Hi all, Ben here. It’s Wednesday afternoon, and there’s a lot happening across the country and around the world. From the escalating war with Iran to troubling economic signals at home and major developments from Tuesday night’s elections, the news cycle is moving fast. Let’s walk through it together.
The War With Iran Expands. And the Timeline Keeps Growing.
The Trump regime is now acknowledging something that many analysts warned about from the start. The stated timeline for the war is already expanding.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the conflict with Iran could stretch six to eight weeks or beyond, depending on what Donald Trump decides.
“The only limits we have is President Trump’s desire to achieve specific effects on behalf of the American people. You can say 4 weeks, but it could be 6, it could be 8, it could be 3,” Hegseth said earlier.
The Trump regime initially framed this as a limited operation likely to take just days. Then days became two weeks, two became four, four became six, and now six became eight. We know how this story ends.
At the same time, the rhetoric coming from Trump officials continues to become more unhinged and erratic. Hegseth appears to think he is an actor in a B action movie, and not someone in charge of our armed forces. Here’s an example of what he said today:
“Flying over their capital. Death and destruction from the sky all day long. We're playing for keeps. Our warfighters have maximum authorities granted personally by the president and yours truly. Our rules of engagement are bold, precise, and designed to unleash American power, not shackle it. This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they're down, which is exactly how it should be.”
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the Defense Department is now requesting an emergency $50 billion supplemental funding package from Congress for additional munitions.
That request raises obvious questions. The Trump regime has repeatedly claimed that the United States has more than enough military resources for the conflict. Yet now officials are asking taxpayers for tens of billions more to sustain the campaign.
On the battlefield, the war continues to escalate. In one of the most significant developments so far, the U.S. Navy confirmed that an American submarine torpedoed and sank an Iranian Navy frigate off the coast of Sri Lanka. More than 180 people were reportedly aboard the vessel, and dozens were killed.
It marks the first time since World War II that a U.S. submarine has sunk an enemy warship using a torpedo.
Meanwhile, footage from Tehran shows extensive bombardment as U.S. and Israeli strikes continue across the Iranian capital.
At least 1,097 civilians have been killed in U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran since Feb. 28, including 181 children under 10, according to monitor HRANA.
And while the administration insists things are under control, the broader region remains volatile. Reports have already surfaced of Iranian retaliatory strikes against U.S. facilities and allied targets across the Middle East.
Iraq’s Electricity Ministry (yes, Iraq) says a total blackout has hit the entire national power grid across all provinces. A ministry spokesman says authorities are investigating the cause of the outage. Iranian drones have been striking U.S. bases throughout the country.
As the war unfolds, the explanations coming from Trump officials continue to change.
Earlier, administration figures suggested the United States acted because Israel was preparing to strike Iran and Washington needed to intervene first. Those comments received swift backlash, leaving them scrambling.
Now Speaker Mike Johnson is offering a completely different rationale, claiming Iran declared war on the United States. This echos comments from Hegseth the other day, when he said that the U.S. didn’t start this war, but would end it. The gaslighting is just out of control.
Johnson even framed the conflict in religious terms, describing the situation as a struggle against what he called a misguided religious ideology in Iran.
With all the varying explanations, nobody seems to be able to convey the actual objectives of the war.
But they are trying to downplay it.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed videos of explosions across the Middle East as “fantastical media accounts”
Bessent added, “The region is not on fire. What's happening is that somebody with an iPhone — and look, it's terrible when a hotel gets hit — but those are one offs."
Meanwhile, thousands of Americans have found themselves stranded overseas, with no way of getting home and no help from the federal government. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Americans trapped in the Middle East to call a special State Department number, but when they called, this is the message they received: “Please do not rely on the U.S. government for assisted departure or evacuation at this time.”
The Strait of Hormuz, one of the most important shipping lanes in the world, is effectively closed, with roughly 90% of vessels unable to pass through.
That disruption alone has already sent shockwaves through global energy markets.
The world's 2nd largest shipping company, Maersk, has suspended all cargo bookings for the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, & Iraq
Republican Senator Rick Scott acknowledged that Americans should expect higher gas prices as a direct result of the conflict.
His response regarding rising prices was that the sacrifice will be worth it.
Patrick De Haan, Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy wrote today: “GasBuddy live ticking data showing the national average price of gasoline nearing $3.20/gal, a number that may rise 4-7c today before starting to more slowly rise to $3.30-$3.35/gal.”
He also noted: “The U.S. average price of diesel this morning hit $4/gal for the first time in 677 days, and will continue to surge, likely landing between $4.25-$4.45/gal in the days ahead.”
The Economy is in Trouble
Meanwhile, as the Trump regime continues to expand its war efforts, troubling signals are appearing across the U.S. economy.
According to new reporting from the Wall Street Journal, a record share of American workers are now tapping into their retirement savings just to get by.
About 6% of workers with Vanguard-managed plans are taking hardship withdrawals from their 401(k) accounts, an unusually high figure that suggests growing financial strain.
At the same time, manufacturing employment is declining faster than expected.
New data shows significant factory job losses, adding to concerns that the country may already be slipping into a jobs recession.
Treasury Secretary Bessent dismissed those concerns as well, arguing that job losses are partly the result of millions of undocumented workers leaving the labor force.
Again, the gaslighting is outrageous.
He also signaled that the Trump administration is preparing to raise global tariffs again, potentially increasing them to around 15%. This, too, would drive up prices.
Updates From Tuesday’s Elections
I want to make sure to talk about the big news from Tuesday’s elections across the country as well. The elections produced some major political developments, especially in Texas.
Here are the key takeaways:
Texas Democratic Senate Primary
Texas State Representative James Talarico defeated U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.
Talarico will now become the Democratic nominee in November.
Crockett conceded earlier today and urged her supporters to rally behind Talarico in the general election.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who had endorsed Crockett during the primary, also threw her support behind Talarico after the results:
She wrote:
“This morning I called James and congratulated him on becoming the Senate nominee. Texas is primed to turn blue and we must remain united because this is bigger than any one person. This is about the future of all 30 million Texans and getting America back on track. With the primary behind us, Democrats must rally around our nominees and win. I’m committed to doing my part and will continue working to elect democrats up and down the ballot.”
Former VP Kamala Harris, who had endorsed Crockett, also released a statement throwing her support behind Talarico. Here’s an excerpt:
“I congratulate James Talarico for his win, and the inspiring campaign he continues to build. I appreciate that he is making the case for the kind of civic renewal our country needs. I offer him my full support in the months ahead.
Now is the time for Democrats to unite behind our nominee so that we can build on this wave of momentum, turn Texas blue and win victories up and down the ballot this November.“
Democratic turnout shattered records on Tuesday.
More than 1.5 million early votes were cast, representing a 240% increase from 2022. In fact, Democratic participation outpaced Republicans statewide.
Latino voters played a particularly important role in that surge, a development that could have major implications heading into November.
The GOP side of the ballot also exposed serious infighting.
Neither incumbent Senator John Cornyn nor Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a majority in their primary race, forcing a contentious runoff between the two. That race has already been quite ugly.
Elsewhere:
Congressman Dan Crenshaw lost his Republican primary.
Congressman Tony Gonzales, who is facing a major scandal, will also head to a runoff.
On the Democratic side in TX-33, Julie Johnson and Colin Allred advanced to their own runoff.
In North Carolina, Michael Whatley won the Republican Senate primary.
With Democrat Roy Cooper dominating his party’s primary, the open seat remains a major pickup opportunity for Democrats in November.
And perhaps one of the most surprising results of the night came in Arkansas.
Democrat Alex Holladay won the Arkansas House District 70 special election, flipping a previously Republican-held seat.
Holladay defeated Republican Bryan Renshaw by double digits, a striking turnaround considering Holladay lost the same seat by two points in 2024.
Another red district turned blue.
So that’s where things stand this Wednesday afternoon.
We’ll keep tracking all of it here.
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