It’s Thursday, February 19. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Is social media really addictive? Are property taxes about to skyrocket in New York City? And more.
But first: Is the U.S. heading to war with Iran?
President Donald Trump may not yet have made up his mind over whether to attack Iran as American diplomats look to make a last-minute deal with the Islamic Republic. But there are reportedly already enough U.S. forces in the region to commence a war as soon as Saturday.
In the Persian Gulf, two American carrier groups are poised to strike Iran, with additional refueling planes and troop and cargo carriers moving into position. Yet negotiations still continue over Iran’s nuclear capabilities, as Washington looks for a deal that would help avoid a lengthy and highly risky military commitment in the Middle East. At this precarious moment, Michael Doran reports on whether war with Iran is inevitable, how it could play out, and why Tehran acts with such confidence when dealing with the U.S.
“Iran operates on a different theory of war,” he writes. “It celebrates steadfastness. Civilian deaths and military losses are tragic but acceptable. Time is an ally. Conflict with the United States is not a technical dispute to be solved through compromise but a prolonged ideological struggle. No single round is decisive.”
How should Trump approach such an adversary? Michael has some ideas.
Meanwhile, inside Iran, protesters who courageously stood up to the regime in January are mourning their dead. In The Free Press today, foreign correspondent Amy Kellogg reports on ceremonies taking place across Iran in place of weddings, birthday parties, and other milestones.
“They are desperate celebrations of young lives lost in the deadly demonstrations last month,” she writes. “Marking 40 days since death is important in Iranian culture. And these ‘40ths’ are becoming a sort of revolution in themselves—and an opportunity for another wave of protests could rise out of the grief.”
Read her piece on how the spirit of the January protests has been rekindled in recent days, and the Iranians who say they are “angry and getting ready for the second go.”
—The Editors
President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda has coincided with an unprecedented boom for D.C. lobbyists representing overseas governments, with over 380 new foreign agent registrations from nearly 100 countries. Read Gabe Kaminsky and Frannie Block’s investigation into how nations are paying millions to navigate Trump’s wild Washington—and whether the rules around this work are being properly enforced.
Conservatives were rightly aggravated by the government’s attempts at regulating speech when President Biden was in office, writes Joe Nocera. So why are they silent now as Federal Communications Commission chief Brendan Carr attempts to muzzle opposition to Trump? Read Joe’s column on the furor over Stephen Colbert, and Brendan Carr’s free speech hypocrisy.
Are drug addiction and “social media addiction” comparable? As a landmark trial against Big Tech begins, psychiatrist Sally Satel says the plaintiffs suing social-media companies will be on shaky medical ground if they claim a strict analogy, even if it’s rhetorically effective. Read her breakdown on the science of addiction and why social media, for all its faults, is not quite the same thing as an actual drug.
Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 novel Lolita is about a 37-year-old man who kidnaps and serially rapes a 12-year-old girl. It’s also the one book that shows up repeatedly in the Epstein files. For the latest episode of “Old School,” Rafaela Siewert and Shilo Brooks discuss how pop culture has misunderstood and warped the novel’s meaning, glamorizing a story that is ultimately a complex moral indictment.
MORE FROM THE FREE PRESS
THE NEWS
Eight skiers have died and one is presumed dead after an avalanche near Lake Tahoe. Six others were found after they used emergency equipment to contact rescuers Tuesday afternoon. Officials say nearly 90 people were searching for the skiers.
Peace talks in Geneva between Russia, Ukraine, and the U.S. ended yesterday without a breakthrough. Progress was made on “military issues,” but Russia has not relented from its territorial demands, which Ukraine has said are unacceptable.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been holding secret talks with Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, the grandson of Cuba’s de facto dictator Raúl Castro, Axios reported. The Trump administration hopes that the younger Castro will help facilitate major changes in Cuba, which is experiencing its worst economic crisis since Fidel Castro took control of the island in 1959.
The authors of a Federal Reserve report showing American businesses and consumers were bearing the bulk of the costs from President Trump’s tariffs should be “disciplined,” said Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council. “It’s I think the worst paper I’ve ever seen in the history of the Federal Reserve system,” he said.
The White House said “parties are still pretty far apart” on negotiating funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which lapsed Saturday, leaving much of the department working without pay. However, the shutdown has had little effect on Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the most controversial DHS agency, because it received separate appropriations last summer.
The Food and Drug Administration reversed a previous decision and agreed to review Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine for approval. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long been skeptical of mRNA vaccines, and last week the FDA declined to review Moderna’s vaccine, claiming its research design was flawed.
Buffalo Wild Wings can keep “boneless wings” on its menu even though they are “essentially chicken nuggets,” a U.S. district court judge ruled. A customer, expecting “wings that were deboned,” filed a lawsuit in 2023 claiming the company violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act.
350,000 people marched in support of the people of Iran in Toronto on Friday, 14th. https://www.pressenza.com/2026/02/350000-people-march-in-toronto-in-support-of-iran-protests/
It made the flock of masked, self-righteous pro-Palestine college kids look irrelevant.
I want a lengthy essay on the wings landmark case. This should no go quietly