Good evening, and welcome to Raw America. I’m British Chris.
Tonight we’ve got a little bit of everything. The Trump Administration is threatening to issue death sentences to Africans if they don’t turn over wanted minerals. Trump is refusing to take any offramp to end his Epstein war. The pope is calling out war propaganda. And the MAGA coalition is tearing itself apart in spectacularly ugly fashion. Let’s get into it.
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Trump Is All Alone in Iran — and Refusing All Exit Strategies
Let’s start with the war itself, because it’s an absolute mess.
According to NBC News, Trump is being presented with options for ending the Iran war every day and he hasn’t taken a single one. His own Cabinet can’t agree on what they’re doing. Trump told Axios the war will “end soon,” but Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says it’s “only just the beginning.” The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing, and what’s getting squeezed in the middle is the global economy.
The Strait of Hormuz — through which 20% of the world’s oil supply travels — has effectively shut down. Oil prices are soaring as stocks tumble. Even some of Trump’s own people are getting nervous. David Sacks, the White House’s AI czar, went on a podcast and urged the president to find an exit. That’s the first time a senior White House figure has publicly broken with Trump over the war.
U.S. intelligence assessments show no signs that the Iranian regime is about to collapse. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected any ceasefire, saying Tehran “did not request a ceasefire” and would “continue this resistance.” The regime believes it’s fighting for its own survival, and that gives it a very high pain threshold.
Trump asked allies — including the UK, France, Japan, South Korea and China — to send warships to help police the strait. The response has been ... underwhelming.
Germany’s chancellor said flatly: “This is not our war.” The UK, France, Japan, Australia and Italy have all said they’ve got no plans to send warships. The EU met on Monday and decided against extending its naval mission’s mandate to cover the strait. Trump has threatened that NATO faces “a very bad future” if allies don’t help.
Nobody seems particularly worried.
Trump Team Threatens Death If No Access to Minerals
The Trump administration is considering cutting off HIV medication to 1.3 million people in Zambia — not because of anything Zambia did wrong, but because America wants its copper. A leaked State Department memo obtained by the New York Times shows officials explicitly discussing using lifesaving aid as a “stick” to force Zambia into a minerals deal that would push China out and let American companies in. The memo actually uses the phrase “willingness to publicly take support away from Zambia on a massive scale.”
That’s not diplomacy. That’s extortion.
Here’s the context. Zambia is one of the world’s major copper producers, with massive reserves of lithium and cobalt, the stuff that powers electric vehicles and green energy. China has had preferential access to those mines for years, and Washington is furious. So rather than compete on merit, the Trump administration has decided to hold sick people hostage until Zambia plays ball.
The deal requires Zambia to hand over citizens’ health data for a decade, share biological specimens for 25 years, and sign a minerals access agreement by May. Or the HIV drugs stop.
This is the America First foreign policy in practice. Not strength. Not leadership. Threatening to let people die unless a poor country hands over its natural resources. The memo even boasts that every time they threatened to cut aid, Zambia “reversed course.” They’re proud of this. Independent journalism exists to name it plainly — and Raw America isn’t going anywhere.
Pope Leo Calls Out Corporate Media for Cheering on Trump’s War
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been waging a parallel war — against the press.
Pope Leo, the first American-born pontiff, went on Italian television and pleaded with journalists not to turn war coverage into propaganda. He urged reporters to “show the face of war” through the eyes of victims, not through a military highlight reel. He specifically warned that “information must guard against the risk of turning into propaganda.”
That warning landed with some force, because government social media accounts have been splicing together footage of U.S. strikes with clips from video games since the war began. It’s literally propaganda dressed up as content.
And Hegseth? He attacked CNN for covering the deaths of American service members. “When a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it’s front page news,” he said. “I get it. The press only wants to make the president look bad.” Covering dead soldiers. That’s “making the president look bad,” apparently.
Jane Fonda Warns of Trump Donor Buying CNN
Jane Fonda showed up to the Vanity Fair Oscars party wearing a “Block the Merger” pin — a reference to the potential $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company, by Ellison’s Paramount. Fonda, who was married to CNN founder Ted Turner for a decade, made it personal. “I slept with the guy who created it!” she said. “I have a personal stake in it.”
She’s right to be worried. Ellison already owns CBS, and since he appointed Bari Weiss to run CBS News, veteran journalists have been walking out the door. The mood at CNN, according to reports, is “shaken” and “depressing.” One CNN staffer told NBC News: “No one wants to work for the Ellisons. And if Bari is going to be running CNN, expect people to leave.”
Meanwhile, FCC Chair Brendan Carr has said he plans to review broadcast licence renewals for some networks — something the FCC hasn’t done in decades — raising serious First Amendment concerns.
Trump praised this on Truth Social, ranting about “Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic ‘News’ Organizations.” It all fits together rather neatly: pressure the press through regulators, threaten licenses, cheer on the corporate takeover of independent outlets. That’s the playbook.
Megyn Kelly Confronts Trump Over Mark Levin Post
On a lighter note — well, “lighter” — there’s a full-blown civil war happening on the right over the Iran war, and it involves someone being called “Micropenis Mark.”
Megyn Kelly and Fox’s Mark Levin have been going at it for weeks. Kelly has been critical of the Iran war; Levin called her “emotionally unhinged.” Kelly then referred to him as “Micropenis Mark” and said he “doesn’t like it when women like me fight back.”
Then Trump jumped in on Truth Social, defending Levin, saying he was “under siege” by people with “far less Intellect, Capability, and Love for our Country.”
Kelly’s response was brutal. She said Trump “does not have his finger on the pulse of where his party is right now.” She pointed out that Levin ran to the President of the United States rather than fighting his own battle. And she warned that Trump is going to “destroy his own coalition” if he keeps this up.
It’s a remarkable moment. The MAGA coalition is fracturing over a war that Trump started and doesn’t know how to end.
This brings us back to why independent journalism matters more than ever right now.
Raw America now has a reporter providing on-the-ground coverage right there in Washington DC — covering congressional hearings, Iran War protests, and critical votes in the House and Senate. That kind of access doesn’t come cheap, and it only happened because readers like you made it possible.
If you’re not yet subscribed, consider doing it now. Because when billionaires are buying up newsrooms and governments are calling dead soldiers a PR problem, independent media isn’t just nice to have. It’s essential.
Thanks for watching. I’m British Chris. We’ll see you next time.
STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
Federal Judge Blocks RFK Jr. from Cutting Child Vaccines. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy — an appointee of former President Joe Biden — issued a ruling preventing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from scaling back the national childhood vaccination schedule. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had previously tried to end broad recommendations to have children vaccinated against flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis and RSV. Leading medical groups sued HHS, leading to Judge Murphy’s Monday decision.
Trump’s Chief of Staff Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis. 68 year-old White House chief of staff Susie Wiles announced Monday that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Wiles said the cancer was detected in its early stages, and she plans to stay in her role and not take a leave of absence. Wiles did not immediately reveal what cancer treatment she’ll be receiving, though breast cancer treatment in the early stages can cost more than $97,000 over a two-year period, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Trump Says He Plans to Take Over Cuba and ‘Do Anything I Want With It.’ During a Monday press conference while signing an executive order, President Donald Trump told reporters he would soon “have the honor of taking Cuba.” He added: “I think I can do anything I want with it, to tell you the truth.” Trump’s remarks come on the heels of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel saying talks with Washington had progressed “away from confrontation” in spite of Trump’s regime change threats.
Oath Keepers Founder Says He’s No Longer MAGA After Iran War. Stewart Rhodes – who Trump pardoned despite being convicted for seditious conspiracy over his role in the January 6 attack — publicly distanced himself from the MAGA movement during a recent podcast segment. Rhodes called himself an “America-only patriot” and a “Christian nationalist,” and accused Trump of serving Israel before the United States.
Trump’s Hand-Picked Kennedy Center Board Approves 2-Year Closure. The board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted Monday to close the storied institution for two years in order to undergo a planned $250 million renovation. Most of the current Kennedy Center board members were put in their roles by Trump himself, after he named himself chairman in 2025. The closure comes after months of flagging ticket sales and performers cancelling their shows, citing Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center and adding his own name to the building’s facade.
