Today in One Sentence. The U.S. launched a second round of strikes against Iran after Trump said the ceasefire was “over”; the White House announced 25 “Freedom Fuel” gas stations selling gas at $3.47 a gallon “for our 47th President” as oil prices jumped more than 5% and gasoline remains well above its pre-war level; Trump left the NATO summit claiming there was “a lot of love” and “tremendous unity” after saying “I’m not happy with NATO”; Affordable Care Act health insurance plans are expected to increase about 14% next year; Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear asked Mitch McConnell to publicly update Kentuckians on his health and ability to serve after the 84-year-old senator has spent more than three weeks in a hospital for undisclosed reasons; and Graham Platner is reportedly refusing to quickly drop out of Maine’s Senate race after a woman accused him of rape.

1/ The U.S. launched a second round of strikes against Iran after Trump said the ceasefire was “over” and warned that “it will get much worse” if ships in the Strait of Hormuz are attacked again. U.S. Central Command said the strikes were meant to “further degrade” Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the strait. The U.S. said the attacks were retaliation for strikes on three commercial vessels. Iran hasn’t claimed responsibility for those attacks, but said it targeted U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait after earlier U.S. strikes. Despite a memorandum of understanding last month to reopen the strait and keep negotiating toward a permanent ceasefire, Trump said dealing with Iran was “just a waste of time,” calling its leaders “scum,” “liars,” “sick people,” and “vicious, violent people,” before saying: “I’m not sure I want to make a deal with them […] Let’s just finish the job.” (Associated Press / Reuters / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / NPR / CBS News / CNBC / CNN / Bloomberg)

2/ The White House announced 25 “Freedom Fuel” gas stations selling gas at $3.47 a gallon “for our 47th President” as oil prices jumped more than 5% and gasoline remains well above its pre-war level. The stations, 20 in Pennsylvania and five in New Jersey, are privately owned and not federally subsidized. In a video posted by the White House, customers thanked Trump for cheaper gas, saying “Thanks, Trump, for saving me some money.” Regular gas averaged about $3.80 nationally Wednesday, down from its May peak of $4.56, but still above the $2.98 average before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in February. (The Hill / CBS News / USA Today / Axios / New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News / Politico)

3/ Trump left the NATO summit claiming there was “a lot of love” and “tremendous unity” after saying “I’m not happy with NATO,” scolding France, Germany, Italy, and Britain for not joining the war against Iran. During the summit, Trump – again – insisted that the U.S. “need[s]” Greenland, and ordered Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to cut off U.S. trade with Spain over Madrid’s refusal to commit to NATO’s new 5% defense spending target. “Spain is a wasted cause. We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore,” Trump said, later calling Spain a “terrible partner” and telling Bessent: “Don’t even talk to them.” It’s unclear how the order would work because Spain is part of the European Union, which controls trade policy for its member states and EU customs rules prevent singling out one country. NATO leaders nevertheless reaffirmed their “ironclad” commitment to Article 5’s collective defense and pledged about $80 billion in military aid for Ukraine this year and next. Trump also told Volodymyr Zelensky that the U.S. will allow Ukraine to manufacture U.S.-designed Patriot missile interceptors, saying “We’ll show them how to do it” and “This way, you can’t complain that we’re not giving them enough.” It’s unclear, however, how quickly Ukraine could produce the interceptors needed to stop Russian ballistic missiles. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised Trump’s “leadership” and tried to cast the summit as proof of “a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO.” (New York Times / Associated Press / Bloomberg / Washington Post / New York Times / The Hill / Wall Street Journal / Politico / Reuters)

  • Trump will remove Syria from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. The U.S. first designated Syria a state sponsor of terrorism in 1979, after its then-government sided with Palestinian militant groups. (Semafor / Bloomberg)

4/ Affordable Care Act health insurance plans are expected to increase about 14% next year – a year after rates rose 20%. KFF’s analysis of 77 insurer filings in 16 states and D.C. found that premiums are expected to rise more than 33% between 2025 and 2027, driven by higher hospital prices, specialty drug costs, inflation, and a smaller, sicker risk pool after healthier enrollees dropped coverage when enhanced subsidies expired. ACA enrollment fell to 19.2 million from 22.1 million a year earlier, and insurers estimate the worsening risk pool alone will add about four percentage points to next year’s premiums. (Reuters / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal / Axios / The Hill / Bloomberg / USA Today)

The 2026 midterms are in 118 days; the 2028 presidential election is in 853 days.

✏️ Notables.

  1. A federal judge ordered Trump’s $5.8 million to be released to E. Jean Carroll after the Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal of the 2023 civil verdict finding that Trump was liable for sexually abusing and defaming her. Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected Trump’s argument that the money, which Trump had deposited with the court while he appealed, couldn’t be paid out while he asked the justices to reconsider. Trump is separately appealing an $83.3 million defamation verdict Carroll won in 2024. (Associated Press / New York Times)

  2. A federal judge threw out Trump Media’s $3.8 billion defamation lawsuit against The Washington Post after finding the company failed to show the newspaper acted with “actual malice” when it published a 2023 story about financing for Truth Social. U.S. District Judge Thomas Barber granted summary judgment to The Post, saying Trump Media hadn’t produced evidence that would allow a jury to find the newspaper knowingly published false claims or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. (CNN / Washington Post / The Guardian)

  3. A federal appeals court refused to restore Trump’s name on the Kennedy Center while he appeals a lower-court order requiring its removal from the building and website. The three-judge D.C. Circuit panel said the administration failed to show the center would be irreparably harmed without Trump’s name, which was removed last month after U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper blocked plans to close the center for renovations. (Reuters / CNN / NPR)

  4. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear asked Mitch McConnell to publicly update Kentuckians on his health and ability to serve after the 84-year-old senator has spent more than three weeks in a hospital for undisclosed reasons. McConnell’s office hasn’t said why he was hospitalized, what treatment he’s receiving, or when he might return to the Senate other than he “continues to improve” and is working with staff while the Senate is out of session. (New York Times / Associated Press / CBS News / NBC News)

  5. Graham Platner is reportedly refusing to quickly drop out of Maine’s Senate race after a woman accused him of rape. The Maine Democratic Party faces a Monday deadline for him to drop out so they can pick a new nominee. Platner’s campaign, however, has texted volunteers asking for feedback on the nomination process and said it would collect responses for “the next 48 hours” The Maine Democratic Party, meanwhile, accused Platner of “continued efforts to manipulate this process” and said he will have “no role” in choosing the next nominee. (New York Times / CNN / Wall Street Journal / NPR / Politico / Washington Post)