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Tuesday Afternoon News Updates: The Getaway Truck Presidency – 8/11/26
Your Tuesday midday updates are here.
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Hi Meidas Mighty! It’s Tuesday afternoon. Let’s get right into the news.
Top stories we’re tracking today:
Iran again says the Strait of Hormuz will stay closed “until the U.S. changes its behavior”
Gulf states are quietly accepting Iranian control over the strait as the “new normal,” per WSJ
Oil prices are back up toward $90/barrel
Houthis continue to strike Saudi tankers
Qatar’s foreign ministry praises the new “Mecca Alliance” between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey
Our breakdown of that bombshell Washington Post story about Trump using AF1, the press, and White House officials as a decoy as he fled Turkey on a different plane
DOJ hands Trump a new way to hide
Trump Media’s massive quarterly loss and new schemes
Trump rages on social media about New York’s pied-a-terre tax
The White House pushes DOJ to revive the Reflecting Pool prosecution
The Kennedy Center is ordered to pay a jazz musician’s legal fees after losing a lawsuit tied to Trump’s name
Primary day in Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont, Wisconsin, and South Carolina
A quick reminder: If you are able to join as a paid subscriber and have not yet, consider doing so now. It’s one of the most impactful ways you can support independent media, not to mention it gets you access to all our content here!
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Now let’s dive deeper.
Iran Is Holding Firm and Gulf States Know It
Iran’s Mohsen Rezai, a top adviser to the Ayatollah, said that the Strait of Hormuz will stay closed until Washington changes its behavior and accepts Iran’s conditions. It’s of course a very different story than the one Trump has been telling. The rest of the world seems to agree with Rezai. Gulf energy producers have essentially lost faith in the Trump regime, per WSJ, quietly coming to terms that Iran is in control of the strait. They aren’t happy about it, but going back to war is worse for everyone involved, so accepting this new reality is the least bad option available to them.
Crude flowing through the strait has now collapsed to 2.2M barrels a day. A month ago it was 8.5M. Prior to the war, it was around 20M. Meanwhile, alternatives are getting hit hard too. Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea pipeline was struck by the Houthis, and Egypt’s Damietta port got hit by drones. Consequently, Brent crude jumped back near $90.
We are also learning of new explosions just now in Sirik (southern Iran), with possible launches towards the Strait of Hormuz, per Israel’s Channel 12 news. Details are still emerging.
And while the Strait of Hormuz is the one most often in the news, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is in chaos, too. The Houthis (who are backed by Iran) struck a Saudi commercial ship, the Tihamah, with multiple missiles, killing 3 crew members, 2 Pakistani nationals and 1 Indonesian, per Reuters. A second Saudi ship was reportedly targeted within 2 hours.
About Trump’s Secret Flight From Turkey…
Last night, the Washington Post broke a wild story that Trump secretly flew home from Turkey on an alternate aircraft, and did not tell the press or even some of his own staff, who assumed they were flying with him. Per the post, an Iranian assassination threat triggered the deception plot. The story has a lot of moving parts, so we put together this timeline of events:
1. Trump flies to Turkey on the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One for the NATO summit.
2. An Iranian assassination threat triggers a secret “deception operation.” Security officials devise a plan to conceal which aircraft Trump is actually traveling on.
3. The Qatari-gifted Air Force One leaves Turkey first, without Trump.
4. Trump publicly boards the legacy Air Force One in Ankara, walking up the stairs and waving for cameras, creating the appearance that this is his plane home.
5. Trump secretly exits Air Force One through the other side of the aircraft and gets into an airport catering truck raised to the plane’s door.
6. The catering truck drives Trump to a smaller Air Force C-32A, a modified Boeing 757 parked nearby.
7. Trump secretly boards the C-32A. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also boards separately.
8. Reporters and some White House staff board the legacy Air Force One, apparently unaware Trump is no longer aboard. They are instructed to close their window shades. (Remember all that reporting from the time?)
9. The legacy Air Force One takes off as a decoy and eventually uses the “AF1” call sign despite Trump not being aboard.
10. Trump’s actual C-32A flies secretly to Britain under the nondescript call sign “Reach 18,” with its normal flight-tracking systems reportedly switched off.
11. Trump arrives at RAF Mildenhall in Britain on the C-32A, shortly before the decoy Air Force One arrives.
12. Trump somehow transfers back onto the legacy Air Force One after landing. The Post says exactly how this transfer occurred remains unclear.
13. Trump then emerges from the legacy Air Force One in front of cameras, making it appear as though that was the aircraft he had flown from Turkey.
14. Trump boards the Qatari-gifted Air Force One in Britain and finally flies back to Washington with the press and staff.
P.S. Remember when Trump told the reporters on the plane, "I go, you go," in regard to the plane being targeted? It actually seems Trump left and endangered the lives of everyone on board. He used them as decoys. Insane.
Blanche’s First Move: Shielding Trump from Scrutiny
Todd Blanche got right to work to protect Trump after being sworn in as AG. The DOJ’S Office of Legal Counsel issued a new opinion, saying the president can claim executive privilege over his communications with private advisers, meaning people who do not even work in government, as long as those communications relate to official decision making, involve the president or his direct advisers, and are confidential. The opinion goes even further, too, extending that same shield to the direct advisers themselves when they are talking with outside private citizens.
This essentially opens the door for Trump to wall off communications with outside allies, donors, or business associates from congressional scrutiny, so long as someone can argue those chats touched on presidential decision . This lands, of course, at the exact moment it appears Democrats are more likely than ever to retake the House, and with it, subpoena power. The president’s criminal attorney’s first move was to protect his client.
Trump Media Loses $238M, Pivots to New Schemes
Trump continues to show his business prowess. His company Trump Media, the company behind Truth Social, reported a $238M loss for the quarter, more than TEN TIMES what it lost a year earlier. Per share, its losses grew from 8 cents to 86 cents. That explains the company’s new scheme, which is to step back from crypto and other side business and lean into his so-called Truth API, which gives Wall Street trading firms early access to Truth Social posts, including Trump’s, before the public sees them. Ahhh, insider trading! More than 10 trading firms have reportedly signed up so far, paying between $60K and $100K per month.
Trump Rages Against Mamdani’s Tax
Trump this morning posted a lengthy rant on Truth Social about NYC’s pied-a-terre tax, claiming it will bring financial and social ruin to the city. There was a lot of really racist stuff in his post also, which I’ll leave out. The tax applies to out-of-staters who own a second home in New York worth millions of dollars that is not their primary residence. It’s roughly a 1% annual tax, so on a $20M property, you’re talking around $200K a year. If it’s your primary residency, it doesn’t affect you at all.
Why’s Trump upset? I have an idea. Because he owns property in New York while claiming Florida as his primary residence, which is a pretty common move the wealthy use to dodge state incoming tax while still keeping a home in the city. The law took effect in July, after his May 19th “settlement” with the DOJ that gave him tax immunity prior to that day. I don’t know about you, but that timing doesn’t feel like a coincidence to me.
Trump Teases Wild Election Power Grab:
‘Stranger Things Have Happened’
Here’s our reporting from Meidas News:
Trump entertained a shocking proposal to declare a national security emergency to impose new voting restrictions without congressional approval ahead of the midterm elections during a Monday evening interview with right-wing host Wayne Allyn Root on Real America’s Voice.
The clip was originally flagged by MeidasTouch Digital Editor Acyn.
Root pitched the idea directly to Trump while discussing the stalled SAVE America Act, legislation backed by Trump and his allies that would impose new federal election requirements.
“So let me put an idea in your head,” Root told Trump.
Root claimed that Trump could declare a “national security emergency for elections” and cited the Supreme Court’s 1983 decision in INS v. Chadha as supposed authority for bypassing Congress.
“If you do this in the next month, we will get photo ID, proof of citizenship, and a limit to mail-in ballots,” Root said. “And you don’t even need the Senate’s vote.”
Trump did not dismiss the proposal.
“Let me just say that stranger things have happened,” Trump responded. “Okay, I’ll leave it at that.”
A Few More Things Before We Go
The White House has reportedly asked the DOJ to look into reviving the Reflecting Pool charges against former Olympian canoeist David Hearn, after Jeanine Pirro dropped the case and admitted the real cause was a botched renovation.
The Kennedy Center has been ordered to pay more than $250K in legal fees to a jazz musician who canceled a Xmas Eve show after the venue added Trump’s name, following a judge dismissing the Center’s lawsuit against him.
And today’s a big primary day, with folks in Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont, and Wisconsin all heading to the polls. Alabama is also holding a special primary for several U.S. House districts after redistricting, and South Carolina is holding a special Republican primary for the seat vacated after Lindsey Graham’s death.
There’s a lot going on. Stay tuned to the MeidasTouch Podcast and YouTube channel for more updates. And check back later today for Ron Filipkowski’s full bulletin with all the day’s news!
Let me know if you’ve preordered our new book, WTF America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy!
Shoutout to the Meidas Mighty!!!
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