March 16, 2026 | Monday
Tags: mike-johnson, jd-vance, tucker-carlson, candace-owens, pete-hegseth, megyn-kelly, laura-loomer, ben-shapiro, donald-trump, piers-morgan
Iran sustains its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz into the third week of war with the US and Israel as Trump strikes Kharg Island and pitches an international naval coalition rejected by European and Asian allies. President Trump endorses Mark Levin as a MAGA patriot on Truth Social while denouncing critics like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens as non-MAGA voices.
Iran maintained its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz into the third week of open conflict with the United States and Israel, permitting only limited passage for allied tankers over the weekend, which temporarily stabilized crude oil prices after weeks of surges. President Trump ordered a major airstrike on Kharg Island, the critical Persian Gulf hub handling 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports via pipeline to supertankers bound for China and elsewhere, destroying military assets there and fueling speculation of a potential U.S. seizure of the facility. Axios reported on weekend discussions of invading the island to cripple Iran’s energy revenue, while Trump publicly pivoted to assembling an international naval coalition, declaring over the weekend that nations like Japan, Australia, European Union members, and others must contribute warships and share costs since the closure disrupts global energy flows. He framed it as a shared burden, insisting in a press conference that “numerous countries have told me they’re on the way,” rating French involvement at “8 out of 10” despite caveats.
European and Asian allies swiftly rejected Trump’s appeals, with Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stating explicitly, “This is not our war. We did not start it,” advocating diplomacy over naval escalation. France’s Foreign Ministry confirmed its navy remained in the Eastern Mediterranean on a “defensive” posture, while Italy limited its missile frigate to allied operations far from the strait; Poland’s Foreign Minister ruled out any forces, and the European Union echoed calls for de-escalation post-fighting. Japan and Australia issued flat denials, and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer clarified it “will not be, and it’s never been envisioned as a NATO mission.” The rebuffs came hours after Trump’s announcement, exposing his premature claim of a “done deal” coalition, as no commitments materialized despite U.S. deployments of 5,000 Marines to the Persian Gulf and a THAAD system redirected from South Korea.
This attritional stalemate, rooted in Iran’s cheap drone and missile barrages overwhelming U.S. interceptors, leaves no viable path to U.S. objectives of regime change or suppressed retaliation without ground invasion, as air and sea power alone cannot neutralize mobile launch sites or undersea mines now reportedly seeding the strait. Trump’s Kharg strike signals intent to target economic lifelines next, denying Iran reconstruction funds even post-withdrawal, but absent allied buy-in, forcing the 40-mile strait risks sinking warships amid daily volleys of 30 to 50 projectiles. The war traces to 2016 Israeli collusion aiding Trump’s election to dismantle Obama’s 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal, formalized by 2018 U.S. withdrawal, IRGC terrorist designation, and Qasem Soleimani’s 2020 assassination, igniting a shadow conflict now fully hot after seven years of maximum pressure. Withdrawal concedes strategic victory to Tehran, rallying its populace and enabling nuclear pursuit, while escalation demands boots on Iranian soil, replaying Iraq’s 1990-to-present perpetuity and dooming midterms amid 270 million barrels from U.S. strategic reserves offering mere short-term relief before inflation spirals through diesel, jet fuel, gasoline, fertilizer, and food costs.
President Trump published a lengthy Truth Social post praising Mark Levin as “a truly great American patriot,” “tough, strong, and brilliant,” crediting Sean Hannity’s “The Great One” moniker and portraying him as a drafted conservative intellect whose “wisdom and common sense” prioritize “greatness and success for America.” Trump warned critics like Piers Morgan, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Dave Smith as “jealous and angry human beings” with diminishing sway, declaring, “They are not MAGA. I am,” and linking Levin’s stance to MAGA’s core by affirming, “MAGA includes not allowing Iran…to have a nuclear weapon… And that is exactly what we are doing.” The post, exceeding 1,000 words, invoked Trump’s military rebuild for “everlasting peace through strength,” positioning Levin as the movement’s standard-bearer amid a Twitter civil war where Levin and Ben Shapiro assailed war skeptics as anti-Semites and Nazis.
Levin, a fixture at the Republican Jewish Coalition decrying “Nazis and Klansmen on the right,” embodies establishment neoconservatism over populism, aligning with Trump despite past never-Trump rhetoric from Levin, Shapiro, and others who adapted post-2016. Trump’s endorsement elevates Levin, Laura Loomer, Randy Fine, Lindsey Graham, and donors like Miriam Adelson as gatekeepers, ousting restraint advocates like Dan Caldwell from National Security Council and Pete Hegseth’s office via Loomer’s direct interventions. This caps a patronage purge where junior staffers and influencers peddle “trust the plan” narratives for access, only for Zionist priorities to prevail, as seen in Rubio’s admission Israel initiated the Iran war and Trump’s deference to Netanyahu on its duration.
MAGA devolved into Trump personality cult vaporware, betraying 2015-2016 pledges against endless wars, Muslim bans, wall funded by Mexico, no super PACs, and neutrality on Israel-Palestine for a “deal for both sides.” Mass deportations halted per Mike Johnson’s Doral Retreat directive, shifting to Obama-era criminal-only removals confirmed by Homeland Security sources, while the Labor Department eyes thousands more H-2A farm visas amid labor shortages, incentivizing surges from Latin America and beyond. Levin’s anointing ritualizes humiliation, demanding deference to Israel-first figures as bosses, not coalition peers, fracturing the base into despondency or denial; midterms loom with impeachment viable under Democratic gains, necessitating GOP incineration for 2028 renewal untainted by second-term enablers like Vance, Rubio, or Walz repurposed at the UN. Trump’s compulsive fabrications—denying a Tomahawk strike killing 160 Iranian schoolgirls as “their missile,” unnamed “former president” envy, 5,000 Marines as “obnoxious” query—erode credibility, confirming him as compromised architect of perpetual escalation ladders controllable only via U.S. and Israeli regime shifts prioritizing sovereignty over Tel Aviv’s mandates.