Good morning, I’m Thom Hartmann.
We are three weeks into a war most Americans never asked for, and the White House is now quietly admitting it may have been a catastrophic miscalculation. Thirteen U.S. service members are dead. More than 1,400 Iranians have been killed, including dozens of schoolgirls. Corporate media is running cover, and the FCC chair is threatening to yank broadcast licenses from any outlet that doesn’t.
If you’re new here, Raw America is Raw Story and Real Americans’ people-powered response to MAGA and to the billionaire takeover of American media. MAGA allies like Larry Ellison and his billionaire cronies are buying up newsrooms. Legacy broadcasters are falling in line. Independent outlets like this one are in the crosshairs. We are living through the most dangerous moment for a free press in modern American history. If you are not yet a paid subscriber, please become one today. We don’t work for billionaires. We work for you.
White House Has ‘Buyer’s Remorse’ Over Iran War
Sources inside the administration describe a deep fracture at the highest levels of the White House, with senior officials harboring serious regret over the Iran war.
Key officials were not fully on board before Trump overruled them all. “He ended up saying, ‘I just want to do it,’” one source said. Trump “grossly overestimated his ability to topple the regime short of sending in ground troops” and had grown overconfident after what looked like quick wins, including last summer’s strikes in Iran and the January capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
A senior official says Iran’s disruption of the Strait of Hormuz has only made Trump “more dug in,” raising what analysts call an “escalation trap,” where a stronger force keeps attacking as the returns diminish and the exit narrows.
The White House insists Operation Epic Fury was the product of “months and months of meticulous planning,” but on the first day of the war, a suspected Tomahawk missile flattened a girls’ elementary school in southern Iran, killing at least 170 people. Trump initially blamed Iran. When pressed this week, he said: “I don’t know about it.” Multiple investigations have concluded the U.S. was most likely responsible. A Pentagon inquiry is underway, not to determine whether a mistake occurred, but how.
Six more crew members were killed March 13th when a refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq. More than 1,100 children have been injured or killed since the war began. Trump declared Friday on Truth Social that Iran is “totally defeated and wants a deal. But not a deal that I would accept.”
In the words of one source close to the administration, the president was “high on his own supply.”
This is what happens when a democracy allows one man to launch a war without a congressional declaration, without public debate, and without accountability. The Founders gave Congress the war-making power for exactly this reason, and we’ve been slowly giving it away for decades. Now we’re living in the consequences.
Hegseth Hands $100M Cybersecurity Contract to Firm That Got Hacked
Pete Hegseth, who sparked a national security scandal after sensitive strike details were shared over Signal with a journalist accidentally added to the group chat, has now awarded nearly $100 million in Pentagon cybersecurity contracts to a firm that suffered a massive data breach affecting at least 45,000 people.
The contract covers systems to protect Navy bases from cyberattacks. The timing is notable: Iran is currently striking American targets across the Persian Gulf in retaliation for U.S. strikes and is one of the most aggressive hacking forces on the planet.
The firm was first compromised in December 2021. Criminals accessed employees’ Social Security numbers, driver’s license data, and health insurance information over at least five months. A lawsuit accused the company of waiting three months before notifying those affected. The firm settled, paying victims up to $8,000 each. The month before that breach, the same firm won a $250 million Pentagon IT contract covering dozens of DoD facilities, including the nuclear bunker where Dick Cheney was taken on September 11th.
Hegseth refused to cooperate with the inspector general’s investigation, declined to hand over his phone, and violated federal records law by allowing messages to auto-delete. The person in charge of America’s military cybersecurity just handed $100 million to a company that couldn’t protect its own employees’ data.
When loyalty replaces competence at the top of our military, it’s not just an embarrassment, it’s a national security threat. Every time oversight is gutted and inspectors general are defied, we’re not just watching bureaucratic dysfunction. We’re watching the dismantling of the checks that protect every single one of us.
Trump Targets the Media
The FCC chairman warned broadcast networks Saturday that he would revoke licenses if they air what the agency labels “fake news,” posting the threat alongside a Trump attack on Iran war coverage. “Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions have a chance now to correct course,” he wrote. “They will lose their licenses if they do not.”
Trump spent Saturday celebrating his conquest of the press, sharing a graphic titled “PRESIDENT TRUMP IS RESHAPING THE MEDIA” that cheered newsroom layoffs, the defunding of NPR and PBS, the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and declining ratings. The final section: “WINNING.”
On Sunday, Trump went further, suggesting critical war coverage deserves to be seen as criminal. “It’s pretty criminal because our media companies who have no credibility whatsoever are putting out information that they know is false,” he said. “I think they could be in serious jeopardy.”
The president is threatening criminal jeopardy for critical coverage. The FCC is threatening licenses. Billionaires are buying the newsrooms that remain. Independent journalism has never been more necessary. If you’re not yet a paid subscriber, please become one today.
Every authoritarian in history has understood that you can’t consolidate power while a free press is still doing its job. The First Amendment isn’t just a legal protection. It’s the immune system of self-governance, and right now it’s under the most coordinated attack it’s faced in our lifetimes.
Trump Signals Cuba Could Be Next
With Iran still raging, Trump is already telegraphing his next target. Asked about Cuba aboard Air Force One Sunday, he said: “Cuba’s a failed nation. Cuba also wants to make a deal and I think we will pretty soon either make a deal or do whatever we have to do. I think something will happen with Cuba pretty quickly.”
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel announced talks Friday, acknowledging Cuba has had no fuel for three months, with rolling blackouts and suspended air links. Cuba had been getting roughly half its oil from Venezuela, but that supply was severed after Trump’s January strike on Caracas and the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro. Venezuela’s oil infrastructure is now largely under U.S. control.
The U.S. embargo on Cuba has been in place since the 1960s, partially eased under Obama but never lifted. A president who launched a war against Iran and abducted a sitting head of state is now saying Cuba could happen “pretty quickly.”
We need to understand what’s really happening here. It’s not just foreign policy. It’s a pattern of a president who’s discovered he can use military force without consequence, without congressional pushback, and without a media willing to challenge him. Once a democracy lets that become normal, it’s very hard to walk it back.
A Note From Raw America
Our reporters have been on the ground in the most important hearings on Capitol Hill. We’ve brought you exclusive interviews with top military generals. That work exists because of our paid subscribers. And we’re just getting started. But we can’t do it without you.
We are joining the D.C. press pool to bring you direct access to the people making decisions that affect your life. Coverage that doesn’t sell wars and doesn’t propagandize for billionaires requires your support to survive.
Please become a paid subscriber today. We work for you, not for them.
I’m Thom Hartmann. Stay informed. Stay active. We’ll see you tomorrow.
STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
Trump Attacks Supreme Court Justices on Social Media. In a lengthy post to his Truth Social platform, President Donald Trump lashed out at the Supreme Court for striking down his tariffs imposed via emergency declaration. While he praised the three conservative Supreme Court appointees who sided with him (Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas), he assailed the other conservative justices who ruled with Democratic appointees to invalidate his tariffs.
Trump Threatens to Charge Journalists with Treason. Trump also wrote on Truth Social Sunday night that journalists who spread information he deemed “fake” be brought up on charges of treason — which is punishable by the death penalty. He specifically singled out the Wall Street Journal over its reporting on Iran attacking five military planes refueling at a Saudi airbase.
Family of Slain Airman Blames Trump’s War for His Death. Tech Sgt. Tyler Simmons was one of the six American troops killed after an Air Force refueling aircraft crashed while supporting U.S. operations in Iran. Simmons’ cousin, Stephan Douglas, told local reporters that Simmons’ death could have been prevented, and said Trump’s war was “uncalled for.”
Trump Suggests ‘Deal’ with Cuba May Be Forthcoming After Threatening Regime Change. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said recently that talks with Washington had led “away from confrontation” in the wake of Trump’s repeated threats to oust the him from power and take over the country. Cuba’s economy is reeling from the U.S. shutting off its oil supply, with workers being furloughed and schools being closed to save energy. An annual cigar festival that brings in millions of dollars in tourism revenue was also recently cancelled.
Iran May Open Strait of Hormuz — But Only for Chinese Ships. The Iranian government is considering a policy that would open the Strait of Hormuz to Chinese ships, and oil tankers carrying oil traded in Chinese yuan. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the strait is open to countries Iran doesn’t consider enemies, but remains closed to the United States and its allies. The Strait of Hormuz is a major choke point for roughly 20% of the global oil supply, with the amount of oil traveling through the strait plummeting from roughly 19.5 million barrels per day to less than 500,000.
