Sunday Afternoon News Updates: Two Nuclear Sites on Fire, Trump Targets Epstein Allies, and the Cuba War Pretext — 5/17/26
Sunday Afternoon News Updates: Two Nuclear Sites on Fire, Trump Targets Epstein Allies, and the Cuba War Pretext — 5/17/26The Trump regime is running the same tired Ponzi scheme playbook and hoping you don't notice.
Hi all, Ben here. It’s Sunday, and as usual, there is a lot happening and so much that is slipping under the radar when it comes to the corporate media. Let me walk you through what we’re tracking this afternoon. Top stories:
Before I go any further, if you haven’t yet joined as a paid subscriber, consider doing so now by clicking here to support our work. This is how we grow. If you’re already a Meidas+ paid Substack subscriber, thank you for your support of pro-democracy media! Let’s get into it. Two nuclear sites hit in 24 hours… Where’s the coverage?Let’s start with what should be the biggest story of the weekend. In the past 24 hours, two nuclear sites in the Middle East have been struck, and the silence from corporate media is blowing my mind, though it’s not exactly surprising at this point. In Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation confirmed that a drone hit an electrical generator outside the inner perimeter of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant. UAE defense officials say they intercepted two of the three drones targeting the facility but were unable to stop the third. Authorities report no injuries and say radiological safety levels were not affected, but the facility was on fire, fire and rescue teams were responding, and this happened at a nuclear power plant. Then there’s Israel. A massive explosion near the Sdot Micha Air Base in Beit Shemesh, widely understood to be where Israel stores its nuclear weapons and missiles, sent up what looked like a mushroom cloud. Israel is calling it a “controlled explosion” at a civilian factory nearby. But here’s the thing: if you’re conducting a planned detonation near a nuclear weapons facility that’s going to produce a visible mushroom cloud, you tell the local population first. There was no such notice. Experts are raising serious doubts about the official explanation, and they have every reason to. Two nuclear sites in under twenty-four hours. Is it just me or should this be a much bigger story? The Cuba playbook: Same Ponzi scheme, different countryRight on cue, while the Middle East is literally on fire, what does the Trump regime do? It pivots as it always does. When one catastrophe becomes too much to manage, the machine generates a new threat, a new enemy, a new pretext. This time: Cuba. Axios published an “exclusive” Sunday morning claiming Cuba has acquired over 300 military drones from Russia and Iran and has reportedly discussed using them to attack the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, U.S. naval vessels, and possibly Key West. CIA Director John Ratcliffe flew to Havana just this past Thursday, ostensibly to warn Cuba against any aggression.
Within hours, MAGA Republican congressmembers from Florida — Díaz-Balart, Gimenez, and Salazar — were pounding the table about the existential Cuban threat, 90 miles from Florida’s shores.
But let’s slow down for a second, because there are a few things worth noting here. First, as former U.S. diplomat and intelligence officer Ned Price pointed out, the framing of this story is doing a lot of work. The headline screams “offensive threat” from Havana. The actual substance, buried deep in the article, is that U.S. officials are reportedly worried Cuba might respond with drones if attacked. That is a fundamentally different situation. That’s called deterrence. It is not a pretext for invasion — unless you need one. Second, where did Cuba get these drones? From Russia and Iran, according to the report. And who is Donald Trump? The man who removed thousands of U.S. troops from Poland, who attacked NATO, who lifted sanctions on Russia, and who stood aside while Russian ships sailed through what was supposed to be a blockade of Cuba. What did anyone think was on those ships? If you allow Russia to resupply Cuba and then act shocked that Cuba has Russian military hardware, you are either incompetent or you planned it this way. This is the Venezuela playbook. This is the Iran playbook. Generate a threat, get your media partners to amplify it, activate your congressional allies to demand action, and move the country toward another war before anyone can stop to ask what the plan actually is. The MAGA Florida contingent is already getting in position, probably calculating this will help close the gap with Latino voters who have been drifting away from Trump. It is cynical, it is transparent, and they genuinely think you’re too distracted to notice. This sort of “wag the dog” posturing may have worked in the past. I hope Americans see through it in 2026. In plane sightHere’s something else that should be getting more attention. Eleven U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft are departing the Middle East, heading toward Europe. This exact mass-departure pattern occurred a few hours before the strikes on Iran began on February 28th. It happened again last week before Trump reportedly called off strikes at the last minute.
Operation Epic Fury has been declared “concluded.” But concluded doesn’t mean over. It means the next phase hasn’t been officially named yet. We’ll be watching this closely. Trump’s Epstein revenge tourLet’s talk about Rep. Thomas Massie. Trump posted a full-throated attack on the Kentucky congressman Sunday, calling him the worst Republican in history and urging Kentucky voters to throw him out in Tuesday’s primary. The stated reason is that Massie voted against tax cuts and border wall funding. But we all know the real reason. Massie, along with Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Nancy Mace, pushed hard for the release of the Epstein files. They wanted transparency on the child sex trafficking network those files could expose. Trump privately told allies those were “my friends.” And then, systematically, Trump and the MAGA apparatus turned on every single one of them. Think about what has been unleashed against Massie simply because he dared push for that release. Tens of millions of dollars in outside spending. Coordinated smear campaigns. Attacks from some of the most powerful figures in government and media. Members of his own party mobilizing to destroy him. And this is happening to a sitting member of Congress who is, in many ways, even more conservative than Donald Trump himself. Whether you agree with Massie on anything else is beside the point entirely. Because if this is what happens to a powerful elected official with a national platform and millions of supporters when he challenges entrenched interests, imagine what Epstein survivors face when they consider coming forward. The money. The political power. The government connections. The defense and media apparatus. The coordinated intimidation. If anything makes clear why so many survivors remain silent for years, or never speak at all, it’s watching what’s being done to Massie right now. That right there tells you everything about who this regime is protecting and why. The DOJ is still focused on…the 2020 electionTodd Blanche appeared on Fox Sunday morning to tell Maria Bartiromo that the Department of Justice is “very focused” on determining whether the “right people” voted in the 2020 election. When pushed on whether there will ever be a definitive answer on whether the election was stolen, Blanche said he couldn’t promise that. Of course he can’t promise it. Because it wasn’t stolen. Sixty-plus courts said so — Trump-appointed judges, Bush-appointed judges, Reagan-appointed judges — all of them looked at the evidence and found nothing. But the DOJ isn’t looking for truth. It’s looking for a story. The “right people” language is not subtle. In MAGA world, the right people are the people who voted for Trump. That’s what your Justice Department is working on while Americans are worried about healthcare costs and grocery prices. While actual criminals roam the streets. While Epstein’s associates remain free. And meanwhile, Mike Johnson went on Fox to explain that kitchen table issues will have to wait until the Strait of Hormuz is open. The same Strait of Hormuz that was open before this administration started bombing Iran. You created the problem, you’re now telling us to be patient while you solve it, and you want credit for the solution. This is the participation trophy approach to geopolitics. The Senate Parliamentarian kicks Trump in the ballroomThe Senate parliamentarian has ruled that the Republican bill’s provision to spend $1 billion on Trump’s ballroom does not comply with the Byrd Rule, meaning it would require 60 votes to pass, not a simple majority. Senate Budget Committee Democrats confirmed the ruling Sunday, and Senator Merkley made clear that Democrats are prepared to challenge any changes Republicans make to try to get it through anyway. A billion dollars for a ballroom that was supposed to be free. In the middle of a reconciliation bill that’s supposed to be about fiscal policy. The parliamentarian at least had the decency to call it what it is. Whether Republicans try to jam it through another way remains to be seen, but Democrats have put them on notice. Ukraine brings the war home to MoscowFinally, Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks of the entire war overnight, sending more than 1,000 drones deep into Russia. At least four people were killed in the Moscow region, debris fell on Sheremetyevo, Russia’s largest airport, and Ukrainian drones flew over 500 kilometers from Ukraine’s border, penetrating the densest concentration of Russian air defenses in the world. President Zelenskyy confirmed the strikes and called them entirely justified, direct retaliation for Russia’s repeated ballistic missile and drone attacks on Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Ukrainian civilians. Experts say the scale of the strike makes clear Ukraine has the capacity to reach Russia’s capital at significant scale, bringing the reality of this war home to ordinary Russians in a way the Kremlin cannot ignore. Russia had launched 287 drones at Ukraine overnight, wounding eight people and damaging residential buildings across multiple regions. There is no peace process. There is no ceasefire. There is a war, despite Trump’s claims he would end it within 24 hours, and Ukraine is prosecuting it. That’s the update for Sunday afternoon. Let me know what you think in the comments. Ron Filipkowski will be back later with his full weekend bulletin, so stay tuned. Thanks for being here. JUST A FEW COMMENTS: Europe is actively turning away from the US because Trump is nasty and humiliating, Hogsbreth knows nothing but talks big, and the two real estate agents are useless idiots. Europe and Ukraine and even Canada are actively seeking other sources of weaponry - air, sea and land - besides what we try to sell them, and Ukraine has been busy building 10-year mutual security agreements with Gulf countries - Saudi, Emirates and Qatar - with numerous other countries lining up to get tight with Ukraine because they're getting no support from Putin's idiot in the White House. What we're seeing is an international political and military realignment caused basically by Trump's insanity. My Dad was a bombardier in the South Pacific, flying in a B-24 Liberator. He passed in 2009 and I, too, am grateful every day that he’s no longer here to see the country he fought for descend into madness and hate, led by a draft-dodging corrupt fascist. The DH served in the Army and he, too, shakes his head on a daily basis at what’s going on. I despair daily, having been on the front lines of the antiwar protests in the 60s and 70s. 🙏 Thankfully you had your father a long time. Mine passed in 1988, just a couple of months after turning 67. My dad's BG in England was the last one activated but when he got there in '44 he and his crew flew B-24s for the first 3 or 4 months (they all loved one particular B24 they flew 4 times) then they switched to all B17s, but they all loved that old B24 the most.I don't know too much about the Pacific but this is so interesting about the special place B-24s played there as opposed to B17s. They didn't ever look at themselves as heroes. They were doing the jobs they were trained to do. I despair also Carthago, but at least we can take comfort in knowing that unlike so many others, they survived the war, came home and had families, and didn't live to see this. I hope your father had a happy life. Mine did...just too short. It is unimaginable to me to think of the WWII vets that are still alive now. Under normal circumstances to still have my father be alive at over 100 would have been a miracle, but not today. To be in their late 90s or 100 only to see this? 😥 Dad never spoke of his experiences during the war. I know that immediately after Pearl Harbor, he enlisted on a drunken dare, knowing he would be drafted regardless. He was working in the DC Patent Office, wanted his choice of service and wanted to be a flier. Was sent out here (to California) to pilot school in San Bernardino, only to wash out because he was unable to even fly over the lines on the road. So they made him a bomardier. He flew for the Jolly Rogers, 90th Bomb Group. I have a tattoo of his plane's tail art on my leg. don't know if he'd be appalled or honored, to be honest. He and I really got into it over Vietnam, but he eventually came around. My brother has his medals, yearbooks and ribbons. The only thing he ever told me was that they used to drop crates of rocks for target practice for the real thing and he wondered if the enemy would think that the US had run out of ammo and had to resort to using rocks instead of bombs. Most of them never spoke about the war. My father enlisted because he told my cousin if he had to die in the War, he would rather die in the air and not the ground. He also had two years of college for accounting and had great math skills. They all wanted to be pilots but when they "washed out" from pilot training, navigator, bombadier were the next two jobs they were very skilled for. Our dads and the pilots were the Officers. Even if they were the greatest friends on the plane (and my dad's crew were extremely close), the NCOs would have to salute them at the base. The officers had their own barracks with other officers, even separate Clubs and dances. I have every one of missions. I have so much that was once top secret stuff from his base, I would read them eating a bagel at my PC. I knew things my father would have never known. I've been to his base. The control tower. He never would have gone there. I only wish I had asked my father or cared about this while my father was alive. I knew he flew, but he always said he was in the army because there was no separate air force. A friend's boyfriend saw a framed picture of my father in uniform, and he said "Your Daddy was part of the 8th Air Force. I said what's that?" It meant.nothing to me. But I.learned so much . The archivist at my dad's base me told me the most important person on the plane was the bombadier They needed to get him to the targets to "bombs away". Nav/bomb worked very closely in tandem.. If there were any bombs left (which there should not have been unless there was problem, they had to drop them over the English Channel. They couldn't land with live bombs. By the time my Dad died, it took me another 10 years to get my PC. Every bit of research I've done is for him. It really gave me my father back to me, and I was able to understand so much about his life from the happy go lucky kid before the war until he came home and my mother said he changed. They all came home with PTSD that was never spoken about. How could they not? Every flight they took off they never knew if it would be their last. The guy from.England.told me " they came in as young kids and left old men". My father saw so many friends blown out of the sky. I'm sure your Dad saw the same. In the late 60s my parents took a trip to Europe. In St. Paul's church in London they have a book or record.of all the American Airmen who died in England. My mother said she never saw him cry so hysterically. We can't possibly understand what they went through. And it was more than 20 years after the war when he went back. He would never believe what I did for him, or the fact my sister and I went to England to see his base,. We even went to the same pub he would have gone to. . I brought home some chunks from what little was left of the runway and buried them in the bush by his grave. 😥 time later. Main takeaway--more economic hardship for the U.S. due to massive presidential incompetence. Agree Getting to not just reporting the historical facts of the day but editorializing your opinions is very meaningful and separates Substack channels from MSM as MSNOW has shown Fight the propaganda state news channels(Fox Newsmax etc) with fire Reasons for voting for ANY REPUBLICAN are gone! DEBT & DEFICIT EXPLODING! ECONOMY CRASHING! HATE & CHAOS & NAME CALLING ENDLESS, MORE WARS! MORE ENEMIES! The Republican Party may not survive the Trump day of reckoning https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/politics/5860015-trump-republican-party-future/ CUBA was known as a HUB FOR CRIME & DRUGS when CASTRO came to power. The GAMBLING ORGANIZED CRIME thought they would continue...remember that JACK RUBY & LEE HARVEY OSWALD were connected. Instead CASTRO eventually ended the ORGANIZED CRIME REIGN...then the propaganda & misinformation began. Long time to carry a GRUDGE! Unfortunately certain elements are so enmeshed, they ignore the opportunities available that could have/should have recreated a viable relationship. Don't forget about the DONALD TRUMP - EPSTEIN READING ROOM! LIVE INSIDE the New Epstein Files Library in NYC https://www.youtube.com/live/r_rwB9GKJXk?si=hXBbkzx0U25rFA-n |
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