Trump’s DoJ gave an awkward document to the Republicans, he’s mulling skipping CPAC for the first time in a decade and Melania has been messing about with a robot. Here’s what you need to know
07:00, 26 Mar 2026Updated 07:48, 26 Mar 2026
Trump might skip CPAC for the first time since 2016(Image: Getty Images)
Donald Trump has given a speech to the CPAC conference every year for a decade. It’s the biggest pro-Trump conference on the calendar, where thousands of MAGA faithful gather at a luxury hotel to hear speeches from members of the administration – and on Saturday from the President himself.
The conference itself dates back to the Reagan era – and the crowd is a fascinating combination of the Reaganite Republican right and the younger, spikier America First contingent. There’s also a full contingent of weirdos and sycophants.
CPAC starts in Texas today, and this year, if rumours are to be believed, he’s planning to skip it. Why? We don’t know for sure. But it’s tempting to think the chaos and unpopularity of his haphazard war in the Middle East might make him reluctant to open himself up to a big room full of people.
On the other hand polling indicates the MAGA hardcore remain loyal to him – and back the Iran War.
That said, Iran does probably have something do do with it, but mostly because of the timing.
Tump has given Iran an ultimatum – engage in my peace talks by Friday or else. And when does the President’s speech at CPAC normally take place? Saturday afternoon.
So given the Mullahs are reportedly in no moon to talk, by Saturday we’re going to know what “or else” means.
And if “or else” means boots on the ground, he might not be able to count on a fully-on side crowd at CPAC, for the first time in a decade.
Meanwhile in Trumpwold,
Liz Truss turns up at CPACIran is nearly done, again. Honest.We still don’t know what the “gift” isTrump gets a zeitgeist tape of things blowing upMembers of congress storm out of Pete Hegseth briefingTrump DOJ accidentally handed a pretty awkward document to House Democrats
Here’s everything you need to know
1. Liz Truss shows up at CPAC, slags off Starmer
The most reliable fixture at CPAC these days, for some reason, is failed former Prime Minister Liz Truss.
She’ll be on the main stage later toady, but last night she appeared at the fringe International Summit ahead of the conference proper. And she took the opportunity to have a weird pop at Keir Starmer.
She claimed Labour has an “islamist” voter base, and that the PM’s reluctance to join Donald Trump’s haphazard war in the Middle East was to avoid upsetting them.
“The situation in Britain is Britain is under socialist rule,” Truss said.
“And it’s not just socialist rule. We’ve actually got a government who wants to appease the islamists.”
“That’s why they sat on the fence over Iran. That’s why they failed to offer up bases to be used in the strikes against this appalling regime, because they are concerned about what’s going on with their voter base. Their islamist voter base in Britain.”
She added: “We have a prime minister now who does not know what side he’s on. In fact, you might say he’s batting for the other side.”
2. Iran objectives nearly achieved, but we still don’t know what they are
Karoline Leavitt gave a press conference last night and declared the core objectives of the war had “nearly been met”.
But, of course, she didn’t specify which ones.
“We are very close to meeting the core objectives of Operation Epic Fury, and this military mission continues unabated,” she said.
She said there are “elements of truth” in a 15-point plan said to have been put forward by the United States, but also said some reports have been “not entirely factual.”
“I am not going to negotiate on behalf of the president here at the podium,” Leavitt said. “What I will tell you is these talks are ongoing.”
She cautioned White House reporters about “reporting about speculative points or speculative plans from anonymous sources.”
“The White House never confirmed that full plan,” Leavitt said, adding that “there are elements of truth to it, but some of the stories I read were not entirely factual.”
White House says more strikes to come if Iranian talks are unproductive
3. What about the ‘present’ Trump got from Iran?
Trump has repeatedly referred to having been given a gift by Iran’s regime. He said the regime “did something yesterday that was amazing — they gave us a present… worth a tremendous amount of money… [it] arrived today.”
He went on: “They gave it to us, and they said they were going to give it. That meant one thing to me. [That we’re] dealing with the right people,”
But he has at no time indicated what the gift actually is.
4. Trump gets shown a tape of ‘things getting blown up’ every day
Remember that episode of The Thick of It where the hapless MP has to be shown a “zeitgeist” tape – a video compilation of the previous night’s soap operas, hit songs and other trending topics – in order to appear like a normal human being.
Well, according to MS Now, Trump gets fed a video every day, but instead of it being stuffed full of Eastenders and information about BTS, it’s full footage of the most impressive explosions his military bosses can muster – in order to keep Trump’s focus on the bullets and bombs he’s expending on his baffling war of choice.
5. Members of congress storm out of Pete Hegseth briefing
Members of the House Armed Services committee walked out of a briefing on the war by Pete Hegseth, who, by all accounts, spent most of the time behind closed doors meeting berating those person.
Nancy Mace, a Republican who sits on he committee, said the following right after the meeting: “Just walked out of a House Armed Services briefing on Iran. Let me repeat: I will not support troops on the ground in Iran, even more so after this briefing.”
Great work Pete, doing a fine job.
6. DOJ accidentally handed Trump classified documents memo to Democrats
The Department of Justice accidentally handed a memo written by (or under) former special counsel Jack Smith, who investigated many of the President’s crimes during his first term.
The memo showed that Smith had begun to investigate evidence Trump had hoarded classified documents in the backrooms and bathrooms of Mar A Lago for financial gain.
It also claims that Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of witnessed Trump showing a classified map to unnamed plane passengers, and president took sensitive document accessible to only six people in the US Government.
7. And finally…
Please enjoy this video of Melania Trump hanging out with a robot. Melania’s on the right.
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