Sunday Message from a MeidasTouch Co-Founder

Hey everyone, it’s Ben Meiselas, MeidasTouch co-founder, with our Sunday message.

I know this is a little later than our usual Sunday coffee post. I actually had my coffee earlier today because I had a family event this morning, and then I had to get all of the morning news coverage up before I could sit down with all of you. So whether you’re still on your first cup of coffee this late, you’ve switched over to iced coffee, or you’re enjoying something else entirely, thanks for spending part of your Sunday with me.

I’ve always said these Sunday posts are my favorite because they give me a chance to reflect on the week, talk about what’s ahead, and spend some time with this incredible community. I also saw all of your messages asking where the Sunday post was, and don’t worry, I wasn’t going to skip it.

Before we get into everything, I want to thank all of you for continuing to support our Substack. We’re growing incredibly fast, and that’s entirely because of this community. If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do, and if you’re able to become a paid subscriber, it really does help us continue building independent media.

Now let’s get into what’s been on my mind this week.

One of the biggest stories has been everything surrounding the memorandum of understanding involving the United States and Iran and how Trump keeps violating it. We’ve now seen Trump order multiple strikes against Iran since the markets closed on Friday because Iran was “administering” the Strait of Hormuz as provided for in the MOU.

I’ve said this from the beginning, and nothing that’s happened since has changed my view: Donald Trump isn’t a dealmaker. He’s a deal breaker. He’s a deal breacher. He’s a fraud.

One of the biggest myths that’s been built around Trump is that he’s some negotiator or dealmaker. No. He’s a criminal and a fraud.

His pattern has always been to avoid durable agreements and instead rely on vague frameworks, broad understandings, or arrangements that leave him maximum flexibility for fraud later.

The strategy isn’t to negotiate in good faith. It’s to encourage everyone else to negotiate in good faith while preserving every opportunity to walk away, change the terms, breach the agreement, and commit fraud. For Trump, a deal is about exploiting the other side’s “good faith” and being a predator.

That’s the pattern we’ve seen over and over again.

I’ve also been clear that I don’t believe the United States should have been involved in this catastrophic and unlawful war in Iran in the first place. Given where we are now, diplomacy is always preferable to continued escalation. But regardless of anyone’s politics, agreements should matter. If governments sign them, there ought to be an expectation that they’ll work to carry them out rather than immediately undercutting them, as Trump has done with the Iran MOU.

From my perspective, we’ve watched the administration violate the MOU it signed and announced almost immediately and every day thereafter.

At the same time, Marco Rubio traveled throughout the Middle East discussing these issues to encourage regional governments to conspire in breaching the MOU. Heck, the Arab nations have said they are not even aware of the $300 billion reconstruction obligation they owe to Iran under the MOU that Trump signed on their behalf.

Rubio himself has been characterizing the memorandum as a framework for future negotiations rather than as something that was already in the process of being implemented.

Then we saw the separate Lebanon MOU framework.

What struck me was how the Lebanon MOU framework was in direct contradiction to the Iran MOU. The Iran MOU has Iran involved in the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon. The Lebanon MOU has Israel remaining in Southern Lebanon for the foreseeable future. Netanyahu describes the Lebanon framework as killing Iran’s regional position.

Rubio’s efforts in the Middle East with Netanyahu seemed designed to bring the United States back into war with Iran.

I’ve talked before about what I call these recurring cycles under Trump.

Everything always seems to be just around the corner. There’s another framework, another negotiation, another promise that the real deal is coming soon. We’ve seen versions of this before with healthcare, with trade, and with so many other issues. Instead of certainty, we get perpetual ambiguity, perpetual lies, and perpetual losing.

Meanwhile, ordinary Americans are suffering.

People are worried about paying for groceries. They’re worried about rent. They’re worried about electricity, healthcare, gas, childcare, and simply making it through another month. Those are the conversations happening around kitchen tables every single day, and that’s where our attention should be.

That brings me to something else I’ve been thinking about this week.

I’ve watched a lot of political pundits spend their time debating what the Democratic Party should look like, what the branding should be, what messaging consultants recommend, or what ideological lane someone should occupy. To me, that’s not where leadership begins.

Leadership begins by listening.

Before you tell people what they should think, you should understand what they’re actually experiencing. You should understand why people feel psychologically tortured.

The wealth gap continues to grow. Too many people feel like those at the very top keep getting richer while everyone else is left trying to keep up. Whether people are talking about housing, healthcare, wages, or simply trying to build a secure future for their families, they’re looking for leaders who understand those struggles instead of talking past them.

That’s what our focus should be.

As we move closer to the midterms, I also think it’s important to recognize what’s coming. You’re going to see more efforts to divide people. You’re going to see enormous sums of money poured into media and messaging designed to inflame, distract, and turn Americans against one another. That’s what the right-wing oligarchs who control corporate news demand.

We don’t have to play that game.

Our job is to stay grounded, stay empathetic, stay informed, and continue fighting for people. We should be listening to people, elevating their voices, and keeping our attention on the issues that actually affect their daily lives.

That’s what good leadership looks like, regardless of political party, and it’s what good journalism should strive to do as well.

That’s certainly what we’re going to keep doing here at the MeidasTouch Network. We’re going to continue fighting for people, continue bringing you the news, continue asking difficult questions, and continue building this community together.

So thank you for spending part of your Sunday with me—even if our Sunday coffee turned into a Sunday afternoon coffee this week.

Honestly, I kind of like that every once in a while. It reminds me that these posts aren’t about sticking to a clock; they’re about taking a moment to connect with all of you.

Thank you for everything you do for this community. Thank you for reading, for sharing our work, and for supporting independent media. If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do, and if you’re able to become a paid subscriber, it truly helps us continue growing.

I hope you have a great rest of your Sunday, enjoy whatever you’re drinking, and we’ll be right back at it together this week.