AI Summary
5 min readHow Iran Devastated an American Naval Base in the Middle East
A Wall Street Journal investigation has revealed that Iran's missile and drone strikes during the recent conflict caused extensive damage to the U.S. Navy's only base in the Middle East—damage the Pentagon has not publicly acknowledged. The strikes, part of a broader Iranian campaign that fired more than 8,000 missiles and drones, have pushed the U.S. military to reconsider its entire footprint in the region. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is escalating its military response, OpenAI is restricting access to its newest models on national security grounds, and Volkswagen is preparing thousands more job cuts.
Iran's precision strikes and the damage in Bahrain
The U.S. naval base in Bahrain has anchored American naval power in the Middle East for over three decades. During the war, Iran repeatedly targeted it. Using satellite imagery, social media videos, and open-source photos, the Journal documented hits on two satellite communications terminals and about a dozen buildings. The Pentagon has not publicly acknowledged the extent of the damage, and during the war the U.S. pressed commercial satellite imagery providers to restrict access to images of the Middle East, making the battlefield hard to see. U.S. officials said those restrictions helped protect American troops.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:18) **Top Headlines & Market Open** - Alex Ossola introduces the PM edition, covering OpenAI model restrictions, the Iran base damage investigation, and TSA trials.
- 2 (01:25) **Flash: US Launches Fresh Attack on Iran** - US Central Command strikes Iranian drone storage and radar sites in response to an attack on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, signaling the fragile ceasefire is breaking apart.
- 3 (01:56) **Senators Call for Federal Probe into Polymarket** - Utah Republican John Curtis and California Democrat Adam Schiff ask the CFTC to investigate Polymarket’s deceptive promotion of fake bets, following a WSJ report that found paid creators did not disclose their sponsorship and that trades shown were not real.
- 4 (03:13) **OpenAI Releases GPT-5.6 to Approved Customers Only** - The new model is restricted to a small group approved by the Trump administration, coinciding with a ban on foreigners accessing two of Anthropic’s newest models. OpenAI warns against making White House restrictions the norm.
- 5 (03:52) **Volkswagen Plans Radical Overhaul with Thousands More Job Cuts** - Beyond 50,000 already agreed, the German carmaker is hit by US tariffs, rapid Chinese market share loss to BYD and Geely, and growing European pressure from Chinese automakers and Tesla. Unions vow to fight the plan.
- 6 (05:06) **Markets Close Lower; NASDAQ Falls for Fifth Straight Day** - The NASDAQ and S&P 500 dropped 4.6% and 2% for the week, respectively, while the Dow eked out a 0.6% gain.
- 7 (05:28) **John Bolton Pleads Guilty to Mishandling Classified Information** - The former National Security Advisor struck a deal with prosecutors, agreeing to pay a $2 million fine and potentially face up to 10 years in prison. The plea is seen as a significant win for President Trump’s efforts to prosecute perceived political enemies.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
P.M. Edition for June 26. Iran’s missiles and drones have inflicted extensive damage on the U.S.’s naval base in Bahrain—destruction that the Pentagon hasn’t publicly acknowledged. The WSJ’s Shelby Holliday walks us through an exclusive analysis of the strikes, and how they’ve pushed the U.S. to recalculate its military’s footprint in the region. Plus, two U.S. senators call for regulators to open an investigation into Polymarket’s deceptive marketing practices following the Journal’s reporting on social-media promotion of fake bets. And Volkswagen is working on a radical overhaul that will likely result in thousands of additional job losses. We hear from Journal European autos reporter Stephen Wilmot about the carmaker’s challenges. Alex Ossola hosts.
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