This is the May 7, 2026, edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Credit card spending is through the roof. They are spending more on gasoline, but they are spending more on everything else, too.”
— White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett, citing rising credit card use as evidence of a booming economy
MIKA’S NOTE
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett went on Fox Business yesterday to brag that Americans’ credit card spending is “through the roof.” As if that’s something to celebrate.
This is a complete disconnect between the administration and the American people — between how this White House thinks people are living and how they are actually living, every single day.
It’s impossible for Americans not to notice they’re not doing very well. Everything is more expensive. You can’t buy a home, afford healthcare, or even access healthcare — because rural hospitals have been closed and certain doctors are afraid to perform lifesaving treatments.
It goes on and on and on.
Several Democratic lawmakers responded. Sen. Bernie Sanders wrote: “Americans forced to put more of their spending on credit cards because of outrageously high prices. That’s a win for big banks. It’s a disaster for working people.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren said the Trump administration is “raising your costs and celebrating it on live TV.”
And “Pod Save America” host Jon Favreau joked: “We must consider the possibility that Kevin Hassett is secretly working for the Democrats.”
Politically, I guess that’s a win.
But Americans aren’t winning. And nobody in this White House has any idea what it actually costs to live in this country right now.
CHART OF THE DAY
Source: NPR/PBS/Marist poll conducted among 1,322 U.S. adults, April 27-30; margin of error: +/-3.3%
ON THIS DATE
On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the British liner RMS Lusitania off the southern coast of Ireland, killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans, of the nearly 2,000 on board.
BEHIND THE SCENES: THE IRAN TALKS WITH DAVID IGNATIUS
Iran is expected to respond today to the latest U.S. peace proposal, even as President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb the country “at a much higher level” if no agreement is reached. Washington Post foreign affairs columnist David Ignatius joined “Morning Joe” to assess the state of negotiations — and what leverage America still holds.
JL: David Ignatius, has any progress actually been made to bring this war to a close?
DI: There is a basic framework, followed by a 30-day period of negotiation on the details, which include limiting Iranian enrichment and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The problem with this outline is that it’s just that. President Trump is like a boat tacking to windward. He goes this way and that way. It takes a long time, and there are constant reversals.
JL: Is the administration trying other tactics?
DI: They’ve been working back channels, trying to pull people away from the hard-liners and encourage them along a different path. Whether that bears fruit should be clear in the next 24 to 48 hours — it’s a question of whether there is the political will in Iran to embrace this deal.
JL: What’s going on in the president’s mind at this stage?
DI: He clearly wants an exit ramp. His willingness to contemplate a deal well short of the goals he originally set — when he talked about unconditional surrender — shows you just how strong the economic and political pressures on him are to make one.
Mike Barnicle: The cost for our military is enormous. What do you hear from people just below the TV talking heads in defense of this policy?
DI: What troubles the military is being given assignments and missions without a clear endgame. They want to be told to go and win, or pull back and let diplomats take over. They’ve had some great victories — but also a lot of frustration.
MB: We learned a lot about Iran in 1979. How has this administration’s approach been different from those of the past?
DI: Since 1979, the United States has had a consistent problem: confronting a destabilizing revolutionary movement and trying to moderate it through sanctions and trade.
President Trump chose military force, then diplomacy — but Iran has basically survived America’s best punch. We went to war, bombed them last year, sustained the campaign this year, and they’re still standing.
If you look at the broad sweep of this story, Iran has come through stronger — more self-confident, more convinced it can stand up to the United States than it was before.
This is a regime that has chanted for 47 years “Death to Israel, death to America.” Has that really changed? We don’t know the answer yet.
ALI VITALI SITS DOWN WITH ANDY BESHEAR
After half an hour with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear here in Washington, it was clear: He doesn’t care if Democratic governors fight Donald Trump or cut deals with him. He just wants them to win. The 36 gubernatorial races in 2026 are Beshear’s central focus, but he told me that after he’s done leading the Democratic Governors Association in November, he will decide if it makes sense to parlay his pragmatic approach to politics into a 2028 presidential bid. He has not made a decision either way, but the man making trips to New Hampshire and South Carolina this month alone told me decisively: “I’m comfortable” being talked about as a potential candidate.
EXTRA HOT TEA
1 million
— The number of fruit, candy, and dessert-flavored products the FDA rejected before green-lighting fruit-flavored vapes yesterday amid pressure from the Trump administration
ONE MORE SHOT
Pope Leo XIV receives Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Vatican on Thursday — their first meeting in nearly a year — after President Donald Trump publicly rebuked the pontiff for condemning the Iran war.
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