Weekend Edition.
Misbehaving?
1. Axios:
President Trump told reporters on Saturday that he could order renewed military action against Iran if it “misbehaves.”
While the U.S. and Iran are still exchanging drafts of a framework agreement to end the war, Trump is also seriously considering ordering new military action against Iran to try and break the current stalemate.
“If they misbehave, if they do something bad — but right now, we’ll see. It’s a possibility that could happen, certainly,” Trump said when asked whether he could order fresh strikes.
Iran on Thursday gave the U.S. a 14-point updated proposal for a framework agreement.
According to two sources briefed of the proposal, it set a one-month deadline for negotiations on a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, end the U.S. naval blockade and permanently end the war in Iran and in Lebanon.
Per the Iranian proposal, only after such a deal is reached, another month of negotiations would be launched to try and reach a deal on the nuclear program, the two sources said.
Trump was also briefed on Thursday by CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper about new plans for military strikes against Iran. Cooper then left for the region, and on Saturday met soldiers on the USS Tripoli in the Arabian Sea. (Source: axios.com)
2. Bloomberg:
Sweeping new US economic sanctions on Cuba could chase international companies off the island as Donald Trump’s administration continues to threaten military force to dislodge the 67-year-old regime.
On Friday, Trump unveiled measures that would allow Washington to target almost any non-US citizen or entity involved in business on the island. While specific targets are yet to be determined, the order says it will focus on defense, mining, finance and security.
The sanctions raise questions for companies including Turkey’s Karpowership — which runs an energy barge in Havana — and Canada’s Sherritt International, which mines for nickel and cobalt in Cuba, said William LeoGrande, a professor of government and a specialist in US-Latin American relations at American University in Washington.
Also under the latest sanctions, financial institutions that have handled transactions with certain Cuban individuals and entities could be cut out of the US banking system.
“These sanctions are incredibly, incredibly broad,” LeoGrande said, adding that he expects the Trump administration to eventually use the new economic weapon to “terrify” companies into quitting the island. (Source: bloomberg.com)
3. Russian forces in April 2026 suffered a net loss of territory controlled in the Ukrainian theater for the first time since Ukraine’s August 2024 incursion into Kursk Oblast. ISW has observed evidence to assess that Russian forces lost control of 116 square kilometers in April 2026, not counting areas into which Russian troops may have infiltrated. The Russian rate of advance across the battlefield has been steadily declining since November 2025 as continued Ukrainian ground counterattacks, Ukrainian mid-range strikes, the February 2026 block on Russia’s use of Starlink terminals in Ukraine, and the Kremlin’s throttling of Telegram have exacerbated existing problems within the Russian military. (Source: understandingwar.com)
4. The Pentagon said that it is withdrawing about 5,000 troops from Germany amid a feud between President Donald Trump and Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the U.S. war in Iran. Trump’s move drew a rare rebuke from Republican lawmakers, who said reducing American forces in Europe sends the wrong signal to Russia. The Pentagon’s chief spokesman, Sean Parnell, announced the move in a statement Friday and said it follows a “thorough review” of the military’s force posture in Europe. “We expect the withdrawal to be completed over the next six to twelve months,” Parnell said. (Source: washingtonpost.com)
5. The Wall Street Journal:
To have a hope of fielding a sustainable drone fleet capable of competing with China, the U.S. needs to solve two problems.
First, it needs to find a way to break China’s monopoly on batteries and motors. The Trump administration has injected billions of dollars into American companies that produce critical minerals that are needed to make motors and batteries, though the experts warn that building up the complex infrastructure needed for mass production could take a decade or more.
