MMN Editor

Iran “Laying Traps” And “Building Up Defenses” On Kharg Island, Preparing For U.S. Ground Attack

Iran has recently bolstered its defenses around Kharg Island, anticipating a possible US move to seize the key oil export hub, CNN reported this week. The island is vital to Iran’s economy, handling roughly 90% of its crude shipments, and has become a focal point in escalating tensions.

The Trump administration has explored the option of sending US forces to take control of the island as leverage to pressure Iran into reopening the Strait of Hormuz. But military officials caution that such an operation would carry serious risks. Iran has reinforced the island with additional air defense systems, including portable missiles, and has planted mines along likely landing zones.

There is also growing skepticism among US allies and policymakers about whether capturing the island would achieve its broader objective. Even if successful, it may not resolve the wider dispute over energy flows and could instead intensify the conflict. An Israeli source warned that US troops could face attacks from drones and shoulder-fired missiles if they attempt a landing.

“I would be very worried about this,” said retired Adm. James Stavridis. “Iranians are clever and ruthless. They will do everything they can to inflict maximum casualties on US forces both on the ships at sea, and especially once ground troops are anywhere in their sovereign territory.”

CNN writes that Iran has responded with its own warnings. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said any attempt to occupy Iranian territory would prompt retaliation against critical infrastructure in the region, adding that US troop movements are under close watch.

Despite its relatively small size—about one-third of Manhattan—Kharg Island would require a substantial military operation to capture. US forces in the region include Marine units trained for amphibious assaults, along with airborne troops preparing to deploy. Surveillance has shown newly fortified positions and defensive preparations on the island.

Although earlier US strikes weakened parts of Iran’s defenses, American forces would still face significant threats from missiles and drones launched from the nearby mainland. This has led to internal debate in Washington over whether the potential benefits justify the risks.

Regional allies are urging restraint, warning that a ground assault could result in heavy casualties and trigger wider retaliation across the Gulf. Some analysts suggest that targeting Iran’s oil exports through a naval blockade could be a less risky alternative to putting troops on the ground.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/26/2026 – 09:05

In less than three months, the United States will welcome the world for the largest sporting event in the history of mankind: the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Our nation will be hosting 78 matches across 11 U.S. host cities in a 40-day period during America’s 250th birthday. This showcase of American exceptionalism is projected to bring in more than 5 million visitors and produce $30 billion in economic output.And yet, President Donald Trump’s White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 is being stifled in ensuring the safety and security of the event because a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown is limiting DHS’s ability to prepare for this unprecedented global tournament.When Congress failed to fund DHS more than a month ago, critical agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the United States Coast Guard (USCG) were forced to operate with limited resources, unpaid staff and suspend certain operations.Each of these agencies, as well as all of the 23 components housed within DHS, are vitally important to the White House FIFA Task Force’s whole-of-government approach to protect U.S. citizens and international visitors alike.TOP TSA WATCHDOG BACKS TRUMP’S ICE AIRPORT MOVE AS SHUTDOWN SNARLS TRAVELRight now, the DHS shutdown is hampering the department’s ability to prepare for the largest influx of visitors in American history. This shutdown is not merely a matter of bureaucratic inconvenience; it is a direct threat to our national security.The first kick-off is less than 80 days away. The longer this shutdown continues, the more gaps there may be in our security and operational planning, preparedness, and coordination. Our ability to deliver a safe World Cup suffers every day that Congress refuses to fund us.As millions of visitors arrive for the World Cup, America’s airports, cities and ports need to be ready. The shutdown is making that nearly impossible.MASK-FREE ICE AGENTS BEGIN PATROLLING US AIRPORTS; TRUMP FLOATS NATIONAL GUARDTSA will play a vitally important role in making sure soccer fans the world over can move throughout the country free of harm. As of today, nearly 95% of TSA employees are working without pay, and the financial strain is causing callout rates to double nationwide, with more than 450 officers quitting since the shutdown began.With fewer officers showing up, TSA has had to consolidate or reduce the number of checkpoints at some airports, creating significantly longer lines for all passengers. Each officer must screen more travelers, increasing the risk of missed threats. At John F. Kennedy International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, callout rates have reached 40%. It is even worse at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston (55%).Now imagine that scenario happening during the busiest travel season in American history — where each of those metropolitan areas will be hosting World Cup games this summer.SEE IT: TRAVELERS SOUND OFF AS ICE AGENTS DEPLOYED TO AIRPORTS AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS PAST 40 DAYSIn addition, plans for new checkpoint screening technology upgrades at World Cup gateway airports risk being delayed or canceled with a prolonged shutdown. World Cup-specific staffing, canine deployments and coordination with airport and law enforcement partners are all falling victim to travel restrictions, approval delays and canceled training sessions.TSA’s Federal Air Marshal Service’s efforts to assess vulnerabilities and deploy Counter-UAS (unmanned aircraft system) capabilities at transportation venues are also at risk. Prolonged shutdown delays or cancels planned security assessments, procurement of C-UAS systems and training on new equipment, which directly affect our ability to detect and mitigate drone threats around key transportation hubs.If Congress does not act, we risk missing threats at our most bustling airports, just as fans from every corner of the globe arrive.CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINIONThe majority of DHS training and exercises for first responders and cybersecurity are on hold. limiting our ability to prepare for physical and cyber threats during the World Cup. Furloughs and reduced staffing impacts DHS’s ability to conduct security assessments, compromise our intelligence posture and hinders collaboration with our partners during this critical planning phrase.The Coast Guard is scheduled to protect America’s harbors and waterways during the World Cup. With nearly 75% of its specialized civilian workforce furloughed and no money for contracts or training, the Coast Guard faces skill gaps and a risk of mission failure. The Coast Guard must mobilize about 1,000 security forces and support personnel for World Cup events, but without funding, they cannot pay for equipment or conduct advanced training.The longer DHS is forced to operate without funding, the increased likelihood that America’s security and the tournament’s success are at risk. Partisan politics are jeopardizing the safety of our communities and the success of this historic event.It does not have to be this way. The bottom line is this: Congress must act now. End the shutdown. Restore DHS funding. Give DHS the necessary resources to deliver a safe, secure and unforgettable World Cup. The clock is ticking. The world will be watching. Congress owes it to the American people to ensure that the World Cup kickstarts the beginning of The Golden Age of America in stunning — and safe — fashion.

A serial repeat offender in Tennessee is accused of stealing a pickup truck and leading police on a chase that ended with him smashing into a car and killing its driver, identified as a 23-year-old woman.Ray Eugene Padgett, 52, has been charged with criminally negligent homicide and vehicular homicide by recklessness in connection with the death of Oluwalayomi Fadero, 23, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department announced.Padgett has also been charged with felony reckless endangerment, attempted criminal homicide, and driving on a revoked license.The 52-year-old, police said, was out on parole and had “at least 20 criminal convictions in five Tennessee counties” before the crash.REPEAT OFFENDER STREET RACING AT 106 MPH MOWS DOWN EMT AFTER PREVIOUSLY KILLING SOMEONE IN CRASH: POLICEPadgett, police say, is suspected of stealing the pickup truck from a Nashville car lot on Friday, March 20.The owner of the lot was able to track the truck to an alley off St. Louis Street in North Nashville, police said. Authorities say that the owner of the lot followed Padgett and spotted the stolen F-250.Padgett allegedly put the truck in reverse and rammed the vehicle the owner was in before fleeing. Charges related to those occurrences are anticipated, police noted.Padgett kept driving in the stolen vehicle and, according to WSMV, a second ramming occurred as police began tracking the stolen truck via helicopter.GOT A TIP?”The intention at that point is to keep an eye on the truck until it finally stops, have ground units move in, and take the man into custody,” MNPD Public Information Officer Don Aaron told the local outlet.Police said that the driver spotted an unmarked police car in the median and rammed it before leading authorities on an approximately 5-minute car chase.FOLLOW US ON XThe chase ended around 2:30 p.m. when Padgett crossed into oncoming traffic and Oluwalayomi Fadero’s white Hyundai Elantra, pushing them about 100 yards into a ditch, police said.Fadero was pronounced dead at the scene.The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s College of Nursing remembered Fadero as “a valued member of the August 2026 cohort” who was in the college’s accelerated nursing school. “She brought light to those around her through her kindness, generosity, beautiful smile, and genuine passion for helping others,” they said.GET BREAKING NEWS BY EMAILA GoFundMe for Fadero says she was turning onto the road where she lived when she was killed.CLICK HERE FOR MORE US NEWS”She was simply on her way home, and her dog Nala was with her in the car,” the fundraiser said, adding that “miraculously, Nala survived the crash and was reunited with Oluwalayomi’s loved ones.””The loss of Oluwalayomi has left a deep void in the hearts of everyone who knew her,” it said.Fadero was set to complete a nursing degree at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in August.

FIRST ON FOX: Idaho and Indiana filed an amicus brief challenging a federal ruling requiring Alaska to provide sex reassignment surgery for prison inmates in a case that could reshape policy nationwide.Alaska is appealing the decision to the Ninth Circuit, seeking to overturn a ruling that found denying sex reassignment surgery to a transgender inmate violated the Eighth Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment. Twenty-four states now warn that if upheld, the judge’s ruling could force prisons across the country to provide transgender medical procedures.Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador said that if the lower judge’s ruling is upheld, it could create a dangerous “precedent.””A federal court ordered Alaska to refer a prisoner for sex-change surgery consultation, which threatens to set a precedent that forces other states to provide these procedures using taxpayer dollars,” Labrador said. “Idaho supports Alaska in defending state medical decisions against judicial overreach. The Eighth Amendment ensures basic medical care for prisoners, but it doesn’t require states to provide experimental gender transition surgeries.”IDAHO AG SAYS SUPREME COURT TRANSGENDER SPORTS CASE DEFIES ‘COMMON SENSE’Magistrate Judge Matthew Scoble had argued that Alaska acted with “deliberate indifference” when prisoner Emalee Wagoner, who was diagnosed with gender dysphoria, was barred from receiving surgery. However, Alaska   Wagoner is currently serving a 40-year prison sentence for sexual abuse of minors.In a 32-page brief, Labrador, Idaho Solicitor General Michael Zarian, Indiana Attorney General Theodore Rokita and Solicitor General James Barta rejected the magistrate judge’s argument that the Alaska Department of Corrections is in violation of the Eighth Amendment because the requested medical procedure is not a “minimal civilized measure of life’s necessities,” meaning it is unnecessary. This assertion is based on the fact the operation “is not available to free citizens in half of the Nation.””The Eighth Amendment stops cruel and unusual punishment. It doesn’t give prisoners the right to demand risky, optional surgeries when doctors and scientists still strongly disagree about whether they’re safe or even helpful,” said Rokita.”If courts force states to provide these expensive, controversial procedures in one prison, it will open the floodgates everywhere—putting Hoosier taxpayers and families across the country on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars per surgery in virtually every state.” PLASTIC SURGEON CITES ‘EMOTIONAL BLACKMAIL,’ POOR EVIDENCE IN WARNING AGAINST YOUTH GENDER SURGERIESIn the brief, the state officials also pointed to a lack of consensus among medical professionals over the efficacy of reassignment surgery in treating those with gender dysphoria. They cited a 2016 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services review of studies on the effectiveness of sex-change surgeries, finding the selected studies “did not demonstrate clinically significant changes or differences in psychometric test results after” surgery.The amicus brief expressed scrutiny of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, claiming that the organization “has changed its medical guidance to accommodate external political pressure.””Despite WPATH’s insistence on surgeries, nothing in the Eighth Amendment’s text or history allows prisoners to demand whatever medical interventions they desire,” the amicus brief stated. “Nor does anything in its text or history require States to provide risky, controversial medical procedures of uncertain benefit to prisoners.”Fox News Digital reached out to WPATH and Wagoner’s legal team for comment.Following Scroble’s ruling in October, Wagoner’s attorney Richard Saenz praised the decision, telling the Alaska Beacon that his client “should not have to continue to wait for the care that the court and her treating doctor and experts have said is medically necessary for her to receive.” Saenz told the outlet the ruling will likely affect a relatively small number of transgender people but that it will be significant for them. “I think that is so important — that gender dysphoria, which is a medical condition that the department itself recognizes needs treatment, should not be treated in an exceptional way. It should be treated like other medical conditions, and that the treatment that clinical guidelines say are needed, should be followed,” he said.

The Trump administration has finalized a massive deal with French energy conglomerate TotalEnergies to abandon offshore wind projects along the U.S. Atlantic coast and instead pour nearly $1 billion into American fossil fuel production.
According to the Department of the Interior, TotalEnergies agreed to walk away from costly offshore wind leases and reinvest that capital into U.S.-based oil, natural gas, and LNG development.
In return, the federal government will reimburse the company up to roughly $928 million, the value of the leases originally purchased under the Biden regime.
According to NBC, offshore wind turbines dwarf their land-based counterparts. To put that scale into perspective, here’s how one of the largest models available—General Electric’s 12 MW Haliade-X—stacks up against several well-known structures.
Credit: Nelson Hsu/NBC
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum framed the agreement as a decisive victory for American energy independence, declaring that offshore wind had become a “subsidy-driven scheme” that burdened taxpayers while delivering inconsistent power.
Instead, the administration is steering investment toward “reliable and secure” domestic energy production, including liquefied natural gas facilities and expanded drilling operations.
TotalEnergies itself confirmed it will redirect the funds into U.S. oil and gas projects and has pledged not to pursue any new offshore wind developments in America moving forward.
The deal effectively kills two major planned wind projects off the coasts of New York and North Carolina, projects that were still in development but represented part of the broader push for renewable energy expansion.

Read the press release below:
“The Department of the Interior announced a landmark agreement with TotalEnergies for the company to redirect capital from expensive, unreliable offshore wind leases toward affordable, reliable natural gas projects that will provide secure energy for hardworking Americans.
TotalEnergies has committed to invest approximately $1 billion—the value of its renounced offshore wind leases—in oil and natural gas and LNG production in the United States. Following their new investment, the United States will reimburse the company dollar-for-dollar, up to the amount they paid in lease purchases for offshore wind. Under this innovative agreement driven by President Donald J. Trump’s Energy Dominance Agenda, the American people will no longer pay for ideological subsidies that benefited only the unreliable and costly offshore wind industry.
Additionally, in light of the national security concerns, TotalEnergies has pledged not to develop any new offshore wind projects in the United States.
“This agreement is yet another win for President Trump’s commitment to affordable and reliable energy for all Americans,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. “Offshore wind is one of the most expensive, unreliable, environmentally disruptive, and subsidy-dependent schemes ever forced on American ratepayers and taxpayers. We welcome TotalEnergies’ commitment to developing projects that produce dependable, affordable power to lower Americans’ monthly bills while providing secure U.S. baseload power today—and in the future.”  
“Today’s agreement prioritizes affordability for hardworking American consumers over the prior administration’s ideological, ineffective energy policies,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Americans will benefit from this significant investment in our energy industry, which will also enhance our national security and grid reliability.”
“TotalEnergies is pleased to sign this settlement agreements with the DOI and to support the Administration’s Energy Policy. Considering that the development of offshore wind projects is not in the country’s interest, we have decided to renounce offshore wind development in the United States, in exchange for the reimbursement of the lease fees  Furthermore, these agreements, under which we will reinvest the refunded lease fees to finance the construction of the 29 Mt Rio Grande LNG plant and the development of our oil and gas activities, allows us to support the development of U.S. gas production and export. These investments will contribute to supplying Europe with much-needed LNG from the U.S. and provide gas for U.S. data center development. We believe this is a more efficient use of capital in the United States,” said Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of TotalEnergies.
For its part, TotalEnergies will invest $928MM, on the following projects in 2026:

The development of Train 1 to 4 of Rio Grande LNG plant in Texas;
The development of upstream conventional oil in Gulf of America and of shale gas production.

Following TotalEnergies’ $928 million in investments in affordable, reliable and secure U.S. energy projects, the United States will terminate the following leases and reimburse the company:

Lease No. OCS-A 0535.  The lease is located in Carolina Long Bay area. This lease was fully executed by TotalEnergies Renewables USA, LLC on June 1, 2022, after payment of $133,333,333.
Lease No. OCS-A 0538.  The lease is located in the New York Bight area. The lease was fully executed by Attentive Energy, LLC on May 1, 2022, after payment of $795,000,000.

These reinvestments by TotalEnergies will directly advance the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to lower costs for American families, increase baseload and grid reliability and help maintain global leadership in artificial intelligence.”
The post Trump Admin STRIKES Nearly $1 BILLION DEAL to DITCH Biden’s FAILED Atlantic Wind Farms — Forces French Giant to INVEST in American Oil, Gas, and LNG Instead appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.