Commonwealth Report, Monday, 30 March 2026 - PM (Text edition)
Big Oil profits from Trump's Iran war, Hegseth prays for mass killing, Iran may be winning, new Trump-Epstein evidence surfaces, a secret Trump bunker is revealed, and
Good Evening, this is the Commonwealth Report - News for the public, not the powerful.
Is Pete Hegseth Fighting a Holy War?
Pete Hegseth has ordered monthly prayer meetings at the Pentagon. And in his first gathering since launching the war on Iran, here’s what your Secretary of Defense asked God for. “Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness,” he intoned. “Overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.” He quoted King David’s wars against ancient enemies, calling for “breaking the teeth of the ungodly” and deliverance of “wicked souls” to eternal damnation. He directed this prayer at American troops fighting in Iran right now.
This isn’t just religion in the military. This is something far darker. Hegseth appears devoted to Christian Reconstructionism, a theology that places biblical law above the rule of law. He’s met personally with its most prominent preacher, Douglas Wilson, and calls himself an admirer. He openly calls for “no quarter” and “no mercy.” Under international law, that’s a war crime. Senator Mark Kelly, a retired combat pilot, put it plainly. Any serious warfighter struggles with the moral weight of taking a life. Pete Hegseth doesn’t struggle at all. And that should keep every American up at night.
What If America’s War on Iran Is Making Iran Stronger?
Here’s something the administration doesn’t want you thinking about. Iran may actually be winning. The Financial Times is reporting that Iran has a real shot at emerging from this war in a stronger international position than when it started. Here’s why. When Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz, it discovered it could bring the global economy to its knees almost overnight. Oil is above $120 a barrel. Growth forecasts are being slashed worldwide. The war has already spread to Iraq, Houthi missiles are flying at Israel, and analysts put the odds at 35 percent that this drags into 2027.
Meanwhile, prominent voices inside Iran are now calling for the country to quit the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and build the bomb. Saudi Arabia has said it would follow if Iran does. This was supposed to be a quick, clean operation. Instead, Trump may have launched a war that reshapes the global nuclear order for the next generation.
Who’s Getting Rich From the Iran War?
Here’s the dirty secret nobody in Washington wants to say out loud. This war is making Big Oil filthy rich. A new analysis from 350.org finds that in just the first month of fighting, consumers and businesses around the world have lost between 104 and 111 billion dollars to soaring energy prices. And where did that money go? Straight into the coffers of Chevron, Shell, and ExxonMobil. Analysts have already sharply raised earnings estimates for the oil giants.
The 350.org CEO put it plainly. Over $100 billion has been siphoned from ordinary people to oil and gas companies while families struggle to afford energy and basic necessities. Senate Democrats have introduced a windfall profits tax that would return that money directly to consumers. It has zero chance of passing a Republican Congress that took $100 million from Big Oil before voting down clean energy. The transfer of wealth from working people to fossil fuel billionaires isn’t a side effect of this war. For some, it’s the whole point.
What Do the Epstein Files Still Hide About Trump?
A woman who told the FBI that Donald Trump sexually abused her when she was 13 years old just got new corroboration of her credibility. South Carolina newspaper The Post and Courier confirmed key personal details she gave FBI investigators in 2019, including facts about her family background, her mother’s criminal history, and specific details about a third man she also says assaulted her. None of the newly verified details relate directly to Trump. But they establish that she was truthful about other things she told investigators.
The woman said Epstein trafficked her to Trump when she was between 13 and 15, after taking her to what she described as a very tall building with huge rooms in the New York or New Jersey area. The DOJ initially withheld her interview summaries entirely. Around 30 pages of related documents are still missing from public release. The White House calls it all completely baseless. But the missing pages haven’t gone away. And neither has the question of what’s in them.
Trump Is Building a Bunker. Under a Ballroom. With Your Military.
Donald Trump let something slip aboard Air Force One over the weekend. The military, he announced, is building what he called a “massive complex” underneath his controversial $400 million White House ballroom. The ballroom, he said, “essentially becomes a shed for what’s being built under it.” He boasted about bulletproof glass and drone-proof roofs and ceilings. This all came out, he said, because of “a stupid lawsuit” filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
What Trump demolished to build this ballroom was the original East Wing, which sat above the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, the secure bunker used by George W. Bush on September 11th and by Trump himself during the George Floyd protests in 2020. Trump insists not a dime of government money is going into the ballroom above ground. But the military is building the complex below it, using your tax dollars, at the people’s house. And it was supposed to be secret. That alone tells you everything you need to know.
Could a Tiny Dose of Ozempic Add Years to Your Life?
More than ten percent of American adults now take GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. And a growing number aren’t taking them to lose weight. They’re microdosing. Tiny fractions of a standard dose, with one goal in mind. Living longer. And the science behind that idea is more compelling than you might think.
These drugs already reduce inflammation, lower the risk of major cardiovascular events, cut cancer risk, and researchers are actively studying them as potential treatments for Alzheimer’s and arthritis. Some scientists think GLP-1s may actually slow cellular aging itself, potentially making them the first true longevity drugs in history. One ob-gyn in Santa Monica says 60 percent of her patients over 40 are microdosing, and the majority report feeling better and seeing real improvements on metabolic lab tests. Clinical trials are now underway. The research is still catching up, but what’s already there is genuinely exciting. For the first time in human history, we may be looking at a medicine that doesn’t just treat disease but pushes back against aging itself.
And that’s the way it is, Today Monday, March 30th, 2026. I’m Thom Hartmann.