News On Tap For Friday, March 20, 2026

A Time For Every Season

Today’s “News On Tap” has a touch of spring - & unfortunately, halfascism. We’ve got updates on Trump’s current stupid war on Iran, the costs of that war, & his look ahead to his next war in Cuba. Plus updates on Trump’s failing domestic wars, against immigration, against democracy, and in the courts. Plus, Trumponomics is still failing, and there’s some new info in the Trump'/Epstein files. Plus, there’s plenty of news about the news media, and entertainment news too. And our friends Karen & Anita of Tru Blu Politics podcast are back tonight. Read up, get informed, and join us tonight!

First Round - The Dumbest War Rolls On

Updates On Trump’s Stupid Illegal Iran War

• Live Updates: Trump Again Calls NATO Allies ‘Cowards’ For Not Helping In Strait Of Hormuz; US Officials Say More Troops Heading To Middle East

• Iran Hits Kuwaiti Refinery, Israel Kills Iranian Guards Spokesman As War Rages On

• Qatar Officials Confirm Iran Attack Wiped Out 17% Of Qatar’s LNG Capacity, For Up To Five Years

• U.S. F-35 Stealth Fighter, Damaged By Suspected Iranian Fire, Makes Emergency Landing

The Costs Of War

• Trump Keeps Press Away From Dignified Transfer - But Posts Pics On Social Media, After Families Refused Press Coverage

• Father Of Service Member Killed In Iran War Confirms Hegseth Lied, Said He Never Told The Sec. Def. To ‘Finish’ The Job

• Trump Regime Bizarrely Weighing Removal Of Iran Oil Sanctions In Attempt To Keep Price In Check Amid War

• Oil Rises To $110/Barrel Due To Trump’s War With Iran. Goldman Sachs Now Says World Prices Will Likely Remain In The Triple Digits For Years.

• Republicans In Congress Start To Rebel As Trump Asks For $200 Billion For Iran War

• Hayes Brown: The Biggest Problems With Pete Hegseth’s Ridiculous $200 Billion War Request

• New Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds 65% Of Americans Believe Trump Will Send Troops To Iran - And Only 7% Support It

• New Strength In Numbers Poll: 58% Of U.S. Voters Say The War In Iran Is A Bad Use Of Taxpayer Dollars

Netanyahu’s Role In The Iran War

• Israel And The U.S. Are Starting To Show Drastically Different Priorities In Iran

• Netanyahu Says Iran Is Being ‘Decimated’ But Revolution Will Require A ‘Ground Component’

• Fears Of An All-Out Israeli Invasion Mount In Lebanon, As Part Of War With Iran

Trump’s Next Half-Assed War

• Trump Admin. Says Cuba Can’t Take Russian Oil, Even As Two Russian Tankers Head To Island

• As Trump Eyes “Taking Cuba,” His Rumored Takeover Could See A Castro Return As Ruler

• U.S. Southern Command Chief Briefs Senators, Confirms U.S. Military Is Not Preparing For Cuba Takeover

Second Round - Trump's Domestic Wars

Immigration Wars

• Surprise Testimony Reveals Trump Admin. Wrongfully Deported More Than 100 Asylum Seekers, In Violation Of A Court-Ordered Settlement

• Trump Officials Confirm Pentagon Plans To Keep National Guard In Dc Into 2029 On Bogus Immigration Security Claims

• WSJ: Trump Reportedly Told Inner Circle Some Mass Deportation Policies Went Too Far [Gift Link]

• New Washington State Law Bans All Law Enforcement, Including Federal Forces, From Covering Their Faces

• WCCO: People Of Twin Cities Awarded JFK Profile In Courage Award Over Their Resistance To Trump’s Ice Surge

War In The Courts

• Former FBI Director James Comey Subpoenaed In Trump-Appointed Prosecutor’s ‘Grand Conspiracy’ Probe

• New Lawsuit Filed By Two Former FBI Agents Accuses Trump DOJ Leadership Of ‘Political Retribution’

• Federal Judge Rules Trump Admin. Overreached With Actions That Blocked Health Care For Transgender Young People

Republicans’ War On Democracy

• Senate Majority Leader Thune Keeping Members In Town Over The Weekend, To Keep Debating Doomed To Fail Save America Act

• Trump Regime Now Openly Trying To Suppress Voting On College Campuses Ahead Of November

Third Round - Republicans Can't Govern

Trumponomics Is Failing

• Trump’s War With Iran Is Causing Gas Prices To Surge. Workers Are Already Feeling The Pain

• New Threats Emerge For Trump’s Economy As War Drags On

• Trump Regime Now Attempting To Move Federal Student Loan Portfolio To Treasury Department

• Record Number Of Student Loan Borrowers Are Now In Delinquency And Default

On Capitol Hill

• Bipartisan Talks To End Homeland Security Standoff Get Serious As Shutdown Drags On

• Senate Spring Break Recess At Risk If DHS Shutdown Continues, Thune Says

Fourth Round - More News To Drink About

The Trumpstein Files

• Unredacted Epstein Email Challenges Trump’s Previous Claim That Epstein Was Asked To Leave Mar-A-Lago

• Rep. Dan Goldman Reveals Epstein File That Blows Huge Hole In Trump’s Story About Split With Epstein

• Epstein’s Former Attorney, Darren Indyke, Told House Oversight Committee He Didn’t Know About The Abuse At The Time It Was Happening

Election Land

• Larry Sabato Makes Six Gubernatorial Rating Changes, All Shifting In Favor Of Democrats

• Tom Schaller: House Republicans Are Heading For The Exits In Droves As The Writing Is On The Wall

Fifth Round - Media, Entertainment, & More

Rest In Peace

• Chuck Norris, Martial Arts Master And Actor Whose Toughness Became Internet Lore, Dies At 86

Media Matters

• CBS News Starts Another Major Round Of Layoffs, Will Lay Off 6% Of Staff, Shut Down CBS News Radio Service Affecting 700 Radio Stations

• Trump’s Corrupt FCC Regulators Approve Regional TV Ownership Mega Merger Between Nexstar & Tegna

• Eight States, Including California And New York, Sue To Block $6.2B Nexstar-Tegna Merger

Entertainment & More

• Box Office: ‘Project Hail Mary’ Makes $12 Million In Previews, Biggest Movie Opening Of 2026, So Far

• ABC Pulls Entire Season Of ‘The Bachelorette’ After TMZ Posts Shocking Video Of Star Taylor Frankie Paul’s Explosive 2023 Confrontation With Her Ex

• K-Pop Superstar Group BTS Now Set To Stage A Long-Awaited Comeback Concert At A Seoul Landmark

• Lebron James Ties Robert Parish’s Record By Appearing In His 1,611th NBA Regular-Season NBA Game

• Nearly 36 Million March Madness Brackets Busted On Day One As Upsets Wreak Havoc

• Men’s NCAA March Madness Live Tracker: Updates From Friday’s First Round

• Women’s NCAA March Madness Live Tracker: Updates From Friday’s First Round

Your Bar Regulars Tonight…

Our friends Karen from Chicago, & Anita From San Antonio, co-hosts of Tru Blu Politics (and on Patreon too) are back in the bar tonight, to talk about another crazy busy week of news. We’ll talk about week three of Trump & Bibi’s stupid war, and how it’s hurting the U.S. & world economies. Plus, Karen Byrne also wrote a piece on her Substack this week about “False Equivalencies. And we’ll pull a few rounds from the rest of the News On Tap too.” Grab a seat & a sip, & join us tonight!

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