Thursday, April 2, 2026

Wednesday’s Final Word – HotAir

April 1, 2026
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Say What? Iran's Expelled Ambassador Refuses to Leave Lebanon – HotAir
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Paradise, can it be all I heard it was? I click my tabs, and maybe I’m already there …





Ed: I’m not doing April Fool’s Day jokes here, but this comes close enough. I nearly did a spit take when I saw it this morning. I love the “Rubio finds out …” memes!

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WSJ: President Trump has raised with his advisers the possibility of withdrawing from NATO if allies don’t help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. officials said, as growing tensions with Europeans threaten the alliance that has been the foundation of the post-World War II order.

He hasn’t explicitly given an order to pull the U.S. out of the alliance that has stood for more than three-quarters of a century, the officials said. But they added that Trump has discussed leaving NATO or potentially finding ways to weaken the U.S. commitment to the organization. Trump has made no final decision about the future of the U.S. role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the officials said. …

“Unfortunately, after this conflict has concluded, we are going to have to re-examine that relationship, we are going to have to re-examine the value of NATO and that alliance for our country,” he told host Sean Hannity. “Ultimately, that’s a decision for the president to make, and he’ll have to make it.”

Ed: Ultimately, it’s a decision for Congress. We are bound to NATO by a treaty ratified by the Senate in 1949. Ending that relationship would require Congress to pass legislation repealing the ratification, which carries the force of statute until repeal. However, presidents can decide how much support to provide NATO and where to put it. That’s enough leverage to make our NATO partners take this seriously. 

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Ed: This links to a Politico EU report from January, when Trump first began leaning on NATO to deal with Iran after the massacres of civilians. Rutte was actually being somewhat optimistic. Our NATO allies rely entirely on the US for logistics. Replacing that would cost European nations a lot of money over several years, and to do it quickly would likely require more than a 10% of GDP contribution. If the US chose to withdraw its logistics support for member nations, their militaries would be entirely incapable of a combined defense outside their individual borders. Instantly. 

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Times of Israel: Sirens sounded repeatedly in central Israel Wednesday evening, shortly before the start of Passover, as Iran fired a major ballistic missile barrage and Hezbollah launched rockets from Lebanon, sending millions to bomb shelters and safe rooms as families across the country were preparing to hold their Seder meals.

The IDF had previously warned that a missile attack was expected on Seder night, one of the most widely observed Jewish rituals.

According to initial IDF assessments, some 10 ballistic missiles were fired at central Israel, in the largest Iranian salvo on Israel since the early days of the war. Minutes later, sirens again sounded in central and northern Israel, as the IDF detected another Iranian ballistic missile launch, the sixth such salvo of the day.

Around the same time, sirens sounded in the Golan Heights and Galilee due to rocket fire by Hezbollah from Lebanon.

Ed: Iran had slacked up its salvos in recent days, leading to the perception that their launch capacity may be crumbling. Instead, it appears that the regime decided to reserve what it still has for this Passover attack. That’s in line with the nature of these missiles, which are not designed for tactical value thanks to their lack of precision in targeting – especially with cluster munitions. These are intended as psychological warfare directed intentionally at civilian populations, which is exactly how Hamas, Hezbollah, and now the Houthis use their missiles and drones. History shows that this rarely if ever succeeds, but it’s the only deterrent Iran has, especially now that it can’t build nukes. 





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Ed: Okay, okay, maybe ONE joke …

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Catherine Salgado at PJ Media: Donald Trump pulled no punches. “The Country of France wouldn’t let planes headed to Israel, loaded up with military supplies, fly over French territory. France has been VERY UNHELPFUL with respect to the ‘Butcher of Iran,’ who has been successfully eliminated! The U.S.A. will REMEMBER!!!” the president posted on Truth Social March 31.

The Israeli government immediately took action to punish the French government for their despicable decision. The Israeli Defense Ministry sent a statement to The Hill confirming:

The Director General of the Israel Ministry of Defense. Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Baram has decided to reduce all defense procurement from France to zero, replacing it with domestic Israeli procurement or purchases from allied countries.

France has taken a series of actions that have harmed Israel’s security and the operational capabilities of its defense industry…The Israel Ministry of Defense views the French government’s policy with serious concern, as it undermines security cooperation with Israel, a country that is actively operating on the front line against Iran and protecting the security of the Western world.

Ed: The Israelis have made the reasonable decision that France does not have Israel’s interests as a priority. Macron is unhappy that Israel won’t sit around waiting for Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah for another 20 years. Now that Iran and Hezbollah are actively launching missiles at Israel, France refuses to assist in their defense. So why bother to buy their materiel?





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… This is collective punishment against ten million civilians, Jews, Muslims, and Christians.

Voting against defensive systems isn’t progressive. It isn’t pro-human rights. It’s indefensible.

There is no moral justification for leaving civilians exposed to deadly rockets aimed at them.

Ed: I wrote more about this here, but Adams’ blistering criticism is well worth including here. 

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Noah Rothman at NRO: Outlier polls notwithstanding, the public opinion landscape indicates that the war is deep underwater. Somewhere between 47 and 61 percent of poll respondents surveyed during the last two weeks of March disapproved of the mission. Support ranges from just 28 to 42 percent. Donald Trump’s approval rating on his handling of the war so far outperforms his overall job approval, but just barely. As of this writing, 53 percent disapprove of his wartime leadership while only about 40 percent express satisfaction.

It’s reasonable to conclude that the political environment is broadly conducive to an outward display of anti-war sentiment, but we’ve seen nothing like the events that typified the prelude to the Iraq War. We haven’t even seen “anti-war” demonstrations akin to those that proliferated in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s massacre of Jews in October 2023.





What accounts for the disparity? Perhaps the public’s anxiety over the war does not necessarily reflect the issue’s salience.

Ed: I’m not so sure it’s that deeply underwater, but I think I have the answer to the lack of protest over the war. Colleges and universities are wary of the Trump administration’s willingness to fight back, plus most activists are more interested in fighting Trump than the war. 

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During the 1994 nuclear crisis, the Clinton administration seriously considered airstrikes on North Korea’s Yongbyon reactor but backed off precisely because of the artillery threat to Seoul.

Iran was trying to accomplish the same by stockpiling missiles and drones which would have had the same deterrent effect. The proof is what Iran has been doing in the past month: attacking all its neighbors in order to pressure the US to stop attacking it

Beyond this, they were building medium-range ballistic missiles that could reach Paris and London, meaning all of Europe could be held hostage as they built a nuclear bomb.

Ed: Come for the Rubio statement, but spend time on the written commentary at the link. This is exactly correct, especially in the difference between the regimes of North Korea and Iran and why the latter is more dangerous. I’ve been writing about this for years. 





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Axios: Retail sales rose 0.6% in February, the Census Bureau said, reversing a January slump. Core control sales, which feed into GDP data, were up a similarly robust 0.5%, or 0.2% adjusted for inflation.

  • Sales at auto dealers, recreational and sporting goods, and apparel were all strong — discretionary spending categories.
  • Separately, payroll processor ADP said that private employment rose by 62,000 in March, the second consecutive month it found solid job creation.
  • Also Wednesday morning, the Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity expanded for the third straight month in March, with its index of activity ticking up to 52.7, from 52.4.

Of note: The standout indicator in the report, however, was pay growth, which continues to hold up despite relatively sluggish jobs growth.

Ed: It’s worth noting that the growth in retail sales took place before pump prices sharply rose after the start of the war with Iran. The rest of this took place entirely during the war. It doesn’t appear that the war has had too much negative impact on the American economy despite the rise in fuel costs. The oddity of rising wages while job numbers seem stagnant still defies explanation, unless it’s the effect of illegal aliens getting replaced with legal workers. We’ll see what happens when the fuel prices put inflationary pressure on wage growth in the next couple of months. 

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Ed: There should be a Geneva Convention on practical jokes, and this should violate it. 


Editor’s note: If we thought our job in pushing back against the Academia/media/Democrat censorship complex was over with the election, think again. This is going to be a long fight. If you’re digging these Final Word posts and want to join the conversation in the comments — and support independent platforms — why not join our VIP Membership program? Choose VIP to support Hot Air and access our premium content, VIP Gold to extend your access to all Townhall Media platforms and participate in this show, or VIP Platinum to get access to even more content and discounts on merchandise. Use the promo code FIGHT to join or to upgrade your existing membership level today, and get 60% off!





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