The American Conservative Morning Briefing

A short morning synopsis of TAC's coverage

The American Conservative Morning Briefing is a commentary podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 104 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts The American Conservative Morning Briefing, a commentary show with 104 episodes published.

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  The American Conservative Morning Briefing

  August 19, 2026

  Aug 19, 20265 min

  Good morning! Today is Wednesday, August 19th 2026, and this is The American Conservative's Morning Brief. Day one hundred seventy-two of the Iran conflict brings no diplomatic movement, with President Trump declaring the Strait of Hormuz "New U.S. Territory" as the naval blockade tightens and Brent crude climbs above ninety-one dollars. George O'Neill Jr. delivers a scathing verdict on the second Trump administration's foreign policy, arguing that operations in seven countries have shattered the America First promise and exposed the fantasy of American military supremacy. Andrew Day dismantles the multiracial realignment narrative, warning that demographic shifts in states like Texas and Georgia are pointing the GOP toward a future that looks unmistakably like New York City. and now for the details. We begin with the ongoing conflict with Iran, now in its one hundred and seventy-second day. President Trump announced on Truth Social Tuesday that there are, in his words, no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic. The president also confirmed that the U.S. naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz remains in full force, and in a separate post labeled the strait as, quote, "New U.S. Territory." According to Kpler data cited by Reuters, only six commodity ships transited the strait on Monday. Iran's Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran will not reopen the strait until Washington honors commitments made in a June memorandum of understanding, including lifting the blockade, releasing frozen assets, and ending military operations. That memorandum's sixty-day deadline expired Monday. As Harrison Berger reports, Ghalibaf is leading a high-level parliamentary delegation to Iraq on Wednesday, as pro-Iran militias there face a September 30th deadline from Baghdad to disarm. Meanwhile, Syria condemned reported Israeli strikes on Abu Duhur airbase, and even U.S. envoy Tom Barrack called the strikes an unnecessary escalation. Brent crude closed Tuesday morning above ninety-one dollars a barrel, with the national average gas price at four dollars and seven cents. In a sweeping essay published Tuesday, George D. O'Neill Jr. argues that the second Trump administration's foreign policy has departed sharply from the America First, anti-forever-war promises of the campaign trail. O'Neill notes that the administration has now conducted military operations in at least seven countries, while the war against Iran, along with the continuing conflict in Ukraine, is exposing what he calls the fantasy of American military supremacy. He points to the failure of expensive American defense systems to protect Persian Gulf allies from Iranian missile and drone strikes, and observes that a nation one-fourth the size of the United States, with an economy smaller than the Pentagon's budget, can practically name its next targets. O'Neill also connects this to a broader pattern of institutional decay, citing the recently released Fauci diary entries, the ongoing secrecy around the Epstein files, and decades-old assassinations whose records remain classified. His conclusion: the rules-based order has become a pretext for elite interests abroad, and Americans, especially younger ones, are moving past skepticism into what he describes as righteous fury. Turning to domestic politics, a provocative piece from Andrew Day challenges the conventional wisdom that Donald Trump's 2024 victory heralded a durable multiracial Republican realignment. Day argues that the numbers tell a different story. Around 84 percent of Trump's 2024 voters were white, only modestly more diverse than Mitt Romney's coalition in 2012. And no Republican presidential nominee since Herbert Hoover has won a majority of any nonwhite racial group. Day points to the current midterm polling in Texas and Georgia, both now majority-nonwhite states, where white voters strongly prefer Republican Senate candidates but Democrats are projected to win, in Georgia potentially by double digits. He argues that countermajoritarian institutions like the electoral college and Senate malapportionment have masked the underlying demographic trend, but that these buffers are eroding as younger, more diverse cohorts age into the electorate. Day points to New York City, once ninety percent white in 1950 and now just thirty percent white, where Republican mayoral candidates have become, in his words, comic relief, and where socialist Zohran Mamdani won last year's general election. His forecast: the political future of the country, absent a serious Republican reckoning, looks a great deal like Gotham. Those are today's highlights. For the full stories and more, visit theamericanconservative.com. Thank you for starting your morning with us.

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  The American Conservative Morning Briefing

  August 18, 2026

  Aug 18, 20264 min

  Good morning! Today is Tuesday, August 18th 2026, and this is The American Conservative's Morning Brief. The 60-day U.S.–Iran memorandum of understanding expired Monday with Tehran denying any extension, as Iran hardens its demands to include war reparations, sanctions relief, and a full American military withdrawal from the region. On day 171 of the Iran War, President Trump threatened to bomb Oman if it "gets in the way" of a deal, even as Vice President Vance stressed cheap gasoline as the administration's top priority and Brent crude closed above $89 a barrel. Allum Bokhari argues Anthropic's lonely stand against open-weight AI models is less about safety than about walling off competitors, aligning the company with Democratic regulatory instincts and a familiar monopoly playbook. and now for the details. We begin with the Middle East, where the 60-day deadline on the U.S.–Iran framework peace deal expired Monday. That agreement, known as the memorandum of understanding, was signed in June by President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. It was meant to lock in a ceasefire, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and set the stage for talks on Iran's nuclear program. It fell apart within weeks. The Saudi outlet Al Arabiya reported Monday that Washington and Tehran had agreed to extend the ceasefire, but Iran's Foreign Ministry appeared to contradict that account. Spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said, quote, "We did not start any negotiations at all, and the U.S. violated the understanding from the very beginning; therefore, the 60-day issue is not relevant." As Harrison Berger reports for The American Conservative, the deal broke down after Iran accused the United States of opening an alternative shipping lane in the Strait outside Iranian management. Tehran struck vessels using that route, and Washington resumed its bombing campaign, with the most recent intensive round of strikes coming in late July. Berger notes that Iran's latest proposal, published August 8th, reflects a firmer bargaining position than what it accepted in June. The New York Times reports Tehran is now demanding the U.S. lift its naval blockade and sanctions, withdraw American forces from around Iran, pay war reparations, release frozen assets, and end attacks on Iran's regional allies. Staying with the war, now on day 171. President Trump told Fox News on Monday that if Oman, quote, "gets in the way" of an Iran deal, the United States will "bomb the s-word out of them." In a separate Truth Social post, Trump said the number one goal of the Iran War is ensuring that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon in any form. Those remarks appear to sit uneasily alongside comments from Vice President JD Vance last Thursday, who said the administration's "goal number one" is to keep oil and gasoline cheap for Americans. As Harrison Berger reports, Special Envoy Jared Kushner held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, a day after meeting Hamas's Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt. Meanwhile, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a weekend interview that Israel should be killing "thirty to forty" people each night in Gaza, adding, quote, "there are people there who are not worthy of life." On the economic front, the shipping analytics firm Kpler recorded 95 confirmed crossings through the Strait of Hormuz last week, but just three on Sunday. Yemen's Houthis said Monday they had targeted a Saudi military vessel and four escort ships in the Red Sea. Brent Crude closed above $89 a barrel, and AAA recorded the national average price of regular gasoline at $4.06 per gallon. Those are today's highlights. For the full stories and more, visit theamericanconservative.com. Thank you for starting your morning with us.

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  The American Conservative Morning Briefing

  August 17, 2026

  Aug 17, 20265 min

  Good morning! Today is Monday, August 17th 2026, and this is The American Conservative's Morning Brief. Chris McCallion and Daniel DePetris warn that the Trump administration is laying the groundwork for military action against Cuba, arguing the island is a collapsing state ninety miles from Florida rather than a genuine threat—and that invasion would trigger refugee flows and a Haiti-style descent into armed chaos. With the Iran war in its 170th day, Trump has ordered the USS George Washington to replace the troubled USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East, leaving the western Pacific without a single U.S. aircraft carrier as China's naval buildup continues. Peter Van Buren argues that America's health care crisis is not only about insurance but access, with nearly 11 percent of insured adults unable to get an appointment and a 1997 cap on Medicare-funded residency slots still throttling the supply of new doctors. and now for the details. We begin this morning with signs that the Trump administration is laying the groundwork for military action in Cuba, even as the Iran war grinds on. The Pentagon has reportedly been weighing military options for the island, and the State Department recently issued a report alleging that Havana is behind a decades-long campaign of subversion against the United States. This comes on top of a sanctions regime designed to starve Cuba of fuel, cripple its tourism industry, and shut down its medical missions abroad. President Trump has spoken vaguely about, in his words, "taking Cuba," and has pointed to January's special operation that captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro as a possible precedent. Writing for The American Conservative, Chris McCallion and Daniel DePetris argue that Cuba poses no real danger to the United States. They describe the island as a quasi-failed state ninety miles from Florida, with an economy hollowed out by a 64-year embargo, an electrical grid that barely functions, and armed forces shrunk to a negligible size. The biggest threat, they contend, is not Cuban aggression but Cuban collapse. McCallion and DePetris warn that an invasion would risk large refugee flows, an explosion of armed groups, and a Haiti-style trajectory into regional drug trafficking. They urge Trump instead to reopen relations and ease sanctions in exchange for Cuba cutting security ties with Russia and China—a diplomatic win, they argue, that would beat what they call a gambler's approach to foreign policy. Turning to the Iran war, now in its 170th day. President Trump has ordered the USS George Washington to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East, a move that will leave the western Pacific without a single U.S. aircraft carrier. The swap follows reports of serious mental health and supply problems aboard the Lincoln, which had been at sea for more than 200 days without a port call. Several service members reportedly attempted to jump overboard. Central Command commander Admiral Brad Cooper visited the ship Saturday, praising the crew as a "strong team of high-achieving Americans." As Luke Nicastro reports for The American Conservative, Washington and Tehran now appear set to blow past the timeline for a comprehensive agreement laid out in the June memorandum of understanding—Monday marks sixty days since that document was signed. Meanwhile, the Houthis say they struck Yemen's military with ballistic missiles and drones in the Red Sea. The pulling of America's last Pacific carrier to sustain a Middle Eastern war raises hard questions about strategic priorities at a moment when China's naval buildup continues apace. To the home front now, and a look at what may be the quieter half of the American health care crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly 11 percent of insured U.S. adults could not get a medical appointment when they needed one in the past year—a problem unrelated to cost or coverage. Roughly 4 percent could not find a physician who would accept their insurance, and another 2 percent said providers were simply too far away, an especially acute issue in rural America. Peter Van Buren, writing for The American Conservative, describes helping a friend with a severe case of shingles who cycled through three emergency rooms and could not find a primary care physician willing to see her in under six weeks. Van Buren notes that Canada, often held up as a model, has its own access crisis, with a median wait of 30 weeks from referral to treatment and 17 percent of adults lacking a family doctor. He points instead to Denmark, which pairs universal coverage with voluntary private insurance and assigns nearly every citizen a primary care physician. Van Buren also flags a structural American bottleneck: the 1997 Balanced Budget Act froze Medicare-funded residency slots at 1996 levels, throttling the training of new doctors even as the population ages. His conclusion is blunt—coverage under any system is not the same as access. Those are toda

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  The American Conservative Morning Briefing

  August 16, 2026

  Aug 16, 20265 min

  Good morning! Today is Sunday, August 16th 2026, and this is The American Conservative's Morning Brief. A new trilateral defense pact signed in Mecca by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey signals that the Middle East's heaviest hitters are quietly moving to diversify away from American protection. As the war with Iran drags into its 169th day, President Trump vows to declare the Strait of Hormuz U.S. territory while dismissing morale concerns aboard the long-deployed USS Abraham Lincoln. Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon kill at least 11, including women and children, as Defense Minister Katz declares Israel will not withdraw from occupied "security zones" in Lebanon, Syria, or Gaza. and now for the details. We begin this morning in the Middle East, where a significant realignment is taking shape. On August 7th, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Mecca to sign a new trilateral defense pact. The agreement brings together three of the region's heaviest hitters: Turkey, which fields NATO's second-largest army; Pakistan, the only Muslim nation with a nuclear arsenal; and Saudi Arabia, the world's leading oil producer. Pakistan's foreign ministry says an attack on any one of the three will be regarded as an attack on all — language that echoes NATO's famous Article 5. As Ted Snider writes for The American Conservative, the pact leaves important questions unanswered — not least what concrete support each party would actually provide, and how these new commitments intersect with existing alliances like NATO. But Snider argues one thing is already clear: the region's powerhouses are quietly signaling that they no longer view American protection as sufficient. Gulf countries were badly bruised by a war with Iran they had warned Washington against, and they feel abandoned by the failure of promised U.S. protection. Turkish, Egyptian, Pakistani, and even Omani officials are now openly calling for a new regional security architecture — what Pakistan's defense minister bluntly calls an "Islamic NATO." Erdogan has said the alliance is open to other nations, and Egypt is expected to eventually join. Snider concludes that while much remains uncertain, the diversification underway could offer one silver lining for Americans: it may finally facilitate the long-overdue U.S. military disentanglement from the Middle East. Turning to the ongoing war with Iran, now in its 169th day. President Trump said Friday that "pretty soon" he will be "declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States." Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister responded on Saturday that "the Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian," vowing that Tehran would continue to enforce its blockade. On Saturday, Iran attacked a tanker owned by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in the strait. As Harrison Berger reports for The American Conservative, President Trump also dismissed concerns about the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln following press reports of serious morale and mental health issues among its crew. Asked whether the Lincoln's more than 250-day deployment had gone on too long, Trump replied that it was "not nearly long enough," though he added the ship would be replaced soon. The war continues to weigh on American wallets: Brent Crude closed Friday at $88.52 a barrel, and AAA recorded the national average price of regular gasoline at $4.07 per gallon. In Lebanon, at least 11 people — including two women and three children — were killed Saturday in Israeli strikes on the towns of Ansar and Deir-al-Zahrani. Prime Minister Netanyahu said the strikes were a response to an earlier Hezbollah attack that he claimed seriously injured three Israeli soldiers inside what Israel calls its "security zone" in southern Lebanon. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the killing of "an entire family" in Ansar and denounced repeated Israeli violations of the framework agreement signed by Lebanon, Israel, and the United States back in June. Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri went further, calling Israel's military operations a "war of extermination." As Harrison Berger reports, Israel does not appear to be moving to end its occupation. Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that "under no circumstances will we withdraw from the security zones: not in Lebanon, not in Syria and not in Gaza." Hezbollah, which is not a signatory to the June agreement, has refused direct talks and warned that the U.S.-brokered deal could create conditions for civil war. According to the Lebanese health ministry, more than 4,300 Lebanese have been killed by the Israeli military since March. Those are today's highlights. For the full stories and more, visit theamericanconservative.com. Thank you for starting your morning with us.

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  The American Conservative Morning Briefing

  August 15, 2026

  Aug 15, 20265 min

  Good morning! Today is Saturday, August 15th 2026, and this is The American Conservative's Morning Brief. As the war in Iran enters its 168th day, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent promises unprecedented economic isolation while Ivan Eland argues the shift to sanctions signals a quiet admission that Trump's military campaign has failed. Susan Collins's path to reelection has narrowed sharply after Maine Democrats swapped scandal-plagued Graham Platner for former state senate president Troy Jackson, who now leads in every recent poll and prediction market. Scott Greer argues that AOC's dismissal of "Woke 1" as a past excess is a cynical rebrand, as Democrats from Zohran Mamdani to Wisconsin's gubernatorial contenders quietly carry the same radical commitments into 2028. and now for the details. We begin with the ongoing war in Iran, now in its 168th day. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters Thursday that new measures against Tehran are coming next week, describing what he called a combination of economic isolation "like the world has never seen before," along with a continued blockade of the Strait of Hormuz aimed at halting all traffic in and out of Iranian ports. Vice President J.D. Vance said keeping oil and gas prices low for Americans is now, in his words, "goal number one" at the White House. Brent Crude closed Friday at $88 a barrel, with the national average price of regular gasoline at $4.08. On the Iranian side, a parliamentary committee spokesman said Friday that Tehran has approved the general outline of a plan that would bar American, Israeli, and other so-called hostile vessels from transiting the Strait. As Harrison Berger reports, the human toll on American forces is drawing new scrutiny. The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, deployed for more than 250 days, is being sent home and replaced by the USS George Washington. Military Times and Stars and Stripes have reported multiple incidents in which sailors attempted to jump overboard, with crew members intervening to stop them. Meanwhile, Israel has intensified its bombing campaign in southern Lebanon. That pivot to economic warfare is the focus of a companion analysis by Ivan Eland, who argues the strategy is unlikely to deliver what the president needs. Eland writes that President Trump appears to be quietly acknowledging that the military campaign against Iran has failed, and is now shifting to what Trump himself calls a "low-key," longer-term approach centered on reopening the Strait of Hormuz rather than on further strikes. Eland notes the timing is telling. The shift coincides with public reporting that American missile stockpiles have been mismanaged and cannot be replenished quickly, and with maximalist demands from Iran's Supreme National Security Council, which is now insisting on an end to sanctions, lifting of the blockade, withdrawal of U.S. forces from the region, and even war reparations before reopening the Strait. Drawing on his own academic research, Eland argues that sanctions rarely achieve their political ends. Comprehensive multilateral sanctions failed to dislodge Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, and Iran, he notes, has open land borders and a maritime relationship with the United Arab Emirates that will blunt any economic squeeze over time. Sanctions, he writes, tend to rally populations around even odious regimes. His conclusion is blunt: rather than wait on economic attrition, the president should cut his losses and take whatever deal with Tehran he can still get. Turning to the midterm map, Senator Susan Collins of Maine faces a tougher reelection fight than many Republicans expected. After Democratic nominee Graham Platner suspended his campaign in July amid a cascade of controversies, Maine Democrats reloaded behind Troy Jackson, the former president of the state senate and a longtime logger from Aroostook County. As Spencer Neale reports for The American Conservative, Jackson has picked up Platner's populist economic message—calling for higher taxes on the wealthy and Medicare for All—without carrying Platner's personal baggage. Recent polling from Public Policy Polling, the University of New Hampshire, and Hart Research all show Jackson leading Collins by three to five points, and prediction markets on Polymarket and Kalshi give Jackson the edge as well. Neale notes that Jackson has repeatedly won reelection in rural, Trump-trending Aroostook County, complicating Republican efforts to paint him as an out-of-touch progressive. A story in the Maine Wire has raised questions about Jackson's personal life, but so far it has not broken out of conservative media. Neale writes that Collins's larger problem may be her own party—struggling to sell an unpopular war in Iran and facing negative marks on the economy—as a former logger makes the case for economic reform to Maine's working families. Those are today's highlights. For the full stories and more, visit theamericanconservative.com. Thank you for starting

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