It’s Friday, March 6. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is packing up her office. Tucker Carlson turns on the Jews (again)—and Donald Trump turns on Tucker. Plus: what you don’t learn in med school. And more.
But first: It has been one week of war in Iran.
Six days ago, in the early hours of Saturday morning, the Iranian regime was decapitated. In a joint military attack, the U.S. and Israel struck military sites across the country, killing its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, alongside dozens of senior Iranian leaders.
Then Iran started fighting back, striking Israel, U.S. installations across the Middle East, and countries across the region, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, and Azerbaijan. In Kuwait, an Iranian drone strike killed six U.S. Army Reserve service members—the first American casualties of the war. According to Trump, “there will likely be more before it ends.” Meanwhile, at home in the United States, polls show the public is skeptical of the war, with just one in four saying they back the strikes.
A week in, much remains unclear: How long could this war last? Could Iran slide into civil war? What kind of government might emerge after the fighting? How have the strikes changed the balance of power in the Middle East? And what does it mean for the world order?
We asked some of the people we trust the most on this story—including Elliott Abrams, Christopher Caldwell, and Aaron MacLean—to share their takeaways from this extraordinary geopolitical moment.
—The Editors
While the future of the Middle East remains uncertain, one thing is clear: The Iranian regime is at an inflection point. Even after the strike that took out Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, his regime fights on, firing ballistic missiles and drones at its neighbors. Still, beyond all the smoke, Iran has yet to appoint a new leader. Behnam Ben Taleblu lays out the four scenarios for succession in Iran, and explains why the fate of the world may rest on what comes next.
The Free Press’s Rafaela Siewert sat down with Behnam to discuss how each of these scenarios might unfold—and what they mean for a regime in turmoil. Watch their full conversation here.
Donald Trump fired Kristi Noem as head of the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday. It marks a sorry end to a year of chaos for Noem, who was pulled from Minneapolis shortly after protests erupted this January. Our editors explain why Noem deserved to go, and what her departure means for the Trump administration.
On Thursday, Tucker Carlson accused the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, one of the largest Jewish networks in the world, of orchestrating the war in Iran. Candace Owens quickly jumped aboard, telling followers to “be aware of where the Chabad is nearest your home.” Their accusations are absurd, writes Jillian Lederman, but they cannot be ignored. Threats to Chabad, a movement built on maintaining thousands of public outposts around the world, are not hypotheticals. Read Jillian’s column on what Chabad really is, and why Carlson’s conspiracy theories are so dangerous.
As the conflict in Iran gears up, it appears one of the first political casualties for President Trump was his relationship with Tucker Carlson. “Tucker has lost his way,” the president said on Thursday. “I knew that a long time ago, and he’s not MAGA.” Today, Eli Lake explains why the split was a long time coming, and what it forecasts for the future of the modern right.
Medical training is, by necessity, obsessed with crises: strokes, sepsis, heart attacks, cancers. But perhaps the more overlooked danger is the slow, cumulative forces that erode your body over time. In her inaugural column, physician Charlotte Grinberg explains the small fix that the finest medical institutions failed to teach her for back pain: “The shoes nearly all of us wear every day—an anatomical disaster medicine never really bothered to question.”
EDITORS’ PICKS
This week, we’ve brought you wall-to-wall coverage of the war in Iran, as escalating hostilities threaten to reshape the region—and the world. But this story didn’t begin on Saturday. Just as important as the reaction to the strikes is the analysis of how we got here, and where events may lead next. Earlier this week, Aaron MacLean traced the full historical arc of how the Iranian regime squandered its ambitions, while Michael Oren explained why October 7, 2023, marked the beginning of the end for the Islamic Republic. And don’t miss Jay Solomon’s analysis of why Iran’s Kurdish opposition may determine the future of the regime: whether it survives, or descends into civil war.
Is this more than just a regional war—and whose interests are at stake? As Haviv Rettig Gur explained in an incisive essay this week, the battle in Iran isn’t just an Israeli fight—at its core, it’s an American one. Read Haviv’s piece to understand the American interests at play. Then check out Zineb Riboua’s analysis of why this conflict is ultimately tied to our broader strategic competition with China, America’s most powerful adversary. Finally, Niall Ferguson answers a question on all of our minds: Could this be the start of World War III?
Lastly, on a lighter note, if you’re looking to round out a week of tough news with a breath of fresh air, Arthur Brooks has just the thing for you. In his latest column, he explains how AI will upend everything we know—and why we just might come out happier on the other side.
The Front Page will be back on Monday morning. Until then, look out for The Weekend Press, featuring retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling on how he confronted his fear of death on the battlefield, Suzy Weiss reviewing the newest Pixar film, a fresh batch of Free Press Cupid ads, a night among the Clawdbots, and more.
Good news. The UAE is evacuating Americans.
This Trump Cinematic Universe is wild!