Trump says he never promised ‘no new wars’

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/07/trump-says-never-promised-no-new-wars-00952870

“First of all, I didn’t guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?” Trump said. “I built our military. I inherited a terrible military. We had no equipment. We had nothing. I built a tremendous military. When you say I promised, I didn’t promise anything.”

Trump said he doesn’t like “endless wars” but added that the current conflict with Iran “is not an endless war,” asserting that the Vietnam War lasted for 19 years “because of stupid people.”

While campaigning in Pennsylvania in 2024, Trump told rallygoers: “I will not send you to fight and die in stupid foreign wars that never end.” He reiterated the promise in his 2024 victory speech, stating at the time: “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.”

And Trump’s official White House biography also states that one of the president’s top priorities is “putting a stop to endless wars.”

Trump on Sunday denied that the U.S. is at war with Iran, telling Welker he does not “consider” the current situation a war.

Cognitive test Trump took screens for dementia, not intelligence - Trump Brags about being only President passing Test for Senility Multiple Times

 https://www.wisn.com/article/cognitive-test-trump-screens-signs-dementia-intelligence/71506967

In a May 31 Truth Social post, Trump wrote:

"The results of my Physical Examination, taken at Walter Reed Military Medical Center, and just released, were extremely good. Unlike other U.S. Presidents, none of whom have ever taken an approved, high difficulty, Cognitive Test, I scored a perfect 30 out of 30, considered ‘extreme intelligence.’ Are the Dumocrats really surprised? In fact, this is my fourth such test, all PERFECT or, 120 correct answers out of 120 questions asked! It is very rare that anyone gets a Perfect Score, especially when achieved four times in a row. All people running for President and Vice President should be forced to take high difficulty Cognitive Tests. Congress, and the Dumocrats, should demand it! President DONALD J. TRUMP"

We will have to take Trump’s word for it that he scored a 30 out of 30 on the test, which medical experts believe — based on Trump’s own descriptions — is the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. (When we asked the White House whether that was the test Trump took, a spokesperson did not dispute it.) Trump reportedly also took the test in 2018 and twice in 2025.

But medical experts said Trump inaccurately described the test as measuring intelligence. Instead, it aims to detect signs of cognitive impairment; if the score is low enough, then further testing is recommended.

"The test measures cognition," including attention, concentration, language, memory, abstract thinking and calculation skills, said Ziad Nasreddine, a Quebec-based neurologist who created the 10-minute Montreal Cognitive Assessment in 2005. "Cognitive function is correlated with IQ. But the test was not designed to detect the genius-level of cognitive performance. It's meant to reassure that cognitive functions are normal."

How LGBTQ+ Pride Month Has Changed in the Era of MAGA and Donald Trump

 https://mobileapp.newsweek.com/story/12038256/content.html

Not long ago, June meant rainbow logos. Major retailers stocked Pride merchandise on front-page displays, big brands changed their social media avatars and corporations competed for visibility at parades from New York to San Francisco.

Things have changed.

Two years into President Donald Trump‘s second term, many of those same companies have quietly stepped back. Retailers that once centered Pride collections in their June marketing have shifted focus to Father’s Day and other summer merchandise. Major corporations have withdrawn sponsorships from Pride events around the country, leaving some organizers facing significant funding shortfalls. NYC Pride told Gothamist it was more than $500,000 short of its fundraising goal after already lowering its target by $1.1 million from 2024.

A Gallup poll published at the start of June found that about 65 percent of U.S. adults now say same-sex marriage should be legal, down from a peak of 71 percent in 2022 and 2023. Nationwide, 62 percent say gay and lesbian relationships are “morally acceptable,” the lowest level since 2016. The decline is driven primarily by Republicans, whose support has fallen to about 37 percent, though the downward movement is evident across all political groups.

The shift is significant because it suggests a potential turning point in one of the most dramatic shifts in opinion in modern U.S. history. Gallup’s previous surveys found support for same-sex marriage rose from 27 percent in 1996 to roughly 7 in 10 Americans in recent years.

But the political picture is not straightforward. Trump appointed Richard Grenell as acting Director of National Intelligence—the first openly gay person to serve in a Cabinet-level role. Trump Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is the highest-ranking openly gay official in U.S. history. During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump held up a rainbow flag at a rally and pledged to protect gay Americans.

Record turnout for Toronto pro-Israel march as violent antisemitism spikes across Canada

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/record-turnout-for-toronto-pro-israel-march-as-violent-antisemitism-spikes-across-canada/

 The streets of central Toronto pulsed with Israeli and Persian tunes on Sunday as 60,000 people converged to demonstrate solidarity with Israel and Canada’s Jewish community.

In response to surging Jew-hatred that has darkened Toronto over the last several months, a diverse crowd chose to march with the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto’s 57th Walk with Israel. Despite sometimes violent counter-protests on the march’s sidelines, this year’s walk attracted 4,000 more participants than last year, making it one of the largest public demonstrations of support for Israel in the world.

“We’re not afraid of anything, in spite of all the antisemitism that’s been going down, specifically here in Toronto,” said participant Shai Klein. “It gives us that much more reason to be here today and show that we’re not going to back down in the face of hatred, and that we’re going to show our pride. And we’re not leaving Toronto and Canada. We’re going to be proud Jews here and support the State of Israel no matter what.”

Israel and Iran say they’re halting attacks on each other, after Trump pressure

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-and-iran-say-theyre-halting-attacks-on-each-other-after-trump-pressure/

Israeli official says ‘the sense is that this round of fighting is behind us,’ stresses IDF operations against Hezbollah to continue; PM to hold full security cabinet meeting tonight

Israel has decided to halt its strikes against Iran, an Israeli official said Monday afternoon, after US President Donald Trump declared on social media earlier in the day that Israel and Iran “must immediately stop ‘shooting’,” and Tehran announced it would hold its fire unless the IDF kept up attacks on Lebanon.

Iran later announced it was halting attacks on Israel, but threatened a further response if Israel continued its “aggression” in Lebanon, where the IDF has targeted Hezbollah as the Iranian-backed terror group has battered northern Israel.

Israelis push Netanyahu to resist U.S. pressure and keep fighting in Lebanon

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/06/08/israelis-push-netanyahu-keep-fighting-lebanon-signalling-long-occupation/

“We need to let the generals do what they need to do and eliminate Hezbollah,” Ben Dov said, as the sound of shelling punctured the hot summer air. “We can’t just leave.”

The sentiment is pervasive. In war-weary border villages, on prime time talk shows, within the political opposition and among Netanyahu’s supporters, Israelis are pushing their prime minister to fight — and stay — in Lebanon, which could undermine U.S. efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war against Iran.

Anger is particularly high among Israelis in the north, who were targeted and displaced by a barrage of missiles launched by Hezbollah beginning in October 2023, shortly after its partner, Hamas, launched the surprise attack on southern Israel.

Israel Strikes Iran Despite Trump’s Call to Netanyahu

 https://www.newsweek.com/iran-missiles-israel-first-strike-since-ceasefire-12042022

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said early Monday that they had carried out strikes on Iran, after Iranian state media reported explosions in at least three cities. Israel's attacks came despite President Donald Trump telling journalists on Sunday that he did not want escalation and spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone.

"The Israeli Air Force struck military targets belonging to the Iranian terror regime in western and central Iran a short while ago," the IDF said in a statement posted to X after the attacks

Trump insists Israel’s Netanyahu ‘won’t have any choice’ in accepting Iran peace deal after fresh strikes: ‘I call the shots’

 https://nypost.com/2026/06/07/us-news/trump-tells-the-post-things-are-going-very-well-advises-netanyahu-not-to-fire-back-at-iran/

President Trump said Israel’s prime minister would be forced to play ball with Iran after the Islamic Republic launched a missile attack on the Jewish State Sunday — and insisted that he is still the one who “calls the shots.” 

Trump told the Financial Times that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have to accept any ceasefire deal that the US brokers because he “doesn’t call the shots.”

Trump ties Israel’s hands, as the partnership that went to war 100 days ago collapses

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-ties-israels-hands-as-the-partnership-that-went-to-war-100-days-ago-collapses/

Telling Israel it had better not respond to an Iranian missile attack, the US president, desperate for a deal with the devilish regime, presents Netanyahu with a terrible dilemma

One hundred days after they went to war together to thwart Iran’s rogue nuclear weapons program, radically degrade its ballistic missile industry, end its support for the Hezbollah and Hamas terror armies, and create the conditions for the fall of the regime, the US-Israel alliance against the Islamic Republic on Sunday reached its nadir.

Trump has repeatedly denied claims that Netanyahu dragged him and the United States into the war. But he has made it increasingly clear that he is desperate to end it, even with none of the declared US-Israeli goals achieved. He’s still insisting that he is holding out for terms that will ensure the regime never gets nuclear weapons, but there’s no guarantee of that in the leaked drafts of the Memorandum of Understanding he’s been working toward. And his overt priority is to get the Strait of Hormuz dependably open again, and alleviate the global energy chaos that Tehran has proved so adept at creating.

President Trump: A second Obama?

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/428223

For the Iranian regime, the purpose of negotiations is to force America to surrender.

In an article in Foreign Affairs, two pro-Islamic regime analysts, Narges Bajoghli and Vali Nasr, gloat over what they see as an Iranian victory over America. They write: “The war has given rise to a new Iran, one that will reshape the [Middle East] and influence the course of geopolitics for years to come."

No surprise there: the pattern has set in of Trump making bellicose statements, Iran dangling concessions, Trump backing off, Iran repackaging those concessions as further threats and demands, Iran renewing its attacks and America declaring that negotiations are resuming.

Trump could have used Israel as leverage to weaken Iran by crippling Hezbollah. Instead, by holding Israel back from delivering the decisive blow against Iran’s proxy army, he has enabled Iran to use Hezbollah as leverage against Israel.

Behind Trump’s strategic errors, however, lies a more profound-and profoundly worrying-issue. The Iran war is deeply unpopular with the American people. In part, that’s because Trump has never made the case to them that it’s being waged because Iran poses a mortal threat to America itself.

What started as the United States finally grasping that it had no option but to neutralize Iran, because it was getting perilously close to obtaining nuclear weapons to hit the “Great Satan," now threatens to turn into a repeat of the 2015 nuclear deal debacle.

Alzheimer’s patient gets back speech, bladder control and memory in groundbreaking drug trial

 https://nypost.com/2026/06/04/health/alzheimers-patient-recovers-speech-continence-and-memory-with-this-drug/

In this case study, published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, researchers focused on an 80-year-old Japanese-American woman with Alzheimer’s. Her condition had declined over the last decade and was reduced to urinary incontinence, speaking in single syllables and dependence on caregivers for mobility support.

She was then given a 5 g dose of magic mushrooms.

During the initial phase, she was agitated, sweated profusely and entered a prolonged sleep state that suggested unconsciousness. But around hour 19, she began speaking in full sentences, recalling life events she had been unable to articulate for years.

In the days and weeks that followed, more incredible changes emerged. She regained urinary continence, even in the evenings, and began dressing herself. She was able to make and maintain eye contact, remember social interactions, emotionally respond to others and hold lucid conversations.

Esther was considered a Godess

Megila (13a) She is called Hadassah and she is called Esther. It has been taught: Esther was her proper name. Why then was she called Hadassah?Hadassah was her name. Why then was she called Esther? All peoples called her so after Istahar.

Rashi notes she was named after a beautiful moon others say after Venus. She was clearly being called Esther or godess of Avoda Zara! Why is that being concealed?

LevinAt11: Schnall-Vote NO on A2218

 June 5, '26

Linked below is this week's LevinAt11 radio broadcast, of June 5, '26, Parshas Beha'aloscha.

מצורף: תכנית ראדיו רב יהודה לעוין, שליט"א, פרשת בהעלותך, תשפו

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tefillah request, for expeditious recovery of:

• Rav Yehuda Ben Masha HaLevi (Levin);

• Shimon Ben Masha; and

• Lea Bas Freeda

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week's LevinAt11 broadcast closed with a very brief update regarding the antireligious abortion/transgender-tyranny edict looming in NJ Assembly, S2260/ A2218. See our letter (edited) in this week's MonseyMevaser.com, page 12. Also see the very nicely-done alert ad in the Lakewood Vivaser. We thank the Coalition for Jewish Values as well, for including a post on the topic last Friday in their Rabbi's Roundup.

Please share this with anyone living in NJ, today.

--------

Selected Topic Highlights:

• Simcha Felder voted for increasingly dangerous ERA legislation;

• background on ERA;

• why it's so much more dangerous in today's transgender-tyranny environment;

• Da'as Torah on ERA:

https://agudah.org/wp-content/uploads/1988/02/JO1988-V21-N01.pdf

From HoRav Shimon Schwab O.B.M. (who, FYI, was not actually a member of the Rabbinic board of Agudath Israel)

"... Even in a Malchus shel

chessed we can face grave

dangers to our existence, in

the spiritual sense. When we face the

prospects of a Gay Rights Bill, or the

Equal Rights Amendment, it is a

matter of pikuach nefesh - spiritual survival. Such issues call for

vigorous action to protect our very

existence. As time goes on, new

areas of contention can arise,

wherein the Jaw of the land can

interfere with leading a Torah existence. ..."

• More on Distortion of Torah, masquerading as Psak Halacha, especially in cases of reputed "heterim" for individual politicians to vote for rebellion against G-d;

• from our listeners, in NYS:

https://restorechildhood.substack.com/p/breaking-theyre-erasing-mother-and

• More on the true, hidden agenda behind the Chareidi draft crisis; their ultimate goal is clearly not drafting all of the Chareidim, but something else...

• Partisanism, as we mentioned last week, begets blindness to critique of associates, and also impedes success in combating anti-Torah edicts. On this point, this week we read a selection of my paternal great- grandfather Rav Nosson Nota Leiter זצ"ל, HY"D, from his highly-acclaimed Kuntrus Divrei Chaim Ve'Emes, pg. 85.

57 min.:

• Update on S2260/A2218*: a virulent, antireligious abortion/transgender-tyranny edict looming in NJ Assembly, with Appropriations Committee** action scheduled for Monday June 8, prior to a full ("floor") vote.  The legislators must understand that we consider this wicked bill to be similar to the evil decrees of the Greeks - against which the Maccabees and their Torah-adherent followers fought to the death.  They know who the Maccabees were.

* addressed on last week's broadcast (Parshas Naso)

https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2026/05/abortiontransgender-tyranny-in-nj.html, and on our pre-Shavous broadcast: https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2026/05/nj-amalekism-looming-levinat11.html, and updated here prior to passage in the NJ Senate: https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2026/05/antireligious-edict-in-nj-senate.html.

** Passaic residents are urged to urge Assemblyman Schaer to expose this bill in the Appropriations Committee this Monday.

~~~~~~

We post this here for NJ residents to circulate:

BS"D

June 5, '26/ Parshas Beha'aloscha, 5786

Antireligious Abortion/Transgender-Enforcement edict S2260/ A2218 looming in NJ, threatening to Criminalize "Lo Sa'amod Al Dam Rai'echah"

Every NJ resident, especially in the environs of Lakewood and Bergen County, is urged to immediately call /email their own Assemblymen (both), and State Senator, to do two things:

 (1) Actively vote against any version of the gender-/ body-morphing-enforcement bill S2260/ A2218.

 (2) And expose the fact that it would criminalize Torah-mandated efforts to save youth - and others - from committing - or from collaboration with - transgender transgressions and self-harm, including the murder of preborn infants.

Fact: The bill prohibits not only physical force, but also "coercion," as liberally interpreted -- in favor of the abortion-at-whim/ transgender-tyranny advocates.  And that's before we get to the fact that these cases are likely to go in front of pro-transgender, pro-abortion, antireligious judges. A bad judge can ruin the best case, even against the best attorney.

Translation: A Rebbe, Rabbi, Rosh Yeshiva, Principal, Teacher/Morah, Mashgiach, doctor, nurse, EMT, Hatzolah volunteer, paralegal, counselor, Social Worker, mental health professional, therapist, sports coach, neighbor, chevrusa, mentor, community advocate - perhaps even a parent or grandparent - could potentially face massive fines - and hefty jail time - for merely trying to fulfill the mitzvah of saving others - "Lo Sa'amod Al Dam Rai'echah" - provided that a wicked judge would deem that "coercion," or intimidation - even if all that was done was merely verbally attempting to convince a girl or boy out of getting drugs or surgery to "become" (sic) that which they are not -- or even just saving her/him from remaining under the influence/ grooming of a transgender mentor-advocate.

A potent talking point - that legislative reps need to publicize - is that "this bill is an antireligious edict, not much different than that which the Maccabees fought to the death to defeat."

The focus needs to be on getting Assemblyman Avi Schnall to actively vote NO, (all the more so, since, if he refuses, then Assemblyman Schaer from Passaic may use that as a basis to do even worse).

From Anti-Biological To Anti-Torah:

In the Definitions of S2260, [the to-be-protected] "Reproductive Health Care Services" is defined to include abortion and "medication, to support a person’s alignment with their gender identity or expression."  Thus, all references to criminalizing efforts against people involved in "Reproductive Health Care Services" include that self-mutilating sin. Of course, though they don't want the average citizen to realize precisely what it is that they're criminalizing.  That's why its' proponents mask its true nature by restricting mention of the mutilation procedures to the definitions.

Action Needed Today:

Please call today, and about once a week thereafter, for as long as the session lasts:

Contact Info for Lakewood:

Call & email Assemblyman Avi Schnall today at: 848-245-9486 / Asmschnall@njleg.org.

Assemblyman Sean Kean:

732-974-0400/ asmkean@njleg.org.

[If the Assembly makes changes, it will return to the Senate. If so, call state Senator Bob Singer: 732-987-5669/ sensinger@njleg.org.]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Passaic residents, and others, are asked to urge Assemblyman Gary Schaer to vote NO - and to use his influence to lead on this issue:

973-249-3665 / asmschaer@njleg.org,

As well as Assemblyman Clinton Calabrese:

201-943-0615.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To identify or call your legislative reps: 

NJ Legislative Info For Senate & Assembly:

v: 609-847-3905 or (800) 792-8630 

e: LegInfo@NJLeg.org 

w: www.NJLeg.state.nj.us 

For more information, you may email torahjewsfordecency@gmail.com.

Please share this information immediately with any NJ residents receptive to it.

Even if the bill would pass regardless of what we do, our silence - and worse - provides it a degree of moral cover sought by advocates.

We need immediate and ongoing protest against this from the entire spectrum of Orthodox Jewry.  If legislators representing the Torah community vote for this, it implies that it's not that objectionable to the Torah community.  This mirage is precisely what advocates need to push it as "acceptable" legislation.

Rav Ahron Kotler ZT"L states that the gravest existential threat facing Klal Yisroel is not Jew-hatred, assimilation, or loss of Torah knowledge - but rather distortion of the Torah." (Mishnas Reb Ahron 1:2:3:6.)

We cannot afford to convey any ambiguity.

[Some legislators may be responsive to the fact that, in wake of Memorial Day - and approaching the 250th anniversary of what used to be a blessed nation that celebrated moral values - those who vote for this bill spit on the graves of those who fought and died for America.  Those heroes certainly didn't make the ultimate sacrifice to enable domestic abuse of children and infanticide in the name of the Law.]

~~~~~~   

An important item we didn't get to cover:

Parading Pederastic Perversion Pride Posts - Again: Rep. Mike Lawler (NY17/ Log-Cabin) is posting in celebration of LGBT Pride Month, when the LGBTQ mob outreaches to the public to gain acceptance of their disgusting, predatory, anti-child, anti-woman movement.

https://x.com/RepMikeLawler/status/2061555862032752755

https://www.threads.com/@repmikelawler/post/DZDs34hGly2/june-is-pride-month-a-time-to-celebrate-love-acceptance-and-the-freedom-to-be

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=988642184088018&set=pb.100088267377581.-2207520000

https://www.instagram.com/p/DKmwWiuuTm_/

and from his official campaign account:

https://x.com/lawler4ny/status/2061555559170544062

What is Peace with Celestial Family?

 Berachos (16b) R. Safra on concluding his prayer added the following: May it be Thy will, O Lord our God, to establish peace among the celestial family, and among the earthly family, and among the disciples who occupy themselves with Thy Torah whether for its own sake or for other motives; and may it please Thee that all who do so for other motives may come to study it for its own sake!

Rashi (Berachos 17b) In the heavenly entourage — in the cohort of the minister angels of the nations. For when the supernal ministers have a conflict amongst them, there is immediately a dispute amongst the nations, as it is written, but now I must go back to fight the minister angel of Persia.

Sanhedrin (98b) And what is the meaning of ‘and all faces are turned into paleness? R. Johanan said: This refers to God's heavenly family i..e., the angels and his earthly family i.e., Israel, when God says, Tthe Gentiles are my handiwork, and so are the Jews; how shall I destroy the former on account of the latter? R. Papa said: Thus men say, When the ox runs and falls, the horse is put into his stall.