Marie Burns

July 25, 2026

The New York Times liveblog of developments in the Iran War is here (gift link). From the pinned item at 7:15 am ET: “The fighting between the United States and Iran appeared to abate for at least one night, though tensions remained high in the region on Saturday as ... [Donald] Trump considered whether to intensify the military assault against Iran. For the first time in about two weeks, U.S. forces did not announce a wave of overnight attacks on Iran. A spokesman for Iran’s health ministry said on social media that there had been no new attacks or casualties.... Even as the bombing cooled between the U.S. and Iran, new hostilities were flaring over the Red Sea, where the Houthis declared a maritime blockade on Saudi vessels this week.... Saudi state media reported Friday that a Saudi-operated vessel had been targeted in the Red Sea, causing minor damage to its hull.” ~~~

~~~ Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump met on Friday with top advisers and senior members of his cabinet to decide whether to intensify the military assault against Iran, according to four people briefed on the discussion. The meeting took place as Mr. Trump faces a potential inflection point in his approach to Iran, after the collapse of a fragile cease-fire and a memorandum of understanding that was intended to bring the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table for a longer-term denuclearization. The White House did not divulge whether Mr. Trump determined how to proceed. But the president indicated that the military was ready to carry out heavier assaults if ordered to do so even while leaving open the door to a diplomatic solution. 'Look, we’re locked and loaded,' Mr. Trump told reporters on Friday afternoon. 'We’re ready to go, but we’re talking to them, so maybe there will be, maybe there won’t be a tipping point.' He added: 'Maybe they will cry uncle, or maybe they’ll just give up, or maybe they’ll just go into a cave and hide.'” The link is a gift link.

~~~ Marie: I trust it isn't lost on you that we have a POTUS* who talks about war as if he were a 10-year-old playing with toy soldiers. “Locked & loaded”? “Cry uncle”?

Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: Donald “Trump spoke on Friday at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, which was rescheduled after a gunman attacked the event in April.... The meandering[, hour-long] speech he gave ... inside the Waldorf Astoria, the former site of the Trump International Hotel, was full of ad hominem attacks against his political enemies, scripted jokes that fell flat and familiar refrains about the war against Iran and the construction of the White House ballroom. At various other points he was upbeat about the news media and warm toward the hundreds of journalists sitting around him in the ballroom.... But those cordial moments were fleeting.... As the hour stretched on, his speech turned harshly political and quite vicious. He mocked the appearances and careers of individual reporters, some of whom were in the room, but much of the speech had little to do with the press. He widened the aperture to target his longtime political enemies, politicians and celebrities who had nothing to do with the dinner.... Moments of presidential self-deprecation were few and far between.” The link is a gift link. ~~~

~~~ Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump attacked a slew of journalists and some of his favorite political foils..., comparing one female reporter to a transgender social media star, mocking politicians’ physical appearances, and bringing his audience to mostly stunned silence for more than an hour before pulling out a red Trump 2028 cap and declaring he was running for another term.... The guest list ... shrunk to fewer than 700, a stripped-down affair with attendees including mostly just the journalists who cover the president, rather than the more than 2,500 — including government officials, political operatives and mostly B-list celebrities — who attended in April.... But many of the original tensions remain.” This is an update of a story linked before the dinner took place yesterday. ~~~

~~~ Joe DePaolo of Mediaite: CNN's “panel of analysts wasted little time tearing into the president for his hour-and-four minute address at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington. Notably, [Laura] Coates and co-anchor John Berman immediately read a statement from CNN president Mark Thompson standing behind the network’s journalists — and a second statement from a network spokesperson backing Kaitlan Collins, who Trump targeted in one particularly shocking moment.... Van Jones — who, earlier in the evening, gave Trump kudos for attending the dinner — proceeded to bash his speech.... 'It just wasn’t funny. It was mean and small....'... CNN contributor Alyssa Farah Griffin — a first-term Trump administration staffer — echoed that sentiment. 'Just from a performance standpoint and comparing it to previous presidents at these events, he bombed!' Griffin said.” ~~~

~~~ Marie: C'mon, people. Trump didn't intend to be funny. He intended to be mean and small. So from his POV, a perfect performance.

What a Moron! Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump on Friday ordered the installation of signs outside the Smithsonian National Museum of American History that warn of 'inaccurate' exhibits and direct people to 'accurate information regarding America’s history.' In an executive order, Trump cited a 162-page White House report released on July 4 titled 'Saving America’s Story,' which, according to the president, 'demonstrates that the Smithsonian leadership does not present American history as a shared national inheritance to be taught and celebrated, but instead views American history as a “prime tool” to advance ideas of social justice and the radical transformation of our society.' The White House said in a companion statement that the Smithsonian generally and its American history museum in particular have veered 'toward extreme political activism, rooted in Marxism, to divide, dispirit, and discourage Americans.'” (Also linked yesterday.) A gift link to the New York Times story is here. A UPI item is here.

Marie: One of the main reasons Trump lies is to cover up his screw-ups. He is an incompetent jackass, so there are a lot of screw-ups to try to hide. It turns out the modifications to the Qatari grift 747 were among the screw-ups in the fat file of Trump screw-ups. ~~~

I know about my airplane, because I fly all the time. -- Donald Trump, explaining why he was qualified to supervise retrofitting the Grift Jet ~~~

~~~ Botch-up of the Vanities. Eric Lipton, et al., of the New York Times: “An investigation by The New York Times found that the president’s push to get the [Qatari Bribe-o-Jet] quickly led to ballooning costs and trade-offs in safety features that potentially left Mr. Trump and others who travel with him on Air Force One vulnerable. Among the findings: Mr. Trump was personally engaged in making decisions about the retrofitting of the donated plane, giving the final approval on the features and security measures that would be included.... Several key security and safety features on the Boeing planes that have been used for decades as Air Force One are not visible on the upgraded jet.... The planes currently being built to serve as the permanent presidential fleet are all set to have such features....

“The 747-8 plane was overhauled on a compressed timeline of just about eight months. Experts said the jet would have needed several years for a full upgrade.... Some White House officials initially expected [the Qatari jet] would only be used for domestic travel or to visit allied countries with U.S. military bases. The government spent hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase equipment needed to train pilots to fly the 747-8 plane so quickly, on top of the approximately $400 million cost of the upgrades that the administration has publicly acknowledged. The Pentagon has tried to mask the total price tag — including from Congress — by taking the funds from a classified budget for nuclear modernization.” The link is a gift link.

The people briefed on the matter spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity to discuss the information. ~~~ New York Times report

They do keep on talking, don't they? -- Marie ~~~

~~~ Times Reporters Keep Exposing Trump's Lies about the Great Winged Grift. Tyler Pager, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump abruptly switched aircraft when leaving Turkey this month after what officials judged to be a credible threat that Iranian proxy forces were targeting him and Air Force One, according to multiple people briefed on the matter. The threat emerged while Mr. Trump was attending the NATO summit. He had flown into Ankara on the new Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8, which lacks the same advanced defensive capabilities of the old Air Force One, as The New York Times previously reported. After the U.S. government picked up on the threat, the Secret Service urged Mr. Trump to change planes....

“Mr. Trump initially said the switch in planes was to give American service members in Britain a chance to tour the new aircraft, and he denied the decision was security related.... After The Times reported this month that federal officials had significant concerns about the security capabilities of the jet, the government launched a leak investigation seeking grand jury testimony from several Times journalists as well as their phone records and those of their relatives.” (Also linked yesterday.) Update: The link has been changed to a gift link. ~~~

~~~ Marie: The good news to come out of the Times' reporting on the government's failure to adequately secure the Flying Bribery/Vanity Jet is that the judge in the case, as well as other Times reporters, have been able to use the case to show what unlawful, corrupt, incompetent, sometimes perjurious work that top DOJ officials -- including the acting attorney general -- have done in pursuit of subverting the First Amendment guarantee of a free press in order to satisfy the vicious, vindictive impulses of a criminal, corrupt, incompetent, mendacious POTUS*. ~~~

~~~ Devlin Barrett, et al., of the New York Times: The Justice Department's handling of its lawsuit against New York Times reporters who first revealed flaws in the Qatari gift jet's security system “raised questions about the role of not only [the prosecutor played] but also of two high-level Justice Department officials who are under consideration for leading cabinet positions. The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, and the current U.S. attorney in New York, Jay Clayton, both testified this month that the issuance of the subpoenas had been in keeping with laws and regulations. [In a hearing earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian established that] the U.S. attorney’s office does not appear to have followed longstanding Justice Department practice.... The hearing also threatened to cast a shadow over the incoming leader of the Manhattan prosecutor’s office.... James M. McDonald, who is expected to take over from Mr. Clayton, was one of the select group of prosecutors involved in the inquiry.... The investigation has also involved Amanda Houle, the chief of the office’s criminal division, and Kevin T. Sullivan, a career prosecutor in the office’s national security unit who was also questioned fiercely by the judge on Thursday.” The link is a gift link.

The news is that LeBron James, the NBA's “all-time leading scorer has agreed to join the Philadelphia 76ers, he announced Friday on social media, beginning the record 24th season of a career that has already redefined longevity and greatness.” (The link is a gift link.) But Donald Vicious Trump was not willing to celebrate with Philadelphia, was not willing to wish the team well, or whatever a normal sports fan or real POTUS would say in such a situation. No, this was Donald Trump's reaction. ~~~

~~~ Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: Donald “Trump suggested that the N.B.A. star LeBron James was racist on Friday, the latest in a string of disparaging remarks by the president about Black athletes who have criticized him. Mr. Trump was taking questions in the Oval Office when he was asked to weigh in on the debate over who was the better player: Mr. James, the 41-year-old All Star who just announced he would sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, or the NBA legend Michael Jordan. 'LeBron is, maybe he’s a racist,' Mr. Trump said. 'Maybe he doesn’t like Trump, I don’t know. But I only like people who like me, so I would say Michael Jordan all the way.'” The link is a gift link. ~~~

~~~ What a Moron! Most of us probably never see or assess broad issues through the narrow lens of our own, limited experiences. But we're not Trump. ~~~

~~~ Kathryn Wilkens of Mediaite: “... Donald Trump bragged on Friday to reporters at the White House that he understands the political situation in Venezuela because 'Miss Venezuela always did very well' in the Miss Universe pageant, which the president formerly owned.... 'For a long time, I’ve known their country and, you know, I own the Miss Universe pageant and Miss Venezuela always did very well in that pageant, so I know something about the country.'”

Tony Romm & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: “Two small businesses sued the Trump administration on Friday over the latest tariffs it has imposed around the world, touching off another legal battle that could redefine ... [Donald] Trump’s powers to wage a global trade war. The new challenge concerned the tariffs that the government had put in place just hours earlier, covering more than 80 countries including Canada, Mexico and the 27 members of the European Union. The lawsuit, filed in a federal trade court, argued that the Trump administration had misused the law in its attempt to recreate the same system of duties that judges had already ruled illegal. The plaintiffs in the case are Burlap and Barrel, a New York spice retailer, and Collective Horology, a California watch seller. They are represented by the Liberty Justice Center, a legal group that has successfully challenged Mr. Trump’s tariffs repeatedly in his second term.” The link is a gift link.

As the Mobster Goes. ~~~

Philip Kennicott of the Washington Post: “... more than two dozen experts in preservation, materials and heritage [are] arguing in district court against the Trump administration’s plan to paint the massive [Eisenhower Executive Office Building white, to match the nearby White House. It is unnecessary, costly and it could damage the stone, they say, leading to a 'taxpayers’ nightmare,' as the building would have to be regularly repainted, keeping it potentially under scaffolding in perpetuity. The case, brought by Cultural Heritage Partners and the D.C. Preservation League, was filed on Nov. 14, 2025, a few days after ... Donald Trump revealed images of what the all-white building would look like to Fox News host Laura Ingraham during an Oval Office interview. Since then, this seemingly small item on Trump’s renovation and construction list has taken on major importance. Two problems are at issue: potentially irreversible harm to the building, and Trump’s attempt to effectively remove from historic and environmental review any project he wants to expedite by transferring it to the White House Office of Administration, a part of the executive branch beyond the reach of those reviews.” (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~ So Goes a Consigliere. ~~~

“Extreme Politicization.” Tony Romm & Brad Plumer of the New York Times: “When the Trump administration canceled more than $7.5 billion in Biden-era federal grants for clean energy projects in October, it framed the move as an urgent corrective to protect taxpayer funds from waste. But it wasn’t true. In little-noticed court documents, federal officials acknowledged this month that they had terminated the funding 'based solely' on political criteria, targeting projects in states that were represented by Democrats and had voted for Kamala Harris, the party’s presidential nominee, in the 2024 election. The admission showed how ... [Donald] Trump has weaponized the provision of federal education, energy, health, housing and infrastructure aid in his second term. Far from rooting out the sort of misspending that Mr. Trump sees as rife in Washington, the White House has instead sought to leverage the budget as a tool to assist its allies — or as a cudgel to hurt the president’s foes....

“The administration’s latest concession about the grants came in a lawsuit filed by a group of California researchers challenging various federal agencies that have canceled Biden-era funding.... The Energy Department last fall created a list that recommended canceling more than 600 grants awarded by the Biden administration for a wide range of novel energy projects. That list included funding for projects in states represented by both Republicans and Democrats. But in October, the White House budget office, led by Russell T. Vought, terminated only 284 of those grants. In a social media post announcing the news, Mr. Vought pointed to the motivations: 'Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being canceled,' he said.” Emphasis added. (Also linked yesterday.) Update: the link has been changed to a gift link.

Here's one of the low-level "soldiers" who carry out the orders of the capi. ~~

~~~ Department of Homeland Security? Hah! Maria Sacchetti & Silvia Foster-Frau of the Washington Post: “The U.S. immigration officer allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of an immigrant in Maine told a judge in October that he was struggling to earn money because he had health issues and his driver’s license had been revoked. Maine District Court Judge Amy Dieterich declared a month later that David Brouillette’s claims were not credible, denying his request to terminate his child support payments to a former wife. Instead, she concluded, Brouillette was 'voluntarily underemployed.' State records show that Brouillette’s license was not revoked at the time of his court testimony, an official who represents Maine’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles told The Washington Post. Brouillette separately indicated in a divorce settlement that he was employed by a local police department in 2019, but that agency said it has no record of him working there.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Ted Hesson of the Washington Post: “A federal refugee resettlement office is quietly launching an effort to interview hundreds of Afghan immigrants living in the United States, raising alarms among refugee groups who worry the information they collect could be used for future immigration enforcement.... A questionnaire for the effort — called the Refugee Outreach and Wellbeing Initiative — shows the agency will gather detailed information about household members, including their names, jobs, languages spoken and immigration status. Some refugee groups expressed concern at the idea because the Trump administration has taken steps to strip Afghans in the U.S. of legal status as part of the president’s broader immigration crackdown, a dramatic reversal of President Joe Biden’s welcome of more than 88,000 Afghans fleeing the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.”

Alice Callahan & Caroline Legaspi of the New York Times: “A large outbreak of cyclosporiasis associated with iceberg lettuce has been linked to another four states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At least 1,947 people have become ill and 98 have been hospitalized in the outbreak, which has expanded to include Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia were already part of the outbreak. The Food and Drug Administration has linked the infections to iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms and grown in central Mexico. On July 17, Taylor Farms recalled bagged iceberg lettuce sold in 27 states (including the nine states in the outbreak). The recalled lettuce was sent to restaurants, retail stores and food service distributors including Taco Bell and Walmart, but Taylor Farms has not provided clear information about exactly where the products were sold or served, and which specific products were affected.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Benjamin Mullin, et al., of the New York Times: “Paramount said on Friday that it had agreed to halt its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery until next June at the latest while a judge considers a lawsuit from state attorneys general who sued to block the deal. The delay is the latest curveball in a deal that would remake Hollywood. In a legal filing, Paramount and the state attorneys general said that they had reached an agreement to freeze the $111 billion merger while the case works its way through court, extending a shorter pause imposed this week by a federal judge in California. The merger agreement expires on June 4, 2027, if the deal has not closed by that date. The delay could be costly for Paramount. The company, run by the tech scion David Ellison, has agreed to pay Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders a fee of $650 million for every quarter that the deal does not close, beginning in October. Larry Ellison, David Ellison’s father, has personally guaranteed the acquisition.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Gregory Schneider of the Washington Post: “South Carolina would be the first state to hold a Democratic primary for president in 2028 under a preliminary recommendation passed Friday by a panel of the Democratic National Committee, aiming to highlight the voices of Black voters who make up a large proportion of the electorate in the state. Party officials also recommended early slots for New Hampshire, Nevada and Michigan. They then altered their bylaws to add two more states, Virginia and New Mexico, to the roster of those that can hold primaries before Super Tuesday, which is March 7.... The first primaries draw massive media and campaign attention, and the outcomes influence how the nominating process plays out.... The outcome did not sit well with New Hampshire Democrats, who hosted the nation’s first Democratic primary elections for decades until being bumped by South Carolina in 2024. The new calendar 'is wrong for Democrats, wrong for New Hampshire, and wrong for the country,' the state’s congressional delegation — all Democrats — said in a joint statement.” Politico's report is here.

Michael Kunzelman of the AP, published by KFOR (Oklahoma City) News: “Joe Biden on Friday dropped a lawsuit in which he sought block the release of audio recordings and transcripts of his interviews with a memoir ghostwriter before the Delaware Democrat was elected president, paving the way for the material to be released to a Republican-led congressional committee. Biden’s attorneys filed the notice of voluntary dismissal less than a week after a divided panel of appeals court judges rejected his bid to block the material’s release. Biden could have petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene or asked for a rehearing by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.”

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Maine Senate Race. Bayliss Wagner, et al., of the New York Times: Maine Senator Susan “Collins [R] is relying on a web of deep-pocketed outside groups, funded largely by billionaire megadonors, to spend tens of millions of dollars on advertising promoting her and attacking the Democratic nominee. Her campaign, her allies and other groups aligned with Senate Republican leadership have already reserved about $60 million in airtime through the fall, according to the media tracking firm AdImpact. That is far more than the roughly $24 million that Senate Democrats’ main super PAC and its affiliates have allocated to ads in Maine....” The link is a gift link.

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Gordie Howe International Bridge.

~~~ Canada. Ian Austen of the New York Times: “When Canada and Michigan agreed to build a multibillion-dollar bridge at the busiest border crossing between the United States and Canada, the relationship between the two nations was dramatically different. In 2012, President Barack Obama was admired by an overwhelming majority of Canadians in polls, and the countries were often in agreement.... To honor both countries, the bridge linking Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit was named after the Canadian hockey star Gordie Howe, who played 25 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings. On Friday, the 6.4 billion Canadian dollar bridge (about $4.5 billion) opened, at least ceremonially, with a president in the White House who has shaken Canada’s economy with tariffs, mused about annexing the country and stalled the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge. The latest blow came this week when ... [Donald] Trump, who is as disliked in Canada as Mr. Obama was acclaimed, announced 50 percent tariffs on a variety of Canadian products.... For Canada, it’s all been too much. It rescinded its invitations to American officials to jointly open the bridge. And it moved the ceremony from the international border line in the center of the bridge to ... the inspection plaza of the Canada Border Services Agency.” The link is a gift link.

July 24, 2026

Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: “Three months after an apparent assassination attempt on ... Donald Trump threw the White House correspondents’ dinner into chaos, the president is set to address reporters at a slimmed-down redo of the event Friday, even as he embraced an aggressive stance that favors targeting journalists to root out leakers in his administration.”

The people briefed on the matter spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity to discuss the information. ~~~ New York Times report

They do keep on talking, don't they? -- Marie ~~~

As the Mobster Goes. ~~~

~~~ So Goes a Consigliere. ~~~

Here's one of the low-level "soldiers" who carry out the orders of the capi. ~~

Departmentof Homeland Security? Hah! Maria Sacchetti & Silvia Foster-Frau of the Washington Post: “The U.S. immigration officer allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of an immigrant in Maine told a judge in October that he was struggling to earn money because he had health issues and his driver’s license had been revoked. Maine District Court Judge Amy Dieterich declared a month later that David Brouillette’s claims were not credible, denying his request to terminate his child support payments to a former wife. Instead, she concluded, Brouillette was 'voluntarily underemployed.' State records show that Brouillette’s license was not revoked at the time of his court testimony, an official who represents Maine’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles told The Washington Post. Brouillette separately indicated in a divorce settlement that he was employed by a local police department in 2019, but that agency said it has no record of him working there.”

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Andrea Fuller, et al., of the New York Times on “how Trump is getting richer in office.” The link appears to be a gift link. With lots o' charts. (Also linked yesterday.)

Ramsey Khalifeh of the Gothamist: “U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy asked members of Congress in a letter on Wednesday to give Amtrak the green light to rename Penn Station, setting up the possibility the nation’s busiest train hub could be rechristened after ... Donald Trump. The federal government has led the effort to rebuild the dilapidated station since last year, when Trump stripped control of the project from the MTA and turned it over to Amtrak. White House officials have since floated the idea of renaming Penn Station, which is owned by federally run Amtrak, after Trump. Duffy’s request came in a letter to Senate committee chairs as Congress negotiates new spending bills. While Duffy didn’t explicitly ask lawmakers to put Trump’s name on Penn Station in his letter, he asked them to 'direct Amtrak to rename New York Penn Station....

“Renderings of the new design for the station selected by Amtrak included a wall etched with a presidential seal bearing Trump's name. 'After months of hiding from the public, Sean Duffy has confirmed that the Trump administration is waging a hostile takeover of Penn Station, including delivering Trump his dream of renaming Penn Station after himself,' U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, whose district includes Penn Station, wrote in a statement.” The New York Post published the renderings in late May. (The link is to a Yahoo! News republication of the Post article with illustrations.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: I find this even more disturbing that renaming Palm Beach Airport for Trump. While it may be inconvenient for many, it is possible to fly into and out of another Southeast Florida airport. And most people don't fly every day, so passing thru Trump International is only an occasional affront. But hundreds of thousands of people have no choice but to pass through Penn Station every day, twice a day. (Art Intel says 600,000 people pass through Penn Station every weekday.) Forcing them to confront Trump on their way to and from work is an insult. I suppose here again, cruelty is the point.

Once upon a time, Dan Scavino was a simple golf caddy, lugging 9-irons from hole to hole, retrieving balls from the rough. Now he is making high-quality videos of the high-quality ormulu, gilded and Rust-Oleum spray-painted (okay, mostly Rust-Oleum spray-painted) gimcrack applied to every damned surface of the uniquely-shaped office of a famous home-decor influencer. Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

7/21/26 | The Oval Office🇺🇸🦅 pic.twitter.com/tjkfiJLRi2
— Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) July 22, 2026

~~~ Oddly, Sam Stein & Andrew Egger of the Bulwark almost seem to mock these beautiful embellishments. Some people simply cannot appreciate the finer things. Like Rust-Oleum. BTW, Sam & Andrew were wondering about the significance of a golden bell set on a table in a niche. Here's the story on that, in two parts. A-One and A-Two. (Also linked yesterday.)

⭐The Mad King Imposes New Tariffs on Americans. Ana Swanson of the New York Times: “The Trump administration will impose tariffs of around 10 percent on goods from more than 80 countries on Friday, its latest effort to put in place an expansive protectionist policy.... The tariffs will range from 10 percent to 12.5 percent and take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, replacing a global 10 percent duty set to lapse at the same time. Mr. Trump issued that earlier tariff in February, after the Supreme Court struck down duties he imposed last year. The move provides fresh evidence of Mr. Trump’s intention to transform global trade, despite numerous court challenges and the protests of U.S. consumers and businesses that have been stuck with higher tax bills. Over the past 17 months, the Trump administration has cycled through trade law after trade law as it tries to build a system to shield the U.S. economy from foreign competition. The duties will be issued under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose tariffs on foreign countries that engage in unreasonable or discriminatory trade practices.” (Also linked yesterday.) The story has been updated to reflect the fact that the tariffs are now in effect. Update 2: the link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link. ~~~

~~~ NPR's report is here. MB: Both NPR & CNBC report that the new tariffs are on 60, not 80, countries. But NPR adds that it's 59 countries plus the European Union, so that would explain the apparent discrepancy. In any event, the CNBC report notes that the tariffs will "cover 99.4% of U.S. trade, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a fact sheet Thursday afternoon." So every country that matters. The idea that every one of the U.S.'s trading partners has suddenly engaged in "unreasonable or discriminatory trade practices" is absurd on its face.~~~

~~~ Tony Romm, et al., of the New York Times have an “explainer.” “The new taxes are meant to replace a 10 percent duty that Mr. Trump imposed globally shortly after the Supreme Court invalidated a previous wave of sweeping levies. By law, that replacement tariff could be in place for only 150 days absent congressional approval, and the clock ran out on the president at midnight.... The president sees high duties as a way to encourage more domestic manufacturing and protect U.S. industries, but taxes on imports tend to fall hardest on American families and businesses. Mr. Trump’s policies may also face a familiar set of legal challenges that could send the administration back to court, where it has lost repeatedly.” MB: It seems to me these explainer articles do a disservice to the reader when they don't mentioned that Trump is nuts.

The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the Iran War. From the pinned item at 7:55 am ET: “The United States and Iran traded more attacks across the Middle East after Tehran was said to have rejected a U.S. cease-fire proposal delivered by the leader of Iraq. American forces targeted Iranian military assets and facilities, including drone storage sites, to reduce the threat to commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command said.... The Iranian military said it had launched drone attacks on Friday morning against U.S. military targets at bases in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. Iranian and Iraqi officials said on Thursday that Iran had rejected a cease-fire proposal from ... [Donald] Trump that was presented by Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi of Iraq. Iran’s top negotiator, Brig. Gen. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, told local news outlets that there was no need for another mediator and that 'the problem is America’s outlook.'...

“The Houthis claimed on Wednesday to have struck two Saudi tankers [in the Red Sea], the first attacks since the group announced a blockade of Saudi ships this week.... Mr. Trump said in a social media post on Thursday that from now on, he would make Iran pay for any damage to ships and cargo in the Strait of Hormuz using Iranian funds under U.S. control.”

Helene Cooper, et al., of the New York Times: “On Wednesday, the Pentagon reported on its casualties website that a total of 18 American service members had been killed during the war in Iran. By Thursday, the Defense Department had lowered that number, reporting that 14 American troops had been killed in the war. Three military officials said that one reason behind the change was that the Trump administration decided to remove four service members killed this past weekend from the list — three in Jordan and one in northern Iraq — because their deaths occurred after ... [Donald] Trump declared a cease-fire in the war in April.... The acting press secretary for the Pentagon, Joel Valdez, attributed the change instead to 'temporary data disruptions' on the website that he suggested would be quickly fixed.... In its casualty toll for the Iran war, the Pentagon has separated the number of troops killed under fire from those killed in accidents.” The link appears to be a gift link. ~~~

~~~ Marie: This week, Trump has been comparing the number of troops killed in the Iran War to the number killed in previous U.S. wars. Being the liar that he is, sometimes he just makes up the numbers, like when he said the other day that 200,000 were killed in Viet Nam (the official number is 58,220, though I've seen figures that were slightly more or less than that). Trump's point has been that the Iran War isn't so bad because comparatively few Americans have been killed. How to make Trump's more palatable? Reduce the official number of U.S. troops killed.

⭐Barak Ravid of Axios: Donald "Trump told Axios on Thursday that he's seriously considering restarting major combat operations in Iran — including strikes that would be bigger than the ones carried out during Operation Epic Fury.... In a brief interview, Trump acknowledged that such a decision would have consequences and stressed he hasn't made a determination yet." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Mychael Schnell, et al., of MS NOW: "For the second time in as many months, the House voted to curb Donald Trump’s authority in Iran.... On Thursday, the House adopted a war powers resolution directing the U.S. to cease hostilities with Iran, as Washington’s war with Tehran reaches the 145-day mark. The measure cleared 214-208, with four Republicans joining all Democrats in support. Reps. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Tom Barrett, R-Mich., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., supported the resolution. Even though it was another political rebuke of the president, the vote won’t actually change much. The legislation is a concurrent resolution, so even if the Senate approves the same version, the measure won’t go to Trump’s desk for signature. The resolution, therefore, won’t carry the force of law. The same scenario played out last month, and the measure proved powerless against Trump’s whims." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ SO THEN. Noah Robertson, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Senate blocked consideration of a similar resolution hours later on a 49-47 procedural vote.Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) was the lone Republican to join Democrats in supporting the measure. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) voted against it.” The Hill's story is here.

“Quagmire of the Vanities.” Paul Krugman: “Yesterday Donald Trump declared that the Iran war is going 'better than anybody expected could be done.' He’s delusional, of course. And his delusions are the reason the price of oil is back at around $100 a barrel, and ... the effective price is much higher than that ... [because] the difference in price between a barrel of crude oil and the price of the products into which that barrel is refined — has exploded.... The only thing keeping the war going is Trump’s vanity. He effectively lost the war in the first few days.... But Trump is psychologically incapable of admitting failure. So the war goes on, weakening America by the day.... If Trump doubles down on failure, drastically escalating his disastrous war, the economic, not to mention human, impacts will get much uglier.”

Tony Romm of the New York Times: “A widening military conflict with Iran entered a dangerous new phase this week, spooking energy markets and sending global oil prices to $100 a barrel. The anxiety spilled into gas prices, which topped $4 a gallon in much of the country.... And the tumult coincided with the return of Mr. Trump’s trade brinkmanship, as the White House formalized a slate of new tariffs.... The forces, taken together, complicated the nation’s economic outlook.... Yet at a rally in Marietta, Ga., on Wednesday, the president seemed unfazed by the blowback from the war with Iran, a conflict he has repeatedly downplayed. Mr. Trump declared that inflation was 'way down,' pointing to falling prices in June, before promising that energy costs in particular would 'come down, maybe lower than when we even started.'... Despite registering the largest single-month drop in six years, consumer prices overall were still 3.5 percent higher in June than they were a year earlier.... The latest inflation data ... arrived precisely as the United States and Iran resumed their hostilities — raising concerns that any improvement could prove short-lived.”

Heather Cox Richardson recalls a 1953 speech by President Eisenhower in the context of how it relates to Donald Trump's spending priorities. She's quite right to point this out, but what struck me was how decent a person Eisenhower was. (The full text of the "cross of iron" speech is here.) Democrats may not be what they used to be, but Republicans have fallen from relative grace into the abyss.

He Really Doesn't Know What He's Doing. Michael Birnbaum & Evan Halpern of the Washington Post: “Saudi Arabia would need to normalize relations with Israel to receive the U.S. nuclear technology it has long sought..., Donald Trump said Thursday, adding a new and potentially deal-ending stipulation to an agreement signed just a day earlier. The nuclear deal — which was fiercely opposed by Israel and others concerned about nuclear proliferation — is 'totally subject' to Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, Trump said in a social media post, referring to the effort from his first term to normalize relations between Israel and Muslim-majority countries from which it had long been estranged. The Saudis have thus far refused to join the accord. It was the latest whiplash-inducing policy shift from the White House, which had faced-down considerable political opposition to push forward with the Saudi deal.” An NPR report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: Normalizing relations with Israel is a condition that Saudi Arabia has rejected in all previous negotiations. So Trump forgot to mention it in the deal he cut with Saudi Arabia, then a day later he remembered it and added it as a condition to the deal the U.S. & the Saudis had already reached? WTF?

Sophia Cai & Jordain Carney of Politico: “White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing Thursday that ... Donald Trump’s patience with Senate Majority Leader John Thune is wearing thin, as Republicans struggle to advance his voting overhaul legislation before lawmakers leave Washington for the August recess. 'His patience is running out,' Leavitt said — rhetoric that escalates warnings Trump had already begun delivering on social media. While House Republicans have largely aligned themselves with Trump’s legislative priorities, Thune has been unable to rally his caucus to move the legislation forward, saying repeatedly that he simply does not have the votes.... 'The Senate is a place you send things when you want them to die,' Trump said in Georgia on Wednesday. 'We’re not going to take this any longer, we’re not going to take it. I’m trying to be nice.' On Thursday, Thune — clear-eyed about the realities of the conference’s Senate margins — suggested in response that the White House should 'get on the phone' instead of 'pointing fingers.'” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Michael Gold ;of the New York Times: “The long-simmering tension between ... [Donald] Trump and Senate Republicans over a stalled voting restriction bill intensified on Thursday, after the president’s spokeswoman said that Mr. Trump’s 'patience is running out' with Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the majority leader, for failing to push it through.... The escalating battle will likely complicate the Senate’s final two weeks before their August recess. Mr. Thune already faced a difficult to-do list, laid at his feet by House Republicans who departed Washington for their five-week break on Thursday after having pushed through several bills that face dim prospects in the Senate.” ~~~

~~~ AND. Avani Kalra & Al Weaver of NOTUS: “Sen. Mitch McConnell’s extended absence has thrown a number of the Senate’s top priorities into limbo.... 'We’re at 52' Republican votes, Majority Leader John Thune told NOTUS, versus the 53 seats the party holds in the Senate. 'This is the reality.'... Without McConnell, who chairs the subcommittee on defense, the Appropriations Committee is split 14-14 between Democrats and Republicans, making it impossible to advance legislation that doesn’t have bipartisan support.” ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE, over on the YouTubes, various left-wing pundits, not to mention Marjorie Taylor Greene, have been speculating that Mitch is dead, "nearly dead," or "brain-dead.)

Marina Dunbar of the Guardian: “A Secret Service agent assigned to JD Vance’s protective detail is 'the subject of an administrative investigation, and potential criminal inquiry, involving allegations of compromising operational and information security', according to the Secret Service chief of communications. The agent came under suspicion after allegedly providing information that appeared in an MS Now report about the vice-president’s planned Marine Corps helicopter trip with his son to a golf lesson, a source told CNN.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Warren Strobel of the Washington Post: “The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has shrunk more than is publicly known in recent weeks, losing about 200 personnel to firings and reassignments since June 1, according to data the Trump administration shared with Congress this week. The cuts are the latest to hit ODNI, which was created to oversee and coordinate all U.S. spy agencies but has been targeted by ... Donald Trump and many Republicans in Congress. They, and some former U.S. intelligence officials, say it has expanded far beyond what lawmakers intended when it was created two decades ago. The ODNI had about 2,000 employees at the start of Trump’s second term. It is now little more than half that size, according to congressional aides....

“Trump has often maintained a hostile posture toward professional intelligence personnel and their agencies, claiming they tried to undermine him in his first term, particularly with the compiling of reports on Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election to aid his campaign. The president has dismissed intelligence analysis on a range of issues, from North Korea’s nuclear policy to Iran’s likely reaction to the attacks the U.S. and Israel launched in February.”

Michael Grynbaum & Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: “The Justice Department said on Thursday that it would withdraw the subpoenas that sought phone records and grand jury testimony from New York Times journalists who had reported on the security capabilities of ... [Donald] Trump’s new Qatari-built Air Force One jet.... The government’s move came after Judge Arun Subramanian grilled Justice Department lawyers for nearly an hour over their handling of the subpoenas, which The Times had sought to quash.... Judge Subramanian said the Justice Department was not prevented from subpoenaing the Times reporters again if the government followed appropriate procedures.” Update: the link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link. MB: According to MS NOW, the judge told the DOJ lawyers they could withdraw the subpoenas or he would quash them. One of the subpoenas sought phone records of the mother or a NYT reporter. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ SDNY's Bad Day. Chris Geidner, the Law Dork: "The degradation of the Justice Department in the second Trump administration is clear, is having immediate effects, and will have long-term effects. Just how degraded DOJ has become was on full display in the Southern District of New York on Thursday.... [The SDNY] is widely seen as one the preeminent U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the nation.... Over the past two weeks, the office tried to subpoena reporters from

The New York Times and ensnared some of the reporters’ family members.... When challenged, the office’s ability to carry out basic legal research and adhere to general ethical standards were called into question by U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian in a sharp, hour-long hearing that ended with the Trump administration withdrawing the subpoenas rather than face the almost certain likelihood of Subramanian quashing them." Geidner goes on to describe all the faults Judge Subramanian found with the "preeminent U.S. attorney's" filings. ~~~

~~~ Marie: One of the prosecutors admitted that the lawyers on the case had no knowledge of the "leading case in this field," and the team didn't even do elementary research prior to issuing the subpoenas. I can't see that these lawyers are even qualified to do their jobs, much less being the "preeminent" DOJ lawyers. But the crux of the problem -- unstated by Geidner and the judge, as far as I know -- is that these neophyte lawyers felt or were told they had to do a rush job to please El Jefe, who got his nose out of joint when NYT reporters caught him in some lies about the inadequate security features on his Glorious Flying Bribe. Why so many neophyte lawyers? Well, some quit and some, like top prosecutor Maurene Comey, were fired (in her case, because Comey). IOW, everything is Trump's fault. Really.

Alan Blinder & Rebecca O'Brien of the New York Times: “The Trump administration has abandoned its quest to force the University of Pennsylvania to turn over names of Jewish people on campus, according to a court filing on Thursday. The retreat by the administration does not resolve the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s long-running inquiry into concerns about antisemitism at Penn. But the government’s decision to drop the subpoena appears to spell the end, at least in Penn’s case, of a politically volatile and legally fraught tactic.... The government also demanded membership rosters of those groups, as well as a list of people who had worked in Penn’s Jewish Studies Program. Penn complied with some of the government’s requests and balked at others, and the commission sued in November. The university and its allies warned that the government’s demands were unconstitutional and endangered people.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: This always seemed to me to be a Nazi request in sheep's clothing. I know the Trumpists are pretending they care about anti-semitism because it's their way of attacking elite, supposedly-liberal institutions, particularly universities. But these inquisitors are the same people who ally with white nationalists and neo-Nazis, so it's hard for me to believe that "a list of all the Jews" would not be put to nefarious use.

Marie: It's a good idea to remember that Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) had a good job with the high probably of being re-elected at least until he got into a Mitch McConnell-like situation. But he gave it all up for a Cabinet post. Here's how that's going: ~~~

~~~ Maria Armstrong-Matta of the Raw Story: "Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is failing to meet White House expectations four months into his tenure, facing criticism for making major policy decisions without explicit presidential approval. The breaking point came when Mullin unilaterally ordered ... ICE agents nationwide to halt vehicle stops following fatal shootings in Texas and Maine, a decision announced without White House consultation, reported NBC NEWS.... Donald Trump reversed the policy within 24 hours....Mullin has also faced scrutiny for inaccurately invoking immigration law during a CNN interview, reported NBC News. Questions about his fitness for the role are mounting, particularly concerns over his choice of Lance Schroyer as ICE director, whom DHS insiders describe as having 'extremely limited' immigration law knowledge." (The NBC story is firewalled.)

Triumph of the Snake Oil Salesmen. Christina Jewett & Dana Smith of the New York Times: “A panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration, several of them sellers of experimental peptides, dismissed the concerns of the agency’s scientists on Thursday, voting in favor of allowing broad production of poorly understood peptide treatments. By the end of the first day of a two-day meeting, votes on four different peptide products ended in favor of allowing specialized pharmacies to produce and sell the treatments. Votes on three more peptides are scheduled for Friday. The votes were nonbinding, but they were a rebuke to F.D.A. scientists, who said the risks and benefits of the peptide drugs under consideration had not been sufficiently studied. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who oversees the F.D.A., has long supported lifting restrictions on peptides. In the weeks before Thursday’s hearing, his office nominated eight new members to the committee of academics and doctors that would review the issue, six of whom have sold peptide products, some banned, with health claims backed by minimal science.” ~~~

~~~ Marie: I suppose we should have come up with some quantifiable parameters to determine what constitutes "The Scandal of the Day." The fact is that nearly every day we have a choice, and reasonable people can differ.

Michael Casey of the AP, published by ABC News: "More than two dozen states on Thursday sued the Trump administration for requiring them to comply with election and immigration conditions in order to receive billions of dollars in federal funding for disasters. The lawsuit, filed in Rhode Island and challenging Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Homeland Security policies, argued that the administration is requiring states to change their elections systems and help DHS with immigration enforcement. The conditions would also allow DHS to terminate grants at anytime and for any reason.” (Also linked yesterday.)

The News From Billionaires' Row.

Richard Luscombe of the Guardian: In an interview with the Economist, “Elon Musk has admitted he became too consumed by politics during his volatile alliance with Donald Trump and his brief appointment as the president’s financial axman, running the so-called 'department of government efficiency' (Doge).... 'I got carried away, frankly,' Musk said of his relationship with the president, whom he helped get elected in 2024 with $200m in financial backing, then served during his controversial tenure as head of Doge, overseeing $150bn in 'harmful' budget cuts and forcing tens of thousands of people out of federal jobs.... However, he appeared to relish the attention his political involvement had garnered, and the influence he believed he exerted.”

David McCabe of the New York Times: “A federal judge said on Thursday that Paramount could not close its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery until at least Aug. 18, as she considers two lawsuits that seek to block the deal. The move extended a pause on the deal. On Monday, the judge, Araceli Martínez-Olguín of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, froze the deal for 14 days after a group of states sued to stop the acquisition, citing antitrust concerns. In that ruling, she said she would hold a hearing on Aug. 3 about whether to issue an injunction that would block the deal from closing for the duration of the lawsuit.”

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Scott Lemieux in LG&$, cites a big chunk of a Status article that recounts for "60 Minutes" correspondent Cecilia Vega's account of working for Bari Weiss (before Weiss fired her). As Lemieux writes, "Cecilia Vega, fired by grifting propagandist Bari Weiss for the crime of doing journalism, recounts multiple instances where she was asked to replace news in her news reports with whatever random horseshit Weiss encountered from deep inside MAGA’s dark rectum[.]... You can’t deny the Ellisons are getting what they’re paying for! " MB: You may be able to directly access the Status report (or a part of it) if you are willing to jump through their hoops, but I just was not up to the hoop-jumping this morning. Sorry.

~~~~~~~~~~

Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: “Democratic state officials are ramping up their preparations to protect against what they view as a new threat to election security: the federal government. At a meeting in Milwaukee in May, staff members from the offices of every Democratic attorney general and about a dozen Democratic secretaries of state held tabletop exercises to prepare for hypothetical scenarios in the November midterm elections. In those 'war rooms,' said Nick Brown, the Democratic attorney general of the state of Washington, state officials discussed how they would handle a variety of scenarios. What might happen if the F.B.I. showed up, demanding election materials or equipment? What if federal troops or agents were deployed in the country in ways that could intimidate voters or disrupt the election? What if President Trump tried to declare an election-related national emergency? 'The sad reality now is that the federal government is our biggest concern,' Mr. Brown said, adding, 'It used to be that the Department of Justice was our No. 1 partner, helping states prepare for election-related issues.'” ~~~

~~~ Marie: I have many concerns^{TM Susan Collins}, my main worry is that somewhere this is going to turn into an armed conflict with federalized National Guard on one side and some kind of local forces on the other. I hope I'm being ridiculous.

Wisconsin. Patrick Marley & Sammy Westfall of the Washington Post: “A police officer’s shooting of a man [in Madison, Wisconsin,] Wednesday afternoon is being investigated as a homicide, the city’s police chief said Thursday during a raucous news conference that was at times taken over by protesters. 'This is an open and active homicide investigation,' Police Chief John Patterson said. Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway identified the shooting victim as Corey Ruiz. Police said the shooting happened as officers were attempting to arrest a man who had tried to flee on a bicycle, then pulled out a knife as police struggled to subdue him. Parts of the encounter were recorded on video by a passerby, and appeared to show the shots were fired after the man was already being held on the ground.”

Marie: As I expect you do, too, I get a lot of online ads for items I was searching online. Oftentimes, the ads are for things I already bought -- like an electric teakettle -- so I gather Google tracks only my search history and not my purchases. Still, most of the ads make sense inasmuch as they're for the kinds of items or the actual items I've been searching online. So I cannot imagine why, for the past two days, I have been getting ads for a $677,000 2024 Porsche 911. I have not been searching for any type of vehicle and certainly not for a Porsche I could not reasonably afford (and couldn't even spell). AI is amazing, but not that amazing.

July 23, 2026

The Mad King Imposes New Tariffs on Americans. Ana Swanson of the New York Times: “The Trump administration will impose tariffs of around 10 percent on goods from more than 80 countries on Friday, its latest effort to put in place an expansive protectionist policy.... The tariffs will range from 10 percent to 12.5 percent and take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, replacing a global 10 percent duty set to lapse at the same time. Mr. Trump issued that earlier tariff in February, after the Supreme Court struck down duties he imposed last year. The move provides fresh evidence of Mr. Trump’s intention to transform global trade, despite numerous court challenges and the protests of U.S. consumers and businesses that have been stuck with higher tax bills. Over the past 17 months, the Trump administration has cycled through trade law after trade law as it tries to build a system to shield the U.S. economy from foreign competition. The duties will be issued under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose tariffs on foreign countries that engage in unreasonable or discriminatory trade practices.”

Barak Ravid of Axios: Donald "Trump told Axios on Thursday that he's seriously considering restarting major combat operations in Iran — including strikes that would be bigger than the ones carried out during Operation Epic Fury.... In a brief interview, Trump acknowledged that such a decision would have consequences and stressed he hasn't made a determination yet." ~~~

~~~ Mychael Schnell, et al., of MS NOW: "For the second time in as many months, the House voted to curb Donald Trump’s authority in Iran....& On Thursday, the House adopted a war powers resolution directing the U.S. to cease hostilities with Iran, as Washington’s war with Tehran reaches the 145-day mark. The measure cleared 214-208, with four Republicans joining all Democrats in support. Reps. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Tom Barrett, R-Mich., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., supported the resolution. Even though it was another political rebuke of the president, the vote won’t actually change much. The legislation is a concurrent resolution, so even if the Senate approves the same version, the measure won’t go to Trump’s desk for signature. The resolution, therefore, won’t carry the force of law. The same scenario played out last month, and the measure proved powerless against Trump’s whims."

Andrea Fuller, et al., of the New York Times on “how Trump is getting richer in office.” The link appears to be a gift link. With lots o' charts.

Michael Birnbaum & Evan Halpern of the Washington Post: “Saudi Arabia would need to normalize relations with Israel to receive the U.S. nuclear technology it has long sought..., Donald Trump said Thursday, adding a new and potentially deal-ending stipulation to an agreement signed just a day earlier. The nuclear deal — which was fiercely opposed by Israel and others concerned about nuclear proliferation — is 'totally subject' to Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, Trump said in a social media post, referring to the effort from his first term to normalize relations between Israel and Muslim-majority countries from which it had long been estranged. The Saudis have thus far refused to join the accord. It was the latest whiplash-inducing policy shift from the White House, which had faced-down considerable political opposition to push forward with the Saudi deal.” An NPR report is here.

7/21/26 | The Oval Office🇺🇸🦅 pic.twitter.com/tjkfiJLRi2
— Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) July 22, 2026

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The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the Iran War. From the pinned item at 6:50 am ET: “The price of oil surged to $98 a barrel on Thursday morning, as Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen claimed strikes on two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, and neither the United States nor Iran showed any letup in their fighting. The Houthis strikes were the first since the Yemeni militia announced a blockade this week on Saudi ships. It threatened to broaden the conflict by creating a second choke point on global shipping, in addition to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed.... U.S. Central Command, which coordinates military operations in the Middle East, said it had launched another wave of strikes overnight to degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping, targeting Iranian drone and missile storage sites and air defenses. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said on Thursday that it had launched attacks on U.S. military targets in Kuwait ... in response to American attacks on similar infrastructure in Iran.”

Adela Suliman of NBC News: “A third American service member believed to have been killed by an Iranian attack on an air base in Jordan has been identified by the United States military as Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad of New York. The 28-year-old 'is believed to have been killed in action on July 17, 2026, during an enemy attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan,' the Pentagon said in a statement. 'The incident is under investigation.' After the attack, U.S. Central Command said that two service members were killed and another was missing. The following day, it said that troops found unidentified remains and that an examination process to verify them had begun.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Mary Bruce, et al., of ABC News: "... Donald Trump is comparing the death toll from the war in Iran to several past wars in what appears to be an attempt to downplay the rising number of fatalities. Via posts on his social media platform, Trump displayed the number of fatalities in Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam and Korea -- multi-year conflicts that cost thousands of American lives -- alongside statistics from the Iran war, a four-month conflict in which 18 Americans have been killed. He added a chart to a second post.... Trump has consistently referred to the ongoing fighting in Iran as a "military conflict" rather than a war, including in the charts he posted. His comments come just days after four more service members were killed in Iranian attacks -- the first American fatalities since a fragile ceasefire deal collapsed two weeks ago."

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Wednesday witnessed the return of four young Army soldiers recently killed overseas, telling reporters beforehand that each had died supportive of the deadly war he was waging with Iran. 'All of them said very strongly, “We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon,’” Mr. Trump said as he traveled to Dover Air Force Base to attend the dignified transfer. 'They won’t have a nuclear weapon. So we’re going to honor them.' Later, Mr. Trump took one soldier’s grieving family to his political rally in Georgia. The president did not say how he knew the fallen soldiers’ views, but he decided to speak for them.... The families of the service members who were killed have not talked about their support for the war....

“The president is adamant that Americans support the Iran war. 'A poll just came out: Americans don’t want high gasoline prices, but they’re not against the war — that just came out loud and clear,' Mr. Trump said earlier on Wednesday before he traveled to the transfer. He did not specify the poll he was talking about. In reality, pollsters for months have been tracking growing frustration over the war, including within the Republican Party. According to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll released last week, only 29 percent of Americans support the conflict. That poll also showed that most Americans do not believe their economic outlook will improve.” (Also linked yesterday.) An Independent story is here.

Sean James of Mediaite: “... Donald Trump declared the USA has no need for the Strait of Hormuz — but he still wants to pummel Iran to prove it can never control the vital oil passage anyway. The president said during a Wednesday rally in Georgia the strait isn’t a big deal for America because the U.S. already controls a huge huge chunk of the oil market. Trump said it was thanks in large part to the operation that plucked Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro from his bed at the start of the year.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Our Soldiers Are Dying, But ... Nancy Youssef & Jonathan Lemire of the Atlantic: “The Pentagon ... hasn’t held a press briefing since May to answer even basic questions.... Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were on Capitol Hill this afternoon to plead for $67.1 billion for emergency military funding to replenish munitions and meet other needs, on top of the Pentagon’s $1.5 trillion regular budget request. Neither uttered the word Iran in their opening statement. Hegseth, in his testimony, referred to the war as 'an operation.'... The administration 'chose to break every rule and said that everyone before them was stupid for using a playbook of talking to the nation, talking to allies, and setting goals,' one former senior military officer ... told us. 'And now we are in a war with no good options and no U.S. and international support. It’s a bit of a trap of our own making.' Given that there appears to be no escape from that trap other than acknowledging defeat, the administration is expected to keep fighting, hoping that doing so leads to a better outcome.” Thanks to akaWendy for this gift link. ~~~

~~~ Marie: It looks as if the U.S. now is going it alone in the Iran War. I haven't seen any reporting indicating that Israel has joined in this latest fool's errand. Youssef & Lemire don't mention Israel's absence, nor do most other journalists & observers. It looks as if Bibi promised Trump a quick victory over Iran, and when that didn't happen, he just hightailed it back to Israel to starve Palestinians and sporadically shoot at Lebanon. Meanwhile, as the Atlantic writers note, "While sitting next to the leader of Lebanon in the Oval Office today, the president seemed to commit himself to the type of forever war he once derided: 'We’re not finished at all,' Trump told reporters. 'We’re not leaving right now.'" It's Trump's war now.\

Winner of FIFA Peace Prize Plans 8th War. John Hudson & Rachel Chason of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration is weighing military action in the West African country of Mali to target an al-Qaeda-affiliated group known as JNIM, said current and former U.S. officials familiar with the deliberations. If approved, it would add an eighth nation to the list of countries where ... Donald Trump has ordered strikes since the start of his second term — a chapter of his presidency that he initially said would be dedicated to ending global strife and redirecting U.S. resources to Americans.” MB: It's true we're running right low on armaments, but the JNIM may not have the best fighting machines either, so maybe we can throw rocks. (Also linked yesterday.)

The Saudi Deal: 99.9% Stupid. David Sanger & William Broad of the New York Times: Donald “Trump went to war with Iran in part to force compliance with two longstanding American demands: Tehran must stop enriching nuclear fuel for at least two decades, and it must allow international inspectors to go anywhere and see anything to verify the country is not producing a bomb. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump took the reverse approach to Saudi Arabia, its close ally in the region. To seal a deal for Westinghouse and other American companies to seize a big piece of the business in building two nuclear reactors on Saudi territory — and more to come — it opened the door to allowing the kingdom to begin enriching its own nuclear fuel after two years. And it gave in to the kingdom’s demand that it not have to abide by an inspection agreement that applies to more than 140 other countries....

“Now Mr. Trump will have to make the case to Congress, and to allies throughout the Middle East, that in loosening the nuclear standards for one close ally, he is not ushering in a new age of proliferation, especially in a region of the world already on fire. If the daily missile exchanges with Iran finally give way to resumed negotiations, there is no question Iran will seize on the concessions made to Riyadh and insist on the same.” ~~~

~~~ Felicia Schwartz, et al., of Politico: “Some lawmakers in both parties are warning that the newly inked U.S. nuclear agreement deal with Saudi Arabia could ignite a Middle East arms race at a particularly dangerous moment — when the Iran war is already provoking conflict across the region.... Even the potential of future nuclear enrichment by Saudi Arabia could swiftly shift the balance in the region and beyond, said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.).... Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, expressed concern that it could further derail the U.S.’ push to get Iran to commit to zero enrichment of uranium.” ~~~

~~~ "Trump’s Nuclear Deal With Saudi Arabia Looks More Like a Favor." Jon Wolfsthal in the New Republic, republished by Yahoo! News: "... [Donald] Trump's reported concessions to Saudi Arabia raise legitimate concerns and unless addressed could lead to a Middle East filled with nuclear weapons programs. This would undermine decades of U.S.work to prevent the spread of the most destructive weapons humanity has ever created.... [The deal] raises concerns that Saudi Arabia is using its close financial ties to the Trump family to manipulate U.S. cooperation to pursue a nuclear weapon option, especially if Iran continues to be a nuclear threshold state.... The Biden administration held preliminary discussions with Riyadh about [an] ... agreement, but with a set of very stringent provisions that are not included in the new deal.... There are good reasons to be concerned that the administration has neither the motivation nor the expertise to ensure that any complex nuclear negotiation advances U.S. interests in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons." ~~~

~~~ Just a Reminder. Judd Legum, et al., of Popular Information: "The [Saudi nuclear] deal comes after the Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) invested $2 billion in Jared Kushner’s private equity fund, Affinity Partners. Since 2021, Kushner..., [Donald] Trump’s son-in-law, has collected over $110 million from the Saudi government in management fees. In March, Kushner was seeking billions more from the Saudis. (After Kushner’s fundraising was exposed, his efforts were purportedly put on hold.) Kushner also has a close personal relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).... In 2021, when the PIF committee originally recommended rejecting Kushner’s proposal due to the high price and Kushner’s inexperience, MBS overruled the recommendation.

"As he continues to collect fees from the Saudi government, Kushner has resumed his role as a top foreign policy aide to Trump. He has played a key role in virtually every significant foreign policy negotiation since Trump returned to the White House.... Nearly all major media coverage of the US-Saudi nuclear agreement ignored Kushner’s financial conflicts — including articles by the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, AP, and CNN."

The Venezuelan Job. Will Neal of the Daily Beast, republished by Yahoo! News: "Donald Trump is facing intense scrutiny over the billions his administration has raked in from Venezuela that now appear to have vanished into thin air. Analysis by the Financial Times suggests the White House has brought in $13 billion from Venezuelan oil sales so far after capturing despot Nicolas Maduro in January and installing vice president Delcy Rodriguez in his place.... An executive order said any oil funds would remain Venezuelan property, and be held in U.S. accounts in a 'custodial capacity.' But Trump has said the U.S. is 'making a lot of money' from Venezuelan oil, and the U.S. Department of Energy has said the funds 'will be disbursed for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people.'... Trump's invasion of Venezuela has been about oil, power, and graft from the very beginning, with billions of dollars in Venezuelan oil revenue being controlled by the Trump administration without transparency or safeguards,' Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro, 51, told the FT. He joins a growing chorus of lawmakers publicly demanding to know where the Trump administration has spent or otherwise stashed the money." (Also linked yesterday.)

Laura Barrón-López &David Rohde of MS NOW: “In his primetime address on July 16, [Donald] Trump said the U.S. 'must take urgent action' to protect voting infrastructure against foreign actors. But shortly after taking office last year, Trump gutted a key agency designed to protect America’s elections from exactly that. It’s called the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency — an office created during Trump’s first term. CISA is one of the main federal partners for states on election security, sharing intelligence on potential threats to voting infrastructure and providing quick regional support. After Trump returned to office..., Elon Musk’s DOGE fired more than 100 workers, including election security advisers. More than 600 others were placed on administrative leave, were reassigned or took buyouts. Now the Trump administration is telling states they will only receive resources if they hand over voter rolls to be screened through a new federal database that a judge recently deemed unlawful in its current form.... Experts and a federal judge are concerned [the database] has a high error rate that could disenfranchise voters.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Promises Made, Promises Broken. Jeff Luse of Reason, republished by Yahoo! News: "Donald Trump pledged on the campaign trail that he would slash electricity prices in half within 18 months of returning to the White House. That self-imposed deadline [was July 20], and — as with many of the president's promises — he appears to have fallen short of his goal. From Trump's inauguration in January 2025 to April 2026, the most recent month for which government data are available, residential electricity rates have risen by an eye-watering 18 percent. From April 2025 to April 2026, rates jumped by 7.3 percent, or about twice the rate of inflation, according to the Energy Information Administration.” Thanks to RAS for the link. MB: He's just a snake-oil salesman, and all the snake oil in his stash can't keep the campfires burning.

The Grift Family Trump. Maureen Farrell of the New York Times: “Dating back to the first Trump administration, members of the Trump family have faced criticism for mixing business with politics. But what sets apart the latest moves by Donald Trump Jr. is how he and [and his business partner Omeed] Malik, through 1789 Capital, are cashing in on the policies of the current administration openly and without apology. Many of the companies that 1789 has invested in have large government contracts while others, like Polymarket, have benefited directly from new Trump policies or rollbacks of existing laws. The firm bought shares in some of the most coveted private companies before many went public, including SpaceX, Anduril, Cerebras and Reflection AI, often by leveraging their political and business connections to secure a stake or to help boost the companies’ sales. Just two years ago, 1789 managed a few hundred million dollars. It now oversees more than $3 billion. Its main investment fund generated returns of roughly 200 percent as of June 30, according to a person familiar with the firm’s performance.” The link appears to be a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

What a Coincidence! Kyle Cheney, et al., of Politico: “The Justice Department has been lavishing nine-figure policy wins on Alaska — and openly touting what a 'huge' time it’s been for the state — as attorney general nominee Todd Blanche is scrambling to lock down support for his confirmation from its senior senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski. A July 7 settlement over the federal government’s unfinished work on the port of Alaska resulted in a $180 million payout to Anchorage — an announcement Blanche, who is currently the acting attorney general, made personally during a two-day visit. The Justice Department shared news around the same time it had dropped Biden-era lawsuits related to Alaska’s energy production. Then on Tuesday, the administration inked a $400 million settlement with a group that administers health care programs for American Indians and Alaska natives. 'The wins keep coming for the American people in Alaska,' Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward declared last week, after announcing yet another win for the state: a $6.1 million award to tribal governments to combat violent crime.”

Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: “ Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is denying he privately told senators he 'made a mistake' by setting up his department’s $1.8 billion 'anti-weaponization' fund to give payouts to Jan. 6 rioters, even as two Democratic senators say he told them directly he regretted setting up the slush fund.... Asked Wednesday about Blanche denying he made those comments..., [Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)] just chuckled. 'I verified it with several of my staffers who were present,' said Durbin. 'I stand by it.' He speculated that Blanche is publicly disputing that he called Trump’s fund 'a mistake' because 'that’s not proper MAGA talk.' Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), also a member of the judiciary panel, said Blanche said the same thing to him, too, when they met privately last week.”

We're Back to “The Cruelty Is the Point.” Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: “The Trump administration is aggressively deploying a potent tool to pressure undocumented immigrants into self-deporting — civil fines that can total as much as $1.8 million. More than 100,000 people have received letters from the Homeland Security Department informing them that they owe $998 for each day that they have stayed in the United States after an immigration judge has ruled they have no legal right to remain in the country. Fines for failing to heed a 'removal' order have been permitted since the passage of immigration legislation in 1996. Until President Trump, however, no commander in chief had imposed such penalties. The effort to do so in his first term ran into logistical obstacles and never gained traction.... The Homeland Security Department said that between Jan. 20, 2025, and mid-July of this year, ICE had issued more than 103,000 fines to noncitizens who remained in the United States past a deportation order, seeking a combined total of more than $84 billion.” The article cites some horror stories.

Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Local prosecutors were warned ... Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in Minnesota would prove fatal, according to a new report. An agent from the Homeland Security Investigations division told local prosecutors and other officials that Border Patrol agents should not be conducting immigration raids in a city, reported CNN chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper. 'Someone’s going to get killed,' that DHS official said. That official and others from DHS told local officials that Border Patrol typically guarded the southern border and thought of themselves as a last line of defense, and they were used to getting away with a lot, so they feared things would get ugly, according to Tapper.... "The deaths of Renee Good on Wednesday, January 7, and Alex Pretti on Saturday, January 24, at the hands of federal immigration agents, followed soon after,' [Tapper wrote]." The CNN report is subscriber-firewalled. (Also linked yesterday.)

Josephine Walker of Axios: "Almost a quarter of workers in the U.S. — 23 million adults — are experiencing 'job lock,' staying in roles they don't want to avoid losing health insurance benefits, according to a new Gallup analysis....Women and people who have chronic health conditions feel the burden most because health care costs limit their career mobility, wage growth and life satisfaction.... Almost half (48%) of respondents who described health care as a 'major financial burden' are staying put in unwanted jobs."

Christopher Flavelle & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: Donald “Trump’s science adviser told lawmakers on Wednesday that the Trump administration intended to drastically overhaul the country’s approach to scientific research, including by shifting research funding away from universities toward individual researchers and private companies. At a House hearing, Michael Kratsios echoed points he laid out in a report released Tuesday, titled 'Science: A New Golden Age.' He said the administration would prioritize artificial intelligence, robotics and nuclear energy while reducing the government’s focus on what he called 'life sciences.'... Democrats countered that the Trump administration had harmed scientific research by firing staff members at federal science agencies, seeking deep cuts to research programs, canceling or freezing grants, punishing universities that Mr. Trump is unhappy with, and pushing some of the best researchers in the United States to relocate to other countries.” MB: Trump makes a lot of money off companies associated with AI, both through investments & via hefty donations to his various PACs & other political entities (like the "library" ripoff).

Connor O'Brien of Politico: “The House narrowly passed its marquee $1.15 trillion defense policy bill largely along party lines Wednesday amid a bitter partisan divide over ... Donald Trump’s conduct of the war against Iran and his push for a massive Pentagon spending boost. Just six Democrats supported the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which House Republicans muscled through in a tight 216-212 vote. Those Democratic votes proved decisive, helping Republicans overcome seven defections from their own ranks to pass the bill. The vote is a win for Trump.... It’s also a win for Speaker Mike Johnson, who overcame GOP unrest by steering the bill to the right on the House floor.... The final bill includes a variety of conservative provisions aimed at solidifying GOP support — including renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War, blocking coverage for gender-affirming care and making it easier for troops to carry their personal firearms on military bases. Republican leaders also attached their election overhaul backed by Trump, known as the SAVE America Act, at the behest of hard-line members who previously blocked the defense bill.” (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: “Representative Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, asked the Justice Department on Wednesday to investigate whether Jack Smith, the former special counsel, perjured himself when he testified about his inquiry of ... [Donald] Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.... Mr. Jordan claimed that Mr. Smith 'seemingly made willfully and intentionally false statements of material fact' when questioned last December under oath about his efforts to obtain phone records of 44 lawmakers who communicated with Mr. Trump and his team. The criminal referral could provide a catalyst for a prosecution of Mr. Smith — in many ways the top target of the president’s campaign of retribution.... Mr. Smith’s legal team accused Republicans of intentionally taking his answers out of context to provide an excuse to investigate him.” A UPI report is here. ~~~

Frankenstein Monster Escapes Lab, Attacks “Hugging Face.” Dana Nickel, et al., of Politico: “An alarming cybersecurity incident involving OpenAI’s newest and most advanced artificial intelligence technology has lawmakers hurrying to advance legislation that they say is needed to prevent AI from spinning dangerously outside human control. OpenAI on Tuesday admitted that its most powerful AI model available to the public and another that hasn’t yet been released were able to escape a controlled laboratory test, plot a course to the open internet and hack into a popular AI developer platform known as Hugging Face, marking the first documented case of a fully autonomous AI cyberattack. The unprecedented breach showed what the fast-advancing technology is capable of without meaningful safeguards in place, and has energized a bipartisan chorus of lawmakers who believe Congress needs to impose stricter rules on advanced frontier models.” ~~~

~~~ Marie: I'm not sure which aspect of this story is more unbelievable: (1) "a fully autonomous AI cyberattack" or (2) "lawmakers hurrying to advance legislation."

Heather Cox Richardson on fascism. Before making her own observations, Richardson cites a good portion of the remarks Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) made Tuesday on the House floor re: Republicans' "diversionary tactic" of calling Democrats "communists," in a reprise of the McCarthy Red Scare:

Adam Satariano & Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: “In a decision likely to intensify trans-Atlantic trade tensions, European Union regulators on Thursday hit Google with a $1 billion fine for illegally undercutting competition through its dominance as a search engine.... [Donald] Trump has previously threatened to retaliate against the European Union for what he views as the unfair targeting of American technology companies. The Google decision comes when he is weighing a new batch of tariffs on the European Union and other major trading partners. In explaining Thursday’s fine of 890 million euros, regulators in Brussels said Google had used its position as the world’s largest search engine to unfairly boost its services in areas like shopping, travel, games and language translation. Google displayed its own services more prominently at the top of search results, while relegating competing services further down the page, according to regulators.”

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Arizona House Race. Tim Balk of the New York Times: “Dr. Amish Shah, a moderate Democrat, won a House primary in a battleground Arizona district on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press, defeating a centrist candidate supported by House Democrats’ campaign arm. Dr. Shah, an emergency physician and former state lawmaker who proselytizes about the power of door-knocking, will face Jay Feely, the Republican nominee and a former journeyman N.F.L. kicker, in the general election. Dr. Shah and Mr. Feely, whom ... [Donald] Trump backed in the primary, have some shared history: In 2008, Dr. Shah was a sideline physician for the New York Jets and Mr. Feely was the team’s kicker. The two are racing to replace Representative David Schweikert, a Republican who decided to give up his seat to run for governor. The contest is expected to be one of the most expensive House races in the country....” The link appears to be a gift link.