September 06, 2026

Good morning! Today is Sunday, September 6th 2026, and this is The American Conservative's Morning Brief. U.S. envoys Witkoff and Kushner met with Putin in Moscow for three hours on Ukraine, with the Kremlin striking a positive tone as the pair prepare to head to Kiev. On day 190 of the Iran War, Trump dismissed the conflict as "small potatoes" while CENTCOM destroyed three Iranian tankers and the Pentagon polygraphed dozens over leaks. Fraser Myers argues the "Burnham Bounce" is real but fragile, propped up by progressive returnees to Labour while a fractured right and an unaddressed migration crisis loom. and now for the details. We begin in Moscow, where U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner sat down with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Saturday for more than three hours of talks on the war in Ukraine. No breakthrough appears to have emerged, though the Kremlin and Russian state media described the meeting in positive terms. Putin remarked that "whatever happens, such contacts are undoubtedly always useful," and a Russian envoy called it an "important peacemaking visit." The White House has yet to comment on the outcome, though President Trump said Friday that his envoys were bringing with them a proposal to end the war. Witkoff and Kushner are expected to travel on to Kiev on Sunday for talks with Ukrainian representatives—their first visit to the Ukrainian capital, though they have been to Moscow several times before. Ahead of the U.S. envoys' arrival, Putin declared a 72-hour pause on Russian attacks against Kiev, though not against other parts of the country. As Luke Nicastro reports, the visit—coming on the heels of an unusual trip to Moscow last week by CIA director John Ratcliffe—suggests the Trump administration is renewing its push to broker a ceasefire after months of relative diplomatic stasis. The Iran War has now entered its 190th day. In an exchange with reporters on Friday, President Trump sought to downplay the costs of the conflict, telling reporters, "A lot of people don't call it a war. I call it a military conflict because it's small potatoes for us. It's not a big thing." The president also indicated the U.S. may soon strike Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified underground site believed to play a central role in Iran's nuclear program. On Saturday, U.S. Central Command announced it had destroyed three Iranian tankers off Kharg Island in retaliation for an unsuccessful Iranian ballistic missile attempt on two American warships. Fighting also escalated in Yemen, where clashes between the Houthis and Yemen's internationally recognized government reportedly left more than 60 dead. Here at home, Luke Nicastro relays reporting from the New York Times that the Pentagon is aggressively hunting leakers to stem press coverage of munitions shortages. The Defense Department reportedly administered polygraphs to roughly 50 members of the military's Joint Staff in August, in what sources described as an effort not only to identify leakers but to intimidate others who might come forward. And triple A reported the average price of gasoline in the United States stood at 4 dollars and 15 cents per gallon on Saturday. Those are today's highlights. For the full stories and more, visit theamericanconservative.com. Thank you for starting your morning with us.