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In today’s edition, Sahil Kapur digs into the eerie parallels between the Maine Senate race and another major election in recent history. Plus, Matt Bradley looks at Israel’s domestic politics — and Donald Trump’s role in that — amid war with Iran.
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— Scott Bland
Netanyahu faces angry voters at home and an irate Trump abroad
By Matt Bradley
The renewed fighting overnight between Israel and Iran has deepened the political peril in which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finds himself just months before elections that amount to the most formidable challenge yet facing his decades of leadership.
Netanyahu had already endured mounting criticism from both his political opponents and allies who are demanding that he escalate Israel’s fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon, even if it meant defying President Donald Trump — Israel’s first-ever wartime ally and a hugely popular figure in the country.
Critics of the Israeli prime minister latched on to Trump’s repeated, public humiliations of Netanyahu, such as last week’s phone call in which the president said he had called the prime minister “f—— crazy” for continuing to launch attacks in Lebanon. Even Israeli military leaders openly complained that American restrictions had tied their hands in Lebanon.
Now, this latest conflagration will test Netanyahu’s ability to navigate the treacherous diplomatic waters between the resolute military victories Israelis crave and the demands of an American president, whom Netanyahu has repeatedly described as “the greatest friend that the state of Israel has ever had in the White House.”
“It puts him in a very delicate situation,” Gideon Rahat, a political science professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said of the Israeli prime minister. “I think that Netanyahu was trapped under the claim that he’s serving U.S. interests and doing whatever Trump is telling him and therefore he cannot respond.”
Israeli polls have also reflected the Iran war’s declining popularity. In March, some 60% of Israelis approved of the war’s military achievements so far, according to the Institute for National Security Studies, a figure that declined to 27% by last month.
Platner vs. Collins carries uncanny parallels to Trump vs. Clinton
Analysis by Sahil Kapur
Maybe you’ve heard this one before: A political novice campaigns as a populist outsider vying to upend the system, challenging an experienced woman who is a quintessential political insider with a long history in government.
He immediately draws big crowds of disaffected voters; she hosts small and curated events.
He speaks off the cuff and has to answer for offensive comments; she speaks cautiously.
He attacks her for voting to authorize the Iraq War.
He dispatches a two-term governor in his primary.
Her allies cast doubt on his working-class bona fides.
His controversies pile up, and some in his party want him to drop out or call on the party to abandon him.
In 2016, that was Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. In 2026, it’s Graham Platner and Susan Collins — albeit on a smaller scale, in the vitally important Maine Senate race.
It’s not a perfect analogy, of course. But the parallels are uncanny.
Many Republicans scoffed at Trump in the 2016 presidential primary and again in the general election. Plenty of Democrats are doing the same with Platner, as some establishment-aligned strategists portray him as a walking electoral disaster. In 2016, Trump defied expectations and won, which led to a revolution inside the GOP and changed the trajectory of the U.S.
Platner’s 2026 campaign represents more than a race for one Senate seat — or even the majority for the next two years. It’s also a test of whether an unconventional (albeit flawed) outsider can rewrite traditional rules of politics — and smash the establishment — from the left, as Trump did from the right.
Platner has already vanquished two-term Gov. Janet Mills, the pick of Senate Democratic leadership, whose sluggish campaign failed to gain traction and prompted her to suspend her campaign in April.
That makes Tuesday’s primary more of a formality, with Collins running unopposed for the Republican nomination. Mills’ name is still on the ballot, but she hasn’t been campaigning or asking for votes, even if Platner’s controversies had some supporters pining for her candidacy.
If Platner wins, it could be a signal to other would-be Graham Platners around the country — with the potential to reshape the national Democratic debate as the party looks for its post-Trump identity.
🗞️ Today’s other top stories
- 🕊️ Peace talks: Iran has halted attacks against Israel after exchanges that shattered a ceasefire agreement. Read more →
- 👂 Now hear this: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has declined an invitation from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to testify at a Senate committee hearing later this week about American AI development, NBC News has learned. Read more →
- ☑️ Latest from California’s elections: Xavier Becerra advanced to the general election in California’s governor’s race, NBC News projected last week. Republican Steve Hilton is in second place vying for the other general election slot, while a general election spot in the Los Angeles mayoral runoff is still up for grabs, too. See the results here →
- 🥊 UFC lawsuit: A lawsuit filed against the federal government over the weekend asks a judge to put a stop to an upcoming UFC event at the White House. Read more →
- ⚖️ Conspiracy hunt: The New York Times digs into FBI Director Kash Patel’s “grand conspiracy case” investigating individuals who opposed the president. Read more →
- 🏀 NBA x USA: The New York Knicks play the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden tonight. A watch party outside the team’s home court won’t be held for Game 3 of the NBA Finals because Trump plans to attend. Read more →
That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Scott Bland and Annelise Hanson.
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