Trump Bombs the Leak Machine
It's a legitimate question which of this week's strikes from the commander in chief carried more megajoules: Donald Trump's attack on Iran's nuclear facilities or his subsequent one on a media that diminished that attack's effectiveness. It's another example of an administration moving to avoid a repeat of first-term problems—in this case, by vigorously confronting partisan leaks.
The dust had yet to settle on Saturday's Iran strikes before CNN on Tuesday ran a story reporting a classified Defense Intelligence Agency report found the bombs 'did not destroy the core components of the country's nuclear program.' The outlet cited anonymous sources 'familiar' with the report, including one who said the strikes only 'set [Iran] back maybe a few months, tops'—undermining Mr. Trump's claim the bombs 'totally obliterated' the targets.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
10 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Iran Dismisses Trump's Claim of Nuclear Talks Resuming Next Week
Iran denied that nuclear talks with the US are scheduled to resume, diminishing prospects for diplomacy after President Donald Trump suggested a deal could come as early as next week. 'I say explicitly that no agreement, arrangement or discussion has taken place regarding the initiation of new negotiations,' Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with state TV late Thursday. 'Some of the speculation about the resumption of negotiations should not be taken seriously.'
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump administration sues all 15 Maryland federal judges over order blocking removal of immigrants
The Trump administration on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against all 15 federal judges in Maryland over an order blocking the immediate deportation of migrants challenging their removals, ratcheting up a fight with the federal judiciary over President Donald Trump's executive powers. The remarkable action lays bare the administration's determination to exert its will over immigration enforcement as well as a growing exasperation with federal judges who have time and again turned aside executive branch actions they see as lawless and without legal merit. 'It's extraordinary," Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School, said of the Justice Department's lawsuit. 'And it's escalating DOJ's effort to challenge federal judges.' At issue is an order signed by Chief Judge George L. Russell III and filed in May blocking the administration from immediately removing from the U.S. any immigrants who file paperwork with the Maryland district court seeking a review of their detention. The order blocks the removal until 4 p.m. on the second business day after the habeas corpus petition is filed. The administration says the automatic pause on removals violates a Supreme Court ruling and impedes the president's authority to enforce immigration laws. The Republican administration has been locked for weeks in a growing showdown with the federal judiciary amid a barrage of legal challenges to the president's efforts to carry out key priorities around immigration and other matters. The Justice Department has grown increasingly frustrated by rulings blocking the president's agenda, accusing judges of improperly impeding the president's powers. "President Trump's executive authority has been undermined since the first hours of his presidency by an endless barrage of injunctions designed to halt his agenda,' Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement Wednesday. 'The American people elected President Trump to carry out his policy agenda: this pattern of judicial overreach undermines the democratic process and cannot be allowed to stand.' A spokesman for the Maryland district court declined to comment. Trump has railed against unfavorable judicial rulings, and in one case called for the impeachment of a federal judge in Washington who ordered planeloads of deported immigrants to be turned around. That led to an extraordinary statement from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who said 'impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.' Among the judges named in the lawsuit is Paula Xinis, who has called the administration's deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador illegal. Attorneys for Abrego Garcia have asked Xinis to impose fines against the administration for contempt, arguing that it ignored court orders for weeks to return him to the U.S. The order signed by Russell says it aims to maintain existing conditions and the potential jurisdiction of the court, ensure immigrant petitioners are able to participate in court proceedings and access attorneys and give the government 'fulsome opportunity to brief and present arguments in its defense.' In an amended order, Russell said the court had received an influx of habeas petitions after hours that "resulted in hurried and frustrating hearings in that obtaining clear and concrete information about the location and status of the petitioners is elusive.' The Trump administration has asked the Maryland judges to recuse themselves from the case. It wants a clerk to have a federal judge from another state hear it. James Sample, a constitutional law professor at Hofstra University, described the lawsuit as further part of the erosion of legal norms by the administration. Normally when parties are on the losing side of an injunction, they appeal the order — not sue the court or judges, he said. On one hand, he said, the Justice Department has a point that injunctions should be considered extraordinary relief; it's unusual for them to be granted automatically in an entire class of cases. But, he added, it's the administration's own actions in repeatedly moving detainees to prevent them from obtaining writs of habeas corpus that prompted the court to issue the order. 'The judges here didn't ask to be put in this unenviable position,' Sample said. 'Faced with imperfect options, they have made an entirely reasonable, cautious choice to modestly check an executive branch that is determined to circumvent any semblance of impartial process.' ___ Associated Press reporters Gene Johnson in Seattle and Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘So many things we still need to accomplish here in Illinois': Pritzker starts campaigning for third term
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — It's more than 16 months away from November 2026, but Governor J.B. Pritzker kicked off his re-election campaign Thursday. Pritzker started off his campaign for his third term for governor focusing on his record of turning around the state's economic conditions. PREVIOUSLY: Illinois Gov. Pritzker announces bid for 3rd term 'It's hugely important, if after 25 years of credit downgrades, we're actually moving toward being AA credit,' Pritzker said. The governor rallied across four cities– Chicago, Rockford, Peoria and Springfield –to launch his campaign, touting to supporters the difference he says his leadership has made to the state. He also plans to stop in Belleville and West Frankfort Friday. 'One by one, we have taken on the big problems of Illinois, and we have begun to or completely solve them. But we've got more work to do,' Pritzker said. He also says he needs to focus on protecting the people of Illinois from Trump administration policies. 'It feels like walking away is the wrong thing to do, given who is in the White House and given how this administration is attacking people all across this country,' the governor said. MORE: Officials react to Pritzker running for third term as Illinois Governor House Republican Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) views Pritzker's history of state spending will haunt him on the campaign trail. 'Being a third-term governor, you're not going to be able to hide what's been done in the last two terms and that's a lot of sweeps and gimmicks for the budget,' McCombie said. 'We're already going to be in the FY27 $1 billion behind.' Pritzker was a finalist for Kamala Harris's Vice President pick last year, and several political experts have speculated Pritzker will run for President in 2028. He did not answer if he was planning to be a presidential candidate. 'Every day I wake up and try to figure out what more can I do for the people of Illinois as governor,' he said. 'The reason I'm running for reelection as governor is because it gives me an opportunity to actually get those things done.'McCombie is confident he will run for president in 2028. 'You heard in his remarks today, Trump, Trump, Trump,' she said. 'You'd think he was running against Trump for governor.'The next step for the governor is announcing his running mate. Pritzker will be making this push without his second in command, as Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton is running for US Senate. He told reporters Thursday that will happen before the end of July. If Pritzker is elected, that would make him Illinois' longest serving governor since Jim Thompson who left office in 1991. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
