President Trump says the U.S. will hit Iran hard after it targeted American bases, which Tehran said was in retaliation for U.S. attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.
Page A8From§Eachthe noon edition — 31 August 2026
US strikes Iran again as Treasury Secretary vows they'll 'come to their senses,' Trump posts AI bombing footage.
As it ran on the front
The Administration's position on Iran is straightforward, and this desk will lay it out clearly: after weeks of relative quiet, the United States and Iran exchanged strikes, the President indicated further action is coming, and the Treasury Secretary characterized the broader strategy at the G20 finance meeting as an effort to make Iran, in his words, 'come to their senses.' That is diplomacy. That is what diplomacy looks like when it is backed by military capability, which — let's be honest — is the only kind of diplomacy that has ever worked, historically, in every case, no exceptions, well, most cases.
Critics will point to the fact that the President also posted an AI-generated video depicting the Iran bombing campaign, and ask whether that constitutes an appropriate use of the platform of the presidency. This desk would remind those critics that presidents have always used the tools available to them to communicate directly with the American people, going back to the fireside chat, and an AI-generated bombing reel is simply the fireside chat updated for a modern, visually literate electorate. It is not escalatory content. It is not a home movie of an active military strike set to inspiring music. Actually — it may be exactly that. But that doesn't mean it's inappropriate. It means the format is new.…
…(cont) As for Secretary Bessent's demeanor at the G20 meeting, this desk finds nothing remarkable in a Treasury official appearing confident while announcing that a sovereign nation currently being struck by American forces will, quote, come to their senses. That is not a threat. That is optimism about the outcome of a policy that includes strikes, more strikes promised, and a video of the strikes shared for public consumption. If that combination sounds coercive when you list it out loud, this desk would gently suggest you are listing it in the wrong order — actually, there may not be a right order for that list.
The bottom line the Administration wants understood is this: strikes happened, more are coming, the video was shared, and the Treasury Secretary is smiling about all of it at a finance meeting. This desk maintains that is a coherent foreign policy. This desk is aware how that sentence reads once it's typed out.
“You strike a country, promise to keep striking it, then post a highlight reel like it's a sports recap — that's not policy, that's content. The bombs are real, the smiling finance guy talking about them 'coming to their senses' is doing PR for it, and nobody in that chain has to explain the video to anyone.”
“This is basic deterrence messaging, nothing more — the video's for the public record, the Secretary's remarks are standard diplomatic language, and if it looks aggressive stacked together that's an editing choice, not a policy one. I mean, yes, we edited it that way, but that's not the point I'm making.”
The receipts
US President Donald Trump published a string of unhinged posts to his social media platform overnight and into Monday morning, including an artificial intelligence-generated video attempting to depict American forces bombing Kharg…
A smiling Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was seen arriving at a Group of 20 reception Sunday as he navigates the "Operation Economic Outcast" campaign against Iran and a bond market revolt.
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.