Good afternoon. This is the Final NOTUS newsletter for March 24, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!
THE LATEST
The Pentagon is planning to deploy a combat-ready Army unit, the 82nd Airborne Division, to the Middle East as Donald Trump’s war with Iran appears to be escalating. There are no immediate plans for the roughly 3,000 troops to enter the country, but the decision appears to fly in the face of the president’s assertions that the conflict is “winding down.”
- “Pete didn’t want it to be settled,” Trump said this afternoon when asked about his plans to end the war.
- Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has also been a key voice urging Trump to continue fighting against Iran, The New York Times reports.
‘Any deal they make, I’m pretty much not happy with it.’ That’s what Trump had to say about a bipartisan DHS funding agreement coming into focus today in the Senate — but crucially, he didn’t say he’d veto the bill were it in front of him.
- “I’m going to take a good, hard look at it,” the president added following newly minted DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s swearing-in ceremony.
Trending
THE HILL
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt makes his pick for Mullin’s replacement: Oil and gas executive Alan Armstrong. NOTUS’ Reese Gorman reported over the weekend that the decision was coming.