Wednesday Afternoon News Updates: Iran Seizes Ships as Trump Flails — 4/22/26

Hi all, Ben here. It’s Wednesday. There are a lot of important stories to cover today, so we are going to make this recap paywall free. First, let me break down the top headlines:

Here are the top stories we’re tracking today:

• Trump’s approval craters to 33% overall, 30% on the economy, and the floor isn’t here yet

• Iran seizes two commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz despite Trump’s claims that Iran has no Navy

• Iran threatens undersea internet cables; 34 tankers bypass the US blockade

• Virginia redistricting referendum passes — Democrats poised to gain up to 4 House seats

• EU approves €90 billion Ukraine loan after Hungary’s Orbán is ousted and lifts his veto

• Trump attacks the Supreme Court, calls Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson “low IQ”

• China openly mocks Trump; petrodollar faces pressure as yuan rises

• Devin Nunes out at Trump Media after $712 million loss and 80% stock decline

• Justin Sun sues Trump’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture for alleged fraud

• GOP House bills are somehow getting more embarrassing

• Rep. David Scott, Georgia Democrat and the first Black man to chair the House Agriculture Committee, dies at 80

Before I go any further, I want to thank all our paid subscribers. At MeidasTouch, you know we don’t care about access. We don’t care about offending power. We don’t act as stenographers for Trump’s lies. We care about getting you the truth. If you’re already a Meidas+ Substack member, thank you. If not, join us today and support our unapologetic reporting.

Trump’s Social Media Spiral

Let me start at the beginning of today’s Trump social media spiral, which kicked off around 3 in the morning. Trump was up in the dead of night reposting a random MAGA account asking “What will happen next?” with a question mark. Ok?

Then came the follow-up: a repost of another random account calling for Senator Mark Kelly to be arrested. “Lock him up.” Exclamation points. Having trouble sleeping, Donald?

By 6 a.m., Trump was on the phone with the New York Post, announcing that “good news” on U.S.-Iran negotiations could come “as soon as Friday.” It’s possible, he says. The ceasefire deadline was yesterday. Iran refused to even send negotiators to the meeting in Islamabad, and CNN along with multiple other outlets has now confirmed that the biggest obstacle to any deal isn’t Iran’s military posture or their negotiating position. It’s Trump. His social media posts keep lying about what Iran has agreed to, which makes rational diplomacy functionally impossible. Trump officials privately admitted to CNN that his invented concessions actively damaged the talks before they could get off the ground. But he continues to lie. And sadly, many in the corporate media continue to report his lies as the truth.

Iran’s “Obliterated” Navy Just Seized Two Ships

While Trump was posting about what a tremendous success the naval blockade has been, Iran’s navy seized two commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz this morning. The Panama-flagged cargo ship Euphoria and the Liberian-flagged Epaminondas were boarded and escorted to Iranian waters, with one vessel sustaining significant damage to its bridge. The BBC and UKMTO have independently confirmed this.

Trump told us Iran had no navy. Another lie.

CBS News is also reporting, based on multiple U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the underlying intelligence, that Iran’s military is substantially more capable than the White House or Pentagon has publicly acknowledged. About half of Iran’s ballistic missile stockpile and associated launch systems remain intact. Roughly 60% of the IRGC’s naval forces are still operational, including fast-attack speedboats, which we saw in action this morning. Around two-thirds of their air force is still believed to be flying. This is not the picture the administration has been painting. Again, another lie.

And then Iranian state media Tasnim posted something this morning that deserves attention: a detailed writeup about the concentration of undersea internet cables running through the Strait of Hormuz. At least seven major communication cables pass through that narrow passage, carrying a significant share of global internet traffic connecting the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. The message from Iran is not subtle. Keep pushing, and those cables become a target. They are exerting leverage in plain sight while Trump takes victory laps about a blockade that isn’t actually blocking much. The Financial Times reports that at least 34 tankers with ties to Iran have bypassed the so-called blockade since it began, several of them carrying Iranian oil, according to cargo tracking firm Vortexa. Billboards and banners across Iran reportedly read that control of the Strait of Hormuz will be theirs forever. That is the country Trump is telling us he has effectively neutralized.

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Back to my report.

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China Is Laughing at Us, Openly

China’s censors tightly control domestic political speech. They are apparently not bothering to suppress the flood of videos mocking Donald Trump and the Iran war on Chinese social media. CNN’s Will Ripley reported from Taipei that the online consensus in China is blunt: the biggest winner of this conflict is neither the U.S. nor Iran. It’s China. Trump is not welcome in Beijing for his planned summit with President Xi next month. “Without credibility,” people are asking, “what are you coming for?”

The concept of saving face carries enormous weight in Chinese culture. The idea that the American president reinvents himself each morning into whatever version of Trump that day requires — promising ceasefires, extending them indefinitely, lying about concessions that never existed — is not landing well. Meanwhile, Iranian officials have floated selling oil exclusively in Chinese yuan. BYD has overtaken Tesla in global electric vehicle sales. China is positioning itself to lead the next energy era while the United States is consumed by this war. They’re not fighting anyone. They’re just watching and winning. As the famous saying goes, “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake”

Trump’s Legal Meltdown

I am about to go teach a law school class at USC this afternoon, and I genuinely struggle to explain this presidency to my students. This morning Trump posted a long, rambling attack on the Supreme Court in which he referred to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as “that new, Low IQ person.” I want to be direct about what that is. It is the same racist insult Trump deploys against Black people consistently and without exception. He calls them low IQ, every single time. It is despicable, and it should make any decent human being furious regardless of politics. We cannot normalize it.

Beyond the racism, Trump is livid because the Court struck down his sweeping tariffs, meaning he now faces refunding approximately $159 billion. He’s attacking the justices he appointed for not ruling in his favor, complaining that some Republican justices occasionally rule on the law rather than on his personal wishes. He’s also anticipating a loss on birthright citizenship, which is enshrined in the 14th Amendment, and he’s already pre-declaring it a national catastrophe. The Constitution, it turns out, remains the Constitution. Despite Trump’s best efforts.

33%. And Falling

The latest AP-NORC poll has Trump’s overall approval at 33%. His approval on handling the economy sits at 30%, down nine points since February, before the Iran war. I expect both of those numbers to fall into the 20s before long. That is genuinely unprecedented territory. Richard Nixon’s approval at the time he resigned was higher than where Trump sits right now.

The degree to which this man is despised by the American public is not being adequately communicated by corporate press. He should be called to resign. That is my sincere opinion, protected by the First Amendment. This isn’t hyperbole. It’s what the numbers say and what the conduct demands.

Democrats Win Big in Virginia

Last night’s redistricting referendum in Virginia passed, amending the state constitution and redrawing the congressional map. The projection is a 10-to-1 Democratic advantage in the Virginia congressional delegation, which could deliver up to four additional House seats to Democrats.

Virginia Democrats Prove That Fighting Fire With Fire Works

Republicans started this fire themselves by aggressively gerrymandering Texas. Five years ago, Democrats introduced a bill to ban gerrymandering in every state nationwide. Every single Republican voted against it. Now it’s backfiring on them. Governor Newsom set the blueprint with California’s Prop 50 last November, and Virginia followed it.

Ukraine Gets a Lifeline

Some genuinely good news internationally: EU ambassadors have approved a €90 billion loan for Ukraine after Hungary lifted its veto. A formal written procedure has been launched, with final approval expected tomorrow afternoon. The bloc also approved its 20th sanctions package against Russia. This was made possible by the political change in Hungary. Peter Magyar is now in power and Viktor Orbán has been ousted, which has materially shifted the European landscape in favor of continued Ukrainian support.

What Republicans Are Actually “Working” On

While all of the above was unfolding, House Republicans have been busy introducing legislation to carve Trump’s face into Mount Rushmore, rename Palm Beach airport and Dulles airport after Trump, require the State Department to award a “Trump Peace Prize,” declare Trump’s birthday a federal holiday, award Trump a Congressional Gold Medal, mint a $250 bill with his image, pass multiple resolutions urging the Nobel Committee to give him the Peace Prize, and direct the NIH to research “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

Meanwhile, in actual congressional testimony today, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick got a pointed grilling from Senator Shaheen of New Hampshire about the economic damage caused by this administration’s contempt for Canada. Canadian visitors aren’t coming. Cross-border business is suffering. Lutnick’s response was that it’s “outrageous” Canada won’t put American spirits on store shelves. Senator Shaheen told him plainly: they won’t do it because of the insults from this president and people like Lutnick himself. It was a precise encapsulation of an administration that sowed the wind and is genuinely baffled by the whirlwind.

Grift Watch

Billionaire Justin Sun has filed a federal lawsuit in California against World Liberty Financial, the Trump family crypto venture, alleging his multi-million dollar investment was obtained through fraud and that the project is now on the verge of collapse. The venture includes Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Zach Witkoff (Steve Witkoff’s son) among its managers. The president is listed as the “chief crypto advocate.” His youngest son Barron, 20 years old, holds the title of “DeFi visionary.” The project was also tied to a $2 billion transaction with a UAE state-owned firm that legal experts have flagged as a potential emoluments clause violation.

The Trump administration is also reportedly close to a $500 million loan deal to bail out Spirit Airlines, which is at risk of bankruptcy due to elevated fuel costs from Trump’s own war. In return, the government would receive warrants for a significant equity stake in the airline — as much as 90%, early reports say. This follows the administration taking stakes in Intel and various rare earth companies.

And Devin Nunes is out as CEO of Trump Media, which took in $3.7 million in revenue last year while losing $712 million, with the stock down over 80% from its peak. It did manage to make Trump and his allies very rich off retail investors who bought in. So by that narrow metric, the mission was accomplished.

That’s where things stand as of now. We’ll keep you updated as this day continues. Hit subscribe, and if you haven’t joined as a paid member yet, consider doing so now.