WSJ What’s News - U.S. Launches New Strikes on Iran

Episode Date: July 8, 2026

P.M. Edition for July 8. While there’s more fighting in the Middle East, the NATO summit ended with a show of unity between the U.S. and its European allies. We caught up with WSJ Brussels bureau chief Dan Michaels in Ankara to discuss takeaways from the meeting for the U.S., Europe and Ukraine, including President Trump’s warm reception of its president, Volodymyr Zelensky. Plus, the latest forecast from the International Monetary Fund predicts that the world is no longer at risk of a recession caused by the war in Iran. Journal economics reporter Matt Grossman explains why. And Delta Air Lines announces its latest flight tier—basic business. Alex Ossola hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The NATO summit wraps up with a show of unity. Ukraine and President Zelensky come out of this summit about as well off as anybody could have hoped for. Plus, the U.S. again launches strikes against Iran. And why J.P. Morgan is hoping to make big bucks off deals for small companies. It's Wednesday, July 8th. I'm Alex O'SAleft for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top head. lines and business stories that move the world today.

The U.S. military launched strikes against Iran today. The military said the strikes were designed to hurt Iran's ability to control the strait of Hormuz. Iranian media reported explosions around the same areas that the U.S. strikes hit yesterday night. It's the latest sign that efforts to sign a permanent peace deal with Iran are unraveling. President Trump said earlier today that the ceasefire was over. After a two-day meeting in Ankara, Turkey, the leaders of NATO countries are headed home. Our Brussels Bureau Chief Dan Michaels chatted with us after the meetings and press conferences raft from within the summit compound in the Turkish National Library.

Dan, you've been on the ground there. What is the main takeaway from the summit? NATO lives to fight or they would say defend another day. There had been a lot of concern about whether the alliance would come out of this summit in one piece. because President Trump has been very unhappy with a lot of the European members and Canada. But in the end, he seemed very happy. Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodomir Zelensky today, and it was a friendlier meeting than we've seen in a while.

They held a joint press conference after their meeting. We've actually developed a good relationship. It's hard to believe, right? From the Oval Office to now, we've developed. I think we've developed a very good relationship. And this is not the end. No, this is going to be the beginning, maybe. Trump also said that he supported Ukraine striking deep in Russia.

What might U.S. support for Ukraine look like on a material level? Zelensky got pledges from Trump for weapons, for patriot interceptors, maybe even producing them in Ukraine. Right. Those are the interceptors that Ukraine's critically low on and that they need to defend against Russian missiles. What Ukraine wants to do is hit the missile launch locations that Russia is using to strike innocent civilians in Ukrainian cities. The Ukrainians don't want to hit Russian cities like the Russians are doing. So it's sort of a defensive offense. And Trump seems to have come around to this, in part because Ukraine has seized the initiative on the battlefield in Ukraine. We've been talking the show all week about how Europe needed to shift.

that it was spending money in an effort to appease President Trump. Where does this relationship stand? What does it look like at the end of this summit? The Europeans are doing what Trump says he wants them to do, but he still gives them a hard time for not offering to help in the war with Iran. So the Europeans still scratch their heads and are worried about which President Trump they're going to get on any day, the one who is very lovey-dovey and, as he's, he was today, saying how much the Europeans love him and he loves them, or the one who

criticizes and lamb-based the Europeans, as he also did today. That was WSJ Brussels Brussels' Bureau Chief, Dan Michaels. Three months ago, economists at the International Monetary Fund worried that a prolonged Iran conflict could push the world into a recession. The IMF's latest quarterly projections out today were much sunnier. Last month, ceasefire meant that growth for the next quarter would be slightly weaker, but long-term damage would be limited, with the global economy expected to grow 3% for the year. So the global economy was just a bit more resilient than the IMF had been expecting.

The biggest economic consequence was a really steep rise in energy prices, but that didn't derail the global economy because people who use oil, businesses, countries were just more flexible in responding to that price increase than people were expecting. That was the journal's economics reporter Matt Grossman who covered the report. Matt says that June C. Spire helped reassure IMF economists, but the tensions in the Middle East complicate their job. This is exactly the kind of thing that has been such a challenge for economic forecasters, really since the start of the Second Trump administration.

Economists are trying to forecast how this huge global event is going to affect the economy, but the event itself keeps changing direction week to week. and that's a huge challenge for forecasters. And the minutes from the June Fed meeting were released today. They showed that officials agreed that they would need to raise interest rates if inflation stayed high this year. But most thought that the Fed could keep interest rates where they are, or even eventually cut them, if price pressures fade soon. One thing they haven't resolved, whether those forces pushing prices up will last. Oil prices rose today on Middle East tensions, with Brent crude rising about 5% to just over 70%.

$28 a barrel. Concerns about the price of oil making inflation worse also made Treasury yields jump today. Markets reporter Hannah Aaron Lang says those worries weighed on stocks. So I think what we're seeing today is pretty much in line with that risk-off dynamic that we've seen take place once investors get concerned about war with Iran or conflict in the Middle East. Have these comments from the president been a blip that he'll eventually walk back? or are we entering a kind of new phase in the conflict with Iran, where we have a sort of tenuous peace where tensions flare like this for a much longer period of time, which means higher oil prices, which means a higher inflation rate, which means the Fed might have to embark on fighting price increases by hiking interest rates. That's the reality you're seeing the market grapple with right now. And it's one reason why financials, for example, have been hit particularly hard today. The Dow fell more than 1% while the S&P closed down 0.3%.

The NASDAQ paired its earlier losses and finished slightly positive. Coming up, Jeff Bezos's rocket company is seeking outside investors for the first time. And what is basic business class? You'll find out. Those stories and more after the break. On July 16th, the Hawk lands on Netflix. From the mind of Will Ferrell. Oh, mama.

I'm back. Comes a new original series. Get ready, get ready. That's it. Did I stutter? When an iconic pro golfer. Lonnie? Honnie.

Hocked! Takes one last swing of greatness. You were a big shot golfer. I still am a big shot golfer. No one. Dad, I'm the Hawk now. We'll stand in his way. That's how it's done.

The Hawk, only on Netflix, July 16th. A former Wisconsin state judge whose case became a, symbol of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown has been spared prison time. In April 2025, federal authorities arrested the judge, Hannah Dugan. They said she directed a man to leave her courtroom through a back hallway when she knew that immigration officers were in the courthouse. She was then convicted of obstructing law enforcement. A federal judge today fined Dugan $5,000, but he refused to sentence her to prison or probation, saying she was a good person who was upset by immigration enforcement and made a bad decision.

Dugan said being a judge was the honor of her life, and she had just been trying to do her job. The International Olympic Committee has cleared the way for Russian athletes to compete in Los Angeles in the 2028 games. Russia has been absent from the games for a decade. First, there was its state-sponsored doping scheme dating back to the 2014 games in Sochi. Then there was its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. That meant the Russian flag, the Russian anthem, and any Russian who expressed pro-war sentiments were all banned. The few athletes who did qualify were forced to compete under the neutral designation. Now, it hasn't been decided whether Russians can display the flag and play their anthem at the Olympics.

The president of the IOC says the group doesn't condone war but also doesn't think athletes should pay the price. In tech news, Apple said today that it plans to spend more than $30 billion with Broadcom over the next five years on chips made in the U.S. It's Apple's largest investment to fulfill its pledge to invest $600 billion in the country. That promise had helped it get an exemption from the Trump administration's proposed tariffs. Apple says the money will help Broadcom expand a Colorado factory. And Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin is looking for outside investors for the first time. Up till now, Bezos has been investing his own funds into the space company. The journals learned that Blue Origin is working on a $10 billion funding round

that would value the company at $130 billion. That money would be crucial for helping Blue Origin better compete with the leader in the sector, SpaceX. We're exclusively reporting that J.P. Morgan Chase is setting its sights on small company deals for its next phase of growth in investment banking. Executive said today that the firm is setting up a new team of investment bankers focused on small-cap companies. That means companies valued at between $100 million and $500 million. The journal's lead deals reporter Lauren Thomas says JP Morgan sees an opportunity from private equity. Those firms have a backlog of smaller companies in portfolios that they'll be looking to sell soon. But there's another factor too.

They're really looking at the baby boomers. And many of them have family-owned businesses that they started. And J.P. Morgan is anticipating that the younger generations are not necessarily going to be so eager to take over. So in turn, that will likely mean that that business is going to get sold. They've hired a couple bankers, but they're looking to grow this to 75 plus people. So this is not just a tiny effort within the bank. They really want to be the bank that gets in at the ground floor with these companies. That way they can help companies throughout their whole life cycle. And then over time, the relationship can pay dividends.

Delta Airlines today launched basic business. A ticket still gets you a lie-flat seat and chef curated meals, but doesn't entitle you to use special check-in lanes or the swanky Delta One lounges. Delta said that the new options represent a cheaper entry point to premium cabins that give flyers additional choices. Well, I'd love to know how much basic business costs, but Delta's not saying yet. Delta's not alone in constantly creating endless new tiers of ticket prices. United launched its own basic fares earlier this year for long-haul business class and premium economy. And one last note from us, we've made a correction to yesterday's episode.

A complaint about construction work at the building at risk of partial collapse in Manhattan was an external complaint. An earlier version of yesterday's show incorrectly attributed the complaint to the Department of Buildings. And that's what's news for this Wednesday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Anthony Bansy and Danny Lewis with supervising producer Tali Arbell.

I'm Alex O'Solef for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.