MAGA Divide: Top U.S. Counterterrorism Official Quits Over Iran War
Plus: Meteor Explodes Over Ohio; Trump Says Newsom's Dyslexia Should Bar Him From Presidency
Good evening,
President Trump said on Monday he believes California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s dyslexia and learning disabilities disqualify him from being president.
The remarks drew criticism from advocacy groups. The National Center for Learning Disabilities called the statement “factually and morally incorrect.”
WHAT IS DYSLEXIA? Dyslexia affects reading fluency, spelling, and sometimes learning new languages. But according to the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, it has no connection to intelligence.
About 20% of Americans have some form of dyslexia, according to the National Institutes of Health.
MANY LEADERS HAVE IT: A study found that about one in three entrepreneurs identify as dyslexic. They were found to be more likely to delegate, excel in oral communication and problem-solving, and twice as likely to own multiple businesses compared to people without dyslexia.
WELL-KNOWN CEOS WITH DYSLEXIA: Business leaders like Richard Branson, Charles Schwab, and Tommy Hilfiger are dyslexic. Branson has said he considers it his superpower.
Historians also suspect past presidents may have had dyslexia, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson, and John F. Kennedy.
Laura,
Reporter
🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING
Top U.S. Counterterrorism Official Resigns Over Iran War
A top U.S. counterterrorism official resigned Tuesday over the war with Iran, marking the first major departure inside the Trump administration tied to the conflict and showing the divide in MAGA world between the isolationists and the more hawkish wing.
Joe Kent, who led the National Counterterrorism Center, said he “cannot in good conscience” support the war, and claimed in a resignation letter Tuesday that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
A veteran of the Iraq war, Kent also blamed Israel for the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.
OF NOTE: Kent was not in the Iran briefings. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt published a lengthy statement calling Kent’s claims “insulting and laughable.” Taylor Budowich, a Trump adviser, called Kent a “crazed egomaniac” who “just wanted to make a splash before getting canned.”
One senior White House official tells Axios that Kent was suspected of being a “leaker” and had been cut out of briefings with the president.
The source also said White House officials repeatedly told Gabbard to fire Kent, but she refused.
Kent himself is controversial (more on that below).
AS FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: The president defended the war with Iran Tuesday and said people who don’t believe Iran is a threat are “not smart people or they’re not savvy people.”
WHO IS KENT?: Kent was a controversial choice to lead the National Counterterrorism Center. He has been connected to white nationalists like Nick Fuentes in recent years and pushed conspiracy theories related to Trump assassination attempts, January 6th, and the 2020 election.
While running for a House seat in Washington state, Kent suggested Secret Service agents may have been “in on” the 2024 assassination attempt against Trump.
Kent is close to Tucker Carlson, one of the most outspoken conservative critics of the war.
MAGA DIVIDE:
Kent’s departure highlights a growing divide within Trump’s political base between non-interventionist/isolationist MAGA and more hawkish voices. It also underscores increasing internal tensions as the war enters its third week, with the debate intensifying over both its justification and long-term strategy.
INSIDE KENT’S DEPARTURE
Kent reported to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, whose non-interventionist wing has been less influential with the White House in recent months. Gabbard interestingly ran for president for the Democratic Party in 2020. At the time, she sold merchandise that said "No War With Iran."
Gabbard issued a carefully worded statement Tuesday, saying: “Donald Trump was overwhelmingly elected by the American people to be our President and Commander in Chief. As our Commander in Chief, he is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat, and whether or not to take action he deems necessary to protect the safety and security of our troops, the American people and our country.”
FLASHBACK TO 2020 TULSI GABBARD:
Gabbard is set to appear before the Senate on Wednesday and the House on Thursday for annual hearings on U.S. threats. Kent’s resignation comes at a time when there are rising domestic security concerns, with recent attacks in Michigan, Virginia, and Texas being investigated as extremist or terrorism-related attacks.
POLLING: While Republicans are overwhelmingly supportive of Trump’s Iran operation— 85% said they support it in a Quinnipiac University poll from earlier this month— there is a vocal part of the MAGA base against the war.
Trump over the weekend outlined what it means to be MAGA:
“THEY ARE NOT MAGA, I AM, and MAGA includes not allowing Iran, a Sick, Demented, and Violent Terrorist Regime, to have a Nuclear Weapon to blow up the United States of America, the Middle East and, ultimately, the rest of the World. MAGA is about stopping them cold, and that is exactly what we are doing. GOD BLESS OUR GREAT MILITARY,” Trump posted over the weekend.
🚨 LATEST FROM THE WAR
Israel says it killed two top Iranian security figures in a targeted strike Tuesday: Ali Larijani, a key national security leader, and Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of the Basij paramilitary force.
Larijani was seen as the right-hand man of Iran’s late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the start of the war.
The United States put sanctions on Larijani in January in connection with Iran’s deadly crackdown on protesters earlier this year.
At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued to mock conspiracy theories about his death in a new ‘proof of life’ video with US Ambassador Mike Huckabee on Tuesday.
📝 IRAN WAR CHEAT SHEET:The Pentagon says approximately 200 U.S. service members have been wounded since the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran broke out, and 13 killed, as the war stretches into its third week.
📌 Iran struck a U.S.-owned oil tanker in Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday.
Over 500 tankers have been stuck by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz since the war began.
The disruptions have caused a ripple effect on the global economy. Gas continued to rise Tuesday to $3.79 a gallon, while oil rose to about $103 a barrel.
📌 President Trump said Tuesday that other NATO countries have rejected his request to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump previously said Monday that “numerous countries have told me they’re on the way” to help open the Strait.
📌 Iran also launched a fresh wave of attacks on the United Arab Emirates’ energy and transport infrastructure.
The strikes caused fires at the UAE’s Shah gas field and Fujairah Oil Industry Zone.
📌 The UN warned Tuesday that Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon may violate international law.
Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Britain issued a joint statement Monday saying that a ground offensive in Lebanon should be avoided.
⏳ THE SPEED READ
🚨NATION
Nebraska faces largest wildfire in the state’s history (NEBRASKA EXAMINER)
A ‘scorcher’ heatwave threatens records in California, Southwest (USA TODAY)
Illinois Senate primary race is test of Pritzker’s sway, Democrats’ views of ICE, outside spending (CBS)
Government shutdown may lead to airport closures, Trump official warns (USA TODAY)
Republicans are launching a voting bill debate that could last days or even weeks (AP)
Comer formally subpoenas Pam Bondi over Epstein investigation (THE HILL)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
Afghan Taliban says hundreds killed in Pakistani air strike on Kabul hospital (RFE)
French far right struggles to deliver decisive breakthrough (POLITICO)
Cuba will allow nationals living abroad to invest in and own businesses on the island, economic czar says (NBC)
1 in 5 UK university students ‘reluctant’ to share house with Jewish student (TIMES OF ISRAEL)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
Amazon rolls out 1-hour, 3-hour delivery as ultrafast shipping trend grows in the U.S. (CNBC)
Scientists say marijuana doesn’t ease anxiety or other mental health conditions (CNN)
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos claims Paramount created Warner Bros. regulatory challenge narrative that “didn’t exist” (DEADLINE)
Google scraps AI search feature that crowdsourced amateur medical advice (GUARDIAN)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Banksy’s face revealed in only known photos of the elusive artist (NY POST)
Mormon Wives halts filming after Taylor Frankie Paul involved in recent alleged domestic violence incident (PEOPLE)
Antitrust trial against Live Nation and Ticketmaster continues with states leading the charge (ABC)
Alabama’s Aden Holloway, the Tide’s No. 2 scorer, is arrested on a felony drug charge (AP)
ICYMI FROM THE 📲
In case you missed it… It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a .... meteor?
A loud boom and fireball streaking across the sky over Pennsylvania and Ohio on Tuesday morning — visible as far as Virginia and Canada — was likely a meteor, according to the National Weather Service. The meteor was bright enough to be seen for about 5½ seconds.
The object exploded north of Cleveland over Lake Erie. Meteorologists say the boom was caused by it breaking the sound barrier.
“Moving east of south at 45,000 miles per hour, the fireball — caused by a small asteroid nearly six feet in diameter and weighing about seven tons — traveled over 34 miles through the upper atmosphere before fragmenting 34 miles over Valley City, north of Medina,” Bill Cooke, who leads NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office, told NBC News.