President Donald Trump and Taoiseach of Ireland Micheál Martin have a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office on St. Patrick’s Day.  Livestream Links Below:

UPDATE: VIDEO ADDED

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Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, has announced his resignation.  Director Kent outlines his decision as driven by opposition to the war against Iran.

Kent, a senior deputy to Director of National intelligence Tulsi Gabbard posted his resignation letter on the X platform, writing: “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran.” … “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

[SOURCE]

This is quite a remarkable development.  Director Joe Kent’s full resignation letter is below, and out of an abundance of caution I prefer to await to see how President Trump and/or Tulsi Gabbard responds.

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Earlier today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order creating the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which will advise the President and coordinate government-wide efforts to combat widespread fraud, waste, and abuse in Federal benefit programs. [Executive Order Here]

According to the White House – The Vice President will serve as Chair of the Task Force, the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission will serve as Vice Chairman, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security will serve as Senior Advisor, and an Executive Director will manage daily operations. Relevant cabinet secretaries and heads of government agencies will serve as Task Force members.

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I dislike Mark Levin immensely.  Long-time CTH readers know I have a very valid reason to dislike Mark Levin immensely. My approach was to essentially ignore “old yeller” as he shouts and rants about all the things he always shouts and rants about.  I dislike Mark Levin very much; beyond what most here would define as immense.

That said, I also accept that -for whatever reason he has- President Donald J Trump does not hold the same opinion of Mark Levin.  In fact, Donald Trump seems to like Mark Levin.  As a consequence, I retain my peace and ignore everything that circles around their time together.  However, this is also an ¹opportunity.

Mr Levin’s audience has been shrinking quite fast.  The downward spiral has been happening with greater speed and increasing slope for around 15 years.  The diminutive Mr Levin is now a visual representation of the Black Knight Monty Pyton skit. If the name was raised, I quietly just stared in southern.

♦ Within the great podcaster war of 2026, apparently Mrs. Megyn Kelly and Mr Mark Levin have been having a very public feud.  I don’t know the details but given the reality of the past 12 months it probably surrounds Mr Levin’s Israel-First approach toward everything political.  In the latest drama du jour, Mrs Kelly is said to have mentioned that Mr Levin has a small penis, a “micropenis.”

Mr Levin apparently picked up the phone and called his loyal friend, President Donald Trump. Likely looking for an ally of considerable consequence to boost his member-ship status.  After all, Levin’s circle of influence is rather, well, small and shrinking.

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Moments ago, President Donald Trump took questions from the assembled press pool during a lunch with the Trump-Kennedy Center board members.

The full video is below the fold. However, the shorter segment of media questions and answers is highlighted in this video. President Trump was asked about countries willing to support the military escort request through the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump noted an announcement of supporting countries will be forthcoming.

President Trump also noted the biggest beneficiary of the oil from Iran is China, and he would expect those nations who are dependent on the stability of that oil flow to rise in support of the escorts. WATCH:

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The full event video is below.

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President Trump gives a rather lengthy impromptu press availability aboard Airforce One flying to Joint Base Andrews.

Within the comments and questions, President Trump notes the countries who are dependent on oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are requested to provide escort for their shipments. The United States receives no oil from the region, less than one percent of total production; however, nations like China are highly dependent.

The basic request is for countries who are dependent on the oil to support safe transit of their oil. The USA is securing the region, continuing to take apart the ability of the Iranian regime to launch offensive military activity, but for the specifics of the Strait of Hormuz President Trump would prefer allied support due to their specific benefit.

President Trump also addressed the issue of Iranian false information, and the White House frustration that many U.S. media outlets are promoting phony stories knowing the information is false.  President Trump was asked questions about the absence of the Iranian people protesting the regime despite their support to change government.  President Trump noted the dangers and risks to the Iranian people that still exist on the ground if they attempt to protest in the streets.

When questioned about the political fallout from the Iran campaign, President Trump notes, “I have to do what’s right … the threat must be eliminated.”  President Trump is committed to finally ending the decades long issue represented by the Iranian regime. “These people would have used nuclear missiles” if they had them.  WATCH:

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Some additional contexts not included in the British-centric financial review below.

(1) Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae will be at the White House next week.  This meeting was scheduled several weeks before Operation Epic Fury began.  The timeline continues to indicate that President Trump’s primary geopolitical focus is on China, not necessarily the U.K-EU angle, although that is a materially significant overlay.

(2) “A major U.S. weapons package for Taiwan worth about 14 billion dollars is awaiting approval from Donald Trump and could be announced after his planned visit to China later this month, according to sources familiar with the discussions. The proposed deal would be the largest U.S. arms sale ever to Taiwan and comes as military tensions between China and the self-ruled island continue to rise.” {SOURCE}

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President Trump’s latest two messages via Truth Social present an interesting geopolitical approach with multiple enmeshed aspects.

First, some background context is needed.  Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and USTR Jamieson Greer are in Paris to meet with Chinese government officials ahead of a scheduled meeting between Chairman Xi Jinping and President Trump.

The main objective of the pre-summit assembly before President Trump goes to Beijing, is to hammer out the actionable agreement details that can be signed off by Xi and Trump.  Bessent and Greer are looking to put a deal together with their Chinese counterparts so that Trump and Xi can announce mutually beneficial outcomes during their summit.

Second, President Trump has already indicated the March 31/April 1 meeting with Xi will be all business. The traditional pomp and splendor will not be present, and Trump will only be visiting Beijing – no sidelines.

Third, Secretary Rubio will be accompanying Trump on this trip to Beijing, which might seem ordinary were it not for the fact that in 2020 China sanctioned and banned Rubio from entering China for criticizing Xinjiang and Hong Kong.

Fourth, there are rumors that President Trump is going to announce a significant weapons deal with Taiwan at some point immediately following the trip.  If those rumors are true, it would be a top priority for the Chinese advance team in Paris to stop that from happening.

Regardless of what happens in the next few weeks, President Trump will be meeting with Chairman Xi with full Eagle eye confrontation toward the returning dragon stare.  There will be no panda mask on this trip whatsoever; this face to face is an apex predator showdown, while the world watches intently.

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While the original focus was on questions about the Iran war, at the tail end of an impromptu presser yesterday, President Trump was asked about Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and the status of U.S. national security.

President Trump said he was very disappointed that President Sheinbaum refused his offer of assistance in eliminating the cartels in Mexico.  Ultimately culminating in the statement, “the cartels are running Mexico.”

Considering everything President Trump is doing to secure the Western Hemisphere objective, it must be very frustrating to eliminate various narcotraffickers, human smugglers and transnational agents of chaos, and yet still have one of the closest geographic nations unwilling to address the biggest criminal elements near our borders.

The bilateral USMCA discussions between the U.S. and Mexico are ongoing, I think we can expect this element of friction and ultimately leverage to be present in the overall outcome.

Personally, I think if the government of Cuba flips, there will be exceptional pressure on Mexico to finally address the issue.

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Kharg Island is a small coral island in Iran in the northern Persian Gulf. It is 34 miles (55 km) northwest of the port of Bushehr and vital to Iran’s oil industry.

The oil processing facilities at Kharg Island are a foundational component of Iran’s economy. Roughly 90 percent of Iran’s crude is processed at Kharg Island, and any disruption to its oil processing could cripple Iran’s economy.

President Trump announced: “Moments ago, at my direction, the United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island. Our Weapons are the most powerful and sophisticated that the World has ever known but, for reasons of decency, I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island. However, should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision.”

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