The Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% month-over-month for July, for an annual inflation rate of 3.4% the Labor Department reports. That’s a tick below June’s 3.5% and May’s 4.2%, when Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz hit big. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]

•Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay vents on Trump tariffs and tax cuts in The Gray Area.

Worse at Sea – Multiple sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln have tried to go overboard as deployment in the Middle East begun November 21 has no publicly announced return date, Navy Times reports. 

The “gruelling” nearly eight-and-a-half month deployment has “intensified” worries about the mental health and risk of self-harm among roughly 5,000 sailors aboard, according to Stars and Stripes. Family members spoke to Acting Navy Sec. Hung Cao and other senior officials in town halls conducted Thursday, including a town hall in San Diego, home port to the Abraham Lincoln, attended by an estimated 200 family members, two spouses who attended told Stars and Stripes. 

In a letter to Cao and war/Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) noted “widespread reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns and disruptions in the mail system, which have caused many care packages in route to the ship to be lost in transit for months,” The New York Times reports.

In a social media post Wednesday, Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) wrote that “unlike Donald Trump, I’ve seen active duty. The way he’s treating our service members as he carries out this illegal war is not just disgusting, it’s dangerous.”

Hegseth told reporters during a visit to Panama Thursday that the Defense Department makes sure that every ship, crew and captain have everything the Pentagon can provide “at every single moment.” (NYT again). “Some deployments are longer than others, and ⁠I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody. What they do in ​those high seas in those austere conditions with less port calls — it’s incredible.”

•••

Count Binface Wins via Loss – Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has won his minister of Parliament seat in for Clacton, on England’s south coast, with 63.34% of the vote in a special election he called after resigning the seat. His most prominent challenger, Count Binface, took 26.93% of the vote, The Guardian reports. 

Britain’s mainstream political parties refused to participate in the election. Right-wing populist Farage, who critics say called for the special election to deflect attention from an investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner for failing to declare a £5 million (about US$6.7 million) gift from a crypto billionaire, did not attend the vote count because he would not “be demeaned and humiliated by nobodies.” 

But the real winner appears to be Count Binface, who gets a refund on his ballot filing fee and has won the best vote count in his political career. So far.

•••

Meanwhile, at the Pump – National average for unleaded regular rose 0.61 cents Friday to $4.0776, AAA reports, which is up $1.2756 from February 27. Diesel is $5.4265 per gallon, up 2.22 cents over Thursday and +$1.7027 versus late February. –TL

_______________________________________________

THURSDAY 8/13/26

Trump Sued Over Truth Social API – Left-leaning news publication The Intercept along with the Freedom of the Press Foundation is suing President Trump citing the First and Fifth Amendments for his Truth Social media outlet’s application programming interface (API) charging $60,000 to $100,000 per month for early access to his posts. The federal suit was filed with the Southern District of New York.

“Trump is trying to enrich himself by privatizing government information that he has no right to sell,” said Ben Muessig, editor in chief of The Intercept.

In addition to the First Amendment of the Constitution, the suit alleges Trump via his Truth Social API is charging “unreasonable sums” for access to government information and by undermining the right to equal access to equal protection under the law, in an “out-and-out plan of extortion.”

A spokesman for Truth Social, which is not part of the lawsuit filed against the president, told Politico that “information from President Trump is disseminated by countless platforms and news outlets, many of which offer subscription APIs.”

•••

Leavitt to Leave White House – Speaking of Truth Social, President Trump used it to announce his White House spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, will step down to spend more time with her family (per The New York Times), a decision “I totally understand and respect.”

Leavitt recently returned from maternity leave after giving birth to her second child. Trump said she will become one of his “top” outside advisors.

•••

How It Begins? – MyPillow founder and CEO and longtime 2020 election denier Mike Lindell is refusing to concede his loss in Tuesday’s Minnesota Republican gubernatorial primary, alleging voting anomalies, Mediaite reports. Lindell lost the primary to state Rep. Lisa Demuth, 43% to 32%. 

•••

Meanwhile, at the Pump – National average for unleaded regular rose 3.55 cents Thursday to $4.0715 AAA reports, which is up $1.2695 from February 27. Diesel is $5.4043 per gallon, up 4.68 cents over Wednesday and +$1.6805 versus late February. –TL

_____________________________________________

WEDNESDAY 8/12/26

July CPI Details: Energy prices fell 1.5% from June, with shelter up 0.1% (approximately two-thirds of monthly items), food up 0.1% and food away from home up 0.3%. Grocery prices fell 0.1%.

•••

Meanwhile, at the Pump – National average for unleaded regular rose 2.44 cents Wednesday to $4.036 per gallon, AAA reports, up $1.234 from February 27. Diesel is $5.3575 per gallon, up 3.62 cents over Tuesday and +$1.6337 versus late February. 

•••

Great Lakes Primaries – From the state that brought us Sens. “Fighting Bob” LaFollette and Joe McCarthy, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley upset progressive state Rep. Francesca Hong’s run for the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor Tuesday. Crowley, who dropped out of the gubernatorial race then rejoined this summer after Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez’s campaign ended over a financial scandal, had an uphill battle against Hong, who was far ahead in the polls.

Wednesday morning, Crowley, who was endorsed by outgoing Democratic Gov. Tony Evers led Hong by 3,211 votes, according to The Cap Times of Madison, close enough for a recount. 

West of the Mississippi from Wisconsin, Trump-backed Mike Lindell, the My Pillow guy, lost the Republican primary for governor with 32% of the vote to Minnesota state Rep. Lisa Demuth’s 43%, Minnesota Now reports.

Demuth faces Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) November 3 in their bid to replace 2024 vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, who announced in January he would not run for a third gubernatorial term, nor, indeed, any political office ever again.

About Klobuchar’s seat … Progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan won the Democratic primary for gubernatorial candidate Amy Klobuchar’s seat, The Associated Press reports. She faces winner of the Republican primary, former NBC Sunday Night Football sideline reporter Michele Tafoya. 

•••

For the Graham Seat – President Trump will not lose the Republican primary run-off in South Carolina for a full-term replacement of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. While Trump endorsed Sen. Darlene Graham (R-SC), who was appointed to replace her brother after his death last month, her opponent in the runoff, Rep. Ralph Norman, is a member of the über-conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Graham took 32.7% of the special Republican Party primary for Senate to Norman’s 24.7%, according to AP.

Winner of the special Republican primary runoff August 25 faces Democratic candidate Annie Andrews.

•••

‘Generational Change’ – Voters seeking “generational change” will not return Rep. John Larson (D-CT), 78, to the House for another term after ex-Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, 46, defeated the incumbent in Connecticut’s Democratic primary Tuesday, according to AP. Republican candidate for Connecticut’s very blue 1^st District is physician Amy Chai. –TL

_____________________________________________

Iran War, Week 20

TUESDAY 8/11/26

The Art of the Quagmire – President Trump is going “low-key” on negotiations with Iran even as the two sides argue about who owes whom for the four- to six-week war now in its 20^th week. 

Trump told reporters Monday he wants Iran to pay the US reparations, NPR reports. 

“We’re going to ask for money for damage they’ve done over a 50-year period,” Trump said, after Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohammed Bagher Zolghadr demanded reparations from the US in a multi-point offer Saturday that brought the two sides no closer together.

Washington Post columnist and senior fellow in national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations Max Boot told Morning Edition that Trump’s tactics in the war, in which he has flipped between negotiations and threats of annihilation at least seven times in 20 weeks, is “guaranteed to fail.” While the president sees it as a “brilliant” negotiating tactic, Iran sees it as confusing and incoherent, he says.

•••

Meanwhile, at the Pump – After about a week of small, steady gas and diesel price declines, the prices have ticked up Tuesday, according to the AAA. National average for a gallon of unleaded regular is $4.0116 Tuesday, up a quarter of a penny over Monday and up 1.2096 over February 27. Diesel is $5.3213 per gallon Tuesday, up 2.17 cents over Monday and +$1.5975 over late February.

•••

Tuesday’s Primaries – Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Carolina, Connecticut, Vermont and Alabama hold midterm primaries August 11.

•••

What’s on the Flight Menu? – President Trump switched from his new über-luxurious Qatari-gifted Boeing 747-8 to his old, über-fortified Air Force One 747 on his return flight July 8 from a NATO summit with world leaders in Ankara, Turkey, after credible threats of an attack by Iran. 

Or so we were told. 

It seems a third aircraft and an airport catering truck served as Air Force One for the return flight, The Washington Post scoops, citing material it reviewed as well as an official familiar with the operation and another person with knowledge of Trump’s travel. The president was “secretly shuttled” from the old, über-fortified Air Force One 747 – already the alternative to the ex-Qatar Air Force One -- to an Air Force C-32A by hiding him in an airport catering truck, according to the report.

A Pentagon spokesman referred the WaPo’s questions about the operation to the White House, which publicly has repeated its account that Trump returned to the US aboard the good old blue-and-white Boeing 747. Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____
TUESDAY 8/11/26

President Trump excoriated War Sec Hegseth, WaPo scoops, for apparently misleading him on the Iranian war’s depletion of US missiles. [White House photo]

Blanche is Official – The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general very, very early Saturday morning by 50-49 vote, per CQ Roll Call, as senators were working hard to get out of town for their scheduled summer recess. 

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) announced his support Friday in a floor speech to give Blanche that wafer-thin margin. Republican Sens. Susan Collins (ME) and Lisa Murkowski (AL) joined Democrats and the two independents who caucus with the Democrats to oppose Blanche over his apparently rescinded anti-weaponization fund for President Trump & Friends & Supporters and the previously acting AG’s handling of the Epstein Files. (Former Senate leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was absent, still in recovery from a fall.)

Trump was scheduled to formally swear in Blanche Monday afternoon.

•••

Budget Punted Again – Also in the way of the Senate’s summer recess was a Republican plan to pass a procedural vote that would move forward the next fiscal year’s budget, due September 30.

Republicans held a call in Senate Leader John Thune’s (R-SD) office Thursday as President Trump once again demanded they not leave Washington before they pass the SAVE America Act bill to clamp down on voter ID and mail-in ballots in time for the midterms, Roll Call reports.

Instead of a budget that would include $1.5 trillion for defense alone, the Senate early Saturday passed, 90-6, a stopgap bill very close to the House’s measure to extend the current budget to December 11. Both sides of the aisle were eager to avoid a partial government shutdown for the month before the midterms, according to The New York Times.

“After three unnecessary lapses in funding during the fiscal year 2026 cycle, putting the possibility of yet another harmful shutdown off the table should be a priority for each and every one of us,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).

“This is an important step forward to prevent a shutdown no one wants and provide the runway we need to negotiate funding bills in the months ahead as we fight to rein in Trump’s corruption and make life more affordable for families back home,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee.

•••

Straight in the Strait? – Has Iran got a deal for you, President Donald J. Trump, sir: Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohammed Bagher Zolghadr Saturday laid out Iran’s demands the US must meet in order to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to The Wall Street Journal. They include: 

•Lifting of the US Naval blockade

•Withdrawal of all US forces

•End of all US sanctions on Iran

•Free Iran’s frozen assets

•Pay war reparations

•End (President Trump’s) threats and insults

This has prompted WSJ Politics newsletter editor Damian Paletta to ask, rhetorically; “Why is Iran Acting Like It Is Holding All the Cards in Hormuz Talks?” 

Justification for Paletta’s all-caps headline is that it appears Iran has, at the least, a better hand than Trump amidst the apparent Pentagon weapons shortage.

•••

Meanwhile, At the Pump – National average of unleaded regular is $4.0091 per gallon Monday, off 3.31 cents from last Friday and up $1.2071 over February 27, the AAA reports. Diesel is $5.2996 per gallon Monday, 3.17 cents cheaper than Friday and +$1.5758 over late February. –TL

_______________________________________________

FRIDAY 8/7/26

•Why Trump is Laughing -- Todd Blanche is in as attorney general. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) says he will vote to make the acting AG's role permanent.

"All considered, I will vote for Mr. Blanche," Cassidy said from the floor of the Senate Friday.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski on Friday and Susan Collins on Tuesday said they will vote against Blanche and with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) out on sick leave potentially for the rest of his term, Cassidy's vote is essential to a majority of the Senate.

•Economy Loses 23,000 Jobs -- The US economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department reports, while the unemployment rate dropped to 4.1%, from 4.2% in June. Gains in health care jobs were more than offset by losses in local government, education and retail trade, according to the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

><Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay argues in the right column that Abdul El-Sayed’s win Tuesday in the Democratic primary race for senator from Michigan hands MAGA Republican Mike Rogers a win. Contributing Pundit K.E. Bell disagrees, in the left column.

•••

Murkowski DeBlanched – Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said Friday she will vote against acting Attorney Gen. Todd Blanche’s confirmation for permanent status of his job, according to The Guardian, thus joining Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who announced the same on Tuesday. With Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) alive but not kicking his way back to Capitol Hill, President Trump’s nominee for AG cannot afford one more Republican defection.

•••

Trump Targets the 14^th, Again – A 6-3 Supreme Court decision in late June for Trump v. Barbara upholding birthright citizenship isn’t enough to stop President Trump and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller from trying again. Trump on Thursday issued a couple executive orders attempting to limit the provision of the 14^th Amendment, “to promote the integrity of its immigration system, to ensure that non-immigrant visa classifications are used only for their lawful and intended purposes, and to prevent the exploitation of those classifications by persons engaged in birth tourism.”

•••

Let’s Get This Strait – Undoubtedly bolstered by reports of depleted US military arms because of its attacks on Iran, Iran says its agreement with Oman to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would prohibit US and Israeli vessels, NPR reports. 

Under the agreement conditional on the US ending its blockade on the Strait, Sameer Hashmi, reporting from Dubai, tells Morning Edition Friday that under the agreement with Oman (with the US sitting this one out) Iran would fine violators up to 20% of cargo value and both countries and individuals deemed to having caused damage to Iran would be denied passage through the Persian Gulf as well as the Strait of Hormuz until Iran is compensated. 

Under the tentative agreement, Iran would be responsible for navigational guidelines, monitoring vessel traffic, maritime security and environmental protection, Hashmi says.

•••

Meanwhile, At the Pump – National average of unleaded regular is $4.0422 per gallon, off 2.11 cents from Thursday and up $1.2402 over February 27, the AAA reports. Diesel comes in at $5.3313, or 1.61 cents lower than Thursday and +$1.6075 over late February.

•••

Will Putin Target NATO? – Russian dictator Vladimir Putin could test NATO with a limited assault on an allied country – anything from a cyberattack to a small-scale land incursion – in the next few years, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing a new US intelligence report. The assessment says Russia would not conduct the incursion during the war in Ukraine according to the newspaper, which notes reports of severely depleted Pentagon arms stockpiles from the war on Iran.

But NATO has confirmed a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile in July crashed in Eastern Poland, a member country, while early this week an unidentified object struck a cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany, where an armed drone was discovered in a secure area of cargo flight operations. –TL

_______________________________________________

THURSDAY 8/6/26

Iran War, Week 20 – Will there be a 21^st?

Iran and Oman – without the US – have reached the “final stages” of an agreement for a commercial route through the Strait of Hormuz, Semafor reports. The deal would make a path to enter the Strait near Iran and exit near Oman, according to the report.

But a dysfunctional Iranian regime exacerbated by “very difficult” interaction with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who was “gravely wounded” in the initial US attack on Iran late last February, is complicating negotiations with Oman, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Iranian state television. 

President Trump’s last flip between negotiating a deal with Iran and conducting the biggest US military attack “since World War II” was further weakened by reports that our military has used up virtually all its long-range precision missiles, reported by Reuters Tuesday.

On Wednesday, The Washington Post scooped that Trump and his war/Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “clashed” at last weekend’s Camp David meeting (pictured above) when the president told the war secretary he thought the munitions shortage “had been fixed.” (WaPo quoted two people familiar with the matter on condition of anonymity.) 

Mideast advisor to the George W. Bush administration Michael Singh told NPR’s Michel Martin on Morning Edition Thursday that Iran considered Trump’s WWII-level threats not credible. 

“We’re nearing a deal it seems that would hand Iran much more control of the Strait and is frankly better for Iran than the deal they rejected last week,” Singh said.

•••

Meanwhile, At the Pump – National average of unleaded regular is $4.0633, off 1.68-cents from Wednesday and up $1.2613 over February 27, the AAA reports. Diesel comes in at $5.3474 Thursday, or 1.48 cents lower than Wednesday and +$1.6236 over late February. –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____
THURSDAY 8/6/26

Abdul El-Sayed has edged out Rep. Haley Stevens for an open Senate seat in Michigan's Democratic primary, The Associated Press reports. He faces Republican Mike Rogers in the November 3 general election.

Deal Up Wednesday – The US, Oman and Iran are close, Axios scoops, to an interim agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which means another ceasefire between the US and Iran and a jump-start of negotiations over a nuclear deal. Look for a Trump administration announcement Wednesday.

Sources for Axios’ report are two regional sources and a US official.

This comes hot on the heels of a Reuters exclusive Tuesday that the US has used “virtually all” of its long-range precision missiles during the five months of war with Iran, three people familiar with Pentagon data told the news agency. The shortage involves primarily US Army surface-to-surface weapons, a.k.a. Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, and Precision Strike Missiles, or PsRM.

•••

Blanche Confirmation Still Uncertain – Having received written reassurance from acting Attorney Gen. Todd Blanche that he will not press forward with President Trump’s $1.776 “anti-weaponization” fund, lame duck Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) ushered Blanche’s nomination for the permanent AG position out of the Judiciary Committee Tuesday and on to the full Senate. Vote was along party lines.

But Blanche’s confirmation is not a done deal. While Cornyn, who lost his primary this year to Trump-endorsed Texas Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton and Tillis, who chose not to run for re-election could have stopped Blanche cold in committee, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who faces a serious challenge from progressive-populist Democratic challenger Troy Jackson, is doing the opposite. 

Collins says she will vote against Blanche’s confirmation, citing “several actions that have eroded (the Justice Department’s) independence,” according to Politico. 

Part of that erosion for Collins is the Trump DOJ’s settlement with the Trump Internal Revenue Service that created the anti-weaponization fund, which could pay millions to January 6^th rioters and immunize the president, his sons and the Trump Organization from tax audits.

Meanwhile, Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy, of Louisiana, and Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, have not committed to Blanche’s confirmation. If all three ultimately vote against him, his confirmation will be sunk. 

•••

Gas, Diesel Ease – National average of unleaded regular is $4.0801, off 0.89 cents from Monday and up $1.2781 over February 27, the AAA reports. Diesel comes in at $5.3622 Wednesday, or 0.98 cents lower than Tuesday and +$1.6382 

over late February. –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____
WEDNESDAY 8/5/26

Acting AG Todd Blanche (above) Had to be Strong-Armed -- I'm glad the two senators were willing to block confirmation absent this written agreement. The deeper question, of course, is why would you ever, ever allow a man who had to be thus strong-armed into setting his promises to paper, to become AG? --Hugh Hansen/Contributing Pundit

_______________________________________________

Citizen Pundits -- Join the conversation: Email your COMMENTS to editors@thehustings.news. Please indicate your political leanings (left or right, whether centrist or progressive left-MAGA right) in the subject line, irrespective of your position in the comments within, so we publish your thoughts in the proper column. (See today’s right column for good examples of how conservative opinion does not always mean pro-Trump opinion). –Editors

_____
MONDAY 8/3/26

•<Contributing Pundit Hugh Hansen kicks off this week’s short-take commentaries with his reaction in the left column to the status of Todd Blanche’s nomination as permanent AG.

•>Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay parses the presidential blame-game with his commentary in the right column.

Democrats’ Dilemma – Polls show former Wayne County Health, Human, and Veterans Service Director Abdul El-Sayed handily beating four-time US Rep. Haley Stevens in Tuesday’s Michigan primary for Democratic candidate for Senate to replace retired Sen. Gary Peters (D) but then losing to pro-Trump Republican candidate Mike Rogers November 3. 

If those poll numbers hold for the next 90 or so days, it would cancel out a likely hard-gained Democratic win in the minority party’s bid to even out Republicans’ current 52-48 Senate majority (Peters ran for the Republican nomination in Michigan unopposed).

This is the Democratic Party’s midterm dilemma nationwide. With President Trump’s four- to six-week war on Iran in its 20^th week and his approval rating at a near-historic low of -20.6% (per the Silver Bulletin), the opposition party’s road to a House and even a Senate majority should be a cakewalk. 

Right now, it doesn’t look like a cakewalk if El-Sayed beats Stevens, who is endorsed by Michigan’s popular outgoing, term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and other prominent mainstream Democrats. At-issue for progressive Democrats voting in Tuesday’s primaries is Stevens’ AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) backing. 

Like MAGA Republicans who choose a primary candidate with far less popularity among independent and swing-voters in the general elections, the prog Dems are potentially throwing away the big advantage from the current political climate.

The University of Virginia Center for Politics’ founder Larry Sabato tells NPR’s Steve Inskeep Tuesday that it’s not that clear-cut.

“If this turns into any kind of Blue Wave, then you’ll have lots of people from the anti-establishment wing of the party, from the progressive wing, winning in November,” publisher of UV’s Sabato’s Crystal Ball says on Morning Edition. “Even though they may have been written off in the summer. We’ve seen that many times in both parties. So anger sometimes can propel larger turnout which in a midterm election can produce results.”

•••

Right Direction for Gas Prices, But Not Diesel – National average of unleaded regular is $4.089 Tuesday, off 0.6 cents from Monday and up $1.287 over February 27, the AAA reports. With Ukrainian drone strikes continuing to light up Russian reserves, a gallon of diesel is up 0.8 cents over Friday’s average to $5.372, or +$1.648 over late February. –TL

_______________________________________________

MONDAY 8/3/26

Blanche Deal? – Liberated-as-lame-duck Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) says he has reached a deal with the Justice Department to quash President Trump’s $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for allies that potentially would have included January 6^thrioters, The Hill reports, after acting Attorney Gen. Todd Blanche posted a signed memo to his social media account late Sunday formally rescinding the fund.

That means Cornyn and fellow lame-duck Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) will provide the votes necessary to move President Trump’s nominee for permanent AG through the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has scheduled an executive business meeting for 9 a.m. EDT Tuesday to move Blanche’s nomination forward to the full Senate.

Late last week, Trump had threatened to pull Blanche’s nomination and retain him as acting AG past the midterm elections when Cornyn, who lost his primary to a Trump endorsee, and Tillis, who chose not to run for re-election under threat of the same presidential treatment, will be gone.

Blanche still faces potential Republican opposition in the full Senate, which is scheduled to go on its summer recess Friday evening. Blanche’s confirmation needs 51 Senate votes.

•••

Dealing On, Bombing Off Again – For the second time in two weeks, President Trump has cancelled a massive US military attack on Iran, pivoting “back to diplomacy as Iranian victory eludes him,” says The Wall Street Journal’s headline. 

Trump told reporters Sunday he had been prepared to launch the biggest US military attack since World War II but was talked down by allies. Talks with Iran were to begin (again) Monday afternoon, he said.

“We were all set to go, but when the allies asked to call it off, you got to sort of say, ‘well, let’s see,’” Trump said.

•••

Some Gas Relief – President Trump’s latest reversal from bombing Iran to dealing with its leaders brought oil prices down over the weekend, and prices at the pump have come down a bit as a result. National average of unleaded regular is $4.095 Monday, off 1.1 cents from Friday and up $1.293 over February 27, the AAA reports. A gallon of diesel is up 1.1 cents over Friday’s average to $5.364, or +$1.64 over late February.

•••

Another Major Pivot – Last week, President Trump said he would grant Ukraine a license to produce its own much-needed Patriot missiles, but then "walked that back during a Cabinet meeting hours before Russia's latest ballistic missile strike" on Kyiv, The Kyiv Independent reports.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia is trying to ramp up production of ballistic missiles as many companies manufacturing components for those weapons have not yet been sanctioned by Western countries. He said Russia attacked Ukraine in the past week with 1,900 drones, almost 1,600 guided arial bombs and 144 various missiles. All this was in the same week Ukraine said it struck an Iranian ship in the Caspian Sea that was transporting munitions components to Russia.

•••

Off the Deep End – Former Fox News and current US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro on Friday dismissed the case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn who was charged with vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Pirro said the Interior Department was to blame for shoddy repair and renovation work by Atlantic Industrial Coatings, Politico reports. 

The Interior Department had awarded Atlantic Industrial Coatings a no-bid contract that so far has cost taxpayers $14.64 million, according to ABC News. 

After Pirro’s dismissal, President Trump Truth Socialed this about one of his most loyal supporters: “I disagree with Jeanine Pirro. I don't know what she was thinking." 

The president insisted the cause was pure vandalism and pointed to large "86 47" lettering emblazoned on the grounds near the pool.

•••

Inside Truth Social -- Trump Media & Technology Group has begun shopping to traders and investors a premium version of its social media allowing early access to the feeds of high-profile members, including President Trump, NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday reports. Fee for the early access, which critics worry may be a case of insider trading investigable by the Securities & Exchange Commission, is "up to $100,000 per month." –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____
MONDAY 8/3/26

Services for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) were held at the National Cathedral Tuesday [C-Span]. 

•Click The Gray Area for Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s take on President Trump's speech to Michigan auto workers Monday. 

FRIDAY 7/31/26

Who Goes First? – President Trump says his new Board of Peace has negotiated a deal to disarm Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza while Israel withdraws, The Wall Street Journal reports.

“Today, the Board of Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza. This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY,” Trump Truth Socialed.

Hamas’ negotiating group has agreed to place its weapons in a storage facility overseen by the Palestinian technocratic group National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, Ghazi Hamad, member of the group told the WSJ. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet responded to the report or the vague Board of Peace agreement 10 hours after Trump’s social post, NPR’s Morning Edition reports.

•••

Blanche On Hold – President Trump’s threat to withdraw former personal attorney and current acting Attorney Gen. Todd Blanche’s nomination to be permanent AG is, Politico maintains, yet another example of the president’s contempt for his enemies. It is also a pretty good indication of Trump’s confidence that the GOP will hold, at least, majority in the US Senate after the November 3 midterms.

Trump on Thursday signaled his intention to withdraw Blanche’s nomination after empowered-by-lame-duckiness Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) said they would not vote to move Blanche’s nomination out of the Judiciary Committee to the full Senate without written assurance the White House would pull its unique sweetheart deal for a $1.776 billion retribution slush fund that would likely go to more than 1,500 January 6^th rioters and would give Trump, his family and businesses immunity from future Internal Revenue Service audits.

Cornyn, who was successfully primaried by Trump-backed Texas Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton, said; “POTUS is mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Sen. Tillis.” The North Carolina senator chose not to run for re-election this year.

Beside contempt, or retribution however, Trump’s withdrawal of Blanche’s nomination also reflects the president’s confidence the Republican Party will hold or even improve upon its 52-48 Senate majority. If Trump can’t get the Senate to pass his SAVE America Act, he seems to be counting on other methods, including maybe Immigration and Customs Enforcement “guarding” certain urban polling areas in November. 

That will have to include Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and of course, Austin. In the latest poll of the Texas Senate race for Cornyn’s current seat by Texas Public Opinion Research, Democrat James Talarico leads MAGA champ Paxton 45 to 40 points,The New York Times reports.

Even if Trump is wrong about the Republican Party holding on to its Senate majority, by refusing to name another permanent AG candidate, he can keep Blanche in that role potentially to the end of his term in January 2029 and hold on to his IRS audit immunity forever.

•••

Still No Relief -- National average of unleaded regular is $4.106 Friday, up 0.8 cents over Thursday and up $1.304 over February 27, the AAA reports. Diesel is up 1.4 cents over Thursday to $5.353, or +$1.629 over late February. –TL

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Steady Fed – In the face of Iran War-spurred inflation, the Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-3 to maintain its interest rate at 3.5% to 3.75% (per The New York Times), to maintain the rate it has held since January. Newly appointed Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh vowed to fight persistent inflation without offering specifics on the direction of future interest rates. 

Beth M. Hammack of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Neel Kashkari, of the Minneapolis bank, and Lorie K. Logan, of the Dallas bank cast the dissents and had favored a quarter-point interest rate increase. 

•••

Gas Up -- National average of unleaded regular is $4.098 Thursday, an 0.7-cent increase over Wednesday and up $1.296 over February 27, the AAA reports. Diesel is up a penny to $5.339, or +$1.615 over late February.

•••

A Fifth from Fauci – Facing the potential of exposing himself to potential prosecution despite a pre-emptive pardon from President Biden, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci repeatedly pleaded the Fifth Amendment protection from self-incrimination before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Wednesday. Fauci invoked the Fifth even to avoid perjuring himself on what color necktie he was wearing.

A lot of long titles, but it comes down to this: Chairman of the committee, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) released more than 1,000 pages of Fauci’s personal diary over the weekend, Newsweek reports. Paul X-tweeted that what Fauci “wrote privately and what he told the country are different stories.”

Fauci’s attorneys told Paul in a letter that his allegations are “absolutely baseless” and part of an “obsessive and groundless vendetta.” –TL

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WEDNESDAY 7/29/26

Diplo-This – Yesterday we reported that President Trump told Axios he has decided to pause strikes on Iran to give diplomacy yet another chance. 

Wednesday, Iran launched a “surprise” missile attack on American forces in Jordan, The Wall Street Journal reports citing a US official. All of Iran’s missiles were successfully intercepted.

•••

Funeral Diplomacy – The late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) unwavering support of Ukraine and Israel paid off for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who attended his state funeral at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., Tuesday. Buoyed by a flip by former Putin supporters like far-right MAGA influencer Laura Loomer, who now is on Ukraine’s side, and by Ukraine’s air strike last weekend on an Iranian cargo ship travelling the Caspian Sea that Ukraine says was carrying arms between Iran and Russia, Zelenskyy had a productive White House meeting with President Trump before attending Graham’s funeral, according to The Kyiv Independent.

“The president and I discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help,” Zelenskyy said. He also visited with US senators and representatives from Lockheed Martin.

Ukraine is running out of Patriots, which allows Russia more effective air strikes on the country. It will take some time for Ukraine to begin replenishing with their own interceptor missiles.

Meanwhile … Zelenskyy insists Ukraine has turned the tide against Russia. The country’s own very successful drone warfare has taken its toll on infrastructure well inside Russia, and dictator Vladimir Putin does not hold the upper hand in the war. Put another way, Putin does not hold the cards.

“Now, the initiative is not in the hands of Putin,” Zelenskyy told Sean Hannity on Fox News’ Hannity.

Graham also was an unwavering supporter of Israel, whose prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, also attended the late senator’s funeral. 

Trump criticized Netanyahu for going public with intelligence about Iranian activity at suspected nuclear site Pickaxe Mountain. Trump told Fox & Friends Tuesday morning he knew “exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe.” Netanyahu wants Trump to “stay involved,” he said.

Their meeting was to cover Iran, a framework deal the US and Israel signed with Lebanon and possible expansion of the Abraham Accords, a White House official said, per The Guardian. Protestors well outside the White House, where the Trump administration has installed fences to expand separation from the public, shouted; “Netanyahu, you’re a tyrant” and “Bibi, you’re not welcome here.”

Netanyahu had plans after Graham’s funeral to visit New York City, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani has tried to get the Israeli prime minister arrested for his conduct of the war on Gaza.

“I’m going to speak the truth in front of this hate-spewing elected official who’s pitting one group of New Yorkers against the others,” Netanyahu told Hannity.

•••

A Little Gas Relief – National average of unleaded regular is $4.091 Wednesday, a savings of 1.9 cents from Tuesday’s price per gallon, according to AAA, and $1.289 costlier than February 27. Diesel is $5.329, up 3.3 cents over Tuesday and +$1.605 over late February. –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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WEDNESDAY 7/29/26

(Scroll down this column to read Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s take on the hat.)

From a reader – I do not believe there is any chance that President Trump will try to run for a third term as the named candidate on the presidential ballot.

It would be too clearly unconstitutional and counterproductive … even for him. Most states, even “red” states, would refuse to place him on their ballots.

He and his administration/regime believe they will win. So, in their minds it isn’t necessary for them to try it. Furthermore, Trump will outright refuse to cede power to anyone except his MAGA candidate.

Our Democracy is in grave danger. But it won’t be from Trump attempting to place his name on the presidential ballot for a third term. –John Santoni

The Hat -- Let’s face it: Donald Trump hasn’t done a whole lot positive for the American people?

Remember DOGE, that outfit that fired employees of the National Nuclear Security Administration, only to have to rehire them because who wants a nuclear catastrophe?

Some will say the One Big Beautiful Bill Act provides manifold benefits — but then there are the people who have had Medicaid, SNAP benefits, and ACA subsidies cut. 

And then there’s the non-trivial issue of the $3.4 trillion that the Congressional Budget Office calculates the OBBBA will add to the national debt by 2034.

Yes, the administration has done a good job at the southern border. But its efforts have also resulted in 11 fatalities caused by federal immigration agents. And while Trump had claimed that the worst of the worst would be rounded up and deported, ABC News found “3% of individuals detained by ICE during the first 14 months of the second Trump administration had a violent felony conviction.”

During his victory speech on November 6, 2024, he said, “I’m not going to start a war, I’m going to stop wars.”

While he has variously claimed to have ended anywhere from six to 10 wars, there is the war that he started in Iran that is still going.

During his campaign he said that on Day 1 in office, “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down.”

How’s that going?

Isn’t he doffing a 2028 hat simply so people will divert attention from his meager accomplishments and his outright failures? (Bought a package of ground beef lately? It is 20% more expensive than it was when he took office. And I don’t need to talk about gas.)

Sure, let him wear his hat.

As he has managed to rip a hole in American’s pocketbooks — now and in the future. –Stephen Macaulay/Pundit-at-Large

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WEDNESDAY 7/29/26