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Wednesday, June 25, 2025

NATO Nations to Step Up Defense Spending

Trump “to claim one of the biggest foreign-policy wins of his second term.” Mark Lowen of the BBC: Just when you thought your jaw couldn’t drop any further… Donald Trump releases a private message sent by NATO Sec General Mark Rutte – with a very big claim, and written, it would seem, in the most Trumpian language (NATO has confirmed to BBC it is genuine). What a world. Quoting Mark Rutte, NATO’s Secretary General, speaking to Trump: You are flying into another big success in The Hague this evening. It was not east but we’ve them all signed onto 5 percent! Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for American and Europe, and the world. You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done. Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win (Lowen). Wall Street Journal: President Trump is poised to claim one of the biggest foreign-policy wins of his second term: a pledge by NATO allies to more than double their defense spending. The hard-won deal, to be formally announced Wednesday, almost collapsed over last-minute objections from Spain. Negotiations also continued until recent days over how the summit communiqué would address the issues of support for Ukraine and the danger posed by Russia. Europeans have wanted strong statements on both, echoing past North Atlantic Treaty Organization declarations, but the Trump administration had resisted (Wall Street Journal).

Warnings on Russia From NATO Summit

From the Institute for the Study of War: NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte assessed that Russia is the largest existential threat to NATO members today and that Russia is preparing for a protracted war with NATO. The Kremlin continues efforts to augment Russian combat power by setting conditions to subsume forces from Russia’s Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) allies under a Russian military command. Russian forces are expanding their use of motorcycles along the frontline in Ukraine — a tactic that the Russian military may leverage in future wars beyond Ukraine, possibly including operations against NATO states (ISW). Rod Martin: Russia Could Distract NATO to Help China Invade Taiwan, NATO Chief Warns. Sec-Gen Mark Rutte sounded the alarm: If China invades Taiwan, expect Russia to “keep Europe busy” — to divide and conquer. Rutte: “We cannot be naïve.” He’s not wrong. Rutte warned of China’s “massive military buildup” and confirmed what many suspected: The CCP is preparing for war — and Taiwan is the target (Martin).

Senate Parliamentarian Gutting Budget Reconciliation Bill

And maddening the GOP. The Democrat appointee is clearly doing partisan work. Jennifer Van Laar: Elizabeth MacDonough, a Harry Reid appointee with a selective interpretation of how the Byrd Rule can be applied to reconciliation bills, has been doing the bidding of the Democrats in ruling that major provisions of President Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” are subject to the Byrd Rule and therefore are ineligible to be part of a reconciliation bill. That means that, according to MacDonough, those provisions have to go through the normal Senate process and need 60 votes for passage instead of a simple majority (Red State). Eric Daugherty: RIDICULOUS. She needs to be fired. She is applying the Byrd Rule to all of this, which decides what can fall under reconciliation.Elizabeth MacDonough was appointed by Democrat HARRY REID in 2012.Senate GOP and John Thune need to KEEP FIGHTING THIS. Thune can fire her. JD Vance, as the President of the Senate, can also step in (Daugherty).

Majority Leader Thune Pressing Hard This Weekend on Big, Beautiful Bill

Axios: Senate Majority Leader John Thune expects to start voting Friday on President Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill,” he told Axios in an exclusive interview on Tuesday…. Thune (R-S.D.) is confident Congress will meet its self-imposed July 4 deadline to get a bill on Trump’s desk. Thune huddled with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) around midday on Tuesday. Minutes before that meeting, Thune told Axios he hadn’t chatted with Johnson recently about the bill, saying “we’ve kind of had our noses to the grindstone.” … Thune said Friday was looking more likely for an initial vote than Thursday, setting up the potential for a weekend slog. “I think we get on it, and then we will plow through, and we’ll get into vote-a-rama and grind it out until — until whenever,” the leader said. “It’s just the nature of the beast at the end.” Johnson told House Republicans “not to leave town” this weekend in case the Senate gets a bill passed, Politico reported Tuesday (Axios).

President Trump: No Vacation Until Big Bill Is Done

Wall Street Journal: President Trump is urging Republicans to get their “one big, beautiful bill” to his desk by July 4. That’s just a week from Friday, and lawmakers still face a series of hurdles and headaches on issues ranging from artificial intelligence to deficit spending to rural hospitals…. Lawmakers are scheduled to leave Washington for a recess next week but signaled they were prepared to stay to finish the bill. “No one goes on vacation until it’s done,” Trump said in an all-caps post on Truth Social on Tuesday. The House and Senate bills are broadly similar. Both would extend tax cuts scheduled to expire at the end of the year, preventing tax increases on most households. They would also create versions of Trump’s promises to remove income taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security benefits while lowering projected spending on Medicaid and nutrition assistance. The legislation would provide more money for border security and national defense (Wall Street Journal).

Israel, US Assess Damage Inflicted on Iran’s Nuclear Sites

Particularly the deep and heavily fortified Fordow. John Sexton of Hot Air: The Defense Intelligence Agency has produced a 5-page preliminary report on the strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities which concludes the strikes were partially successful but failed to destroy the underground sites… That report seems to have leaked instantly to every major news agency, starting with CNN… (Hot Air). Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth responds: Based on everything we have seen—and I’ve seen it all—our bombing campaign obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons…. Anyone who says the bombs were not devastating is just trying to undermine the President and the successful mission (Truth). Steve Witkoff responds: We put 12 bunker buster bombs on Fordow. There’s no doubt that it breached the canopy… and there’s no doubt that it was obliterated. So, the reporting out there that in some way suggests that we did not achieve the objective is just completely preposterous” (Rapid Response). YNET: Israel must now ramp up intelligence-gathering efforts in close coordination with the U.S. to determine whether the war’s stated goals were achieved. That includes assessing the damage to Iran’s nuclear weapons project—especially its enrichment facilities—and verifying how much high-level enriched uranium Iran still has and whether any of it remains hidden, potentially enabling a swift nuclear breakout. Another key focus is Iran’s remaining missile capabilities. While Tehran launched ballistic missiles during the war, its cruise missile and drone arsenals were barely used. It’s possible Iran still retains significant offensive capacity in these areas, posing a continuing threat to Israel (YNET). Nadav Eyal on the final test of this war: That test is five years ahead of now. We really need to look to the horizon to see if this helped (Call Me Back).

ICE Detains 11 Iranian Migrants Amidst Concern Over Sleeper Cells

New York Post: Immigration agents collared 11 illegal Iranian migrants — including suspected terrorists — over the weekend in eight states as the Border Patrol warned of “possible sleeper” cells in the US. Immigration and Customs Enforcement nabbed former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps member Mehran Makari Sahel, who has “admitted connections” to the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah, according to CBS News. He was busted near St. Paul, Minnesota. Yousef Mehridehno, whose name appears on the terrorist watchlist, was arrested by ICE outside Jackson, Mississippi, according to the outlet.Feds discovered that Mehridehno lied on a visa application after he had already been living in the country illegally for eight years. ICE agents also arrested Ribvar Karmi in northern Alabama on Sunday and found he was carrying an Iranian army ID card that revealed he was a sniper between 2018 and 2021, CBS reported (New York Post). Ed Morrissey: Biden and Mayorkas couldn’t have cared less about American national security. Lord knows how many potential terrorists got allowed into this country as a result of their open-borders fetish, and not just from Iran, either. Some may point to a lack of attacks over the last few days as evidence that no danger existed. First, I’d point out that the danger isn’t over yet; the cease-fire could collapse and hostilities restart, including between Iran and the US. Second, the warning from Trump about severe escalation in case of terror attacks likely forced the Iranian regime to back down, as seen in their lame, staged missile attack on Qatar and quick agreement to a cease-fire shortly afterward. The risk is far from over, and so are the Iranian regime’s plans to push for “Death to America” as soon as they feel safe to put them back in action. Eleven arrests in 48 hours are a good start, but we need to account for all of these illegal-alien Iranians and start their deportation proceedings forthwith (Hot Air).

New Yorkers Stunned as Socialist Zohran Mamdani Wins City’s Democratic Mayoral Primary

New York Post: Former NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo shockingly conceded to upstart democratic socialist Zohrab Mamdani in Tuesday’s Democratic Primary Election for the next mayor of New York City. Cuomo told supporters at his election watch party that he had called Mamdani. “Tonight was not our night, tonight, it was Assemblyman Mamdani’s night,” Cuomo said (New York Post). Mamdani’s plan—in his own words: NYS Assemblymember. Running for Mayor to freeze the rent, make buses fast + free, and deliver free universal childcare (Mamdani). New York Sun: The winner of the Democratic mayoral primary is usually a shoe-in to Gracie Mansion, but not this year. Mr. Mamdani will likely run as a Democrat and on the Working Families Party line. Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, did not run in his party’s primary but is instead running on two independent lines in the general election. Guardian Angels founder, Curtis Sliwa, is running on the Republican line and on an independent line he created. Former United States attorney, Jim Walden, is running as an independent (New York Sun).

Trump to AOC on Impeachment Threat: “Make My Day”

President Trump: Stupid AOC, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the “dumbest” people in Congress, is now calling for my Impeachment, despite the fact that the Crooked and Corrupt Democrats have already done that twice before. Instead of her constant complaining, Alexandria should go back home to Queens, where I was also brought up, and straighten out her filthy, disgusting, crime ridden streets, in the District she “represents,” and which she never goes to anymore. She better start worrying about her own Primary, before she thinks about beating our Great Palestinian Senator, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, whose career is definitely on very thin ice! She and her Democrat friends have just hit the Lowest Poll Numbers in Congressional History, so go ahead and try Impeaching me, again, MAKE MY DAY! (Trump).

10.

Trump Impeachment Vote Falls Flat

Going down by a 344 to 79 margin, with Democrats voting 128 to 79 against the measure. Rep. Al Green brought the articles forward (CSPAN). Fox News: The House of Representatives voted along bipartisan lines to quash a lone progressive lawmaker’s bid to impeach President Donald Trump Tuesday afternoon. Lawmakers agreed to table the measure in a 344–79 vote. A vote to table is a procedural mechanism allowing House members to vote against consideration of a bill without having to vote on the bill itself. The resolution was offered by Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who was infamously ejected from Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress earlier this year for repeatedly interrupting the president. A majority of House Democrats joined Republican lawmakers to kill Green’s resolution, a sign of how politically caustic the effort appears to be. Just 79 Democrats voted to proceed with the impeachment vote, while 128 voted to halt it in its tracks (Fox News).

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