Hi, it’s September 10th. From the disaster that is the Trump Midterm Convention, to the Houthis taking control over the red sea, to brutal economic news, the last 12 hours or so have been quite eventful, so like, restack, and let’s dig into the headlines:
Top Stories We’re Tracking:
Trump doubles down on his latest lie about a $5,000 “Trump dividend” and then also promises to give away $500 Obamacare “rebate” checks. Scammers gonna scam.
PPI inflation jumps to 5.4% YoY, Treasury yields spike, oil spikes
The Houthis seize the port city of Mokha and Zuqar Island, tightening their grip on the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait
The very embarrassing and bizarre Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas
The Supreme Court blocks the Missouri GOP’s gerrymandered map
Jimmy Kimmel says the FCC threatened him over his interview with James Talarico, causing him to make it a YouTube only broadcast
The U.S. is pressing NATO allies to abandon the International Criminal Court
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Trump’s $5,000 Lie
It’s been another disastrous morning for Donald Trump. And as his back is increasingly against the wall with midterms fast approaching, he’s becoming increasingly desperate. Trump’s bringing back one of his favorite scams: offering to give people money they will never see. He announced last night in Dallas that if Republicans hold the House and Senate in November, he’ll cut every adult American a $5,000 check he’s calling a “Trump Dividend.” This morning, he followed that up with a video announcing $500 rebate checks for nearly a million people he says were “wrongly overcharged” under Obamacare.
This is his go-to move. See: DOGE checks, tariff rebate checks, giving everyone the gold “found” at Fort Knox. He Fox was forced to acknowledge on air that Trump has made these promises before and never delivered. He’s promised gas at $2/gallon. He promised electricity prices cut in half within 12 months. He promised he’d end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. He promised the Iran War would end within weeks. He’s a scam artist. A con man. Even Trump’s own former chief of staff Mick Mulvaney appeared on Fox Business and basically said don’t hold your breath on Trump’s latest lie, noting that the real cost of Trump’s $5,000 promise is around $1.3 trillion. That would not only increase the debt, but it’d also lead to massive inflation and even higher interest rates. Fox’s Bret Baier even pressed JD Vance on this, and Vance’s answer was nonsensical. He claimed that tariff revenue justifies it. It doesn’t. Remember: Trump’s been going around bragging that he could be the “best communist” in history because all he’d have to do is promise people free stuff and then never deliver it. He told you his plan.
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These Economic Indicators Are Brutal
Let’s look at the actual numbers. You know I am a data guy. PPI inflation just came in at 5.4% year-over-year, the highest reading of 2026, with core PPI coming in at 4.6%. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to nearly 4.92%, with the 30-year hitting a multiyear high around 5.33-5.35%. Both WTI and Brent crude are above $100/barrel and rising. The Treasury tripled its long-term bond buyback to $6B this week to try to calm the bond marker. It didn’t work. This is the bond market telling Scott Bessent it doesn’t believe him. And they see his moves for what they are: panic.
Contrast that to the tale Trump spewed on stage in Dallas, calling this “the most successful 2 years financially and every other way in the history of the presidency” and claiming tariffs are “making us much richer than we ever thought.” Nope. Pollster Harry Enten put together a graphic for CNN showing Trump’s net approval rating on the economy among independents has cratered 62 points lower than it was at this exact point in his first term back in 2018, and 2018 was already a bad midterm cycle for Republicans.
WTF Is Going On at the GOP Convention
Despite images of empty seats, closed down sections, and dismal streaming views, Trump took to his social media account to false claim the event broke attendance records and beat the NFL in ratings.
The event has been a mess so far. The podium sign that was supposed to read “DALLAS” had an “L” fall off, so it just read “DA LAS.” Ken Paxton and Tim Scott spent a large amount of time railing against Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico for once suggesting God is nonbinary, insisting over and over that God has a penis. They were very adamant about this. MAGA world has also constantly tried to attack Talarico as a vegan, which isn’t even true, and if it were, who the hell cares. How does any of this make people’s lives better in Texas? Trump made this a centerpiece of his speech when he wasn’t bribing voters, ranting about people “beating meat.” These people can’t govern. They’re presiding over one of the worst times in American history. So all they have are these weird distractions.
Other weird moments:
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna making her speech about the evils of people profiting from their office, as she stumped for Trump
Trump’s HUD secretary trying to smack her on the butt as she exited stage
Rick Scott framing the current crisis as a false binary: either we have nuclear annihilation due to Iran using a nuke, or you pay $6 for gas. Be happy, peasants.
Yemen and the Red Sea
While the domestic circus was happening, one of the most consequential events just occurred. The Iran-backed Houthis fully seized the port city of Mokha on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, along with Zuqar Island, with the IRGC providing direct guidance for their advance. Mokha sits right near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, another major chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to global shipping lanes. I’ve been warning about this for months on the MeidasTouch Podcast, as many of you know.
To add, the Epoch Times interviewed Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao, who confirmed something we’ve also been telling you for months: that Iranian strikes did serious damage to Naval Support Activity Bahrain, the Fifth Fleet's main logistical hub. Cao said the damage left the USS Abraham Lincoln's crew with nowhere to pull in. We haven’t heard any Trump officials admit to this damage before.
SCOTUS, the ICC, and Kimmel
The Supreme Court blocked Missouri’s newly drawn 7-1 gerrymandered congressional map from taking effect for the midterms. The order stayed (or paused) a Trump-appointed judge's ruling that had temporarily revived the gerrymander after Missouri's own state Supreme Court had already struck it down 7-0. That means Missouri goes back to its previous 6-2 congressional map for November, and notably, the order came down with no dissents noted.
Separately, POLITICO reported that the U.S. is pressuring NATO allies to withdraw support from the International Criminal Court, with envoy Matthew Whitaker reportedly telling allies “we will be watching closely who stands with America.”
And Jimmy Kimmel announced his interview with Talarico will not air on ABC, saying Trump's FCC threatened the network and its affiliates over what he called simple editorial decisions.
We’ll keep tracking all the news. Remember to take advantage of the deals on our book WTF America above before they go away. And join as a paid subscriber if you haven’t yet. Your subscriptions allow us to continue our work, so thank you.
