The alluring fantasy of a quick win in Iran
AFTER THE elation, the doubt. President Donald Trump said that 'Operation Midnight Hammer', had 'totally obliterated' Iran's uranium-enrichment facilities. But now an early intelligence assessment leaked on June 24th suggests the nuclear programme has only been set back by months and that some enriched uranium may have been spirited away. The report is an early 'low-confidence' assessment that both the Trump administration and Israeli sources eschew. But it illuminates a bigger problem. Mr Trump wants a quick-fix to the Iran nightmare with a single, clarifying mega-strike, a ceasefire and then prosperity. Instead America faces years of uncertainty over Iran's capabilities and intentions. As a result Mr Trump's assumption—that he can have a one-day Middle East military triumph and then quickly secure a lasting deal—may be badly misplaced.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trump administration issues fresh ultimatum to California on high school trans athlete controversy
Donald Trump 's Education Secretary Linda McMahon is threatening to pull California 's federal education funding for allowing transgender girls to play sports on girls' teams. The federal Education Department announced proposed a resolution Wednesday requiring California to bar transgender women from women's sports and strip transgender athletes of records, titles and awards. It's the latest escalation in Trump's effort to bar transgender athletes from women's sports teams nationwide. If California rejects the proposal, the Education Department could move to terminate the state's federal education funding. Under federal guidelines, California's education office and the sports federation have 10 days to come into compliance or risk enforcement action. 'The Trump Administration will relentlessly enforce Title IX protections for women and girls, and our findings today make clear that California has failed to adhere to its obligations under federal law,' McMahon said. 'The state must swiftly come into compliance with Title IX or face the consequences that follow.' Title IX is a 1972 law forbidding sex discrimination based in education. California education and sports officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday. Federal officials opened an investigation into the California Interscholastic Federation in February after the organization said it would abide by a state law allowing athletes to compete on teams consistent with their gender identity. That followed an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that was intended to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls and women's sports. In April, McMahon's department opened an investigation into the California Department of Education over the same issue. Both investigations concluded that state policies violated Title IX. The administration has been invoking the law in its campaign against transgender athletes, launching scores of investigations into schools, colleges and states. It's a reversal from the Biden administration, which attempted to expand Title IX to provide protections for transgender students. A federal judge struck down the expansion before Trump took office in January. The administration's proposed resolution would require California to notify schools that transgender athletes should be barred from girls athletic teams and that all schools must 'adopt biology-based definitions of the words "male" and "female."' The state would also have to notify schools that any conflicting interpretation of state law would be considered a violation of Title IX. Athletes who lost awards, titles or records to transgender athletes would have their honors restored under the proposal, and the state would be required to send personal apology letters to those athletes. A similar resolution was offered to Maine's education agency in a separate clash with the administration over transgender athletes. Maine rejected the proposal in April, prompting a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to terminate the state's federal education funding. The California federation separately tested a pilot policy at a state track meet in May, allowing one extra competitor in three events featuring high school junior AB Hernandez, who is trans. The organization announced the change after Trump took to social medial to criticize Hernandez's participation. The Justice Department said it would investigate Hernandez's district and the state to determine if Title IX was being violated. The American Medical Association and American Psychiatric Association have both stated that gender is a spectrum and not a binary structure, as the White House argued in its January 20 executive order 'defending women from gender ideology.' A recent Associated Press poll found that 7 in 10 American adults want transgender female athletes banned from girls and women's sports at the high school, college or professional level. Although the issue continues to make headlines, the number of transgender athletes in female sports remains very low. NCAA President Charlie Baker said in January that only 10 publicly transgender athletes were currently competing among the organization's 510,000 student athletes. A 2023 UCLA study estimated that fewer than 1 percent of US adults identify as transgender. About half of US adults approve of Trump's handling transgender issues, according to a May poll — a relative high point for a president who has the approval overall of about 4 in 10 Americans. But support for his individual policies on transgender people is not uniformly strong, with a clearer consensus against policies that affect youth. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey of 1,175 adults conducted this month found there's more support than opposition on allowing transgender troops in the military, while most don't want to allow transgender students to use the public school bathrooms that align with their gender identity and oppose using government programs to pay for gender-affirming health care for transgender youth.
Western Telegraph
7 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Trump meets Zelensky and says higher Nato spending may deter future aggression
Nato members agreed to raise their spending targets by 2035 to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) annually on core defence requirements as well as defence- and security-related spending. That target had been 2% of GDP. 'Europe stepping up to take more responsibility for security will help prevent future disasters like the horrible situation with Russia and Ukraine,' Mr Trump said at the summit-ending news conference shortly after meeting with Mr Zelensky. 'And hopefully we're going to get that solved.' The US president also reiterated his belief that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to end the war in Ukraine that began with Moscow's invasion in February 2022. 'He'd like to get out of this thing. It's a mess for him,' Mr Trump said. 'He called the other day, and he said, 'Can I help you with Iran?' I said, 'No, you can help me with Russia'.' Mr Trump's meeting with Mr Zelensky was their first face-to-face session since April when they met at St Peter's Basilica during Pope Francis's funeral. Mr Trump also had a major confrontation with Mr Zelensky earlier this year at the White House. Mr Zelensky, in a social media post, said The Hague talks were substantive and he thanked Mr Trump for the US assistance. 'We discussed how to achieve a ceasefire and a real peace. We spoke about how to protect our people. We appreciate the attention and the readiness to help bring peace closer,' Mr Zelensky added. Mr Trump left open the possibility of sending Kyiv more US-made Patriot air defence missile systems. Asked by a Ukrainian reporter, who said that her husband was a Ukrainian soldier, Mr Trump acknowledged that sending more Patriots would help the Ukrainian cause. 'They do want to have the antimissile missiles, OK, as they call them, the Patriots,' Mr Trump said. 'And we're going to see if we can make some available. We need them, too. We're supplying them to Israel, and, they're very effective, 100% effective. Hard to believe how effective. They do want that more than any other thing.' Over the course of the war, the US has routinely pressed for allies to provide air defence systems to Ukraine. But many are reluctant to give up the high-tech systems, particularly countries in Eastern Europe that also feel threatened by Russia. Mr Trump laid into the US media throughout his news conference but showed unusual warmth towards the Ukrainian reporter. 'That's a very good question,' Mr Trump said about the query about Patriots. 'And I wish you a lot of luck. I mean, I can see it's very upsetting to you. So say hello to your husband.' Ukraine has been front and centre at recent Nato summits. But as the alliance's latest annual meeting of leaders opened in the Netherlands, Mr Zelensky was not in the room. The Trump administration has blocked Ukraine's bid to join Nato. The conflict with Russia has laid waste to Ukrainian towns and killed thousands of civilians. Just last week, Russia launched one of the biggest drone attacks of the war. During Mr Trump's 2024 campaign for the White House, the Republican pledged a quick end to the war. He saw it as a costly conflict that, he claimed, would not have happened had he won re-election in 2020. Since taking office in January, he has struggled to find a resolution to the conflict and has shown frustration with both Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky. Mr Zelensky spent Tuesday in The Hague shuttling from meeting to meeting. He got a pledge from summit host the Netherlands for military aid, including new drones and radars to help knock out Russian drones. British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced that the United Kingdom will provide 350 air defence missiles to Ukraine, funded by £70 million raised from the interest on seized Russian assets.
The Independent
14 minutes ago
- The Independent
Did Trump leak Israeli intelligence again? Sam Kiley explains
For a second time, Donald Trump appears to have disclosed top-secret intelligence on allied operations in enemy territory. The US president twice appeared to suggest at the Nato summit in the Hague that Israel had agents on the ground in Iran assessing the damage done by America. Intelligence assessments were leaked to the New York Times and CNN that cast doubt on his claim to have 'obliterated' the nuclear programme. Sam Kiley breaks down how Mr Trump used the most sensitive work of an allied nation to bolster his claims.
