Politics & World Affairs — August 25, 2026

South Carolina holds Senate runoff. South Carolina Republicans vote today in a Senate primary runoff between Trump-endorsed Darline Graham and Rep. Ralph Norman. It's a test of the president's endorsement power after several picks fell short this cycle.

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U.S. unveils sweeping Iran sanctions. The Trump administration announced "Operation Economic Outcast," secondary sanctions targeting countries that do business with Iran; Tehran vowed to retaliate against cooperating nations.

U.S. officials have described the sanctions package as an "economic D-Day," according to BBC World, framing it as an effort to isolate Iran by penalizing third countries that maintain commercial ties with it. Iranian officials said the country is "fully prepared" to counter the widened measures and has a plan to address them, the BBC reported, though details of any retaliatory steps were not specified.

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U.S. prepares mass visa revocation. The Trump administration is preparing to revoke business and tourism visas from up to 200,000 asylum applicants on a rolling basis, reportedly the largest mass visa revocation ever.

The plan targets B1/B2 visas, which cover business and tourism travel, held by people who have applied for asylum in the United States, according to Axios. Reporting Monday indicated the revocations would proceed on a rolling basis rather than all at once. Axios described the effort as unprecedented in scale, exceeding any prior mass visa revocation by a U.S. administration.

Axios · Read more →