Today in Politics, Bulletin 157. 6/23/25

… Iran fired 14 missiles today at US bases in Qatar in a seemingly performative display at retaliation. There were no casualties since Iran gave advance notice of the attack to Qatar. Iran's Supreme National Security Council: "The number of missiles used equaled the number of bombs the US employed in its attack on Iran's nuclear facilities."

… NYT: “Iran coordinated the attacks on the American air base in Qatar with Qatari officials and gave advanced notice that attacks were coming to minimize casualties, according to 3 Iranian officials familiar with the plans. The officials said Iran symbolically needed to strike back at the US but at the same time carry it out in a way that allowed all sides an exit ramp; they described it as a similar strategy to 2020 when Iran gave Iraq heads up before firing ballistic missiles an American base in Iraq following the assassination of its top general.”

… Trump on Truth Social: “Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered. They’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE. I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured. Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same.”

(More on the supposed “complete obliteration of their nuclear facilities” below).

… Before the attack today, Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) said on Newsmax that if Iran attacks US military bases “we’ll go bomb downtown Tehran.”

… NYT: “US officials after Iran fires a few missiles at US bases in Gulf now say that the president has no intention of retaliating militarily against Iran following its failed retaliation strikes, which they describe as largely ‘theatrical.’”

… Qatari Foreign Minister Majed Al Ansari: “The State of Qatar strongly condemns the attack that targeted Al-Udeid Air Base by the IRG. We consider this a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar, its airspace, international law, and the UN Charter. We affirm that Qatar reserves the right to respond directly in a manner equivalent with the nature and scale of this brazen aggression, in line with international law. We reassure that Qatar’s air defenses successfully thwarted the attack and intercepted the Iranian missiles.”

… Al Ansari: “We emphasize that the continuation of such escalatory military actions will undermine security and stability in the region, dragging it into situations that could have catastrophic consequences for international peace and security. We call for the immediate cessation of all military actions and for a serious return to the negotiating table and dialogue.”

… DHS Secretary Kristi Noem issued a national terrorism advisory warning for the entire country for the next 90 days, which stated that the "ongoing Iran conflict is causing a heightened threat environment in the United States."

… Trump’s “Golden Age”.

… Iran's Foreign Minister was in Moscow today. Putin in his public remarks with Araghchi: "I'm glad you are in Moscow today. This gives us an opportunity to discuss all these pressing issues and to think together about how we might find a way out of the current situation."

… Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov on what Russia will do for Iran: "It all depends on what Iran needs. We have offered our mediation efforts. We have stated our position — that is also a very important step. It’s a form of support for the Iranian side. Going forward, everything will depend on what Iran needs at this moment."

… Translation on Putin and Peskov’s comments: We have our hands full with Ukraine right now. We’d like to help, but don’t count on much. (Although rising oil prices caused by conflict would be extremely helpful to Russia).

… Trump was in full panic mode this morning on the prospect of oil prices rising sharply as a result of conflict in the Middle East. He made these posts two minutes apart:

• “To The Department of Energy: DRILL, BABY, DRILL!!! And I mean NOW!!!”

• “EVERYONE, KEEP OIL PRICES DOWN. I’M WATCHING! YOU’RE PLAYING RIGHT INTO THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY. DON’T DO IT!”

… Reuters: “BP, Eni and TotalEnergie have begun evacuating foreign personnel from Iraqi oilfields where they operate, state-run Basra Oil Company said on Monday. Output from Iraq's southern oilfields for the time being remains unchanged with exports averaging 3.32 million barrels per day.”

… CNBC: “Ocean freight rates to the Port of Khor Fakkan in the UAE are surging as Israel continues to attack Iran and Iran reported its first attack on US military bases, after a weekend that saw US strikes on Iranian nuclear targets. Rates from Shanghai to the Khor Fakkan, which is situated on the UAE Indian Ocean coastline, are up 76% in comparison to mid-May, according to spot ocean freight rate data tracked by freight intelligence platform Xeneta.”

… “Khor Fakkan is located outside the Strait of Hormuz. Due to its location, the port is considered to be one of the most important transshipment hubs for the Arabian Gulf, the Indian Sub-continent, the Gulf of Oman, and the East African markets.”

… WH Press Sec Karoline Leavitt was on ABC lying again: "We are confident that Iran's nuclear sites were completely and totally obliterated. They no longer have the capability to build this nuclear weapon and threaten the world.”

… Every military and nuclear expert, including Trump’s own Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine, said it is impossible to know what was destroyed at this early stage and they may never know for sure. But the Trump admin would declare victory even if it was an obvious catastrophe.

… NYT: “The US may not know the whereabouts of Iran's roughly 400kg of highly-enriched uranium, which is small enough to fit in the trunks of about 10 cars."

… Steve Bannon acknowledged that the only way to do a proper Bomb Damage Assessment is to send in US special forces: “What exactly was accomplished? The media is saying that we don’t know where the material is. Where’s that going to lead us? Hey, we need the 75th Ranger Battalion to go in and find it? Oh, it’s coming. It’s coming.”

… Bannon’s WH correspondent Natalie Winters on Trump loyalists attacking them because they are against Trump on this: “I’ve noticed that people attacking Bannon/Tucker/Me for being ‘anti-American foreign agents’ are actually the ones more loyal to a foreign country than America.”

… CNN: “Unlike the other two Iranian facilities targeted in the operation, B-2 bombers did not drop massive ‘bunker-buster’ bombs on the Isfahan facility, where 60% of Iran’s stockpile of already-enriched nuclear material is believed to be stored. The damage to the facility appears to be restricted to aboveground structures, according to Jeffrey Lewis, a weapons expert and professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies who has closely reviewed commercial satellite imagery of the strike sites.”

… “Even if the US was successful in destroying Iran’s facility at Fordow — another underground site that housed centrifuges needed to enrich uranium, which the US hit with 12 bunker busters — the obvious survival of Isfahan has raised questions about whether Trump achieved his stated goal of ‘a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror.’”

… LA Times did a story about Narcisco Barranco, the landscaper in Orange County and father of 3 US Marines who was taken down, pinned and repeatedly punched by masked ICE agents. His son Alejandro said his father was working outside an IHOP when several masked men approached him. Frightened, he began to run away and he was tackled, beaten, and pepper sprayed. He suffered a dislocated shoulder and denied medical treatment, food and water for 24 hours in detention.

… Marine vet Alejandro: “I don’t think it was just, I don’t think it was fair. I don’t think they need four 200+ pound guys to hold down a 5’6”, 150-pound guy.” He said his father is kind and friendly: “If anyone ever needed any help, he was always there. He’s very well known in our community.”

… LA Times: “On his first call to his son after the detainment, Barranco was less concerned with his injuries and more concerned with his job. He told him where his truck and equipment were and asked him to speak with his client and finish the job. Alejandro Barranco is a veteran of the US Marines and his two younger brothers, Emanuel and José Luis Barranco, are currently serving on active-duty.”

… Podcaster Joe Rogan: “These ICE raids are fucking nuts. If Trump had said during the campaign that we’re gonna go to Home Depot and arrest everyone, tackle people at construction sites, I don’t think anyone would’ve signed up for that. They said we’re going to get rid of the criminals and gang members. Now we’re seeing Home Depots raided. It’s crazy.”

… ICE Director Todd Lyons was asked on Newsmax about calls from Democrats for ICE agents to stop wearing masks: "If you look before January 20, and even after January 20, the men and women of ICE did not have to have masks on their face. Me personally, I don't want those officers having to wear those masks because it's hot, it's dangerous. But ICE agents are being doxxed at a horrible rate."

… They aren’t being doxxed. There have not been any incidents of anyone going to the homes of ICE agents and threatening them or their families. We just don’t want a secret police that abducts people on the streets and at their places of work and disappears them.

… CBS reported on the ruling where the court released Kilmar Abrego Garcia from custody pending trial, which infuriated AG Pam Bondi and Stephen Miller. The TN fed judge who denied DOJ request for criminal detention for Garcia: “The govt’s evidence that Abrego is a member of MS-13 consists of general statements, all double hearsay, from two cooperating witnesses. Those statements are, however, directly inconsistent with statements by the first cooperator.’"

… Rep. Marge Greene (R-GA): “I’ve watched our country go to war in foreign lands for foreign causes on behalf of foreign interests for as long as I can remember. America is $37 TRILLION in debt and all of these foreign wars have cost Americans TRILLIONS AND TRILLIONS of dollars that never benefited any American. American troops have been killed and forever torn apart physically and mentally for regime change, foreign wars, and for military industrial base profits. I’m sick of it. I can easily say I support nuclear armed Israel’s right to defend themselves and also say at the same time I don’t want to fight or fund nuclear armed Israel’s wars.”

… Fox host Mark Levin, who has been on the network 24/7 advocating for war responded: “Marjorie Taylor Greene, shameless nitwit. How incredibly dumb is this Marjorie Taylor Green?”

… Greene then went on Steve Bannon’s show to complain more about Trump’s Iran bombings: “Only 6 months in and we are back into foreign wars, regime change, and World War 3. It feels like a complete bait and switch to please the neocons.”

… Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY): “Trump is claiming his strikes on Iran made the American people safer. He is dangerously wrong. I served two combat tours in Iraq and am now on the Armed Services Committee. His actions were not only unconstitutional, they have made America less safe – not more. Within hours of the strikes, Trump said the nuclear facilities were ‘completely and totally obliterated.’ This was literally impossible to know – a Battle Damage Assessment takes days or even weeks, especially given the secretive and fortified nature of all three targets.”

… “Iran now has every motivation to breakout and develop a nuclear weapon as quickly as possible. Given the lack of clear rationale for why this preventive strike was needed and what exactly it was capable of achieving, that is an incredibly dangerous amount of risk to take on. It's not just conventional attacks from Iran (ballistic missiles, drones) I'm worried about. It's asymmetric escalation. Cyber. Closing the Strait of Hormuz. Militant groups in Iraq deciding they have nothing to lose. It’s – god forbid – a strike on the homeland.”

… “We need to have an honest conversation as a country about what comes next. And we cannot repeat our approach from 2001 and 2002. The answer cannot be ‘we’ll figure it out as we go.’ I lost too many friends because of that logic. Air strikes may start a war. They rarely end it. I am not convinced the President has thought that through. Or has any plan to de-escalate. This debate has to happen in front of and with the input of the American people. No more forever wars.”

… Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX): “My entire adult life, politicians have promised quick and easy battles in the Middle East—and then, year after year after year, they’ve sent working-class kids out to fight and die in their endless wars. No more. Enough. We do not send Americans into harm’s way because a foreign prime minister has a political problem or because a president wants to look tough. No new wars.”

… Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) went into full cult mode: “The entire world thanks President Trump for his leadership and resolve. This will make the world safer and America stronger. And our adversaries are shaking in their boots. No one messes with America. No one messes with President Trump.”

I told everyone at Meidas this morning that we may finally have a slow news day today, and they promptly reminded me that every time I have said that in the past all hell breaks loose. Of course, three hours later Iran launched their missile attacks! If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, which completely exhausted me by the time I was done with it, you can find it here.

… Negation Magazine: “Iran says US envoy Steve Witkoff agreed to a deal that would allow Iran to retain civilian uranium enrichment, but then a phone call between Trump and Netanyahu led to a ‘180 degree shift in the US position,’ with Trump suddenly