Donald Trump’s White House is starting to look less like a traditional presidency and more like a nonstop stress test for the economy, the Constitution, and the national blood pressure. Today’s Morning Sixpack dives into the escalating Iran crisis, rising inflation fears, secret emergency powers, late-night Truth Social marathons, and a Federal Reserve chair already walking into political crossfire. Buckle up.
Iran is quietly reopening the Strait of Hormuz to select Chinese vessels after months of restrictions tied to the U.S.-Iran war and the blockade of Iranian ports. Trump and Xi Jinping both agree the critical shipping lane must stay open, but Tehran appears to be giving Beijing special treatment while the rest of the world sweats out the energy market fallout. One-fifth of global oil flows through Hormuz, meaning every tanker delay now hits wallets worldwide.
Robert Reich says Democratic insiders are openly gaming out a scenario where JD Vance and Marco Rubio use the 25th Amendment to push Donald Trump from office within months. Reich described a dinner-table fantasy involving top Republicans quietly coordinating to remove Trump if war fallout and inflation tank his support. There’s no evidence any of it is real, but the fact political operatives are even talking this way tells you how unstable Washington feels right now.
President Trump is signaling he’s willing to risk higher gas prices and market turmoil to pressure Iran, even as Republicans worry voters will punish them for it at the pump. Axios reports Trump privately insists stopping Iran matters more than short-term economic pain, even as advisers admit Democrats are already sharpening attack ads around his comments about not thinking about Americans’ financial situation.
A Wall Street Journal analysis says President Trump’s Truth Social account has become a nonstop amplification machine for conspiracy theories, political attacks, and late-night rage-posting. The Journal tracked thousands of posts and found overnight posting binges packed with memes, anonymous accounts, election claims, and attacks on critics. Apparently presidential communications now happen somewhere between midnight doomscrolling and meme warfare.
A former State Department insider is warning that Donald Trump could deploy secret presidential emergency directives that bypass Congress, avoid court review, and dramatically expand executive power during a national crisis. The concern centers on Presidential Emergency Action Documents, obscure emergency powers developed during the Cold War that critics fear could be used aggressively during political unrest or election chaos.
Kevin Warsh just won Senate confirmation to lead the Federal Reserve, but economists already expect Trump could turn on his own pick if inflation and interest rates stay high. With war-driven energy prices climbing, Republicans desperately want lower interest rates heading into the midterms. The problem: inflation may force the Fed to keep rates elevated, setting up a collision between economic reality and political panic.
Washington used to at least pretend the adults were in charge behind closed doors. Now the doors are open, everyone’s yelling, the markets are twitching, and half the country is refreshing Truth Social at 1 a.m. See you tomorrow.
