MATT BERG
& CROOKED MEDIA

TUESDAY
JUNE 17, 2025

I don’t care what she said.”

 
— Donald Trump, [on DNI Director Tulsi Gabbard’s testimony]([link removed]) in March, when she said doesn’t believe Iran is building a nuclear weapon.

ICE, ICE BARBIE

Donald Trump’s perplexing about-faces on immigration give a glimpse into his chaotic decision-making process… if you can call it that.
 

- Who last spoke with President Donald Trump? That seems to be the key to decoding his often nonsensical social media posts that ruffle world leaders’ feathers and even cause markets to tumble. Usually, the posts are intended to rile up his base. But once in a while, a different side of Trump emerges — like when he [admitted last week]([link removed]) that his own widespread deportation raids hurt farmers. In turn, raids on agriculture and hospitality industries were paused.
 

- Welp… the good things never seemed to last, as Modest Mouse [once professed]([link removed]). The Department of Homeland Security [reversed that policy]([link removed]) yesterday, telling agency leaders that they can raid farms, hotels and restaurants in search of migrants to take into custody (even if they [haven’t been convicted]([link removed]) of serious crimes). It’s a reversal of the president’s reversal. I’m dizzy just writing that sentence. 
 

- “Who's running the show?” tweeted Joyce Vance (no relation to JD), former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama in the Obama administration. “Trump made the important point over the weekend that we're losing essential workers, people who've been here 20 years & aren't criminals. He reined in immigration raids. But it sounds like someone countermanded him.”
 
The answer is obvious: Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem. 
 

- Shortly before Trump’s eye-popping post about farmers, the president was on the phone with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, [Axios reports]([link removed]). She went around Miller, Trump’s shiny-headed henchman who wants to [deport 3,000 people daily]([link removed]), and Noem, who has been dubbed ICE Barbie for her performative photoshoots with agents. 
 

- Miller and Noem were pissed, so they pushed back, the outlet reports. It worked: “ICE Officers are herewith ordered, by notice of this TRUTH, to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History,” Trump posted on Sunday, calling for raids on Democrat-controlled cities. 
 

- Trump’s orbit is out of sync. The same day, Rollins tweeted that “The President and I have consistently advanced a ‘Farmers First’ approach, recognizing that American households depend upon a stable and LEGAL agricultural workforce,” but warned that “severe disruptions to our food supply would harm Americans.”

Trump is easily influenced, and his mind changes often. Asked today [whether there will be]([link removed]) exemptions on ICE raids to some industries, he didn’t seem to know: “Everyone is being looked at, but the bigger problem is the cities right now.”

WAR WATCH

When Donald Trump was sworn into office, he made a lofty promise: “We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end — and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.”
 
Fast forward five months, and the United States is on the brink of getting involved in a dangerous new war in the Middle East. 
 
Trump is seriously considering entering the Israel-Iran conflict and launching a strike on Iran’s underground uranium enrichment facilities, [Axios reports]([link removed]). Those sites are crucial to developing nuclear weapons, an issue that sparked the fighting. (Iran has denied that it’s developing nukes. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also [said she doesn’t believe]([link removed]) Tehran is building nukes.)
 
The U.S. has helped Israel defend against aerial attacks from Iran in recent days, but it hasn’t gotten involved otherwise. Now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes Trump will join the war in the coming days, two Israeli officials told Axios.
 
That bleak prediction aligns with what Trump has been furiously typing on Truth Social.
 
This morning, Trump posted a confusing message suggesting that Washington is already involved in the conflict: “We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran.” What do you mean “we”?! 
 
He also called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” in a series of posts. “We know exactly where [Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] is hiding … We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least for now.” Thanks for letting us know what “take him out” means.
 
The Pentagon already [sent refueling planes and warships]([link removed]) to the Middle East and Europe in case things become more intense. Based on the Trump administration’s rhetoric, it’s certainly possible that the situation will further escalate — even as Democrats and Republicans [warn against striking Iran]([link removed]).
 
“He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment. That decision ultimately belongs to the president,” Vice President JD Vance tweeted today.
 

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WHAT ELSE?

[Israeli tank fire killed 59 people in the Gaza Strip]([link removed]) who were trying to get food today, according to medics. “No one is looking at these people with mercy. The people are dying, they are being torn apart, to get food for their children,” one eyewitness told Reuters. Israeli officials acknowledged firing in the area and said they’re looking into the incident.
 
[Russian missiles and drones struck Ukraine overnight,]([link removed]) killing 16 people and injuring more than 100 others, officials said. It’s one of the deadliest attacks on Ukraine in months, and comes as Trump [balks at the idea]([link removed]) of imposing more sanctions on Moscow. “That costs the U.S. a lot of money,” Trump said yesterday. 
 
[New York City Comptroller Brad Lander,]([link removed]) who’s running for mayor, was forcefully arrested at an immigration court hearing today. Lander said he was there to escort migrants out of the building, but masked agents detained him: “I’m not obstructing. I’m standing right here in the hallway. I asked to see the judicial warrant,” Lander said in [this insane video]([link removed]). Lander was later released.
 
[Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) endorsed]([link removed]) democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral election. That’s a huge score for Mamdani, who recently received Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement, too. Certified creep Andrew Cuomo is still the favorite to win, but the city’s ranked-choice voting system could make this race much tighter than anyone expected. My advice to Mamdani: Keep making Cuomo’s [unhinged egg sandwich order]([link removed]) known. It doesn’t even include a bagel!
 
[Nearly twice as many Americans oppose]([link removed]) Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” than support it, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll. Senate Majority Leader John Thune is hoping to pass the bill through the Senate next week, but he has to [put out some huge fires]([link removed]) — on Medicaid policy, state-and-local-tax deduction caps, and green energy credits — to gain enough support. You know it’s a really good bill when everyone seems to hate it!
 
[The NAACP won’t invite Trump to its convention]([link removed]) this year because of his authoritarian tendencies, marking the first time in history the organization has shunned a sitting president. A White House spokesperson responded: “The NAACP isn’t advancing anything but hate and division.” Not sure why Trump was invited in his first term… but I’ll take it!

[A meteorologist issued the first-ever]([link removed]) heat advisory for Alaska, which is expecting to see temperatures reach into the mid-80s this week. That might not seem super hot, but the Last Frontier is warming [two to three times faster]([link removed]) than the global average. Long days of sunlight cause the heat to linger: “Those temps could feel like 110,” the meteorologist told Grist.

THERE'S MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM
 

It's the final week of the mayoral primary in New York City. And on today's episode of Pod Save The People, host and activist DeRay Mckesson talks to Brad Lander — the city's comptroller and a candidate for mayor. The conversation comes just a day before Lander was handcuffed while trying to steer a man away from ICE officers, a moment that speaks to the rising political tensions across the country. To hear the full conversation on [Pod Save The People]([link removed]), head to their feed wherever you get your podcasts. 

 
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[Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) deleted his outrageous tweets]([link removed]) blaming Democrats for the deadly Minnesota lawmaker shooting after Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) gave him a piece of her mind at the Capitol. “He seemed a little surprised to be confronted,” Smith told reporters. This is a good reminder that internet trolls are losers.

[A federal judge ruled that hundreds]([link removed]) of Trump administration's research grant cuts to the NIH were illegal. “I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this” in 40 years on the bench, said District Judge William Young, a Reagan appointee.  

[The Atlantic published a hilarious satirical diary entry]([link removed]) in the voice of Donald Trump, in which he pouts about his lame his military birthday parade. My favorite part: “This was like the kind of tank parade your mom makes you lovingly from scratch, and I wanted the kind of tank parade that is made in China or North Korea.”

[Kraft Heinz is leaving artificial food dyes]([link removed]) in the past, as the Trump administration goes to war with the additives. (One thing I can get behind!) Products that use those dyes include Crystal Light, Heinz relish, Kool-Aid and Jell-O. Sooooo, what color will these be now? What color is Jell-O naturally? I have many questions…
 
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