The Daily Wrap Up

16 March, 2026

[Transcript edited for clarity, length and flow]

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Last week I attended a Democratic retreat, and I have to say it was an extraordinary experience. I met a lot of fascinating people and came away feeling something I had not felt in a while. I felt reassured. I will admit that I had been worried about the future of the Democratic Party and about the strength of our bench heading into the next election cycles, including 2028. But after spending time with some of the people doing the work and stepping up into leadership, I can say with confidence that the party and our future elections are in very good hands. I left feeling motivated, heartened, and honestly relieved.

I had the chance to speak and to meet some truly impressive public servants, including Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona and Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. As many of you know, Senator Kelly has been directly attacked by the execrable Pete Hegseth, who frankly is not fit to shine his shoes. Kelly had participated in a video reminding service members that they have a duty not to follow illegal orders. That reminder apparently offended the Trump regime. Pete Hegseth did not like that.

Senator Van Hollen has also been leading one of the most important fights happening right now. He has been on the front lines defending people targeted by ICE and the Department of Homeland Security. At one point he even flew to El Salvador to meet with one of his constituents and work to bring him home. So it was an inspiring event. I also had the chance to meet the chair of the Democratic National Committee, Ken Martin, who spoke in depth about the upcoming elections and the work that needs to be done. It was a reminder that there are serious people thinking seriously about the future.

It was a very busy week. Which is also why I want to say thank you to my friends and fellow Nerd Avengers, Brian Karem, Adam Parkhomenko, and Tara Setmayer. They did an incredible job filling in while I was away. Thank you, truly. There is a lot happening right now, and sometimes none of us can be in five places at once.

All right. Let us get to the horrors, because there are many. As I mentioned earlier in the show, several United States allies have either responded cautiously or outright rejected Donald’s request to send warships to escort merchant vessels through the embattled Strait of Hormuz. Germany delivered the bluntest response.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stated the position very clearly.

This is not our war. We did not start it.

Japan, Italy, and Australia have also declined to participate. France, South Korea, and Britain have stopped short of making any commitments. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer addressed the situation directly while speaking to reporters from 10 Downing Street.

Here is what he had to say.

Our priority is always the national interest, and so we have been clear and consistent in our objectives throughout this conflict. First, we will protect our people in the region. Second, while taking the necessary action to defend ourselves and our allies, we will not be drawn into the wider war. And third, we will keep working towards a swift resolution that brings security and stability back to the region and stops the Iranian threat to its neighbors.

What makes this situation even more remarkable is what happened just a week earlier. At that time, Starmer had offered to send two British aircraft carriers to the region. Donald rejected that offer. Instead he took to his failing social media platform to mock the proposal.

Here is what Donald posted.

The United Kingdom, our once great ally is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East. That’s okay Prime Minister Starmer. We don’t need them any longer, but we will remember. We don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already run.

So according to Donald, the war is already won. Which raises an obvious question. If the war is over and we have already won, why is he still begging for help from our allies? The answer is simple. Donald is very good at very few things, but one thing he excels at is shooting himself in the foot.

Prime Minister Starmer did what any responsible leader would do. He took time to deliberate and consult with his team before making a decision about sending warships into a volatile region. When he finally agreed to help, Donald had another temper tantrum and rejected the offer. Not exactly the way to build international support.

Earlier today Donald held a press conference at the White House that frankly has to be seen to be believed. In it, he explained his view of America’s alliances and the war he has created.

Here is part of what he said.

We don’t need anybody. We’re the strongest nation in the world. We have the strongest military by far in the world. We don’t need them, but it’s interesting. I’m almost doing it in some cases not because we need them, but because I want to find out how they react because I’ve been saying for years that if we ever did need them they won’t be there.

He then complained that Britain was unwilling to send ships when he asked.

I was very surprised with the United Kingdom because the United Kingdom two weeks ago I said why don’t you send some ships over and he really didn’t want to do it. I said you don’t want to do it. We’ve been with you. You’re our oldest ally and we spend a lot of money on NATO and all of these things to protect you.

Let us pause here for a moment and add something Donald never seems able to provide. Context. There is a treaty called the North Atlantic Treaty, the founding document of NATO. Article Five of that treaty establishes the alliance’s defense clause. It states very clearly that an armed attack against one member in Europe or North America is considered an attack against all. That is how NATO works. It is what makes the alliance greater than the sum of its parts.

Donald, of course, pretends that the United States does everything while our allies do nothing. That claim is not just misleading. It is flatly wrong.

Here is a question. How many times has Article Five of NATO been invoked? If you answered one, you are correct. And which country invoked it? The United States.

After the attacks of September 11th, every NATO ally came to America’s defense. So Donald attacking our allies with lies about their commitment is not only ignorant. It is dangerous.

Now as for Donald’s claim that the war is over, that is also not true. The American Israeli war of choice against Iran has now entered its third week. At this stage it is largely an air war, but it has already had devastating consequences. More than two thousand people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, have been killed.

Iran has responded with rockets and drones targeting neighboring countries and ships in the Gulf. Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted. That matters because roughly one fifth of the world’s oil supply moves through that narrow passage. The result has been immediate economic shock.

Brent crude briefly surged to one hundred and six dollars a barrel this morning. For comparison, oil was around seventy five dollars a barrel before this unnecessary and unconstitutional war began. Gas prices are already rising sharply.

A recent report explained how the conflict is affecting consumers.

As the fighting with Iran now stretches into a third week with other countries roped in including an Iranian drone strike this morning at Dubai’s busy airport pausing flights disruptions to the global energy supply are only growing. In the United States oil prices hovering around one hundred dollars a barrel are pushing gas prices up more than seventy cents a gallon since the war began.

Americans are already feeling the consequences. One driver described what the spike in prices means.

I think they’re quite expensive right now especially for four dollars and thirty cents.

Another driver was even more blunt.

Oh I don’t like it. Not at all. It’s way too much.

The Trump regime insists that this is temporary.

The prices are going to come tumbling down as soon as it’s over and it’s going to be over pretty quickly.

But Americans are skeptical.

We had gas under three dollars and now it’s right at five. We don’t run off of hopes and dreams.

And that skepticism is well founded. Even if the war ended tomorrow, it could take months for oil markets and global supply chains to stabilize.

But this is the Trump regime we are talking about. They do not think through consequences. They focus on optics and short term political gains. They ignore the obvious risks.

Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz was the most predictable response imaginable. It is their most powerful strategic tool. Yet Donald insists he foresaw everything.

Here is what he claimed.

I knew about the Strait that it would be a weapon which I predicted a long time ago. I predicted all of this stuff. I predicted Osama bin Laden would knock out the World Trade Center.

That statement is not just absurd. It is easily disproven. But Donald lies so casually and so often that he does not even attempt to make those lies believable anymore.

And the consequences of those lies are very real. Gas prices are rising. Shipping costs are rising. Airline costs are rising. Every product that relies on transportation will become more expensive.

Meanwhile the Trump regime has hollowed out critical institutions. The FBI has been gutted under Kash Patel, weakening our ability to prevent potential attacks here at home.

This is the reality Donald has created. Not strength. Not victory. Just chaos. And we are only three weeks in.

Despite everything else happening, we are not going to stop talking about the Epstein files until justice, or at least some semblance of it, is done. Bank of America has reportedly reached a settlement in principle with Epstein’s accusers in a class action lawsuit alleging the bank helped facilitate his sex trafficking operation through accounts tied to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, though the terms remain undisclosed.

At the same time, investigators are only now searching Epstein’s ten thousand acre ranch in New Mexico, seven years after raids on his other properties, despite warnings that key evidence may already be gone after the ranch changed ownership and federal prosecutors previously told state investigators to stand down. The property was purchased in 2023 by the family of Texas businessman and former Republican state senator Don Huffines, who proposed turning it into a Christian children’s camp, while reports that parts of the ranch may have been demolished raise fears that critical evidence tied to Epstein’s network and associates, including Donald, may already have been lost.

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