“The Pentagon said it planned to livestream the firing-squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, a former officer who admitted to killing 13 people in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood Army base in Texas,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
New York Times: Fort Hood shooter’s execution will be public and streamed live, Pentagon says.
“Democrats are zeroing in on the Pentagon and defense contractors as they prepare to scrutinize potential conflicts of interest in the Trump administration should they win control of Congress,” Bloomberg reports.
“Companies that have contracts with the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are particularly vulnerable… That’s partly because Congress expects the administration will continue to ignore or slow-walk their requests for information — as it has even when Republicans were in control.”
“The U.S.-Iran war could drag on for years, putting America at risk of overlooking China’s rise to power, according to President Donald Trump’s former defense secretary,” CNBC reports.
“Mark Esper said on Thursday he saw the conflict continuing ‘well into 2027,’ with a possibility that it could be handed to the next U.S. administration in three years’ time.”
Said Esper: “At some point, we will reach a point where maybe both sides are willing to come to the table and find a negotiated settlement, but the challenge for president Trump will be he’s going to have to get a deal that returns the Strait of Hormuz to the status quo, which is going to be really hard, and is a deal that’s better than what Barack Obama got out of the JCPOA, and I think that’s going to be very difficult too.”
“The abrupt evacuation of American bombers from a key U.K. airbase underscores the extreme vulnerability facing the world’s most powerful fighting force and its NATO allies — as cheap drones and off-the-shelf tech transform warfare,” Politico reports.
“President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he no longer wants a deal with Iran, following reports that the U.S. military is preparing for possible strikes against the country, likely before the midterm election,” CNBC reports.
Said Trump: “I think the deal isn’t really something that I want to do, but they’re willing to offer us anything to stop.”
“To hear President Trump and his aides describe it, the rush to withdraw 12 B-1 bombers from an air base in Britain over the weekend was a prudent precaution, in response to a threat they refused to describe,” the New York Times reports.
“It was no big deal, Mr. Trump insisted, and his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, tried to wave it away by noting that the Pentagon is ‘constantly reallocating resources where they need to be.'”
“But to anyone watching the deployment of American power around the globe in the seven months since Mr. Trump decided to attack Iran, it was another glaring example of how, time after time, Mr. Trump and his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, have been forced into retreat, pulling back military forces that had been deployed to the Middle East and Britain as a deterrent.”
“After months of on-again, off-again fighting, the United States hasn’t struck Iran in several weeks,” The Atlantic reports.
“The stretch of relative tranquility is coinciding with the final phase of the midterm-election campaign, and the assumption has been that President Trump will want to keep it going through November 3 so as not to remind voters of an unpopular war that is dragging Republican candidates down nationwide.”
“But that may not be what happens. The White House has asked the Pentagon to develop strike options against Iranian targets that could be exercised ahead of the midterms… The planning underscores just how much the president wants to reduce gas prices and demonstrate progress in the conflict before the vote.”
“Top senators are questioning the effectiveness and cost of President Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense effort,” Axios reports.
“Trump’s sprawling plan is still failing to win needed support from lawmakers — and it’s in dire financial straits.”
Wall Street Journal: “A silent electronic battle is raging at the heart of the Russia-Ukraine war. Both sides are attacking and defending communication signals on an unprecedented scale, innovating at pace, while the U.S. and other Western countries are working to catch up.”
“President Donald Trump announced a $6.6 billion investment with AI defense company Anduril Industries on Tuesday — the most recent government funding agreement into a company with investment ties to the president’s sons,” ABC News reports.
“1789 Capital — a venture capital firm that lists Donald Trump Jr. as one of six partners along with three founders — claimed a major stake in Anduril in June 2025 from a $2.5 billion investment into the company.”
“Since that investment, Anduril has been awarded 135 other contracts with the U.S. government and to date has received around $1.8 billion from those agreements.”
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Iran has passed up ‘multiple’ chances to reach a deal on its nuclear program, as talks between Washington and Tehran over a lasting Middle East peace agreement remain stalled,” CNBC reports.
New York Post: Vance says Iran must cut nuclear enrichment to end seven-month war.
“The U.S. has warned Moscow that its failure to disclose details about the death of a lab worker from a plague research center in Siberia runs counter to its international health obligations,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Russia has provided the U.S. with little information about the mysterious episode, which has stirred fears that an infectious disease might spread inside Russia and beyond the country’s borders.”
Foreign Affairs: “There is little ambiguity about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aims. These attacks are designed to fracture the alliance’s unity, test the strength of members’ commitment to Article 5—the principle that an attack on one member is an attack on all—and raise the cost of supporting Ukraine. Less expected, however, has been the speed with which his deniable campaign has become undeniable.”
“NATO has not looked away. The alliance tracks these incidents, investigates them, and sometimes intercepts attacks. But a response built incident by incident is not deterrence, and Putin knows the difference. As long as each provocation costs Moscow nothing more than a downed drone, Putin has every reason to keep escalating.”
“A former CIA officer who the authorities say stashed hundreds of gold bars in his home admitted in court on Tuesday to a far larger web of deception, including a $145 million scam involving luxury real estate and providing sensitive intelligence to a foreign government official,” the New York Times reports.
“The shocking details of the case were revealed in federal court in Alexandria, Va. where David J. Rush pleaded guilty to a single count of wire fraud, which could earn him up to 20 years behind bars.”
“Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) was barred from entering a U.S. military base in Qatar, the Connecticut lawmaker told reporters on Tuesday,” the Washington Sun reports.
“The senator is currently on a congressional delegation to the Middle East, where he’s met with key officials to discuss the ongoing Iran war.”
“Donald Trump on Tuesday announced the opening of a new $6.6 billion shipbuilding factory in Baltimore, partly funded by the U.S. government but owned by Anduril Industries, a politically connected defense company,” The Guardian reports.
“Trump’s appearance at a currently unused shipyard in Sparrows Point is a boost to Anduril, whose founder, Palmer Luckey, is a major GOP campaign fundraiser.”
“With the war it’s just artificial, it’s a little bit high, it’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They could take out a city. Let ’em take out Los Angeles. Let ’em take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay and it’s going to be over very soon. It’s essentially almost over with.”
— President Trump, quoted by NewsNation.
“Two big unknowns stand in the way of determining how serious the plague threat in Russia is and whether travel advisories, restrictions at U.S. ports of entry or other precautions are warranted,” Axios reports.
“We still don’t know which pathogen killed a Russian researcher, or how well contained it is.”
“Though public health experts say there’s no cause for Americans to panic, the episode serves as a wake-up call emphasizing the nature of global biological threats and the need for pandemic preparedness.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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