TRUMP: ‘I’M NOT HAPPY’: President Donald Trump emerged from the White House this morning enraged that Israel responded to what he called a single Iranian missile probably fired by mistake, to violate his carefully arranged ceasefire deal.
While Trump blamed both sides for not adhering to the ceasefire, he aimed most of his ire at Israel in an angry rant before reporters on the White House South Lawn. “Israel’s gotta calm down,” Trump said, calling its response to the Iranian missile “ridiculous.”
“I didn’t like plenty of things I saw yesterday,” Trump said, clearly agitated. “I don’t like the fact that Israel went out this morning, and I’m gonna see if I can stop it, so as soon as I get away from you.”
“When I say, ‘OK, now you have 12 hours,’ you don’t go out in the first hour and just drop everything you have on them. So I’m not happy with them. I’m not happy with Iran, but I’m really unhappy if Israel’s going out this morning because the one rocket that didn’t land that was shot perhaps by mistake, didn’t land. I’m not happy about that,” Trump said before boarding Marine One. “You know we basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f*** they’re doing.”
LAST NIGHT, TRUMP WAS GIDDY: Trump, possibly with visions of the Nobel Peace Prize dancing in his head, was positively ebullient last night as he declared what he dubbed “The 12 Day War” between Iran and Israel over, thanks to a ceasefire he said he brokered at the request of both countries.
“Israel & Iran came to me, almost simultaneously, and said, ‘PEACE!’ I knew the time was NOW. The World, and the Middle East, are the real WINNERS! Both Nations will see tremendous LOVE, PEACE, AND PROSPERITY in their futures,” Trump posted on Truth Social late last night. “They have so much to gain, and yet, so much to lose if they stray from the road of RIGHTEOUSNESS & TRUTH. The future for Israel & Iran is UNLIMITED, & filled with great PROMISE. GOD BLESS YOU BOTH!”
It was just one of a string of Truth Social posts in which Trump’s enthusiasm bubbled over into sheer giddiness. “On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, ‘THE 12 DAY WAR.’” Trump posted earlier in the evening. “This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will! God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and GOD BLESS THE WORLD!”
Labeling the conflict “The 12 Day War” obviously invokes the historic 1967 “Six-Day War,” in which Israel defeated a group of Arab countries, including Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.
TRUMP EXPECTS ISRAEL-IRAN CEASEFIRE TO LAST ‘FOREVER,’ NEVER TO SHOOT AT EACH OTHER AGAIN
IRAN OFFERS ‘OFF RAMP,’ TRUMP TAKES IT: The stage for the ceasefire was set by what appeared to be a symbolic missile attack by Iran on the U.S. air base in Qatar, where Trump gave a speech to U.S. troops last month. Iran said it launched 14 missiles, the same number of bunker-buster bombs that were dropped on two of Iran’s three nuclear facilities Saturday.
Qatar, which shares a major oil field with Iran, was given advance warning of the strikes in time for U.S. troops to take shelter, and the base’s missile defenses shot 13 of the missiles out of the sky.
“Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered. There have been 14 missiles fired — 13 were knocked down, and 1 was ‘set free,’ because it was headed in a nonthreatening direction,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured,” Trump said. “Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE.”
The response was similar to Iran’s reaction to Trump’s assassination of Quds Force Gen. Qassem Soleimani in 2020, when Trump claimed that Iran called him ahead of time. “They had to hit back. They feel they have to do that. And I understand that,” Trump told Fox News in an interview last year. “They had to do it because they have people and they have to show strength. So they aimed the missiles, but they said, ‘Please don’t attack us. We’re not going to hit you.’ That was respect. We had respect.”
IRAN ATTACK ON QATAR AIR BASE WAS DESIGNED AS AN ‘OFF-RAMP’ TO CONFLICT WITH US
FIGHTING UNTIL ‘THE VERY LAST MINUTE’: The ceasefire went into effect at 4 a.m. local time and appeared to hold for about two hours until Israel accused Iran of firing another barrage of missiles, which Iran denied.
Up until the hour the ceasefire was to begin, both sides traded a flurry of strikes, making use of the final hours to get in some last licks.
“The military operations of our powerful Armed Forces to punish Israel for its aggression continued until the very last minute, at 4am,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X. “Together with all Iranians, I thank our brave Armed Forces who remain ready to defend our dear country until their last drop of blood, and who responded to any attack by the enemy until the very last minute.”
The Israeli government posted on X this morning, “This is a great success for the people of Israel and its fighters, who removed two existential threats to our country, and ensured the eternity of Israel. The Prime Minister will issue a statement later today.”
According to an Israeli government statement, “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the Security Cabinet last night, together with the Defense Minister, the IDF Chief-of-Staff and the Director of the Mossad, in order to report that Israel has achieved all of the objectives of Operation Rising Lion, and much more.”
IRAN GETS FINAL WORD BEFORE ’12 DAY WAR’ CEASEFIRE WITH DEADLY MISSILE ATTACK ON ISRAEL
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HAPPENING TODAY: TRUMP TO NATO: Trump wrapped up his ceasefire deal just in time to make his scheduled 6 a.m. departure from the White House to the Netherlands for today’s gathering of the leaders of NATO nations in The Hague.
Trump will arrive triumphant, not just because he appears to have successfully brokered an end to the Israel-Iran war and Tehran’s near-term nuclear ambitions but also because the 32-nation alliance is poised to adopt Trump’s demand that all NATO nations spend 5% of GDP on defense, up from 2%. It’s a goal that Trump says the United States doesn’t need to meet. “I don’t think we should, but I think they should,” he said last week.
“The defense investment plan that allies will agree on in The Hague introduces a new baseline: 5% of GDP to be invested in defense. This is a quantum leap that is ambitious, historic, and fundamental to securing our future,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told reporters ahead of the two-day summit. “The new defense investment plan is the key deliverable for this summit and will be decisive when it comes to ensuring effective deterrence and defense.”
The plan, which would be phased over 10 years, calls for 3.5% of GDP for military spending and an additional 1.5% for “defense-related” infrastructure, such as upgrading roads, bridges, ports, and airfields.
VANCE: THE IRANIANS HAVE SHOWN ‘THEY’RE JUST NOT VERY GOOD AT WAR’: Vice President JD Vance was sitting on the set with Fox News anchor Bret Baier the moment Trump posted the first word of the ceasefire.
“We have destroyed the Iranian nuclear program. Zero Americans have died. That’s an amazing, amazing thing. Americans, whether Democrats or Republicans, we should be celebrating that,” Vance said, who told Baier he’d seen a draft of Trump’s statement before he arrived at the Fox News studios.
Baier asked Vance about one of the key unknowns: what happened to the roughly 880 pounds of uranium enriched to 60% purity, enough to make nine or 10 bombs if enriched to 90%.
“Our goal was to bury the uranium. And I do think the uranium is buried. But our goal was to eliminate the enrichment and eliminate their ability to convert that enriched fuel into a nuclear weapon,” Vance said. “The main focus, Bret, has been to destroy their enrichment capacity, because we don’t want that 60% uranium to become 90% uranium. That’s the real concern. And that’s what was so successful about our mission.”
“What we destroyed is their ability to enrich uranium,” he said. “Our hope is that the lesson that the Iranians have learned here is, look, we can fly a bunker-buster bomb from Missouri to Iran completely undetected without landing once on the ground, and we can destroy whatever nuclear capacity you build up.”
“What the Iranians have showed through their support of terror networks, through their now-failed effort to build a nuclear weapon, is that they’re just not very good at war,” Vance said. “And I think the president really hit the reset button and said, ‘Look, let’s actually produce long-term peace for the region.’”
VANCE SAYS TOMORROW ‘A NEW DAY’ AFTER TRUMP ANNOUNCES ISRAEL-IRAN CEASEFIRE
GRAHAM: ‘DO THEY STILL DESIRE A NUCLEAR WEAPON?’: In an appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show last night, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of the loudest voices calling for Trump to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites, said Iran needs to do more if it truly wants peace.
“If the ceasefire is genuine and will lead to peace, it is a major league accomplishment. If the ceasefire is used to rearm and regroup by Iran, we’ve gone backwards,” Graham said. “Their nuclear ambitions have been set back in a very large, dramatic way between Israel and the United States, but do they still desire a nuclear weapon? Do they still want to kill all the Jews and wipe Israel off the map, attack Saudi Arabia and purify Islam and come after us? Do they still want to be the largest state sponsor of terrorism on the planet?”
“What I want to do is hear from the Iranians, ‘We don’t want to kill all the Jews anymore. We’ve abandoned that as our goal. We accept Israel,’” Graham said, issuing a challenge to Iran’s foreign minister. “If he will say that, then you got a real breakthrough. If he won’t say that, then I think they’re just buying time to regroup and come at Israel later.”
TRUMP VS MEDVEDEV: Sunday’s X post by Dmitry Medvedev, deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council, in which he suggested “a number of countries are ready to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear warheads,” caught the attention of Trump, who chastised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hatchet man in a Truth Social 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?” Trump posted. “Did he really say that or, is it just a figment of my imagination? If he did say that, and, if confirmed, please let me know, IMMEDIATELY. The ‘N word’ should not be treated so casually.”
Medvedev answered Trump in a follow-up post on X, in which he wrote, “Russia has no intention of supplying nuclear weapons to Iran because, unlike Israel, we are parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. … But other countries might — and that’s what was said.”
Trump said, “I guess that’s why Putin’s ‘THE BOSS.’”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: Trump expects Israel-Iran ceasefire to last ‘forever,’ never to shoot at each other again
Washington Examiner: Vance says tomorrow ‘a new day’ after Trump announces Israel-Iran ceasefire
Washington Examiner: Iran gets final word before ’12 Day War’ ceasefire with deadly missile attack on Israel
Washington Examiner: Iran attack on Qatar air base was designed as an ‘off-ramp’ to conflict with US
Washington Examiner: Iranian strike on US Qatari base met with regionwide condemnation
Washington Examiner: Khamenei has few options for asylum and no reason to leave
Washington Examiner: Reza Pahlavi opens ‘channel’ for defecting Iranian officials, offers Khamenei ‘fair trial’
Washington Examiner: What to know about B-2 bombers used in US strike on Iran
Washington Examiner: Britt says there is ‘no doubt’ Trump will win Nobel Peace Prize for Israel-Iran ceasefire
Washington Examiner: Editorial: Trump’s strike opens door for true peace
Washington Examiner: Newsom pushes federal judge to consider new pause on Trump National Guard use
Washington Examiner: Thune runs into ‘big, beautiful bill’ time crunch ahead of July 4 deadline
Washington Examiner: Thune to keep Senate in session until reconciliation bill is passed
Washington Examiner: Business leaders predict dire consequences if ICE purges immigrant workforce
Washington Examiner: Noem to visit Central America to see arrival flight of deported illegal immigrants, meet world leaders
Wall Street Journal: US Investigates How Much of Iran’s Nuclear Program Was Destroyed—And How Much Remains
Bloomberg: Iran Strike on US Air Base in Qatar ‘Theater’ Not War, Says Retired Air Force Lt. General
Defense Scoop: Cyber Command Supports Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Facilities, but Officials Keep Details Under Wraps
Air & Space Forces Magazine: F-15EX and Its Electronic Warfare Suite Both Face Supply Chain Issues: Watchdog
Breaking Defense: ‘Bunch of SCARS’: Space Force’s Hammett Speeds Phased Array Antenna Integration
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Lawmakers Urge Air Force, SOCOM to Collaborate on New Long-Range Surveillance Drones
Defense News: Pringles Cans on Drones: Ukraine’s Weapons Ingenuity Takes All Forms
Defense One: Established Defense Contractors Lend Tech Startups a Helping Hand
Space News: York Space Launches US Military Satellite on SpaceX Rideshare
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Dual-Use Military and Civil Airports Face Cyber Threats—and Policy Challenges
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Technical Sergeant Promotions Surge in 2025, to 1 in 4
THE CALENDAR:
TUESDAY | JUNE 24
The Hague, Netherlands — The Netherlands hosts 2025 NATO Leaders Summit June 24-25. https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_234793.htm
9 a.m. — Hudson Institute NATO Public Forum https://www.hudson.org/events/nato-public-forum-2025
9:30 a.m. G-50 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the nominations of Vice Adm. Charles Cooper to be commander of the U.S. Central Command; and Air Force Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich to be commander of the U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe http://www.armed-services.senate.gov
10:30 a.m.192 Dirksen — Senate Appropriations: Defense Subcommittee hearing: “A Review of the President’s FY2026 Budget Request for the Navy,” with testimony from Navy Secretary John Phelan; Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith; and Adm. James Kilby, acting chief of naval operations http://appropriations.senate.gov
10 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Hudson Institute discussion: “The Need for Speed: Transforming Defense Procurement for a Dangerous World,” with House Armed Services Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL); House Armed Services ranking member Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA); Dan Patt, senior fellow, Hudson Center for Defense Concepts and Technology; and Bryan Clark, director, Hudson Center for Defense Concepts and Technology https://www.hudson.org/events/need-speed-transforming-defense
3:30 p.m. — Air and Space Forces Association Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies virtual discussion: “U.S. Defense Through a Congressional Lens,” with Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/events/rep-don-bacon/
WEDNESDAY | JUNE 25
7:15 a.m. 2425 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Va. — Association of the U.S. Army discussion with Christopher Donahue, commanding general, U.S. Army Europe and Africa. https://www.ausa.org/events/coffee-series/gen-donahue
8:45 a.m. 1201 15th St. NW — Defense Strategies Institute Digital Engineering for Defense Summit: “Leveraging Digital Tools to Transform How the DoD Approaches Integrated Mission Success, with Elmer Roman, deputy assistant secretary of defense for mission integration, Office of the Defense Undersecretary for Research and Engineering https://digitalengineering.dsigroup.org/register
9 a.m. HVC-210, U.S. Capitol — House Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party Committee hearing: “Algorithms and Authoritarians: Why U.S. AI Must Lead” https://selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov
9 a.m. — Air and Space Forces Association Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies virtual discussion: “Efforts at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to ensure America never again faces a strategic technical surprise,” with DARPA Deputy Director Rob McHenry https://afa-org.zoom.us/webinar/register
2 p.m. HVC-210, U.S. Capitol — House Oversight and Government Reform Military and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing: “The National Guard State Partnership Program: Strengthening U.S. Security, One Partnership at a Time,” with testimony from Christopher Mamaux, deputy assistant secretary of defense for global partnerships; Maj. Gen. William J. Edwards, director of strategic plans and policy, and international affairs, National Guard Bureau; and Maj. Gen. Robin Stilwell, adjutant general, South Carolina National Guard http://oversight.house.gov
5:30 p.m. 555 8th St. NW — Axios discussion: “Future of Defense: The Resource Battlefield,” with Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD); Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-P); Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX); and Ken Merriam, managing director, supply chain and operations and data and AI at Accenture https://axiostheresourcebattlefield.splashthat.com/
THURSDAY | JUNE 26
9 a.m. 1250 S Hayes St., Arlinton, Va. — Defense One Annual Tech Summit, with Derek Tournear, director, Space Development Agency; Leslie Beavers, principal deputy defense CIO; and Maj. Gen. Mark Piper, deputy director of operations, U.S. Northern Command https://events.defenseone.com/tech-summit-2025
9 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “The Future of NATO Defense, Resilience, and Allied Innovation,” with Kari A. Bingen, Director of the CSIS Aerospace Security Project and Senior Fellow in the Defense and Security Department, will be joined by Kristine Berzina, Managing Director, Geostrategy North, German Marshall Fund; Ryan Evans, CEO and Founder, War on the Rocks and Bedrock Knowledge; and Zach Beecher, Partner, Scout Ventures. https://www.csis.org/events/future-nato-defense-resilience-and-allied-innovation
10 a.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW — Henry L. Stimson Center discussion: “The Realities of an Invasion of Taiwan,” with Dan Grazier, senior fellow and director, Stimson Center National Security Reform Program; MacKenna Rawlins, research associate, Stimson Center Strategy and Planning Project; and James Siebens, fellow for cyber and reimaging grand strategy, Stimson Center Russia and Strategic Foresight Hub https://www.stimson.org/event/the-realities-of-an-invasion-of-taiwan/
12:30 p.m. — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace virtual discussion: “Does the West Still Exist? Reflections on the NATO and G7 Summits,” with Kori Schake, director of foreign and defense policy studies, American Enterprise Institute; Steward Patrick, director, CEIP Global Order and Institutions Program; Rosa Balfour, director of Carnegie Europe; and Sophia Besch, senior fellow, CEIP Europe Program https://carnegieendowment.org/events/2025/06/does-the-west-still-exist
5 p.m. 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace book discussion: The Illegals: Russia’s Most Audacious Spies and Their Century-Long Mission to Infiltrate the West, with author Shaun Walker, international correspondent, The Guardian; and David Hoffman, contributing editor, Washington Post https://carnegieendowment.org/events/2025/06/shaun-walker-book-launch-the-illegals
5:30 p.m. 701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Axios discussion: “AI-Driven Defense: Protecting Society From Rising Fraud and Cyber Crime,” with Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA); former Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX), CTO of CHAOS; and Michael Jabbara, senior vice president of payment ecosystem risk and control at Visa https://axiosai-drivendefense.splashthat.com/
FRIDAY | JUNE 27
8 a.m. 300 First St. SE — National Institute for Deterrence Studies seminar: “Growing Concerns of Missile Threats in the Middle East,” with Uzi Rubin, founder and former director, Israel Missile Defense Organization https://thinkdeterrence.com/events/growing-concerns-of-missile-threats-in-the-middle-east/
11 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW — Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion: “the role of landpower in the Indo-Pacific,” with U.S. Army Pacific Commanding Gen. Ronald Clark; Robert Brown, president of the Association of the U.S. Army and former commanding general of the U.S. Army Pacific; and Tom Karako, director, CSIS Missile Defense Project and senior fellow, CSIS Defense and Security Department https://www.csis.org/events/strategic-landpower-dialogue
