Episode Details

Today’s Headlines: Four weeks in, the Iran war is getting more expensive, more chaotic, and more geopolitically cursed by the day. The US has lost 13 service members and spent $12 billion — and according to U.S. intelligence, Iran's regime is not only still standing but consolidating power and getting more hardline. Iran struck Dubai's international airport and the UAE's biggest oil terminal over the weekend, gas hit $4.99 a gallon, and the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to American and Israeli ships — while Iran pockets an estimated $140 million a day selling oil at inflated prices to everyone else. And of course, two of the US Navy's three minesweeper ships were docked in Malaysia this weekend, and the third is MIA.  Israel meanwhile launched a new ground invasion into southern Lebanon against Hezbollah, with its military preparing for at least three more weeks of operations. Trump postponed his China summit, complained that China should be "thanking" the US for the war we started, and alternated between bragging we don't need any of our friends but also demanding our friends send warships. Jared Kushner was also in the region — not for diplomacy, but reportedly fundraising $5 billion for his investment firm from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. On the Epstein beat: Bank of America settled a lawsuit from a woman who alleged the bank maintained ties to Epstein and failed to flag suspicious activity. The House Oversight Committee is calling the prison guard who was on duty the night Epstein died to testify on March 26th — records show she was asleep and googling Epstein news shortly before his body was found. Harvard students and faculty filed a formal proposal to remove Les Wexner's name from campus buildings. And a federal judge in Massachusetts blocked RFK Jr.'s childhood vaccine schedule overhaul and froze his newly appointed CDC advisory committee members — a rare, clean win.

Resources/Articles mentioned in this episode:

WaPo: U.S. intelligence says Iran’s regime is consolidating power

BBC: Iran hits key UAE oil port and Dubai airport

Financial Times: Iran earns oil windfall as US turns blind eye

Financial Times: US diesel prices soar to almost $5 as Iran war pinches global supplies

Business Insider: 2 of the US' 3 mine-hunting ships assigned to the Middle East were just seen in Asia

NYT: Iran War Live Updates: Trump Pressures China and NATO Countries to Help Open Strait of Hormuz

WaPo: Trump-Xi summit delayed as U.S. president pushes China to help open Hormuz

Politico: Iran says Russia and China providing ‘military cooperation’

WSJ: China Resumes Military Flights Around Taiwan After Sudden 10-Day Hiatus

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