Bad Things Happen

Good afternoon. This is the Final NOTUS newsletter for February 19, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

The Latest

Ten Days: That’s President Donald Trump’s new likely timeline for a decision on whether to take military action in Iran. He said as much, naturally, at this morning’s Board of Peace meeting.

• “It’s proven to be, over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran. We have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise bad things happen,” Trump said at the meeting. He later added: “Maybe we’re going to make a deal. You’re going to be finding out over the next probably 10 days.”
• What’s on the table? The Wall Street Journal reports Trump “is weighing an initial limited military strike on Iran to force it to meet his demands for a nuclear deal.”

The Hill

It’s everyone’s favorite time of year: State of the Union rebuttal/guest reveal time! Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver the official Democratic response, with Sen. Alex Padilla giving the Democrats’ response in Spanish. Sen. Rick Scott says he’ll bring Mr. Wonderful (“Shark Tank” and “Marty Supreme” star Kevin O’Leary) as his guest. No word yet on who will be brave enough to bring Timothée Chalamet.

• Rep. Sarah McBride told NOTUS’ Oriana González that Democrats’ behavior at last year’s SOTU was not “particularly helpful” and she was currently planning on attending because she didn’t want “Donald Trump to speak to a room of exclusively sycophants.” Oriana’s full interview with McBride will air Monday on the On NOTUS podcast.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee posted anearly 5-hour video of the deposition of Les Wexner, which took place in Ohio on Wednesday.

The Administration

DHS is directing federal immigration agents to arrest some refugees who don’t have green cards, NOTUS’ Jackie Llanos reports. Refugees who fail to file for a green card after a year of living in the U.S. are now subject to detainment, marking a major shift in policy.

• But refugees from some countries, including Somalia, are not currently able to receive permanent residency under a previous Trump policy change, putting them in a bureaucratic catch-22.
• A USCIS spokesperson said the agency was implementing the law: “This is not novel or discretionary; it is a clear requirement in law.”

The truth is out there. Trump (kinda, sorta) said that aliens are real by telling reporters former President Barack Obama revealed “classified information” when he said he thought aliens were real and then (kinda, sorta) walked it back. “I don’t know if they’re real or not, but he gave classified information, and he’s not supposed to be doing that,” Trump said.

An arts panel gave the green light to Trump’s ballroom vision. It helped that Trump had fired the entire Commission of Fine Arts last year and replaced the panel’s members with allies.

That’s Legalese

Les Wexner’s attorney had some words.

Thank you for reading! Today’s newsletter was produced by Kate Nocera, Matt Berman, Kim Breen and Christopher T. Fong. If you like it, please forward it to a friend. If someone shared it with you, please subscribe — it’s free! Got a tip or comments to share? Email us at finalnotus@notus.com.