Political Wire

Key U.S. Munitions Are ‘Dangerously Low’

August 11, 2026 at 1:15 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The U.S. is running ‘dangerously low’ on the key munitions used during the war against Iran, according to a Bloomberg Economics report published Tuesday,” Bloomberg reports.

“The Pentagon’s stocks of hard-to-replace air defense interceptors are ‘critically low,’ while long-range missile supplies are ‘under pressure.'”

“The report found the U.S. has likely fired more than half of its most advanced Patriot variant — the PAC-3 MSE — and about 40% of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptors as the U.S. defended itself against Iranian retaliatory attacks.”

Yea or Nay?

August 11, 2026 at 12:35 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Here’s a fun new game for political junkies.

Yea or Nay gives you five senators and three bills each day — and challenges you to guess how each senator actually voted.

It sounds easy. It’s not. But it’s surprisingly addictive. And there’s a new game every day.

Play Yea or Nay.

Trump Weighs Attempt to Stop NYC Pied-A-Terre Tax

August 11, 2026 at 12:25 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Donald Trump said he would examine whether the federal government can stop New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new pied-à-terre tax, which was temporarily blocked by a state court,” Bloomberg reports.

“Trump in a social media post on Tuesday argued that the policy was costing the city by driving away wealthy people who would otherwise pay taxes there. It’s unclear if the administration has the power to intervene in a state tax matter.”

Said Trump: “I am looking to see if the Federal Government has any legal right to avert this disaster, before it is too late, for the millions of people who cherish New York and want to see it thrive, as opposed to becoming a filthy, crime ridden, decrepit place of mockery and scorn.”

With El-Sayed’s Victory Comes a Wave of Islamophobia

August 11, 2026 at 12:25 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “In the days since Dr. El-Sayed’s victory in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, Republican leaders have embraced Islamophobic attacks and falsehoods…”

“The onslaught is being fueled in part by Republican Party officials and has quickly become a central aspect of the strategy to beat Dr. El-Sayed in the fall. Few officials in the Republican Party have publicly tried to tamp down such messaging, though Dr. El-Sayed has not hesitated to parry the attacks.”

Trump’s Secret Flight Echoes Clinton’s Pakistan Swap

August 11, 2026 at 12:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Bill Clinton’s White House used a similar plane-change maneuver in 2000. But unlike July’s flight, the press corps was briefed on the operation and its dangers,” the Washington Post reports.

Food Companies Dodge Crackdown in RFK Jr.’s Proposal

August 11, 2026 at 11:59 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Food companies largely dodged a regulatory hammer Monday after the Trump administration proposed overhauling how ingredients are introduced into the food supply,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Trump Compares Common Vaccine to a Nuclear Weapon

August 11, 2026 at 11:40 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Donald Trump compared the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine to a nuclear bomb being set off inside a kid’s body during a Tuesday interview,” Mediaite reports.

Said Trump: “If you give them separately — the M, the M, and the R, it’s fine. When you put them together, they’re sort of like a nuclear weapon, according to some. So why wouldn’t you give them separately? What’s hurt by giving them separately?”

New York Post: Trump claims MMR vaccine can be “quite lethal.”

Former Marine Held in Russia Has Been Released

August 11, 2026 at 11:37 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Russia has released an American military veteran who spent more than four years in prison on disputed charges under abusive conditions and was said to be gravely ill and at risk of dying,” the Associated Press reports.

South China Morning Post: Russia frees ailing ex-U.S. marine after Putin’s “goodwill” pardon.

The Latest House Democrat Generational Battle

August 11, 2026 at 11:30 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A congressional primary in Connecticut on Tuesday provides one of the clearest tests yet of Democratic voters’ desire for generational change in the party,” the Washington Post reports.

“Former Hartford mayor Luke Bronin, 47, is waging the latest rebellion against an entrenched incumbent, John B. Larson, who is 78 and running for his 15th term. But Bronin and Larson are ideologically similar, unlike other primaries pitting young liberals against older centrists, leaving age and experience as their primary differentiators.”

The Two Parties Build Election Armies

August 11, 2026 at 11:29 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Donald Trump has long argued that who is counting the votes can matter nearly as much as who is on the ballot — a view that has helped turn the mechanics of elections into their own political battleground,” Fox News reports.

“That fight is becoming more organized, more expensive and more sophisticated ahead of the 2026 midterms.”

“Tuesday marks National Poll Worker Recruitment Day, a once-obscure observance created in 2020 that has become a significant organizing marker for both parties. Republicans and Democrats are recruiting poll workers, observers, lawyers and voter-protection staff as they prepare for one of the most consequential midterm elections in history.”

White House Lifts TikTok Ban On U.S. Government Devices

August 11, 2026 at 10:57 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Trump administration has lifted restrictions on the use of TikTok on federal government devices, after finding that the popular social media app no longer poses a national security threat following the shift of its U.S. operations to American investors,” Bloomberg reports.

The Extraordinary Ruse to Protect Trump

August 11, 2026 at 10:48 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Washington Post’s extraordinary scoop about President Trump secretly switching planes because of an Iranian assassination threat is remarkable.

But one detail stands out, even if it seems ordinary: Trump lied about what was happening.

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Hungary Elects New President in Shift From Orban Era

August 11, 2026 at 10:16 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Hungarian lawmakers elected former Supreme Court Justice Andras Baka as the country’s new president, in a key step toward dismantling the political legacy of former Premier Viktor Orban,” Bloomberg reports.

“Parliament approved Baka’s election by 140 votes with 6 against, based on the ruling party’s more than two-thirds majority controlled by Prime Minister Peter Magyar.”

Project 2025 Co-Author Named Interior Watchdog

August 11, 2026 at 10:14 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump has chosen Dennis Kirk, a co-author of the right-wing road map known as Project 2025, as inspector general for the Interior Department, a role that would oversee any review of the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool,” the New York Times reports.

“The White House announced the nomination of Mr. Kirk, a former adviser to Tulsi Gabbard when she served as director of national intelligence, and a staff member at the conservative Heritage Foundation, last week. His nomination is subject to Senate approval.”

Washington Post: Trump nominates loyalist to office that would oversee Reflecting Pool review.

The People Who Bet Big On MAGA’s Future — and Lost

August 11, 2026 at 9:36 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

David Graham: “When Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025, he was nursing grudges and claiming a mandate. The institutions he saw as his enemies—in politics, business, and education—faced a dilemma about how to respond.”

“A few concluded that they should resist the president’s demands of fealty and collaboration. Another group tried appeasement, seeking accommodation that would allow them to otherwise operate as usual. And some looked at the landscape and concluded that something fundamental had shifted in American politics. They saw the MAGA movement as a lasting change, and decided that their best move was to make their own radical shift to adjust.”

“As I wrote last week, predictions of a Trump-driven realignment of the electorate now look extremely shaky.”

U.S. Fires On Ship Breaking Its Blockade of Iran

August 11, 2026 at 8:54 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“U.S. forces fired on a Panama-flagged ship that attempted to run the American blockade of Iranian ports early Tuesday, a U.S. official said, stepping up enforcement as the Trump administration attempts to squeeze the regime economically,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Bloomberg: Trump ready to let economic pressure build on Iran.

Trump Denies Speaking About Fauci Prosecution

August 11, 2026 at 8:46 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump said Monday he has not spoken to Attorney General Todd Blanche nor Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. regarding prosecuting Dr. Anthony Fauci,” NewsNation reports.

Said Trump: “I have not spoken to them about that, no.”

Hunter Biden Is Everywhere

August 11, 2026 at 8:24 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Wall Street Journal: “Hunter Biden is suddenly the one with the megaphone. He’s everywhere: tweeting, appearing on podcasts, talking about America and, often, Trump. He is in front of audiences that in the past might have viewed Hunter Biden as an archetypal villain. Maybe they still do.”

“For much of Biden’s presidency, Hunter Biden’s life, drug use, gun ownership, personal behavior, and personal photographs were put on full display. Hunter kept a mostly lower profile then. He started an account on X in May.”

“Tucker Carlson, in the interview released Monday, pressed Hunter on why he was speaking out in this way (the two said they’ve known each other more than 30 years). Hunter said his life had become so exposed by critics and others that he felt he had nowhere else to go.”

Said Biden: “In that total exposure, there was nowhere to hide. The only way out was through—owning the things that were true and speaking truth to the things that were false.”

The Wrap: Tucker Carlson expresses “deep regret” over years of targeting Hunter Biden’s addiction.