Politics and views in the United States

The U.S. strikes Iranian targets and Tehran retaliates, a Republican senator calls for the defense secretary to be fired and a GOP bill to lock the Supreme Court at nine justices fails in the House.

Transcript

Welcome to 2026 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

We are controlling the Hormone Strait.

We are bringing lots of boats out every day with millions of barrels of oil.

We are, for the most part, doing it without trouble.

Every once in a while, they shoot a drone.

President Donald Trump insists America is dominating the Persian Gulf after the U.S. struck Iranian military targets and Iran retaliated against American bases, Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has gradually increased, but tracking sites say it's still a third of the level before the war.

The Red Crescent says one U.S. strike hit a wedding, killing five.

On social media, Trump suggested renaming the strait after himself.

Retiring North Carolina Republican Senator Tom Tillis says Trump should fire Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Tillis, a pivotal vote to confirm Hegseth now accuses him of mismanaging the military and purging qualified and experienced officers.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll just resigned following repeated clashes with Hegseth.

The latest of the polls PNS is highlighting ahead of the election shows just 32% approve of the president's performance.

The UMass Amherst poll found one in six Trump 2024 voters say they wouldn't vote for him now.

Montana Trump voter Terry Zink says he shouldn't have cut the Forest Service.

Getting rid of our trail crews, getting rid of a lot of our firefighters wasn't the right thing to do.

Did we need to cut stuff with those?

Yes, I believe so.

But not cut those crucial agencies.

Trump calls the consistently unfavorable surveys fake.

He continues to attack and threaten journalists who report on his electoral weakness.

House Republicans failed to win enough support for locking the Supreme Court at nine justices.

A majority of the House voted against the constitutional amendment, which would have needed two-thirds to pass.

Republicans accused Democrats of leaving the door open to increasing the size of the court after unpopular decisions on abortion and voting rights.

Democrats call the amendment a campaign stunt.

Incumbent Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey is crediting young voters after winning the Democratic primary.

Young people demanding more from their leaders.

And it's your voices that are the ones we need to hear right now.

Your leadership will show us the way.

The 80-year-old defeated 47-year-old Congressman Seth Moulton, who campaigned on generational change.

Markey argued Moulton's more moderate positions put him out of step.

Gas now averages $4.12 a gallon nationwide, a dollar higher than before the war.

The White House says a new oil deal with Venezuela will lower prices.

But trade conflicts with Canada actually put much larger imports from the north at risk.

I'm Joe Ulory for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.