THE DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Secretary of Energy Chris Wright stated during a “Meet The Press” interview Sunday that the U.S. is taking several actions—including increasing oil production in deep blue California—to mitigate rising fuel costs due to the conflict in Iran. After the military strikes of Operation Epic Fury began Feb. 28, Iran sought to block U.S. transport vessels from passing though the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway separating the country from the Gulf States through which an estimated 20% of the world’s oil demand usually flows. The reduction in shipping volume has led to the surge of oil prices in the following weeks. “We have done many, many actions to mitigate that price rise,” Wright told host Kristen Welker during his appearance on her show. “You saw the announcement of a coordinated release of 400 million barrels of oil with over 30 nations of the world participating in that. We’ve had allies in the Middle East that moved oil overseas before the conflict started.” “Heck, we just announced yesterday bringing on a meaningful amount of oil production in the state of California from offshore that California has fought foolishly to prevent new American oil to go into their own state,” the Trump administration energy secretary continued. “And we said, ‘Enough is enough,’ and we’ve got new oil production coming on in California. So lots of actions we’re taking to mitigate this price rise.” Wright’s department on Friday ordered Sable Offshore Corp., an oil company based in Texas, to restart a pipeline system in California. The move was made “to address supply disruption risks caused by California policies that have left the region and U.S. military forces dependent on foreign oil,” a Friday press release from the Department of Energy (DOE) reads. “California once supplied nearly 40 percent of U.S. oil production, but decades of radical state policies targeting reliable energy sources have driven a decline in domestic output while fuel demand remains among the highest in the nation,” the DOE press release states. “Today, more than 60 percent of the oil refined in California comes from overseas, with a significant share traveling through the Strait of Hormuz—presenting serious national security threats.” Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a loud critic of the oil and gas industry and staunch supporter of so-called “green” energy policies, blasted the move by the DOE as an “attempt to illegally restart a pipeline whose operators are facing criminal charges and prohibited by multiple court orders from restarting.” “California will not stand by while the Trump administration attempts to sacrifice our coastal communities, our environment, and our $51 billion coastal economy,” the governor and rumored 2028 presidential candidate said in a Friday statement. Also during the interview, Wright told Welker he thinks the conflict with Iran ending in a few weeks is “the likely time frame.” “The price of a barrel of oil closed above $103 on Friday. And the Iranians are warning of prices hitting $200 a barrel. Mr. Secretary, should Americans be bracing for—should they be worried that this war will actually drive the price of oil above $200 a barrel?” Welker asked Wright. The energy secretary immediately took issue that the NBC News host cited projections by the Islamic theocracy. “So Iran for 47 years has called the United States ‘the great Satan,’” he said. “So because they call us ‘the great Satan—I don’t think we are the great Satan; in fact, clearly we’re not—so I don’t listen much to Iranian projections of what’s going to happen.” “So, that’s a no? So, that’s a no?” Welker jumped in. “But there is disruption to the flow in a very important waterway,” the secretary continued, referring to the Strait of Hormuz. “And depending upon the timing and the manner in which this conflict comes to an end, we’re going to see some elevated pricing until we get there.” Originally published by The Daily Caller News Foundation. The post Energy Secretary Chris Wright Says Trump Admin Has Trick Up Its Sleeve to Ease Oil Price Rise Amid Iran Conflict appeared first on The Daily Signal.

KYIV, March 15 (Reuters)—Ukraine wants money and technology in return for helping Middle Eastern nations that have sought its expertise as they defend against Iranian kamikaze drones, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, after Kyiv sent specialists to the region. Zelenskyy told reporters that three teams were sent to the Middle East to conduct expert assessments and demonstrate how drone defenses should operate. Earlier this week he said teams were sent to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, as well as a U.S. military base in Jordan. “This is not about being involved in operations. We are not at war with Iran,” Zelenskyy said. He said that more fundamental, long-term drone deals could be negotiated with Gulf countries and what Ukraine will get in return for the assistance still needed to be discussed. “For us today, both the technology and the funding are important,” Zelenskyy said. Gulf states have expended large quantities of air-defence missiles to counter Iran’s Shahed drones. Kyiv downs Russian drones every night using an array of weaponry including cheaper,?smaller drones or jamming equipment. Zelenskyy has said that the U.S. as well as countries from Europe, the Middle East and Africa has sought help from Ukraine on how to counter these attacks. However, U.S. President Donald Trump has said the U.S. does not need Ukraine’s help with downing drones. Zelenskyy said that he did not know why Washington had not signed a major drone deal which Kyiv has pushed for months, and that he was unsure whether it would be agreed at all. “I wanted to sign a deal worth about 35–50 billion dollars,” he said. He also hit out at some Ukrainian companies and foreign governments, which he did not name, who he said had sought to do deals for anti-drone equipment without approval from Kyiv. Peace Talks Impacted Zelenskyy raised concerns about the effect of a protracted Middle Eastern conflict on Ukraine’s own supplies of air defense missiles. “We would very much not like the United States to step away from the issue of Ukraine because of the Middle East,” he told reporters. The latest round of peace talks between Moscow, Kyiv and Washington, which had been due to take place in the UAE, was postponed after U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran triggered a war in the region two weeks ago. Zelenskyy said Washington had suggested meeting in the U.S. for talks next week, but that the Russian side did not want to meet there. “Either they will change the country where we meet, or the Russians must confirm (a meeting in) the U.S.,” he said. On the battlefield, Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s military believed a Russian spring offensive had “already failed,” as Moscow had planned for it to be fully underway already. (Reporting by Max Hunder and Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle) The post Zelenskyy: Ukraine Wants Money, Technology in Return for Middle East Drone Help appeared first on The Daily Signal.

JERUSALEM, March 15 (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video of himself getting a cup of coffee and chatting with his aide on Sunday, after rumors that he was dead or injured were aired by Iranian state media and spread online in Iran. In the video, taken at a cafe in Jerusalem’s outskirts and posted on Netanyahu’s Telegram account, his aide asks him about the rumors. Netanyahu responds with a pun on the word dead—which in Hebrew slang can be used to describe “being crazy about” someone or something—as he reaches for a cup of coffee. “I’m crazy about coffee. You know what? I’m crazy about my people,” Netanyahu tells the aide. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacts at a cafe, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Jerusalem, March 15, 2026, in this screen grab taken from a handout video. Benjamin Netanyahu via Telegram/Handout via REUTERS Reuters verified the video’s location from file imagery of the cafe, which matched the interiors seen in the video. The date was verified from multiple videos and photos of Netanyahu’s visit posted by the cafe on Sunday. Since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, Netanyahu has visited at least two towns hit by Iranian missiles, a hospital, port and military bases, but there was little to no media access, and videos were distributed by his office. Netanyahu, who rarely gives interviews to Israeli press or holds news conferences, convened his first press conference since the start of the war via a video link on Thursday, a similar format to the one he used in June during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran. Emergency safety restrictions in Israel since the start of the war ban public gatherings and have kept most people at home or close to shelters and safe rooms, with schools shut across most of the country. (Reporting by Maayan Lubell and Elwely Elwelly in Dubai; Editing by Aidan Lewis) The post Netanyahu Refutes Death Rumor With Coffee Run appeared first on The Daily Signal.

THE DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Democrat Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman criticized his party Saturday over the ongoing partial government shutdown and its impacts on federal employees and operations. Multiple agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), are being subjected to “emergency measures” due to the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to a release by DHS. Fetterman said he spoke with TSA agents during his frequent travels about the effects of the shutdown. “I am the only Democrat that has refused to vote in shutting down DHS, literally the only one,” Fetterman said during Saturday’s episode of “The Big Weekend Show.” “And now all agree that this would not have any impact on ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. They already have their funding, and it doesn’t push or force ICE to do any of those kinds of reforms that people think are necessary now, too.” “Why would you want to punish all of these workers that are under DHS? The only thing that it can do is just make us less safe, and that also makes people have to go without getting paid,” Fetterman continued. “I’m at the airport virtually every week of the year, and I ask all those TSA agents, and I said, ‘Hey, do you like not to get paid for your work?’ I haven’t met one saying, ‘No, it’s no problem.’” Democrats are demanding new restrictions on ICE after federal law enforcement officers were involved in the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good in January during Operation Metro Surge. The separate incidents occurred amid the deployment of hundreds of federal agents to Minnesota in response to reports about welfare fraud involving Somali migrants. Fetterman also criticized Democrats over their efforts to block the funding. “It’s not a big deal, you know,” Fetterman said. “I truly don’t understand that, other than it’s just toxic for a Democrat to agree with something that maybe that the Republican side might agree with that. And now I know that, but it’s very easy: more of a country over party, or ‘I’m going to put those union workers over it,’ or America’s security over what the base might demand.” Originally published by The Daily Caller News Foundation. The post ‘Why Would You Wanna Punish All These Workers?’: Sen. Fetterman Slams Fellow Dems Over HHS Shutdown appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The Iran war has exposed the fragility of much of the world’s energy system. Years of political theater disguised as climate policy—demonizing fossil fuels and glorifying unreliable wind and solar energy—dismantled a dependable energy infrastructure. Europe is a cautionary tale of the “green” delusion. EU politicians ignored the physical reality that a steel mill cannot run on a cloudy, windless day with a press release about “net zero.” They underestimated the risk of tying economies to a small number of external suppliers, then compounded the danger by shutting their own coal mines, gas fields, and nuclear power plants. Germany shut down nuclear reactors and accelerated coal plant closures as it deepened reliance on imported Russian gas and intermittent wind and solar. The U.K. decommissioned coal stations and scaled back dispatchable gas capacity, banking on imported liquified natural gas and wind turbines that are responsive to the weather but not human need. European gas storage entered 2026 well below the 10-year seasonal average, with EU inventories less than 50% of capacity in January and now sliding toward 30% as winter ends, leaving little buffer against a sustained liquified natural gas disruption. European natural gas prices roughly doubled compared with late February. The result: power prices spike, industrial users cut output, and households absorb higher heating and electricity bills, all in economies already strained by inflation. The irony is that the European Commission itself now admits what critics have said for years. In Paris, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen understated the decision to marginalize nuclear power as a “strategic mistake.”Asia grapples with similar traps, where net zero pledges clash with surging demand. India and China, giants in population and ambition, squandered fortunes on solar panels and wind turbines that sit idle without sun or breeze. Imagine if those funds had been put to building fossil fuel stockpiles or expanding nuclear fleets.Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam embraced net zero rhetoric. Their leaders overlooked glaring energy gaps that have been revealed by the ongoing crisis. Many Southeast Asian countries have now implemented measures to curb oil and gas use, including a halt in export of petroleum products and work-from-home measures for citizens. Reports describe Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas company scrambling to secure supplies, while Bangladesh is forced to buy emergency shipments at prices more than double those paid in January. Indian and Vietnamese buyers have issued tenders for prompt deliveries that went unawarded. Shortages of liquified petroleum gas cylinders are surfacing across India. Hotels and restaurants are struggling to operate as the cylinder shortage cripples the hospitality sector. It is rarely acknowledged that energy scarcity has long been catastrophic for billions in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. When liquified petroleum gas cylinders become scarce and expensive, poor households revert to wood and dung for heating and cooking, which leads to smoky indoor air. When factories cannot secure reliable power, jobs disappear and poverty deepens. The one major economy that enters this crisis with a cushion is the United States. The U.S. possesses a massive foundation of domestic oil and gas production, a direct legacy of a 10-year record growth in domestic extraction that accelerated dramatically during the first Trump administration.The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook projects U.S. crude oil production averaging around 13.5 million barrels per day in 2026, only slightly below the 2025 level after several years of growth to record output. For natural gas, the Energy Information Administration expects production to climb from about 107-108 billion cubic feet per day in 2025 to 109-110 billion in 2026, which would be a new record. By embracing fracking, horizontal drilling, and regulatory sanity, the U.S. unleashed the power of the Permian Basin and other shale plays. They prioritized sensible energy economics over apocalyptic climate claims. This stark contrast between American resilience and European collapse is a permanent lesson to be taken by the developing world. National security should not be subject to the whims of the weather or the approval of climate activists in European capitals.What the current crisis proves is simple: Energy security resides in the ability to secure physical molecules—oil, gas, coal, and uranium—when geopolitical storms hit. Europe and much of Asia chose to anchor their future to slogans instead. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post US Energy Realism Pays Off in Iran Crisis appeared first on The Daily Signal.