Your tax dollars hosting Sunday night's United Fighting Champtionship Freedom 250/Trump 80th birthday party/ Flag Day event on the South Lawn of the White House [UFC image].
WEDNESDAY 6/17/26
What’s the Deal? – Um. Still don’t know. Speaking at the end of the G7 summit in Evian, France, President Trump said allies there “love” the memorandum of understanding, or tentative agreement, with Iran, but earlier Wednesday said the US would resume bombing Iran if “they don’t behave,” The New York Times reports.
“Nobody knows what it is,” the president said of the MOU, “but it’s very strong.”
What The Associated Press knows from leaked copies of the interim agreement “that broadly matches the document” everyone was expecting to see Wednesday is that as soon as it is signed – which one guesses, means this Friday in Geneva -- Iran will immediately take steps to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and will be allowed to sell its oil without restrictions.
Trump also said that “most people” and most importantly, the “market” are happy with the agreement. By midday Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Averages had hit an all-time high of 52,212.40 points, up 0.41% for the day so far.
“The one president I did not want to be was the late great Herbert Hoover,” Trump said (NYT again), who presided over the Wall Street crash of late-October 1929.
As Israel has not committed to withdrawal from Lebanon, which is said to be a major plank in the MOU, Trump said Tuesday that Israel has been fighting Hezbollah there “too long” (The Independent). “Too many people have been killed. You don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you’re looking for somebody, because there are a lot of people in apartment houses and they’re not all Hezbollah.”
•••
Trumpian Chess Move – President Trump said Wednesday he is suspending his nomination of Jay Clayton as his permanent director of national security until Congress passes his Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, with “Trump Jr.,” Bill Pulte remaining as acting director in the meantime, The New York Times reports.
Passage of the SAVE Act, which would require documented proof of US citizenship to register to vote and meant to help shore up the GOP’s thin majorities in the House and Senate, will not pass with Democrats having 47 votes in the Senate. Upshot is that Pulte, who does not have complete support of congressional Republicans, let alone any Democrats, could be acting director at least through the midterms.
•••
Still More Fuel Price Relief – The national average for a gallon of unleaded regular came down another 1.9 cents Wednesday to $4.025, says AAA. That’s up $1.05 from February 28, when the Strait of Hormuz was still open to oil tankers. Diesel is down 3.3 cents Wednesday, AAA says, to $5.162 per gallon average, up $1.347 from late February.
•••
It’s a Ballroom Ritz – As workers began to demolish the East Wing of the White House last autumn, President Trump promised his grand ballroom would cost $200 million and be financed by private donations (though the potential quid pro quo for such donations usually does not equate to a free lunch). Last March 31, Trump told reporters the ballroom would cost up to $400 million.
“This is taxpayer-free,” Trump said. “We have no taxpayer putting up 10 cents.”
Showing signs of enterprise-journalism life, The Washington Post reported Tuesday Golden Grand Ballroom de Trump will cost taxpayers far more than one thin dime.
Cost is now estimated to be $600 million, according to a copy of the detailed project summary prepared by the ballroom contractor for the White House three weeks before the president’s “taxpayer-free” misstatement and obtained more recently by the WaPo. –TL
_______________________________________________
TUESDAY 6/16/26
Zelenskyy at G7 – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy showed President Trump pictures of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, the religious landmark last week hit by a direct Russian attack, in a half-hour G7 summit meeting Tuesday that included French President Emmanuel Macron, The Kyiv Independent reports.
Trump was “visibly disappointed” and “appeared moved” by the photos of the 11th Century monastery, sources familiar with the meeting in Evian-les-Baines, France, told the Ukrainian newspaper.
Zelenskyy, Trump and Macron also took part in a joint working session with other G7 leaders, according to the Independent, where Russia’s war against Ukraine was a key topic. G7 leaders agreed on supplying air defense support to Ukraine, Zelenskyy said.
“We talked about both the systems and the missiles,” he told reporters.
•••
Doubt Accumulates – We were going to headline this news item “Doubt Builds,” but that would be too generous about the memorandum of understanding President Trump said Monday has been signed electronically with the Islamic Republic’s shadowy leadership. No text of that 1.5-page MOU has been released.
The formal, signed-in-person deal set for Geneva Friday starts the 60-day ceasefire clock running and will be signed on the US side by Vice President JD Vance [hmm -- and not Secretary of State Marco Rubio].
What’s more, bipartisan senators are ready to challenge the deal, as the law gives Congress 30 days after such a deal is transmitted to review the agreement and vote on a resolution of disapproval, CQ Roll Call reports.
“Trump must release the details publicly, brief Congress immediately and end this war for good,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), said, somewhat predictably.
Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), a MAGA-in Trump supporter who also is among the most hawkish Republicans on Capitol Hill lately, expressed concerns that “Iran’s view of the agreement seems different” than what the administration is laying out.
“Under our law, any nuclear deal with Iran will be sent to Congress for review and a vote,” Graham social media’d, according to Roll Call. “I look forward to reviewing the final product and I believe it is imperative that the architects of the deal, Vice President Vance and his negotiating partners, be part of this process in presenting the final deal to Congress.”
This could be an issue … Israel will not be bound by a US-Iran agreement that it withdraw from southern Lebanon, Michael Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the US told NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition Tuesday. “We’re not withdrawing from Lebanon,” he said.
•••
Trump Attorney Defends Fraud Suspect – Latest potential case of the Trump White House favoring the filthy rich over the populous comes from The Wall Street Journal, which reports that the president’s personal attorney, Boris Epshteyn, has quietly joined the criminal defense for an Indian billionaire accused of fraud.
According to the WSJ’s scoop, attorneys for Gautam Adani, founder and chair of energy and logistics giant Adani Group, in 2025 pressed the Justice Department to drop his 2024 fraud case. But senior officials last year refused and gave the DOJ the “green light” to proceed.
Then, Epshteyn, who also is Trump’s legal coordinator and advisor, joined Adani’s law team from Sullivan & Cromwell, seven people familiar with the matter told the WSJ.
After two meetings between the legal team and DOJ officials, the WSJ reports, the Justice Department officials “took the unusual step” of asking a judge to dismiss charges against Adani and other defendants. The May 18 motion awaits the judge’s approval.
•••
More Gas Relief – AAA’s national average for a gallon of unleaded regular fell to $4.044 Tuesday, 2.1 cents cheaper than on Monday and $1.069 more than February 28. Diesel is $5.185 Tuesday, down 1.2 cents from Monday and $1.379 since before March. –TL
_______________________________________________
MONDAY 6/15/26
Flow, Oil, Flow – Iran’s Supreme National Security Council confirmed Sunday that the Islamic Republic has finalized a 60-day ceasefire after “months of long and difficult negotiations” that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with both Iran and the US removing their blockades. The US and Iran are to sign the deal in Geneva on Friday and then begin negotiating limiting nuclear arms and lifting sanctions on Iran.
“The deal with the Islamic Republic is now complete,” President Trump posted on Social Media Sunday, according to The New York Times.
“Ships of the World, start your engines,” Trump wrote. “Let the oil flow!”
In a 28-minute phone interview with the NYT, Trump said the agreement, when reached, will assure a “permanently toll free” Strait of Hormuz.
“Following intense talks, we are pleased to announce that the peace deal between the United States of America and Islamic Republic of Iran has been REACHED,” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif posted in social media, according to The Wall Street Journal. “Both sides have declared the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”
Beside the two-month ceasefire, the agreement ends military operations on all fronts, including fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. Earlier on Sunday, the NYT reports, Israel bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs in retaliation for rocket fire by Hezbollah.
Trump posted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed “no judgment” and demanded all sides “stand down.”
The president called both the NYT and WSJ later Sunday, before his UFC Freedom 250/birthday party/Flag Day event Sunday night.
He told the WSJ the deal includes Iran’s agreement not to obtain nuclear weapons, though he didn’t mention this in any of his myriad social media posts. He’s not in a hurry to extract Iran’s nuclear material, apparently.
“We’ll get the nuclear dust later on when we’re ready to go in and do it,” he told the WSJ. “I’d say over the next month or two, there’s no rush.”
Sen. James Langford (R-OK) told NBC News’ Meet the Press Sunday that unlike the Obama administration’s Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action, or JCPOA, Trump’s deal will prevent Iran from ever reaching nuclear weapon capability.
But there is no indication the agreement to be worked out in Geneva will prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons capability in perpetuity.
Before the breakthrough was announced, the NYT citing sources reported that the US was seeking a 20-year moratorium on Iranian nukes, while Iran wanted 10 years – and, The Art of the Deal ahoy, they’re likely to settle on 15 years.
But if the Islamic Republic fails to reach a final deal with the US on nukes, Trump told the NYT he would restart military operations against Tehran and make the US “the guardian of the Middle East in return for 20% of the Mid East region’s revenues.”
Front page of the New York Post pictured a stern President Trump with the headline “Locked and Loaded” while The Atlantic called the peace deal with Tehran “an Iranian victory.”
•••
Gas Relief – Oil prices continue to fall with the AAA’s national average for a gallon of unleaded regular dropping to $4.065 Monday, down 6.4 cents from last Thursday and up $1.09 from February 28. Average price of diesel is $5.197, down 10 cents from last Thursday and up $1.391 from the end of February.
•••
Trump Down – Following a federal court order, the letters spelling out “Donald Trump And” have been removed from the side of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts building in Washington, D.C. Crowds cheered the removal even as workers hid their de-lettering under a tarp, according to NPR.
Matthew Floca, chief operating officer and executive director confirmed to Politico that work crews had removed “all physical signage” from the building and grounds “that purports to rename the Kennedy Center after President Trump or any individual beside President Kennedy.” – Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa
_____
MONDAY 6/15/26