Good evening everyone. I promised one final update tonight and there is a lot to cover. We now have results from critical primary elections in North Carolina, and soon, in Texas (I will update this article once we have more information). At the same time, major developments are unfolding around the Iran conflict. Senators leaving classified briefings say they are increasingly worried about the possibility of American boots on the ground. Reports also indicate the CIA is arming Iranian opposition forces in an effort to spark an uprising.
These are serious developments and they are moving quickly. This will be my final update of the night. TikTok is now completely down and so I wanted to make sure you have news regardless.
I know I sent a lot of updates today. Your messages and encouragement mean more to me than you know. A special thank you to everyone who has subscribed to support this work. I truly could not do this without you. If you are able, please consider subscribing today.
Here’s what you missed:
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied he said the U.S. had to strike Iran because Israel was about to attack, despite comments the previous day stating the U.S. acted preemptively because it knew Israel planned to strike Iran and expected Tehran would retaliate against American forces if the U.S. didn’t act first.
- The MAHA movement has broken with President Trump over the Iran conflict and is now lobbying Congress to pass a War Powers Resolution to limit U.S. military action without congressional approval.
- The CIA is working with Iraqi Kurdish groups to arm Iranian Kurdish opposition forces and help trigger an uprising inside Iran, with plans for Kurdish fighters to launch operations in western Iran to tie down Iranian forces and potentially open space for broader unrest against the regime.
- Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the U.S.–Israel war with Iran reflects a “failure of the international order,” criticizing the strikes for being carried out without United Nations engagement or consultation with allies such as Canada, while urging de-escalation and respect for international law.
- Senators Tim Kaine, Chuck Schumer, and Adam Schiff announced a Senate vote tomorrow on a War Powers Resolution to force congressional authorization for any U.S. war with Iran, arguing Trump launched strikes without approval, lacks a clear strategy, and that Congress must decide whether to send Americans into another conflict.
- The New York Times reports that about 50,000 U.S. troops in the Middle East have been assigned to the Iran war, reflecting a major American military deployment across bases and assets in the region as the conflict escalates.
- A suspected Iranian drone struck the CIA station at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, causing a small fire and material damage. U.S. officials said the station may not have been the intended target, and Americans were warned to avoid the embassy as regional attacks escalate following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
- Senator Richard Blumenthal came out of a briefing today with Trump officials and said: "I am more fearful than ever after this briefing that we may be putting boots on the ground."
- Sen. Chris Murphy said a closed-door briefing warned more Americans will likely die in the Iran conflict and argued the Senate must debate and vote on an Authorization for Use of Military Force before continuing the war.
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she is “more worried now” after a classified briefing with the Trump administration about the war in Iran, signaling deeper concerns about the conflict after hearing the administration’s internal assessment.
- Sen. Markwayne Mullin initially called the situation “war,” then walked it back and claimed he misspoke while insisting the U.S. has not formally declared war and that the enemy “declared war on us.”
- Sen. Lindsey Graham urged President Trump to join Israel in military action against Hezbollah and called for the U.S. to “fly with Israel” in the attack.
- A Kuwaiti F/A-18 fighter jet mistakenly shot down three U.S. F-15 aircraft on Sunday in a friendly-fire incident, according to the Wall Street Journal:
- On March 3, U.S. and Ecuadorian military forces launched joint operations targeting designated terrorist organizations in Ecuador, with U.S. Southern Command praising Ecuador’s armed forces and calling the mission part of a broader effort to combat narco-terrorism across the hemisphere.
- Democrat Roy Cooper and Republican Michael Whatley won their primaries and will face off in a high-stakes 2026 U.S. Senate race in North Carolina to replace retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, a contest that could help determine control of the Senate.
- Dan Crenshaw has lost his primary election.
- Democrats flipped a seat in Arkansas:
- OpenAI updated its Pentagon contract to state its AI systems cannot be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of Americans and will not be used by defense intelligence agencies like the NSA, but critics warn the full contract has not been released and vague language or legal loopholes could still allow broad surveillance uses.
- DHS Secretary Kristi Noem refused to retract statements calling two U.S. citizens killed by immigration agents “domestic terrorists,” defending the agency’s actions during a tense Senate hearing while facing bipartisan criticism over mistaken detentions and aggressive immigration enforcement.
- The House Oversight Committee is expanding its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and has requested voluntary interviews with: Ted Waitt (April 16), Kathryn Ruemmler (April 21), Doug Band (May 5), Leon Black (May 13), Bill Gates (May 19), Sarah Kellen (June 3), and Lesley Groff (June 9).
- A study in Nature Medicine found ChatGPT Health under-triaged 51.6% of medical emergencies, sometimes telling patients with life-threatening conditions like respiratory failure or diabetic ketoacidosis to wait 24–48 hours instead of going to the ER, raising concerns about relying on AI chatbots for urgent medical decisions.
See you in the morning.
— Aaron
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