Thursday, April 2nd, 2026 - Trump declares Iran victory, targets voting rights, and is named by Epstein victim; Birthright Citizenship at SCOTUS

Today’s Headlines: Trump gave a primetime Oval Office address to declare the Iran war is winding down and all military objectives have been met, while blaming NATO for the Strait of Hormuz still being closed. The same Strait he started a war over is now apparently not a "core objective." Two thousand five hundred Marines are still en route to the Middle East. He also became the first sitting president to personally attend his own Supreme Court oral arguments — on birthright citizenship — where even conservative justices appeared skeptical. Then he signed an executive order creating a federal citizenship list to restrict mail-in ballots and voting eligibility, despite the Constitution giving the federal government no authority over elections. Lawsuits incoming in 3, 2, 1.Republicans largely caved on the 47-day DHS shutdown — TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and CISA will be funded, while ICE and CBP funding gets handled separately, because Democrats held the line on basic law enforcement accountability. Trump responded by telling the Telegraph he's strongly considering pulling the U.S. out of NATO, calling it a "paper tiger — and Putin knows that too, by the way." Cool thing to share publicly! A joint investigation by The Post and Courier corroborated accounts from an Epstein victim who told the FBI four times in 2019 that Trump sexually assaulted her when she was 13 years old in 1984. Dozens of pages from her FBI interviews were missing from the Epstein files dump until their absence was flagged by a journalist — some were released under public pressure, not all. Warren Buffett revealed he hasn't spoken to Bill Gates since the Epstein files dropped, saying he doesn't want to be called as a witness. Pete Hegseth reversed the suspension of the Army pilots who buzzed Kid Rock's house, tweeting "No punishment. No investigation. Carry on, patriots." SpaceX filed to go public in June at a valuation that would make Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire.

Resources/Articles mentioned in this episode:

NYT: Hegseth Reverses Helicopter Crew Suspension Over Kid Rock Flyby

Politico: ‘I came, I saw, I conquered:’ Trump set to claim victory in Iran at primetime address

The Guardian: Top Senate Democrat says ‘House Republicans caved’ as deal to fund DHS moves forward – as it happened | US Congress

NYT: Supreme Court Rejects a Ban on ‘Conversion Therapy’ for Minors

NYT: Trump Signs Order Seeking Federal Control of Mail Voting as He Promotes False Claims

TNR: Mike Johnson and House GOP Finally Cave to Democrats on Shutdown

Reuters: Trump says U.S. strongly considering NATO exit, Telegraph newspaper says 

The Post & Courier: She claimed to FBI that Epstein and Trump abused her. We checked it out.

CNBC: Epstein files: Buffett says he hasn't talked to Bill Gates 'since the whole thing was unveiled'

NYT: Elon Musk’s SpaceX Files to Go Public, Setting Stage for Huge I.P.O.

Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices