Without a clear endgame for the Iran war, Trump is growing frustrated. The president adds another D.C.-area renovation to his list of projects. And why some former MLB players feel the league is turning its back on them in retirement.

Here’s what to know today.

**Trump is ‘exasperated’ on Iran as top officials can’t agree on a strategy **

Iran vowed to “punish” the United States today after the American military said it had completed a “heavy wave of strikes” overnight. It was the latest retaliation for an attack by Tehran on U.S. forces in the Middle East. The renewed fighting came hours after President Donald Trump threatened to escalate the war as it enters its sixth month.

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As the president weighs what to do next, he has grown frustrated, according to people familiar with discussions, because his top aides and allies can’t agree on a goal of the war — whether it has to do with a nuclear threat, the Strait of Hormuz or Iran’s missile and drone program — and therefore can’t plan for an endgame.

Last week, Trump erupted during a meeting with some of his top national security officials and yelled expletives, two sources familiar with the discussion said. Two others familiar with the White House discussions on the war said the president and his top aides are not pleased with the status quo.

“The president is exasperated,” according to a Trump ally. “I don’t think he believed it was going to be this difficult to get the Iranians to agree to a deal.” They added that “there was not a real strategy for how long or what they should do to get to the endpoint.”

The disagreement raises the possibility of whether the U.S. is trapped in an increasingly unpopular conflict against an adversary that has proved to be resilient.

Senate committee postpones vote on Todd Blanche’s nomination

Senate committee postpones Blanche attorney general vote

The Senate Judiciary Committee canceled a vote on Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination over concerns from two Republican senators. It’s not clear when the committee vote to send Blanche’s full nomination to the Senate, which had been scheduled for this morning, would take place.

The hold up stems from Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, both of whom have clashed with Trump, as they demand written assurances from the Justice Department that it will kill an “anti-weaponization” fund and narrow who is protected from IRS audits — both related to a settlement between Trump and the IRS earlier this year.

More politics news:

• Sen. Rand Paul said he will call for a vote to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases invoked his Fifth Amendment rightmore than 100 times during a GOP-led Senate hearing about the origins of Covid.

• For subscribers:Sens. Bernie Sanders and Chuck Grassley are calling on the Defense Department- to perform a full-agency audit— or face penalties — as it requests more funds for the Iran war.

• For subscribers:A Democratic Senate primary in Michigan- will test voters’ appetitesfor leftward-driven populism versus a moderate establishment platform.

On the frontline battling France’s huge wildfire

NBC News’ Raf Sanchez with firefighters and volunteers in France as they battle the flames

The fire erupted seemingly out of nowhere. On the side of the road in France’s wine region, as waves of firefighting planes passed over a charred forest, flames burst out at the edge of the tree line.

Two white pickup trucks, manned by volunteers, sped toward the small fire, tackling the flames with hoses. A few minutes later, another blaze erupted just a few yards from the first.

“These small fires are like little candles,” Commander Matthieu Jomain, a fire service spokesman, told NBC News. “If we don’t put them out, we can’t win this battle.”

The encounter illustrates the challenge facing French fire crews as they battle one of the country’s largest-ever fires, four times the size of Paris. The fire has threatened the historic city of Bordeaux and forced 220,000 people from their homes, according to authorities in the region.

Trump adds a new D.C.-area renovation to his list or projects

Trump announced a sweeping makeover at Washington’s Dulles International Airport. The renovations include replacements of two concourses and a “magnificent” parking garage, Trump said at an Oval Office event. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the plans also include a “horseshoe rail system” to transport travelers through terminals.

The project is estimated to cost $22 billion, but it won’t be federally funded, Duffy said. That’s because “the airlines who participate in the project are going to pay for it,” he said. The administration is hopeful the project could begin next spring and be completed in two years.

Pope Leo says his ancestors included immigrants, enslaved people and slaveholders

Pope Leo XIV discussed his family’s connection with slavery and his love of America in a one-on-one encounter with “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas after the pontiff led a “Concert for Peace.”

In the Borgo Laudato Si’ papal gardens southeast of Rome, Llamas asked the Chicago-born pope what he loved about America. He replied, “So many things. In a sense, speaking about principles, what America stands for, the sense of freedom, the sense of opportunity, the sense of having invited for generations people from around the world to be part of America.”

Leo said his grandparents were immigrants. On his mother’s side “we have people who were both slaves and slave owners,” he said. Earlier this year, he apologized for the Catholic Church’s involvement in legitimizing slavery.

Staff Pick: Aging ex-MLB stars say the league is turning its back on them

During my high school years in southwestern Ohio, I loved going to Cincinnati Reds baseball games. So I was all-in when Johnny Bench, the Reds Hall-of-Fame catcher and All-Star, called earlier this year suggesting I research inequities in retirement benefits for Major League Baseball players.

I found that retired players, who made a fraction of what current stars do, get benefits that are far less generous than what more recent players receive. They don’t receive cost-of-living increases like younger players do. They have to pay up for healthcare. And their wives get only half their pensions when they pass, versus modern players’ spouses who get 100%. Even worse, some players have identified errors in their service records, meaning they may be owed back pension pay.

The MLB generated $12 billion in revenues in 2024, but the league and players association won’t level the playing field, the men say. One retired player I spoke with told me he thinks the league is waiting for the guys to pass away. And, tragically, another retired player I spoke to for the story — Bob Lacey, a pitcher for the Oakland A’s — died before we published. Now, his widow will receive half his pension. — Gretchen Morgenson, senior financial reporter

Read All About It

• The first female mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota, is under investigationafter the city’s police chief alleged she behaved inappropriately toward him and other members of his department.

• Actor and musician Jared Leto denied sexual assault allegationsmade by four women who accused him of misconduct while they were teens.

• For subscribers:Tinder- paused an in-app AI toolafter it gave some users unwanted makeovers.

• For subscribers:Lindsay Clancy is on trial in Massachusetts in the killings of her three children.- Here’s what we learnedfrom her ex-husband’s chilling testimony.

• Russian air strikes killed at least 13 people in Ukraine, including one in Kyiv, in attacks extending as far as the western city of Lviv, forcing neighboring Poland to scramble fighter jets to secure its airspace.

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