Is the Israel-Iran conflict fracturing MAGA?
The escalating conflict between Israel and Iran is creating tensions within Trump's MAGA movement, testing its commitment to America First isolationism against Trump's aggressive support for Israel. President Trump is firmly backing Israel's tough stance against Iran's nuclear ambitions, leaving MAGA influencers like Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon questioning whether this aligns with the anti-interventionist promises Trump made to voters. New York Post editorial board members Mark Cunningham and David Kaufman analyze whether Trump's base will follow his lead or splinter under the pressure of potential prolonged military action abroad.
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Associated Press
21 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Federal judge orders Trump administration to release EV charger funding in 14 states
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to release billions of dollars in funding for the build out of electric vehicle chargers in more than a dozen states. U.S. District Judge Tana Lin in Washington state partially granted a preliminary injunction that sought to free up the money approved under then-President Joe Biden that the Trump administration withheld earlier this year. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia sued over the move, arguing that the administration did not have the authority to block the congressionally approved funds. The program was set to allocate $5 billion over five years to various states, of which an estimated $3.3 billion had already been made available. Lin ordered that funding be released in 14 of the states, including in Arizona, California and New York. But she denied granting the preliminary injunction for D.C., Minnesota and Vermont, saying that they did not provide enough evidence that they would face 'irreparable harm' if the money wasn't immediately freed up. Lin said the Trump administration overstepped its constitutional authority when it froze the funding previously approved by Congress in 2021 as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 'When the Executive Branch treads upon the will of the Legislative Branch, and when an administrative agency acts contrary to law, it is the Court's responsibility to remediate the situation and restore the balance of power,' she wrote. The order will go into effect July 2 unless the Trump administration appeals. The Federal Highway Administration did not immediately respond to an email request for comment on the decision. The Trump administration in February directed states to stop spending money for electric vehicle charging under the program. The move was part of a broader push by the Republican president to roll back environmental policies advanced by his Democratic predecessor. States suing the Trump administration said the decision to freeze funding halted projects midstream, requiring immediate court intervention. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, said after the ruling that the Trump administration could not 'dismiss programs illegally.' 'We are pleased with today's order blocking the Administration's unconstitutional attempt to do so, and California looks forward to continuing to vigorously defend itself from this executive branch overreach,' he said in a statement. The Trump administration argued that it was working on new guidance for the program and was only pausing future funding in the meantime. The program was meant to assuage concerns about electric vehicles and build infrastructure along highway corridors first, then address gaps elsewhere once the state highway obligations were met. Some states with projects running under the program have already been reimbursed by the Biden-era federal funds. Others are still contracting for their sites. Still more had halted their plans by the time the Trump administration ordered states to stop their spending. Regardless, getting the chargers installed and operating has been a slow process with contracting challenges, permitting delays and complex electrical upgrades. It was expected that states would fight against the federal government's efforts to slow the nation's electric vehicle charger build out. New York, for example, which is part of the lawsuit, has been awarded over $175 million in federal funds from the program, and state officials say $120 million is currently being withheld by the Trump administration.
CNBC
32 minutes ago
- CNBC
CNBC Daily Open: Investors bet the fragile ceasefire would hold
The ceasefire between Israel and Iran appears to be holding. In yesterday's newsletter, we talked about how a blitzkrieg of missile-led diplomacy seemed to help de-escalate tensions. The flipside of that strange path to a truce is that missiles, well, are fundamentally weapons. Mere hours after both countries agreed to the ceasefire, Israel said its longtime rival had fired missiles into its borders — an accusation which Tehran denied — and was preparing to "respond forcefully." Probably with more missiles. U.S. President Donald Trump — who reportedly brokered the ceasefire with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani — expressed frustration with those developments. "I'm not happy with them. I'm not happy with Iran either but I'm really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning," Trump told a reporter pool en route to the NATO summit in the Netherlands. His admonishments seemed to work. There is now a fragile armistice between the two countries. Oil prices fell and U.S. stocks jumped. Reuters uploaded a photo of Israeli residents playing frisbee at the beach on June 24. Flights at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport are resuming, and Iran's airspace is partially open, according to flight monitoring firm FlightRadar24, CNBC reported at around 3 a.m. Singapore time. Three hours after that update, NBC News, citing three people familiar with the matter, reported that an initial assessment from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency found the American strikes on Iran's nuclear sites on Saturday left "core pieces … still intact." And so it goes. Israel-Iran ceasefire holds, for nowThe fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran, announced by Trump on Monday, appears to be holding. Israel on Tuesday said it would honor the ceasefire so long as Iran does the same. Earlier in the day, both countries accused each other of violating the truce, and said they were ready to retaliate, prompting Trump to say he's "not happy" with them. Stay updated on the Israel-Iran conflict with CNBC's live blog here. Markets jump as traders bet on truceU.S. stocks jumped Tuesday on expectations that the Israel-Iran ceasefire would hold. The S&P 500 gained 1.11% to put it just 0.9% away from its 52-week high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.19% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.43%. The Nasdaq-100 rose 1.53% to close at an all-time high. Europe's Stoxx 600 rose 1.11%. Travel stocks were some of the best performers, while oil and gas stocks fell the most. Oil prices slump for a second dayOil prices tumbled Tuesday, its second day of declines, as the market bet that the risk of a major supply disruption had faded. U.S. crude oil settled down 6% at $64.37 a barrel while the global benchmark Brent fell 6.1%, to $67.14 during U.S. trading. Prices closed 7% lower on Monday. Earlier Tuesday, Trump said China can keep buying oil from Iran, in what seemed like a sign that the U.S. may soften its pressure campaign against Tehran. Powell says Fed is 'well positioned to wait'At a U.S. congressional hearing Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the economy was still strong. But he noted that inflation is still above the central bank's target of 2%, and the Fed has an "obligation" to prevent tariffs from becoming "an ongoing inflation problem." In combination, those considerationsmake the Fed "well positioned to wait" before making a decision on interest rates. U.S. is committed to NATO: Secretary-GeneralThere is "total commitment by the U.S. president and the U.S. senior leadership to NATO," the military alliance's Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Tuesday morning, as the summit kicked off in The Hague, Netherlands. But America expects Europe and Canada to spend as much as the U.S. does on defense. Ahead of the summit, members agreed to increase defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product by 2035. [PRO] Not 'bullish enough' on rally: HSBCThe S&P 500′s rally off its April lows has brought it back to roughly 1% off its record high in a very short time. It's an advance that has perplexed many investors, who worry that another pullback is on the horizon. But Max Kettner, chief multi-asset strategist at HSBC, said he worries he's not "bullish enough" on the current rally. Strait of Hormuz GPS jamming remains major security issue, tanker CEO says Despite a tentative ceasefire between Israel and Iran on Tuesday, security issues in the Strait of Hormuz continue for shipowners. According to Angeliki Frangou, a fourth-generation shipowner and chairman and CEO of Greece-based Navios Maritime Partners, which owns and operates dry cargo ships and tankers, vessels in the Strait of Hormuz are still being threatened by continuous GPS signal blocking. "We have had about 20% less passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, and vessels are waiting outside," Frangou told CNBC. "You are hearing a lot from the liner [ocean shipping] companies that they are transiting only during daytime because of the jamming of GPS signals of vessels. They don't want to pass during the nighttime because they find it dangerous. So it's a very fluid situation," Frangou said.
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘F*** you!' Trump 'whistleblower bomb' goes off detailing lawless DOJ plot: Melber report
Emil Bove, a senior DOJ official, suggested the department should tell courts 'f*** you' and ignore court orders it opposed, according to a whistleblower with firsthand knowledge of senior DOJ planning under Trump. MSNBC Chief Legal Correspondent Ari Melber reports on the significance of the formal whistleblower complaint, and interviews longtime DOJ veteran prosecutor Andrew Weissman. (Subscribe to Ari's YouTube now:
