I’m just going to outline this post as it is framed by Vice President JD Vance without anything…

JD Vance – “This is such a revealing clip. The American media is full of the least curious, least insightful people in our country.

To recap, an out of context, “low confidence” and incomplete intelligence report was selectively leaked to the media. The media reported on the findings without any real effort to figure out whether they represent any part of (much less the full) truth. The way the media has presented the report is contradicted by the IAEA, the Iranians themselves, and the administration’s political and defense leadership. More importantly, the media’s reports are contradicted by common sense.

[Vance, cont…] “To summarize: a dozen 30,000-pound bunker busters were dropped on Iran’s main nuclear site. (The other two sites that were targeted suffered heavy damage too). No one disputes they hit their targets. No one disputes the explosive or destructive power of the weapons. No one disputes that a week ago, Iran could have easily assembled a nuclear weapon and now they can’t.

The entire debate–even accepting the press’s dishonest framing–is not about whether Iran can now build a nuke. They can’t. It’s about how much rebuilding the Iranians would have to do in order to achieve a nuclear weapon. In other words, after a wildly successful military operation with no American casualties, the American media is trying to blame Donald Trump for the existence of facilities *that haven’t even been built yet.*

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President Trump and his national security team held a meeting with NATO Sec.-Gen. Mark Rutte during the 2025 NATO Summit in the Hague, Netherlands, and took questions from the media.

Interestingly, NATO Secretary Mark Rutte emphasizes the new commitment from Canada repeatedly.  As one of the worst offenders to adhere to their NATO obligations, and against the backdrop of tariffs and targeted trade negotiations, obviously Canada is trying to position themselves against the Trump economic agenda.

Secondly, the emphasis is again on the damage assessment from the U.S. bombing of the Iran nuclear facilities.  This is critical for President Trump to break free of the intelligence community control over U.S. foreign policy expanded in the next outline.  WATCH:

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The NATO summit begins officially tonight in the Hague, Netherlands.  However, most of the NATO members arrived early so their collective assembly could strategize a defense against the arrival of Godzilla Trump.

Unfortunately, Godzilla Trump began his journey to the EU today by using a very emphatic F-bomb directed at Iran and Israel.  Netanyahu promptly apologized, reversed his antagonistic enterprise and ducked for cover.  A grouchy Godzilla is not what the EU leaders want to be facing.  Grimaces abound.

To appease the painfully, brutally and uncomfortably honest President Trump the EU have agreed among themselves to increase their defense spending quickly, to the very Trumpian 5% of GDP with 3.5% spent on direct military arms.

GERMANY – […] “We will decide to invest significantly more in our security,” Merz told the Bundestag ahead of the NATO leaders’ summit in The Hague. “Not to do the United States a favor — but because Russia actively threatens the freedom of the entire Euro-Atlantic area.”

A day before the speech, Berlin confirmed it would raise military spending to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2029 — Germany’s most ambitious rearmament effort since the end of the Cold War. (more)

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Activist U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy previously blocked President Trump from deporting criminal illegal aliens to non-originating countries, as many countries refused to take back their criminal aliens.  The administration appealed the injunction to the Supreme Court and the high court ruled in favor of the Trump administration and DHS [SCOTUS RULING HERE]

However, after the high court lifted the block, Judge Murphy doubled down on his injunction, saying the Supreme Court decision does not pertain to his order.

WASHINGTON DC – The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the Trump administration to swiftly deport foreigners to countries where they have no previous ties.

The justices lifted an order from a federal judge in Boston who had placed restrictions on the deportations to those countries. U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy had issued a nationwide injunction that required the administration to give immigrants “meaningful” advance notice and a chance to raise objections before they are sent to so-called third countries — nations not specified in their original deportation orders. But the Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s emergency request to put Murphy’s injunction on hold.(more)

In response to the Supreme Court overruling his decision, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy said late Monday that his injunction blocking the deportation of certain non-citizens to South Sudan and other third-party countries “remains in full force and effect.”

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If you are confused about what happened in the past 96 hours, that’s understandable.

Cliff notes. The Occam’s Razor was always accurate. President Trump didn’t want to escalate with Iran. Netanyahu forced President Trump into a supportive box with attacks against Iran. President Trump responded with a public hug to Bibi and eventually a U.S. bombing of the Iran nuclear sites. Israel was big happy. However, Trump’s emissary Steve Witkoff never stopped communicating with Iran on peace approach, and negotiated/coordinated a face-saving Iranian retaliation via a happy to oblige Qatar.

Iran retaliated against the USA support for Israel with a pre-planned attack on a U.S. base in Qatar, which was easily managed. Iran saves face against evil Trump. Meanwhile, loyal friend to Israel, Trump has facilitated the request of Bibi. Diplomacy now returns sans operational nuclear sites.  No regime change. Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israeli lobbyist Mark Levin are furious.

All the pro-war Israel-First pundits who sold a narrative of Trump duping the Iranians were wrong.  Trump never wanted the conflict escalation, nor did Trump pre-plan with Netanyahu to pretend diplomacy.  Pure fantasy speculation. The prior diplomatic efforts between the USA and Iran were genuine from the Trump administration, despite the duplicity from the Iranian side.

In a weakened state the Iranian regime and the Israeli government are now directed to engage in “peace and harmony,” against the new backdrop of the nuclear sites out of commission. Trump’s out. We’re done.

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Jonathan Karl is not known for his pragmatic pontification, however in the framework of what comes next following the U.S. bombing of Iran, he’s correct.  The next move is entirely up to Iran, and for the moment that puts the decision to escalate outside the control of President Trump.

As Karl outlines, President Trump was adamant the strikes against the Iranian nuclear sites were “one and done.”  However, the underlying consideration in the background was the contingency planning for what comes next.  As Karl accurately notes, this puts the power of escalation in the hands of Iran.  If Iran strikes U.S. military facilities, President Trump will be pulled into a larger military response, and so – the potential for the escalation spiral begins.

ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl spoke to President Donald Trump about what he hopes these attacks on Iran will accomplish.  WATCH:

I think most agree that we do not want to see Iran gaining nuclear weapons power.  However, most Americans also do not want to get pulled into a protracted conflict in the middle east again.  It is a tenuous moment.

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**Bumped By Request**

I am not promoting the group, I am promoting the message within this video.  As you watch Susan Kokinda discuss the events from the recent G7, and put the remarks by President Trump into context, you might find what she’s saying sounds incredibly familiar.

This recap may sound familiar because it is almost identical to what CTH has outlined {SEE HERE} and {SEE HERE}.  So familiar in fact, it might sound as though myself and Susan Kokinda have discussed these issues; we have not.  This video is the first time I have heard of her and her group, Promethean Action.

That said, what Mrs Kokinda outlines is precisely what is visible in the details of President Trump’s activity.  While I might take exception to some of the lingo used, the substance of her explanation is spot on; particularly accurate is her overlay of how President Trump is approaching Russian President Vladimir Putin when contrast with Trump’s economic vision.  This is well worth watching.

What Susan Kokinda says about the Senate opposition to President Trump, vis-a-vis the Big Beautiful Bill, is also accurate. It is within the BBB policy legislation that we see the springboard for the American economic revival. However, the larger program for cooperative nationalism is also why the same opponents to the BBB agenda are aligned to keep President Trump and President Putin apart.

If the USA (Technology, innovation, consumer market) forms a strategic alliance with Russia (resources, capacity, consumer market), and then negotiates a reciprocal trade and manufacturing arrangement with China (transformation to a USA manufacturing return), the geopolitical world order is economically changed.  Here at home, the USA is no longer a service driven economy; a natural balance is restored.   The multinationals will fight this hard. There are trillions at stake.

Russian markets open to USA goods, technology and innovation services.  USA markets open to Russian raw materials and strategic partnerships. With expanded alternatives, China then has to compete for manufacturing etc. Controlled markets become free markets.  The focus is on expanded economics, not war and friction.

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This is an interesting insight when overlaid with what you know about foreign government and their influence operations within U.S. politics.

Michael Doran is director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East. As a professional political insider, this consulting business model is party based on the currency of access to key policymakers, staff and advisors.

In this podcast with Bari Weiss the discussion is about Israel and the attack on Iran. Both Weiss and Doran are aligned with the interests of Israel and very supportive. However, in describing President Trump’s position toward Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu there is an interesting moment when Doran explains how foreign governments lost access and influence; essentially, when spying became more difficult. [Reference point 28:51]

In part, Secretary of State/National Security Advisor Marco Rubio restructured the National Security Council, and when he did that “Europeans and those in the Middle East” lost their ability to “plug-in” to their contact sources. The “cultivated sources” they used were no longer in place.  It’s only about a minute on that aspect, but revealing when you consider influence operations and the push to war.  WATCH:

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President Trump holds an impromptu press conference from the airport in Morristown, New Jersey.  After making a few announcements about peace between Congo and Rwanda, President Trump took questions from the assembled press pool.

As we have mentioned before, there is a transparent effort by the mainstream media and their aligned allies in the intelligence bureaucracy to get DNI Tulsi Gabbard removed.  President Trump is again questioned about Gabbard’s statements from March where she repeated an Intelligence Community assessment that Iran was not currently building a nuclear weapon.  President Trump accepts the misleading question and responds by saying, “she’s wrong.”

President Trump’s admonishment of the manufactured statement is then amplified by the Israel-First group, which includes Laura Loomer and Mark Levin, both ‘influencers’ hoping to see Tulsi Gabbard removed, and replaced with a more pro-Israel, pro-war intelligence head.  Watching this unfold is quite remarkable.

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In the beginning of this discussion we might discover the deeper motive for President Trump to support Israeli strikes against Iran.

Remember, President Trump proactively defused any reactionary Russian response by talking directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin prior to the eruption of conflict inside Iran. That discussion puts the Chinese interests into a somewhat isolated position.  From recent Trump comments we can also see the carrot of sanction removal at play.

China has significant economic exposure within Beijing’s financial ties to Iran. With 90% of Iranian oil production fueling the Chinese economy any disruption would have considerable impact. As Gordon Chang notes in the interview with Maria Bartiromo, no one knows what China is currently sending into Iran via air cargo flights over the past several days. WATCH:

The surface benefit to Israeli attacks against Iran is the elimination of the nuclear threat.  The underlying benefit from a USA perspective is the weakening of Chinese economic power that comes as an outcome of the current Iranian regime.

Chang is correct to put emphasis on these mysterious cargo flights.

The USA drone war capability has been tested in Ukraine and Russia.  That capability, an enhanced capability thanks to the work of Palantir, could very well be deployed deep inside Iran as the IDF retains total air dominance.  Palantir (Peter Thiel and Alex Karp) are ideologically aligned with the goals and objectives of Israel.

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