Good afternoon. There is major news in this mid-day update. A government watchdog reports that U.S. troops are being told the war in Iran is biblically ordained and that “Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,” among other extraordinary claims. At the same time, Iran has struck a U.S. consulate in Dubai, hundreds of thousands of Americans are stranded overseas with no clear path home, and Kristi Noem faced intense questioning from both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill in a stunning and combative hearing.
I have the latest developments right now. I also spoke with Senator Mark Warner, the leading Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, who provides critical context about what we are witnessing unfold with Iran.
I will have another update for you later tonight as voters head to the polls in states across the country.
On a personal note, thank you for your support over the past several days. I know I have sent a high volume of updates, but your messages and encouragement truly mean a great deal. A special thank you to everyone who has subscribed to support this work. I genuinely could not do this without you. If you are able, please consider subscribing today.
Here’s the news:
- According to the Huffington Post and the New Republic, U.S. military commanders are reportedly telling troops the Iran war is “all part of God’s divine plan,” with one noncommissioned officer alleging a commander said “President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,” comments the officer said “destroy morale and unit cohesion” and violate constitutional oaths.
- The Military Religious Freedom Foundation says it received over 110 complaints describing commanders’ “unrestricted euphoria” over a “‘biblically-sanctioned’ war” and their fixation on how “bloody all of this must become” to fulfill fundamentalist Christian “End Times” prophecy.
- According to Punchbowl News, Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) sharply criticized the White House and GOP leadership in a closed-door lunch over their handling of the Iran conflict, lamenting the lack of Senate Foreign Relations Committee oversight or hearings after Sen. Lindsey Graham urged Republicans to back Trump, though Young later said he’s still “inclined” to vote against Sen. Tim Kaine’s war powers resolution.
- When a reporter pressed Secretary of State Marco Rubio about claims that the U.S. joined the war because “you told us Israel was going to strike Iran and that’s why we needed to get involved,” Rubio denied it, insisting the U.S. acted because Iran’s growing threat justified pre-emptive action—even as his initial comments suggesting the U.S. struck to blunt a planned Israeli attack drew sharp criticism and were widely interpreted as implying Israel helped pull the U.S. into war.
- Donald Trump announced that he will be having the United States Navy escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz:
- An Iranian drone struck the US Consulate in Dubai. The fire has since been maintained:
- President Trump blasted Spain as “terrible” and “unfriendly” over its Iran war response, claimed “we could use their base if we want,” and threatened, “We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain,” while also criticizing the U.K., saying of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, “This is not Winston Churchill we’re dealing with.”
- Asked why there was no evacuation plan as commercial air travel shut down and “thousands of Americans are stranded” in the Middle East, President Trump responded: “Because it happened all very quickly.”
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced bipartisan criticism at a Senate hearing, with Sen. Thom Tillis calling her tenure “a disaster under your leadership” and Sen. Dick Durbin saying DHS has been “devoid of any moral compass,” as she declined repeated opportunities to retract or apologize for labeling two Americans killed by federal agents as “domestic terrorists”
- Here is Republican Senator John Kennedy questioning why Noem is using taxpayer dollars to fund an ad campaign about herself:
- During questioning, Sen. Welch confirmed with Secretary Noem that her former spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin and McLaughlin’s husband, Mr. Yoho, received a $143 million no-bid DHS contract, and Noem acknowledged that fact without disputing it.
- Despite Republican claims that the Iran war makes it “more important than ever that we fully fund DHS,” Democrats say the issues are unrelated, with Sen. Angus King stating, “I don’t think the two relate,” and Sen. Chris Murphy accusing Republicans of using the war as cover: “They went to war with Iran… so they could conjure an excuse to allow ICE to keep murdering Americans… with impunity”
- In a rapid reversal, the Justice Department moved to continue defending President Trump’s executive orders targeting major law firms after initially conceding they were unconstitutional, prompting Perkins Coie to call the switch unexplained and criticize the “unconstitutional executive orders,” while a federal judge had already labeled the action “an unprecedented attack” on the judicial system and a civil liberties attorney described Trump’s effort as an “indefensible vendetta” and “a shocking abuse of power.”
- U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was previously a Manhattan neighbor of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has voluntarily agreed to be interviewed by the House Oversight Committee regarding his past ties to Epstein, telling Axios he did nothing wrong and wants to set the record straight.
- A federal judge in the Southern District of New York ruled that the Trump administration cannot halt New York City’s congestion pricing program, rejecting the Department of Transportation’s attempt to revoke federal approval and finding the move was not merely “tentative”; the decision allows the MTA’s first-in-the-nation tolling program — which has raised $468 million, reduced vehicle entries by 11%, improved speeds by 4.6%, and cut emissions by 6.1% — to continue, prompting Gov. Kathy Hochul to declare the policy “legal” and “here to stay,” while the DOT said it disagrees with the ruling.
- A Georgia jury convicted Colin Gray, father of Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray, on 27 counts including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter for criminal negligence after he bought his son an AR-15-style rifle and allowed access to unsecured firearms despite warning signs, marking a significant expansion of parental accountability in mass shooting cases.
See you soon.
— Aaron
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