Up First from NPR - Middle East War Intensifies, Trump's Rational For War, First Midterm Primaries

Episode Date: March 4, 2026

The Middle East war is in its fifth day as the U.S. and Israel keep striking targets across Iran and Lebanon, Iran retaliates into the Gulf, and funeral preparations begin for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.President Trump is offering shifting explanations for why the U.S. struck Iran, as the White House tries to unify its message and Americans remain wary about what the war is meant to achieve.And the first midterm primary results are in, with Democrats in Texas choosing James Talarico and early races in North Carolina and Arkansas offering a first read on where both parties are headed.Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Hannah Bloch, Rebekah Metzler, Dana Farrington, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle.It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ana Perez and Nia DumasOur director is Christopher Thomas.We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.Our Supervising Producer is Michael Lipkin.(0:00) Introduction(01:55) Middle East War Intensifies(05:58) Trump's Rational For War(09:36) First Midterm PrimariesTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Pentagon says not a single Iranian ship is left in the waterways off Iran. It's also targeting symbols of the regime, including the country's paramilitary forces. I'm Michelle Martin. That's A. Martinez, and this is up first from NPR News. President Trump answered questions publicly for the first time about why the U.S. attacked Iran. It was my opinion that they were going to attack first. They were going to attack if we didn't do it. His Secretary of State gave a different rationale to reporters. And people in Arkansas, North Carolina, and Texas cast their votes in the first primaries of the midterms. Democrats in Texas chose James Tala Rico to try and flip the U.S. Senate seat in a deep red state.

What are the primary results? Tell us about the mood heading into November. Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day. In the Middle East, Israel and the U.S. continues striking targets across Iran as Iran widens its retaliatory strikes in the region. The U.S. Military Central Command says it has destroyed Iran's Navy. And in Iran, preparations for the funeral of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi, who was killed by Israel, were set to begin tonight but have been postponed. The widespread fighting continues to disrupt air travel and shipping channels in the region.

For more, we go to NPR's Kerry Khan in Tel Aviv. Kerry, Israel and the U.S. have continued their air campaign today. What's the situation now? The airstrikes continue in cities throughout Iran. On state TV, you see ruins of buildings in the capital, Tehran. Many of the targets are symbols of the regime, including the Basij command centers. That's Iran's state-run paramilitary force that was crucial to the protester crackdown earlier this year. U.S. military sent com said today that it has obliterated Iran's Navy, and they say not a single Iranian ship is left in the waterways off Iran.

And joint U.S. and Israeli military strikes are focusing on Western Iran's Kurdish areas. And these have long been anti-regime strongholds. According to Iran's Red Crescent Society, the death toll is now more than 1,000, and that's with at least 175 of those killed from the bombing of an elementary school at the start of the war. And all this is happening as Iran is planning a state funeral and a succession process for a new Supreme Leader. Iranian officials have announced three days of mourning for the Supreme Leader, who Israel killed last weekend. and officials had called for mourners to come out in large numbers as his body lion state. And the funeral was set to begin, actually, this evening,

but this morning they postponed the official mourning rituals, stating that they need more time to prepare for what they say will be millions of mourners expected. They have not set a new date. A new assembly of experts and another committee are convening to pick the next leader, and that's according to state media. Yesterday, Israel struck a site in the city of Combs, where the Assembly was to be convening. They were not there at the time, though, and that's according to Iran's Farr's state news agency. In a statement today, Israel's defense minister,

Israel Katz, reiterated his country's pledge to kill any new leader picked who threatens to destroy Israel. He said that person, quote, will be an unequivocal target for elimination. And this is all spreading into Gulf states. I mean, not just only Israel. I mean, where is all this headed possibly? Yes, we've seen Iranian drones and missiles hit targets in the Gulf. Yesterday, the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia was hit, and a drone sparked a fire at the U.S. consulate in Dubai last night. The U.S. State Department is advising U.S. citizens to leave more than a dozen countries throughout the Middle East. The Strait of Hormuz is still mostly closed to traffic. Israel is pounding sites, too, in Lebanon after Hezbollah fired at Israel. Yesterday, Hezbollah was able to shoot missiles into central Israel.

Israel's defense minister says there is a plan ready for further advance of troops into Lebanon. While many fronts in the war appear to be opening up, we've actually seen a number of missiles and drones coming into Israel and the Gulf dropped significantly in the last 24 hours. And so far, Gulf states have not retaliated. But for how long that will last? That's still an unknown. That's NPR's Kerry Khan in Tel Aviv. Carrie, thank you. You're welcome. We also have new details from the Pentagon about four of the six

soldiers killed by an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait on Sunday. They were all in the Army Reserve. Sergeant First Class Noah L. Teigen's, 42 years old of Bellevue, Nebraska. 39-year-old Sergeant First Class Nicole M. Amor of White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Captain Cody A. Cork, 35 years old of Winterhaven, Florida. And 20-year-old Sergeant Declan J. Cody of West Des Moines, Iowa. The names of two other service members killed have not yet been made public. President Trump answered questions publicly for the first time Tuesday about the ongoing U.S. strikes in Iran. He claimed that if the U.S. had not attacked Iran, there would have been a nuclear war. But if we didn't do what we're doing right now, you would have had a nuclear war and they would have taken out many countries.

It's one of several shifting answers the president has given on why the U.S. attacked Iran in the first place and what his ultimate goals are. NPR White House correspondent Deepa Shibram joins us now to discuss. So we've heard differing takes from the president, also from the Secretary of State over the last few days. So what's the latest that the White House is saying for why the U.S. struck Iran over the weekend? Yeah, you know, there has been a lot of mixed messaging here, A. And just to put this into context for a second, Trump said on Monday that the U.S. attacked Iran because Iran was developing nuclear capabilities and missile capabilities that would soon be able to hit the U.S.

though previous government analysis says those capabilities were not imminent. But that seemed to counter what his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said that the U.S. believed Israel was going to strike Iran and Iranian counterattacks would have put the U.S. at risk. So the U.S. struck Iran first. Yeah, so two different answers there. And then yesterday from Trump, another different answer. Right. So Trump was asked yesterday if Israel forced the U.S.'s hand. And the president said he might have forced Israel in attacking Iran after negotiations fizzled. You see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics.

And it was my opinion that they were going to attack first. They were going to attack. If we didn't do it, they were going to attack first. I felt strongly about that. And I want to emphasize there that Trump didn't cite any U.S. intelligence that Iran was going to strike. He said it was his opinion and that he felt Iran was going to strike the U.S. or Israel. What do people think about this non-alignment on answers from the administration? I mean, the public polling that's been conducted so far shows that Americans are not in favor of this war.

And a majority think the U.S. will now be in a long-term conflict with Iran. In response to all this, the White House in the last few days has been trying to realign their messaging here. Senior administration officials tried to explain in detail yesterday why the negotiations with Iran were breaking down. later today the Pentagon and the White House are holding more briefings. But five days into this war, I mean, questions remain, and a big one is timeline. And what's the end goal? Trump has said that he expects these strikes to last several more weeks, but what will define success here for the Trump administration? And what does the U.S. want for Iran after these strikes bent?

And I guess one more thing a lot of people are worried about is the price of oil. That's aside from just the horrible things that happen when there are missile strikes. I mean, has the president addressed that at all? Yeah, I mean, Trump said yesterday that oil prices might be high for a, quote, little while, but he said as soon as this conflict ends, and again, didn't provide a timeline there, he said oil prices would be even lower than before. No real clarity on how the president plans to facilitate that. I will say the global price of crude oil has risen since this war began.

And of course, you know, to put this into domestic context, it comes as Americans at home are still really worried about affordability and the economy. There's a midterm election coming up later this year. Trump seems to have an eye on oil prices, though, because yesterday he announced efforts to try and guarantee the safety of oil tankers traveling through the Strait of Hormuz that can pass to deliver the 20% of the world's oil that comes through that route. That's NPR's Deepa Shiverham. Thanks a lot. Thanks. Democrats in Texas have chosen the candidate they want to try and flip a U.S. Senate seat from Republicans, and that candidate is James Tala Rico. He beat Congressman Jasmine Crockett, Texas, North Carolina, and Arkansas.

saw all held primaries Tuesday, the first of the 2026 midterms. NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro was up late, watching the returns and is up early with us. So we'll get to the Lone Star State in a second. Let's start with the Tar Heel State. North Carolina. What do we learn there? Well, the Senate race there is now set.

You know, it's Republican Michael Watley, who's a former Trump Republican National Committee chairman. And he's going against Democrat Roy Cooper, who's the state's former governor. Cooper getting in the race was seen as a really big, get for Democrats. Last night, he focused his message on prices, but also said this. I'll be a strong, independent senator who will work with this president when I can and stand up to him when the people need me to. I will always, always put the people of North Carolina first, before politics, before party. So work with the president when he can, he said, and stand up to

him when necessary, and you didn't hear him mention he's a Democrat. That's a very fine line Cooper's trying to walk in trying to flip this seat. All right, now deep in the heart of Texas, what do we learn from those results? Yeah, you mentioned that Talarico won. This was a really competitive primary, though he wound up winning by about seven points as of this taping. Here he was last night. This is a people-powered movement to take on this broken, corrupt political system. this is truly a campaign of, by, and for the people. I mean, Democrats really hope that this populist message and a more measured tone from Tala Rico can help them win, but this is Texas. It won't be easy. No Democrat has won statewide

since 1994. Yeah, and for the Republicans in this race in Texas, that thing's going to last a little bit longer. So tell us why that is. Yeah, no one broke 50 percent, so it's going to a May 26th runoff So Texas, get ready for more money and more nasty attacks between incumbent Senator John Cornyn and State Attorney General Ken Paxton. And there's one person who's going to be key above all else in this race. Neither of them is in the race. See if you can make out who it is. And here's Cornyn.

The final two years of President Trump's agenda hangs in the balance. I'm proud to have supported President Trump and worked with him to help him achieve his goals in the Congress. Okay. And here's Paxton talking about Cornyn. For too long, he stabbed our president in the back by trying to derail his presidential campaigns and supporting the Democrats' lawfare against the president. Get the drift here.

You know, either candidate would love President Trump's backing, but he has not endorsed anyone saying he liked all the candidates in this primary. You think eventually Trump will get involved? You know, I think it's possible that he does wind up putting his finger on the scale here. I mean, this has been a bitter and nasty primary. 70 million dollars poured in to help John Cornyn, another 100 million could be spent in the next 12 weeks of this runoff. So if you're Trump looking down the line here, do you really want to spend $100 million the party to do so on a Senate primary in a state you should win or maybe spend that money on some of those front line swing house races? NPR senior political editor and correspondent Dominical Montanaro. Thanks a lot.

You got it. And we have another story we're watching. An MPO review out today compiled dozens of accounts describing how the Department of Homeland Security is used. using sweeping surveillance tools to track people ICE wants to deport and even monitor and intimidate U.S. citizens who criticize its policies. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf talked to a woman named Emily in Minneapolis. Now, we're only using her first name because she fears retribution from the federal government. Their message was not subtle, right? They were, in effect, saying we see you, we can get to you whenever we want to.

And it did scare me. Hear that reporting on our radio show Morning Edition. You can find it on your local NPR station. or on the NPR app. And you can read the full investigation at NPR.org. And that's up first for Wednesday, March 4th. I mean, Martinez.

And I'm Michelle Martin. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Hannah Block, Rebecca Metzler, Dana Farrington, Mohamed Elberdisi, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Zia Butch, Anna Perez, and Mia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Highness.

Our technical director is Carly Strange. Our supervising producer is Michael Lipkin, and we hope you'll join us. again tomorrow.