Trump Vows Iran War Will End 'Very Soon' as Gas Prices Surge

Oil Tops $119 Before Retreating on G-7 Reserve Pledge

Hormuz Oil Traffic Collapses as Pakistan Deploys Warships

Anthropic Sues Trump Administration Over Pentagon AI Blacklist

Billionaires Poured $3 Billion Into 2024 Elections

Trump Vows Iran War Will End 'Very Soon' as Gas Prices Surge

President Donald Trump said Monday he expects the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran to be over "very soon," calling the 10-day campaign that has devastated Iranian infrastructure and killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a "short-term excursion." Trump, speaking in Doral, Florida, claimed the coalition had struck 5,000 targets since the war began Feb. 28 and boasted the U.S. was ahead of its timeline, even as he threatened a larger attack if Iran continued blocking shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. New Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei — the former leader's son, whose appointment was confirmed Sunday — was absent from his own loyalty ceremony after reportedly being injured in an Israeli airstrike, with a cardboard cutout displayed in his place.

Despite Trump's assurances, gasoline prices have jumped nearly 17% since the war began, reaching $3.48 a gallon Monday, and Brent crude briefly topped $119 a barrel. Trump dismissed the spike, saying prices were "artificially up" and would fall after the war, but offered no clear timeline. Republicans in tight midterm races are growing privately anxious that the economic fallout — which Trump insists is short-term and worthwhile — could undercut their party's economic argument heading into November.

Al Jazeera · NYT

Oil Tops $119 Before Retreating on G-7 Reserve Pledge

Oil prices surged past $119 a barrel Monday as the Iran conflict escalated, with Brent crude futures hitting their highest level since mid-2022. Prices retreated sharply after G-7 finance ministers announced they stood ready to release oil from national strategic reserves, and fell further following Trump's remarks suggesting the war would end soon, with Brent closing back below $90.

WSJ

Hormuz Oil Traffic Collapses as Pakistan Deploys Warships

Oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz — the conduit for roughly one-fifth of the world's daily oil supply — have collapsed from a normal flow of approximately 20 million barrels per day to near zero over the past week, according to vessel-tracking data from S&P and Kpler. Traffic showed a slight uptick March 9, reaching about 4 million barrels per day, or roughly 20% of normal volume, but the four-day moving average remained at just 8% of pre-war levels. Pakistan, which relies heavily on Gulf energy imports, deployed warships Monday to escort its merchant vessels through the region. Trump said the U.S. Navy could also escort tankers if needed but expressed hope that would not be necessary.

NYT · Brian Sozzi/X

Anthropic Sues Trump Administration Over Pentagon AI Blacklist

Anthropic filed a federal lawsuit Monday challenging the Trump administration's decision to designate the AI company a supply-chain security threat and cancel its government contracts, arguing the administration exceeded its legal authority in retaliating against the company for disagreeing with Defense Department plans for AI use. The case, filed in the Northern District of California, names Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and multiple federal agencies as defendants. Shortly after the filing, 37 AI researchers at rivals OpenAI and Google submitted a brief urging the court to side with Anthropic, underscoring the broader stakes the dispute holds for the technology industry. The case raises a broader question at the center of the emerging AI industry: who controls how artificial intelligence is developed and deployed in a democracy — the companies that build it or the government that seeks to use it.

WSJ

Billionaires Poured $3 Billion Into 2024 Elections

An analysis by The New York Times found that 300 billionaires on both the left and right and their immediate relatives contributed more than $3 billion — 19% of all federal campaign contributions — in the 2024 election cycle, either directly or through political action committees. The average billionaire gave roughly $10 million, an amount equal to the combined contributions of about 100,000 typical donors, and the figure does not count money routed through dark-money groups that are not required to disclose their funders. Five presidential elections ago, before the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling lifted major campaign finance restrictions, billionaire spending accounted for just 0.3% of contributions. The surge in ultrawealthy political investment now extends well beyond federal races, with donors working to reshape policy in state legislatures, city councils, school boards and courthouses on issues ranging from charter schools and abortion to artificial intelligence and tenant protections.

NYT

March 10 1876: First speech transmitted by telephone

The first discernible speech is transmitted over a telephone system when inventor Alexander Graham Bell summons his assistant in another room by saying, “Mr. Watson, come here; I want you.” Bell had received a comprehensive telephone patent just three days before.

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Sources

1. Al Jazeera
2. NYT — Trump Iran Gas Prices
3. WSJ — Oil Prices
4. Brian Sozzi/X — Strait of Hormuz Data
5. NYT — Iran War Live
6. WSJ — Anthropic Lawsuit
7. NYT — Billionaire Campaign Spending