U.S. Warships Head To Iran & The DHS Funding Crisis

Hi readers, happy Tuesday! Today we’re covering even more escalation with Iran, the Munich Security Conference, Hungary’s upcoming election, the dollar’s depreciation, the DHS’s funding crisis, how the Feds regulate the internet, and if intermittent fasting actually works.

“We ought to view ourselves with the same curiosity and openness with which we study a tree, the sky or a thought, because we too are linked to the entire universe.” ― Henri Matisse

Even More Middle East Escalation

According to two U.S. officials, the U.S. military is building up its forces in the Middle East in preparation for a possible weeks-long conflict with Iran. The buildup means that the USS Gerald Ford, the world’s largest warship, will arrive in the region in a few weeks, joining a U.S. aircraft carrier that’s already floating off the coast of Oman. That warship, the nuclear-capable USS Abraham Lincoln, is part of a strike group which includes the carrier itself, three guided missile destroyers, 90 aircraft, and over 5,000 crewmembers. A few other U.S. destroyers and combat ships are also lurking in the area, too – that massive buildup of military power will just be waiting on standby, ready to attack Iran on President Trump’s orders.

How did we get here? Trump has been pressuring Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, as well as its violent response to protests that kicked off 2026, threatening to attack the country unless it gives up some of its weapons. Up until now, Trump’s threats against Tehran have seemed relatively empty, but it seems like he wants to add some real pressure to U.S.-Iran negotiations scheduled to take place in Geneva, Switzerland today. According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s preference is to reach some sort of deal, but he noted that working out a compromise would be “very hard to do.”

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told the press that “President Trump has all options on the table with regard to Iran,” and during an event at Fort Bragg last week, the president proposed the idea of forcing regime change in the country, saying that the idea “seems like that would be the best thing that could happen.”

The Murmurs From Munich

This weekend saw Germany host the annual Munich Security Conference, a gathering of world leaders and representatives from the defense sector. American attendees included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and even former Speaker Nancy Pelosi; European heads of state including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron were also at the summit. 

The conference was overshadowed by the fact that the U.S.-E.U. alliance – the backbone of the post-World War II global order – is continuing to sour under the leadership of the Trump White House. Merz and Macron both made their frustrations with the U.S. very clear in statements to the press; Germany’s leader said that U.S. global leadership “has been challenged, and possibly squandered” thanks to the Trump administration’s actions, and Macron said that “Europe has to become a geopolitical power” independent of the U.S. 

In response, Rubio delivered a speech highlighting Europeans’ historical contributions to the U.S. and promising that the the continent and the U.S. “belong together,” earning himself a standing ovation. Newsom, who might end up as Rubio’s rival in a 2028 presidential race, also assured Europe that the U.S.’s trans-Atlantic partnerships “are in dormancy, they’re not dead.” Pelosi best summed up the situation (from her perspective, at least), telling Politico that she doesn’t want America’s allies to be concerned, “Because we’re going to win the elections in 10 months and Hakeem Jeffries will be speaker and there will be ways to hold in check some of what they’re going to do,” referencing the Trump administration’s wild foreign policy decisions. 

Hungary For Change

• A hotly contested election season is kicking off in Hungary as parliamentary elections scheduled for April 12 approach. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s nationalist Fidesz party has kept a firm grasp on power over the course of the last 16 years, but analysts say that the opposition Tisza party is likely to give Orbán a serious challenge this time around.

• The center-right Tisza party is headed by Péter Magyar, a former ally of Orbán. The party secured roughly 30% of Hungarian votes in 2024’s European Parliament elections, and has built on that momentum over the past two years. Tisza has held a strong lead in polls for the past year, and those numbers haven’t wavered as the election nears.

• “We’re standing on the threshold of victory with 56 days left to go,” Magyar told his supporters over the weekend. “Tisza stands ready to govern.” The party platform is focused on fighting corruption and improving Hungary’s cost of living crisis, and also promises to bring the country back into the good graces of the E.U. “Hungary’s place is in Europe, not only because Hungary needs Europe, but also because Europe needs Hungary,” Magyar said on Sunday. The opposition group, according to a 239-page program published this week, will still keep some of Orbán’s policies in place – those include strong anti-illegal immigration policies and maintaining a fence across Hungary’s southern border.

The Dollar Spirals Down The Drain?

• The U.S. dollar – the world’s reserve currency – appears to be weakening. Or at least, asset managers seem to believe it will lose value in the future, as U.S. policy continues to be … erratic (putting it nicely). Last Friday, Bank of America published a survey indicating that U.S. asset managers are increasingly betting that the dollar will continue to depreciate. Current sentiment is more negative than the low point we saw last April, when Trump announced his massive “Liberation Day” tariffs on U.S. imports, and actually marks the lowest point since the bank started collecting data in 2012.

• Since the start of 2026, the dollar has depreciated 1.3% after suffering a 9% drop over the course of 2025, and is close to hitting a four-year low. What does this mean, really? A weaker dollar means that U.S. exports will be priced more competitively in other countries with weaker currencies, but it also means that U.S. consumers will pay higher costs for imported goods.

Additional World News

• Syrian Army Crosses New Threshold With Advances in Kurdish Regions (NYT, $)

• Russia poisoned Alexei Navalny with dart frog toxin, European nations say (AP)

• Disappearances in Mexico surge by 200% over 10 years (Guardian)  

• Ukraine and Russia Hold Peace Talks, but Expectations Are Low (NYT, $)

• Foreign cars flow to Russia through China, skirting Ukraine war sanctions (Reuters)

• Look beyond the imagined African nation to understand Nigeria’s security challenge (Semafor)

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No ID, No Budget!

• On Saturday, the U.S. government technically entered a partial shutdown as the Department of Homeland Security ran out of funding. Earlier this month, Congress passed a spending bill that will fund the rest of the federal government through September, but Democrats and Republicans are split over a measure that will keep money flowing to DHS for the rest of the fiscal year. 

• Democrats are refusing to approve the agency’s budget unless its officers properly identify themselves, don’t wear masks during operations, and display their unique ID numbers, while Republicans want to exempt DHS agents from regulations that apply to all other law enforcement agencies across the country. Democrats are also pushing for rules that will make ICE officers wear body cams and seek out judicial warrants for arrests on private property.

• “The question that Americans are asking is, ‘Why aren’t Republicans going along with these commonsense proposals?’” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “They’re not crazy. They’re not way out. They’re what every police department in America does.”

The Feds Are Watching You Post

• Over the past few months, as ICE has expanded its immigration raids nationwide, the Department of Homeland Security has been handing out administrative subpoenas like candy. In the past, these subpoenas – which don’t require a judge’s approval – have been leveraged only to track down users committing serious crimes like child trafficking. Now, though, the federal government is employing them to track down civilians critical of the government’s immigration crackdown.

• According to the New York Times, citing government officials and tech employees with knowledge of the requests, DHS has targeted social media companies including Google, Reddit, Discord, and Meta (which owns Instagram and Facebook) with hundreds of subpoenas. The agency has demanded that the companies hand over the names, email addresses, telephone numbers, and other personal data of users who track or criticize ICE, and the tech giants have complied with the majority of the subpoenas they’ve been served. 

• “When we receive a subpoena, our review process is designed to protect user privacy while meeting our legal obligations,” Google told the Times. “We inform users when their accounts have been subpoenaed, unless under legal order not to or in an exceptional circumstance. We review every legal demand and push back against those that are overbroad.” Users are generally given 10-14 days to challenge the subpoena in court, or their personal data is handed over to the government for its nefarious plans.

Additional USA News

• Jesse Jackson, civil rights leader and US presidential hopeful, dies at 84 (Reuters)

• Shooting at Rhode Island ice rink leaves at least two people dead (Guardian)

• Hillary Clinton accuses Trump administration of Epstein files cover-up in BBC interview (BBC) 

• Anderson Cooper to Leave ‘60 Minutes’ on CBS (NYT, $)

• FBI won’t share Alex Pretti shooting evidence, Minnesota authorities say (Guardian)

• Social Security Workers Are Being Told to Hand Over Appointment Details to ICE (Wired, $)

Fasting Gets You Nowhere, Fast?

• Is intermittent fasting – a diet that restricts when you eat rather than what you eat – actually effective at helping people lose weight? According to a recently published review of the scientific literature, the answer to that question is: not really. The literature review examined the data from 22 global studies on intermittent fasting, and found that people who used the fasting method to lose weight only lost an average of 3% of their body weight, well below the 5% weight loss that doctors consider clinically meaningful.

• “Intermittent fasting is not a miracle solution, but it can be one option among several for weight management,” said Dr. Luis Garegnani, the review’s lead author. “Intermittent fasting likely yields results similar to traditional dietary approaches for weight loss. It doesn’t appear clearly better, but it’s not worse either.”

• One health researcher commented on the study, telling the Guardian that he was surprised that fasting wasn’t particularly effective at sparking weight loss. However, he later added that the findings fit with data that shows that people are less physically active when fasting, and his own studies that indicate that benefits from fasting only manifest after three days without food.

Additional Reads

• Watch Out: Your Friends Might Be Sharing Your Number With ChatGPT (PCMag)

• A Wave of Unexplained Bot Traffic Is Sweeping the Web (Wired, $)

• A curling scandal rocks Olympic ice (NPR) 

• Apple’s doing something on March 4th (Verge) 

• Obama says aliens are 'real,' but aren't in Area 51 in new interview (Hill)

• The myth that women are more naturally empathetic than men (BBC)

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