Middle East

Notus - If there’s an Iran plan, it’s a secret. Two House Republicans told NOTUS that they weren’t given talking points on the current status of the war by the White House before they left Washington for their August recess. A MAGA influencer who had been invited to private briefings with Vice President JD Vance and other top officials said the outreach has ceased and information is scarce. And it’s been more than 100 days since the Department of Defense held a press briefing.

Left in the dark are Donald Trump’s political allies, who not only want to help the president sell the Iran war but desperately need something substantive to say ahead of the fast-approaching midterms. NOTUS’ Jasmine Wright and colleagues tell the story of how the White House’s messaging — or lack thereof — on the war is affecting Trump’s most high-profile foreign policy move.

“How do we finish the job? It has not been answered yet,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota) told us.