THE SHOW NOTES: The Trump Meltdown, Israel Braces, & A Maduro Pardon?

Welcome! There are 1 million more Republicans than Democrats in Florida thanks to Ron DeSantis.

MUST READ: Inflation Hurts Most for the Things We Can’t Skimp On - WSJ (free)

HEADLINE: We received internal Trump documents from ‘Robert.’ Then the campaign confirmed it was hacked. - Politico

OUCH: Go read this Batallion Commander’s take on Tim Walz.

NEW: Russia set ablaze a nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

CUTBACKS: 1 in 3 Americans are cutting back on groceries to pay for utility bills.

OUTRAGE: Hamas document reveals devious paraglider terrorism attack plan - Fox News

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The Trump Meltdown

According to multiple sources, Donald Trump’s advisors are “deeply rattled” by their candidate’s undisciplined approach on the campaign trail and across social media in recent weeks.

Despite their best efforts, Donald Trump attacked Brian and Marty Kemp for an assortment of 2020-related grievances, Joe Rogan for endorsing Robert F. Kennedy (which he did not do), and Kamala Harris for posting AI-generated campaign crowds (which she did not do.) He even claimed she should be disqualified because “the creation of a fake image is ELECTION INTERFERENCE.” (direct quote)

According to Axios, advisors are begging Trump to develop sharp stump speeches that label Harris and Walz as unprepared progressive ideologues while minimizing his infamous ad-libbing.

For perspective, the Cook Political Report moved Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada back to “toss-ups” after labeling them “lean Republican” earlier in the campaign. The news matches a disturbing New York Times poll showing Harris slightly ahead of Trump in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

This is important from Harry Enten on CNN:

Oh, and there’s this from The New York Times…

A week before the Hamptons fund-raiser, on July 25, Mr. Trump stunned one of his wealthiest patrons, Miriam Adelson, the widow of the casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, by having an aide, Natalie Harp, fire off a series of angry text messages to Mrs. Adelson in Mr. Trump’s name, according to three people with knowledge of what took place.

The texts were particularly jarring because Mrs. Adelson and Mr. Trump had a friendly meeting just a week earlier at the Republican National Convention, according to a person briefed on the matter.

The texts complained about the people running Mrs. Adelson’s super PAC, Preserve America, into which she is pouring millions of dollars to support Mr. Trump.

At the time, Preserve America was spending nearly $18 million on a week’s worth of ads aiding Mr. Trump in three battleground states. The texts said that the officials running Preserve America were “RINOs” — Republicans in name only — and that Mrs. Adelson’s late husband would never have tolerated that, the people said.

Israel

Israeli intelligence suggests an Iranian attack is imminent in the coming days in retaliation for the killing of Hamas’s political leader in Tehran.

The news is significant as formal talks are planned on Thursday between Israel and Hamas to finalize details for a ceasefire that would return the hostages abducted on October 7th.

The intelligence marks a complete reversal by the Iranians who previously claimed they were not going to attack Israel before the ceasefire negotiations happened with Hamas. But the Israeli Defense Minister told the US yesterday that their intelligence suggests Iran is preparing for an imminent large-scale attack.

Maduro Pardon?

The United States government is working on a longshot venture to offer Venezuela’s Nicholas Maduro and his top lieutenant a blanket pardon if he agrees to step down from power.

The shocking news comes as a growing body of data suggests that Maduro and his acolytes manipulated voting totals to declare himself the winner over Edmundo González on July 28th. It is believed that González defeated Maduro by at least 30 points despite the election board claiming Maduro won by a small margin.

Maduro has overseen the economic destruction of the fourth most populous country in South America. More than 8 million Venezuelan refugees have fled the country since Maduro took power which is larger than the migrant crisis in Syria.

Labor Strike Right Before Election Day?

This is from Bloomberg (paywall):

A labor strike that would halt cargo-handling operations at ports from Houston to Boston just weeks before the US presidential election is looking increasingly likely.

Dueling statements from the United States Maritime Alliance, known as USMX, and the International Longshoremen’s Association on Friday indicate the two sides are still pretty far apart.

USMX, which represents terminal operators and ocean carriers, said it remains ready to continue bargaining, and that the latest offer to dockworkers includes “industry-leading wage increases” and retains the current contract’s language on automation.

Delays hit 40% of Biden’s major IRA manufacturing projects

Some 40 percent of the biggest US manufacturing investments announced in the first year of Joe Biden’s flagship industrial and climate policies have been delayed or paused, according to a Financial Times investigation.

The US president’s Inflation Reduction Act and Chips and Science Act offered more than $400bn in tax credits, loans and grants to spark development of a US cleantech and semiconductor supply chain.

However, of the projects worth more than $100mn, a total of $84bn have been delayed for between two months and several years, or paused indefinitely, the FT found.

Full story at The Financial Times (paywall).

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