July 16, 2026

The American Conservative Morning Briefing · Jul 16, 2026 · 4m

Good morning! Today is Thursday, July 16th 2026, and this is The American Conservative's Morning Brief. Anthony Constantini argues in The American Conservative that the Ankara NATO summit exposed a European strategy of flattery and exaggerated rearmament designed to stall Trump until 2029, and that the Pentagon's force posture review should pave the way to bring U.S. troops home. The Iran War hit day 138 with a seven-hour U.S. bombing campaign and Iranian retaliatory strikes on American bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan, as Trump threatens to target Iran's power plants and bridges next…