Could War Cost Trump The Presidency?

The past two weeks have looked less like a victory lap and more like a political train wreck for Washington. Casualties are rising overseas, the Middle East looks fractured again, there’s no clear endgame in sight, and Trump’s poll numbers are sliding faster than a shaky crypto token. With midterms approaching, the pundit class is already predicting a Republican wipeout before the campaign signs are even printed.

Meanwhile, the Epstein story somehow keeps getting stranger. Cash deposits tied to the prison guard who last saw him alive, a brand-new Range Rover, suspicious Google searches about Epstein in prison, medical opinions pointing toward strangulation, hacked files, and charges that quietly disappeared once the media moved on.

You know the saying: where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

Politics & Policy:

Washington managed to create airport chaos this week. TSA checkpoints backed up for hours nationwide after disruptions tied to the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, the agency responsible for airport security. Democrats refused to include DHS funding in a recent spending bill, while Republicans warned the move weakens security as threats — including potential Iranian sleeper cells — rise.

Don’t expect a quick fix. President Trump said on Truth Social he won’t sign any new legislation until the Senate passes the SAVE Act, which he says must include voter ID, proof of citizenship, limits on mail-in ballots, bans on men in women’s sports, and restrictions on gender transition procedures for minors.

So for now, DHS funding remains stuck in Washington gridlock — and travelers get the privilege of standing in the TSA line while politicians argue about it.

Markets & Money:

Drivers are starting to feel the latest geopolitical drama at the pump. As tensions with Iran rise, gas prices are climbing nationwide, with receipts starting to look more like utility bills. Inflation came in as expected, with consumer prices rising 2.4% annually in February — steady on paper, though it doesn’t make filling a tank feel any cheaper.

Meanwhile, Washington keeps spending. The Congressional Budget Office reports the federal deficit has already grown by $1 trillion in the first five months of fiscal 2026, including $308 billion borrowed in February alone.

And in classic government budgeting fashion, the Pentagon reportedly spent more than $93 billion last September, buying everything from expensive food to musical instruments and tech — part of the annual scramble to spend remaining funds before the September 30 “use it or lose it” deadline. In Washington, they call it budgeting. Everyone else calls it Amazon Prime Day for government agencies.

Business & Culture:

Corporate America spent the week doing three things: buying the future, cutting costs, and moving to friendlier states.

Netflix reportedly paid $600 million for InterPositive, the AI moviemaking company founded by Ben Affleck — another sign Hollywood’s AI debate is turning into an arms race. Meanwhile, Atlassian announced it will cut about 10% of its workforce (1,600 employees) as it shifts more resources toward AI and enterprise sales, and over at Meta, they are weighing layoffs that could impact as much as 20% of its workforce.

Ford had a rough headline, with nearly every model produced between 2020 and 2026 hit by recalls, except the discontinued GT.

And the corporate relocation trend keeps rolling. ExxonMobil plans to move its corporate registration from New Jersey to Texas, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz relocated to Florida after Washington passed a millionaires tax, and Yamaha Motor is moving its U.S. headquarters from California to Georgia.

In other words: companies are still voting with their feet.

Winners:

Democrats:
Not something we say often, but politically they’re having a moment. Inflation is creeping up, gas prices are rising, the cost of living is squeezing households, and the country is now staring down another overseas war. The “we told you so” crowd is out in force — and suddenly the SAVE America Act looks far less certain than many expected.

Lockheed Martin:
One group almost always wins when the world edges toward war: defense contractors. History repeats the same pattern — geopolitical tensions rise, military budgets expand, and companies like Lockheed Martin tend to do just fine.

Losers:

Anyone who likes to travel:
Planning a trip? Brace yourself. Airfares are expected to surge as the Iran conflict pushes jet fuel prices higher, with some airlines already adding fuel surcharges of up to 35%. Right now the only thing taking off faster than the planes… are the ticket prices.

White-Collar Jobs:
Silicon Valley is now openly discussing what many workers fear: an AI job shakeup. Leaders at Anthropic and Microsoft say large numbers of white-collar jobs could be automated within the next one to five years. Translation: the robots aren’t just coming for factory jobs anymore.

America Decides:

Despite the political fallout — and what many analysts are calling a potential disaster for Trump and Republicans — 71% of you said you support the war against Iran, believing the Iranian people deserve their shot at freedom.

Another 15% said the war may be morally justified, but warned it could still become a serious political problem for Trump heading into the midterms.

Hard to argue with that logic.

This Week

Washington loves a sequel.

If Democrats regain Congress, many believe impeachment could quickly return to the political playbook. Others argue voters are exhausted with it — and another attempt would backfire.

So what actually happens next?

Vote in the poll — and hit reply to tell us why. We read every response.

Whether you support the war or not, there’s one thing that shouldn’t be up for debate: the men and women who put on the uniform and stand in harm’s way for this country deserve our respect. Politics will come and go. Opinions will change. But the people risking their lives to defend America shouldn’t be treated like a passing trend.

Because backing the troops shouldn’t depend on the news cycle.

👉 Grab yours here

This hits a little too close to home for all of us I am willing to bet. It’s about a man who spends his entire life inside a small box — working, earning, repeating — and slowly realizes he forgot to actually live along the way.

Watch This Before You Go Back To Work Tomorrow

America’s housing stress is starting to show up in the numbers. In February alone, 38,840 homes entered foreclosure, marking the 12th straight month of year-over-year increases — a 20% jump from last year as more homeowners struggle with mortgages and rising living costs.

February was slightly below January, but the trend is clear: the pressure isn’t going away.

Translation: When foreclosures rise for an entire year straight, the economy probably isn’t as “strong” as the TV economists say.

Costco is facing a nationwide class action lawsuit after a shopper argued customers deserve refunds for higher prices tied to tariffs the Supreme Court later ruled unconstitutional.

The ruling found President Trump overstepped his authority by imposing tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which the Court said does not grant tariff powers. The lawsuit claims if Costco gets reimbursed for those tariffs, customers should too.

Translation: When government policy raises prices and courts reverse it later… someone eventually ends up in court.

Turns out not everything has a price tag. An 82-year-old Kentucky mother and her daughter rejected $26.48 million from developers trying to buy their farmland for a massive data center project.

The pair own neighboring farms in Mason County, where tech developers have been quietly buying up land. The offers kept rising — but the family says the farm isn’t for sale.

Translation: Silicon Valley may have deep pockets… but not every piece of America is for sale.

Retirement looks different for everyone. What it costs, where the income comes from, how long it needs to last. Those answers are specific to you.

The Definitive Guide to Retirement Income helps investors with $1,000,000 or more work through the questions that matter and build a plan around the answers.

Download your free guide to start turning a savings number into an actual retirement income strategy.

AI might be coming for your finances next. Reports suggest a new “Finance” feature inside ChatGPT could soon allow users to connect bank accounts, credit cards, and transaction history directly to the platform.

The goal: analyze spending, recommend credit cards, track expenses, and flag suspicious transactions — essentially turning AI into a personal financial assistant that knows exactly where your money goes.

For some, that sounds convenient. For others… slightly terrifying.

Translation: Helpful budgeting tool… or the most informed algorithm about your money ever created.

Turns out the outrageous concert fees weren’t just your imagination. Internal messages revealed in court filings show Live Nation executives mocking concertgoers while bragging about how much they could charge.

In one exchange, a director joked about $250 VIP parking, while another message bragged about charging $50 for parking in the grass and $60 for “closer grass.” One executive even wrote, “These people are so stupid, I almost feel bad taking advantage of them.”

The messages surfaced during the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit, joined by 40 states, accusing Live Nation and Ticketmaster of running an illegal monopoly over live events.

Translation: When a company controls the market, the customer usually becomes the punchline.

The fight between crypto and traditional banking just got louder. Eric Trump blasted JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America, accusing them of lobbying against the CLARITY Act to block Americans from earning higher yields through stablecoins.

Posting on X, Trump argued major banks — along with the American Bankers Association — are spending millions lobbying lawmakers to restrict crypto yields while claiming it’s about fairness and regulation.

His argument: if stablecoins start paying better returns, money could start leaving traditional bank deposits.

Translation: If stablecoins start paying higher yields, big banks could lose their cheap source of customer cash.

New York has seen plenty of strange lawsuits, but this one might take the trophy. A German tourist filed three lawsuits during a single vacation, including a $100,000 claim against a Times Square taco spot because the salsa was — according to him — too spicy.

After trying tacos for the first time, the traveler said the green salsa caused nausea, blisters, and stomach issues. He also filed lawsuits against Walmart over Wi-Fi access and the NYPD over international phone calls.

Apparently the New York trip included sightseeing… and a legal strategy.

Translation: Somewhere in Manhattan, a lawyer just billed three hours because someone discovered salsa can be spicy.

A doorbell camera in Tennessee captured an elderly DoorDash driver slowly climbing a driveway to deliver a Starbucks order, gripping the handrail as he made his way up the steps.

The homeowner later learned the driver, Richard, took the job because his wife recently lost her job and the couple was struggling to cover bills and medication.

She launched a GoFundMe hoping to raise $20,000 to help him retire again. The story went viral — and donations have now reached nearly $280,000.

Translation: Sometimes one small moment reminds people how many Americans are still working long past retirement age.

Betting on geopolitics just got messy. Prediction market Kalshi is facing a $54 million class action lawsuit after traders accused the platform of refusing to pay out bets tied to whether Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would leave office before March 1, 2026.

After Khamenei was reportedly killed during U.S.–Israeli strikes under Operation Epic Fury, the lawsuit claims Kalshi invoked a “death carveout” clause to avoid paying winning traders.

Now the dispute is heading to court.

Translation: Betting on global politics might be exciting… until the fine print decides who actually wins.

Every year someone ranks the “happiest cities in America,” and every year Americans look at the list and think… wait, really?

WalletHub analyzed 182 major cities, measuring well-being, income, employment, and community life. This year’s winner: Fremont, California, followed by Bismarck, Scottsdale, and South Burlington.

The rest of the top ten included Fargo, Overland Park, Charleston, Irvine, Gilbert, and San Jose — suggesting happiness may involve decent jobs, tolerable weather, and neighbors who aren’t completely unbearable.

Translation: Turns out where you live might matter more to your happiness than whatever self-help book you’re reading.

Think of this as a mental power-up.

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For decades the formula seemed simple: work hard, buy a home, raise a family, and build a little security for the future.

That promise carried generations.

Today, the math looks very different.

Housing prices have surged to levels that make homeownership feel out of reach for millions. In many cities, even professionals with solid incomes can’t afford a starter home. Credit card balances are rising. Everyday costs — groceries, insurance, utilities — seem to climb faster than paychecks.

And it’s no longer just a single-income problem.

More and more two-income households with good careers are still living paycheck to paycheck.

Then there’s healthcare — one of the most uncomfortable conversations happening quietly across America.

Increasingly, people are delaying or avoiding medical treatment because of the cost. One hospital visit can wipe out years of savings.

That reality forces people to make a choice no one should ever face:

Do I go to the doctor… or protect my financial future?

At the same time, Americans are drowning in debt — credit cards, student loans, car payments, mortgages that feel bigger every year.

And above it all sits the national balance sheet.

The United States is staring down a national debt climbing at historic speed, raising serious questions about the future of the dollar and long-term economic stability.

Maybe that’s why we’re seeing something interesting happen.

More Americans are turning to gold and precious metals to protect their savings. When people begin moving into hard assets, it usually signals something important:

Confidence in the financial system may not be what it once was.

Then there’s the global backdrop.

Conflicts around the world are becoming more common — often centered around energy, resources, and geopolitical power.

Which raises an uncomfortable question.

Is the system breaking… or simply changing?

Because history shows something important.

When the traditional path stops working, people begin creating new ones.

New industries.
New businesses.
New ways of earning a living.

Some of the most successful companies in American history were born during uncertain times.

Maybe the real question isn’t whether the American Dream is disappearing.

Maybe the real question is:

What does the next version of the American Dream look like?

Does it mean starting the business you’ve been thinking about?

Learning the skill you always said you didn’t have time for?

Taking the risk you’ve been putting off?

Because waiting for the system to magically fix itself probably isn’t a strategy.

The people who shape the future rarely wait for permission.

They build something.
They take the risk.
They create opportunity.

So let’s ask the question directly:

Is the American Dream still alive… or is it becoming unachievable for the average American?

Hit reply and tell us your thoughts. We read every response.