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Is This The Biggest Energy Crisis In History?
As Trump continues his war by tweet, on his Nazi infested social media site, ordering the Navy to ‘shoot and kill any boat’ laying mines in Hormuz Strait, the head of the International Energy Agency just sounded the loudest alarm yet. Fatih Birol told CNBC this morning the world is facing the biggest energy security threat in history. Thirteen million barrels of oil a day. Gone. The Strait of Hormuz sits under a double blockade, with neither Iran nor the United States letting ships pass. Before Trump’s war, twenty million barrels of oil and fuel moved through that strait every single day. Europe’s jet fuel supply from Middle East refineries has basically collapsed to zero. Birol warns of energy rationing, runaway inflation, and economies stalling out worldwide. This is what happens when a reckless president starts a war he can’t end. The whole global economy is paying the price, and so are you.
Why Did Trump Fire His Own Navy Secretary In The Middle Of A War?
Navy Secretary John Phelan is out. Just like that. Effective immediately. And nobody will say why. Pete Hegseth pushed him out Wednesday while the Navy is literally enforcing a blockade against Iran. Thirty-one ships redirected. Two boarded. And Trump fires the guy in charge. Phelan reportedly didn’t even know he was fired until he saw the Pentagon’s tweet. His replacement, Hung Cao, once claimed witches had taken over a town in California. You can’t make this up. Senators and Pentagon officials were blindsided. Journalist Sarah Longwell summed it up in one line. What the hell is going on? When you hand the Navy to donors and cronies during a shooting war, this is what you get. Chaos at the top while our sailors carry the load.
Trump Plots A Revenge Tantrum At The Press Dinner
Saturday night at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Donald Trump is planning what The Daily Beast calls a revenge attack on the press. He’s going to trash the reporters covering his disastrous Iran war. Then he’s fleeing before anyone can roast him back. Why? Because he can’t bear to sit through the Wall Street Journal picking up a Katherine Graham award. For what? For exposing that bawdy birthday letter Trump allegedly wrote to Jeffrey Epstein. A federal judge already tossed out Trump’s lawsuit against the Journal. Now over two hundred and fifty journalists are demanding the Correspondents’ Association forcefully oppose Trump’s war on press freedom. This is a president terrified of accountability. Terrified of being laughed at. And willing to torch the First Amendment to make the laughter stop.
Is Kash Patel Running The FBI Like J. Edgar Hoover?
The FBI under Director Kash Patel opened an investigation into a New York Times reporter. Her crime? Elizabeth Williamson wrote a profile of Patel’s country-singer girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, revealing Patel was using FBI jets and a SWAT team to shuttle her around on your dime. Agents searched databases on Williamson. They wanted to charge her under federal stalking laws. The Justice Department finally shut it down, worried it was pure retaliation. Senator Chuck Schumer says Patel must be fired or forced to resign now. Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe says there’s no chance Patel didn’t know. Critics are calling it Hoover-esque abuse. This is the FBI weaponized against journalists. And when a free press becomes a target, democracy itself is next in line.
Your Airfare Just Jumped Twenty Percent
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told investors Wednesday your ticket prices are going up fifteen to twenty percent. Why? Because Trump’s Iran war sent jet fuel prices through the roof. United’s fuel is running four dollars and thirty cents a gallon, up fifty-five percent from just three months ago. The airline is cutting five percent of its flights. It’s already pushed through five fare hikes and jacked up baggage fees since mid-March. And here’s the kicker. Kirby says United will keep raising fares until it passes one hundred percent of the cost straight to you. A trip that cost a thousand bucks last year? That’s an extra two hundred dollars out of your pocket. Working families didn’t start this war. But they’re paying for it every time they fly.
Should Taxpayers Bail Out A Failing Airline?
Now Trump wants you to hand five hundred million dollars to Spirit Airlines. Yes, Spirit. The budget carrier that’s filed for bankruptcy twice in under a year. The one routinely ranked the worst airline in America. Trump’s war drove jet fuel prices so high that Spirit is now circling liquidation. So the White House is cooking up a taxpayer rescue where the government takes warrants for a potential stake in the company. Even Trump’s own Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy calls it throwing good money after bad. United’s Scott Kirby says there’s no crisis big enough to justify a bailout. Even conservatives are howling. This isn’t free markets. This isn’t capitalism. It’s crony welfare. Trump starts a war, fuel prices explode, and working taxpayers foot the bill to rescue his donor friends. Every single time.
And that’s the way it is, Today Thursday April 23rd, 2026. I’m Thom Hartmann.
