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:
At 8:00am this morning Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Dan Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held a press conference at the Pentagon to brief media on “Operation Midnight Hammer,” the Iranian nuclear strikes. 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.
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:
Multiple media reports are now outlining the movement of U.S. B-2 Stealth Bombers amid the possibility of strikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities. However, despite what many media outlets might narrate, there is no way to determine the intent of the movements until some type of action actually takes place. It is all supposition.
The media are giddy with excitement.
Daily Mail – Deadly stealth bombers, which only the US has in their arsenal, are on their way to a US Air Force base in Guam amid growing tensions with Iran, according to reports.
Six B-2 stealth bombers, docked at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, appeared to be on the move on Saturday morning, according to Fox News.
The bombers are said to have been refueled, which means they could have launched without full tanks due to the extraordinarily heavy bunker-buster bombs.
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.
The White House is now saying Iran has everything they need to build a nuclear weapon, the only remaining factor is when to assemble it. “Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. “All they need is a decision from the supreme leader to do that.”
Press Secretary Leavitt then announced President Trump will make the decision to conduct U.S. military strikes within two weeks. “Based on the fact that there is a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place in the near future, I will make my decision of whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.
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.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz came from the Bush administration following his legal work on the Florida electoral challenge to George W Bush. As Karl Rove notes in his book, Courage and Consequence, Cruz wanted to be the United States Attorney General for the Bush administration. Dubya would not consider him, so Ted Cruz set about a new career path to run for the U.S. Senate from Texas.
Cruz worked as Texas Solicitor General (2003-2008), giving him statewide name recognition. Ted Cruz ran for U.S. Senate and won in 2012. In 2014 Robert Mercer (Breitbart) and Mark Levin began promoting Cruz as a presidential candidate for 2015/16; the ‘Cruz crew’ was born. The same ‘Cruz Crew’ coalition later evolved into the Ron DeSantis team in 2023. One of the four cornerstones of the Cruz/DeSantis political base, which includes a targeted evangelical following, has always been strong support for Israel.
This alignment is why we see the Cruz/DeSantis coalition as extremely supportive of the Israeli campaign against Iran, despite their generally soft support for President Trump on other matters. Obviously, the political gravity of President Trump is very strong – so those with future aspirations must remain Trump-adjacent, if not directly in his orbit.
In this somewhat adversarial interview, Tucker Carlson confronts Senator Cruz about his support for Israel, against the backdrop of the current Israeli zero-sum conflict with Iran. I am providing the interview for discussion only because the same conflict dynamic is playing out on several platforms, and it is of great interest to many Trump supporters.
Chapters:
0:00 Why Does Cruz Want Regime Change in Iran?
06:28 Is the US Currently Acting in Its Own Best Interest?
07:49 Was Regime Change in Syria Beneficial to the US?
12:31 Was the Iraq War a Mistake?
18:55 Why Aren’t US Politicians Focused on Fixing America’s Problems?
27:02 How Much Money Is the US Sending to Israel?
29:17 Does Cruz Think It’s Okay That Foreign Governments Spy on America?
31:47 How Much Money Has Cruz Taken From AIPAC?
