MAGA is divided over Trump's decision to bomb Iran. Will it last?
Stephen K. Bannon sounded uncertain as he absorbed President Donald Trump's strike on Iran and his national address explaining it.
'An interesting talk,' Bannon said warily on his 'War Room' podcast, adding that he was not quite sure that it was what 'a lot of MAGA wanted to hear.'
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CNN
30 minutes ago
- CNN
Live updates: Attack on Iranian nuclear sites thrusts US into Israel-Iran conflict
Update: Date: 8 min ago Title: Fallout from US strikes as Israel-Iran conflict enters 11th day. Here's what you need to know Content: All eyes are on how Tehran will react to the US attack on three key Iranian nuclear facilities early Sunday local time, which thrust America into the Israel-Iran conflict that is entering its 11th day. Early assessments raise questions over whether the US destroyed the bulk of the country's enriched nuclear material while President Donald Trump alluded to the possibility of regime change in Iran. Here's what you need to know: How will Iran respond?: Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country has 'a variety of options' when deciding how to respond to the US attacks. Tehran denounced the US and Israel at an emergency UN Security Council meeting and voiced skepticism about the potential for diplomacy. From striking US bases in the region, to possibly closing a key waterway – the Strait of Hormuz — to global shipping, Iran is likely mulling its next moves. Calls for regime change: Trump floated the idea of possible of regime change in Iran in a social media post Sunday evening. 'If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!' Trump wrote. The president's post is a pivot from messaging by senior administration officials, though Trump did not specifically say the US would enact regime change. Allied support: A number of close US allies have expressed support for America's strikes against Iran, arguing that Iran had presented a nuclear threat, but urging diplomacy and de-escalation. Others, including key partners in the Gulf, have expressed concern and dismay over the strikes. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, for example, said Monday that Iran 'cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon.' Domestic criticism: Some lawmakers, including from usually highly opposed ends of the US political spectrum, have criticized Trump's decision to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities, and the move has highlighted a divide within Trump's MAGA movement. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a staunch Trump ally, said 'This is not our fight' while Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders said, 'we cannot let history repeat itself.' A misdirect: While the final call came Saturday as bombers were already in the air, those around Trump believed his mind had been largely made up for days regarding taking action in Iran. Trump directed staff to announce 2-week window – thinking the timeline could throw off the Iranians and conceal his plans, according to several sources familiar with what happened. 'Operation Midnight Hammer': B-2 stealth bombers dropped more than a dozen massive 'bunker-buster' bombs on Iran's Fordow and Natanz facilities, while Tomahawk missiles struck Isfahan, according to a US timeline of the attack. The strikes thrust the US into the Israel-Iran conflict, which has seen the two sides trade attacks for over a week. Top administration officials insist the US is not at war with Iran, but Trump has warned the US could launch more attacks if Tehran does not make peace. Strikes continue: Israel launched fresh airstrikes targeting military infrastructure in western Iran's Kermanshah city, the Israeli military said Monday morning. Earlier, Iranian state affiliated media said Israel struck Parchin, a large military complex southeast of Tehran. Iran launched its own strike on Israel on Monday, firing a missile that was intercepted by Israel's air defenses. Update: Date: 17 min ago Title: Israel launches strikes on Iranian military infrastructure Content: Israel launched fresh airstrikes targeting military infrastructure in western Iran's Kermanshah city, said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Monday morning. Earlier, Iran's state-affiliated Nour News reported that Israel had struck Parchin, a large military complex southeast of Tehran, in a strike during the early hours of Monday. Iran launched its own strike on Israel on Monday, firing a missile that was intercepted by Israel's air defenses. Update: Date: 17 min ago Title: China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, would be vulnerable to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz Content: As calls grow within Iran for closing the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for US attacks on its nuclear sites, a key diplomatic and economic backer of Tehran would stand to lose from that decision: China. Connecting the oil-rich Persian Gulf to the open ocean, the Strait of Hormuz is one of the most critical oil checkpoints in the world. Some 20 million barrels per day of crude oil, or 20% of the global consumption, flowed through the narrow strait between Iran and Oman last year, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). For China, the world's largest importer of oil and the biggest buyer of crude from Iran, the Strait of Hormuz is even more important. China imported 5.4 million barrels of crude every day through the strait in the first three months of 2025, according to the EIA's estimates. That's equivalent to about half of China's daily average crude imports in the first quarter of the year, according to CNN's calculation based on Chinese customs data. On Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted that vulnerability when he called on China to dissuade Iran from closing the Strait of Hormuz. 'I encourage the Chinese government in Beijing to call them about that, because they heavily depend on the Straits of Hormuz for their oil,' Rubio said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, adding that closing the strait would hurt other countries' economies more than the US economy. China remains by far Iran's largest energy buyer, though it has not reported purchases of Iranian oil in its official customs data since 2022, according to analysts. Some 90% of Iran's oil exports now go to China, according to commodities data company Kpler, providing a key lifeline to Tehran's heavily sanctioned economy. China has condemned US attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities, saying the move 'exacerbates tensions in the Middle East.' It has not commented on the potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Update: Date: 16 min ago Title: Demonstrators across US protest strike on Iran Content: Americans in cities across the US took to the streets Sunday to protest President Donald Trump's decision to bomb nuclear sites in Iran. From Los Angeles to New York, demonstrators expressed worries about sparking a broader war and detracting from existing problems within the US. Update: Date: 17 min ago Title: Why some officials raised doubts about whether a single bombing campaign can set back Iran's nuclear program Content: Intelligence analysts are still working to determine how much the US attacks on three key Iranian nuclear sites hindered Tehran's ability to build a nuclear weapon if it chose to. Prior to the strikes, US intelligence officials believed Israel's extensive missile campaign against Iran, which also killed a number of top Iranian scientists, had only set back Iran by a matter of months. And before President Donald Trump ordered the strikes, some US officials had raised doubts about whether a single bombing campaign would be able to entirely destroy Iran's nuclear program, especially at sites like Isfahan where the equipment is deeply buried. The Trump administration has touted the strikes as an operational success but has provided few details. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said Sunday morning it was 'way too early' to comment on whether Iran still retains some nuclear capabilities. One key question, according to a senior US lawmaker, is whether Iran had already moved any of its highly enriched uranium stockpiles from the facilities in question by the time the US dropped bombs on them. Trump had made public he was weighing striking at least one of the sites, Fordow, and 'Iranians aren't idiots,' this person said. But without American or allied boots on the ground to physically inspect the sites, answering that question is infinitely more difficult.
CNBC
34 minutes ago
- CNBC
NATO allies will pledge to hike defense spend – but will they deliver?
Fireworks could kick off during NATO's annual summit this week, as the U.S. pushes its allies to sharply increase their defense spending to 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP). The 5% figure is made up of 3.5% of GDP that should be spent on "pure" defense, with an extra 1.5% of GDP going to security-related infrastructure, such as cyber warfare capabilities and intelligence. While some member states they're happy to hit that milestone, and some countries are not too far off that mark, others don't even meet the 2% threshold that was agreed over a decade ago. While they might pledge to increase defense spending, whether these promises materializes will be the key question. Talk is cheap and timelines can be vague — but concerted action is what the U.S. and President Donald Trump, who's attending a NATO summit for the first time since 2019, will want to see. "The U.S. is looking for everybody to say, 'Yeah, we mean it. We have a plan. 5% is real. We're going to get there'," Kurt Volker, former U.S. ambassador to NATO and distinguished fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), said Wednesday. "But one thing to watch for is if the messaging is actually on point. Some of the messaging from some of our European allies, at least when they back brief their own media and their own parliaments is, 'Yeah, 5% but it's really 3.5% and 1.5%, and that can be pretty much anything' ... So there's going to be a whittling down [of defense spending pledges] almost immediately," Volker noted at a CEPA briefing ahead of the NATO summit. "And if that is over emphasized, you're going to have a clash with the U.S.," Volker added. The stakes are high as allies meet in The Hague in the Netherlands on June 24-25, given ongoing conflict in Ukraine and war in the Middle East threatening to destabilize the global economy. Defense analysts say this year's meeting could be the most consequential in the alliance's 77-year history, with the U.S.' spend-pushing heavily forewarned before the summit. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was emphatic as he said 5% "will happen" at a separate NATO gathering earlier this month, with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also widely plugging that message to allies too. Defense spending has been a thorny subject for NATO members for years, and a persistent source of annoyance and anger for Trump, who was demanding that allies double their spending goals from 2% to 4% of GDP all the way back in 2018. NATO defense expenditure has nevertheless sharply picked up among NATO members since Trump was last in power. Back then, and arguably at the height of the White House leader's irritation with the bloc, only six member states met the 2% target, including the U.S. Times have changed, however; by 2024, 23 members had reached the 2% threshold, according to NATO data. While some greatly surpassed that target — such as Poland, Estonia, the U.S., Latvia and Greece — major economies including Canada, Spain and Italy have lagged below the contribution threshold. No NATO member has so far reached the 5% spending objective, and some are highly likely to drag their feet when it comes to getting to that milestone now. The U.K., Poland and Germany have already said they intend to increase defense spending to the requisite target, but their timeline is unclear. The UK is also reportedly trying to delay the spending rise among by three years, according to the i newspaper. CNBC has reached out to Downing Street for comment. Spain and Italy are seen as major holdouts against the 5% target, after only committing to reach the 2% threshold in 2025. Canada meanwhile spent 1.3% of GDP on defense in 2024, NATO estimates suggest, even less than Italy, Portugal or Montenegro. Spending 5% on defense is a target, but not a given, Jason Israel, senior fellow for the Defense Technology Initiative at CEPA, said Wednesday. "Every single country ... is trying to figure out how they're going to thread that needle of being able to make the commitment, but also make the accounting work when every single nation has to make trade offs against what is generally unpopular, massive increases in defense spending," he noted, stressing it's a "long way from commitments ... to actual capability," European aerospace and defense companies are following NATO spending commentary and commitments closely, but say they're stuck in limbo between pledges and action by way of concrete government procurement. The leaders of Leonardo, Embraer and Saab told CNBC last week the continent needs to act decisively and collectively to make long-term commitments to defense spending and investment contracts to enable companies like theirs to scale-up their production capacity and manufacturing capabilities. "If we go for 3.5% [of pure defense spending] across the European part of NATO, that will mean a lot, and more will be needed in terms of capacity. But we need to understand the capability targets better," Micael Johansson, the chief executive of Swedish defense company Saab, told CNBC. "We can do more, and I think we need to come together in Europe to create more scale, also in what we do to align demand, align requirements, so we can actually be competitive player in internationally. So there's a lot to do still," he said. Roberto Cingolani, CEO of Italian defense firm Leonardo, agreed that "there's a lot of work to be done." "Leonardo has a capacity boost program at the moment because we are quite aware of the fact that we have to increase the production of specific platforms, defense systems, electronics and technology solutions. It is not only matter of money, it's matter of priority. It's matter of reducing the fragmentation among countries in Europe," he told CNBC's Charlotte Reed at the Paris Air Show. Defense companies needed to know what will be expected of them ahead of time, Cingolani said, given the complex nature of global supply chains that underpin the defense industry. "We have approximately 5000 companies in the supply chain, and we are in 160 countries in the world. So it's very complicated," he noted. "You have to invest in supply chain. You have to make investments. You have to protect the supply chain. But of course, we also have to face a shortage of raw materials ... There is no no simple solution. If there were a solution, we would have done it already," he said.
Washington Post
37 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Tarnished by Oct. 7, Netanyahu's legacy may be reshaped by war with Iran
TEL AVIV, Israel — In the days after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed a shellshocked shadow of himself. He looked diminished and downtrodden by the surprise assault that created a national emergency and caused his public support to plummet. Now, as Israel faces another unprecedented crisis in a war with Iran, Netanyahu appears rejuvenated. With the U.S. lending its support against a threat he has devoted his life to confronting, Netanyahu is demonstrating a resurgent confidence that could signal a new turning point in his lengthy political career.
