‘Beautiful' Is In the Eye of the Bond Vigilantes

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Donald Trump has a way with words. Nobody can possibly take this away from him. After six weeks dominated by a Liberation Day that was anything but, the debate has moved to the president's promise of a Big, Beautiful Bill that is certainly big, but not very beautiful.

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Yahoo

21 minutes ago

• Yahoo

Critics Point Out Glaring Contradiction In Trump's Iran ‘Regime Change' Post

President Donald Trump sparked incredulity on social media Sunday — including from Republicans ― after appearing to call for regime change in Iran. In a post on his Truth Social platform, the president wrote: 'It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!' The post stunned critics, especially given that top Trump administration officials — including Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — had earlier dismissed the idea of ousting Iran's leaders. Instead, they had spun U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear sites as aimed at solely stopping the development of nukes. Conservative attorney George Conway, a vocal critic of Trump, sarcastically summed it up: 'Pretending to be an ignorant and impulsive sociopath by appearing to make shit up as he goes along is just @realDonaldTrump's way of playing 7,822-dimensional chess.' Pretending to be an ignorant and impulsive sociopath by appearing to make shit up as he goes along is just @realDonaldTrump's way of playing 7,822-dimensional chess — George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 (@gtconway3d) June 22, 2025 I swear it was just like 8 hours ago when Pete Hegseth said "This mission was not and has not been about regime change," to reporters at the Pentagon. That's weird. — Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) June 22, 2025 And less than 24 hours ago, Sec. of Defense Pete "Jaeger Bomb" Hegseth specifically stated it was not about regime change. — Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) June 22, 2025 Miga Taco anyone? — Mike Palmer, CFP® (@dfa_advisor) June 23, 2025 Just wondering if my MAGA friends have to change the color of their hats now that Trump is all about Making Iran Great Again. You know he has that Trump Tower Tehran in his head - lots of great business opportunities for Trump Org from a Trump-installed regime! — Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) June 22, 2025 You cannot believe a thing any of them ever say. — Blowhard (@AmeetSampat) June 23, 2025 In other words,no one knows what they are doing — Erica Murdoch (@ericamurdoch) June 22, 2025 VANCE: "Our view has been very clear that we don't want a regime change."HEGSETH: "This mission was not and has not been about regime change."RUBIO: Regime change is "certainly not the goal of what we're working on here."TRUMP: — Megan Cassella (@mmcassella) June 22, 2025 It's like a tariff negotiation but with bunker busting bombs and nuclear holocaust instead of maple syrup. — Mike Madrid (@madrid_mike) June 22, 2025 Kayleigh McEnany's 'Every Dictator' Take On Trump Iran Strike Draws Online Fire CNN Panel Recoils At Conservative Guest's Comment To Friend's Undocumented Wife U.S. Soccer Star Dishes On 'Weird' Oval Office Moment With Trump

News24

22 minutes ago

• News24

‘Why wouldn't there be a regime change?‘ Trump raises Iran government collapse after strikes

Israel and Iran resumed their war on Monday. Iran has yet to respond to US strikes on its nuclear facilities. US President Donald Trump raised the idea of regime change in Iran. Iran and Israel traded air and missile strikes as the world braced on Monday for Tehran's response to the US attack on its nuclear sites and US President Donald Trump raised the idea of regime change in the Islamic republic. Iran vowed to defend itself on Sunday, a day after the US joined Israel in the biggest Western military action against the country since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, despite calls for restraint and a return to diplomacy from around the world. Commercial satellite imagery indicated the US attack on Saturday on Iran's subterranean Fordow nuclear plant severely damaged or destroyed the deeply buried site and the uranium-enriching centrifuges it housed, but the status of the site remained unconfirmed, experts said. In his latest social media comments on the US strikes, Trump said: 'Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran.' 'The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!' he wrote on his Truth Social platform. Trump earlier called on Iran to forgo any retaliation and said the government 'must now make peace' or 'future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier'. The US launched 75 precision-guided munitions including bunker-buster bombs and more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles against three Iranian nuclear sites, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, told reporters. The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said no increases in off-site radiation levels had been reported after the US strikes. Rafael Grossi, the agency's director general, told CNN that it was not yet possible to assess the damage done underground. A senior Iranian source told Reuters that most of the highly enriched uranium at Fordow had been moved elsewhere before the attack. Reuters could not immediately corroborate the claim. Tehran, which denies its nuclear programme is for anything other than peaceful purposes, sent a volley of missiles at Israel in the aftermath of the US attack, wounding scores of people and destroying buildings in Tel Aviv. But it had not acted on its main threats of retaliation, to target US bases or choke off the global oil shipments that pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Attempting to strangle the strait could send global oil prices skyrocketing, derail the world economy and invite conflict with the US Navy's massive Fifth Fleet based in the Gulf. Oil prices jumped on Monday to their highest since January. Brent crude futures were up $1.52 or 1.97% to $78.53 a barrel as of 05:03 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude advanced $1.51 or 2.04% to $75.35. Iran's parliament has approved a move to close the strait, which Iran shares with Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Iran's Press TV said any such move would require approval from the Supreme National Security Council, a body led by an appointee of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Caine said the US military had increased protection of troops in the region, including in Iraq and Syria. The US State Department issued a security alert for all US citizens abroad, calling on them to 'exercise increased caution'. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on China to encourage Iran to not shut down the strait, telling Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo show it would be a 'terrible mistake'. 'It's economic suicide for them if they do it. And we retain options to deal with that, but other countries should be looking at that as well. It would hurt other countries' economies a lot worse than ours,' he said. The Israeli military said on Monday about 20 jets had conducted a wave of strikes against military targets in western Iran and Tehran overnight. ⁠ In Kermanshah, in western Iran, missile and radar infrastructure was targeted, and in Tehran a surface-to-air missile launcher was struck, it said. A missile launched from Iran in the early hours of Monday was intercepted by Israeli defences, it said. Air raid sirens blared overnight in Tel Aviv and other parts of central Israel. Iranian news agencies reported air defences were activated in central Tehran districts to counter 'enemy targets', and that Israeli air strikes hit Parchin, the location of a military complex southeast of the capital. Israel's state broadcaster reported that an Israeli Hermes drone was shot down in Iranian territory, the fourth to be shot down in the area since the start of the campaign. In a post to the Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump raised the idea of regime change in Iran. 'It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change', but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!' he wrote. Trump's post came after officials in his administration, including US Vice President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, stressed they were not working to overthrow Iran's government. Israeli Police/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images Israeli officials, who began the hostilities with a surprise attack on Iran on 13 June, have increasingly spoken of their ambition to topple the hardline Shi'ite Muslim clerical establishment. As Tehran weighed its options, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is expected to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday. The Kremlin has a strategic partnership with Iran, but also close links with Israel. Speaking in Istanbul on Sunday, Araqchi said his country would consider all possible responses and there would be no return to diplomacy until it had retaliated. Russia's foreign ministry condemned the US attacks which it said had undermined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and warned of conflict spreading in the Middle East. The UN Security Council met on Sunday to discuss the US strikes as Russia, China and Pakistan proposed the 15-member body adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council the US bombings in Iran marked a perilous turn in the region and urged a return to negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme. Commercial airlines were weighing how long to suspend Middle East flights after the US struck Iran. The Middle East route has become more important for flights between Europe and Asia but flight tracking website FlightRadar24 showed empty space on Sunday over Iran, Iraq, Syria and Israel.

CNBC

27 minutes ago

• CNBC

Russia watches on as ally Iran is pummeled — and it's unlikely to go to Tehran's rescue

Russia's response to Iran's call for help is being closely watched on Monday after the U.S. bombed Tehran's nuclear facilities over the weekend — but Moscow might not be quick to offer its ally a hand. The attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, which President Donald Trump described as an "obliteration," has left the Islamic Republic scrambling for support from the few friends it has on the global stage. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi headed to Moscow on Monday for "serious consultations" with Russian President Vladimir Putin over how to answer the assaults. Iran has helped Russia with military drones throughout the war in Ukraine, but analysts now say there might be very little Moscow can or will to do to reciprocate. "Iran has massively supported Putin's war against Ukraine with weapons and technology. On his trip to Moscow, Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi may now ask Moscow to return the favour," Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank, said in a note Monday. "However, Putin has probably little to offer beyond some words. He needs his weapons himself for his continued aggression against Ukraine," he noted. Russia also has to tread a fine line between placating and assisting ally Iran and keeping the U.S. sweet, as it looks to re-establish ties with Donald Trump's Russia-friendlier administration. "If Putin were to annoy Trump over Iran in any significant way, Trump may change tack and impose new heavy sanctions on Russia and/or weaken Putin's position in other ways," Schmieding said. So far, Moscow's response to the escalating crisis has been muted, with Russia calling on Iran and Israel to negotiate a peaceful end to the crisis. The Iranian conflict could strengthen Russia's position in Ukraine modestly, analysts say, as it distracts Western attention — and potentially resources — away from Ukraine. Higher oil prices could also mean more export revenue for oil producer Russia's war coffers. At the same time, Russia is watching on as another Middle Eastern ally is weakened, eroding its own foothold in the region in the process. Russia has already seen one valuable alliance crumble recently by way of last year's ousting of Bashar al Assad's regime in Syria putting, which put the future of Moscow's air and naval bases in the country in doubt. Russia stands to further lose out on potentially lucrative investments and infrastructure projects, if Iran is severely destabilized. The issue for Moscow is to now gauge how much it has to win or lose by helping or abandoning Iran. "Moscow itself appears to be undecided what to make of a new war in the Middle East," Nikita Smagin, an expert on Iranian foreign and domestic policies at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said in analysis. "On the one hand, Russia has invested heavily in various projects in Iran over the past three years, all of which could now go to waste. At the same time, Moscow hopes to benefit from Middle Eastern instability through rising oil prices and declining interest in Ukraine." Ruling out the possibility of Russia giving Iran any military assistance, Smagin said the bigger issue for Moscow is the threat to all the Iranian ventures it has actively invested in recently, including oil and gas projects, infrastructure and transit routes. "A few days before the start of the Israeli operation, the Iranian ambassador to Moscow said that Russia was the country's largest foreign investor in 2024. The ambassador did not specify any investment volumes, but Russian investments were estimated at $2.76 billion the previous year. Moscow planned to invest about $8 billion in oil and gas projects alone," Smagin said. "Now the future of those projects is in doubt."