Wednesday, June 17, 2026

5 reasons Trump allies don’t like his Iran deal

 https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5926899-trump-allies-oppose-iran-mou/

Conservative pundits and hawkish Iran experts are warning against any agreement that gives up key leverage against the Islamic Republic, or opens access to badly needed funds, without completely giving up its nuclear capacity. 

“Ask yourself: Why are so many of us who support and defend President Trump all expressing the same concerns about this deal?” asked Marc Thiessen, a conservative commentator with a line to the president, on Tuesday. 

“I can’t square some of the things that are coming out of the administration from reliable sources. That’s what I find so disturbing,” Retired Army Gen. Jack Keane said Monday on Fox News’s “Hannity.” 

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday the memorandum would immediately allow Iran to begin exporting oil and fuel, with the U.S. waiving transport and banking sanctions. 

Trump's Iran agreement raises a basic question: Is it actually a deal?

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trumps-iran-agreement-raises-basic-question-actually-deal

President Donald Trump has hailed the newly signed Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) as a breakthrough that normalizes relations between the two countries after months of fighting. 

But by the White House's own account, the agreement settles few of the issues that dominated months of negotiations, leaving sanctions relief, frozen assets and Iran's nuclear program for a new round of talks.

"This is really just the first MOU and then we're going to launch into the real technical discussions later this week," a senior administration official told reporters Monday. 

Trump says Israel 'fighting Hezbollah too long' as Lebanon war drags on - analysis

 https://www.jpost.com/international/article-899599

Trump signals growing frustration with Israel’s prolonged Hezbollah campaign in Lebanon, questioning strategy, civilian impact, and the lack of a decisive outcome after nearly 1,000 days of fighting.

Over the last few weeks, the American president has several times suggested that Israel shouldn’t be attacking Beirut because this is leading to tensions with Iran regarding a US-Iran deal.

Now, Trump is also saying that Israel has been fighting in Lebanon for too long. The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has dragged on for 981 days since Hezbollah attacked Israel on October 8. Israel has not been able to defeat Hezbollah or achieve a decisive victory.

Trump on Lebanon: 'If Israel can't do the job without killing everyone, Syria should do it'

 https://www.jpost.com/international/article-899575

Trump says he considers the Lebanon war a minor one, and an arena in which Syria can take on Hezbollah in partnership with the United States if Israel under Netanyahu cannot be reigned in.

"If Israel can't do the job without killing everyone else, Syria should do the job," said US President Donald Trump in a bilateral meeting with the Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Tuesday.

"Israel's fighting Hezbollah for too long, and too many people are being killed. You don't have to knock down an apartment house every time you're looking for somebody because there's a lot of people in those apartment houses and they're not all Hezbollah, that I can tell you," the president said.

Millions take calcium and vitamin D for stronger bones. A major review finds little benefit

 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260614011852.htm

For years, calcium and vitamin D supplements have been promoted as a simple way for older adults to protect their bones and prevent falls. But a massive review of nearly 154,000 people found that calcium, vitamin D, or a combination of both provided little to no meaningful protection against fractures or falls for most older adults.

A comprehensive review published in The BMJ suggests that calcium supplements, vitamin D supplements, or taking both together provide little to no clinically meaningful benefit in preventing fractures or falls for most older adults.

Falls are a major health concern among seniors. Nearly one in three people age 65 and older experiences a fall each year, and many of these incidents result in fractures. Such injuries can lead to pain, reduced independence, lower quality of life, and, in some cases, the need for long term residential care. As populations age, preventing falls and fractures remains an important public health goal worldwide.

Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Trump Says Israel Wouldn’t Exist Without Him

 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-netanyahu-rift-israel-not-exist-without-potus-12078441

President Donald Trump signaled a deepening rift with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by claiming "there would be no Israel" without him in a stinging rebuke at the G7 (Group of Seven) summit.

Speaking alongside Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, at the summit of the world's biggest economies in Évian-les-Bains, France, Trump said: “Without the United States, there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel, because no other president was willing to do what I did.”

Referring to an unspecified Israeli strike, Trump said: "I saw that attack, I saw where that bomb went. That was vicious." Trump said as he also warned Netanyahu to be "more responsible" with respect to Lebanon.

The still-mysterious Iran deal leaves a LOT of work undone — at best

 https://nypost.com/2026/06/15/opinion/the-still-mysterious-iran-deal-leaves-a-lot-of-work-undone-at-best/

Aside from the vast damage the war did to Iran’s military assets and the deaths of so many of the ruling cabal, this Memorandum of Understanding seems to leave things right back where they were before the bombs started dropping.

That is: Tehran hasn’t actually agreed to give up its nuclear program or its support of terror groups like Hezbollah and Hamas — but only to talk about it all some more.

Maybe the full MOU text makes things look better . . . or worse: The fact that it’s still a mystery isn’t encouraging.

When does the world get to see it?

If the Strait of Hormuz really opens, it’ll do one good thing — but the planned 60 days of talks could still yield a serious win for Tehran.

O’Reilly: Israeli response to Iran deal ‘a big tell’

 https://thehill.com/policy/international/5925929-israeli-response-trump-iran/

O’Reilly said it’s clear Israel is opposed to the deal and that he understood their position.

“Now, in Iran, the Israelis say openly, ‘We’re not going to be part of this. We’re not going to be a part of the deal, no matter what deal Trump makes.’ The Israelis are not going to sign it. They’re not going to be on board,” O’Reilly told NewsNation’s Leland Vittert on “On Balance.”

“That’s a tell, a big tell, because the Israelis want the ability to strike back any time they want for any attack on them. And I don’t blame Israel,” he added.

In Israel, critics across the political spectrum have argued that the reported terms of the deal are too weak in holding back threats from Iran, not just related to its nuclear program but also its ballistic missile capability and its support for terrorist proxies.

Trump: I’m ‘not happy’ with how Israel has fought Hezbollah; Syria should do so instead

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-june-16-2026/

US president says he’s ‘never cared about’ regime change in Iran, praises current leadership * Switzerland confirms deal will be signed at Burgenstock resort Friday * Haredi legislative boycott puts coalition’s policy blitz at risk

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee reiterates that Hezbollah is not included in the deal between the US and Iran, as Tehran continues to insist that Israel is required to halt its offensive in Lebanon under the terms of the agreement.

'He lost the war': Trump’s retreat fact-checked by general

CIA director doubts Iran's intentions on deal

 https://www.axios.com/2026/06/15/us-iran-deal-cia-director-ratcliffe

CIA Director John Ratcliffe told President Trump and other senior officials that evidence gathered by U.S. intelligence agencies raises serious doubts about Iran's willingness to make the nuclear concessions the U.S. is seeking in any final deal, according to three sources familiar with those discussions.

Friction point: Ratcliffe isn't the only skeptic in Trump's top team. In internal discussions, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth both expressed concerns and raised questions about the memorandum of understanding (MOU) announced Sunday, while Vice President Vance and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner advocated for it, according to two of the sources.

Trump’s Iran deal greeted with skepticism and scrutiny on Capitol Hill

 https://apnews.com/article/congress-senate-iran-trump-deal-graham-vance-00181f6ba851ad06d1f378946302379b

The agreement announced Sunday to end the war in Iran, set for a ceremonial signing Friday in Geneva, is centered around reopening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting the United States’ naval blockade in the region, along with financial incentives for Iran if it meets certain benchmarks. But Senate Republicans and Democrats who returned to Washington on Monday said there were still many unanswered questions about the deal and they need thorough briefings before it is finalized.

“I just don’t know enough about it,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters in the Capitol. “Even the people who follow this stuff closely up here don’t know that much about it.”

“I think that my understanding of what it entails — and, again, not having seen anything — it would require, I think the issues are going to be compliance, and how are you going to enforce that,” Thune said.

Thune’s concerns were echoed by several other GOP senators.

Unity of G-d

 Rambam (Techiyas Hameisim) Hear 0 Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One. The Christians cite this Biblical phrase as proof to their contention that God is three in that they assert: it is stated the Lord, and it is stated our God, and it is stated the Lord, there are thus three names; then it is stated One, proving that they are three and that the three are one. Heaven forbid!

Was it all worth it?

 https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/06/15/was-it-all-worth-it/

Pakistan has published what it claims are the details of the memorandum of understanding between the United States and the regime in Iran. If those details are accurate, Trump's Iran deal is a betrayal of every American, every Iranian, every Israeli, and every victim of the regime's terror and repression.

To say emotions are running high in Israel would be an understatement. It is difficult to describe exactly what many Israelis are feeling right now, but anger and betrayal come close.

While we still do not know the full details of the agreement, Israelis are confronting a painful possibility: after years of war and sacrifice, we may be returning to the very reality we were told we were changing.

We accepted extraordinary sacrifice because we believed we were changing the strategic reality of the Middle East. If we are simply returning to the same reality we were promised would be transformed, then the consequences will extend far beyond this deal. They will shape how Israelis view their leaders, their allies, and the promises made to them in times of war.