Good Morning, this is the Commonwealth Report.
News for the public, not the powerful.
Will America Seize Iran’s Kharg Island Tonight?
President Trump says we’re taking Iran’s Kharg Island. That tiny outcrop in the Persian Gulf handles about ninety percent of Iran’s crude oil exports. On Truth Social this morning, Trump vowed the military would hit Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT” and soon assume total control of the country’s oil and gas markets. He compared it to Venezuela, which he claims is working out brilliantly. Iran fired back missiles and drones at Gulf states where our troops are stationed. Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan say they intercepted them. Military experts warn that putting American boots on Kharg Island would risk our soldiers’ lives and might not end this war at all. Brent crude has shot past one hundred dollars a barrel, up from seventy two before the fighting. So who pays for this oil grab? You do, at the pump.
Is Trump About To Censor The Entire Internet?
Here’s a quiet deal that could rewrite the web. According to Axios, the White House is bargaining with key senators. The trade is this. Congress surrenders its power to regulate AI, and in exchange Trump gets three federal censorship bills. One of them, the Kids Online Safety Act, would let his Federal Trade Commission decide what speech social media giants must remove. Just regulating Instagram alone touches about seventy one percent of Americans. Even the conservative free speech group FIRE, funded by Charles Koch, is sounding the alarm. They warn the bills “would fundamentally change the internet as we know it.” Critics say it would end anonymous browsing and hand Trump a weapon to silence his opposition. When billionaire Koch and progressives agree you’ve gone too far, way, way too far.
Are You OK With a Trillion Dollars For One Man?
Elon Musk is about to become the world’s first trillionaire. His rocket company SpaceX goes public Friday, aiming for a valuation near one point seven five trillion dollars. Musk owns forty two percent, and that stake pushes his fortune past the trillion mark. Oxfam America did the math. Musk’s wealth grew by more than five hundred fifty billion dollars this past year. That’s over one million dollars every single minute. He’d be richer than the poorest forty six percent of humanity combined, three point eight billion people. And remember, SpaceX gets a fifth of its revenue from the federal government while paying almost nothing in federal income tax. Oxfam called it “a new pinnacle of oligarchy and a dark day for democracy.” A government-backed trillionaire isn’t capitalism. It’s a heist.
Sunshine Just Beat King Coal...
For the first time ever, solar power generated more electricity than coal across an entire month in America. In May, solar supplied twelve point eight percent of the nation’s power. Coal dropped to twelve point two percent. Five years ago coal was at nearly twenty percent and solar barely cracked five. Solar is now the third largest source of electricity in the country, behind only gas and nuclear. Here’s the kicker. Trump is fighting this tooth and nail, shoveling seven hundred million dollars at the coal industry and chanting “dig, baby, dig.” But the states he won in 2024 installed seventy four percent of the new solar last quarter. Working people want cheaper, cleaner power, and it turns out no president, no matter how loud, can stop the sun from rising.
Did Taylor Swift Just Lift the Trump Curse?
And finally, a little magic from Madison Square Garden. On Monday, Trump showed up to a Knicks game and the team promptly lost, snapping a thirteen game winning streak. Fans were furious. Some burned sage outside the arena to cleanse Trump’s bad vibes. Comedian Michael Che blamed the invitation of “trumpty dumpty.” Then Wednesday night, with Taylor Swift cheering courtside, the Knicks roared back from a twenty nine point hole to crush the Spurs. It was the biggest comeback in Finals history. Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez thanked whoever blessed the Garden for getting “the stank vibes out.” The Knicks are now one win from their first title in fifty three years. Sometimes the people get the last laugh.
And that’s the way it is, Today Thursday, June 11, 2026. I’m Thom Hartmann.
