Good Day, this is the Commonwealth Report.
News for the public, not the powerful.
Did Trump Nearly Start Another War Because a Saudi Prince Called Him?
For two weeks Trump wavered over Saudi pleas to bomb Yemen’s Houthis. He told his advisers Wednesday he didn’t want to. Then Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called Thursday, and he ordered the Pentagon to prepare airstrikes. By Sunday he’d flipped again, telling Fox News he was in “deciding mode.” Commanders had approved targets, troops were loading bombs onto warplanes, and the first wave was about to launch when he called it off. Most of his inner circle opposed the idea, given how the Iran war has already strained our military. Meanwhile, the Houthis have seized Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast and were battling Saudi-backed forces Sunday near Taiz. That’s how wars start now. Not with a vote in Congress, but with a phone call from a prince.
Trump’s Approval Crashes to 29% Six Weeks Before the Midterms
For the first time in either of his terms, a pollster has Donald Trump below 30%. The American Research Group surveyed 1,100 adults from September 16th through the 20th. Just 29% approve. 68% disapprove. On the economy it’s worse. Only 26% approve, and 72 % say the economy is getting worse. Even a majority of his own supporters expect the economy to get worse a year from now. Other polls run higher, and an analyst calls it “an outlier.” But here’s the number that matters. In September 2018, right before Republicans lost 41 House seats, this same pollster had him 10 points higher. When gas and groceries eat your paycheck, no amount of spin fixes it. Working people are done.
Is Ashley Hinson Finally Panicking Over Trump’s War?
Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is running for Joni Ernst’s Senate seat, and Monday she hit the panic button. She posted that Iowans shouldn’t have to pay for the Iran war at the pump or the checkout line. She never mentioned Trump by name. In June, Politico caught her on tape privately warning donors the war could become a political liability. She’d already attended four funerals for Iowa soldiers. Then last month, on The Iowa Podcast, she said Iran was “thousands of miles away” and out of sight, out of mind for so many Americans. And she’s voted twice against war powers resolutions that would’ve forced Trump to get Congress’s permission to keep fighting. Fretting in private, dismissing in public, voting for the war every time. That’s not leadership. That’s a weathervane.
Has the Planet Just Blown Through a 150 Year Heat Record?
The El Niño cooking the Pacific just shattered a 150 year record, and it hasn’t even peaked. Water at its heart hit 3.05 degrees Celsius above normal this weekend, beating the old record of 3.02 set in November 2015. That’s two months earlier than any previous peak. Climate scientist Zeke Hausfather calls the forecast “mind blowing.” An average of 14 models says it could reach four degrees by December. Anything above two is a super El Niño. The World Food Programme warns it could push 50 million people into acute hunger. Scientists say it could be the strongest event in at least 1,000 years. That’s what burning fossil fuels does to an ocean with nowhere left to put the heat. The bill is coming due, and it’s coming early.
Who Pays the Bill When Epstein’s Survivors Can’t Afford to Heal?
Danielle Bensky says her dream is simple. A house someday. A dog. Instead, physical therapy runs $200 a visit, and she can’t afford to go as often as she should. Some employers won’t hire survivors because they’re “too political.” Fellow survivor Jess Michaels was a professional dancer until Epstein’s assault left her frozen in bed through her twenties. She got a fraction of what an ordinary assault settlement pays, and PTSD has wrecked her health. Democrats Ayanna Pressley, Teresa Leger Fernández and Deborah Ross introduced the Survivors’ Rights Restitution Act, a federal fund for people the government failed to protect. Don’t hold your breath for Trump’s signature. These women did the right thing. Now the country should help them.
And that’s the way it is, Today Tuesday, September 22, 2026. I’m Thom Hartmann.
