Why?

‘Why this war’ and ‘why now’ are two of the basic questions Donald Trump cannot answer. Or to be more precise, he will continue to provide a shifting set of answers, none of which or all of which may be partly true.

He can’t tell the difference.

The bottom line is Trump doesn’t know in a deep strategic sense what he is doing or why but he didn’t need answers to those basic questions to go to war on Iran. 

Maybe he just did it on a whim.

By contrast, while Trump provides the firepower and the fighting words, his self-described “junior partner,” Israel, knows exactly what it is doing as it systematically takes out layer after layer of Iran’s political and military leadership.

Israel’s goal is destroy Iran’s ability to threaten Israel’s existence for at least a generation.

So this is really Israel’s war. Trump is merely the “useful idiot.”

HEADLINES:

• Israel steps up airstrikes in Tehran, as Iran widens its response across the region (AP)

• US submarine sinks Iranian warship off Sri Lanka killing at least 80 and leaving dozens more injured (Independent)

• Trump Says Strikes Killed Leaders U.S. Saw as Successors in Iran (NYT)

• The US-Iran war has the markets on edge (BI)

• Can Donald Trump Win a War with Iran If He Can’t Explain Why He Started It? (New Yorker)

• Trump insists Israel did not force US hand on Iran attack as he meets German chancellor (Guardian)

• Netanyahu takes a gamble on American support for Israel with the war against Iran (AP)

• How Trump assassination attempts played into his decision to attack Iran (WP)

• Inside the US-Israel plan to assassinate Iran’s Khamenei (Al Jazeera)

• Trump Opens the Pandora’s Box of Assassination (Atlantic)

• Big Change Seems Certain in Iran. What Kind Is the Question. (NYT)

• One Man’s War (Foreign Affairs)

• What Is the Point of This War? (Bulwark)

• The long, sad history of U.S. regime change promises (WP)

• 5 takeaways from the first primaries of the 2026 midterms (NPR)

• Trump Administration, in Apparent Reversal, Tries to Continue Fight Against Law Firms (NYT)

• Confidential database reveals which items NPS thinks may ‘disparage’ America (WP)

• U.S. Opens Military Action in Ecuador Against ‘Terrorist Organizations’ (NYT)

• Gregory Bovino Is Now Under Criminal Investigation (Mother Jones)

• Supreme Court Sides With Religious Parents, Blocking California’s Trans Student Policy (NYT)

• Pakistani and Afghan troops clashed at multiple points along their expansive border as the United Nations ‌mission for Afghanistan warned that 42 civilians in the country had been killed so far in the six-day conflict. (Reuters)

• Anthropic upgrades Claude’s memory to attract AI switchers (Verge)

• OpenAI changes deal with US military after backlash (BBC)

• The A.I. Disruption We’ve Been Waiting for Has Arrived (NYT)

• Trump On Fence About Attending Ayatollah’s Funeral (Onion)