Daily Signal

Less than one week since the initiation of Operation Epic Fury, and nearly everyone is wondering: What will be the domestic reaction to America’s war in Iran? 

With this being the second time the U.S. has gone into Iran, something needs to change so a third time never happens.

“It would behoove Donald Trump to find a magical solution” and remove Iran’s “theocratic government,” replacing it with “a benevolent government,” explains Victor Davis Hanson on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.”

“ If we get stuck in a quagmire where we have to have ground troops and we get into the hundreds of American dead, it'll be a disaster for the Republican Party in the midterms.”

👉 The Daily Signal cannot continue to tell stories, like this one, without the support of our viewers: http://dailysignal.com/donate

👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest short videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1⁠ 

Also on Spotify: https://megaphone.link/THEDAILYSIGNAL9753340027 

👉Want more VDH? Watch Victor’s weekly, hour-long podcast, “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” now! Subscribe to his YouTube channel, and enable notifications:  https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273?sub_confirmation=1
👉More exclusive content is available on Victor’s website: https://victorhanson.com

00:00 War Day Four Update

01:08 Ideal Endgame for Iran

02:47 Iran’s Limits and U.S. Leverage

05:54 Global Reactions and Great Powers

09:07 U.S. Politics and Who Governs Next

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Susan Rice, former U.N. ambassador and national security advisor under Obama, made some very threatening statements directed toward Republicans and business elites on a recent podcast episode. 

On “Stay Tuned with Preet Bharara,” Rice said she wanted Trump supporters to know that the Left won’t forget if they’ve allowed Donald Trump “to bully” them in their respective academic, corporate, or institutional worlds.

Victor Davis Hanson breaks down Rice’s comments on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words” and explains why nothing she, and her fellow Democrats, say can hurt the U.S. president and his supporters at this point.

“Your entire career of the Democratic Party—your career, Hillary Clinton's career, Barack Obama—has been to destroy Donald Trump. So we don't need lectures on retribution. You've already tried to practice retribution against Trump. And I don't think you're going to be in a position of power necessarily in the Congress in 2026, and I have a pretty good idea you won't come back to power in 2028.”

👉 The Daily Signal cannot continue to tell stories, like this one, without the support of our viewers: http://dailysignal.com/donate

👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest short videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1⁠ 

Also on Spotify: https://megaphone.link/THEDAILYSIGNAL9753340027 

👉Want more VDH? Watch Victor’s weekly, hour-long podcast, “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” now! Subscribe to his YouTube channel, and enable notifications:  https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273?sub_confirmation=1
👉More exclusive content is available on Victor’s website: https://victorhanson.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As President Donald Trump positions “the largest naval and air forces” off Iran’s coast that the U.S. has “seen since the invasion of Iraq in 2003,” he has some pros and cons to weigh about striking the Middle Eastern country. 

The U.S. isn’t in a war with Iran right now, so Trump’s positioning of forces could be for “either a preventive war, long-term threat, or a preemptive war,” explains Victor Davis Hanson on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.”

“It’s very controversial, and we don’t know whether he’s going to pull the trigger or not ... He’ll have to make the decision pretty quickly because you can’t just take those many naval assets and stick them halfway across the world ... The window is probably about another six weeks.”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thursday, Feb. 19, Tazewell Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. granted a restraining order sought by the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee along with Congressmen Ben Cline (VA-06) and Morgan Griffith (VA-09). The order prohibits any voting to take place before March 18. 

In order to comply with Virginia law, voting of the April 21 deadline needed to begin on March 6.  

The request for a restraining order is based on the contention that the Democrat majority in the General Assembly were ramming redistricting-related bills through the legislature. 

Hurley ruled in favor of the plaintiffs because he found merit in the argument concerning the ballot question’s language. The judge further sided with Republicans in ruling that the referendum violates the timing requirements set out in the state constitution.

👉For more videos like this, subscribe to The Daily Signal’s YouTube channel and enable notifications to be alerted the second a new video drops: https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From preserving parental vaccine rights to the inner workings within the Gold State’s capitol, Darrlene Alquiza and Jessica Cabrera with Informed Policy Advocates join Elaine Culotti, Daily Signal California contributor for a special interview to discuss their work.

NOTE : This interview was recorded prior to Elaine Culotti’s 2026 California governor announcement.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are Democrats really ready for a comeback—or are we about to revisit the graveyard of their own failed experiments?

The so-called “new paradigms” of the Obama-Biden years—open borders, DEI mandates, deficit socialism, disarmament, and radical gender ideology—didn’t just falter… they collapsed under their own weight, argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words:”

👉 The Daily Signal cannot continue to tell stories, like this one, without the support of our viewers: http://dailysignal.com/donate

👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest short videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1⁠ 

Also on Spotify: https://megaphone.link/THEDAILYSIGNAL9753340027 

👉Want more VDH? Watch Victor’s weekly, hour-long podcast, “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” now! Subscribe to his YouTube channel, and enable notifications:  https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273?sub_confirmation=1
👉More exclusive content is available on Victor’s website: https://victorhanson.com

00:00 Midterms Preview: Trump Counterrevolution vs. a Democratic Comeback

02:15 ‘Graveyard of Bad Ideas’ #1: The Trans Politics Pushback

04:17 Bad Idea #2: Open Borders and the Immigration Backlash

05:37 Bad Ideas #3–4: Disarmament Illusions & Deficit Socialism Debt Bomb

08:00 Bad Idea #5 + Wrap-Up: DEI Fatigue and the Final Verdict

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump is reversing the Biden administration’s years of damage to American “family finances” and “federal finances.”

When Biden left office in Jan. 2025, “the private sector wasn’t adding any jobs at all, but losing them,” explains E.J. Antoni, Ph.D., The Heritage Foundation’s chief economist.

One year later and Trump is righting the ship: Last month was the best January ever for employment among native-born Americans. 

The private sector added 172,000 jobs while government jobs declined by 42,000. All told, Donald Trump has reduced the federal bureaucracy by 323,000 in just one year.

👉For more videos like this, subscribe to The Daily Signal’s YouTube channel and enable notifications to be alerted the second a new video drops: https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=100:00 Jobs Flip to ‘America First’: Native-Born Gains Under Trump

01:07 How Bidenomics Stalled the Private Sector (and Grew Government)

02:31 Righting the Ship: Private-Sector Hiring Up, Federal Bureaucracy Cut

03:49 Paychecks vs Prices: Inflation Cools, Affordability Still a Fight

06:24 Deficits, Spending Cuts, and What Congress Must Do Next (Wrap-Up)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When there’s a problem, call Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s “fireman.”

Last week, Marco Rubio, in keeping with the tradition started by Vice President JD Vance last year, painted a sobering picture of Europe’s future. But with a twist.

Rubio did not gloat or talk down to his fellow world leaders.

Instead, he glorified America’s European heritage—a very controversial statement amongst leftists who try to distance themselves from Western norms and cultures—saying that Europe is poised to make the same mistakes America has already made: 

letting in 10 million illegal aliens, replacing meritocracy with DEI, failing to maintain military superiority, and forgoing energy independence.

Europe is currently backsliding because it, unlike America, does not have a continent full of Donald Trumps to bring about a counterrevolution, argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words:”

“It really enhanced the position of Marco Rubio because he's sort of become Trump's fireman. When there's a problem that seems unsolvable or that people, whether it's in Panama or whether it's in the Middle East or whether it's in the Western Hemisphere, people call on Rubio.

“And I think we should watch that very carefully because I think we're going to enter into the 2028 race, not with a Vance-Rubio vice president, but with two strong candidates.”

👉 The Daily Signal cannot continue to tell stories, like this one, without the support of our viewers: http://dailysignal.com/donate

👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest short videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1⁠ 

Also on Spotify: https://megaphone.link/THEDAILYSIGNAL9753340027 

👉Want more VDH? Watch Victor’s weekly, hour-long podcast, “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” now! Subscribe to his YouTube channel, and enable notifications:  https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273?sub_confirmation=1

👉More exclusive content is available on Victor’s website: https://victorhanson.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California’s unfunded mandates “are exactly what they sound like:” a mandate “with no money behind it.”

A solution like deannexation, however, could really “change the culture of what Sacramento” has been been doing of forcing cities to follow mandates and pay for them, explains Elaine Culotti, The Daily Signal’s California contributor.

“It starts to direct tax dollars directly back to the cities in which have been deannexed. It’s an interesting business model, and for a state like California, is really important.”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With only nine months until the midterm elections, Democrats will scrutinize every move President Donald Trump takes as they fight to reclaim control of the House and the Senate.

Victor Davis Hanson lays out the narrow road ahead to victory for Trump and the GOP during the 2026 midterm elections. History is not on the incumbent’s side. Messaging mistakes and unforced errors could shift key voters and hand Congress back to Democrats. Hanson explains what it will take to hold a Republican majority—and why the stakes for these midterm elections could not be higher—on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words."

“There's another advantage that Trump has. They've raised, I think, $90 to $100 million. They've out-raised the Left by three or four times. And the billionaire class of Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, not to mention Marc Andreessen or Elon Musk, they have defected and it's really hurting the Democrats.

“What they're looking at in California with this billionaire's tax, you can be a billionaire and have property and investments, homes, but you might only have, I don't know, $100 million. They're gonna take $50 million from you on your aggregate worth. That's not gonna go over well with the billionaire class. And there, that's just a foretaste of what Kamala Harris will do if she has a Democratic Congress.”

(0:00) Midterms Ahead

👉 The Daily Signal cannot continue to tell stories, like this one, without the support of our viewers: http://dailysignal.com/donate

👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest short videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1⁠ 

Also on Spotify: https://megaphone.link/THEDAILYSIGNAL9753340027 

👉Want more VDH? Watch Victor’s weekly, hour-long podcast, “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” now! Subscribe to his YouTube channel, and enable notifications:  https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273?sub_confirmation=1

👉More exclusive content is available on Victor’s website: https://victorhanson.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices