President Donald Trump warned Iranians to “instantly evacuate Tehran” in a Monday afternoon submit on Reality Social, elevating the prospect of a significant escalation within the ongoing struggle between Israel and Iran—or suggesting that America would possibly be a part of the battle in a extra direct means.
Get your morning information roundup from Liz Wolfe and Motive.
Or was that assertion simply Trumpian bluster that everybody ought to ignore? The White Home fairly rapidly walked again the seriousness of Trump’s submit. One official informed CNN that Trump’s assertion merely “mirrored the urgency of the necessity for Iran to return to the desk” for negotiations, whereas an administration spokesman informed Axios that “American forces are sustaining their defensive posture, and that has not modified.”
Nicely, OK. However who is definitely in cost over there? When the president of the US speaks (or posts), folks pay attention. And telling a metropolis of 17 million that’s at the moment beneath bombardment to right away “evacuate” is a severe factor, even when the president’s handlers need everybody to disregard it.
Congress? Doing one thing? Most likely not, however possibly! Rep. Thomas Massie (R–Ky.) stated Monday that he’ll introduce a decision at the moment that might prohibit American involvement within the Iran-Israel struggle.
“This isn’t our struggle,” Massie wrote on X. “But when it have been, Congress should resolve such issues based on our Structure.”
He bought some quick help from throughout the aisle. Rep. Ro Khanna (D–Calif.) is co-sponsoring the decision, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–N.Y.) chimed in to say she was “signing on” to the proposal as nicely. In the meantime, Sen. Tim Kaine (D–Va.) has launched his personal decision within the higher chamber to curtail American involvement within the battle.
These congressional efforts draw upon the Battle Powers Decision of 1973, which Congress handed over the veto of then-President Richard Nixon in response to U.S. bombings in Cambodia. Think about a legislature prepared to try this! The regulation requires that presidents get approval from Congress earlier than committing American forces—both a declaration of struggle or an authorization for the usage of army pressure—and permits Congress to terminate any ongoing, unauthorized deployment. As Kaine’s workplace says, the decision ensures “a public debate and vote in Congress as meant by the framers of the Structure.”
That is necessary. So, too, is the readability and stability that might outcome from a transparent congressional sign about America’s position on this battle. The world clearly will not get that from the president.
Talking of presidential instability: The Trump administration is reportedly restarting office immigration raids simply days after pausing them amid public outrage and a behind-the-scenes lobbying effort by farms and the hospitality trade.
As I wrote in Monday’s Roundup, the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) had informed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) final week to “maintain on all work website enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (together with aquaculture and meat packing vegetation), eating places and working lodges.”
That order was reversed on Monday, The Washington Publish experiences, with new steerage delivered to ICE subject places of work. “There will probably be no secure areas for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely attempt to undermine ICE’s efforts,” Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary for DHS, informed the Publish. “Worksite enforcement stays a cornerstone of our efforts to safeguard public security, nationwide safety and financial stability.”
This appears like one other instance of Trump merely going together with the latest factor that an adviser whispered in his ear. Final week’s choice to pause the office raids got here after Trump met with Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. Unsurprisingly, that call didn’t sit nicely with Stephen Miller, who advocated in latest days for its reversal, the Publish notes.
This on-again, off-again method to coverage has been a catastrophe when Trump has utilized it to tariffs on imported items. It’s even worse when utilized to precise human beings who’re attempting to earn a dwelling.
And all of that is much more worrying as a result of ICE doesn’t appear to have a lot of a clue about who they’re concentrating on for arrest and deportation:
“We all know who we’re concentrating on forward of time” says the company which randomly arrested a U.S. citizen strolling round a suburb handing out his resume to native companies when ICE surrounded him, handcuffed him, and detained him for 10 hours earlier than checking his ID and releasing him. https://t.co/ytNTlpd3ka pic.twitter.com/fDAvthY9vC
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) June 16, 2025
Scenes from Virginia: This yr’s gubernatorial race in my house state will probably be an early indicator of how the midterms would possibly go, however in some methods, I believe essentially the most attention-grabbing a part of the marketing campaign (nonetheless within the very early levels) is the identities of the most important gamers.
Republicans nominated Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, a black lady, for governor. If she wins in November, Earle-Sears can be the primary feminine governor of Virginia and the primary black feminine governor of any state. John Reid, a conservative radio host and former U.S. Senate aide, is the GOP’s nominee for lieutenant governor. He is the primary brazenly homosexual candidate for any statewide workplace in Virginia’s historical past.
In the meantime, Democrats are operating Abigail Spanberger, a former congresswoman, for governor. Although she would even be the primary feminine governor within the state’s historical past, the remainder of her identification and resume—a white individual from a small city who labored for the CIA and is finest identified politically for getting offended at progressives—appears extra like what you would possibly count on from a Republican nominee. (The Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor will probably be determined in at the moment’s major election.)
I believe that is all nice. The scrambling of identification politics signifies that voters must interrogate their selections in ways in which transcend these foolish, surface-level elements. This must be an enchanting race which may supply a preview of the following evolution of American politics exterior the boundaries of the Outdated Dominion.
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