‘I Can’t Tell’

Good afternoon. This is the Final NOTUS newsletter for April 6, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

THE LATEST

The president is ready to destroy all of Iran’s bridges and power plants tomorrow. And don’t rule out the country’s schools and hospitals, Donald Trump said this afternoon at a wide-ranging press conference on the war with Iran.

Is the conflict winding down or heating up, a reporter asked. “I don’t know. I can’t tell,” Trump replied. The president’s deadline for a peace deal is tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET. If that doesn’t happen? “Stone ages, yeah.”

But also: “We won,” Trump said of the ongoing war. “They are militarily defeated.”

Some other eyebrow-raising moments from the president’s remarks:

• When asked about potential war crimes, Trump simply attacked the New York Times reporter who asked the question.
• Pete Hegseth compared the daring rescue mission of a U.S. airman shot down over Iranian airspace to the resurrection of Jesus on Easter.
• The president threatened to jail reporters as part of an investigation into leaks from the rescue mission.
• “If I had my choice,” Trump said, he would invade Iran to seize its oil reserves. “Because I’m a businessman,” he added.
• Trump also expressed interest in the U.S. collecting tolls on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. “I’d rather do that than let [Iran] do it. Why shouldn’t we win?”

THE ADMINISTRATION

The Trump administration notched a win at the Supreme Court after it sent Steve Bannon’s criminal case back to a lower court, placing Trump’s former aide and political ally on track to having his contempt conviction related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol dismissed.

The Artemis II astronauts set a new record for the furthest distance traveled by humans from Earth, NASA announced today.

• Crucially, NASA notes that agency officials back on Earth broke another record: they sent the furthest-traveling email in human history.

The Department of Education rescinded settlements aimed at protecting transgender students. Previous administrations agreed to the Title IX settlements, but the Trump administration said it would no longer enforce them. The department called them “illegal and burdensome” because they were based on gender identity and not biological sex.

THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

The ShamWow guy personally spent more than $94 a vote in his failed run for Congress in Texas this year, NOTUS’ Dave Levinthal reports. Offer Vince Shlomi spent over $300,000 of his own money in the Republican primary. He won fewer than 3,200 votes and came in sixth.

ON HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT

What’s easier: ending the partial government shutdown or flying around the moon?

Thank you for reading! Today’s newsletter was produced by Kelly Poe and Andrew Burton. 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.