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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Chicago residents call for Trump's help amid the city's crime crisis. The Coast Guard seizes a record amount of drugs at sea. Gavin Newsom goes MAGA, sort of. And they're forcing me to add this. Taylor Swift is engaged. I'm Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Tuesday, August 26th, and this is Evening Wire.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): After yet another bloody weekend in the Windy City, some residents say they're ready for help. This comes after President Trump's federalization of D.C. and telling Chicago that they're next. After we do this, we'll go to another location and we'll make it safe also. We're going to make our country very safe. We're going to make our cities very, very safe. Chicago is a mess. You have an incompetent mayor, grossly incompetent, and we'll straighten that one out probably next.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): The president also called Chicago a killing field, and many locals agreed. Local GOP leaders and former prosecutors say federal backing worked before and could work again. The city recorded six killed and 27 wounded over the weekend, including a five-year-old boy.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): The violence in the city came just days before Governor J.B. Pritzker told Trump to stay out of the city. Mr. President, do not come to Chicago. You are neither wanted here nor needed here. Threats and violence against public officials are rising sharply and the toll is turning deadly.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): U.S. Capitol Police say they investigated more than 9,000 threats in just the last year. That's an 18 percent jump. In Utah, lawmakers report harassment and stalking. This also follows the shooting death of a lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Experts say attacks like this are forcing states to rethink security for lawmakers. Utah State Senator Stephanie Pitcher says she's experienced some of this herself.
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--:-- Utah State Senator Stephanie Pitcher: I've seen some online threats as well. So I think certainly some of that is just the nature of politics. But it does seem like it's gotten worse over the past year or two.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): At least in Utah, UHP is the entity that's tasked with providing security to lawmakers. And even I have received some threats over email and had somebody else on Twitter.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Trump's D.C. crime crackdown has ensnared yet another alleged Trendy Aragua member. The alleged gang member was arrested Monday night, one of more than a thousand arrests in less than two weeks.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): So far the DOJ says there have been 1,000 arrests and that they seized more than 100 illegal guns in the district. The department also says there have been zero murders or carjackings since the president sent in federal forces to clean up the streets of the nation capital.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Along with the alleged TDA gang member the feds also say they arrested a guy who was burning the American flag in Lafayette Park.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): In a record-setting haul for the U.S. Coast Guard, tens of thousands of pounds of drugs have been seized at sea. Daily Wire reporter Spencer Lindquist has more.
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--:-- Daily Wire Reporter Spencer Lindquist: In collaboration with the Pentagon, Coast Guard crews intercepted 19 smuggling boats in the Pacific and Caribbean this past summer, hitting drug runners off the Galapagos, Venezuela, Mexico, and the Caribbean islands.
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--:-- Daily Wire Reporter Spencer Lindquist: Crews offloaded more than 76,000 pounds of cocaine and marijuana in Florida, which is estimated to be worth a whopping $473 million. 34 suspected traffickers are now in custody, and the Trump administration says it plans to expand the Coast Guard fleet and workforce to keep the pressure on these types of smugglers.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): In an exclusive report from The Daily Wire, Gaza aid truck drivers detail a string of attacks and looting targeting the civilian aid. Daily Wire reporter Cassie Akiva has the story.
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--:-- Daily Wire Reporter Cassie Akiva: The truck drivers tasked with transporting aid throughout Gaza say that they have been villainized while they put their lives at risk, often attacked by mobs and armed looters as they try to carry out humanitarian missions.
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--:-- Daily Wire Reporter Cassie Akiva: The Daily Wire talked to several drivers near Gaza's Karim Shalom crossing, where thousands of United Nation aid truckloads sit undelivered and rotting in the sun. One driver explained that the mobs used tools to yank the doors open and assault them.
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--:-- Daily Wire Reporter Cassie Akiva: Another driver said it feels like a thousand people climb onto his windshield, completely blocking his line of sight. Another pointed to a truck hit by gunfire behind him during the interview.
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--:-- Daily Wire Reporter Cassie Akiva: And one driver said, quote,
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Meanwhile, in related news, Egypt has begun training hundreds of Palestinians to take over in Gaza after the war ends. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the plan is for the Palestinians to be part of a force of up to 10,000 that would provide security for the Gaza Strip.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Along with Egypt, Jordan has also agreed to train an Arab police force for the embattled region. While Arab officials are already moving forward with the plan, it's likely to get significant pushback from Israel.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Ukraine appears to be hitting Russia where it hurts, the gas pump. Daily Wire reporter Zach Jewell has the details.
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--:-- Daily Wire Reporter Zach Jewell: Ukrainian drones have hit more than a dozen Russian refineries knocking out roughly 13 of fuel production enforcing rationing in places like Siberia and occupied Crimea.
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--:-- Daily Wire Reporter Zach Jewell: Prices are rocketing up 45 for some grades of gasoline even as crude prices drop worldwide. Analysts say sanctions and constant strikes are choking repairs.
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--:-- Daily Wire Reporter Zach Jewell: This all comes as President Trump pressures Kyiv to negotiate while restricting some US weapons. But Ukraine is leaning on its own drones and missiles to keep the pressure on Moscow's economy.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Today is the fourth anniversary of the infamous Abbey Gate attack that killed 13 American service members. President Trump signed a proclamation yesterday commemorating the anniversary in the Oval Office surrounded by Gold Star families.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): We remember these great 13 souls, but we also remember the people that were so badly injured, our soldiers, 32 of them approximately. It should have never happened, should have never been allowed to have happened.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): The bombing took place during the Biden administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also spoke at the event and noted that an investigation is underway into the details of the withdrawal.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Vanity Fair staffers are threatening to walk out over their new boss's idea to put Melania Trump on the cover. The magazine's new editorial director told Semaphore that he was potentially interested in featuring the first lady, leading to widespread staff backlash.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Other Vanity Fair insiders say the backlash is overblown and that few members of the staff would really walk out from such coveted jobs just to protest a cover image.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Despite being a former fashion model, the first lady was not featured on any of the most prestigious fashion covers during Trump's first term.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Gavin Newsom is trying to steal some pages from the Trump playbook. Over the weekend, the California governor launched his own patriot shop with Trump-inspired red hats and other spoof merchandise, including a red hat that says Newsom was right about everything and a t-shirt showing Tucker Carlson, Kid Rock and an angelic Hulk Hogan praying over Newsom.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Other items include a Newsom 2026 mug and California flag-inspired lawn signs that say don't poke the bear. Notably, a dropdown menu allows shoppers to navigate to two themes, pride and the Patriot Shop in all caps.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): When you click on pride, the site says there are no products listed under this category.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): President Trump may make the Pentagon the Department of War again. The president alluded to the name change during a presser in the Oval Office yesterday.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): It just sounded bad. He said, sir, on behalf of the Department of Defense, defense, I don't want to be defense only. We want defense but we want offense too if that's okay. So you make a decision. But you know as Department of War we won everything.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): He then doubled down on the idea when asked yesterday afternoon. We're just going to do it. I'm sure Congress will go along if we need that. I don't think we even need that. But if we need that, I'm sure Congress will go along.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): You know, that was the name when we were we won World War I. We won World War II. We won everything. The Department of War was created by an act of Congress in 1789 and was renamed the Department of Defense following World War II under the Truman administration.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): President Trump weighed in on the Cracker Barrel rebrand with some business advice. In a post on Truth Social this morning, the president observed the old country store had, quote, a billion dollars worth of free publicity if they play their cards right. Very tricky to do, but a great opportunity.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): He recommended they reinstate the old logo, apologize to their customers, and, quote, manage the company better than ever before.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Cracker Barrel attempted to quell concerns in a statement yesterday, but for now is sticking to its guns on the rebrand. Let's see if that holds up.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): In some gross news, the first human case of a horrible-sounding flesh-eating parasite has been detected in the U.S. HHS said Monday that it has confirmed the first case in a human being of the New World screw worm.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): That's a parasitic fly maggot that feeds on living tissue. As for the name, as ABC explains, it's a reference to how they screw themselves into the tissue of animals with their sharp mouth hooks, causing extensive damage and often leading to death.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): The good news, the patient, a resident of Maryland who got it while traveling to El Salvador, has recovered and HHS says there's no evidence of further spread.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): In a major blow to young men everywhere, Taylor Swift is now engaged. The couple shared a romantic garden proposal via Instagram, complete with a vintage-style old mine, brilliant-cut diamond ring, and the playful caption, Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Fans and friends from Brittany Mahomes to Chiefs insiders are calling it a modern fairy tale, with the post racking up millions of likes almost instantly.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): I wasn't one of them. All right, those are your drive-home updates. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And in case you missed it this morning, we covered some major stories, including Trump moving to choke off federal funding to cities with cashless bail, the latest chapter in the Abrego Garcia saga and Cracker Barrel backpedaling after the continued rebrand backlash.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of Morning Wire.
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