Tuesday Afternoon News Updates: U.S. Apache Shot Down as War Escalates – 6/9/26

Your Tuesday midday update is here

Hi all, Ben here. It’s Tuesday afternoon, June 9th, and buckle up… There’s a lot to discuss. I also want to remind everyone there is a new episode of the MeidasTouch Podcast featuring me and my brothers out now. We are making a BIG push this week keep our show ahead of the MAGA podcasts. That means we can use your help, and yes, it’s completely free. If you have a few seconds, please check out today’s episode on audio platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Leave a 5-star review if you can. It helps more than you know!

Ok, here’s what we’re tracking right now:

• Trump attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals at MSG, got thunderously booed, appeared to fall asleep on camera, and the Knicks lost — ending their 13-game winning streak

• Markets are deep in the red: Nasdaq down nearly 3%, S&P down nearly 2%, Goldman Sachs and Barclays warning this isn’t a blip

• Trump says Iran shot down a US Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz, and vows revenge

• ProPublica drops a bombshell: an Indian billionaire targeted by Trump poured $100M+ into a startup secretly backed by Don Jr.

• The Epstein coverup rolls on as House Oversight Chair James Comer refuses to subpoena Todd Blanche

• The White House account posted a digitally altered photo mocking Hakeem Jeffries with a sombrero edited onto his head

• USMCA trade talks are expected to miss the July 1 renewal deadline, with the Trump team blaming Canada, of course

• Peter Navarro went on Fox and said every American should love tariffs

Before I go any further, if you haven’t yet joined as a paid subscriber, consider doing so now by clicking here to support our work. This is how we grow. And if you’re already a Meidas+ paid Substack subscriber, thank you for supporting pro-democracy media. We’re making this update free for everyone to read.

Let’s get into it.

Trump Thunderously Booed at the Garden

Let’s recap last night for a moment.

Donald Trump showed up to Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden as a guest of Knicks owner James Dolan. Before he even got inside, he was greeted outside by protest signs and middle fingers. The Secret Service locked down multiple blocks around MSG. No bags allowed, arrive two hours early, pedestrian and vehicle closures. That meant thousands of Knicks fans were stuck in long lines just to watch their team play, all because Trump needed to make himself the center of attention.

When his face appeared on the Jumbotron during the national anthem, the entire arena erupted. The White House pool report described it as being “thunderously booed.” CNN’s Hannah Keyser noted the boos for Trump were actually louder than those directed at the visiting San Antonio Spurs. You can hear the boos for yourself (again) here:

Then, mid-game, we noticed that Trump appeared to have dozed off during the game. By this morning it had been seen by tens of millions of people. When he wasn’t sleeping, he was reportedly eating hamburgers and pizza and French fries. The Knicks, meanwhile, lost 115-111, with the Spurs sealing it on two Stephon Castle free throws with under two minutes left, snapping a 13-game winning streak and a 46-day run that had included taking Games 1 and 2 in San Antonio.

After the buzzer, Knicks fans poured into the streets chanting against Trump. The “Trump Curse” trended across social media. Trump got booed out of the city.

Trump’s response was to repost someone named Nicole Parker USA, whose post said “NYC loves Donald Trump.”

Stephen A. Smith, who Trump took a swipe at yesterday, commented on Trump on First Take: “The brother wasn’t awake. If it was that important for you to be there, why did you look like you were asleep? Didn’t you call out former President Biden as ‘Sleepy Joe’? Well, what should we call you?”

Rep. Ted Lieu is asking the same question publicly. Lieu, talking to MeidasTouch’s Scott MacFarlane, pointed to the pattern of Trump dozing at Cabinet meetings, official events, and now the NBA Finals on national television and said: “The president of the United States is not well. We can see it with our own eyes.” He’s calling on the White House to explain Trump’s repeated hospital visits and why the president is reportedly undergoing cognitive testing.

Markets Crashing. Goldman and Barclays Are Worried.

The Dow is down over 350 points. The S&P is off nearly 2%. The Nasdaq is down close to 3%. CNN’s Fear and Greed index is sitting at 31, squarely in “Fear” territory. Goldman Sachs shifted to a negative market outlook, and market desks at both Goldman and Barclays are saying Friday’s sell-off wasn’t a one-off. They’re flagging crowded momentum positioning, weak market breadth, and higher-for-longer rates as compounding risk factors. Goldman separately forecasts interest rates likely staying on hold through 2026.

A reminder: Joe Biden handed this administration what economists called a Goldilocks economy. Inflation was coming down toward 2%. Multiple interest rate cuts were on the table. There was real capital available to fuel job growth. Trump blew all of that up with his tariff war, and now they’re scrambling to find someone to blame.

So who do they blame (aside from Biden)? Canada. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer went on Fox Business and cited Canada’s retaliatory tariffs as the reason USMCA talks are stalling and the July 1 renewal deadline will be missed. Retaliatory tariffs. Meaning, we attacked them, and they responded. It’s literally a South Park episode. When in doubt, blame Canada.

Meanwhile, Peter Navarro went on Fox Business’s Mornings with Maria and told viewers that every American should love tariffs. He also warned that the country “should be in total rebellion” if the Fed raises interest rates. Because now that their own policies have blown up the economy and rate cuts are off the table, they need a villain, and they’ve settled on Jerome Powell running some kind of shadow operation at the Fed.

The Apache Helicopter and the Iran Situation

A US Army AH-64 Apache went down Monday evening near the coast of Oman, close to the Strait of Hormuz. Both crew members were rescued safely, and in a genuinely remarkable development, the rescue was carried out in part by a Saronic Corsair unmanned surface vessel, a drone boat, in what US Central Command described as the first-of-its-kind rescue operation at sea.

Trump posted on Truth Social that Iran shot the helicopter down and that the US “must, of necessity, respond.” CENTCOM’s official statement confirmed the helicopter went down and confirmed the rescue.

Weird, because Trump previously said Iran’s military had been “completely obliterated.”

A senior U.S. official told Axios that a military investigation determined that an Iranian drone struck the AH-64 Apache over the Hormuz Strait causing it to crash, though the official said the investigation had not yet determined whether that was an intentional action by Iran.

Separately, per a report citing an IRGC-affiliated news agency, Iran agreed to halt fire against Israel following a reported US transfer of $3 billion in unfrozen Iranian assets, flown from Abu Dhabi to Tehran via a UAE aircraft during Iran’s airspace closure. A Qatari delegation reportedly brokered the arrangement. The flight itself appears to be confirmed by open-source tracking, and a UAE delegation presence in Tehran has been reported by multiple sources. But the $3 billion claim remains unverified as of this time. If true, this would be a stunning and remarkable development.

This is the context in which Trump is running around yelling “deal in two days, deal in three days, the biggest deal, the most powerful deal.” Just stop. Either there’s a deal or there isn’t. The performative announcing of deals that don’t exist while actual military incidents go unexplained is not leadership.

The Epstein Coverup, Don Jr.’s $100 Million, and a Very Strange Hearing

ProPublica published a significant investigation this morning. Reporter Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott, and Alex Mierjeski report that Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries invested at least $100 million into an obscure Texas startup secretly connected to Donald Trump Jr., at the exact same time the Ambani family secured a series of major policy wins from the Trump administration: tariff exemptions, sanctions relief, and the ability to import discounted Russian oil and resell it. The timing, as ProPublica puts it, is awfully suspicious. There are dozens of stories like this involving Don Jr., Eric, and Jared Kushner. This family is getting paid, and Americans are getting left with the bill.

On the Epstein front, let’s circle back to Pam Bondi’s congressional appearance. Instead of answering most questions, she blamed Todd Blanche, said she didn’t recall, declined to answer anything predating 2024, and refused to discuss her communications with Trump or anyone in the executive branch. The logical next step is to bring in Todd Blanche. When Rep. Mike Garcia formally requested House Oversight Chair James Comer subpoena Blanche, Comer dismissed it. Rep. Yassamin Ansari responded directly: “James Comer doesn’t quite get that we are in fact serious about this investigation. It’s the most egregious cover up in American history and he’s happily enabling it.”

And then there was Alveda King, who appeared as a Republican witness at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Southern Poverty Law Center, and, out of absolutely nowhere, began talking about chopping off baby penises. Rep. Jamie Raskin was present. There is no additional context I can provide that would make that make more sense.

Social Media Trolls in the White House

While all this was going on, the White House social media team was hard at work trolling and posting more slop. They posted a photo of Trump saluting with the caption “Trust.” and “PATRIOTS IN CONTROL.” They promoted the UFC event at the White House on June 14th with AI-generated imagery and the branding “FIGHT WEEK. History in the making. BUILT. NOT GIVEN.” Nobody asked for this. Nobody wants a pay-per-view UFC event hosted at the White House. You’ve turned one of the most important symbols of American democracy into an abandoned Six Flags.

And then they posted a digitally manipulated video of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries with a sombrero edited onto his head, captioned: “Ok, anyways, we fixed the hat for you. Oh, and @POTUS knows ball.”

Grow up. Just grow up.

That’s why when I discuss these issue, I constantly say these are not inherently political issues to me. Oftentimes, it comes down to basic competence and common decency. This White House and its enablers have none of those qualities.

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading, liking, restacking, and subscribing. We’ll be back later with more.