War Notes: Fighting Trump 🥊

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NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight's 9 p.m. ET show, delivered straight to your inbox.

Worth a read 📰: Our good friend retired Brig. Gen. John Teichert wrote a must-read op-ed about tomorrow's four-year anniversary of the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle.

🪖 As he notes, four years after one of the most shameful moments in American history, there is no accountability.
📰 Click here to read Gen. Teichert's piece.

Defining the Field of Battle 🪖

🏆 In war and politics, he who defines the field of battle wins.

🚔 So let's look at the current fight over crime in Chicago:
- 🚨This weekend alone, six people were killed and 27 more were injured in Chicago shootings.
- 💰And thieves stole $130,000 worth from a Chicago Nordstrom.
  - 🙄 Just another weekend in Chicago.
- 💵 The city is near financial collapse.
- ✈️ Fortune 500 companies continue to flee the city, citing high taxes, crime and failing schools.
President Donald Trump says that Chicago is a mess, and since the locals keep making it worse, he's going to send in the National Guard and other federal law enforcement.
- 🎤 "Chicago – everybody knows how bad it is. Everyone standing there knows. We know. You don't have to be doing any studies. They should be saying please come in. Pritzker should be saying that. … We're going to have to see what happens," the president told reporters earlier today in the Oval Office.
🎤 Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker says that Chicago is safe and vibrant – and the problem is Trump.
- Pritzker held a press conference for over an hour with other city and state officials to attack Trump.
- ❌ He failed to mention the six killed in Chicago over the weekend from shootings in his remarks.
Common sense 🏆: Trump will win this war in the court of public opinion every time.
- Watch this 👀: A Democratic delegate said that most Americans aren't worried about crime, they are worried about mental health.
  - It's hard to be more out of touch.
Political reality ✅: Having a safe city isn't a Left versus Right issue – it's a right versus wrong issue.

🚔 Trump has realized that he won the conversation on crime after his takeover of Washington, D.C.

Trump has officially set his next target to expand his efforts to crack down on crime in major American cities: Chicago.
Numbers don't lie 📊: Factually speaking, Chicago is dangerous despite seeing a decrease in homicides year to year.
- Look back ⏪: In 2024, Chicago had:
  - 573 murders – the first time this number was under 600 since 2019.
  - 21.7 murders per 100,000 people – that's a murder rate nearly three times higher than LA and five times higher than NYC.
  - From 2018 to 2024, Chicago represented 3.7% of all the nation's murders.
- ⚠️ Is it the most dangerous city in America? Maybe not, but clearly, there is a crime problem that must be addressed.
Zoom out: Gov. JB Pritzker is an enemy of Donald Trump – and has his eye on a potential 2028 campaign.
- 🎤 Pritzker says he's "taking names" of the people supporting Trump.
- Fair question 🤔: Mr. Governor, how many murders are acceptable in the city?
- ❌ Trump is also not a fan of Chicago's mayor, Brandon Johnson.
  - Be fair ⚖️: Johnson has a shockingly low approval rating as mayor at 26% – so no one really likes the guy.
  - 📈 Believe it or not, 26% is a huge improvement for Johnson, who used to have a 7% approval rating.
- 📝 "Chicago is not calling for a military occupation of our city … we are currently evaluating all of our legal options to protect the people of Chicago from unconstitutional federal overreach," Johnson said in a statement.
  - 🤔 Mayor Johnson, what are you more worried about – murders or federal overreach? Your budget or fighting Trump?
Reality check ✅: Chicago, just like D.C., could clearly use help to fight the rampant crime on its streets.
- 🥊 But all the Windy City's Democratic leaders care about is fighting Trump – even when it could help their citizens.
- 🤷‍♂️ Crime in Chicago has been the rule, rather than exception, for as long as I can remember – maybe trying something new isn't a bad idea!

Labor Day Warning 🚨💰

💰 We have been telling you for months that President Trump runs the risk of losing America's support because of the economy, just like former President Joe Biden did.

📈 The stock market might be doing great, but price tags in the grocery store are rising.
💵 This represents the growing disconnect between how the Trump administration and mainstream Americans view the economy.
Now, a Republican strategist is issuing the very warning we've been telling you.
- 📝 "Hey, Washington GOP: You're asleep at the wheel on the economy. Wake up—now. The economy is the central issue, and you're losing it," friend of the program, Steve Cortes, writes of his latest polling from the state of Georgia.
- 📝 "On the economy, it's awful. The GOP gets the blame now. Only 23% of Georgia voters believe that the 'Big Beautiful Bill' will help their finances. That giant homage to profligacy was great for the wealthy, but working-class people hate it. Only 33% of young voters say their economic confidence is better since the 2024 election; 62% say it is worse," Cortes explains.
Holiday weekend: The economic pain felt by many Americans will be on full display this upcoming Labor Day weekend, a holiday known for lots of cookouts.
- On the grill 🍔: Compared to this time last year, ground beef prices are up 11.5% and beef steak prices 12%.
Wow 🚨: "A third of the U.S. economy is already in a recession or at high risk, and another third is stagnating, Zandi warns," Fortune reports based on Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi.
- "Recession/high risk (22): Wyoming, Montana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Kansas, Massachusetts, Washington, Georgia, New Hampshire, Maryland, Rhode Island, Illinois, Delaware, Virginia, Oregon, Connecticut, South Dakota, New Jersey, Maine, Iowa, West Virginia, District of Columbia."
Watch tonight 📺: Corey Lewandowski, former senior Trump adviser, on how President Trump can win on the issue of the economy.

Hoax Upon Hoax 🚨

🎓 As back-to-school season begins, so has a disturbing new trend: Active shooter hoaxes.

⚠️ Sadly – you heard it here first – somebody is going to get killed – not by an active shooter, but by the response.
Earlier today, reports of an active shooter situation at the University of Arkansas sent students into lockdown on campus.
The images of students hiding in classroom corners have been all too familiar over the past week, just for each incident to become a proven hoax.
- Of course, we are relieved that there have been no shootings.
- But there is another issue at hand.
😳 Today alone, there have been three shooter hoaxes on college campuses.
- 📰 "Police say no evidence of shooter at University of Arkansas in Fayetteville," headlines the Arkansas Advocate after today's hoax.
- 📰 "Iowa State police confirm 'several' reports of an 'active shooter' were false," writes The Ames Tribune.
- 📰 "Northern Arizona University responds to report of gun on Flagstaff campus," reports the Arizona Daily Sun.
Plus, the following hoaxes from last week:
- 📰 "Villanova University targeted in 2nd false active shooter report in 4 days," writes ABC News.
- 📰 "Investigation continuing after University of Chattanooga cleared of active shooter threat," headlines The Tennessean.
The problem has become so prevalent in just the first few weeks of school for many students that the FBI's Pittsburgh Field Office issued a statement:
- 📝 "Whether spoken, written, posted online, or shared on social media, making a hoax threat of violence is a criminal act wherein a student can face serious consequences with a profound impact on their future. Calling in a fake threat of violence, even if it was meant to be a joke, is a state crime as well as a federal crime. Hoax threats lead to the suspension or expulsion of the student in most cases. In some, it leads to arrest and imprisonment."
Thought bubble 💭: Those who make these fake threats must be sent to prison for a long time.
- When law enforcement responds to threats of an active shooter, they respond with heavy force and loaded weapons to put an end to the threat.
- When the threat is fake, that means police and SWAT teams are running around a school with guns out for no reason.
  - 🪦 It is only a matter of time until someone ends up being killed.

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The Rules Don't Matter Any More ❌

In the world we live in now, we've destroyed all of the rules – anything goes.

❌ That isn't a political statement, and I am not going to ascribe it to one party or another.

📰 "Trump Goes to Bat for Roger Clemens to Make Baseball Hall of Fame Despite Steroid Accusations: 'No Evidence Whatsoever That He Was a Druggie!'" headlines Mediaite.

Thought bubble 💭: For years, the rules of the game seemed to matter, but now, it looks like the sports world is going by a different playbook.
- 📝 President Trump wants in on this new playbook, writing the following in a post on Truth Social:
  - ✍️ "I played Golf yesterday with the Great Roger Clemens and his son, Kacy. Roger Clemens was easily one of the few Greatest Pitchers of All Time, winning 354 Games, the Cy Young Award seven times (A Record, by a lot!), and played in six World Series, winning two! He was second to Nolan Ryan in most strike-outs, and he should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame, NOW! People think he took drugs, but nothing was proven. He never tested positive, and Roger, from the very beginning, totally denies it. He was just as great before those erroneous charges were leveled at him."
❌ Apparently, nothing is taboo anymore.
- If everyone is breaking the rules, why should Roger Clemens be denied entry into the Hall of Fame?