Trump Says he Gives the US a 15/10 Grade for Iran War

FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, March 2, 2026. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, March 2, 2026. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo
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Trump Says he Gives the US a 15/10 Grade for Iran War

FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, March 2, 2026. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, March 2, 2026. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo

The US president opened his remarks at a White House event on artificial intelligence that the US is “doing very well on the war front, to put it mildly.”

Donald Trump said Wednesday that someone asked him to rate on a scale of 10 how well he thought the US was doing in the American-Israeli military operation against Iran and said, “about a 15.”

The House is preparing to vote Thursday on a war powers resolution to halt Trump's attack on Iran, a sign of unease in Congress over the rapidly widening conflict.

It's the second vote in as many days, after the Senate defeated a similar measure along party lines. Lawmakers are confronting the sudden reality of representing the American people in wartime and all that entails — with lives lost, dollars spent and alliances tested by a president's unilateral decision to go to war with Iran.

The tally in the House is expected to be tight, but the outcome will provide an early snapshot of the political support, or opposition, to the US-Israel military operation and Trump's rationale for bypassing Congress, which alone has the power to declare war.

In retaliation, Iran has launched more missiles at Israel and US bases as war in the Middle East enters a sixth day.



Trump Renews Netanyahu Pardon Call, Saying Only Iran Should be Troubling Him

FILE - President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
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Trump Renews Netanyahu Pardon Call, Saying Only Iran Should be Troubling Him

FILE - President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

US President Donald Trump on Thursday called again on Israel's president to grant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a pardon for corruption charges, saying the premier should have nothing on his mind but the war with Iran.

Trump, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname, said in an interview with Israel's N12 television news: "President Herzog must give Bibi a pardon today. I don't want there to be anything troubling Bibi other than the war with Iran ... Herzog is a disgrace ... he promised ⁠me five times to ⁠give Bibi a pardon."

President Isaac Herzog's office said in response that while Israel is at war, he is not dealing with the matter of Netanyahu's pardon request, Reuters reported.

Herzog added that he deeply respects Trump's contribution to Israel's security and his position on ⁠Iran but that Israel is a sovereign state that abides by the rule of law.

"The president will examine the request according to the law, the good of the state, his conscience and free of any internal or external pressure," the statement from Herzog's office said.

03 March 2026, Israel, Palmachim Airbase: Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) visits the Palmachim Airbase accompanied by Minister of Defense israel Katz (R) and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (L). Photo: Maayan Toaf/Israel Gpo/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Netanyahu is Israel's first sitting prime minister to be charged with a crime and denies bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges dating back to his 2019 ⁠indictment.

Trump ⁠has called on Israeli President Isaac Herzog to grant Netanyahu a pardon several times before.

Netanyahu submitted his pardon request in November.

Herzog has in the past disputed Trump's claim that he had promised to grant Netanyahu a pardon.

The United States and Israel on Saturday launched a joint bombing campaign against Iran.

Under Israeli law, the president has the authority to pardon convicts. But there is no precedent for issuing a pardon mid-trial. The legal process of a pardon can be slow.


US Says Attacks on Alleged Drug Boats Have Spooked Traffickers

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at the inaugural Americas Counter Cartel Conference at US Southern Command in Doral, Fla., Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at the inaugural Americas Counter Cartel Conference at US Southern Command in Doral, Fla., Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
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US Says Attacks on Alleged Drug Boats Have Spooked Traffickers

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at the inaugural Americas Counter Cartel Conference at US Southern Command in Doral, Fla., Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at the inaugural Americas Counter Cartel Conference at US Southern Command in Doral, Fla., Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

The US campaign to hunt down and destroy boats allegedly bringing drugs from South America has been so successful it is now hard to find targets, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said Thursday.

The United States began targeting these alleged smuggling speedboats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific in early September and has since destroyed dozens of them, with at least 150 people killed.

The attacks have drawn criticism that they amount to extrajudicial killings.

Hegseth hailed them as he spoke at a conference on fighting drug cartels that was attended by officials from 18 Latin American countries.

"Last month, we went a few weeks without targeting a single boat. Why? Well, because we couldn't find a whole lot of boats to sink," Hegseth said.

"And that's the whole point, is to establish deterrence from narco-terrorists who have been able to traffic almost unfettered," AFP quoted Hegseth as saying.

President Donald Trump's administration insists it is effectively at war with what it calls "narco-terrorists" operating in Latin America.

But it has provided no definitive evidence that the vessels it targets are involved in drug trafficking, prompting heated debate about the legality of the operations.

International law experts and rights groups say the strikes likely amount to extrajudicial killings as they have apparently targeted civilians who do not pose an immediate threat to the United States.

Washington has deployed a large naval force in the Caribbean, where its forces have in recent months struck alleged drug-smuggling boats, seized oil tankers and carried out a stunning raid in which Venezuelan leftist leader Nicolas Maduro was captured and flown to New York for trial on drug trafficking charges.


Trump Says he Needs to be Involved in Selecting Iran's Next Leader

President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable on  in Washington, DC on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. EPA/BONNIE CASH / POOL
President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable on in Washington, DC on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. EPA/BONNIE CASH / POOL
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Trump Says he Needs to be Involved in Selecting Iran's Next Leader

President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable on  in Washington, DC on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. EPA/BONNIE CASH / POOL
President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable on in Washington, DC on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. EPA/BONNIE CASH / POOL

US President Donald Trump told Axios on Thursday that he needs to be personally ⁠involved in selecting Iran's ⁠next leader.

"Khamenei's son is unacceptable to me. ⁠We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran," Axios quoted Trump as saying in an interview.

"I have to ⁠be ⁠involved in the appointment, like with Delcy in Venezuela," Trump said.

Rumors have long swirled around the possibility of Mojtaba Khamenei succeeding his father as supreme leader as he’s close with the Revolutionary Guards.

A member of parliament and firebrand cleric, Hamid Rasaee, wrote Thursday that the killed supreme leader’s son was “an outstanding seminarian” as well as a trusted adviser to his father and an “overseer of many of the country’s affairs.”

A reformist-aligned cleric, Rahmatollah Bigdeli, condemned what he called Rasaee’s “ignorance and bias.”

“The constitution does not specify a time limit for the validity of the interim leadership council, and questioning the validity of this council is tantamount to questioning the legitimacy of the decision-making bodies of the regime,” he replied on X.

A former minister also aligned with Iran’s reformists, Abbas Akhoundi, warned against “a diversionary and toxic debate” over the succession.

“The stench of the power struggle in wartime is nauseating,” Akhoundi wrote on X on Wednesday.