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President Trump has bought more time to make a decision on U.S. military intervention in Iran, capping off a whirlwind week that saw his administration approach the brink of direct action before hitting pause.
“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiation that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go in the next two weeks,” Trump said in a statement Thursday read aloud by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Trump’s decision puts on hold any immediate move by the Pentagon to directly engage in strikes or other actions targeting Iran and its nuclear program, something the president has openly mulled this week amid escalating tensions between Israel and its biggest regional rival.
The updated timetable would put Trump’s self-imposed deadline for potential strikes on the eve of Independence Day weekend.
In the week since Israel launched a barrage of missiles into Iran — targeting Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure and high-ranking generals — the world has been holding its breath as Trump weighs whether to directly involve the U.S. in the conflict.
Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility, Fordow, is located in a mountain bunker only U.S. missiles could penetrate.
Trump has been briefed on both the risks and the benefits of bombing Fordow, and he believes that disabling it is necessary because of the risk of weapons being produced in a relatively short period of time, CBS News reports.
▪ The New York Times: Forced to wait for Trump, Israel faces a strategic dilemma in Iran.
▪ NBC News: U.S. intelligence says Iran has a large stockpile of enriched uranium but isn’t close to creating a weapon.
▪ ABC News: What do we know about Iran’s nuclear program amid different assessments?
Leavitt sidestepped a question Thursday over potential U.S. involvement in a regime change in Iran. When pressed on how close the president thinks Iran is to completing the production of a nuclear weapon, Leavitt said that at this point, it’s up to the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to decide to move ahead with final stages.
“Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon. All they need is a decision from the supreme leader to do that,” she said. “And it would take a couple of weeks to complete production of that weapon.”
Some military experts estimate Israel and Iran have sufficient remaining munitions to continue pounding each other for a few more weeks. Iran is weaker on the missile ledger.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has repeatedly spoken with Trump since Israel began attacking Iran, pushed Trump to support Israeli strikes over the course of a series of meetings, Time magazine reports.
The president initially said the U.S. would not involve itself in the conflict while reiterating he could not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. Trump, who in his first term withdrew from the Obama-era nuclear agreement with Iran, had been pressing for talks to hammer out a new agreement in his second term.
Those negotiations have been on ice for weeks, but European foreign ministers are slated to meet with Iranian officials in Switzerland today to press them to de-escalate and to offer a rollback of Iran’s nuclear activities. White House officials are watching those talks with interest as Trump suggests that he would wait to let discussions unfold. But Iran’s foreign minister said his country is not seeking negotiations with anyone as long as Israel continues its strikes.
Next week’s NATO summit at The Hague will offer another opportunity to glean what the president is thinking about any negotiations with Tehran.
▪ The Economist: The Europeans plan to keep the NATO summit short and snappy.
▪ CNN: In a veiled message to Trump, the Chinese and Russian leaders present a united front over the Israel-Iran crisis.
▪ CBS News: The Trump administration is boosting monitoring of possible Iran-backed cells in the U.S.
The conflict in the Middle East is also dividing Trump’s MAGA base, with some of the president’s key supporters urging him not to get the country involved in a new Middle Eastern war. The anti-interventionist arm of the Republican Party — alongside Democrats — is watching with alarm as Trump has moved from solely seeking a diplomatic solution with Iran to considering engaging in direct strikes.
Former Trump adviser and conservative firebrand Steve Bannon told the Christian Science Monitor at a breakfast event on Wednesday that Israel can finish its task in Iran without roping in the U.S. military.
“My mantra right now, the Israelis have to finish what they started,” Bannon said. “They started this, they should finish it. They have air superiority.”
Other Trump supporters want the president to take direct action.
Robert O’Brien, Trump’s former national security adviser in his first term, said on social platform X that the president is “delivering a master class on how to conduct an America First foreign policy” and “has gracefully given an enemy multiple chances to avoid war.”
During Thursday’s briefing, Leavitt sought to reassure “everyday Trump supporters” who have concerns about U.S. involvement.
“Trust in President Trump,” she said.
3 Things to Know Today
- Trump can keep the National Guard deployed in Los Angeles for now, an appeals court ruled late Thursday. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals extended a pause on a lower court decision, ruling in part that the president “likely” exercised his authority lawfully.
- Trump has given TikTok another 90 days to avert a ban in the U.S.
- The administration will probe the long-term health effects of the 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment and chemical spill, Vice President Vance, previously an Ohio senator, announced Thursday.
Leading the Day
NEW HEADWINDS: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and his GOP colleagues are eyeing polling and economic forecasts that suggest next year’s elections could be tougher than expected.
The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports this morning on new exclusive polling figures showing Trump’s frequent clashes with federal courts are unsettling to likely voters in Senate battleground states.
The survey of 1,000 likely voters from Democratic-aligned firm Global Strategy Group found 53 percent disapprove of Trump’s handling of the courts, including 39 percent of self-identified, non-MAGA Republicans.
Senate Republicans are facing pressure this month to advance Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which can only make the trip to the president’s desk if it attracts a bare majority of Republican votes.
And as June rushes past, GOP support has still not gelled.
Lawmakers are weighing public hand-wringing about proposed Medicaid changes and cutbacks to programs that help lower-income families at a time when inflation and economic uncertainty are hitting hard, including in many red states.
Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults held an unfavorable opinion of the version of the legislation that narrowly passed the House last month, according to a recent survey. The bill includes proposed tax breaks and spending cuts that affect key federal programs that have bipartisan backing.
Meanwhile, the president is juggling steep tariffs, inflation fears and potential U.S. military intervention against Iran, an idea that’s unpopular with his MAGA base. His job approval numbers on most issues except immigration are underwater six months into his presidency.
The White House reached out to MAGA influencers to try to quiet dissent as Trump mulls the situation in Iran and urges a return to negotiations.
Trump fumed on Thursday on social media about a Fox News poll released this week that found 58 percent of adults surveyed disapprove of his handling of the economy, compared with 40 percent who approve. On his handling of inflation, 64 percent of respondents disapproved. The president urged the network to change its pollster.
When and Where
- Welcome, summer! It’s the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere!
- The president will receive his intelligence briefing at 11 a.m. with his National Security Council. Trump will sign executive orders in the Oval Office at 1 p.m. and an hour later, will depart the White House for his Bedminster, N.J., property. The president will attend a private fundraiser at 7:30 p.m. in New Jersey and remain overnight.
- The House will meet briefly at 11 a.m.
- The Senate will hold a pro forma session at 3:15 p.m.
Zoom In
CURVEBALL: The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday clashed over the presence of federal agents outside the stadium grounds.
The baseball organization and the Trump administration differed over which federal agents showed up Thursday morning at the stadium, whether the agents were asked to leave the grounds or exited voluntarily, and whether government vehicles and personnel were there for immigration enforcement.
DHS conceded that Customs and Border Patrol personnel gathered in the parking lot, but said they were not tied to any immigration enforcement. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is a different DHS entity, asserted that a Dodger post on X, which attracted a firestorm of media attention, was “false.”
The Los Angeles Times published photos of masked, geared-up federal agents, but reported the purpose of their presence was unclear.
The home team’s message: “This morning, ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots. They were denied entry to the grounds by the organization. Tonight’s game will be played as scheduled.”
⚾ The Dodgers lost to the San Diego Padres in a fiery 5-3 game with some bench-clearing drama. Major League Baseball has a rich history of Hall of Fame and star players from other nations who made their mark on America’s pastime.
Los Angeles officials say tensions remain high in reaction to federal efforts to round up migrants who lack legal status and to deport them, especially from Democratic-led cities the president and his immigration team said this week they’re targeting. Trump says his administration’s crackdown honors voters’ wishes and removes criminals while securing U.S. borders.
White House border czar Tom Homan told reporters on Wednesday that “worksite enforcement” to round up migrants without legal status employed at farms and hotels will not abate, despite the president’s recent expression of support for industries complaining about the impact of his immigration policies on workers and businesses.
“The message is clear now,” Homan said, “that we’re going to continue doing worksite enforcement operations, even on farms and hotels, but based on [a] prioritized basis — criminals come first.”
Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, interviewed Thursday by NewsNation, urged undocumented migrants to self-deport or risk being rounded up at worksites. “We’re not going to take any option off the table,” she said.
The Hill: Absenteeism in America’s schools, already a problem in education, is worsening because of the U.S. immigration crackdown, according to a recent study.
Elsewhere
UKRAINE: Russian President Vladimir Putin denied in remarks published Thursday that Moscow was targeting civilians and said he was open to meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, even while still questioning his legitimacy. Meanwhile, Russia continues to attack Kyiv and recently destroyed apartment blocks in a strike that killed 28 people.
“We are ready to meet, and by the way, I said I am ready to meet with everyone, including Zelensky,” Putin said. “But that is not the question. The question is who will sign the documents,” he said, repeating a central piece of propaganda that denies Zelensky’s political legitimacy.
American aid to Ukraine appears to be drying up. While the U.S. approved a $50 million sale of military aid to Ukraine earlier this month, it came only after Kyiv signed off on a deal to share rare earth minerals. The White House has yet to dip into some $3.9 billion earmarked to fund military aid to Ukraine that former President Biden was not able to spend before the end of his term.
▪ Al Jazeera: In its war on Ukraine, is Russia’s vast size becoming a liability?
▪ France24: Russia and Ukraine on Thursday completed another exchange of prisoners of war.
▪ Politico: The Ukrainian official Washington loves to hate.
Opinion
- MAGA’s misguided isolationists, by The Wall Street Journal editorial board.
- Instead of defending the budget bill, the GOP touts one that doesn’t exist, by Catherine Rampell, columnist, The Washington Post.
The Closer
And finally … 👏👏👏 Congratulations to this week’s Morning Report Quiz winners! While pondering a big U.S. jewelry robbery (and the fate of the alleged criminal masterminds this week), we quizzed readers about notable heists.
🧩 Here’s who stole away with a perfect score: Richard Baznik, Stan Wasser, Lynn Gardner, Joe Atchue, Jess Elger, Russ Lowenthal, Alan Johnson, Peter Sprofera, Rob DiMaggio, Pam Manges, Rick Schmidtke, Linda Field, Mark Williamson, Brian Hogan, Michael McGinnis, Robert Bradley, Luther Berg, Stanton Kirk, Chuck Schoenenberger, Steve James, Carmine Petracca, Savannah Petracca and Jose Ramos.
Seven California suspects were charged Tuesday with stealing gold, diamonds, rubies and emeralds in what prosecutors called the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history. The 2022 haul was worth $100 million.
In Canada’s largest heist, thieves in 2011 made off with tons of maple syrup.
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston displays empty frames that once held masterpieces stolen in 1990 in a still-unsolved art caper.
Inspired by a plot in a Sherlock Holmes story, British robbers tunneled their way into a Lloyds Bank in London in 1971, making off with what today would be $51 million in cash before being caught.
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