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"How the Iran War worsened a growing disquiet in the U.S. militia."

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by Suzanne Nuyen April 19, 2026 Good morning. This week, the Commission of Fine Arts voted to move ahead with President Trump's plans to build a 250-foot "victory arch" in Washington, D.C., NPR received $113 million in charitable gifts, and a team of researchers reported that a group of wild chimpanzees is embroiled in a brutal "civil war." Disquiet in the ranks by Kat Lonsdorf, general assignment reporter Reporting on the candid feelings of service members about being in the military is difficult. During President Trump’s second term, it’s gotten even more so.  U.S. Army and U.S. Army National Guard/Collage by Emily Bogle/NPR Under the Trump administration, getting access to the military has become increasingly challenging. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put heavy restrictions on reporters. Journalists were required to sign a document that warned they could lose their Pentagon press credentials for "soliciting" even unclassified information that had not been approved for release. My colleague, NPR Pentagon Correspondent Tom Bowman, who had a Pentagon press pass for 28 years, gave it up rather than sign that document, as did reporters from every other reputable news organization.  The New York Times later filed a lawsuit against the policy, and a federal judge recently ruled it unconstitutional. The Pentagon has vowed to appeal.  Policies like that have had a major chilling effect on service members’ willingness to speak to journalists, according to free speech advocates and constitutional experts.  Despite these challenges, Tom and I have noticed that when we do hear from people, we are increasingly hearing about a growing disquiet in the ranks.  I first started hearing murmurings while reporting on Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to several U.S. cities last year. I flew to Ohio to meet with several guard members who had started an encrypted group chat to talk about how unsettled they were feeling about the Guard deployments.  Over the months, I compared what I was hearing with Tom, as we chatted in the newsroom. He’d been hearing many of the same sentiments — concern over the legality of U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean or the dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the military. When the U.S. and Israel launched a war against Iran at the end of February, and thousands of additional American troops were deployed to the Middle East, we started checking back in with service members and groups who work with them. Those we spoke with told us that some service members were deeply concerned and demoralized, and many were looking for ways to leave.  "Retention is the only thing holding the Army up, from a metrics standpoint. And it is crumbling fast," one career counselor with the Army, the largest branch of the military, told NPR. That person spoke on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to speak publicly. They said that the climate and cultural shifts within the military under this administration are the main reasons people are giving for leaving. "It has been a mess, and many individuals feel frustration throughout the ranks," that counselor said. The Pentagon pushed back on claims about retention being a problem. "There are zero retention concerns for Fiscal Year 2026. Every service is meeting its targets, and any suggestion otherwise is completely false," said Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson in an email to NPR.  But our reporting revealed that that sentiment of deep concern, as complex as it is, is on the rise.   Check out more great reads from the NPR network you may have missed: ➡️ The Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel changed many lives. Maoz Inon, an Israeli whose parents were killed in the attack, and Aziz Abu Sarah, whose brother died in Israeli custody, say they became like brothers after the war began. They share a goal of making Israel-Palestinian peace within the next five years. Their new book, The Future Is Peace: A Shared Journey Across the Holy Land, takes readers through Israel and the West Bank — through the past, present and an imagined future. ➡️ Nearly a year before federal immigration agents fatally shot Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti in separate incidents in Minneapolis, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez during a traffic encounter in Texas. Martinez, a U.S. citizen, is considered the first of at least six people immigration agents have killed since the start of President Trump's second term. At the time of his death, Martinez's mother, Rachel Reyes, and the public didn't know that it was an ICE officer who shot him. Reyes tells NPR that she feels betrayed by law enforcement, and that the new revelations about ICE's involvement have made grieving more painful. ➡️ As President Biden issued a wave of pardons hours before he left the White House, a Polymarket trader bet on four big names. The bet — combined with one the bettor made a month earlier that Biden's son, Hunter, would be pardoned — netted the trader more than $300,000 in profits, according to data given to NPR by an analytics firm that examines cryptocurrency transactions. "The chances of this happening by random chance are virtually zero," says Joshua Mitts, who advises the Justice Department on insider trading cases. ➡️ A group of current and former employees of the Department of Housing and Urban Development is accusing the Trump administration of blocking enforcement of federal fair housing laws. Last fall, two HUD civil rights lawyers were fired after going to Congress with concerns that the agency was unlawfully restricting fair housing enforcement. One of the lawyers, Paul Osadebe, says "it's still happening" six months later. "We're not being allowed to help the people that we're supposed to be serving," he tells NPR. Newsletter continues after sponsor message Pod club Darian Woods/NPR Thanks for tuning in last week to NPR's It's Been a Minute episode about AI relationship gaps, where host Brittany Luse explores what happens when you and a loved one don't agree on AI. Listener Eric Burr said he and his wife try not to spend any more time with electronics than necessary because of the electricity and water they use.  Today, we're listening to an episode of The Indicator from Planet Money that asks, "Can you really do what you love?" There's a common saying that if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life. But is that possible in this day and age? In this episode, the hosts speak with a tech investor who gives them the ingredients he believes are needed to make passion pay. Listen to the episode or read the transcript. What do you do for work? Do you love it? Does it still feel like work? After listening to this episode, click here to let us know what you think. Your response could appear in next week's Sunday newsletter. Love podcasts? For handpicked episode recommendations every week, check out Pod Club — a newsletter written FOR podcast fans BY podcast fans. Subscribe here!  And, this week's episode of The Sunday Story from Up First explores the growing push to offer students alternatives to traditional public schools.   Mimi NPR It's time for the Sunday Puzzle! This week's on-air challenge is a tribute to Mimi. Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which each word starts with the letters MI. Test your skills here. Check the page later to hear the answers, or catch them live on Weekend Edition at 8:41 a.m. ET.  This week's online challenge comes from James Ellison of Jefferson City, Mo. Think of a popular movie of the past decade. Change the last letter in its title. The result will suggest a lawsuit between two politicians of the late 20th century — one Republican and one Democrat. What's the movie and who are the people? Submit your answer here, and you could win a chance to play next Sunday's on-air puzzle. Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from HPR-1 News/Talk (edit station). This newsletter was edited by Treye Green. Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can  sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Politics, Health and more!