The Iran War Threatens to Split Trump’s Base

Jessica Mendoza (0:00)

Hey, this is Jessica Mendoza, host of The Journal Podcast, our show about money, business and power. If you're looking for more deeply reported stories like we share every day, consider becoming a subscriber to The Wall Street Journal. Visit subscribe.wsj.com/thejournal, all lowercase, to subscribe now.

Alex Ossola (0:23)

In a victory for big banks, Trump regulators have proposed allowing them to reduce the capital buffers they hold for times of stress. Plus, some in Trump's base are against the war in Iran, a fault line that could have implications for future elections.

Natalie Andrews (0:37)

These folks will have a role in choosing the candidate in 2028 So if these folks get dissatisfied with Trump, it is something worth watching.

Alex Ossola (0:48)

A new survey suggests that millions of Americans are going without health insurance after expired subsidies sent premiums soaring. It's Thursday, March 19th. I'm Alex Ossola for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that moved the world today.

The Federal Reserve today introduced proposals that would let America's biggest banks hold billions of dollars less in capital on their books. The plan eases rules put in place after the 2008 financial crisis that were meant to help shield against meltdowns. Officials say the changes would make it easier for banks to lend and help the economy. The proposals, if they're enacted, would be a big victory for banks. Wall Street has embraced the second Trump administration largely out of hope that it would scrap stricter requirements that were proposed under President Biden. In tech news, we're exclusively reporting that Jeff Bezos is in early talks to raise $100 billion for a new fund. It aims to buy manufacturing companies and use AI to accelerate their path to automation. The Amazon founder is meeting with some of the world's largest asset managers to raise money for the project. It would be one of the biggest buyout funds in the world and rival SoftBank's $100 billion tech-focused Vision Fund. And Apple looks like it could top $1 billion in AI revenue this year. If you're an Apple user, that might be surprising because the company's Siri chatbot is considered weak by modern AI standards. WSJ reporter Rolfe Winkler told our tech news briefing podcast that the company's clear AI advantage is the iPhone.

Rolfe Winkler (2:28)

Companies, in order to sell subscriptions, in order to reach consumers, they have to go through the iPhone, really. That's a primary way to reach people who want to use ChatGPT, who want to use GROK, who want to use Gemini. These tools are all being distributed on the iPhone. And the reason Apple makes money is because of the Apple tax, the fee. You pay Apple to sell subscriptions when you're on an iPhone, right? If I buy a subscription into an app, that company is paying typically roughly 30% of what I'm paying to them. They kick back to Apple. So for all of last year, Apple itself, the fee they raked in from these apps was around $900 million, according to App Magic.

Alex Ossola (3:11)

Rolfe says Apple does have plans to boost its own AI.

Rolfe Winkler (3:14)

The conventional wisdom, which is not wrong, is Apple is way behind in AI. The main thing they're doing is they're going to bring out a better Siri this year. And if they can do that, if they have a smart personal assistant that really uses the data you have on your phone, then that could be the first time a lot of, you know, civilians, non-techies are using AI in a real way.

Alex Ossola (3:38)

To hear more from Rolfe, listen to tomorrow's episode of Tech News Briefing.

US indexes ended the day slightly lower, with the Dow leading the losses and closing down 0.4 percent. Stocks recovered from deeper declines after President Trump said he wouldn't, quote, put troops anywhere when asked about moving forces toward Iran. He also said that he told Israel not to attack oil and gas fields in Iran. Attacks on Middle East energy facilities have raised fears of a full-blown energy crisis. That sent Brent crude futures above $119 a barrel today. They later paired some gains and settled below $109. Average US costs for gasoline surged to $3.88 a gallon, their highest since 2022 And gold sank for the sixth time in the past seven trading days, losing nearly 6% today alone, while silver dropped more than 8%. The Trump administration is planning to ask Congress for hundreds of billions of dollars in funding to pay for its military campaign against Iran. A senior administration official said that the Pentagon has asked the White House to seek an additional $200 billion. The request is expected to face a rocky path in Congress. Lawmakers in both parties said today that they wanted to see more details of the proposal. Trump administration officials have refused to put a timeline on the war. From the conflict itself to how it's going over on the right. We told you earlier this week about Joe Kent resigning as the White House's chief counterterrorism officer because he opposes the Iran war. Most of Trump's base has backed the president and his operation in Iran, but Kent resigning and in such a public way has exposed a fault line among the right. Journal White House correspondent Natalie Andrews joins me now to talk about the divide in MAGA world and what it could mean for the midterms. Natalie, who are those on the right who oppose the Trump administration's operation in Iran and what is their argument?