Today’s notice: Iran plans remain elusive. The latest White House press secretary goss. House campaign updates from Michigan and Pennsylvania. And: Darline Graham’s campaign cash haul.
THE LATEST
If there’s an Iran plan, it’s a secret. Two House Republicans told NOTUS that they weren’t given talking points on the current status of the war by the White House before they left Washington for their August recess. A MAGA influencer who had been invited to private briefings with Vice President JD Vance and other top officials said the outreach has ceased and information is scarce. And it’s been more than 100 days since the Department of Defense held a press briefing.
Left in the dark are Donald Trump’s political allies, who not only want to help the president sell the Iran war but desperately need something substantive to say ahead of the fast-approaching midterms. NOTUS’ Jasmine Wright and colleagues tell the story of how the White House’s messaging — or lack thereof — on the war is affecting Trump’s most high-profile foreign policy move.
Trending
“How do we finish the job? It has not been answered yet,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota) told us.
Over the past few weeks, Trump has told his advisers he’s willing to wait to see how a strategy to further isolate Iran’s economy takes hold, according to a senior administration official. They said the president’s hope is to outlast the will of the Iranians, whom Trump has called “crazy motherfuckers” in private. “This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale,” Trump posted last night.
The problem for the White House is that no one else seems to think this counts as a strategy. Maybe because no one has been told how it would work. “They have no clear plan, unfortunately,” a diplomat from a Middle Eastern country told NOTUS.
Open tabs: U.S. Debt Hits $40 Trillion as America’s Borrowing Binge Continues (NYT); Trump to be interviewed by Michael Cohen (MS NOW); Michigan Jewish Dems circulate letter endorsing Mike Rogers for Senate (Jewish Insider); Board overseeing Dulles Airport approves $15.5 billion to fund Trump renovation (WaPo)
From the White House
Scoop: Male spokesperson sought. Apply within. Trump has told close advisers he would prefer a man to fill Karoline Leavitt’s soon-to-be-vacant lectern, Jasmine and NOTUS’ Kadia Goba report. Among the men under consideration: CNN contributor Scott Jennings (Trump is not quite sold on the idea, a source familiar said) and Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary to George W. Bush.
Or, perhaps, Trump could go a different way entirely. One source close to the White House predicted that all of the attention on the presidential aide Natalie Harp could catapult her into the position.
Trump word cloud: We’ve got charts! Violet Jira reports that Trump has said the word “Biden” more than he has any affordability-related word at 311 transcribed public appearances where at least one of the words was used. “Iran” is the most common word the president has uttered. Behind the numbers: Despite overwhelming evidence that affordability is defining the current political moment, the president is often reflexively dismissive of the issue when he does talk about it, Violet writes.
“President Trump can walk and chew gum at the same time,” a White House spokesperson told NOTUS. “As a result, the Trump Administration continues to deliver on the President’s affordability agenda by lowering drug prices, reshoring American jobs, and cutting taxes while simultaneously touting a historic drop in violent crime nationwide and the most secure border in history.”
From the campaign trail
First on NOTUS: Democratic poll shows a real race in Michigan’s 7th. Fresh numbers from House Majority PAC find Democratic nominee William Lawrence at 49% and Republican Rep. Tom Barrett at 47%. The poll had Barrett’s favorability rating in the district underwater, 35-47, and Trump’s at 43-53.
After the Democratic establishment wing could not pick between two candidates in the primary, progressive challenger Lawrence won the Democratic nomination to take on Barrett, who was elected to his seat by a 4-point margin in 2024. (Trump won the district by around 1 point.) The district is widely rated as a toss-up, and a prime Democratic pickup opportunity, but many see Lawrence’s win as giving Barrett some breathing room. Lawrence said after the primary that he let his DSA membership lapse to focus on uniting Democrats around his candidacy. As has been the case in many races this cycle, data centers have emerged as a central campaign focus.
Speaking of data centers, NOTUS’ Reese Gorman asked Speaker Mike Johnson about them yesterday while he campaigned in Pennsylvania with Rep. Rob Bresnahan. In recent weeks, Johnson has been a data center cheerleader, speaking out against any federal action preventing them from being built. But on the trail, he told Reese the federal government should “yield to local and state officials” when it comes to data center policy.
Bresnahan echoed a growing bipartisan distaste for the projects. “There are some communities across the country that have embraced AI data centers, and there are some, just like here in northeastern Pennsylvania, that are vehemently against it for rightful reasons,” he said.
NOTUS PERSPECTIVES
Last Saturday, in response to a public invitation, about 1,000 people showed up in Meridian Hill Park to eat apples. Anusha Mathur of NOTUS Perspectives went to witness the scene — and concluded that it said something surprising about Washington in 2026. Plus: Matt K. Lewis argues that Reagan worship is obsolete, and it’s time for Republicans toanoint a new historical hero: Teddy Roosevelt.
NOTUS METRO
Sign up for our local newsletter, written by Martin Austermuhle and Zara Norman.
Local news: D.C. Gives High Schoolers More College Tuition Assistance Than Ever. Is It Enough? By Zara Norman
In Search of the D.C. Area’s Best Cheese Shops, by Tom Sietsema
Sports desk: The Incredible Baseball Life of Tommy John, by Thomas Boswell
NEW ON NOTUS
Sen. Darline Graham made a hefty campaign cash haul just days after being sworn into her late brother’s Senate seat, from chief executives, lobbyists and other prominent Republican donors. Some of them opened their wallets a little too wide, NOTUS’ Mark Alfred reports. Graham took in more than $24,000 worth of contributions over the max limit, according to an FEC letter to her campaign.
Graham’s campaign now has to return or redistribute the money, which accounts for 10% of her cash on hand.
NOT US
- Jolly, Nixon share the top of the Florida Democratic ticket. Can they co-exist? by Churchill Ndonwie for the Miami Herald
- Rural voters scramble Texas election, by Shelby Webb for Politico
- Americans have elected only 3 Black governors. This year, 8 major party candidates are on the ballot, by Bill Barrow and Steven Sloan for The Associated Press
BE SOCIAL
National park shade.
https://x.com/SenLummis/status/2090163189745099205
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The newsletter was produced by Thomas Burr and Andrew Burton. Photo by Jacquelyn Martin/AP.
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