Good Morning, this is the Commonwealth Report. News for the public, not the powerful.
Putin Is Arming Iran to Kill Americans. And Trump Believes His Denials
The Wall Street Journal dropped a bombshell this week and then doubled down on it. Russia has been feeding Iran satellite imagery straight from its military reconnaissance satellites, the locations of American troops, ships, and bases across the Middle East. Not just imagery.
Russia’s also sharing its Shahed drone expertise from Ukraine, including how many drones to launch, at what altitude, to punch through American air defenses. Iran’s attack patterns now look almost identical to Russia’s tactics in Ukraine.
The Kremlin called it fake news. Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said we can “take them at their word.” Meanwhile, American soldiers are dying.
When the president trusts Vladimir Putin over his own intelligence agencies, that’s not foreign policy. That’s a betrayal.
Is Russia Playing Trump Like a Fiddle While Americans Die in Iran?
While American families are burying their sons and daughters, Russia is laughing.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov mocked Trump publicly this week, saying the U.S. “seriously miscalculated” the Iran war. And he’s not wrong. Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices have spiked. American bases across the Persian Gulf are under fire. Putin, meanwhile, is cashing in.
Trump lifted sanctions on Russian oil weeks ago, sending a river of cash straight to Moscow. Russia gets higher oil prices, reduced pressure on Ukraine, and a distracted Washington.
One source put it bluntly: Iran has Trump by the throat.
Russia is pulling the strings of a war the American people never voted for, and paying almost none of the price.
Trump’s Favorite European Strongman Is Losing. And Moscow Is Desperate to Save Him
Hungary votes on April 12th, and Viktor Orban is in serious trouble. His opponent, Peter Magyar, leads by 20 points in some polls. Orban’s economy has stagnated, public services have crumbled, and corruption has become a way of life for Fidesz insiders.
So what’s Orban’s play? He’s plastered the country with billboards demonizing Ukraine and Zelensky, claiming Hungary will be dragged into war if he loses.
And now we know the Kremlin is in on it. At least three Russian GRU military intelligence operatives are active in Budapest. Putin’s political consultants are running information operations to keep Orban in power.
If Europe’s most pro-Putin leader falls, it’s a major blow to authoritarian nationalism everywhere. April 12th matters far beyond Hungary’s borders.
They Had a Deal. Then America Went to War Anyway
This one should make your blood boil. Britain’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, was in the room in Geneva in late February when Iran put a stunning offer on the table. Iran agreed to eliminate its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, pause enrichment for years, and accept permanent restrictions with no sunset clauses.
The UK team called it surprising. The Omani mediator called it a breakthrough. A follow-up meeting was set for Vienna on March 2nd. It never happened.
Two days before that meeting, the U.S. and Israel launched their attack on Iran. Sources told the Guardian that Kushner and Witkoff brought no technical experts and didn’t understand what Iran was offering.
One source said they were “Israeli assets that dragged a president into a war he wants to get out of.” This war was a choice. And the wrong one was made.
Did the People Just Beat the Machine in Chicago?
Nearly $92 million flooded four Chicago-area Democratic primary races this week. AIPAC, crypto PACs, and AI industry money hit voters with a tsunami of ads.
AIPAC alone spent over $21 million through shadowy front groups with names like “Affordable Chicago Now.” And they didn’t sweep the board. Crypto’s main PAC lost two races. AIPAC-backed candidates lost key contests.
Progressive state senator La Shawn Ford won his race despite $2 million in attacks. Big money still shaped too many results. But there were cracks in the machine.
When voters know where the money’s coming from, they can push back. The question is whether they’ll know in time in November.
Even the Birds Have a Nicotine Habit Now
I’ll leave you with this. Scientists reporting in the New York Times confirmed what researchers suspected: urban birds, particularly house finches and house sparrows, are deliberately lining their nests with smoked cigarette butts.
They can smell the difference between smoked and unsmoked. They prefer the smoked ones. Nicotine repels the mites and ticks that feast on their chicks. It works. But it also causes genetic damage in the birds.
They’re making a bad trade to survive in a world humans have polluted. You can’t help but think there’s a metaphor in there.
We’re all adapting to toxins we didn’t ask for.
And that’s the way it is, Today, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. I’m Thom Hartmann.
