SerpApi.Org
Good morning. It appears the U.S. and Iran are headed back to a full-scale war.
The deaths of at least two U.S. servicemembers in the Middle East over the weekend initially drew a muted response from the White House. But President Trump on Monday vowed retribution, posting on social media that “Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!”
Trump said he had given that directive to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, who launched strikes shortly thereafter.
Both Hegseth and Caine are headed to Capitol Hill on Tuesday afternoon to testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee, and what they say will be closely studied amid questions about how forthcoming the Pentagon has been about injured troops in recent weeks.
A Pentagon spokesman disclosed Monday for the first time that “nearly 100 servicemembers were deemed to have some degree of injury since July 7, 2026, 96% have returned to duty.” He said “the vast majority of injuries experienced were minor concussions.”
It wasn’t that long ago that the White House was hyping the possibility of a negotiated off-ramp with Iran. Just last week, Hegseth posted a video about testosterone testing U.S. troops.
The mood Monday became much more steely and grim, though.
Plenty of unanswered questions remain about the circumstances that led to the weekend deaths of the U.S. servicemembers. At least two of them were killed when an Iranian missile broke through defenses and hit a housing unit for U.S. troops in Jordan. With gas prices rising again and diplomatic options appearing to narrow, Hegseth and Caine could face more pressure to say how the war makes Americans safer.
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People and Policies I’m Watching
Capitol Hill: Pete Hegseth, Dan Caine and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins are to testify at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Trump’s wartime supplemental funding request, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET.
Trump’s Tuesday: The president is to greet Denison University student athletes at 10 a.m. and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at 11 a.m., followed by a bilateral meeting with him. He is to have policy meetings at 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. and greet House GOP members at 5 p.m.
What I’m Following
The new Air Force One is getting an upgrade. The White House said that the Qatari-gifted luxury jet was safe and that the work this fall would take about a month to complete. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that earlier this month the president left Turkey—following an international summit—on an older Air Force One plane in part because of concerns about the new jet’s defensive capabilities.
Trump said there’s no way Benjamin Netanyahu will be arrested in the U.S. The president pushed back against New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who had said he was exploring whether local authorities could take the Israeli prime minister into custody, citing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for him issued over alleged war crimes in Gaza. Netanyahu is expected to come to New York in September for the U.N. General Assembly. Meanwhile, Israeli intelligence believes Iran has moved thousands of uranium-enrichment centrifuges deep inside Pickaxe Mountain, a site Trump has threatened to attack.
Sen. Darline Graham said she plans to run for a full Senate term. The sister of the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham was appointed last week by South Carolina’s governor to finish her brother’s term, which ends in January. Trump has endorsed her, a leg up given the support he commands in the deep-red state ahead of what is expected to be a crowded GOP primary on Aug. 11.
What Else Is Happening
The New Jersey financier behind Trump Media’s pivot Into nuclear energy as America’s first family expands its business empire.Troy Jackson, the likely Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, succeeding trouble-plagued Graham Platner, is a logger and seasoned state lawmaker who finished third in the state’s Maine’s Democratic primary for governor about six weeks ago.Frank Bisignano, who runs the IRS, spied on colleagues when he worked at JPMorgan.Trump imposed an additional 50% tariff on certain goods from Canada, including wine, hockey sticks and cement.
What I’m Reading
The Iran War Is America’s Least Popular Since Polling Began (The Economist)The Charlie Kirk Killing and America’s Forgotten History of Left-Wing Terror (The Free Press)Troy Jackson Is Likely Maine’s Next Democratic Senate Nominee (Portland Press Herald)
About Me
I’m Damian Paletta, The Wall Street Journal’s Washington coverage chief. I’ve covered Washington for 22 years as a reporter and editor. I’ve covered the White House, Congress, national security, the federal budget, economics and multiple market meltdowns.WSJ Politics brings you an expert guide to what’s driving D.C., every weekday morning. Send your feedback to [email protected] (if you’re reading this in your inbox, you can just hit reply). This edition was curated and edited in collaboration with Joe Haberstroh and Michael Connolly. Got a tip for us? Here’s how to submit.
