During his May trip to Baghdad, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shared a message with Iraqi leaders that he wanted passed on to Iran: If any attacks by the country or its proxies killed any U.S. troops, there would be military action, U.S. officials told The Washington Post.

Pompeo has issued a few private warnings, the officials said. Tensions are mounting between the U.S. and Iran, with the U.S. accusing Iran of attacking oil tankers in the Middle East and Iran, which denies attacking the tankers, saying it will soon violate the 2015 nuclear deal by having too much low-enriched uranium in its stockpile. On Monday, the Pentagon announced it will send 1,000 additional troops to the Middle East, and while at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa on Tuesday, Pompeo said President Trump "does not want war," and the U.S. is in the region to "deter aggression."

U.S. officials told the Post there are concerns that because there hasn't been a confirmed Defense Secretary in several months, the hawks advising Trump — including Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton — are pushing for the military to do more than its mission in the region, which is to eliminate the remnants of the Islamic State. Bolton, the officials added, is careful about what information gets to Trump, and has reduced the number of meetings where top officials discuss the Iran policy. Catherine Garcia

Several members of the media were holding out for a while before reporting on a letter that President Trump supposedly sent to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan because they weren't sure if it was a joke at first.

In the bizarre letter, which was dated Oct. 9 and first reported by Fox News' Trish Regan on Wednesday, Trump tells Erdogan not to be a "tough guy" or a "fool" and warns him against "slaughtering thousands of people" during Turkey's military offensive in northern Syria following the withdrawal of U.S. troops in the region before promising to call him "later."

Despite reports that it's real, many observers are still not quite convinced of the letter's authenticity or if it was actually sent last week — either way, they're baffled by its content and style. Tim O'Donnell

It sounds like President Trump has had a rough day.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Trump had a "meltdown" during a meeting with Democratic leaders about Syria on Wednesday. Pelosi added that Trump was "shaken" throughout the meeting because the House, including 129 Republicans, voted Wednesday to pass a resolution condemning the U.S. military withdrawal Trump authorized in northern Syria, which allowed for a Turkish incursion that has placed Washington's Kurdish allies at risk.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who was also in the meeting, said Trump was particularly insulting toward Pelosi, even calling her a "third rate politician" to her face, ultimately causing the Democrats to walk out of the room.

Schumer said Trump went on a "nasty diatribe," in which the president also reportedly said that the Democrats might be happy with the fact some members of ISIS were communists. Or, well, something along those lines — everyone seemed a bit confused about what was actually being said during the meeting. Tim O'Donnell

The House of Representatives has just delivered a rebuke to President Trump's Syria pullout.

The House easily passed a bipartisan resolution Wednesday to condemn Trump's decision to pull troops out of northern Syria ahead of a Turkish military offensive, with the resolution passing 354 to 60, Axios reports. Every Democrat voted in favor, and 129 Republicans also supported the resolution, The Hill reports.

This rebuke to Trump was delivered by the House as he defended his Syria decision Wednesday, saying in the Oval Office, "If Turkey goes into Syria, that's between Turkey and Syria. It's not between Turkey and the United States."

But he's continuing to face pushback from Democrats and Republicans, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who said Wednesday Trump's Syria pullback is "the most screwed up decision I have seen since I have been in Congress." Trump in a press conference Wednesday afternoon railed against Graham, who is typically an ally on Capitol Hill, saying, "Lindsey Graham would like to stay in the Middle East for the next thousand years, with thousands of soldiers, and fighting other people's wars. I want to get out of the Middle East." Brendan Morrow

In the wake of a series of explosive allegations from Ronan Farrow, Time's Up is calling NBC out.

The group founded in 2018 to combat sexual harassment and assault in the workplace spoke out Wednesday after Farrow revealed new details about Lauer's alleged sexual misconduct, also alleging NBC settled with multiple Lauer accusers in the years prior to his firing. The network denies being aware of Lauer's behavior prior to firing him in November 2017.

"This is not simply the case of one bad actor," the statement from Time's Up reads, per Variety. "Egregious behavior like Lauer's is often only possible in a toxic work environment, where protecting working people takes a backseat to protecting the careers of powerful men and the reputation of an even more powerful company."

While Time's Up says it commends NBC for "taking an important step" by firing Lauer following an allegation of rape, the group says "that must only be the start."

"Real progress happens when corporations like NBC make a transparent and continuous commitment to creating and nurturing a culture of safety and equity, which often involves long-term structural change across all levels," Time's Up says. "Instead, NBC's latest statements fail to demonstrate a commitment to such change and fail to support the victims who take the courageous step to come forward."

Farrow has alleged a "chain of secret settlements at this company that were covered up," but NBC News President Noah Oppenheim has been forcefully pushing back on these claims, saying earlier this week in response to allegations laid out in Farrow's book, "I feel absolutely terrible that these three employees were subjected to Matt Lauer's horrific behavior, but the facts do not support Farrow's allegation of a 'cover-up,' and he offers no further evidence." Oppenheim also accused the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter of having an "axe to grind" with the network. Brendan Morrow

Virgin Galactic and Under Armour want you to fulfill your sci-fi dreams.

In a dramatic press conference in New York on Wednesday morning, dancers performed in spacesuits in a zero-gravity simulation and Virgin Galactic CEO Richard Branson donned his new space threads as the companies unveiled their spacewear collaboration to be worn on commercial space flights by "private astronauts."

Under Armour designer Nick Cienski reportedly drew inspiration from both Battlestar Galactica and the sun casting rays on Earth. The full getup includes a base layer, spacesuit, boots, a training suit, and a jacket, reports CNN.

Suits will be customized with country flags and name badges, and feature a transparent inner pocket for photographs of loved ones "who will literally be close to the heart," according to Virgin Galactic. Beyond aesthetics, the suit will help regulate body temperature and provides the space tourists with shoulder pads for comfort and safety during portions of the flight with high G-forces.

Roughly 600 people have purchased tickets — at around $200,000 each — for the nearly 2-hour commercial space flights, which are set to launch in 2020, reports CNN.

The "private astronauts" will pay homage to the scientist who discovered gravity, Sir Isaac Newton, by wearing his words imprinted on the sockliner of their spacesuit: "We Stand on the Shoulders of Giants." Taylor Watson

Fiona Hill, President Trump's former top Russia and Europe adviser, was reportedly quite concerned that Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, would accidentally divulge national security secrets while on the job, two people familiar with her private congressional testimony told The New York Times.

Hill reportedly testified on Monday that Sondland was so unprepared for his job that she considered him a national security threat, though she reportedly did not accuse him of intentionally putting the country at risk. Instead, she reportedly likened him to someone driving a car without guardrails or a GPS.

The actions that reportedly concerned Hill include Sondland's use of a personal cell phone for diplomatic business and his penchant for inviting foreign officials to pop by the White House whenever they felt like it, which once reportedly resulted in Romanian officials arriving at the White House without an appointment. Sondland, Hill reportedly testified, would also provide the cell phone numbers for other American officials to foreigners.

Hill's concerns were likely enhanced by the fact that she feared Sondland was replacing Washington's previous ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, as part of the Trump administration's effort to pressure Kyiv into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, among other Democratic figures. Sondland is expected to testify before impeachment investigators Thursday, despite the White House directing him not to cooperate. Read more at The New York Times. Tim O'Donnell