Wednesday Afternoon News Updates: Trump Says Iran Has to Have Ballistic Missiles – 6/17/26

Hi all, Ben here. It’s Wednesday, June 17, and we have a lot to get into. Trump is in Évian-les-Bains, France for the G7, and it has been a day. Here’s what we’re tracking:

Top Stories:

• Trump holds a chaotic G7 press conference, professing love to Egypt’s el-Sisi and India’s Modi while saying Iran’s new leadership are “great people” who should keep their ballistic missiles

• The Iran MOU remains a mess of contradictions. Trump admits nobody knows what’s in it, he won’t show it to the public yet, Iran says nothing is finalized, and the White House is telling Americans not to read the actual document

• Trump reveals the U.S. would have run out of oil reserves in about four weeks, implying that pushed him to sign the MOU

• Senate confirmation chaos as Trump blows up Jay Clayton’s DNI hearing and FISA is now effectively dead

• Trump-backed Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones loses the GOP gubernatorial primary runoff to Rick Jackson, who will face Keisha Lance Bottoms in November

• Rep. Robert Garcia demands records on Stephen Miller’s reported push to suspend habeas corpus rights

• The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool algae situation keeps getting worse

• The White House South Lawn is apparently destroyed after the UFC event, and they’re doing damage control with a turf company that gave $500K to a MAGA PAC

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