🌊 Operation Midnight Jammer: US Blocks Strait

Plus: Harris 2028, Orbán loses election, and Roca gives car to Dellie

Apr 13, 2026

Dem trouble in the Golden State.

The only Californian who had a worse weekend than the Coachella attendees who shelled out $40k to see Justin Bieber lip-sync was Eric Swalwell, the frontrunner for governor. Just a few months after Rep. Katie Porter, then the frontrunner, blew her lead due to leaked clips — “stay out of my f***ing shot!” — and staff reports that made her look like Meredith Tate if she played Risk instead of Barbie as a kid, Swalwell is suspending his campaign due to sexual misconduct allegations.

Yikes. The only thing that could make the Republicans look worse is if the spouse of a cabinet secretary had a bimbofication kink and… oh wait.

Trump blocks the strait
Orbán loses election
Roca gives car to Dellie

– Max and Max

Peace Talks Fail to Secure a Deal

Both Iran and the US showed little sign of budging as peace talks concluded this weekend.

Following a grueling 21-hour negotiating marathon between Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Vance told reporters the two sides had been unable to reach an agreement, citing key shortcomings – chief among them Iran’s nuclear program:

The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon and that they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon. That is the core goal of the president of the United States and that’s what we’ve tried to achieve through these negotiations.

Trump, by contrast, sounded more upbeat about the overall talks while still zeroing in on the same central obstacle. On Truth Social, he posted: “So, there you have it, the meeting went well, most points were agreed to, but the only point that really mattered, NUCLEAR, was not.”

The Iranians pushed back sharply, accusing the US of negotiating in bad faith and making excessive demands. A spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry wrote on X:

The success of this diplomatic process depends on the seriousness and good faith of the opposing side, refraining from excessive demands and unlawful requests, and the acceptance of Iran’s legitimate rights and interests.

Pakistan, which helped broker the current two-week ceasefire, urged both sides to continue honoring it while negotiations proceed. Pakistan’s foreign minister added that the country remains ready to facilitate further talks and engagement between Iran and the US.

Besides the nuclear issue, two other major hurdles remain: The Strait of Hormuz and Israel’s continued strikes on Lebanon. On the latter, Tehran is pushing for a regional ceasefire that would include an end to fighting involving its proxies – primarily Hezbollah in Lebanon. Last week, Israel agreed to hold direct talks with the Lebanese government, but has continued launching strikes on the country, claiming the US-Iran ceasefire deal doesn’t apply.

On the former…

Strait of Hormuz Blocked…

… and not by the usual suspect.

After talks in Pakistan failed to produce a permanent agreement, President Trump announced that the US would impose a naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.

In a Truth Social post on Sunday morning, Trump wrote:

Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz… Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL! Iran knows, better than anyone, how to END this situation which has already devastated their Country.

The move marks a sharp reversal from Trump’s message just before the talks began, when he had declared US victory regardless of a deal, citing the destruction of Iran’s navy and air force. In his Sunday post, he vowed the US would eventually restore free passage, clear Iranian mines from the waters, and interdict any ships that paid tolls to Tehran, labeling the tolls “EXTORTION.”

As of 10am EST today, the US military began blocking all traffic in and out of Iran’s ports. Iran said that, if threatened, it will retaliate by targeting any ports near the Gulf. Iranian state media reported that a military spokesperson said, “No port in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman will be safe.”

We’ll update what happens next in tomorrow’s newsletter.

Chimp Civil War Breaks Out
A civil war has broken out among a large group of chimpanzees in Uganda, with two factions now engaged in lethal raids against each other.

Researchers traced the split to 2015, when the death of several socially central males weakened bonds within a once-unified group of roughly 200 chimps in Kibale National Park. More than 24 apes have died in the fighting, with attacks now targeting infants.

Harris 2028?
Kamala Harris told attendees at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network convention on Friday that she is considering a 2028 presidential run.

Sharpton said that Harris drew more votes in her 2024 loss than former Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Since leaving office, Harris has launched a political action committee and traveled the country in support of Democratic candidates.

Altman’s Home Attacked
Police arrested a suspect who allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail (a makeshift incendiary grenade) at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home on Friday.

The attack set the gate to Altman’s home on fire while the suspect fled on foot. A spokeswoman for the company said that soon after the attack on Altman’s home, the suspect appeared outside OpenAI’s headquarters and began threatening to burn down the building. He was arrested soon after.

Grand Central Station Attack
A man attacked three people with a machete at New York’s Grand Central Station on Saturday before police fatally shot him.

The attacker, Anthony Griffin, 44, who called himself Lucifer, slashed victims aged 84, 65, and 70 across two subway platforms before officers opened fire after repeated commands to drop the weapon.

All three victims are expected to survive, and police said the attack had no ties to terrorism. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that Griffin had three prior arrests in New York City.

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xAI Sues Colorado

The rivalry between US states and AI companies is heating up as Elon Musk’s xAI filed a lawsuit against Colorado, claiming the state’s AI regulation law violates the First Amendment.

Colorado’s bill, which is set to take effect in June, would place new requirements on “high-risk” AI systems in order to protect state residents from “algorithmic discrimination,” particularly in the education, employment, healthcare, housing, and financial service sectors. The law is the first comprehensive state-level legislation against AI and would require AI companies to disclose risks of AI discrimination to employers, release public statements summarizing risks, and report instances of AI discrimination to the state.

Musk’s company claims the bill violates the company’s First Amendment rights, arguing, “Its provisions prohibit developers of AI systems from producing speech that the State of Colorado dislikes, while compelling them to conform their speech to a state-enforced orthodoxy on controversial topics of great public concern.”

The lawsuit comes as AI is becoming an increasingly contentious topic between the states and the federal government. President Trump passed an executive order last December urging Congress to pass a national standard for regulating AI, rather than having a patchwork of 50 state laws. Congress has pushed back on Trump’s demands, and the upcoming lawsuit will serve as a crucial legal test over determining states’ ability to regulate AI.

Orbán Concedes Defeat

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán conceded defeat on Sunday after 16 years in power, as opposition leader Péter Magyar’s center-right Tisza party is projected to win a supermajority in parliament.

Orbán was the longest-serving leader in the EU, governing Hungary since 2010. He stacked courts with loyalists, brought roughly 70% of the country’s media under his party’s control, and redrew parliamentary districts to ensure his populist-nationalist party’s dominance. He styled himself a champion of “illiberal democracy,” drawing praise from other populists across Europe, the US, and Latin America.

Orbán was perhaps the Trump Administration’s closest ally in Europe, and the loss comes after US Vice President JD Vance traveled to Budapest last week to campaign for him. Orbán was also a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who counted on him to stall Ukraine aid and sanctions against Russia.

The election saw the highest voter turnout in Hungary’s democratic history. With roughly 90% of the votes counted by Sunday afternoon, Tisza is projected to win 138 of 199 parliamentary seats. Orbán’s Fidesz party is on track to win just 54, down from 133 in 2022.

Magyar, 45, a former Fidesz insider turned critic, ran largely on domestic issues – corruption, a sluggish economy, and underfunded healthcare and education. He has promised to restore relations with the EU and unblock a €90B EU loan for Ukraine that Orbán had stalled.

Artemis II Splashes Down

The four-person Artemis II crew splashed down on Friday in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, completing the first crewed mission to the Moon in over 50 years.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, returned after a nearly 10-day journey that saw them fly 694,481 miles in total and reach a peak distance of 252,756 miles from Earth during their seven-hour lunar flyby – breaking the record set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970.

The crew captured thousands of photos of craters, ancient volcanic plains, and the south polar region – the target for NASA’s 2028 crewed landing. They also became the first humans to witness a solar eclipse from the far side of the Moon and spotted six meteoroid impact flashes on the Moon’s darkened surface during the eclipse.

Attention now turns to Artemis III, planned for next year, in which a new crew will practice linking up with a commercial Moon lander while orbiting the Earth. Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are competing to supply the lander for Artemis IV, now targeted for 2028 as the first crewed Artemis Moon landing.

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The Revolt of the Podcasters

The crowd for Trump’s inauguration ceremony in January 2025 looked different than most. Wading among the typical dignitaries, donors, and representatives were the Nelk Boys, Adin Ross, Logan Paul, Jake Paul, Joe Rogan, and Theo Von. It was the pinnacle of the “vibe shift.”

But 15 months after his inauguration, many of the podcasters who helped elect Trump have turned against him.

What happened? Why the flip? Get our deep-dive here.

What does Roca Nation think?

🤔 Today’s Question: Do you fear death? Do you think about it often?

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Party Crasher
Grindr is hosting a pre-party ahead of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 24, becoming the first LGBTQ-focused platform to join the circuit of glitzy networking events surrounding the annual DC gathering.

The app is billing the Georgetown event as a First Amendment celebration, inviting journalists, Trump Administration officials, and LGBTQ community leaders.

Woo and Warfare
Uganda’s army chief publicly demanded $1B and a wife from Turkey.

In a now-deleted string of posts on X, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba framed the money as compensation for Uganda’s nearly two decades of military service in Somalia fighting Al-Shabaab – arguing that Turkey has benefited from business deals in Somalia while Uganda shouldered the security burden. He gave Turkey 30 days to comply or face embassy closure. “On top of the $1 billion from Turkey, I want the most beautiful woman in that country for a wife!” he wrote.

Kainerugaba previously proposed to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in 2022, offering 100 cows and threatening to capture Rome.

Light at the End of the Tunnel
Mexican army divers rescued a gold miner after he spent 13 days trapped 300 meters underground in a flooded tunnel in Sinaloa, following a tailings dam collapse that initially trapped four workers.

Rescuers finally located Francisco Zapata, 42, after more than 300 hours of searching when they spotted him flashing his torch light; they left him food and water before spending another 20 hours pumping out floodwater to extract him.

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Final Thoughts

Last summer in the mountains of Kentucky, we met Dellie Shuler, an Appalachian man living in a chicken coop and walking miles just to reach the nearest town. His story inspired our community to come together and raise over $35,000 to help him. In this video, we return to surprise Dellie with a much-needed truck and a special gift.

We want to give a special thank you to all of you who made this possible. The Roca community’s generosity was incredible!