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Good morning and welcome to the Sunday edition of Morning Wire, where we give you the weekend rundown to get ready for the week ahead. Today, an AP investigation finds an Israeli group discreetly organized the mystery flights evacuating Palestinians from Gaza, a look at how the documents required by the GOP's voting bill can be difficult and costly to get, and follow along with our 2026 Oscars live coverage.

But first, how mixed messaging on Iran may have Trump reeling politically. 

UP FIRST

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before he boards Air Force One on Friday at Joint Base Andrews, Md., for a trip to Florida. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Two weeks into war with Iran, Trump has been knocked back on his political heels

In the two weeks since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump increasingly has been knocked on his political heels. He’s grown more agitated with news coverage and has failed to find a way to explain why he started the war — or how he will end it — that resonates with a public concerned by American deaths in the conflict, surging oil prices and dropping financial markets. Even some of his supporters are questioning his plan and his overall poll numbers are declining. Read more. 

TOP STORIES

Customers stand in line to get birth and death certificates at the Columbus Public Health Department in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Julie Carr Smyth)

The biggest change to voting in Republican election bill could become a burden for many US voters

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America Act, cleared the U.S. House last month on a mostly party-line basis. Republicans say it would improve election integrity. U.S. President Donald Trump has called its safeguards common sense. The bill is scheduled to come up in the U.S. Senate next week for voting and debate. Republican messaging has mostly highlighted a less divisive provision in the bill that would require voters to show a photo ID, but the mandate for people to provide documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections is likely to have the most wide-ranging consequences. Read more.

AP finds an Israeli group discreetly organized the mystery flights evacuating Palestinians from Gaza

The plane carrying about 150 Palestinians from Gaza came as a surprise to everyone on the ground when it landed in South Africa in November.

It wasn’t the only one. Since May, at least three flights filled with Gaza residents who’d signed up to leave the war-torn enclave have landed in Indonesia and South Africa. An Israeli group whose founder adamantly supported U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle Palestinians from Gaza is behind the flights, an AP investigation has found, raising further questions about the motives behind the evacuation of hundreds of people from the strip. Read more. 

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