The American Conservative Morning Briefing

About The American Conservative Morning Briefing

A short morning synopsis of TAC's coverage

Publisher

The American Conservative

Category

news · news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

27 Apr 2026

Latest episode

16 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

162 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   16 Oct 2026

   October 16, 2026

   Good morning! Today is Friday, October 16th 2026, and this is The American Conservative's Morning Brief. In South Carolina, Senator Darline Graham is clinging to a one-point lead over Democrat Annie Andrews, as voter anger over the Iran war and six-dollar diesel threatens to flip a seat her brother Lindsey won by ten points in 2020. Jack Hunter reports that unease over the seat passing by "bloodright," combined with lingering support for America First primary challenger Ralph Norman, has some conservatives floating a write-in campaign against the appointed senator. Jude Russo argues that Ukraine's reported exhaustion of Patriot interceptors exposes the hard arithmetic of a depleted American arsenal, and warns that trying to sustain two major wars across two theaters is madness. and now for the details. We begin in South Carolina, where a Senate race that should be a Republican walkover has turned into a dead heat. Senator Darline Graham, appointed in July to fill out the term of her late brother Lindsey Graham, is clinging to a one-point lead over Democratic pediatrician Annie Andrews, according to late September polls from Trafalgar and Insider Advantage. A Rasmussen survey released Friday put Graham at forty-nine, Andrews at forty-five. For context, Lindsey Graham won reelection in 2020 by ten points. Andrews has centered her campaign on rising gasoline and diesel prices, tying them directly to the ongoing war with Iran — and reminding voters that Senator Graham voted three times to continue that war. In Sunday night's debate, Graham defended the war, invoked peace through strength, and pledged to stand with Israel, even blaming Democrats for Iran's nuclear program. As Jack Hunter reports for The American Conservative, Hunter — himself a South Carolinian — still expects Graham to win, but says the closeness of the race would be unthinkable absent the political context created by Trump's war. Many conservatives who had backed Lindsey's America First primary challenger, Representative Ralph Norman, are uneasy about a Senate seat passing by what Hunter calls bloodright, and some are even organizing a write-in campaign. Hunter notes House Speaker Mike Johnson's recent attempt to blame fuel prices on the Strait of Hormuz rather than on Republican policy — a dodge, Hunter writes, that South Carolina voters are unlikely to buy. Turning to the war in Ukraine. CNN reported Thursday that Ukraine has run out of Patriot interceptor missiles, following days of friction between Washington and Kiev over intelligence-sharing, internet support, and Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. Two weeks ago, Axios reported that the United States had moved Patriot batteries to Saudi Arabia and Qatar to protect Gulf energy infrastructure from Iranian attack. As Jude Russo writes for The American Conservative, material reality is beginning to bite. Russo argues that the White House's reported cooling toward Ukraine may simply reflect the hard arithmetic of a depleted arsenal: there are only so many missiles to go around, and the United States will not sacrifice its own personnel and economic security for Kiev. He cites Jennifer Kavanagh's reporting in TAC that continued operations in Iran will come at the cost of readiness in other theaters. Russo notes the dynamic that has long bedeviled negotiations — when Russia struggles, Ukraine stiffens; when Ukraine struggles, Russia presses on — and expresses doubt that President Trump's deal waiving sanctions on Russian diesel will meaningfully soften Moscow's position. Russo does not conceal his frustration. The limits of the American defense-industrial base, he writes, have long been visible, as obvious as an iceberg on the horizon. Trying to sustain two major wars in two theaters, he concludes, is madness — and, he adds, don't even mention Taiwan. Those are today's highlights. For the full stories and more, visit theamericanconservative.com. Thank you for starting your morning with us.

2. 

   15 Oct 2026

   October 15, 2026

   Good morning! Today is Thursday, October 15th 2026, and this is The American Conservative's Morning Brief. Trump's surprise diesel deal with Putin has shattered trust with Kiev, prompting Zelensky to call the arrangement dishonest and Trump to suggest Ukraine needs a new president, with Ted Snider arguing the real win for Moscow is decoupling U.S.–Russia diplomacy from the war itself. U.S. inflation climbed to 3.7 percent in September as Middle East conflict drove energy prices higher, even as Trump hinted at expanded action against Iran and the Saudi–Houthi war escalated with strikes on Riyadh and Aramco's headquarters. Kimberly Guilfoyle resigned as ambassador to Greece amid corruption allegations, including a reported request for $100,000 from a Trump donor in exchange for administration access. and now for the details. We begin with a diplomatic rupture between Washington and Kiev. Last Friday, while Ukrainian negotiators were meeting with U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in Miami, President Trump announced he had struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Under the arrangement, Moscow will lift its export ban on diesel fuel and supply hundreds of thousands of tons to the global market in the coming months, eventually totaling nearly five million tons. In exchange, the U.S. Treasury will issue a temporary general license allowing Russia to sell diesel through April of next year. Ukrainian negotiators left Miami in anger, skipped the second day of talks, and President Zelensky called the deal "not fair and not honest." Hours later, Ukraine struck a Russian oil refinery. Trump responded sharply, suggesting it was time for Ukraine to find a new president. As Ted Snider reports, the economic effects of the deal will likely be modest on both sides. Russia's diesel surplus would have found buyers anyway, and the volumes involved are small compared with daily global consumption. The real significance, Snider argues, is political and symbolic. Moscow has secured an economic arrangement with Washington without making any concessions in the Ukraine peace negotiations. That unshackling of U.S.–Russia diplomacy from the war, Snider writes, is the true Russian victory. Meanwhile, Witkoff and Kushner have warned Kiev that intelligence sharing could be cut, Elon Musk has backed Trump's call to replace Zelensky, and SpaceX has reportedly imposed limits on some Starlink services inside Ukraine, disrupting combat drone missions. Turning to the Middle East and its cost at home. U.S. inflation jumped to 3.7 percent in September, up from 3.4 percent the month before, as conflict in the Middle East pushed energy prices higher. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the figures on Wednesday. It was the first monthly rise since May. President Trump, speaking at a campaign rally in Alaska, again hinted at expanded hostilities against Iran, telling the crowd, "Wait till you see what we do to Iran. We're gonna do a number." The Atlantic and other outlets have reported the White House has been pressing the Pentagon to prepare plans for imminent strikes, though Trump denied he would act before the November midterms. From Tehran, the naval commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Ali Ozmaei, challenged U.S. warships to approach the Strait of Hormuz, saying his forces were "impatient to sink American warships." As Andrew Day reports, the war between Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni Houthis also escalated Wednesday, with explosions heard in Riyadh and the Houthis striking the headquarters of Saudi oil company Aramco, pledging further attacks. The inflation data underscores how a distant war is beginning to reach into American household budgets. In Washington personnel news, Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. ambassador to Greece, resigned Tuesday amid corruption allegations. The Wall Street Journal reported she engaged in repeated misconduct, including a threat against a host nation official and influence peddling. In one instance, Guilfoyle allegedly asked a Trump donor for one hundred thousand dollars to pay down her credit card bill, promising administration access in return. White House press secretary Katie Zacharia confirmed earlier Tuesday that the administration had asked Guilfoyle to step down. In her resignation statement, Guilfoyle thanked the president and denied wrongdoing, calling the allegations false and pledging to defend her reputation. President Trump addressed the matter later that day, saying, "She was doing a good job, but we didn't like what we were reading." Andrew Day has the story for TAC. Those are today's highlights. For the full stories and more, visit theamericanconservative.com. Thank you for starting your morning with us.

3. 

   14 Oct 2026

   October 14, 2026

   Good morning! Today is Wednesday, October 14th 2026, and this is The American Conservative's Morning Brief. Andrew Day argues Secretary of State Marco Rubio's Athens address on Western civilization handed Tehran a propaganda victory by casting ancient Persia as an enemy of the West, reinforcing the impression that Washington seeks to annihilate Iranian culture itself. David Brady contends that Anthropic chief Dario Amodei's call to "pace the frontier" of AI development would entrench an industry cartel, enriching established players while smothering open-source rivals and smaller competitors under the weight of new regulation. Scott Greer weighs in on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's plan to execute Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan by firing squad on a live broadcast, warning that while the method is defensible, televising the killing risks turning Hasan into a martyr abroad and eroding support for capital punishment at home. and now for the details. We begin with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose recent address on Western civilization, delivered in Athens against the backdrop of the Acropolis, is drawing scrutiny for its treatment of Iran and ancient Persia. In the speech, Rubio invoked the second Persian invasion of Greece and the stand of the 300 Spartans, drawing a line between the ancient Persian empire and the modern Islamic Republic, which he described as a cult of death. Iranian officials seized on the remarks, with a senior advisor to the Supreme Leader saying Rubio's problem is not with the Islamic Revolution but with a strong, independent Iranian civilization. As Andrew Day reports for The American Conservative, the speech was, in his view, a public relations coup for Tehran. Day argues it reinforced the perception that Washington seeks not just regime change but the annihilation of Iranian culture itself—an impression already fed by President Trump's wartime rhetoric. Day notes that other Western thinkers, from Hegel to Nietzsche to Goethe, held pre-Islamic Persian civilization in high esteem, and that even Samuel Huntington framed tensions with Iran in modern political terms, not as a clash with Persian heritage. Day contends that Rubio's framing serves an Israeli-shaped vision of the West crafted to justify ongoing war, and he suggests the secretary should walk the remarks back and acknowledge Persia's cultural contributions before further damage is done. Turning to the business of artificial intelligence, Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei has published an essay urging AI companies and the federal government to, in his phrase, pace the frontier—slowing development through voluntary cooperation among firms and new regulation. Amodei warns of economic disruption, biological and cyber threats, and the possibility of losing human control over AI systems. Writing for The American Conservative, David Brady asks the classic question: who benefits? Brady argues that Amodei's proposals would, in effect, build an AI cartel that massively advantages large, established players like Anthropic itself. He notes that the evaluators Amodei favors have ties back to Anthropic—one key safety research outfit is funded in part by Open Philanthropy, whose co-founder now works at Anthropic and is married to its president, Dario Amodei's sister. Brady draws historical parallels to General Electric's Depression-era cartelization push that shaped the National Recovery Administration, and to the old railroad cartels that used published rates to lock out competition. He warns that burdensome rules would strangle open-source developers and smaller firms in the cradle, that calls for coordination with China would blunt competitors like DeepSeek, and that none of the current frontier labs are consistently profitable—giving them strong reasons to prefer regulated stasis over genuine competition. Brady's conclusion: the measures may fatten incumbents' bottom lines, but the bill will land on the American public. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced last week that Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter, will be executed by firing squad—and that the execution will be broadcast live. The announcement drew a cool reception. Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana said it would coarsen society. House Speaker Mike Johnson warned it could become a recruiting tool for future terrorists. Vice President J.D. Vance is reportedly not a fan, and President Trump has denied involvement in the decision. Writing for The American Conservative, Scott Greer argues that the firing squad itself is a sound choice—more effective and, in his view, more honest than lethal injection, which he says invites botched executions like the recent Christa Pike case in Tennessee. But Greer contends that livestreaming the killing is a serious miscalculation. Americans in 2026, he writes, are not the crowds of the 1870s. He points to how video of police shootings and immigration enforcement incidents has repeatedly shifted public sympathy toward the subjects

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