September 03, 2026

Good morning! Today is Thursday, September 3rd 2026, and this is The American Conservative's Morning Brief. With Democrats poised to potentially flip the Senate this November, one man could hold their razor-thin majority hostage: Pennsylvania's John Fetterman, whose fervent backing of Israel and Trump's Iran war has already sunk his party's war powers resolutions at least a dozen times. U.S. Central Command struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets along the Strait of Hormuz as the Iran war entered its 187th day, with Trump dismissing negotiations and again floating regime change while Brent crude climbed to $95.25 a barrel. President Trump formally nominated Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao, a Vietnamese-born retired Navy captain and two-time failed candidate, to lead the service four months after John Phelan's ouster. and now for the details. We begin with the ongoing war with Iran, now in its 187th day. U.S. Central Command announced that American forces struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets along the Strait of Hormuz late Tuesday, hitting air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets, and communications facilities. CENTCOM said the strikes were a response to recent Iranian attempts against commercial shipping in the strait and against American service members. Iran had reportedly struck two Saudi supertankers on Monday, killing at least two people. Tehran retaliated with ballistic missiles and drones aimed at targets in Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain, and Iranian sources claimed the American strikes killed civilians, including at a wedding in Sirik. President Trump published a post on Truth Social Tuesday evening dismissing the idea of negotiations with Iran and again floating regime change as his desired outcome. As Jude Russo reports for The American Conservative, the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln put in at Pattaya, Thailand, after 250 days without a port call in the Persian Gulf region. Brent crude opened at $95.25 a barrel, and AAA reported a national average of $4.12 per gallon of regular gas. Turning to the midterms, now just over two months away. With President Trump's approval numbers slumping and the Iran War dragging on, polling suggests Democrats are positioned to take the House, and control of the Senate is also in play. Republican-held seats in Maine, Texas, Alaska, and Ohio all appear vulnerable, while Democrats are working to hold Michigan. If Democrats capture four of those five races, they would emerge with a 51-to-49 majority. But as Spencer Neale reports for The American Conservative, that majority may exist in name only, because of one man: Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman. Fetterman has broken sharply with his party, backing Trump's Iran war and staunchly defending Israel. He has voted against Democratic war powers resolutions at least a dozen times, single-handedly killing several. He's appeared on Fox News 56 times since the start of the year, and told NBC News in July that he'd switch parties if Democrats "officially become the anti-Israel party." A new Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Times, and Siena poll finds 73 percent of Pennsylvania Republicans view Fetterman favorably, compared to just 22 percent of Democrats. Neale writes that even if Democrats sweep the close races, they could wake up in January with a majority they cannot actually command. President Trump on Tuesday formally nominated Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao to lead the Navy, four months after the ouster of former Secretary John Phelan. In a post on Truth Social, Trump called Cao a "true warrior" and urged the Senate to confirm him swiftly. Cao, born in Saigon in 1971, served as a U.S. Navy officer with deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia before retiring as a captain in 2021. He made unsuccessful bids for the House in 2022 and the Senate in 2024, and was confirmed as Under Secretary of the Navy last spring, becoming acting Secretary in April. Spencer Neale reports that a date for Cao's confirmation hearing has not yet been set. Those are today's highlights. For the full stories and more, visit theamericanconservative.com. Thank you for starting your morning with us.