August 01, 2026

Good morning! Today is Saturday, August 1st 2026, and this is The American Conservative's Morning Brief. The Iran War enters its 154th day with Tehran striking a U.S. air base in Kuwait, claiming hits on Gulf oil tankers, and declaring the Strait of Hormuz closed, as Brent crude climbs to $88.50 and gas hits $4.11 a gallon. Second-quarter U.S. growth slowed to 1.5 percent while inflation runs hot, and the Bank of England warns that a prolonged war and $100 oil could force British rates higher. Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger, once seen as a 2028 Democratic hope, is alienating progressives, Republicans, and her own party at once as she tries to govern from the center in an age of insurgent politics. and now for the details. We begin with the ongoing Iran War, now in its 154th day. Iran struck Kuwait on Friday, in what Tehran called retaliation for a U.S. attack Wednesday evening that reportedly killed two adults and their toddler, and injured two other children. According to Iran's state news agency, IRGC suicide drones struck fighter jet shelters, satellite communication systems, and equipment warehouses at Ahmad Al Jaber Air Base. The Wall Street Journal reports the Pentagon is now rethinking the scope of its footprint in Kuwait. Iran also claimed to have struck two oil tankers Friday morning, and its Persian Gulf Strait Authority declared that transit through the Strait of Hormuz is no longer possible. CENTCOM disputes that, insisting the Strait remains open. But shipping tracker Kpler reported commercial crossings dropped from 22 on Wednesday to just 5 on Thursday, all of them using the Iranian route. As Harrison Berger reports, the Washington Post has documented that during July, U.S. forces hit at least six bridges and tunnels around the port city of Bandar Abbas, along with communications lines, a rail station, and a desalination plant. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has announced a new maritime coalition, joined by Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Sudan, and ten other nations, to confront the Houthis in Yemen. Exxon and Chevron both posted record second-quarter profits driven by the war's energy shocks. Brent crude sits at $88.50 a barrel, and the national average price of gas has reached $4.11 per gallon. The economic ripple effects of that war are showing up at home. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of just 1.5 percent in the second quarter, down from 2.1 percent in the first quarter, and well below the roughly 2 percent growth economists had forecast. Harrison Berger notes that while consumer spending held up, with personal consumption expenditures rising 2.1 percent, inflation continues to run above the Federal Reserve's target. Year-over-year PCE is up 3.7 percent, and core PCE, which strips out food and energy, is up 3.3 percent. Across the Atlantic, the Bank of England held its benchmark rate at 3.75 percent, with Governor Andrew Bailey warning that if the Iran War continues and oil prices remain above $100 a barrel, British rates will likely have to move higher. Turning to politics, Virginia's Democratic governor, Abigail Spanberger, is discovering just how hard it is to govern from the center in a polarized age. Six months into her term, the former CIA operative once viewed by the Democratic establishment as a reliable 2028 contender is watching her party swing toward the insurgent left, exemplified by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. As Spencer Neale reports, Spanberger has managed to alienate nearly every faction she's tried to bridge. She declined to back a Democratic push to replace Virginia Supreme Court justices after they struck down a mid-decade redistricting measure. She vetoed two immigration-related bills favored by progressives, then issued an executive order limiting state cooperation with ICE, satisfying neither side. She has defended tax exemptions for the data centers now dominating northern Virginia, drawing the nickname "Data Center Diva" from a fellow Democrat, State Senator Louise Lucas. A Virginia Commonwealth University poll found 72 percent of Virginians oppose those exemptions, and rural yard signs read "Grow Tomatoes, Not Data Centers." And on gun rights, Spanberger signed an assault weapons ban after her own attempts to soften its language were rejected by her party. Her approval sits at 44 percent. Neale draws a pointed comparison to former Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, who faced similar cross-pressures and ended up with his own national ambitions in limbo. Those are today's highlights. For the full stories and more, visit theamericanconservative.com. Thank you for starting your morning with us.