Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq slide as Trump shakes hopes for an Israel-Iran truce
US stocks retreated on Tuesday amid dwindling hopes for a quick resolution to Israel-Iran hostilities, as President Trump played down the prospect of a truce and air strikes continued.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell around 0.4%, while the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) dipped roughly 0.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also pulled back 0.3%.
Overall, US stocks have so far proved resilient amid the conflict. The major gauges ended higher on Monday after a report that Iran is seeking a ceasefire and return to nuclear program negotiations.
But Trump's overnight call for the evacuation of Iran's capital city amid a spike in Israel-Iran tensions has spooked markets worried about the risk of a descent into full-on regional war. The president's early exit from the G7 summit is also spurring fears of an escalation.
Early on Tuesday, Trump rejected the idea he was working on a Middle East pause in hostilities, as suggested by France's President Macron. It "certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that,' he posted on social media.
Pressed on what he was looking for, Trump said on Air Force One: "An end. A real end, not a ceasefire, an end." But the president did not provide more detail, including on next steps.
Oil prices jumped nearly 2% as investors weighed the stream of remarks, with Brent futures (BZ=F) rising to almost $75 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) crude hovering around $73.
At the same time, Wall Street is also grappling with concerns over Trump's trade policy and the direction of US interest rates.
As the date for lifting the pause on Trump's sweeping tariffs approaches, US officials have used the G7 summit to pursue trade deals. The first completed deal emerged Monday, when Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed off on the US-UK trade pact agreed in May.
Read more: The latest on Trump's tariffs
Meanwhile, in the week's key data release, US retail sales fell 0.9% in May, more than economists expected, as consumers pulled back from a pre-tariff splurge.
Wall Street is looking to the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting that starts on Tuesday for clues to whether policymakers still want to cut interest rates twice in 2025, given recent signs of cooling inflation. The Fed is expected to hold rates steady in its decision on Wednesday.
US stocks slid on Tuesday as President Trump played down the prospect of a truce between Israel and Iran and retail sales came in below expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell around 0.4%, while the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) dipped roughly 0.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also pulled back 0.3%.
Kraft Heinz (KHC) stock edged higher after the maker of Kool-Aid and Jell-O said it's eliminating synthetic dyes across the remaining 10% of its US portfolio that contains them.
Yahoo Finance's Brooke DiPalma reports that Kraft Heinz will replace artificial dyes with natural colors or reinvent items with new colors. The company will also refrain from launching new products that contain food additives.
This announcement comes amid growing scrutiny of food additives. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said he wants to remove artificial coloring from the food supply by the time he leaves office.
Read more here.
The US Department of Defense announced Monday that it awarded OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) a $200 million contract to "develop prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains."
"This contract is one of the largest Department of Defense contracts given to a software provider when measured by annual contract value," William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma wrote in a note to clients Monday.
DiPalma said that the "contract announcement could signal increased competition from OpenAI going forward" for Palantir (PLTR) "if OpenAI moves into Palantir's ontology territory." Ontology refers to an operational layer in Palantir's platform.
DiPalma noted that Palantir paved the way for OpenAI and others.
"Palantir has pioneered software providers serving as prime contractors for Department of Defense programs," DiPalma wrote. "Traditionally, software providers served as subcontractors to systems integrators. Under the new administration, the Department of Defense is looking to contract directly with commercial software providers when possible."
Palantir rose less than 1% on Tuesday.
In December, Palantir shares dropped as much as 5% when defense tech firm Anduril (ANIN.PVT) announced a partnership with OpenAI to "develop and responsibly deploy advanced artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for national security missions."
Retail sales fell in May, dragged down by declines in gas and auto purchases during the second month that a wide array of President Trump's tariffs were in effect.
Headline retail sales declined 0.9% in May, surpassing economists' expectations for a 0.6% decline month on month. By comparison, sales decreased 0.1% in April, according to revised Census Bureau data. A 2% decline in gasoline sales, a 3.5% slide in auto purchases, and a 2.7% decline in building materials drove the May headline number lower.
There was some positive news in the release: The control group in Thursday's release, which excludes several volatile categories and factors into the gross domestic product (GDP) reading for the quarter, rose 0.4%. That compares with a 0.1% decrease seen in April. Economists expected a 0.3% increase.
May sales, excluding auto and gas, declined 0.1%. Economists had expected a 0.3% rise. In April, sales excluding auto and gas rose 0.1%.
Reddit stock (RDDT) rose roughly 5% in premarket trading on Tuesday following the social media platform's release of new AI ad tools at the Cannes Lions festival for marketers on its platform.
Meanwhile, broader S&P 500 futures (ES=F) fell by 0.3%.
The gain follows Reddit's 6.8% jump Monday, after media reports spotlighted a recent analysis from data analytics firm Semrush, showing that Reddit is the second most cited website in Google AI overviews.
'Reddit may also perform well because Google has a partnership with Reddit and uses Reddit data to train its systems,' Semrush analyst Rachel Handley wrote in the June 9 analysis. Google announced its $60 million deal with Reddit last February.
Despite Reddit stock's climb this week, shares are far below their high of above $230 in February. The stock traded at around $131 before the market open Tuesday.
Yahoo Finance's Hamza Shaban writes in today's Morning Brief newsletter:
Read more here.
A standout record-setting rally in gold (GC=F) is about to peter out, Citigroup strategists said as they forecast a slide back below $3,000 an ounce for the precious metal in coming quarters.
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
Economic data: Retail sales (May); Industrial production (May); NAHB housing market index (June); Import price index (May)
Earnings: La-Z-Boy Incorporated (LZB)
Here are some of the biggest stories you may have missed overnight and early this morning:
Investor optimism has squashed another downbeat catalyst
Trump: EU not offering fair trade deal, Japan being 'tough' too
Trump says he wants 'real end' to conflict, not just ceasefire
Anne Wojcicki's 23andMe bid may not end DNA data lawsuit
How a prolonged Israel-Iran conflict could speed up Fed rate cuts
US solar stocks slammed after Senate changes to tax bill
Trump says he will probably extend TikTok deadline again
SoftBank sells T-Mobile stake for $4.8 billion to fund AI push
Here are some top stocks trending on Yahoo Finance in premarket trading:
T-Mobile US, Inc. (TMUS) stock fell 4% in premarket trading on Tuesday, after SoftBank Group Corp. (SFTBF, SFTBY) managed to raise $4.8B via the sale of T-Mobile US Inc. shares. The move is set to help fund Softbank's plans for artificial intelligence.
Microsoft (MSFT) stock fell over 1% before the bell today following reports that the Big Tech's relationship with OpenAI has become "strained." Per The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI executives are weighing the option of whether to accuse Microsoft of anticompetitive behavior, according to people familiar with the matter.
Solar stocks dropped in premarket trading Tuesday after Senate Republicans released a bill that would end tax credits for wind and solar earlier that other sources. The news caused SunRun Inc. (RUN) stock to drop by 28% and SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (SEDG) by 21%.
US solar stocks have tumbled after a Senate panel released proposals for an early and full phase-out of solar and wind energy tax credits on Monday.
The plan to remove credits by 2028 are among the several changes put forward by a Republican-controlled panel to President Trump's "big beautiful" tax and spending bill.
Shares of Enphase Energy (ENPH), which makes solar inverters, dropped 17% before the bell.
Meanwhile, solar panel seller Sunrun (RUN) tumbled 26%, while its peer SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG) sank more than 20%. First Solar (FSLR) pulled back 11%.
Gold (GC=F) prices rose higher Monday night as the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict pushed risk-averse investors into safer positions, such as gold as a haven asset.
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
US stocks slid on Tuesday as President Trump played down the prospect of a truce between Israel and Iran and retail sales came in below expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell around 0.4%, while the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) dipped roughly 0.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also pulled back 0.3%.
Kraft Heinz (KHC) stock edged higher after the maker of Kool-Aid and Jell-O said it's eliminating synthetic dyes across the remaining 10% of its US portfolio that contains them.
Yahoo Finance's Brooke DiPalma reports that Kraft Heinz will replace artificial dyes with natural colors or reinvent items with new colors. The company will also refrain from launching new products that contain food additives.
This announcement comes amid growing scrutiny of food additives. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said he wants to remove artificial coloring from the food supply by the time he leaves office.
Read more here.
The US Department of Defense announced Monday that it awarded OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) a $200 million contract to "develop prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains."
"This contract is one of the largest Department of Defense contracts given to a software provider when measured by annual contract value," William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma wrote in a note to clients Monday.
DiPalma said that the "contract announcement could signal increased competition from OpenAI going forward" for Palantir (PLTR) "if OpenAI moves into Palantir's ontology territory." Ontology refers to an operational layer in Palantir's platform.
DiPalma noted that Palantir paved the way for OpenAI and others.
"Palantir has pioneered software providers serving as prime contractors for Department of Defense programs," DiPalma wrote. "Traditionally, software providers served as subcontractors to systems integrators. Under the new administration, the Department of Defense is looking to contract directly with commercial software providers when possible."
Palantir rose less than 1% on Tuesday.
In December, Palantir shares dropped as much as 5% when defense tech firm Anduril (ANIN.PVT) announced a partnership with OpenAI to "develop and responsibly deploy advanced artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for national security missions."
Retail sales fell in May, dragged down by declines in gas and auto purchases during the second month that a wide array of President Trump's tariffs were in effect.
Headline retail sales declined 0.9% in May, surpassing economists' expectations for a 0.6% decline month on month. By comparison, sales decreased 0.1% in April, according to revised Census Bureau data. A 2% decline in gasoline sales, a 3.5% slide in auto purchases, and a 2.7% decline in building materials drove the May headline number lower.
There was some positive news in the release: The control group in Thursday's release, which excludes several volatile categories and factors into the gross domestic product (GDP) reading for the quarter, rose 0.4%. That compares with a 0.1% decrease seen in April. Economists expected a 0.3% increase.
May sales, excluding auto and gas, declined 0.1%. Economists had expected a 0.3% rise. In April, sales excluding auto and gas rose 0.1%.
Reddit stock (RDDT) rose roughly 5% in premarket trading on Tuesday following the social media platform's release of new AI ad tools at the Cannes Lions festival for marketers on its platform.
Meanwhile, broader S&P 500 futures (ES=F) fell by 0.3%.
The gain follows Reddit's 6.8% jump Monday, after media reports spotlighted a recent analysis from data analytics firm Semrush, showing that Reddit is the second most cited website in Google AI overviews.
'Reddit may also perform well because Google has a partnership with Reddit and uses Reddit data to train its systems,' Semrush analyst Rachel Handley wrote in the June 9 analysis. Google announced its $60 million deal with Reddit last February.
Despite Reddit stock's climb this week, shares are far below their high of above $230 in February. The stock traded at around $131 before the market open Tuesday.
Yahoo Finance's Hamza Shaban writes in today's Morning Brief newsletter:
Read more here.
A standout record-setting rally in gold (GC=F) is about to peter out, Citigroup strategists said as they forecast a slide back below $3,000 an ounce for the precious metal in coming quarters.
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
Economic data: Retail sales (May); Industrial production (May); NAHB housing market index (June); Import price index (May)
Earnings: La-Z-Boy Incorporated (LZB)
Here are some of the biggest stories you may have missed overnight and early this morning:
Investor optimism has squashed another downbeat catalyst
Trump: EU not offering fair trade deal, Japan being 'tough' too
Trump says he wants 'real end' to conflict, not just ceasefire
Anne Wojcicki's 23andMe bid may not end DNA data lawsuit
How a prolonged Israel-Iran conflict could speed up Fed rate cuts
US solar stocks slammed after Senate changes to tax bill
Trump says he will probably extend TikTok deadline again
SoftBank sells T-Mobile stake for $4.8 billion to fund AI push
Here are some top stocks trending on Yahoo Finance in premarket trading:
T-Mobile US, Inc. (TMUS) stock fell 4% in premarket trading on Tuesday, after SoftBank Group Corp. (SFTBF, SFTBY) managed to raise $4.8B via the sale of T-Mobile US Inc. shares. The move is set to help fund Softbank's plans for artificial intelligence.
Microsoft (MSFT) stock fell over 1% before the bell today following reports that the Big Tech's relationship with OpenAI has become "strained." Per The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI executives are weighing the option of whether to accuse Microsoft of anticompetitive behavior, according to people familiar with the matter.
Solar stocks dropped in premarket trading Tuesday after Senate Republicans released a bill that would end tax credits for wind and solar earlier that other sources. The news caused SunRun Inc. (RUN) stock to drop by 28% and SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (SEDG) by 21%.
US solar stocks have tumbled after a Senate panel released proposals for an early and full phase-out of solar and wind energy tax credits on Monday.
The plan to remove credits by 2028 are among the several changes put forward by a Republican-controlled panel to President Trump's "big beautiful" tax and spending bill.
Shares of Enphase Energy (ENPH), which makes solar inverters, dropped 17% before the bell.
Meanwhile, solar panel seller Sunrun (RUN) tumbled 26%, while its peer SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG) sank more than 20%. First Solar (FSLR) pulled back 11%.
Gold (GC=F) prices rose higher Monday night as the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict pushed risk-averse investors into safer positions, such as gold as a haven asset.
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
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New York Times
31 minutes ago
- New York Times
Live Updates: Israel and Iran Trade New Strikes on 9th Day of War
President Trump was angry. Earlier this month, Tulsi Gabbard, his director of national intelligence, had posted a three-and-half-minute video to social media describing her visit to Hiroshima, Japan, and outlining the horrors caused by the detonation of a nuclear weapon there 80 years ago. Speaking directly to the camera, Ms. Gabbard warned that the threat of nuclear war remained. 'As we stand here today, closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before,' she said, 'political elites and warmongers are carelessly fomenting fear and tension between nuclear powers.' Mr. Trump berated Ms. Gabbard for the video, according to two people briefed on the conversation. He said that her discussion of nuclear annihilation would scare people and that officials should not talk about it. Mr. Trump's displeasure with the video laid bare months of his skepticism of Ms. Gabbard and frustrations with her. The president and some administration officials viewed her overseas travel, as the video exemplified, as being as much about self-promotion of her political career as it was about the business of government, multiple officials said, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal dynamics of the administration. But the tensions surrounding Ms. Gabbard are now in the open, as Mr. Trump considers mounting a military strike on Iran. Ms. Gabbard, a critic of overseas entanglements, has privately raised concerns of a wider war. And on Friday Mr. Trump said 'she's wrong' when he was asked about her testimony in March that Iran had not decided to build a nuclear weapon. After the video was posted, the president also told Ms. Gabbard that he was disappointed in her, and wished she had used better judgment, according to one of the two people briefed on the conversation. He told Ms. Gabbard that he believed she was using her time working for him to set herself up for higher office. Mr. Trump told Ms. Gabbard that if she wanted to run for president, she should not be in the administration, one of the people briefed on the meeting said. Image Ms. Gabbard and her husband, Abraham Williams, at her swearing-in at the White House in February. Credit... Eric Lee/The New York Times While Ms. Gabbard is a former Democrat, her credentials as a critic of America's long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and as a skeptic of foreign military interventions appeal to Mr. Trump's base, and her views dovetail with those of some of his other advisers. Her supporters are openly advocating that the president keep her. 'The president needs someone who will give him the right intelligence information, whether he likes it or not,' said Daniel L. Davis, an analyst at the think tank Defense Priorities, which advocates a restrained foreign policy. 'If you put someone else in there, they might only tell him what he wants to hear.' Mr. Davis, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, was Ms. Gabbard's choice for a top intelligence role before criticism from Republicans over his skepticism of Israel's war in Gaza forced her to rescind the appointment. There is no question, officials said, that Ms. Gabbard's standing has been weakened and that she is embattled. But few in the administration want to see her depart. Some say she has people who like her, while others worry about who might replace her. Two officials said that Mr. Trump's anger over the video had faded and that they were back on better terms. Ms. Gabbard continues to brief the president regularly and speaks often to John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, who held Ms. Gabbard's job in the first Trump administration, according to multiple officials. In a statement, the White House press office dismissed any notion she has been sidelined. Steven Cheung, a White House spokesman, said Mr. Trump had 'full confidence' in his national security team. 'D.N.I. Gabbard is an important member of the president's team and her work continues to serve him and this country well,' Mr. Cheung said. Ms. Gabbard was an aggressive supporter of Mr. Trump on the 2024 campaign trail. He and his top advisers valued her input, especially when Mr. Trump was preparing to debate Vice President Kamala Harris — whom Ms. Gabbard had memorably attacked in a Democratic primary debate in 2019. After the election, Mr. Trump quickly decided to nominate her for director of national intelligence. But from the beginning he made clear to associates that he harbored some doubts. Mr. Trump, according to associates, saw her as overly interested in her own success. Mr. Trump drew a contrast between Ms. Gabbard and the other former Democrat he named to his cabinet, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 'Bobby's a star,' Mr. Trump told one associate. 'Tulsi? Tulsi wants to be a star.' Mr. Trump's implication was that unlike Mr. Kennedy, Ms. Gabbard did not have what it took to succeed in politics. Image Ms. Gabbard with Mr. Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tucker Carlson during a campaign event in Georgia in October. Credit... Kenny Holston/The New York Times And soon after her swearing-in, he began to complain about her effectiveness. At the same time, Mr. Trump — long mistrustful of the intelligence community — questioned whether there needed to be an Office of the Director of National Intelligence at all. A senior intelligence official said Ms. Gabbard had overseen a 25 percent cut in the size of her office. And Ms. Gabbard has repeatedly told people in the White House that she is willing to be the last director of national intelligence, according to an official. The office, Ms. Gabbard said, could be reabsorbed into the C.I.A., or become something akin to the National Security Council, a bare-bones oversight group. At least for a time, the kind of foreign policy restraint Ms. Gabbard favors appeared to gain traction this spring. In White House discussions about Israel and Iran, Ms. Gabbard raised the range of possible consequences of an Israeli strike against Iran, saying it could trigger a wider conflict that brought in the United States. Vice President JD Vance, at times also a skeptic of military intervention, made similar arguments and was among those who supported Mr. Trump's impulse to initially try to negotiate a deal with Iran. As the C.I.A. delivered intelligence reports that Israel intended to strike Iran regardless, Mr. Trump and senior aides became more publicly supportive of the Israeli campaign. Ms. Gabbard did not attend a key meeting at Camp David, where Mr. Ratcliffe presented assessments about Iran's nuclear program. Ms. Gabbard, according to officials, was on Army Reserve duty. Other people with knowledge of the matter have said she was not invited. (Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Ms. Gabbard had met daily with Mr. Trump and his team.) Then on Tuesday, Mr. Trump contradicted Ms. Gabbard in public. After the Israeli strikes began, a journalist on Air Force One asked Mr. Trump about Ms. Gabbard's testimony in March that Iran had not decided to make a nuclear bomb. 'I don't care what she said,' Mr. Trump said. 'I think they were very close to having it.' He made similar comments on Friday. Image Mr. Trump, aboard Air Force One this week, contradicted Ms. Gabbard's assessment of Iran's nuclear program. Credit... Kenny Holston/The New York Times An official from Ms. Gabbard's office said her position was not at odds with Mr. Trump's. In her testimony, Ms. Gabbard reported the consensus opinion of the intelligence community: that Iran's supreme leader had not authorized the country to build a nuclear weapon. But Ms. Gabbard had also noted Iran's large stocks of enriched uranium and a shift in tone that was 'likely emboldening nuclear weapons advocates within Iran's decision-making apparatus.' But Mr. Trump's Air Force One remark came off as a rebuke. To a certain extent, some officials said, courting Mr. Trump's displeasure is a hazard of any intelligence job in his administration. Mr. Trump believes the intelligence community undermined him in his first term, and his long-held skepticism that it is part of a disloyal deep state continues. Ms. Gabbard, when briefing Mr. Trump, presents a range of options and assessments. But it is difficult to talk about the findings of spy agencies and not raise Mr. Trump's ire, the official said. Ms. Gabbard's most important job as director of national intelligence is overseeing, and delivering, the president's daily intelligence brief. But the brief is actually produced a few miles from her office at the C.I.A., and many of those working on the document are detailed from the agency. Ms. Gabbard announced internally last month that she would physically move the production of the brief to her headquarters, known as Liberty Crossing. Within the administration, several senior officials saw it as a way to try to enhance her own relevance at a time when Mr. Trump was questioning the relevance of the office. Others said it was an expensive decision that would be logistically difficult to carry out. Ultimately, the White House put the move on pause, according to multiple people briefed on the matter. Ms. Gabbard has influential defenders inside and outside the government. Mr. Vance, seen as the most senior voice for a less hawkish, more restrained foreign policy, issued a long social media post defending the administration's support of Israel's attack on Iran. He added to that a message supporting Ms. Gabbard. He also released a statement calling her a 'patriot.' Her supporters insist that she remains relevant and that, over time, her skepticism of American intervention in Ukraine and caution on military action against Iran will once more prevail. The possible delay of any decision by Mr. Trump to strike Iran represents an opportunity for diplomacy and critics of American military intervention to make the case for restraint, some of Ms. Gabbard's supporters said. Olivia C. Coleman, a spokeswoman for Ms. Gabbard's office, dismissed the reports of dissatisfaction or tensions with the White House as 'lies made up by bored, irrelevant anonymous sources with nothing better to do than sow fake division.' 'The director,' Ms. Coleman said, 'remains focused on her mission: providing accurate and actionable intelligence to the president, cleaning up the deep state and keeping the American people safe, secure and free.'
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Franklin County home listings asked for more money in May - see the current median price here
The median home in Franklin County listed for $364,900 in May, up 1.2% from the previous month's $360,720, an analysis of data from shows. Compared to May 2024, the median home list price increased 13.2% from $324,723. The statistics in this article only pertain to houses listed for sale in Franklin County, not houses that were sold. Information on your local housing market, along with other useful community data, is available at Franklin County's median home was 1,968 square feet, listed at $183 per square foot. The price per square foot of homes for sale is up 2.2% from May 2024. Listings in Franklin County moved briskly, at a median 36 days listed compared to the May national median of 51 days on the market. In the previous month, homes had a median of 38 days on the market. Around 196 homes were newly listed on the market in May, a 7.7% increase from 182 new listings in May 2024. The median home prices issued by may exclude many, or even most, of a market's homes. The price and volume represent only single-family homes, condominiums or townhomes. They include existing homes, but exclude most new construction as well as pending and contingent sales. In Pennsylvania, median home prices were $325,000, a slight increase from April. The median Pennsylvania home listed for sale had 1,708 square feet, with a price of $196 per square foot. Throughout the United States, the median home price was $440,000, a slight increase from the month prior. The median American home for sale was listed at 1,840 square feet, with a price of $234 per square foot. The median home list price used in this report represents the midway point of all the houses or units listed over the given period of time. Experts say the median offers a more accurate view of what's happening in a market than the average list price, which would mean taking the sum of all listing prices then dividing by the number of homes sold. The average can be skewed by one particularly low or high price. The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Please leave any feedback or corrections for this story here. This story was written by Ozge Terzioglu. Our News Automation and AI team would like to hear from you. Take this survey and share your thoughts with us. This article originally appeared on Chambersburg Public Opinion: Franklin County home listings asked for more money in May - see the current median price here
New York Times
35 minutes ago
- New York Times
Israel-Iran ConflictLive Updates: Israel and Iran Trade New Strikes on 9th Day of War
President Trump was angry. Earlier this month, Tulsi Gabbard, his director of national intelligence, had posted a three-and-half-minute video to social media describing her visit to Hiroshima, Japan, and outlining the horrors caused by the detonation of a nuclear weapon there 80 years ago. Speaking directly to the camera, Ms. Gabbard warned that the threat of nuclear war remained. 'As we stand here today, closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before,' she said, 'political elites and warmongers are carelessly fomenting fear and tension between nuclear powers.' Mr. Trump berated Ms. Gabbard for the video, according to two people briefed on the conversation. He said that her discussion of nuclear annihilation would scare people and that officials should not talk about it. Mr. Trump's displeasure with the video laid bare months of his skepticism of Ms. Gabbard and frustrations with her. The president and some administration officials viewed her overseas travel, as the video exemplified, as being as much about self-promotion of her political career as it was about the business of government, multiple officials said, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal dynamics of the administration. But the tensions surrounding Ms. Gabbard are now in the open, as Mr. Trump considers mounting a military strike on Iran. Ms. Gabbard, a critic of overseas entanglements, has privately raised concerns of a wider war. And on Friday Mr. Trump said 'she's wrong' when he was asked about her testimony in March that Iran had not decided to build a nuclear weapon. After the video was posted, the president also told Ms. Gabbard that he was disappointed in her, and wished she had used better judgment, according to one of the two people briefed on the conversation. He told Ms. Gabbard that he believed she was using her time working for him to set herself up for higher office. Mr. Trump told Ms. Gabbard that if she wanted to run for president, she should not be in the administration, one of the people briefed on the meeting said. Image Ms. Gabbard and her husband, Abraham Williams, at her swearing-in at the White House in February. Credit... Eric Lee/The New York Times While Ms. Gabbard is a former Democrat, her credentials as a critic of America's long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and as a skeptic of foreign military interventions appeal to Mr. Trump's base, and her views dovetail with those of some of his other advisers. Her supporters are openly advocating that the president keep her. 'The president needs someone who will give him the right intelligence information, whether he likes it or not,' said Daniel L. Davis, an analyst at the think tank Defense Priorities, which advocates a restrained foreign policy. 'If you put someone else in there, they might only tell him what he wants to hear.' Mr. Davis, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, was Ms. Gabbard's choice for a top intelligence role before criticism from Republicans over his skepticism of Israel's war in Gaza forced her to rescind the appointment. There is no question, officials said, that Ms. Gabbard's standing has been weakened and that she is embattled. But few in the administration want to see her depart. Some say she has people who like her, while others worry about who might replace her. Two officials said that Mr. Trump's anger over the video had faded and that they were back on better terms. Ms. Gabbard continues to brief the president regularly and speaks often to John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, who held Ms. Gabbard's job in the first Trump administration, according to multiple officials. In a statement, the White House press office dismissed any notion she has been sidelined. Steven Cheung, a White House spokesman, said Mr. Trump had 'full confidence' in his national security team. 'D.N.I. Gabbard is an important member of the president's team and her work continues to serve him and this country well,' Mr. Cheung said. Ms. Gabbard was an aggressive supporter of Mr. Trump on the 2024 campaign trail. He and his top advisers valued her input, especially when Mr. Trump was preparing to debate Vice President Kamala Harris — whom Ms. Gabbard had memorably attacked in a Democratic primary debate in 2019. After the election, Mr. Trump quickly decided to nominate her for director of national intelligence. But from the beginning he made clear to associates that he harbored some doubts. Mr. Trump, according to associates, saw her as overly interested in her own success. Mr. Trump drew a contrast between Ms. Gabbard and the other former Democrat he named to his cabinet, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 'Bobby's a star,' Mr. Trump told one associate. 'Tulsi? Tulsi wants to be a star.' Mr. Trump's implication was that unlike Mr. Kennedy, Ms. Gabbard did not have what it took to succeed in politics. Image Ms. Gabbard with Mr. Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tucker Carlson during a campaign event in Georgia in October. Credit... Kenny Holston/The New York Times And soon after her swearing-in, he began to complain about her effectiveness. At the same time, Mr. Trump — long mistrustful of the intelligence community — questioned whether there needed to be an Office of the Director of National Intelligence at all. A senior intelligence official said Ms. Gabbard had overseen a 25 percent cut in the size of her office. And Ms. Gabbard has repeatedly told people in the White House that she is willing to be the last director of national intelligence, according to an official. The office, Ms. Gabbard said, could be reabsorbed into the C.I.A., or become something akin to the National Security Council, a bare-bones oversight group. At least for a time, the kind of foreign policy restraint Ms. Gabbard favors appeared to gain traction this spring. In White House discussions about Israel and Iran, Ms. Gabbard raised the range of possible consequences of an Israeli strike against Iran, saying it could trigger a wider conflict that brought in the United States. Vice President JD Vance, at times also a skeptic of military intervention, made similar arguments and was among those who supported Mr. Trump's impulse to initially try to negotiate a deal with Iran. As the C.I.A. delivered intelligence reports that Israel intended to strike Iran regardless, Mr. Trump and senior aides became more publicly supportive of the Israeli campaign. Ms. Gabbard did not attend a key meeting at Camp David, where Mr. Ratcliffe presented assessments about Iran's nuclear program. Ms. Gabbard, according to officials, was on Army Reserve duty. Other people with knowledge of the matter have said she was not invited. (Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Ms. Gabbard had met daily with Mr. Trump and his team.) Then on Tuesday, Mr. Trump contradicted Ms. Gabbard in public. After the Israeli strikes began, a journalist on Air Force One asked Mr. Trump about Ms. Gabbard's testimony in March that Iran had not decided to make a nuclear bomb. 'I don't care what she said,' Mr. Trump said. 'I think they were very close to having it.' He made similar comments on Friday. Image Mr. Trump, aboard Air Force One this week, contradicted Ms. Gabbard's assessment of Iran's nuclear program. Credit... Kenny Holston/The New York Times An official from Ms. Gabbard's office said her position was not at odds with Mr. Trump's. In her testimony, Ms. Gabbard reported the consensus opinion of the intelligence community: that Iran's supreme leader had not authorized the country to build a nuclear weapon. But Ms. Gabbard had also noted Iran's large stocks of enriched uranium and a shift in tone that was 'likely emboldening nuclear weapons advocates within Iran's decision-making apparatus.' But Mr. Trump's Air Force One remark came off as a rebuke. To a certain extent, some officials said, courting Mr. Trump's displeasure is a hazard of any intelligence job in his administration. Mr. Trump believes the intelligence community undermined him in his first term, and his long-held skepticism that it is part of a disloyal deep state continues. Ms. Gabbard, when briefing Mr. Trump, presents a range of options and assessments. But it is difficult to talk about the findings of spy agencies and not raise Mr. Trump's ire, the official said. Ms. Gabbard's most important job as director of national intelligence is overseeing, and delivering, the president's daily intelligence brief. But the brief is actually produced a few miles from her office at the C.I.A., and many of those working on the document are detailed from the agency. Ms. Gabbard announced internally last month that she would physically move the production of the brief to her headquarters, known as Liberty Crossing. Within the administration, several senior officials saw it as a way to try to enhance her own relevance at a time when Mr. Trump was questioning the relevance of the office. Others said it was an expensive decision that would be logistically difficult to carry out. Ultimately, the White House put the move on pause, according to multiple people briefed on the matter. Ms. Gabbard has influential defenders inside and outside the government. Mr. Vance, seen as the most senior voice for a less hawkish, more restrained foreign policy, issued a long social media post defending the administration's support of Israel's attack on Iran. He added to that a message supporting Ms. Gabbard. He also released a statement calling her a 'patriot.' Her supporters insist that she remains relevant and that, over time, her skepticism of American intervention in Ukraine and caution on military action against Iran will once more prevail. The possible delay of any decision by Mr. Trump to strike Iran represents an opportunity for diplomacy and critics of American military intervention to make the case for restraint, some of Ms. Gabbard's supporters said. Olivia C. Coleman, a spokeswoman for Ms. Gabbard's office, dismissed the reports of dissatisfaction or tensions with the White House as 'lies made up by bored, irrelevant anonymous sources with nothing better to do than sow fake division.' 'The director,' Ms. Coleman said, 'remains focused on her mission: providing accurate and actionable intelligence to the president, cleaning up the deep state and keeping the American people safe, secure and free.'
