July 22, 2026

Good morning! Today is Wednesday, July 22nd 2026, and this is The American Conservative's Morning Brief. Phillip Linderman reports that the battle over Trump's slim slate of career ambassadors is less about diplomatic expertise than about who truly directs American foreign policy—the president or an entrenched Foreign Service old guard. On day 144 of the Iran War, U.S. forces struck Iranian targets for a tenth night as regional mediators floated a ten-day ceasefire and the Pentagon acknowledged nearly one hundred American troops have been injured in recent weeks. Oil prices climbed above ninety-one dollars a barrel and gasoline hit a national average of four dollars and two cents, even as Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared the current situation "good for us.". and now for the details. We begin at Foggy Bottom, where a quiet but consequential battle is underway over who actually runs American foreign policy. President Trump has so far named only nine career Foreign Service officers as ambassadors, a sharp break from recent administrations, where career diplomats typically filled the majority of such posts. Under George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the split was roughly seventy-thirty in favor of career officers. Under Biden, sixty-forty. Even in the first Trump term, it was fifty-five to forty-five. This time, the White House is closely vetting each career nominee rather than deferring to the State Department's internal selection process. As Phillip Linderman reports, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the White House have concluded that the traditional pipeline is too heavily shaped by a Foreign Service old guard fundamentally out of step with the administration on foreign assistance, international organizations, and visa policy. Linderman notes that critics inside State are framing the shift as "partisan" and even invoking comparisons to the McCarthy era, quoting former CIA director Bill Burns. But Linderman argues the fight is not about expertise. It is about power—specifically, whether the president or the permanent bureaucracy directs American diplomacy. By elevating a new generation of officers focused on national-interest priorities, he writes, the administration is attempting a long-term reshaping of the diplomatic corps, one designed to outlast a single presidency. Turning to the Middle East, the Iran War entered its one hundred and forty-fourth day Tuesday, with U.S. forces conducting a tenth night of airstrikes on Iranian command centers, missile sites, and air defenses. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed retaliatory strikes on a U.S. military base and an Amazon data center in Bahrain, and reported attacks on radar and aircraft in Jordan. Kuwait again reported Iranian strikes on its power and water infrastructure. As Harrison Berger reports, Qatar, Egypt, Pakistan, and other regional mediators have now presented Washington and Tehran with a proposal for a ten-day ceasefire, which American negotiators are said to be exploring. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell acknowledged Monday that nearly one hundred U.S. troops have been injured over the past two weeks, following a New York Times report that the military had withheld the figures. In Israel, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told a conference Tuesday that "the current situation is good for us," adding that Israel has no interest in joining the campaign directly. President Trump, meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House, said Israel is "in the process" of withdrawing from Lebanon. Brent crude traded above ninety-one dollars a barrel, and AAA reported the national average price of regular gasoline has now risen to four dollars and two cents. Those are today's highlights. For the full stories and more, visit theamericanconservative.com. Thank you for starting your morning with us.