Today in One Sentence. Trump’s daily Iran war briefing includes a roughly two-minute military video montage showing the “biggest, most successful strikes” on Iranian targets Iran rejected Trump’s ceasefire offer, saying the Americans were “negotiating with yourselves” former special counsel Jack Smith’s team wrote in a 2023 memo that Trump kept classified documents “pertinent to certain business interests” after leaving office Trump’s Justice Department agreed to pay Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn about $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit alleging he was maliciously prosecuted in the Russia investigation Senate Republicans rejected Democrats’ latest offer to reopen the Department of Homeland Security Democrats flipped a Republican-held Florida House seat that includes Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort 59% of Americans say Trump’s military action against Iran has gone too far 58% of voters disapprove of Trump’s military action against Iran and 42% of voters think the war with Iran will make the world less safe.

1/ Trump’s daily Iran war briefing includes a roughly two-minute military video montage showing the “biggest, most successful strikes” on Iranian targets. One official described the curated video as clips of “stuff blowing up,” while another defended the format saying “we can’t tell him every single thing that happens” and that the briefings tend to get a better response when they focus on victories rather than setbacks. The limits of that approach, however, were noted when Trump wasn’t briefed on an Iranian strike in Saudi Arabia that hit five U.S. Air Force refueling planes, but instead learned about it from media reports. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, meanwhile, rejected that Trump doesn’t receive the full range of developments in the war, calling it “an absolutely false assertion” and saying Trump “actively seeks and solicits the opinions of everyone in the room”. (NBC News)

2/ Iran rejected Trump’s ceasefire offer, saying the Americans were “negotiating with yourselves.” Iranian state media and Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran would not entertain “a temporary cease-fire,” wanted “reparations for war damage,” and “recognition of Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.” The White House, meanwhile, said talks with Tehran remained “productive.” Karoline Leavitt added that if Iran refused a deal, Trump was prepared to have it “hit harder then they have ever been hit before.” (CNBC / Bloomberg / New York Times / Axios / Associated Press / Politico / NPR / Wall Street Journal)

3/ Former special counsel Jack Smith’s team wrote in a 2023 memo that Trump kept classified documents “pertinent to certain business interests” after leaving office, giving investigators what prosecutors described as “a motive for retaining them.” Rep. Jamie Raskin called the memo “damning” and said Republicans, in a “frenzied search” for material to discredit the inquiry, instead turned over evidence about “your boss’s conduct.” Raskin demanded more records from Attorney General Pam Bondi and said the department must stop “cherry-picking investigative materials.” The memo further said investigators identified a classified map Trump “may have shown to individuals on board” a 2022 flight to Bedminster, with Susie Wiles cited as a witness. The White House and Justice Department, meanwhile, said Trump “did nothing wrong” and dismissed the claims as “salacious and untrue” and a “political stunt.” (Axios / Politico / MS Now / NBC News / The Hill / The Guardian / Washington Post)

4/ Trump’s Justice Department agreed to pay Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn about $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit alleging he was maliciously prosecuted in the Russia investigation. Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to FBI agents about his contacts with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, then later tried to withdraw that plea. Trump pardoned him in 2020. The settlement reversed a position the department had taken under Biden, when it won dismissal of Flynn’s civil suit in 2024. Flynn was seeking at least $50 million in damages and the DOJ called the deal an “important step in redressing” what it described as a “historic injustice.” (Associated Press / ABC News / Bloomberg / CBS News)

5/ Senate Republicans rejected Democrats’ latest offer to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, extending the five-week partial shutdown that’s been disrupting airport screening. Democrats said any deal must include limits on ICE tactics, including rules on masks and judicial warrants. Republicans, meanwhile, said the proposal was “not even close to being real” and accused Democrats of trying to pair DHS funding with ICE restrictions while refusing to fund ICE enforcement. (Politico / New York Times / Bloomberg / CNBC / Wall Street Journal)

6/ Democrats flipped a Republican-held Florida House seat that includes Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Emily Gregory beat Jon Maples 51% to 49% in a special election after Mike Caruso resigned to become Palm Beach County clerk. Trump carried the district by about 11 points in 2024 and Caruso won by 19 points that same year. Gregory, a first-time candidate, centered her campaign on affordability, insurance, and health care. (NBC News / Associated Press / Politico / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / CNN / Washington Post)

poll/ 59% of Americans say Trump’s military action against Iran has gone too far, while 26% say its about right, and 13% say it has not gone far enough. (AP-NORC)

poll/ 58% of voters disapprove of Trump’s military action against Iran, while 42% support it. (Fox News)

poll/ 42% of voters think the war with Iran will make the world less safe, while 35% think it will make the world safer, and 20% think it will make no difference. (Quinnipiac)

The 2026 midterms are in 223 days; the 2028 presidential election is in 958 days.