Friday Afternoon News Updates: Trump's World War Threat – 7/24/26
Your midday update is here
Hi all, Ben here. It’s Friday. We made it to the end of the week, and I am excited to break down all the news for you.eidas
Another thank you to those who have preordered our new book, WTF America, which is available in hardcover, audiobook, and e-book. Preorder your copy here and let me know if you do in the comments!
Here’s what we’re tracking today:
Trump threatens China and Russia over Iran weapons sales, insists both told him they’re staying out of it
Iran rejects a Trump ceasefire proposal delivered through Iraq’s prime minister
Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi fires back at the White House and vows Iran only gets stronger
CENTCOM confirms a 13th straight night of strikes on Iran
Reports of a massive U.S. military buildup, including tanker aircraft and electronic warfare jets, fuel fears of an imminent ground or amphibious operation
Fox News guest Keith Kellogg openly calls for seizing Iranian islands and “decapitation” of Iranian leadership
Wall Street Journal reports Trump’s advisers have been warned Iran wants them dead, and that Trump switched planes over an assassination plot
Pentagon quietly lowers the U.S. death toll from 18 to 14
Iran claims strikes on U.S. positions across Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, and Iraq, including an Amazon data center
Prosecutor investigating alleged torture of U.S. boat strike survivors in Ecuador is assassinated
Ukrainian drones torch multiple Wildberries warehouses across Russia, with damage estimates climbing toward $4 billion
New Trump tariffs of 10 to 12.5 percent hit 60 countries under a forced labor pretext
Trump threatens a fresh tariff war with the EU over billions in fines against Apple, Meta, Amazon, and Google
Poll shows two in three Americans blame Republicans, not Democrats, for high gas prices
Canada opens the Gordie Howe Bridge without the U.S., a quiet snub amid tariff tensions
DNC picks South Carolina to go first in the 2028 primary calendar
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Now let’s get into it.
Trump Is Telling On Himself
Donald Trump spent his Thursday night and Friday morning posting like a man who knows something is about to go very wrong. He wrote that Chinese President Xi personally assured him China would never sell weapons to Iran, not even through Chinese companies, and that he takes Xi “at his word.” He added that Vladimir Putin gave him the same assurance about Russia. Trump warned that if if they lied to him, "it would be very bad for them." They would never do that!
Here’s the problem. We already know Russia and China are helping Iran. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth admitted as much under questioning from Senator Kevin Hoeven earlier this week, saying the two countries are “enabling some of the things Iran is doing” at different levels, even if the details stay classified. Iran’s own foreign minister has met publicly with his Chinese counterpart. Russia is investing billions in Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. None of this is secret.
Everything about this moment points toward a serious escalation landing within the next day or so. Let me give you the receipts.
