by Maximillian Alvarez and Dimitri Lascaris | Mar 30, 2026 | Iran, Media Criticism, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, video, War
The US-Israeli war on Iran has now entered its second month. From the carnage on the ground to the chaos rippling throughout the global economy, the consequences of this disastrous, bloody, and unnecessary conflict—including many dead bodies—are piling up daily. “More than 2,000 people have been killed and thousands of civilian sites have been targeted in the US-Israeli attacks on Iran since February 28,” Al Jazeera reports. Many of the 13 US military bases near Iran have been reportedly rendered “all but uninhabitable” after Iran’s retaliatory strikes.
President Donald Trump and his administration have continued to obfuscate, flip flop, and bluster their way through the morass they’ve made, from claiming that “we’ve won this war,” to baselessly suggesting that a deal with Iran to end the war will come soon, to sending thousands more troops to the Middle East to prepare for what many fear will be a ground invasion.
For people in the Western Hemisphere in general, and for people in the US specifically, it is infuriatingly difficult to get accurate and honest information about what the hell is actually happening in this war. The Trump regime and its vast media network of corporate and “independent” propagandists have proven time and again that they will not tell the public the truth. The majority of oligarch-owned news media outlets and social media platforms have likewise shown a systematic propensity for filling our newsfeeds and brains with half-truths, AI slop, or empire-serving schlock masquerading as serious analysis, all while simultaneously suppressing or invisibilizing realities and perspectives they don’t want the public to see.
That is why it is so vital for us at TRNN
by Jake Johnson | Mar 30, 2026 | Article, cuba, Oil, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, Reprint, Russia, Trump
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Mar. 30, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
President Donald Trump said Sunday that his administration would let a Russia-owned tanker carrying an estimated 730,000 barrels of oil to reach Cuba, loosening the illegal fuel blockade that has intensified the island’s already-grave humanitarian crisis.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said that “if a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem,” backing off his previous threat to tariff any nation that supplied the besieged island with fuel. Cuba has not received any oil imports since January 9, sparking nationwide blackouts and food shortages and leaving hospitals without critical supplies—with deadly consequences for patients.
Trump insisted that the oil on the Russian tanker—which experts say is enough to buy Cuba at least several weeks of energy—is “not going to have an impact,” declaring, “Cuba is finished.”
“They have a bad regime, and they have very bad and corrupt leadership,” added Trump, who presides over what analysts have deemed the most corrupt administration in US history. “Whether or not they get a boat of oil is not going to matter.”
Reporter: There’s a report that the US is going to let a Russian oil tanker go to Cuba? Trump: If a country wants to send some oil into Cuba, I have no problem with that.Reporter: Do you worry that that helps Putin?Trump: It doesn’t help him. He loses one boatload of oil.… pic.twitter.com/8Vh6gHwaxs— Acyn (@Acyn) March 30, 2026
Trump’s comments came after The New York Times reported that, “barring orders instructing it otherwise,” the US Coast Guard would not intercept the Russian tanker as it approached Cuba.
The Russian vessel, known
by Maximillian Alvarez | Mar 27, 2026 | Military, Military Industrial Complex, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, Prisons and Policing, video
Earth’s Greatest Enemy, the new blockbuster documentary by independent journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin, is an expansive and terrifying investigation into the existential threat that US empire in general—and the US military specifically—poses to humanity and to our planet. In this panel discussion, recorded after a live screening of Earth’s Greatest Enemy on Jan. 29 at the TRNN studio in Baltimore, Maryland, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez and Dharna Noor, fossil fuels and climate reporter for The Guardian, speak with Abby Martin about how US militarism and imperialism are destroying the planet—and what can be done to stop them.
Guests:
Abby Martin is an independent journalist, filmmaker, and host of The Empire Files. She is the director of the 2019 documentary Gaza Fights for Freedom and the 2026 documentary Earth’s Greatest Enemy.
Dharna Noor is a fossil fuels and climate reporter at The Guardian.
Credits:
Studio Production: David Hebden, Cameron Granadino
Post-Production: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Welcome everyone to the Real News Network podcast. I’m Maximillian Alvarez. I’m the editor-in-chief here at The Real News, and it’s so great to have you all with us. Earth’s greatest enemy is the title of a new blockbuster documentary by legendary independent journalist and filmmaker, Abby Martin. It is an expansive, engrossing, and frankly, terrifying investigation into the existential threat that US Empire in general and the US military specifically poses to humanity and to our planet. Recently, right here in the real news studio in downtown Baltimore, we had the honor of hosting the Baltimore premiere of this vital documentary, and
