Monday, March 23, 2026

Mr. Chump TACOs again


While President Donald Trump cited “productive conversations” with Iranian officials as reason for his sudden reversal Monday in his administration’s war against Iran, new reporting appeared to directly contradict those claims, prompting critics to argue the announcement was an attempt to “save face” after effectively folding under pressure from Tehran.
“Iran called his bluff on the Strait and he folded,” noted journalist and professor Adam Cochran in a social media post on X Monday.
[. . .]
Author and journalist Ali Abunimah came to a similar conclusion as Cochran, arguing that Trump’s reversal was further evidence that the president had succumbed to pressure and was attempting to reframe the retreat as a diplomatic breakthrough.

“Either Trump is backing down or he’s lying. Probably both,” Abunimah wrote Monday in a social media post on X to their more than 270,000 followers.


Mr. Chump does TACO again.  He is always trying to save face.  But he never truly does. He has no idea what he is doing and makes it up as he goes along while the world teeters.  He started this illegal war and he does not know what he is doing.  Nick Hilden offers:

When President Donald Trump was reelected in 2024, he rode in on a largely populist message that promised to lower prices, reduce inflation, cut taxes, and improve American economic output in general. It’s not surprising that this message resonated with so many Americans, as polls found that the economy was overwhelmingly the most important issue of the election, with 81 percent of voters saying it was their top priority.
What’s more, when it comes to Trump’s domestic actions, rather than bringing down prices, Tamari points out that the president has been obsessed with passing voter ID laws instead of legislation that will actually impact Americans’ lives, like housing affordability. Or there's the matter of long airport security lines due to TSA funding conflicts, which Trump has announced he will solve by sending ICE to airports. This is hardly a solution that Americans will embrace, as the public opinion of ICE is dismal, with 43 percent calling for the agency to be reformed, 29 percent saying it needs to be abolished altogether, and just 29 percent saying it should continue as it is.
What’s more, when it comes to Trump’s domestic actions, rather than bringing down prices, Tamari points out that the president has been obsessed with passing voter ID laws instead of legislation that will actually impact Americans’ lives, like housing affordability. Or there's the matter of long airport security lines due to TSA funding conflicts, which Trump has announced he will solve by sending ICE to airports. This is hardly a solution that Americans will embrace, as the public opinion of ICE is dismal, with 43 percent calling for the agency to be reformed, 29 percent saying it needs to be abolished altogether, and just 29 percent saying it should continue as it is.

Robert B. Reich believes Mr. Chump is looking for an exit:


No one knows what Trump is going to do from minute to minute, least of all Trump. But it’s looking ever more likely he’ll be exiting Iran within days, declaring his “excursion” into it (as he’s termed his war) a major victory — and then changing the subject.

On Friday, Trump posted on his social media site that “we are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East.”
What objectives? He never said what they were to begin with.

He’s about to wind down and exit because he doesn’t give a damn about anything except maintaining his wealth and power — and the war is now costing him both.

It’s hurting his financial backers in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar — whose wealth has been seriously diminished by the war and whose vulnerability has been exposed.

It’s pissing off Trump’s wealthy political backers at home — who are getting pummeled as the U.S. stock market sinks under the weight of the war.

It’s infuriating American voters, as gasoline sells for nearly $4 a gallon — causing Republicans to become ever more anxious about a political backlash in the midterm elections. Most were elected on Trump’s coattails in the 2024 election, in which Trump promised to reduce prices and avoid foreign entanglements — rather than do the exact opposite.
So, forget regime change. Forget freedom for Iranians. Forget “obliterating” Iran’s nuclear capabilities (which Trump claimed he accomplished last June).

Trump will say he vanquished Iran’s military and defense capacities, destroyed its economy, and decapitated its leadership.

Job over. Mission accomplished. Iran obliterated (again).

Right now, though, he has to save face. Iran has rejected Trump’s threat that if it doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz by Monday night, the United States will strike Iranian power plants. Iran says if the U.S. attacks Iran’s power plants, it will attack energy, information technology, and desalination facilities across the Gulf.


To adapt the famous quotation attributed to the Duke of Wellington, I don’t know what effect Donald Trump has upon the enemy but, by God, he must frighten his commanders.

Every time I see General Dan “Razin’” Caine, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, I wonder how he copes with his biggest single strategic challenge – making sense of his boss. The president’s ever-shifting and sometimes contradictory war aims, threats, bombast and unilateral declarations are hardly the kind of direct, practical, consistent orders that any military needs to get the job done. How can they, if they don’t know what the “job” actually is from one day to the next, or even from one minute to the next?
Never mind making America great again, Trump is actively weakening America’s efforts to “win” this war, by any feasible definition. General Caine must be a very patient man.

Presumably, for example, a few days ago Razin’s USAF pilots, bombers and associated forces were all ready to “obliterate” – a favourite Trump term – Iran’s power plants, starting with the biggest one. It would be, quite arguably, a breach of the laws of war, being clearly civilian infrastructure, something tacitly admitted in past Trump statements. But it was at least a clear instruction to the military. A 48-hour deadline was set by Trump on his social media app Truth Social for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz.
No longer. The Iranians, nihilistic as ever, countered with a promise to mine the oil supply routes and destroy desalination plants across the Gulf, meaning an intensified global energy crisis, and no drinking water across the Arabian peninsular, with obviously dire humanitarian and economic consequences.

Does Trump still want to take the oil refinery on Kharg Island? It would be an incredibly difficult task for US forces. And at what cost in lives? Senator Lindsey Graham, an increasingly grotesque figure, suggests that if they could take Iwo Jima from the Japanese in the Second World War, this little bit of Iran would be a pushover, although Iwo Jima cost 6,800 Americans and 26,000 casualties in total. Trump seems to have backed off the plan.

So Trump has lived up to his “Taco” nickname and has now chickened out – again. 

TACO -- Trump Always Chickens Out.  

This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot" for today:

Monday, March 23, 2026.  Chump bellows over the weekend at Iran and makes threats which he then retracts an hour ago this morning, his war is destroying the US economy, his buddy Epstein might as well be alive for all the attention his late pedophile buddy continues to garner, and much more.



In the video above, Ben (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) brings us up to date on Chump and Netanyahu's war on Iran.   The war has been a failure, a tragedy and a crime.  Instead of admitting this, Chump attacks the media.  It really has gotten old   Daniel Dale (CNN) notes Chump's baseless attacks on US media:

CNN inquired about Trump’s claim on social media that media outlets worked “in close coordination” with Iran to spread fake videos showing a US aircraft carrier on fire and should be charged with “TREASON.” Asked which outlets disseminated these videos, spokesperson Anna Kelly’s reply began, “President Trump is right – global news outlets quickly amplified the Iranian regime’s false claims about the USS Lincoln.” The three examples Kelly provided as supposed proof, though, were all to foreign news outlets – one Israeli, one Saudi and one Turkish – that quoted Iran’s baseless claims to have struck the Lincoln; these outlets couldn’t possibly have committed “TREASON” against the US, since they don’t owe allegiance to the US, and none of the examples included fake videos.

Declaring that the president is right about things he is very obviously not right about would be a highly unusual communications tactic from any other White House, including Trump’s own first administration.

Each White House communications team tries to put the best possible spin on the falsehoods of the president it is serving. Under Biden, though, aides tended to demand anonymity to address the falsehoods, then claim Biden had merely misspoken, that the inaccuracy in question was unimportant, or that there was broader context worth considering. They wouldn’t make an on-the-record declaration that Biden was correct when he was transparently incorrect.

Trump’s communications aides during his first presidency, meanwhile, tended to simply ignore media inquiries about Trump lies they knew they couldn’t convincingly defend.

So why do his second-term aides habitually put their names on “President Trump is right” quotes when he plainly isn’t right? When we asked the White House for an explanation in early March, Desai replied, “President Trump has been right about everything, and CNN struggles to accept this. Sad!”

Funny. But we have more plausible theories.

Trump’s second-term administration is staffed with loyalists who are willing to risk their reputations with the mainstream media to go out on shaky limbs for him. Trump demands public praise and devotion. The president’s never-back-down, never-admit-error ethos permeates this White House. And since the president has himself publicly declared as recently as January that “Trump is right about everything,” the people around him don’t exactly feel free to concede he was wrong about even the most obscure of subjects.

“They know he expects a robust PR team that does nothing but praise him,” said Stephanie Grisham, who served as Trump’s White House communications director and press secretary in 2019 and 2020 before becoming a sharp critic of him.


President Donald Trump’s chest-thumping ultimatum against Iran is looking like a misfire.

On Saturday evening, the 79-year-old commander-in-chief threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if the country did not end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.

Tehran’s answer came sooner—but it wasn’t the climbdown Trump had hoped for.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned Sunday that Iran would “irreversibly” destroy critical infrastructure of its neighbors in the Middle East—including energy and oil facilities—should Trump follow through on his threat to hit the country’s electricity grid, Reuters reports.

Qalibaf said such an attack would keep the price of oil elevated for the long haul. 




President Trump said on social media that the United States and Iran have held “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East,” and that he had instructed the Pentagon to postpone any attacks on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days. It is unclear who was handling the diplomacy between the United States and Iran, which have traded increasingly bellicose threats to escalate the conflict in recent days.

Oh, look at TACO making his big statement and then backing down.  No, there was no "very good and productive conversation" regarding the war on Iran.  Chump just realized he'd stepped out too far and was about to lose face on the world stage so he lies an hour ago that Iran and the US just had "very good and productive conversations."  Oh, Chump, you look like a chump because you are one. 



Three weeks into Operation Epic Fury, the uncomfortable truth is settling over Washington like a storm cloud: air power alone cannot win this war.

Despite destroying over 8,000 targets, sinking most of Iran’s navy, and killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the opening hours of the February 28 strikes, the Islamic Republic continues to fight back with a ferocity that has caught the Trump administration off guard. Iran has effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz — the chokepoint for one-fifth of the world’s oil — using missiles, armed drones, and reportedly sea mines.

Now, according to multiple reports from CBS News, Reuters, and Axios, the Pentagon has drawn up detailed plans to deploy ground forces into Iran, including a potential amphibious operation to seize Kharg Island, the offshore hub that processes 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports.


Three weeks of disaster with no end in sight, no clear reason given for the war (none that's stuck), and clues that it's not going well, that's the Iran war that Chump joined Netanyahu in starting.  Matt Spetalnick and Nandita Bose (REUTERS) explained on Saturday:


President Donald Trump ends the third week of the Iran war confronting a crisis that seems to be slipping out of his hands: Global energy prices are surging, the United States stands isolated from allies and more troops are preparing to deploy despite his promise the war would be only a "short excursion."

A defensive Trump called other NATO countries "cowards" for refusing to help secure the Strait of Hormuz and insisted the campaign was unfolding according to plan. But his declaration on Friday that the battle "was Militarily WON" clashed with the reality of a defiant Iran that is choking off Gulf oil and gas supplies while launching missile strikes across the region.

Trump, who took office promising to keep the U.S. out of "stupid" military interventions, now appears to control neither the outcome nor the messaging of a conflict he helped to initiate. The lack of a clear exit strategy carries risks both for his presidential legacy and his party's political prospects as Republicans scramble to defend narrow majorities in Congress in the November midterm elections.


And the American people watch as this war of choice that was started in the middle of the night and announced by a video Chump posted to his Truth-Social cesspool continues.  Despite Chump declareing it a victory several times already, the war continues.  And he's sending troops in.  He has no clue what he's doing.  He has no idea how to end this war.  He only knows how to destroy -- including destroying the US economy.   Sam Stevenson (NEWSWEEK) reports:


A new national poll shows President Donald Trump’s approval rating collapsing among independent voters, marking his weakest showing with the political middle since returning to office in that particular series.

[. . .]

Independent voters often decide close elections, and their sharp move away from Trump comes as the 2026 midterms approach. 

At the same time, the Iran war and its knock-on effects on gas prices and everyday costs are keeping economic anxiety front and center for voters.


Also noting polling is Aaron Blake (CNN):


A new Reuters-Ipsos poll, for instance, shows 21% of Republicans disapprove of the war. (Americans overall disapprove 59%-37%.)

And a Yahoo News-YouGov poll conducted over the weekend showed not only did 17% of Republicans disapprove of Trump’s handling of Iran, but so did 24% of people who say they voted for him in 2024.

Chump has destroyed the economy -- again.  People are trying not to panic as they watch the prices of gas and food soar.  Chump launched this illegal war and he is being held accountable for it.  Lee Moran (HUFFINGTON POST) notes:


Economist Henrietta Treyz warned this weekend not to expect prices — which have already been driven up by President Donald Trump’s Iran war — to fall anytime soon.

Even if the Strait of Hormuz, the vital channel off Iran’s coast through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil passes, fully reopened tomorrow, it would still take around 200 days for prices to return to normal, she said on MS NOW.

But that scenario of the Strait reopening so soon is unlikely, the Veda Partners co-founder and director of economic policy told anchor Erielle Reshef.

It means higher prices are here to stay, she said, with soaring crude oil costs rippling across the economy to drive up prices in multiple sectors.

“So, if you’re trying to buy an airline flight, if you’re trying to do anything, the costs of this war are going to trickle down across the entire economy and it’s going to cascade for literally years to come,” she said.

She later warned consumers should brace for “higher interest rates, higher gas prices, higher food prices, jet prices, semiconductor prices. I mean, you name it, it’s across the economy now,” she added.


Now let's turn to Chump's dead friend Jeffrey Epstein.  Alexander Willis (RAW STORY) reports:


In 2007, Ex-Trump official Alexander Acosta, then the top federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida, was pressed by his subordinate to pursue a 60-count indictment she had prepared against Jeffrey Epstein.

Acosta, according to a new report, dismissed the plan.

That subordinate was then-federal sex-crimes prosecutor Marie Villafaña, who Bloomberg reported Friday had “begged” Acosta – who would later go on to become President Donald Trump’s labor secretary during his first term – to “urgently” arrest Epstein, but to no avail.

“I’m having trouble understanding – given how long this case has been pending – what the rush is,” wrote Matthew Menchel, Acosta’s chief criminal prosecutor, in a 2007 email to Villafaña that was released recently by the Justice Department. “This is obviously a very significant case and [Acosta] wants to take his time making sure he is comfortable before proceeding.”


Acosta still can't explain why he negotiated the sweetheart deal he did with Epstein.  In his first term as president, Chump worried more about his Epstein connections and how they might look.  That's why, when Epstein got arrested in 2019 and Secretary of Labor Acosta was suddenly facing questions, Acosta suddenly resigned as Secretary of Labor.  Contrast that with Chump in his second term and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnik.  Last fall, Lutnick went on Miranda Devine's podcast and announced that Epstein was a neighbor but that he and his wife broke off all communication with him after visiting his residence and the chills that they had while they were there.


Lutnick was a visionary or something.  To hear him tell the tale.


But there are nursey rhymes with more truth in them than Lutnick's tale.  As WIKIPEDIA notes:


In January 2026, newly released Epstein files showed extensive contact between Lutnick and Epstein over several years. A longtime Epstein aide reached out to Lutnick in November 2012 to arrange a meeting while Lutnick was in Saint Thomas; Lutnick, accompanied by his wife Allison and their four children, agreed to a lunch on December 23 on Epstein's private island. Emails showed Lutnick and his wife coordinating logistics, including where to dock their yacht at Little Saint James. The day after the scheduled meeting, BBC News reported that Lutnick "received an email from a redacted sender that said Epstein wanted to pass a message to him, which said: 'Nice seeing you'—suggesting that at least one visit did happen."[99] The two also had drinks together on another occasion in 2011 according to Epstein's schedule. In November 2015, Epstein received an invitation from Lutnick to a fundraiser at his financial firm for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. In 2017, the two men discussed plans about the construction of a building across the street from both of their homes. The next year, Epstein contributed to a philanthropic dinner hosted by Lutnick.[100][101]

When asked about the emails, Lutnick told The New York Times "I spent zero time with him" and hung up. A Commerce Department spokesman said Lutnick had "limited interactions" with Epstein "in the presence of his wife" and has never been accused of wrongdoing.[101] On February 10, 2026, Lutnick testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee on his relationship with Epstein. Here, Lutnick admitted that in December 2012, four years after Epstein's conviction, Lutnick and his wife and children visited Little Saint James where they had lunch with Epstein.[102] The hearing led to bipartisan criticism, and calls for Lutnick's resignation.[103]


Of course, Lutnick's not the only one who lied in 2025 about his relationship with Epstein.  Others would include, obviously, Donald Chump.  In 2025, Chump announced he had kicked Epstein out of Margo Lard-Ass but that wasn't true as we've now discovered.  Sarah K. Burris reports on the revelation this week that Chump has lied repeatedly about his relationship with Epstein and how Pam Bondi's Justice Dept tried to cover that up by redacting a document: 


Under the law passed by Congress, the only redactions the Justice Department can make are the names of the survivors of Epstein's abuse. But Wilson has a copy of one document that was redacted by the DOJ and doesn't mention survivors. It mentions Trump.

Wilson said that he was given the document by Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), who obtained the full copy from another source.

"In it, Trump's attorney at the time, Alan Garten, I believe, is the name, revealed a few small things," Wilson said. "One of which is that Trump never threw Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago."

Trump has said for years that he and Epstein got into a fight over a real estate matter. Then it was reported that Trump was actually mad that Epstein was taking girls from his country club to work for him. It isn't clear which one or if both are true, but Trump maintains that he and Epstein fell out and he banned the trafficker from Mar-a-Lago.

A more recent report cites Trump telling a local Palm Beach County police officer that he was grateful Epstein was finally arrested, saying, "everyone has known he's been doing this." It flagged Trump's continued denials that he never knew about Epstein's crimes.

Wilson said that Epstein was never a member of Mar-a-Lago and that Trump never threw him out.

"That even after that, he went to Epstein's home, flew on his plane," Wilson said. "This is material that the FBI and the Department of Justice have absolutely no reason to redact, and yet it is still redacted in their official version, even the one they will provide for members of Congress."


The lies just fly out of Chump's mouths.  Henry Giardina (QUEERTY) notes:


In the interview notes, Tr*mp appears to confirm that not only was Epstein never a member of Mar-a-Lago, he was never expelled or asked to leave, which runs contrary to Tr*mp’s oft-repeated story about personally kicking out Epstein after he allegedly tried to recruit women from the spa into his own trafficking empire. In the same interview, Garten states that he spoke to the manager of Mar-A-Lago at the time, who confirms that Epstein was never asked to leave the property.

We know that Tr*mp and Epstein did fall out sometime in 2004, but the cause had nothing to do with Epstein’s creepy behavior. That would become Tr*mp’s story in after Epstein’s trial and conviction, but in reality, the two sparred over an oceanfront property bidding war that Tr*mp eventually won.

Again, it’s nothing we don’t know. Tr*mp lies, and he gets away with it consistently. But there’s another bombshell that could, in combination with this uncovered lie and what we know about the activity at Zorro Ranch, end up being impossible for congress to ignore.

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, a longtime critic of Tr*mp, uncovered something else in the files that speaks to the DOJ’s massive cover-up. Wyden has been trying to read files from a past DEA probe into Epstein’s activity, and according to Wyden, Tr*mp apointee Todd Blanche, the current Deputy Attorney General, keeps mysteriously blocking him from access.

“By withholding this unclassified document from the U.S. Congress, you are covering up for pedophiles and obstructing my investigation into the financing of Epstein’s criminal sex trafficking organization,” Wyden wrote to Blanche in a recent public letter.

As with most of the unredacted bombshells we’ve seen, the reason certain files are still being black barred has nothing to do with protecting Epstein’s victims and everything to do with keeping Tr*mp’s million mentions out of the press.   


  Robert Davis (RAW STORY) reports:

A political analyst was taken aback on Sunday by a report that uncovered new details about the death of disgraced financier and convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein. 

On Friday, the Miami Herald reported that several bags of shredded documents were found outside of the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, where Epstein was being kept. Investigatory documents obtained by the outlet revealed that at least one inmate was involved in disposing of the documents and raised questions about the extent of the prison guards' involvement in the ordeal.

Podcaster and owner of MSW Media, Allison Gill, was taken aback by the report as she discussed it on a new episode of her podcast, "The Breakdown," on Sunday. She called the report a "massive revelation."

"If there weren't already a million really weird coincidences surrounding the death of Jeffrey Epstein, if there weren't a mountain of odd coincidences, this story ... would still raise glaring alarm bells just on its own," Gill said.

Gill noted several facts presented in the report that seemed "pretty convenient." For instance, an inmate named Steven Lopez was interviewed by FBI agents about the document shredding, but was only asked yes-or-no questions. A prison lieutenant was also present during the interview.

"That's pretty intimidating," Gill said.


 Olivia Salamone (RADAR) notes:


Donald Trump's Justice Department is facing renewed scrutiny after a newly surfaced report claimed officials destroyed large volumes of documents in the days following Jeffrey Epstein's death, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

The explosive allegation, buried in a batch of records released earlier this year, suggests key materials may have been discarded while federal investigators were still trying to piece together what happened inside the New York jail where the disgraced financier died.

According to the document, seen by The Daily Beast, a Bureau of Prisons review team was sent into the Metropolitan Correctional Center shortly after Epstein was found dead in August 2019.

But instead of simply examining procedures, witnesses described a steady stream of shredded paperwork being hauled out of the facility.

"[Redacted] has never seen this amount of bags of shredded documents coming out to be put in the dumpster at the rear gate of the MCC," the report stated.

The activity reportedly unfolded while multiple agencies, including the FBI and inspector general officials, were present amid the ongoing investigation.


Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:

Warren: “Now, more than ever, we need strong, independent military lawyers.”

Warren: “Our enemies might not care about civilian casualties, but the US military always has.”

Video of Exchange (YouTube)

Washington, D.C. — At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) raised her concerns to the commanders of United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) about the Trump administration’s sidelining of the military’s Judge Advocate General Corps (JAGs), who are responsible for providing independent legal advice to commanders. This sidelining risks increasing the chances of civilian harm as the war against Iran continues.

Under this Trump Administration, JAGs have been systematically sidelined in spite of federal law providing that no one at the Department of Defense (DoD) may interfere with the TJAGs’ ability to “give independent legal advice to commanders." In February 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired The Judge Advocate General of the Army, Navy, and Air Force to avoid “roadblocks” to the President’s orders. On March 12, Hegseth announced a “ruthless” review of JAGs to overhaul the Department’s legal offices.

“JAGs can't give their best advice if they fear losing their job just for raising legal concerns with an operation,” said Senator Warren.

Senator Warren questioned General Gregory M. Guillot, NORTHCOM Commander, on whether he witnessed NORTHCOM sidelining any JAGs. General Guillot assured Senator Warren that the JAG corps is included in all battle rhythm meetings at his command. However, Senator Warren pointed out that across the department the Trump administration has reassigned hundreds of JAGs to work on the president's immigration agenda, as well as concerns about the chilling effects of the Secretary’s review.

“For decades, military lawyers have worked side by side with officers to make sure that strikes are lawful and that they minimize civilian casualties," said Senator Warren. “That doesn't make us weaker. It saves innocent lives and it prevents fueling terrorism.”

Since the start of the Iran War, Secretary Hegseth has shown a complete disregard for the laws of war. On March 3, Secretary Hegseth remarked that Operation Epic Fury would have “no stupid rules of engagement.” On March 4, while describing U.S. military operations in Iran, Secretary Hegseth announced, “death and destruction from the sky all day long.” This rhetoric could endanger civilians, including American citizens, in the region and around the globe. Already, a preliminary investigation from the Department of Defense found the U.S. was likely responsible for the strike on a girls’ elementary school that reportedly killed at least 175 people – mostly children – in Minab, Iran.

Senator Warren pressed Lieutenant General Francis L. Donovan, SOUTHCOM Commander, on whether he would inform the Senate Armed Services Committee if SOUTHCOM is directed to do something that the Lieutenant General or his JAGs believed to be illegal. Lieutenant General Donovan refused to commit to directly informing the Senate Armed Services Committee, insisting on working through his chain of command.

Senator Warren raised her concern over Lieutenant General Donovan's response and emphasized the need for nonpartisan military leaders to commit to following the law.

“We need our nonpartisan military leaders to double down on their commitment to following the law and speaking up when they are asked to break it, and Congress needs to be able to step in and rein in this lawless commander-in-chief and his self-styled Secretary of War,” concluded Senator Warren.

Transcript: Hearings to examine the posture of United States Northern Command and United States Southern Command in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2027 and the Future Years Defense Program.
Senate Armed Services Committee
March 19, 2026

Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. President Trump and Secretary Hegseth are repeatedly dragging the US military across both legal and moral lines. Trump and Hegseth have plunged us into an illegal war with Iran, where a US airstrike appears to have killed 150 schoolchildren. And it's not just in Iran. Under Trump and Hegseth, the military fired on civilians and shipwrecked survivors in the Caribbean. And now, Secretary Hegseth is threatening to give "no quarter" to adversaries. This is not who we are. Our enemies might not care about civilian casualties, but the US military always has. And that is why Secretary Hegseth’s attacks on the guardrails that prevent civilian harm and civilian casualties is so dangerous.

So, take the JAGs. Now, more than ever, we need strong, independent military lawyers, but there are serious concerns that JAGs cannot give honest legal advice right now.

General Guillot, let me ask you, have you seen any evidence of the JAG corps being sidelined, whether at NORTHCOM or elsewhere in the department?

General Gregory M. Guillot: Senator, I have not seen any evidence of the JAGs being sidelined in our command. I'll point out that our JAG is included in all of our battle rhythm meetings, and in fact, our JAG is sitting behind me right now.

Senator Warren: Yeah, and I just want you to know I'm glad to hear that. Glad to hear it's not happening in your command. But we know that this is a problem across the department. Secretary Hegseth fired TJAGs because he thought they were "roadblocks," and he installed his personal lawyer to retrain military lawyers to water down constraints. He reassigned hundreds of JAGs to work on Trump's radical immigration agenda. And last week, the Secretary said he's starting a quote, "ruthless overhaul of the JAG system."

Look, for decades, military lawyers have worked side by side with officers to make sure that strikes are lawful and that they minimize civilian casualties. That doesn't make us weaker. It saves innocent lives and it prevents fueling terrorism. But Secretary Hegseth has blamed JAGs for what he calls, quote, "stupid rules of engagement."

General Donovan, let me ask you, if a JAG or a civilian harm advisor says to distinguish between a military base and an elementary school in an airstrike. Is that a stupid rule of engagement?

Lieutenant General Francis L. Donovan: No, Senator.

Senator Warren: Look, JAGs can't give their best advice if they fear losing their job just for raising legal concerns with an operation. One way we protect the integrity of legal advice in our military is by creating for-cause removal protections for our JAGs. Commanders also need to be able to speak up when they're being asked to break the law.

General Donovan, your predecessor, was reportedly ousted because he raised concerns about the legality of the Caribbean boat strikes. Will you commit to informing this committee if SOUTHCOM is directed to do something that you or your JAG think may be illegal?

Lieutenant General Donovan: Senator, my first obligation if I face what I believe is an unlawful legal order is to obviously seek legal counsel, discuss that with my higher headquarters, and then move forward and not carry out an illegal order.

Senator Warren: Yeah, maybe you didn't hear my question. My question was, will you commit to informing this committee if SOUTHCOM is directed to do something that you or your JAG thinks is illegal?

Lieutenant General Donovan: If I reported that to this committee, Senator, it would be through my chain of command.

Senator Warren: But you would make sure that we got the information?.

Lieutenant General Donovan: I would report to my chain of command.

Senator Warren: And you would not take any responsibility for making sure we got that information? You do realize we have oversight responsibilities here.

Lieutenant General Donovan: Senator, I would work that information through my chain of command.

Senator Warren: All right, that's a very concerning answer here. Look, what's happening right now is very dangerous. We need our nonpartisan military leaders to double down on their commitment to following the law and speaking up when they are asked to break it and Congress needs to be able to step in and rein in this lawless commander-in-chief and his self-styled Secretary of War. Thank you.

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