Tom Nichols: “At the end of the classic 1972 film The Godfather, the new don of the family, Michael Corleone, attends a baptism while his men wipe out the heads of the other New York mafia families—all of them Michael’s enemies, and all intending one day to do him harm. Rather than wait for their eventual attacks, Michael dispatched them himself. ‘Today, I settled all family business,’ Michael says to his traitorous brother-in-law, before having him killed.”

“Tonight, the Israelis launched a broad, sweeping attack on Iran that seems like an attempt to settle, so to speak, all family business. The Israeli government has characterized this offensive as a ‘preemptive’ strike on Iran: ‘We are now in a strategic window of opportunity and close to a point of no return, and we had no choice but to take action,’ an Israeli military official told reporters. Israeli spokespeople suggest that these attacks, named Operation Rising Lion, could go on for weeks.”

“But calling this a ‘preemptive’ strike is questionable. The Israelis, from what we know so far, are engaged in a preventive war: They are removing the source of a threat by surprise, on their own timetable and on terms they find favorable. They may be justified in doing so, but such actions carry great moral and practical risks.”

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) urged Israel to “keep wiping out” Iranian scientists and military officials.

Said Fetterman: “Our commitment to Israel must be absolute and I fully support this attack. Keep wiping out Iranian leadership and the nuclear personnel. We must provide whatever is necessary—military, intelligence, weaponry—to fully back Israel in striking Iran.”

“Christopher Landau, the deputy secretary of state, posted and then quickly deleted a statement on Wednesday evening attacking another high-level U.S. diplomat and criticizing the NATO military alliance as ‘a solution in search of a problem,’” the New York Times reports.

Iran has launched more than 100 drones toward Israeli territory, CNN reports.

Said IDF spokesperson Effie Defrin: “This is a different event to what we’ve experienced thus far, and we’re expecting difficult hours.”

“Iran has the right to retaliate against Israel, its foreign ministry said Friday, accusing Washington of aiding the overnight attack, despite U.S. claims otherwise,” CNN reports.

From a statement: “Such acts of aggression by the Zionist regime against Iran could not have occurred without coordination and authorization from the United States. Accordingly, the U.S. government, as the regime’s primary backer, is also responsible for the dangerous consequences of this reckless escalation.”

President Trump was aware of Israel’s plan to attack Iran ahead of time, Fox News reports.

“There were no surprises, but the US was not involved militarily and hopes Iran will return to the negotiating table. Again, the US military was not involved in any way in these strikes, but clearly the administration knew about the Israeli plans in advance and was not surprised.”

CNN: Trump didn’t want Israel to strike. They did it anyway.

The Economist: Iran’s alarming nuclear dash will soon test Donald Trump.

“Israel launched a stunning series of strikes against Iran on Friday morning, targeting nuclear and missile facilities and killing the nation’s top three generals. Fears grew that the long-simmering tensions between the heavily armed rivals could explode into a full-blown regional war,” the New York Times reports.

“Israel described the strikes as a pre-emptive step to keep Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. In addition to nuclear targets, Israel also struck Iran’s air defenses, long-range missile facilities, weapons depots, laboratories and the homes and headquarters of senior officials.”

Washington Post: “Israel’s military struck a dizzying array of targets in Iran on Friday, in a long-planned strike apparently aimed both at decapitating the leaders of Iran’s military and nuclear programs and neutralizing what Israel sees as an existential threat.”

“Israel is prepared to attack Iran in the coming days if Tehran rejects a U.S. proposal that would place tough limits on its nuclear program,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“A senior Israeli official warned that a strike could come as soon as Sunday unless Iran agrees to halt production of fissile material that can be used to make an atomic bomb.”

“Israel’s high-stakes brinkmanship is aimed at pressuring Iran to give up its ability to enrich uranium.”

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth refused Thursday to answer a simple question about the Trump administration’s plans for Greenland, implying that the U.S. military has drawn up plans to take the country by force,” the New Republic reports.

David Frum: “The tariffs would do everything at once. They would protect U.S. industry from foreign competition without raising prices, and generate vast revenues that would finance other tax cuts. Americans could eat their cake, continue to have the cake, and trade the same cake for pie—all at the same time…”

“The advertising rapidly proved false. The U.S. economy is slowing because of the Trump tariffs; China’s is thriving in spite of them. Team Trump falsely promotes vague five-page outlines with alienated former allies as big deals; China is successfully wooing some of its former rivals, such as Vietnam. America’s standing in the world is measurably sinking; China’s is measurably rising. Courts are ruling that Trump’s tariffs are illegal; public opinion mistrusts the tariffs, regarding them as expensive and unproductive. The promise of huge flows of painless money from tariff revenues is evanescing as the fantasy it always was.”

“President Donald Trump remains open to communications with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the White House said in its latest comments expressing willingness to resume dialogue with the nuclear-armed North, despite little signal from Kim seeking engagement,” Bloomberg reports.

U.S. officials have been told Israel is fully ready to launch an operation into Iran, CBS News reports.

New York Times: “The International Atomic Energy Agency declared on Thursday that Iran was not complying with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations, the first time the United Nations’ watchdog has passed a resolution against the country in 20 years.”

“President Donald Trump said he intended to send letters to trading partners in the next one to two weeks setting unilateral tariff rates, ahead of a July 9 deadline to reimpose higher duties on dozens of economies,” Bloomberg reports.

Said Trump: “We’re going to be sending letters out in about a week and a half, two weeks, to countries, telling them what the deal is.”

“A motion by opposition parties to dissolve the Israeli Parliament failed in the early hours of Thursday morning,” the New York Times reports.

“But the vote itself presented the most serious challenge yet to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government, exposing splits in the ruling coalition and weakening his leadership credentials.”

“Israel appears to be preparing to launch an attack soon on Iran, according to officials in the United States and Europe, a step that could further inflame the Middle East and derail or delay efforts by the Trump administration to broker a deal to cut off Iran’s path to building a nuclear bomb,” the New York Times reports.

Wall Street Journal: U.S. moves to withdraw some Middle East personnel as Iran tensions rise.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled the Trump administration’s openness to extending President Donald Trump’s current 90-day tariff pause beyond July 9 for the United States’ top trading partners, as long as they show “good faith” in ongoing trade negotiations, CNBC reports.

New York Times: “America’s closest allies are increasingly turning to each other to advance their interests, deepening their ties as the Trump administration challenges them with tariffs and other measures that are upending trade, diplomacy and defense.”

“Concerned by shifting U.S. priorities under President Trump, some of America’s traditional partners on the world stage have spent the turbulent months since Mr. Trump’s January inauguration focusing on building up their direct relationships, flexing diplomatic muscles and leaving the United States aside.”

“This emerging dynamic involves countries such as Britain, France, Canada and Japan — often referred to by international relations experts as ‘middle powers’ to distinguish them from superpowers like the United States and China.”