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Saturday Afternoon Updates: Multiple U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iranian Strikes + More — 7/18/26
Everything you need to know this Saturday
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Hi all, Ben here. It’s Saturday.
Before we get into it, a couple things. First, if you are in an area with bad air quality from the fires, I hope you are staying safe.
I also again want to say thank you and share a really exciting update. The response to the book I wrote with my brothers, WTF America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy, has been incredible. You all showed up in a massive way. It’s already an Amazon bestseller in its category, and it’s not even out until October. If you haven’t preordered yet, you can do so here.
Okay. Let’s get into what’s actually happening, because, well, a lot is happening.
Top stories we’re tracking today:
Iran strikes Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan with ballistic missiles, hitting areas near US troops and fighter jets
CENTCOM confirms two US service members killed in action in Jordan on July 17 defending against Iranian missile and drone attacks, with one more missing in action and four others medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals before being discharged
A second Iranian strike in two days hits a Kuwaiti power and desalination plant, sparking a major fire
The US strikes a desalination plant in Jask, Iran, cutting off drinking water to roughly 20 villages and 10,000 people
Iran warns it will target Abu Dhabi and Dubai airports and the ports of Fujairah and Jebel Ali if the US keeps hitting Iranian infrastructure
US destroys six more bridges in Iran’s Hormozgan province, fueling speculation about a ground invasion of Iranian territory
Iran formally exits the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, with Iran’s Supreme Leader saying the US president’s signature has proven worthless and warning of “unforgettable lessons” ahead for Washington
Ukraine hits Russia’s largest e-commerce logistics hub, run by Wildberries, deep inside Russian territory near Moscow and Tambov
Ukrainian drones destroy a Russian Tu-95 strategic bomber at Engels air base, flying roughly 800 kilometers to hit it
Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces sink or damage another 13 Russian “shadow fleet” vessels, bringing the two week total past 170
The Russian stock market keeps sliding, dropping below the 2000 level even as oil prices climb
Zelenskyy reports deadly overnight Russian strikes on Odesa, Kyiv, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia, including more than 130 drones and 13 missiles in one night
Trump spends Saturday morning on “Executive Time” at his Bedminster golf course while all of this unfolds
Trump reposts Tim Sheehy attacking Canada over wildfire smoke, calling him “a winner,” as the smoke-tariff feud with Ottawa escalates
The New York Times publishes an interview with NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on Gaza and inequality
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski takes a shot at American healthcare, contrasting it with European values
Before I go any further, if you haven’t yet joined as a paid subscriber, consider doing so now by clicking here to support our work. This is how we grow. It will give you access to all recaps like this, our exclusive Ask-the-Editor series, and more. Plus, it is the best way to help support the growth of this network.
Let’s start.
Trump Is on His Golf Course While the Middle East Burns
It’s Saturday morning and Donald Trump’s public schedule says he is “participating in Executive Time” at Bedminster. Closed press. No cameras. Meanwhile, American troops are sitting in the middle of a region Trump has set on fire, and we’ve just learned some horrifying news.
Iran hit Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base overnight with ballistic missiles, and the footage circulating this morning shows pillars of thick black smoke pouring out of the base. This is the same base that reportedly houses US forces, and multiple open source accounts are now describing damage to troop billeting areas. Not hangars. Not fuel depots. Where people sleep.
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And now we have confirmation. CENTCOM says two US service members were killed in action in Jordan on July 17 while defending against those Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. One more is currently missing in action. Four additional troops were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals and have since been discharged, and others treated for minor injuries have returned to duty. Those are the numbers CENTCOM has confirmed so far, and we’ll keep watching for updates.
Here’s the thing I keep coming back to. This isn’t Iran launching a single missile and missing. Multiple trackers describe salvos of eight to twelve missiles at a time, with a meaningful share getting through. If the Patriot interceptor systems the Trump regime has been leaning on are only stopping a fraction of what’s coming in, that means American lives are on the line every single night this continues, and it’s happening while the Commander in Chief is at his private gold club.
The Desalination War
This is one of the darkest threads of the week and it deserves its own section.
The US struck the Jask desalination plant in Iran, destroying the seawater pumping station and power transformer and cutting off running water to roughly 20 villages and about 10,000 people, according to reporting from independent monitors tracking the strikes. Iran’s response has been direct and explicit: hit our water, we hit yours.
Kuwait has now been struck twice in two days on its power and desalination infrastructure, according to Kuwait’s own Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy, which confirmed a fire at one of its plants and urged citizens to conserve electricity during peak hours while emergency crews respond. Kuwait relies on desalination for around 90 percent of its drinking water. This is now a major crisis. That is the water supply for an entire country, now a bargaining chip in Trump’s war.
Iran has been explicit that this is retaliatory. Their logic, as they’ve stated it publicly, is if American strikes cut off water to Iranian villages, then countries hosting American forces should not expect their own water infrastructure to be safe either. Iran has now threatened Abu Dhabi and Dubai’s airports along with the ports of Fujairah and Jebel Ali if US strikes on Iranian infrastructure continue.
This is escalation on a civilian infrastructure level, and it is happening because Donald Trump chose this path.
Iran Walks Away From the Table Entirely
As if the infrastructure war wasn’t enough, Iran has now formally exited the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding altogether. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister said Iran has suspended all of its commitments under the agreement, arguing the US had trampled on and halted its own end of the deal first.
Iran’s Supreme Leader went further, framing the repeated US breaches of that agreement as proof that the American president’s signature is worthless and unreliable, and warning that Iran and what he calls the resistance front have “unforgettable lessons” in store for Washington.
Here are his full remarks:
“The Great Satan’s repeated violations of the memorandum of understanding signed between the Presidents of Iran and the U.S. once again prove to everyone how worthless and unreliable the signature of the U.S. President is, and that bullying, hegemonic ambitions, and savagery are inseparable elements of the American way and doctrine.
The Great Satan has once again revealed its true face without a mask, so that this dark experience of crime and bad faith will stand as yet another powerful testament to America's deceitfulness, irrationality, untrustworthiness, and wickedness.
Now that the American enemy is seeking to ignite war and incur even heavier costs and greater disgrace, it should know that the beloved Iranian nation and the Axis of Resistance have unforgettable lessons in store for it.”
Bridges Today, a Ground Invasion Tomorrow?
The US destroyed another six bridges in Iran’s Hormozgan province on Friday, disrupting a major highway link. Bridges don’t get destroyed by accident, and they don’t get destroyed for no reason. Taking out transportation infrastructure ahead of a ground operation is a pattern military analysts recognize immediately, and Iran’s armed forces have responded by releasing a video that essentially dares American forces to try a ground invasion, framing it as something they’ve been preparing for.
The US reportedly has around 50,000 troops in the region right now and growing. I don’t need to spell out what a ground war against a country the size and capability of Iran could mean for that number.
Meanwhile, flight tracking accounts have documented additional KC-135 refueling tankers and F-16 fighters moving into the region over the past day, which tells you the Pentagon is bracing for this to get worse, not better.
And how did one of Trump’s top aides respond to all this? Dan Scavino posted a video of B-2 bombers and F-22 Raptors flying over mountains, scored to Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma.”
Ukraine Set Moscow on Fire, Literally
While Trump is busy blowing things up in the Middle East, Ukraine has quietly built up a long-range strike capability that is now landing hundreds of kilometers inside Russia, and it is landing hard.
Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukrainian forces hit military logistics and energy infrastructure in the Moscow and Tambov regions, targeting facilities tied to sanctioned drone components and navigation equipment. One of the targets was a massive Wildberries logistics hub, essentially Russia’s version of an Amazon fulfillment center, which Ukraine says is also used to move military supply components. Footage shows the strike touching off fires large enough that a thick, dark cloud has been sitting over parts of the Moscow region for more than a day.
Ukraine also says it destroyed a Russian Tu-95 strategic bomber at Engels air base in Saratov, flying long-range drones roughly 800 kilometers to hit it. One Russian military channel’s own reaction, translated from Telegram, admitted flatly that Russia doesn’t build those aircraft anymore and hasn’t for a long time. That is not a small loss for a country that relies on that bomber fleet for its missile strikes on Ukrainian cities.
On top of that, Ukraine’s naval drone forces say they’ve now hit 172 vessels in Russia’s so-called shadow fleet over the past thirteen days. And Russia’s stock market keeps sliding, dropping below the 2000 level even while global oil prices climb, which is not the combination a war economy wants to see.
None of this erases the human cost on Ukraine’s side. Zelenskyy reported overnight strikes that killed people in Odesa, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, and beyond, with more than 130 drones and 13 missiles launched in a single night, including ballistic missiles aimed at Kyiv for the sixth time this month. Real people are dying on both ends of this war every single night, while the man who promised to end it in 24 hours golfs in New Jersey.
Mamdani’s Contrast Is Getting Sharper by the Week
On a very different note, the New York Times ran an interview this morning with NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. He made the point that it’s hard to explain to a New Yorker why their basic needs aren’t part of the conversation when the country has billions of dollars available to fund wars overseas, and he brought up how someone who traveled to Gaza on a relief mission was later killed by the Israeli military, even in a moment the rest of the world was supposed to be celebrating together. He also pushed back on the idea that a strong economy is only measured in growth numbers, pointing out that this is the wealthiest city in the country and also one where a quarter of residents live in poverty.
Whatever your politics, that contrast between wartime spending and basic domestic needs is going to keep showing up in this campaign, and it’s going to keep showing up in campaigns well beyond New York.
Poland’s Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski also had a pointed line worth including here. Speaking about healthcare, he noted that Europe is sometimes criticized as a declining civilization, but that letting people go bankrupt over medical bills isn’t how a good society should treat its own people.
Where This Leaves Us
This chaos is exactly why we wrote WTF America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy. We wanted to lay out how we got here and, more importantly, the way back. It’s dedicated to all of you, the Meidas Mighty, and it comes out this October. If you haven’t already, preorder your copy now. Thanks for sharing, liking, re-stacking, and spreading the word!
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