promotion his former employer evidently did not appreciate. Fishback’s legal bills could balloon to nearly $2 million, and his staffers are concerned about their boss’s ability to pay.

Bryant Fulgham served as Fishback’s county outreach chair before departing the campaign on February 18 after being threatened with what he believed was a demotion. Now he’s sent The Bulwark texts and photographs from his time at the campaign.

“Jesus Christ,” Fulgham told The Bulwark, “I’ve created Frankenstein.” (He likely meant Frankenstein’s monster.)

In a conversation over text in February, campaign manager Emma Wright claimed that Fishback’s couch had been repossessed by debt collectors.

“Oh my god shit. We’re gonna be sleeping on the floor soon up there,” Fulgham wrote, adding two weeping emojis.

Wright joked that Fishback’s Tesla would be next. “Telsa (also being seized): STAY STRONG COUCH,” she wrote, adding a black fist-up emoji.

Last week, Greenlight Capital asked a judge to determine that the Tesla which Fishback drives on the campaign trail belongs to him and not his father. If the judge concurs, the car could be repossessed.

In another conversation in February, Wright lamented that her boss should “just give [Greenlight] the Rolex and call it a day.” Fishback denied ever owning a Rolex.

“He claims he lost it or something idk,” Wright added.

“Yeah I lost it in my safety deposit box,” Fulgham joked.

The text messages are not particularly flattering toward Fishback. In other messages to Fulgham, Wright complained that Fishback gave her an “ass blasting” over campaign plans. Whatever that means, Fishback did it twice, Wright said.

The texts revealed that staffers also used racial epithets and homophobic rhetoric. At another point, Wright dismissed holding events for college students—who provide a lot of enthusiasm for Fishback’s campaign—because they’re too “broke.”