Hi all, Brett here. It’s Wednesday.
Here’s what we’re tracking today:
Houthis shoot down a Saudi F-15E and strike Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu Aramco facility
Houthis down another Saudi drone near Marib
Confirmation that Iran struck a US-contracted oil tanker carrying US troops, after CENTCOM denied it
Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s tone-deaf defense of the war’s fallout on state media
The Fed is expected to hike interest rates for the first time since 2023, driven by war-fueled inflation
Iran’s parliament speaker mocks the Fed with his “Straits Taylor Rule”
Iran’s foreign minister meets China’s Wang Yi in Beijing as the White House rehearses pomp for Xi’s visit
House passes a symbolic war powers resolution, seven Republicans defect
House GOP cancels the rest of the week to dodge a Hegseth impeachment vote
Possible US diesel export ban as the fuel shortage worsens
Canada moves toward EU associate membership
Rep. Joyce Beatty describes Trump’s Kennedy Center meltdown
FBI’s Kash Patel faces PETA fury after Senate grilling over a bestiality hiring policy change
Hackers expose how Flock’s surveillance cameras track people, not just cars
DOJ indicts five men over a Russian “global assassination network” operating on US soil
Trump regime prepares ideological warning signs for the Smithsonian’s history museum to try to rewrite history
Colin Kaepernick accuses NFL owners of colluding against Macklemore, reveals he turned down a Trump White House meeting, and much more
The War Is Spiraling and the Cover-Ups Keep Coming
Major news concerning the Houthis overnight. They shot down a Saudi F-15E, and there’s footage of Houthi fighters posing in front of the wreckage. That’s a US-supplied aircraft for those wondering. They also say they struck Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu Aramco facility in the west of the country, adding more disruption to global oil markets, and separately shot down another Saudi military drone near Marib. If the Houthis have this capability, Iran absolutely does too.
We also learned this morning that the Trump regime was covering up an Iranian strike on a US-contracted oil tanker carrying American troops near the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week. Remember when Iran said they did it and CENTCOM flatly denied it? CENTCOM was lying. Again Four drones and at least one missile were used, one projectile hit the tanker directly, and troops suffered injuries including smoke inhalation.
Chris Wright’s Propaganda Tour
While Americans absorb the cost of this war, Trump’s energy secretary Chris Wright went on state regime media cable news this morning and basically thanked God for Trump. Asked if he’d even attempt a timeline for falling gas prices, he said he “can’t predict Iranian behavior.” What about your behavior? You and Netanyahu are the ones who invaded Iran. He also pitched this as a “short-term sacrifice” for Americans.
The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates for the first time since 2023, and prediction markets are pricing in something like a 94% chance it happens. We will soon find out if that’s the case. Practically every major bank, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, you name it, has already penciled in a September hike, with estimates ranging from a quarter point to a full three-quarters of a point. This is the war showing up directly in your mortgage and your savings account. The energy shock from this conflict is feeding straight into inflation, and now everyday Americans get to pay for Trump and Netanyahu's war twice, once at the pump and once on their interest payments.
Meanwhile Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, posted a mock “Straits Taylor Rule” arguing that no Fed rate hike can reopen the Strait of Hormuz or produce a single barrel of oil. He’s not wrong that Iran is effectively dictating terms to the global economy right now, chokepoint by chokepoint.
China Gets Closer While Congress Runs Home
As Treasury Secretary Bessent runs a tip line begging people to snitch on anyone helping Iran, Iran’s foreign minister sat down with China’s Wang Yi in Beijing to talk deeper economic cooperation. And what is Trump doing about China? Rehearsing honor guard formations at the White House so our troops can salute Xi Jinping in style next week. Priorities.
Congress, meanwhile, is useless. The House did pass a war powers resolution yesterday with seven Republicans crossing over, the most yet, but it carries no legal force. Then, exactly as we predicted, Speaker Mike Johnson canceled the rest of the week’s votes, sending everyone home early specifically to dodge Thomas Massie’s push to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the illegal war. They’re not returning until after the election. Meanwhile the US may need a full diesel export ban as the shortage worsens.
Trade Wars, Tantrums, and Disinformation
Canada is now on a path toward becoming the EU’s first “associate member” as Mark Carney pivots away from the US. A MAGA congressman from Indiana waved this off, insisting Indiana doesn’t need Canada because it has Israel now. Sure.
Separately, Rep. Joyce Beatty (the board member who sued Trump over his Kennedy Center desecration) described Trump’s behavior toward the Kennedy Center board as a full tantrum, shouting and name-calling like an immature child. No offense meant toward actual children.
And it appears there is some disinformation making the rounds, and that’s claims that Houthi forces struck Mecca. That footage is from Medina, and it’s from 2025, not this year. It’s being recycled by MBS allies to paint this as a religious war. One Houthi political bureau leader shot back invoking MBS’s Epstein ties. Worth noting MBS has been meeting with CENTCOM’s Brad Cooper and Mossad leadership all week, so draw your own conclusions about the timing of this manufactured Mecca narrative.
PETA Fires Back at the FBI’s Beastiality Rule Change
Away from the war, PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk is demanding Kash Patel reverse an FBI hiring policy change that no longer automatically disqualifies applicants for bestiality or animal cruelty committed before age 18. Patel told senators yesterday trafficking victims could be an exception but offered no actual cases.
“No one in America supports humans having sex with animals, and to think an FBI agent might be such a cruel pervert is unconscionable and unacceptable. Director Patel must immediately cancel this abominable misstep. It cannot happen.” - Ingrid Newkirk, PETA founder
When Senator John Kennedy pressed him point blank on whether someone who had sex with an animal could still be an FBI agent, Patel eventually said no, but the written policy still says otherwise. This is all just so bizarre. Do you understand why we called our book WTF America yet? P.S. preorder it today!
Flock Shock and Other Legal News
404 Media and WIRED published a major investigation after hackers physically pulled a Flock license plate camera off a roadway and extracted its software. It confirmed the cameras detect people, not just vehicles, and that this national surveillance network has already been used by local cops running searches on behalf of ICE and in an abortion investigation. Flock says the removal was illegal and disputes the severity, but the reporting speaks for itself.
The DOJ also unsealed an indictment against five men accused of working for a Kremlin-linked “global assassination network,” including an alleged $40,000 murder-for-hire plot against a Russian dissident living in the US. And The Atlantic reports the Trump regime is preparing roughly a dozen signs, costing $84,000, to install outside the Smithsonian’s American history museum accusing its leadership of ideological bias. We call it a regime for a reason.
One More Thing
Check out my full interview with Colin Kaepernick, who told me NFL owners are “openly colluding” against Macklemore just like they did with him, and who revealed he rejected a White House meeting with Trump during his first term because he saw it as an attempt to co-opt him, plus a whole lot more.
That’s the morning. Before you go, our book WTF America?! is available for preorder now. Let me know if you preordered your copy!
