作者： root

‘I don’t think Donald Trump can even sell this deal’: Sen. Warner reacts to the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding

2026-06-17 4:51 PM EDT / CNN Politics

By Pamela Brown, CNN

Published 4:51 PM EDT, Wed June 17, 2026

https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/17/politics/video/the-arena-mark-warner-iran-memorandum-of-understanding-trump

‘I don’t think Donald Trump can even sell this deal’: Sen. Warner reacts to the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding

The arena

Top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Mark Warner joins Pam Brown to discuss the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding.

2:57 • Source: CNN

Trump’s Iran deal ‘giving a lot more to get a lot less’ than Obama’s, senator says

June 17, 2026 4:46pm EDT / Fox News

Sen. Tim Kaine says the reported terms offer Iran far more concessions while failing to address nuclear enrichment

By Alex Miller , Morgan Phillips, Fox News

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

President Donald Trump’s preliminary agreement with Iran is making its way through the media, but it still hasn’t made its way into the hands of lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Those who have read the reports are split on the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that the administration intends to finalize in a ceremonial signing on Friday.

Some say it’s a worse outcome than former President Barack Obama’s Iranian nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which Trump ripped up in his first term.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6398661868112

Lawmakers await details of US-Iran memorandum

Fox News correspondents Aishah Hasnie and Trey Yingst break down President Donald Trump’s G7 comments on the new U.S.-Iran deal. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., also joins ‘America’s Newsoom’ to discuss the potential next steps if peace is reached.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNVEILS SWEEPING TERMS OF PROPOSED IRAN AGREEMENT

One senator said President Donald Trump’s early agreement with Iran is a worse outcome than former President Barack Obama’s Iranian nuclear agreement.(Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg)

“Everything I’ve seen is, like, what’s being reported by Bloomberg or the read-out on this thing is, we are giving a lot more to get a lot less than we got in the JCPOA,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said.

“Now, I can’t say that with an exclamation point on it until I actually see the memorandum, but every bit of reporting, thus far, says, we’re giving a lot more to get a lot less than what we had before Donald Trump,” he continued.

The schism on the MOU doesn’t follow party lines, either.

TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL SPARKS GOP DEMANDS FOR VOTE AS CONGRESS REMAINS IN THE DARK

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6398679512112

“Reagan is rolling over in his grave,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said on X. “Iran’s nuclear ambitions were not curbed, and they have learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works and will undoubtedly leverage it in the future. Now, Iran gets to build brand-new infrastructure under this deal.”

Administration officials revealed the plan to reporters on Wednesday and detailed plans for immediate waivers on Iranian oil exports, a framework for at least $300 billion in reconstruction and economic development, and a 60-day negotiation period aimed at securing a final agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.

But the agreement, in its current form, falls short of dealing with the central issue that started the war in the first place: Iran’s nuclear program.

REPUBLICANS BAT DOWN BID TO HANDCUFF TRUMP’S WAR POWERS AS PEACE DEAL NEARS

Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks during a demonstration for human rights in Iran at Theresienwiese during the 62nd Munich Security Conference on Feb. 14, 2026, in Munich, Germany.(Hannes Magerstaedt/Getty Images)

Instead, it commits both sides to negotiate the fate of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile and future enrichment activities as part of a final agreement.

Kaine, who pushed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) during the Obama administration that requires congressional review of any nuclear deal with Iran, said that from what he’s seen, the memorandum “probably touches enough on the nuclear program that it would have to be submitted to Congress.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who was previously skeptical of the burgeoning deal earlier in the week, now appears to support it. When asked about Cassidy’s take on the MOU, Graham said, “I like Bill, but I don’t think he quite understands what’s going on here.”

“I don’t think the MOU is a deal, it’s a framework of how to get a deal,” Graham said. “There are parts of it I don’t like. The way I look at it, is if you can find a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear ambitions, go for it. And the MOU puts it in place.”

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When asked if he was OK with sanctions being lifted on Iranian oil exports, Graham said he was fine with the idea in the short-term and the money that would flow in, “Because if the deal doesn’t work, all that stops.”

“What I’m worried about is not taking an opportunity here to find a diplomatic solution,” he said. “Because if you fail, then what is left is war.”

Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.

People fleeing conflict in Congo complicate efforts to stop Ebola outbreak

June 17, 2026 6:52 PM EDT / CBS News

By Ramy Inocencio

Ramy Inocencio is a CBS News foreign correspondent based in London, covering Europe and the Middle East. He joined the Network in 2019 as CBS News’ Asia correspondent, based in Beijing and reporting across the Asia-Pacific, bringing two decades of experience working and traveling between Asia and the United States.

Read Full Bio

DRC-Congo border —_ Even at the epicenter of the deadly, growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, aid worker Jean Marie Lipe often finds it hard to convince people the virus is real.

Grandmother Passy Nzali, among tens of thousands of people displaced from their homes by the long simmering conflict in her country, said after attending an information session with Lipe that she now understands bats and chimpanzees can carry Ebola — and to avoid touching them even when they’re dead.

But many Congolese still believe the deadly virus is something other than real — ranging from a mystical curse to a Western conspiracy — and that continues to complicate the jobs of health workers trying desperately to stop its spread.

The total number of confirmed cases continues to surge, now over the 800 mark since this outbreak was declared on May 15, drawing a dire warning from the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“If we don’t stop this outbreak very soon, it will be even worse than what we had in West Africa,”said Africa CDC Director Jean Kaseya.

More than 11,000 people died and more than 23,000 were infected in West Africa’s Ebola crisis from 2014 to 2016 — the worst outbreak in recorded history since the virus was discovered 50 years ago, in 1976.

Camps like the one where Nzali has found refuge near the Congo-Uganda border are packed with thousands of people fleeing conflict — making the sites potential hotspots for the spread of infectious diseases, including Ebola.

A view of the Kigonze camp for internally displaced persons in Bunia, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 28, 2026. Glody MURHABAZI / AFP via Getty Images

The same anxieties play on the minds of health officials in Uganda, where CBS News visited a quarantine site for refugees who recently fled from the Congo.

James Peter was the most recent and only new arrival, now a week into solo quarantine. No TV, no radio, just a bed and the breeze. We spoke to him through barbed wire. He was set to be locked down in a house under quarantine measures for a total of 21 days.

He spoke to us from a safe distance, saying he fled his hometown of Goma after anti-government forces raided the city. He said he paid 40,000 Ugandan shillings, or about $10, to make a six-hour overnight crossing of Lake Albert, across the border into Uganda.

His desperation for a safer life is easy to understand, but the relative ease with which he crossed the international border to do so highlights the challenges facing the health professionals racing to stem a deadly outbreak.

In:

• Ebola
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Uganda

Vance rejects claims Trump-Iran deal echoes Obama-era logic as hawks raise alarm

2026-06-17 6:11pm EDT / Fox News

Sen Mark Kelly says the reported 14-point agreement gives Iran ‘basically everything’ it would want

By Charles Creitz, Fox News

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

Vice President JD Vance is pushing back on comparisons between the emerging Trump-Vance Iran pact and claims that the agreement, released Wednesday, bears too much resemblance to President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal.

Critics pointed to Vance’s defense of the memorandum of understanding to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — the details of which were released by the administration — under which Iran would receive economic benefits only after complying with nuclear restrictions. They argue that dynamic mirrors how Obama promoted the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, which Trump and Vance have long reviled.

Vance, however, suggested to Fox News that the comparison stems from a misconception because the proverbial carrot-and-stick positions from the Obama deal have been reversed.

“You’ve got Iranian propagandists out there saying, well, ‘we get all these things’, and they leave out the fact that they only get those things if they fundamentally transform themselves as a country,” he said, adding that the deal could open the door to economic cooperation for Tehran throughout the Mideast if it complies.

VANCE EN ROUTE TO PAKISTAN FOR HIGH-STAKES IRAN TALKS AS ‘FRAGILE’ CEASEFIRE TEETERS

President Donald Trump meets with Vice President J.D. Vance in the Situation Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 21, 2025.(The White House/Reuters)

“So the United States wins either way. As the president said, either they get nothing, we destroy their nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz is open, or they fundamentally transformed themselves. And that’s a big one too. It’s really up to them,” he said on “The Five.”

Host Jesse Watters agreed that the deal is the “exact opposite” of what Obama and former Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., forged a decade ago.

VANCE TOUTS DESTRUCTION OF IRANIAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM AS TRUMP ANNOUNCES ISRAEL-IRAN CEASEFIRE

“If they fund the proxies they don’t get the economic benefits, and the missiles are covered because 85% of them have been destroyed and 90% of their industrial base has been destroyed.”

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6398504556112

“They’ve been disarmed. They can’t re-arm because they can manufacture more weapons and now they can really project power outside of their borders because they have no Air Force and they have no Navy and they don’t pose an imminent threat to the United States anymore,” Watters said, further arguing that the Iranians cannot enrich uranium because the only force capable of recovering the uranium “dust” is the U.S.

In a July 2015 statement defending the JCPOA, Obama used language similar to that now being used by Trump administration officials.

“[W]e give nothing up by testing whether or not this problem can be solved peacefully. If, in a worst-case scenario, Iran violates the deal, the same options that are available to me today will be available to any U.S. president in the future. And I have no doubt that 10 or 15 years from now, the person who holds this office will be in a far stronger position,” a White House statement read.

Obama also argued a future president would be “in a far stronger position” if Iran violated the agreement years later because inspections and transparency measures would allow the U.S. to monitor Tehran’s nuclear stockpiles.

Vance, however, noted there are few such stockpiles left after the Trump administration ordered strikes months ago.

Like the current administration, Obama sought to blunt criticism, warning in an August 2015 speech that ads will run and “accompanying commentary” will try to undermine the deal.

“Iran has powerful incentives to keep its commitments,” he said in a line similar to arguments Vance has made in Fox News interviews.

“Before getting sanctions relief, Iran has to take significant, concrete steps like removing centrifuges and getting rid of its stockpiles. If Iran violates the agreement over the next decade, all of the sanctions can snap back into place,” Obama said.

“On the other hand, if Iran abides by the deal and its economy begins to reintegrate with the world, the incentive to avoid snapback will only grow,” Obama said in another line that echoed arguments now being made by administration officials.

Some critics, however, remained skeptical as of Wednesday, noting that Trump spent years attacking the JCPOA, arguing it provided economic relief in exchange for insufficient concessions.

TRUMP AGAIN SAYS DEAL IS CLOSE, THEN CONFIRMS A LAST-MINUTE AGREEMENT WITH IRAN, BUT DETAILS STILL SECRET

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a Trump critic and former astronaut, suggested the deal resembled something candidate Trump would have lambasted.

“I did read what was reported on those 14 points of the agreement and I got to say, I mean, if this was something that President Obama or Biden had put forward, I don’t think Donald Trump would have been too supportive of it, right?” Kelly said.

“I mean, it gives everything: It’s basically everything that the Iranians would want,” he warned.

IRANIAN REGIME CRITIC WARNS TRUMP DEAL COULD BE ‘LIFELINE’ FOR REGIME, CLAIMS PEOPLE ARE ‘NERVOUS’

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6396144979112

Iranian security expert Behnam Ben Taleblu told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview Wednesday that some, however, will take pause at the Trump-Vance deal

“The administration is focusing very much on this not being American money, whether one is looking at the reconstruction or the ability of the regime to later on generate revenue through oil sales. But worryingly, any deal with the Islamic Republic is a deal with the devil,” said Taleblu, who leads the Iran program at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies — a nonpartisan national security and foreign policy research institute in Washington.

“When Trump left the Iran deal in 2018, he didn’t leave it because of violation, he left it because that which the U.S. got was not worth that which the U.S. gave — meaning the nuclear concessions the U.S. got was not worth the sanctions relief the U.S. gave,” Taleblu said.

4TH ROUND OF US-IRAN TALKS ENDS AS TRUMP SET TO EMBARK ON HISTORIC MIDDLE EAST TOUR

A three-way split image shows, from left to right, U.S. Vice President JD Vance delivering remarks in Bethpage, New York, on June 17, 2026; President Barack Obama standing with Vice President Joe Biden during a press conference in Washington, DC, on July 14, 2015; and U.S. President Donald Trump arriving for the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, on June 15, 2026.(Spencer Platt, Andrew Harnik, Isabel Infantes / Getty Images)

The best way for the administration to secure a narrative “win,” according to Taleblu, would be to fully release the text of the deal to present a true comparison with both the JCPOA and the less-remembered 2013 JPA, which was also forged by Obama.

Taleblu said the JPA is a better comparison to reports about the Trump deal. That pact was smaller in scope and set the stage for Obama and Kerry to negotiate the larger 2015 deal. In the current deal, Taleblu said, there is a similar 60-day window for Iran to comply.

“They have to show that that which they got is worth more than that which they gave. And based on leaks of the pending deal in Bloomberg and CNN and Al-Arabiya, it’s not looking good,” he said.

Another headwind facing the administration is the American public’s limited tolerance for economic repercussions, such as rising gas and commodity prices or occasional downturns in the Nasdaq.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6398679512112

“This is not just political it’s cultural and social which means the administration has to do a better job bringing the public along,” he said.

Taleblu said Iran has been warring with the U.S. since 1979 and that there needs to be more effective “political communications” about that fact to secure public buy-in.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

He also warned that while the effects of a war with Iran on the U.S. may strain the public, they would be dwarfed by the economic fallout from a future conflict with a more complicated adversary: China.

The memorandum of understanding lays out immediate waivers for Iranian oil exports, as well as a framework for $300 billion in economic development.

An official, however, emphasized to Fox News Digital that oil waivers were the only major benefit Tehran would realize before any final agreement is reached after a 60-day window.

In a reporter call, officials underlined that negotiations would promptly end if it was discovered Iran was “just dragging us along and kind of bull——- us,” and that they remained skeptical of Iran’s intentions.

Fox News Digital reached out to the vice president’s office for additional comment.

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.

A Mamdani-backed progressive’s challenge to a veteran Democrat highlights party fractures

2026-06-17T23:53:23.869Z / CNN

A heated congressional primary debate in New York highlighted generational and ideological divides within the Democratic Party.

Democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier apologized for past disparaging tweets about Vice President Kamala Harris during an exchange with incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat.

The primary next Tuesday tests NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s influence as he backs several progressive challengers across the city.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

The divides between the Democratic old guard and a new class of progressive challenger were on sharp display on Tuesday night as a congressional candidate in New York’s 13th District apologized for past disparaging remarks about Kamala Harris.

“To Vice President Kamala Harris, I sincerely apologize,” Darializa Avila Chevalier, the 32-year-old democratic socialist endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, said during a heated debate when pushed by her opponent, incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat. “You did not deserve that language from me. And I would’ve loved to have seen a Black woman president. As a Black woman, I know how much that would’ve meant to so many, including myself.”

CNN’s KFile previously reported on Avila Chevalier’s now-deleted tweets critical of Democratic leaders, including posting “F**k Kamala Harris” after the then-vice president told Guatemalan migrants in September 2021 not to come to the United States illegally.

The progressive candidate previously told CNN that the now-deleted tweets don’t represent who she is today and on the debate stage, she reiterated her regret for the remarks. But Espaillat, 71, dismissed her defense: “This is not just some common statement that was made when you were a young person, a teenager, an adolescent. This was just a couple of years ago. And I think it’s irresponsible for someone that has a chronically irresponsible social media to go to Congress. Words really matter.”

Avila Chevalier fired back that she had voted for Harris in 2024 and pivoted to an indictment of the modern Democratic Party. “Yes, I was critical of Kamala Harris’ record. And I voted for her because like so many Black and brown people, I am someone who has been forced to save the Democratic Party from itself,” she said. “And that is because we have had representatives like my opponent who has refused to listen to his constituents, who has refused to actually listen to the will of their Democratic base. And it’s time that we have representatives who actually listen to their Democratic base.”

The fiery exchange exemplifies the ideological and generational splits that have defined the race in the Democratic stronghold, which covers parts of Manhattan and the Bronx, and which the party is grappling with in primaries across the country this year.

Avila Chevalier, an investigator at a public defender’s office and doctoral student, emerged as one of the most prominent left-wing challengers in the country after Mamdani endorsed her bid to unseat Espaillat, who has represented the 13th District since 2017.

Reports of her deleted social media posts, however, have drawn scrutiny – including CNN KFile’s coverage of a deleted Twitter account that included thousands of posts and reposts expressing support for abolishing police, prisons and borders, as well as seizing private property and nationalizing major industries and calling into question Israel’s right to exist.

Avila Chevalier has stressed that the posts no longer reflect her politics – but she found herself on the defensive at several points during Tuesday’s debate as Espaillat seized upon them.

Invoking another flashpoint within the Democratic Party on the issue of Israel, the congressman argued, “The difference between me and my opponent is that I believe in a two-state solution and she doesn’t believe in the existence of Israel.”

And he criticized Avila Chevalier for attending a pro-Palestinian rally the day after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel – where militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages. Political leaders widely condemned the rally in the aftermath of the attack – and Brad Lander, another Mamdani-endorsed candidate running in New York’s 10th District, said earlier this month that he canceled his membership with the Democratic Socialists of America for promoting it.

“Even Mayor Mandani and Comptroller Lander did not attend this rally,” Espaillat said. “She went to celebrate the death of innocent people in Israel right after the attack.”

Avila Chevalier said she would “never celebrate the death of any human being,” arguing that she attended the rally to protest against an “outsized reaction” to Hamas’ attack, which she feared would “cause the death of thousands upon thousands of people” in Gaza.

She maintained a critical line toward Israel and its treatment of Palestinians in Gaza, where more than 70,000 have died since the start of the war, drawing comparisons to the experiences of Black and Latino communities in the US.

“I’ve seen a lot of similarities not just in the way things are done, but also in the very institutions that are enacting that violence. The tear gas that was being dropped on Palestinians in Gaza in 2014 was the same tear gas that was being dropped on Black protesters in Ferguson in 2014,” Avila Chevalier said.

Following the debate, Avila Chevalier media director Natalia Latif stressed that the progressive candidate has taken accountability for the posts and moved forward.

“She said plainly, ‘I deeply regret my tweets,’ took ownership, and pivoted to what actually matters: that this district deserves a representative who will fight for affordable housing, fight to abolish ICE, and fight to make sure our tax dollars come back to our communities instead of being spent on forever wars,” Latif said in a statement.

The race in the 13th District has become widely seen as a proxy battle between the Democratic establishment and the rising democratic socialist contingency – with Mamdani flexing his influence in the movement.

At a press conference this month, the mayor explained that he had not seen Avila Chevalier’s posts when he endorsed her. “What I’ve heard from her, and what I know a lot of others in the district have heard from her, is that her views have evolved,” he said, continuing to stand by the candidate.

The controversy has echoes of Mamdani’s own anti-establishment mayoral campaign last fall, shaped by his outspoken criticism of Israel’s conduct in Gaza and clashes with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the issue.

And now as mayor, he’s putting his political capital on the line in several New York races where he’s supporting progressive primary challengers.

Mamdani endorsed Lander, his amicable opponent during the mayoral race, in his bid against 10th District incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman, calling Lander “a trusted ally and partner.” And he endorsed state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez’s bid against outgoing Rep. Nydia Velázquez’s chosen successor, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, in the 7th District primary.

But Mamdani has also sought to wield his influence in favor of the Democratic establishment. He discouraged Chi Ossé, a New York City Council member and longtime political ally, from mounting a primary challenge against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and flexed his influence with the state chapter of the Democratic Socialists if America, reportedly urging them against endorsing Ossé. Ossé dropped his bid a few weeks later.

Next Tuesday will mark the first major test of his endorsement as New Yorkers head to the polls to decide whether Avila Chevalier and other members of the city’s growing progressive movement will advance to the general election.

Trump blows up spy bill after Senate Republicans say ‘no’ to voter ID legislation

2026-06-17T20:20:43.816Z / Reuters

WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s derailment of a U.S. Senate plan to pass a key national security bill this week is only the latest example of a growing ​rift with Senate Republicans, who are more willing to defy the commander-in-chief in the run-up to the November midterm elections.

Aiming to protect his controversial choice of loyalist Bill Pulte as ‌acting U.S. spy chief, Trump forced the Senate Intelligence Committee to postpone a confirmation hearing for U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, his permanent nominee for director of national security, who Republicans had hoped to fast-track into the job.

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“He made a colossal mistake,” Republican Senator Thom Tillis said of the president’s move. “It’s undermining our ability to produce the very results he wants.”

It was the latest in a series of actions by Trump that have upended Senate Republican plans to move major legislation intended to forward his ​agenda. Last month, his announcement of a $1.8 billion “antiweaponization” fund to compensate political allies who claim to have been victimized by federal authorities stalled a $70 billion bill to fund his immigration crackdown.

Trump has also ​ruffled Senate Republicans by unseating sitting incumbents, demanding $1 billion tied to his White House ballroom and the passage of his voter ID bill, the SAVE America Act, ⁠and by calling on the party to end the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster and fire the parliamentarian.

SAYING ‘NO’ TO TRUMP

As a result, Senate Republicans have begun to say “no” to Trump’s more extreme demands including passage of the ​SAVE America Act, which would require lawmakers to do away with the filibuster because of vigorous opposition from Democrats.

“I think the president wants to add SAVE America to pretty much everything,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told ​reporters after Trump first called for the package of voting restrictions to be added to the surveillance bill. “But that, obviously, is not realistic to get the FISA bill done. And we want to get the FISA bill done.”

The result has been a deeper division between Trump and Senate Republicans less than five months ahead of the November midterm elections.

“I think we’re in for a bumpy seven months or so,” predicted Senator John Cornyn, who lost his primary reelection bid to Trump-backed challenger Ken Paxton ​last month.

But not all Republicans agree that Trump’s actions have been disruptive.

“He’s doing things that people want,” said Senator Rick Scott, a Florida hardliner who hopes to see warrant requirements added to FISA legislation. “Americans – Republicans, Democrats, ​independents – want election security. They want voter ID and stuff like that. And they don’t want to be surveilled.”

OUTRAGE OVER PULTE

Trump’s selection of Pulte as acting intelligence chief sparked outrage among Democrats and some Republicans over the housing regulator’s lack of ‌national security ⁠experience, and prompted Democrats to boycott legislation to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, for fear that Pulte would use his position to attack Trump’s perceived political enemies.

The president also doubled down on his demand that Senate Republicans attach the FISA legislation to his voter ID bill, the SAVE America Act, a package of sweeping voter restrictions that Democrats vigorously oppose.

Lawmakers and independent analysts say Trump’s longstanding disregard for Congress and the demands of legislating is coming into sharper focus now that Senate Republicans are confronting half a dozen competitive midterm races at a time when Trump’s foreign policy and trade initiatives have raised costs for ​voters.

“I think he really doesn’t see Congress as an ​entity for making deals with. He sees it ⁠as something subservient,” said Molly Nixon, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute.

LACK OF TRUST

Others said Trump has caused distrust by unseating Republican incumbents including Texas Senator John Cornyn, who has been seen as a reliable supporter of the president’s agenda.

“That destroyed what remained of any kind of trust,” Cornyn said. “That changed the playing ​field in a way where you’ll see a lot more of what I would call transactional relationships, as opposed to ones based on trust.”

Less than a ​year and a half into ⁠his second term as president, Trump has seen his approval ratings fall from 47% around the time of his inauguration to only 36% this month, slightly above his all-time low of 33% during his first term, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling data. Among Republicans, his approval has dropped significantly over the same period.

Thune’s willingness to stand up to Trump and defend the integrity of the Senate has earned him the respect of his conference and even Democrats, despite the hyperpartisanship ⁠of Congress.

“I happen ​to have a lot of respect for Senator Thune,” said Democratic Senator Peter Welch. “Trump wants him to fire the parliamentarian. He ​wants him to get rid of the filibuster. And I see Thune as doing his best to maintain the independent integrity of the Senate.”

But that has also raised questions for Thune, who was asked by reporters about his relationship with Trump on Wednesday.

“It’s fine. The ​president has his own mind and makes his own decisions,” the South Dakota Republican said as he turned and walked away.

Reporting by David Morgan; additional reporting by Nolan D. McCaskill; Editing by Michael Learmonth and Alistair Bell

中国称支持缅甸全面参与亚细安及联合国事务

2026年6月18日 07:33 / 联合早报

中国国家主席习近平（右）星期二（6月16日）在北京同访华的缅甸总统敏昂莱举行会谈，会谈前在人民大会堂北大厅举行欢迎仪式并握手。 （法新社）

在缅甸自2021年军方发动政变后长期遭国际社会疏远之际，中国在与缅甸发表的联合声明中说，支持缅甸全面参与亚细安及联合国机制和进程。

缅甸总统敏昂莱本周访华期间，中国外交部星期三（6月17日）发布《中华人民共和国和缅甸联邦共和国关于加快构建中缅命运共同体的联合声明》。

声明指出，双方同意推进中缅经济走廊建设，稳妥推进皎漂深水港、木姐－曼德勒铁路等走廊重大项目合作；支持成立国际打击电信网络诈骗联盟，将加强双多边执法安全合作，打击网赌电诈、跨境赌博、拐卖人口、偷渡、制贩毒品、制假走私、金融诈骗等跨境犯罪活动。

声明也称，中国支持缅甸通过政治对话推进国内和平和解进程，也支持缅甸全面、平等、建设性参与亚细安及联合国机制和进程，维护缅甸合法权益。双方同意加强沟通协调，维护两国边境地区和平稳定，实现边境地区共同发展。

据法新社报道，敏昂莱2021年发动政变推翻由昂山素季领导的民选政府后，缅甸在外交上日益孤立，而中国则成为少数持续与它保持密切关系的国家之一。

近年来，亚细安一直将缅甸排除在领导人峰会之外。成员国对于是否应允许缅甸在国内局势持续动荡的情况下恢复全面参与亚细安事务，始终存在分歧。

不过，北京公开支持缅甸近期举行的选举。这次选举由亲军方阵营胜出，随后推选敏昂莱出任文职总统。

中国国家主席习近平星期二（16日）与敏昂莱会面时说，中国支持缅甸各方通过对话推进和平与和解。

另据联合声明，敏昂莱感谢习近平以及中国政府和人民给予缅甸代表团的热情友好接待，并邀请习近平在“双方方便的时候”访问缅甸。

Warsh Fed holds rates steady. Trump says ‘It’s all right. Whatever.’

2026-06-17 9:44 PM UTC / Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump greets the new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh after he was sworn in by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 22, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

[1/2]U.S. President Donald Trump greets the new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh after he was sworn in by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 22, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst Purchase Licensing Rights

June 17 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Wednesday expressed confidence in Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh after the new central bank chief concluded his first rate-setting meeting with ​a decision to leave interest rates unchanged and published projections that showed nearly ‌half of U.S. central bankers feel a rate hike will be needed this year.

“It’s all right. Whatever,” Trump said in France, when asked what he felt about the Fed’s decision to hold interest rates ​steady.

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Trump had repeatedly railed at Warsh’s predecessor, Jerome Powell, calling him a moron ​and a knucklehead, among many other names, for not cutting rates. Trump ⁠says that the central bank ought to lower borrowing costs to help the housing ​market, boost the economy, and reduce the cost of the government borrowing.

But on Wednesday, Trump ​had no such words for Warsh, whom he has said looks like he comes out of central casting for the part.

“It could happen,” Trump said, when asked about the possibility of a rate hike. “It’s hard ​to believe. It just keeps the country down and it’s so, it’s so, unusual. ​But we have a very good guy over there right now so I’m guided by what he ‌wants.”

Meanwhile, Warsh, ⁠at a press conference following the decision, declined to say anything about where rates may need to head.

He also declined to say whether he had spoken with the president since taking the helm at the Fed last month, though he did say he had met ​several times with ​Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

“So ⁠on the president, I don’t have anything for you,” Warsh said. “With respect to the Treasury secretary, he has been posting pictures of ​our breakfast, so … I don’t think I can deny that the ​long tradition ⁠at the central bank is that the Fed chairman and the Treasury secretary meet weekly. I think we’ve pulled off three of those so far. Believe he’s overseas this week, so ⁠this will ​be the exception of the rule.”

Warsh told lawmakers at ​his confirmation hearing that he planned to cooperate closely with the administration on non-monetary policy matters.

Reporting by Dan Burns ​and Michael S. Derby, Steve Holland, Ann Saphir, Editing by Franklin Paul and Andrea Ricci

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

How alleged White House UFC attack plotters organized across four states

2026-06-17T16:09:19-04:00 / Fox News

Prosecutors say the group organized through encrypted Signal chats with tiered roles including drone operators and snipers

By Morgan Phillips Fox News

Published June 17, 2026 4:09pm EDT

USSS calls alleged UFC terror plot ‘unique’ as new details emerge

Fox News legal analyst Kerri Urbahn discusses new information on an alleged UFC terror plot against a White House event and the suspects involved on ‘America’s Newsroom.’

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The men accused of plotting a mass-casualty attack at the UFC event held on White House grounds allegedly met through a TikTok group before moving their discussions into encrypted messaging apps, where prosecutors say they allegedly developed plans to kill government officials and other attendees, according to court records reviewed by Fox News Digital.

Federal authorities have arrested five men accused of plotting a mass-casualty attack targeting UFC Freedom 250, the Sunday event held on White House grounds that was attended by President Donald Trump and other senior government officials.

According to federal court records, members of the group first connected around March through a TikTok community called “Vanguard of the Old,” where participants allegedly vetted one another through identification documents, workout videos and tactical content before moving into private Signal chats. The filings do not further describe whether Vanguard of the Old was a formal organization or simply an online chat community.

The filings identify five arrested participants in Ohio, California, Missouri and Nebraska and describe a network that prosecutors say evolved from online discussions into operational planning for an attack targeting UFC Freedom 250. Investigators allege members discussed using explosive-laden drones to trigger an evacuation before opening fire on politicians and other targets as crowds fled the area.

President Donald Trump hosts the UFC Freedom 250 fights on the South Lawn of the White House on June 15, 2026, celebrating his 80th birthday with a series of Ultimate Fighting Championship matches.(Jacquelyn Martin/Getty Images)

JUSTIN GAETHJE TARGETS ILIA TOPURIA’S DIVORCE, IGNITING FEUD BEFORE WHITE HOUSE SHOWDOWN

While prosecutors allege the group had developed operational plans, some officials, like Vice President JD Vance, have suggested the conspiracy never advanced to the point of becoming an imminent threat.

“There was a lot of security there,” Vance said during an appearance on Fox News’ “The Five.” “And it turns out the plot was like, not that advanced. They weren’t in town.”

Court documents identify an Omaha, Nebraska, man known online as “Shepherd” as the group’s alleged leader. Prosecutors say Shepherd helped build the organization’s tiered structure, directed planning discussions and coordinated members across multiple states through encrypted communications.

Once inside those encrypted chats, prosecutors say members organized themselves into a tiered structure that assigned participants to specific functions. Court records describe Tier 1 members as frontline operators expected to carry out missions and acquire firearms and body armor, while other tiers included drone operators, getaway drivers, recruiters, logistics personnel, technical support and social media advocates.

Court records repeatedly reference military-style training and organization.

Tycen Proper, the 19-year-old Ohio defendant whose phone helped investigators identify other members of the alleged network, told investigators he believed many participants had prior military experience, according to court documents, while his mother said some members represented themselves online as former military personnel. The filings, however, do not identify any defendant as having verified military service.

According to investigators, members also split into smaller chat groups based on operational assignments and locations.

Investigators say the network extended well beyond the five men charged. According to court records, Proper’s phone contained a primary Signal chat with approximately 19 participants, along with smaller operational chat groups organized by role and location.

Tycen Proper.(Franklin County Sheriff’s Office)

Tensions boiled over between federal agencies over the decision to make the case public. Two senior U.S. officials told Fox News that Secret Service leadership wanted to delay disclosing the investigation until additional arrests could be made, fearing that publicizing the probe could alert other subjects and complicate the ongoing investigation.

The disagreement surfaced publicly Tuesday when Deputy Secret Service Director Matthew Quinn, responding to questions about the case at an unrelated event, emphasized that the Secret Service had “led that investigation from the beginning” and suggested investigators intentionally avoided public disclosure while the case remained active.

“In order to maintain the integrity of the investigation and the security plan we chose not to leak it,” Quinn said.

Tycen Proper allegedly acquired an AR-style rifle and a bullpup rifle painted with the American flag, officials said.(Department of Justice)

DANA WHITE DENIES AMERICA 250 UFC FIGHT AT WHITE HOUSE WILL BE ‘POLITICAL,’ ‘NOT AT ALL’ ABOUT POLITICS

“I’ll tell you a phrase I learned early in my career in the New York field office and that’s don’t choke on your own smoke,” he said.

The investigation began June 10 when Proper’s mother contacted local authorities after becoming concerned about his recent behavior, according to court records.

Proper’s father told investigators his son had allegedly recently met people online, was planning “recons” with them and intended to travel that weekend to meet members of the group. Family members also reported that Proper allegedly had purchased firearms, body armor, ammunition and tactical gear and had quit his job in preparation for what he described as “missions” and “recons.”

Bryan Omar Roa.(Department of Justice)

Michael Alan Thomas.(Department of Justice)

After investigators obtained a warrant for Proper’s phone, they allege they discovered Signal chats containing maps of Washington, D.C., proposed sniper positions, drone launch sites and discussions about escape routes.

Prosecutors say members allegedly discussed potential congressional targets, power infrastructure and other political figures before focusing on UFC Freedom 250.

Proper’s mother told investigators members of the group allegedly expressed anger about government corruption and the Epstein files.

According to court records, members of the group allegedly believed the United States was headed in the wrong direction and needed to be “torn down” and rebuilt. Some participants allegedly argued that people connected to Jeffrey Epstein should not govern the country.

Prosecutors also allege that discussions increasingly focused on U.S. support for Israel and lawmakers viewed by group members as aligned with pro-Israel interests.

According to the filings, members discussed targeting politicians they believed were tied to pro-Israel lobbying organizations, while other conversations referenced billionaires and what participants described as “capitalist elites.”

Bryan Omar Roa and Michael Alan Thomas, both of California, allegedly met up for a training session in late May, according to messages obtained by law enforcement and shared in court records.

“Noble and I trained on vehicle dismount, cover vs concealment, bounding, and basic marksmanship today,” Thomas wrote to the group on May 25, according to court records.

FBI Director Kash Patel stands with singer Alexis Wilkins at the conclusion of the UFC Freedom 250 mixed martial arts event on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, June 15, 2026.(Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images)

By early June, according to court records, discussions inside the group’s encrypted chats had shifted toward operational planning surrounding UFC Freedom 250, which took place last Sunday**.

Court records show members discussing a rendezvous point in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where participants from multiple states were allegedly expected to meet before traveling to Washington.

Investigators also say members allegedly exchanged information about safe houses, fallback locations and escape routes that included traveling south along the Potomac River.

According to court records, the group’s alleged plan centered on creating chaos inside the White House event before targeting government officials and other attendees as they fled.

Prosecutors say members discussed using drones carrying explosive devices over the north side of the UFC venue, triggering panic and forcing crowds to evacuate. Investigators allege members of the group planned to position shooters and snipers along anticipated evacuation routes south of the venue, where politicians and other targets would be vulnerable.

President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, UFC President Dana White and guests stand in the Octagon during the UFC Freedom 250 fight on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C.(Evan Vucci/Reuters)

According to court records, a participant interviewed by the FBI in West Virginia said members of the group allegedly had canceled the operation by Friday, two days before the event. The reported cancellation came after authorities had already begun investigating the group following a June 10 call from Proper’s mother.

Authorities arrested suspects in Ohio, California, Missouri and Nebraska Saturday and Sunday after executing a series of search warrants tied to the investigation.

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“They had not really done that much planning,” Vance said. “And so, I get why people are so fascinated by it. I do think the political violence and rhetoric in this country is out of control. But thank God we have good law enforcement. We’ve got good FBI because it didn’t even get close to the point of execution.”

Fox News’ David Spunt contributed to this report.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6398664570112

Dinner at Versailles, alpine air and an Iran agreement: How Trump made it through another G7

2026-06-17T21:52:54.994Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/17/politics/trump-versailles-g7

• President Donald Trump, notably, didn’t leave this year’s Group of 7 summit early or rip up any joint statements.
• He arrived in France with a lingering sense of triumph at having brokered a preliminary deal with Iran, which was praised by his fellow leaders.
• French President Emmanuel Macron engineered the lakeside summit to keep Trump engaged, culminating in a late-night dinner at Versailles.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

Geneva, Switzerland—

For the first time in his two presidencies, Donald Trump attended a Group of 7 summit this week without blowing it up.

Sure, he complained when the temperature of the meeting room was too warm. He joked, upon arriving an hour late to one session, that he was his fellow leaders’ boss. The summit’s host, French President Emmanuel Macron, was caught on a hot mic describing an al fresco first-night dinner with Trump as a “difficult discussion.”

Yet Trump didn’t leave early, as he did last year in Canada, which was a baseline success for Macron, who had engineered the lakeside summit to ensure the US president stayed for the entire program.

And instead of ripping up a joint leaders’ statement upon his departure, as he did after a particularly acrimonious summit in 2018, Trump endorsed surprisingly tough language in a group statement about Russia’s war in Ukraine, vowing “unwavering support” for Kyiv.

“This was something very special,” Trump declared when the summit had ended.

Perhaps it was the alpine air. Perhaps it was the lingering sense of triumph at having brokered a preliminary deal with Iran, which received undiluted praise from his fellow leaders despite their lingering questions about how it will all be implemented.

Or maybe it was the anticipation of dinner at Versailles, tacked onto the schedule by Macron to ensure Trump remained in France for the summit’s conclusion. Louis XIV’s symbol of regal excess (and, eventually, revolutionary class resentment) is “not gold leaf,” Trump explained this week, but the “real deal.”

When he arrived to the checkerboard marble courtyard at the oh-so-French dinner hour of 10 p.m., Trump was greeted with a bise on both cheeks by Brigitte Macron — who Trump claimed a few months ago was mistreating her husband.

“This is so beautiful,” he said after marveling at the classical facade with its gilded dormers. “Brigitte is an amazing woman.”

Dinner was, by French standards, a simple affair: black pork from Bigorre to start, asparagus from the Loire, poultry from Bourbonnais and a regional cheese plate.

His table pour trois with the Macrons, situated in the Lower Gallery, was surrounded by statues commissioned by the Sun King himself.

Trump has now attended five G7s (or six, if counting the one he halfheartedly hosted virtually during the Covid pandemic in 2020). Unlike his earlier outings, Trump is now a senior member of the exclusive club. Most of the other leaders were elected within the last few years, and aside from Macron, no one else in the group has attended as many.

That has lent Trump’s recent outings on the world stage a different tone. Unlike his first term, when advisers said Trump felt the need to demonstrate power and confidence to his more seasoned counterparts, Trump is more muted, even as he continues to drive a wedge with traditional allies.

He’s also older, a fact that was somewhat inescapable this week. After leaving Washington at 2 a.m. Monday following his 80th birthday UFC fight on the White House South Lawn, Trump flew overnight and began an afternoon of meetings at the Hôtel Royal, his voice sounding hoarse. Over the next two days, he met for hours with individual leaders and fielded questions multiple times a day. By the time he emerged for a 70-minute press conference two days later, he was visibly and audibly fatigued.

Behind the scenes, Trump was forceful in defending his Iran agreement to fellow leaders, according to officials familiar with the conversations. He framed the terms as a major win not only for the United States but for his fellow leaders as well.

Some meetings were periodically tense, including a one-on-one with Macron the day he arrived, according to a European official. But leaders lavished praise on the American president for his Iran agreement, which has the potential to end a months-long energy crunch that has affected Europe far more than the United States.

“I think it’s a gamechanger,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has spent the last several months jousting from afar with Trump, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “It allows us, and this is what’s happened in the meeting, to step back, look anew at Ukraine.”

Carney is one of several leaders who entered the summit looking for make-nice moments with Trump after he’d insulted them this year. Approaching the president at one meeting, Carney detailed an electric vehicle provision in a new trade deal with China.

“I thought you’d actually like that,” Carney offered. (Trump, who said he did like it, later said he didn’t remember the conversation).

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz waited until all the leaders were seated around their meeting table to stand up and present Trump — who he claimed a month ago was being humiliated in Iran — with a white soccer jersey bearing the number 47.

“We’re on the same team,” Merz wrote later under a picture of the moment.

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — once Trump’s top ally in Europe whom he derided in April as “unacceptable” and weak — held a “clarifying” meeting with the president this week, according to the European official.

Later, she appeared unfazed when a fellow leader declared she was “friends again” with Trump.

“We have always been friends,” she said cheerfully. Later, she revealed she’d given up smoking.