It’s Monday, September 7th. Labor Day 2026. Right off the bat, let me thank all the hardworking people who keep this country moving and everyone who fights for workers’ rights. Trump spent the 24 hours or so posting probably over 100 times. A lot of it is unhinged, while some of what he wrote is important to pay attention to. But let me say this at the outset: all of it is designed to exhaust you so you stop paying attention. So let’s not do that. Stay in this fight. Don’t let him win.
Here are the top stories we’re tracking:
Trump’s meme dump going all in on renaming New Mexico to “New America,” praising himself, threatening lawsuits, showing the U.S. conquering all of North America, and more
The escalation in the Iran War, including a Pentagon fight over war benefits for a fallen airman’s family
Israel’s escalating attacks on southern Lebanon and the killing of 5-year-old Wafaa Akilah in Gaza on her first day of school
A Ukranian drone strike on an apartment building in Perm, Russia
Russia’s Foreign Minster Lavrov promoting a new Middle East security alliance
The EU and Denmark standing with Greenland against Trump’s threats
Germany’s far-right AfD celebrating Elon Musk’s support after an election win
A report on a looming global ship fuel shortage
The Supreme Court fight over Trump’s new USPS mail-in ballot rules
A striking new UN report about the climate
Record-high gas and diesel prices
And more…
Now let’s get into it all.
Trump’s Distractions and What’s Worth Paying Attention To…
Trump posted, I don’t know, 7 or so different maps this morning rebranding New Mexico as “New America.” He also posted one of his deranged holiday messages for Labor Day. Here it is, and I want to call your attention to something he said, because I find it quite revealing.
Note: Trump wrote that the “radical left lunatics” and “communists and Democrats” should be exhausted by now after 10 years of fighting him, but “sadly, they’re not.” He said they are going to “give it one last shot at ruining America” before the midterms. That’s projection, and also a confession. Trump and his extremist MAGA movement are the ones planning one final push to break our Democracy before November. And in that message, Trump is admitting that his plan was and remains to wear you down. To break you. To make sure you get so sick of it all that you give up and look away.
The fact that you’re still here right now shows that he’s losing that battle.
Trump also posted an image of a map appearing to show the U.S. conquering all of North America.
I won’t bore you with the rest of Trump’s psychotic posts here.
The Strait, and a Widow Fighting the Pentagon
While Trump and Pete Hegseth keep posting AI images of sunken Iranian ships and claiming the Strait is open for business, it is very much not. If you’ve been reading these recaps or listening to my podcasts, you already know what these new reports from Reuters and the Financial Times are confirming. Only a handful of ships, sometimes as few as 2 or 6 a day, are actually able to leave the Strait at the moment. Iran’s Parliament leader MB Ghalibaf responded to Hegseth’s threats, warning that American oil and gas infrastructure across the region is exposed and will get hit if Iran’s assets are struck again.
The Telegraph is reporting that the widow of Major Alex Klinner, an airman killed in a KC-135 crash while supporting strikes on Iran, has had to publicly fight the Pentagon just to get accurate combat pay information for her family. 18 service members have died and 780 have been wounded in the war. And yes it’s a war, despite the fact that the Trump regime doesn’t want to call it that. And that isn’t just an issue of semantics… It conveniently means fewer benefits for the families of the people fighting it. Trump calls it all “small potatoes.” Tell that to the families who’ve lost loved ones.
More Lawsuit Threats
Trump remains furious with the Center for American Progress after they reported that adding the National Guard to cities like DC had no measurable impact on crime. Now he’s threatening a lawsuit against the organization and its funders. So much for free speech.
Updates From Lebanon, Gaza, and Ukraine
Overseas, Netanyahu is escalating his brutal campaign in southern Lebanon, striking the village of Bani Hayyan and killing 11, including 2 infants, in Kfar Raman overnight. An Al-Manar correspondent and cameraman were wounded in a strike on Nabatieh.
In Gaza, 8-year-old Wafaa Akilah was killed alongside her father on the first day of school, her schoolbooks found burned in the wreckage. Israel claims they were targeting a Hamas militant. Different outlets report conflicting details about her age and how she died, which shows how chaotic and undercounted all this violence has become. The images are absolutely horrific and I don’t recommend you seek them out. I’d rather show you this image of her smiling on her first day of school than what came after.
In Ukraine, a drone struck a residential building deep inside Russia, in Perm, killing one and injured several more, more than a thousand miles from the front. Some reporting suggests electronic warfare may have knocked it off course.
Russia Leans In as the U.S. Backs Out
Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov delivered a university address to promote the Mecca Pact, a defense alliance between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey, that he says has room to grow, potentially including Egypt, Algeria, and Iran. Lavrov also accused the West of negotiating via ultimatums that reek of colonialism. This speech comes at a time when the U.S. security umbrella in the Middle East has collapsed, and Russia and China are eager to fill the void. Meanwhile, the EU’s Ursula von der Leyen traveled to Greenland alongside Denmark’s PM specifically to reaffirm that Greenland’s future belongs to Greenlanders and Danes, rebuking Trump’s constant threats.
Musk and the German Far Right
Germany’s far-right AfD had a major win in an eastern state election. It’s local leader publicly thanked Elon Musk for his support after Musk congratulated AfD leader Alice Weidel online. This is the same pattern playing out across democracies right now, as authoritarian movements cheer each other on internationally while claiming to just be defending their own countries.
Because the corporate media doesn’t want to show you the kinds of anti-Semitic accounts Elon Musk engages with, I’ll show you a couple examples here. Here was an interaction Musk has yesterday with an account, which has some very disturbing views about the Holocaust.
Here’s Musk weighing in a few days ago on whether or not Jews are white and turns to DNA/race science:
Yet despite these comments coming from the richest man in the world, a man who is one of the biggest supporters of Republicans in the world, I have yet to see a single news organization ask Republicans if they disavow his support.
Labor Day Reality Price Check
Reuters is now reporting on a looming global ship fuel shortage as refiners strain under pressure due to Trump’s war. On top of that, gas and diesel prices have hit record highs this Labor Day, averaging around $4.14/$4.15 a gallon nationally, blowing past the previous Labor Day record. Diesel has surged past $5.75 a gallons. To put it in perspective, Americans have spent an extra $100 billion on fuel since the Iran War began in February.
The USPS Fight Continues
The Trump regime is back at the Supreme Court asking to let its new USPS mail-in ballot rules take effect for the midterms, after they were blocked by a federal judge. Justice Jackson has ordered a response by September 9th. Groups including the Democracy Defenders Fund, the Campaign Legal Center, and LULAC, have filed briefs opposing the regime’s efforts, warning of threats to free and fair mail-in voting.
The UN’s Clean Air Report
The UN Environment Programme released a report timed to the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, making the case that fighting climate change and air pollution together produces way bigger returns than treating them separately. They note that outdoor air pollution was linked to 6.4 million premature deaths last year alone and that full implementation of the report’s recommended measures by 2050 could prevent 144 million premature deaths and knock more than a degree off future warming. The benefit-cost ratio is around 15-1. That means for every $1 spent on these measures, economies will likely see around $15 in benefits. So it’s not only the right thing to do, it makes economic sense.
That’s it for now. Catch me live with my brothers later on the MeidasTouch Podcast live on YouTube, and remember to add the show for free anywhere you find podcasts.
Thanks for reading, liking, restacking, and all the things. Shoutout to the Meidas Mighty!
Musk is a psychopathic criminal immigrant and needs to stay the hell out of our politics. His support for the right wing party in Germany and donating millions to Susan Collins in Maine as well as other states should alarm us all. Where is ICE to deport him when we really need them.
There are so many sick and evil people who want to destroy the world. It’s up to us to stop them.