WASHINGTON — The 60-day negotiating window between Washington and Tehran expired Monday with no peace agreement, voters in three states head to the polls today in closely watched primaries, and a federal court decision has allowed key provisions of the National Firearms Act to lapse for the plaintiffs who challenged them. Here is The Investigative Journal’s afternoon briefing for Tuesday, August 18, 2026.
Government
Trump orders Pentagon to scale back joint exercises with South Korea
President Trump on Monday directed the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” annual joint military exercises with South Korea, instructing War Secretary Pete Hegseth to pare back drills that began the same day with roughly 18,000 South Korean troops participating, according to NPR. In a social media post, the president said the exercises are costly and “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” toward North Korea, which he said “has been unthreatening and respectful” during his time in office.
Reports indicate the decision also reflects operational strain: the demands of the conflict with Iran have stretched U.S. carrier availability in the region, wire reports note. The president told reporters he has asked South Korean President Lee Jae Myung to join U.S. efforts on Iran, and NBC News reports the 11-day exercise schedule started on time Monday, leaving open how and when reductions will be implemented. The Pentagon had not detailed specific changes as of this afternoon.
Justice Department watchdog opens review of DEA fentanyl tactic
The Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General announced Monday it will review policies and wiretap investigations in which the Drug Enforcement Administration may have learned of fentanyl deliveries in advance but stood down to protect larger prosecutions, according to reporting carried by Federal News Network. The review will examine department-wide risk-assessment policies and how investigators applied them in practice.
The announcement — one of the first official actions by newly sworn-in Inspector General Don Berthiaume — follows an Associated Press investigation that found DEA agents monitored but did not seize major fentanyl shipments in New Mexico between 2023 and 2025, the Albuquerque Journal reports. The inspector general’s office said the review will focus on the past two years and could determine whether similar shipments were permitted in other cities. Findings have not been issued; the review is at its outset, and no wrongdoing has been established.
Primary day: Florida, Alaska, Wyoming and a California special election
Voters are casting ballots today in Florida, Alaska and Wyoming, while California’s 14th District holds a contest to replace former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who resigned earlier this year, NBC News reports. In Florida, Rep. Byron Donalds — endorsed by President Trump — is the leading Republican contender to succeed term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In Alaska, CNN reports the top-four nonpartisan primary will shape Sen. Dan Sullivan’s re-election fight, with a likely November matchup against former Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat — and a ballot complication in the form of a same-named challenger. Wyoming voters will winnow the field for the open Senate seat left by retiring Sen. Cynthia Lummis, along with the governor’s race. Results in several contests may not be final tonight.
Hawaii begins recovery after Lala; storms batter the Midwest
Hawaii’s Big Island is beginning a difficult cleanup after Lala delivered a direct hit to the island’s South Point area as a Category 1 hurricane — its strongest winds crossed land, though the storm’s eye stayed just offshore, leaving Iniki in 1992 as the last hurricane to make official landfall in the state — before weakening to a tropical storm, NBC News reports. At least one death has been reported, and officials estimate 100 or more homes on the island’s southern end were damaged or destroyed. More than 30 inches of rain fell in some areas, according to CBS News, and roughly 240 Hawaii National Guard members have been deployed to assist. Severe storms have also threatened flooding and outages across Indiana and parts of the Midwest, Insurance Journal reports.
Courts
Key National Firearms Act provisions lapse after Texas ruling
Portions of the nearly century-old National Firearms Act have lapsed for the parties to a Texas lawsuit after Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas invalidated key components of the law and the Justice Department declined to seek an emergency stay within the one-week window the court provided, NPR reports. The ruling covers suppressors, certain short-barreled rifles and shotguns, and the niche “any other weapons” category.
The decision’s reach is narrower than some early characterizations suggested: it applies to the plaintiff organizations — including Gun Owners of America and the Silencer Shop Foundation — and their members in the states involved in the case, not the general public nationwide. The department retains a longer window for a conventional appeal; filings will indicate whether it pursues one.
Supreme Court’s emergency docket heats up in summer recess
The Supreme Court’s interim docket has surged during the justices’ recess, The Hill reports, with the administration asking the justices to revive contested mail-ballot restrictions and to allow White House ballroom construction to resume after lower courts ruled the project unlawful. A filing in the ballroom case stated construction plans call for another million pounds of rebar and 3,000 cubic yards of concrete in the coming week, underscoring the request’s urgency. SCOTUSblog’s analysis notes the recess has brought an unusual concentration of high-stakes applications; separately, Justice Elena Kagan on August 13 denied a stay application in litigation tied to Apple’s App Store commissions, according to docket trackers.
First Circuit leaves block on USCIS “benefits hold” in place
The First Circuit Court of Appeals late last week declined to stay a district court’s vacatur of two USCIS policies — a benefits hold and a “country-specific factors” policy — that had paused adjudication of immigration applications for nationals of 39 countries, according to the American Immigration Council. The unanimous order in Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island v. USCIS means the agency must continue adjudicating applications and may not treat an applicant’s nationality as a negative factor while the appeal proceeds. The litigation is ongoing, and the government’s appeal remains pending.
International
U.S.-Iran negotiating window closes without a deal
The 60-day window created by a June memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran expired Monday without a peace agreement, NBC News reports, leaving the two sides deadlocked over control of the Strait of Hormuz and the disposition of frozen Iranian funds. Asked whether he would extend the memorandum, the president told reporters “No,” saying he is in no hurry and claiming a direct backchannel to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard — a claim the IRGC denies, CNBC reports.
The president also warned Oman — which Tehran says is helping finalize a joint statement on reopening shipping lanes — against interfering in the strait, threatening to “bomb” the sultanate if it “gets in the way,” according to CBS News. Data cited in coverage of the standoff suggest traffic through Hormuz remains a fraction of the pre-war norm of roughly 110 daily transits, with global oil stockpiles drawing down as the stalemate continues.
Kushner-Netanyahu talks yield partial framework on Gaza
A marathon session Monday between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. envoy Jared Kushner — joined by Board of Peace lead envoy Nickolay Mladenov, board member Tony Blair and U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee — produced agreement that Gaza’s demilitarization should begin with a Hamas weapons handover supervised by an American general, NBC News reports, citing a source familiar with the talks. The parties also agreed reconstruction should not begin before disarmament.
The Washington Post reports the meeting produced optimism but no firm Israeli commitment to the full American plan, and accounts indicate Israel will continue targeted strikes in Gaza in the interim. Implementation details — including the supervising general’s identity and a timeline — remain unannounced.
Ukraine: aerial war intensifies as Kyiv reshuffles logistics command
Russia attacked Ukraine with 128 strike drones in a single day, with damage reported across at least ten regions, according to the Kyiv Independent, part of what CNN’s analysis describes as a stepped-up aerial campaign exacting a growing civilian toll on both sides of the front. President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday appointed Yurii Pohrybnyi to command the Armed Forces’ Logistics Forces. Kyiv’s repeated appeals for additional Patriot interceptors have been complicated by the Iran conflict, which reports indicate has drawn down U.S. munitions stockpiles.
Tomorrow’s Watch
Federal Reserve minutes, 2 p.m. ET. The Fed releases minutes of the July 28–29 FOMC meeting Wednesday afternoon, a closely watched read on the committee’s rate path amid mixed economic signals — and a table-setter for the Kansas City Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium, which convenes August 27–29 under the theme “Financial Innovation: Implications for Payments and Policy.”
Primary returns. Full results from Florida, Alaska, Wyoming and California’s 14th District will firm up Wednesday; Alaska’s top-four format means the November field, not a single winner, is the story to watch.
Korea exercise adjustments. With the 11-day joint exercise underway, watch for Pentagon guidance detailing how the president’s reduction order will be applied — and for Seoul’s official response.
Gaza follow-through. Board of Peace officials are expected to continue shuttle discussions on the demilitarization framework; any announcement naming the supervising U.S. general would be a significant step.
Hormuz diplomacy. Tehran and Muscat have signaled a joint statement on restoring shipping through the strait; its contents — and Washington’s reaction — will shape the week.
The Afternoon Wire is compiled from public records, official statements and contemporaneous news reports; claims are attributed to their sources throughout. Ongoing reviews and litigation noted above are pending, with no findings of wrongdoing unless stated.