NORTHCOM's Shock Drone Admission, Nuclear Talk, and Trump's Latest Threat – 8/17/26
Monday Afternoon Updates: NORTHCOM's Shock Drone Admission, Nuclear Talk, and Trump's Latest Threat – 8/17/26Here's the news you need to know. So far.
Hi all, Ben here. I hope you all had a nice weekend. It’s Monday and there is A LOT happening. Before I dive in, I want to make sure everyone is subscribed to the MeidasTouch Podcast on your favorite audio podcast platforms, like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. We’ve recently received some emails from folks saying their podcast apps had erroneously unsubscribed them from the show, so make sure to check now. It’s free and only takes about 2 seconds, and brings you a ton of free reporting. OK, top stories:
If you haven’t yet, consider becoming a paid subscriber now. You’ll not only get access to everything we do here on the Meidas+ Substack, but you’ll also be supporting independent media at a time when it’s needed most. Here we go. Iran Just Flipped the Script on TrumpFor months, Trump has tried to act like he’s the one calling the shots, manipulating the oil markets, in my opinion, telling everybody a deal is juuuuuust around the corner, pretending he controls the Strait of Hormuz, and I could go on and on. Well, Iran seems to be done playing that game. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran is shifting from a defensive posture to what they’re calling “fully offensive,” and they are setting their own deadline. Iran says if the US and mediators don’t meet Iran’s terms in the next few weeks, the same terms that were laid out in the Memorandum of Understanding in June, they will go on offense. And we’re learning what that offense could look like. The IRGC has reportedly finished planning preemptive strikes against US and Israeli targets, per WSJ. One option on the table is going after the undersea internet cables that run beneath the strait, cables that carry a massive chunk of the region’s internet traffic. The WSJ says an attack on those cables would be akin to an “economic earthquake” for Gulf countries built on cloud computing and AI infrastructure. Another option for Iran is a ground incursion into Kuwait, where the US has bases. Trump’s Backchannel “Delusions”It’s Monday, so Trump did his best to try to manipulate the markets before open. He called Fox host Trey Yingst, who is currently based in Tel Aviv, and claimed he has a backchannel with the IRGC and that they are working closely on a deal. The IRGC responded quickly, telling Iran’s Tasnim that there are no talks whatsoever between the IRGC officials and American, and called Trump’s claim “fantasies that he is experiencing due to delusions and nightmares resulting from defeat and desperation in the war.” They also accused Trump of trying to manipulate the markets, and affirmed that the path forward is to implement the terms of the deal already agreed to. Trump’s reaction was to threaten to “bomb the shit” out of Oman if Oman gets in the way of any deal. If you are thinking “WTF,” I don’t blame you. Oman isn’t even negotiating with the US right now. They are working directly with Iran on how to manage shipping through the Strait. As a reminder, Oman was the original mediator the US selected back in February, and the Omani foreign minister said the deal negotiated then was actually stronger than Obama’s JCPOA. Then, Trump and Netanyahu decided to invade. And here we are. There are secondary effects to Trump’s threats that I want to highlight. Mainly, that they push Arab nations away from the US, and closer to adversaries like China. Republicans Brush It All OffMAGA lawmakers, meanwhile, have been going on Fox to run defense for the failed war. Rep. Pat Fallon dismissed the reports of dire conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying he trusts the Navy and doesn’t make much of the stories. Rep. Brian Mast admitted US stockpiles are being depleted, but brushed that off too. And they all continue to act like this war has been ongoing for decades, not started illegally by Donald Trump. And while they try to brush it all off, the markets certainly aren’t. The Treasury yields on the 30-year are now the highest they’ve been since 2007. NORTHCOM’s Terrifying Warning In a moment discovered by MeidasTouch, NORTHCOM’s Deputy Commander, Lt. Gen. Joseph Jarrard, told a conference that North Korea has successfully tested ICBMs capable of reaching anywhere in North America, and that China and Russia are developing weapons specifically to get past US defenses. He also admitted the US DOES NOT HAVE the capabilities or sensors to defend against a drone swarm attack on American soil. That puts Trump’s constant paranoia about his ballroom and the need for rooftop “drone ports” in a new perspective. Trump may be terrified we could come under a drone attack, and he wants to protect himself—not the country. To add to all that, a Telegraph investigation found Russia has built 10 secret drone bases within striking range of NATO territory, including within range of Warsaw.
A Nuclear Warning From MTG…Marjorie Taylor Greene made a post yesterday that went under the radar, but it caught my eye. She claimed that the Trump regime is discussing nuclear weapons in strategy meetings right now related to the war in Iran. Her comments in a vacuum are one thing. But there was also recent reporting from Fox that said the Pentagon is developing new tactical nuclear options for Trump, led by Under Secretary Elbridge Colby, shifting emphasis toward smaller battlefield nukes instead of long-range strategic weapons. As this news was all breaking, Trump posted again that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, in any way, shape, or form. Here’s What Israel’s Leadership Is Up ToJared Kushner spent four hours leaning on Prime Minister Netanyahu to move forward on Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan, and reportedly, Netanyahu wasn’t having it, citing his own upcoming elections and insistent Hamas fully disarm before any withdrawal. Remember, we’ve been told a ceasefire has been ongoing for months and months, but that data shows that the fire has never ceased. Meanwhile, Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said on camera that Gaza should remain “an eternal ruin” and never be rebuilt. And Netanyahu is running campaign ads with NYC Mayor Mamdani’s face next to the Ayatollah’s. Really despicable stuff. Meanwhile, In ChinaXi Jinping put out a statement earlier about “completing the reunification of the motherland” with Taiwan. That timing is not a coincidence. The US just pulled its last aircraft carrier out of the Pacific and sent it to the Middle East, because Trump’s war has stretched our military so thin we can’t hold down 2 regions at once. SCOTUS Tells Trump No Means NoLet’s end on some good news. The Supreme Court today announced it is REFUSING to rehear E. Jean Carroll’s $5 million lawsuit win, in a massive and final defeat to Trump over the issue. Enough, Donald. No means no.
That’s it for now. Ron will be back later with the full bulletin. And stay tuned for the brothers’ live episode of the MeidasTouch Podcast later today. And please tell me if you’ve preordered our book, WTF America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy. Preorders are a huge deal, so if you want to grab a copy, consider getting yours today (it’s available in hardcover, audiobook, and ebook). Thanks again and see you soon! Shoutout to the Meidas Mighty! Invite your friends and earn rewardsIf you enjoy Meidas+, share it with your friends and earn rewards when they subscribe. JUST A FEW COMMENTS AMONG MANY: Very nervous times we are living in - so fukked up - all because we have a whiny toddler running our country! WTF! I still cannot understand how that piece of shit won the election - shows the holes we have in our education and/or the holes in too many hearts! 🙄🤕 More likely holes in hearts. DJT is a selfish SOB and a hater, as is the entire GOP regime. He won because he told MAGAS he would lower prices which helps many industries. That he would include housing and medical care. In other words, he LIED! Surprise! I can't believe Republicans and Fox are trying to sane wash what is happening. Republicans need to put on their big boy pants and stand up to Trump. Trump shows weakness when strongly opposed. Congress and the Senate need to stop worrying about keeping their jobs through re-election, and start taking steps to stop Trump's insanity leading to unprecedented, destructive actions. I agree that we have far too many dumb, hateful people in this country. I have no proof and am not a conspiracy theorist, but I dont think Trump won all 7 swing states. I think there was some kind of election fraud and Musk was behind it. Of course the Dems never really investigated it. Take NV for example - a Senator and 3 out of our 4 House representatives (all Dems) won reelection. The one GOP won his House seat again. It makes no sense that if you just love Trump that you split your ballot and vote Dem the rest of your vote. Mine was not the only state that had this happen. Trump lost NV in 2016 and 2020, but wins it in 2024? Especially when many of our transplants are coming here from liberal California. I agree with you. They rigged the election. He never could have really won on his own. He had help first time around from Russia Now he's got musk in his deep pockets. Of course this was stolen from Harris. He must be stopped. Now Jail is waiting. With no toilet No food, worms at best. May He suffer the consequences of all his corruption. Murdered, con man, rapist, child rapist, pedophile, pathological lier, malignant narcissistic sociopath.... this is never ending He is going to bring war here to America. He has opened every door for this To happen to us They all are traitors to our country and must pay the price for crimes already committed I stand with you on this. I have been saying this all along. How could states that voted all blue suddenly vote rubber lips. I blame Harris for not digging into this. Instead she let the evil haters go ahead with their plans. Now look at the mess we are in. I think the Dems went along with this because: 1 - they have no spine 2 - they wanted a peaceful transfer of power. The same reason Ford pardoned Nixon, rather than have him go to prison like he should have. Brian Williams has a show on Netflix called Welcome Back, and Scott Galloway was a recent guest. His theory is that trump reached out to the disenfranchised young men in this country and promoted a message that spoke to them. Of course it was all BS, but it worked. He was all over the manosphere and got people like Joe Rogan behind him. Interesting thesis and one I’m inclined to believe. God help us… Yes. The main driving factors of support for Trump are racism and sexist. Mostly sexism, because it is the factor that unites all of his factions. They are united in wanting to strip women of all basic human rights and turning them into possessions. Like the Taliban have done in Afghanistan.'' Apropos of nothing but have you seen the IG reels of young women’s college dorm rooms? Decorated like either a nursery or something out of AD. Parents spending thousands of dollars. Generally Southern schools. Reinforces the notion that they’re just there to rush sororities and get their MRS Degree. Sound familiar? Just like the 1950s.'' Yes, agreed We should demand all men who have raped children and women, should be castrated All meds on the market to give prolonged erections ,should be ban from sale to the entire 50 states If you can't get it up, oh well, your problem !!! Men are pigs The biggest are in the White house, the gop, the Supreme Court They all should be castrated. That’s where Barron played a role in creating this abomination of an administration. Ditto! I CANNOT understand how he ever got elected in 2016! He lost me at “grab “em by the pussy! AND NOW, with all his lies and Tarzan-style, chest-pounding bravado “pretending he controls the Strait of Hormuz…Well, Iran seems to be done playing that game. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran is shifting from a defensive posture to what they’re calling “fully offensive,” and they are setting their own deadline.” And, “Marjorie Taylor Greene made a post yesterday that went under the radar, but it caught my eye.” …”But there was also recent reporting from Fox that said the Pentagon is developing new tactical nuclear options for Trump…” WTF has he gotten us into!?!?!? Meantime, he’s like the Tazmanian Devil, frantically running around Washington DC like a weapon of mass destruction, destroying our capital and WH, creating new dictator-style monuments glorifying himself, gawdy gilding everything in site, while he and his robber baron family and friends are bankrolling from the US coffers on the taxpayers’ money! It’s like we’re in some sort of surreal, bizarre Monty Python movie or a Gene Wilder/Mel Brooks freakish satire movie! Except it’s REAL! Someone needs to STOP HIM NOW!!!! Pretty please??? Count me in XXXX and XXX. I'm about sick of this everyday horror show. It gets harder everyday to listen to all the noise and not be able to just STOP HIM. He didn't win the election; how many Presidents have ever won in all swing states? There's now a revived effort for investigation of the election and Musk's interference, but it seems investigations always get stalled. To blame it on education goes back decades and decades. Do we educate racism out of children? Gullibility? Selfishness? Bigotry. Misogyny? Why do we constantly blame education, ie the teachers, for society's failures? Blame the parents or the voters themselves for their hatreds, their selfishness, their gullibility. I live in an affluent, well educated community in liberal Massachusetts that votes 60% republican. Mass. has always been one of the leaders in quality public education, many time the best in the country. I know college educated who support trump: doctors, teachers, nurses. What is the excuse for these people? When will we blame them, make them responsible for their vote? We are all adults. The trumpers support these policies by choice. They choose to remain willfully ignorant, they choose to turn a blind eye to the atrocities, the corruption, the lies, the violence. They could educate themselves as easily as the rest of us do by reading Meidas, The New Republic, The Guardian, Heather Cox Richardson and more. Many of these publications are free. They choose to ignore the truth. Lack of education has nothing to do with it, just a willful blindness and a refusal to see that right before their eyes. He also won because the corporate media did shit in covering him, his candidacy, and the election. But they were right on the Biden story. In MASSACHUSETTS: I've knocked on doors in "R" voting communities and received the response "WE ONLY VOTE FOR REPUBLICANS!" They close their ears and eyes! They ignore issues such as MEDICRE FOR ALL would save money and lives. A woman who was on a local school committee opposed buying new SCIENCE TEXT BOOKS to replace 20 year old SCIENCE TEXT BOOKS because she stated that SCIENCE HASN'T CHANGED MUCH! She ran for statewide office and REPUBLICANS voted for her. (She was defeated.) A Brockton resident ran for MAYOR and was defeated. Next election, she ran for PLYMOUTH COUNTRY TREASUREER - no qualifications. PLYMOUTH COUNTY has the largest pension program (it's the largest county), the office cost alone is something like $10 MILLION. The incumbent has won awards, rave review, lots of financial credentials... I listened to the DEBATE, she was fully unaware of the governing statutes...got a small number of "R" votes. (YES! It's boring to read the governing statutes, but you want the job? I looked them up!) When SCOTT BROWN lost election against ELIZABETH WARREN, I was out and about running errands and encountered local REPUBLICANS in mourning. So I asked "Did you know he voted for XX?" The reply was invariably "NO" I asked "Did you know he voted against YYY?" Again the response was "NO" ! SCOTT BROWN'S votes are public record and I posted them. (Remember that SCOTT BROWN filled Senator Kennedy's unexpired term, was elected because the democrat refused to campaign.) In MASSACHUSETTS, consider TODAY! We have 3 WEALTHY WANNABEE GOP FLUNKIES running for GOVERNOR who want to bring MAGA to MASSACHUSETTS! They refuse to condemn tRump's ICE GESTAPO THUGS and MASS GOP CHAIR AMY CARNEVALE stated " WE SUPPORT LAW ENFORCEMENT!" In the aftermath of the MINNEAPOLIS KILLINGS of US CITIZENS, all 3 MAGA BOOBS indicated they would wait for the REPORT - the one DHS has obstructed. REPUBLICANS alone generously funded tRUMP'S ICE GESTAPO THUGS and refuse to condemn their killings. And now they have ELECTRIC GLOVES? What could go wrong? Too many people have yet to figure out that DEPORTING WORKERS will create massive voids. And what of the MAGA BOOBS running for GOVERNOR? He didn't win the election; how many Presidents have ever won in all swing states? There's now a revived effort for investigation of the election and Musk's interference, but it seems investigations always get stalled. |
He also won because the corporate media did shit in covering him, his candidacy, and the election. But they were right on the Biden story.
More Questions than Answers
It's certainly a contrast to the email from "Donald John Trump" that snuck past my spam filter a little while ago where he's at a podium looking tree feet tall with golden rays of light beaming down on him from heaven. Spam filter, do your job!!!
Iran will go on offense. They know how to do it and they have no fear from the incompetent trmp and Hogslop. Mt concern is terror cells already in place here. Rapeublicans continue to defend the indefensible: the failed war, the ABE snafu. | China will make a move on Taiwan due to the incompetence of the trmp regime. This is beyond words. The USA, humiliated again.....our military "stretched too thin" is unacceptable. Impeach and remove from office the entire trmp regime.
Let's not pretend Trump isn't handing Taiwan to China on purpose. That's very naive.
What "purpose"? He has no purpose other than glorifying and enriching himself. Geopolitics is beyond his grasp.
Yes, this was the master plan right from the beginning
Since tRump 2.0 was installed, the USA is less secure, less wealthy, and less influential on the world stage. Are we GREAT yet?
We are definitely less safe. At this rate, we might suddenly find ourselves with terrorists bombing our cities...if so....Hey Iran. do us a big favor, stick to bombing places like Dallas, Omaha...like all the red cities. and of course, Margo lardo and the whitehouse but only if he's in it at the time.
You know...MAYBE that threat is what tRump's intellectually non-impaired handlers actually WANTED.... Such an attack could give tRump what would appear to be an apolitical motive for cancelling the midterms & would definitely take attention away from tRump's financial crimes and Epstein crime exposure . Hmmmmm... This is getting too complex for my poor little brain...
That thought certainly crossed my mind. Is this part of the P2025 agenda?
So much WINNING!!
Trump has made the entire world a much more dangerous place-all to enrich himself and stay out of jail.
We will be attacked
Our own border security is attacking Americans, no criminals, no one, but honest hard working people here for decades
We have to change the course, and turn on them
He looks exactly like what he is. A fat, unhealthy old man. My stepfather at 80 looked a hell of a lot better than this.
In the 19 months since that slimy snake oil salesman accompanied by his minions is slowly decimating this country. He is alienating our staunchest allies. Bringing us closer to full fledged war with every uneducated move. Everything he does is for self aggrandizement. He doesn’t give two shits, let alone one, about anyone. He and his cohorts should be tried for crimes against humanity!
Ben wrote:
That puts Trump’s constant paranoia about his ballroom and the need for rooftop “drone ports” in a new perspective. Trump may be terrified we could come under a drone attack, and he wants to protect himself—not the country.
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trump's gilded *ballroom* has ALWAYS been about protecting trump. He admitted back in March that the ballroom was basically a shed for his own private, protective bunker. I've never understood why this angle wasn't given more ink in the press at the time:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/03/30/trump-white-house-ballroom-military-shed-construction/89383496007/
As Ben noted, he only cares about protecting himself. Protection he needs due to his bloodlust and needless provocation to ignite wars and chaos, inviting justifiable retaliation (imagine what we would have done if another country had bombed our elementary school and killed students!), putting the rest of us in harm's way.
He's terrified because he knows he's earned justifiable retaliation going way back to his first term and his assassination of Soleimani.
He wants to make sure he's not the one who pays the price for his aggression. He's not only put that on the rest of us, I think he gets satisfaction out of doing so.
Well, I think the main purpose of his "ballroom" is to avoid eviction from the White House. He has no intention of ever leaving. We can vote him out or impeach him, and he won't go. He plans to go into his "ballroom" and fight everything and everyone trying to pry him out.
That too. And it's not as if we he didn't tell us this from the beginning, when he suggested the US may one day have a President for life, way back in 2018:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-says-maybe-u-s-will-have-a-president-for-life-someday
I don't understand why anyone is ever surprised or shocked at anything he does.
Totally agree. I remember, as do many others, that he remarked on several occasions that either he had no intention of leaving the WH or later, that he simply should have STAYED! And now he’s on a very dangerous and vindictive path, seeking revenge against everyone who dared to undermine his agenda and remove him from office or even criticize any of his decisions and actions.
trump never accepted a 'NO means NO" from a girl, a teenager, or a woman. Not in his line of pedophelia. "when you are famous LIKE ME, I can stick my tongue down any girl's throat or up any girl's Va JaJay. Because I am most famous of all" and if they say NO then I will threaten them with death to their entire family. when a girl like that foreign girl in 2000 when she was 20 and I was 50, boy did she love it. and I continually thank Ms Maxwell for the set up. they both flew down on my plane to spend 5 days with just me at Mar A Pedo. Oh did I mention that she was just 2 years older than my daughter. Hmmmm I was a strong 50 and she was just 20. What a great time. when you can't date your daughter you find her doppelganger. Very similar.
by the way a "NO from SCOTUS means nothing to me" "I will never admit I raped that E Jean whatever"
After the leak from MTG, I now know what my parents felt like during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
We would have drills and hide under our wooden/metal desks in school. Looking back, what a joke. I saw what the bomb did to the Japanese in Hiroshima and somehow I don't think the desk would have helped much.
Perhaps if you had a ballroom.
Yes. The ballroom would have been the answer.
And now it’s gun slaughters in public schools!
One of my earliest childhood memories was my mom freaking out over that. Talking about building a bomb shelter.
I'm just going enough that i don't remember it. My first vague memory of world events was the Kennedy assassination.
Our current situation is a disaster. We are all increasingly vulnerable to Iran and to Trump’s very close buddies in Russia and North Korea. Yet many Americans will still vote Republican.
Trump has put us in utter chaos and danger with all of our defenses down and nuclear abilities further firing our best people cause of bullshit loyalty he's totally put us in harms way because he's not allowing us to build up our defense instead running aimlessly and like a kid in a candy store with his family and whole effing cabinet. there should be not one millionaire rep that should be afraid of loosing their job nor recognition including corporate news to save this country from this sick bastard that's treasonous and corrupt. Meidas has reported and revealed so all you republicans reading this there's no lost pride to do the right thing and for those reps that aren't nationalist hmm Christians save our country and yourselves from the end of days that u created.