Wednesday Afternoon Updates: Trump Threatens Oman and GOP Texas Fears Grow – 5/27/26
Hi all, Ben here. It’s Wednesday afternoon, and there is a lot to get into today. Let me start with the stories we’re tracking, then we’ll dive deeper.
Stories We’re Tracking:
Republicans attack Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate James Talarico with a pathetic stream of lies, slurs, and notably, zero policy
Trump brags about taking more cognitive tests than Obama and Biden and posts more AI slop about Iran
Canada snubs Boeing, buys Swedish defense aircraft. Another ally lost for the U.S.
Iran releases what it says is the latest framework for a US peace deal; the Trump regime denies it and contradicts itself in real time
Trump threatens to “blow up” Oman during a live cabinet meeting
Ebola crisis worsens in the Congo as Trump’s cuts to global health infrastructure accelerate the catastrophe
Grocery prices rising at the fastest pace in years, with no relief in sight
Sharyn Alfonsi goes scorched earth on CBS after they decline to renew her contract
Freedom 250 announces its lineup, and, wait till you see the “stars” who will be there
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Cognitive Tests and AI Propaganda
Donald Trump woke up this morning and posted a meme bragging about how he “aced” a cognitive test. Under photos of President Obama and President Biden, it read “0” with an X. Under Trump, “3” with a green checkmark.
As I’ve said before, this is not a flex. The whole reason you keep taking cognitive tests is because there are serious concerns about whether you are mentally capable of holding the office you currently occupy. Bragging about your score on a dementia screening is... not the victory lap you think it is, Donald.
Then he posted an AI-generated image showing Iran’s navy at “the bottom of the ocean,” mockingly attached to a fake CNN headline about Iran’s naval strength. The reality? Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz. Not us. They control it using fast boats, missile launchers, and drone capabilities. But sure, cool meme, dude.
Republicans Are Panicking about…Texas?
Trump-backed Ken Paxton defeated incumbent Senator John Cornyn in the Texas GOP Senate runoff last night. This might be the best news Democrats have gotten in a while, even if it doesn’t look like it at first glance.
Here’s why: Trump endorsed candidates are currently 0-13 in general elections in 2026. Zero wins in thirteen tries, per Ballotpedia. And now Paxton, who was impeached by his own Republican colleagues in the Texas Legislature for corruption and abuse of power, is the GOP standard-bearer in one of the most high-profile Senate races in the country.
His opponent is James Talarico, an eighth-generation Texan, a former teacher, and someone who appeared on the MeidasTouch Podcast yesterday and delivered one of the most compelling arguments I’ve heard this cycle. He talked about Paxton as the embodiment of a broken system: politicians bought by mega-donors who then rig the rules in favor of their patrons at the expense of working people.
The latest polling from Public Policy Polling has Talarico up 45 to 38. And what is the Republican Party doing with this information? Is it putting forward a serious policy contrast? Are they talking about kitchen-table issues for Texans?
Of course not.
RNC Chair Joe Gruters went on television this morning and called Talarico “Tala-freako,” a “creep,” a “vegan,” and a child mutilator. Not one policy point. Not a single word about what Republicans would actually do for the people of Texas. Just more slurs, lies, and hate.
Talarico gave a great response to comments like these on our podcasts yesterday: “I’m an eighth-generation Texan. I’ve been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton’s first indictment. And if all they have on me is lying about me being a vegan, I feel pretty good about our chances this November.”
Not that there is anything wrong at all with being a vegan, of course. But what a ridiculous attack.
And then there’s Stephen Miller, who announced that Democrats had “made history in Texas by nominating their first transgender senate candidate.” These tactics are a sign that the Republican Party is afraid.
Our editor in chief Ron Filipkowski put it perfectly: he hopes the Republican Party puts Stephen Miller front and center for their candidates during the midterms.
Canada to Boeing: No Thank You
While Donald Trump was posting about cognitive tests this morning, Prime Minister Mark Carney was holding a press conference to announce that Canada will purchase Saab’s GlobalEye early-warning aircraft instead of Boeing’s E-7 Wedgetail.
Let me be clear about what this means. Canada is deliberately moving away from American defense contractors. Carney explicitly cited the need for Canada’s “strategic autonomy,” meaning they can no longer depend on the United States as a reliable partner. Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson welcomed Canada into what he called the “GlobalEye family,” noting that this was now the fourth country to choose the system, alongside Sweden, France, and the UAE.
Great work, Donald. You have now successfully alienated our closest neighbor and NATO ally so thoroughly that they are restructuring their entire defense procurement to reduce dependence on us.
The Iran Situation
The Trump regime’s Iran policy is genuinely impossible to track, and that’s partly the point.
Iranian state media released what it described as an initial framework for a US-Iran peace deal this morning. Per their reporting, the terms include: US military forces withdrawing from the vicinity of Iran, the US Navy lifting its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran restoring commercial transit through the strait within a month, and ship traffic through the strait being managed by Iran in cooperation with Oman.
The Trump regime immediately called this a “complete fabrication” and said nobody should believe Iranian state media. Except, those terms are almost entirely consistent with what all of the Middle Eastern countries on last weekend’s conference call described as the framework of the deal. And frankly, given that the United States lost this war without achieving any of its stated objectives, those terms are about what you’d expect from a negotiated off-ramp.
Meanwhile, at his cabinet meeting today, Trump was asked about the Strait of Hormuz and whether he’d accept a short-term arrangement with Iran and Oman managing the waterway. His answer, loosely transcribed, was that it’s international waters and nobody’s going to control it. And then he said Oman “will behave just like everybody else” or “we’ll have to blow them up.” Oman is a country that has been serving as a primary mediator in these negotiations. Trump just casually threatened to bomb them at a press conference.
He also appeared to confuse Venezuela with Iran at one point, describing Venezuela as a country that “no longer has a navy, no longer has an air force.” He was clearly talking about Iran. Who needs to see cognitive tests results when we watch him fail cognitive tests like that every day.
Pete Hegseth, sitting right next to him, used this same cabinet meeting to heap praise on Trump for scrapping the previous Iran nuclear deal, while Trump’s team is currently in the middle of trying to negotiate a new Iran nuclear deal. Of course, this cabinet meeting, like all the others, consisted a great deal of Trump’s cabinet slobbering all over him.
Trump’s Board of Peace… remember that? The Financial Times reports it has received exactly zero dollars from donors in the four months since it was established.
Ebola, Gutted Agencies, and the World Cup
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is accelerating, and the WHO’s director-general is warning that the situation is catastrophic. The particular strain now spreading, Ebola Bundibugyo virus, has no approved vaccine and no treatment. Everything depends on humanitarian access and containment. And containment is being actively prevented by ongoing armed conflict and mass displacement.
The Trump administration gutted the CDC’s global health and Ebola prevention infrastructure. The US pulled out of the World Health Organization. And now we are watching the consequences play out in real time. Canada has already imposed a temporary 90-day entry ban on residents from the DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan. The US has banned non-citizens who traveled to those countries from entering. And yet, the World Cup is coming to the United States, which means we are about to host one of the largest international travel events in human history, with weakened public health infrastructure and an active Ebola outbreak with no approved treatment.
The Trump regime is begging volunteers to staff airports right now. Marco Rubio today said, “We cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States.” I’ve heard that one before.
Emmer, Blanche, and the January 6th Slush Fund
Republican Rep. Tom Emmer went on television today to defend the DOJ’s $1.776 billion fund being set up to give taxpayer dollars to January 6th insurrectionists, fraudsters, and other Trump allies. His explanation for why it’s controversial? Communication. The problem is just communication.
These are people who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy. They were convicted by juries for attacking police officers. They cannot file affirmative lawsuits in court precisely because they are felons. So the Trump regime is building a slush fund to hand them money anyway, overseen by Todd Blanche, Trump’s own former defense attorney, who sat at that same cabinet table today talking about prosecuting fraud while overseeing what is itself an extraordinary abuse of the public treasury.
Sharyn Alfonsi, and What’s Happening to Journalism
Sharyn Alfonsi, the veteran 60 Minutes correspondent, released a statement after CBS declined to renew her contract. This came after a segment she produced on the alleged torture of Venezuelan migrants was pulled before airing, following what she described as an “intense editorial dispute.”
Her statement was extraordinarily pointed. She accused CBS management of choosing access journalism over accountability, of tearing down the wall between editorial independence and corporate interest, and of pushing aside journalists willing to challenge authority in favor of those who won’t. She said the result will be “a broadcast that looks like 60 Minutes but lacks the courage and character to produce journalism that matters.”
This isn’t part of course part of a broader pattern. It’s also why platforms like MeidasTouch and other independent media are so important right now, so thank you for your support.
Some Final Notes
Grocery prices are rising at their fastest pace in nearly four years, a new Bloomberg report finds, driven by tariffs, the Iran war’s impact on fertilizer markets, drought, and El Niño projections. Economists expect food inflation to intensify heading into the November midterms. One man in Wisconsin told Bloomberg he is growing potatoes in his backyard to supplement his grocery budget. Meanwhile, Scott Bessent told the cabinet today that he believes prices are “transitory.”
The UFC stadium being built in front of the White House continues to be a monument to whatever this administration has decided its priorities are.
And the Freedom 250 concert lineup — the Great American State Fair on the National Mall — will feature Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli, C+C Music Factory, and Flo Rida, among others. Ron Filipkowski’s assessment: “Very iconic.”
That’s what we’ve got for you this afternoon. Stay plugged in, and we’ll keep tracking all of it. Thanks for subscribing and spread the word! Remember to like and re-stack!
There’s only 1 reason to have taken 3 cognitive tests and not being able to stop talking about it.
First of all, Talarico is not vegan. He loves his Texas Ribs. What's wrong with veganism anyway? I didn't realize it is a mortal sin. Is it? 🤔