Erick Erickson opens as President Trump welcomes Xi Jinping to the White House and the administration caves on its ban of CNN, MS Now, and Politico, then explains why a declining China, not a rising one, is the real danger: purged generals, a stalled Chinese economy, Iran's oil squeeze, and Beijing's push to get Trump to abandon Taiwan. Then Erick celebrates Argentine President Javier Milei's blistering United Nations speech, the free market results of ending rent control in Buenos Aires, and why EU bureaucrats, Adrian Vermeule's common good constitutionalism, and Abdul El-Sayed's word salad on Iran all point the same direction.

• Trump and Xi Jinping at the White House: the CNN, MS Now, and Politico ban reversed, and the Tiananmen Square irony of barring CNN on the day China's dictator arrives
• China in decline: Peter Schweizer on Xi purging the Central Military Commission and 45 missing generals, Greg Ip and Rhodium Group on a Chinese economy that may be growing near zero, and Senator John Kennedy's "he learned to lie before he learned to talk"
• China, Iran, and Taiwan: Beijing helping Iran target Americans, U.S. missile batteries on Philippine islands in the Luzon Strait, and why Erick wants Reagan style confrontation instead of friendship
• Javier Milei at the UN: a "cast of fatally arrogant parasites," Argentina's economy rebounding after cutting tariffs, price controls, and rent control, and the free market lesson for Trump populists and JD Vance
• EU Digital Markets Act rules forcing Apple to rewrite its app tracking prompt, Britain's disinformation push, Adrian Vermeule's common good constitutionalism, and Abdul El-Sayed refusing to condemn Khamenei and the IRGC in Michigan

Erick Erickson opens with a blunt monologue on the Gaza genocide narrative and the violence it keeps inspiring, from a thwarted mass shooting plot at the Texas State Capitol in Austin to the Boulder attack and the Pennsylvania governor's mansion arson. Then he covers the botched Christa Pike execution in Tennessee and digs into the 2026 Senate midterms, with Harry Enten's polling data, James Talarico, Ken Paxton, Susan Collins, and why polls keep oversampling Democrats.

• The Gaza genocide claim, the foiled Texas Capitol shooting plot, and the media's refusal to push back
• Rising antisemitism on the left and the right, and the threats Erick still gets for calling out white nationalists
• Christa Pike's botched lethal injection in Tennessee, the all-female execution team, and the governor's pause on executions
• 2026 Senate midterms: Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Maine, and why Republicans likely hold the Senate while losing the House
• Harry Enten on polling misses, why polls oversample Democrats, and the Ken Paxton versus James Talarico race in Texas

Erick opens with the good news: Iran's economy is collapsing under U.S. sanctions and a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz, and President Trump all detailing the pressure campaign as gas and diesel prices start easing on returning refinery capacity. He also covers SpaceX's historic Starship launch of the new Starlink V3 satellite and Scottie Scheffler's class act at the President's Cup. Then comes the bad news hour: Erick makes his case for why predictions of a GOP Senate wipeout in the midterms, driven by weak Republican turnout, Trump Jr.'s wedding scandal, and flawed candidates like Ken Paxton and Mike Collins, are overblown.

• Iran's economy craters under U.S. sanctions and the Strait of Hormuz naval blockade; Chris Wright, Mike Waltz, and President Trump lay out the pressure campaign as gas and diesel prices ease
• SpaceX successfully launches Starship carrying the new V3 Starlink satellite; Elon Musk explains why it dwarfs Delta's in flight WiFi
• Scottie Scheffler's sportsmanship highlights Team USA's President's Cup comeback win over Nico Echavarria
• Erick argues against GOP midterm doom: Republican voter turnout, corruption anger over Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding gift, and weak candidates like Ken Paxton and Beau French in Texas and Mike Collins in Georgia
• Trump's economy approval rating and lingering tariff anger are dragging down Republican prospects even as his Iran policy succeeds