THE BIG PICTURE
Trump declared the Iran war "basically over" — then Iranian gunboats fired on a tanker and the Strait of Hormuz closed again, grounding flights and bankrupting airlines. The Supreme Court is hemorrhaging secrets through a leaked shadow docket, Kash Patel is threatening to sue the press for reporting he drinks too much, and JD Vance just lost another top aide as his political future quietly collapses.
And in New York, something quieter but maybe more important is happening: the Democratic Party is finally coming around to to following Zohran Mamdani's lead.
It’s a lot for a Sunday.
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
1. The Iran "Victory" Is Already on Fire
Less than 24 hours after Trump declared the war with Iran "over," Iranian gunboats fired on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran reimposed its own restrictions on the waterway (AP Politics). The standoff is now a dual blockade — the U.S. blocking Iranian ports, Iran blocking global shipping — and neither side is blinking (Huffington Post News). A senior Iranian official said face-to-face talks are off the table because Washington refuses to drop what Tehran calls "maximalist" demands (AP Politics).
The economic damage is no longer abstract. At least one U.S. airline has filed for bankruptcy and is begging for a federal bailout, citing fuel costs driven by the war (The Daily Beast). Mass flight cancellations are hitting major airports, including JFK (The Daily Beast). And in a move that contradicts its own hawkish posture, the Treasury Department quietly extended a sanctions waiver on Russian oil shipments to offset the shortages — days after Secretary Bessent publicly ruled it out (AP Politics). The right hand does not know what the far-right hand is doing.
2. Kash Patel Is a National Security Crisis in a Sport Coat
The Kash Patel story has escalated from embarrassing to alarming. The Atlantic published a report citing roughly two dozen current and former FBI officials alleging frequent "intoxication incidents" severe enough to constitute a national security vulnerability (The Daily Beast). Patel's attorney tried to block publication — and in the process accidentally detailed additional allegations that had not yet been made public (The Daily Beast). Patel himself responded by melting down publicly, insisting he is not "concerned" in a way that suggested he very much is (The Daily Beast), and then threatened to sue the Atlantic (Huffington Post News). The man running the FBI cannot make a credible denial without making things worse.