— Alysa Liu on what she’d tell her younger self. Her reason why is TED Talk worthy.
International
There's the War — and There's the Messaging War
What’s going on: Yesterday, President Donald Trump warned that the “worst outcome” of the war in Iran would be a successor “as bad” as the current regime. That comment revived questions about whether toppling Iran’s leadership has been the goal all along. If there is regime change, Mojtaba Khamenei is a front-runner. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader killed over the weekend. While there’s not much information on him yet, CNNreports he shares his father’s views — which means little could change — and Iran’s government was built to survive attacks against its leaders. And now, the conflict is widening: At least five US allies in the Persian Gulf reported drone or missile attacks, and the US closed embassies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Lebanon. Here in the US, oil prices shot up, and stock markets slid as Trump again warned the war could “go far longer” than his initial four-to-five-week timeline.
Communications quagmire: Trump swears the war was pre-emptive — arguing Iran was about to attack Israel and its neighbors — though the letter he sent to Congress justifying the move doesn’t outline an imminent threat. The president waited more than 48 hours after the strikes to address Americans live and has mostly used Truth Social and reporter interviews. By leaning into this strategy, the narrative has become less centralized and harder to fact-check. It also leaves Americans piecing together policy from secondhand summaries and, sometimes, misinformation. Even Republican officials seem to be struggling to keep up and stay on-message. Critics, including former Obama official Rahm Emanuel, say the absence of a sustained address creates confusion. Politically, though, the approach fits Trump’s style. The open question: Will that formula work as well during a military conflict as it did on the campaign trail?
