MTG, Tucker Carlson urge Trump to stay out of Iran as MAGA rift grows
Greene said in a June 16 social media post that "foreign wars/intervention/regime change put America last, kill innocent people, are making us broke, and will ultimately lead to our destruction."
"That's not kooky. That's what millions of Americans voted for. It's what we believe is America First," she added.
The comments were indicative of an emerging rift within Trump's base - the Republican's 2024 White House campaign promised to 'prevent World War III' - over how much military support the United States should offer Israel.
Carlson last week called Trump "complicit in the act of war," prompting Trump on June 16 to offer a rare brushback.
The former Fox News host accused Trump of being "complicit in the act of war" in a newsletter he said could be his last before "all-out war" breaks out as the conflict between Israel and Iran potentially widens.
Greene then said in a June 15 post on X that that MAGA Republicans are "sick and tired of foreign wars" of all types and want U.S. servicemembers focused on protecting America's borders, rather than fighting and dying in overseas conflicts that have cost the U.S. trillions of dollars.
"Anyone slobbering for the U.S. to become fully involved in the Israel/Iran war is not America First/MAGA," she said.
The United States has not helped Israel with its missile campaign, both countries say, other than help defend the nation from Iranian attacks.
Israel-Iran latest: Trump denies reaching out to Iran for an Israel ceasefire as new blasts rock Tehran
But the president's message to residents of Tehran that they should evacuate the city and warnings to Iran that they should come back to the nuclear negotiating table "before it's too late" led to widespread concern that the U.S. may be gearing up to enter the fight.
Trump has also told Iran repeatedly that if it does not come to an agreement with the United States to end its nuclear enrichment program it risks a more aggressive and less diplomatic response.
While fielding questions from reporters on the Middle East before his abrupt departure from an international summit, Trump hit back at Carlson over criticisms of his approach to the war.
"I don't know what Tucker Carlson is saying. Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen," Trump said.
Greene later came to Carlson's defense. Without mentioning Trump, she said Carlson "unapologetically believes the same things I do" about the need for America to prioritize its homeland.
"That if we don't fight for our own country and our own people then we will no longer have a country for our children and our grandchildren," she said. " It's what we believe is America First."
Trump has not engaged since. Instead, as the president focused on the conflict writ large, his vice president jumped in.
Vance said Trump has been "amazingly consistent, over 10 years, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon" and has encouraged his team to reach a deal with the Iranians.
"Meanwhile, the president has shown remarkable restraint in keeping our military's focus on protecting our troops and protecting our citizens," Vance said.
Vance said at the end of the long social media post, "He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment. That decision ultimately belongs to the president. And of course, people are right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy."
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Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Reuters
Oklahoma strives to become American hub for critical minerals processing
LAWTON, Oklahoma, June 18 (Reuters) - Nestled beneath Oklahoma's Wichita Mountains sits a two-story warehouse containing the only machine in the United States capable of refining nickel, a crucial energy transition metal now dominated by China. The facility, owned by startup Westwin Elements, aims to help Oklahoma become the epicenter for U.S. critical minerals processing, a sector the country largely abandoned decades ago. The state will have to overcome several obstacles to get there, including a lack of major critical mineral deposits, a weak education system and its location at the center of the United States - far from international shipping lanes. Yet Oklahoma's push into minerals processing marks an unexpected twist in the country's efforts to wean itself off Chinese rivals who have blocked exports. President Donald Trump has said he wants to boost U.S. production of minerals used across the economy. In Oklahoma, the country's only nickel refinery, its largest lithium refinery, two lithium-ion battery recycling plants, a rare earths magnet facility, and several electronic waste collection facilities are under construction or in operation - more than in any other state. They join a Umicore ( opens new tab site that produces germanium crystals for solar panels. An aluminum smelter - the country's first since 1980 - is set to break ground next year at a site bordering an Arkansas River tributary. "I've strategically made a conscious effort to go after some of these new industries that I think are going to be critical," Governor Kevin Stitt, a Republican, told Reuters. "There's money flying into critical minerals from the investment side, so it might as well be located in Oklahoma." Investors and corporate executives say the state's location, lack of mineral deposits, and other detracting factors are outweighed by a string of positives: Oklahoma has railways and highways bisecting the state en route to the three U.S. coasts, a workforce with deep energy experience, state rebates and other financial incentives, a large inland port with access to the Mississippi River watershed, and accommodating regulators. Officials boast on social media that Oklahoma is a "one phone call state," a description meant to evoke what they see as a streamlined regulatory process. Australia-based MLB Industrial, a startup that supplies lithium-ion batteries to the locomotive industry, expanded its business to Oklahoma earlier this year for that very reason. "Other states were looking for a large, established company to invest, rather than a company with a growth profile," said Nathan Leech, MLB's CEO, who moved his family to Oklahoma. "We intend to grow in Oklahoma." A nickel refinery, in particular, has been sought by Washington for years but Chinese market dumping had scared away would-be entrants, said a source familiar with the Trump administration's minerals policy. KaLeigh Long founded Westwin and named it after her desire for the U.S. to shake off Chinese minerals dependence - as she puts it, "The West will win." The firm has built a demonstration facility 85 miles (137 km) south of the state capital that it says can refine 200 metric tons of nickel annually and will expand to produce 34,000 metric tons per year by 2030. If successful, the Westwin facility would refine 10% of America's annual nickel needs, demand projections from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence show, drawing on rock taken from Turkish and Indonesian mines, as well as recycled U.S. batteries. Even as Oklahoma promises state tax rebates and other incentives, Westwin is lobbying Washington not to eliminate a federal production tax credit heavily opposed by Republicans along with other green energy subsidies enacted by former President Joe Biden, as Reuters reported earlier this month. Westwin is in negotiations with the Pentagon for a nickel supply deal that would keep metal inside the United States to make batteries for military drones and other equipment, according to a source familiar with the deliberations. Roughly 220 miles (354 km) northeast, a lithium refinery under construction from Stardust Power (SDST.O), opens new tab aims to produce 50,000 metric tons of the battery metal per year, about a fifth of what the U.S. is expected to need by 2030. Japan's Sumitomo (8053.T), opens new tab signed a preliminary agreement in February to buy up to half of the facility's output. Stardust aims for the plant to filter lithium from brines - something that has yet to happen at commercial scale - and will have roughly the same capacity as Tesla's (TSLA.O), opens new tab refinery under construction in Texas. It will be powered in part by renewable energy; nearly half of the state's electricity is generated by wind turbines. "That was a huge draw," said Roshan Pujari, Stardust's CEO. The company is pushing forward even after rival Albemarle (ALB.N), opens new tab paused plans to build a large U.S. refinery, citing weak lithium prices. "During these down cycles is the best time to be developing, because why do we want prices to be high when we have nothing to sell?" Pujari said. USA Rare Earth (USAR.O), opens new tab, which went public earlier this year, chose Oklahoma over Texas for its rare earths magnet facility given what it felt was the personalized support from Stitt and other officials, said CEO Josh Ballard. Magnets made from rare earths turn electricity into motion for EVs; the U.S. stopped making them in the 1990s. Ballard says the facility is slated to open early next year and initially produce 1,200 metric tons annually, enough magnets to build more than 400,000 EVs. That supply is already highly sought after in the United States since China placed export restrictions on rare earths in April. Ballard said he has been fielding "a lot of phone calls" since April from prospective customers. The company on Tuesday signed a preliminary supply agreement with Moog (MOGa.N), opens new tab for magnets used in AI data centers. "We can do this quickly. It's just a matter of how do we do it, and can the government help be a catalyst?" said Ballard. The company could get a boost from legislation introduced earlier this month by three U.S. senators - including Oklahoma's Markwayne Mullin - that would provide a tax credit for roughly 30% of the cost to manufacture a magnet made from rare earths. Elsewhere, two Oklahoma battery processing facilities - from Green Li-ion and Blue Whale Materials - will break down lithium-ion batteries into copper and other building blocks for new batteries. Natural Evolution, in Tulsa, is spearheading a push to expand electronic waste recycling. Green Li-ion, which has a recycling facility in Atoka - Country music star Reba McEntire's hometown - has held talks with Glencore (GLEN.L), opens new tab as well as Westwin about buying a recycled version of battery scrap known as MHP, or mixed hydroxide precipitate, that can be used to make nickel products, according to two sources familiar with the negotiations. Glencore declined to comment. Most of the country's recycled batteries are exported now to China in the form of black mass, essentially shredded battery parts. Green Li-ion, which is headquartered in Singapore, moved its U.S. operations to Oklahoma given the state's history with oil and gas extraction, skills it sees as complementary to black mass processing. "This state has a lot of chemical engineers," said Kevin Hobbie, the company's senior vice president of operations. Oklahoma's foray into the energy transition hasn't been all smooth sailing. Tesla supplier Panasonic (6752.T), opens new tab in 2022 chose Kansas over Oklahoma for a battery plant after the Sunflower State wooed it with $1 billion in incentives. In January, EV startup Canoo ( opens new tab filed for bankruptcy despite a $1 million state grant and Stitt's commitment for his administration to buy 1,000 of the company's vehicles. Canoo, which had several production facilities in Oklahoma, blamed uncertain demand for its cargo vans. State officials say they are trying to recoup the funds. Stitt said he is not bothered by the bankruptcy. "We're going to keep swinging for the fences," he said. The state's education system has also generated negative headlines, due in part to a battle over low standards that could make it difficult to convince high-tech talent and their families to relocate to Oklahoma. The state's pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade educational system, for instance, is ranked 48th out of the 50 U.S. states by U.S. News and World Report, and many schools have moved to a four-day week to save money. Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google, which built an Oklahoma data center in 2011, donated funds to the local school district in part to attract faculty. Oklahoma's superintendent of schools is an elected position over which Stitt has no control. The governor successfully pushed for a school voucher system that he said should attract more families. "If I create competition, and now a public school has to compete for a student, it's going to make all boats rise and bring more talent to Oklahoma," Stitt said. The governor said he is focused on helping the minerals refiners in his state grow and is lobbying Trump to require federal contractors to increase the percentage of minerals they buy that are processed in the country. That's a key desire also for Long, the Westwin founder, who spent her youth herding cattle, an experience she said inspired her interest in refining and a reticence for mining. "After seeing the beef and meat industry, I learned that the packer is the one that seems to take the least amount of risk and yet makes the most amount of money," she said. "When I saw mining, I was like, 'The miner is the rancher and the refiner is the packer.' So I decided I want to be the packer."
Reuters
36 minutes ago
- Reuters
Insight: Clean energy has fans in Trump's America, complicating budget talks
June 18 (Reuters) - In an industrial building in the Salt Lake City suburb of Clearfield, Utah, long strips of U.S.-made steel were fed through machines that punctured, bent and cut them into rods that will soon hold solar panels on rooftops. Next door, workers with rivet tools assembled the pieces into finished products, bundled them into packages with "Made in the USA" stickers and wheeled them onto trucks to be delivered to a customer 800 miles (1,300 km) away in San Diego. The adjacent factories, run by solar racking company PanelClaw, are among the dozens that have popped up since 2022 to meet soaring demand for American-made clean energy equipment incentivized by tax credits in former President Joe Biden's climate change law, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Republican-led states like Utah have captured 75% of manufacturing investments supported by the law, even though no member of the party voted for it, according to think tank Energy Innovation. Just two years into its Utah expansion, however, PanelClaw's factories, along with countless other clean energy projects across the country, are in jeopardy as U.S. lawmakers consider rolling back those credits in President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" now in front of the Senate. Earlier this week, a Senate panel published a version of the bill that would end the incentives for wind and solar power by 2028, several years ahead of schedule. Republican Trump had campaigned on a promise to repeal the clean energy tax credits in the IRA, arguing they are expensive, unnecessary and harmful to business. However, the potential loss in jobs and investment that ending those incentives could cause has some Republican lawmakers from red states Utah, Alaska, North Carolina and Kansas at odds over the rollbacks, a dynamic that is complicating final negotiations over the bill. There are 53 Republicans in the Senate, and 51 votes are needed to pass the budget reconciliation bill. "They would be in significant trouble," PanelClaw CEO Costa Nicolaou said of his company's Utah facilities, which are on track to pump out 15 million parts this year. "I mean, we could essentially shut them down if the market goes away, which is what (removing) these credits will do." Utah's Republican senators, Mike Lee and John Curtis, disagree over the subsidies supporting clean energy businesses. Lee likes the proposed cuts to government support for renewable energy technologies and predicts the move could save U.S. taxpayers $1 trillion over the next decade. Curtis, on the other hand, is among four Republican senators who penned a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune in April saying that repealing the tax credits would disrupt investment. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Jerry Moran of Kansas also signed the letter. Neither Lee's nor Thune's office, nor the White House responded to requests for comment. Curtis visited PanelClaw's facility last year, praising it for creating jobs in his state. And more recently, he highlighted the benefits of the IRA subsidies at a Tooele County factory that makes batteries to store power on the grid. The company behind the factory, Fluence Energy (FLNC.O), opens new tab, an energy storage company backed by industry giants Siemens ( opens new tab and AES (AES.N), opens new tab, invested $700 million in manufacturing facilities in Utah and other red states, including Texas and Tennessee. "We can't cut the legs off of these enterprises," Curtis said in a statement. "Doing so would damage Utah's economy, put America's energy future in jeopardy, and weaken our national security. We must take a reasonable, responsible approach to energy tax credits." rPlus Energies, which is building the $1.1 billion Green River Energy Center solar and battery project in Emery County, said changes to the credits would threaten its 15-gigawatt pipeline. Green River will add $55 million over 20 years to the tax base for a county historically reliant on coal, and the credits will keep the price of power low, according to rPlus CEO Luigi Resta. "This is a great project," Resta said. "It's a poster child for the benefits of the IRA in Republican states." Clean energy is nothing new in Utah. Nearly a fifth of the electricity comes from renewable sources, primarily solar, and about 9% of homes are powered by solar panels. Tom Mills, who has sold residential solar in the state since 2014, said some homeowners are seeking environmental benefits while others just want to be self-reliant. "This topic crosses party lines," he said. Park City-based Alpenglow Solar, where Mills serves as technical sales director, would have to downsize its 18 employees if incentives for residential solar are eliminated, he said. Utah was the fourth fastest-growing state in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Utah County, just south of Salt Lake City, accounted for more than a third of that growth and needs revenue to fund new schools. Amelia Powers Gardner, one of the county's three commissioners, said she backs solar power because it can be built quickly - in half the time needed for natural gas plants - and attract revenue-paying data center owners like Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab that want clean power. "I am a Republican," Gardner said. "I would be fine building a gas-fired power plant. But in this case, modular nuclear or solar power - those things can help solve our problems." In Utah, the IRA credits have generated $3 billion in investment, with an additional $10 billion in announced projects, according to Energy Innovation. Nationwide, the IRA has generated $132 billion in announced investments in major energy projects, according to clean energy business group E2. Nearly two-thirds of those investments are in Republican Congressional districts, and the largest beneficiaries include North and South Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, and Texas. "I don't think people necessarily went out of their way to think, 'Oh, I'm going to build these things in red states,'" said Fluence's Americas President John Zahurancik. "That's just where the demand is." U.S. solar stocks have slumped on the proposed credit phase-out although some analysts remain skeptical of whether Congress will pass the bill in its current form before Trump's self-imposed July 4 deadline, which could open a window for solar and wind industry lobbyists. The Senate Finance Committee preserved tax credits for hydro, nuclear, and geothermal energy through 2036 after companies urged it to save them. One of the companies, Fervo, backed by Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy, is constructing an advanced geothermal energy plant in tiny Milford, Utah, that will start supplying customers, including Southern California Edison (EIX.N), opens new tab and Shell Energy (SHEL.L), opens new tab, with power next year. "The Senate Finance Committee's markup of the OBBB (One Big Beautiful Bill) appropriately recognizes the valuable role burgeoning firm, clean energy resources like geothermal play in cementing American energy dominance," said Sarah Jewett, Fervo's vice president of strategy. The plant's construction has been a boon to the local economy. Milford Mayor Nolan Davis advocated for the project to replace jobs lost when pork producer Smithfield Foods (SFD.O), opens new tab cut ties with hog farms in the area. Melissa Wunderlich, a lifelong Milford resident, used to own one of those farms. These days she owns a drive-through diner that is generating more than half of its sales by feeding workers at the Fervo plant. "I've catered for the governor, I catered for Bill Gates," Wunderlich said. "Fervo has been really good."
Daily Mail
36 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Iranian Supreme Leader warns 'the battle begins'
Iran's Supreme Leader issued a series of apocalyptic warnings as US President Donald Trump weighs three military options for the US in the ongoing war. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (pictured) threatened Israel on Tuesday night with disturbing post of an image that showed balls of fire raining down upon an ancient city as a sword-wielding man storms the gate. 'In the name of the noble Haidar, the battle begins,' he wrote in Farsi, referring to Ali - whom Shia Muslims consider the first Imam and the rightful successor to the prophet Mohammed. Khamenei also shared a separate message in English, saying: 'We must give a strong response to the terrorist Zionist regime.' He added: 'We will show the Zionists no mercy.' Meanwhile, Iranian state television ominously reported that 'tonight, a great surprise will occur - one that the world will remember for centuries.' Amid the threats, Trump is said to be considering a US strike on Tehran following Situation Room crisis talks with security advisers. Trump was given three options by advisors about how the should largest military in history should assist Israel in demolishing Iran's nuclear program, according to The New York Times. For months Trump had tried to convince Netanyahu to use diplomacy with Iran. But while meeting with top advisors at the presidential retreat at Camp David earlier this month, he admitted: 'I think we might have to help him.' That's when Trump was provided with three military options to assist Israel in their bombing campaign against Iran's nuclear threat, the Times said. The first and most basic option was the US providing intelligence and jets for refueling Israeli airplanes on bombing missions along. The second option included American and Israeli joint strikes on Iran. The most hawkish option provided a plan for a US-led military campaign that included B-1 and B-2 bombers, aircraft carriers and 'cruise missiles launched from submarines,' the Times reported. Four U.S. B-52 Stratofortress bombers have already been stationed at the Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean - within striking distance of Iran. The B-52s, which can carry nuclear weapons or other precision-guided bombs, were spotted on a runway at Diego Garcia on Monday. While those were being deployed, Trump urged Iran's 'UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER' and even issued a death threat to Khamenei after he abruptly left the G7 summit in Canada. He said the US knows where the Supreme Leader is hiding out, but doesn't want him killed 'for now.' 'We know exactly where the so-called "Supreme Leader" is hiding,' the U.S. President wrote on Truth Social. 'He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. 'But we don't want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin,' Trump warned following reports that he nixed an Israeli request to take out Khamenei. The president also spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, though it remains unclear what the two world leaders discussed as drone strikes between Israel and Iran continued for a fifth consecutive day. Both Israel and Iran launched fresh strikes at each other overnight, as Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it launched a 'more powerful' new wave of missiles at Israel. Yet Gen. Abdul Rahim Mousavi, the commander in chief of Iran's army, claimed that all of the attacks 'carried out so far have been solely for the purpose of warning and deterrence. 'The punishment operation will be carried out soon,' he warned. Residents in Tel Aviv have already been seen running for shelter as missiles rained down on the city and the Iron Dome sprang into action. At the same time, Israel's military said it killed Iran's wartime chief of staff and carried out extensive strikes on Iranian military targets. The International Atomic Energy Agency even reported that there appears to have been a 'direct impact' on Iran's Natanz nuclear facility. The hostilities first erupted on Friday, when Israel launched a massive pre-emptive strike on Iran, hitting nuclear and military facilities and killing top military brass and nuclear scientists. Iran has claimed its nuclear program is peaceful, and the US and others have assessed that Tehran has not had an organized effort to pursue a nuclear weapon since 2003. But the IAEA has repeatedly warned that the country already has enough enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs. US President Trump has repeatedly argued that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon - and members of his administration were set to meet with their Iranian counterparts to iron out a new deal in which the country would not develop any nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief when Israel attacked. Trump has since said he does not believe Israel will slow its assault on Iran, as Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the US, said 'this is the war to end wars'. 'This is the war to engender peace in the Middle East,' he added. Harking back to the audacious bombs-in-pagers plot against Hezbollah last year, Mr Leiter said: 'We've pulled off a number of surprises. When the dust settles, you're going to see some surprises on Thursday night and Friday, that will make the beeper operation almost seem simple.' Foreign affairs minister Gideon Sa'ar also noted that Israel's goals were to severely damage the nuclear program, the ballistic missile program and to 'severely damage Iran's plans to eliminate the state of Israel.' Israel would be greatly helped in those efforts if the United States did get involved, as American GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs are capable of striking deep underground - raising the possibility it could penetrate the Fordow nuclear enrichment site, buried deep in a mountain south of Tehran. The United States also already has a Carrier Strike Group in the eastern Mediterranean, including an aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, with nine squadrons of fighter jets, as well as frigates and destroyers. And as Trump continues to deliberate on his options - after previously saying it was 'possible' that the United States get involved in the regional conflict - the Pentagon has sent more than 40 additional US jets to the UK and Europe. They are thought to include stealth bombers and air-to-air refuelers - which could be critical for any operation in the Middle East. The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier group also headed to the region from the South China Sea Monday.
