Number of U.S. Troop Deaths Suddenly Appears Lower on Pentagon Website  —  Three military officials and a Pentagon spokesman gave conflicting explanations for why the number of Americans killed in the Iran war had changed.  —  On Wednesday, the Pentagon reported on its casualties website …

‘A circular firing squad’: Senate GOP pushes back on Trump's tiff with Thune  —  President Donald Trump is escalating his war of words against Senate Majority Leader John Thune.  He's still not likely to get what he wants.  —  Trump on Wednesday told rally-goers in Georgia to “call John Thune” …

Poll: These Americans say they'd be disenfranchised by Trump's election law  —  Strength In Numbers is independent and reader-funded.  Paying subscribers get premium posts like weekly Deep Dive article, can access our community Discord server, and support the data collection and analysis work …

Trump Is Losing Patience Over an Iran War With No Clear End in Sight  —  President has grown skeptical of diplomacy and is in ‘revenge mode’ against Tehran, according to a senior administration official  —  WASHINGTON—President Trump was fed up.  —  During a recent meeting in the Oval Office …

Thursday was the worst day for DOJ.  So far.  —  The degradation of the Justice Department in the second Trump administration is clear, is having immediate effects, and will have long-term effects.  Just how degraded DOJ has become was on full display in the Southern District of New York on Thursday.

Trump's Tariff Runaround Defies the Courts and Common Sense  —  Effective tariff rates are going to change on Friday for the 45th time in the last 18 months — an average of once every 12 days.  Rates will ratchet up yet again next month if President Trump's recently announced 50 percent levy on some Canadian goods goes into effect.

How a Grieving Trump Decided to Back Lindsey Graham's Sister for Senate  —  The president initially backed a little-known congressman.  Then he talked to Gov. Henry McMaster and Ms. Graham herself.  —  The morning after Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina died, President Trump floated …

Knives are out for Vance in the GOP.  His allies say it's a coordinated ‘op.’  —  The vice president has faced a barrage of attacks recently that are unusual for their intensity and how early in the political calendar they are taking place.  —  Summary  —  As JD Vance prepares …

Vega Breaks Her Silence … On Thursday evening, Cecilia Vega, the first Latina correspondent on “60 Minutes” who was inexplicably fired by CBS News boss Bari Weiss, took the stage in New Orleans at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Conference & Expo.

GOP hawks urge Trump to go big as he weighs ‘massive attack’ on Iran  —  Republican defense hawks are urging President Trump to unleash major combat operations as the commander-in-chief weighs a “massive attack” on Iran.  —  These signals coincide with Trump's escalatory rhetoric …

CDC expands largest known U.S. cyclospora outbreak to 9 states  —  The newly linked states — Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania — join Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.  —  Summary  —  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has linked four additional states …

Poll: Republicans' gas price problem is even worse than it seems  —  Gas prices are high.  Americans think they're even higher.  —  Three in five Americans believe gas prices in their area have risen by more than they actually have, according to an analysis of new results from The POLITICO Poll.

Iran and the New Rules of Global Power  —  The Making and Unmaking of American Dominance  —  Robert A. Pape  —  On the night of January 17, 1991, television viewers around the world watched something they had never seen before.  Against the backdrop of a black sky illuminated by antiaircraft fire …

Democrats Prepare for Possible Election Clashes With Federal Government  —  Top officials overseeing state elections and law enforcement are stepping up plans to prepare for what they worry could be interference in the midterms.  —  Democratic state officials are ramping up their preparations …

Cops fume as Mamdani urges New Yorkers to take to streets to protest Netanyahu after arrest fail: ‘Edge of chaos’  —  Mayor Zohran Mamdani is telling New Yorkers to take to the streets to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits the Big Apple — and it has NYPD cops fuming.

Trump to meet Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday amid Iran escalation  —  President Trump will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday, the Israeli Prime Minister's office said in a statement.  —  Why it matters: Netanyahu has met with Trump …

The Mamdani Left isn't governing — it's clout-chasing  —  There was a time when politicians sought headlines because they had accomplished something.  Today, too many seek headlines simply to become the story.  —  America has entered the age of performative politics, where performance too often eclipses public service.

The hanging of an Iranian activist exposes a regime at the end of its rope  —  Iran's judiciary announced on Wednesday that it had executed 26-year-old Mehdi Khanaki, a law graduate accused of active participation in the nationwide January 2026 uprising and membership in what the authorities described as a “terrorist group.”

Democrats Lock Back In on Maine  —  Maine Democrats are on track to select a new Senate candidate later this week.  Their likely pick?  A former state lawmaker who lost the party's recent gubernatorial primary, has no federal political experience and has only three months to assemble a campaign against a 30-year Republican incumbent.