On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate voted 50–48 to end the war with Iran. On Wednesday, Trump walked into the Capitol and called the Republican dissenters “losers.” By midnight, the Senate held a second vote… and reversed itself.

Four Republicans had crossed party lines on Tuesday to pass the war powers resolution: Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. It was the first time both chambers of Congress had voted to rein in a president’s war powers during this conflict.

Then Trump showed up. At a closed-door lunch, he called Cassidy a “lunatic” to his face. He ripped into the senators who missed Tuesday’s vote. Hours later, Cassidy got a private briefing at the White House from Vice President Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff. That evening, he switched his vote. Paul voted “present.” The resolution was blocked.

Trump posted on Truth Social: “This vote puts Iran on notice!” Senate Majority Leader John Thune called the president afterward. Thune told reporters Trump was “pleased with the outcome.”

The resolution was symbolic anyway… it carried no force of law and never required a presidential signature. But the reversal tells you something bigger. Congress knew the war was unauthorized. They voted to say so. And within 24 hours, they voted to take it back… because the president yelled at them over lunch.

A recent poll found only 24% of Americans believe the Iran war was worth the cost. Senator John Cornyn… who lost his own primary to a Trump-backed challenger… warned before the meeting: “We’re not on the same page now, and that I think is dangerous.” But after the vote, the page was blank again.

BREAKING

Israel-Lebanon “Peace” Deal Keeps Israeli Troops on 20% of Lebanese Soil

On Friday, Israel and Lebanon signed a U.S.-brokered “framework agreement” at the State Department. Secretary of State Rubio called it “the beginning of the beginning.” By Saturday, Israel had already launched a drone strike in southern Lebanon.

The 14-point deal does not require Israel to withdraw from the roughly 20% of Lebanese territory it currently occupies. Instead, it ties any withdrawal to the “verified disarmament” of Hezbollah… a condition the group has flatly rejected for decades. Netanyahu said the quiet part out loud: “We will maintain the buffer zone until Hezbollah disarms.”

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem declared the deal “null and void” and called it “a humiliation.” Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri… the highest-ranking Shiite politician in Lebanon… called it “incitement to civil war.” Supporters flooded Beirut’s streets, burning tires and blocking the airport road. Even Yemen’s Houthis weighed in, saying Lebanon had “the right to overthrow this puppet government.”

More than a million Lebanese have been driven from their homes. Over 4,000 have been killed since fighting erupted in March. And the deal that was supposed to bring peace? It locks Israel into an open-ended occupation, excludes the armed group that controls the south, and contradicts the Iran-U.S. MOU that promised “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon.” Two deals. Two promises. Neither enforceable.

EXPOSED

Warflation: American Gas Up 40.5%. Iranian Bread Up 138.8%. Both Sides Are Losing.

U.S. inflation hit 4.2% in May… the highest level in three years. The biggest driver? Gasoline, up 40.5% year over year. Fuel oil surged 58.9%. Energy costs accounted for over 60% of the monthly price increase. The national average for regular gas sat at $3.87 a gallon last week… down from $4.15 earlier this month, but still a dollar more than a year ago.

Fresh vegetables are up 11.9%. Tomatoes alone jumped 32%. Diesel… which powers the trucks that haul 83% of American farm products… is up 61% from a year ago. Shrimpers in the Gulf have stopped leaving the dock because they can’t catch enough to cover fuel costs.

Now look at the other side. Iran’s year-on-year inflation hit 88.6% in June, according to its own Statistical Centre. Food prices more than doubled. Bread and grain surged 138.8%. Milk, cheese, and eggs rose 151.9%. Red meat and poultry skyrocketed 178.2%. The IMF projects Iran’s economy will contract 6.1% this year. Senior Iranian officials have warned President Pezeshkian that recovery could take more than a decade.

Before the war, U.S. inflation was 2.4% in January. Iran’s was 52.6% in December. The war nearly doubled both.

The citizens of both countries are paying for a war that neither population wanted. And the institutions that started it? They’re posting record earnings.

DEVELOPING

The War’s Real Winners: Wall Street and Big Oil Just Posted Their Best Quarter in Years

The six largest U.S. investment banks… JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo… earned a combined $48 billion in profits during the first quarter of 2026. JPMorgan alone reported $16.5 billion… a 13% jump from the same period last year. The biggest gains came from trading desks that specialize in commodities and currencies… exactly the markets thrown into chaos by the war.

Oil companies had an even bigger windfall. ConocoPhillips posted $2.2 billion in first-quarter profits… up 84% from the previous quarter. BP reported $3.8 billion… after losing $3.4 billion the quarter before. Global defense spending jumped 9.4% in 2024 to $2.7 trillion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute… and 2026 is on track to shatter that number.

Between 2020 and 2025, the top defense contractors spent $110 billion on stock buybacks and dividends… more than double what they spent on building new production capacity. The top 1% of earners control roughly half of all stock market wealth. So when Lockheed’s share price rises after a missile strike, the gains flow upward… not outward.

Morgan Stanley told clients to “consider increasing exposure around themes like defense, security, aerospace, and industrial resilience, where government spending can drive multiyear demand.”

Read that again. The advisory didn’t say “if the war continues.” It said “multiyear demand.” The market has already priced in the assumption that this conflict will not end soon. And for the people making money from it… that’s the plan.