US bombs Iran for a 13th night as the Red Sea closes and oil holds above $100

World Socialist Web SiteJul 25

“Look, we’re locked and loaded,”Donald Trump, US President · signals readiness to order a further expansion of the bombing campaign against Iran

“a temporary data disruption”Sean Parnell, Pentagon spokesman · the administration's official explanation for the count of US war dead being quietly cut from 18 to 14

The socialist paper called the war a machine that is "strangling the world economy," cataloging hit railway bridges and civilian sites and casting the conflict as naked imperial plunder.

TruthoutJul 25

“They’re fudging numbers because they got us into this war and don’t know how to get us out,”Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) · accuses the administration of manipulating casualty figures to hide how the war is going

“These are the real facts. REPORT THEM!”Donald Trump, US President · downplaying the 18 troop deaths as low compared to other wars, disputing the cover-up narrative

The camp read the shrinking death toll as an admission of failure, quoting Sen. Ruben Gallego that "they're fudging numbers because they got us into this war and don't know how to get us out." Truthout also centered Fetterman as the Democrat who "cast the deciding vote" to keep the war going.

MSNBCJul 25

“his record fighting the scrappy militia is not impressive”MSNBC · argues Trump's threat to bomb the Houthis is unlikely to resolve the blockade given past failures

“everything, everywhere, all at once”Helima Croft, analyst at RBC Capital Markets · describes mounting pressure on oil markets that could push prices above the 2008 record of $146 a barrel

MSNBC treated the widening blockade as an economic emergency of Trump's making, calling the Bab al-Mandab move "a huge deal" and warning a regional war could push oil toward its 2008 record. It emphasized the human and dollar cost and Trump's "foolish war." [151][151]

PBS NewsHourJul 24

The center tier reported the arithmetic straight: the strait carries a fifth of the world's oil, "12 percent of all World Trade passes through the Bab al-Mandab," and Trump says he is "not in a hurry" despite the midterms. Brooks and Marcus named it "a 'forever war,'" a "Groundhog Day war" of threats and retrenchment.

The BulwarkJul 25

The anti-populist right cast the toll revision as a stain: the Pentagon "tried to erase these four service members from its official list," an act it called "extraordinarily petty and a strikingly callous one." The WSJ noted Republicans "stick with Trump" even as a war-powers measure drew four GOP defectors. [324][324][342]

ReasonJul 25

Reason framed the war as an unconstitutional executive project built on "a game of semantics," noting Trump avoided the word "war" to dodge the War Powers Resolution and that "American soldiers are still dead as a direct result of the conflict he helped instigate." [374][380]

BreitbartJul 24

The populist right ran the president's resolve, quoting his threat of an attack "Bigger than ever before" and Iran that "hasn't received enough pain yet." Fox aired Sen. Tim Sheehy's line that "we didn't start this war, we did not.

CBN NewsJul 25

“When they start blowing away communities one by one, we cannot let them ever even think about having a nuclear weapon, and that's what's happening.”Donald Trump, U.S. President · justifying an even larger threatened strike by casting a nuclear Iran as an existential threat

“do not count on things remaining quiet if you attack us. Do not count on a repeat performance because it won't be a repeat. The last (attack) was powerful enough.”Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister · warning Iran that any retaliatory strike will draw a far larger Israeli response

CBN covered the war approvingly through the nuclear angle, quoting Trump that "we cannot let them ever even think about having a nuclear weapon." The American Conservative's paleo wing broke sharply, tracking the "forever war" and reporting Iran's warning that "seizing another nation's assets... is an incendiary precedent." [506][517]

World Socialist Web SiteJul 25

The socialist read cast tariffs as "imperialist intimidation," arguing the Brazil levies were "nakedly political" tools to pressure a foreign court and install a Trump-aligned government, part of a "corollary to the Monroe Doctrine." [40]

The GuardianJul 25

“The shifting justifications alone underscore how Trump’s arguments are bullshit.”The Guardian · arguing the stated forced-labor justification is a pretext masking the real goal of reviving struck-down tariffs

In Alabama prisons, they call the forced labor “mandatory chores”.The Guardian · citing a specific euphemism to argue the US itself relies on and disguises forced prison labor

The mainstream-left camp treated the forced-labor rationale with open contempt, noting US prisons legally compel labor and that the pretext "truly takes the cake." NPR called it "a defiant Trump," and USA Today told readers to expect higher prices on clothing and shoes. [167][215][233]

Associated PressJul 25

“This is a blatant attempt to revive Trump’s illegal global tariffs under a different name”Sen. Ron Wyden, top Democrat on Senate Finance Committee · arguing the forced-labor rationale is a legal workaround to keep tariffs alive after the Supreme Court struck them down

“We don’t see anything in the market right now that’s pushing prices downward, and that’s a concern”Matt Priest, president and CEO of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers Association · warning that footwear prices will keep rising as retailers pass tariff costs to consumers

The wire tier explained the mechanics flatly, noting the breadth "suggests another motivation" of replacing the tariffs the Supreme Court struck down, and quoting importers who front-loaded shipments. The BBC asked simply whether tariffs "are working." [253][285][292]

(One America News: OAN framed the trade fight through Trump's grievance that "the United States of America is not a 'PIGGYBANK' for Europe," casting the EU tech fines and tariffs as a defense of American companies against foreign "robbing." [263][446]

Wall Street JournalJul 25

The free-market right framed it as legal improvisation, tracing how officials revived "Section 338 of the infamous Smoot-Hawley tariff law of 1930" and other dormant statutes to rebuild the tariff wall after the court struck it down. [339]

ReasonJul 25

“The action gives targeted countries no way to get the tariffs lifted by eliminating their supposedly bad behavior. And the whole thing establishes precedent for an 'automatic tariff generator' that Trump or a future president can deploy at will.”Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics at the Cato Institute · warns the tariff process gives no path to relief and sets a precedent for unchecked future executive tariff power

“The Constitution lodges the Nation's lawmaking powers in Congress alone, and the major questions doctrine safeguards that assignment against executive encroachment.”Justice Neil Gorsuch, concurring in the Supreme Court's February ruling striking down the earlier tariffs · cited as the constitutional principle the new Section 301 tariffs are accused of violating

Reason called the tariffs "likely illegal," built on "sham investigations" whose "findings were clearly predetermined," and argued they violate the major-questions and nondelegation doctrines. It reported the first lawsuits already filed.

Associated PressJul 25

The wire and center tier reported the calendar as a values contest between core constituencies, quoting South Carolina chair Christale Spain that "when South Carolina goes first... Black voters go first" and Nevada backers arguing "we are the battleground state." NBC and CBS stressed Iowa's fall and the delegate math.

MSNBCJul 25

“We have demonstrated that South Carolina picks presidents”Carol Fowler, South Carolina DNC member · arguing SC's track record of picking the eventual nominee justifies keeping it first

“Today’s vote shows that many party insiders have learned nothing from 2024. New Hampshire has a proven track record of testing our candidates with a rigorous, fair, and efficient process, yet those qualities did not prevail.”Ray Buckley, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair · accusing the DNC of repeating a 2024 mistake by again passing over New Hampshire

The mainstream-left camp tied the decision to the Supreme Court's Voting Rights Act ruling and Republican redistricting, quoting Debbie Dingell that the party must "not [be] abandoning people that... are being screwed by the Supreme Court." NPR emphasized the elevation of "racially diverse states." [139][164]

Fox NewsJul 25

“outreach to Latino voters, with whom President Donald Trump and Republicans made major gains in the 2024 election, handing Democrats major setbacks”Fox News · framing the SC-Nevada contest as a proxy fight over which base Democrats must shore up after Latino losses to Trump

“Today's vote shows that many party insiders have learned nothing from 2024. New Hampshire has a proven track record of testing our candidates with a rigorous, fair, and efficient process, yet those qualities did not prevail.”Ray Buckley, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair · accusing the DNC of repeating a 2024 mistake by again passing over New Hampshire

The populist right framed it as a Democratic "struggle" over identity, describing the choice as "a proxy battle" between "rewarding Black voters" and "outreach to Latino voters, with whom President Donald Trump and Republicans made major gains." [434]

TruthoutJul 25

The left cast Stevens as the corporate-establishment candidate compromised on ICE, quoting El-Sayed's camp that "the corporate establishment has closed ranks and made their pick." r/DemocraticSocialism grassroots derided Whitmer as an establishment, corporatist tool. [89][89][157]

MSNBCJul 25

The mainstream-left camp scrutinized the pro-Stevens machinery, reporting a covert influencer operation and dark-money spending, while NBC framed the endorsement as Whitmer seeing Stevens as "another leader who's focused on getting things done." [126][157]

Associated PressJul 25

“Michiganders need a fighter in Washington and there are few leaders with more fight in ’em than Haley Stevens”Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan governor · her rationale for endorsing Stevens the day before early voting begins

“The corporate establishment has closed ranks and made their pick – now, Michigan voters will get to make theirs”Roxie Richner, El-Sayed campaign spokesperson · casting Whitmer's endorsement as establishment consolidation against the progressive challenger

The wire and center tier framed it as a proxy fight for the party's future, quoting Whitmer that Stevens "has what it takes to win" and noting the contest "has touched almost every nerve on the political left," from 2024 blame to Israel and Gaza. [257][257]

BreitbartJul 25

The populist right read the endorsement as establishment panic, quoting the Michigan GOP that Stevens is "every bit as extreme as Abdul El-Sayed" and framing both Democrats as interchangeable. Fox led with the "moderate" label.