Trump Announces 10-Day Ceasefire Between Israel and Lebanon

Or, more precisely, it ought to be framed as a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah; i.e.: A commitment from Israel not to continue strikes on the Islamist terror group that has been a cancer in Lebanon for decades. President Trump: just had excellent conversations with the Highly Respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel. These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST…. I will be inviting the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu, and the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, to the White House for the first meaningful talks between Israel and Lebanon since 1983, a very long time ago. Both sides want to see PEACE, and I believe that will happen, quickly! President DONALD J. TRUMP (Truth). Ed Morrissey: The agreement didn’t resolve all of the chippiness from the Lebanese side, either. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (a Sunni and opposed to Hezbollah) celebrated the announcement and credited Trump with delivering “a central Lebanese demand” and their primary goal in the summit. President Joseph Aoun, on the other hand, refused to talk directly with Benjamin Netanyahu until after the ceasefire takes effect at 5 ET/midnight local time. Perhaps that may be due to Israel’s insistence on a ceasefire-in-place rather than a withdrawal (Morrissey). Full text of ceasefire: (Times of Israel).

New Round of Talks With Iran Could Happen This Weekend; ‘They've agreed to give us back the nuclear dust’

President Trump is clearly optimistic. Wall Street Journal: President Trump said the U.S. might hold discussions with Iran this weekend. “We’re very close to making a deal,” he told reporters outside the White House. He said he wasn’t sure the current two-week cease-fire in the war would need to be extended (Wall Street Journal). Trump on Thursday afternoon: The big thing we have to do is we have to make sure that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon because if they do, you want to talk about problems, you’d have problems. So very important is that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon and they’ve agreed to that. Iran’s agreed to that and they’ve agreed to it very powerfully. They’ve agreed to give us back the nuclear dust that’s way underground because of the attack we made with the B-2 bombers (Daugherty). Ed Morrissey: If true, and Iran follows through, then Trump just ended the gravest threat to global security in six weeks of war and a week of blockade. It’s the if that looms large (Hot Air).

War Secretary Hegseth Sends Message to Iran: ‘Choose wisely’

The War Secretary was joined by Adm. Brad Cooper. Hegseth rallied the troops and warned our enemy: to those troops, stay focused, block out the noise, stay aggressive. You are showing the world what it means to be an American warrior. You are making this building and the American people proud. We pray for you every day and we have your back in every way. And to Iran, choose wisely. I pray you choose a deal, which is within your grasp for the betterment of your people and for the betterment of the world (Fox). More from the War Department: Hegseth also reminded Iranian military leadership that it no longer has the ability to reconstitute its own forces because as part of Operation Epic Fury, U.S. Central Command forces destroyed the Iranian military industrial base. “You are digging out your remaining launchers and missiles with no ability to replace them,” Hegseth said. “You have no defense industry, no ability to replenish your offensive or defensive capabilities … you can move things around, but you can’t actually rebuild” (War). In yesterday’s press briefing Adm. Brad Cooper, complimented our ally and our Air Force: And there’s been no better teammate than Israel. Together, the four best Air Forces in the world, the Israeli Air Force, the US Air Force, and the Air Forces of the US Navy and US Marine Corps together met and exceeded our own military objectives over and over again (Centcom).

House Democrats Release Articles of Impeachment Against War Secretary Pete Hegseth

The formal Articles of Impeachment were put forward by Arizona Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D). The six articles close with the charge that Hegseth: Acted in a manner contrary to the public trust as Secretary of Defense; shaken public confidence in the integrity and ability of the Department of Defense (House). John Hinderracker at Powerline: This one is too stupid to warrant comment. I think everyone understands that impeachment is now a purely political act. Far from being guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors, Secretary Hegseth has offended Democrats by disagreeing with them on policy and by scoring one brilliant success after another, thus making them look bad. This impeachment effort isn’t going anywhere, but its filing is a reminder that if the Democrats take the House in November, as they almost certainly will, they will impeach President Trump and, probably, most members of his cabinet. They are that far gone in hate (Powerline).

California Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Steyer Reveals Plans to Jail ICE Agents

With Swalwell out of the race, Steyer is now the leading Democrat. In the latest poll from Emerson, Steyer is three points behind the leader, Republican Steve Hilton. Steyer is hard left—and is showing no signs of pivoting to the center. Fox 40: As Democratic candidates make moves to solidify their support ahead of the gubernatorial primary, Tom Steyer released a new plan that would take drastic steps to combat ICE — including jailing agents. The progressive billionaire candidate published a blog post Tuesday outlining his plan to push back against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He said it’s not enough for Democrats to “simply engage in rhetoric” and claim to stand against President Donald Trump’s administration. Steyer compared his plan to the way law enforcement fought the mob and called the federal agency a “violent extremist group.” “California must build a system that fights fire with fire,” he said. “To stop this authoritarian takeover, we must counter ICE head-on, and go after both their agents on the streets and their leadership within the Department of Homeland Security” (Fox 40).

California Teacher’s Union Endorses Steyer for Governor

The California billionaire is a product of elite private schools. The California Teachers Association had previously endorsed accused rapist Eric Swalwell. That didn’t go so well. Free Beacon reports: California’s largest teachers’ union has endorsed Tom Steyer for California governor, throwing its weight behind a billionaire hedge fund mogul who opposes school choice and sent his four children to a cushy San Francisco private school after himself attending one of the nation’s top boarding schools, Phillips Exeter Academy. The California Teachers Association endorsed Steyer on Wednesday, saying he has shown a “depth of commitment to educator unions we expect from all elected leaders.” It comes days after the 310,000-member union rescinded its support for now-former congressman Eric Swalwell following allegations that he raped and harassed multiple female staffers (Free Beacon).

Mayor Mamdani Makes Progress on Plans to Soak the Rich

Celebrating: “When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich. Well, today, we’re taxing the rich.” The plan will allow New York to tax second homes that are not the owners primary residents. It will certainly be one more reason to encourage the wealthy to wash their hands and find another market for their real estate investments. Fox News: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani celebrated a proposal to tax luxury second homes owned by the ultra-wealthy, a plan expected to generate at least $500 million annually. Earlier in the day, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled a pied-à-terre tax on luxury second homes in New York City valued at $5 million or more, allowing the city to impose an annual surcharge on ultra-wealthy nonresidents. The proposal is projected to generate at least $500 million annually, according to Hochul (Fox News). Mamdani is celebrating because he effectively pushed Hochul two or three steps further left, yielding to socialist mayor’s agenda. New York Times: Another factor in the proposal’s favor is that it is not being considered as a stand-alone bill; Ms. Hochul intends to include it in the state budget. Under that scenario, the tax proposal will not be voted on separately. It will instead be largely hashed out in closed-door negotiations between the governor and the leaders of the Senate and Assembly. That will make it harder for the tax’s opponents, including the Real Estate Board of New York, a powerful industry group, to lobby effectively against the proposal (New York Times).

NASA Developing Nuclear-Powered Spaceship

The news come from NASA head Jared Isaacman. Washington Times: The U.S. is developing a nuclear-powered spaceship designed by technology critical to deep-space exploration and national security, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman told The Washington Times in an exclusive interview this week. Speaking to The Times at the Space Symposium 2026 conference, Mr. Isaacman presented nuclear power and propulsion not as options but as necessities for America to dominate the 21st-century space race. Those technologies are critical to establishing a permanent base on the moon and to possible human travel to Mars, he said. “We’re going to get underway in 2028 with SR-1 Freedom,” Mr. Isaacman said. “The first-of-its-kind nuclear-powered interplanetary spacecraft.” The 2028 timeline calls for launching the SR-1 Freedom to Mars with a full payload of what NASA describes as “mass transport in deep space,” pushing even farther into our solar system, beyond Jupiter. “Solar power is 4% [effective] as you go past Jupiter,” Mr. Isaacman said. “You’re going to need nuclear power” (Washington Times).

Justice Clarence Thomas Warns of Progressivism’s Incompatibility With the American Experiment

Regular readers of our newsletter know well that today’s Democratic party is not the Democratic party of our parents or grandparents. The superb Supreme Court Justice highlights what is at jeopardy as one of only two major political parties embraces progressivism. Washington Examiner: He warned that it is “unclear” if the founding principles of limited government and individual rights will endure, pointing to the rise of progressivism, which began during Woodrow Wilson’s presidency in the 1910s…. “Since Wilson’s presidency, progressivism has made many inroads into our system of government and our way of life,” Thomas said. “It has coexisted uneasily with the principles of the declaration, because it is opposed to those principles. It is not possible for the two to coexist forever.” … “Progressivism seeks to replace the basic premises of the Declaration of Independence and hence, our form of government,” Thomas said. “It holds that our rights and our dignities come not from God, but from government. It requires of the people a subservience and weakness incompatible with a constitution premised on the transcendent origin of our rights (Washington Examiner). The full speech: (YouTube).

Gallup: Young Men Returning to Church

Many readers have heard, seen, read anecdotes of a surge in religious commitment. Now we have data. The latest research from Gallup reveals that young men are returning to religious commitment. That is true in two measurements: The self-professed importance of religion and the reporting on actual attendance of services of worship. Gallup: young men in the U.S. have now surpassed young women in saying religion is “very important” in their lives. Gallup’s latest data, from 2024-2025, show 42% of young men saying religion is very important to them, up sharply from 28% in 2022-2023. By contrast, during this period, young women’s attachment to religion has held steady at about 30%…. With the recent surge in their attachment to religion, young men have returned to the high point of their expressed religiosity of the past 25 years, roughly tying the 43% found in 2000-2001…. The percentage of young men reporting monthly or more frequent attendance at religious services rose seven points between 2022-2023 and 2024-2025, reaching 40% — its highest level since 2012-2013 (Gallup). Walter Russell Mead: Skeptics claimed that the supposed religious revival among young men wasn’t showing up in the polling. Gallup says otherwise. A shift is here, and it’s massive (Mead). More from Scott Pinsker at PJ Media: Clearly, something culturally significant is going on right now with young men (PJ Media).