Sunday Message from MeidasTouch

Hey everybody. It’s Ben Meiselas, MeidasTouch co-founder, here with my favorite post of the week, Sunday Coffee, where we get to discuss the week, reflect on what’s happened, and think about what’s to come.

Before I get into everything, I just want to thank each and every one of you for being part of this incredible Substack community. You are the reason MeidasTouch exists. You are the reason we continue to grow. And you are the reason independent media is winning.

This was also a really big week for me and my brothers because we announced our new book, WTF America?!, which comes out in October but is available for pre-order right now.

This book is a tribute to you.

It tells the story of how MeidasTouch was created, how this community became one of the most powerful forces in independent media, how our country got into this mess, and, most importantly, how we get out of it together.

The very first page of the book is dedicated to you because none of this would have been possible without this community. I’m incredibly proud of it, and I really hope you’ll consider pre-ordering a copy.

All right. Let me get into this week.

Obviously, this week saw a massive escalation in Donald Trump’s catastrophic war with Iran.

Early in the week, I warned there were indications that we would likely see more American casualties and fatalities. Sadly, that warning proved accurate.

Donald Trump continues climbing the escalation ladder with Iran with absolutely no plan.

This is a catastrophic war we never should have been involved in, and now, after suffering humiliation, Trump has expanded the conflict even further.

He’s now bombing civilian infrastructure inside Iran. Bridges. Desalination plants. Maritime civilian facilities. It’s horrific to watch.

Iran has responded by continuing to strike U.S. bases throughout the region.

The American service members who were killed were stationed at a base in Jordan.

Iran has launched repeated attacks against facilities there, using ballistic missiles and Shahed drones with remarkable precision.

Meanwhile, American interception systems have struggled to keep up, whether because of the volume of incoming attacks or because interceptor supplies are becoming strained.

The result has been devastating.

American troops have been killed. Many more have been injured. Helicopters have been destroyed. Drones have been destroyed. Billions of dollars in equipment have been lost.

And after all of this escalation, the United States is arguably in a worse strategic position than it was just one week ago.

That’s what happens when you continue escalating without any coherent strategy or realistic endgame.

Meanwhile, the economic consequences continue growing.

Our strategic petroleum reserves have been depleted. The Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Energy markets remain under enormous pressure.

Trump just continues flailing.

I covered all of this in my YouTube video this morning, and I hope you’ll check it out.

One thing that also stood out to me over the past twenty four hours was Trump’s silence.

Normally, he floods social media every chance he gets.

Yet the one day American troops are killed and many others are injured, he makes no social media posts and gives no public statement.

Frankly, I’d prefer he go silent all day and every day.

But the timing of that silence yesterday is still fascinating.

Earlier this week, Trump also delivered one of the most deranged national addresses I’ve ever seen from a president.

He couldn’t stay focused. He couldn’t put together a coherent message. Instead of speaking clearly about war and peace, he started ranting about the 2020 election and other conspiracy theories. It was astonishing.

Then the administration released newly declassified intelligence documents.

Ironically, those documents raised new questions about Russia wanting to help Trump and about intelligence suggesting China may have possessed compromising information regarding Trump. Some of those sections remain heavily redacted, leaving many important questions unanswered.

At the end of last week, we also were the first to break the exclusive story involving Todd Blanche’s meeting with the Epstein survivors. Aaron Parnas got the scoop.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis insisted that Blanche meet with Jeffrey Epstein survivors before his nomination could move forward. Blanche met with them. The survivors then spoke exclusively with Parnas for MeidasTouch. Every single one who spoke with Parnas described feeling dismissed, treated poorly, and retraumatized by the experience.

Sadly, none of that surprised me.

Everything we’ve seen from Blanche demonstrates someone who simply should not hold one of the most important law enforcement positions in the country. He shouldn’t even have a bar license in my opinion.

As I look ahead to this coming week, I think it’s going to be another difficult one. The economy is already under enormous strain. Trump appears trapped inside an escalation cycle that only gets worse the more he refuses to change course. Every failure seems to produce even more escalation. Every humiliation seems to create even greater risks.

And all of this reminds me why competent leadership matters. This isn’t politics as entertainment. This isn’t reality television. These are decisions involving war, peace, our economy, and people’s lives.

Having someone in the Oval Office who appears incapable of making thoughtful decisions during a crisis is deeply disturbing. The people surrounding him don’t appear interested in solving problems. They appear interested only in creating more chaos.

That’s why communities like this matter so much. We stay informed. We support each other. We don’t normalize what should never be considered normal. And we continue fighting for democracy every single day.

Thank you again for being part of this incredible community. Thank you for supporting independent media. Thank you for helping MeidasTouch become what it is today.

And if you haven’t already, please consider pre-ordering WTF America?!. I truly believe you’re going to love it because, at its heart, it’s your story just as much as it’s ours.

Now I’m going to finish this cup of coffee and get back to work.

Have a great Sunday, everybody. We’ve got a lot to do together.