Wednesday morning news: March 18, 2026

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Iran war update » At the White House on Tuesday, President Trump welcomed Ireland’s prime minister in the Oval Office.

TRUMP: Well thank you very much. It’s a great honor to have Taoiseach Martin from Ireland, and thank you very much for being here.

He said the two planned to talk at length about trade, but for reporters invited into the room, the war in Iran was top of mind.

The president again said that the military mission is going extremely well, systematically devastating Iran’s military and the regime’s ability to wage war.

TRUMP:  If we left right now, it would take 10 years for them to rebuild, but we're not ready to leave yet, but we, uh, we'll be leaving in the near future.

Prime Minister Martin, for his part, said Ireland's official position is to emphasize diplomacy.

MARTIN:  We have to continue to work to see, can we bring peace? Uh, different regime to Iran, where Iranians can live in peace again, and the people in the Middle East can live in peace?

Trump this week said U.S. and Iranian officials have begun talks aimed at ending the war. But he said it’s tough, in part because it’s unclear who is actually in charge in Iran right now.

Meantime, Israel says it has killed two more of Iran's most powerful senior leaders in airstrikes. Ali Larijani headed Iran's Supreme National Security Council and had been widely seen as the country's de facto leader, given that its newly named supreme leader had yet to be seen public.

Also killed was Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani, whose forces brutally cracked down on protesters recently, killing tens of thousands of Iranians. 

Strait of Hormuz » Trump on Tuesday also said that he’s not happy that many other nations are not stepping up to help guard the Strait of Hormuz from Iranian attacks. 

He particularly called out NATO allies:

TRUMP:   NATO is making a very foolish mistake, and I, I've long said that, you know, I wonder whether or not NATO would ever be there for us. So this is a, this was a great test.

He said of NATO—quote—“We helped them and they didn’t help us.” And he hinted at possible consequences for that, but he did not elaborate.

At the same time though, he said the U.S. doesn’t actually need their help and that the U.S. military is capable of fully achieving its mission without them.

The Iranian Regime says only certain countries will be allowed to send ships through the strait. The attacks on oil tankers and refining facilities have caused oil prices to spike.

Counterterrorism official resigns in protest » The president also reacted to news that the administration’s top counterterrorism official had resigned in protest over the war.

TRUMP:  Well, I read his tape and I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security.

Joe Kent was the director of the National Counterterrorism Center. 

He issued a highly critical statement claiming that Iran “posed no imminent threat” to the United States. He also said he believes it's clear that the U.S. started the war “due to pressure from Israel.”

Kent is a veteran and a former Washington state political candidate.

Trump added that when he read the resignation letter:

TRUMP:  I realized that it's a good thing that he's out, because he said that Iran was not a threat? Iran was a threat, every country realized what a threat Iran was. The question is whether or not they wanted to do something about it.

Though again, Kent’s statement emphasized his belief that Iran posed no imminent threat. The president though, insists that it did.

Rubio on Cuba » Also during that meeting, Trump spoke to the crisis in Cuba, saying that it’s in very bad shape, and adding —quote—“We’ll be doing something in Cuba very soon.”

He added that Cuban leaders are now in talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was also in the Oval Office at the time, and the secretary told reporters:

RUBIO:  The bottom line is their economy doesn't work. It's a non-functional economy. It's an economy that has survived —has survived on subsidies from the Soviet Union and now from Venezuela. They don't get subsidies anymore, so they're in a lot of trouble. And the people in charge, they, they don't know how to fix it, and so they have to get new people in charge. 

Cuba has been enduring its third nationwide blackout in four months. Electricity is slowly being restored to hospitals and some homes. But officials warn that the crumbling power grid could fail again.

That comes amid a U.S. energy blockade of Cuba.

Zelenskyy in London » Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to London Tuesday to address members of the British Parliament in person about Ukraine's ongoing war against Russian invaders.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer emphasized the importance that the world not forget about the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

STARMER: The focus must remain on Ukraine. There is obviously a conflict in Iran going on in the Middle East, but we can't lose focus on what's going on...

Zelenskyy said Ukraine has a lot to offer its allies in terms of what it's learning from this war.

ZELENSKYY: The world has entered a completely new time, a time of drones, a time of AI…

He went on to say that Ukraine has gained expertise in the construction of so-called interceptor drones, and that he's offering that expertise to Kyiv's allies.

ZELENSKYY: We are capable of producing at least 2,000 effective and combat-proven interceptors every day. We can produce more, it depends on investment. We need about 1,000 interceptors a day and we can supply at least another 1,000 a day to our allies.

Britain wants to help Ukraine support Gulf countries in the Middle East under regular attack from Iran.

Save America Act » The U.S. Senate kicked off debate on a voter verification bill on Thursday, with no end in sight. 

WORLD’s Carolina Lumetta reports now from the Capitol.

CAROLINA LUMETTA: The SAVE America Act, would require voters to prove citizenship before registering to vote, and to show photo ID before casting a ballot.

President Trump wants to add a ban on most mail-in ballots, along with bans on men competing in women’s sports and transgender surgeries for minors.

The Senate is considering the bill as a so-called “message” from the House, which allows Senate Majority Leader John Thune to start debate on it with a simple majority rather than the typical 60-vote threshold.

Unlike a filibuster debate, senators can pause this "extended debate" and resume it the next morning—allowing it to stretch across multiple days.

Thune told reporters that he expects a robust debate, with no timetable on when it might end. 

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Carolina Lumetta in Washington.

And I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Hunter Baker is here for Washington Wednesday. Plus, astronaut Butch Wilmore on his unexpectedly long stay in space.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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