“Based on the initial reports by the Dept of Interior and Park Police, the DC US Attorney’s Office presented evidence to the grand jury that damage to the Reflecting Pool was caused by vandals, including the defendant in this case, David Hearn. However, it was not until after the indictment that DOI provided additional documents indicating that the damage to the pool was the result of flawed installation by the contractor.”

… They lied about the whole thing. That is why you don’t rush a political indictment before you have all the facts and evidence just because you are trying to please your cult leader. They even presented false evidence to the grand jury. Pirro should be disbarred.

… NBC: “Cyberattacks targeting municipal water systems have been reported in at least 7 states this week, prompting the FBI and the EPA to warn utilities nationwide that hackers are trying to disrupt critical water infrastructure. The agencies said water and wastewater utilities have reported incidents to the FBI, with some malicious activity degrading water operations. The announcement does not name the states.”

… WaPo: “US intelligence agencies have assessed that Iran was likely behind a coordinated cyberattack on more than 30 municipal water systems in Minnesota this week, according to several US officials.“

… Trump held another cabinet meeting today in front of the press. This one was held at Camp David, but he isn’t actually staying there this weekend himself. He was asked about the report that Iran may have hacked the water systems. Naturally, he blamed American Democrats:

• “I blame it on MN because they’re grossly incompetent. I would blame it on MN and the governor, the corrupt governor of MN. They like to say, ‘Oh, it’s Iran.’ Iran should be so lucky. Iran’s got bigger problems than worrying about MN. I don’t think there was an Iranian cyberattack. I think MN ought to get its act together.”

… Gov. Tim Walz was asked about Trump’s comment: “Trump knows exactly who is responsible for this attack, and knows that other states were hit too. This is what modern warfare looks like, and it further illustrates there’s no plan to win a war with Iran.”

… Walz then posted: “Trump can’t beat Iran because he’s too busy waging war with Minnesota.”

… Journalist Aaron Rupar: “Just incredible to watch the US president take Iran's side when my state's water systems are under cyberattack.”

… National security reporter Michael Weiss: “He does it with Russia and now Iran. A desire to cut deals with adversaries who don’t want to cut deals with him leads him to downplay or excuse their malign behavior. In Iran’s case, an adversary he is still at war with and threatening to escalate against. He thinks this gives him leeway for negotiating; his adversaries see it as reason to press on.”

… Disinformation expert Dr. Caroline Orr Bueno: “This is so dangerous. Iran has an extensive history of targeting US water and energy systems, but instead of defending America from attacks waged by a hostile foreign actor, Trump is blaming Americans for being targeted by them.”

… Someone posted on X: “Pretty crazy that both the US and Iran are attacking Minnesota.”

… Walz responded: “Donald Trump’s America.”

• Q- “How many more strikes will it take? Trump: You never know. Most people would’ve given up by now. They haven’t. So, I give them credit for that. They’re tough.”

• Q - “Who from the admin is talking to Iran? Trump: Steve Witkoff, Jared, JD is involved, Marco. Q: Iran say talks aren’t happening. Trump: All they do is make me angry. They just make me angry.”

• “We’ll be hitting them very hard. At some point, they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore.’”

• Q - “There’s a report that the military wants you to go bigger in Iran. Trump: We’ve already gone big. Their entire navy is laying at the bottom of the sea. Their radar is all gone. Their leaders are all gone. Everything’s all gone. But they’ll fight onward.”

… North Vietnam in 1965 did not have anything close to the current military capabilities of Iran. But they continued to fight for another decade until we finally had enough. They were fighting for their country, we were not. Just as we are not now.

• On his lawsuit against the govt that resulted in the slush fund for J6ers: “I probably was abused more than anybody in the history of our country.”

… At the start of the Civil War, there were 4 million people who were enslaved in the US. Families were separated so some members could be sold to plantations in other parts of the country, including children.

• Q: “Did Gianni Infantino speak with you about selling the World Cup? Trump: No, I never spoke to him.”

… Trump then went around the room for his cabinet members to glaze him. Pete Hegseth:

• “It takes courage to win a war. You had the courage to do that - the courage to undertake Epic Fury. Other presidents had the option to do it, but they never pulled the trigger. It takes guts.”

• “The flyovers will indeed continue until morale improves. Because it’s important for the American people to see and feel our military in ways they haven’t in the past.”

… That’s exactly what we are afraid of.

• Scott Bessent: “President Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton could not have imagined the economy that we would have created. It is the envy of the world.”

• Trump to RFK Jr: “How are you doing on the autism research? RFK Jr: We will have an answer for you. Trump: That’s so important.”

… In his first press conference after his appointment, RFK Jr. promised to present scientific proof about the cause of autism by September 2025. So far, the only thing he’s done is blame Tylenol.

… Trump’s travel companion and personal assistant Natalie Harp left Camp David with him for the weekend after the cabinet meeting. No sign of Melania lately. I’m sure we will see her when it is time for her next contractually obligated appearance with her beloved husband.

… CNN: “Officials now believe the IRGC is firmly in control of Iran’s decision making, leaving political figures the US has been talking with as figureheads. Complicating matters are internal dynamics of the IRGC itself, where a handful of senior commanders are all jockeying for control. That is a leading reason why US officials and regional partners fear the conflict is likely to drag on.”

… Trump got his regime change alright. A more radical and militant regime.

… Just like the Saudi nuke deal last week, Trump is reneging on the Patriot missile licensing deal he made with Zelenskyy less than 24 hours after their meeting. He told Financial Times that he is “not sure” if he will agree to let Ukraine build Patriot missiles: “It’s a ​very extraordinary weapon, and we have to be ⁠a little bit careful ​of who ​we license ​to.”

… Zelenskyy said he had discussed licensing arrangements to let Ukraine manufacture its own interceptors for Patriot missile systems. Officials from Patriot maker Raytheon Co have ​already been to Ukraine, and Lockheed Martin, which ‌builds the PAC-3 interceptors for the air ‌defense system, was also working to send over a team of experts.”

… Trump: “Zelenskyy, he would like to have some Patriots, he would like to have some Tomahawks. These weapons are incredible. We have to be very careful about letting somebody build them, you know? It’s very important. Now, we have not agreed to that. We are talking about it, but it’s a hard thing to give away that kind of technology.”

… Phillips O’Brien, Prof of Strategic Studies at St. Andrews Univ: “If you cannot accept that what Trump has done over the last year and a half is starve Ukraine of air defense, and put off any new aid for as long as possible, so Putin can terrorize Ukraine from the air for as long as possible--you cannot accept reality.”

… Trump always goes on and on about how terrible all the deaths are in this war - like he actually cares. This is a way to protect Ukrainian civilians from indiscriminate bombing that will not cost us anything. But Trump says one thing publicly and does the opposite because he will never cross Putin.

… Fox host Bret Baier interviewed Zelenskyy: Q - “Does Trump see his conflict with Iran linked to your war with Russia? Zelenskyy: I’m not sure. We didn’t speak about it. Baier: Do you? Zelenskyy: Yes. Russia gave satellite images where American bases are in the Middle East countries.”

… The GDP numbers were released today for the second quarter of 2026. They were predictably putrid. CNBC: “Economic growth was weaker than expected in the second quarter. GDP increased just 1.5% for the April-through June period, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis numbers adjusted for seasonality and inflation.”

… CBS: “The nation’s GDP grew at an annual rate of 1.5% in the second quarter, weaker than economists expected and a sign the Iran war is hurting growth. Economists polled by Reuters predicted GDP would rise at an annualized rate of 2.1% for April to June.”

… “The reading shows an economy grappling with the impact of the conflict in the Middle East, which has disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and driven up global energy costs. In Q2, a surge in oil prices lifted US gasoline prices from an average of $2.98 a gallon just before the war started to well over $4.”

… Oxford Economics: “With gas prices rising again, the squeeze on real incomes will put renewed pressure on consumer spending in the second half of the year.”

… Fox brought on WH economic advisor Kevin Hassett to lie about the numbers:

• Q - “Last time we spoke, you told me you were expecting 4% growth in the second half of the year. The number was way lower. How would you assess that? Hassett: The reason why the number was 1.5% was because we imported so many capital goods because we’re building factories so fast.”

… This guy is unbelievable. His one skill is moving economic goalposts all over the stadium to try and cover up for failures and lies. No matter how bad the numbers are, he always has some new reason for them other than their dumb policies.

• On the 3rd farm bailout in the past 12 months: “America’s farmers have had some tough breaks. A bumper crop in Brazil made it so prices went down globally, the disruptions in the gold made fertilizer prices go up. And it’s really really important we help farmers.”

… Not tariffs and increased prices for fuel, fertilizer and other things caused by the war. A bumper crop in Brazil. It's amazing that the impacts on the US economy from 2021-2024 caused by covid and Russia's invasion of Ukraine was Biden's fault, but nothing that happens during the current presidency is Trump's fault despite his war of choice and tariffs.

• “Data centers are very good for towns, because they create so many jobs and bring people in with high incomes that can buy houses and stuff like that. So if you take a sleepy town that hasn’t seen much in the last 30 years and put a data center there, there are gonna be a whole bunch of happy residents.”

… Maybe Hassett can sell his house and move to a small town next to one to set a proper example for the rest of us.

This has been a long week with some long Bulletins so I am looking forward to my day off. It is wild blueberry harvest week in Maine so we are going to a blueberry farm to get a bunch. They are quite a bit smaller and more intensely flavored than the ones you get in the grocery store. We are going to be eating a lot of blueberries over the next month. After that it is a kayak excursion on the Presumpscot River.

Thank you again to everyone who reads, shares and subscribes to my work and everyone else at Meidas. Without your support none of us would be doing this. If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here. I will will be back on Sunday night with the Bulletin covering the weekend.

… AOC on The Majority Report: “I actually meet with MAHA activists because a lot of them really don’t believe that their fight is partisan—and in many ways, it’s not. We do have extraordinary corruption in our agricultural system and in our big corporate system as well. This is an area where both parties and our entire political system have been compromised.”

… “You have companies dumping cancerous byproducts, poisoning the communities around them. Then they pay off our political class to ignore it, let it continue, or legally shield them—like with glyphosate—from everyday people trying to hold them accountable. I see how all of these issues that are expressed on the surface as right-wing are actually rooted in the anxieties that we have as working people not being

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July 31, 2026

This week on Hell Cats, the series reaches its finale, and Maura Sullivan and Rebecca Bennett use it to answer the question that should sit underneath every political fight right now: what are we actually fighting for? As Kris Goldsmith puts it in the open, resistance by itself is not a vision for the country, so this one turns fully toward what comes next.

They don’t skip the stakes: a war with Iran that has killed eighteen service members with no defined mission and no vote from Congress, and an economy squeezing families and small businesses. But the heart of the episode is the vision, what America could look like if we actually governed around the lives people are trying to build.

Key Takeaways & Critical Insights

Resistance by itself isn’t a vision. People are exhausted by hearing only what we’re against, both hosts argue, and what’s missing is a clear picture of what we’re for. The whole finale is built to answer that.

A war with no plan, and a Congress that won’t own it. The war with Iran has now killed eighteen service members and wounded more than five hundred. The House passed a resolution to end it and the Senate let it die; the president still hasn’t defined the mission, victory, or the day-after; and the Pentagon won’t even be straight about the wounded. Both hosts frame it as Congress abdicating its most basic duty: the decision to send people to war is theirs to make, and they won’t make it.

Trade policy that punishes the people it claims to protect. The new tariffs on Canada and the EU hit hardest in a border state like New Hampshire, where Canada is the largest trading partner. Small businesses can’t plan (a Conway senior center that runs on imported Canadian aluminum, tourism down as much as 30%), and allies are quietly cutting deals with China instead.

What a stronger America could look like. Paid family leave (the U.S. is the only wealthy nation with none), affordable housing (prices up ~78% since 2018), affordable education, and healthcare that doesn’t bankrupt families, plus an economy that out-innovates competitors like China, which is training roughly ten times the engineers, with AI and high-speed rail, done faster and with less bureaucracy.

The two fixes both would make with a magic wand. End partisan gerrymandering and overturn Citizens United. Their point: there’s around 80% support for common-sense gun laws that still can’t pass, because the system is built to answer to safe seats and unlimited money rather than to people.

Rebuilding trust means changing who’s in the room. Elect new leadership, ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks, kill corporate PAC money, close the revolving door, and make Congress actually conduct oversight again.

Leadership comes down to making everyone matter. Maura’s high school track coach kept her on the team through an injury and put a medal around her neck with “we win together, we lose together, every member of this team is just as important,” the same spirit as the NASA janitor who told JFK he was helping put a man on the moon. Rebecca’s first startup boss lived by “we all clean the toilets.” Lead by example, and, as Kris frames it, that’s true of citizenship too.

Hope is ordinary people showing up. From neighbors and community events to the people who choose to spend their careers caring for veterans, and a Margaret Mead close: a small number of thoughtful, committed citizens is the only thing that ever changes the world.

The End of the First Run

This is the finale of the first six-episode run. The hosts close by thanking everyone who tuned in, and by asking where the show should go next, so drop your thoughts in the comments. Subscribe so you don’t miss whatever comes after this.

Actionable Takeaways for Listeners

Ask where your representatives stand on the war. A decision to keep troops in combat is Congress’s to make. Ask yours whether they’ll vote, and why.

Pick the fix you care about and push for it. Paid family leave, affordable housing, real oversight, whatever it is, tell your representatives it’s what you want them governing around.

Back the structural repairs. Ending partisan gerrymandering and getting money out of politics is what makes the rest possible. Support the reforms and the people fighting for them.

Find something you care about and get involved. A nonprofit, an AmeriCorps program, a campaign whose values you share. As the hosts put it, none of this future is guaranteed; we have to build it.

Mentioned in This Episode

• The war with Iran and Congress’s Article I war-powers role

• The House resolution to end the war

• The new tariffs on Canada and the EU

• Paid family leave and the U.S. standing among wealthy nations

• Partisan gerrymandering and Citizens United

• AmeriCorps and national service

• The JFK “everyone at NASA is helping put a man on the moon” story

• The Margaret Mead quote on committed citizens

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Where to Follow the Hosts
Watch Hell Cats here and on Meidas Defense YouTube, where you’ll also find shorter clips and highlights from each episode, and listen to full episodes on Substack. Follow the hosts on their own Substacks, Maura Sullivan and Rebecca Bennett. Hell Cats is executive produced by Kris Goldsmith and produced by Lauren Hust at Public Square Media, in partnership with Valor Media Network.

Production

Hell Cats is a production of Public Square Media in partnership with VALOR Media Network.

Executive Producer: Kristofer Goldsmith

Producer: Lauren Hust

Brought to you by Meidas Defense.

Editorial Note

Hell Cats is an independent production of Public Square Media in partnership with VALOR Media Network, created for journalistic, educational, and public-interest purposes.
Public Square Media and VALOR Media Network exercise sole editorial control over the program’s content, production, and distribution. While some hosts or guests may be candidates for public office, Hell Cats is not produced by, authorized by, requested by, or coordinated with any political campaign or candidate committee. Participation in the program does not constitute an endorsement by Public Square Media or VALOR Media Network.

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Thanks again to all those who continue to let me know you preordered the book I wrote with my brothers, WTF America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy. If you preorder your copy today, be sure to let me know in the comments!

Here’s what we’re tracking today:

• The Strait of Hormuz standoff between CENTCOM and Iran, plus reports of a possible land blockade

• New OSINT reports of strikes on U.S. and allied bases in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar

• North Korea warning that conflict on the Korean peninsula is now “a matter of timing”

• Zelenskyy’s Starlink ask and Trump’s wavering on Patriot missile production for Ukraine (I warned you not to trust him)

• Ben-Gvir’s comments on Gaza and Netanyahu’s silence on Hamas disarmament

• Trump’s old comments on Spain resurfacing as Morocco appears to push migrants toward the Spanish border

• The Camp David cabinet meeting, where Trump talked about his own “abuse,” Iran, and Ukraine

• Kevin Hassett’s economic spin session with Maria Bartiromo after a disappointing GDP number

• Trump’s Truth Social post defending the insurrectionist slush fund, and Cornyn’s pushback

• Senator Bernie Moreno going after Dr. Fauci

• The State Department’s new commemorative passport nobody requested

• House Judiciary Democrats opening a probe into Truth Social’s “insider access” program

• UEFA, Concacaf, and now the AFC all lining up against FIFA’s privatization plan tied to a Kushner brother

Before I go any further, if you haven’t joined as a paid subscriber yet, please consider doing so by clicking here. This is how we grow. We’re making this recap paywall free, but when you subscribe, you’ll unlock all our recaps, our exclusive Ask-the-Editor series, and more, while directly supporting the continued growth of this independent network.

Now let’s get into it.

Trump Is Begging Iran For a Deal, and Iran Isn’t Answering the Phone

Donald Trump spent part of his Friday wandering the White House grounds with Natalie Harp, the woman many have been calling his human printer, and calling up the New York Post to announce that he is demanding Iran agree to a cease-fire, or else there will be a price to pay, according to the Post’s Emily Goodin. That is the posture of someone flailing.

Iran’s answer came fast. Overnight in Erbil, Iraq, a Shahed drone struck U.S. interests, and Iranian-aligned accounts spent the day publicly fact-checking CENTCOM’s own fact-checks, insisting the Strait of Hormuz is closed and that any tanker passage requires IRGC Navy coordination. The IRGC claims it struck two tankers and turned back four more that tried to use what the U.S. has been calling the safe southern route. Meanwhile the U.S. reportedly blocked a Qatari LNG tanker from continuing on to Pakistan because it used Iran’s designated corridor instead of the American one. So tankers get squeezed from both directions.

On top of the naval standoff, the Telegraph’s Connor Stringer and Joe Barnes report that the U.S. and Israel are now discussing a land blockade of Iran, which would require Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Armenia, and Azerbaijan to close their borders with Iran. Good luck with that. Iraq just held a funeral for the Ayatollah that drew millions of Shiite mourners, and Israel is simultaneously threatening Turkey.

Then there’s the satellite imagery, which needs a caveat up front: these are OSINT aggregator claims based on low-resolution commercial satellite photos, not confirmed by CENTCOM, the Pentagon, or the host governments. With that said, accounts tracking Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan describe a pattern going back to July 2nd, new hangars built, destroyed, rebuilt, and struck again with what one account called scary precision. Other posts point to housing units hit in Kuwait, a new impact at the Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, and evacuated aircraft at Al Udeid in Qatar. Whatever the precise details turn out to be, the pattern is a retreat, not a victory lap.

And then, North Korea is now warning, through state-adjacent channels, that a clash on the Korean peninsula is a matter of timing given the expansion of U.S. forces in Japan. Kim Jong Un has nuclear weapons now. He didn’t when Obama was in office. Yet I remember the legacy press talking a whole lot about it then, and going notably silence about these developments under Trump.

Changing How You Read the News: Here’s Why It Matters

Let me take a quick moment to discuss an important issue that’s affecting our country, and the world. Americans aren’t just disagreeing; we’re being shown completely different stories.

Every day, news outlets decide what to publish. In polarized media environments, audience demographics can split coverage. If you rely on only one side of the media spectrum, you could miss stories entirely, not because it isn’t credible, but because it doesn’t align with certain editorial priorities.

That’s why I’m often asked where I go to do research for my reporting. One of the main research tools I use is called Ground News. Ground News shows me how stories are being covered from different political perspectives, and it highlights “blindspots” where only left-wing or right-wing media is covering a story.

That kind of visibility is rare right now, and it changes how you understand the news. I’ve worked out a deal with them; if you want that level of insight every day, head to /ground.news/meidastouch and subscribe to get 40% off the Vantage plan, the one I use.

Ground News is subscriber-funded, so they don’t rely on ads that could introduce bias. By subscribing, you support both our channel and their independent team working to keep the media transparent. Thanks to Ground News for sponsoring this post and helping solve one of the biggest issues we are facing!

Ukraine Gets Strung Along Again

The Atlantic’s Simon Shuster, Missy Ryan, and Jonathan Lemire report that Zelenskyy asked Trump to lean on Elon Musk to open up Starlink for targeting ballistic missile launchers inside Russia, since Ukraine is short on Patriot interceptors. Trump didn’t commit. Separately, a UK headline confirms what Trump said live at the Camp David cabinet meeting: he’s not sure he’ll let Ukraine build its own Patriot missiles, despite previously telling NATO allies he would. He talked about the tech being too sensitive to hand over, comparing it to Nvidia chips, the same chips his own administration has sold to the UAE and reportedly considered for China. Meanwhile Ukraine kept up strikes on Russian logistics overnight, hitting Wildberries warehouses in Volgograd and Tatarstan, the Lukoil refinery in Volgograd, the TAIF-NK refinery in Nizhnekamsk, and the Kaspiysk seaport area in Dagestan. Remember I told you not to trust Trump’s “new tone” on Ukraine? This is why.

Ben-Gvir Wants Spain to Take Gaza’s Population, Netanyahu Stays Quiet

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted, in Spanish, that Pedro Sánchez should open Spain’s doors to Gaza residents seeking to leave, framing it as a chance for Spain to add to its “human diversity.” In Hebrew, he separately said the draft disarmament agreement for Hamas is unacceptable to Israel and that targeted killings in Gaza need to continue. CNN’s Tal Shalev reports that Netanyahu has stayed silent on the disarmament announcement, with a source saying he expects Hamas to violate it and doesn’t want to criticize the deal publicly ahead of October elections.

Spain, Morocco, and Trump’s Greatest Hits

Speaking of Spain, footage is circulating of Moroccan trucks appearing to move thousands of migrants toward the Spanish border near Ceuta, and older clips of Trump threatening Spain and Pedro Sánchez are being recirculated right on cue. You’ll recall Trump telling Spain it wasn’t “behaving nicely” but that it would “learn,” the same way, he said, Cuba, Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico supposedly learned. This is straight out of the authoritarian playbook: manufacture a crisis at a border, then use the resulting images as a talking point for the next election cycle.

Here’s a clip of Trump from July 3rd, in which he says, "They'll learn soon":

Look at who’s actually involved here. Morocco’s government is a partner in the Abraham Accords with Israel, and this week you had Israeli ministers and a chorus of right-wing ultranationalist leaders across Europe piling on Pedro Sánchez at the exact same moment those trucks started moving toward Ceuta. That is not a coincidence, that’s a coordinated pressure campaign, and Sánchez is getting squeezed from every direction because he hasn’t fallen in line with the rest of the European right. Fox’s Jackie Heinrich went and got Trump’s reaction this morning, and predictably he pointed to the images out of Ceuta as a preview of what happens if Democrats win, telling viewers that’s what their lives will look like in three years if the wrong side gets in. That’s the whole strategy in one sentence. Manufacture the crisis, get your allies to amplify it, then turn around and use the footage as a campaign ad for the midterms. By the way, you know midterms are approaching when Republicans can’t stop talking about caravans, communism, and transgender people.

The Camp David Cabinet Meeting

Trump held a cabinet meeting at Camp David where he described Iran as having “very little capabilities” left while also saying Iran will “fight onward.” He talked about giving Ukraine Patriot missile technology and then talked himself out of it in the same breath, worried the technology could be turned against the U.S. He also used the meeting to revisit his own grievances, saying he was abused more than almost anyone in the country’s history and that he deserves damages for the Mar-a-Lago search. He did not mention that he already secured a settlement shielding himself from future tax audits and investigations, a deal worth billions in avoided liability. Trump himself in a Truth social post today confirmed that the immunity deal and slush fund remains on the table, despite Todd Blanche’s verbal assurances under oath that it does not.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used the moment to praise Trump’s “courage” over Operation Epic Fury, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent compared Trump’s economic legacy favorably to Washington, Jefferson, and Hamilton. You know how these cabinet meetings go…

The Economy Is Not Fine, No Matter They Say

National Economic Advisor Kevin Hassett went on Fox Business and got asked by Maria Bartiromo why the GDP growth he’d promised at 4% came in far lower. He of course blamed Democrats for pursuing a communist takeover of America, and Bartiromo told him that was a great point. This is the scam in plain sight. They tell you a golden age is right around the corner. Soon, you’ll be rich. And when that inevitably does not happen, it’s those pesky communist Democrats to blame! That’s the playbook.

Hassett argued data centers are wonderful for small towns, ignoring the American farmers who’ve absorbed bankruptcy after bankruptcy from these tariffs, from rising fertilizer costs tied directly to the Iran war, and from lost export markets. He acknowledged farmers have had “tough breaks” without ever mentioning who caused them.

The Slush Fund, Cornyn, and the Fauci Distraction

As I mentioned, Trump posted a lengthy defense of the insurrectionist slush fund, insisting he gave up personal payments while defending compensation for January 6th participants he calls unfairly persecuted patriots. He again attacked John Cornyn, whose primary loss Trump take credit for after backing his opponent, and pushed for Todd Blanche’s confirmation as Attorney General. Around the same time, Senator Bernie Moreno went on Fox and accused Dr. Fauci of killing seniors and being, in his words, a smug figure who deserves scorn. This is a distraction strategy. When the war goes badly and the economy underperforms, MAGA needs a villain from five years ago to talk about instead. Meanwhile, Moreno won’t even denounce his own son-in-law, Congressman Max Miller, who allegedly abused his own daughter and grandchild. Yesterday, Moreno’s daughter filed a restraining order against Miller.

Passports Nobody Asked For, and a Truth Social Probe

The State Department announced that starting August 8th, Americans can apply for a commemorative America 250th passport featuring Trump’s image. They said, “You asked. We delivered.” Nobody asked for this. What people are asking for is affordable health care and housing. Meanwhile House Judiciary Democrats, led by Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, have opened a probe into a scheme allegedly selling insider access to Trump’s Truth Social posts through a Truth API, demanding records on subscribers, pricing, and internal communications by August 13th.

FIFA’s Privatization Plan Is Collapsing

UEFA has voted to boycott the World Cup over FIFA’s plan to sell stakes in the tournament to private investors, led by Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Eternal fund. Concacaf has already stood with UEFA, and now the Asian Football Confederation has joined them too, warning that the plan cannot achieve the consensus needed to move forward. That’s three of six global soccer confederations lined up against a Kushner-connected deal tied to a tournament Trump’s circle has been eager to attach itself to. U.S. Soccer has also thrown their support in with the other confederations and against FIFA. Things are not looking good right now for Trump’s buddy, FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

That’s the rundown for this Friday. We’ve got more videos coming throughout the day and Ron Filipkowski’s bulletin later. And if you haven’t already, go preorder WTF America, the book I wrote with my brothers. Preorders genuinely help us plan for the release, so it matters. We’ll see you soon!

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Pre-order the new book from MeidasTouch, WTF America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy, by clicking here.

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… 7 points on the generic ballot is considered a wave election. A big wave.

… Trump approval:

• CNN - 34%

• AP - 33%

• Quinnipiac - 32%

… Fox News Senate Polls:

• GEORGIA: Ossoff (D) - 56%, Collins (R): 43%

• NORTH CAROLINA: Cooper (D): 53%, Whatley: 44%

• OHIO: Brown: 53% (D), Husted (R): 45%

• IOWA: Turek: 50% (D), Hinson (R): 46%

… Center for Politics Crystal Ball ratings shifted 14 races toward Democrats. Senate:

Georgia: Lean D → Likely D

House
• PA-08: Lean R → Toss-up
• NY-17: Lean R → Toss-up
• NC-01: Lean R → Toss-up
• NC-11: Lean R → Toss-up
• FL-14: Lean R → Toss-up
• OH-07: Likely R → Lean R
• TX-15: Likely R → Lean R
• CO-04: Safe R → Likely R
• SC-01: Safe R → Likely R
• KS-03: Lean D → Likely D
• NJ-09: Lean D → Likely D
• NY-19: Lean D → Likely D
• CT-05: Likely D → Safe D

… NYT: “A sordid, yearslong family drama involving two powerful Republican members of Congress from OH and allegations of domestic abuse is threatening to put a fairly safe GOP House seat at risk in an already challenging midterm election year for the party. Rep. Max Miller has been accused by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, of domestic abuse against her and their 2-year-old daughter.”

… “Ms. Moreno, the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno, has said that Miller scalded her chest and stomach by throwing hot water from a skillet at her body; held a gun to her head; pushed her against a wall and hit her head; and fractured their daughter’s collarbone and bruised her shoulder. According to court documents, their daughter at one point told Ms. Moreno, ‘Daddy kill you.’”

… “Trump’s political operation, as well as WH officials, who are keenly aware that every seat matters as they stare down an electoral map that shows them at risk of losing their House majority. They worry that Miller is harming his re-election chances and Republicans’ hopes of preserving the seat. And Democrats, who initially had little hope of flipping the seat, are newly bullish about their chances in the district.”

… Miller, however, angrily disputed the notion that his seat was in jeopardy in a series of text messages in which he threatened to block a reporter’s number for seeking comment about the matter: “Texas is turning blue like I’m losing my seat. Take a hike. After I win by more than my district, don’t bother ever contacting me again.”

… Emily Moreno filed for a restraining order today. Her father, Bernie Moreno, remains publicly silent on the alleged abuse suffered by his daughter and grandchild at the hands of his OH Republican congressional colleague.

… Reuters: “The nation’s GDP grew at an annual rate of 1.5% in the second quarter, the Commerce Dept said Thursday, weaker than economists expected and a sign the Iran war is hurting growth. Economists polled by Reuters predicted GDP would rise at an annualized rate of 2.1% for April to June. The economy grew at a 2.1% annual rate in Q1.”

… “The reading shows an economy grappling with the impact of the conflict in the Middle East, which has disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and driven up global energy costs. In the second quarter, a surge in oil prices lifted US gas prices from an average of $2.98 a gallon just before the war started to well over $4.”

… Fox made the announcement on air as the report was announced: “Second quarter GDP came in at 1.5%. The estimate was a gain of 2.1%, so we’re coming in a little bit light.”

… Bloomberg’s Steve Dennis: “Bad news: The 30-year Treasury yield hit a 19-year high today. America’s going to have to pay more for its colossal debt, which will soon hit $40 trillion. Interest already tops $1 trillion a year and is growing rapidly. There are no serious efforts to cut the deficit. WH/GOP plans to increase spending on war, farmers.”

… Meidas: “The Justice Dept confirmed Thursday that it has turned over unredacted Epstein-related records directly to a federal judge for private review, marking the latest development in a lawsuit brought by attorney and MeidasTouch host Katie Phang challenging the government’s handling of the files.”

… “In a new filing submitted July 30, Acting AG Todd Blanche’s DOJ notified US District Judge Emmet Sullivan that it had complied with his July 25 order requiring the government to produce documents supporting a series of contested redactions. According to the filing, DOJ delivered hard copies of the documents by hand to Judge Sullivan’s chambers at 2:28 p.m. Thursday.”

… “The records are being reviewed in camera, meaning privately by the judge rather than being placed on the public docket. The step allows Sullivan himself to examine what the government has concealed and determine whether DOJ’s explanations for the redactions hold up.”

… Sen. John Thune has canceled the vote on Todd Blanche’s nomination for AG and Trump is threatening to pull his nomination until next year as outgoing senators John Cornyn, Thom Tillis, Bill Cassidy and others refuse to back down on their demand that he terminate, in writing, Trump’s IRS immunity and slush fund for his criminal cronies.

… Politico: “The Senate Judiciary Committee has abandoned plans to advance Todd Blanche’s nomination as AG, a significant speed bump that will make it difficult for Republicans to confirm him before the chamber begins its August recess next week. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) held firm in his demand that Blanche revise a controversial settlement agreement between Trump and the IRS.”

… “Just one GOP ‘no’ vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee would effectively sink Blanche’s nomination. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), another member of the panel with concerns about the settlement, said he would follow Cornyn’s lead. Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA), along with Tillis, met late afternoon in Cornyn’s office to hammer out the issues on Blanche, but with no resolution.”

… Tillis: “We made it clear that we need the language to move forward with the markup.”

… Punchbowl: Cornyn says he sent line-by-line edits to DOJ’s proposal on the weaponization fund and the audit immunity deal but hasn’t heard back: “I would think he wants to be confirmed. And I don’t think he’s gonna be confirmed if he doesn’t at least try to be responsive. They claim to be negotiating in good faith, but something’s not working good. And I don’t know where the problem is. We’ve tried to make it easy for them, and they simply refuse to take our help.”

… Punchbowl’s Em Luetkemeyer: “Sens. Cornyn and Tillis both say someone higher-up in the WH is influencing and ruining any deal on Todd Blanche. Tillis said he doesn’t think it’s the president.”

… Cornyn: “If this were just between me and Todd Blanche, we would have worked this out, but, apparently, he’s getting some pushback from higher ups at the WH. I don’t know who, but it doesn’t need to be this hard.”

… Tillis: “I don’t know who it is - I’m just trying to get them out of the way so we can get the president his AG.”

… Tillis to Scripps: “Todd Blanche is negotiating in good faith, but it’s clear that the approval to get this done is above his pay grade, and we just need to get to that pay grade.”

… Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA): “Even some of Trump’s Republican allies thought his slush fund and ‘license to steal’ lifetime audit pass were too corrupt. They made ending them the price of confirming Trump’s AG nominee. Now Trump says he would rather have the corruption than his AG.”

… Sen. Cassidy to Semafor: “I have to make sure that he is the AG who used to be the president’s personal attorney, not the personal attorney who is also the AG. I am concerned about the lawfare, going after people. Cassidy Hutchinson, for example, a grand jury, I’m told is being empaneled, going after her. Why? Tell me that again. Why? The fact that that’s happening has great concern and should concern all Americans. Because where does it stop?”

… After the vote on Blanche was canceled, Trump had a temper tantrum on Truth Social:

“Todd Blanche is a STAR, and everyone knows it! He has the potential to go down as one of the Greatest AGs of All Time. However, John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, both of whom I refused to Endorse, and whose political careers have been ended by my action, are refusing to vote for this Great Nominee, who will remain, in any event, as Acting. Remember, both Cornyn and Tillis voted for Merrick Garland, and others, too numerous to mention. I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd’s name, if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office.”

… Cornyn responded: “POTUS is mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis.”

… All of this is happening simply because Trump and his criminal defense lawyer Blanche refuse to reverse Trump’s immunity from IRS audits as well as the slush fund to pay off his criminal cronies with taxpayer dollars. Those are the only 2 things Tillis and Cornyn want.

… Reuters: “A US govt map of Africa mislabeled every country during a State Dept presentation at ‌a global conference taking place in Brazil this week, causing a stir among attendees who took screenshots and posted them online. Reuters viewed a video of the presentation given at the AIDS 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro, which shows the errant map ​displayed halfway during a presentation about the State Dept’s new health agreements.”

… “The map included in the presentation contained an AI watermark that ⁠signals it was made with OpenAI tools. The map showed Nigeria, where the US currently has several hundred troops deployed, as landlocked in the Sahara Desert. Mozambique, which is in southeastern Africa, was relocated to the Horn of Africa, while Ivory ​Coast in West Africa was placed on the other side of the continent.”

… The State Dept. announced today that the new Trump passports will be issued beginning August 8.

… Rep. John McGuire (R-VA) talked about the Fauci hearing on Newsmax: “I don’t know if you heard about the BLT sandwich - using human fetus baby parts in the vaccine when they could’ve used ivermectin.”

… These people are absolute freaks and weirdos.

… Days after intelligence reports indicated that Putin was using Russian satellites to help Iran target US troops, Trump was asked about a new report that China is also helping Iran:

• Q - “President Xi told you that China would not give or sell Iran any weapons. There’s a new report that Iran’s about to get 400 rocket launchers from China going through Pakistan to Iran. Trump: Well, that would be surprising, I mean things like that happen, but that would be surprising. He told me very strongly he wouldn’t partake, but he knows I’d be quite disappointed.”

… The only thing worse than having one of the biggest morons on the planet running your country is having one that thinks he’s actually smarter than everyone else.

… NYT: “The Middle East teetered on the brink of an expanded war on Thursday, after Iran and the US reignited their hostilities and conflicts on other fronts threatened to draw in more countries. For the first time since the conflict began, the authorities in Egypt said that the country had come under attack, stating that an explosion at one of its ports the previous day had been caused by an unidentified drone.”

… “Earlier, Saudi Arabia also acknowledged direct involvement in the war for the first time, after conducting joint strikes with US forces on Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. Jordan’s military said its air defenses had shot down 5 missiles launched from Iran early on Thursday morning. The statement, published by the official Jordanian news agency, said there were no casualties.”

Yesterday on Uncovered we talked about Sleepy Don at Lindsey’s funeral, how Trump won’t criticize Putin helping Iran, Musk’s latest meltdown, Trump and Republican missile stockpile lies, the Saudi nuke deal that blew up, issues with the DSA platform, Zelenskyy’s interview with Laura Loomer and what he’s trying to accomplish, the missing $13B Trump stole from Venezuela, the WHC Dinner fiasco & lots more!

If you missed the show, you can find it here. If you missed the last Bulletin, that is here.

… Financial Times: “Trump’s war in Iran has significantly reduced inventories of crucial air defense interceptors. The Center for Strategic and Intl Studies estimates that no more than 827 Patriot interceptors and no more than 278 THAAD ballistic missile interceptors remain in US stockpiles.”

… Right-wing podcaster Alex Jones: “This war is absolutely out of control. So I’m calling for it right now, 25th Amendment, impeachment, whatever needs to happen to get control of our country. This is unbelievable, this is disaster. But the public is awakening. This is destroying our economy and is going to kill a bunch of our troops.”

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Hi all, Ben here. It’s Thursday, and there is a lot to get through, so let’s get right into it.

Thanks again to all those who continue to let me know you preordered the book I wrote with my brothers, WTF America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy. If you preorder your copy today, be sure to let me know in the comments!

Top stories we’re tracking:

• Trump threatens to yank Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination after Cornyn and Tillis refuse to confirm him without a written revocation of Trump’s tax audit immunity and January 6th slush fund

• Q2 GDP comes in at 1.5%, well below the 2.1% estimate, as Trump officials keep promising 4-6% growth

• Treasury bond selloff after the Fed holds rates steady for a seventh straight month

• MAGA senators and House members continue attacking Dr. Fauci

• Saudi Arabia strikes Sanaa, Yemen, with the Houthis vowing retaliation

• Iran claims strikes on US-linked bases in Jordan and Kuwait, alleging destroyed F-35s and American casualties

• Qatar routes an LNG shipment through Iran’s shipping corridor in the Strait of Hormuz instead of the US-backed route

• A US-owned LNG vessel is hit by drone strike off Egypt

• Hundreds of Jordanians sign an open letter demanding US troops leave the country

• NBC News reports Trump is privately furious with aides over the lack of an endgame in the Iran war

• Russian missiles cross into Polish airspace as Poland’s PM warns the next 100 days could decide the Ukraine war

• The State Department displays a map at a global health summit in Brazil with every African country mislabeled

• UEFA’s 55 member federations unanimously vote to boycott the World Cup over FIFA’s plan to sell a stake to a private investor group led by Josh Kushner, Jared Kushner’s brother

Before I go any further, if you haven’t joined as a paid subscriber yet, please consider doing so by clicking here. This is how we grow. You’ll unlock all our recaps, our exclusive Ask-the-Editor series, and more, while directly supporting the continued growth of this independent network.

Now let’s dig into it.

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Hi all, Ben here. It’s Wednesday, and I need you to buckle up because there is a lot happening today.

Thanks again to all those who continue to let me know you preordered the book I wrote with my brothers, WTF America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy. If you preorder your copy today, be sure to let me know in the comments!

Here’s what we’re tracking this afternoon:

• Trump tells Fox News he’s going to “beat the f**king s*** out of” Iran, as the US and Saudi Arabia hit Iranian-backed militias in Iraq after Iranian attacks

• The Iraqi resistance responds, demanding Iraq cancel its US and Saudi agreements

• Iran says the Strait of Hormuz stays closed, no exceptions

• The Houthis are reportedly considering their own toll system in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, with Chinese ships exempted

• US troops in the Middle East are being told to stop posting videos, and some may have to surrender their phones

• China is reportedly sending Iran hundreds of shoulder-fired missiles, the exact deal Trump swore Xi told him would never happen

• Oil prices are spiking and the Dow is cratering

• The Pentagon is bragging about AI agents

• Fauci testifies before the Senate

• Epstein survivors are on Capitol Hill right now hand-delivering files to senators ahead of Todd Blanche’s confirmation vote

• Obama is endorsing Josh Turek in Iowa

• Energy Secretary Chris Wright lies and says data centers lower electricity prices

• FIFA’s Gianni Infantino is giving member federations a deadline to approve his private equity plan for the World Cup involving the Kushners

• SpaceX wants to put an AI data center made of up to a million satellites into orbit

Before I go any further, if you haven’t yet joined as a paid subscriber, consider doing so now by clicking here to support our work. This is how we grow. It will give you access to all recaps like this, our exclusive Ask-the-Editor series, and more. Plus, it is the best way to help support the growth of this network.

Now let’s get into it.

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… Trump was on Fox & Friends this morning:

• Q - “Are you worried the tariffs you put forward over the last couple days will hurt the economy? Trump: No, because it’s bringing in hundreds of billions of dollars.”

… That’s exactly why they are hurting the economy.

• Q - “We hear that you’re talking with leaders from Iran. But Iran has come out publicly and said ‘we’re not talking to the US’. Trump: Well, they just came out and said we are talking. Q - So could you tell me who you’re talking to? Trump: We’ve had some very good talks.”

… He never said who he was supposedly talking to.

• “It’ll take them many years to ever rebuild, and if I go back and finish up the job as some people would like with the bridges - it takes them 10 years to build a bridge. They know I’m going to do that if they don’t make a deal. The bridges are going to be gone. Literally, in less than 2 hours, most of the major bridges will all be gone—and the power plants, in one day.”

• On Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain: “We have the greatest cameras in the world focused on it. I know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe, it’s not a big problem. We took out their nuclear sites, and we’ll have to take out Pickaxe if we don’t make a deal. If we don’t make a deal, we’ll take it out very easily.”

… He supposedly already took it out a year ago.

• Q - There are reports that Netanyahu will brief you on Iranian activity at Pickaxe Mountain: “I don’t need Bibi to tell me that. Bibi is telling me that because he wants me to stay involved. I heard Bibi announce that, I said ‘why don’t you just tell it to me? Why do you have to announce it to the world?’ I know exactly what’s going on.”

• “I stopped 8 wars, I would say 5 of them because of tariffs. The threat of tariffs stopped India and Pakistan from going into a nuclear war.”

… Yes, the first nuclear war in history between two countries with nukes would have already happened if it wasn’t for Trump threatening tariffs on Truth Social and a billion people would be dead. Right.

… Trump had meetings with both Zelenskyy and Netayahu today in the Oval Office. Netanyahu posted this:

… Steve Bannon: “I think all of Trump’s most ardent non-‘Israel First’ supporters are furious. Netanyahu has had twice as many visits to the WH in 18 months as Winston Churchill had in all of World War II - with every one of them a disaster for America.”

… Politico: “Many of the president’s anti-interventionist allies had hoped the latest ceasefire attempt would lead to a permanent end to the conflict. Instead, they’re grappling with the possibility that Netanyahu, who is visiting the US for the 7th time since Trump took office last year, may instead push the president into a new, more durable phase of war that could leave the US embroiled in conflict in the Middle East for months, if not years.”

… Zelenskyy posted: “A good meeting with President Trump at the Oval Office. The President and I discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help. We also spoke about diplomacy – it’s important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated. Our teams will arrange the details of their further communication. I am grateful to the US for its firm support.”

… The WH sent JD Vance over to the Capitol Rotunda for Lindsey Graham’s service while Trump was meeting with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. Probably a wise move.

… Later in the afternoon, Trump and his cabinet attended Lindsey’s funeral. Sean Hannity gave the eulogy: “Lindsey probably has a heavenly version of Mar a Lago. It may even be a little bigger. He may have a little more gold in the Oval Office in his mansion in heaven. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he added one big beautiful ballroom and an arch somewhere on the property. because you would wanna obviously duplicate his dearest friend in life, you, Mr. President.”

… Really shocking that Lindsey’s memorial service turned into a tribute to Donald Trump.

… Trump also attempted to put a TicTac in his mouth but he missed his mouth and dropped it on the floor. He made it on the second attempt.

… Naturally, he left the first one on the floor for someone else to pick up later.

… As soon as the next speaker started talking about Lindsey and not Trump, he promptly fell asleep in public again in the middle of the day.

… CNN’s Kaitlan Collins was asked about the WH Correspondents’ Dinner on the Daily Show. Jon Stewart: “Was he bombing as hard as it appeared on TV? Collins: What was most surprising to me was that the room was filled with a lot of his staffers, his cabinet, his allies, and Republicans in Congress. It was so quiet in the room during the president’s remarks.”

… On Trump’s frequent personal attacks on her: “It’s really not about me, and I don’t want it to be about my reaction. In those moments it’s important to put the reminder back on the work, on the question, and on the non-answers that we get.”

… Axios: “KY Gov. Andy Beshear demanded that Sen. Mitch McConnell verbally address constituents and demonstrate his ability to serve or resign his seat in a blunt letter sent to the senator and his staff. Beshear said in the letter that it was also being sent to John Thune, whom Beshear urged to investigate McConnell’s capacity to serve:

…. Beshear: “I understand anyone’s desire for privacy, but when you run for office and serve as one of a state’s two US senators, you willingly abdicate much of your personal privacy. That’s the deal, and we all know it when we run. All of this speculation and even this letter could have been avoided with a minimal amount of transparency. Kentuckians are just asking you to be honest.”

… Beshear to Bloomberg: “There’s an argument out there that Aug 3 is a date where I could not later call a special election. Those that are really pushing this I think are under the impression that a Democrat in KY might be able to win that election. It’s been since 1992 that we had a Democratic senator in KY.”

… “You mentioned a lot of missed votes. I want to point out some other missed votes that might not be a bad thing. McConnell hasn’t been there to vote on the SAVE Act, which would tear voting rights away. He hasn’t been there to vote to support this war on Iran that this president started and shouldn’t be continuing. Not having Mitch McConnell show up isn’t necessarily a bad thing because he certainly doesn’t show up to help the American people.”

… Stephen Miller on Fox: “AOC, Bernie, Omar—these are people who, even 10-15 years ago, would have been relegated to the outermost fringes. They are now the heart of the party. The Democrats have become the party of freaks, weirdos, losers, and crazies. But you can't laugh it off because it's deadly serious. When you give these people power, everything you know and love in this world falls apart. You have chaos, corruption, decay, violence, poverty.”

… Stephen Miller calling someone else a freak and weirdo. Almost like Trump making jokes about people’s weight.

… Punchbowl: “The vote on Acting AG Todd Blanche’s confirmation is coming down to the wire. Just 48 hours before a key Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Blanche’s nomination for the permanent AG job, GOP Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis are holding firm on their conditions for backing Blanche - and indicating there’s been little movement toward a deal that would unlock their support.”

… “Both senators, whose votes are needed for Blanche to advance to the Senate floor, are demanding that DOJ formally eliminate the ‘anti-weaponization’ fund and curtail an IRS audit immunity deal for Trump. Cornyn said that DOJ has ‘not sufficiently’ addressed his concerns but noted they’re ‘still talking.’”

… Cornyn: “We just need for the documents to conform to what Blanche’s testimony was at the hearing, where he said the weaponization fund was dead and he said that the immunity from future audits does not extend to people beyond the parties to the lawsuit.”

… Cornyn posted: “Fake news alert: there is no ‘deal’ on Blanche nomination. They know what they have to do.”

… Laura Weiss with Punchbowl: “The standoff between Todd Blanche and Judiciary Republican swing votes is really coming down to the wire. Cornyn and Tillis want DOJ to formally kill anti-weaponization fund and restrict Trump’s audit immunity deal before they advance him in committee. Vote is scheduled for Thursday.”

… MS NOW: “Last week, former DOJ lawyer Liz Oyer testified in the Senate against the confirmation of Todd Blanche as AG. Then came the death threats. Oyer oversaw the DOJ’s pardon office before Trump ousted her last year and promptly turned the office into a tool to help out his donors and political allies. She has said she was fired for refusing to restore actor Mel Gibson’s gun rights after his 2011 conviction for domestic violence.”

… “And she was a key witness urging senators to vote against confirming Blanche, who has already sought as acting AG to quash further inquiry into the Epstein files and drew criticism over his softball interview with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. And it seems Republicans are now fueling attacks against Oyer as they try to make Blanche the nation’s top law enforcement official.”

… “Oyer attributed the threats to dubious accusations - peddled by Missouri’s Republican senators, Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt, and in conservative media - that she was basically an ally to rapists and murderers. At the Senate hearing, the two senators homed in on Joe Biden’s decision to commute most federal death sentences.”

… “Oyer explained that her recommendation to reassess the cases of all 40 inmates on federal death row, 37 of whom Biden spared from execution, was in keeping with the admin’s broad opposition to capital punishment. She also dispelled misinformation that commuted inmates will be ever be released from prison.”

… John Thune infuriated the MAGA people with this statement on Fox today on nuking the filibuster to pass the SAVE Act: “I’ve had this conversation with the president many times. The votes are not there to do it. I know he thinks he can persuade people, but this is a hard position for a lot of Senate Republicans.”

… There are reportedly at least 15 Republican senators who will not vote to repeal the filibuster rule under any circumstances.

Reminder there is no Bulletin tomorrow because I do my weekly podcast Uncovered where we do a deep dive into the top stories of the week and try to bring interesting takes to each topic that were not widely known or reported.

Going to also visit some small town bookstores in the morning to try to add a few old used classics to my literature collection. For 30 years I read nothing but non-fiction - almost all history and biographies. Now I read nothing but fiction. I guess I get enough of the real world most days now.

Thank you to everyone who reads, shares and subscribes. Late next week we are going to get under 90 days until the midterms and this is the time when information, organizing, and mobilizing is very important. I pride myself on covering elections well and these are the times when it is my Super Bowl.

If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

… The Times (UK): “FIFA’s president Gianni Infantino is planning to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors under a scheme that could potentially earn him tens of millions of pounds. Investor discussions held with figures close to the Trump admin. FIFA has now confirmed to The Times this Infantino plan is under discussion with Josh Kushner as proposed lead investor.”

… Josh is Jared Kushner’s brother.

… UEFA statement: “This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross. UEFA takes it extremely seriously. So should every National Football

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Hi all, Ben here. It’s Tuesday, July 28, 2026, and there’s a whole lot going on.

Thanks again to all those who continue to let me know you preordered the book I wrote with my brothers, WTF America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy. If you preorder your copy today, be sure to let me know in the comments!

Here’s what we’re tracking today:

• Trump keeps the press out of the Oval Office during meetings with Zelenskyy and Netanyahu

• Trump posts “head for an eye,” quoting Rubio on Iran “begging” for a deal

• Trump brags about fake TikTok numbers while the war rages on

• Iran’s IRGC warns any country touching its frozen assets gets barred from the Strait of Hormuz

• Saudi refineries burning, including a total shutdown at the Jazan refinery

• Trump calls into Fox and falsely claims he personally controls the Strait of Hormuz

• Trump again threatens to level Iran’s bridges and power plants

• Trump insists tariffs “stopped eight wars,” including one between India and Pakistan

• Fox presses him on new tariffs against Canada, Brazil, the UK, the EU, Australia, and more

• Trump is attacking Dr. Fauci again

• Lindsey Graham’s memorial service

• A new Washington Post report shows Trump’s deadly boat strikes off Venezuela haven’t cut cocaine supply at all

• Israel’s Defense Minister brags about leveling Lebanese villages and 70% of Gaza, and pushes to strike Iran’s energy grid

• FIFA’s Gianni Infantino reportedly shopping a stake in the World Cup to private equity for billions – and a Kushner may be involved

Let’s get into it.

Trump Doesn’t Allow the Press In

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But first, thank you to everyone who submitted questions for this week’s episode! To have your questions considered for next week, look out for Ron’s call-to-action in his daily news bulletins!

Read below for a full recap of this episode and watch above! Let’s dive in.

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You can also listen to the episode free on podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and anywhere else podcasts are found.

Pre-order the new book from MeidasTouch, WTF America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy, by clicking here.

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… Task and Purpose: “The Pentagon revealed that more than 600 troops have been injured or killed in the conflict with Iran, a casualty total more than 200 higher than previously revealed publicly. The new figures were released as part of an apparent overhaul of the DOD’s official casualty reporting system, which now splits the war, for the first time, into two time periods.”

… The new figures bring the current total of US troops wounded in the war to 624, according to the Defense Casualty Analysis System. As of Friday, DCAS listed the number of troops injured in the conflict at 420. The new system, mirroring labels announced by the Pentagon in recent weeks, removes most casualties in July from the tallies of Operation Epic Fury, and puts them instead in a new category, ‘Overseas Operations.’”

… “Officials also split how they account for the 18 troops killed in the conflict, moving four from Epic Fury into Overseas Operations, including 3 soldiers killed July 17 in an Iranian attack in Jordan and another killed during a controlled detonation of a downed Iranian drone in Iraq. Those 4 had been removed from the Pentagon tally late last week, prompting outrage from families of soldiers killed in July.”

… “The new count begins for casualties on July 7, a date the Pentagon has claimed represented the end of Epic Fury. The Trump admin has argued this month that the operation ended on that date with the announcement of a short-lived ceasefire, resetting a legally mandated 60-day clock to use military force without Congressional approval.”

… Fox national security reporter Jennifer Griffin: “At first the Pentagon said in releases the 4 US soldiers were killed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. That was not true because the soldiers were not fighting ISIS which is the Congressional Authorization and definition of OEF. So they quietly changed the deaths to falling under Overseas Operations, which is a misleading category allowing for them to cap the number of war dead and wounded as part of Epic Fury, which now stands at more than Abbey Gate and the Afghan withdrawal.”

… Trump made another wild series of statements while taking questions from the press on Air Force One on his way to a rally in Michigan for midterm candidates in that state:

• Q - “Zelenskyy says that Russia is giving Iran satellite imagery of US bases in the Gulf to help them target. What can you do about that? Trump: I'll ask Putin about it. I don't think they've been doing it—certainly not at a high level and if they have, it has been very unimpactful.”

… Tell that to the families of the dead soldiers.

• Q - “Are you concerned about depleted stockpiles if there is a broadening conflict? Trump: We have a lot. We have a lot of ammunition, different types. You know, Biden gave a lot to Ukraine and so we're building that up, but we have a lot.”

… This is a lie. The REPUBLICAN HOUSE voted to authorize the Biden admin to sell Ukraine ATACMS and a small number of Patriot intercepter missiles. We did not provide Ukraine with Tomahawks, which have been the primary weapons used by Trump to bomb Iran.

… Adam Kinzinger on Republican claims that US war stockpiles are depleted: “The thing is, the US has plenty of munitions. Just not the high level standoff ones. Those are meant to hit high value targets then allow planes with cheaper munitions to come in. But he’s risk averse and only using the top level stuff for EVERY target. That’s why we’re limited.”

… “Also, the cost of the munitions we have almost unlimited numbers of are in the tens of thousands of dollars, vs the million dollars per top line shot. Usually we destroy air defense first then use the cheap stuff. Trump isn’t doing this.”

• Q - “There's some reports that the US has taken in $13 billion from Venezuela. What where is that money going? Trump: That will happen with Iran also. Q: Where is the money going? Trump: Running the country. It can go to the military but Congress has to approve it.”

… He won’t answer the question. We have no idea where that money is and Republicans in Congress refuse to conduct even a speck of oversight on this lawless regime of corrupt gangsters.

• Q - “How much patience do you have left with Iran? Trump: I have plenty of time. Plenty of time. Their whole shoreline's wiped out. The strait is in very good shape. Their people said, ‘Please don't drop. Don't shoot’, last night. So we’re having good talks. There’s a good chance something good will happen.”

• Q - Netanyahu disagrees with you on the F-35s to Turkey. Trump: Nobody tells me what we should be selling. Turkey has been great for me.”

… Trump’s ever-present constant companion Natalie Harp accompanied him on the trip as usual.

… Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI) was a good little cultist on Newsmax hyping the rally: “It’s spectacular. Everybody is excited that he’s gonna be here today, because everybody’s spirits always get up when they say, ‘Hey, the president is coming to town!’ The first question is, ‘Where’s he gonna land?’ His presence is magnetic, and it’s good.”

… Q - “Where do you think things stand in terms of the war with Iran? Bergman: Boy, that’s a multi-thousand year old question. I’m not going to blame Jimmy Carter, but the bottom line is he set the ball rolling and allowed the radical Islamists to take over.”

… I guess they got bored with blaming Biden and Obama for Trump’s war and decided to go back 47 years.

… From Trump’s speech:

• “We will pass the great healthcare plan. That's what it's called—the Great Healthcare plan to stop all payments to big insurance companies and give the money directly to you, the people, so that they can buy their own healthcare, which will be much less expensive and be a much better healthcare.”

… In two weeks!

• On the Iran war: “When somebody comes up and says, why are we doing this? Just say because we cannot let them have a nuclear weapon. It's very simple. It's all you have to say. There's nothing else you have to say.”

• “America is respected again, I think like we've never been respected before—you saw that when I went to the G20. I went to the G7.”

… Trump didn’t go to the G20. He boycotted it.

… A protester interrupted Trump during his speech by repeatedly yelling at him that he was a “pedophile protector.” At first Trump just tried to drown him out by yelling his speech into the microphone. Then he finally stopped his speech and yelled at the guy that the was a communist.

… A new assessment by DEA revealed that the amount of cocaine entering the US has not been reduced despite the fact that US forces have attacked at least 67 boats and killed at 221 people since Sept.

… WaPo: “The Trump admin’s deadly military strikes are prompting criminal organizations to develop new strategies and tactics and undermining traditional investigative methods. DEA analysts found the strikes had failed to affect the supply or price of cocaine in the US and had led traffickers to diversify beyond go-fast boats and to avoid international waters, opting instead for larger boats and hemming close to coastlines.”

… “In a closed-door briefing last month, Pentagon officials told lawmakers the strikes in international waters off South and Central America had not reduced its purity. Traffickers are also relying more on aircraft, which take off from clandestine airstrips along the Colombian-Venezuelan border and head east to Guyana and Suriname to avoid US forces.”

… DEA official: “When you squeeze the balloon on one side, it always expands on the other side. They always find the weak spots and exploit them.”

… Mitch McConnell’s staff posted a new proof-of-life photo today with another statement. Still no video, audio or interview - just another hospital photo.

… Mother Jones: “In mid-March, two detectives, an OH county Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) caseworker, and a Cleveland Clinic physician met on Zoom to discuss how the 2-year-old daughter of a congressman and granddaughter of a US senator wound up with a broken collarbone.”

… Detective: “The bruising surrounding the clavicle fracture made the injury suspicious.” Someone on the call “advised the injury would have required a high degree of impact to occur.”

… “Neither the child’s father, Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), nor mother, conservative policy adviser Emily Moreno, admitted to knowing what caused their daughter’s injury or that it occurred while their daughter was under their care. Miller’s primary theory was that the bruising resembled marks from a seat belt. Moreno, who discovered the bruises and took the child to an emergency room, suggested the cause may have been something more sinister.”

… “Records of the investigation into potential child abuse show that Moreno told detectives that Miller had previously thrown hot water at her, shoved her, and held a gun to her head; therefore, she couldn’t rule out that Miller caused their daughter’s fracture. Moreover, a child protection specialist reviewing the incident had characterized the bruising near the fracture as resembling a ‘handprint.’”

… “Daddy’s house is scary,” Moreno recounted her daughter saying.

… “The summary of the Zoom meeting and investigative report are among more than 2,000 pages of court filings and police reports pertaining to Miller that Mother Jones obtained through public records requests. The trove of documents contains allegations of drug use by Miller, misogyny and verbal abuse, and violent behavior against multiple women. The filings also include evidence that Miller implicitly threatened his ex-father-in-law, Sen. Bernie Moreno.”

… NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani held a press conference: “Today, I am proud to announce a collection of essential staples that will be predictably 30% cheaper at all 5 of our city-run grocery stores. This core set of goods will include all fresh produce, meat, and seafood, along with 20 other essential items like cheese, milk, and bread.”

… “Here's how it will work. Once a month, our 5 city-run grocery stores will set prices for this core set of goods at 30% below typical retail prices. No exceptions, no gimmicks. The savings will last for the entire month. That means no weekly fluctuations or sticker shock at the checkout line—not for our seniors living on fixed incomes, nor for the parents who rely on a regular supply of apple slices to keep toddler tantrums at bay.”

… Mamdani was asked about people who don’t want him to participate in 9/11 memorial services: "I will proudly honor the families, the survivors, the first responders forever impacted by that horrific terror attack by standing alongside them, reaffirming that we will never forget."

… Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) on Fox: Q - “The midterms are about affordability. Then on top of that, you've got the energy shock. Fallon: Sure. Joe Biden and the Democrats really did that. You’re talking about affordability - that takes a long time for our policies to kick in. They spent trillions of dollars that caused massive inflation.”

… Republicans have been in control of the House for nearly 4 years, the presidency and senate for nearly 2, and they are going to go into the midterms blaming the current economy on Joe Biden and not Trump's tariffs, corruption and wars. Good luck with that.

Ask the Editor should be out shortly after this Bulletin tonight. I answered these 5 questions on the show:

• With Rep. Ansari talking about subpoenaing Barron Trump to appear before the Oversight Committee, what is your take on Barron generally and whether he is involved in some of his dad’s corruption?

• What is your opinion on the situation at the DNC with Ken Martin?

• Tell us about the reaction of the crowd in your town to Susan Collins marching in the local parade on Saturday.

• The DSA platform surprised many of us on hearing some of the key things in it. What are your thoughts after their Vice Chair’s interview on Fox on Sunday?

• Republicans are now trying to blame Biden for depleting the weapons stockpiles of the US. Is any part of that true?

If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin recapping the entire weekend, you can find it here.

… The Independent on the latest bizarre social media blizzard from Trump that finally ended at 1:27 AM: “Trump posted about everything from time travel to the Iran war in his latest bizarre Truth Social posting spree. In a series of posts using AI images, Trump uploaded a fake movie poster showing himself saving George Washington at Mt. Rushmore, a mocked-up image of a border wall with Canada and various hints he might run again in 2028.”

… “The past was about to change,” the imagined “Trump x Washington” film’s tagline reads. “History was about to be saved.” Trump’s social media spree also saw him sharing an AI generated poster for a scifi movie called “Cosmic Commander”​, using a

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Hi all, Ben here. It’s Monday afternoon. I hope you enjoyed your weekend and were able to escape the chaos for a bit. Thanks again to all those who continue to let me know you preordered the book I wrote with my brothers, WTF America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy. If you preorder your copy today, be sure to let me know in the comments!

We’ve got a lot to catch up on, so let’s start with the headlines.

Here’s what we’re tracking today:

• Trump tells Israeli Channel 12 he’s “not going to give Iran that much time,” claims Iran is begging for a deal (yes, again)

• Iran’s Foreign Ministry publicly denies any negotiations with the U.S., says talks are only with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz

• CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper reportedly recommends halting the Hormuz bombing campaign, says it’s “hit the limit of its effectiveness”

• Massive fires at Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq facility, the world’s largest crude processing plant, after drone strikes

• Saudi Aramco’s Jizan refinery still burning days after Houthi missile strikes, hit again today

• Another U.S. MQ-9A Reaper drone reportedly shot down over Iraq’s Babil province

• U.S. troop casualties in the Iran war have surpassed 600

• Iran’s Foreign Ministry mocks U.S. “war management,” references the collapsed Saudi nuclear deal

• Major Duma session in Russia, Putin says Russia will achieve its objectives in the “Special Military Operation”

• Zelenskyy arrives in the UK to meet with Prime Minister Andy Burnham

• Netanyahu departs for his eighth meeting with Trump since his election

• Israeli National Security Minister Ben-Gvir calls for Israeli settlements in Gaza and encouraging emigration from the territory

• Trump demands Senate Majority Leader Thune terminate the filibuster to pass “The SAVE America Act”

• Congressional Republicans blame Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden for the war and the economy

• NYC Mayor Mamdani defends his criticism of Netanyahu and vows to attend 9/11 memorial services

• Mitch McConnell’s office releases a new “proof of life” statement

• New CBS poll shows only 13% of Americans, a new low, say Trump’s policies have left them better off financially

• Trump jets off to Michigan

Before I go any further, if you haven’t yet joined as a paid subscriber, consider doing so now by clicking here to support our work. This is how we grow. It will give you access to all recaps like this, our exclusive Ask-the-Editor series, and more. Plus, it is the best way to help support the growth of this network.

Now let’s get into it.

More Trump War Chaos

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… “Trump decided last week to put off plans to escalate the US assault on Iran, at least for now. Trump and his aides were motivated in part by dwindling stockpiles of interceptors to shoot down Iranian missiles. Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has cautioned privately that resuming major combat operations against Iran was doable but that it would dangerously deplete interceptors available to the military’s Central Command.”

… “Trump has been wrestling with how to proceed in his nearly 5-month war against Iran and specifically with how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as gas prices climb again amid the resumption of hostilities over the past two weeks. Diplomacy has broken down, and the latest round of extensive US attacks do not seem to have deterred Iran militarily.”

… “Few if any in Trump’s inner circle believed the plan to escalate was wise. One senior US official expressed doubts that resuming major combat operations would drive Iran back to the bargaining table.”

… WaPo: “Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for attacks on Saudi oil facilities Saturday, in the first such strikes since 2022. In a video statement, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group fired ballistic missiles and drones at facilities belonging to the state oil company, Aramco, in the Red Sea towns of Yanbu and Jazan.”

… “It was not immediately clear how substantial the damage was or how oil output would be affected. NASA’s fire monitoring platform FIRMS reported several thermal anomalies at the Jazan refinery. The facility can refine up to 400,000 barrels of oil a day, according to the company’s website. The strikes by Houthi rebels could add to pressures on global oil markets on top of disruptions caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.”

… Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) on NBC: "The president got into this without a strategic goal. At first this was about regime change, then it became about nuclear weapons, then about ballistic missiles, then about the navy. They're flailing."

… Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) on CBS: “I support the president in Iran. We all have to do a better job messaging. If we can stand the pain of the rising cost of energy, we need to stay the course—at least for a few more months.”

… Iran expert Danny Citrinowicz: “The US admin is at a strategic crossroads vis-à-vis Iran. The issue of interceptors is certainly a significant constraint, especially given the vulnerabilities recorded in the current round, but the problem is far broader and primarily concerns the absence of a clear strategy regarding how to influence the conduct of the regime in Tehran. Continuing to employ the same set of tools is not expected to alter Iran’s patterns of action.”

… “At the same time, there appears to be a certain shortage in the interceptor stockpile, with the scale of Iranian strikes in the current round reinforcing the assessment that the US is managing its munitions resources cautiously and cannot treat stockpiles as an unlimited resource.”

… “In the end, the American dilemma remains unchanged: there is currently no good option. Returning to an agreement risks strengthening the Iranian regime and granting it economic breathing room, while escalating the war could lead to broad escalation without ensuring an improvement in the bargaining position vis-à-vis Tehran. The central question is not how to apply more force, but how to define an achievable strategic objective.”

… President Zelenskyy: “I will instruct our intelligence to share with our partners the info we have regarding Russia’s new assistance to the Iranian regime. Since the beginning of July, we have recorded active Russian satellite surveillance of the Gulf states and US military facilities located there. These images subsequently appear in Iran. At the same time, there is a clear correlation between Russia’s satellite imagery of these sites and Iranian strikes – both before the attacks, in preparation for them, and afterward, to assess the damage inflicted.”

… “On July 19 and 20 alone, 4 air bases fell within the area of interest of Russian satellites – two in Bahrain, one in Jordan, and one in Kuwait. The purpose is clear. None of us in the world should turn a blind eye to one very simple fact: evil always seeks ways to make things worse and spread further. Russia must be stopped. This war must be stopped. Pressure on the aggressor must work.”

… This is what Trump said on Friday in the Oval Office about this subject: Q - “You said today Russia and China are not helping. Earlier this week, Pete Hegseth said they are enabling. Trump: President XI said he’ll not partake, and President Putin said the same thing. I trust them. I don’t think they would want to have me disappointed.”

… Russia is helping Iran kill US troops. But Trump said Putin told him that he wasn’t. US and Ukraine intelligence proves that he is. Trump says he believes Putin. Where have we heard this before?

… UN Ambassador Mike Waltz on Meet the Press:

• Q - “Zelenskyy says this month Ukraine has recorded active Russian satellite surveillance of US military installations and those images then appear in Iran. How deep is the Russian involvement in helping Iran kill Americans? Waltz: I’ll just let the president’s statement stand on its own that he’s spoken to Putin and Xi about this and has put both on notice. Q - But this suggests they haven’t stopped assisting. Waltz: Okay.”

• Q - “Is America backing away from a larger military attack because our stockpile has been depleted? Waltz: We have to take a step back here. A lot of our stockpiles were depleted because of Biden. Q - But you acknowledge they’re depleted? Waltz: No. And the people leaking this nonsense deserve to be in jail.”

… Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA): “Dear Mike Waltz: You lie. US provided zero THAAD missiles to Ukraine. US provided far less Patriots to Ukraine than the massive amount used in less than 5 months of the Iran war. Stop falsely blaming others and take responsibility for the disastrous Iran war.”

• Q - “Should the country brace for more American lives to be lost in this conflict? Waltz: Every man and woman who signs up to go serve knows of that eventually possibility.”

• Q - “Is the Saudi nuclear deal off or on? Waltz: The president was clear. The tenets of the deal are in place, but we are in discussions with the Saudis about normalizing with Israel. Q - The US did sign the deal though, right? Waltz: Well, Secretary Wright and the Saudi energy minister signed that, but it has to be implemented and the president has put an important condition on it.”

… Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MT) on ABC: “It just shows you cannot rely on the US. You certainly can’t count on the Trump admin. They had signed a deal. What the Trump admin did was a bait and switch scheme.”

… This is very simple. The US govt signed a deal with the Saudis. Trump got backlash on Fox and from Republicans in Congress. Trump then immediately reneged on the deal. You can’t trust anything Trump says and you can’t trust anything he puts in writing either.

… Sen. John Kennedy on CBS: Q - “Are you comfortable with the Saudi Nuclear Deal? Kennedy: Nope. We’re bombing a country to keep them from getting a nuclear weapon, but we’re signing a deal with another country that the world perceives as possibly some day leading to a nuclear weapon.”

We make the entire Weekend Bulletin available to free subscribers where about the first third of the daily Bulletins during the week are available. Everyone is also able to participate in the comments section on this one. Tomorrow is also the Ask the Editor podcast where I choose 5 questions or topics from you in the comments to talk about. If you have one, please post it below.

Good turnout at the town fair with probably close to 1,000 people there. That’s a lot for our small town, but there were some tourists mixed in. Susan Collins marched in the little parade right by me. Jackson wasn’t there because he was in Bangor for the nominating convention. All I can say is he better be at the Maine Wild Blueberry Festival in two weeks!

If you missed Friday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

… WaPo: “Republican pollsters and political groups are raising the alarm that their party faces a listless and demotivated base ahead of Nov’s midterm elections. A raft of discouraging data from polling, door knocking and focus groups is unsettling Republicans as their party heads into a midterm election season that would be challenging no matter what, given Trump’s low standing in polls and the fact that the party in control in Washington almost always loses seats.”

… “The lack of enthusiasm is reaching deep into Republicans’ loyal base, spreading to the party’s most consistent voters - who have shown up to vote in all of the past 4 primaries and general elections, according to an analysis done by Americans for Prosperity Action, a super PAC founded by billionaire Charles Koch. This new issue with the base adds to the party’s more enduring problem of turning out less-frequent voters who support Trump but often skip midterm elections.”

… “About 1 in 5 reliable Republican base voters are at risk this Nov, according to Nathan Nascimento, executive director at AFP Action. Those voters in IA, OH, NC, MT, NH and MI are either saying they may stay home or are weighing voting for Democrats, based on their polling and extensive efforts to engage targeted Republican voters by knocking on their doors. The voters are primarily worried about inflation and the economy.”

… Nascimento: “This is a big chunk. This is a scary number.”

… House Minority Leader Hakeen Jeffries at a rally for the midterms today: “We're going to crack down on corrupt price gouging. We're going to clean up the mess at the Supreme Court. And we're going to ban the president, VP, and members of Congress from trading stocks.”

… “We have 100 days, America. 100 day to change direction in the United States before it's too late. 100 days to speak up, 100 days to show up, 100 days to stand up, to make our country the best version of herself.

… NYT: “The Democratic Party is so short on cash that leaders at its HQ have undertaken a new gambit to mask the severity of the problems: asking vendors not to send bills until after the midterm elections. The bookkeeping maneuver is the latest sign of financial duress for the DNC and its embattled leader as money troubles threaten to undercut Democratic momentum with 100 days until the midterms.”

… “So much is going politically right for Democrats these days. Trump’s approval is down, gas prices are up and an unpopular war with Iran drags on. But dysfunction and debt inside one of the party’s key institutions - which is getting crushed in fund-raising by its Republican counterpart - are creating rising anxiety for top Democrats.”

… “At the center is Chair Ken Martin, who has found himself increasingly isolated, gripped by the fear that he will lose his job and relying on a vanishingly small circle of people he trusts. Martin’s fraying nerves are showing. In a pique of frustration in early July, he threw his phone at the desk of a junior aide while upbraiding the person. The phone-tossing incident resulted in a formal complaint to the DNC’s human resources dept.”

… NOTUS: “The DNC put its physical headquarters up for collateral last year in order to obtain a $15 million line of credit to help invest in off-year elections, according to DC deed records. The building has been used as collateral in the past, including in other election cycles. That the DNC had to do so again ahead of the 2026 elections to obtain its biggest-ever off-year loan raised concerns among some members that it was further evidence of its intensifying financial strain.”

… One DNC member: “Ken gaslighting us about the DNC’s finances and not being transparent about the financial situation makes us doubt if he can oversee the DNC during the most important primary of our lifetime.”

… “The DNC is working toward two main goals: to help the party win back control of Congress in Nov, as well as gubernatorial and local elections across the country. And it’s also preparing for the 2028 presidential primary, which is expected to be wide open and have no clear front-runner.”

… “Those objectives have been complicated by the DNC’s current lack of money. Federal disclosures from June showed it only had about $16 million in its account and $18 million in debt. That’s a sobering amount of money compared to the RNC, which declared that it had $128 million in cash with no outstanding debts.”

… The good news is that the individual Democratic candidates are doing great with fundraising as well as the senate and house campaign committees. The bad news is that the DNC is in shambles, there’s really no excuse for it, and it needs to get fixed.

… WaPo: “Brazil has denied visas to two senior State Dept officials whom the Trump admin planned to dispatch on a mission to cast doubt on the fairness and integrity of the country’s electoral system before millions of Brazilians vote in a presidential election on Oct. 4, the Foreign Ministry said.”

… “A US State Dept delegation, including Trump political appointees Riley Barnes, an assistant secretary, and Samuel Samson, a deputy assistant secretary, had planned to depart in coming days. But Brazilian officials, apprised of the plans, denied the Americans permission to travel. The US officials applied for visas through the Brazilian consulate in Washington, saying they planned to hold ‘meetings with authorities involved in the electoral process’.”

… Karoline Leavitt was asked about the midterms on Fox: “I would remind the American people of who caused the affordability crisis in this country. It was Biden and Democrats. Trump took immediate action on day one to fix that. All these things will only get better if given two more years with a Republican congress.”

… We went from prices coming down “on Day 1” to “in Year 4.”

… Sen. John Fetterman made another one of his daily Fox appearances - this time on Lara Trump’s show:

• “I can't fully understand—I've seen polling—why I'm so popular with Republicans. I don't really understand that.”

… It’s a mystery!

• Lara: “I will say on behalf of many Republicans out there, we would love to have you as part of the Republican Party. Fetterman: My whole family is Republican and I think they love me. Maybe my dad who’s watching this will.”

… He then said he’s still not switching parties, but stay tuned.

… Fox commentator Tomi Lahren on JD Vance’s controversial appearance on Joe Rogan where he appeared to try to distance himself from Trump on Iran, Israel and other issues: “I'm a little perplexed at why he did that podcast and why in some ways he’s undermining the president. Fox analyst Marc Thiessen: He seems to be contradicting the president a lot lately. It’s not helpful.”

… Meidas economist Justin Wolfers: “For 9 out of the last 10 presidencies, if you’d said, ‘How much should we blame the president for what’s going on with the economy right now?’ I would have said that the president is just one factor among many. That’s what I would have said 9 out of 10 times. This is the 10th time.”

… “There’s literally no question about the cause of the current oil price spike. We decided to go to war in Iran on an open-ended, ill-defined mission, and we’re not quite sure what to do. The Iranians took over the Strait of Hormuz, and now the global economy is substantially fractured and global energy markets are in disarray. There’s no question about what caused that. We know that because we actually saw things get a little bit better in June during the ceasefire, but those happy days are behind us.”

… “There’s also no question that tariffs are a complete own goal. They’ve led to higher prices paid by Americans. And that, I think, explains why, if you look at the US compared to our peers in the G7, the US right now has higher inflation than any of them. We’re number one, but it’s not one of those good number ones.”

… “And let me just add: it really does hurt my heart because we know how not to screw things up. Any economics textbook, anyone who’s taken introductory economics, would know that there are large economic costs to going to war. They would know that starting a global trade war in a chaotic and incoherent fashion is all downside and no upside.”

… Epstein survivor Dani Bensky on Meidas: “You can’t say that you want to make sure sex offenders and sex traffickers are behind bars and then vote for him. Every vote for Todd Blanche is really a vote against survivors. If Thom Tillis wants to call, I’m happy to talk to him. We’ve been trying to get in touch.”

… A federal judge ordered Acting AG Todd Blanche to hand over the unredacted Epstein Files emails and documents for the court’s private review in MeidasTouch host Katie Phang’s lawsuit. US District Judge Emmet Sullivan directed DOJ to produce the unredacted records in camera (for the judge’s eyes only) by July 30, along with documentation backing up DOJ’s claims that the names and other info it blacked out are, in fact, the categories of people it says they are.

… Israeli TV N12 reports that Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with Trump in Washington on Tuesday, where Netanyahu is expected to present intelligence claiming Iran is “once again racing towards nuclear weapons and accelerating its actions.”

… Netanyahu on Fox: “I’m worried about the reasons that leading Democrats have said privately, one of them said it actually publicly, on why they joined the radical fringe. And the reason is that their family’s been harassed. You don’t want legislators taking their position because of personal intimidation. That’s bad.”

… I really don’t think that is the reason why many Democrats have changed their position on Israel over the past two years.

… Alleged serial sex trafficker and rapist Andrew Tate with another update: “I am in Special Housing Unit. My water faucet is broken. I am not allowed bottles of water in SHU. I have nothing clean to drink. My only water comes from the shower, warm and from a brown and filthy faucet. It has given me persistent stomach problems. The water I am drinking is not clean, I am an American. Innocent until proven guilty. But I am forced to drink poisoned water. Where are my rights?”

… Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) to Meidas: Q - “You want to see Barron Trump come before Congress and answer questions about his relationship with Andrew Tate? Ansari: I absolutely want to see Barron come before Congress and answer questions about this. There is reporting about this, and he should answer these questions.”

… “What is his relationship with Tate? What kind of communication have they had? What kinds of connections has Barron potentially made for Tate and his brother? Has he had any conversations with other WH officials about this? These are all really important questions to be asking.”

… “There’s also more reporting about Barron as it pertains to financial dealings and corruption. This is not the only issue that I think Barron needs to come before Congress for, but the Oversight Committee is really the place for him to answer questions.”

… “And I think it’s important to remember that Barron is an adult. He is somebody who is deeply involved in Trump’s orbit and the whole manosphere, and he has a lot of influence. So he needs to be held accountable if he has committed any wrongdoing.”

… Jessica Tarlov was asked by Meidas if there are any Republicans who may run for president in 2028 who scare the people at Fox: “Ossoff feels like a threat. I remember conversations about Wes Moore. It was during the NFL playoffs, and he was out tailgating, and they were like, ‘Oh, that’s a bro,’ because everything is viewed through the frame of masculinity—you know, whatever Jesse’s-through-a-straw version of masculinity is.”

… “The DSA co-chair Megan Romer was asked on Fox News Sunday if these DSA platform principles are accurate:

• Abolish the Senate? “True”

• Replace the presidency and Supreme Court as we know it? “Yep.”

• Abolish ICE? “Absolutely.”

• Abolish borders and give amnesty to anyone in the US illegally? “As a long term plan, yep.”

• Defund the Pentagon? “Absolutely.”

• Abolish prisons? “As part of a long term program, yeah.”

• Govt ownership of most large corporations? “Yes, absolutely.”

… Tom Homan on CNN:

• Q - “Have mistakes been made by ICE in these shooting incidents? Homan: I wouldn't say that mistakes were made. We'll see.”

• Q - “Do you know specifically what happened to the officers involved in the Texas and Maine shootings? Are they on admin leave? Homan: I don't know specifically. The policy would be to put them on admin leave. Q - But as border czar, you don't know for sure if they have been? Homan: No.”

• Q - "One of the ICE officers connected to the fatal shooting in Maine was accused of abuse by two ex-wives. Should someone with those issues be an ICE agent? Homan: No, if those are facts, I don't think he should have ever cleared vetting."

… Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on CNN: “The CDC's website on vaccines has been a sticking point for you. When you pledged to support Dr. Schwartz, you said publicly it's a sign of good faith that the CDC agreed to modify their website. But at the very top of the CDC's vaccine page, it still says 'the claim vaccines do not cause autism is not an evidence-based claim.' Is that a good faith attempt to stop spreading misinformation? Cassidy: That is not.”

… Cassidy is the poster-boy for spineless Republicans in Congress. Good riddance.

… NYT’s Peter Baker on the WHCA dinner with Trump: “I have been a member of the WHCA almost continuously since the 1990s. Our mission is to defend the First Amendment rights of WH correspondents to report on the president without fear or favor. Unfortunately last night did not advance that cause. Time to rethink the dinner.”

… You think?

… Katy Perry: “I am deeply appalled and angry to see ‘Firework’ used on the WH TikTok account as a backing track for video footage of military strikes. I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it. I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and inner strength for people going through their darkest personal moments.

… “To see a message of self-worth and upliftment weaponized to soundtrack destruction and violence is a complete violation of everything my song stands for. My music is for bringing people together, not celebrating warfare.”

… Politico: “Democrats’ new Maine Senate nominee entered the general election with a very different focus than the man he’s replacing — one solely about Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Troy Jackson, a progressive 5th-generation logger from the northern woods of Allagash, spent almost the entirety of his 20-minute nomination acceptance speech on Sat afternoon hammering Collins, from her 1990s pledge to only serve two terms to her history of voting with Trump ‘96% of the time.’”

… “His approach is a welcome change for Democrats in Washington, who had complained that in the early days of Graham Platner’s general election campaign he spent too much time attacking both parties instead of remaining focused on attacking a Republican in a state that Kamala Harris won handily in 2024.”

… “While Platner spent plenty of airtime focused on contrasting his beliefs with Collins’, he dedicated significant energy to hitting the whole political establishment, including members of his own party. Even some of his attacks against Collins - after he’d already won the Democratic primary - came with needling of Democrats.”

… “Jackson believes in many of the same populist ideas that Platner did - he helped run both of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential bids in Maine. But they also come from very different backgrounds. Platner, a veteran and oyster farmer, was plucked from obscurity by NYC-based consultants who wanted an anti-establishment fighter ready to take on Washington. Jackon, meanwhile, has spent decades sparring with the establishment flank of his party from within the ranks of public service, culminating in his time as state Senate president, where he often butted heads with Gov. Janet Mills.”

… “But as Jackson takes over on the Senate ticket, it’s clear that where Platner relished in taking on his party, Jackson is eager to mend fences and is still at his core a true Democrat. That background as a long-running member of the party is informing his approach to the campaign against the electoral powerhouse that Collins has become.”

… NYT: “An investigation by NYT found that the president’s push to get the luxury aircraft quickly led to ballooning costs and trade-offs in safety features that potentially left Trump and others who travel with him on Air Force One vulnerable. Among the findings:

• Trump was personally engaged in making decisions about the retrofitting of the donated plane, giving the final approval on the features and security measures that would be included. They and others interviewed for this article described the sensitive info about the process and the plane on the condition of anonymity.

• Several key security and safety features on the Boeing planes that have been used for decades as AF One are not visible on the upgraded jet, including a lower-level exit for high-risk situations, additional backup power capacity and an advanced antimissile system. The planes currently being built to serve as the permanent presidential fleet are all set to have such features.

• The 747-8 plane was overhauled on a compressed timeline of just about 8 months. Experts said the jet would have needed several years for a full upgrade. Because the Qatari jet was being pushed into service so quickly, some WH officials initially expected it would only be used for domestic travel or to visit allied countries with US military bases.

• The govt spent hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase equipment needed to train pilots to fly the 747-8 plane so quickly, on top of the approximately $400 million cost of the upgrades that the admin has publicly acknowledged. The Pentagon has tried to mask the total price tag - including from Congress - by taking the funds from a classified budget for nuclear modernization.”

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Hi all, Ben here. It’s Sunday, and there is a lot to get through. First, a thank you to all the kind comments on my morning message earlier. That really is my favorite post on the week. And thanks again to all of you who continue to tell me that you preordered the book I wrote with my brothers, WTF America. If you haven’t yet, consider preordering your copy today. Now let’s jump in.

Here’s what we’re tracking today:

• Trump shuts down the White House to press again, heads to his Virginia golf club for the day

• Trump posts AI-generated images mocking CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and Bruce Springsteen

• Another tanker reportedly hits a mine in the Strait of Hormuz

• The Jazan refinery fire in Saudi Arabia is still burning, two days after the Houthi strike

• New reporting shows the U.S. has burned through roughly a third of its precision munitions stockpile

• Trump quietly pauses strikes on Iran after 13 straight nights of bombing

• Iran suspends its retaliatory strikes in response, but warns any resumption widens the war

• Ukraine reportedly strikes an Iranian vessel supplying Russia in the Caspian Sea, effectively merging the two wars

• Zelenskyy says Russia is actively helping Iran target U.S. troops, Trump says Putin told him otherwise and he believes him

• Netanyahu hits the U.S. airwaves to attack NY Mayor Mamdani and set up a Tuesday meeting with Trump

• New U.S. intelligence suggests Iran’s supreme leader’s son is more determined to build a nuclear weapon than his father was

• Lloyd’s of London pulls war insurance for Saudi-linked cargo in the Red Sea

• Back home, the administration pushes to rename Penn Station, kill the filibuster, and sell a rosy story on paychecks

• Karoline Leavitt hits the briefing room to blame Biden for everything, again

Before I go any further, if you haven’t yet joined as a paid subscriber, consider doing so now by clicking here to support our work. This is how we grow. It will give you access to all recaps like this, our exclusive Ask-the-Editor series, and more. Plus, it is the best way to help support the growth of this network.

Alright, let’s get into it.

Trump Memes as the World Burns

Donald Trump is spending Sunday hiding from the press and posting garbage on Truth Social. So yes, a normal Sunday for him. The White House was closed to reporters again this morning, and Trump bolted for Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. The press pool didn’t even see him get out of the car.

But before he teed off, he found time to post an AI-generated image of Kaitlan Collins’ face on the body of transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, holding Bud Light cans. This is a callback to a supposed “joke” Trump tried to make at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, one that landed with total silence in the room. Nobody laughed then. He’s still trying to make it land now. It’s just as pathetic the second time.

He also posted a cartoon of Bruce Springsteen wearing a shirt that says “I’m stupid,” standing next to signage mocking his tour, alongside a caricature of Chris Christie, who Trump is mocking for his weight, cheering him on.

While he’s doing that, the wheels are coming off somewhere much more serious, and I don’t think most Americans have any idea how bad it actually is. So let me bring you the receipts.

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As you know, this is my Sunday morning coffee post. It’s my favorite post of the week because it’s a chance for us to slow down for a little while, have a cup of coffee together, reflect on the week behind us, talk about what’s ahead, and just spend some time together as a community.

I always want to begin by saying thank you. This community was built by you. Every story we cover, every interview we conduct, every lawsuit we report on, every milestone we reach is possible because you believe in independent news and because you continue showing up day after day. I’m incredibly grateful to be in this fight alongside you.

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We’re in the thick of the biggest test our democracy has faced. Every day seems to bring another attempt to normalize corruption, weaken democratic institutions, or distract people from what’s actually happening. But every day I also see something incredibly hopeful. I see this community growing. I see people refusing to give in to cynicism. I see millions of people demanding accountability, demanding facts, and demanding that independent journalism continue doing the work that too many corporate outlets have stopped doing.

One of the moments that really stood out to me this week was the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Watching members of the Washington press establishment laughing and socializing with senior administration officials at a moment like this perfectly captured why so many Americans have lost faith in corporate media. That event wasn’t a celebration of journalism. It felt like a reminder how captured corporate news has become.

Donald Trump’s appearance only reinforced that feeling. I thought the speech was bizarre, unfocused, and angry and fascist. It veered from personal attacks to rambling stories that showed how cognitively impaired and demented Trump is.

At the same time, we’ve continued covering developments involving Iran in a way that I think has demonstrated exactly why independent reporting matters.

For weeks, we’ve relied on satellite imagery, regional reporting, and open-source intelligence to help our audience understand what was actually happening rather than simply repeating official talking points. As additional reporting has emerged, more outlets have begun acknowledging challenges facing U.S. operations and the broader regional situation. Whatever happens next, our commitment remains the same: follow the facts wherever they lead and report honestly, even when doing so isn’t politically convenient.

One interview that generated a tremendous amount of discussion this week was my conversation with Congresswoman Ansari. We talked extensively about congressional oversight, what accountability could look like if Democrats regain control of the House, and the types of investigations she believes Congress should pursue. If you haven’t seen that interview yet, I hope you’ll take the time to watch it because it sparked an important conversation about the role Congress plays in holding government accountable.

I’m also incredibly proud of the work our own team continues to do.

Katie Phang has been relentless in pursuing transparency through the courts. We’ll see where the litigation ultimately leads, but watching her fight for accountability reminds me why independent journalists can make such an enormous difference. It is genuinely an honor to have her on the MeidasTouch team.

And Katie is far from alone.

Watching Scott MacFarlane continue producing outstanding reporting from Washington, Tennessee Brando connecting with audiences in his own unique way, Dina Doll bringing important stories to light, Michael Popok breaking down complex legal issues, Justin Wolfers joining us as our Chief Economist, Aaron Parnas covering breaking international developments, Pablo Manríquez leading the conversation on Capitol Hill with interviews that everyone ends up talking about—and so many others across the MeidasTouch Network—has been incredibly rewarding.

What makes me proud isn’t simply that they’re talented journalists or commentators. It’s that they’re all committed to the same mission. They care deeply about getting the facts right, asking tough questions, and serving this community instead of serving powerful interests.

As I sit here writing this at the end of July with my Sunday morning coffee, I keep thinking back to the conversations we had together at the beginning of this year. We talked about where we wanted to take MeidasTouch. We talked about investing in more reporters, expanding our coverage, strengthening our Capitol Hill presence, bringing on more experts, and continuing to build the leading independent news network in the country.

When I look back on those goals, I honestly think we’ve accomplished so much of what we set out to do.

There’s still a tremendous amount of work ahead. We are nowhere close to finished. But we’ve built something together that didn’t exist just a few years ago. We’ve expanded our reporting, grown our team, broken major stories, conducted interviews that shape the national conversation, and continued proving that independent media can compete with—and often outperform—the biggest corporate news organizations.

None of that belongs to me.

It belongs to all of us.

Every subscription, every comment, every share, every conversation you have with family and friends, every time you help someone discover independent news—you’ve helped build this community. That’s something nobody can ever take away from us.

So this morning, more than anything else, I simply wanted to say thank you.

Thank you for believing in this mission.

Thank you for believing in independent journalism.

Thank you for believing that democracy is worth fighting for.

If you’re able, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support allows us to keep hiring reporters, expanding our coverage, investing in investigative journalism, and growing this movement together. And if you already are a paid subscriber, thank you. You are making all of this possible.

Leave a comment and let me know what’s on your mind. I always enjoy reading them with my Sunday morning coffee.

I hope you have a wonderful Sunday. Spend time with the people you love. Recharge if you can.

Tomorrow we get back to work.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for standing with the MeidasTouch community. Let’s keep fighting together.

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And when I asked her whether that could include subpoenas for Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Barron Trump, and even Donald Trump himself, she didn’t hedge.

“Yes, absolutely,” she told me. “There will be subpoenas.”

That’s not coming from just any member of Congress. Ansari serves on the House Oversight Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, making her someone who could play a direct role in those investigations if Democrats regain the majority.

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The conversation actually began with Ansari’s recent letter to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer calling for an investigation into possible ties between the Trump orbit and Andrew and Tristan Tate. The Tate brothers face criminal charges in the United Kingdom and Romania related to rape and sex trafficking, and Ansari argues Congress should examine whether political influence played a role in how the Trump regime handled matters involving them.

In her letter, Ansari cited reporting describing alleged connections between Barron Trump and the Tate brothers, as well as reporting that Barron helped connect the Trump campaign with figures in the online “manosphere” during the 2024 campaign. She told me those reported ties deserve congressional scrutiny alongside broader questions about the Trump family’s business dealings and influence.

One point Ansari repeatedly emphasized is that Barron Trump is an adult. She rejected the idea that he should automatically be considered off limits simply because he is the president’s son.

“Barron Trump is an adult. He is a full-blown adult,” she told me.

“They choose to be involved with the campaigns. They choose to be involved with the administration, and therefore, if they are committing crimes or if they are engaging in activity that is against the law in any way, shape or form, then they ultimately have to be held accountable for that.”

From there, our conversation shifted to what Democratic oversight could look like if the House changes hands after the midterms.

Ansari said Democrats are already thinking ahead.

“We are preparing,” she said. “What’s the laundry list of subpoenas that we’re going to have ready to go at our first hearing?”

She described what she called “staggering” and “unprecedented” corruption surrounding the Trump administration and said witnesses would be brought before Congress under oath, not behind closed doors, but in public for the American people to see.

When I asked specifically about the Trump children, Ansari pointed first to Donald Trump Jr.

“I hope to issue one of those myself,” she said of subpoenas. “Absolutely.”

PRE-ORDER THE NEW BOOK FROM MEIDASTOUCH, WTF AMERICA, BY CLICKING HERE!

She argued that Donald Trump Jr. has profited while serving as a partner at a venture capital firm investing in companies receiving federal contracts, including, she alleged, companies benefiting from no-bid contracts approved by senior administration officials.

Then she took it a step further.

“And who knows, maybe Donald Trump himself.”

Ansari said she believes Trump should testify before Congress, particularly before the House Oversight Committee regarding the Epstein files.

She also contrasted the Trump family’s financial gains with policies that have devastated ordinary Americans.

“It’s not just that they’re making billions of dollars,” she said. “At the same time they’re ripping away health care from Americans... they’re refusing to lower the cost of living for American people while they get richer and richer and richer because their dad is in the White House.”

Whether Republicans like it or not, this is exactly what congressional oversight is supposed to look like.

For the past two years, James Comer has used the Oversight Committee to pursue political spectacles while repeatedly refusing to investigate mounting questions surrounding the Trump family’s business interests, cryptocurrency ventures, foreign investments, and potential conflicts of interest. Comer has tried to turn the Committee into something resembling a defense firm for Trump and his allies, rather than a true oversight body.

Ansari told me she expects that to change dramatically if Democrats take back the House.

Her message wasn’t subtle.

“There will be subpoenas.”

Whether those subpoenas ultimately reach Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Barron Trump, Jared Kushner, Donald Trump himself, or others will depend, she said, on where the evidence leads. But coming from a member of the House Oversight Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, her remarks offer one of the clearest previews yet of how Democrats say they intend to use their investigative authority if voters hand them the majority.

Watch my interview with Rep. Ansari above and my latest reporting on the calls for investigations into the Trump family and the Tate brothers.

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Hi all, Ben here. It’s Saturday, and there is a lot to get through, so let’s get right into it. And if you’ve preordered our first book, WTF America, which is available in hardcover, audiobook, and e-book, remember to let me know it the comments!

Stories we’re tracking today:

• Trump reportedly told Israeli intelligence he was planning a major escalation against Iran overnight Friday, then backed off at the last minute

• The first night in nearly two weeks without a U.S.-Iran exchange of fire

• Houthis strike Saudi Aramco’s Jazan refinery in retaliation for Saudi strikes on Hodeidah, with satellite confirmation of the fire

• Saudi Arabia reportedly green-lights a major counter-operation against the Houthis

• Zelenskyy says Ukraine struck a Russian ship ferrying military cargo tied to Iran, plus a deep strike on a major Russian oil refinery

• Russia claims it destroyed multiple ships supplying Ukraine’s military

• Trump’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech bombs, and multiple jokes appear to be recycled from old, and in one case racist, material

• Katy Perry blasts the White House for using “Firework” to soundtrack military strike footage without her permission

• Buttigieg and others slam the administration for withholding the names of American service members killed in Iran

• Trump spends Saturday morning golfing and posting an AI meme mocking Canada over wildfires

• Alex Pretti’s mother marks six months since her son’s killing with no accountability and no apology from officials

Before I go any further, if you haven’t yet joined as a paid subscriber, consider doing so now by clicking here to support our work. This is how we grow. It will give you access to all recaps like this, our exclusive Ask-the-Editor series, and more. Plus, it is the best way to help support the growth of this network.

Now let’s get into it.

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… “3 military officials said that one reason behind the change was that the Trump admin decided to remove 4 service members killed this past weekend from the list - 3 in Jordan and one in northern Iraq - because their deaths occurred after Trump declared a cease-fire in the war in April.”

… Retired Lt. Gen Ben Hodges: “The admin seems to have a real hard time being honest about what is going on - not just about casualties, but about the whole war in general. It shows an unwillingness or inability to aggressively learn from mistakes.”

… Fox war correspondent Trey Yingst and others continue to report on signs that Trump may be planning a ground invasion: “13 straight nights of US strikes against Iran. A large military buildup continues with additional assets arriving in the region each day.”

… Conservative talk-show host Ben Shapiro urged Trump to wage total war on Iran on his show: “No one in America wants American casualties. We do understand that war does come along with casualties - we’re willing to undergo those casualties in pursuit of an end and for a victory.”

… Shapiro never served in the military.

… Trump took questions today from the press in the Oval Office:

• Pete Doocy: Where do you stand on LeBron versus Michael Jordan as the best ever? Trump: Michael Jordan's a friend of mine, play golf with him. He's a really good guy. and I think LeBron is maybe he's a racist but maybe he doesn't like Trump. I only like people who like me. I would say Michael Jordan all the way.”

• On explosive diarrhea: “We're going to put a major tariff on Mexico, because of the lettuce, and we're going to put a big tariff on Canada because of the smoke, all right? Which would you rather have, lettuce or the smoke?”

• On Venezuela: “For a long time, I've known their country, and I own the Miss Universe pageant and Ms. Venezuela always did very well in that pageant so I know something about the country.”

• “If I wasn't elected, Israel would, in my opinion, not be around anymore.”

• Q: “At what point, do you think Iran is going to cry uncle and come to the table? Trump: Maybe they will cry uncle, or maybe they will just give up or go into a cave and hide.”

• Q: “Do you think it's appropriate to subpoena family members of journalists to find out info? Trump: I don't know what's appropriate and what's not. Barack Obama did it all the time. You know that but when Obama does it, it's okay. When I do it, it's not.”

• “We have not approved anything having to do with windmills. They are horrible. They are unsightly. They ruin housing values of people. If you look at a windmill or hear a windmill because they are noisy. They kill all the birds.”

• Q - “You said today Russia and China are not helping Iran. Earlier this week, Hegseth said they are enabling. Trump: President XI said he'll not partake, and President Putin said the same thing. I trust them. I don’t think the would want to have me disappointed.”

… They both have to be laughing hysterically.

… WaPo: “In 2006, while working on an extensive renovation of the Eisenhower Executive Office Bldg, architect and structural engineer Stephen Kelley noticed what, in the stone mason’s trade, are known as ‘dutchmen.’ These are little repairs made by the careful patching of new and matching stone into a larger piece, a painstaking process that was likely done some 140 years ago, after the building’s granite was shipped from a quarry in Maine to the building site just west of the WH.”

… “It was obviously done while the building was being constructed, and they were done really well, said Kelley, who has worked on the preservation of ancient Roman ruins in Lebanon, thousand-year-old churches in Turkey, and early 20th century skyscrapers in Chicago. “It is a building that was constructed for the ages.”

… “Kelley is one of more than two dozen experts in preservation, materials and heritage arguing in district court against the Trump admin’s plan to paint the massive EEOB white, to match the nearby WH. It is unnecessary, costly and it could damage the stone, they say, leading to a ‘taxpayers’ nightmare,’ as the building would have to be regularly repainted, keeping it potentially under scaffolding in perpetuity.”

… “Two problems are at issue: potentially irreversible harm to the building, and Trump’s attempt to effectively remove from historic and environmental review any project he wants to expedite by transferring it to the WH Office of Admin, a part of the executive branch beyond the reach of those reviews.”

… “Ordinarily, the GSA would have to follow the law and solicit input from experts and the public, but Trump’s lawyers have written a Trojan Horse into this case, claiming the GSA has ceded those responsibilities and requirements to the WH, to which the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act do not apply.”

… Meidas reporter Scott Macfarlane: “The tarp is STILL covering the restored Kennedy Center name as the legal fight heads back to court next week. Meanwhile, Rep. Robert Garcia says if Dems win the House majority, Trump's growing list of taxpayer-funded vanity projects—from the Kennedy Center to the Reflecting Pool and beyond—will face Oversight Committee investigations. Garcia accused the admin of steering contracts to Trump allies while bypassing normal public processes.”

… Punchbowl: “Congressional Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill included $170 million for efforts to counter the national security threats posed by China’s illegal fishing operations worldwide. But the Trump admin didn’t spend the money on that. Instead, DHS diverted the vast majority of that funding to security measures for FIFA World Cup matches, America250 celebrations and other major sporting events.”

… “Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-TX) secured the $170 million as part of the OBBB for ‘maritime domain awareness’ technology that helps track the Chinese vessels. Cruz told us he has ‘sought to provide resources for those programs, but unfortunately the bulk of the funding has not gone where it needed to go.’ But Cruz didn’t say where the money went.”

… “The funding diversion occurred under then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. $155 million of the $170 million funding pot was spent on counter-drone technology for events like World Cup matches and America250 tributes, including sensors that monitor and track drones in their vicinity. The rest was used for Coast Guard communications technology and a Merchant Marine credentialing system.”

… NYT: “A few short weeks ago, the US economy seemed to be catching a summer break. The war with Iran appeared to be waning. Energy markets had started to calm. Prices at the gas pump had fallen, and across the economy, inflation had begun to cool. It amounted to a welcome respite for American families and businesses, which had weathered more than a year of shocks that began with Trump’s global trade war.”

… “But the reprieve did not last. A widening military conflict with Iran entered a dangerous new phase this week, spooking energy markets and sending global oil prices to $100 a barrel. The anxiety spilled into gas prices, which topped $4 a gallon in much of the country. And the tumult coincided with the return of Trump’s trade brinkmanship, as the WH formalized a slate of new tariffs on dozens of countries on Friday.”

… “The duties apply to some of the largest US trade partners, including the members of the EU, and they are expected to be the first of more to come. Tariffs are taxes that apply to imported goods, so again the president’s actions threatened to raise costs for some American companies and consumers.”

… Politico: “Voters’ anxieties about fuel prices could give Democrats a boost ahead of the midterms, further strengthening the Democratic voting base and putting strains on the MAGA coalition as the increasingly unpopular war in Iran drags on. A plurality of Americans — 46% — say the change in gas prices will impact how they plan to vote come Nov.”

… “Of the 46% of Americans who said gas prices will have an impact on their vote, just under 40% said they are considering voting for a different party than they normally would, including 49% of MAGA Republicans and 57% of non-MAGA Republicans.”

… Veteran Democratic strategist Jesse Ferguson: “Three quarters of the country is confronting higher gas prices and feeling it. That leaves them very vulnerable to the economic pain and very vulnerable to the economic argument the Democrats are going to make.”

… Right-wing talk show host Jesse Kelly: “Someone is going to make a fortune writing a book on the parallels between ‘15 Days to slow the spread’ and Trump’s decision to go drop bombs on Iran. Just catastrophic unforced errors when things were going fairly well. Boggles the mind.”

… NewsNation host Blake Burman to Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins after she tried to blame Biden for high energy prices: “Your admin has been in office for 18 months now, and obviously this is a war under this current president.”

… CNN pollster Harry Enten: “2 in 3 Americans blame Republicans for higher gas prices - it is quite unlikely they’ll be able to escape the blame at the ballot box.”

… Enten on the incredible 67 point swing in the polls against Israel among Americans over the past year: “We’re not just talking about the Democratic base anymore. The general electorate has turned against Israel. This is not just a left issue. It’s an American issue. The trend line is unbelievable.”

… AgWeb: “Earlier this week, Brooke Rollins told the Senate Appropriations Committee supplemental farmer aid is meant to be a springboard, not a new floor for govt support. The admin is requesting $11.1 billion in additional supplemental agricultural assistance, including:

$10 billion in temporary economic assistance for 2026 row crop and specialty crop producers.

$1.1 billion for producers hit by catastrophic freeze losses this past winter

… If approved, that money would come on top of the $44.3 billion in govt payments USDA’s Economic Research Service has estimated for farmers this year. Combined, that would total $55.4 billion. If spread evenly across 153.8 million US taxpayers, that total would equal roughly $360 per taxpayer.”

… Trump threatened the EU with new tariffs: “The EU is at it again and, as usual, taking direct aim at GREAT American Companies! After having fined Apple, for no reason at all, 15 Billion Dollars, Meta, 3 Billion Dollars, Amazon 2.5 Billion Dollars, and many others, we have just been informed that Google, a truly advanced and amazing group, has been fined yet another 1 Billion Dollars, without explanation. This brings the Google total to over 18 Billion Dollars! Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that we will immediately initiate a 301 Investigation into the practice of “ROBBING” American Companies and, in turn, the American Taxpayer. The EU will pay a very big price for this illegal and highly unethical conduct, which I have consistently warned them about. The penalties will be entirely reversed and, we anticipate, a substantial TARIFF to be placed on them at the earliest possible moment. Stay tuned!”

This was a long week with some monster Bulletins so I am looking forward to my day off tomorrow. Our small town in Maine is having their annual fair so we are going to that and then heading down some back roads to visit some small museums, family farms and antique shops. I will be back with the next Bulletin on Sunday night recapping the weekend.

If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here. Thank you to everyone who reads, shares and subscribes.

… WaPo: “As JD Vance prepares to make a decision about his 2028 plans, the VP is facing a barrage of online attacks from within his party, criticism his allies say appears to be part of a coordinated attempt to poison the well for him politically. His detractors have adopted the ‘Never Vance’ slogan and flooded social media, especially over the past week, with attacks including claims that Vance is ‘unfit’ to be VP due to his

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