memeorandum: Trump's latest tariffs face a fresh set of legal hurdles (Josh Gerstein/Politico)

7:35 AM ET, March 15, 2026

Top Items:

Trump says Iran is ready to negotiate a ceasefire but he's not ready to make a deal — The president said the “terms aren't good enough yet” to make a deal with Iran amid a widening war in the Middle East. — President Donald Trump said Saturday that he's not ready to make a deal to end …

Discussion: NPR, The Independent, The Kyiv Independent, KEYT-TV, Washington Examiner and Fortune

Jason Sattler / THE FARCE:

Man Who Spat on Allies For a Year Demands the World Clean Up His Catastrophe — Liberation Day was April 2, 2025. Trump stood in the Rose Garden and announced that America had been ripped off for fifty years by allies who'd bled with us in every war since 1945.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Michael Birnbaum / Washington Post:

Trump is eager to declare victory, but a battered Iran still has cards to play — The U.S. and Israel crippled Iranian forces in two weeks of war, but Tehran's ability to disrupt oil flows and its uranium stockpile complicate the push to end it. — Just now

Discussion: The Week, UPI and Axios

Shelby Talcott / Semafor:
Israel is running critically low on interceptors, US officials say

Discussion: Reuters and Middle East Monitor

Reuters:
Exclusive: Trump rejects efforts to launch Iran ceasefire talks, sources say

Discussion: Fortune and HuffPost

Barak Ravid / Axios:
Trump claims international coalition will send war ships to reopen the strait of Hormuz

Discussion: Scripps News, Wall Street Journal, BBC, The Hill, UPI, Al Jazeera, The Daily Caller, Straight Arrow News, Breitbart, New York Post, HuffPost, NewsMax.com, Metro.co.uk, Washington Examiner, Reuters and Grabien

Reuters:

Zelenskiy says Ukraine wants money, technology in return for Middle East drone help — Ukraine wants money and technology in return for helping Middle Eastern nations that have sought its expertise as they defend against Iranian kamikaze drones, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, after Kyiv sent specialists to the region.

Discussion: Bloomberg and The Gateway Pundit

Associated Press:
Iran strikes back after US bombs an oil-critical Iranian island as Mideast war enters third week

NBC News:

Trump says Cornyn and Paxton are both electable as he mulls endorsement in Texas Senate race — The president told NBC News that an endorsement could hinge on the SAVE America Act, while adding that he likes both candidates “very much.” — President Donald Trump told NBC News on Saturday …

Discussion: Axios, The Hill, Mediaite, Raw Story, Wall Street Journal and Breitbart

Julie Carr Smyth / Associated Press:
The biggest change to voting in Republican election bill could become a burden for many US voters

Discussion: amuse on 𝕏

Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Push for GOP voting law has many switching sides on filibuster issue

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Townhall, IJR, Politico, Election Law Blog and New York Magazine

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Trump's latest tariffs face a fresh set of legal hurdles … Legal experts told POLITICO that Trump's backup tariffs are probably on stronger legal footing than the “Liberation Day” taxes the high court struck down. — Despite that, his challengers are exuding bravado about their chances.

Josie Ensor / The Times:

Jeffrey Epstein victim: He trafficked me to Mohamed Al Fayed — ‘Natalie’ says she was sent to the Harrods boss as a teenage model and he sexually assaulted her on his yacht — Josie Ensor, Chief US Reporter, Katie Tarrant and Dipesh Gadher, Home Affairs Correspondent — What you need to know

Discussion: The Parnas Perspective

New York Times:

In Texas, an Unyielding Gun Culture Jumps Off YouTube and Into Politics — Brandon Herrera, a Republican candidate for Congress, built a large online fan base as a “guntuber.” — Two young men stood on the windswept prairie of Northern Colorado. — One of them, Brandon Herrera …

Michael Powell / The Atlantic:

Where Mamdani Has Refused to Moderate — The New York City mayor is not soft-pedaling his views on Israel. — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, played host this past week to another young married couple, who came to Gracie Mansion to break their Ramadan fast.

Discussion: Notes from the Circus and Jewish Insider

Wall Street Journal:

He Was Chevron's Man in Venezuela—and a CIA Informant — After retiring from the U.S. oil giant, Ali Moshiri warned the Trump administration it would face a morass if it tried to replace Maduro with the democratic opposition — In the months before President Trump moved …

Maria Aspan / NPR:

Pentagon tightens controls over Stars and Stripes after calling it “woke” — The Defense Department has begun to exert greater control over Stars and Stripes, weeks after a top spokesman accused the independent military newspaper of focusing on “woke distractions.”

Discussion: Military and Veteran … and Stars & Stripes, more at Mediagazer »

Chelsea Long / Gainesville Sun:

UF disbands College Republican chapter, citing antisemitic activity … The University of Florida deactivated its College Republicans chapter after the Florida Federation of College Republicans alerted the university to a photo showing a student leader performing a Nazi salute.

Discussion: Reuters and Florida Politics

Ted Johnson / Deadline:

Trump's FCC Chairman Threatens Broadcasters' Licenses After POTUS' Tirade Over Iran War News Coverage … Brendan Carr wrote on X on Saturday, “Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions - also known as the fake news - have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, MS NOW, Variety, Raw Story, USA Today, UPI, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, CBS News, Fortune, Al Jazeera and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Mediagazer »

Geir Moulson / Associated Press:

Jürgen Habermas, influential German philosopher, dies at 96 — Jürgen Habermas, whose work on communication, rationality and sociology made him one of the world's most influential philosophers and a key intellectual figure in his native Germany, has died. He was 96.

Discussion: The Guardian and NPR

Friederike Heine / Reuters: Habermas, the philosopher who shaped Germany's post-war conscience

Emily Hung / MS NOW:

Trump fundraising pitch features U.S. soldiers killed in Iran war — The email solicitation to benefit Trump's PAC also offers donors “private national security briefings.” — President Donald Trump's political action committee this week sent a fundraising email promising donors …

Discussion: New York Times, The Independent and CNN

Gregory Svirnovskiy / Politico:

Formula 1 cancels races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia amid Middle East conflict … Iran targeted both Gulf countries in the early days of the conflict in a retaliatory campaign that saw Tehran take shots at Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, Cyprus and Israel.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, Just Jared, Breitbart and Fox News

Ayman Mohyeldin / MS NOW:

Iran is receiving ‘military cooperation’ from Russia and China, foreign minister says — Iran is receiving “military cooperation” from Russia and China, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an exclusive interview with MS NOW on Saturday. He also accused the United Arab Emirates …

Discussion: Associated Press, Washington Examiner and Grabien

Marc Elias / Democracy Docket:

Who will be the first to take off their shoes? — When Joseph Stalin took the stage, applause wasn't just standard. It meant your freedom. — As the crowd thundered with cheers, no one dared to break first. Not after two minutes. Not after four. Not after six.

Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:

How Israel Used the War in Gaza to Accelerate Settlements in the West Bank — The Netanyahu government is pushing expansionist policies, while America looks the other way. — In the past several years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has entrenched Israeli control of the West Bank …

Discussion: Associated Press and Al Jazeera

NBC News:

How Epstein lured girls to his Zorro Ranch and kept authorities away — At least 10 women and girls say they were groomed at what was once Jeffrey Epstein's Zorro Ranch in New Mexico. — To girls without much money who needed help with college or a career, visiting Jeffrey Epstein's 10,000-acre …

New York Times:

Lobbyist Arrested in Extortion Attempt of Client Who Received a Trump Pardon — Josh Nass had recently represented Joseph Schwartz, a former nursing home executive who was convicted of tax crimes before being freed by the president late last year. — Josh Nass, a conservative lawyer and lobbyist …

Discussion: KEYT-TV, WTOP News and Mediaite

Philip Bump / MS NOW:

How the money spent on Trump's Iran war could have helped Americans — The bean-counters at the Department of Defense — admittedly not the best bean-counters in the federal government — have tallied up the cost of President Donald Trump's unilateral military incursion into Iran.

Discussion: Raw Story