WTF Just Happened This Week

Curated by Matt Kiser, WTF Just Happened Today

7.21.26/ Today in One Sentence
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth estimated that the war with Iran has cost taxpayers $37.5 billion so far as the Trump administration asks Congress for roughly $67 billion more in funding; ¶ New Jersey removed roughly 6,600 self-identified noncitizens from its voter rolls after a software error automatically registered them through the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission; ¶ the Trump administration withheld an additional $1.07 billion in federal Medicaid payments from California and Minnesota over suspected fraud; ¶ a federal appeals court rejected Biden’s effort to block the Justice Department from releasing redacted recordings and transcripts of his private interviews with a memoir ghostwriter; ¶ and Trump has pardoned nine companies in his second term to erase nearly $200 million in criminal penalties.

Today's Top Top Story
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth estimated that the war with Iran has cost taxpayers $37.5 billion so far as the Trump administration asks Congress for roughly $67 billion more in funding. Hegseth called the request an “urgent, necessary” infusion and warned that “without these funds, we face critical shortfalls.” The estimate includes some anticipated expenses through Sept. 30, but excludes damage to U.S. bases. Lawmakers, however, questioned why the Pentagon needs more money after approving a $1 trillion defense budget and about $75 billion from an earlier package remains unspent. Sen. Patty Murray argued that “the problem is not a lack of money, but poor planning” and warned that the conflict was “spiraling out of control again.” Gen. Dan Caine, meanwhile, acknowledged that “air power’s got limits” as fighting intensifies, the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, and the U.S. death toll has risen to 17.(Associated Press / New York Times / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / Reuters / Washington Post)

• Trump said the U.S. will “pretty soon” bomb Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain. Israeli intelligence believes Iran moved thousands of uranium-enrichment centrifuges into tunnels deep inside a mountain last year. Trump, however, acknowledged that the U.S. doesn’t have the transfer “on record” and said Iran has no nuclear material there, but nevertheless threatened to hit the site “very heavily.” Experts estimate that the facility sits beneath 300 to 450 feet of rock. It’s unclear whether U.S. weapons can even penetrate the site. (Axios / Wall Street Journal)

7.20.26/Today in One Sentence
Trump imposed 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods, invoking a never-before-used provision of a 1930 trade law in response to what the administration called Canada’s “discriminatory treatment of American products”; ¶ the Pentagon didn’t disclose three Iranian strikes on U.S. forces in Jordan that injured dozens of troops and damaged several helicopters until after a fourth attack killed two soldiers and left another missing; ¶ the U.S. launched a 10th consecutive night of strikes on Iran in an effort to reopen the Strait of Hormuz; ¶ the war with Iran has pushed the national average price of gasoline back above $4 a gallon; ¶ the Justice Department subpoenaed phone and text records from several New York Times reporters in an effort to identify confidential sources behind stories about security concerns involving Trump’s Qatari-donated Air Force One jet; ¶ Trump will stop flying on the Qatari-donated Air Force One while it undergoes “additional upgrades and enhancements” to be “maxed out”; ¶ a man set off fireworks and started a fire outside the federal building in Lower Manhattan; ¶ the Justice Department submitted its first-ever application asking the Alien Terrorist Removal Court to deport an unnamed noncitizen; ¶ Trump presented Spain with the World Cup trophy less than two weeks after calling the country “hopeless” and its people “bad people”; ¶ and Trump reportedly installed a life-size bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson in the White House Rose Garden.

Today's Top Story
Trump imposed 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods, invoking a never-before-used provision of a 1930 trade law in response to what the administration called Canada’s “discriminatory treatment of American products.” Canada’s restrictions on American alcohol and autos, however, were largely retaliation for tariffs Trump imposed last year. The duties will take effect in 30 days, leaving time for the two countries to negotiate, and will apply even to goods previously protected under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. Energy, potash, certain fish and minerals, and products already subject to national-security tariffs will be exempt. (Washington Post / New York Times / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg)

7.16.26/Today in One Sentence
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Jeffrey Epstein survivors after Sen. Thom Tillis said he would withhold the committee vote needed to advance Blanche’s nomination; ¶ the Justice Department refused to give New Mexico investigators unredacted Jeffrey Epstein records, leaving the state without the federal evidence it says it needs to investigate alleged abuse at Epstein’s former Zorro Ranch; ¶ the U.S. carried out a sixth consecutive day of strikes on Iran; ¶ Trump fired Seattle’s new U.S. attorney 54 minutes after after 17 federal judges unanimously appointed him; ¶ the FBI sent an evidence team to inspect the drained Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool for alleged vandalism even as four waterproofing experts say the peeling strongly suggests an installation flaw; ¶ Trump Media will sell Wall Street firms real-time access to Trump’s Truth Social posts; ¶ Trump promoted at least 21 companies on Truth Social within days of his investment accounts buying their stock; ¶ Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator was placed on unpaid leave after allegations that he used advance knowledge of more than a dozen of Trump’s speeches to make around $100,000 betting on Kalshi; ¶ and Trump is expected to use a primetime national address tonight to revive his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen and allege that China compromised U.S. voter data.

Today's Top Story
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Jeffrey Epstein survivors after Sen. Thom Tillis said he would withhold the committee vote needed to advance Blanche’s nomination. The hourlong Justice Department meeting came after survivor Dani Bensky testified that Blanche had ignored repeated requests to meet, and that the department’s release of Epstein records had exposed victims’ personal information. Blanche acknowledged that about 1% of the redactions required correction, but defended the review of roughly 3 million records, while Bensky said survivors deserved to be heard directly, “not dismissed and ignored.” While the meeting resolved one hurdle, Blanche’s nomination remains at risk as Tillis and Sen. John Cornyn continue to demand guarantees that the proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund cannot be revived. Tillis said he wants “definable, ratified, executed agreements,” not “a wink and a nod and a handshake.” (CNN / ABC News / Politico / Associated Press / New York Times / CBS News / Axios)

7.15.26/Today in One Sentence
U.S. forces struck Iranian military sites for a fifth straight day; ¶ House Republicans released their $95 billion plan to fund the Iran war, subsidize farmers, and revive parts of Trump’s stalled SAVE America Act; ¶ Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence testified during his Senate confirmation hearing that “I’m not an election denier,” but repeatedly refused to say Biden “won” the 2020 election; ¶ Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche faced five hours of bipartisan questioning over the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files and the settlement shielding Trump and his family from IRS audits; ¶ Trump ordered ICE to resume most traffic stops one day after the agency temporarily suspended the practice following two fatal shootings by agents; ¶ the Pentagon will start screening the testosterone levels of soldiers 30 and up; ¶ and the U.S. Mint began producing a $1 coin with Trump’s face to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary.

Today's Top Story
U.S. forces struck Iranian military sites for a fifth straight day. Central Command said an American aircraft fired Hellfire missiles into an oil tanker attempting to sail toward Iran’s main oil-export terminal after it ignored warnings. It was the first ship disabled since the blockade resumed. The military also launched three waves of attacks in the last 24 hours, including strikes on missile and coastal-defense sites on Greater Tunb Island. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard threatened to stop all oil and gas exports from the Middle East, declaring that they would be available “either for everyone or for no one.” (NBC News / Associated Press / New York Times / Washington Post / Bloomberg / CBS News / ABC News / Reuters)

• Trump is reportedly leaning toward expanding the war in Iran, including more airstrikes, bombing the tunnel complex at Pickaxe Mountain, or seizing islands near the Strait of Hormuz. He hasn’t made a final decision and remains reluctant to send ground troops, despite publicly threatening to “finish it off.” (Wall Street Journal)