\u201cThank you, president Trump,\u201d Doocy said<\/a>. \u201cIt sounds like the Russians are helping Iran target and attack Americans now-\u201d<\/p>\n Trump cut him off to joke that possible Russian assistance to Iran in the war launched by the US and Israel, is \u201can easy problem compared to what we\u2019re doing here\u201d, referring to the discussion of how college sports might be changed.<\/p>\n After pausing for laughter from the assembled supporters in the room, Trump scolded the Fox News correspondent for daring to mention the war.<\/p>\n \u201cBut can I be honest? It\u2019s just- I have a lot of respect for you. You\u2019ve always been very nice to me. What a stupid question that is to be asking at this time. We\u2019re talking about something else.\u201d<\/p>\n The Associated Press reported<\/a> on Friday that Russia, whose president, Vladimir Putin, met with Trump last year to talk about ending the Ukraine war he started, has provided Iran with information that could help it \u201cstrike American warships, aircraft and other assets in the region,\u201d according to two officials familiar with US intelligence on the matter.<\/p>\n A few minutes later, Trump pointed at Doocy again and said, \u201cPeter, I\u2019ll give you one more chance, because that was a bad question you asked before.\u201d When Doocy asked if he could bring up something other than college sports, Trump said no.<\/p>\n When Doocy then asked why he was doing an event on sports \u201cright now, because there is a lot of other stuff going on in the world,\u201d Trump did briefly address the war in Iran, but not the reporter\u2019s question about Russia\u2019s role.<\/p>\n \u201cIn, uh, Iran, we\u2019re doing very well. Somebody said, \u2018How would you score it from 0 to 10?\u2019 I said, \u2018I give it a 12 to a 15\u2019, the president said.<\/p>\n Trump has largely avoided questions from reporters since he launched the war on Iran in concert with Israel on Saturday from his Florida beach club, Mar-a-Lago. The next day, when he returned to the White House from Florida, Trump ignored reporters\u2019 shouted questions about Iran<\/a> as he paused in the paved-over Rose Garden to admire newly installed statues of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.<\/p>\n As reporters shouted, \u201cMr President what is your main objective?\u201d and \u201cWho do you want to lead Iran?\u201d Trump simply pointed at the bronze likenesses and said, \u201cUnbelievable statues, you\u2019ll see, come and look at them\u201d.<\/p>\n The reporters, however, were kept at a distance and could only shout requests for the president to come over to \u201ctalk to us about Iran\u201d.<\/p>\n Instead, Trump turned and walked away, not breaking stride as one reporter shouted, \u201cMr President, what\u2019s your message to the families of the service members who were killed?\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.58 EST<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Closing summary<\/p>\n This concludes our live coverage of the second Trump administration<\/a> for the day. Here are the latest developments:<\/p>\n Donald Trump scolded a Fox News reporter for asking him \u201ca stupid question\u201d about reports that Russia is sharing intelligence with Iran to help target Americans.<\/p>\n Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, suggested that Trump was aware of the Russian role and had \u201ca knack at knowing how to mitigate those risks\u201d. He did not say whether Trump had confronted Vladimir Putin over aiding Iran.<\/p>\n Trump will be going to Dover air force base on Saturday to honor the six US service members killed in an Iranian retaliatory strike.<\/p>\n Dr Vinay Prasad, who leads the US Food and Drug Administration\u2019s vaccines and biologics unit, is leaving the Trump administration for a second time.<\/p>\n Trump welcomed the former Bush administration official Condoleezza Rice to the White House after she spoke in favor of his war on Iran.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Hegseth suggests Trump is aware that Russia is sharing intelligence with Iran to target Americans<\/p>\n Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, suggested in an interview with CBS News<\/a> on Friday that Donald Trump is aware of intelligence indicating that Russia is helping Iran to target American troops in retaliatory strikes.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, we\u2019re tracking everything. Our commanders are aware of everything. We have the best intelligence in the world,\u201d Hegseth said. \u201cSo we know what\u2019s going on and the president has an incredible knack at knowing how to mitigate those risks. So the American people can rest assured, their commander-in-chief is well aware of who\u2019s talking to who, and anything that shouldn\u2019t be happening\u2026 is being confronted and confronted strongly.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if that meant that Trump would confront Russia\u2019s president, Vladimir Putin, Hegseth said only that \u201cmessages definitely can be delivered.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not concerned about that, we mitigate it as we need to, Hegseth added. \u201cThe only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians that think they\u2019re going to live.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Trump says he is going to Dover air force base on Saturday to pay respects to war dead<\/p>\n In a social media post sent from Air Force One on the way to Florida, Donald Trump<\/a> announced that he will be going to Dover air force base on Saturday, with his wife Melania and members of his cabinet \u201cto pay our Highest Respect to our Great Warriors, who are returning home for the last time.\u201d<\/p>\n The president has expressed little regret for the deaths of six US service members this week in the war with Iran he launched last Saturday from his beach club. On Wednesday, he told a Time magazine reporter<\/a>, \u201csome people will die. When you go to war, some people will die.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties. That often happens in war,\u201d Trump said<\/a> when he announced the start of the US-Israeli attack on Iran last Saturday.<\/p>\n In a video statement released by the White House on Sunday, Trump sent his \u201cimmense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen,\u201d before adding, \u201cand, sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That\u2019s the way it is. Likely be more.\u201d<\/p>\n What the Pentagon calls the \u201cdignified transfer\u201d of remains at the air force base, scheduled for Saturday<\/a>, is a ritual in honor of US troops killed during their military service.<\/p>\n The six members of the US Army Reserve, who worked in logistics, died on Sunday when a drone strike hit a command center in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Darrell Issa, a Republican congressman from California, has decided not to run for reelection after his congressional district was re-drawn to favor Democrats, the Los Angeles Times reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n Issa, who has represented different parts of the San Diego area in Congress for more than two decades, made his fortune as a car-alarm magnate, developing a popular system in the 1980s that featured his voice, warning<\/a> anyone who approached to \u201cstand back.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a020.17 EST<\/p>\n Trump refuses to answer ‘stupid question’ from Fox News about Russia helping Iran target Americans<\/p>\n At the end of his White House roundtable on college sports on Friday, Donald Trump said he would take one or two questions and called on a favorite Fox News correspondent, Peter Doocy.<\/p>\n Doocy asked the president about reporting from the Washington Post<\/a> and Fox News<\/a>, that Russia is providing intelligence to Iran to help it target US assets in retaliatory strikes.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you, president Trump,\u201d Doocy said<\/a>. \u201cIt sounds like the Russians are helping Iran target and attack Americans now-\u201d<\/p>\n Trump cut him off to joke that possible Russian assistance to Iran in the war launched by the US and Israel, is \u201can easy problem compared to what we\u2019re doing here\u201d, referring to the discussion of how college sports might be changed.<\/p>\n After pausing for laughter from the assembled supporters in the room, Trump scolded the Fox News correspondent for daring to mention the war.<\/p>\n \u201cBut can I be honest? It\u2019s just- I have a lot of respect for you. You\u2019ve always been very nice to me. What a stupid question that is to be asking at this time. We\u2019re talking about something else.\u201d<\/p>\n The Associated Press reported<\/a> on Friday that Russia, whose president, Vladimir Putin, met with Trump last year to talk about ending the Ukraine war he started, has provided Iran with information that could help it \u201cstrike American warships, aircraft and other assets in the region,\u201d according to two officials familiar with US intelligence on the matter.<\/p>\n A few minutes later, Trump pointed at Doocy again and said, \u201cPeter, I\u2019ll give you one more chance, because that was a bad question you asked before.\u201d When Doocy asked if he could bring up something other than college sports, Trump said no.<\/p>\n When Doocy then asked why he was doing an event on sports \u201cright now, because there is a lot of other stuff going on in the world,\u201d Trump did briefly address the war in Iran, but not the reporter\u2019s question about Russia\u2019s role.<\/p>\n \u201cIn, uh, Iran, we\u2019re doing very well. Somebody said, \u2018How would you score it from 0 to 10?\u2019 I said, \u2018I give it a 12 to a 15\u2019, the president said.<\/p>\n Trump has largely avoided questions from reporters since he launched the war on Iran in concert with Israel on Saturday from his Florida beach club, Mar-a-Lago. The next day, when he returned to the White House from Florida, Trump ignored reporters\u2019 shouted questions about Iran<\/a> as he paused in the paved-over Rose Garden to admire newly installed statues of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.<\/p>\n Donald Trump ignored questions about his war on Iran on Sunday, as he inspected a newly installed statue of Thomas Jefferson in the White House Rose Garden. Photograph: Nathan Howard\/Reuters<\/p>\n As reporters shouted, \u201cMr President what is your main objective?\u201d and \u201cWho do you want to lead Iran?\u201d Trump simply pointed at the bronze likenesses and said, \u201cUnbelievable statues, you\u2019ll see, come and look at them\u201d.<\/p>\n The reporters, however, were kept at a distance and could only shout requests for the president to come over to \u201ctalk to us about Iran\u201d.<\/p>\n Instead, Trump turned and walked away, not breaking stride as one reporter shouted, \u201cMr President, what\u2019s your message to the families of the service members who were killed?\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.58 EST<\/p>\n US justice department searching for evidence Cuba’s leaders broke US law – report<\/p>\n The US attorney in Miami, Jason Reding Qui\u00f1ones, is leading a working group dedicated to finding evidence that Cuba\u2019s leaders have violated some US law in order to give Donald Trump an excuse to send in the military to seize them, MSNOW reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cLaw enforcement sources said they fear this approach marks a dramatic break from the Justice Department\u2019s standards for prosecuting crimes, which have long required that federal investigators have some evidence or intelligence to suspect a specific crime has occurred before opening an investigation,\u201d the outlet reports.<\/p>\n \u201cBut sources say that in this case, the working group\u2019s stated mission appears to have instead picked a target in service of the White House\u2019s goal of regime change, and is now in search of potential crimes it can charge.\u201d<\/p>\n A justice department spokesman, Chad Gilmartin, did not deny the existence of the working group in a statement to the broadcaster, which cast the effort as routine. \u201cFederal prosecutors from across the country work every day to pursue justice, which includes efforts to combat transnational crime,\u201d said Gilmartin, a former aide to Trump\u2019s first-term White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany.<\/p>\n When McEnany hired Gilmartin in 2020, she was accused of nepotism<\/a>, since he is a cousin of her husband, the former big league pitcher Sean Gilmartin.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a018.31 EST<\/p>\n Vinay Prasad, FDA’s vaccine chief, to step down, again<\/p>\n Dr Vinay Prasad, who leads the US Food and Drug Administration\u2019s vaccines and biologics unit, is leaving the Trump administration<\/a> for a second time, a spokesperson for the agency told Reuters on Friday.<\/p>\n The FDA commissioner, Dr Marty Makary, confirmed the departure of Prasad, a vaccine critic, to the Wall Street Journal<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s really been successful and gotten a lot done in one year,\u201d Makary said.<\/p>\n Prasad, an oncologist, took several controversial regulatory decisions as the head of the division responsible for approving vaccines and biotechnology products.<\/p>\n Last month, the FDA unexpectedly refused to consider <\/a>Moderna\u2019s application for a flu shot based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology in a decision that experts said would have a chilling effect on vaccine development.<\/p>\n Prasad was first appointed director of the FDA\u2019s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research in May last year. He briefly stepped down in July, under apparent pressure from <\/a>Laura Loomer<\/a>, a far-right, racist podcaster with unusual influence over Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Trump welcomes Iran war supporter Condoleezza Rice to the White House<\/p>\n Donald Trump, who said in a 2016 Republican primary debate that George W Bush\u2019s administration had \u201clied\u201d about Iraq\u2019s weapons of mass destruction to justify the 2003 war he called \u201ca big fat mistake\u201d, just welcomed Condoleezza Rice, a prominent member of that administration, to the White House for a roundtable on college sports.<\/p>\n Trump singled out Rice during his introductory remarks at the start of an ongoing White House roundtable<\/a> on \u201cSaving College Sports\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have some great people,\u201d Trump said. \u201cCondoleezza, thank you very much. I see you over there. Great to have you. Great to be with you.\u201d<\/p>\n At the White House on Friday, Condoleezza Rice, a former national security adviser and secretary of state, sat beside Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary, at a roundtable discussion on college sports chaired by Donald Trump. Photograph: Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images<\/p>\n That warm welcome for Rice, who was Bush\u2019s national security adviser, came 10 years after a February 2016 debate<\/a> in which Trump had been asked about his comment in 2008 that it \u201cwould have been a wonderful thing\u201d, for the Democrats to have impeached George W Bush because \u201che got us in to a war with lies\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously it was a mistake,\u201d Trump said then, as he stood next to his main rival at the time, Jeb Bush. \u201cSo George Bush made a mistake. We can make mistakes, but that one was a beauty. We should have never been in Iraq. We have destabilized the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n Rice was front and center<\/a> in making the case for the US invasion of Iraq at the time, most notably when she told CNN<\/a> that doubts about whether or not Saddam Hussein even had a nuclear weapons program (spoiler alert: he did not) did not undermine the case for war. \u201cThe problem here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly he can acquire nuclear weapons,\u201d Rice said. \u201cBut we don\u2019t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.\u201d<\/p>\n This week, however, as Trump launched his own regime change war on Iraq\u2019s neighbor, Iran, Rice has been a forceful proponent of Trump\u2019s war.<\/p>\n \u201cTo say that this regime was not a threat \u2026 it\u2019s ahistorical,\u201d Rice told Fox News<\/a> on Wednesday, citing Iran\u2019s nuclear program. \u201cThey have been a threat for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n Like Trump, Rice also claimed that Iran\u2019s role in arming proxy militias in Iraq that attacked US troops there with roadside bombs, justified the current US-Israeli bombing campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cIran has been at war with us for at least 47 years,\u201d Rice said. \u201cIf you ask people about Iraq, what was the source of many of our casualties in Iraq, you\u2019ll get estimates as high as 75 or 80% of them were due to Iranian-made roadside bombs.\u201d<\/p>\n In remarks on Thursday, Trump had claimed that Iran was responsible for \u201c95%\u201d of the casualties in Iraq during the US occupation he had denounced a decade ago.<\/p>\n In the closing days of his 2024 campaign for the presidency, Trump focused on the fact that Liz Cheney, the daughter of Bush\u2019s vice-president, supported his rival Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n \u201cKamala\u2019s campaigning with warmongers like Liz Cheney\u2026 whose father virtually destroyed the Middle East,\u201d Trump told a rally crowd<\/a>. \u201cEvery time I was with her in the White House,\u201d he claimed, Cheney urged him to start wars. \u201c\u2018We should attack this nation, that nation, nations that people never heard of,\u201d Trump said. The clincher of his argument was his claim that Cheney had even said to him: \u2018\u201cWe ought to to go attack Iran\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n At the very end of the event, Rice was seen on a livestream<\/a> speaking with Trump and his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, before leaving with them.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.24 EST<\/p>\n My colleague, Lucy Campbell, is covering the latest out of the Middle East, and she just noted that Iran\u2019s president Masoud Pezeshkian has spoken on the phone with Russian president Vladimir Putin, according to Iran\u2019s government news service.<\/p>\n This comes as reports allege that Russia is providing Iran with targeting information to strike US forces in the region. Earlier, asked whether Russia\u2019s involvement in the Iran conflict affects efforts to broker an end to the war in Ukraine, Karoline Leavitt said the White House still believes peace is \u201can achievable objective\u201d, but declined to confirm whether Moscow has supplied information to Tehran.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a017.12 EST<\/p>\n Oversight Democrats say White House ‘cover-up is ongoing’ after justice department releases more files<\/p>\n Following the release of additional files related to Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> on Thursday, including FBI memos describing interviews with a woman who made uncorroborated allegations against Epstein and Donald Trump, Democrats on the House oversight committee said that the \u201cWhite House cover-up is ongoing\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cMillions of pages still remain concealed from the public and our committee,\u201d spokesperson Sara Guerrero said in a statement. \u201cWe will get answers when Pam Bondi appears before our committee under oath.\u201d<\/p>\n This comes after oversight lawmakers passed a motion to subpoena the attorney general to testify before the committee.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.56 EST<\/p>\n Here’s a recap of the day so far<\/p>\n Donald Trump<\/a> told CNN in a phone interview that Cuba is \u201cgoing to fall pretty soon\u201d. This follows the president\u2019s comment at the White House on Thursday, when he claimed that Cuba wants to \u201cmake a deal so badly\u201d. Cuba is struggling with dwindling oil reserves after the US attacked Venezuela<\/a> in January, and depleted the country\u2019s petroleum shipments. Later that month, Trump threatened to impose tariffs on any country selling or supplying Cuba with oil. Now, half of the country is dealing with blackouts.<\/p>\n Earlier, the president said there will be no deal with Iran \u201cexcept unconditional surrender\u201d. He noted that after that, and the selection of a new leader the US \u201cwill work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before.\u201d Press secretary Karoline Leavitt added that once Iran longer \u201cposes a threat\u201d to the US and \u201cthe goal of Operation Epic Fury has been fully realized\u201d, then Iran will \u201cessentially be in a place of unconditional surrender\u201d.<\/p>\n The US customs agency is readying a system within 45 days to process refunds on Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs that were struck down as illegal and importers will not have to sue for them, a customs official said in a court filing today. The declaration by Brandon Lord, a top Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official, came as government lawyers were meeting with a federal trade judge<\/a> to hammer out a process for returning $166bn in tariff payments to about 330,000 importers.<\/p>\n The US lost 92,000 jobs in February, a major slackening in the labor market that came just before Donald Trump<\/a> threw the global economy<\/a> into upheaval with his conflict in Iran. Several Democratic lawmakers slammed the data as an example of Trump\u2019s \u201cfailed economic agenda\u201d, while White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said that the report was \u201csomething of a surprise\u201d but the economy remains \u201creally strong\u201d.<\/p>\n The justice department released additional files related to Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> on Thursday, including FBI memos describing interviews with a woman who made uncorroborated allegations against Epstein and Donald Trump. The documents were not included in the justice department\u2019s earlier releases of Epstein-related records, which began in December. Justice department officials have said the files were initially withheld because they were mistakenly categorized as duplicates.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.41 EST<\/p>\n White House praises new pick for DHS secretary following Noem ouster<\/p>\n Karoline Leavitt praised senator Markwayne Mullin, the Oklahoma Republican who Donald Trump<\/a> tapped to takeover the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).<\/p>\n The press secretary called Mullin \u201ca strong friend of the president\u201d and a \u201ca big supporter\u201d of the administration\u2019s immigration policies. \u201cHe\u2019s exceptionally talented,\u201d she said. \u201cWe look forward to his expeditious confirmation and I know the White House will be working with our counterparts in the Senate to make that happen as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Leavitt also told reporters today that she had no update on the investigation into a bombing of a girls\u2019 school in Iran that killed 175 people. On Wednesday she noted that the Pentagon was investigating the strike.<\/p>\n Earlier, we reported<\/a> the news that military investigators believe it is likely that US forces were responsible for the attack, but have not yet reached a final conclusion, according to a report from Reuters.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>White House says that administration is ‘well on our way’ to achieving Operation Epic Fury objectives<\/p>\n Speaking to reporters outside the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that she didn\u2019t want to \u201cget ahead of the president on any timelines\u201d, but reiterated that the administration expects the military action to last \u201cabout four to six weeks\u201d and \u201cwe are well on our way\u201d to achieving Operation Epic Fury\u2019s objectives.<\/p>\n On US forces taking control of the airspace in Iran, she added: \u201cWe are well on our way to doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n Leavitt also elaborated on the president\u2019s earlier post to Truth Social<\/a>. \u201cWhen he, as commander-in-chief of the US armed forces, determines that Iran no longer poses a threat to the United States of America and the goal of Operation Epic Fury has been fully realized, then Iran will essentially be in a place of unconditional surrender,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The press secretary also noted that the president \u201cwants to take an interest\u201d in the choice of the country\u2019s next leader. He has previously called the late supreme leader\u2019s son an \u201cunacceptable\u201d option.<\/p>\n Today, Leavitt said that there are a \u201cnumber of people\u201d that US intelligence agencies and government officials are assessing, but declined to comment further.<\/p>\n Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters at the White House, 6 March 2026. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.55 EST<\/p>\n \u2018The stakes could not be higher\u2019: UN chief urges end to \u2018all unlawful attacks in Middle East\u2019<\/p>\n Lucy Campbell<\/p>\n The UN secretary-general has called on nations to \u201cstop the fighting and get to serious diplomatic negotiations\u201d. \u201cThe stakes could not be higher,\u201d Ant\u00f3nio Guterres wrote in a post<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n double quotation markAll the unlawful attacks in the Middle East and beyond are causing tremendous suffering and harm to civilians throughout the region \u2013 and pose a grave a risk to the global economy, particularly to the most vulnerable people.<\/p>\n The situation could spiral beyond anyone\u2019s control.<\/p>\n It is time to stop the fighting and get to serious diplomatic negotiations.<\/p>\n The stakes could not be higher.<\/p>\n![\"Donald](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3936.jpg\")
Donald Trump ignored questions about his war on Iran on Sunday, as he inspected a newly installed statue of Thomas Jefferson in the White House Rose Garden. Photograph: Nathan Howard\/Reuters<\/p>\n