The selection of Mojtaba Khamenei, son of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as Iran’s new supreme leader sends a clear message that “the regime isn’t reformable,” one foreign policy expert says. The 88 senior Shiite clerics who met to name Ali Khamenei’s successor could have chosen to largely hold to their “national priorities” and also “send something to [U.S. President Donald] Trump,” said Ilan Berman, senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council, but “that’s not what’s happening here.” Ali Khamenei did not leave a succession plan, but the son is someone who “the hardliners in the system can coalesce around,” Berman told The Daily Signal. While Mojtaba Khamenei may have been the only clear choice still alive to take the role, his selection contradicts the doctrine of the regime, which opposes dynastic rule. Mojtaba Khamenei is only the third supreme leader of the Iranian regime, which was established 47 years ago following the Iranian Revolution. The leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran rule the nation under Sharia law and have long been known to fund terrorist proxy groups in the region. The new leader has close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which was established following the Iranian Revolution. “What we know about him, although he’s kept a low profile, he has been much more hardened than his father was, [and has] very close ties to the IRGC,” Jacob Olidort, director of American security at the America First Policy Institute, told The Daily Signal. He added that the selection indicates the IRGC is playing “an increasingly greater role” in decisions over Iran’s future. It would be “consistent with Israel’s approach” if Israel now uses its intelligence to target and kill the new Iranian leader, Olidort explained, a sentiment Berman also expressed. It is unclear whether the selection of the new leader means a long conflict with Iran. Trump has declared the war will continue until Iran’s “unconditional surrender,” which could occur if its military ran out of munitions or simply no longer had the will to fight, Berman said. For Israel’s part in the conflict, Berman believes the “Israelis are moving fast and they’re breaking things because they understand that at any moment, President [Trump] may see a political alignment in Iran that is sufficient for him to declare victory.” Trump told CBS News on Monday that “the war is very complete, pretty much,” CBS News’ Weijia Jiang wrote on X. “They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force,” Trump told Jiang over a phone call, adding that the U.S. is ahead of the estimated four-to-five-week timeline Trump had initially estimated. Trump did not provide a name, but reportedly told CBS News that he has someone in mind to replace Mojtaba Khamenei as leader of Iran. The post Iran’s Selection of New Supreme Leader Tells World ‘Regime Isn’t Reformable’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.

President Donald Trump celebrated a report that the FBI obtained election records from Arizona’s largest county, a move that follows a federal raid last month on a Georgia county’s elections department.  Maricopa County, the site of the reported FBI raid, has been a contentious jurisdiction for elections, particularly after Joe Biden beat Donald Trump narrowly in the state in 2020. Trump wrote “Great!!!” in a Truth Social post about the report of the FBI demanding election records. The state Senate conducted a forensic audit of the 2020 election returns in Maricopa County.  State Senate President Warren Peterson, a Republican, confirmed the Senate complied with a federal subpoena for records related to the audit. “President Trump is 100% correct,” Peterson posted on X.  “Late last week I received and complied with a federal grand jury subpoena for records relating to the Arizona State Senate’s 2020 audit of Maricopa County. The FBI has the records. Any other report is fake news.” President Trump is 100% correct. Late last week I received and complied with a federal grand jury subpoena for records relating to the Arizona State Senate’s 2020 audit of Maricopa County. The FBI has the records. Any other report is fake news.@realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/C2T202VgZP— Warren Petersen (@votewarren) March 9, 2026 Just the News first reported Monday that an anonymous source said FBI agents are receiving terabytes of electronic election data from Maricopa County, based on a federal grand jury subpoena.  In a response to an inquiry from The Daily Signal, the Maricopa County Elections Department said in an email that it did not receive a subpoena.  “Maricopa County runs safe, secure and transparent elections in accordance with the law,” the statement says. “We have not received a subpoena at this time but will cooperate if that were to occur.” Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Ariz., asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the county’s election practices last year, according to an X post by his office. “In June last year, Congressman Hamadeh wrote to AG Bondi about disturbing allegations of blank ballots commingled with voted mail ballots in Runbeck’s Maricopa County warehouse,” the X post from Hamdeh’s office account said Monday.  In June last year, Congressman Hamadeh wrote to AG Bondi about disturbing allegations of blank ballots commingled with voted mail ballots in Runbeck's Maricopa County warehouse.Part of the ongoing pattern of disastrous elections in State 48.The FBI has now seized election…— Office of Congressman Abe Hamadeh (@RepAbeHamadeh) March 9, 2026 “Part of the ongoing pattern of disastrous elections in State 48,” the post continued. “The FBI has now seized election records in its expanding probe.” Just the News reported that the election data in question covered multiple elections, including 2020 and 2024. Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for Arizona governor in 2022 and for Senate in 2024, has raised past objections to election administration in the state.  “A federal grand jury is now active and has subpoenaed Maricopa County’s election records, including from the 2024 cycle, to probe longstanding issues in State 48,” Lake posted on X.  “So many of us have raised the alarm for years. The news of this subpoena gives me great hope that something will finally be done,” Lake added.  In February, the FBI conducted a physical raid on a warehouse of the Fulton County Elections Department in Georgia. Trump also disputed the outcome of the 2020 county in that state, which he narrowly lost to Biden but won in both 2016 and 2024. The post ‘Great’: Trump, Lake Celebrate Report That FBI Seized Arizona Election Records appeared first on The Daily Signal.

President Donald Trump slammed congressional Democrats for holding out on funding the Department of Homeland Security amid threats of terrorism from Iran. When asked about reports that Iran has activated terrorist sleeper cells abroad, Trump said his administration is “very much on top of it,” though the ongoing DHS shutdown is a challenge. “One of the things we have to do is get the Democrats to stop the Democrat shutdown,” he said. “Because, as you know, the apparatus that looks into that Schumer and the Democrats have shut it down, which tells you they probably hate our country a lot, but the Democrats have to open that up.” The agency has been shut down for 24 days over Democrat demands to reform Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Trump said he has “very, very good intelligence” on Iran’s sleeper cells. However, he said the shutdown prevents the administration from handling them as they want. “We know a lot of different things that have happened that have been very bad,” he said. “A lot of them came in during the Biden period.” “We’re watching every single one of them,” he added of the sleeper cells. “Yeah, we know a lot about them. The biggest problem we have is a Democrat shutdown. We know a lot about them, but the shutdown doesn’t allow us to do what we have to do.” When asked if the war would be finished this week, Trump said it would not, but reiterated that it will be done soon, when he is confident Iran won’t be immediately able to resume developing a nuclear weapon. “Two levels of leadership are gone,” Trump said. “Most people have never even heard about the leaders that they’re talking about. So it’s obviously been very, very effective.” “It’s the beginning of building a new country,” Trump said, “but they have no navy, they have no air force, they have no anti-aircraft equipment. It’s all been blown up.” The post Trump Slams Democrats for Shutting Down DHS Amid Terrorism Threats appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Never underestimate the Democrat-media complex’s ability to tag team and instantly spin a narrative about a news incident that is literally the opposite of reality. An attempted terrorist attack by two “ISIS-inspired” radicals in New York City Saturday could have been a mass casualty event. But if you listened to the media and some of the most powerful politicians in the city you would think that the real criminals were peaceful protesters. In case you missed it—and it was easy to miss if you weren’t on social media—two Muslim radical men, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, showed up at a protest in New York and allegedly tried to use improvised explosive devices on a crowd of people near the mayor’s mansion in the Upper East Side. The original protest was by Jake Lang, a seemingly far-Right “influencer” whose message was focused on stopping the “Islamic Takeover of New York City.” Whatever Lang’s motivations, he was entirely peaceful while exercising his First Amendment right to free speech. That speech was met with bombs. As the dust cleared on the incident, the legacy media ran with stories that were just one weaselly headline after another. They deployed some clever linguistics to first obscure the religion and ideology of the men who showed up with bombs, then made it seem like it was Lang who was violent and that the target was New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Just look at this nonsense from CBS, NBC, and The New York Times, respectively. Suspicious devices ignited during protests near Manhattan's Gracie Mansion, Mamdani's official residence https://t.co/N8AMeV3F7U— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 8, 2026 Multiple arrests made after "suspicious devices" found outside Gracie Mansion, home of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, during anti-Islam rally and counterprotest.https://t.co/qKvlIENj5A— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) March 8, 2026 The men arrested for the "suspicious devices" have been identified as counterprotesters from out of state. https://t.co/vKMTBAKPA2— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) March 8, 2026 The New York Times has now amended its “Smoking Jars of Metal and Fuses” headline, but it’s too late. Even in a world drowning in fake news, this particular masterpiece will live on in infamy. pic.twitter.com/TQhlQsgdQW— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) March 9, 2026 Videos of the incident pretty clearly show what actually took place. The video of the Islamist lighting an IED, planning to murder countless Americans in NYC.We do not need to live like this. pic.twitter.com/kLepGsLgzR— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) March 9, 2026 In one video you can hear the would-be bomber yelling what sounded like “Allahu Akbar.” What makes the video even more incredible is that Balat can be seen throwing what appeared to be a bomb over the head of a liberal “comedian” giving a cliche “in this house we believe/all are welcome” speech. It’s absolutely perfect…A liberal man in NYC yelling about how everyone is welcome, as a Muslim man yells "Allahu Akbar!" and uses him as a literal springboard to throw a homemade bomb.The West’s suicidal empathy on video. https://t.co/d0CeWGvAiO— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) March 9, 2026 Fortunately, nobody was hurt as that bomb got chucked, so I’ll say that may be the most unintentionally hilarious thing that this comedian has ever uttered. Also, thank God for the NYPD officers who jumped into action to apprehend the two attempted terrorists. Maybe, Mayor, don’t dismantle one of the most effective police forces in the world? According to ABC 7 Eyewitness News, the two men, who came to the event from Pennsylvania, are being “charged in a five-count federal complaint with attempting to provide support to ISIS, use of a weapon of mass destruction, and other charges.” Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the charges on X, saying that the Department of Justice will not allow ISIS’s poisonous, anti-American ideology to threaten this nation.” We have charged the two alleged ISIS-inspired terrorists who attempted to bomb a protest in New York City.We will not allow ISIS’s poisonous, anti-American ideology to threaten this nation. Our law enforcement officers will remain vigilant. pic.twitter.com/4QMOrOvGhG— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) March 9, 2026 We should also be quite thankful this is being charged as a federal crime. Given attitude of the powers that be in the city, and the record of the Manhattan district attorney, it’s easy seeing the two suspects getting light charges or even having the charges dropped if it was left up to them. Here’s the leftist former comptroller, Brad Lander responding to the NBC X post. Happy to know that our Mayor and First Lady are safe, but horrified that there was such a disturbing threat of violence outside their residence. Vile displays of Islamophobia will never be tolerated in our city. https://t.co/CDLc2JCYXU— Brad Lander (@bradlander) March 8, 2026 Lander later “apologized” for his initial post but notice he still didn’t mention that the bombing suspects were Muslim radicals and stuck with his “Islamophobia” line. The explosives yesterday near Gracie Mansion were not thrown by the Islamophobic protestors, but by their counter-protesters. Violence is utterly unacceptable, wherever it comes from. I’m glad the individuals responsible are in custody and they should be held accountable under… https://t.co/TMnqgSrXPx— Brad Lander (@bradlander) March 8, 2026 And even worse was Zohran Mamdani, the communist mayor who hobnobs with Islamists and those who celebrated the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, including his oh so private wife. Mamdani’s initial X post primarily focused on the “white supremacist” whose protest was about “bigotry and racism.” He then said “what followed was even more disturbing. Violence at a protest is never acceptable.” Of course, he made no mention of the motivation of the actual terrorists. Yesterday, white supremacist Jake Lang organized a protest outside Gracie Mansion rooted in bigotry and racism. Such hate has no place in New York City. It is an affront to our city’s values and the unity that defines who we are.What followed was even more disturbing. Violence…— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) March 8, 2026 The way the post was phrased, it would be easy to think it was Lang and his fellow protesters who committed the violence. Mamdani kept going with this on Monday as he began his news conference with ritualistic denunciation of white supremacy instead of the terrorist attack. This whole mess is instructive in several ways. First, the legacy media has learned nothing about what’s led to their disintegrating reputation among Americans. Two Islamic extremists tried to commit a repeat of the Boston Marathon bombing, but the initial reporting made it seem like Mamdani was the real victim and not the peaceful protesters. Second, New York City is in real trouble under Mamdani’s “leadership.” He tried to spin an act of terrorism by Muslim extremists as somehow being about Islamophobia and bigotry. Is the message here supposed to be that criticizing Muslims should be illegal? Shameful. The only way to unspin this story is to make it a national one, to refuse the absurd narrative that Mamdani and the media initially tried to force feed the American people. That’s already happening, and it just might work. Here was Mamdani, finally, on Monday afternoon after being called out relentlessly all day on X. Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi have been charged with committing a heinous act of terrorism and proclaiming their allegiance to ISIS.They should be held fully accountable for their actions.We will continue to keep New Yorkers safe. We will not tolerate terrorism or violence in…— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) March 9, 2026 The post Media, Mamdani Spin Absurd Tale About NYC ‘ISIS Inspired’ Terrorist Attack appeared first on The Daily Signal.

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Department of Education will soon require universities to publicly disclose the counterparties of foreign funding, a senior Education Department official told The Daily Signal. Section 117 of the Higher Education Act requires higher education institutions to report gifts and contracts valued at $250,000 or more to the Department of Education, to make them available for public inspection. Universities currently report counterparties, their gifters or contractors, to the agency. However, the identities of foreign counterparties are not made public, which the senior department official said violates the law. The totals received from counterparties of concern are listed in the Section 117 Foreign Gift & Contract Reporting portal, but the gifters’ identities are not named. “The law is very clear,” the official said. “It says that the Department of Education has to make available for public inspection the reports submitted by the universities. We’re not doing that right now.” Naming the counterparties will reveal to the public if universities are funded by concerning entities, the official argued. “It’s appropriate for them to have to be transparent with the American people, with Congress, with the media,” the official said. Currently, even members of Congress don’t have access to the identities of counterparties of concern. The Education Department is following the rulemaking process, providing notice to universities and allowing for public comment on the new requirement. The department plans to make the counterparty information available for public inspection by early to mid-summer. “That’s the part the universities do not want to see happen,” the official said. “They’ve spent years trying to make it not happen.” Previous administrations allowed universities to mark certain funding sources on their records as exempt from disclosure in public records requests. “The department, for years, has actually provided a way for universities to not disclose this information to the public,” the official said. “We’re done with that business. We’re not doing that. The law says we have to make available these records for public inspection. We’re going to do it.” Harvard University receives the most from counterparties of concern—$634 million—according to the agency’s portal. Almost all of the gifts and contracts came from counterparties in China. One of the premier research universities in the United States received more than $7 million from counterparties of concern in China that also appeared on a U.S. government watch list. “The American people have every right to know that,” the official said. The Section 117 Foreign Gift & Contract Reporting portal, which launched Jan. 2, had a record-breaking number of submissions in the last reporting period. The Biden administration did not prioritize enforcing Section 117 or monitoring potential foreign influence at American universities, an agency official said. On Friday, the department updated the portal to include an additional $4.5 billion in gifts and contracts from Dec. 17, 2025-Jan. 31, 2026. The total amount of disclosed funding increased by approximately $4.5 billion, from $67.6 billion to $72.1 billion. NEW?: @usedgov updated its higher ed foreign funding portal today to include $4.5B more from Dec. 17, 2025-Jan. 31, 2026.– The total disclosed funding amounts increased by approximately $4.5B, from $67.6B to 72.1B.– Qatar ($8.8B) and China ($6.4B) are still the top… pic.twitter.com/pcoqaGgtQu— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) March 6, 2026 “Under Secretary McMahon, we’ve made a lot of progress in a very short period of time,” the senior official said. “Universities know that we’re serious about this. We’re consistently telling them that this is very important. We’ve made it a lot easier, through the new reporting portal for them to provide these reports, and we’re going to make more information available on counterparties for the American people.” “In the most recent reporting period, there was at least $11 million that came in from counterparties that are directly affiliated with various counterparties of concern that appear on U.S. government lists,” the senior official said. Universities are “on notice” about their foreign funding sources, the official said. “Most of them are doing a very good job,” the official said. “Some could do a better job, and they should all prepare for the counterparties they’re interacting with to be made available for the American people to see.” The post EXCLUSIVE: Ed Department to Require Universities to Disclose Identities of Foreign Funders appeared first on The Daily Signal.