Just hours after musing that “the situation is so good” with Iran, President Donald Trump posted an angry screed on social media vowing that it would face the “MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY!”In his Truth Social post, Trump promised Iran would experience “Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale” and that any country that “allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences.”“You know who you are,” Trump wrote. “This will be an ECONOMIC D-DAY, and we need all of our Allies to stand with the United States of America to isolate, and defeat, the Iran threat.”Latest Live UpdatesPlans Show The Proposed Changes To The Kennedy Center: Washington PostThe Washington Post published a deep dive on some of the proposed changes to the Kennedy Center that were recently presented to the institution’s Board of Trustees. Among them are structural renovations to its three major theaters, as well as a refresh of public spaces that will include new carpeting and draperies. The projects were contracted in “strict accordance” with the Kennedy Center’s procurement policies, one of its spokespeople claimed to The Post. That purportedly enabled the institution to rapidly bring on qualified contractors at competitive rates. Read more in The Washington Post: ‘I’ll Learn’: Darline Graham Does Clean-Up On Stunning Debate AnswerWhile meeting with voters on Wednesday, Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) attempted to spin her eyebrow-raising answer to a question at the South Carolina Senate debate on Tuesday night. Graham was asked if Taiwan or the South China Sea was a national security issue for the U.S., and she admitted that she was “not that informed on national security.” At a Wednesday campaign event, one attendee asked Graham if her debate response undermined her credibility since senators would have to cast votes on issues like declaring war. Graham again acknowledged that she was not a “national security expert” like her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), but said she would work to bolster her understanding of the issues. Graham also said that the voters she spoke with at the event cited the “price of groceries, the price of gas, rising health care costs,” and not Taiwan, among their concerns. “Is national security important? Absolutely. Can I learn? I’m smart. Yes, I’ll learn. I’ll become informed,” she said. “President Trump, was he a politician?” Graham asked the crowd. “Has he done a good job?”Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) on her credibility: "Is national security important? Absolutely. Can I learn? I'm smart. Yes, I'll learn. I'll become informed." pic.twitter.com/1vBmki1wL2— CSPAN (@cspan) August 20, 2026Trump Admin Knew About Peeling Reflecting Pool Liner Before Vandalism ChargesThe Trump administration was told about the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool’s peeling liner weeks before it brought vandalism charges against a former Olympian.Those charges were later dropped, much to the president’s dismay. NBC News reported Wednesday that a National Park Service engineer warned administration officials in June that the pool’s floor liner was peeling, but President Donald Trump still pushed claims that vandalism was to blame.While dropping her case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro admitted in court documents that a botched installation job was to blame for the pool’s peeling liner and that evidence showed vandalism likely had nothing to do with it. Read more:Raw Pet Food Company Recalls Products In 11 States Over Salmonella ConcernsA raw pet food company recalled thousands of pounds of frozen dog food over concerns it contained salmonella, according to an FDA warning issued this week. Connecticut-based Oma’s Pride, a pet food company specializing in fresh, raw ingredients, issued a recall for one lot of its Woof Complete Canine Chicken Recipe after the FDA received a consumer complaint. The recalled food was sold in Arizona, California, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, according to the FDA notice.Handling the contaminated food also poses a risk to humans, especially if they do not thoroughly wash their hands. Salmonella in dogs and humans can cause diarrhea, fever and vomiting.Natalie Harp Repeatedly Declined To Obtain Routine White House Security Clearance: ReportNatalie Harp, President Donald Trump’s close aide, worked at the White House without a security clearance for more than a year, sources familiar with the matter told MS NOW.Harp, who was thrust into the spotlight this week after she was mentioned in a speech by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), repeatedly refused to complete the process of obtaining the routine security clearance for unknown reasons. She only did so after Trump intervened, one source told the outlet.Some staff have been making “subtle moves” to limit Harp’s unfettered access to Trump, another source said, but they have not been successful.“She is just persistent and not realizing that’s what they were trying to do,” this source said.Several people in Trump’s orbit have reportedly raised security concerns about Harp, who has an oddly close relationship with the president. Media reports in recent days have uncovered unusual letters she sent him, as well as one incident in which she rode in the trunk of Trump’s motorcade to stay close to him.When reached for comment about the security clearance matter, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “Natalie Harp has a security clearance like everyone else, and she is a loyal and hardworking member of President Trump’s team.”Read more from MS NOW: As Hawaii Cleans Up Mess Left By Hurricane Lala, Forecasters Eye Another Possible StormAs people in Hawaii work to remove massive amounts of debris and fix damaged infrastructure in the wake of Lala, forecasters on Wednesday warned of the likelihood of another tropical cyclone forming southeast of the islands.The death toll from the storm rose to two with the discovery of a man’s body near a highway.Read more from The Associated Press:Air Force Major Arrested Again After Speaking Out Against Trump On CNNAir Force Maj. Jason Watson was arrested Wednesday for a second time, just a day after criticizing President Donald Trump during an interview with CNN.“Not only is he a failure as president, he is flagrantly violating the Constitution, breaking the law, engaged in rampant corruption and is killing Americans and that is unacceptable to me,” Watson told CNN’s Erin Burnett. Watson was previously arrested on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on July 1 after calling for the impeachment of Trump and Vice President JD Vance during a news conference and protesting in uniform. It was unclear what new allegations Watson was facing at the time of his arrest on Wednesday. He was ordered to be held in “pretrial confinement” and was being detained at a county facility in Maryland, CNN reported.“Military members are required to comply with the Uniform Code of Military Justice and all applicable regulations,” an Air Force spokesperson said in a statement to CNN, adding that Watson’s arrest was made “based on probable cause to support allegations of continued misconduct.”5 Americans Killed In Kenya Safari Helicopter Crash That Left 7 deadFive Americans were killed in a helicopter crash in northern Kenya that left a total of seven people dead, including Ecuador’s intelligence chief.Four of the Americans killed in Wednesday’s crash were identified as Roger Edward Duarte, Adam Martin Hlavaty, Henry Parra and Jose Alberto Suárez, Kenyan officials said.Michele Sensi-Contugi, director of Ecuador’s intelligence center, was killed alongside his wife, Ecuadorian-American Stephany Maria Hollihan Vasconez, and Kenyan pilot Josh Outram. Alberto Suárez was the president and general manager of several Telemundo stations in Florida, NBC 6 in South Florida reported. An investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing. Report Finds Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Could Cost 4,500 Jobs In LAThe massive merger by Paramount and Warner Bros. could end up costing about 4,500 production jobs in the film and TV industries over a three-year period, according to a report released Tuesday by Los Angeles County.The report by CVL Economics and commissioned by L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath concludes that combining the two media giants would worsen the downturn in the city’s production sector, which has already lost 52,000 jobs in the last four years.“Two buyers become one,” the report states. “The merger reduces independent commissioning options, with the largest increases in buyer concentration occurring in unscripted, reality and talk television.”The $110 billion merger was put on hold after 12 state attorneys general filed an antitrust lawsuit seeking to stop the move. The Writers Guild of America, of which HuffPost’s union is a member, also filed a lawsuit to stop the merger. Both cases will be tried concurrently starting next year.As The Nation's Largest Reservoir Shrinks, Bodies AppearAs the water level at Lake Mead -- the largest reservoir in the U.S. -- continues to plummet amid the ongoing climate crisis, more human remains have been discovered.On Sunday, human bones were found by two women on the beach shoreline, though park officials said there’s “no indication of criminal activity.”The lake’s water level has been decreasing since 2022, and at least four cases of human remains appearing have happened since that time.Read more at the Los Angeles Times:See All Updates