NATO Tries to Keep Trump Happy
“Beyond projecting military strength and pledging unity, a more pressing theme has emerged for next week’s NATO summit: Keep President Trump happy,” the New York Times reports.
“As leaders prepare to meet for the annual forum starting on Tuesday, U.S. allies have watered down their public support for Ukrainian membership and drafted a policy communiqué as short as five paragraphs to keep the American leader on board. The meeting itself, in The Hague, will open and close in under two days — a timeline designed to keep it devoid of drama.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I wonder if—you know, the Civil War, it always seemed to me maybe that could’ve been solved without losing 600,000-plus people.”
— President Trump, speaking to reporters.
Trump Freezes Out Hegseth and Gabbard
“As President-elect Donald Trump assembled his core national security team early this year, congressional and media attention fell on two choices better known for their Fox News appearances and invective against a supposed “deep state” than for their executive branch experience: Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard and Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon. Both won Senate confirmation, barely,” the Washington Post reports.
“But as Trump faces a critical decision about whether to join Israel’s military strikes against Iran’s nuclear program, perhaps the most momentous of his presidency, neither Gabbard nor Hegseth are playing starring roles as members of Trump’s inner circle of advisers.”
“Trump instead has turned to a small group of lower-key but more experienced aides.”
NBC News: Tulsi Gabbard sidelined in Trump administration discussions on Israel and Iran.
Quote of the Day
“He’s in his last term of his presidency. He may or may not see a window to do something that is something he’s always believed is right and is important for the world, and has the added benefit of being legacy-building. And this is a window. It’s never existed before. It will likely never exist again insofar as he can do anything about it. So while he has that window, he’s going to take a shot, even if it is not something that everybody agrees with.”
— A White House official, talking to Playbook, about President Trump’s decision of attacking Iran.
Mike Huckabee’s Newsletter Problem
Columbia Journalism Review: “Each day, the Huckabee Post delivers news, commentary, and religiosity to nearly 330,000 Substack subscribers, many of whom pay a subscription fee. Mike Huckabee, formerly the governor of Arkansas, started the newsletter in September of 2016 and, per the about page, has since ‘covered three presidential elections, two presidential terms, four full Congresses and lots of news in between.’
“Now that Huckabee is the United States’ ambassador to Israel, the Substack promises, ‘That isn’t about to change.’”
“Huckabee’s Substack profits are substantial—more than 465,500 dollars in the course of about a year, according to a recent federal financial disclosure.”
CEO Economic Outlook Sinks to Five-Year Low
“Economic sentiment among America’s top CEOs plunged to the lowest level since 2020, according to a new survey by the Business Roundtable,” Axios reports.
“Chief executives have not been this sour on the economy since the once-in-a-century pandemic, with significant downgrading expectations for hiring, investment and sales growth.”
CNBC: Central bank signals stagflation fears.
Feds Investigate Anonymous Pizza Deliveries
“Federal authorities are trying to determine who has been anonymously ordering pizzas that are sent to the homes of U.S. lawmakers across the country and to the homes of those who help protect those lawmakers,” ABC News reports.
“The mysterious deliveries have authorities worried that they could be intended to send a menacing message.”
Trump Is Bad at This
Jonathan Bernstein: “I noted over the weekend several reasons why Donald Trump himself, his presidency, and his administration overall are nowhere near prepared for the Iran/Israel situation.”
“But the more that it becomes an Iran/US situation, the more it’s important to add one more important point: Trump is absolutely, utterly unprepared to rally the nation around a war effort. And nothing we’ve seen in the last ten years even hints that he’s capable of it.”
Housing Market Slump Is Getting Worse
“A longtime slump in the new housing sector is getting worse, according to new indicators,” Axios reports.
“The broader economy held up during a ‘rolling recession’ that hit the housing industry in recent years. That might not be the case this time if other sectors slow concurrently.”
A New Middle East Is Unfolding
Time: “The war on Iran, by contrast, is one Israel spent years planning for, and opened with the playbook of deception, decapitation, and precision strikes on missile sites….the question is how Israel will choose to define victory.”
“Regime change did not go so well in Iraq. And the stated goal of demolishing Iran’s nuclear facilities appears impossible without U.S. airstrikes.”
“That decision rests with Donald Trump. His choice may alter the region in unforeseen ways. But by reaching past the Palestinians to embrace Israel, as well as the sheiks of the Gulf, the U.S. President already has described the contours of its new, more transactional reality.”
U.S. Giving Up on Taxing Inheritances
Washington Post: “Congressional Republicans are proposing to permanently allow wealthy families to pass on more of their assets tax-free, as the federal government all but abandons taxing large inheritances.”
Iran’s ‘Axis of Resistance’ Is Missing in Action
“For decades, Iran’s leaders built up a network of allied militias in the Middle East that shared a hatred of Israel and America to gain regional influence and protect the regime. But as the theocracy is now fighting for its own survival, its allies are missing in action,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Lebanon’s Hezbollah, once seen as the most powerful in Iran’s so-called Axis of Resistance, hasn’t fired a single missile since Israel attacked Iran. Its military capabilities and leadership have been decimated by Israeli forces over the past year. Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, is a shadow of itself after 20 months of war with Israel that has seen its leaders killed and Gaza destroyed.”
“In Iraq, Iranian-backed Shiite militias haven’t targeted U.S. military bases, as they have in the past. And Yemen’s Houthi militia fired several missiles at Israel on Sunday, but have remained silent since.”
A New MAGA Litmus Test
“Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) is providing some supporting Senate fire in President Trump’s unrelenting assault on Fed Chair Jerome Powell,” Axios reports.
“Senate Republicans have largely defended Powell in the face of Trump’s attacks and guarded the Fed’s independence. But Moreno is sending a clear signal that tariffs and interest rates will be part of the conversation for whoever succeeds Powell at the Fed.”
Travel Restrictions Bar Residents Needed at U.S. Hospitals
“Travel and visa restrictions imposed by the Trump administration threaten patient care at hundreds of hospitals that depend on medical residents recruited from overseas,” the New York Times reports.
“Foreign medical residents often serve as the frontline caregivers at busy safety-net hospitals in low-income communities. Normally the residents begin work on July 1. Orientation programs for some of them already started this week.”
“Now some of those hospitals are racing to prevent staffing shortages.”
Los Angeles Dodgers to Help Immigrant Communities
“The Dodgers on Thursday will announce their plans to assist the immigrant communities recently impacted in Los Angeles,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Trump at Odds with U.S. Intelligence
“The U.S. assessment of Iran’s nuclear program has not changed since March, when the director of national intelligence told lawmakers that Tehran has large amounts of enriched uranium but has not made a decision to rush toward building an atomic bomb,“ NBC News reports.
“Comments by President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have painted a different picture, suggesting that Iran is racing toward creating a nuclear weapon.”
Americans Still Stuck in Israel
“The U.S. State Department said Wednesday it had ‘no announcement about assisting’private U.S. citizens to depart at this time,” after the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem said it was working on dispatching evacuation flights and cruise ships for American citizens who wish to leave Israel amid the country’s ongoing conflict with Iran,” CBS News reports.
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