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Sunday, August 30, 2026
Biggest Oil Deal in World History + America Controls the Strait of Hormuz + Lake Ontario Is Now Lake America - micheletkearney@gmail.com - Gmail
Biggest Oil Deal in World History + America Controls the Strait of Hormuz + Lake Ontario Is Now Lake America - micheletkearney@gmail.com - Gmail
The White House
WEEKLY BRIEFING
Biggest Oil Deal in World History: U.S. Secures Majority Control of 65 Billion Barrels in Venezuela, America Controls the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Space Academy Commission Established, and Lake Ontario Renamed Lake America
In a bombshell announcement, President Trump declared that the United States has entered into the biggest oil deal in world history. At his direction, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth — working with Venezuela’s Interim President Delcy Rodriguez and through a partnership with private business — secured majority U.S. control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela at no cost to the American taxpayer. The deal more than doubles American oil reserves, greatly increases domestic oil supply, and is projected to substantially lower gas prices for Americans long into the future, while setting Venezuela on a course toward prosperity. The administration called it a Historic Transaction that strengthens the growing relationship between Venezuela and the United States.
On August 28, the White House released a comprehensive accounting of the administration’s naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — the world’s most critical oil chokepoint — confirming that the United States, not Iran, controls the passage. Since the blockade’s resumption in July 2026, U.S. forces have cleared Iranian mines from international shipping lanes, turned away 75 vessels attempting to breach the blockade, and facilitated the movement of nearly 1,500 commercial ships carrying 750 million barrels of crude oil — maintaining the free flow of global commerce while cutting off Iran entirely. Zero Iranian oil has been exported through the Strait since the blockade began. Iran is losing approximately $13 billion per month in revenue, triggering a domestic fuel crisis, currency collapse, and cascading inflation inside the Islamic Republic. Gulf oil exports have recovered to two-thirds of pre-operation levels under U.S. protection.
On August 28, President Trump signed an executive order establishing a Presidential Commission to design the United States Space Academy — a new NASA-led federal institution that will prepare the next generation of Americans for careers in space. Modeled after the nation’s military service academies, the Space Academy will combine rigorous technical education with leadership development, preparing graduates for military, civilian, and commercial space enterprise careers. The Commission — chaired by the NASA Administrator — will recommend governance structure, curriculum, service requirements, location, and a pilot program framework. The initiative directly supports the administration’s goal of achieving more than 1,000 annual space launches by 2030.
On August 26, President Trump declared a national emergency to secure the United States bulk-power system from foreign sabotage, invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The executive order cites foreign actors creating and exploiting cybersecurity vulnerabilities across the nation’s electricity infrastructure — threatening national defense, emergency services, and economic stability. The order generally prohibits foreign-produced bulk-power equipment and associated software, directing the Secretary of Energy to publish implementing rules. A prior complementary order preserved an estimated 17,000 megawatts of generating capacity — enough to power 12.75 million American homes.
Also on August 26, President Trump signed a proclamation to temporarily expand lean beef trimmings imports at lower tariff rates to reduce ground beef prices amid supply shortages. The 90-day measure — effective September 1 — caps imports at 100,000 tons per month of lean beef trimmings to be combined with domestic U.S. beef, and is projected to increase the overall beef supply by roughly 10%. American cattle herds are at their lowest level in 75 years, driven by drought conditions, wildfire-related feed shortages, and live animal import restrictions imposed to prevent New World Screwworm spread.
Immigration enforcement reached new heights. ICE made nearly 50,000 arrests in July — the highest monthly total of President Trump’s second term — as maximum enforcement operations continue to accelerate. Southern border apprehensions have fallen 94% below Biden-era monthly averages with 15 straight months of zero releases. The State Department is moving forward with what officials describe as the largest mass visa revocation in American history, targeting up to 200,000 foreign nationals. And in a sweeping terror action, the State Department publicly revealed that Portland Antifa groups have direct connections to Hamas and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, triggering a broad terrorism designation action against the network.
The General Services Administration disclosed more than $13 billion in suspected fraud involving approximately 1,000 federal contractors — a sweeping audit uncovering waste and deliberate deception on a historic scale. President Trump visited Texas, where his second-term results are dramatic: violent crime is down 13%, border apprehensions near zero, no overtime taxes on approximately 25% of Texas workers, and average tax refunds reached $4,344 — second highest in the nation. Treasury Secretary Bessent warned that an “economic D-Day is coming for Iran,” as Operation Economic Outcast sanctions target Iranian military procurement and petroleum traders.
On August 27, President Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America, directing the Secretary of the Interior to update all federal references within 30 days. The order notes that the United States supplies 9 of the 11 icebreaking vessels on the Great Lakes and has invested nearly $4 billion in the Great Lakes ecosystem over the past decade. Also on August 27, Karoline Leavitt completed her final day as the 36th White House Press Secretary — the youngest person ever to hold the position. President Trump called her “one of the best” ever to serve in the role, honoring her historic tenure and unwavering defense of the administration’s agenda.
Federal Court Rules Speech-Based Deportations Violate the First Amendment
Federal Court Rules Speech-Based Deportations Violate the First Amendment
Federal Court Rules Speech-Based Deportations Violate the First Amendment
The decision goes further than other similar recent rulings.
Saturday, August 29, 2026
Meditation of the Day The Courage to Stand in the Truth
Meditation of the Day
The Courage to Stand in the Truth
A brave man, who has produced that supreme act, that singular testimony to Christian truth which we call martyrdom, in one step passes from earth to heaven. No martyr sneaks into heaven like a thief; there is no martyr who stumbles into heaven as though he had been hurled along by a hurricane of prayer. There is no hesitation or dallying along the way for the martyr, that he might shine up just a little more for a fitting entry into the city of God. Rather the martyr sweeps into heaven like a conqueror coming home. That is precisely what he is. He has lost his life in order to find it; he has made the difficult choice of death in preference to desertion of the faith or of virtue. He has conquered death like his Master….
Such a man is certainly a man of virtue. He has stood firm in truth and justice, which is the very essence of virtue…. He is a brave man, for he has stood against the great evil of death in a private war for the divine good of virtue. He is a man of faith, for he has witnessed to that faith even at the cost of his life; and he is a man of charity, for the norm of friendship is sacrifice, and he has made the supreme sacrifice….
It takes courage to be human. It takes even more courage to be Catholic. And it takes still more courage to reach those sublime heights of Catholicism which are called sanctity. Or, to put it another way, courage is necessary for the practice of virtue. As a man becomes more and more virtuous, he faces more and more difficulties and so needs more and more courage. Man needs courage to face human life, for human life cannot be lived without virtue, without good habits, without reason being in command. By Catholic life a man steps above the limits of mere humanity; he must not only be human now, thoroughly human, he must be divinely human; his ends are no longer the ends of mere man but the ends of God.
Friday, August 28, 2026
Thursday, August 27, 2026
Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard wants Iran ‘off the map’, says wars on Turkey and Egypt are next | Middle East Eye
Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard wants Iran ‘off the map’, says wars on Turkey and Egypt are next | Middle East Eye
M: John Whitbeck
Transmitted below is a brief report on the electoral campaign platform of Jonathan Pollard, a traitor whose freedom was a first-term gift from Donald Trump to his most generous funder/purchaser, Sheldon Adelson, on one of whose private planes he "returned" triumphantly to Israel.
Hostility toward and contempt for the United States continues to be viewed as an electoral asset in Israel.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-spy-jonathan-pollard-wants-iran-map-threatens-war-turkey-and-egypt
Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard wants Iran ‘off the map’, says wars on Turkey and Egypt are next
[Salon] Comment on "Oil: The Donald And Demand Destruction" -
Comment on "Oil: The Donald And Demand Destruction"
We thank Alastair Newton for this comment on yesterday’s newsletter:
Following US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's 'elaboration' on Donald Trump's 'economic D-Day' against Iran Brent crude has slipped by around US$6pb. Given that no new sanctions were actually imposed, that Tehran has dismissed the whole caboodle and (perhaps most importantly) China has committed to retaliate if it is targeted with secondary sanctions, this may seem surprising. But strange things can happen in August when many fund managers are taking a break and this reaction feels very like the rapidly reversed rally Mr Bessent spurred last week in his equally dismal attempt to tame the bond market.
Reference to the bond market is very pertinent. The interest rate on long duration US government bonds (aka Treasuries) has been easing upwards for some time now but, unusually, this is not principally because of inflation expectations (even though these have recently started to creep up).
The substantive link between these two issues is a simple one, i.e. higher oil prices will drive up inflation which will then see investors demanding a higher return on US government debt, pushing what is known as the 'long end' (of the yield curve) higher still. This is precisely what Mr Bessent was trying to argue against last week - unsuccessfully even without the added complication of the threat of escalating economic pressure on Tehran.
Even before Mr Bessent intervention yesterday the FT's Katie Martin had written (on 22 August, in fact) of his bond market intervention as follows:
"Scott Bessent’s running battle with the bond market is starting to look like his boss’s war in Iran — started by his own hand with a tangled set of objectives, an underestimated opponent and an implausible path to victory. And like the conflict in the Middle East, we are all going to suffer its effects.”
That the two losing battles he is fighting have become increasingly entangled is therefore more than somewhat ironic.
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
Monday, August 24, 2026
Sunday, August 23, 2026
Saturday, August 22, 2026
Friday, August 21, 2026
[Salon] Iraq and Syria: a cautious courtship - ArabDigest.org. Guest Post
Iraq and Syria: a cautious courtship
Summary: Iraq and Syria have long distrusted one another but economic necessities and the Iran war are leading to a warming in relations.
We thank Winthrop Rodgers for today’s newsletter. A journalist and analyst who spent several years in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, he focuses on politics, human rights and economics and is an associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House. @wrodgers2
Iraq and Syria have had difficult relations for decades, first as estranged Ba’athists and then in the chaos of post-Saddam Iraq and the Syrian civil war. But new governments in both Baghdad and Damascus could provide an opportunity for a reset and revaluation of what positive ties between the two neighbours can mean for each other and the wider region. Supported by the US and based on new infrastructure that will embed a durable economic relationship, it is possible that Iraq and Syria are on the verge of a transitional era.
Since the fall of the Assad regime in 2024, Iraq and Syria have approached their early engagement with caution — and for good reason. Their recent history has given each side great reason to distrust one another.
For Iraq, the new Syrian leadership, which is made up largely of former jihadis and Sunni Islamists, was extremely suspect. In fact, Syrian Transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa spent five years in US military and Iraqi prisons under his old nom de guerre, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, during his time as a member of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Hardly the kind of figure Iraqi leaders would want on their doorstep.
For the new Syrian government, Baghdad’s cold reaction to the victory over Assad - in contrast to the enthusiastic welcome it received in other regional capitals - underlined the trust deficit. Iraq’s Shia leadership’s close ties to Iran are a major concern for Damascus, as is the power of Iraq’s resistance militias which fought on the side of Assad during the civil war.
Syrian Security forces thwart an attempt to smuggle a shipment of "advanced weapons" and missiles across the Iraqi border, intended for Hezbollah, 16 July 2026
Still, from this mutually distrustful beginning, green shoots of cooperation have begun to emerge. Two initiatives stand out. The first and immediately most impactful and important relates to oil exports. When the Strait of Hormuz shut down as a result of the US/Israeli-Iran War, Iraq lost its main route for exporting crude. Planners in Baghdad always knew that over reliance on a single export route was a risk, but they saw the total closure of Horumz as a remote enough possibility not to do anything to diversify their options. The war forced a reckoning.
Quickly, Iraqi and Syrian officials brokered a temporary deal to truck oil across the border into Syria, where it could be exported from the Mediterranean port of Baniyas. This led to further discussions regarding the future of the long defunct Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline between the two countries. On July 17, during Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s visit to Washington the two sides signed a deal for the US oil major Chevron to build a new pipeline to export Iraqi crude directly from the Kirkuk network to Baniyas. It is expected to take four years and cost US$15 billion to build. The new pipeline is viewed as a major achievement by both governments.
The second initiative relates to the route of the planned Iraq Development Road Project. Though it is not currently expected to travel directly through Syria, it will cross from Iraq into Türkiye near the tripoint between the three countries. As a result, the US$17 billion road and rail route between Europe and the Gulf will act as a trunk off of which trade can flow down many branches, including into northeastern Syria. This major piece of geopolitical infrastructure will further bind the region, although it will take time to build.
For now, the developing political relationship between Iraq and Syria is being midwifed by some of Iraq’s key powerbrokers, who have become increasingly visible in Damascus in recent weeks. First to arrive was Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, who was warmly welcomed on 3 August. Barzani is a fixture of regional politics able to carry messages and feel out relationships with lower levels of risk than the heads of government in Baghdad and Damascus.
More notably, the head of Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council Faiq Zaidan visited Damascus on 13 August. Zaidan, who exerts considerable influence behind the scenes, is often referred to as the most powerful man in Iraq. His engagement with the Syrian leadership is a strong indicator of Baghdad’s interest in exploring closer relations with Damascus.
The US has also strongly supported this détente. US diplomat Tom Barrrack, who oversees a sprawling regional portfolio, has explicitly linked the countries. “Iraq, Syria, and Turkey remain the strategic fulcrum upon which any enduring Middle East stability must pivot,” he said in June. This has gone beyond rhetoric, with US political and business involvement key to brokering the new Iraq-Syria pipeline.
While Washington’s presence in these early stages is welcome and useful, it will ultimately be up to Iraqi and Syrian leaders — across (presumably) multiple changes of government — for this to become a fruitful and positive relationship in the face of historical enmity and suspicion. For the moment, this development is fragile, transactional, and personalised rather than institutional. It will take time and positive experience for better relations to develop between Iraq and Syria beyond the blue sky thinking of a Tom Barrack, reactive responses to a crisis or the promise of future benefits.
The US/Israel-Iran War and its ultimate impact on developments poses its own complications and Iranian influence over Iraq could prove to be a poison pill for the Syrians. Moreover, domestic developments in either Iraq or Syria may precipitate crises that undermine the best of intentions. Issues like that of the remaining Iraqi nationals left over in Syria from the war against Islamic State (ISIS) could prove thorny, for example.
Nevertheless, the strategy of introducing greater economic interconnectivity in the region via durable infrastructure seems a practical and durable approach. Once the Baniyas pipeline becomes operational, it will be difficult for Baghdad to live without it, especially if disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz persist. Once goods begin flowing along the Development Road, it will be hard to imagine economic life without it. The subtle economic, political and logistical ties that begin to grow will begin to exert their own gravity, reducing that of past difficulties. There is a long road to get to that point, but optimists are beginning to see concrete reasons on which to base their hopes.
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