Vice President JD Vance defended President Trump's deal with Iran, which he signed on Wednesday at the Palace of Versailles in France. Weijia Jiang has more reaction and details.
With 24 hours to go before a memorandum of understanding with Iran is scheduled to be signed in Switzerland, Vice President JD Vance threw doubt on whether the ceremony will occur.
CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins took Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) to task over his support of President Donald Trump’s widely panned Memorandum of Understanding, forcing him to defend several of the plan's more outrageous points.“My point of view is that we have to give peace a chance to get done,” Moreno told Collins. “We have absolutely not made Iran stronger. We've killed almost 80 of their top leaders. We've destroyed their army, their navy, their ballistic missile program. Like I said, they are absolutely in a dramatically worse position as a result of president Trump's actions. And he prevented them from actually using a nuclear weapon that they could have cobbled together.”“[But] this deal lets them have waivers,” Collins pointed out. “They can start selling oil tonight. Eventually it will potentially unfreeze billions of dollars, hundreds of billions of dollars in frozen assets. Iran is still a state sponsor of terrorism, according to the United States. Do you have an issue with the U.S. doing things that allows them to have money to potentially rebuild all of those things that you just mentioned?”“What's the alternative, Kaitlan?" Moreno demanded. "What would you want the president to do? Allow them to have built a nuclear weapon?”“That's a question for some Republicans, too, it sounds like,” said Collins, referring to many GOP critics who find the deal offensive. She also pointed out that Iran now stands “make more money because they're selling it at competitive market prices to buyers with more attractive currencies.”She also reminded Moreno that he said in April that money from Iran’s oil sales doesn't “go to the people. It goes to a corrupt leadership.”“Aren't you worried that corrupt leadership is now going to get tens of billions of dollars from these sales?” she asked.“Yeah, but we'll be watching exactly what they do with the money,” said Moreno.“But the president pledged not to get involved in their domestic affairs in the MOU that he signed,” Collins quickly countered, to which Moreno could only repeat: “We're going to make certain that they behave, and they do exactly what they need to do.”Moreno then made a comparison to Trump’s intervention in Venezuela, saying Trump “saved Latin America,” and promised “you’re gonna see that happen in Cuba.”“It’s not the same thing. You can’t really compare the two,” said Collins, before then asking Moreno about the plight of the Iranian people. “[Trump] told that Iranian people that this was their chance to rise up and take back their government. Their government is being run by the former leader’s son. Do you think that they have been left hung out to dry here?”“Look, I don't know what's going to happen there,” said Moreno. “Again. We don't know.” - YouTube youtu.be
The White House released a set of talking points on Tuesday that only highlighted the deal's failings.
Vice-president says Israeli cabinet members shouldn’t attack the country’s ‘only powerful ally’ left; Iran says it will impose fees on strait of Hormuz – key US politics stories from Thursday 18 JuneJD Vance has sharply rebuked Israeli government critics of the US deal with Iran, saying the cabinet members should remember that two-thirds of the defensive weapons that have protected Israel “have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars”.The US vice-president, asked about a report that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was fuming over the agreement, told reporters at the White House: “If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.” Continue reading...
Fox News cut away from former President Barack Obama's historic remarks at the opening of his presidential library on Thursday to go to political analyst Reince Priebus.The abrupt switch came during Obama's dedication speech at the $850 million Obama Presidential Center in Chicago's Jackson Park, where three former presidents and a roster of A-list performers had gathered for an invitation-only ceremony.Obama was mid-sentence when anchor Sandra Smith pulled the plug."Hard things are hard," Obama told the crowd. "And that's especially true in a big, raucous, diverse, argumentative democracy like the United States of America. Everybody's got an opinion. And that means getting stuff done involves reconciling the demands of a couple hundred million people.""Alright," Smith said, cutting him off. "You've been listening live to former President Barack Obama there in Chicago at the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center."Co-anchor John Roberts offered a brief recap — noting that former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were in the audience and remarking that Bono "still looks pretty good" — before pivoting hard to Iran."JD Vance becoming a public face to the Trump administration's deal with Iran and what could be a moment that shapes a potential 2028 White House bid," Roberts said. "Reince Priebus is standing by."Priebus, a Fox News political analyst and former Republican National Committee chairman, then held forth on the Iran memorandum of understanding, calling it "a sixty-day trial run.""Americans care more about $5 gasoline than they do staying in a war with Iran," Priebus said. "That is an unpleasant thing for some people out there to live with, but it's true."President Donald Trump was not invited to the ceremony. Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett said the event was reserved for those who supported Obama's journey.The center opens to the public on Friday.
Former first lady Michelle Obama delivered pointed jabs at President Donald Trump during the Obama Presidential Center grand opening in Chicago Thursday. Describing her husband as consistently unflappable at every turn, she said."Always focused, always calm, always looking at the long view." "How absurd it is to even imagine that you might have buckled under the pressure even once," she said, adding, "Lashed out in frustration. Lost your temper."The crowd erupted in applause. She concluded with a dig at Trump, noting Obama accomplished something he has not: winning a Nobel Peace Prize. The remarks came days after a MAGA UFC fighter attacked Michelle at Trump's White House birthday celebration. Her speech highlighted character differences between the former and current presidents during the ceremonial dedication of the Obama Presidential Center.Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.
In a massive victory for common sense, American history, and executive authority, a federal appeals court has completely demolished a rogue activist judge's attempt to micromanage the executive branch. The post Huge Win for President Trump as Appeals Court Smacks Down Rogue Judge’s Order Blocking the Replacement of Exhibits at the President’s House National Park Site in Philadelphia appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
President Donald Trump is already a lame duck, argued a conservative columnist on Thursday, thanks to his own actions.“Here’s why so many Americans voted for Donald Trump and continue to cheer him on: They were sick of D.C. stasis, tired of GOP politicians whiffing on promises, eager for someone to break lots of Wedgwood,” wrote The Wall Street Journal's Kimberley A. Strassel. “Here’s where things go off the rails: When the president fails to acknowledge some hills simply can’t be held, and charges up anyway. That’s what happened in the fight over Bill Pulte, wiretapping and the SAVE America Act. His no-win standoff with his Senate GOP risks more than national security. It’s accelerating his lame-duck status.”Strassel argued that, although Trump had an opportunity earlier this week to push through Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence and reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance, he blew those opportunities to make progress by pushing for his voter suppression legislation.“In a post combining a stream of complaints about ‘blue slipping,’ ‘Dumocrats,’ FISA, a U.S. attorney nomination and the fate of the ‘talented’ Mr. Pulte, the president unilaterally announced the cancellation of the Clayton hearing and vowed to not sign any FISA reauthorization until it was accompanied by his elections bill, the SAVE Act (which encompasses voter ID, proof of citizenship, the end of most mail-in ballots, and prohibitions against men in women’s sports and so-called gender-affirming surgeries on minors),” Strassel wrote.After reviewing the political fallout of Trump’s various moves, Strassel concluded that “the only thing Mr. Trump is accomplishing is earlier lame-duck status. Growing numbers of Republicans are furious over the unrelenting stream of sideshow brawls that suck headlines, divide the caucus, tank bills and divert from an election message. The ballroom. The ‘weaponization’ fund. The Pulte silliness. Washington is getting a renegade feel, especially as members internalize that Mr. Trump won’t be on another ballot.”As a result of Trump’s waning influence, the Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune only has 46 functional votes despite there being 53 Republicans in the Senate. GOP senators like Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Rand Paul of Kentucky and others have proved willing to stand up to him, especially in cases like Cassidy and Tillis where they are no longer facing the need to get reelected.“As for MAGA enthusiasts who think they’ll fix this by getting ‘better’ senators out of the midterms, good luck with that, too. Realistically, the best-case scenario is that the GOP ends up with a smaller Senate majority, and even that depends on returning moderates like Maine’s Ms. Collins,” Strassel explained. “If the House is lost, that tinier majority will be crucial to protecting Mr. Trump from investigations, as well as facilitating his nominations, including for judges. But by all means, sir, keep unmaking friends by using the Senate GOP as whipping boy for dead-end legislation.”She concluded, “There’s plenty this president can be getting on with. Even more were he to work with his Congress. It’s that, or his voters can watch him flail on this hill.”