April 10th, 2026 | Weekly Issue
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Trump Says US Military Will Stay Near Iran and Is Ready for 'Next Conquest'
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Israel Army rebrands attacks on Lebanon to ‘Operation Eternal Darkness’
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President Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Thursday night that the US military would remain near Iran, prepared to take action until an agreement is reached, and that it was ready for its "next conquest," a warning that comes amid a very shaky ceasefire between the US and Iran.
"All US Ships, Aircraft, and Military Personnel, with additional Ammunition, Weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary for the lethal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially degraded Enemy, will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with," the president said.
Trump added that if the "shooting starts" again, it would be "bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before." He added that "In the meantime our great Military is Loading Up and Resting, looking forward, actually, to its next Conquest. AMERICA IS BACK!"
The president's post comes amid uncertainty over the ceasefire as Israel continues to pound Lebanon with airstrikes despite the US initially agreeing that the truce would include an end to the Israeli attacks on the country. At the moment, it does appear that a ceasefire between the US and Iran is holding.
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The US Knew Iran Ceasefire Deal Included Lebanon
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US officials were aware that a statement from Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the US-Iran ceasefire that was issued on Tuesday included a truce in Lebanon as part of the deal, according to media reports.
The New York Times reported that the US had already seen and signed off on Sharif's statement before he posted it. The initial post included a header that said "Draft - Pakistan's PM Message on X," causing speculation that the statement was actually written by the US, though a White House official denied that President Trump drafted it.
A diplomatic source familiar with the negotiations leading up to the ceasefire announcement told ITV News that Iranian and Pakistani officials ended the talks with the understanding that the US was aware that the truce also applied to Lebanon, contradicting claims from Trump and Vice President JD Vance that it did not.
Vance claimed it was a "misunderstanding" on the part of the Iranians that the ceasefire included Lebanon and said it would be "dumb" for Tehran to allow the negotiations to collapse over the issue, though he also insisted the deal includes a halt to Iranian attacks on Israel and the US's Gulf allies in the region.
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Trump's Total 2027 National Security Spending Will Exceed $2.5 Trillion
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The true total of US national security spending in 2027 will exceed $2.5 trillion, far beyond the already record-shattering $1.5 trillion military budget President Trump has requested, according to veteran defense analyst Winslow Wheeler.
Wheeler, who spent decades working in Washington for senators and the Government Accountability Office on national security issues, reached the figure by factoring in the Pentagon budget, military-related spending from other US government agencies, the national security share of interest accrued on the US debt, among other factors (full table of his work at the end of the article).
The White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has said that the $1.5 trillion military budget request for 2027 is a $445 billion, or 42%, increase over this year. The OMB said the $1.5 trillion includes $1.1 trillion in "base discretionary budget authority" for the Pentagon, plus a request for $350 billion in "additional mandatory resources through reconciliation."
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'Automatic' Draft Registration Begins in December
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On March 30th, the Selective Service System (SSS) sent the White House its proposed regulations for "automatic" [sic] draft registration for review and approval before they are made public. This is the first visible step in the transition from trying to get young men to sign themselves up for a military draft, to trying to sign them up "automatically" by aggregating data requisitioned from other Federal agencies.
This year-long process began with the enactment of the SSS proposal for "automatic" registration in December 2025. The new scheme is supposed to go into operation in December 2026.
The SSS has been keeping a low profile to avoid calling attention to its attempt to lay new groundwork for a draft in the middle of a major military escalation. The SSS hasn't issued a press release in the four months since the enactment of the "automatic" registration law, has no details of its plans for "automatic" registration on its website, and has delayed responding to my FOIA request for those plans. This has led to hasty and credulous reports in the last few days by journalists who saw the notice of the proposed rules but hadn't followed the legislation, didn't know to expect this next step in the process, and weren't aware of the widespread and increasingly organized opposition to this plan.
This isn't a Trump 2.0 initiative. Documents released in response to one of my FOIA requests show that the legislative proposal for "automatic" draft registration was drafted during the Biden Administration by the former Trump 2016 Oregon state campaign director, Jacob Daniels. Still at the SSS today, Daniels is one of the Trump loyalists who got jobs at the SSS during Trump's first administration. But both support and opposition to Selective Service has been and remains bipartisan.
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At Least 254 Killed, Over 1,100 Wounded in Massive Israeli Attacks on Lebanon
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Israel Army rebrands attacks on Lebanon to "Operation Eternal Darkness"
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The ink was barely dry on last night's two week ceasefire with Iran when Israel began what was their largest scale attack on Lebanon since the war began, with IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee saying Israel carried out strikes on over 100 targets in just 10 minutes. Reportedly that involved 160 bombs being dropped on Lebanon
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz presented it as a "surprise attack" on hundreds of Hezbollah members, though reports indicate that Israel targeted sites in and around Beirut, across southern Lebanon, as well as in the Bekaa Valley, and no evidence was provided by Israel that the targeting was exclusively Hezbollah targets.
The very preliminary reports are suggesting a lot of non-military targets were struck in the course of this operation, with reports an attack on a funeral in Chmistar killed at least 10, and three girls in the coastal town of Adloun reportedly slain in another strike.
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NYT: Trump Launched Iran War After Being Briefed by Netanyahu at the White House
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The Israeli leader insisted Iran was ripe for regime change
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President Donald Trump has threatened to cut off arms sales to Ukraine if NATO members do not join his coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. While Trump halted military aid to Ukraine, he has continued to sell weapons to NATO members, who transfer the arms to Kiev.
According to sources speaking with The Financial Times, Washington was unhappy with members of NATO after President Donald Trump called on European states to join his "coalition of the willing" to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and no states signed on.
Tehran closed the Strait to most shipping after the US and Israel conducted a surprise attack on Iran.
The White House responded by threatening to halt weapon sales to Ukraine. After President Trump halted military aid to Ukraine, NATO established the PURL fund to buy American weapons for Ukraine. Ukraine has relied on Western military aid for its war with Russia.
As a result of Washington's threats, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte persuaded several European leaders to sign a letter stating their intent to assist in reopening the Strait of Hormuz. However, the statement was symbolic as none of the signatories agreed to provide military assistance for the operation.
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