ICE Plans to Target Family Members of U.S. Marines Next

ICE agents will be staking out Marine Corps graduation events to find undocumented immigrants in the recruits’ families.

NBC News reports that REAL IDs, U.S. passports, or U.S. birth certificates are now required to access Marine bases as part of heightened security measures following the war in Iran. Anyone who travels to Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island in Beaufort, South Carolina, for graduation and family days this week without such documentation could be detained.

“Increased force protection measures” at the recruit depot means that “federal law enforcement personnel will be present at installation access points to conduct enhanced screening and lawful immigration status inquiries during recruit family and graduation days,” the Parris Island website states.

Graduation at Parris Island is on April 3, and family members are invited to visit the base beginning April 1 as recruits complete their 13-week boot camp. During their training period, Marine recruits aren’t allowed to see their families. This is the first time that federal agents will be there for immigration enforcement.

“While the Marine Corps routinely coordinates with federal partners on security matters, this is the first time in recent memory that federal law enforcement agencies have supported base access operations at Parris Island in this capacity,” a spokesperson for MCRD Parris Island told NBC.

The Department of Homeland Security contradicted the message, with a spokesperson telling NBC that “ICE will not be making arrests at the basic training graduation in Paris Island, SC.”

That’s not surprising, considering that sending ICE agents after the family members of military recruits is not a good look. But the Trump administration doesn’t normally care about where it sends its violent ICE agents, who can now be found at schools, churches, and even emergency rooms.

The Trump family has unveiled its AI-concept art plans for the Trump Presidential Library—a gratuitously ostentatious skyscraper in the middle of Miami that may feature at least two massive gold statues of the president. There will be massive outdoor patios with palm trees, full-size planes and fighter jets inside, a large ballroom, a replica of the Oval Office, and of course gold everywhere and on everything.

“FIRST LOOK: The Donald J. Trump Presidential Library is officially here. Over the past six months, I have poured my heart and soul into this project with my incredible team at [The Trump Organization],” Eric Trump wrote Monday evening on X. “This landmark on the water in Miami, Florida will stand as a lasting testament to an amazing man, an amazing developer, and the greatest President our Nation has ever known. These images have never been seen by the public—until today. Enjoy!”

While no presidential library is some unassuming little building, most of them are nowhere near as gaudy as this one plans to be. And while these libraries are supposed to serve as archives and historical centers, it’s clear that this is just another monument to Trump—if the massive golden idols of himself didn’t make that abundantly clear.

“A golden statue in a temple where the faithful gather to worship their idol,” historian Rutger Berman wrote sarcastically. “But enough about the Book of Exodus—here’s Trump’s Presidential Library!”

Aside from the idolatry, the timing of this message—in the midst of the war of Iran, while Trump has his lowest approval ratings ever—couldn’t be more tone-deaf. Recent polling from Nate Silver shows President Trump with a brutal -17.4 net approval rating.

Trump voters across America are walking back their support for the president.

Conservative opposition to the war in Iran has poured into the pro-MAGA network Real America’s Voice. On Monday, host Jack Posobiec spent nearly 10 minutes reading mail from people who claimed they were walking away from the president over the unpopular military operation.

The letters included criticism that the war was “wasting tax dollars,” would likely halt the “likelihood of [Republican] success in the midterms,” and was a “complete betrayal and flip-flop” of Donald Trump’s “no new wars policy.”

“Cannot dispute the fact that the U.S. and Israel have clearly won this operation,” a viewer named Chuck said. “However, if there is a regime change that excludes the Ayatollahs and basically returns Iran to pre-1979, it will have been a loss. We can’t continue bombing campaigns every two years, wasting tax dollars.”

Other writers were more blunt, penning that the war is “the stupidest thing ever,” “the worst thing Trump has done,” and is “destroying MAGA.”

A good chunk of the letters focused on the economy and the soaring price of gas due to the various attacks on the Middle East’s oil reserves and processing equipment.

“Gas is $4 a gallon,” a viewer wrote.

“This economy will tank,” wrote another.

The ramifications of the war were “hurting the very people that Trump has fought for,” according to yet another disappointed viewer.

“I voted for Trump, and I want my vote back,” wrote one former supporter. Another noted that this campaign was “the opposite of what I voted for.”

“I’m going independent, but will likely never vote again,” one Republican wrote in a letter to the network.

So far, more than 1,937 people have been killed in Iran, including dozens of political leaders, according to Al Jazeera. At least 13 U.S. soldiers have also lost their lives in the war, and more than 300 have been wounded. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted Monday that the conflict would be resolved in the coming weeks, though military officials have indicated that the war could rage for months or even years.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down Colorado’s ban against so-called “conversion therapy,” finding that it was discriminatory to the viewpoints of people who want to torment LGBTQ+ people.

In an 8-1 ruling in Chiles v. Salazar, the court sided with Kaley Chiles, a licensed counselor who claimed that Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy violates her First Amendment rights to free speech.

“Colorado’s law banning conversion therapy, as applied to Ms. Chiles’s talk therapy, regulates speech based on viewpoint, and the lower courts erred by failing to apply sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny,” the ruling, written by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, stated.

Gorsuch argued that Chiles’s talk therapy was not subject to restrictions on conduct, and claimed that the law’s targeting of health care professionals “changes nothing.”

“Her speech does not become conduct just because the State may call it that. Nor does her speech become conduct just because it can also be described as a ‘treatment,’ a ‘therapeutic modality,’ or anything else. The First Amendment is no word game,” he wrote.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson filed the lone dissenting opinion, in which she argued that the court had ignored the context in which Chiles was practicing speech. “Chiles is not speaking in the ether; she is providing therapy to minors as a licensed healthcare professional,” Jackson wrote. Therefore, Chiles was subject to the same regulation that any state exercises over medical practices.

“In concluding otherwise, the Court’s opinion misreads our precedents, is unprincipled and unworkable, and will eventually prove untenable for those who rely upon the long-recognized responsibility of States to regulate the medical profession for the protection of public health,” Jackson wrote.

Speaking from the bench Tuesday, Jackson called the decision “wrong as a matter of precedent, first principles, and history.”

More than 20 states have enacted some form of ban on so-called “conversion therapy.” Major medical organizations have unanimously said that these “therapies” are not only ineffective and unsupported by scientific evidence, but can do immense psychological harm to gay and transgender patients.

The high court’s ruling could have broader implications. By siding with Chiles, the court has suggested that sexual orientation and gender identity are mutable traits, setting them apart from other protected “suspect classifications” such as race and religion that receive the highest judicial scrutiny when challenged in court. This could signal significant reversals for LGBTQ+ rights in future cases.

This story has been updated.

Donald Trump is going nuts that U.S. allies are refusing to join his war on Iran.

Italy has denied the U.S. permission for military aircraft to land at the Sigonella ​air base in Sicily before going to the Middle East, saying that it did not seek authorization and failed to consult Italy’s military leadership in accordance with the treaties that govern ​the use ​of U.S. ⁠military installations.

On Tuesday, Poland also rejected a U.S. request for the country to send a Patriot missile battery to the Middle East to help intercept Iranian missiles. Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz posted on X, “Our Patriot batteries and their armaments are used to protect Polish airspace and NATO’s eastern flank. Nothing is changing in this regard, and we have no plans to move them anywhere!”

Trump took to Truth Social Tuesday morning, ranting and complaining about the countries who don’t want to assist his ill-advised bombing campaign on Iran. In one post, he said that anyone who can’t get jet fuel because the Strait of Hormuz is closed should get it themselves.

“All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,” Trump posted. “You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil! President DJT.”

A few minutes later, Trump whined about how France wouldn’t let U.S. supply planes to Israel fly over its airspace.

“The Country of France wouldn’t let planes headed to Israel, loaded up with military supplies, fly over French territory. France has been VERY UNHELPFUL with respect to the ‘Butcher of Iran,’ who has been successfully eliminated! The U.S.A. will REMEMBER!!! President DJT,” Trump continued.

Trump is only bellyaching because he unilaterally started an offensive war without consulting U.S. allies or following international law. Naturally, most countries don’t see the consequences of the war as their responsibility, especially considering that the many U.S. military bases in the Persian Gulf are supposed to guard against threats to oil and gas infrastructure. Trump’s demand for other countries to “do it themselves” raises the question of why the U.S. even has those Gulf bases to begin with.

All of these countries are a part of NATO, which is above all a defense treaty organization, not one that engages in offensive wars with shifting explanations and goals. Poland, for example, needs its Patriot system to defend against Russian attacks. Trump can’t start a war and then complain that other countries won’t sacrifice to clean up his mess.

The U.S. and Israel have reportedly attacked an Iranian orphanage, killing two people and injuring five others.

The Monday strike targeted a newly built orphan charity complex in Fardis, a city about 25 miles west of Tehran, according to CNN, based on reporting from Fars News Agency, a semiofficial state news agency in Iran.

This strike marks the start of the fifth week of Donald Trump’s reckless war in Iran, where strikes have already killed at least 230 children and injured an additional 1,800, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported Sunday.

The war began with the U.S. conducting a horrific strike on a girls’ primary school in Minab that killed at least 168 children and 14 teachers. A preliminary inquiry found that the strike was the result of using outdated intelligence. What will America’s excuse for wanton violence be this time?

Trump officials are continuing to suppress photojournalists because they don’t like how they look in the pictures.

On Tuesday, Status reported that White House press secretary Karoline Leavittt hated a November photo of her, her young son, and a turkey so much that she reached out to Agence France-Presse and had it removed from their archive, which removed it from Getty as well.

The photo, taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Andrew Caballero-Reynolds at a very low angle, is pointed up at Leavitt, who is smiling in a manner that gives her a double chin, while she is holding her son. A turkey they were looking down at, “Waddle,” is also featured in frame very prominently.

AFP maintains that while the White House did tell them Leavitt didn’t like the photos, the decision to scrub them was theirs alone.

“While we were made aware that White House staff found the photo unflattering, we want to be clear that there was no formal request to remove it, nor was there any external pressure involved,” AFP’s director of brand and communications Grégoire Lemarchand told The Daily Beast. It didn’t seem like a formal, written request was necessary anyway.

This is at least the second time a Trump official—a public figure who is regularly on camera—has suppressed photos because they didn’t like how they were objectively captured. Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth banned press photographers from department briefings on the U.S. war on Iran after he too found pictures of him from multiple outlets “unflattering.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says ending the war in Iran is up to one person and one person alone: President Donald Trump. 

Speaking at a press conference Tuesday morning, Hegseth refused to say how long the U.S. and Israel’s joint military campaign in Iran would continue.

“[Trump]’s said four to six weeks, six to eight weeks, three—it could be any particular number,” Hegseth said. “But we would never reveal precisely what it is.”

“We’re well on our way,” Hegseth said, of meeting the U.S. military’s stated objectives. 

“It would be the president’s determination, and the president’s determination alone, when those objectives are complete and when it serves the interest of the American people to cut that deal. To make sure that Iran doesn’t have a nuclear capability, and ultimately that our objectives, or our interests are advanced.”

Hegseth graciously clarified that the war will wrap up within a number of weeks, as time is generally measured numerically. But as the fighting has now entered its fifth week, the likelihood of the conflict lasting just three or four weeks has decreased significantly. 

It seems clear that the bombing could stretch on for an indeterminate amount of time because Trump has absolutely no clue how to end the war he started. Hegseth’s utter refusal to lay out real parameters for Trump’s reckless military campaign allows it to be prosecuted with impunity.

Despite repeatedly claiming that the United States has entered productive negotiations with Iran, Trump practically begged other countries on Truth Social Tuesday to step in to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. During his press conference, Hegseth emphasized that this was not just a problem for the U.S. but for the world—even though it was caused by the U.S. pretty much entirely and Americans are paying for it in higher energy and food prices, surging mortgage rates, and lost jobs.  

It seems that Trump may be hoping to build an off-ramp to withdraw from the region without cleaning up the mess he made. 

The White House has practically given up its initial aims for attacking Iran.

Donald Trump has reportedly spoken with his aides about ending the military campaign, even if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, administration officials told The Wall Street Journal Tuesday.

Situated between Iran and the United Arab Emirates, the Strait of Hormuz is the single most important energy transit point in the world, funneling approximately one-fifth of all crude oil shipments. Iran began laying mines across the passageway earlier this month, effectively sealing the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to the rest of the open ocean.

In 2024, the U.S. imported roughly 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day through the strait, accounting for roughly 7 percent of total U.S. crude imports, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Trump and his aides estimated that reopening the waterway would extend the conflict past the administration’s advertised four-to-six week timeline for military involvement. Allowing Tehran to retain control of the strait would leave a complex problem in the Middle East that would need to be dealt with at a later date.

The president has since reshuffled America’s priorities in the region, opting to focus on decimating Iran’s navy and its missile stockpiles while pressuring the country to resume its oil trade via diplomatic means. Officials told the Journal that if that strategy fails, Washington would press its allies in Europe and the Gulf to pick up the mantle on reopening the strait.

Trump practically confirmed the latter details of the Journal’s report within hours of its publication, writing on Truth Social that European countries should “go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT.”

“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us,” Trump wrote Tuesday morning. “Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not express confidence in an immediate resolution to the conflict, telling reporters at a press conference Tuesday morning that the war could end in “any particular number” of weeks—it’s all up to the president.

OkCupid and its parent company, Match Group—which also owns massively popular dating apps like Hinge and Tinder—allegedly shared sensitive user data to a facial recognition software company. President Trump’s Federal Trade Commission is letting them off with a slap on the wrist.

The FTC, which Trump all but controls now after removing the Democratic commissioners, announced Monday it is settling its lawsuit against the companies, while detailing what its investigation uncovered.

“OkCupid provided the third party with access to nearly three million OkCupid user photos as well as location and other information without placing any formal or contractual restrictions on how the information could be used,” the FTC said in a press release. “Since September 2014, Match and OkCupid took extensive steps to conceal—including through trying to obstruct the FTC’s investigation—and deny that OkCupid shared users’ personal information with the data recipient.… When a news story revealed that the third party had obtained large OkCupid datasets, OkCupid claimed to the media and OkCupid users that it was not involved with the third party.”

The third party in question is Clairifai, an AI company that makes facial recognition software. The FTC noted that OkCupid and Match handed over users’ photos, locations, and demographic information.

The FTC has settled the lawsuit in exchange for a promise that the company won’t do the same thing again. There will be no financial penalty. And even worse, Clairafai still has the photos. The FTC has simply banned the companies from misrepresenting things like “the extent to which the companies collect, maintain, use, disclose, delete or protect any personal information such as photos and demographic and geolocation data”—things OkCupid and Match Group have already spent years lying about, according to the FTC’s own investigation.

“Clarifai still has those images. They’ve already used them to train their facial recognition models,” said Douglas Farrar, former FTC director of public affairs. “But the FTC doesn’t order the company to delete the models trained on stolen data.”

It was immediately apparent that the punishment did not meet the severity of the dystopian crime.

“This should be punishable with prison time,” Ohio Democratic congressional candidate Jerrad Christian wrote on X. “Your face shouldn’t be a product for tech companies to sell.”

“Match Group, the biggest name in online dating, sold personal data to a facial recognition firm. They were just fined $0,” the Groundwork Collaborative’s Emily DiVito chimed. “You’re not the customer, you’re the product.”