President Donald Trump introduced Thursday that he would take as much as two weeks to resolve whether or not to affix Israel in attacking Iran, because the world waits to see if the U.S. army will contain itself in one other expensive warfare within the Center East.
Trump’s pause was relayed to the media by White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“Based mostly on the truth that there is a substantial probability of negotiations that will or might not happen with Iran within the close to future, I’ll make my determination whether or not or to not go inside the subsequent two weeks,” stated Leavitt, quoting the president immediately.
Get your morning information roundup from Liz Wolfe and Cause.
This delay might give U.S. and Iranian officers time to hammer out a peace deal. Trump’s prime negotiator, Steve Witkoff, has been in dialogue with Iran since April, in keeping with The New York Occasions. Within the face of an unrelenting bombing marketing campaign by Israel, which is now attempting to get at Iran’s underground Fordo nuclear facility, Iran would possibly theoretically be extra keen to take Trump’s deal: uranium enrichment, however no nuclear weapons packages.
After all, it is also doable that the assaults on Iran have hardened the nation’s resolve to combat on, making a deal a lot much less possible than earlier than. Certainly, Iran’s regime may even see the acquisition of a nuclear weapon as the one cheap possibility for deterring additional assaults by Israel. Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu appears inclined to provide the U.S. no selection however to affix the strikes on Iran. In keeping with stories, Trump repeatedly ordered Netanyahu to not have interaction in wide-ranging assaults on Iran, however finally associated within the face of Israeli intelligence alleging that Iran was near constructing a bomb. On the U.S. facet, nevertheless, there isn’t any new intelligence concerning the gravity of the Iranian nuclear menace; Director of Nationwide Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard confirmed in March that Iranian Supreme Chief Ayatollah Khamenei “has not approved a nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003.”
Echoes of Iraq. The state of affairs is drawing apparent parallels with the disastrous Iraq Struggle, launched by President George W. Bush in 2003. In that case, intelligence that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was buying weapons of mass destruction led the Bush administration to launch an offensive warfare on the nation, at the price of billions of {dollars} and thousands and thousands of lives. The intelligence, nevertheless, was mistaken.
Trump’s success in the course of the 2016 marketing campaign was due partly to his vocal opposition to the Iraq Struggle, which by then was thought-about a profound mistake by nearly everyone however the Republican Celebration’s institution. Within the Republican major debates, Trump railed in opposition to Bush by proxy—his brother, Jeb, was working for the nomination—and scored factors with intervention-weary voters.
Trump confronting Jeb Bush concerning the warfare in Iraq
pic.twitter.com/Z1S82NjPTq— Particular Conditions ???? Analysis E-newsletter (Jay) (@SpecialSitsNews) June 18, 2025
The Make American Nice Once more (MAGA) base is just not a monolith, and a few conservative commentators appear assured that MAGA is with Trump, it doesn’t matter what he decides. “Trump’s supporters have his again no matter he chooses,” wrote David Marcus, a Fox Information columnist, in response to my query concerning the inside MAGA debate on this challenge.
Can Trump actually do no mistaken, from the standpoint of his base? Perhaps so. However the extent to which there’s an actual distinction of opinion on this challenge shouldn’t be ignored. Many main Republican personalities—Steve Bannon, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R–Ga.)—are useless set in opposition to army escalation, as are libertarian-leaning members of Congress similar to Rep. Thomas Massie (R–Ky.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.). And importantly, the rightwing podcasting universe can be opposed: Joe Rogan, Theo Von, Tucker Carlson, and so on. These are the platforms that Trump made ample use of in the course of the 2024 presidential marketing campaign. His profitable enchantment to younger, male voters is basically and appropriately attributed to this technique. The audiences for Rogan, Von, and Carlson are non-interventionists, and Trump offered himself to them on that foundation.
That would possibly be one of many explanation why Trump has apparently determined to provide peace yet another probability—if that’s certainly what he’s doing.
Markets react. The markets love peace: The information that Trump has delayed any army motion prompted a favorable response within the inventory market. “Buyers on Friday are cheering President Trump’s announcement that he might take as much as two weeks earlier than deciding whether or not to affix Israel in placing Iran,” reported The New York Occasions.
Scenes from D.C.: Summer season is upon us, which suggests the nation’s capital is suffering from sweltering humidity and excessive temperatures all through the day, after which sudden thunderstorms that seem out of nowhere. One such storm even produced a formidable rainbow over the White Home. Joyful pleasure month, y’all.
Afternoon rain showers in Washington D.C. left a rainbow over the White Home on Wednesday. (by way of NEWSMAX’s @MikeCarterTV) pic.twitter.com/AePuLYcJWu
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) June 19, 2025
- In different information, the Los Angeles Dodgers claimed that immigration officers tried to enter Dodger Stadium and had been rebuffed. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) denied this, staying flatly: “We had been by no means there.”
- Fox Information reporter Matt Finn contends it was Border Patrol, relatively than ICE.
- A federal appeals courtroom has dominated that the Nationwide Guard can stay in Los Angeles, California, because the order to deploy them there was lawful.
- A SpaceX starship exploded throughout a check launch.
- Rich businessmen are vowing to depart New York Metropolis if Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, is elected mayor of the town. The Democratic major election, which can possible decide who finally turns into mayor, is subsequent Tuesday, June 24. Mamdani is inside placing distance of the frontrunner, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
