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.
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.
The frustration with the Rand Paul and Thomas Massie political opposition is understandable. However, this approach by President Trump comes with the possibility of a backfire.
PRESIDENT TRUMP – “Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky is not MAGA, even though he likes to say he is. Actually, MAGA doesn’t want him, doesn’t know him, and doesn’t respect him. He is a negative force who almost always Votes “NO,” no matter how good something may be. He’s a simple minded “grandstander” who thinks it’s good politics for Iran to have the highest level Nuclear weapon, while at the same time yelling “DEATH TO AMERICA” at every chance they get.
Iran has killed and maimed thousands of Americans, and even took over the American Embassy in Tehran under the Carter Administration. We had a spectacular military success yesterday, taking the “bomb” right out of their hands (and they would use it if they could!) but, as usual, and despite all of the praise and accolades received, this “lightweight” Congressman is against what was so brilliantly achieved last night in Iran.
Massie is weak, ineffective, and votes “NO” on virtually everything put before him (Rand Paul, Jr.), no matter how good something may be. He is disrespectful to our great military, and all that they stand for, not even acknowledging their brilliance and bravery in yesterday’s attack, which was a total and complete WIN. Massie should drop his fake act and start putting America First, but he doesn’t know how to get there — he doesn’t have a clue!
He’ll undoubtedly vote against the Great, Big, Beautiful Bill, even though non-passage means a 68% Tax Increase for everybody, and many things far worse than that. MAGA should drop this pathetic LOSER, Tom Massie, like the plague! The good news is that we will have a wonderful American Patriot running against him in the Republican Primary, and I’ll be out in Kentucky campaigning really hard. MAGA is not about lazy, grandstanding, nonproductive politicians, of which Thomas Massie is definitely one. Thank you to our incredible military for the AMAZING job they did last night. It was really SPECIAL!!! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.” (LINK)
In this interview, the insufferable Margaret Brennan attempts to match intellect with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Ms. Brennan fails miserably. The outcome is an epic broadcast of media bias, dramatic acting by Brennan and a very visible smackdown from a highly competent Rubio.
Margaret Brennan attempts to tell Marco Rubio what intelligence assessments are and how they are used. Now keep in mind as a U.S. Senator Marco Rubio was the Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and a member of the Gang of Eight conducting intelligence oversight for years. Brennan thought she could match wits with Rubio, she failed miserably; embarrassingly so. WATCH:
[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: Secretary of State and acting White House National Security Adviser Marco Rubio now joins us. Mr. Secretary, I know it has been an intense few hours, but so far, it does not appear that Iran has yet retaliated against the United States. What intelligence do you have at this point about their capabilities to respond, the intent of their proxies? Is there any kind of command and control structure left to activate them?
SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO: Yeah, well, we’ll see what Iran decides to do. I think they should choose the route of peace. We have been- we’ve done everything. We have bent over backwards, okay, to create a deal with these people. Steve- Steve Witkoff has traveled the world extensively, met with them- well not even met with them, met through the Omanis with them, and discussed back and forth. We even put an offer to them that they wanted elements of it in writing, and we offered it to them- very generous offer by the way. We’ve done- and we’re prepared right now.
If they call right now and say, we want to meet, let’s talk about this. We’re prepared to do that. The President’s made that clear from the very beginning. His preference is to deal with is to deal with this issue diplomatically, but he also told them we had 60 days to make progress or something else was going to happen. And I think they thought they were dealing with a different kind of leader, like the kinds of leaders they’ve been playing games with for the last 30 or 40 years. And they found out that’s not the case.
So this mission was a very precise mission. It had three objectives, three nuclear sites. It was not attack on Iran. It was not an attack on the Iranian people. This wasn’t a regime change move. This was designed to degrade and, or destroy three nuclear sites related to their nuclear weaponization ambitions, and that was delivered on yesterday. What happens next will now depend on what Iran chooses to do next. If they choose the path of diplomacy, we’re ready. We can do a deal that’s good for them, the Iranian people and good for the world. If they choose another route, then there will be consequences for that.
There are many critical interviews today that will be highlighted. We are at an important geopolitical inflection point with multiple consequences amid each chosen path.
The bombing of Iran has united the neocon pro-war groups within the Senate and legislative branch (pro-Ukraine, Pro-Israel) which may assist President Trump’s primary objective to get the Big Beautiful Bill over the finish line. That can be a big short-term strategic benefit, if the operational strikes on Iran do not escalate into a regional conflict.
That said, Secretary of State/National Security Advisor Marco Rubio is the principal person to watch as President Trump’s geopolitical agenda is carried out. Here he is talking to CFR Maria Bartiromo in his first comments after the strike took place. “No regime change” but the era of “playing games” is over. WATCH:
Following what President Trump is calling a successful bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites, President Trump will address the nation tonight at 10:00pm ET. Livestream Links Below:
According to media reports, six 30,000 lb. massive ordinance penetrators (MOPs) were dropped by B-2 stealth bombers on the Fordow facility, and 30 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles targeting Iran’s Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities, fired by submarines.
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.
During an oval office event to celebrate the Juventus team, President Trump took questions from the assembled press pool. The questions begin at 01:44 of the video below – prompted.
President Trump notes a situation room meeting was scheduled for updates in approximately 1 hour. The president also notes the Iranian delegation wants to meet to discuss the ongoing conflict; President Trump is not in a hurry to hear the requests at the current time.
President Trump is asked about what changed his perspective and leaned toward a willingness to engage with U.S. support for the physical removal of the Iranian nuclear capabilities. Trump notes Israel is proceeding “well” on a planned course of action to eliminate the threat Iran represented. WATCH:
President Trump participated in a flagpole raising celebration earlier today at the White House. During the installation, President Trump delivered remarks to the media and took questions from the assembled press pool. WATCH:
I post the direct statements from President Trump on the calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin because if you read the background, both before and after the Israel strike operation, you can clearly see the strategy. [Check Dates]
President Trump is doing what modern U.S officials never did, showing respect to the aligned nuclear powers and positioning any action for the least amount of geopolitical collateral damage. President Trump knows one of the key geopolitical influences upon Iran is the Russian Federation.
You do not have to be pro or anti-Trump to understand how executive level respect and diplomacy works. This is why the leadership of the Russian Federation respect Trump (firm but thoughtful), even if they are in opposition to his positions.
Remember the statements yesterday in Canada, at the G7, specifically about the Russian sanctions. These statements above should be read with the context of before and after the strikes in Iran began; then overlay the statements yesterday about the sanctions. There is a very clear message conveyed.
President Trump does not want a targeted problem to escalate into a regional geopolitical conflict. So, he takes proactive and ongoing steps to ensure containment. This is the part that French President Macron (doofus) cannot intellectually conceptualize; hence, President Trump’s curt remarks.
Even before the Israeli operation against Iran began, President Trump draws safe proactive perimeters that all traditional agents of governmental influence can understand.
Like you, I completely do not want expanded conflict that could potentially draw the U.S. into something far more dangerous. However, I also don’t see that as a likely outcome. President Trump is in the support position to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons from Iran; let him work without our dark imaginings injecting something that does not exist.
