Every Senior Military Leader Warned Hegseth: The Iran War Isn't Sustainable — He's Not Listening

Jessica Tarlov is joined by Ryan Grim, reporter at Drop Site News and co-host of Breaking Points, for a wide-ranging conversation nine weeks before the midterms.

They open with the state of the races. Democrats have flipped roughly 30 state legislative seats in special elections since Trump returned to office, while Republicans have flipped none. With a wave of progressives and anti-establishment candidates winning primaries, can Democrats make the big tent work in the general? And how would Ryan rate the Republican strategy heading into the fall?

They check in on the race in Michigan with progressive Abdul Al-Sayed. And one primary still to watch: Massachusetts, where 80-year-old Senator Ed Markey is running for another six-year term against Rep. Seth Moulton. In a cycle where incumbents have been falling to younger, more progressive challengers, Markey has uniquely positioned himself as the more progressive candidate — touting his record as coauthor of the Green New Deal. Polling has him far ahead of the younger Moulton. What does Markey's campaign tell us about where the Democratic Party is heading?

Then, according to reporting in The Washington Post, a classified Pentagon planning document revealed that senior U.S. military leaders have warned Secretary Pete Hegseth that sustaining current operations against Iran isn't feasible. Ryan breaks down how dire the situation actually is — and what it means that these officials are putting this on record, knowing how Hegseth treats military leaders who push back.

A New York Times investigation has found that a growing number of political influencers are being paid by campaigns and outside groups to endorse candidates on social media without disclosing those payments to viewers, a practice that is largely unregulated at the federal level. And, more distressingly, the Pentagon appears to also have certain content creators on their payroll. What does this mean for the future of political media?

On the Canada trade war: Google Maps has renamed Lake Ontario "Lake America" for U.S. users, following the Gulf of Mexico precedent. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers are speaking out against Trump's tariff escalation and his decision to allow 300,000 tons of foreign beef into the country duty-free. Is this another Trump news cycle that ends in a backdown — or something more serious?

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