Trump claims Iran war victory. But is there a catch? | Planet America

Welcome to Planet America's Situation Room, I'm John Barron.I'm Sheldon Spadallo, and again, we've got a situation.

Tonight, President Trump says the U .S.has reached a deal with Iran.The president says the deal includes opening the Strait of Hormuz immediately and ending America's naval blockade.Many question whether this is a true diplomatic breakthrough.

The President celebrates his birthday by declaring an end to the Iran war and immediately threatens to resume bombing if he doesn't get the nuclear deal he wants.

Meanwhile Congress tries to strengthen ties with Israel just as public opinion sours on the alliance.

But first.The week began with the two month Middle East ceasefire seemingly at breaking point.

Tonight on day 100 of the war with Iran, the ceasefire cracking.as Iran launches its first missile attacks on Israel in almost two months.

That drew an almost plaintive response from the Oval Office.

Israel and Iran must immediately stop shooting.

But they didn't, making Trump look increasingly powerless.And soon, the US itself was being drawn back into conflict.

President Trump has accused Iran of shooting down a US Apache helicopter patrolling the Strait of Hormuz.

This video released by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps today shows missile launches targeting U .S.bases in the region.

U .S.Central Command now says it completed the second wave of strikes on Iran, hitting surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defense sites.Iran calls that a blatant violation of the ceasefire and hit back.

And is the situation again threatened by Iran?spiral completely out of control, back on the President's social media site, it was a case of, if you can't stop him, join him.The United States will be hitting Iran very hard tonight.But then, instead of another escalation or even invasion, another pause.

I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening.

And that was quickly followed by a claim that a peace deal had been approved.Trump even named 11 countries and others as party to the discussions.But no mention of Iran, which raised more doubts.Was this yet more hollow bluster?Scepticism was understandable.Trump has previously announced at least 38 times in the last two months that a deal was nigh or claimed that Iran was desperate to cut one.

But maybe this time, it would be different.Only time will tell if this 60 -day ceasefire achieves those objectives where the previous ceasefire lasting 68 days did not.The New York Times reporting this agreement will be signed on Friday in Geneva and quotes the President already threatening he would restart military attacks on Tehran if they can't reach a deal on Iran's nuclear program.We don't know what else the President was wishing for on his 80th birthday.What do you get a man worth billions of dollars already the most powerful person on the planet?Well he did get some tarpaulins to stop people seeing his name being ripped off the Kennedy Center and he did get MAGA mouthpieces claiming that somebody's putting algae in the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool just to make Trump look bad.

You wouldn't have so much algae that you see in here.You would not have that.That quickly.unless somebody did something, I'm telling you.

And he also got a $60 million circus, a bunch of mixed martial arts fighters beating each other up on the South Lawn of the White House, and some evil kenevil wannabes performing literal backflips.And through it all, the Trump family is cashing in, licensing Freedom 250 -themed silver and gold medallions featuring Trump's face for as much as $12 ,000 a pop.The last year's US and Israeli operations against Iran have underscored both the proximity and complexity of America's alliance with the Jewish state, and also revealed some of the strains.At times, Israel has exerted major influence over the American president, including that reported Situation Room meeting in February when Prime Minister Netanyahu made a hard sell, suggesting that Iran was ripe for regime change.

And just to give some context here, Washington has had a series of 10 -year framework agreements for security assistance to Israel, with the current one being worth $3 .8 billion a year for 10 years.But that one expires in 2028.And that's why it surprised people earlier this year when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared he wanted to phase all that security assistance out.

I want to draw down to zero.the American financial support, the financial component of the military cooperation that we have, because we receive $3 .8 billion a year.And I think that it's time that weourselves from the remaining military support.

Interesting.It is.And at the same time, Israel's concerns over Trump's unpredictability have seen the Israelis increase their surveillance of US officials.Israel's spying on Americans led the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency to raise the counterintelligence threat level from America's top ally in the Middle East to the highest level.So in that context, moves in Congress now to draw American and Israeli defense industries and intelligence sharing even closer.have raised some eyebrows.

Section 224 of the National Defence Authorisation Act will, according to opponents like Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, quietly expand US -Israeli military cooperation and weapons development with almost zero oversight, while the pro -Israel lobby group AIPAC calls it a critical new provision to strengthen and streamline US -Israel defence technology cooperation.

Now to add some more detail there John the new proposal would create a whole new office at the Pentagon and that would be for industrial cooperation and data fusion between the two militaries with a focus particularly on technologies such as AI which Israel uses quite a lot.Now one of the people advocating for this proposal, Congressman Mike Rogers insists it doesn't create any new programs within the defence department but simply adds transparency.And it improves efficiency by designating that single official I'm talking about to coordinate initiatives.He says, in no way does it give away command and control of US military operations, personnel and equipment.And look, I get the benefits of a single official, sure.But I can't see how you can possibly increase transparency by moving spending from the State Department, which is generally quite transparent.

to the extremely murky defence department that has literally never passed an audit in history.And for what it's worth, Congressman Ro Khanna is also less than convinced about this proposal.

only the United States Congress would dream up at this moment, let's actually do more for Israel, not less.And that's what Section 2024 does.

The important thing though here, John, is that this isn't a standalone law that is being proposed.This provision has been snuck into the Defence Appropriations Bill, which is a must -pass bill.It funds the military in a period of war.So this places a huge amount of pressure on politicians to support it.Now, Ro Khanna tried to strip this provision out out of the bill in the Armed Services Committee but he was shut down by a voice vote.Pretty much unanimous.

So this is going to go now to the full house where Ro Khanna is going to be joined by now Thomas Massey who is also going to try to strip it out again and we'll see what happens.

Yeah, and at the same time as all of that is happening, buried in next year's Intelligence Authorisation Act is Section 622, which some analysts say will see Israel and America effectively become one nation when it comes to sharing their secrets.Closer still than the Five Eyes partners, including Australia.

is wild, John.It really is.It's from Senator Tom Cotton and it directs the President to expand and enhance intelligence sharing with the Government of Israel which shall not be suspended, reduced or otherwise materially limited except on the basis of a specific and identifiablenational security concern.And it applies to any Middle Eastern country allied with Israel under the Abraham Accords.So to translate, it would be illegal to not share intelligence with Israel and its Abraham Accords allies in most cases.

And this would apply forever.Wow.Surely that is not going to happen.

Don't be so sure.For more, we spoke to Josh Paul.He's a national security veteran who made headlines back in 2023 for quitting the US State Department in protest over the then -Biden administration's military support for Israel during their invasion of Gaza.Josh Paul, welcome to Planet America.What would you say would be the practical difference of greater intelligence sharing and defence integration?There would already seem to be quite a lot of both.

There is a fair amount of cooperation, more in the intelligence space than in the defence space.In the defence space, up till now, it's a one -way flow really, from the US to Israel.And what these proposals would do, would almost be essentially to reverse that flow, to embed Israeli technology into American weapons system and to vastly expand the range of defense research and cooperation.In terms of practical effects, one of the things that would do is similarly reverse the flow on influence, the United States, whether or not it chooses to use it, essentially has all the leverage in the relationship.The US can cut off funding, can cut off arms transfers.But once you integrate Israeli components into DoD weapons supplies, essentially Israel can then use that as leverage to say, well, we're not going to provide you with this capability, with this software, with this hardware, unless you do X, Y, or Z. I think that's very concerning.

And similarly, on the intelligence side, Once you significantly expand the intelligence sharing, first of all, we know that Israel has atrack record that doesn't exactly align with international humanitarian law.So how it might use that intelligence should be of concern, as should the protection of the data that involves, for example, American citizens and sharing that with a foreign country.So there is a range of issues here.

Broadly speaking though Josh, isn't it a good thing to receive more surveillance and intelligence from Israel since they're notoriously good at that kind of thing?Or are the benefits outweighed by what's going the other way?

Well, first of all, they are notoriously good at that thing.But let's recognize why.They are notoriously good at surveillance technology in particular, because for decades now, they have had an unwilling population on which they can test and develop it in terms of the Palestinians.Yes, of course, Intelligence Corporation can reap benefits for the United States.We don't require a law to entrench that.In fact, intelligence really should be at the discretion of the President of the United States and at the discretion of the Director of National Intelligence.

It should not be essentially a carrot for Israel and, in the case of the law that is being drafted, countries that normalize relations with Israel to cooperate with the United States or with Israel's interests.It should be something that is only shared at the discretion of and in the interests of the United States.

Josh, this is all happening, of course, at a time when American public opinion is moving against the alliance with Israel and political support in the United States seems to be ebbing somewhat as well.Does this amount to something of an insurance policy for the pro -Israel lobby and for Israel itself?

So that's exactly why this is happening now.And you have to look at the bigger picture.It is not only that there has been a transformation in American public opinion when it comes to the U .S.-Israel relationship, with a large majority of Americans now viewing that relationship negatively.It is also coming at a time when, A, Prime Minister Netanyahu is facing elections this fall, and, B, the United States itself is entering midterm elections.

into which it is certainly possible, if not even likely, that the House of Representatives will flip to the Democrats.And were that to happen, it would be, I think, very difficult to get this type of legislation through.So this is happening on an accelerated pathway, essentially because of the politics.At the same time, the US and Israel are negotiating a new 10 -year memorandum of understanding that is supposed to provide the framework for future security cooperation.Logically speaking, first you negotiate, then you follow through in law with anything that needs to be shifted.In this case, the cart is before the horse, precisely because this is ultimately political.

None of this actually has to be done in law.It is just being done now to entrench the relationship in a way that future presidents and future congresses cannot really uproot it.

Josh, there have been a number of leaks recently from US intelligence agencies about Israel spying on America.Is that a coincidence or do you think that suggests that the US intelligence agencies might not be thrilled by this proposal?

So I don't think it's a coincidence that it's just in the last couple of weeks that it has been reported that, for example, Israel poses a critical espionage threat.critical is the highest level.that the US assesses a threat and you can think of countries like Russia or China in the same bucket.I think that there is a long track record here of Israeli espionage against the United States, including a number of convictions, one of them Jonathan Pollard, who stole America's nuclear secrets, provided them to Israel, who is now a member of the Israeli Knesset.I think that this proposal is raising concerns within the US intelligence community, and that is part of why you are now seeing these leaks to the press.I would like to think there's a possibility that there is also some utilisation of this current negotiation by the Trump administration to try to apply some pressure to Israel, perhaps in the context of Iran.

So I think it's a combination of those factors.But I do think that many in the intelligence community do see this as very, very alarming.as do many in the U .S.S.defense industrial base, who also have concerns about economic espionage, whether the research that is conducted with Israel on immensely sensitive emerging technologies will be secure and protected, or whether there'll be theft of intellectual property, for example.

Josh Pohl, thanks for being with us on Planet America.Thank you for having me.As expected, Graham Plattner did win this week's Democratic Senate primary in the state of Maine, despite a string of scandals, including a death's head tattoo associated with the Nazis and a sexting scandal.But Maine's Democrats seem to shrug all of that off, handing him a 53 point win.And he's pledged to learn from his past mistakes.

Redemption is not just some simple or easy destination.It's a journey.I've made mistakes in my life, mistakes that I regret, that I live with.and that I continue to learn from.And I'm still far from perfect.But every day, I wake up and I try to be a little bit better and a little bit kinder than I was the day before.

And if you give me the chance, I will be a senator for the people who cannot afford to buy a senator.

But some Democrats feared that there would be more damaging revelations to come about Graham Platner.And the Murdoch -owned New York Post soon delivered with an ex -girlfriend contradicting his claim that he did not know of the Nazi associations with his tattoo until last year.and that the former Marine kept it as a reminder that quote the US was the evil bad guy overseas.So there is a lot of evidence now that Plattner lied about that Totenkopf tattoo which he has since had inked over by another tattoo, the literal cover -up.The ex -girlfriend also alleged Plattner cheated on apartner before his current wife and in text messages to her mum the post claims that she blasted him for his quote Nazi tattoo and small dick.

all the news that's fit to print.Safe to say, the President, whose Republican Senate majority may swing on the result in Maine, is not a fan of Platner.Or irony, based on this character appraisal.

He's worse than any human being that's ever run for office, probably.This is a thug.He's a cheap, no -good person.I've made a lot of money picking out phonies.He's a real phony.

He's a bad person, because he's just an outright The latest polls, though, show that Plattner and incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins are now head -to -head.Basically, coin toss.Plattner's lead of nine points in late May has cut to just one point in the last week.And now the intense scrutiny of the general election campaign is being turned on to Plattner.Republicans are trying to pick out every little gaffe or misstatement, like this one.

Families who are saddled with children trying...Sorry, with costs of childcare, not saddled with children.who are blessed with children, saddled with childcare costs that make it incredibly difficult to work and to have your kids.

I don't expect Plattner's immediate correction there is going to make it into the inevitable attack ads, Chas.

Look, there are a few attacks against Plattner I reckon are a bit over the top.John, like this one here.And according to Fox News, Plattner only declared about $5 ,000 annual income from farming oysters and only $3 ,000 annual income from serving as the harbour master for Sullivan, Maine, where he oversaw 17..moorings.By contrast, he made $4 ,800 a month from his disability pension.So that's seven times as much as he did from his other jobs.

But Plattner's disability is real.He's described having two herniated discs, a bunk shoulder and bad knees.And Plattner's oyster business?Sure, small, but it's also real.Platner was even making videos about it back in 2020.By the way, it was after they saw that video there that Platner's sponsors decided he was the guy they were looking for to run for Senate.

Fine.But what about those suspicious website registration dates?Now, it is true that Plattner's oyster business site was registered in January 2024.Unsurprising for a small business.And his Senate campaign site was registered in April 2023.Hang on.

Because this website here, grahamforsenate .com, was actually first registered over a decade ago.It's been used before by a different guy called Graham.And then it was held by someone else for years.Probably Lindsey Graham.Or Cybersquad is hoping to sell it, maybe, to Lindsey Graham.

Graham Plattner wasn't even discovered until 2025.So that registration date has nothing to do with him.Plattner's people seem to have bought it in July 2025, because that's when the website data shows that they did something with it.So I reckon his whole line of attack, pretty unfair.One more thing, John.Last week we spoke about how Platner's ex -girlfriend, Lindsay Fifield, said she had more evidence to share about Platner than the New York Times had published.

Well, this week...week, she shared that evidence with the free press.And honestly, not much.Just more corroboration of the stories that the New York Times had already published.There wasn't much that was new.They reviewed some more diary entries and messages that Fifield had sent to friends.

In one diary entry, Fifield wrote of Platner, But he didn't want anyone else to have me either.Fifield also had a friend say she recalled Fifield talking about Platner yanking her out of the cab.Once again, more corroboration, that's all.Now, Platner during the week suggested they'd never actually dated.That Fifield was just someone he had a casual relationship with and that he was single at the time.Fifield did provide some evidence to the contrary for that.

But essentially, if New York Times' story last week wasn't a problem for voters, this isn't going to make any difference.So I'd say, unless something new comes out about Platner, well, he's probably going to get through all this current scandal, I would say.Especially given Platner now ties his shady past into his message of changing America.

If you believe, as I do, that we can change our politics and change our country, then you must also believe that people can change.And the reason I believe that is because I have lived it.And the reason that I have lived it is because of my wife.

In fact, Plattner's new ads take this scandalous atmosphere and make it proof that the corrupt establishment wants to stop him.

Some of the most powerful Democrats and Republicans in the country were on Epstein Island.It seems the only thing the party establishments can agree on is a love of Jeffrey Epstein.and a hatred of me. I'm Graham Platt and I approve this message because together we will take back our government from the Epstein class.

It's working so far.

What does Epstein have to do with...I don't know.Meanwhile, in California, British -American Republican political operative Steve Hilton has won through to that state's gubernatorial election in November, where he'll take on the Democrat Javier Becerra.And he's keen to remind voters there about the last Republican to win statewide in the Golden State.

And I know that some of you may be watching and saying, who is this guy with a funny accent?thinks he can be governor of California.Well, you know, there was actually an immigrant who was governor of California not that long ago.

The lack of resemblance is uncanny between him and Schwarzenegger.It's actually 20 years since Arne won in California, but still, Hilton did edge out another Democrat.This is billionaire activist Tom Steyer, who spent more than $200 million on his failed campaign.Hilton was an advisor to British conservative David Cameron.When he was Prime Minister, you'll have his work cut out for him in heavily Democratic California.The first head -to -head poll since the primary has Becerra 20 points ahead, which is almost identical to the margins that term -limited Democrat Gavin Newsom racked up in his elections in both 2022 and 2018.

Yeah, although Becerra isn't home and hosed yet, John.Like, for instance, he was in the Biden administration And yet, other members of the Biden administration have been openly slagging off his competence.

The governor will have to stand up to Donald Trump.Can I tell you, after working in Joe Biden's administration, I do not trust Javier Becerra to do that.

Can I just say...Whoa, whoa.

I don't.I don't trust that he would be able to do that.And that is the feeling in...You don't trust that he'll be able to stand up to Trump?I don't think that he will be able to stand up to Trump.Trump and lead.

Because when I saw him in the administration, and I think a lot of people did, and it's, it's, people understand this, it's he was not effective in governing.And I think that a lot of people in the Biden administration are talking about this because they realize that he was not an effective HHS secretary.And if you ask any cabinet secretary, they would tell you the same thing.

Van Jones on the left loving it there.But Sierra didn't exactly dispel those doubts when he filmed his big profile interview on KTLA News.

This is the start of our interview with Javier Becerra in Highland Park.

By the way, this is a profile piece.This is not a gotcha piece, right?

Well, look, I think these questions are fair.It's in order to learn about you as a candidate.

So long as it's about the profile.

I don't know how you define profile, but I'd like to begin the interview.

The way I describe profile is you talk about all the things that I've done, things I want to do.and along with some tough questions.

Awkward.And this is how Batsara allayed concerns about oil company Chevron donating to his campaign.

Why do they support you then?I'm sorry.Why do they support you then?Free country.Why shouldn't Chevron?By the way, Chevron employs a lot of very talented people, hardworking folks, engineers, construction workers.

Chevron, that's the problem with politics.They're not the bad guy.And does everybody here drive an electric vehicle?You need Chevron.I need Chevron.My people of the state of California need Chevron.

You know, it's unfortunate that we sort of use these tags and we paint with these broad brushes.Chevron wants to give me a check.That's their prerogative.

Their prerogative.But Sarah still might have a few hearts and minds to win over.Yeah, just maybe, John.As for Steve Hilton, his success has created a little problem for Trump, who last week was tweetingout that they are trying to steal the Governor of California primary and the Mayor of Los Angeles primary away from two great Republican candidates.Well, not only did the final LA Times polling in the LA Mayoral contest kinda resemble the final result, but Hilton's success raises the question, well, Why didn't those cheating Democrats sabotage Hilton's success as well?

They only seemed to rig Spencer Pratt's side of the ballot.Odd.Certainly Steve Hilton isn't worried about any fraud.

We've got teams standing by, lawyers standing by, and actually it's the same answer that I've been giving for a few days now.We've seen nothing that would give us cause to intervene in that way.

Ah, but that's just because the election rigging is too diabolical to prove.But what evidence is there to prove that there was a raid?

Some of these efforts are so diabolical and so far upstream it is impossible to prove.But I think everybody knows instinctively something is wrong here.

It never ends, John.Finally, to a race in South Carolina.Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace began her congressional career back in 2021 trying to create an impact literally.The January 6th writing had occurred three days after she was sworn in and the Queen to her former staffers, she literally begged us to let her leave the office and head to the floor so she could get punched in the face and get media attention.That's word for word what she requested, the staffers said.Well, that didn't happen for most, but she did gain plenty of that sweet media attention anyway by loudly and clearly condemning Trump in the ensuing weeks.

so strongly against the President, against these QAnon conspiracy theorists that led us in a constitutional crisis.It's just wrong and we've got to put a stop to it.

Sadly for Mace, Trump made a comeback.Even more sadly for her, he endorsed her opponents in 2022.So Mace tried out a new tactic.

I'm in front of Trump Tower today and I remember in 2015 when President Trump announced his run.I was one of his earliest supporters.I actually worked for the campaign in 2016.I worked in seven different states across the country to help get him elected.I supported him again in 2020 because of policies I believed in.

Well, that didn't really work out for her either.And despite Mace rather desperately reinventing herself first as a transgender basher and then as an Epstein exposer, she never really regained Republicans' favour.When Mace ran for governor this year, Trump endorsed her opponent.Pamela Yvette.And once again, Mace tried out a new tactic of claiming that Pamela Yvette is not endorsed by Donald Trump.Do not believe her lies.

And then Mace attached an AI video of Trump supposedly supporting Mace.Well, that didn't really work out either.And in the South Carolina governor primaries, Nancy Mace ended up coming fifth.Sadly, when Mace's congressional term ends next January, that may well be the end of her political career and what a ride it's been.

Nancy Mace.Where's Nancy?

Congresswoman Nancy Mace and a local man getting into a loud argument at a store.Yeah, f*** you.Disgusting.Get out of my face.

Mace is accused of cursing at TSA agents.

This ad -libbed line at a prayer breakfast.Patrick, my fiancé, tried to pull me by my waist over this morning in bed and I was like, no baby, we don't got time for that this morning.I gotta get to the prayer breakfast.

Mace was questioned on her repeated use of a slur for transgender people.American citizens.for trannies.

Sounds like the shooter was a tranny.Tranny, tranny, tranny.I don't really care.I'm wearing the scarlet letter after the week that I just had last week being a woman up here and being demonized.This week she thought it'd be cutesy to wear her PJs to go vote on the big beautiful bill.She made it an hour ago to the vote.

Mace allegedly instructed a staffer to go on Reddit forums about the quote hottest women in Congress to boost her standing in the rankings.

I am Trump in high heels.I love what I am doing.I don't see Nancy Mace's name on that list.

You got to come way down here.Nancy Mace, a congresswoman, Trump foe at the bottom of the pack.She went to a diner in her pajamas.What is she doing?

And that is all for another trip to Planet America.We'll be back at the same time next week on ABC TV and anytime you like on ABC iview, YouTube and Facebook.

And don't forget the Planet Extra podcast where special guest Jared Monshine and I are going to nerd it up.It'll get detailed.See you then.

Bye.