Sign up for the Surge, the newsletter that covers the most important political nonsense of the week, delivered to your inbox every Saturday.

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Surge, which figures we must be living in truly dark times if even a trip to Taco Bell can make you feel gross afterward.

This week: Maine Democrats have a new Senate nominee; just be sure to wear a helmet if you get near him. We have a brief couple of weeks to make jokes about the candidates in South Carolina’s quickie Republican Senate primary, and we intend to use them. Ukraine has picked up a powerful new ally in an internet weirdo who has Donald Trump’s ear. Seriously, though.

Speaking of Trump, we are going old-fashioned in this edition, with a double-barrel start on the big guy and his questionable foreign policy decisions.

The recently resumed hostilities with Iran are not going well. Four U.S. service members were killed this week, bringing the total to 18 since the war began. (Did you hear that, Department of Defense? It’s 18.) The U.S. has bombed Iranian targets for the last two weeks to no apparent change in Iran’s negotiating posture. The Houthis have saddled up to threaten shipping through the Red Sea, while the Strait of Hormuz remains a mess. Oil prices have shot back up since the end of the ceasefire, which affects a lot more than the price of gasoline. MAGA voters continue to sour on the conflict. The war is also expensive.

All of this is making Trump incredibly mad, since there’s no clear way to get out of it absent the deployment of ground troops. As one source told Politico this week, “the president is now fully aware that the only way to the victory that he wants is completely politically impossible. The American people just will not support the kind of escalation it would take at this point.” We don’t mean to neener-neener the president at a delicate and dangerous moment.But this is yet another time for a reminder that if you’re thinking about starting a war, it’s wise to get buy-in from important stakeholders such as the U.S. Congress, the American people, or any of your allies. Anyone, really.

2. Donald Trump, Part ii

A historic nuclear deal! Actually … no nuclear deal.

To the extent that you were already not familiar: Our man wakes up every day and wings it with whatever international chess pieces are available to him. This week, Trump announced and his administration signed a deal that would supply Saudi Arabia with nuclear energy technology. It was a big win for Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose goal is to diversify the kingdom’s economy beyond oil. Here’s what the U.S. got in return:

… hold on, we’re just........

© Slate