July 24, 2026

Good morning! Today is Friday, July 24th 2026, and this is The American Conservative's Morning Brief. As oil surges past $100 and the House passes a war powers resolution, Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby struggles to defend an open-ended Iran campaign, asking the public for more time while dismissing concerns about depleted munitions. President Trump declares the newly unveiled Saudi civil nuclear deal contingent on Riyadh joining the Abraham Accords, though officials tell reporters normalization was never actually raised during negotiations. In Kiev, Zelensky's firing of a popular defense minister exposes a pattern of sidelining capable rivals, exploding Western fantasies about Ukraine's democratic resilience. and now for the details. We begin with the war in Iran, now in its 146th day. Brent crude oil surged past 100 dollars a barrel Thursday, rising 7.4 percent, after a twelfth consecutive night of American strikes on Iranian targets. Iran responded with strikes against Jordan and Kuwait. AAA reports the national average price of regular gasoline has climbed to 4 dollars and 9 cents. Adding to the pressure, Yemen's Houthis have declared a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia, claiming missile and drone attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. Shipping tracker Kpler reports confirmed crude transits through the Strait of Hormuz have dropped 75 percent. President Trump told Axios he is "considering a massive attack, bigger than ever before." On Capitol Hill, four House Republicans joined Democrats to pass a war powers resolution 214 to 208, directing the president to halt the war, citing the lack of congressional approval. As Harrison Berger reports for The American Conservative, the vote signals growing bipartisan unease as the conflict enters its fifth month with no clear endpoint. Staying with the war, Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's undersecretary of defense for policy, sat down this week with the New York Times' Ross Douthat to defend the administration's Iran strategy. Colby, once known as the architect of a China-first defense posture that treated the Persian Gulf as a secondary theater, is now tasked with selling an open-ended Middle Eastern campaign. Jude Russo, writing for The American Conservative, examines the interview closely. Russo notes that Colby waved off concerns about depleted munitions stockpiles, telling listeners the most significant capabilities are not in scarce supply, but declining to offer specifics. On the question of whether the war has become a stalemate, Colby offered only that "it remains to be seen." He asked for more time for the strategy—military force combined with sanctions and diplomatic pressure—to bear fruit. Russo argues that appeals to sanctions ring hollow given their long track record of failing to alter Iranian behavior, and that the stated war aims—denying a nuclear weapon and degrading Iran's military—commit the United States to what analysts call "mowing the grass" indefinitely. Russo's assessment: if this is the smartest case that can be made for the current course, it is not a reassuring one. President Trump announced on Truth Social Thursday that the recently unveiled civil nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia is "totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords." The agreement, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, would allow the kingdom to receive nuclear power reactors and possibly a domestic uranium enrichment facility, built by American firms. According to the reporting, Riyadh would not be required to submit to the International Atomic Energy Agency's Additional Protocol on inspections. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the normalization condition. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has repeatedly said his country will pursue a nuclear weapon if Iran obtains one. Harrison Berger reports for The American Conservative that when reporters asked why Saudi Arabia should be permitted a nuclear program while Iran is not, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the deal "absolutely puts America first." Berger notes that one current and one former U.S. official told Middle East Eye that normalization with Israel was never mentioned as a condition during the actual negotiations. Those are today's highlights. For the full stories and more, visit theamericanconservative.com. Thank you for starting your morning with us.