Sunday Afternoon News Updates: More Failed Deals, Economic Gaslighting, and New Iran Strikes – 5/31/26

Hi all, Ben here. It’s Sunday, and there is a lot to get into today as we head into another week. We are also about to go live on the MeidasTouch Network with a new Sunday morning show called On Sunday. Jack Cocchiarella is hosting. His guests today are Senator Bernie Sanders, Rep. Ro Khanna, and independent journalist Joy Reid. It starts in just moments, at 1:30pm ET, so click here to watch live or after it airs.

Here’s what we’re tracking in today’s midday update:

• Iran shot down another U.S. drone, the fifth American aircraft lost this week alone

• Trump “toughened” his Iran deal terms, a move that analysts say makes zero strategic sense when Iran refused his last demands

• Iran’s parliament speaker made clear: no deal until Iran’s rights are fully secured

• Iran’s IRGC launched attacks on armed groups in northern Iraq

• Netanyahu ordered the IDF to expand operations in Lebanon, seizing the Beaufort Ridge

• Trump is threatening a federal judge over a drone port he wants built in the White House ballroom

• Treasury Secretary Bessent and economic advisor Kevin Hassett spent the morning telling Americans the economy is actually great

• Interior Secretary Doug Burgum refused to say who’s funding “Freedom 250”

• Mike Pence called Trump’s anti-weaponization slush fund “deeply offensive”

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Let’s get into it.

Iran Strikes Iraq – And Another U.S. Aircraft

This week, Iran has shot down five U.S. aircraft. The latest is an MQ-1 drone, which the Air Force officially retired in 2018 but which still sees limited use in upgraded form. Before that, four MQ-9 Reapers were knocked out of the sky.

And on top of that, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has now launched attacks on bases used by armed separatist groups in northern Iraq, which Iran says are being used in coordination with the United States against it.

This is the reality on the ground. And yet the Trump administration’s messaging operation, which has found a reliable mouthpiece in Barak Ravid of Axios and his parade of siren emojis, wants you to believe that negotiations are slow because the Iranians are “literally in caves” and “not using email.” That’s the line a senior U.S. official fed to Ravid, which was published without scrutiny.

Here’s what’s actually happening: Iran’s parliament just convened a session with over 200 representatives. Their parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is also Iran’s lead negotiator, addressed the nation. He said no agreement will be accepted until the Iranian people’s rights are secured. He said Iran’s negotiators have no trust in the words and promises of the “enemy,” and that their standard is tangible achievements, not vague assurances. He said Iran will emerge from this war victorious.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf convenes a session to discuss the war

These are not the words of people cowering in caves waiting for Trump to rescue them. These are people who have held the same negotiating position since March and watched Trump flail around it for months.

Here’s a compilation of the many stories from Axios over the past few months telling us that a deal is just around the corner. Disclaimer: It’s a long list, so keep scrolling.

Trump Contradicts Himself on Iran in the Same Interview

Speaking of flailing, let’s talk about Trump’s interview on state regime media Fox with his daughter-in-law Lara Trump. Yes, that is an actual sentence I just wrote.

At one point, Trump explained that he intentionally left Iran’s military intact because, in his view, the IRGC represents the “moderate” faction in Iran. He wanted to preserve them as a negotiating partner. Then, within moments, he declared that Iran has no military. Both of these things cannot be true. And he has said countless times that he has completely “destroyed” Iran’s military.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was asked on Fox whether Trump would “finish the job” on Iran. His response: “What does ‘finish the job’ mean?”

And then there’s Mark Dubowitz of the right wing thing tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who laid out his vision for finishing the job: two and a half more years of war. Two and a half years.

Dubowitz: “If the goal is to cripple the Iranian regime, we are closer today than at any point in 47 years. The opportunity is real, but so is the risk of squandering it. President Trump will need the strategic patience and staying power to finish the job over the next two and a half years.”

Important Sunday Message from MeidasTouch

Trump’s Terms Keep Shifting

The latest development out of the negotiations is that Trump sent Iran a revised framework with toughened terms. Analyst Aaron Astor cut right to the bone on this one: Iran doesn’t need a deal right now. Tougher terms don’t impress a country that has been absorbing U.S. strikes and shooting down American drones all week. The only real options are either meeting Iran’s terms or attacking again militarily. Everything else is performance. Iran already rejected Trump’s “less tough” terms. Why would they agree to a more maximalist approach?

Trump’s been telling us a deal was imminent since March. Days away. Hours away. On his desk. Not on his desk. Ceasefire. No ceasefire. Iran rejecting, Trump spinning. The tougher terms announcement is for his base. It lets him claim he was being strong, that he’s the one driving the outcome, even as Iran holds precisely the same position it has held for months and keeps shooting down our aircraft.

Netanyahu Keeps the Fires Burning

Israel is actively working to keep this war going. Netanyahu announced this morning that he ordered the IDF to expand its maneuver in Lebanon, with Israeli forces seizing the Beaufort Ridge and deepening their hold on areas previously controlled by Hezbollah. He said they are operating simultaneously in Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon, and that it will take time but they will complete the mission, without ever saying what the mission actually is.

Iran has made clear that any durable deal with the United States requires a real, lasting ceasefire guarantee in Lebanon. Israel knows that. Every escalation in Lebanon is another wrench in the negotiations. The UN Security Council is holding an emergency session on Monday to address Lebanon. This situation is not winding down.

Trump Officials Want You to Know the Actually Is Great, Actually

On the home front, the White House dispatched its economic messengers this morning to explain that everything is going great and anyone who thinks otherwise is either a Democrat or anti-American.

Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, appeared on Fox News Sunday and argued that consumer sentiment data showing economic pessimism doesn’t reflect reality. It just reflects Democrats being sad. Republicans, he said, have stayed around 80% positive throughout. He then addressed the Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing inflation outpacing wage growth by calling it “a technical matter” related to reductions in transfers and food stamps. And on the question of Americans spending more on gas and groceries, he offered the creative reframe that people spending more money is actually a sign of optimism.

Bessent told Maria Bartiromo that bad economic coverage is just anti-Americanism. On inflation, he called the spike “very limited.”

If they can’t even acknowledge the problem, how can they fix it?

Trump Turns America’s 250th Into His Party – Then Complains When Nobody Wants to Show

Doug Burgum went on CNN this morning to discuss “Freedom 250,” the administration’s planned celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary, and was asked the very basic question of who is funding it. He declined to answer, called the administration “the most transparent ever,” and compared the White House to a corporate boardroom where proprietary decisions don’t need to be shared publicly.

The boardroom analogy is instructive, actually, just not in the way he intended. You work for us. This is not proprietary business information. The question of who is privately funding a White House event is a legitimate matter of public concern. Trump, meanwhile, is saying he wans to cancel the whole thing and replace it with a MAGA rally after several artists backed out, while simultaneously attacking the federal judge who blocked his Kennedy Center renovations.

Also this morning, former Vice President Mike Pence went on Meet the Press and said Trump’s slush fund, the one used to compensate allies and January 6th participants, is “deeply offensive” to him. Pence said it should not be possible for such a fund to compensate people who assaulted police officers or vandalized the Capitol.

That’s where things stand right now. Ron Filipkowski will be back later will the full weekend bulletin, so stay tuned.