In partnership with

BY: Andrew Springer and Anthony Cifone, NOTICE News co-founders

Good morning! It’s Tuesday, March 17, 2026. In today’s newsletter:

  • Is Trump lying — or is it just dementia?

  • Trump bragged he can ‘do anything he wants’ with Cuba (sounds familiar)

  • Trump's generals are quietly planning his Iran exit — because he has no plan

  • Stories the algorithm is keeping out of your feed

⏱️ Estimated read time: 8 minutes, 22 seconds

⁉️ Questions? Comments? Just reply to this email!

Wake up to better business news

Some business news reads like a lullaby.

Morning Brew is the opposite.

A free daily newsletter that breaks down what’s happening in business and culture — clearly, quickly, and with enough personality to keep things interesting.

Each morning brings a sharp, easy-to-read rundown of what matters, why it matters, and what it means to you. Plus, there’s daily brain games everyone’s playing.

Business news, minus the snooze. Read by over 4 million people every morning.

TOP STORY

Trump Lied About Consulting a Former President About Bombing Iran

Trump told the country he consulted a former president about ordering strikes on Iran—and this mystery person reportedly said they “wish” they bombed Iran.

Only, every living former president — Biden, Obama, Bush, and Clinton — denied speaking with Trump recently.

That's not a discrepancy or a miscommunication. That's a lie, told to make an act of war sound more considered and legitimate than it apparently was.

It certainly appears Trump invented the conversation entirely.

This was a bombing campaign. Against Iran. And the story Trump told the American public to justify it fell apart within a day, contradicted by four former commanders-in-chief from both parties.

Read the full story — including what all four former presidents actually said — right here.

➡️ Question of the Day

Do you think a former president actually told Trump that he "wished" he bombed Iran during his tenure?

Login or Subscribe to participate

🗞️ Making News

The World's Top Democracy Watchdog Just Called It: The U.S. Is No Longer a Liberal Democracy

Sweden's V-Dem Institute — the most credible democracy research organization on the planet — has officially downgraded the United States, declaring it no longer qualifies as a liberal democracy under Donald Trump.

V-Dem tracks democratic backsliding worldwide, and they're now watching the U.S. the same way they watch Hungary and Turkey.

The institute's findings point directly at Trump's power grabs against independent institutions, the press, and the courts as the driving force behind the downgrade.

Autocracy isn't just creeping — it's sprinting, and Europe is catching it too, with far-right movements accelerating democratic erosion across the continent.

V-Dem has been tracking democratic decline for decades — and they say the speed of the U.S. collapse is what's most alarming.

Trump Brags About Cuba Like a Dictator — Because He Kind of Is One

Donald Trump told a crowd he could "take" Cuba "in 15 minutes" if he wanted to, a boast so unhinged that critics immediately reached for the dictator comparisons.

The remark was slammed as "batsh*t behavior" and "nuts" — not by adversaries overseas, but by people watching an American president casually threaten military conquest of a neighboring country like it was a golf bet.

Analysts noted the braggadocious style mirrors exactly how authoritarian strongmen talk to consolidate power at home: project military dominance, make threats sound casual, keep everyone slightly off-balance about what's real.

This isn't the first time Trump has floated annexing or seizing territory — he's floated taking Greenland, reclaiming the Panama Canal, and absorbing Canada. The Cuba comments fit a clear pattern of a man who views sovereign nations as real estate deals he hasn't closed yet.

The ruling class has largely shrugged. Congressional Republicans said nothing. The donor class kept writing checks.

Trump Just Greenlit a Cancer Gas Poisoning 14 Million Americans

Lee Zeldin's EPA just rolled back rules that would have cut ethylene oxide emissions by 90% — a cancer-causing gas so toxic it damages DNA in small doses. Based on the EPA's own data, the rollback exposes at least 85,000 more people to unacceptable cancer risks. The exemptions came after Zeldin literally invited corporations to email the agency and ask for them.

More than 10,000 schools and childcare facilities sit within five miles of commercial sterilizers. Children are especially vulnerable because ethylene oxide stays in their bodies longer than in adults. The gas is colorless and nearly odorless — most people near these facilities had no idea they were being exposed.The first Trump EPA determined back in 2018 that ethylene oxide was a major driver of elevated cancer risks. Now the second Trump EPA is using that same science to do nothing.

🗳️ Yesterday’s poll results

Last time, we asked, Who should really be charged with treason - Trump or the Media?

98% of you said TRUMP:

  • “Taco has yet to do anything positive for: children, seniors, veterans, homeless, victims of climate catastrophes, fires, the poor, research for cancer, Healthcare for everyone, immigration reform, Medicare and Medicaid, or the middle class Americans.”

    - mikeduke60

  • “A person would find it difficult on where to start, maybe the constitution? Branching out from there all of his Felonies. ”

    - rmaier3024

  • “This megalomanic needs to be impeached and in prison!!!”

    - debroth

  • “Those of us talking about have no power to do anything about it and Those who have the power never will.”

    - callajr.jc

  • “Going back to his first term - giving secrets not just from our country but Israel- to Russia and no telling who else he sold the info to. He should have been convicted in the senate (if treasonous Mitch had done his job) after being impeached by the house. Not just donnie should be charged and jailed for treason, his whole administration should be along with his enablers in congress.”

    - twoasps

  • “We should trust him only when fact checking shows no more lies! Pinocchio syndrome for him!”

    - ses8726

  • “He has broken just about every law that can be broken in his all his life time and paid his way out of so he should be held accountable for all that he has done ”

    - okdaddy45

  • “He's done more to damage this country than ANY enemies we may have or had in HISTORY. He's set us back in nearly all aspects by nearly a CENTURY. All the progress we've made as a society in that time? GONE.”

    - michaelhogshooter

👀 Kept Out of Your Feed

Here are some stories the algorithms may be keeping out of your feed.

IN DEPTH

Trump's generals are quietly planning his Iran exit — because he has no plan

Six people familiar with U.S. military planning told NBC News that generals have quietly baked "off-ramps" into Iran war planning because Donald Trump has no endgame — and the people around him know it.

Let that land for a second: the president started a war without knowing how to stop one, so his own military officials are pre-loading exit options into their plans hoping he stumbles onto one he likes.

The rest of the newsletter is for NOTICE News members only.

We keep the vast majority of our journalism free—but we reserve our in-depth reporting and analysis for members who financially support us. Get access to the rest of the newsletter by becoming a member today.

Did a friend forward this to you? You can subscribe here.

Like what you read? Support us.

Questions or comments? Just reply to this e-mail.

We’ll be back tomorrow morning.

Thank you for reading! - Andrew & Anthony

Reply

Avatar

or to participate

More From NOTICE News