March 14 (Reuters) - U.S. citizens should leave Iraq immediately, the U.S. embassy in Baghdad said in an updated security alert on Saturday, following an overnight missile attack on the embassy’s building.

“U.S. citizens choosing to remain in Iraq are strongly encouraged to reconsider in light of the significant threat posed by Iran-aligned terrorist militia groups,” the embassy said.

(Reporting by Hatem Maher; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

March 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that many countries would send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for shipping, but did not provide details on which countries would do so.

“Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Trump said he hoped that China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others would send ships to the area.

“In the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian Boats and Ships out of the water,” he wrote.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether any countries had agreed to send ships.

Western nations have bolstered their military presence in the eastern Mediterranean during the conflict in Iran, focusing on the security of Cyprus after an Iranian-made drone hit a British military base on the island on March 2.

Britain is also exploring additional options for deployments to the Gulf after Iran stepped up attacks on vessels, defense minister John Healey said on Thursday. The British government is talking to allies and partners about “a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region,” a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said on Saturday.

The French Navy is deploying about a dozen naval vessels, including its aircraft carrier strike group, to the Mediterranean, Red Sea and potentially the Strait of Hormuz as part of defensive support to allies threatened by the conflict.

France has been consulting with European, Asian and Gulf Arab states over the past week with a view to putting together a plan for warships eventually to escort tankers through the strait, French officials said.

Trump said on Thursday the U.S. was willing to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz to protect them from Iranian attack, as his administration searches for ways to ease high oil prices fuelled by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Toronto and Milana Vinn in New York; Editing by Toby Chopra, Sergio Non, Rod Nickel)

“Trump says no Air Force, Iran has no Air Force, no missiles and no navy,” said Maher. “He says there’s ‘nothing left’ to bomb. Yeah, we have nothing left to bomb. Apparently, they have something left to bomb, which is the Strait of Hormuz. I don’t understand this.”

He continued, “We have complete military superiority, we’re bragging about that, except for the one place where we apparently need complete military superiority. Do you understand this? Why can’t we control the Strait of Hormuz, the one place we need to control in Iran?

His guest, Lloyd Blankfein, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, hinted at strategic advantages Iran had in the strait.

“I don’t think it takes much effort to create an obstacle on a very narrow bottleneck there, so I think they don’t have to have much firepower,” said Blankfein, adding: “It doesn’t take much to fire cheap drones and menace ships so that they don’t go through.”

Experts agree, citing Iran’s ability to deploy mines or low-cost attack drones.

Fellow panelist Anthony Scaramucci, former White House communications director under Trump, attributed the situation to “bad war planning” — and said the Trump administration redeployed four U.S. Navy minesweepers to other parts of the world in September.

“Also, this week, war,” said Maher at the time. “Did you hear about that thing? We bombed Iran and it’s going on. Now, if you expect me to say I hate it, I don’t. Sorry! When he puts boots on the ground, yeah, then I’ll hate it. Now, I know too many happy Iranian Americans.”

Maher asked his guests if they "understand" the basic issue with securing the Hormuz strait.

Noam Galai/Getty Images

“And who knows more about what the American people don’t want?” Maher quipped.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Friday controversially claimed the Strait of Hormuz is “open” — despite an Iranian military spokesperson declaring it’s “undoubtedly” under their control — and said the “only thing prohibiting transit” is Iran “shooting at shipping.”

Maher also claimed last week that he would oppose the Iran war if Trump deployed troops there. Mere hours before opening his show Friday, U.S. officials said an estimated 2,500 Marines are heading to the Middle East amid intensified Iranian attacks in the strait.

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was baffled by President Donald Trump’s comment that the war in Iran will end when he can “feel it” in his “bones.”

“I have no idea what that means,” the ex-Trump ally told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Friday’s episode of “The Source.”

“The same way I have no idea, I have no understanding, of what he means ... when he says he doesn’t think he’s going to heaven,” she continued, referencing an idea the president has expressed multiple times.

Earlier that day, Fox News host Brian Kilmeade had asked Trump when he’ll know that the ongoing U.S. war with Iran is over.

Trump replied, “When I feel it. When I feel it in my bones.”

Though Greene couldn’t say what Trump may have meant, she nevertheless found his words worrying.

“Those are statements that I find concerning,” she told Collins. “So, I honestly have no idea what that means.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — In the two weeks since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, President Donald Trump increasingly has been knocked on his political heels.

Meanwhile, Moscow is getting a boost from the war’s early days after Trump eased sanctions on some Russian oil shipments. That, combined with rising oil prices, undercut the yearslong push to crimp President Vladimir Putin’s ability to wage war in Ukraine.

“I think Democrats are well-positioned for this November and the midterms,” said Kelly Dietrich, CEO of the National Democratic Training Committee, which trains party backers to run for office and staff campaigns.

Dietrich said the past two weeks show the Trump administration has failed at long-term planning. “They’re flying by the seat of their pants, and the rest of us are paying the price,” he said.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before he boards Air Force One, Friday, March 13, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., for a trip to Florida. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

via Associated Press

Trump seeks help securing the Strait of Hormuz

The president used both days of the weekend to spend hours at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida. He also attended a closed-door fundraiser for his MAGA Inc. super PAC at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday night.

Last weekend, Trump played golf at another of his South Florida properties a day after witnessing the dignified transfer for six U.S. soldiers killed in the Iran war. That death toll rose this past week.

The president — who kept allies other than Israel in the dark about his war plans for Iran — also for the first time suggested the U.S. would need to lean on the international community to help oil tankers move through the Strait of Hormuz, where transportation has been severely disrupted, throwing global energy markets into a tailspin.

Iran has said it plans to keep up attacks on energy infrastructure and use its effective closure of the strait as leverage against the United States and Israel. A fifth of the world’s traded oil flows through the waterway.

“Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe,” Trump wrote on Saturday, later adding, “this should have always been a team effort.”

It was not clear if that multination push was set to begin or if Trump only hoped it might, however. That’s because he also wrote: “Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected” will “send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer” be threatened by Iran.

The White House has not provided further details on what Trump’s post meant but other countries have reacted to it only cautiously so far.

South Korea plans to “closely coordinate and carefully review” Trump’s comments, while Japan is closely watching developments. Britain’s defense ministry said it was “discussing with our allies and partners a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region.”

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said keeping the strait “safe and stable serves the common interests of the international community” and that “as a sincere friend and strategic partner of Middle Eastern countries, China will continue to strengthen communication with relevant parties.”

Trump had pledged at the beginning of the war that U.S. naval ships would escort tankers through the waterway. But that hasn’t happened yet. “It’ll happen soon. Very soon,” he said before boarding Air Force One to fly to Florida.

Still, questions about the strait continue to undermine Trump’s recent pronouncement during a Kentucky rally that, “We’ve won.”

“You know, you never like to say too early you won. We won,” he said. “We won the, in the first hour, it was over.”

FILE - A person fuels up a vehicle at a gas station, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

via Associated Press

The war has far-reaching political implications

The U.S. Treasury Department also announced this past week a 30-day waiver on Russian sanctions aiming to free up Russian oil cargoes stranded at sea to help ease supply shortages caused by the Iran war.

That’s despite analysts saying that spiraling oil prices due to Persian Gulf production blockages are benefiting the Russian economy. Moscow relies heavily on oil revenue to finance its war on Ukraine, and sanctions were a growing handicap.

Some of Washington’s key allies have decried the move as empowering Putin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called easing sanctions “not the right decision” and “certainly does not help peace” because it leads to a “strengthening of Russia’s position.”

With midterm races now starting to heat up, Trump was asked Friday night about his message to voters who believe gas is too expensive.

“You’re going to see a very big decrease in the prices of gasoline, gas, anything having to do with energy, as soon as this is ended,” Trump said.

Still, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday of higher energy prices: “Americans are feeling it right now” and would “for a few more weeks.”

The longer the conflict goes, the more pronounced questions about the midterms will become. Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, recently suggested on Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria” that if gas and oil prices continue to stay high “you’re going to see a disastrous election” for the GOP.

Leading figures on the right, including Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, have sharply criticized Trump. Trump, though, has continued to insist that he created the MAGA movement and that it will follow him anywhere, on any issue.

The political turbulence has some Democrats predicting their party could see midterm gains rivaling 2018’s “blue wave” election during Trump’s first term.

“Democrats just have to keep reminding people that he made a promise to bring prices down, and they’re still going up,” Democratic strategist Brad Bannon said of Trump. “And now they’re going to go up even more because prices in gasoline can increase prices of everything else, including at the grocery store.”

WASHINGTON/DUBAI/TEL AVIV, March 14 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s administration has rebuffed efforts by Middle Eastern allies to start diplomatic negotiations aimed at ending the Iran war that started two weeks ago with a massive U.S.-Israeli air assault, according to three sources familiar with the efforts.

Iran, for its part, has rejected the possibility of any ceasefire until U.S. and Israeli strikes end, two senior Iranian sources told Reuters, adding that several countries had been trying to mediate an end to the conflict.

The lack of interest from Washington and Tehran suggests both sides are digging in for an extended conflict, even as the widening war inflicts civilian casualties and Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz sends oil prices soaring.

U.S. strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island, the country’s main oil export hub, on Friday night underscored Trump’s determination to press ahead with his military assault. Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz shut and threatened to step up attacks on neighboring countries.

The war has killed more than 2,000 people, mostly in Iran, and created the biggest-ever oil supply disruption as maritime traffic has halted in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported.

ATTEMPTS TO OPEN LINES OF COMMUNICATION

Oman, which mediated talks before the war, has tried multiple times to open a line of communication, but the White House has made clear it is not interested, according to two sources, who, like others in this story, were granted anonymity in order to speak freely about diplomatic matters.

A senior White House official confirmed Trump has rebuffed those efforts to start talks and is focused on pressing ahead with the war to further weaken Tehran’s military capabilities.

“He’s not interested in that right now, and we’re going to continue with the mission unabated. Maybe there’s a day, but not right now,” the official said.

During the first week of the war, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that Iran’s leadership and military were so battered by U.S.-Israeli strikes that they wanted to talk, but that it was “Too Late!” He has a history of shifting foreign policy stances without warning, making it hard to rule out that he might test the waters for restarting diplomacy.

“President Trump said new potential leadership in Iran has indicated they want to talk and eventually will talk. For now, Operation Epic Fury continues unabated,” a second senior White House official said when asked to comment on this story.

The Iranian sources said Tehran has rejected efforts by several countries to negotiate a ceasefire until the U.S. and Israel end their airstrikes and meet Iran’s demands, which include a permanent end to U.S. and Israeli attacks and compensation as part of a ceasefire.

Egypt, which was involved in mediation before the war, has also tried to reopen communications, according to three security and diplomatic sources. While the efforts do not appear to have made progress, they have secured some military restraint from neighboring countries hit by Iran, according to one of the sources.

Egypt’s foreign ministry, the government of Oman and the Iranian government did not respond to requests for comment.

POSITIONS HARDEN ON ALL SIDES

The war’s impact on global oil markets has significantly increased the cost for the United States.

Some U.S. officials and advisers to Trump urge a quick end to the war, warning that surging gasoline prices could exact a high political price from the president’s Republican Party, with U.S. midterm elections looming.

Others are pressing Trump to maintain the offensive against the Islamic Republic to destroy its missile program and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon, according to Reuters reporting.

Trump’s rejection of diplomatic efforts could indicate that, for now, the administration has no plans for a quick end to the war.

Indeed, both the United States and Iran appear even less willing to engage than during the opening days of the war, when senior U.S. officials reached out to Oman to discuss de-escalating, according to several sources.

One source said Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had also sought to use Oman as a conduit for ceasefire discussions that would have involved U.S. Vice President JD Vance.

But those discussions have not materialized.

Instead, Iran’s position has hardened, said a third senior Iranian source.

“Whatever was communicated previously through the diplomatic channels is irrelevant now,” said the source.

“The Guards strongly believe that if they lose control over the Strait of Hormuz, Iran will lose the war,” the source added, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite paramilitary force that controls large parts of the economy.

“Therefore, the Guards will not accept any ceasefire, ceasefire talks, or diplomatic efforts, and Iran’s political leaders will not engage in such talks despite attempts by several countries.” (Additional reporting by Erin Banco, Samia Nakhoul, Andrew Mills, Matt Spetalnick and Alexander Dziadosz; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Don Durfee and Rod Nickel)

Related

The unashamedly triumphant graphic was split into three sections. One showcased how many pundits are “GONE” from their former posts following Trump’s reelection, including former CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta and ex-MSNBC host Joy Reid.

The section also celebrated “Massive Layoffs” at The Washington Post and that outlets such as NPR and PBS have been “Defunded,” as well as cheering the “Big Decline” in television news ratings, and that “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” has been canceled.

He shared his graphic less than two hours after attacking “the Fake News Media” in a long-winded screed on Truth Social that claimed The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other “Lowlife ‘Papers’ and Media” want the U.S. to “lose” the war.

He also continued touting so-called victories over the press in the “REFORMS” section of his graphic, including such vagaries as: “Truth Social Booming,” “Most Accessible POTUS Ever,” “Free Speech on X” and “Disney Ends Key DEI Practices.”

It also stated, “Record Setting Interviews” and “1st POTUS to join NFL Broadcast.”

Trump included purported victories such as "Truth Social Booming" in his graphic.

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Associated Press

The final section was titled simply, “WINNING.” It featured an image of the TIME Magazine cover from November 2025, following Trump’s reelection, and the title of a The Guardian article that warned, “Trump is waging war against the media — and winning.”

As of Saturday afternoon, Acosta appears to be the only journalist mentioned in the graphic to have publicly commented on it. The broadcaster wrote Friday cheekily on X, “Honored to be included here. But seriously what’s wrong with this guy? This is some goofy stuff.”

Trump has attacked journalists and “fake news” organizations for nearly a decade, regularly wielding the phrase as a one-size-fits-all response to unfavorable coverage. This has seemingly worsened as the war on Iran continues to escalate.

Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr wrote Friday on X, “Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions - also known as the fake news - have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up.”

Seth Meyers on Thursday called President Donald Trump a “genius marketer” ― all in the name of sarcasm, of course. (Watch the video below.)

The “Late Night” host was leading into the president’s new campaign to recast the U.S. war against Iran as an “excursion.”

“I think I know what happened here,” Meyers said. “Trump was calling it a war, which is very unpopular. So someone on his team told him to call it an incursion. But his brain is oatmeal, so he heard ‘excursion,’ and no one corrected him.”

“But seriously, an excursion?” Meyers continued. “Did you see it on a brochure at the rental car place between snorkeling and cave tours? A war is not an excursion. An excursion is apple-picking, which we all know is worse than a war.”

The late-night comedian found a way to detour to another matter that has been dogging the president.

“An excursion is when you go whale watching in the Bahamas or when you take a boat trip to Epstein’s island, WHICH HE DIDN’T DO,” Meyers emphasized.

But according to the thousands of mentions of Trump in the Justice Department files on Jeffrey Epstein, “All he did was fly on Epstein’s plane eight times and called him a terrific guy and sent him a lewd birthday card, and Epstein called him his closest friend for 10 years, and they partied together at Mar-a-Lago,” the host said as video footage of Trump and Epstein together appeared on screen.

Meyers then asked for the video clip to be redacted to appease the Department of Justice. But that didn’t quite work.

Watch the segment at 3:53: