Bulwark Takes

JVL and Catherine Rampell are going live to cover Trump's announcement that the Strait of Hormuz is open, the potential $20B Iran could get from the U.S., and Catherine's latest reporting on the White House blaming corporate greed for their economic woes.
Read more from Catherine's newsletter here: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/when-all-else-fails-just-blame-corporate-greed-greedflation
Read more from JVL's Triad here: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/a-trump-madman-theory-of-the-stock-market

Tim Miller gives his take to Nicolle Wallace on MS Now about Donald Trump’s escalating feud with Pope Leo. Tim breaks down president's lie that the pontiff said Iran should be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, JD Vance’s public posture on Catholicism, and the White House's easily debunked talking points to justify its Iran messaging. In between his fight with the pope, Trump also spent time trying to downplay sky-high gas prices and try to claim his ballroom is a national security concern.
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Sarah Longwell gives her take on the state of race in the early contours of the 2026 midterm landscape. Democratic candidates are posting eye-popping Q1 fundraising numbers, dramatically outraising Republican opponents across key Senate and House contests. But the picture is more complicated than candidate fundraising alone—while Democrats are surging at the individual race level, Republicans maintain a substantial edge in party committees and aligned super PACs.
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JVL, Mark Hertling and Andrew Egger are going live to cover Trump's announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, Hegseth's press conference, and the continuing war of words between GOP figures and the Pope.
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In this Command Post edition of Bulwark Takes, Ben Parker and Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling (Ret.) examine the growing gap between political messaging and military reality, focusing on how Trump’s public statements often differ from what the military actually executes. They also break down what a “blockade” of the Strait of Hormuz really involves and why it’s far more complex and risky than it sounds in political rhetoric. Finally, they turn to Ukraine’s evolving war effort, highlighting how drone warfare and battlefield innovation are reshaping modern combat.
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Read more from Mark's piece: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/what-a-blockade-in-the-strait-of-hormuz-really-means
Ben's book recommendation: https://www.amazon.com/Judgment-Tokyo-World-Making-Modern/dp/1101947101/?tag=bulwark08-20