Monday, August 31, 2026

The Snapshot

Monday, August 31, 2026.  Chump's war with Iran continues, Pete Hegseth argues with generals and brings in social media types to work undercover for the government, Hegsteh also appears to be getting on Chump's nerves, and much more. 

 


Chump's Iran War continues. Haley Britzky, Zachary Cohen abd Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) report:

Iran retaliated against US forces on Sunday after the US military struck Iranian rocket launchers, a US official said, marking the first escalation between the sides in over a month.

Iranian missiles fired into Jordan have been intercepted, the official said, and no impacts have been reported so far.

The attacks came after the US military struck Iran’s Larak Island, where it observed Iranian forces preparing to launch rockets with mines into the Strait of Hormuz.     


The United States and Iran exchanged attacks for the first time in a month overnight on Monday, underscoring how a war that President Trump had promised would be over quickly has repeatedly frustrated his attempts to end it.

The U.S. military said on Sunday that its forces had bombarded Iranian troops on Larak Island that were preparing to launch rockets armed with mines into the Strait of Hormuz, the vital shipping corridor for oil and gas that Iran has blockaded. The Iranian foreign ministry said several people were killed and wounded, without providing specifics.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said it retaliated by firing at bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates that host U.S. military personnel. The Jordanian authorities said that they had intercepted eight missiles that entered their airspace, while the Emirati military said it had “responded to” a drone coming from Iran. There were no reports of any damage or casualties.


There are numerous waves of Operation Happy Talk being put out by Chump supporters.  Yesterday morning on NBC's MEET THE PRESS, Senator Ted Cruz relied on one wave of Operation Hapy Talk only to face the obvious response from moderator Kirsten Welker, "Senator, I hear you arguing that military objectives have been achieved. If that’s the case, why can’t the troops come home? There are still some 50,000 troops there."  He did not attempt an honest answer to that question (instead he tried to spin it).  Why?  There is no honest answer to that question the administration can afford to make. 



Joe DePaolo (MEDIAITE) notes Chump attacked Kristen Welker for something she said on NBC's MEET THE PRESS when, in fact, she made the comment on another program:

:

President Donald Trump blasted NBC’s Kristen Welker early Sunday morning — but the comment that triggered him actually wasn’t made on Meet the Press.

Welker was appearing on NBC 4 Washington during the 6 a.m. ET hour to promote Sunday morning’s Meet the Press. In her brief comments, Welker — citing NBC News reporting — noted that Trump has taken a few losses in recent GOP primaries.

“He’s going to loom large over these midterms,” Welker said on NBC 4 Washington. “There’s no doubt about that. He, of course, has endorsed a slate of candidates in the primaries. He’s had some mixed results, but most recently, his pick of Senator Darline Graham, of course, the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, was successful in her primary battle, so now she takes on Dr. Annie Andrews in South Carolina.”


Chump took to social media to attack the journalist.  Jennifer Bowers Bahney (MEDIAITE) notes a reaction to the attack:

Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez called President Donald Trump’s Truth Social demand to punish NBC News’s Kristen Welker for saying something he didn’t like, “dangerous” for democracy.

Trump became enraged with Welker after a promo clip of her aired on Washington, D.C.’s, local NBC affiliate, where she noted Trump’s recent endorsement losses — and wins.

[. . .]

In response to the president’s tantrum, Gomez wrote on X, “As I’ve said many times, the FCC has no authority to punish journalists this administration doesn’t like. These threats to press freedom are dangerous. They undermine the foundation of our democracy, and they have no place in it.”


The president’s attack on Welker comes after the Treasury Department barred economics journalists from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg from attending this week’s G20 meetings in North Carolina, according to the Times.

The reporters were not granted credentials by the Treasury Department.

Nearly 300 members of the media, including one Times reporter, will have high-level access to policymakers throughout the event, a Treasury spokesperson said in a statement.


The war on reporters is a war on the truth and that's what Chump and Hegseth focus on the most: Deceiving the American people.  They do it by hiring social media people to write hype about Hegseth and not disclose that they are now on the government payroll and writing what they are ordered to do.  They do that by attacking the press when true reports come out.  For example,  Erkki Forster (DAILY BEAST) reports:

Pete Hegseth’s top spin doctor lashed out at a report that top military brass are pushing back against Hegseth’s orders, only for his meltdown to blow up in his face.

The Washington Post revealed Sunday that commanders are warning Hegseth, the Fox News host-turned-defense secretary, against extending the deployment of more than 50,000 troops in the Middle East for President Donald Trump’s war with Iran.

Sources told the Post that four-star commanders overseeing operations in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, along with the Navy’s top admiral, each registered a formal ‘non-concur’ with proposals contained in the latest Secretary of Defense Orders Book, a classified Pentagon document produced twice a month to outline the worldwide availability, readiness, and movement of U.S. forces.

A ‘non-concur’ formally records a commander’s disagreement with a proposed course of action, even though the commander may ultimately be required to carry out the final order.


James West (MOTHER JONES) notes the report by THE POST and adds:


On Day 10 of the Iran conflict, Trump declared the war “very complete, pretty much.” It’s now many months later, with no deal, no end date, and a $37.5 billion price tag, according to Hegseth’s July testimony to Congress. Last week we documented the ongoing whiplash in our video below—from demands for unconditional surrender, to negotiations, to this week’s “Operation Economic Outcast,” a sanctions campaign that amounts to a tacit admission that six months of bombing didn’t get the job done.

Watch:



And today on MS NOW's MORNING JOE, they address the issue.


  Sarah-Jane Collins (DAILY BEAST) reports:


President Donald Trump has quietly begun to pin his hopes for resolving the Iran conflict on his treasury secretary rather than Pete Hegseth as the defense secretary is increasingly sidelined.

That’s according to inside sources quoted Saturday by the Daily Mail, which described a subtle shift within the 80-year-old president’s inner circle when it comes to Situation Room briefings on the war, now in its seventh month. 

While Hegseth is still routinely asked for updates on the war, along with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, an unnamed insider claimed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s take is now given more attention by Trump in the meetings. 

[. . .]

While Hegseth is still routinely asked for updates on the war, along with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, an unnamed insider claimed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s take is now given more attention by Trump in the meetings. 


Bennito L. Kelty (RAW STORY) adds:


Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has become afraid of President Donald Trump over mounting frustrations with the Iran war, The Daily Mail reported Saturday.

Anonymous insiders say that Trump is increasingly turning away from Hegseth after the two got into an argument at Camp David earlier this month, according to the report. Instead, Trump is turning more to another one of his favored "yes-men," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.


Still on the disaster that is Hegseth, THE ARKANSAS PUBLIC ADVOCATE reports:


Three senior Stars and Stripes employees have taken their dispute with Pentagon leadership to federal court, turning a months long fight over the military newspaper’s independence into an urgent First Amendment case. Editor in chief Erik Slavin, Middle East reporter Lara Korte and publisher Max D. Lederer Jr. filed suit Aug. 27 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Their 45 page complaint names Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, senior public affairs official Andrew Brey and the Defense Department. It seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctions aimed at stopping proposed terminations that the plaintiffs said could take effect as early as Aug. 28.

The core allegation is retaliation. Slavin and Korte say the Pentagon targeted them after they publicly defended Stars and Stripes’ editorial independence in a July 5 CBS Sunday Morning segment. Lederer says he was later targeted after refusing an instruction to deliver separation notices to the pair and after publicly explaining why he planned to retire.

The complaint also ties the timing of the disciplinary action to an Aug. 11 Stars and Stripes report by Alison Bath about conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The article described an unusually long deployment, strained morale, reported food and water shortages, disrupted mail, long workdays and concerns among sailors and families about mental health and self harm.


This is a First Amendment case.  Hegseth has stuck his nose into something it doesn't belong in -- again.  What STARS AND STRIPES decides to print or not print has nothing to do with him or his duties.  Being Secretary of Defense comes with enough tasks, supervising STARS AND STRIPES is not one of them.  But this is part of Hegseth's continued assault on the First Amendment.  Kathleen Culliton (RAW STORY) notes:


Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's desperate efforts to control the narrative on the Iran war have succeeded only in revealing how little control over the situation he has, a columnist argued Saturday.

This withering rebuke of Hegseth's actions against military journalists and service members who have reported untenable conditions, as the war drags into its seventh month, came courtesy of Salon analyst Sophia Tesfaye.

"Rather than addressing any systemic failures on the part of the department, Hegseth’s command structure has resorted to authoritarian retaliation," wrote Tesfaye.

"The silencing of the press and scapegoating of desperate sailors does not hide Hegseth’s mess."


Hegseth's moves do nothing to improve morale or to address his obligations as Secretary of Defense.  In that regard, he's very much like Chump who does nothing to address the needs of the American people.  Tony Romm (NEW YORK TIMES) notes:


 Tony Romm (NEW YORK TIMES) notes:


In the nearly two years since President Trump clinched his return to office, the U.S. economy has come under great duress, leaving families and businesses to suffer through the expensive consequences of constant global conflict and soaring government debt.

It was the financial frustration of a pandemic-weary electorate that helped Mr. Trump and his fellow Republicans take charge in Washington in 2024, which they promised to use to defeat the scourge of inflation and slash the profligate government spending they saw as the root of the problem.

But Mr. Trump’s actions in office have complicated — if not undermined — those pledges. With two months until the midterms, some of his policies have prolonged or worsened the economic fortunes of those he promised to help.

It began with a punishing global trade war, which exacerbated the nation’s long quest to bring down the cost of living in the years following the pandemic. This week, the president escalated that offensive and took renewed aim at Canada, setting off a costly tariff tit-for-tat that could drive up prices for Americans.


His tariffs, his war on Iran, his war on immigrants?  They've all helped destroy the American economy.  People are struggling to buy groceries or to fill their car tanks.  And Chump doesn't care.  He can't relate to the average American and he doesn't even pretend to try to relate to them.



Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

In New Letter, Murray, Colleagues Demand NIH Director Restore Lifesaving Pediatric Research

***LETTER HERE***

ICYMI: Senator Murray Presses NIH Director on Trump’s Proposal to Cut Medical Research Funding to Pay for $1.5 Trillion War Budget

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) and Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, led her colleagues in sending a letter to National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya demanding restoration of a promising clinical trial to help children that is ending because of the Trump administration’s budget cuts for contracts and extreme delays in Notices of Funding Opportunities impacting pediatric research, specifically the NIH’s Pediatric Trials Network (PTN). As a direct result of this administration’s actions the PTN is ending the Pediatric Opportunistic Pharmacokinetic Study (POPS), which focuses on determining the right dose of dozens of medicines commonly used in children. The abrupt end to this trial means that children and their families who have already enrolled and donated blood samples for this scientific effort will not see the trial’s goal achieved.

“We write with great concern regarding the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) budget cuts for contracts and extreme delays in Notices of Funding Opportunities and their impact on pediatric research, specifically the NIH’s Pediatric Trials Network (PTN). We recently learned that, as part of these actions, the PTN is ending its promising clinical trial, the Pediatric Opportunistic Pharmacokinetic Study (POPS), which focuses on determining the right dose of dozens of medicines commonly used in children,” write the senators. “Ending the POPS study will stop enrollment in 25 states and the testing of several dozen drugs in children: including premature infants, critically ill children, and obese children. Ending this study will also mean that children and their families who have already enrolled and donated blood samples for this important scientific effort will not see the trial’s goal achieved.”

“You cannot claim to be making American children healthier while shutting down the research that would do exactly that. We demand that you reverse this reckless decision immediately and explain your decision making to Congress and the families of the children who rely on this research,”

In the letter, the senators slam the Trump administration for this wasteful and unnecessary move. “Cancelling this research doesn’t save a dime, in fact it wastes millions of dollars of taxpayer money. Congress established the BPCA and appropriated the funding for this research. Now the Trump administration is forcing it to shut down, and throwing years of data and children’s blood down the drain. Clinical trials aren’t light switches – you can’t turn this research on and off, and now lifesaving research for our kids is gone.”

The lawmakers also call out Director Bhattacharya for his hypocrisy—because in May, during the FY 2027 NIH Budget Hearing before the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, he vowed to protect these sorts of trials. They note: “When asked if you were aware that last year NIH’s PTN received only part of its funding, you replied that you ‘were absolutely committed to making sure that we do have opportunities for children across the country to participate in clinical trials.’ But your actions are ripping away opportunities for children to participate in clinical trials and scientists’ ability to learn from trials that could benefit all children. Your actions are squandering the investments previously made by NIH to secure data and specimens in a highly productive trial; and wasting the contributions of children and families participating in the POPS study.”

In addition to Senator Murray, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Adam B. Schiff (D-CA).

The full letter is available HERE and below:

Dear Director Bhattacharya:

We write with great concern regarding the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) budget cuts for contracts and extreme delays in Notices of Funding Opportunities and their impact on pediatric research, specifically the NIH’s Pediatric Trials Network (PTN). We recently learned that, as part of these actions, the PTN is ending its promising clinical trial, the Pediatric Opportunistic Pharmacokinetic Study (POPS), which focuses on determining the right dose of dozens of medicines commonly used in children. Ending the POPS study will stop enrollment in 25 states and the testing of several dozen drugs in children: including premature infants, critically ill children, and obese children. Ending this study will also mean that children and their families who have already enrolled and donated blood samples for this important scientific effort will not see the trial’s goal achieved. We urge NIH to reinstate the POPS study to prevent the irreplaceable loss of benefit of these precious blood samples from our most vulnerable populations.

The PTN was authorized by Congress in the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (BPCA) (P.L. 107-109), bipartisan legislation that authorized $25 million per year for trials of off-patent medicines and devices used in children. Since then, the PTN has developed into an NIH-funded consortium of over 100 clinical research sites across the United States dedicated to conducting studies on the safety, efficacy, and dosing of drugs and medical devices for children. It aims to improve pediatric medication labeling and reduce off-label prescribing in children and provides critical data on how medications act across developmental stages of childhood and adolescence. Currently, the infrastructure for the BPCA trials is supported by contracts. Thus, reductions in contract funding pose barriers to the BPCA implementation. Due to an arbitrary new rule concocted by the Trump administration, the “Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Cost Efficiency Initiative,” created in response to Executive Order 14222, that institutes an agency-wide maximum contract spending cap for fiscal years (FY) 2025 and 2026, the BPCA trial funding was cut to substantially less than what has been authorized by Congress.

POPS provides infrastructure to support pediatric research at 33 sites in 25 states including Washington, New Jersey, and California. Until its recent cancellation, the study was investigating 60 medicines and had enrolled over 2,000 children. Due to its abrupt, unplanned termination, there are drugs for which the PTN will not be able to provide appropriate dosing information for one or more subgroups of children. Stopping this trial will diminish the value of irreplaceable blood samples donated by children and will prevent our ability to learn the safe dose of medicines routinely used to treat American children.

Cancelling this research doesn’t save a dime, in fact it wastes millions of dollars of taxpayer money. Congress established the BPCA and appropriated the funding for this research. Now the Trump administration is forcing it to shut down, and throwing years of data and children’s blood down the drain. Clinical trials aren’t light switches – you can’t turn this research on and off, and now lifesaving research for our kids is gone.


The National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) previously announced it was planning to support a unified pediatric research consortium. However, that potential effort was discussed nearly a year ago at the NICHD’s Advisory Council. To date, NIH has not released a Notice of Funding Opportunity, meaning that it will likely be years before awards are made and children are enrolled in approved trials.On top of the years it will take to get a unified pediatric research consortium up and running, the PTN was informed that there will be further cuts to the network in FY 2026 because NICHD was directed to reduce the amount of money they spend via contracts in compliance with the administration’s Cost Efficiency Initiative rule.

This is not the first time cuts to the PTN has been brought to your attention. In May, during the FY 2027 Budget Hearing before the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator Murray asked you about this very issue. When asked if you were aware that last year NIH’s PTN received only part of its funding, you replied that you “were absolutely committed to making sure that we do have opportunities for children across the country to participate in clinical trials.” But your actions are ripping away opportunities for children to participate in clinical trials and scientists’ ability to learn from trials that could benefit all children. Your actions are squandering the investments previously made by NIH to secure data and specimens in a highly productive trial; and wasting the contributions of children and families participating in the POPS study.

This pediatric trial didn’t have to end prematurely. It is just one example of a direct impact of the arbitrary decisions the Trump administration has made that are hurting our most vulnerable population – children. The contracts that support BPCA infrastructure received 40% less last year (FY 2025) than was received in 2024, and researchers were told by NIH that this year’s funding (FY 2026) will be even less. Senator Murray warned you in May that “researchers at Seattle Children’s were going to have stop their work investigating how pain medications could be safely used to help some of our sickest children as they face surgeries and hospitalization.” Yet, here we are, in the exact place we feared we would be just a few months ago.

We urge you to do whatever is necessary to ensure full funding for the NIH’s BPCA infrastructure for the PTN so the important work of the POPS trial and other vital research can move forward. This is not about a budget line—this is about keeping our kids safe and healthy. You cannot claim to be making American children healthier while shutting down the research that would do exactly that. We demand that you reverse this reckless decision immediately and explain your decision making to Congress and the families of the children who rely on this research.

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The following sties updated:




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