News On Tap For Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Working Through The Wreckage Of Halfascism

Some wins, some losses, and lots of halfascism today in your News On Tap. First, we’ll check in with the Trump-Iran ‘Deal or No Deal’ & the War In Ukraine, as the world looks on warily. We’ve also got our eyes on the dangerous things Trump & his cabal are doing here at home. We’ve got more on Trump’s Reflecting Pool failure, and the Battles on Capitol Hill too. There’s also some Justice & Injustice news today, and some Election News too. Plus, Media, Music, and Sports news too. And we’ve got a long time friend of Jody’s stopping by tonight too, actor, director, and former media executive, Emily Hardy! Read up, get informed, and join us tonight!

First Round - The World Moves Forward, Uneasily

Deal Or No Deal

• Live Updates: U.S. And Iran Offer Conflicting Accounts Of Nuclear Discussions

• Live Updates: Strait Of Hormuz Traffic Steadily Increases, Amid Conflicting Reports Over Iran Nuclear Monitoring

• Memorandum Fallout Continues: U.S. Authorizes Iran To Sell Oil In Dollars On The Open World Market For First Time In Decades

• Bill Scher: Any Iran Deal Will Eventually Fail Without A Two-State Solution For Israel & Palestine

The War In Ukraine

• Ukraine Hits A Major Railway Bridge To Crimea, Seeking To Further Isolate The Russian-Held Peninsula

• Ukraine Using Technology, Catfishing, & Honey Traps To Trick Russian Soldiers Into Giving Away Their Locations

Second Round - Republicans Can't Govern

A Cruel, Corrupt, & Dangerous Regime

• Bill Pulte, Acting DNI, Begins Mass Firings Of Highly Skilled Intelligence Personnel, At Trump’s Direction

• Hundreds Of Job Cuts At ODNI May Risk National Security, Democrats Warn Acting Director

• Violent Texas Anti-ICE Protesters Convicted Of Terrorism Charges Sentenced To 50-100 Years In Prison

• Trump DHS Now Proposing 75% Increase In Fees For U.S. Citizenship Paperwork

• Trump’s DOJ Issues Then Withdraws Grand Jury Subpoenas That Tried To Force Washington Post & Wall Street Journal Reporters To Testify In Clear Attack Against The First Amendment

A Reflection Of Trump’s Failures

• Trump Blames Vandals, Steps Up Law Enforcement, And Vows To Fix Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Again

• Experts Explain Why The Paint Is Peeling Off The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool

• Two More Ducks Found Dead Near Reflecting Pool

• David Smith: It’s Not Easy Being Green: Trump’s Botched Reflecting Pool Becomes A Giant 2,028ft Metaphor

Battles On Capitol Hill

• Senate Solidly Passes Sen. Warren’s Bipartisan Bill To Lower Housing Costs & Restrict Wall Street From Buying Homes

• House To Accelerate Housing Bill Consideration, Final Passage Potentially As Soon As Tuesday Evening

• Senate Republicans Exclude Democrats’ Food Aid Demands From Farm Bill

• Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Joined By Ohio Republican Sen. Moreno (Who Is In A Losing Race Against Sen. Sherrod Brown), Again Calls To Eliminate Cap On Social Security

Third Round - Justice & Injustice

Justice In The Lower Courts

• Federal Judge Blocks Trump Ag Dept. Bans On Using Food Stamps For Sugary Drinks And Candy

• Trump Admin. Lawsuit Over L.A.’S Sanctuary City Policy Dismissed By Federal Judge

• Damage From Trump’s Corrupt DOJ Spreads, As Incompetent Lawyer From Failed ‘Broadview Six’ Case Is Now Having 20 Years Of His Cases Reviewed

• Corrupt Chicago DOJ Prosecutor’s Conduct Could Now Unravel More Than 100 Of Her Cases

War Over Democracy

• Federal Judge Blocks Trump Regime’s Use Of Revamped Immigration Database To Check Voter Rolls

• Trump Regime Plans To Use DHS Funds In Another Attempt To Force States Into Election Restrictions

• ACLU To Monitor U.S. Election Certification As Part Of $50 Million Midterm Effort To Counter Trump’s Attempts To Attack The 2026 Elections

The Court Of Supreme Injustice

• Supreme Court Sides With Networking Giant Cisco In International Human Rights Abuse Lawsuit

• Supreme Court Denies Appeal From Texas Death Row Inmate Even Though Prosecutors On His Case Filed A Motion In Support Of His Appeal

• Major Supreme Court Decisions Testing Trump’s Policies Still Remain

Fourth Round - More News To Drink About

Polls & Politics

• Election Day: What To Know About Tuesday’s Primary Elections In Maryland, Utah, New York

• New National Poll Shows Donald Trump’s Approval Rating Sinking To 30%, His Worst Ever

Voting Has Consequences

• New Analysis Confirms Ohio To Lose 51K Jobs Because Of Trump & Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill

• Medicaid & ACA Enrollment Falls By More Than 5 Million, Due To Cuts From The Big Ugly Bill & Republicans’ Refusal To Continue ACA Subsidies

Miscellaneous But Important

• Deadly Heat Wave Grips Europe With Red Alerts And Scorching Records

• New Photos Confirm Trump’s Name Has Been Removed From Kennedy Center

Fifth Round - Media, Entertainment, & More

Media Matters

• Trump Threatens Lawsuits Against ABC News For Reporting On Reflecting Pool - But (So Far) Doesn’t Follow Through

• Trump’s FCC Fires Back At Disney’s Stand Against Them, Amid Illegitimate Investigations

Music & TV Entertainment

• Pop Star Olivia Rodrigo Announces Her Own All-Women Music Festival, Daisy Chain Fields, For Later This Year

• Buddy Guy To Celebrate 90th Birthday With Concert Featuring Eric Clapton, John Mayer

• Keith Richards Says The Rolling Stones May Not Tour Again

• Savannah Guthrie Breaks Down On Today Show Amid Report That Her Mother Nancy Guthrie May Be Dead

Sports Entertainment

• World Cup 2026 Today: Portugal, England, And Colombia Could All Clinch Knockout Round Spots With Wins Today

• Soccer Legend Lionel Messi Breaks Record For Career Goals Scored At The World Cup, With His 18th Goal

• France’s Kylian Mbappé Scores Twice To Reach 16 Goals In His World Cup Career, Tying For 2nd Most

• Miami Heat Acquire Two-Time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo In Major Trade From The Milwaukee Bucks

Today’s Special Guest

Emily Hardy is an actor, dancer, singer, writer, producer, & recovering TV executive - effectively, she’s a Hollywood Swiss Army Knife, hence the name of her Substack (She’s got a Patreon too). If you want to hear the gritty truth about Hollywood, she’s probably seen it, heard it, or done it. But after a decade of successful TV development work, on shows like The Lincoln Lawyer (Netflix), Goliath (Amazon), Big Sky (ABC), & more, she left the TV executive ranks because, as she notes, “I loved my job, but I loved the art form, and myself, more.” Now, she’s a screenwriting & story development teacher and script doctor in Hollywood. She’s stopping by the bar tonight to see her longtime friend Jody, to meet Shawn, hang out in the bar, & talk about the media - & politics too.

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