Iran War Update

Tonight’s show is about an Iran war that’s getting uglier, more expensive, and somehow even more incoherent by the day. We now know more than 140 US servicemembers have been injured, but the White House only admitted it after Reuters got the story. They were not going to tell us. At the same time, Iran is reportedly laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, oil is still volatile, gas prices are climbing again, and Trump is doing his usual routine of saying five contradictory things before lunch.

Here's the show:

* 3:40 — 140+ US servicemembers injured, and the White House only admitted it after Reuters got the leak

* 5:34 — Reports that Iran has started laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz

* 7:03 — Trump’s contradictory claims about mine-laying boats and whether the US even knows what Iran has done

* 9:28 — Trump “TACO’d” again, signaling the war was winding down, then immediately escalating his rhetoric

* 11:20 — Trump says the war is both “very complete” and “just the beginning”

* 12:25 — Iran hints at a threat against Trump

* 12:36 — Axios scoop: Zelensky pitched Trump an anti-drone plan for the Middle East, and Trump blew it off

* 15:07 — Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia, now moving toward Ukrainian anti-drone and air-defense systems

* 16:08 — Oil prices fall back from weekend highs, but gas prices are still rising

* 16:52 — Trump falsely claims a Strait of Hormuz shutdown would not really affect the US

* 17:41 — Trump suggests the US might use its military to keep the strait open as a favor to China

* 17:58 — The White House rolls out yet another new set of war goals

* 19:08 — Regime change disappears from the official goal list, though it may not really be off the table

* 19:22 — Karoline Leavitt defends Trump’s shifting war justifications with “a feeling based on facts”

* 23:17 — Pentagon reportedly burning through nearly $3 billion a day in munitions

* 23:42 — Trump team asks Israel not to hit more Iranian energy infrastructure

* 24:37 — Trump keeps trying to dodge blame for the strike on a girls’ school in Iran

* 25:09 — Why Trump’s Tomahawk missile excuse makes no sense

* 27:25 — NYT reporter presses Trump on why he is the only one pushing the Tomahawk theory

* 29:55 — Hegseth under fire for lavish Pentagon spending on furniture, food, electronics, and more

* 34:14 — Trump negotiator says Russia can be taken “at its word” on helping Iran target US assets

* 36:31 — Trump says Putin “wants to be helpful”

* 36:57 — Trump says he is surprised Iran retaliated against Gulf neighbors

* 39:04 — Trump’s comments about sinking Iranian ships and the war-crime criticism

* 39:46 — New Quinnipiac polling shows majority opposition to the war

* 40:31 — How support for this war compares with past US wars

* 42:22 — Zelensky says Ukrainian intelligence obtained Russian battlefield-loss documents

* 45:50 — Ukraine expected to get 35 Patriot interceptors in the coming weeks

* 46:12 — Hundreds of strangers attend the funeral of a Tennessee veteran with no known relatives

Open discussion / extra topics after the prepared portion:

* 48:20 — Iranian “sleeper cell” fears and why Trump created the current danger

* 49:05 — Sasha update and a bit about her activity today

* 50:31 — Weather in DC and balcony / plant talk

* 50:46 — You talk about writing as a stringer for The Economist

* 51:11 — More discussion of the Hegseth spending story, including whether some of the seafood may have been for troops

* 55:00 — Seafood boil, Cajun food, and seafood preferences

* 56:00 — French / Italian / Spanish tangent about “fruits de mer”

* 57:08 — Pentagon pizza-order tracking as a sign of possible military activity

* 58:42 — Possibility of ending the show early because you were tired

* 59:18 — Joe Rogan turns on Trump over the Iran war

* 62:19 — Joe Rogan’s reach and why his criticism matters politically

* 65:10 — Quick live check for breaking news

* 66:30 — More CNN reporting on Iran’s mine-laying and why clearing the strait would be dangerous

* 69:10 — Sign-off