Sunday Afternoon News Update: Trump's Iran Cut and Run Plan - 8/9/26

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Hi all, it’s Sunday. I’ll keep this quick so you can catch up on the latest news and get back to your day. Later, Ron Filipkowski will be back with his full weekend bulletin.

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Ok, let’s dive right in. Here are the top stories at the moment:

• Trump is growing increasingly panicked behind the scenes about the Iran War and is considering leaving without a nuclear deal, just so he can declare “victory” even though he knows he has lost

• Iran continues to hold firm on their demands

• Israel is threatening to strike Iran, with or without the U.S.

• Netanyahu rejects the Gaza “Board of Peace” plan outright

• More escalation in the Middle East with downed U.S. drones and refineries on fire

• MAGA surrogates try to explain away the brutal jobs report

• Trump and GOP attacks on Abdul El-Sayed and Trump’s AI slop posting spree

Trump Looks to Surrender and Claim “Victory”

I’ve long been reporting, that Trump has been increasingly defeated by the war behind-the-scenes. He thought he’d be able to be in and out of Iran, able to move on to his next conquest. But as the war has dragged on, he’s had to come to terms that this wasn’t the little “excursion” he said it was. Now, he is admitting defeat and looking for ways to leave the region while declaring victory. Per the Wall Street Journal, Trump is telling his closest aides that he wants to find some way for Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz, and then he wants to get out without getting a nuclear deal or anything else, for that matter.

You’ll notice that Trump isn’t even talking about denuclearization anymore. Instead, he’s back to his messaging saying that Iran’s nuclear capabilities have been destroyed. Per the WSJ, Trump believes Iran won’t be able to build their nuclear capabilities back up until after his term. In other words, like he’s done throughout his life, Trump created a mess, and now he wants others to fix it for him.

Let me just be clear that I think Trump should never have started this war in the first place, and after he did, he should have left much sooner. As you know, I even acknowledged that as flawed as the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was, it was the best option out of all bad options on the table. Anything at this point that gets our soldiers home and ends this illegal and costly war is good for the country.

Yet, Trump has dragged the war on longer and longer. Now, Iran feels more emboldened than ever. Tehran is holding firm on its terms from the MOU, saying unless those conditions are met, they won’t reopen the strait. Iran wants Israel out of Lebanon, sanctions relief, to keep its ballistic missile program intact, a massive infusion of aid and reparations, and a full U.S. withdrawal from the region. Basically, at this point, while Trump says, “Let’s leave,” Iran is saying, “Not so fast.” They want Trump to give them what they’ve been asking for.

Then, Trump spoke with Axios by phone and told them the U.S. is “low keying” with Iran, whatever that means, and that “it will work out.”

“Like a miracle, it will go away.” Anyone else getting those flashbacks?

Israel May Go At It Alone

While Trump speaks of retreat, Israel is signaling that they may strike Iran on their own, ideally pulling the U.S. deeper into the war once again. Israel’s Channel 13 says the IDF is preparing for the possibility of independent strikes on Iran with or without U.S. approval or support.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, has been publicly rejected the so-called “Board of Peace” plan for Gaza that Trump’s been bragging about. Trump had claimed Israel and Hamas agreed to the terms. Netanyahu begs to differ. Netanyahu says Israel flatly rejects the 15-point document laid out by the board, full stop. Netanyahu says the IDF will not withdraw from Gaza unless Hamas disarms completely, and made clear that as long as he is Prime Minister, there will be no Palestinian state.

Saudi Arabia Is Still Burning

The Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen continue to hammer Saudi interests across the region. They launched ballistic missiles and drones at Yemen’s Al-Mukha port, setting off fires and heavy smokes. This came after the new defense pact they announced with Turkey, which was on top of the one it already has with Pakistan. I told you yesterday that the Houthis would test this “pact” immediately. And they have.

Aramco, the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, also had a facility hit in Jubail, in eastern Saudi Arabia. The facility was still on fire as of earlier today. The Houthis put out a statement claiming responsibility. Some open source intelligence accounts I follow flagged that U.S. E-3G AWACS and Saudi AEW&C aircraft were flying over the area the night before, almost as if they were expecting the imminent attack. And then, a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone out of Chabelley Air Base crashed in Djibouti. We’re not sure just yet if it was shot down or mechanical failure. Either way, it’s yet another piece of American military hardware down in the region.

As our munitions continue to deplete to near-zero, the Pentagon reportedly gave defense companies a 21-day ultimatum to come up with a plan to build new weapons…or else. Or else what? Trump and Hegseth want to keep pushing responsibility onto others to try to hide from their own failures and mismanagement. Trump’s big plan as of now appears to be posting Newsmax articles saying that actually the U.S. has “massive” amounts of munitions.

More Pathetic Economic Spin from the Trump Regime

Trump’s surrogates were out and about on the Sunday shows today. Republican Senator Jim Banks on Meet the Press bragged about Trump being the greatest peacemaker of his lifetime, and saying Trump deserves an A+ on the economy.

Fox propagandist Maria Bartiromo called it “propaganda” when Democrats point out the economy isn’t doing well. She says it’s doing great. All the CEOs she speaks with tell her it is.

Kevin Hassett, Trump’s economic adviser who is always awkwardly smiling through his lies, told Jake Tapper on CNN that tariffs aren’t an issue and we’re actually in the strongest jobs market of our lifetime. As he said this, the chyron reminded viewers that the U.S. just LOST 23K jobs in July. As Tapper pushed back, Hassett continued to insist that everything is great.

Trump’s AI Slop and Abdul El-Sayed Attacks

Trump and the GOP’s approach to the midterms appears to be a combination of racism, transphobia, fearmongering about communism, and gaslighting about the economy. Overnight, Trump posted a ton of AI slop images on his social media account. In the mix, he posted a meme of him and Melania, besides a photo of Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and his wife. He captioned it: “Two VERY DIFFERENT America’s” (yes, that’s how he spelled it).

El-Sayed was asked about the Islamophobic post. I’ll transcribe his response here in its entirety, because it’s worth reading. Here’s how El-Sayed flipped it right back on him live on CNN:

”Yeah, he's right. One in which your overlords are two people who don't like each other, but joined in the interest of making billions of dollars off of you.

Or two people who genuinely love each other, enjoyed some pancakes together, want to come together to build the kind of America where they can raise a family and know that that family is going to have the good things.

So, yes, you got two different visions of America. Donald Trump's vision is the one you're living in right now. Can you afford your gas? Can you afford your groceries? Do you believe, when you look your kids in the eye, that they're going to have a better future than you did?

And Sarah and I are running because when we look our daughters in the eye, Emmalee and Shireen, we want them to believe that they're every bit as able to have a better future than the one that they could have had under the Trump administration. That they can live together with their sisters and their brothers in America in a way where they lock arms to build the good things that they deserve together.

Where they know they'll have the healthcare that they need and good jobs, and that they don't have to go 15 minutes and know that there are kids who live 15 minutes away whose lives are very, very different than theirs because we've been, for far too long, okay with a level of inequality in this country.

I want them to live in an America where they can breathe clean air and drink clean water.

And actually, Sarah and I like each other. I don't know about the First Lady and the President, but from what I've heard, it's a bit of a rocky road.”

I mean, in Trump we are talking about a man who cheated on his wife with an adult film actress he compared to his own daughter, has bragged on tape about sexually assaulting women, and who was best friends with Jeffrey Epstein. Sure, there are two Americas: the Epstein Class that Trump represents, and the America built on hope, love, and family, which is what the El-Sayeds are modeling.

Republicans, including Trump, keep insisting on using El-Sayed’s full name, Abdulrahman instead of Abdul, in order to scare people about his religion. Same thing they did and continue to do with Obama. Their excuses show how pathetic they truly are. Republican Senator Tim Scott was asked about this by reporter Manu Raju, and he said it’s exactly how people all the time call him by his full name, Timothy Eugene. Sure thing, Tim.

While we’re on the topic of pathetic Republicans, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who voted to confirm Todd Blanche, apparently wants credit for supposedly almost voting no. That’s what he said on Face the Nation, at least. Sorry Bill, that’s not how this works. You don’t get a participation trophy for possibly considering doing the right thing.

Back to Trump, he also kept posting more and more AI slop memes…of the ballroom “drone port,” of Pete Buttigieg and Alfred E. Neuman. You get the point. Our reporters also noticed that Trump has installed signs at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool blaming “past administrations,” in other words, Obama and Biden," for issues with the pool (weren’t you one of those “past administrations”). So deeply embarrassing. What a tiny, tiny individual.

That’s all for now. Ron will be back with more later with the full weekend bulletin. And if you haven’t yet, consider preordering our new book, WTF America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy. If and when you do, be sure to let me know in the comments.

See you soon, and shoutout to the Meidas Mighty!