‘We make a lot of money’: Trump spins spiking oil prices as benefit for US
In a Truth Social post, Donald Trump suggested that the skyrocketing price of oil – which jumped back above $100 a barrel before dropping to $98 a barrel – would ultimately be beneficial for Americans who are facing increased gasoline prices at the pump.
“The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” the president – who campaigned on bringing down costs – wrote. “BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World. I won’t ever let that happen!”
On Wednesday Trump tried to assuage concerns over spiking gas prices. “I would say it went up a little bit less than we thought. It’s going to come down more than anybody understands,” the president told reporters in Ohio.
According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the national average for a gallon of fuel is currently $3.59 – up from $2.94 a month ago.
Key events
FBI responding to reports of active shooter at Michigan synagogue
FBI director Kash Patel said that the agency’s personnel “are on the scene with partners in Michigan” in response to the news of a vehicle ramming into a synagogue in a Detroit suburb and the subsequent firing of gunshots.
The incident happened at the Temple Israel Synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, according to local law enforcement.
We’ll bring you more details as they come through.
Joseph Gedeon
Microsoft has thrown its weight behind Anthropic’s legal challenge against the Pentagon, filing a court brief in support of the AI company’s effort to overturn an aggressive designation that effectively bars it from government work.
In an amicus brief submitted to a federal court in San Francisco this week, Microsoft, which integrates Anthropic’s AI tools into systems it provides to the US military, argued that a temporary restraining order was necessary to prevent serious disruption to suppliers whose products rely on the AI company’s technology. Google, Amazon, Apple and OpenAI have also signed on to a brief in support of Anthropic.
In a statement to the Guardian, Microsoft said:
The Department of War needs reliable access to the country’s best technology. And everyone wants to ensure AI is not used for mass domestic surveillance or to start a war without human control. The government, the entire tech sector, and the American public need a path to achieve all these goals together.”
Microsoft is one of the Pentagon’s most deeply embedded tech partners, holding a share of the military’s Joe Biden-era $9bn Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract alongside Amazon, Google and Oracle, as well as separate software and enterprise services deals worth several billion dollars more.
The filing comes after Anthropic launched two lawsuits on Monday – one in federal court in California and one in the DC circuit court of appeals – challenging the Pentagon’s decision to label it a supply-chain risk, a designation that has never previously been applied to a US company.
Read the full report:
Ahead of the Senate passing the 21st Century ROAD to Housing act, John Thune explained that he would bring Donald Trump’s voter ID bill to the Senate floor next week, where it is unlikely to clear the 60-vote threshold needed to pass.
The president has made the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, his “number one priority” and urged Thune – the Senate’s top Republican – to “be a leader” and get the votes necessary to advance the legislation.
“I think we can all agree that if you have to show photo ID and prove where you live to get a library card, it’s not too much to ask voters to show ID to vote in federal elections,” Thune said on the upper chamber floor on Thursday.
The bill has been the vehicle for Trump to repeat baseless claims about undocumented immigrants voting in federal elections, something that experts say is exceedingly rare. The president also wants to add a host of measures not included in the House-passed version of the legislation, including a ban on mail voting, a ban on gender-affirming surgeries for minors and a prohibition on trans women playing women’s sports.
Some of those new provisions, and some in the existing bill, don’t fly with all Republicans. Thom Tillis, a GOP senator from North Carolina, said he didn’t approve of banning mail voting.
Conservatives who support the bill have pushed for Thune to mandate a so-called “talking” filibuster, which would force Democrats to hold the floor to block the Save America act. However, Thune has pushed back on that strategy.
“We don’t have the votes, either to proceed [to] a talking filibuster nor to sustain one if we got one,” Thune said Tuesday at a press conference. “That’s just a function of math. There isn’t anything I can do about that.”
Senate overwhelmingly passes landmark housing bill
The Senate has passed a landmark housing bill, aimed at boosting the housing supply and lowering costs, by a huge bipartisan margin.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, written by Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren and Republican Tim Scott, won 89 votes – a rare bipartisan breakthrough. Nine GOP senators and one Democrat voted against it.
If the legislation is approved it would fund a number of incentives for building new homes, launch a program to allow abandoned buildings to become housing development, prohibit large institutional investors from buying up single-family homes, approve new grants to overhaul homes, along with other provisions, including on rent control.
However, it will now be sent to the House, where it faces uncertainty. Some GOP lawmakers oppose a provision in the bill that only temporarily bans the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital currency; they want a permanent ban. There is also controversy over certain provisions, including on rent control, that some lawmakers consider “communist”.
In case you missed it yesterday, the Trump administration restored international travel program Global Entry, after the fast-track system was halted last month during the ongoing partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.
CNN was first to break the news, quoting a DHS spokesperson as saying: “As DHS continually evaluates measures it can take amidst the Democrats’ continued shutdown of the department, DHS will be reactivating Global Entry on March 11th at 5:00 AM ET. We are working hard to alleviate the disruptions to travelers caused by the Democrats’ shutdown.”
The department’s funding lapsed after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on a spending bill on 14 February due to broader Democratic concerns over the need for greater restrictions and oversight of federal immigration enforcement.
However, Global Entry is primarily self-funded by a $120 fee paid by users every five years, rather than by direct federal appropriations.
In recent days, travelers at airports across the US experienced long security lines – that stretched for hours in some cases – as a shortage of TSA agents affected checkpoint operations, while Global Entry remained closed.
Eswatini receives four more third-country deportees from US, government says
Eswatini said it had received four more third-country deportees from the United States today, bringing the total to at least 19 expelled under the Trump administration’s aggressive mass deportation drive.
In a post shared on X, the government of Eswatini said two of the latest deportees were from Somalia, one was from Sudan and one was from Tanzania. Previous deportees, arriving in July last year, included nationals of Vietnam, Cuba, Laos and Yemen.
A lawyer for some of that earlier group, Alma David, told Reuters a Cambodian man, Pheap Rom, was due to be repatriated, the second to be released after another man was sent back to Jamaica last year.
Donald Trump’s administration has paid the small southern African kingdom $5.1m to receive 160 deportees.
“In line with this agreement … the nation has received another cohort of four third-country nationals from the United States,” the statement reads.
Eswatini is one of several African countries that have made such secretive deals with the Trump administration and accepted third-country deportees from the US. Others include Ghana, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda.
The country’s high court last month threw out a case filed by local human rights lawyers that challenged it, though they have appealed.
Despite having served their sentences for crimes on US soil, the remainder are still in prison in Eswatini. “Intensive engagements with the respective countries of origin … are ongoing,” the statement continued.
Donald Trump said today that Iran’s football team is “welcome” to play in the 2026 World Cup, taking place this summer in the US, Mexico and Canada. However, the president issued an important caveat: “I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety.”
This comes after Iran’s sports minister Ahmad Donyamali told state media that “under no circumstances” could the country’s football team participate in the competition on Wednesday, following US-Israeli strikes on Iran that have killed the supreme leader and thousands of civilians.
“Given the malicious actions they have carried out against Iran, they have forced two wars on us over eight or nine months and have killed and martyred thousands of our people. Therefore, we certainly cannot have such a presence,” Donyamali said.
Clyburn says he will run for re-election at 85, poised to be one of the oldest members of Congress
Jim Clyburn, the South Carolina Democrat who was first elected to Congress in 1992, announced that he would seek re-election for his House seat on Thursday.
At 85, Clyburn is set to be the third oldest member of Congress if he wins his election in November. Throughout his tenure in office, Clyburn has held a number of senior positions within the Democratic caucus – including majority whip under former House speaker Nancy Pelosi.
For her part, Pelosi announced last year that should would retire at the end of this term, joining several older Democrats who are stepping down from public office after the November midterms.
Senate Democrats send letter to Hegseth for more information on bombing of Iran girls’ school
Almost all Senate Democrats, and the two independent lawmakers who caucus with the party, sent a letter to Pete Hegseth demanding answers to more questions about the bombing of an Iranian girls’ school that killed at least 175 people.
All but one Democratic lawmaker – senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania – signed the letter, after the New York Times reported that a preliminary investigation shows the US is to blame for the strikes near a naval base in Minab.
Citing unnamed officials familiar with the preliminary findings, the Times reports that Tomahawk missile strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school was the result of a “targeting mistake” by the US military.
In their letter, upper chamber Democrats say that the “findings must be released to the public as soon as possible, along with any measures to pursue accountability.”
They also provide a list of questions for the defense secretary, including whether the US carried out the strikes, or played any role in planning, coordinating, or supporting the strikes. They also ask whether the Pentagon is complying with the rules of engagement to prevent possible war crimes.
Pentagon tells lawmakers that war cost over $11.3bn in the first week – reports
US defense officials told senators on the armed services committee that the cost of the war on Iran totaled more than $11.3bn in the first six days alone, according to multiple reports.
The New York Times was first to break the news about the conflict’s price tag, citing three people familiar with the closed-door briefing on Tuesday.
According to the Times, the figure did not include many of the costs associated with the operation, such as the buildup of military hardware and personnel ahead of the first strikes. For that reason, lawmakers expect the number to grow considerably as the Pentagon continues to calculate the costs that accumulated during the first week of military action on Iran.
Several reports note that the White House is expected to submit additional funding requests for the conflict, despite the fact that Donald Trump claimed last week the US has a “virtually unlimited supply” of medium and upper grade ammunition that is primarily being used in the war.
The administration has not provided a public estimate of the cost of the conflict, and has offered confusing messages about its timeline. Trump said on Wednesday that “we won” the war but that the US will stay in the fight to “finish the job”.
‘We make a lot of money’: Trump spins spiking oil prices as benefit for US
In a Truth Social post, Donald Trump suggested that the skyrocketing price of oil – which jumped back above $100 a barrel before dropping to $98 a barrel – would ultimately be beneficial for Americans who are facing increased gasoline prices at the pump.
“The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” the president – who campaigned on bringing down costs – wrote. “BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World. I won’t ever let that happen!”
On Wednesday Trump tried to assuage concerns over spiking gas prices. “I would say it went up a little bit less than we thought. It’s going to come down more than anybody understands,” the president told reporters in Ohio.
According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the national average for a gallon of fuel is currently $3.59 – up from $2.94 a month ago.
My colleagues are covering the latest developments out of the Middle East, including the first statement from the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
In his first remarks, Khamenei called for national unity and said that all US bases in the region should close or face attacks. He added that the strait of Hormuz will remain closed in order to pressure Iran’s enemies.
A reminder that Khamenei took over after his father, the late ayatollah, was killed in a targeted US-Israeli strike.
We’re waiting to hear from Donald Trump, who has previously denigrated the new leader, calling him a “lightweight” and an “unacceptable” choice in interviews with reporters.
Dharna Noor
Donald Trump’s war on Iran has triggered shocks in fossil fuel markets, exposing the perils of an agenda that prioritizes “drill, baby, drill” while sabotaging renewable power and energy efficiency in the US, experts and advocates say.
The US-Israeli war on Iran has already led to hundreds of deaths, created an ecological crisis linked to strikes on oil depots and sent fossil fuel prices haywire across the globe.
Critics say the war also shows the inherent instability of dependence on oil and gas: unlike wind and solar power, fossil fuel-based energy requires constant inputs of products whose availability and costs are determined by the global market.
Since the strikes on Iran began late last month, oil prices soared past $100 a barrel to their highest price since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. They eventually dropped to $98 a barrel on Thursday. The spike has pushed up the cost of gasoline – in which crude oil is a key component – nationwide. And it has sparked concern about broader inflation, which is often triggered by higher crude prices.
The president this week dismissed concerns about surging prices, telling Reuters that if gas prices “rise, they rise”, and later writing on social media that oil spikes are a “very small price” to pay for US safety and that “ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY”. But on the campaign trail and in the White House, Trump repeatedly pledged to bring down the price of household electricity and gasoline by “unleashing” American fossil fuels and boosting energy “independence” and “dominance”.
It’s an “emperor has no clothes moment” for Trump’s pro-fossil fuel policies and claims to support the working class, said Collin Rees, US policy manager at the climate research and advocacy non-profit Oil Change International.
“Americans are seeing, in real time, the deep failings of Trump’s strategy,” he said. “We’re seeing that he’s not doing anything to provide energy stability or price stability.”
Read the full report here with graphics by Aliya Uteuova:
A reminder that while several agencies have been impacted by the DHS shutdown, including the Transportation Security Administration (Tsa) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), federal immigration enforcement is able to largely continue, thanks to the billions of dollars conferred for ICE in Donald Trump’s sweeping tax-policy bill that was signed into law last year.
Senate to vote on DHS funding bill as department shutdown continues
Twenty-seven days into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown, Senate lawmakers will try – for a fourth time – to pass a funding bill to reopen the department.
The impasse over guardrails for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) means that the upper chamber has yet to clear the 60-vote threshold needed to advance.
It’s expected to fail again today, a glaring reminder of the partisan schism over federal immigration funding during Donald Trump’s second administration. A reminder that two US citizens were fatally shot during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. And the president ousted Kristi Noem as his homeland security secretary, 13 months into the job.
US cannot escort ships through strait of Hormuz now, maybe by month’s end, says energy secretary
Graeme Wearden
This won’t reassure the oil market much!
US energy secretary Chris Wright told CNBC on Thursday that the Navy cannot escort ships through the strait of Hormuz now but it was “quite likely” that could happen by the end of the month.
This comes as oil prices jumped almost 10%, above $100 a barrel, before dropping to $98 a barrel amid renewed fears about supply disruption.
Donald Trump is in Washington today. He’ll be in closed-door policy meetings for most of the afternoon. However, we will hear from the president at 4pm ET, when he speaks in the East Room at a White House event for Women’s History Month with first lady Melania Trump.
We’ll bring you the latest lines as that gets under way.
Democrats press for answers over potential conflict of interest between Bondi and her lawyer brother
Democrat lawmakers have asked the Department of Justice to examine a potential conflict of interest in relation to attorney general Pam Bondi and matters involving her lawyer brother.
California Democrats Adam Schiff Dave Min said they have been waiting since 16 December to hear whether the Justice Department properly implemented firewalls and screening procedures in relation to her brother Brad, Bloomberg reports.
“Given the troubling pattern at the department of repeated interventions or dismissals in cases involving Mr Bondi, we are concerned that DOJ officials, including the attorney general, may have failed to ensure the independence of internal accountability mechanisms,” they said in a letter to Justice Department Deputy Inspector General William Blieron Wednesday.
DOJ spokesperson Gates McGavick said in a statement:
These decisions were made through the proper channels and the attorney general had no role in them.
Republicans pile pressure on Thune to alter rules for Trump’s voter ID bill
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
Republican Senate majority leader John Thune came under renewed pressure last night to change the rules to force a vote on the Save America act, a sprawling bill that would upend elections for American voters amid the midterms.
President Donald Trump delivered a blunt message for Thune to reporters outside the White House on Wednesday:
He’s got to be a leader.
The comments came after the president said he would not sign any other legislation until the Save America act came to his desk to sign. And Trump has the support of several in his party as he attempts to bulldozer through the changes.
Texas senator John Cornyn publicly backed changing the filibuster rules in order to help pass the bill. He suggested bringing back a “talking filibuster”, where senators must hold the floor to block legislation.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson called for a test vote on the filibuster, arguing it would force Democrats to go “on the record”. He added that Republicans should consider scrapping the rule if Democrats will not help pass the bill.
He said:
I’ve got colleagues who just simply won’t believe the Democrats will actually do it, just because two of them held out last time – those [two] who’ve been purged from their party
So let’s get them on the record. Let’s —-[make the] first vote out, ‘let’s end the filibuster’ – and just see what they do.
Thune, from South Dakota, said he planned to bring the bill up for a vote next week, but that would mean it would fail – he does not have 60 votes to overcome the filibuster rule and vote on the bill outright, and the talking filibuster isn’t a feasible option.
While the House approved a version of the bill, the Senate does not have the votes, because it would need 60 votes to move forward because of the filibuster rule.
Among the provisions of the Save America act: a requirement to provide documented proof of US citizenship to register to vote (such as a passport or birth certificate); a voter ID requirement for casting a ballot; a prohibition on states registering people to vote unless they provide such documentation at the time of registration; requirements for states to ensure only US citizens are registered; a demand that states turn their voter rolls over to the federal government; and an allowance for private parties to sue election officials if anyone registers to vote without presenting documentary proof of citizenship, as well as potential criminal penalties.
In other developments:
-
Donald Trump insisted to reproters that the war on Iran he launched from his Florida beach club is going so well that “most people” on the cable news channels he turns to for information, “say it’s already been won”.
-
In a political rally in Kentucky, the president urged voters to get rid of Thomas Massie, the Republican congressman who co-wrote the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which compelled the justice department to release investigative files of Jeffrey Epstein, the late child sex offender Trump socialized with for nearly two decades.
-
The United States bombed an Iranian girls’ elementary school, killing at least 175 people, many of them girls between the ages of 7 and 12, according to the New York Times.
-
Joe Rogan, the podcaster who hosted and endorsed Donald Trump in 2024, said that the US military attacks on Venezuela and Iran ordered by Trump were a betrayal of voters won over by his claim to be against regime change wars.
-
As video circulating online showed oil tankers filled with Iraqi oil in flames in the Persian Gulf after reported attacks by Iran, Trump assured his supporters in Hebron, Kentucky, that the war on Iran is already over and “we won”.
