Friday News Updates: What’s the Deal? – 6/12/26
Hi all, Ben here. It’s Friday, June 12th. We’ve made it to the end of another week. There’s a lot going on today, especially around the purported Iran deal, so let’s get right into it.
Here’s a quick look at what we’re tracking today:
Iran deal chaos: dueling narratives, no agreement, and a secret Joint Chiefs rush to CENTCOM over a potential ground invasion
Two more judicial losses for Trump: the $1.8 billion slush fund halted and a judge refusing to bury the Jerome Powell ruling
Ghislaine Maxwell’s transfer raising new questions about a suspicious BOP policy change
The Kennedy Center deadline hits tonight at midnight. Will Trump’s name come down?
Trump properties failing health inspections at multiple locations (yes, again)
Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is already covered in algae
Stephen Miller releasing UFO files and Tulsi Gabbard reviving biolabs conspiracy theories, right on schedule
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Ok, here we go!
What’s Going On with the Iran Deal?
There’s been a lot a back and forth about the purported Iran deal this morning, with each side leaking terms favorable to their countries. It’s been messy. Nobody knows the truth just yet. But here’s where we are: Iran’s state-run Mehr News Agency published what it claims is the draft text of an agreement with the Trump administration. Per the Iranian account, the deal includes a $300 billion U.S.-led reconstruction package, $24 billion in immediate frozen asset releases — half before negotiations even begin — full lifting of the naval blockade within 30 days, and a suspension of oil and petrochemical sanctions. Iran’s missile program and its support for what it calls “resistance groups” are explicitly excluded from the negotiating agenda. The whole thing would be codified through a UN Security Council resolution.
The White House looked at that summary and said: absolutely not. A White House official responded with a completely different account — nuclear material destroyed and removed, the nuclear program dismantled, no money released until Iran performs, Hormuz open, no terrorist funding. The official called it “a performance-based deal.”
Trump erupted on social media, posting that Iran’s leaked terms “have NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing,” calling the Iranian account “weak and pathetic” and labeling Iranian leaders “very dishonorable people.” He also flagged an overnight drone attack on Indian ships near the Strait of Hormuz as “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi tried to lower the tensions, saying the “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding has never been closer.” Meanwhile, Iran’s semi-official FARS News Agency — understood to speak for the Revolutionary Guard — flatly denied reports that a deal signing was planned in Geneva on Sunday. JD Vance jumped in to push back on what he called “fake information,” insisting Iran isn’t getting cash just in the deal. But Vance’s phrasing was notable. Vance carefully did not deny that money is part of the eventual deal, only that it won’t be released upfront and wouldn’t be “cash.” He did acknowledge there was a mechanism for “funds” to flow to Iran. He also took a shot at conservatives who praised Trump a month ago and are now criticizing the deal framework. Hardline Republicans are not happy with what they’ve been hearing about the framework.
Fox’s Kayleigh McEnany, yes, the former Trump press secretary, cited a senior administration official who estimated the deal is “75% there” and expressed confidence it would be signed “in the next few days.” Where have I heard that before?
General Caine and Iran’s Uranium
One of the most explosive stories of the day comes from CNN’s Natasha Bertrand and Zachary Cohen, who are exclusively reporting that General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, made a secret, rushed trip to U.S. Central Command headquarters in Florida late last month to be briefed in person on military plans to send ground troops into Iran to forcibly seize its highly enriched uranium. Caine then personally briefed Trump on the options. Trump ultimately hit pause after being warned the operation would likely trigger severe Iranian retaliation, extend the war, and send the global economy into further turmoil. The sheer speed and secrecy of those briefings tells you how close this administration came to greenlighting what would have been an extraordinarily dangerous ground invasion of a sovereign nation.
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Pakistan Weighs In, Qatar’s Secret Deal Collapses
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif posted on X that “a final, agreed upon text of the peace deal has been reached,” tagging Trump, Vance, Rubio, Witkoff, and Iranian officials. He called it the closest peace has ever been and acknowledged “incessant misinformation” from those trying to sabotage the process. It seems everyone at this point is describing different realities.
Separately, the Washington Post is reporting that Qatar quietly sought assurances from Iran early in the war that it wouldn’t strike Qatar’s Ras Laffan gas facility. In exchange, Doha reportedly offered to halt gas production, increasing economic pressure on Israel and the U.S. A senior security official described it as a “secret deal.” The arrangement collapsed when Iran struck Ras Laffan in mid-March anyway.
39 Times and Counting
Conservative commentator Erick Erickson, a Trump voter, has had enough. He wrote that Trump has declared a deal “close” at least 39 times over the last 65 days, each time only to be publicly mocked or denied by Iran.
Erickson’s conclusion was blunt: “The only one being played is President Trump. The President has turned into a clown.”
And in the “what could possibly go wrong next” category, Rep. Carlos Gimenez appeared on Fox Business to suggest that once the administration finishes with Iran, Trump will turn his attention to Cuba.
Two More Judicial Losses
Virginia Judge Leonie Brinkema issued an injunction indefinitely halting Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund for allies, political cronies, and insurrectionists. The DOJ now has one week to produce evidence the fund has been abandoned, or the civil case proceeds.
Meanwhile, Judge Boasberg declined a request from U.S. Attorney Pirro to vacate his earlier opinion quashing grand jury subpoenas targeting Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Boasberg went further, finding that Pirro had “harassed” Powell for nothing more than “displeasing” the president. Two courts, two losses, one Friday.
Digging Into the Ghislaine Maxwell Transfer
House Democrats, led by Rep. Deborah Ross, joined by Jamie Raskin and Ro Khanna, are demanding answers from the Federal Bureau of Prisons over a policy change that grants the Attorney General new authority to override prison placement decisions. The lawmakers note this change appears to have been implemented after Maxwell was moved from a low-security Florida facility to a minimum-security camp in Texas — a placement that would normally be prohibited for sex offenders under BOP guidelines. Democrats believe the new policy may be a retroactive attempt to justify the transfer, and they’re demanding internal communications, legal analyses, and records explaining the change. The BOP has until July 12 to respond.
The Kennedy Center’s Midnight Deadline
A judge gave Trump 14 days to remove his name from the Kennedy Center. That deadline hits tonight at midnight. Trump’s legal team filed a last-minute stay request, arguing the removal would be “wasteful” and “confusing to the public.” They’ve escalated to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking an emergency reprieve. Plaintiffs, including board member Joyce Beatty, responded that there is no real injury if the name is later restored, and noted it has already been removed from the Kennedy Center website. They also documented real harm from the renaming: artists canceled performances, ticket sales dropped precipitously, and viewership of the Kennedy Center Honors broadcast fell. In other words: your crowds are tiny, Donald.
A just just responded to the Trump filing, upholding the ruling. Tear down that name, Donald!
We’ve heard from our sources that the Trump name is expected to come off the Kennedy Center around 6pm ET today, though workers are already on the scene now.
Our cameras are already out in front of the Kennedy Center to capture the moment when it happens. You can watch our live feed right now here.
Separately, a lawsuit claims Kennedy Center officials have refused to release $17 million owed to the Washington National Opera, allegedly spent money from a $300,000 donor bequest meant exclusively for WNO, locked WNO out of its own financial records, and ignored contract terms. A total mess.
Trump Properties Are Failing Health Inspections
A pattern of health and safety violations has emerged across multiple Trump-branded properties.
Trump National Golf Club Hudson Valley (Hopewell Junction, NY): A Dutchess County health inspector cited the club’s restaurant for a critical violation on April 16, per New York State Department of Health records — involving “food from an unapproved source, spoiled, adulterated on premises.”
Trump International Hotel and Tower, Chicago: City health inspectors found flies, faulty dishwashers, and wastewater flooding the kitchen floor around three prep sinks, first reported by NOTUS.
Trump National Golf Club Westchester: Westchester County health officials found insects and rodents on the premises, also first reported by NOTUS. The brand is, if nothing else, consistent.
And Finally: Algae and UFOs
Stephen Miller announced the release of new UFO files. Tulsi Gabbard is busy promoting claims about U.S. biolabs in an apparent effort to revive COVID and Ukraine conspiracy theories, despite the fact that the Pentagon’s Biological Threat Reduction Program has been publicly documented since the 1990s. Both moves landed as the administration faces simultaneous scrutiny over the Iran chaos, the Epstein Files, the Kennedy Center deadline, and back-to-back judicial losses.
And in entirely predictable news: reporters documented a thick green algae bloom overtaking the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on June 10th and 11th. The Trump administration is blaming “residual algae” from supply lines.
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Everyone in Trump‘s cabinet is so bizarre that they’ve become nothing but caricatures of themselves. Have a great weekend, all.