Good evening, and welcome to Raw America. I’m British Chris.
We’ve got a lot to get to. Trump’s new war in the Middle East has now roped in a powerful adversary. Gas prices are spiking while the White House panics behind closed doors. The government is refusing to pay back money Americans are owed from tariffs. And even Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper is dancing on Kristi Noem’s political grave.
Before we dive in, please consider updating your free subscription to a paying one. Raw America is Raw Story and Really American’s people-powered response to the billionaire takeover of mainstream media. Corporate outlets answer to right-wing oligarchs. We answer to you. If you want independent journalism that isn’t beholden to hedge funds or billionaire Trump donors, the single best thing you can do is subscribe and support this channel. The link is right below.
Russia Is Helping Iran Target American Troops
This story is genuinely alarming, and it’s not getting nearly enough attention.
According to reporting from The Washington Post, Russia has been passing Iran the locations of U.S. military assets since this war started. Warships. Aircraft. The works.
So while Pete Hegseth was standing at a podium this week saying Russia and China are “not really a factor,” American intelligence officials were privately telling reporters the opposite.
The Kremlin’s spokesman declined to comment. Which, honestly, tells you everything.
Now, why does this matter? Iran doesn’t have great satellite capabilities. Russia does. Russia’s spent years refining its targeting intelligence in Ukraine. And what we’re seeing, according to analysts, is that Iranian strikes have been unusually precise. They’ve been hitting things that require a level of targeting accuracy Iran didn’t previously demonstrate. Experts are saying the quality of Iran’s strikes appears to have improved even compared to the 12-day conflict with Israel last summer.
Six American troops have already been killed. The Pentagon is reportedly burning through precision arms and air defense interceptors at a worrying pace.
And the dark irony here? Iran spent years helping Russia overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses with cheap one-way drones. Now Russia’s returning the favor.
This is what it looks like when adversaries coordinate. And the administration’s line that it’s all under control deserves far more scrutiny.
The White House Is Panicking About Gas Prices
Publicly, the Trump administration insists the president’s got a plan to deal with skyrocketing gas prices. But privately? According to two energy industry executives familiar with internal conversations, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles is telling advisers to look “under every rock” for ways to bring gas prices down.
The attack on Iran sent crude oil up by more than ten dollars a barrel. The average price at the pump has jumped more than 25 cents in a week, and it’s now sitting higher than it was on Biden’s last day in office. That’s a number the Trump team really doesn’t want to be talking about.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright and others are reportedly “getting screamed at to find some good news.” Officials who would normally be pushing for lower oil prices were apparently told to stay quiet. As one executive put it: “The faction of the White House that would care about eighty to ninety-dollar oil was being silenced.”
Ideas being floated include a temporary gasoline tax holiday — which would require Congress and might not actually be passed on to drivers — as well as using the military to defend energy infrastructure in the Middle East. And here’s the one that should raise eyebrows: Loosening sanctions on Russian oil shipments.
That’s right. To clean up the economic mess created by bombing Iran, the administration is reportedly considering a move that would give Russia a significant financial lifeline.
One person familiar with the discussions bluntly called it “a potential policy spiral.” You don’t say.
The Government Owes $165 Billion in Tariff Refunds. It’s Not Paying Up.
Cast your mind back a few weeks. The Supreme Court ruled that the bulk of Trump’s tariffs were illegal. Businesses were owed refunds. A court ordered the government to start issuing them immediately.
The government’s response? Basically, it’s: “No thanks.”
A senior Customs and Border Protection official filed a court declaration arguing that the agency is facing “an unprecedented volume of refunds” and that its systems aren’t equipped to handle it. The filing confirmed the total figure: $165 billion owed, without interest.
The Court of International Trade then reversed its earlier order requiring immediate refunds, accepting the government’s argument that it needs more time. Up to 45 days for new system functionality, apparently.
So what’s happening is this: the Supreme Court said the tariffs were illegal. The money was collected illegally. And now the government is slow-walking paying it back, while businesses wait on cash that in some cases makes a real difference to whether they stay afloat.
The tension here is straightforward. Courts want the refunds processed quickly. The government would prefer to drag its feet. And sitting in the middle of all this are American businesses that paid the price for a policy that’s been ruled unlawful.
Murdoch Paper Celebrates Kristi Noem’s Ouster
Even the newspaper owned by right-wing media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is glad Kristi Noem is gone.
In a scathing editorial, the Wall Street Journal said Noem had become a liability, and that even Republican senators couldn’t hide their frustration any longer.
The Journal noted that Noem’s recent Senate hearing was an utter disaster. Republican John Kennedy pressed her on spending $220 million on self-aggrandizing advertisements, and whether Trump had approved it. She said he had. Kennedy later told a reporter that his conversation with Trump suggested their recollections of that approval “are different.”
Noem, of course, also struggled to answer questions about why she’d initially defended the killings of two US citizens, about her purchase of private jets, and about allegations of a personal relationship with former adviser Corey Lewandowski, which she’s denied.
Murdoch’s paper pointed out that the underlying policy that drove much of the chaos, including aggressive numerical targets pushed by Stephen Miller, came from the White House. But Noem’s execution and her apparent fondness for making herself the centre of attention didn’t help. Markwayne Mullin, if confirmed, will inherit all of those structural problems. Whether he handles them differently remains to be seen.
Raw America had journalists on Capitol Hill this week for Kristi Noem’s Senate hearing. We were there for the War Powers resolution vote. We brought you an exclusive sit-down interview with retired General Paul Eaton. That kind of on-the-ground, independent journalism doesn’t happen when a right-wing billionaire is calling the shots. It happens because people like you choose to back it.
If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do. Share this video. Tell someone about it. Because in this media environment, your support of independent media is literally what keeps the lights on, and what keeps democracy alive.
Thanks for watching. We’ll see you next week.
STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
Tulsi Gabbard Silent About Iran War Despite Past Statements. As a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020, Tulsi Gabbard warned that Trump may attempt to drag the U.S. into a war with Iran. But as President Donald Trump’s Director of National Intelligence, Gabbard has maintained a low profile despite Trump attacking Iran last weekend. Gabbard’s last post to her X account was on the day after Trump’s State of the Union address.
ICE Agents Abduct Journalist Who Was Covering Them. Federal immigration authorities are attempting to deport journalist Estefany Maria Rodríguez Flores, who has been covering immigration in the Nashville, Tennessee area. Rodríguez Flores entered the U.S. legally in 2021, is married to a U.S. citizen and has been applying for permanent residency. Agents surrounded her car on Wednesday while she and her husband were on their way to the gym. Her husband, Alejandro, told Migrant Insider he still doesn’t know where his wife was taken, and that he hadn’t spoken to her since Wednesday.
Trump Voter Whose U.S. Citizen Son Was Killed by ICE Doesn’t Blame President. Rachel Reyes, the mother of 23 year-old Ruben Ray Martinez — who was killed by ICE agents on South Padre Island in Texas last year — isn’t holding her son’s death against the president. Reyes said in a recent interview that while she doesn’t blame Trump, ICE’s “pattern of violence” should be investigated, saying: “I know my son and I know he’s not a threat.”
Democrats Investigating Companies Awarded $220 Million DHS Contract. Democratic members of the U.S. Senate are now conducting a probe of three companies awarded $220 million in contracts by outgoing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Senators are looking into whether Noem or former DHS advisor Corey Lewandowski (who has denied rumors of an affair with Noem) financially benefited from the contracts.
Obama Attacks Trump at Jesse Jackson Funeral Without Mentioning His Name. During his eulogy at Friday’s funeral for the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, former President Barack Obama launched several attacks at President Trump without once naming him. Obama lamented that “every day we wake up to some new assault on our democratic institutions,” and that “everywhere we see greed and bigotry being celebrated, and bullying and mockery masquerading as strength” before heralding Jackson as a symbol of the hope he ran on in 2008.
