Trump in situation room with Hegseth and Caine amid Iran attack on US bases – report
Joint Chiefs Chair General Dan Caine and Secretary Pete Hegseth are in the Situation Room right now monitoring potential Iranian retaliation, per a senior White House official. Trump is currently in the room with them, CNBC reports.
Key events
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, called for a return to diplomacy to end what he called “the spiral of chaos” after Iran targeted a US military base in Qatar.
Macron wrote on X:
“I express France’s solidarity with Qatar, which has been struck by Iran on its soil.
I am in close contact with the country’s authorities and our partners in the region.
I call on all parties to exercise the utmost restraint, de-escalate, and return to the negotiating table. This spiral of chaos must end.”
Before Macron’s social media post, foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot told France 2 television that the missile strikes, which had not caused any casualties, were a “dangerous escalation” and he urged all sides to show restraint.
Trump is attacking members of the media, several by name, on Truth Social. He appears angry over reports from several news outlets that the facilities struck in Iran may not have been completely destroyed by the US attacks.
Trump wrote:
“The sites that we hit in Iran were totally destroyed, and everyone knows it. Only the Fake News would say anything different in order to try and demean, as much as possible — And even they say they were “pretty well destroyed!” Working especially hard on this falsehood is Allison Cooper of Fake News CNN, Dumb Brian L. Roberts, Chairman of “Con”cast, Jonny Karl of ABC Fake News, and always, the Losers of, again, Concast’s NBC Fake News. It never ends with the sleazebags in the Media, and that’s why their Ratings are at an ALL TIME LOW — ZERO CREDIBILITY!”
Trump’s media company plans to buy back up to $400m of its stock, which is down 46% this year.
Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, says that the acquisition will improve its financial flexibility. Trump is the largest stakeholder in Trump Media, with about 114m shares.
The Florida-based company, which trades under the ticker DJT on both Nasdaq and NYSE Texas, saw shares rise just over 1%. But the shares appeared to peak about a month after the company went public in late March. Shares have been on a steady, downward trajectory since.
The Trump administration was reportedly aware in advance of Iran’s attack on the al-Udeid air base in Qatar, according to Axios.
As we reported earlier, Trump and Republican representative Thomas Massie have been engaged in an online back-and-forth after Massie publicly opposed Trump’s decision to strike Iran.
Massie said on social media today that “Our War Powers Resolution has 57 cosponsors.”
He added that: “Whether you like it or not Congress will be voting on U.S. hostilities in Iran. Under the War Powers Act, the President is required to withdraw from hostilities in Iran within 60 days (+30 day ext.) unless he gets a vote of Congress.”
Trump had visited the Qatari base Iran is attacking just last month. The president addressed US and Qatari troops there in May during a trip to the region.
Speaking to US troops at the base just weeks ago, Trump said “my priority is to end conflicts, not start them”.
He added: “But I will never hesitate to wield American power, if it’s necessary, to defend the United States of America or our partners. And this is one of our great partners right here,” referring to Qatar. “When we’re threatened, America’s military will answer our enemies without even thinking about it. We have overwhelming strength and devastating force.”
Trump in situation room with Hegseth and Caine amid Iran attack on US bases – report
Joint Chiefs Chair General Dan Caine and Secretary Pete Hegseth are in the Situation Room right now monitoring potential Iranian retaliation, per a senior White House official. Trump is currently in the room with them, CNBC reports.
An Axios reporter, citing an Israeli official, said that six missiles had been launched by Iran directed towards US airbases in Qatar.
Follow the Israel-Iran war live blog for more updates:
A western diplomat told Reuters that there has been a credible Iranian threat against the US-run al Udeid airbase in Qatar since noon.
The airbase in Qatar is the Middle East’s largest US base that houses about 10,000 troops.
At the same time, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Iran is moving missile launchers into place for a potential attack on US forces in the Middle East, citing US officials.
Macron says ‘no framework of legality’ for US strikes on Iran nuclear facilities
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, said today that there was no “framework of legality” regarding the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, adding any regime change in the country should be a result of the will of the people, not of bombs.
“There is no framework of legality in these strikes, even if France shares the objective not to see Iran acquire nuclear weapons,” he told reporters during a press conference in Oslo alongside the Norwegian prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre.
“I believe in the sovereignty of peoples and territorial integrity … so I don’t think we can take the place of a people to change its leaders,” Macron added.
Joseph Gedeon
A group of 12 House Democratic military veterans are backing efforts to constrain Donald Trump’s military authority, announcing they will support a War Powers Act resolution in response to the US president’s go ahead for airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
The veterans – some of whom served in Iraq and Afghanistan – were strongly critical of Trump’s decision to launch what they called “preventive air strikes” without US congressional approval, drawing explicit parallels to the run-up to some of America’s longest recent wars.
“Twenty years ago, in their rush to appear strong and tough, politicians – from both parties – failed to ask the hard questions before starting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” they wrote in a letter led by Representative Pat Ryan to Trump sent on Monday. “We refuse to make those same mistakes.”
Their intervention comes as multiple war powers resolutions are gaining momentum on Capitol Hill, with the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, pushing for a vote as early as this week to rein in the president’s military actions. The veterans did not specify which measure they would support, as competing versions are being drafted by different Democratic factions alongside a bipartisan effort.
The day so far
-
Trump is scheduled to meet with his national security team at 1pm ET in the Oval Office.
-
Trump responded to Dmitry Medvedev, the former president of Russia and an ally of Vladimir Putin, who said on social media that a “number of countries are ready to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear warheads”. In response, Trump said that “The ‘N word’ should not be treated so casually. I guess that’s why Putin’s ‘THE BOSS.’”
-
Trump issued a warning about oil prices after White House adviser says Iran strike won’t disrupt markets.
-
The US embassy in Qatar advised American citizens there to “shelter in place until further notice” and on Sunday night, the state department issued a “worldwide caution” security alert advising US citizens abroad to “exercise increased caution”.
-
Pakistan has condemned Trump for bombing Iran, less than 24 hours after saying he deserved a Nobel peace prize for defusing a recent crisis with India.
-
Trump is set to attend the two day Nato summit beginning on Tuesday. The White House said that at the summit, Trump will push Nato members to increase defense spending.
-
Trump insisted that “monumental damage” had been done by US strikes to Iran’s nuclear sites, but the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says no one in a position to fully assess damage to Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
-
The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that the US position on Iran regime change has altered, despite Trump raising the prospect of regime change in Iran on Sunday.
-
Democratic senator John Fetterman called US strike on Iran “entirely appropriate” and criticized his Democratic colleagues who have condemned the strikes.
-
On Monday morning, Trump once again hit out at Republican representative Thomas Massie, who has publicly opposed Trump’s decision to strike Iran.
-
The LA county sheriff’s department deleted and then apologized for posting a message expressing sympathy for “the victims and families impacted” by US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Trump responds to Medvedev on countries readying to help Iran with nuclear weapons
Donald Trump has responded to Dmitry Medvedev, the former president of Russia and an ally of Vladimir Putin, who said on social media that a “number of countries are ready to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear warheads”.
In a post on Sunday, Medvedev also wrote that Trump, who he said was “once hailed as ‘president of peace” has “now pushed the US into another war”.
On Monday morning, Trump responded on Truth Social, writing in a lengthy post, “Did I hear Former President Medvedev, from Russia, casually throwing around the ‘N word’ (Nuclear!), and saying that he and other Countries would supply Nuclear Warheads to Iran?”.
He added: “The ‘N word’ should not be treated so casually. I guess that’s why Putin’s ‘THE BOSS.’”
