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AM|Morning BriefingFriday, March 13, 2026 at 10:27 AM9 min read

Iranian State TV Says MOABs Are Coming — And the Straits of Hormuz Are Already in Play

Q: What was the TrumpMeter score for Friday, March 13, 2026?

The TrumpMeter score was 8/10. Iran war threat escalates to MOAB-level claims, Harvard faces a billion-dollar ultimatum, DOGE drops a massive data release, and a live federal indictment gets reshaped — all in one morning cycle.

Iranian state TV claims the U.S. is preparing MOAB strikes after Trump warned "watch what happens today." Meanwhile, Harvard faces a funding ultimatum, DOGE dumps 7 years of Medicaid data, and crypto regulators sprint to rewrite the rules.

Chaos Index

8/10

HIGH ALERT

Iran war threat escalates to MOAB-level claims, Harvard faces a billion-dollar ultimatum, DOGE drops a massive data release, and a live federal indictment gets reshaped — all in one morning cycle.

Key Developments

Here's a sentence that probably stopped you cold this morning.

Iranian state television is claiming the United States is preparing to drop multiple MOAB bombs — the **"Mother of All Bombs," the largest non-nuclear weapon in the U.S. arsenal** — on Iran, possibly today.

That's not a fringe rumor.

That's a claim from a state-run media outlet in Tehran, responding directly to President Trump's latest warning: "Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today."

Now — Iran's state media has every reason to hype threats for domestic audiences.

But the context here is impossible to ignore.

This is happening **amid a live battle over control of the Straits of Hormuz** — one of the most strategically critical waterways on the planet, through which roughly 20% of the world's oil passes every single day.

A disruption there doesn't stay in the Middle East. It hits your gas pump, your heating bill, and supply chains for goods you buy every week.

Meanwhile, the Senate — in what one user called Congress's **first actual vote on the Iran conflict** — blocked a bill that would have halted any U.S. military operation against Iran.

Stories Driving the News

Brief #1FOREIGN POLICY▼ BEARISH

10/10

Iran Claims MOABs Are Inbound — Hours After Trump's 'Scumbags' Warning

The most alarming headline of the morning isn't coming from Washington. It's coming from Tehran. Iranian state television is reporting that the United States is preparing to strike Iran with multiple MOAB bombs — the Massive Ordnance Air Blast device, **the largest conventional bomb ever deployed by the U.S. military** — after President Trump posted a pointed warning: "Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today." The backdrop is critical. This is happening **in the context of an ongoing struggle for control of the Straits of Hormuz**, the narrow waterway through which a massive share of the world's oil supply flows. Control of that chokepoint is considered a top-tier strategic priority for both the U.S. and Iran. One post on X noted that the Senate — in what was described as Congress's first vote on the Iran conflict — blocked a bill that would have halted U.S. military operations against Iran. Senate Republicans voted down the measure, effectively leaving the executive branch with a free hand. It's worth noting: Iran's state media has a documented history of amplifying threat narratives for domestic audiences. The MOAB claim has not been confirmed by the Pentagon or any U.S. official source. But Trump's words were real. The Hormuz standoff is real. And the Senate vote was real. Here's why this matters to you — **if the Straits of Hormuz are disrupted even briefly**, oil markets spike globally. That means gas prices, heating costs, and the price of anything shipped by sea all move upward, fast. The situation may de-escalate by tomorrow. Or it may not. Either way, you should be watching.

[1][2][3]

Brief #2POLICY◆ MIXED

8/10

Trump Gives Harvard a Choice: End Antisemitism or Lose Billions

The Trump administration just drew a very public line in the sand — and aimed it directly at the most famous university in the world. According to widely circulated posts on X, the administration has **delivered a formal set of demands to Harvard University**: dismantle DEI programs, enforce free speech protections, and end what the administration characterizes as unchecked antisemitism on campus — or face the loss of billions in federal funding. Harvard, like most major research universities, depends heavily on federal grants to fund scientific research, medical studies, and academic programs. That money flows from taxpayers. The administration's position: taxpayers shouldn't fund institutions where Jewish students face discrimination. Supporters online were unambiguous. One user posted that "Trump is right" — arguing that Harvard had refused for years to address antisemitism while enforcing progressive ideological conformity through DEI frameworks. Critics see it differently. They argue this is a **politically motivated attempt to control curriculum and ideological speech at a private institution** by threatening its financial lifeline — a move with serious First Amendment implications. The university has not yet publicly responded to the specific demands, according to available reporting. This isn't an isolated skirmish. It's part of a broader administration effort to reshape higher education — one that has already involved federal investigations into campus antisemitism at dozens of universities. Here's why this matters to you — **if Harvard loses federal funding, the ripple effects go far beyond Cambridge**. Thousands of researchers, students, and staff depend on those grants. And if the precedent holds, it could reshape how every major university in America operates.

[1]

Brief #3POLICY◆ MIXED

7/10

DOGE Just Made 7 Years of Medicaid Spending Searchable — By You

Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency just dropped a data bomb that's hard to overstate. DOGE released **seven years of Medicaid spending records — covering 2018 through 2024** — to the public in a searchable format, allowing anyone to look through how the program spent its money and flag potential fraud. Newsmax reported the release with significant engagement, framing it as a transparency milestone. One financial commentator on X noted that when DOGE was launched, Musk estimated there could be "a trillion dollars of fraud in federal government spending." The administration's stated rationale is simple: sunlight is the best disinfectant. If fraud exists in Medicaid — one of the largest federal programs, covering more than 80 million Americans — the public should be able to see it. But the move is not without controversy. **Privacy advocates are raising alarms** about the implications of releasing large-scale medical spending data, even in aggregated form. Medicaid serves some of the most vulnerable populations in the country — elderly, disabled, and low-income Americans. Critics argue the data release could expose patterns that lead back to identifiable individuals. The data is live now. Independent researchers, journalists, and ordinary citizens are already digging through it. Here's why this matters to you — **Medicaid is funded by your tax dollars**, and the scale of the program means even modest fraud represents billions of dollars wasted. Whether you think the release is a transparency win or a privacy risk, the data is out there. What gets found in it could reshape the debate over Medicaid's future — and its funding.

[1][2]

Brief #4LEGAL● NEUTRAL

7/10

165 Pages Unsealed: Jack Smith Rewrites the Case to Survive Immunity Ruling

The federal case against Donald Trump just got surgically redesigned — and it's still alive. Judge Tanya Chutkan unsealed a **165-page brief from Special Counsel Jack Smith** detailing a revised version of the January 6th indictment, specifically rewritten to comply with the Supreme Court's landmark ruling on presidential immunity. Here's what changed: the revised indictment narrows its focus to Trump's alleged use of the Department of Justice to advance claims of election fraud — **removing the portions of the original case that touched on conduct the Supreme Court ruled was protected as an official presidential act**. One legal commentator on X described it plainly: "Smith removed Trump's conversations with the DOJ to comply with the Supreme Court ruling. This is the case where Trump wanted to deprive Americans of having their vote counted." Trump's camp has a different framing. One post called it a new round of political "persecution" — arguing the Biden-era DOJ set this machinery in motion and that it should never have proceeded. The brief is partially redacted, meaning not everything is visible to the public. But what is visible signals that Smith's team believes enough of the original case survives the immunity ruling to proceed. The legal question now is whether Judge Chutkan agrees — and what timeline she sets. Here's why this matters to you — **this case sits at the intersection of presidential power, legal immunity, and democratic accountability**. The Supreme Court's immunity ruling last year changed the rules of the game. Smith's revised brief is a test of exactly how much has changed — and courts will be writing answers for years to come.

[1][2]

Brief #5ECONOMY▲ BULLISH

6/10

Trump Picks a Crypto Insider to Run the CFTC — and the Sprint Begins

If you own any crypto, this morning's news out of Washington just got very relevant to your portfolio. President Trump nominated Michael Selig — **an SEC crypto task force insider** — to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal regulator that oversees derivatives and commodity markets. The nomination is being read across financial circles as a strong signal of where U.S. digital asset regulation is heading. Almost simultaneously, the CFTC and SEC announced a joint "crypto sprint" — a coordinated, fast-tracked effort to build out a regulatory framework for digital assets in line with the administration's stated goal of making the United States the **"crypto capital of the world."** The sprint is reportedly being structured in two phases: Phase 1 covers spot Bitcoin and crypto trading under federal oversight. Phase 2 addresses leverage products and retail investor protections. For context, the current SEC chair, Paul Atkins, has been publicly critical of the previous "regulation by enforcement" approach — where the agency sued crypto companies rather than writing clear rules. He's now signaling a shift toward explicit, forward-looking regulation. SEC Chair Atkins himself reportedly holds $6 million in crypto investments, a detail that's drawing both enthusiasm from the industry and conflict-of-interest questions from critics. Here's why this matters to you — **clear federal rules for crypto could unlock enormous institutional investment** in the space. If you hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any digital assets, this regulatory clarity is the thing markets have been waiting for. Whether it comes fast enough — and whether the rules are written for investors or for insiders — is the question.

[1][2]

Iranian State TV Says MOABs Are Coming — And the Straits of Hormuz Are Already in Play

Key Developments

Stories Driving the News

Iran Claims MOABs Are Inbound — Hours After Trump's 'Scumbags' Warning

Trump Gives Harvard a Choice: End Antisemitism or Lose Billions

DOGE Just Made 7 Years of Medicaid Spending Searchable — By You

165 Pages Unsealed: Jack Smith Rewrites the Case to Survive Immunity Ruling

Trump Picks a Crypto Insider to Run the CFTC — and the Sprint Begins

Sources

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