Will Iran Get a Signing Bonus? Neville, You Know Who Invoked. Was Yesterday the First Day of Vance 2028? Socialist Has Serious Lead in DC Mayor’s Race. Obama’s ‘Quaint’ Legacy. Musk Built That.
The Trump-friendly New York Post cover is beyond brutal. “Trump Devastated Iran,” it fumes, “now he hits them with a LOVEBOMB. … Prez Says Islamic regime ‘not radical’ [as] his deal showers mullahs with cash—and no sanctions.”
Yikes. We’re still in a fog regarding the memorandum of understanding to end the Iran war, which had not been released early this morning, but rumors and apparent details are circulating. Axios has a story that purports to break down “the billions Iran could receive” under the still undisclosed deal. From Axios:
The White House says the discourse is being poisoned by Iranian “misinformation,” and that its “pay for performance” structure is the best way to achieve the strongest-possible deal.
But U.S. officials acknowledge that at least some benefits will flow to Iran upfront.
What Axios describes as “one of the most politically explosive provisions” of the deal is a $300 billion fund for rebuilding Iran if the regime lives up to the goal of ending its nuclear ambitions:
Vice President Vance told Fox News the money would not come from U.S. taxpayers and would come into play only if Iran permanently ends its nuclear program, gives up its enriched uranium and allows nuclear inspections.
More positive reviews of the deal will follow, but these shrieks are what I find early this morning. This AEI analysis was two days ago: “Trump Made Neville Chamberlain Look Like Winston Churchill.” It is suggested that Iran no longer fears America. Relying on a leaked document, U.K. Telegraph Diplomatic Editor Joe Barnes says the deal “favors Iran.” Here’s one aspect of the deal that will be popular: Oil prices plunge more than 5%; optimism grows over US-Iran deal.
Vice President J. D. Vance—who was everywhere yesterday (read Powerline’s account of Vance and the Den of the Harridans)—is portrayed as the “architect” of the deal. AEI’s Danielle Pletka writes:
It’s a cliché to call a moment the first of the next presidential campaign. But if you’re curious how J.D. Vance is going to set himself up as a loyal vice president on the question of Iran, yet opposed to what increasingly looks like a debacle for the Trump/Vance team, here’s one element of the plan: It was Israel’s fault. More specifically, it was Bibi Netanyahu’s fault. Helping him cement that narrative will be United States Special Envoy to the Middle East and Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Jim Geraghty proposes in his Washington Post column that Vance is being set up for failure. Interesting idea. But this is the snippet that struck me:
Note that the Iranian regime has a long and sordid history of breaking its promises and violating its treaty agreements. It is more than a little bizarre to see a U.S. president, and his No. 2, convinced that diplomacy can work with a regime whose inaugural act was to take American diplomats hostage. There’s a reason our negotiators aren’t meeting in Tehran.
Swimming against the stream, the iconoclastic The American Conservative (TAC) says the deal could “help transform America’s Middle East strategy.” “Washington doesn’t need to be the region’s micromanager,” writes TAC.
Ms. Must was not surprised this morning to wake up and discover that her hometown is on the verge of going full-Mamdani: Democratic Socialist Janeese Lewis George has a serious lead in the DC mayoral primary:
Lewis George was leading in every ward except Ward 3, the city’s wealthiest ward, with about two-thirds of the vote counted.
More traditional Democrat Kenyon McDuffie trails in second place. A business owner expressed a practical concern at one of the parties after the polls closed:
John Guggenmos, chairman of the D.C. Nightlife Council and co-owner of the gay bars Trade and Number 9, said he voted for McDuffie because he doesn’t have any doubts that the candidate wants to support local businesses, including the city’s nightlife industry.
“It is one of the biggest tax producers, beyond the government, that we have,” he said. “If that industry suffers, then the whole city is going to.”
President Trump racked up another primary victory as Rep. Mike Collins won the Georgia battle to be the GOP Senate nominee. He defeated former college football coach Derek Dooley and will face Senator Jon Ossoff, whom Republicans see as vulnerable and are heavily targeting. But the president’s gubernatorial pick lost to Governor Brian Kemp’s choice.
The president’s choice for the GOP Senate nomination in Alabama, Barry Moore, also won. Trump-backed Henry Hern cruised to victory as Oklahoma’s Republican nominee for Senate:
Deep in Trump country, a Republican vying for a seat in the Senate is wondering why his possible future colleagues can’t pass a key voter ID and citizenship verification bill.
Speaking of the voter ID and citizenship bill:
President Trump said on Wednesday that he’s delaying Jay Clayton’s nomination to lead the U.S. intelligence community in a bid to force Congress to act on a voter ID bill that currently lacks enough support for passage.
Mr. Trump said in a lengthy post on his social media site that he will keep Bill Pulte, a top U.S. housing official, as acting director of national intelligence.
The Pulte nomination was unpopular with Senators from both parties. It is unclear how this maneuver advances the voter ID bill.
Mother Courage. It had to be difficult, but the mother of one of the alleged UFC attack plotters alerted the authorities about the activities of her son, 19-year-old Tycen Proper, and that led to the unravelling of their plans. Details here.
Now She Tells Us. “Hillary Clinton Savages Joe Biden: ‘He Made a Terrible Mistake… For the Country.’” Sorry, but saying this now doesn’t count. Hillary added that if the Dems had had a primary, anyone who emerged could have beaten Trump. Meow, Kamala.
As long as we’re sauntering down Memory Lane … What is former President Barack Obama’s legacy? The Trump presidency, answers Matthew Continetti. Continetti begins:
Close to a decade in the making, the $850 million Obama Presidential Center opens to the public on Friday. The 225-foot brutalist building—dubbed the Obamalisk—looms over a 19-acre campus on Chicago’s South Side. Even the most imposing facade can’t mask the failures of the 44th president.
Barack Obama has remained popular. As America’s first black president, he is guaranteed a place in history. But his grand ambitions now seem quaint. In 2008 Mr. Obama likened himself to Ronald Reagan, who he said had “changed the trajectory of the nation.” If Mr. Obama altered the nation’s direction, it was toward decline.
“He Didn’t Pay to Build That?” James Freeman asks:
Is there a community organizer somewhere in Chicago who can help local businesspeople collect money they’re owed on a giant construction project? People who thought conservationists got steamrolled by the Obama Presidential Center’s takeover of historic parkland should see what’s happening to the builders.
Elon Musk Did Build That. “Elon Musk’s trillionaire status is an American success story,” comments USA TODAY’s Nicole Russell:
On June 12, against all odds – even his own – Elon Musk became a trillionaire when SpaceX’s IPO debuted. The stock closed at $161, up 19% on its first day.
Musk’s wealth has made economists, politicians and Democrats mad. This is shortsighted: His extraordinary net worth isn’t a symbol of greed or inequality; it’s a byproduct of ingenuity, risk-taking and perseverance – traits that have always defined American success.
That doesn’t seem to matter though. The SpaceX IPO has reignited Democrats’ longstanding push for policies that penalize entrepreneurs and wealthy Americans. This would be a mistake.
“Another Major Transgender Suicide Study Crumbles,” by the invaluable Leor Sapir in City Journal, deals with another discredited but oft-cited “scientific” study. Claire Abernathy, a victim of gender medicine—her breasts were amputated when she was 15—writes an open letter to her surgeon, who, she says, gave her the double mastectomy after a 15-minute consultation.
Will he bring back more swag for the Oval Office? … Why do I still love George Will? Because in a column about two Senators introducing a bill to enhance the separation of powers, he writes sentences like this:
Texas Republican Ted Cruz is, figuratively speaking, to the right of the soup spoon. Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden is to the left of the salad fork. Their bipartisan anxiety concerns First Amendment speech rights.
