You know the political silly season is upon us when campaigns start to make fools of themselves trying to court Latino voters.
In the Los Angeles mayoral race, that moment kicked off last week.
On Friday, a social media account called Latinos Por Pratt released an AI-animated music video praising the mayoral candidate and former reality television star Spencer Pratt. It starts with a fit, sunglasses-wearing Pratt rolling a trash bin brimming with detritus and Mayor Karen Bass past a crowd of cheering Angelenos. The Hollywood sign looms in the background as the title “Spencer, Saca La Bassura” flashes on the screen — Spencer, Take Out Trashy Karen, with “Bassura” a play on the mayor’s last name and the Spanish word for “trash.”
Cut to scenes of Bass playing tourist on her infamous trip to Ghana while the Palisades burn. Splice in Pratt dancing with his wife, Heidi Montag, onstage at a street party where onlookers wave a Mexican and a U.S. flag. And because L.A.’s Latino majority is overwhelmingly of Mexican descent, the thing was anchored by a peppy accordion, dramatic guitar plucks and a bold tuba, right? Right?
Uh, no.
Lyrics such as “Latinos for Pratt we’re singing / Because we’re tired of this dirty beat” play over brassy salsa rhythms that are more Miami and Cuban than L.A., where Latinos are mostly of Mexican and Central American heritage and the soundtrack of the city — corridos tumbados, cumbias, Latin rock and pop — reflect that.
That didn’t stop clueless, mostly non-Latino Pratt fanboys and fangirls from going gaga over it online. Nor did it stop Bass from joining in the we-need-Latino-voters fiesta.
Soon after the video was released, a group called Latinos Con Bass brought out big-name speakers to Plaza de la Raza in Lincoln Heights — state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles), Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights head Angélica Salas, Service Employees International Union California President David Huerta — so they could pledge support for the incumbent with all the dutifulness of doctors reminding people to take their flu shot. Bass greeted the crowd with a peppy “¡Sí se puede!” — the standard Latino politico rallying cry for decades but one that’s not so kosher right now given its association with César Chávez, the legendary labor leader whom a New York Times investigation recently revealed to have sexually assaulted teenage girls.
Latinos Con Bass came off as a bunch of establishment types sticking up for one of their own instead of anything organic. But at least we know the track record of those involved. Latinos Por Pratt seems to be just one guy: Adrian E. Alvarez, a Cuban American whose online profile says he splits his time between the Miami area and L.A. If the lawyer by trade — who didn’t respond to numerous requests for comment — was really serious about winning Latino votes for his guy, he would’ve commissioned a corrido instead of a salsa tune. The Mexican ballad form has been trotted out by Angelenos for decades for everything from the tragic deaths of Robert F. Kennedy and Kobe Bryant and his daughter to the capture of sundry narco lords.
Those songwriters got it. Alvarez’s diss track doesn’t. And his use of Cuban Spanish on social media to promote it — carajo, fajame, mi gente — in place of Mexican Spanish equivalents such as güey, éntrale and raza sounds like a guy who doesn’t know South L.A. from South Beach.
But to dismiss “Spencer, Saca La Bassura” as an inauthentic joke is to miss what it says about this political moment. In a year when Latinos nationwide will make or break the Democrats’ effort to win back Congress, they’ll play an even more crucial role in L.A.’s mayoral race.
And it’s the Bass campaign that needs Latinos more than any of her opponents — because there’s no guarantee she’ll get them.
Then-L.A. mayoral candidate Karen Bass, center, is flanked by pioneering farm labor leader Dolores Huerta, left, and former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, right, during a 2022 campaign event in Mariachi Plaza.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll released last month and co-sponsored by The Times revealed that 56% of likely voters view the mayor unfavorably, the only candidate to have a majority of those surveyed look negatively on her. She’s the top choice among Latinos — 29%, compared with Pratt’s 16%. But 27% of Latinos remain undecided about whom they want as mayor, the highest percentage of any ethnic group.
Pratt has some name recognition among Latinos as a C-list celebrity, but he’s also a registered Republican who thinks L.A. should coordinate with the Trump administration’s deportation leviathan, a position that’s as popular among Angelenos as rooting for the San Diego Padres. That obviously presents an opportunity for Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who’s running for mayor to the left of Bass — if she can smartly seize it. But Raman represents a district with one of the lowest Latino populations in the city and has yet to make a name for herself across town — no wonder the Berkeley poll found just 9% of Latinos favored her, trailing even Presbyterian pastor Rae Huang.
Those shortcomings should give Bass — whose children are Mexican American and who has worked alongside Latino L.A.’s political establishment for nearly her entire political career — an advantage among Latinos. But all that star wattage didn’t win her the Latino vote four years ago against Rick Caruso. And L.A.’s biggest problems during the mayor’s first term — homelessness, beat-up streets, busted streetlights, President Trump’s immigration deluge — unduly affected the Latino areas of L.A. Even the inferno that engulfed the Palisades led to the loss of thousands of jobs for the nannies, house cleaners and gardeners that kept the neighborhood as pristine as it was.
Bass’ campaign will trumpet all of her supposed accomplishments and trot out endorsements as it did at the Plaza de la Raza event, but she lost the narrative of a healthy L.A. a long time ago.
Pratt — who doesn’t seem to know Los Angeles besides the Westside and television studios — will have to do far more than Bass and Raman to attract Latinos. But by repeatedly referring to the mayor as “Karen Bassura” — a juvenile, obvious insult that nevertheless sticks once you hear it — he’s at least making Spanish a far more constant part of his campaign than his rivals. And Alvarez’s music video, as silly and un-L.A. as it is, speaks to an enthusiasm among at least one Latino Pratt supporter that will most likely remain catchier and more inspired than anything the Bass and Raman campaigns come up with.
That reality seems to have already made Bass blink. She responded to “Spencer, Saca La Bassura” on social media a few days later with a photo of people at her Plaza de la Raza rally holding “Latinos Con Bass” signs with the caption “Latinos Con Bass > Ai Latinos.” It was meant as a political flex but came off as insecure posturing. Meanwhile, Latinos Por Pratt just released a teaser for another video, this time featuring Pratt as Batman carting out a clown-faced Bass and Raman as the villainous Two-Face.
Playing, again, to salsa. That’s weak sauce. Can someone try to really get Latino L.A.?
WASHINGTON — Three fired FBI agents sued on Tuesday to try to get their jobs back, saying in a class-action lawsuit that they were illegally punished for their participation in an investigation into President Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
The federal lawsuit adds to the mounting list of court challenges to a personnel purge by FBI Director Kash Patel that over the last year has resulted in the ousters of dozens of agents, either because of their involvement in investigations related to Trump or because they were perceived as insufficiently loyal to the Republican president’s agenda.
The lawsuit in federal court in Washington was technically filed on behalf of just three agents but may have much broader implications given that its request for class-action status could open the door for agents fired since the start of the Trump administration to get their jobs back.
The three agents — Michelle Ball, Jamie Garman and Blaire Toleman — were fired last October and November in what they say was a “retribution campaign” targeting them for their work on the investigation into Trump. The agents had between eight and 14 years of “exemplary and unblemished” service in the FBI and expected to spend the remainder of their careers at the bureau but were abruptly fired without cause and without being given a chance to respond, the lawsuit says.
“Serving the American people as FBI agents was the highest honor of our lives,” they said in a statement. “We took an oath to uphold the Constitution, followed the facts wherever they led and never compromised our integrity. Our removal from federal service — without due process and based on a false perception of political bias — is a profound injustice that raises serious concerns about political interference in federal law enforcement.”
Trump’s indictment
The investigation the agents worked on culminated in a 2023 indictment from special counsel Jack Smith that accused Trump of illegally scheming to undo the results of the presidential election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. Smith ultimately abandoned that case, along with a separate one accusing Trump of illegally retaining classified records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., after Trump won back the White House in 2024, citing Justice Department legal opinions that prohibit the federal indictments of sitting presidents.
The lawsuit notes that the firings followed the release by Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, of documents about the election investigation — known as Arctic Frost — that he said had come from within the FBI. Those records included files showing that Smith’s team had subpoenaed several days of phone records of some Republican lawmakers, an investigative step that angered Trump allies inside Congress.
The complaint names as defendants Patel and Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, accusing them of having orchestrated the firings despite being “personally embroiled” either as witnesses or attorneys in some of the legal troubles Trump has faced.
Patel, for instance, was subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury investigating Trump’s retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and had his phone records subpoenaed, while Bondi was part of the legal team that represented Trump at his first impeachment trial, which resulted in his acquittal.
“And now, by virtue of presidential appointment to the pinnacle of federal law enforcement, Defendants are abusing their positions to claim victories that eluded them on the merits,” the lawsuit states.
Spokespeople for the FBI and the Justice Department declined to comment on the ongoing litigation. Patel and Bondi have said the fired agents and prosecutors who worked on Smith’s team were responsible for weaponizing federal law enforcement, a claim that was also asserted in their termination letters but that the plaintiffs call defamatory and baseless.
Fired agents call for ‘fundamental constitutional protections’
Dan Eisenberg, a lawyer for the agents, said in a statement that his clients were fired without any investigation, notice of charges or chance to be heard.
“This lawsuit seeks to reaffirm fundamental constitutional protections for FBI employees, ensuring they can perform their duties without fear or favor. We all benefit when law enforcement officers’ only loyalty is to facts and the truth,” said Eisenberg, who is with the firm of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel.
The lawsuit asks for the agents to be reinstated to their positions and for a court declaration affirming that their rights had been violated. It also seeks to represent a class of at least 50 agents who have been terminated since Jan. 20, 2025, or will be. Those agents also stand to recover their jobs in the event the case is successful and the requested class-action status is granted.
Others have been fired too
Other fired employees who have sued include agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in 2020; an agent trainee who displayed an LGBTQ+ flag at his workspace; and a group of senior officials, including the former acting director of the FBI, who were terminated last summer.
The firings have continued, with Patel last month pushing out a group of agents in the Washington field office who had been involved in investigating Trump’s hoarding of classified documents. Trump has insisted he was entitled to keep the documents when he left the White House and has claimed without evidence that he had declassified them.
City Councilmember Nithya Raman came out ahead of incumbent Karen Bass in a new poll on the Los Angeles mayor’s race, though the poll’s director cautioned that it did not give the whole picture.
Raman had a commanding lead in a field of five major candidates, with 33% of voters supporting her, while Bass trailed at 17%, according to the poll by the Loyola Marymount University Center for the Study of Los Angeles.
Leftist Rae Huang came in just behind Bass at nearly 17%, while tech executive Adam Miller had 13% and conservative reality TV star Spencer Pratt had 12%.
In the Loyola Marymount poll, unlike the other polls, respondents were given brief descriptions of the candidates, including their occupations and political priorities.
Raman was labeled a “progressive LA City Councilmember focused on housing affordability, homelessness and systemic reform,” while Bass was “incumbent mayor of Los Angeles, veteran legislator, focused on homelessness.”
One of Raman’s challenges, as a councilmember representing Los Feliz and Silver Lake as well as parts of the San Fernando Valley, is to spread her name recognition citywide, with the June 2 primary election about two months away. She entered the race to challenge Bass, her one-time ally, at the last minute, hours before the early February filing deadline.
The Loyola Marymount poll of 370 registered Los Angeles voters was conducted from Feb. 11 to March 16. It did not include a choice for “undecided,” while the other two polls showed that significant percentages of voters hadn’t made up their minds.
“This poll shows if only positive descriptors are used and context is provided, Raman is ahead,” said Fernando Guerra, director of Loyola Marymount’s Center for the Study of Los Angeles, who directed the poll.
Guerra said he believes Bass is the front-runner, taking the previous polls into account.
Bass’ campaign took issue with the Loyola Marymount poll.
“In 2022, this same LMU poll had Karen Bass at 16% — she ended up winning the primary with 43%. The only thing more ridiculous than this poll is Spencer Pratt’s performance on The Hills,” said Alex Stack, a spokesperson for the Bass campaign, referencing Pratt’s reality show.
Raman’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a post on X citing the poll, Raman wrote, “OUR CAMPAIGN IS SURGING … Angelenos are ready for a city that actually works.”
Paul Mitchell, vice president of the bipartisan voter data firm Political Data Inc., said the poll’s sample size was too small to draw conclusions and that the poll was less reliable because it was conducted over the course of more than a month.
He also noted that with many of the candidates relatively unknown, including the descriptors could have a major effect.
“I’m sure Nithya Raman doesn’t have citywide name recognition, but that description is really great,” Mitchell said.
Guerra said he didn’t include an “undecided” option because he wanted to “force” respondents to give an answer, similar to when they actually vote.
In the Emerson poll, more than 50% of voters were undecided on who to support for mayor. The Berkeley IGS poll showed about a quarter of voters were undecided.
In LMU’s mayoral poll from 2022, released in early March of that year, 42% of respondents chose “undecided/someone else” for mayor.
After Bass, who had 16% support, then-City Councilmember Kevin de Léon was second at 12% in the 2022 poll. Rick Caruso, the billionaire developer, who ended up making the runoff election against Bass, received 6% support.
In that year’s June primary, Bass got 43% of the vote, Caruso nearly 36% and De Léon about 8%.
This year’s LMU poll also asked L.A. voters what kind of candidate they would prefer for mayor.
Nearly 50% said they prefer a Democratic Socialist, while 25% said they want a moderate Democrat, 19% said a conservative and just 8% said an establishment Democrat.
“Los Angeles is much more progressive than its elected leadership. This poll captures that,” Guerra said.
Some disagreed.
Mike Trujillo, a consultant for moderate Democrats who is not representing anyone in the mayoral race, said polling he has done across the city shows that the Democratic Socialists of America’s popularity is much lower.
Raman is a dues-paying member of the Los Angeles chapter of DSA, which endorsed her in her two successful City Council campaigns.
“If you believe this poll, I have bridges to sell you on 1st Street, 6th Street, and Alameda Street — and there’s no bridge on Alameda,” he said. “The poll was basically A to Z in Nithya Raman’s contact list.”
This year’s LMU poll also asked L.A. County voters about the governor’s race. Former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter led at about 16%, followed by Republican Steve Hilton at 13% and billionaire Tom Steyer at 12%.
The Berkeley IGS poll showed two Republicans — Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and Hilton — leading the crowded field of gubernatorial candidates by slim margins among voters statewide, with Democratic support split among multiple candidates in a left-leaning state.
NASHUA, N.H. — The problem for Patrick J. Buchanan, the silver-tongued Republican who would be President, is people like George Anthes.
“It seems that Pat Buchanan has truly caught fire,” says Anthes, the king of talk radio at station WMVU, introducing the candidate to a listening audience of flinty New Englanders. “There seems to be a change brewing.”
And so Buchanan begins his spiel: The national polls–three of five in August–that peg him No. 2 behind Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas in the race for the GOP nomination. His recent endorsement by the Manchester Union Leader, the paper of record for New Hampshire’s hard-core conservatives. A credible showing in the recent Iowa straw poll–in his eyes, No. 3 with a bullet.
“We have crossed the threshold,” said a confident Buchanan, “of credibility and electability.”
Not so fast. Thirty minutes later, with the microphone off and the candidate heading quickly for the door, Anthes gets a little more honest. “I’d love to see Pat as President, but I have my doubts.” A pause. “He is picking up though.”
Well, sort of. Somehow, even when they suffer setbacks or fail to make headway in the polls, Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, ex-Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander and California Gov. Pete Wilson get taken seriously as potential nominees. Even when Buchanan is on a roll–like the one that fuels his hopes today–he is rarely accorded the same respect.
The reasons are plentiful. Buchanan rose to prominence as a commentator and author; although he ran for President in 1992, he has never won an elected office. He is an unabashed, uncompromising conservative, and thus a polarizing figure to many. And the disdain he does not hide for some in his own party has cut into his ability to raise money.
Buchanan and his followers are “outsiders, they’re populists,” said political analyst Kevin Phillips. “In terms of the Republican power elite, they’re not Buchananites. He could never be the nominee.”
Striving for Second
Buchanan, 56, is undeterred by such naysayers. And his quest, at least for now, is not to be No. 1, but to come in second in the early primaries and caucuses of 1996–a crucial three weeks, Buchanan contends, that will decide if he can raise the money to continue campaigning.
“I’ve got the resources to go three weeks,” said the candidate, who so far has raised about $3 million and spent an estimated $2.5 million. A bad showing in those crucial contests and contributions will dry up, leaving him at great disadvantage to his cushier competitors who have the money “to sustain the kinds of defeats I can’t.”
Indeed, as of June 30, in the most recent Federal Election Commission statistics available, Dole had raised $13.5 million and had $6.5 million cash on hand; Gramm had raised $16.8 million and had $7.3 million left.
Dole’s and Gramm’s years in public office have given them extensive lists of big-money campaign donors. Buchanan, on the other hand, appeals to ideologically inspired small donors and reports an average contribution of less than $40. “We are appealing to the grass-roots,” said K. B. Forbes, Buchanan’s deputy press secretary.
Buchanan is struggling mightily to claim the crown of true conservative in a crowded field of candidates, to fuse together the disaffected, the religious, the working class, Ross Perot voters, gun owners, the Christian Coalition. He is striving to be second.
“Dole might be ahead of me,” Buchanan contended, “but then the conservatives will say: ‘It’s Buchanan or Dole.’ If they say that, then I can beat Bob Dole.”
Hanging over the upbeat campaign for the past month was the ill health of Buchanan’s mother, Catherine, 83, who was injured in a fall. She died Monday, and Buchanan headed home from a campaign swing in the West.
One recent Sunday morning, he could be found striding into Washington’s National Airport, fresh from a hand-clapping, foot-stomping success at the Christian Coalition’s annual meeting. He was armed with a newspaper and briefcase, garbed in the politician’s standard-issue blue suit. He was headed to New Hampshire for three days of campaigning. No one paid a bit of attention.
This is the conservative made famous by his 1992 declaration of a cultural war “for the soul of America,” a battle that he will likely wage as long as he can breathe–and talk.
“Have you read that U.N. report?” he asked supporters at a Republican town hall meeting in New Hampshire later the same day. “They say there aren’t two sexes, there are five genders.”
He paused for laughter, warmed to his crowd and continued: “They started with heterosexual; I followed them there. They went on to homosexual; I was slowing down. They said transsexual, that’s the third one. I don’t understand the last two. I tell you this: God created man and woman, I don’t care what Bella Abzug says.”
In the circles Buchanan travels, that one always goes over well. So do his stands on affirmative action (against), abortion (vehemently against), the death penalty (oh, yes), the Department of Education (oh, no).
He would bury the North American Free Trade Agreement and erect an ideological wall around the nation to rival the actual wall he would build along the U.S. border with Mexico. No more foreign aid, no more global free trade. In Buchanan’s brand of economic nationalism, “we must stop sacrificing American jobs on the altar of transnational corporations.”
And he would tell the nation about his economic platform, unveiled in a recent Wall Street Journal essay, if only people would tear their attention away from his stand on social issues. His program, he contends, will make America “the enterprise zone for the entire industrialized Western world.”
The highlights: A flat tax on personal income. A flat tax for big corporations. A much lower tax for small ones. No more inheritance tax on family businesses and family farms. He will pay for the plan with a 10% tariff on Japanese imports and a 20% tariff on Chinese goods.
In New Hampshire, with its recent memory of economic privation, of local industries fleeing oversees, the Buchanan plan resonates.
Norma Moreau, 38, stands in front of Martha’s Exchange restaurant and brew pub here in Nashua, waiting for a friend so they can map out the future of her small-business career. Moreau said that she is likely to cast her ballot for Buchanan, even though she disagrees with his rock-solid stand against abortion. Everything else, she says, she likes–particularly the tariffs.
“I think there should be tariffs put on anything from another country,” said the owner of Imprints Ink, a struggling silk-screening firm. “We have to protect our own jobs. All we do is help other countries. Why don’t we take the money and help the United States?”
She has too many friends who have lost their jobs, run out of unemployment assistance, lost their homes. “It’s sad,” she said.
Familiar Territory
Buchanan used this New Hampshire despair, coupled with Republican anger at the 1991 tax increase shepherded by then-President George Bush, to garner an unimaginable 37% of the vote in the 1992 GOP primary here.
He still considers the region his, with its picket fences, clapboard houses, and guys named Charlie who wear shirts and ties when they go to work pumping gas at the local Shell station.
People here still smoke in restaurants; adults are not required to wear seat belts or motorcycle helmets. The state motto is, “Live Free or Die.”
At St. Marie Parish in industrial Manchester, where Buchanan took in Sunday Mass, the homily began with a tale about how burdensome laws in New York City required Mother Teresa to install an elevator for the handicapped in her refurbished community center. The result, according to the priest: She left.
“I notice Pat Buchanan is here,” said Father Marc Montminy to great applause. “Welcome in our midst.”
Charles M. Arlinghaus, executive director of New Hampshire’s Republican State Committee, contends that the race here is still wide open and that Buchanan still has a shot. “Anyone could win New Hampshire,” he said, “with a couple of exceptions I won’t name.”
Phillips concedes that Buchanan was underestimated in New Hampshire in 1992.
But the author of the American Political Report figures that a GOP presidential nomination for the conservative commentator and author is “unlikely.” Chances are, Phillips says, Buchanan will not even win 25% of the vote in the upcoming New Hampshire primary.
“I think 25% would be doing very well,” Phillips said. “It would probably put him second place, clearly put him third. He does have a chance of going that high. On the other hand, the chance of Pat lasting with a lot of pep into March is not very good. He doesn’t have the budget.”
But the lengthy race to choose a President is still in its very early stages, as was painfully evident as Buchanan campaigned in Concord Sept. 11.
Performing the mandatory New Hampshire dance of meet and greet the voters, he introduced himself to Bea McGinnis, 76, a loyal Republican, shook her hand and went on his way. And who does McGinnis like in the Republican race? “Well, you got Bill Wilson, running, right? He’s a Republican. And I like John over there,” she said, glancing at Buchanan’s receding back. “That’s his name, right?”
La Ganga reported this story while on assignment in New Hampshire.
Japanese Prime Minister and leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Sanae Takaichi (L) delivers a speech in support of a local candidate at an election campaign rally in Tokyo, Japan, 07 February 2026. File. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON
March 29 (Asia Today) — China intensified an online influence campaign targeting Japan during the country’s February general election, sharply increasing English-language messaging aimed at shaping international opinion, according to a joint analysis cited by Japanese media.
The Yomiuri Shimbun reported Sunday that the findings were based on a joint study with AI firm Sakana AI, which examined social media posts, including on X, from Jan. 19 through mid-February.
The analysis tracked what researchers described as the “flow of narratives” in China-linked criticism of Japan. It found that English-language posts outnumbered Japanese-language content by as much as four to one, indicating a strategic shift toward influencing global audiences rather than domestic Japanese opinion.
The surge followed remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in November, when she described a potential Taiwan contingency as a “crisis threatening Japan’s existence.” After several days of relative silence, China-linked accounts escalated criticism of Japan.
The volume of such posts rose steadily during the election period. Researchers estimated roughly 1,400 posts on Jan. 19, increasing to about 1,700 by Jan. 23 and 1,800 by Jan. 27. On Feb. 8, the day of voting, the number surged to around 4,000, though still below levels seen during a larger campaign in November.
The messaging themes also shifted. Earlier narratives focused on criticizing Japan’s leadership and accusing Tokyo of interfering in Taiwan-related issues. During the election, however, posts increasingly framed Japan in terms of “militarization,” “revival of militarism,” and economic decline. As voting approached, criticism of political leadership again became more prominent.
A Japanese government official said the messaging may have been designed to influence voter behavior through pressure or intimidation.
Separate analysis of posts from November through January showed a sharp rise in English-language output from accounts linked to the Chinese Communist Party. During a peak period in mid-November, English-language criticism reached roughly four times the volume of Japanese posts. In December, about 560 of roughly 900 posts were in English, and in January, more than half of approximately 300 posts were written in English.
Officials in Japan suggested the shift reflects a strategic recalibration. With the Takaichi administration maintaining relatively strong approval ratings despite earlier criticism, Chinese efforts may have pivoted toward shaping international narratives rather than domestic opinion.
A Chinese official was quoted as saying the campaign would continue to apply “tactical pressure” on Takaichi while seeking to prevent countries from aligning with Japan.
The report concluded that China’s social media operations during the election represented a coordinated effort to influence both domestic and global perceptions by leveraging political and security narratives.
Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Noah Goldberg, with an assist from David Zahniser and Rebecca Ellis, giving you the latest on city and county government.
Adam Miller is running for mayor.
You might not know that, and you might not even know who he is — and his campaign team wouldn’t blame you.
In fact, the Miller team’s own internal poll of 800 likely voters shows the tech entrepreneur with just 6% support, behind incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, City Councilmember Nithya Raman, conservative reality TV star Spencer Pratt and leftist Rae Huang. Only 13% of Angelenos even have an opinion of Miller, with 7% coming down on the positive side and 6% negative.
Miller’s pollster, Jefrey Pollock, admits it’s not often that a campaign brags about a humble 6% backing their candidate.
But during a video conference with reporters, Pollock argued that Miller’s support rises along with his name recognition. When likely voters were given more information about the candidates, he shot up to 20%, according to the poll. When provided with additional positive information about the candidates, Miller finished first, with 27%.
“Adam is the one who jumps up,” said Pollock, who runs Global Strategy Group.
After voters got the first dose of information, 22% supported Bass, down from 26%; 21% went with Pratt, up from 14%; 14% backed Raman, up from 12%; and 8% chose Huang, down from 9%.
In a poll earlier this month by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by The Times, Miller also came out with 6% support. Bass was supported by 25% of voters, while Raman drew 17% and conservative reality TV star Spencer Pratt came in third at 14%. About a quarter of voters were undecided.
Paul Mitchell, vice president of the bipartisan voter data firm Political Data Inc., said the Miller campaign poll was compelling.
“What I see is a good argument that he can make the runoff,” Mitchell said. “This is a real deal.”
The question for Miller and his team then becomes, how can he introduce himself to more voters before the June 2 primary?
Miller is the former CEO of Cornerstone OnDemand, a global training and development company he built over the course of more than 20 years. The publicly traded company was eventually sold to a private equity firm for $5.2 billion. He is also a co-founder of Better Angels, a nonprofit focused on preventing homelessness and building affordable housing.
Among everyday Angelenos, he’s a no-name.
A television, social media and outdoor billboard advertising campaign launched this week should help change that, Miller’s team said. They said the “omnichannel” blitz cost seven figures but did not provide an exact amount.
The first billboard went up this week at Bundy Drive and Wilshire Boulevard, not far from Miller’s Brentwood home. More are expected next week in the San Fernando Valley.
Miller said he personally loaned his campaign a “majority” of the money for the ad blitz.
How much Miller is willing to spend on his mayoral ambitions?
In 2022, billionaire developer Rick Caruso threw more than $100 million of his own money into his campaign against Bass during the primary and runoff elections. He still lost by more than 10 percentage points.
“Obviously, we have the benefit of hindsight that that strategy did not work,” Miller said of the Caruso campaign. “There’s reasons my candidacy is different.”
For one thing, as opposed to Caruso, who was a Republican before registering as a Democrat to run for mayor, Miller is a lifelong Democrat. (That said, Miller voted for Caruso in 2022, said his spokesperson, Jaime Sarachit).
Miller is a moderate who sees himself as leader who gets things done. He believes the LAPD needs a minimum of 10,000 officers, up from about 8,700. He thinks the city should use anti-encampment laws to move homeless people away from sensitive areas like schools and day cares.
Miller would not directly answer a question about how much of his own money he will spend on his campaign. He has so far loaned it $2 million, “to get it up and running,” Sarachit said.
“That’s a significant sum, obviously,” said longtime L.A. political consultant Bill Carrick. “It’s a lot more efficient to write a check from your personal account than it is to go raise $2 million.”
But Miller said his campaign will largely be “traditionally financed,” meaning he plans to fundraise.
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State of play
— AO-K’ed: Metro’s board on Thursday unanimously approved a new route for a rail line that would extend from South L.A. into West Hollywood — a milestone deal struck after last-minute negotiations between Bass and local leaders. The K Line northern extension would link with four major rail lines and increase the number of riders to 100,000 a day.
— SOCIALIST SNUB: The Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America will not endorse a candidate for mayor. Last weekend, the group voted on whether to reopen its endorsement process and consider backing Huang or Raman but ultimately decided to stay out of the fray for the June primary.
— GUNNING FOR COUNCIL: Leftist City Council candidate Estuardo Mazariegos was convicted of misdemeanor gun possession in 2009. He thinks the conviction is a strength, not a weakness.
— SMALLER BIGGER: On Tuesday, the City Council adopted a strategy that would delay the effects of SB 79 citywide by upzoning 55 single-family and low-density areas, allowing for buildings of four to 16 units that are up to four stories tall. Under SB 79, buildings adjacent to certain transit stops can be up to nine stories.
— NOT UP FOR DEBATE: USC canceled its Tuesday gubernatorial debate, a stunning about-face after days of fiery criticism that every prominent candidate of color was excluded. Although the university defended the methodology used to determine who was invited, it ended up calling off the event with less than 24 hours’ notice.
— PHANTOM SUIT: A man said he has no idea how he became a plaintiff in the county’s $4-billion payout for sex abuse in juvenile halls and foster homes. His lawsuit, which he says was filed without his consent by Downtown LA Law Group, deepens questions around possible fraud in the nation’s largest sex abuse settlement.
— TAX TAKEAWAY: The proposal from a group of business leaders to repeal the city’s business tax has qualified for the November ballot. Organizers said their success — gathering twice as many signatures as needed — shows that voters “want affordability and fairness to be addressed immediately.” Labor unions have vowed to fight the proposal, which would rip an $800-million hole in the city budget.
— HOUSING HUDDLE: Three of the mayoral candidates — Miller, Huang and Raman — took the stage Monday for a downtown forum. The trio went back and forth on housing, transportation and other issues, particularly the future of Measure ULA, the so-called mansion tax. Bass did not attend, citing a previous engagement in New Orleans, where she held a campaign fundraiser with U.S. Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.) and the city’s mayor, Helena Moreno. Pratt also did not show.
QUICK HITS
Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature program visited Skid Row in Councilmember Ysabel Jurado‘s district, moving 25 people indoors.
On the docket next week: The City Council is on recess next week.
Stay in touch
That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to LAontheRecord@latimes.com. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.
“From the very, very beginning, Chad Bianco didn’t say this was political,” Bianco told me, referring to himself in the third person. “Chad Bianco said we have an allegation of fraud with numbers that don’t add up, and no one has an exact reason why. So we have to find out the exact reason why. It’s plain and simple. Plain and simple.”
If you’re clueless as to what Bianco is talking about, let me give you the short version. A citizens group of election “auditors” claimed that in the last election over Proposition 50 in November, there were about 45,800 more ballots counted than cast.
The Riverside County Registrar of Voters, Art Tinoco, a highly respected election official, gave a long presentation explaining why that number was not accurate. He said that the actual difference in ballots cast and counted is only 103, within the acceptable margin of error for the 1.4 million voters in his area.
But unhappy with that answer, the group apparently took their concerns to Bianco, who decided to use his powers of criminal investigation to circumvent the many established avenues for vote audits through his own county and the California secretary of state (though he hasn’t revealed publicly exactly what led to the investigation).
Using a secret, sealed warrant — so none of us actually know what he’s alleging — he seized more than half a million ballots. The court has apparently appointed a special master to count those ballots, though Bianco at first said his deputies would do their own counting. But we don’t know who that special master is, or even if he or she has yet been appointed.
Here’s what we do know, and why it counts as a danger not just to Riverside, but also to American democracy writ large, when a politically ambitious lawman decides to run elections himself.
The fraud fiasco
So where did the citizen-auditors get their 45,800 number? Like many California counties, Riverside tallies ballots as they come in. So for the 11 days voting was happening (and for the mail-in ballots that came later) someone was making a handwritten note for every ballot that the county received.
Yes, I said handwritten, for more than 600,000 ballots going through 2,500 workers and volunteers. It’s often inaccurate and not every ballot is going to end up being a good one — some lack signatures, for example.
Tinoco, the registrar, called these handwritten logs “raw data” that also are missing ballots from other sources that increases the final tally, such as people who register on the day they vote. So no one who understands elections expects this number to be accurate or final.
Once all these ballots are checked to make sure they should be counted, they are sent to an entirely separate system, which reads them electronically and provides the election results.
When the number of vetted ballots is compared with the number of ballots that are counted by the second system, the difference is 103, Tinoco said.
So no fraud, only human frailty with the difficult business of counting by hand.
Matt Barreto, a UCLA political science professor and director of its Voting Rights Project, said Bianco’s actions were similar to what happened in Fulton County, Ga., where the FBI seized ballots after Trump’s debunked claims of fraud — despite plain and simple explanations from election officials.
“In both cases, Georgia and Riverside, independent elections offices had already verified the accuracy of the ballot count, and in both cases the results had been certified by the Secretary of State,” Barreto said. “It is worrisome that a very partisan law enforcement officer is questioning the integrity of an election, perhaps because he did not support the results.”
The investigation
Bianco has been investigating the 45,000 claim for months, but it came to a head in recent weeks, in no small part thanks to a news conference he held. Bianco’s office, as first reported by the Riverside Record, served a warrant on the election office one day before Tinoco made his presentation to the Board of Supervisors in early February.
Since then, the California secretary of state, which handles elections, and the state Department of Justice have both tried to intervene to stop Bianco from taking ballots or doing his own recount, Pillow Guy-style. But they’ve had little luck.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber called the allegations “unsubstantiated” and questioned the legality — and common sense — of having deputies hand count ballots. Now, her office is trying to make sure folks trained in elections are involved in whatever happens next.
“The sheriff’s assertion that his deputies know how to count is admirable,” Weber said. “The fact remains that he and his deputies are not elections officials.”
Separately, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has gone to the courts to try to keep Bianco from spiriting away the ballots. Bonta’s office went straight to the California Court of Appeals to ask it to force the sheriff to comply with their requests to take no further action and supply the Justice Department with the probable cause evidence used to obtain the search warrant — basically tell them exactly what proof he’s using to claim a crime might have been committed.
The appeals court declined to intervene until Bonta went to the lower Riverside County Superior Court. But in the meantime, Bianco went back to his judge and asked for another secret, sealed warrant — which he got.
The bigger problem
And that brings us to why we should all be concerned about Riverside County.
First, why all the secrecy? Shouldn’t elections and everything about them be transparent, so we all can feel confident any investigation is on the up and up?
I asked Bianco why the warrants are sealed, and he told me I didn’t understand investigations.
“In an ongoing investigation, we never unseal the warrants,” Bianco said. “No, I can’t say never. I can’t say never. Why are you coming at me like I’m the bad person here, instead of like a rational person?”
When I asked him why a sheriff needed to be involved, rather than allowing the state officials who handle elections to investigate, he told me this was a crime investigation just like any other — domestic abuse or murder, for example.
“It’s called fraud,” he said. “Let me ask you this: Do we just let, do we let doctors investigate themselves for medical malpractice?”
The implication there is that election officials are in a conspiracy to commit an actual crime — fraud — and can’t be trusted. That jumps the shark from maybe election staff counting sloppy in their handwritten tallies of ballots received, to a — yes, folks, here it is — a conspiracy of Democrats, from those volunteers up to the highest state officials.
“Oh, please,” Bianco said regarding my questions on whether this was, in fact, political. “I’m the sheriff of Riverside County, and my investigators are responsible for crime. I have nothing to do with this investigation.”
His news conference would beg to differ.
And now we have a precedent for a politics-driven sheriff seizing ballots, maybe to make headlines, maybe to please Trump, maybe both. What happens if other Republican sheriffs across the country decide to do some ballot seizing of their own in swing states or contested races come November?
Is it all fair game now for whoever can physically take the ballots to be the arbitrator of results?
George Skelton and Michael Wilner cover the insights, legislation, players and politics you need to know. In your inbox Monday and Thursday mornings.
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The outcome was one few anticipated, with Gray Davis romping to victory in the Democratic primary, then winning the governorship in a landslide.
Less than three months before the June primary, Davis had been running dead last, behind two well-heeled Democrats and the eventual GOP nominee. The number of people who told him to quit would have filled the L.A. Coliseum, Davis recalled this week. But he never considered dropping out; the pressure only made him more determined.
“Sometimes it’s meant to be. Sometimes you get every break,” Davis said. “Sometimes it’s not meant to be and you get no breaks.”
His bottom line: “Anything can happen.”
Of course, no two campaigns are the same.
This gubernatorial contest is being conducted under a system in which the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, will advance to a November runoff. In 1998, California held an “open primary,” under rules later voided by the Supreme Court. All candidates appeared on the same ballot, with the top finishers in each party guaranteed a spot in November.
Beyond that, the world has vastly changed: politically, socially, culturally. (Google is now one of the most valuable companies on the planet, pulling in a record $403 billion in revenue in fiscal 2025.)
Voter attitudes are different. One of Davis’ greatest assets was his position as lieutenant governor; that currency — incumbency and government know-how — no longer trade at the same high value.
The media landscape has fractured — back then newspapers set the political agenda, fewer than half of voters were online and streaming was something mostly done by water. Californians aren’t nearly as tuned in to the governor’s race as they were then.
“There’s a sideshow going on internationally and nationally and people are like, ‘Oh, right, there’s a governor’s race happening,’” said Paul Maslin, who was Davis’ pollster and is now working for Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Betty Yee. “Whereas in ‘98, that was clearly the big act in town.”
Having said all that, luck and an opportune break or two are still key ingredients to political success, as Davis suggested.
Feinstein, the state’s senior U.S. senator, had nearly been elected governor in 1990 and her lengthy deliberations froze out other potentially strong contenders. Had Feinstein run, she very probably would have blown away the field and made history by becoming the state’s first female governor.
Davis also greatly benefited when a federal court tossed out strict contribution limits, allowing him to go from collecting bite-size donations to much greater sums. Though he was vastly outspent by his two rich Democratic opponents, multimillionaire Al Checchi and then-Rep. Jane Harman, the decision allowed Davis to remain competitive and eventually pay for the statewide ad blitz that is indispensable in California.
Checchi, in particular, barraged voters with an unrelenting flood of ads. (Shades of the omnipresent Tom Steyer.) In one of them, a spot attacking Harman, Checchi included a photo of the lieutenant governor — and not a bad-looking one at that. The glimpse reminded voters that Davis, who was husbanding his resources for a late advertising push, was still in the race. He enjoyed a significant boost in polls.
Still, Checchi and Harman saw each other as the main opponent and their strategists acted — and tailored their advertising and campaign messaging — accordingly. The result was “a murder-suicide, as the term went at the time,” said Garry South, who managed Davis’ campaign. “They decided to focus so much fire on each other and ignore us that we simply slipped through the hole.”
Davis can well relate to those gubernatorial hopefuls in the position he once was — dissed, dismissed and bumping along near the bottom of horse-race polls. Speaking from his law office in Century City, he had this simple advice:
“Follow your heart,” he said. “Do what you think is right.”
“It’s fine for someone else to tell you you should get out, but that’s not their business,” Davis said. “You’re the candidate, and if you think for whatever reason you want to stay in the race, you should stay in the race.”
But Davis isn’t too worried about that happening. Moreover, he said, it’s easy for those watching from the sidelines to take potshots and offer unsolicited — and not particularly empathetic — advice.
“They’re not running for office,” he said. “Other people are putting themselves on the line. … [If] people have the wherewithal, the courage and the dedication it takes to put themselves in a position to run for office, if they really believe it’s the right thing to do, they should. They should follow their dream.”
Besides which, you never know what might happen come June.
When I read all the hype being heaped on Kamala Harris’ lead in early polls for the 2028 Democratic nomination, I have to chuckle to myself.
The release of a Rasmussen Reports poll in February was titled, “Kamala Harris Still Leads 2028 Field for Democrats.” One headline in the Hill predicted, “Kamala Harris may yet be the Democratic nominee in 2028.” A Washington Examiner piece about polling warned, “Democrats won’t get rid of Kamala Harris that easily for 2028.”
I chuckle not because I don’t believe the numbers, but because I don’t believe any poll this far out in an open contest is meaningful, let alone determinative. I’ve seen this movie before, and it didn’t end well.
In 2003, after managing the successful 2002 reelection campaign of California Gov. Gray Davis, I signed on as an advisor to the presidential campaign of Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman — who, I needn’t remind anyone, had been the Democratic nominee for vice president in the 2000 election, which he and Al Gore lost in a nail-biter to George W. Bush.
Based simply on his high name identification from that hellzapoppin’ race, and the fact his name had been on the ballot in all 50 states just two years before, Lieberman initially led the Democratic field quite handily in almost every national poll.
An ABC News/Washington Post survey in January 2003 found Lieberman leading the Democratic field with 27%. A Gallup poll from that same month also placed him first, ahead of both John Kerry and Richard Gephardt.
A Pew poll in the summer of 2003 also found Lieberman atop the field, as the best-known candidate at 85% name recognition, and 58% support, ahead of Kerry, Gephardt and Howard Dean.
Boy, did we brag about Lieberman’s lead at every stop and in every press release. But in the end, the promising early numbers meant nothing. When actual votes were cast, Lieberman totally flamed out, receiving a measly 8.9% of the vote in the critical first primary in New Hampshire, finishing dead last, and dropping out of the race in February 2004, having lost every primary and caucus up to that point.
Why? A lot of reasons, including mistakes made by the candidate and campaign. But fundamentally because, when Democrats started to take a close look at and assess the full field, they relegated Lieberman to the status of a loser, and they wanted to move on. We heard a lot of, “He had his chance and lost.” Does Harris come to mind?
The fact is, we Democrats tend to put defeated presidential nominees in the rear-view mirror pretty quickly. Think of Michael Dukakis, Gore and Kerry. And let’s not forget, Harris obtaining the nomination in 2024 was a fluke; she didn’t compete in one primary or receive one primary vote. The first time she ran for president, in the 2020 cycle, she also didn’t win one primary or receive a single primary vote, because she ran a bad campaign and hightailed it out of the race before a single vote was cast. Two strikes and you’re out?
We Democrats just don’t renominate losers. The last time we did it was exactly 70 — yes, 70 — years ago, with Adlai Stevenson in 1956 after he had lost the 1952 presidential race to Dwight Eisenhower. Stevenson rewarded Democrats for this recycling effort by losing to Eisenhower a second time — by an even worse margin. Democrats learned their lesson: Reheating doesn’t work with failed candidates.
And, come on, Harris not only lost to Trump, not only lost all seven swing states, but was the first Democratic presidential nominee in 20 years to lose the popular vote. And her weak showing also helped Republicans wrest control of the Senate from Democrats. We’re supposed to imagine that’s a credible record on which to run again for the nomination?
All of these breathless stories about Harris leading the field nationally also never mention her perilous standing in her own home state of California. A Berkeley IGS survey in August revealed that by a margin of 18 percentage points, even her fellow Democrats in California did not want her to run again. A Politico poll this month showed Gov. Gavin Newsom with a 2-to-1 lead in California among voters leaning toward voting in the 2028 Democratic primary.
So have fun, Kamala Harris, enjoying your name-ID high while it lasts (although maybe a mite longer than your 107-day presidential effort).
Garry South is a Democratic strategist who has managed four campaigns for governor of California and played significant roles in three presidential campaigns, including that of Al Gore.
Oh Se-hoon, right, sits with other prospective candidates during a Seoul mayoral nomination interview at the People Power Party headquarters in Seoul on Sunday. Photo by Asia Today
March 22 (Asia Today) — Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on Sunday renewed his call for the formation of a campaign committee aimed at broadening the party’s appeal to centrist voters, as he completed an interview for the ruling party’s Seoul mayoral nomination.
Oh, who entered the People Power Party primary late, urged party leaders to quickly launch what he described as an “innovation campaign committee” led by figures capable of attracting moderate voters.
Speaking to reporters after the interview at the party’s headquarters in Yeouido, Oh said recent opinion polls show a significant gap in party approval ratings, underscoring the need for a strategy that resonates with centrist voters in the Seoul metropolitan area.
“Without a campaign structure that can expand toward the center, winning the election will be difficult,” he said.
Oh dismissed suggestions that his proposal amounts to sidelining the party leadership under Jang Dong-hyuk, saying his goal is to balance the party’s confrontational stance against the opposition with broader electoral appeal.
“At this point, it would not make sense to ask the leadership to weaken its political stance,” he said.
He also pushed back against media reports portraying his proposal as an attempt to take control of the party or position himself for the next party convention, calling such interpretations “unintended.”
Tensions between Oh and the party leadership are expected to continue. Jang has previously rejected calls for an early launch of the campaign committee, saying it should be formed after the nomination process is completed.
While both sides agree on the need for a campaign body with wider appeal, they remain divided over the timing of its formation.
The interview marked the confirmation of a six-way race for the party’s Seoul mayoral nomination. Other candidates include Rep. Park Soo-min, former Gangdong District Mayor Kim Chung-hwan, former lawmaker Yoon Hee-sook, party official Lee Sang-kyu and business executive Lee Seung-hyun.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has a lead over her challengers in her bid for reelection, but more than half of voters view her unfavorably, according to a poll released Sunday.
Bass was supported by 25% of voters, while City Councilmember Nithya Raman drew 17% and conservative reality TV star Spencer Pratt came in third at 14% in the poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by The Times.
About a quarter of voters were undecided, the poll found.
Bass has come under heavy criticism for her handling of the devastating Palisades fire. More than a year later, 56% of those polled said they had an unfavorable view of her, while 31% viewed her favorably.
The survey of 840 likely voters between March 9 and 15 provides one of the first snapshots of the mayoral race, less than three months before the June 2 primary.
Beyond the top three, leftist Rae Huang notched support from 8% of those polled, while tech entrepreneur Adam Miller drew 6%.
Despite Bass’ lead, the poll is “borderline catastrophic” for her, because the field of candidates is so weak, said Dan Schnur, a politics professor at USC, UC Berkeley and Pepperdine.
“That she’s having this much trouble against this field, against such a little-known field of opponents, bodes very, very poorly for her,” Schnur said. “The only thing saving her at this point is that the top tier of potential candidates who were considering running against her decided to stay out of this race.”
The mayoral race solidified in early February, when Raman shocked the political establishment by jumping in against her ally Bass, hours before the filing deadline.
By that time, other well-known politicians, including billionaire developer Rick Caruso and L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, had opted to stay out of the race. Former Los Angeles schools Supt. Austin Beutner dropped out following the death of his 22-year-old daughter.
Those decisions have left Angelenos with a field of candidates they hardly know. While they have strong views about Bass, slightly more than half of those polled said they didn’t know enough about Raman to have an opinion. Even more voters were unfamiliar with the other candidates.
Bass was on a diplomatic trip to Ghana when the Palisades fire ignited on Jan. 7, 2025, killing 12 people and destroying thousands of homes. She was unsteady in her initial public appearances and has since come under attack by Pratt, Caruso and others over the LAFD’s management of the fire and the pace of the recovery as well as allegations that she ordered an after-action report on the fire to be watered down.
Bass’ campaign has pointed to declining homelessness and crime as among the successes of her first term as mayor.
“It’s clear Angelenos are frustrated by decades of inaction on major issues,” Douglas Herman, a spokesperson for the Bass campaign, said in a statement. “This campaign will show that it’s Karen Bass who changed the direction on these issues and that others running responded with reports while Karen Bass took action.”
Raman, who represents Los Feliz and parts of Silver Lake and the San Fernando Valley, was viewed favorably by 26% of those polled and unfavorably by 23%. The 51% who said they didn’t have an opinion of her could be an indication that she has yet to expand her name recognition citywide.
She has said that her decision to run was driven in part by her frustration with city leaders’ inability to get the basics right, such as fixing streetlights and paving streets.
“I am very grateful that our campaign to make our city more affordable is resonating with so many Angelenos,” she said in a statement.
Former City Councilmember Mike Bonin, who runs the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State L.A., said that after the shock of Raman’s entry into the race, the mayoral campaign has taken on a sleepier pace.
“Candidates are raising money and doing their due diligence … but it’s felt like a staid, quiet race,” he said. “This poll reflects that.”
Bonin said the most important number is the gap between Raman and Pratt.
If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote in the primary, the top two finishers will proceed to a November run off. According to Bonin, Raman and Pratt will likely be jockeying to face off against Bass.
“While voters are clearly looking for an alternative [to Bass], they haven’t chosen one,” Bonin said.
The poll showed Bass — the city’s first female mayor and first Black female mayor — with strong support from Black voters, at 43%, while Raman has 6%.
Raman, who if elected would be the city’s first South Asian mayor, leads with Asian and Pacific Islander voters at 34%, with Bass at 10%.
Bass performs better with older voters, while Raman and Huang are appealing to younger voters, the poll found. Huang led the pack at 19% with voters between 18 and 29 years old.
In the poll, Angelenos ranked their top priorities for the next mayor to address. Building more affordable housing came in first, followed by fixing streets, sidewalks and streetlights and then moving homeless Angelenos indoors.
One potential bright spot for Bass was policing.
The poll found that 39% of Angelenos think the LAPD needs to increase in size, with 29% saying the department should stay the same size and 19% saying it should shrink.
Raman, meanwhile, has said that she believes the police force is the right size at around 8,700 officers, down from a peak of 10,000 in 2020.
“Bass is going to make Raman look like AOC’s liberal sister,” said Schnur, referring to progressive U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). “If she ends up in a runoff against Raman, she can run as a tough-on-crime centrist.”
SACRAMENTO — During the Los Angeles writers’ strike in 2023, Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell wanted to reach out to his donors in Hollywood and ask what he could do to help them. But he didn’t have an easy way to find the screenwriters who backed his many campaigns.
So Swalwell and his congressional chief of staff launched an AI technology company that sifts and analyzes campaign fundraising data.
The company has since been used by dozens of political campaigns, including by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles). Even Swalwell’s current campaign for California governor hired the artificial intelligence company, called Findraiser.
But some details of Swalwell’s private venture remain unclear, including the company’s investors.
Craig Holman, a governmental ethics expert with the nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen, said it’s common and legal for candidates to use their own businesses to promote their campaigns or the campaigns of others, as long as all business interactions are charged at market value.
He said Swalwell can talk about his business privately but cannot do so in relation to his role in Congress, to avoid running afoul of ethics rules barring using one’s position for personal monetary gain.
Holman called it “odd and politically unwise” that Swalwell’s business will not publicly disclose all of its investors.
Swalwell, who has represented Northern California in Congress since 2013, is among the top Democrats in the governor’s race, according to a recent poll, but thus far none of the candidates has a breakaway lead.
Findraiser is close to profitability, his onetime chief of staff, current campaign manager and Findraiser CEO Yardena Wolf said in a podcast interview that aired in October.
The company received more than $67,400 from congressional campaigns in the 2025-26 cycle, according to filings with the federal government.
Members of Congress are not barred from owning outside companies or accepting a small outside salary, with exceptions. Swalwell makes no income from the company, according to filings he has made with the state of California, though he could benefit if the company was ever sold.
“Findraiser is a platform like hundreds of other tools in the market that helps Democratic campaigns communicate more efficiently,” a Swalwell spokesperson said. “Congressman Swalwell and the Findraiser team consulted the House Committee on Ethics on the conception and implementation of the tool every step of the way.”
Still, it highlights how mixing public service and private business can raise ethics questions.
Wolf told The Times that none of Findraiser’s investors have business before Congress, but she declined to reveal the names of the backers.
The fair market value of Findraiser is between $100,001 and $1 million, according to campaign finance documents filed with the state this month.
Swalwell stated on the documents that he is a part owner. Besides the Congress member and Wolf, the other member of the company listed with the state is Paul Mandell, who runs an event business.
The company’s website boasts that it provides a “straightforward AI-powered chatbot that supercharges your fundraising database searches. This first-of-its-kind tool sits on top of your political fundraising database, allowing you to ask simple, intuitive questions and receive the results you need instantly.”
The website also contains testimonials, including from former Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison, who says Findraiser provides the AI technology that makes it “easier than ever for campaigns to connect with the right donors and raise what they need to win.”
The amount of money campaigns are paying to use Findraiser is nominal, federal campaign finance records show. During the 2025-26 cycle, Swalwell’s campaign for Congress reported paying Findraiser $6,630. His campaign for governor paid the company $975.
Wolf, in an interview with The Times, declined to provide details about the company’s staff or how much it charges customers.
In her interview with the political podcast “The Great Battlefield,” she recounted that the writers’ strike was the impetus for Findraiser and said Swalwell came up with the name.
She conceded that it is “pretty unusual” for a member of Congress to start a company with his chief of staff. She also said there was “a lot of ethics back and forth — of lawyers and all of that, to make sure that we were aboveboard and that everything is kosher.”
Among other things, Findraiser has helped Swalwell’s campaigns pull in more money, she said. For example, the campaign could identify donors who gave small amounts to Swalwell but larger checks to other politicians, Wolf said.
“We’ve been able to set up meetings with people like that, and they’ve increased their contributions.”
Aside from Wolf, one other staff member who works for both Swalwell’s campaign and his government office is also being paid via a contract to do digital work for Findraiser, Wolf confirmed.
Michael Beckel, director of money in politics reform at Issue One, a bipartisan advocacy group, said that although there is no prohibition on a member of Congress hiring his own company, voters may perceive an issue.
“Voters may see self-dealing as evidence that a candidate is prioritizing personal enrichment over public service, which damages confidence in elections and governmental institutions,” he said.
“If donors give money knowing it will personally benefit the candidate, that undermines the integrity of the political system.”
Swalwell’s campaign declined to respond to Beckel’s statements.
Wolf in her podcast interview last year said the business was “going really well.”
“We have PACs that use it. We have first-time candidates, as well as 20-year incumbents who are using it. We have congressional races and Senate races,” Wolf said.
Around 2024, the company began offering beta testing, she said.
“Obviously, both Eric’s and my network are people who are in the political space and just in our day to day, as we were talking to people, we had people say, ‘Well, I want to use it,’” Wolf said. “And so we had a group of people who ended up beta testing.”
A spokesperson for Swalwell’s campaign said that “Findraiser spread through word of mouth among campaigns across the country. Any decision by a campaign or candidate to utilize the tool is based on their choice and their organization’s strategic prioritization.”
The Times contacted 16 congressional campaigns that reported using Findraiser in recent federal filings. None would tell The Times how they came to hire the company.
Both Schiff and Gomez have endorsed Swalwell in his campaign for governor.
Schiff’s paid about $2,000 for two months of Findraiser services last year. However, Wolf, in her podcast interview, said Findraiser works with Schiff “a lot.”
Ian Mariani, a spokesperson for Schiff’s campaign, said the company “is one of many campaign vendors used by our team, and it helped us engage with several people.”
WASHINGTON — An advocacy group hoping to expand support for child and elder care is planning to spend $50 million to back Democrats in congressional races, tying the costs of caregiving to the nation’s affordability debate.
The Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy, created a decade ago, aims to make caregiver issues more salient in elections. The announcement comes as the cost of child care continues to rise and as waiting lists for federal child-care subsidies, which support working families in poverty, continue to grow.
Sondra Goldschein, executive director of the campaign and its political action committee, said child care and elder care are important to the affordability conversation, especially as child-care costs exceed what families pay for housing. Then there is the pressure on the “sandwich generation,” composed of middle-aged people who are caring simultaneously for their own children and parents.
“When child care can cost more than your rent or a mortgage, or you have to sacrifice a paycheck in order to be able to take care of a loved one,” that can motivate how people vote, said Goldschein. “Each election cycle, we see candidates recognizing that more and more.”
She hopes the message will resonate as families face a slew of rising costs, including climbing gas prices driven by a war in Iran that is unpopular with many voters.
The campaign plans to pour support for Democrats into Senate races in North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Maine and Ohio and into House races in Iowa and Pennsylvania. It is also slated to dispatch volunteers to talk with voters about caregiving.
The National Republican Congressional Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Republicans have begun to back child care as an issue crucial to growing the workforce, but their proposals tend to be less dramatic than those offered by Democrats. Last year, through President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, Republicans made an estimated 4 million more families eligible for a child-care tax credit. The law also increased child-care aid for military families and tax credits for employers who provide child care to their workers.
Before 2020, many candidates rarely spoke about child care. But the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the child-care industry’s precarity and necessity. Preschools and child-care centers were pressed to stay open so parents in front-line jobs — such as those in healthcare — could return to work.
Then-President Biden successfully persuaded Congress in 2021 to pass $39 billion in aid for child care, allowing states to offer support to more families and subsidizing wages for child-care workers. Later that year, Biden sought to create nationwide universal pre-kindergarten and to vastly expand child-care subsidies for families so that none would pay more than 7% of their household income for care. But the proposal narrowly failed in Congress. Since then, the pandemic aid has dried up and families are feeling the pinch of rising costs.
Now, several candidates have centered their campaigns around child-care affordability. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist who won election after pledging to make the city more affordable for middle-class residents, ran on universal child care. Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey and Gov. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia won elections after pledging to expand child-care subsidies.
Candidates this election cycle are running on universal child-care pledges. They include Democrats Janeese Lewis George, who is running for mayor in Washington, D.C., and Francesca Hong, a gubernatorial candidate in Wisconsin. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is up for reelection this year, has pledged to support Mamdani’s ambitions and eventually to expand universal child care statewide.
Neither the White House nor the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees federal child-care programs, responded to requests for comment. In his 2024 campaign, during an address to the Economic Club of New York, Trump said increasing foreign tariffs would “take care” of the expense of child care. That plan, thus far, has not materialized.
In Trump’s current term, the administration has largely focused on cracking down on fraud, after a viral video alleged Somali-run child-care centers in Minneapolis were billing the government for children they weren’t caring for.
While there have been prosecutions stemming from child-care subsidy fraud, the Minneapolis video’s central claims were disproven by state inspectors. Nonetheless, the Trump administration attempted to freeze child-care funding for Minnesota and five other Democratic-led states until a court ordered the funding to be released.
Former L.A. mayor and current candidate for governor Antonio Villaraigosa wants voters to know that he navigated billion-dollar budgets, cracked down on violent crime and championed the expansion of bus and rail lines.
The onetime state Assembly speaker argues he’s the only Democratic candidate with the experience to do the complicated job of running California.
But Villaraigosa left City Hall in 2013 — eons ago in the world of politics. President Obama was still in office, singer Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” was atop the charts and Apple Watches weren’t yet a thing.
Because of his distance from elected office, combined with a decent but overshadowed fundraising effort, Villaraigosa lacks a high-profile platform to attract attention in today’s fractured media universe, an essential ingredient he needs to remind voters about his experience and accomplishments as mayor and a state lawmaker.
Antonio Villaraigosa gets his photo taken with students from Hazeltine Avenue Elementary School while visiting Placita Olvera in 2013.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Recent polls show Villaraigosa, 73, wallowing at the bottom of the field, though none of the major Democratic candidates have an overwhelming edge.
Villaraigosa also ran for governor in 2018, coming in third in the primary election behind Democratic rival Gavin Newsom, who went on to win and is now serving his second term, and little-known Republican businessman John Cox.
Political strategist Mike Madrid, who worked for Villaraigosa on that campaign, said the former mayor’s absence from politics in recent years is a major liability in this race.
“He’s a dogged, determined candidate,” Madrid said. “But there are pretty stiff headwinds.”
Villaraigosa got a boost last week when the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California pledged $1 million to an outside committee supporting him.
His allies argue voters aren’t paying attention to the governor’s race because eyes are on President Trump, immigration raids and the Iran war.
But the new funding is a pittance compared to some of his rivals. Billionaire Tom Steyer is tapping tens of millions of his own money to pump out ads. Tech companies and billionaire Rick Caruso are supporting Matt Mahan, the mayor of San José, with millions.
Another contender, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin), has the power of incumbency. Swalwell launched his campaign on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and is a regular on cable news shows, while former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter, who is also running, recently served in Congress and campaigned for the U.S. Senate two years ago.
With the June primary looming, Villaraigosa’s campaign risks sputtering out.
Angeleno Celine Mares holds a copy of Newsweek featuring newly elected Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as he is sworn into office on the steps of City Hall July 1, 2005.
(David McNew / Getty Images)
Leaving a Compton church earlier this month, he reacted to Mahan’s support from technology companies, and the billionaire money in the race.
“When you have overwhelming sums of money influencing elections, there’s a great deal of concern for those of us who care about our democracy,” said Villaraigosa. “As much as they say it’s about free speech, it actually drowns out speech.”
(During his 2018 bid for governor, though, Villaraigosa was a major beneficiary of Californians using their wealth to wield political influence. Charter school backers, including Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and philanthropist Eli Broad, spent around $23 million on efforts to boost his campaign. )
Earlier in the morning, he rallied runners at a 10K road race in L.A.’s Chinatown, lighting firecrackers, posing for photos and looking as energetic as when he was mayor and would dart into the street to personally fill potholes.
Villaraigosa flitted around the racers’ VIP tent, spotted a bowl of fortune cookies and made a beeline. “You have an active mind and a keen imagination,” he read aloud.
“Antonio V.!” a middle-aged man called out as the former mayor passed.
Minutes later, Villaraigosa swapped his black and white Veja sneakers and jeans for dress shoes and a suit for the church service in Compton, at which an overwhelmingly Black audience gave him a warm reception.
Building a coalition of Black and Latino voters helped him win the 2005 L.A. mayor’s race in a dramatic upset of then-Mayor Jim Hahn, and brought wide attention to the one-time high school dropout, who was raised by a single mother on Los Angeles’ eastside.
Newsweek magazine featured Villaraigosa on its cover with the headline, “Latino Power: L.A.’s New Mayor and How Hispanics will change American Politics.”
But national acclaim can be fleeting. Today, voters aren’t as interested in identity-based politics, said Fernando Guerra, a professor of political science at Loyola Marymount University who has known Villaraigosa for decades.
Guerra said Villaraigosa is struggling to differentiate himself in the race because his pitch to voters is not unlike the moderate path taken by Mahan. Another contender, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, overlaps with Villaraigosa when it comes to biographical details: Both are from the L.A. area, Latino and relatively close in age.
“What’s made it so difficult is that [Villaraigosa said], ‘Here’s my path,’” said Guerra. “Well, guess what, there are one to two more candidates who are also on that path.”
Strategist Madrid questioned whether voters even want to hear about a candidate’s experience at a time when anti-Trump messages rally Californians. “They want a fighter,” he said.
Since leaving the mayor’s office, Villaraigosa has enjoyed success in the lucrative private sector. He purchased a $3.3 million home in the L.A. neighborhood of Beverly Hills Post Office in 2020. . A recent campaign filing shows he’s spent the last few years advising companies including the health company AltaMed, financial lender Change Company and crypto currency exchange Coinbase Global.
Then mayor Antonio Villaraigosa holds a news conference at the Department of Water and Power on Hope Street July 22, 2005, urging all of Los Angeles to conserve energy in an effort to ensure Southern California avoids blackouts.
(Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)
He also worked for a few years for consulting firm Actum and briefly advised the Newsom administration on infrastructure projects.
“It’s not that I didn’t like the public sector,” said Villaraigosa, explaining his decision to run again. As he talked about his desire to serve, he cast a gauzy image of the aughts in Los Angeles, taking credit for the downtown resurgence, skyline full of construction cranes and fewer homeless people on the streets during that period.
“Most people look back on those years and say they were some of the best years we’ve had in the last 25 — at least,” said Villaraigosa.
Stuart Waldman, president of the business group Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., argues Villaraigosa’s experience in the private sector and distance from elected office is a good thing.
“Look at what the economy was like, look at what the city was like” under Villaraigosa, said Waldman. “That’s what he’s going to be judged on.”
Villaraigosa started his career working for labor and civil rights groups before entering politics. Elected to the state Assembly in 1994, he pushed legislation that banned assault weapons and created healthcare coverage for children. His outgoing personality established him as a coveted fundraiser for Democrats in Sacramento and paved the way for him to be chosen as Assembly speaker.
As L.A. mayor, he brought down gang crime through a program that used former gang members to broker truces. Voters backed his ballot measure to expand L.A.’s transit system through new sales tax money in the middle of the Great Recession. He drove down pension costs after a bruising battle with city unions. At the same time, he established himself as a national leader on climate issues and education.
His reputation took a hit after an affair with a television reporter led to the breakup of his marriage.
The media scene that covered Villaraigosa back then is vastly diminished, with young people now getting news from TikTok videos, message boards or Instagram posts.
Weighing in on recent TV news layoffs in Los Angeles, Villaraigosa called himself “lucky” that there were plenty of newspaper and television reporters covering him as mayor, recalling that he’d get a dozen cameras to his press conferences.
Asked to compare his 2018 campaign for governor with this one, he said, “I didn’t have to reintroduce myself last time in quite the way I’ve had to this time.”
Villaraigosa spent a significant time in Mexico in recent years to see his now ex-wife Patricia Govea, a clothing designer. “She was in Mexico 80% of the time, the last six years. So I` went to Mexico a lot.” The pair’s divorce was finalized last year.
During a debate in front of Jewish voters on L.A.’s westside last month, Villaraigosa appeared to seize on the fact that he was the sole Angeleno on the stage, introducing himself by saying, “It’s good to be home.”
He told the crowd about his work as president of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and criticized UCLA — his alma matter — for its handling of incidents targeting Jewish students on its campus.
It remains to be seen if he’ll have a hometown advantage. In the 2018 race for governor, Newsom won more votes than Villaraigosa in Los Angeles County. While Villaraigosa did well in Latino communities in central L.A. and on the Eastside, Newsom captured more votes in wealthier, whiter areas.
But at the Compton church, a security guard approached Villaraigosa and told him she’d worked on his 2005 campaign, while others promised to vote for him.
“I know he has a track record,” said Valerie Bland, a 63-year-old former port worker from Long Beach, as she watched Villaraigosa work the pews. “I haven’t even looked at anyone else.”
Former Assembly speaker Fabian Núñez, a longtime friend of Villaraigosa and managing partner at Actum, hopes voters dig into Villaraigosa’s record.
“We have short-term memories in this country,” said Núñez.
Wales continue to play fixtures amid off-field turmoil, with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) not budging on their plan to cut from four men’s professional teams to three.
Tandy and captain Dewi Lake have had to be the face of Welsh rugby and have conducted themselves impeccably.
The hooker will have played his last Ospreys game before a summer move to Gloucester when the Wales squad link up again in the summer.
“That was a performance we have built towards and this group deserves it massively,” said Lake after the win against Italy.
“We have gone through a lot of emotionally tough things recently, whether that is on the field or off it.”
It remains a cause for concern as Wales build towards the World Cup, with Scarlets and Ospreys on a Professional Rugby Agreement (PRA) that expires in the summer of 2027.
Tandy’s squad next take to the field against Barbarians at Twickenham in June before three Nations Championship fixtures in July against Fiji, Argentina and South Africa.
By then the WRU will have held an extraordinary general meeting, with chair Richard Collier-Keywood facing a vote of no confidence, while there is also a legal battle with Swansea Council over the future of Ospreys.
Tandy has created a positive environment for his players after outlining his approach before the campaign.
“If they’ve got something to share, if they’re seeking more clarity or anything they want to talk about then we have to be open,” he said.
“One thing we can’t do is run away from it or pretend it’s not happening.”
Tandy has allowed his players to grow in their Vale Resort bubble and will aim to keep taking everything in his stride in the summer.
Fine margins are often the difference between a title-winning side and one still building towards it.
Thomas Ramos’ last-gasp penalty to win the championship for France came after a handful of moments England will replay in their minds for a while.
Henry Pollock did brilliantly to steal the ball late on but, instead of taking contact and securing it, he tried to move it and possession was lost.
Ollie Chessum might also look back and think he could have edged a little closer to the posts to make the kick easier for Fin Smith, who himself will be frustrated at leaving points out there.
Those are the moments you write down and burn into your memory, because when they come around again – and they always do in Test rugby – you want the instinct to be automatic.
The best teams make winning those moments a habit.
Just look at South Africa at the 2023 World Cup – three knockout wins by a single point.
That is not luck. That is a team that understand exactly how to manage pressure.
England had been through a sticky spell and this performance gives them something real to build on heading into the summer.
When this squad meet up again for the tour to South Africa, there should be a real sense of belief.
They have shown they can challenge the very best teams in the world. Now it is about learning how to close out those pressure moments when they come.
Another area that will need attention is opposition analysis.
France exposed England a couple of times in the first half with tries straight from set-piece starter plays.
At this level, that is inexcusable. Louis Bielle-Biarrey chasing on to kicks through is something France have done all championship.
Those details matter. Fix them, combine that with the intensity England showed in Paris, and suddenly you have a team not just competing with the best, but capable of beating the best.
MIAMI — Voting technology firm Smartmatic is seeking to dismiss a criminal indictment for money laundering, blaming President Trump and his allies for seeking its prosecution as part of a “campaign of retribution” against those they blame for his 2020 election loss.
Smartmatic’s parent company, UK-based SGO Corporation, was added to a criminal indictment last fall previously charging several executives with paying $1 million in bribes to election officials in the Philippines.
In a motion to dismiss the indictment filed Tuesday, attorneys for Smartmatic said the company had been cooperating with the Justice Department since it first learned of its investigation in 2021, including by producing millions of pages of documents and making presentations to federal agents. A trial date for the executives, including co-founder Roger Pinate, had been set and the company believed that it was in the clear.
But when Trump returned to the White House, the Justice Department reversed course and decided to press charges against Smartmatic. Attorneys for the company said the decision was prompted by Trump’s demands to prosecute his perceived enemies and his “mantra” that Smartmatic helped rig the 2020 U.S. presidential election won by Joe Biden — allegations that are at the heart of a $2.7-billion lawsuit filed by Smartmatic against the president’s allies in the media.
“The prosecution of SGO furthers their collective false narrative that President Trump did not actually lose the 2020 election,” Smartmatic said in the filing in Miami federal court.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Attorneys likened the prosecution to the Justice Department’s targeting of Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, a Salvadoran migrant who was criminally charged for conduct years earlier after he successfully sued the Trump administration over its decision to deport him.
In the years since the election, the filing states, “Smartmatic USA has exercised its right to hold those individuals and entities legally accountable for their deluge of defamatory statements and the attendant damage inflicts on its business, putting it squarely in the crosshairs for retribution.”
The criminal case against Smartmatic and its employees stems from payments, between 2015 and 2018, that were allegedly made to obtain a contract with the Philippine government to help run that country’s 2016 presidential election. Pinate, who no longer works for Smartmatic but remains a shareholder, has pleaded not guilty.
As part of the criminal case, prosecutors in August sought the court’s permission to introduce evidence they argue shows that revenue from a $300-million contract with Los Angeles County to help modernize its voting systems was diverted to a “ slush fund” controlled by Pinate through the use of overseas shell companies, fake invoices and other means.
They also accused Pinate of secretly bribing Venezuela’s longtime election chief by giving her a luxury home with a pool in Caracas. Prosecutors say the home was transferred to the election chief in an attempt to repair relations following Smartmatic’s abrupt exit from Venezuela in 2017 when it accused then-President Nicolas Maduro ’s government of manipulating tallied results in elections for a rubber-stamping constituent assembly.
Smartmatic was founded more than two decades ago by a group of Venezuelans who found early success running elections while the late Hugo Chavez, a devotee of electronic voting, was in power. The company later expanded globally, providing voting machines and other technology to help carry out elections in 25 countries, from Argentina to Zambia.
But Smartmatic has said its business tanked after Fox News gave Trump’s lawyers a platform to paint the company as part of a conspiracy to steal the 2020 election.
Fox said it was legitimately reporting on newsworthy events but eventually aired a piece refuting the allegations after Smartmatic’s lawyers complained. Nonetheless, it has aggressively defended itself against the defamation lawsuit in New York — arguing that the company was facing imminent collapse over its own internal misconduct, not due to any negative coverage.
“I respect there’s lots of discussion around our tactical plans – when you look at the end point, look at the result and you the number of tries scored, that’s completely understandable,” said Borthwick
“I think it’s more about improving that incisiveness with our attack and getting over the try line rather than necessarily any major overhaul.
“You have an overview, a structure of ‘this is how we want to approach the different aspects of the game’, and then talk about the players bringing their points of difference.”
Borthwick says that he speaks with Sweeney “at least once or twice a week” and Conor O’Shea, the RFU’s director of performance rugby, “pretty much on a daily basis”.
“Ever since I started this role back in late 2022, we have always worked very, very closely together,” Borthwick added.
“I think that I’ve always been very clear on the vision of the team, initially going very quickly into that 2023 Rugby World Cup which was just around the corner, and ever since then building through each of these competition windows since.
“We are all disappointed and frustrated.
“We came to this tournament with really high aspirations, as did the players, and we’ve been unable to meet those targets we set for ourselves.”
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
The war is now in its 10th day, and Israel and the United States continue to trade blows with Iran, with further missile and drone strikes across the Middle East. Meanwhile, the U.S. military’s ability to execute more rapid heavy airstrikes against Iranian targets was stepped up further today, with the arrival at RAF Fairford in England of three U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress bombers. The aircraft are from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota.
The bombers arrived at Fairford after U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer approved so-called defensive U.S. actions against Iranian targets from British bases. This includes striking Iranian missile sites prior to them launching attacks.
NEW: At least three U.S. B-52 bombers have landed at RAF Fairford in the U.K., signaling preparations for potential sustained heavy bomber strikes against Iran.
11:56 HOOKY 21 flt x3 USAF B-52/H Stratofortress’s Inbound to RAF Fairford from Minot AFB(?) #HOOKY21 is proceeding inbound to RAF Fairford, #HOOKY22 will follow 10 mins behind and #HOOKY23 is unconfirmed but holding with 22. wkg Swanwick 278.600 / FOXTROT ops / A2A 323.750 pic.twitter.com/m4giROHiCV
The B-52s are part of a growing fleet of U.S. bombers at Fairford. The base received a single B-1B Lancer on Friday, and another two of the swing-wing bombers arrived on Saturday.
RAF Fairford about to get real Noisy
Barons are back in town, the first USAF B-52’s from Minot AFB 23rd BS are on the Ground at RAF Fairford.
Plenty of support flights from Ellsworth, Dyess, and Minot still to come into this fog ridden base in Gloucestershire over the next 24… pic.twitter.com/g5CEBK9DeR
As well as making use of RAF Fairford to strike Iran, the change in U.K. government policy covers Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. Satellite imagery from today that TWZ has reviewed via Planet Labs shows no sign of bombers on the island, but heavy transport aircraft continue to show up there, along with the handful of tankers and five F-16s currently operating from the Indian Ocean outpost.
B-52s have already flown missions against Iran from bases in the United States, delivering AGM-158 JASSM stealthy cruise missiles. These missiles would have launched from outside Iranian airspace, likely over Iraq or another friendly Arab country. You can read more about the implications of standoff strikes such as these in our previous analysis of the enduring Iranian air defense threat here.
Remains of an American AGM-158 JASSM cruise missile, reportedly downed by Iranian air defenses over Markazi Province.
USAF B-52s have been carrying out cruise missile strikes with JASSMs over the past few days. pic.twitter.com/r3Uu9WTltW
As we have discussed repeatedly in recent weeks, having the bombers forward deployed to England and/or Diego Garcia will drastically increase sortie rates and decrease wear-and-tear on the precious bomber fleet compared to flying from the U.S. and back. This will become even more relevant if the B-1 and B-52 force move from making standoff strikes to direct attacks on Iranian targets, even if just over limited parts of the country where air supremacy is more guaranteed.
LATEST UPDATES
We have concluded our rolling coverage in this piece.
UPDATE: 7:30 PM EST –
Trump held a Monday evening press conference to address the situation in the Middle East. Among other things, Trump hinted, without offering specifics, that lasers are now being used for air and missile defense. CENTCOM pushed us to the White House for more details and we are awaiting their response.
Trump also said that Iran has Tomahawk missiles, which it doesn’t.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the briefing—
On when the war will be over:
Very soon. Look, everything they have is gone, including their leadership. In fact, they have two levels of leadership. And even actually, as it turns out, more than that. But two levels of leadership are gone. Most people have never even heard about the leaders that they’re talking about….We’re achieving major strides toward completing our military objective. And some people could say they’re pretty well complete.
On the use of lasers for air and missile defense:
So as you probably saw, they had a tremendous number of missiles, most of which have now been used or destroyed and very unsuccessfully used, because we have been able, for the most part, to shoot them all down. What incredible technology. The Patriots have been unbelievable. And other things. And the laser technology that we have now is incredible. It’s coming out pretty soon. Where literally lasers will do the work of, at a lot less cost, do the work of what the Patriots are doing or what other things are doing.
On whether U.S. Tomahawk missiles destroyed an Iranian girls’ school and whether the U.S. will take responsibility for that.
I will say that the Tomahawk, which is one of the most powerful weapons around, is used by, you know, sold and used by other countries. You know that, and whether it’s Iran who also has some Tomahawks, I wish they had more. But whether it’s Iran or somebody else, the fact that a Tomahawk – a Tomahawk is very generic. It’s sold to other countries, but that’s being investigated right now.
Responding to a reporter about why he is the only one in the administration suggesting that “Iran somehow got its hands on a Tomahawk and bombed its own elementary school on the first day of the war.”
Because I just don’t know enough about it. I think it’s something that I was told is under investigation, but Tomahawks are used by others. As you know, numerous other nations have Tomahawks. They buy them from us. But I will certainly – whatever the report shows – I’m willing to live with that report.
On whether the new Supreme Leader “has a target on his back.”
I don’t want to say whether or not he does, because that would be inappropriate.
On how many U.S. troop deaths he is willing to accept in this war.
Well, as I said before, when you have conflicts like this, you always have death. And I was in Dover yesterday, I met the parents, and they were unbelievable people. They were unbelievable people, but they all had one thing in common. They said to me, one thing every single one, finish the job. Sir, please finish the job. And I’ll leave you at that.
UPDATE: 5:40 PM EST –
“We’re crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force,” Trump told the Republican House leaders.
“We’re crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force,” says @POTUS on Operation Epic Fury.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 9, 2026
He also extolled the virtues of the B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, saying “Israel would have been wiped out” without them.
NOW – Trump on going to war with Iran: “You know, if we didn’t do that B-2 attack, Israel would have been wiped out. They would have had a nuclear weapon within two weeks after that… I think they were looking to take over the Middle East.” pic.twitter.com/fkV99M9Zvm
Australia will deploy a surveillance aircraft and supporting ADF personnel to the Middle East for at least a month, as well as provide air-to-air missiles to the United Arab Emirates, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
Albanese said an E-7 Wedgetail radar jet would help provide long range reconnaissance capability to help “secure the airspace above the Gulf.”
“The Wedgetail and supporting Australian Defence Force personnel will be deployed for an initial four weeks in support of the collective self defence of Gulf nations. Additionally, in response to a request, my government intends to provide advanced, medium range air to air missiles to the United Arab Emirates,” he explained.
#BREAKING: One of Australia’s most sophisticated military surveillance planes will be deployed to the Middle East after a request from the United Arab Emirates. Follow live. https://t.co/pONDEt2JBj
CENTCOM released its latest operational update. So far, more than 5,000 targets have been hit, including 50 Iranian vessels damaged or destroyed, the command stated.
CENTCOM
UPDATE: 4:58 PM EST –
Speaking to Republican leaders today, Trump called Epic Fury “a short-term excursion.”
“We’re making America great again,” the president proclaimed. “We’re doing it much faster than we thought, and it’s better, stronger. Our country is doing really well, at a level that nobody thought. We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some people. And I think you’ll see it’s going to be a short term excursion. How good is our military? In my first term, we rebuilt our military, and I didn’t know I’d be using it so much in the second term. But we have a military like no other as not even close.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP ON IRAN:
“We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some evil. I think you’ll see it’s going to be a short-term excursion. Short term!” pic.twitter.com/IiMlaANEH8
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) March 9, 2026
With Trump hinting that the war could soon be over, Israeli officials are racing to hit as many targets as possible, I24 News Diplomatic Correspondent Guy Azriel stated on X.
As President Trump says today he thinks “the war is very complete, pretty much. They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force.” A a senior Israeli official tells me: “nothing is complete. We initially estimated we will have two weeks. I’m bally.” And of course,…
The Lebanese government “proposed direct negotiations with Israel — through the Trump administration — aimed at ending the war and reaching a peace agreement,” Axios reported, citing five sources with knowledge of the matter.
If the war ended today, it would take two weeks to restore Persian Gulf shipping, and another two months to get oil production back to normal levels, The Wall Street Journal reported.
If the war ended today with Iran’s complete and total surrender, Strait of Hormuz shipping traffic would take two weeks to return to normal and Gulf oil production two months to get back to pre-war levels. And that’s optimistic. https://t.co/o3CKt61EZn
Iran says it is prepared to form a joint team with Turkey to investigate “allegations” of Iranian missile attacks on Turkey.
IRAN’S PRESIDENT SAYS DURING PHONE CALL WITH TURKEY’S ERDOGAN THAT IRAN IS PREPARED TO FORM JOINT TEAM TO INVESTIGATE “ALLEGATIONS” OF IRANIAN MISSILE ATTACKS ON TURKEY – IRANIAN STATE MEDIA
The White House posted a video on X showing what appears to be targets hit by F-22 Raptor stealth fighters. The video opens up with the aircraft flying, followed by several targets hit. The White House titled the post “If you don’t know, now you know.”
UPDATE: 4:17 PM EST –
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed the Iran war and Ukraine conflict during a “frank and constructive” telephone call today, the Kremlin said.
The one-hour call, the first since December, was sought by Washington, Putin’s diplomatic advisor Yuri Ushakov claimed, according to Russian media.
“The accent was placed on the situation surrounding the conflict with Iran and the bilateral negotiations underway with the representatives of the United States on settling the Ukrainian question,” Ushakov proclaimed.
טראמפ שוחח עם פוטין על המלחמה באיראן, כך נמסר מהקרמלין
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) bombed six Iranian military air bases during a wave of strikes in Iran last night, according to the IDF.
The Israeli Air Force bombed six Iranian military airbases during a wave of strikes in Iran last night, the IDF says.
Some of the airports were previously targeted by the IAF amid the war.
As part of the strikes, the military says it destroyed numerous aircraft, including… pic.twitter.com/oKHD5P9KrA
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 9, 2026
IRGC Gen. Ebrahim Jabbari said Iran is ready for 10 years of war with America and that its “weapons stockpiles are full and the production of missiles and drones continues.”
⚡️BREAKING
IRGC GENERAL JABBARI:
We are ready for 10 years of war with the Americans
Our weapons stockpiles are full, and the production of missiles and drones continues pic.twitter.com/MnNozB6mDq
In a phone interview with CBS News senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang, Trump said the war could be over soon.
“I think the war is very complete, pretty much,” Trump told the network, according to a post on X. “They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force.”
The U.S. is “very far” ahead of his initial 4-5 week estimated time frame, the president added.
NEW—In a phone interview, President Trump told me the war could be over soon: “I think the war is very complete, pretty much. They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force.” He added that the U.S. is “very far” ahead of his initial 4-5 week estimated time frame.
Still, the Department of War stated on X that “We Have Only Just Begun To Fight.”
During a broadcast, Fox News caught Israeli interceptors firing at missiles launched toward Tel Aviv.
Fox cameras capture Israeli interceptor missiles neutralizing incoming threats in the sky over Tel Aviv, followed by a wave of additional launches, as Israel’s air defense system responds to enemy fire. @TreyYingstpic.twitter.com/jJi2ZxtUFt
Hezbollah has initiated “preliminary feelers to start negotiations for a ceasefire,” Israel’s N12 News reported on X. “Discussions are underway in Israel on the matter, with the key question being whether to launch a broad operation to eliminate the organization or to achieve a strategic gain in the form of severing the connection between Iran and the Lebanese terror group, which Iran has financed at a rate of one billion dollars per year.”
Exclusive report: Hezbollah has initiated preliminary feelers to start negotiations for a ceasefire. Discussions are underway in Israel on the matter, with the key question being whether to launch a broad operation to eliminate the organization or to achieve a strategic gain in…
Pilots participating in long missions over Iran as part of Operation Roaring Lion “have admitted to using stimulant pills to maintain concentration,” The Jerusalem Post reported. This is leading doctors “to warn against the phenomenon spreading from the tightly controlled system in the IDF to the general public, where it could end in cardiac arrhythmias and seizures.”
Doctors warn against civilians using stimulant pills after IDF pilots admit to taking them during long missions over Iran. https://t.co/drQILizjnk
— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) March 8, 2026
More video is emerging of the remnants of Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missiles (TLAMs) found in Iran.
The French Embassy shared video of President Emmanuel Macron aboard the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the Mediterranean.
From 🇫🇷 President Emmanuel Macron, on board the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean. pic.twitter.com/E5vWSOoH0c
— Embassy of France in the U.S. (@franceintheus) March 9, 2026
The U.K. MoD provided its latest assessment of operations in the Middle East.
The U.K. stated that its military aircraft “operated over the UAE alongside our Emirati hosts.”
UPDATE: 2:59 PM EST –
Trump has told aides “he would back the killing of new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei if he proves unwilling to cede to U.S. demands, such as ending Iran’s nuclear development,” The Wall Street Journal reported, citing current and former U.S. officials.
Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded in an airstrike, according to Iranian TV.
“The anchors read reports describing him as ‘janbaz,’ or wounded by the enemy, in the ‘Ramadan War,’ which is how media in Iran refer to the current conflict,” according to the Times of Israel.
The reports do not elaborate on Khamenei’s condition or say how or when he was wounded.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio laid out the goals of Epic Fury.
SECRETARY RUBIO: The goals of the mission against the Iranian regime are clear: – Destroy their ability to launch missiles – Destroy factories making these missiles – Destroy their navy pic.twitter.com/KPUpMGNtDf
Israeli strikes on Iran have killed more than 1,900 Iranian commanders and troops, IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin told the media.
More than 1,900 Iranian soldiers and commanders have been killed in Israeli strikes in Iran, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin says in a press statement.
He says thousands more have been wounded.
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 9, 2026
German Chancellor Fredrich Merz continues to back the strikes against Iran.
German Chancellor Merz on Iran:
Iran is the center of international terrorism, and this center must be shut down.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump announced a 5:30 p.m. address to the nation. The topic is not immediately known.
Beachgoers in the UAE witnessed a wild scene of an Iranian Shahed-136 drone being chased down at a low level by an Emirate Air Force F-16E, which fired at least one munition at the drone.
1:44 PM EST –
The U.S. Embassy in Kurait is being evacuated as the result of Iranian attacks on that country.
The American Embassy is being evacuated in Riyadh because of sustained attacks by Iran against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
It is my understanding the Kingdom refuses to use their capable military as a part of an effort to end the barbaric and terrorist Iranian regime who has…
CENTCOM highlighted the use of the Army High Mobility Rocket Systems (HIMARS) attacks on Iran. The post, on X, includes an image of a HIMARS firing an Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) warhead.
U.S. Army High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) provide unrivaled deep-strike capability in combat against the Iranian regime. pic.twitter.com/Onsp1FUrz4
CBS News posted video of the remnants of an Iranian ballistic missile with a cluster munition warhead that landed in Tel Aviv.
IRANIAN MISSILE UP CLOSE: Standing beside the fuel tank of an Iranian missile that landed in Tel Aviv, Israel, CBS News’ @CBSMATTGUTMAN shows us the sophistication and sheer size of the missiles Iran has been firing at Israel and the Gulf states. Gutman explains how these sorts… pic.twitter.com/88v7zV1cJA
High-ranking Iranian official Ali Larijani said on X that “It is unlikely that any security will be achieved in the Strait of Hormuz amid the fires of the war ignited by the United States and Israel in the region, especially if that is by the design of parties that were not far removed from supporting this war and contributing to its fanning.”
من المستبعد أن يتحقق أيُّ أمنٍ في مضيق هرمز في ظلِّ نيران الحرب التي أشعلتها الولايات المتحدة وإسرائيل في المنطقة، ولا سيّما إذا كان ذلك بتصميم أطرافٍ لم تكن بعيدةً عن دعم هذه الحرب والإسهام في تأجيجها. https://t.co/Fn2tcbLhDT
— Ali Larijani | علی لاریجانی (@alilarijani_ir) March 9, 2026
Watching oil prices spike during Epic Fury, Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly considering trying to export oil to Europe. Crude oil prices hovering near $100 a barrel could be very beneficial for the Russian economy, which relies heavily on energy exports.
Putin says Russia should take advantage of the sky-high oil prices after US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
Russia should redirect supplies to Europe elsewhere, he adds. “If we shift our focus right now to the markets that need more supplies, we might get a foothold there.” pic.twitter.com/FZAHksP2p6
The planes that entered Iran at the beginning of Operation Roaring Lion “did so at great risk and with partially reestablished air defenses, a senior Israel Air Force officer told Israeli media on Monday.
“The planes that entered Iran first were at very high risk,” the officer explained. “I was there. I led the people from the air, the pilots took this risk out of a deep understanding that we would be able to attack a surface-to-surface missile squadron that could hit Israel and its citizens.”
The planes that entered Iran at the beginning of Operation Roaring Lion did so at great risk and with partially reestablished air defenses, a senior Israel Air Force officer said.https://t.co/QwoQSm2gNS
— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) March 9, 2026
Hezbollah reportedly launched a new wave of missiles deep into Israel and hit a satellite communications site.
The Lebanese group “claims to have targeted the IDF Home Front Command headquarters in Ramle, known as Rehavam Base, as well as a ‘satellite communications station’ in Haela Valley near Beit Shemesh, in its missile attack on central Israel this afternoon,” the Times of Israel reported. “The missile fire marks the deepest attack in Israel carried out by Hezbollah since hostilities intensified last week.”
The IDF only acknowledged that missiles were fired from Lebanon.
“Following the sirens that sounded in several areas in Israel, several projectiles that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory were identified,” the IDF stated. “The Israeli Air Force intercepted several launches and several additional launches fell in an open area. Additionally, a report was received regarding an impact in central Israel.”
💢 NEW: Hezbollah missiles strike deep inside Israel, hit satellite communications site
Hezbollah launched a barrage of long-range missiles that struck multiple locations in Israel, including a direct hit on military SATCOM dishes at the SES Satellite Station in the Ha’Ela… pic.twitter.com/H4MhdydFGU
A few senior officials in Israel “are starting to voice concern about the escalating, open-ended attack on Iran — and suggesting possible exit ramps that might halt the war before it further damages the region and the global economy,” David Ignatius opined in The Washington Post.
“Talk of an endgame is early, and a decision about whether to stop the attacks rests largely with President Donald Trump, who continues to seek all-out victory,” he wrote. “But in a telephone conversation Sunday, a senior Israeli official familiar with the planning and strategy for the Iran war discussed alternatives to Trump’s call for “unconditional surrender.” The official requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the Iran situation.”
NEW: Israeli officials “growing concerned” about escalating war with Iran and now seeking possible exit ramps according to the Washington Post.
— Dominic Michael Tripi (@DMichaelTripi) March 9, 2026
Reports are emerging that despite Iranian claims that it has closed the Strait of Hormuz, at least one ship has passed through by turning off its transponders. There are questions about whether Iran still has the sensor capability to track ships given constant U.S. and Israeli attacks.
Ships are reportedly crossing the strait of Hormuz. They are reportedly turning off their transponders before passing through, and switch them back on afterward.
The U.S. has intercepted encrypted communications believed to have originated in Iran that may serve as “an operational trigger” for “sleeper assets” outside the country, ABC News reported, citing a federal government alert sent to law enforcement agencies.
The alert cites “preliminary signals analysis” of a transmission “likely of Iranian origin” that was relayed across multiple countries shortly after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, was killed in a U.S.-Israeli attack on Feb. 28.
NEW: The U.S. has intercepted encrypted communications believed to have originated in Iran that may serve as “an operational trigger” for “sleeper assets” outside the country, according to a federal government alert sent to law enforcement agencies. https://t.co/3LK66mTlJG
CBS News broke down targets hit across the Middle East since Epic Fury was launched.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi posted a list of oil prices that have spiked since the launch of what he calls “Operation Epic Mistake.”
“…oil prices have doubled while all commodities are skyrocketing,” Araghchi stated on X. “We know the U.S. is plotting against our oil and nuclear sites in hopes of containing huge inflationary shock. Iran is fully prepared.”
It should be noted that prices are volatile and subject to frequent change.
9 days into Operation Epic Mistake, oil prices have doubled while all commodities are skyrocketing. We know the U.S. is plotting against our oil and nuclear sites in hopes of containing huge inflationary shock. Iran is fully prepared.
“I don’t see any room for diplomacy anymore,” Kamal Kharazi, Foreign Policy Advisor to the office of the Supreme Leader, told CNN in an exclusive interview in Tehran. He also said he believes the regime can continue with the war for a long time.
“I don’t see any room for diplomacy anymore,” Kamal Kharazi, Foreign Policy Advisor to the office of the Supreme Leader, tells @fpleitgenCNN in an exclusive interview in Tehran.
He also said he believes the regime can continue with the war for a long time. pic.twitter.com/tQetUT8lkW
The IDF posted images it said were from the aftermath of an Iranian cluster munition attack on the city of Rishon Lezion.
Pictured is the Iranian terror regime’s strategy: targeting civilians.
Last night, the Iranian regime fired a cluster bomb at the Israeli city of Rishon Lezion—damaging multiple areas including a children’s playground. This is what we’re operating against. pic.twitter.com/YQZHCeHBTd
The Trump administration has discussed seizing Kharg Island, a strategic terminal responsible for roughly 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports, according to Axios.
Axios reports that the Trump administration is discussing seizing Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil terminal in the Persian Gulf. pic.twitter.com/4JBtB14RLY
Trump took to his Truth Social platform to say that short-term oil price hikes are worth the long-term removal of the Iranian nuclear threat.
U.S. officials were reportedly surprised by Iran’s sustained response to Epic Fury.
NEW: US officials surprised by Iranian military response, did not expect retaliatory strikes to be extensive or sustained, planned for operations in Iran to go similarly to Venezuela according to NYT.
— Dominic Michael Tripi (@DMichaelTripi) March 9, 2026
Gulf states have been surprised that Iran has carried out widespread attacks across the region.
“We surely didn’t think Iran would actually go after the entire Gulf and throw our ties with it out of the window,” a senior Saudi official says – WSJ
Iran’s Isfahan Optics plants was reportedly leveled by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes this morning.
American allies “are watching in disbelief as the Pentagon reroutes weapon shipments to aid the Iran war, angry and scared that arms the U.S. demanded they buy will never reach them,” Politico reported.
European nations that have struggled to rebuild arsenals after sending weapons to Ukraine “fear they won’t be able to ward off a Russian attack,” the outlet added. “Asian allies, startled by America’s rate of fire, question whether it could embolden China and North Korea. And even in the Middle East, countries aren’t clear if they will get air defenses from the U.S. for future priorities.”
NEW: U.S. allies are watching in disbelief as DOD reroutes weapons to aid the Iran war, worried long-promised American arms will never come.
“The munitions that have been and will be fired are the ones that everybody needs,” said one European official.https://t.co/7EGts4hHMk
U.S. military transport planes have flown out of South Korea in recent days, after Seoul confirmed it was discussing the possible redeployment of American military assets as the Iran conflict escalates, Bloomberg News reported, citing flight tracking data.
“Data from the Flightradar24 website indicated that US military transport planes, including C-17 and C-5, flew out of South Korea’s Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, one as recently as Saturday,” the news outlet stated. “It wasn’t immediately clear what the aircraft were carrying.”
US military transport planes have flown out of South Korea, after Seoul confirmed it was discussing the possible redeployment of American military assets https://t.co/6nTQCsXpw8
France will deploy an aircraft carrier, two helicopter carriers and three other warships for an international defensive naval mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after the most intense part of Epic Fury subsides, French President Emmanuel Macron announced.
French president Macron announced plans with international partners for a defensive naval mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and escort vessels once the most intense stage of the Middle East conflict subsides. France to deploy 8 warships, an aircraft carrier and 2 helicopter… pic.twitter.com/7VN9Hmmb7D
The UAE MoD said Iran launched 15 ballistic missiles and 18 drones overnight, adding that all but one were intercepted, Fox News reported on X. That represents a sharp decline of drone attacks on the Gulf nation, which had been averaging 124 a day over the past week.
UAE says Iran launched 15 ballistic missiles and 18 drones overnight: MoD. All but one drone successfully intercepted.
Sharp decline in Iranian drone attacks on UAE, which had been averaging 124 per day over the past week.
U.S. Central Command has previously released a video confirming the employment of ground-launched Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) short-range ballistic missiles as part of the strikes on Iran. Now, there appears to be evidence that at least some of the missiles are being fired from Kuwait. We have seen another video showing a HIMARS launcher fire from a beach in Bahrain, as well.
Empty ATACMS missile container found in the deserts of Kuwait, suggesting the U.S. may be launching HIMARS strikes on Iran from Kuwaiti territory.
ATACMS is a U.S. short-range tactical ballistic missile launched from HIMARS, capable of striking targets up to ~300 km. pic.twitter.com/aVJvdAv1w6
Among the targets of recent U.S. strikes are what is left of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy. There have been more attacks against Iranian vessels in coastal waters, one of them being struck while anchored off the coast of Bandar Lengeh earlier today. The warship in question has been widely identified as a Shahid Soleimani class missile corvette. One of these unusual catamaran vessels had been sunk in an earlier U.S. strike, as you can read about here.
Iran has named its new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who is succeeding his father, Ali Khamenei, after he was killed on February 28, as part of a series of Israeli airstrikes around Tehran aimed at high-ranking Iranian officials. While the Iranian regime remains under the highest level of pressure from continued U.S. and Israeli attacks, the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei represents continuity for the regime and signals that hardliners remain in charge — for now.
Security forces deploy to guard a rally in support of the new Iranian supreme leader at Enghelab Square in central Tehran on March 9, 2026. Photo by Atta KENARE / AFP ATTA KENARE
Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei • More hardline than father • He’s the IRGC candidate • Relatively young: 56 • Avoids public • Trusted by father, clerics • Was in military during Iraq-Iran war • His wife, Zahra, killed in Israeli airstrike w his father
The Israeli military said today that it had begun a new wave of attacks against targets in Tehran, Isfahan, and elsewhere in central and southern Iran.
The Israeli Air Force has launched a new wave of “extensive” airstrikes in Tehran, Isfahan, and in southern Iran, the IDF announces.
The IDF says the strikes are targeting Iranian regime infrastructure.
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 9, 2026
The IDF says it struck several military bases of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force and internal security forces in the city of Isfahan, along with missile sites in other areas of the country.
During the wave of strikes in Isfahan, the IDF says it hit the headquarters of Iran’s… pic.twitter.com/q3PmMWFlvx
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 9, 2026
✈️ The IAF completed a wave of strikes, in which numerous munitions were dropped on 400+ military infrastructure targets including ballistic missile launchers & additional weapons production sites.
Since the beginning of Operation Roaring Lion, the IAF carried out ~190 strike… pic.twitter.com/3c85CUrDJg
It also said that it struck targets associated with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Beirut.
Five top commanders in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed in an Israeli Navy strike targeting a hotel room in Beirut overnight, the IDF announces.
According to the military, the commanders who were killed “while hiding in a civilian hotel” served in the IRGC… https://t.co/O8jOM0t453
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 8, 2026
According to Hezbollah, its fighters are meanwhile engaged with Israeli forces who entered eastern Lebanon via helicopter. Hezbollah said it detected “the infiltration of approximately 15 Israeli enemy helicopters” from the Syrian side of the border into Lebanon. The Iran-backed militant group said in a statement that its fighters “engaged the helicopters and the infiltrating force with appropriate weapons” and that the confrontation was ongoing.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency described “fierce clashes … towards the outskirts of the town of Nabi Sheet to repel Israeli forces that carried out a landing by helicopters” in the area. Two Hezbollah officials told AFP that an Israeli helicopter was downed, but this has not been independently verified.
⭕️IDF troops began a targeted and limited raid in an area in southern Lebanon to locate and eliminate terrorists and dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure.
Prior to the entry of ground forces, numerous terror targets were struck from the air and ground.
A previous Israeli commando raid was launched into Lebanon overnight on Friday. Among its aims was the recovery of the remains of Ron Arad, an Israeli airman missing since 1986. The fighting left three Lebanese soldiers and 41 residents of the Bekaa Valley dead, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
The Israeli military confirmed that two of its soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) today issued a new warning in Lebanon, calling for residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut to evacuate the area. An IDF spokesman said that the Israeli military will act “forcefully” against terrorist infrastructure in “the coming hours.”
The IDF says it intercepted dozens of Hezbollah drones and struck dozens of the terror group’s rocket and missile launchers in southern Lebanon in recent days.
It publishes footage showing the interceptions of Hezbollah drones by a fighter jet, a helicopter, and a ground-based… pic.twitter.com/K1uuVQxbBT
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 9, 2026
The IDF also said it conducted targeted strikes against the Iranian Lebanon Corps in Beirut over the weekend.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Israel of unlawfully using white phosphorus munitions in the town of Yohmor in southern Lebanon. HRW verified and geolocated various images that confirmed the airburst use of white phosphorus munitions over a residential part of the town last week.
“The Israeli military’s unlawful use of white phosphorus over residential areas is extremely alarming and will have dire consequences for civilians,” Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
White phosphorus is not a chemical weapon, as sometimes described, since it is primarily an incendiary weapon, although it’s also regularly used for making smokescreens and for target marking. Burning at around 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit, white phosphorus can obviously inflict terrible injuries, and its use in densely populated areas violates international law.
As we discussed last week, Israel may be using a version of the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) that includes white phosphorus in its warhead. However, this particular weapon was designed to attack chemical and biological weapon stockpiles.
Iran and its proxies launched more attacks across the region over the weekend and into Monday.
Gulf nations reported missile and drone attacks Sunday, while Iran vowed to press on with strikes against neighbouring countries as the regional war enters its second weekhttps://t.co/S0cZrTC5I0
There are reports that strikes targeted a U.S. diplomatic facility near Baghdad’s international airport but were apparently intercepted.
Another successful drone interception reportedly occurred east of Saudi Arabia’s northern Al-Jawf region. The Saudi Ministry of Defense has released footage showing Iranian drones being taken out by Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) F-15 and Typhoon fighters. The RSAF has plenty of practice in this, having targeted drones launched by the Houthis in Yemen for many years.
However, Iran was more successful in its targeting of the Bapco (Bahrain Petroleum Company) oil refinery — the only one in Bahrain.
Videos show smoke rising from the refinery, where operators declared a state of emergency.
Footage shows massive fires raging at Bahrain’s only oil refinery after it was struck by an Iranian Shahed-136 one-way-attack (OWA) drones.
Following the strike, Bapco Energies, Bahrain’s state-owned oil company, declared force majeure on its deliveries later in the day, citing… pic.twitter.com/cVUKY3AbVy
A statement from the company said it “hereby serves notice of force majeure on its group operations which have been affected by the ongoing regional conflict in the Middle East and the recent attack on its refinery complex.”
The Bahrain Ministry of Interior earlier today said that the fire at the refinery had been brought under control, with no casualties reported.
Civil Defence: The fire that broke out in a facility in the Ma’ameer area, as a result of Iranian aggression, has been brought under control. No injuries or loss of life were reported. pic.twitter.com/9T6hh7Qny9
Earlier today, Bahrain said an overnight Iranian drone attack on the island of Sitra injured 32 people.
At least 32 Bahrainis were injured in an Iranian drone attack on the island of Sitra including four who were in critical condition, Bahrain’s state news agency said.
Other countries in the region have also reported being targeted by more retaliatory Iranian strikes.
In central Israel, a man was killed, and several more were injured in an airstrike, according to local emergency services. It is unclear who launched the attack, but several people were reportedly injured as they made their way to a shelter.
Further to the scene at a construction site in central Israel, MDA EMTs and paramedics pronounced the death of a man, approximately 40 years old, and evacuated to Sheba Tel Hashomer Hospital a man, approximately 40 years old, in serious and unstable condition. pic.twitter.com/cmKg8rkk4u
Iran on Monday fired its first barrage of missiles toward Israel after the appointment of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei as the Islamic Republic’s new supreme leader – State media pic.twitter.com/KSUWCDMFRY
The recent Iranian missile strikes on Israel reportedly also involved the use of warheads carrying cluster munitions.
From the scenes of some of the cluster munition impacts in central Israel following Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack. pic.twitter.com/Pqp9HQCJgs
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 9, 2026
Footage shows two of the Iranian cluster bomb munitions’ impacts in central Israel during the ballistic missile attack this morning.
A total of six cluster munition impact sites were reported across central Israel, killing one and seriously injuring two others. pic.twitter.com/8QEXYcuQXT
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 9, 2026
In the United Arab Emirates, authorities reported two people injured in two separate locations in Abu Dhabi. Both are said to have been hit by debris from intercepted airstrikes.
تعاملت الجهات المختصة في إمارة أبوظبي مع حادثين نتيجة سقوط شظايا على موقعين، عقب الاعتراض الناجح من قبل الدفاعات الجوية. أسفر الحادث الأول عن تعرض شخص من الجنسية الأردنية لإصابة بسيطة، وأسفر الحادث الثاني عن تعرض شخص من الجنسية المصرية لإصابة متوسطة.
ونهيب بالجمهور استقاء…
— مكتب أبوظبي الإعلامي (@ADMediaOffice) March 9, 2026
Meanwhile, the fallout from an attack last week on the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone in the UAE is threatening to further disrupt the flow of oil out of the region.
This is significant to shipping as Fujairiah is not just a loading port but a MAJOR bunkering port for ships.
Without it, this will force refueling around the world where stocks are limited and more expensive. https://t.co/s9t68n7MPU
— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴☠️ (@mercoglianos) March 9, 2026
The United Arab Emirates is now using AH-64 Apache attack helicopters in a counter-drone role. The footage below shows Apaches from the UAE Joint Aviation Command — reportedly the latest AH-64E versions, rather than the earlier AH-64Ds — using their 30mm guns to bring down Iranian UAVs. While the U.S. Army and other operators using AH-64s to swat down lower-end long-endurance drones might be relatively new, it’s worth noting that Israel has been using the Apache in an air defense role for this purpose for many years.
The UAE military is using Apache attack helicopters to shoot down Shahed drones over water. This will save a significant number of expensive interceptors as these are practically free kills – just using a few 30mm rounds. A wise evolution of the country’s defensive strategy. https://t.co/7GMkLcssVS
AFP reports several explosions heard today in the Qatari capital of Doha.
Qatar’s defense ministry said that its forces had intercepted and destroyed two drones heading toward the Shaybah oil field in the southeast of the country. These were just a fraction of a much larger barrage of ballistic missiles and drones sent toward Qatar, according to the defense ministry.
UAE air defences intercept 12 ballistic missiles, 17 UAVs.
UAE air defences on Monday detected 15 ballistic missiles, of which 12 were destroyed, while 3 missiles fell into the sea. A total of 18 UAVs were also detected, with 17 intercepted, while 1 fell within the country’s… pic.twitter.com/7l2tjyclK5
Cyprus, which has also been on the receiving end of drone strikes, received six Turkish Air Force F-16 fighters today. The jets were deployed to the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to bolster local defenses for the Turkish Cypriot state.
6 x Turkish F-16 fighter jets deployed to Northern Cyprus, conducting a show-of-force flight after arriving in the region.
Turkey has also reportedly come under attack from at least one Iranian ballistic missile, which the local defense ministry said was brought down by “NATO air and missile defense assets” based in the eastern Mediterranean.
Turkish MoD warns Iran:
Türkiye places great importance on good neighborly relations and regional stability.
However, we reiterate that any threat directed at our territory or airspace will be met with all necessary measures, taken decisively and without hesitation.
In a statement provided to TWZ, a NATO spokesperson added:
“In less than 10 minutes, NATO service members identified a threat to Allies, a ballistic missile, confirmed its trajectory, alerted land- and sea-based missile defence systems, and launched an interceptor to defeat the threat and protect our territory and its people.”
The U.S. military has confirmed the death of a seventh American soldier due to injuries sustained during Iran’s initial counterattack. The Department of War said that Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky, died of his wounds yesterday. He had come under enemy attack on March 1, 2026, at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, where he served with the 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade.
CENTCOM Update
TAMPA, Fla. – Last night, a U.S. service member passed away from injuries received during the Iranian regime’s initial attacks across the Middle East. The service member was seriously wounded at the scene of an attack on U.S. troops in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia…
However, unverified reports of the death of an eighth U.S. service member during the current campaign have proven to be erroneous.
This is not accurate. The Marine who is referenced here died before the U.S. and Israeli bombing of Iran started and from non combat injuries, an official told me. His remains were not flown into Dover until March 4. https://t.co/WWM1jiFOl3
According to a report from Axios, U.S. President Donald Trump, together with envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, plans to travel to Israel tomorrow for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
However, reports from Israel suggest that the visit has been postponed.
Regardless, Trump has said that the end of the war will be a “mutual” decision to be made with Netanyahu, the Times of Israel reported.
“I think it’s mutual…a little bit. We’ve been talking. I’ll make a decision at the right time, but everything’s going to be taken into account,” Trump said.
In a telephone interview with the Times of Israel on Sunday, Trump said that Iran would have destroyed Israel if it weren’t for his and Netanyahu’s actions.
“Iran was going to destroy Israel and everything else around it…We’ve worked together. We’ve destroyed a country that wanted to destroy Israel,” the U.S. president said.
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department last week outlined a concise set of military objectives in President Trump’s war against Iran, claiming its ultimate goal is to dismantle Tehran’s ability to project power beyond its borders. Yet it may be targets the Pentagon has largely left unacknowledged that offer the clearest insight yet into Trump’s true intentions.
U.S. military strikes have focused on Iran’s ballistic missile, drone and nuclear programs, as well as its naval assets, according to U.S. Central Command. But strikes have also increasingly targeted Iran’s internal security forces, used by the Islamic Republic to suppress public dissent, according to an analysis from the Institute for the Study of War and the Critical Threats Project shared with The Times.
The strikes have targeted at least 123 headquarters, barracks and local bases operated by Iran’s paramilitary organizations, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Basij militia. Regional police forces, primarily in the capital region around Tehran and in western Iran, near areas dominated by Kurdish groups hostile to the Iranian government, have also been targeted.
Some of those groups are being armed and supported by the U.S. intelligence community, a U.S. official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly.
Nicholas Carl, with the Critical Threats Project, said the pattern indicates the campaign is already underway to set the conditions for a revolution.
“As we are going after these repressive institutions, we are degrading the ability of the regime to monitor its population, to repress its population,” Carl said. “And so it looks as though the strike campaign may be organized around trying to erode the ability of the regime to repress in those areas.”
Analysts said that strikes against internal forces could be greater than they have measured thus far, noting the difficulty of tracking targets in the war based on publicly available data due to an internet blackout strictly enforced by the Iranian government.
An explosion erupts after strikes near Azadi Tower close to Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran on Saturday.
(Atta Kenare / AFP / Getty Images)
The quieter side of the U.S. campaign suggests a political strategy by the Trump administration that goes beyond simply containing the Iranian government, and may instead aim to lay the groundwork for its overthrow.
Trump and his top aides have been inconsistent in their messaging on their goals for the war, vacillating between calls for regime change and far shorter ambitions, such as an Islamic Republic that remains in power under leadership more acquiescent to the United States.
Before the war began, Trump was presented with an intelligence assessment that large-scale military action was unlikely to topple the Iranian government, two sources familiar with the assessment said. The assessment led analysts at the CIA, the State Department and the Pentagon all to advise the White House against proceeding with the operation. The intelligence analysis was first reported by the Washington Post.
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Greasing the wheels for domestic unrest, for insurgency or revolution could serve other strategic purposes for the Trump administration beyond effecting regime change, adding new sources of pressure on an Islamic Republic that, if still intact by war’s end, would face renewed internal pressures at a moment of historic weakness.
Rob Malley, lead negotiator on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and special U.S. envoy for Iran under President Biden, said that a sustained U.S. campaign that cripples Iran’s ability to maintain domestic control could mean “the regime collapses, in the sense that it can no longer, genuinely and effectively, govern the entirety of the country.”
“Right now, what Trump is saying suggests an extremely ambitious, extremely long-term, extremely perilous campaign that will only end with Iran’s surrender, and it’s very hard to see Iran surrendering,” Malley said. But the campaign may already be working. “Their communications have certainly been penetrated — they cannot meet without being targeted by Israel or the United States,” he added.
A woman holds a portrait of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at a protest Saturday by medical professionals outside Gandhi Hospital in Tehran, which was damaged in an airstrike earlier this week.
(Majid Saeedi / Getty Images)
“Either the regime stays in place weakened, bloodied, finding it harder to govern a more fragmented, chaotic country,” Malley continued, “or the regime no longer can govern.”
An Israeli official did not deny that internal security forces were being targeted, although the official said that Israel was focused on assassinating Iran’s political and security leadership — “tiers one, two and three,” the official said. The vast majority of the strikes against internal security services thus far have been conducted by the United States.
“Our goal is to weaken the ayatollah regime, to a point where the Iranian people can choose their fate,” the official told The Times. “It’s still not at the point where they can do that, but there is work still to be done.”
By all accounts, the campaign against Iran’s military assets has achieved success. Iranian ballistic missile attacks against Israel and U.S. forces and allies in the region have decreased by 90% after just a week of combat, Defense officials said. Drone strikes have decreased by 83%. Over 30 Iranian vessels, including those used as launching pads for drones and aircraft, have been destroyed — a significant number for Iran’s aged and ill-funded naval fleet.
Trump could simply declare victory based on these results alone, said Elliott Abrams, who served as Trump’s special representative for Iran in 2020.
“They will get weaker as they use up resources and we bomb more and more relevant sites. Already air traffic is starting up again,” Abrams said, noting that commercial flights in the region began resuming this weekend. “So I doubt that the president will need a protracted campaign.”
But that would leave the regime in place, leaving open the possibility of a revanchist Islamic Republic that could reconstitute its military and crack down further on democratic protesters — an outcome that could create political backlash for Trump, Abrams said, after losing U.S. service members in combat.
A woman jogs amid closed shops in south Tel Aviv on Saturday.
(Olympia de Maismont / AFP / Getty Images)
“The outcome remains entirely in doubt — regime collapse after a wave of protests, civil war, a deal that leaves the regime in place behind a new face,” Abrams added. “A real test for Trump would arise if there is a wave of protests as in January, and the regime again starts shooting. Can he do nothing? Unlikely.”
In his initial speech announcing the start of the campaign, Trump addressed the people of Iran, telling them to shelter in their homes until the U.S. bombing campaign concludes.
“When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations,” the president said. “For many years, you have asked for America’s help. But you never got it. No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a president who is giving you what you want. So let’s see how you respond.”
But the president’s message grew muddled over the course of the last week, after he offered conflicting goals in a series of interviews with reporters.
He at once said he was expecting to hand-select the next ayatollah, after assassinating Iran’s longtime supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, in the opening salvo of the war. In other interviews, he said that the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign had killed many of the potential leaders that Washington could have worked with.
On Friday, Trump called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender.” He did not specify whether he was referring to a surrender of Iran’s nuclear program, its ballistic missile program, or on control over the country itself, and in a subsequent interview, said it could simply mean “when Iran no longer has the ability to fight.”
Over the last week, Kurdish leaders have shared accounts of Trump and his top aides reaching out to them and encouraging their involvement in the war, including a ground incursion in western Iran from Iraqi Kurdistan. But the president seems to have placed that effort on hold for the time being. “The war is complicated enough without having — getting the Kurds involved,” he told reporters Saturday aboard Air Force One.
At Central Command headquarters on Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that Trump maintains his promise to the Iranian people at the outset of the war, that a time will come for an uprising.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addresses the audience as President Trump listens during “The Shield of the Americas Summit“ on Saturday, a gathering with heads of state and government officials from 12 countries in the Americas at the Trump National Doral Golf Club in Doral, Fla.
(Roberto Schmidt / Getty Images)
“No one’s done more than President Trump to reopen the opportunity for those who want a free Iran to do so,” Hegseth said. “Ultimately, it’s common sense, as he said up front, don’t go out and protest while bombs are dropping inside Tehran and elsewhere. There will come a moment where he determines, or they determine, that it’s time to seize that advantage.”
Suzanne Maloney, vice president and director of the foreign policy program at the Brookings Institution and an expert on Iran, said she expects the government to survive the U.S. assault, “still easily able to outgun and outmaneuver any challenges from the streets.”
But a concerted, prolonged campaign could change that assessment.
“Of course, months of full-scale war certainly could also break the system,” Maloney said, adding: “I don’t think the short-term result would be a stable transition to a more liberal system — but rather a collapse of the state itself, and at least for some period of time, a dangerous vacuum of power and order in the heart of the Middle East.”
Reporting from Washington — The father of an Army captain who died a hero in Iraq looked incredulous.
Donald Trump had seemed to criticize his wife on national television, suggesting that her Muslim faith might be the reason she stayed silent during the couple’s high-profile appearance at the Democratic National Convention last week, when Khizr Khan criticized the GOP presidential nominee.
Speaking to CNN on Sunday, Khan said his wife was simply too grief-stricken to speak that night. Then the father said something that may sum up Trump’s biggest challenge between now and November: “He had to take that shot at her.”
Trump has built an unlikely presidential campaign on his combative style and language. He can’t seem to resist taking a shot or responding to an attack, even when the political fight seems unwinnable.
That instinct arguably has served Trump well so far, allowing him to win a crowded Republican primary and stay competitive in national polls with Hillary Clinton.
But it has also caused him unneeded political wounds, playing into the Clinton campaign’s argument that he lacks the temperament to lead the country and sometimes stealing attention from Clinton’s own political liabilities.
The public feud with the Khans looks to stir up the biggest self-inflicted controversy since Trump criticized a federal judge in a fraud lawsuit against Trump University. Trump repeatedly questioned the judge’s ability to be fair because his parents were born in Mexico.
The Khan flap may also linger because Trump’s words were directed at grieving parents whose son died while serving the United States, rather than the politicians he usually targets.
“It violates almost every hallmark of traditional politics, but I guess that’s Donald Trump,” said Reed Galen, a veteran Republican consultant who is not supporting Trump or Hillary Clinton. “The way to get to a guy like Trump — and the Hillary campaign is now finally understanding this — this is a guy who can’t let slights, major or minor, go by.”
Trump’s puzzling engagement with the Khans not only inspired an unusually pointed rebuke from Clinton on Sunday, it also sparked broad condemnation from many Republicans.
For much of the weekend, Trump found himself squaring off against the Khans, whose convention appearance was an emotional high point for many Democrats. During the last night of the convention, Khizr Khan, his wife, Ghazala, beside him, recounted the loss of their son, Humayun. Then he questioned Trump’s call to ban Muslims from entering the U.S., pulling out a pocket Constitution and asking whether Trump had even read the document.
Trump could have let the moment pass, or simply praised their sacrifice without confronting them, as other politicians have done when met by military families who have rendered the highest sacrifice.
Instead, Trump, in an ABC interview broadcast Sunday, said Khizr Khan looked like a “nice guy,” but he questioned why Ghazala Khan did not speak during the convention, saying “maybe she wasn’t allowed to.”
He pushed back against Khizr Khan’s assertion that Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the country would have kept his son out. “He doesn’t know that,” Trump said. Then the businessman, who avoided the draft during the Vietnam War, said he too had made “sacrifices,” citing his hiring of “thousands and thousands of people.”
After the ABC transcript from the taped interview was released Saturday, Trump’s campaign attempted to correct course. In a statement released late Saturday, Trump called Humayun Khan “a hero to our country” and said “the real problem here are the radical Islamic terrorists who killed him.”
Yet he still could not resist keeping the fight alive.
“While I feel deeply for the loss of his son, Mr. Khan, who has never met me, has no right to stand in front of millions of people and claim I have never read the Constitution, (which is false) and say many other inaccurate things,” Trump added.
On Sunday, as the controversy festered, Trump complained on Twitter that “I was viciously attacked by Mr. Khan at the Democratic Convention.”
“Am I not allowed to respond? Hillary voted for the Iraq war, not me!” he said.
The Khans proved formidable and sympathetic foes as they granted multiple rounds of nationally televised interviews. Ghazala Khan wrote an emotional essay Sunday for the Washington Post, recounting her 12 years of grief since her son died, her inability to enter a room where his picture is displayed because of the pain, and the fact that she could not even bring herself to clean out his closet.
“I don’t think he knows the meaning of sacrifice, the meaning of the word,” Ghazala Khan said of Trump on ABC. “Because when I was standing there, all of America felt my pain. Without saying a single word. Everybody felt that pain, but I don’t know how he missed that.”
While trying to remain above the partisan swamp, they looked shaken yet defiant — casting Trump as someone who lacks a moral compass and the capability for empathy. They challenged Republican leaders to denounce Trump.
As the pressure simmered, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a statement of support for the Khans, saying he agreed “that a travel ban on all members of a religion is simply contrary to American values.”
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan also called out Trump’s proposed ban on Muslim travel and praised the “many Muslim Americans [who] have served valiantly in our military, and made the ultimate sacrifice. Capt. Khan was one such brave example. His sacrifice — and that of Khizr and Ghazala Khan — should always be honored. Period.”
Other Republicans were even more forceful.
“There’s only one way to talk about Gold Star parents: with honor and respect,” Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who lost to Trump in the primary and has withheld his endorsement, wrote on Twitter. “Capt. Khan is a hero. Together, we should pray for his family.” (Gold Stars are awarded to the family members of soldiers who die serving in the U.S. armed forces.)
Tim Miller, a former aide to Mitt Romney, wrote on Twitter that Trump’s words were a “grotesque slander of a dead soldier.” He contrasted them with George W. Bush’s response to an antiwar protest in 2005 by Cindy Sheehan, whose son died in Iraq.
“I grieve at every death,” an emotional Bush said at the height of the protest. “It breaks my heart to think about a family weeping over the loss of a loved one.”
Bush said he recognized and thought about the “sincere desire” of those who wanted to pull out of Iraq while laying out his case to keep troops there.
Clinton faced a similar question Sunday on Fox News. She was asked about the assertion by two parents who lost their sons in the 2012 attack on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, that Clinton had come to them on the day their bodies were returned to the United States and claimed their deaths were the result of an inflammatory video, rather than terrorism.
“My heart goes out to both of them,” she said, bemoaning their loss and praising them as “extraordinary men.”
“As other members of families who lost loved ones have said, that’s not what they heard — I don’t hold any ill feeling for someone who in that moment may not fully recall everything that was or wasn’t said,” Clinton added.
Clinton spoke directly about the controversy later Sunday at a church in Ohio.
“Mr. Khan paid the ultimate sacrifice in his family, didn’t he? And what has he heard from Donald Trump?” Clinton said. “Nothing but insults, degrading comments about Muslims, a total misunderstanding of what made our country great — religious freedom, religious liberty.”
Clinton has made Trump’s reactive style central to her critique. “A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons,” she said during her convention speech.
Even in defending against that charge, Trump showed his instinct to counterpunch, something many of his supporters admire.
“She’s a very dishonest person. I have one of the great temperaments,” he said on ABC. “I have a winning temperament. She has a bad temperament. She’s weak. We need a strong temperament.”
Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort, blamed the controversy on Clinton, a tactic he has used after previous blowups.
“This is the Clinton narrative,” Manafort said on NBC, when asked about Trump’s comments about Khan. “Mr. Trump, of course, feels sorry for what the Khan family has gone through.”
The controversy came just a few days after another headline-grabbing moment, when Trump on Wednesday effectively baited Russia to hack Clinton’s old email account to try to recover more than 30,000 emails she deleted from the private server she used when she was secretary of State.
“He’s going off down these rabbit trails,” said Ron Nehring, a former national spokesman for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign and former chairman of the California Republican Party. “Every day that is spent on these manufactured non-issues is another day he is not training fire on Hillary Clinton’s vulnerabilities.”
Such controversies tend to overshadow issues that might otherwise gain broader attention, experts say, such as Friday’s disappointing economic growth figures.
During Sunday’s interview with ABC, for example, Trump tried to sidestep questions about his failure to release his tax returns and raised concerns about the timing of three upcoming presidential debates, complaining that two dates overlap with NFL games.
Times staff writer Chris Megerian in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON — New signs of a widening regional conflict emerged Thursday as the war with Iran entered its sixth day, with European allies pledging warships and access to military bases for the U.S. campaign, Israel intensifying strikes in Lebanon against Hezbollah militants, and Kurdish forces preparing for a potential incursion into northern Iran.
Iran continued retaliatory missile and drone attacks against Israel and U.S. military sites across the region. The strikes hit at least “10 countries that did not attack [Iran],” British Prime Minister Kier Starmer said at a news conference Thursday.
Starmer announced new military deployments and confirmed the U.K. will allow American forces to use British bases for defensive operations against Iran. The move was a reversal of Starmer’s initial cautious approach, which drew criticism from President Trump, who said, “He’s no Winston Churchill.”
“I took the decision that the U.K. would not join the initial strikes on Iran by the U.S. and Israel,” Starmer said. “That decision was deliberate. It was in the national interest. And I stand by it. But when Iran started attacking countries around the Gulf and the wider region, the situation changed.”
The United Kingdom will send four additional RAF Typhoon jets to reinforce its squadron in Qatar, deploy Wildcat helicopters with anti-drone capabilities to Cyprus and dispatch the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dragon to the eastern Mediterranean.
The moves place Britain among the most active European partners supporting the U.S. war effort, as Starmer warned that the conflict will likely “continue for some time,” he said. It comes after an Iranian drone struck a British military base in Cyprus on Monday, which has led to a mounting of European naval resources.
Located just 150 miles from Israel in the eastern Mediterranean, the island of Cyprus has emerged as a strategic — and exposed — nerve center in the U.S. offensive against Iran. It hosts vital British military bases and acts as an intelligence, surveillance, and logistics hub in countering Iranian influence and proxy attacks.
On Thursday, Italy’s defense minister, Guido Crosetto, said Thursday that his country would follow the lead of France, Spain and the Netherlands to aid in the defense of Cyprus.
“Within the EU it made sense to send a message of support to Cyprus,” he said.
Smoke plumes billow following Israeli bombardment on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday.
(Ibrahim Amro/AFP via Getty Images)
Spain announced Thursday it would dispatch its advanced frigate Cristóbal Colón to Cyprus, after initially maintaining a “no to war” stance.
France also authorized temporary access to U.S. aircraft on bases located on French soil, a French army general staff official told Reuters.
And Germany, a country that has explicitly ruled out military participation in war with Iran and has criticized the legality of the initial U.S.–Israeli strikes, said Western powers must prepare for further escalation.
“Europe must remain united in the face of this crisis,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said during an emergency meeting of European leaders. “We will not allow ourselves to be divided while regional stability is threatened.”
Meanwhile, conflict has reached a fever pitch between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese-based Iranian proxy and key pillar of what Iran has called the “Axis of Resistance.” Overnight, Israel launched heavy airstrikes across southern Lebanon and issued urgent evacuation warnings for the southern suburbs of the capital, Beirut.
The outbreak of hostilities in Lebanon marks the end of a Israeli-Hezbollah truce and the opening of a major second front in the war with Iran. The fighting erupted after Hezbollah launched a barrage of drones and rockets at Israeli military sites—a retaliation for the joint U.S.-Israeli assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Lebanon’s health ministry reported that at least 102 people have been killed by the Israeli strikes so far. In the Beirut suburbs, the Israeli military ordered residents of the Hezbollah-dominated Dahieh district to “save your lives and evacuate your homes immediately.”
“Dahieh? There’s not going to be a Dahieh any more,” one young man said as he talked to a family member on the phone at a media vantage point in the nearby hills.
The widening conflict has also drawn in Ukraine, which has some of the world’s most extensive experience in defending against Iranian-made Shahed drones. Such drones have been deployed by Russia in its war on Ukraine.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said late Wednesday that the United States and other allies in Europe and the Middle East have sought Kyiv’s “expertise and practical support” to help them stop Iranian drones.
“Of course, any assistance we provide is only on the condition that it does not weaken our own defense in Ukraine and that it serves as an investment in our diplomatic capabilities,” Zelensky said in a social media post. “We help protect against war those who help us — Ukraine — bring the war to a dignified conclusion.”
While the aerial and naval battle intensifies across the Middle East, a ground war may also be on the horizon.
People arrive to sign a condolence book in memory of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the Embassy of Iran in New Delhi, India, on Thursday.
(Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
The United States and Israel have increased coordination with Kurdish armed groups along Iran’s western frontier, hoping to exploit longstanding tensions between Tehran and Kurdish factions opposed to the Iranian government, Kurdish officials told the Associated Press.
Iranian forces have already launched missile and drone strikes against Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Iraq following the initial U.S.–Israeli assault on Iranian targets.
Those strikes targeted areas around the city of Erbil and on Kurdish opposition groups operating near the Iranian border, locations where U.S. military forces and diplomatic facilities are also present.
Officials have not publicly confirmed whether Kurdish groups will mount cross-border operations, but security analysts say an incursion into Iranian territory could open a new front in the conflict.
U.S. Central Command, meanwhile, is asking the Pentagon to send more military intelligence officers to its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, to support operations against Iran for at least 100 days, but likely through September, according to a notification obtained by Politico.
The moves come as the House prepares to vote Thursday on a war powers resolution that would withdraw U.S. forces from hostilities in Iran, and limit the president’s power to wage war in the region. A similar measure failed Wednesday in the Senate, mostly along party lines.
Quinton reported from Washington and Bulos from Beirut.
