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Trump Gives Iran 48 Hours to Open Hormuz, Threatens Power Plants

President Donald Trump has warned that the United States will “obliterate” power plants in Iran if the Islamic Republic doesn’t fully open the strategic Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, and Iranian missiles struck two cities near Israel’s main nuclear research center, leaving dozens of people injured and shattered apartment buildings.

The developments signaled the war in the Middle East, now in its fourth week, was moving in a dangerous new direction.

Sirens blared across Israel on Sunday morning, warning of a new incoming barrage from Iran as residents woke up to scenes of vast damage in the southern cities of Dimona and Arad.

In Qatar, authorities said six people were confirmed killed in a Qatari helicopter crash in the Persian Gulf nation’s territorial waters the day before. The Interior Ministry said one person is still missing from the crash on Saturday, which was blamed on a “technical malfunction.” The statement didn’t clarify the nationality of the dead or say if they were civilian or military.

In his ultimatum, Trump said on Saturday he would give Iran 48 hours to open the vital waterway or face a new round of attacks. He said the U.S. would destroy “various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!”

 He may have meant the Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran's biggest, which was already hit last week, or Damavand, a natural gas plant near Tehran, Iran's capital.

In turn, Iran warned early Sunday that any strike on its energy facilities would prompt attacks on U.S. and Israeli energy and infrastructure assets — specifically information technology and desalination facilities — in the region, according to a statement citing an Iranian military spokesperson carried by state media and semiofficial outlets.

The Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the rest of the globe’s oceans, is a critical pathway for the world’s flow of oil. Attacks on commercial ships and threats of further strikes have stopped nearly all tankers from carrying oil, gas and other goods through the passage, leading to cuts in output from some of the world’s largest oil producers, because their crude has nowhere to go.

Seyed Ali Mousavi, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the International Maritime Organization, said in remarks carried by two Iranian news agencies that navigating the strait would be possible for “everyone except enemies” — indicating Tehran would determine which vessels are allowed passage. Iran has already approved the passage of ships through the waterway to China and elsewhere in Asia.

Israel’s military said it was not able to intercept missiles that hit Dimona and Arad, the largest near the Negev Desert nuclear center. It was the first time Iranian missiles penetrated Israel’s air defense systems in the area.

“If the Israeli regime is unable to intercept missiles in the heavily protected Dimona area, it is, operationally, a sign of entering a new phase of the battle,” Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on X.

Rescue workers said at least 64 people were taken to hospitals after the direct hit in Arad. Dimona is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of the nuclear research center and Arad around 35 kilometers (22 miles) north.

Israel’s hard-line national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited the southern town of Arad on Sunday, saying that Israel is in a “historic battle” against Iran and that it must “continue until victory.”

Israel is believed to be the only Middle East nation with nuclear weapons, though its leaders refuse to confirm or deny their existence. The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on X it had not received reports of damage to the Israeli center or abnormal radiation levels.

The Iranian strikes in Israel came after Tehran’s main nuclear enrichment site at Natanz was hit earlier on Saturday. Israel denied responsibility and the Iranian judiciary’s official news agency, Mizan, said there was no leakage.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has said the bulk of Iran’s estimated 972 pounds (441 kilograms) of enriched uranium is elsewhere, beneath the rubble at its Isfahan facility. It said on X it was looking into the strike.

The Pentagon declined to comment on the strike on Natanz, which was also hit in the first week of the ongoing war and in the 12-day war last June. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said such strikes posed a “real risk of catastrophic disaster throughout the Middle East.”

The U.S. and Israel have offered shifting rationales for the war, from hoping to foment an uprising that topples Iran’s leadership to eliminating its nuclear and missile programs and its support for armed proxies. There have been no signs of an uprising, while internet restrictions limit information from Iran.

The war’s effects are felt far beyond the Middle East, raising food and fuel prices.

So far in Iran, the death toll in the war has surpassed 1,500, the state broadcaster reported Saturday, citing the health ministry. In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian missiles and four others have died in the occupied West Bank. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed, along with well over a dozen civilians in Gulf nations.

And in Lebanon, Israeli strikes targeting the militant Hezbollah group, an Iranian ally, have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced more than 1 million, according to the Lebanese government.

 

'Give Us Your Tired, Your Poor, Your...Freebies'? Nearly Half of U.S. Immigrant Households on Welfare

As the Trump administration works on deporting the millions of illegal immigrants that the Biden administration let in through the southern border, Democrats and the left have insisted that America is "a nation of immigrants." It's just another attempt to twist words and meanings to fit their ideology. Traditionally, immigrants expected to come to the U.S. and work hard to achieve success. As if we didn't already suspect, today's immigrants appear to have a very different idea of what coming to America is.

 According to a recent analysis of Census Bureau data by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), almost half of households headed by immigrants, both legal and illegal, receive one or more forms of welfare. The Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement showed that roughly 47 percent of immigrant households are on at least one form of welfare. When the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit is added in, the percentage jumps to 54 percent. 

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READ MORE: He Took $3.8M in COVID Money and Lied His Way In. Now His Citizenship Is Gone.

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Which immigrants are the biggest offenders? Immigrants from Afghanistan at 87 percent, the Dominican Republic at 78 percent, Guatemala at 77 percent, Honduras at 75 percent, and Mexico at 67 percent. But not all immigrants have come to the U.S. expecting to be supported by American taxpayers. Korean immigrants come in at 28 percent, Canada and the United Kingdom both come in at 21 percent, and India comes in at just 15 percent. 

While the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill in July 2025 halted much of the access to welfare benefits granted by the Biden administration to illegal immigrants, there is still a large number of illegal immigrants who have managed to access those benefits. The Survey cites the reason for this.

“This is primarily because non-citizens often receive benefits on behalf of their U.S.-born children and the restrictions only apply to some programs. These facts coupled with the large share of non-citizens who have modest levels of education and their resulting low incomes mean many can use means-tested anti-poverty programs.”

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ALSO READ: Walz's Nightmare Continues While Testifying in Congress, Including a Solid Burn on the 2024 Election

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But as has been recently discovered by people like independent journalist Nick Shirley, none of those immigrant groups can compete in receiving public funds like Somali immigrants in Minnesota. Nearly 81 percent of Somali households in Minnesota receive some sort of public assistance. It is the best argument so far for those who say all immigration should be paused. In November 2025, Republican Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21) introduced the "Pausing All Admissions Until Security Ensured (PAUSE) Act." It would halt all immigration, except for temporary tourist visas, until it is determined that the U.S. immigration system is operating correctly. 

Immigrants used to come to America because they wanted to assimilate, work hard, and become Americans themselves. Now, the American Dream has morphed into a twisted challenge of how much immigrants can get the American people to support them, and how much fraud they can get away with.

58% of Caribbean migrant households are on welfare. There are more than 5.3 million Caribbean migrants in the US. 60% have citizenship.

Editor's Note: Thanks to President Trump, illegal immigration into our great country has virtually stopped. Despite the radical left's lies, new legislation wasn't needed to secure our border, just a new president.

Mamdani Celebrates Ramadan With Incarcerated Suspects at Rikers Island. What About the Victims?

Democrat socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani celebrated the Muslim holy month of Ramadan the way any normal person would: by breaking bread with hardened criminals and suspects at the notorious Rikers Island Jail Complex.

 Wait, actually, most people wouldn’t celebrate a holiday on Rikers, much less step foot on it if they could possibly avoid it. Zohran, however, dances to the beat of his own drummer, so on Monday, he visited with incarcerated Muslims and broke fast with them. (So people of other faiths were denied a seat at the table? Asking for a friend.)

He reminisced about "the night that will stay with me for quite some time" in a Friday social media post:

His tweet continues:

It was a night that will stay with me for quite some time. People sharing what little they have: breaking bread, offering prayer, making space for one another’s dignity even in the hardest place.

In a system too often defined by what it takes, I was reminded of what it means to give—mercy, dignity, and humanity.

May we extend that mercy as far as we can. Eid Mubarak to all.

Mamdani has been big on prison reform and has vowed to shut down the infamously dangerous and crumbling Rikers (although he once opposed building new jails to replace the facility, and his plans to come up with alternatives are all over the place).

We know his likely real fantasy: he would like to board up Rikers and NOT replace it with anything.

One thing I always notice about these “justice reform” types, meanwhile, is that they never seem to put on such shows for the victims of crimes and their families. Instead, Zohran would prefer to have a meal with a group that almost certainly has one or more vicious criminals in its midst.

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HATE MASKED WITH A SMILE: More Headaches for Zohran Mamdani After Posts Resurface of Wife's Praise for Terrorist Hijacker

Hot Takes: Mamdani Hears About It After Disgustingly Making St. Patrick's Day About Israel-Hamas War

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Predictably, not everyone was impressed by the socialist’s latest in-your-face stunt. Columnist Daniella Greenbaum Davis had the same question I did: what about the victims?

visiting people in jail is admirable but just wondering if you've also visited their victims / the families of their victims? Seems like there is a bizarre progressive determination to invert victimization i cant quite understand.

— Daniella Greenbaum Davis (@DGreenbaum) March 20, 2026

NYC resident and award‑winning mystery author Daniel Friedman, meanwhile, couldn’t hide his disdain:

You have to be an absolute monster to be sent to Rikers Island these days; almost every offender is released on recognizance pending trial since New York’s 2018 bail reform.

Offenders on Rikers all have long histories of doing things so horrible that even the woke, pro-crime… https://t.co/xpxRUAYMSl

— Daniel Friedman (@DanFriedman81) March 20, 2026

Offenders on Rikers all have long histories of doing things so horrible that even the woke, pro-crime judges and prosecutors in NYC don’t want to be responsible for what they’ll do if they let them go.

Mamdani went out to serve these murderers and rapists a catered dinner with rapist City Council member Yusuf Salaam.  He loves these people and he hates Jews.

That pretty well sums it up.

Editor’s Note: New York City is now facing the consequences of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist takeover.

Lisa Murkowski Pitched This Weak Sauce Exemption to the SAVE Act. You're Going to Laugh About It.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is against the SAVE Act, also known as the Save America Act, but she can’t seem to just say it. It makes no sense: the bill’s core provisions are the ones she supported in 2021. Now, because Trump is president again, probably, she’s opposed to it. 

 The legislation has a long way to go, but it shouldn’t be this hard to pass. It enjoys supermajority support among the American people, especially those in the black community. Democrats can’t say this bill is Jim Crow 2.0 when black voters support it. Harvard has the SAVE Act at 71 percent approval with voters. Democrats know it will forever end their cheating ways. 

But Murkowski is trying to play both sides here, pushing some weak sauce amendment that would exempt Americans born before 1961 from showing proof of citizenship at the ballot box:  

It’s bad enough you’re opposed to this, Lisa. It’s even worse, you’re trying to backtrack somewhat for political reasons and becoming a ‘nitpick Nancy’ over this. 

 

Anti-Trump Republican Has Political Operative Tied to the Most Radical Democrats in Texas on Payroll

Texas Rep. John Lujan

 

 has had a troubled past with the America First and MAGA movements in the Republican Party. From blaming President Donald Trump for his electoral losses in 2018 to supporting an amnesty for “great citizens” who came into the United States illegally, he is a dream candidate for RINOs. 👇

 That could not be more apparent after Townhall discovered that Lujan has kept a Democrat political operative used by the radical left-wing Castro brothers on his payroll.

Campaign finance reports have revealed that Lujan has paid thousands of dollars to Leticia Cantu, a political operative who “managed Julian Castro’s successful mayoral campaign” and “has served as a trusted consultant to Congressman Joaquin Castro.” Julian Castro is the former HUD Secretary under President Joe Biden, and Joaquin touts one of the strongest progressive ratings in all of Congress.

Cantu’s biography on her corporate website indicates that she served as the “chief strategist” for Lujan’s campaign when he won his election to the Texas State House. Lujan has continued to cut checks to Cantu this cycle, as she received $4,091.46 in November of last year.

Lujan owes much of his success to the Dade Phelan-establishment in Texas. Phelan, a man Trump has labeled as a “weak RINO,” recruited and funded Lujan’s political endeavors. Lujan later repaid Phelan by nominating him to the speakership of the Texas House. Trump had previously threatened to support a primary challenge against Phelan, and would later endorse an alternative candidate for the speakership.

Lujan will face off against Trump and Rep. Brandon Gill-endorsed Carlos De La Cruz in the run-off election for Texas’ 35th District on May 26.

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

Court filings: Trump admin. pushes to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia

President Donald Trump’s administration is moving to remove Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia from the United States, this time sending him to Liberia.

On Friday, the White House filed a motion in the U.S. District Court in Maryland asking a federal judge to lift two injunctions in Abrego Garcia’s case, one preventing his detention and another blocking his removal. It argued that the injunctions are based on legal errors and are no longer equitable, especially because Liberia is willing to accept Garcia, and the court’s own “clear legal errors” are the only impediment to his swift removal.

 The court’s memorandum order had failed to acknowledge that its prior injunction against removal is the sole cause of prolonged detention, which it then deemed impermissibly prolonged.

The U.S.’s lawyers wrote that it “presently stands ready, willing, and able” to send the illegal immigrant to Liberia and asked the court to make its decision by April 17^th.

 

Abrego Garcia was deported to his home country of El Salvador in 2025 despite a 2019 court order forbidding his removal to that country due to safety risks. The Trump administration asserted that he was an MS-13 gang member.

In June, a court ordered his return to the U.S., where he faced federal charges, including accusations of human smuggling. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) re-arrested Abrego Garcia with intentions to deport him to Uganda despite his efforts to be sent to Costa Rica. A federal judge blocked these removal attempts temporarily.

According to a memo filed in federal court, the administration previously negotiated with the government of Liberia to accept Abrego Garcia if he were to be deported from the U.S. again. ICE argued that abandoning the agreement “could cast doubt on the diplomatic reliability of the United States.”

 

WNBA's Million-Dollar Players: A Sustainable Pay Raise or a Risky Gamble?

The WNBA and the players’ union announced an agreement in principle this week that would produce the league’s first million-dollar players, a seismic shift for a league that has only recently begun to climb out of long-running financial struggles. Working Americans who value hard-earned pay should ask whether this windfall is tied to real, sustainable growth or to an optimistic spreadsheet and corporate goodwill. Lawyers and boards still must sign off before the deal is official, so the real test is still to come.

Reports from multiple outlets show the proposals would dramatically boost average and minimum pay and create maximum-salary figures that would eclipse anything the WNBA has seen before, largely through a complex revenue-sharing model. League proposals discussed raising salary caps into the multi-million-dollar range and offered players a quicker path to payday — excitement for some, but a red flag for fiscal realists. If the revenue assumptions don’t materialize, owners and fans will be left holding the tab for promises that were sold as inevitable.

 Conservatives should be blunt: the WNBA’s financial fortunes have long been under the NBA’s umbrella and dependent on burgeoning TV deals and corporate sponsorships, not on an independent, market-driven surge of ticket and merchandise revenue. Treating future broadcast deals and sponsor support as guaranteed income is a faith-based approach to budgeting that Americans in the private sector would never tolerate. Before locking in permanent pay structures, owners and players alike should insist that guarantees only follow proven, recurring revenue — not wishful thinking.

This negotiation has been years in the making after players opted out of the previous CBA in October 2024, producing extensions, bargaining standoffs, and the marathon sessions that finally produced a term sheet. That back-and-forth explains why the league has pushed for revenue-linked compensation instead of fixed long-term guarantees that could handcuff franchise flexibility. Whatever the headline numbers, players and owners must face the hard accounting — votes and board approvals remain necessary next steps.

Let’s call it plainly: when a professional sports league’s pay plan depends on outside subsidies, corporate miracles, and ever-growing sponsor checks, it starts to look a lot like a welfare model for athletes rather than a self-sustaining business. Americans who believe in merit, risk, and private investment should reject the notion that unions and owners can endlessly reprice labor without real, durable revenue backing those raises. Sports should reward excellence, not paper over structural weakness with headline salaries.

There’s no denying the league’s momentum in recent years — stars have driven interest and certain personalities have boosted viewership and sponsorship attention — but momentum is not a business plan. The surge around marquee names has been real, and it deserves to be monetized, yet monetization must translate into recurring cash flow before permanent pay escalations are codified. If the business proves it can support higher payrolls through sustained ticket sales, long-term TV contracts, and genuine expansion of the fan base, conservatives will applaud players earning their worth; until then, caution is the responsible course.

Patriots who love American sports should demand transparency, fiscal responsibility, and market discipline from both the WNBA and its players’ union. Reward performance with rewards earned, not promises subsidized by speculative deals and corporate benevolence. Let the league grow on its merits — not by turning athletes into headline-funded dependents of whatever the next media deal can conjure.

 

Palm Beach Pete Sparks Epstein Controversy: Is the Elite Swamp Back?

A new face is stirring up Palm Beach and the internet this week — a fellow calling himself “Palm Beach Pete” went viral after social posts compared him to Jeffrey Epstein, and he’s now appeared in interviews insisting he’s not Epstein while admitting he once “partied” at the same events. The moment feels like a test of common sense: one man can look like another, but in a post-Epstein world no American should shrug and move on when even the faintest link to that rotten circle shows up.

Don’t let the jokes and memes fool you — Jeffrey Epstein’s case exposed a swamp of influence that didn’t vanish with his death, and Americans still have every right to demand answers about who surrounded him and why. Victims deserved a full accounting long ago, and the scandals around Epstein’s custody and the initial handling of his case have never fully been cleared up in the public’s mind.

 The facts we do know — the bungled custody, the prosecution questions, and the mountains of unanswered leads — show a system that protected elites and failed ordinary victims. There were hundreds of hours of related footage and legal wrangling in the aftermath, and law enforcement’s credibility took a beating; that’s why any fresh lead or viral claim should be treated seriously by investigators, not dismissed as clickbait or a punchline.

Social media sleuths have already dug up the posts and interviews tied to this “Palm Beach Pete” handle, and tabloids and local outlets have run with the story — which means two things: civilians will keep chasing rumors, and the establishment will try to spin the narrative away from accountability toward comedy. If someone in Palm Beach is admitting he “partied” around Epstein, prosecutors and local police ought to put facts over viral angles and follow the lawful leads instead of letting the story be cleaned up by late-night hosts.

Americans who care about justice should be skeptical of convenient endings and louder than the hysteria: demand DNA checks, public records, and real follow-through from elected officials and prosecutors until every plausible connection is either proven or debunked in the daylight. We owe it to the victims and to the rule of law to stop letting elite networks hide behind noise and to insist that our institutions do their jobs — no excuses, no favorites, and no more cover-ups.

 

Let's Do It.