Transcript

6.17.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for Tuesday,
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June seventeenth, twenty twenty five. As a reminder, Radio I
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is a reading service intended for people who are blind
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or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read
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printed material. Your reader for to day is Cindy Fraser.
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To day's front page headlines from the Washington Post are
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Trump leaves summit early, departs G seven to deal with
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Mid East, but declines to join statement on crisis. Our
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next headline, officials others targeted in Minnesota, more lawmakers, homes visited.
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Prosecutors say man told his family he quote went to war. Next,
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Arab Gulf States work to mediate in er on conflict,
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next Porus households may feel more pain than gain from bill.
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And the final headline from to Day's front page, Trump
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spurs effort to reward loyalty in federal work force. Now
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let's turn to our first item entitled Trump leaves summit early,
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departs G seven to deal with Mideast, but declines to
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join statement on crisis by Katzakruski, Amanda Coletta and Cleve R.
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Woodson Junior from Banff, Alberta. President Donald Trump left the
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Group of Seven summit a day early to attend to
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the conflict between Israel and Iran, the White House announced Monday,
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after he called for a broader de escalation of hostilities
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in the Middle East in his statement with other global leaders.
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Trump initially declined to sign the G seven statement, but
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reversed his position following discussions with other leaders in the
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group and changes to the initial draft, according to a
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US official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to
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describe the sensitive conversations. The official declined to say what
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changes secured Trump's sign off, but the statement omitted length
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which that called for both Iran and Israel to show restraints,
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which appeared in an earlier draft of the agreement viewed
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by The Washington Post. The published statement affirmed Israel's right
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to defend itself and called Iran the principal source of
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regional instability and terror. It also reiterated that Iran cannot
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possess a nuclear weapon. We urge that the resolution of
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the Ranian crisis leads to a broader de escalation of
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hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza,
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the statement said. The statement was released shortly before Trump
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departed for Washington after a dinner with other attendees of
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the summit. Trump displayed some policy divisions with other G
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seven leaders earlier in the day, and his reversal on
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this statement was a rare showing of cooperation with other
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presidents and prime ministers of the forum. I have to
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be back, Trump told reporters Monday night while posing for photos.
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You probably see what I see, and I have to
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be back as soon as I can. Trump had earlier
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posted a statement on his truth social platform declaring that
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everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran, referring to Iran's capital, which
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has a population of almost ten million. America first means
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many great things, including the fact that Iran cannot have
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a nuclear weapon. Make America great again, he wrote. In
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a separate post. Trump had been scheduled to meet Tuesday
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with Ukrainian President Volodimyr Zelensky and Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum.
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I wish I could stay for tomorrow, but they understand,
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Trump said. Other presidents, including Trump in his first term,
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have cut short trips to the G seven and similar
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international meetings in recent years. In twenty twenty three, for example,
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President Joe Biden shortened a trip to the Pacific region,
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skipping stops in Papula, New Guinea and Australia to deal
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with the U S Dead crisis. But Trump's announcement here
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came in a far more ominous context, as the United
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States expands its military presence in the Middle East. The
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Pentagon sent more than two dozen tanker planes from the
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US to Europe on Sunday and Monday, a shift that
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US officials linked to Commander's desire for options should American
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facilities in the Middle East face a direct threat. The
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Navy meanwhile canceled a port stop in Vietnam for the
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USS Mimits, sending that aircraft carrier and other warships escorting
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it to the Middle East more quickly than had been expected,
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defense officials said. Defense Secretary Pete Hexa said in a
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statement posted to act's early Monday evening that he directed
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the deployment of additional capabilities to the Middle East. Protecting
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U S forces is our top priority, and these deployments
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are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region,
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the statement said, without specifying what kinds of forces he sent.
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The military is postured defensively in the region in pursuit
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of a deal with Iran, Hexseth said during a Fox
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News interview, jets, air defense assets, and counter unmanned aircraft
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systems are there to set conditions for the deal. He said.
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President Trump's made it clear it's on the table, Hexeth said,
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referring to a possible deal, the question is whether Iran
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will take it. In negotiations in recent weeks, the US
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has insisted that Iran entirely give up its capacity to
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enrich nuclear fuel, which can be used for civilian reactors,
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but at higher levels of enrichment can also be fashioned
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into bombs. Iran has insisted that it would not give
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up enrichment entirely, saying that it has the right to
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a civilian nuclear program under international treaties. Trump and other
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senior US officials have said the United States is not
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participating in israel strikes on Iran, but Washington is supporting
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Israel in other ways, including fending off Iranian attacks. Trump
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has warned Iran against attacking U S forces in the region,
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and no such attacks have taken place. US officials have said,
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as at a news conference earlier in the day, about
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possible deeper US involvement in the fighting. Israeli Prime Minister
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Benjamin Netanyahu said President Trump will decide what's best for America.
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Any contribution will be welcomed. The G seventh Summit began
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on the fourth day of the Middle East Conflict, a
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fresh wave of violence in the region that undermines Trump's
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commitments to serve as a global peacemaker. Throughout the day,
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Trump maintained a conciliatory tone in public meanings with other
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world leaders. Trump's decision to sign the Middle East Statement
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is a victory for the organizers of the summit, who
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sought to navigate conversations about Israel, the war in Ukraine,
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and global trade without inviting Trump's ire. In less than
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five months in office, Trump has up ended US diplomacy
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with a friendlier posture towards Russia and an antagonistic approach
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to long time you as allies, including this year's G
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seven host, Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he
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fully understood Trump's decision to depart, saying he was very
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grateful for the president's presence. At a morning meeting, Trump
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confirmed that he had received signals through intermediaries that Iran
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wants to de escalate the fighting. He said Tehran should
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have struck a deal to impose limits on its nuclear
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program before a sixty day deadline that he had set.
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They have to make a deal, he said, and it's
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painful for both parties, but I'd say Iran is not
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winning this war. They should talk immediately before it's too late.
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Trump appeared in a co operative mood even before he
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reversed his position on the summit state and on Arran,
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and avoided the personal attacks on U S allies that
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had defined many of his past international summits. He appeared
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to be on good terms even with leaders on the
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other end of the political spectrum, including British Prime Minister
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Keir Starmer. He slightly more liberal than I am, but
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for some reason, we get along, Trump said. He and
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Starmer signed a trade agreement, finalizing a pact that the
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administration had announced in May. There were early signs, however,
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that Trump was not aligned with his counterparts. He began
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the summit with criticism of former leaders and said they
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had made a big mistake in twenty fourteen when they
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booted Russian President Vladimir Putin from what was then called
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the Group of Eight. He did not acknowledge that Russia
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was suspended because it invaded and later annexed the Crimean peninsula.
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Putin was insulted by the exclusion, Tromp said, claiming that
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the war in Ukraine could have been avoided if Putin
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had been cat in the fold. You know you have
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your enemy at the table. Trump said he wasn't really
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an enemy at that time. There was no concept. If
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I were president, this war would have never happened. Trump
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blamed the decision to exclude Russia on then President Barack
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Obama and Canadian then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, even though
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Trudeau did not take off us until the following year.
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He said he was unsure whether Putin should be allowed
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back in the group because too much water has gone
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over the dam. Maybe. He also said it was not
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a bad idea when asked whether Chinese President Jijinping should
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be invited to future G seven meetings. Trump's public appearances
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for the day began with a one on one meeting
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with Carney. In comments to reporters after the session, the
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president was complimentary. He expressed optimism that he and Carney
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could work out a deal on Trey, and he directed
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no venom at the world leaders with whom he would
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be meeting, even as he could their predecessors. I'm a
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tariff person. I always been a teriff simple, it's easy,
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it's precise, and it just goes very quickly, Trump said
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when asked about trade talks with the Canadians. And I
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think Mark has a more complex idea but also very good,
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so we're going to look at both. We've developed a
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very good relationship, he added. A senior Canadian government official,
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speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations,
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said Monday that Trump and Carney had a productive meeting
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that lasted for more than an hour and focused on
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trade and security negotiations. Carney told reporters that the meeting
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was fantastic. Carney started the meeting by flattering Trump, wishing
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Trump and the US military a belated happy birthday, and
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praising the president's bold decision making. The tone marked a
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contrast from April's federal election campaign here in which Carney
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cast himself as the anti Trump an road to victory
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on a wave of anger about Trump's tariffs and repeated
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threats to use economic force to make Canada the fifty
11:07
first state tariffs are at the top of the agenda
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for many G seven attendees, as the meeting founded to
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foster economic cooperation evolved into a negotiating forum after Trump
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launched trade wars against key US partners. In remarks at
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a session on the global Economic outlook, Ursula Vunderlean, president
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of the European Commission, said that it was in our
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shared interest to keep trade between G seven countries open.
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She said tariffs create uncertainty, fuel inflation, and divert energy
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from countering China's unfair trade practices. We agree the current
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global trading system is not working as it should, Bonderland said,
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according to a statement released from her office, guard rails
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are clearly missing on this point. Donald is right there
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is a serious problem, but we strongly feel that the
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biggest challenges are not the trade between G seven partners.
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After Monday's bilateral meeting, Dominic Gleablanc, the Canadian cabinet minister
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responsible for US Canada trade, said that both sides had
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agreed to meet later this week and that Trump and
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Carney agreed to collectively accelerate our work on a trade
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and security deal. A statement from the Prime Minister's office
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said that the leaders agreed to pursue negotiations toward a
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deal within the coming thirty days. He declined to say
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whether the President had raised the prospect of Canada becoming
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the fifty first state behind closed doors Monday. The next
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item from to day's front page is entitled Officials others
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targeted in Minnesota. More lawmakers homes visited, prosecutors, say Man
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told family he quote went to war by Holly Bailey,
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Patrick Marley, and Jeremy Roebuck from Saint Paul, Minnesota. The
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man charged in the shootings of two Democratic state lawmakers
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and their spouses over the week end went to the
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homes of at least two other Minnesota legislators during his rampage,
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intending to kill them. Authorities said Monday, vance Bolter extensively
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stopped his victims and pose as a law enforcement officer
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during the shootings that killed State Representative Melissa Hartman and
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her husband Mark Ann, left State Senator John Hoffmann and
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his wife Yvette critically injured, said Joseph H. Thompson, acting
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you as attorney for the District of Minnesota. Between the attacks,
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Bolter allegedly drove to the homes of a state representative
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in Maple Grove and a state senator in nearby New Hope,
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but in both cases, Thomson said at a news conference Monday,
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Bolter was thwarted before he could carry out further violence.
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The representative was away on vacation, Thompson said, and Bolter
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left the senator's home after encountering a police officer near by.
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Authority have not identified either elected official, but Minnesota state
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Senator and Rest Democrat, said she had been informed by
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law enforcement that the gunman had parked near her home
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early Saturday. I am so grateful for the heroic work
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of the New Hull Police Department and its officers, Rest
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said in a statement. Their quick action saved my life.
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Bolter meanwhile, allegedly texted his family in the hours after
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the shootings that set off the largest man hunt in
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state history and royaled officeholders sense of safety in Minnesota
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and across the country. Dad went to war last night,
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he wrote, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday. In
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a separate text to his wife, Bolter allegedly said, words
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are not going to explain how sorry I am for
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the situation. There's going to be some people coming to
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the house armed and trigger happy, and I don't want
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you guys around, the text to his wife said, according
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to the complaint, those detail emerged a day after Bolter,
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fifty seven, whose online profile suggests he has an interest
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in security work and Christian evangelism, surrendered to police in
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the woods near his home in rural Sibley County following
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a massive two day search. Prosecutors said Monday that Bolter
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would face federal murder charges in the slayings of the hortmen,
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counts that could result in a death sentence should he
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be convicted. This was a political assassination, which is not
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a word we use very often in the United States,
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Thompson said during the news conference in Minneapolis to announce
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the charges, which also included counts of stalking and using
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a firearm in an act of violence. Thompson declined to
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say whether he would pursue a death penalty case. Bolter,
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dressed in an orange prison uniform, answered questions from a
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federal magistrate judge during a brief court appearance in Saint
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Paul and was ordered detained without bail pending a hearing
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next week. Matthew Deets, a public defender appointed to represent him,
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declined to comment. Afterward, Bolter had already been charged by
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state prosecutors with two counts of second degree murder and
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two counts of attempted second degree murder charges. Hennethan County
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Attorney Mary Moriarty said would probably be upgraded to first
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degree murder as soon as our office could present evidence
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to a grand jury, as required by Minnesota law. We
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are at early stages, she said. We will review all
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of the evidence from law enforcement as it comes in
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and are working with our law enforcement partners. Court documents
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filed in the federal case led out a chilling narrative
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of what FBI investigators described as an extensively planned campaign
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of stocking and violence. They also shed new light on
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Bolter's alleged movements as authorities scoured the state to find him.
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Hours before his arrest, investigators found a car linked to
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Bolter abandoned on a road. In a letter inside the
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vavehicle addressed to the FBI, Bolter admitted to being the
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shooter at large in Minnesota involved in the two shootings.
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According to the criminal complaint, authorities alleged that Bolter researched
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his targets for months, looking up their addresses and other
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personal information on publicly available websites, and compiling a list
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of potential targets, most of whom were elected Democrats. He
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allegedly purchased flashlights, a hyperrealistic silicone mask, and materials authority
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said he would later use to disguise his car as
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a police vehicle. Around two a m. Saturday, Bolter, wearing
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the mask and a tactical guest, arrived first at the
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home of the Hoffman's in Chaplain, a quiet suburb about
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twenty minutes outside Minneapolis, according to court records. Banging on
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the door, he claimed to be a police officer responding
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to a shooting reported inside. The charging document states it
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was only after he stopped shotting a flashlight in the
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Hoffman's eye and they saw he was not an officer.
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Thompson said that they realized they were in danger. This
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is a robbery, Thompson said. Bolter shouted before shooting John
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Hoffman nine times and Yvette Hoffman ate, then fleeing as
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a daughter called nine one one. The couple remained hospitalized,
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but both are expected to make up full recovery. Authorities said.
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Roughly twenty minutes later, Bolter serviced again at another lawmaker's
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home in Maple Grove. According to the complaint, authorities said
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surveillange footage from the state representative house chows Bolter repeatedly
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ringing the door bell and shouting, this is the police.
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We have a warrant. The lawmaker was away on vacation,
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Thompson said Monday, and Bolter left shortly afterwards, headed to
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his next intended target, a state senator in New Hope.
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By that time, authorities responding to the shooting of the
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Hoffmans had dispatched law enforcement to conduct wellness checks on
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certain members of the state legislature, Thompson said. According to
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the complaint, an officer sent to the senator's home a
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New Hope and counted Bolter park near by in his
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black s u V disguise as a police car. The
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officer initially mistook him for a fellow law enforcement member
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and tried to speak with him, Thompson said, but Bolter
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did not respond. She left him to continue on to
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the lawnmaker's house to investigate. By the time she returned,
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Bolter had driven away. According to the complaint. It was
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then that authority said Bolter made his way to the
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Hortman's home in the neighboring suburb of Brooklyn Park. Arriving
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around three thirty a m. He again encountered officers who
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had been despatched to conduct a safety check in light
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of the earlier shooting. The complaint states as the officers arrived,
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they spotted Bolter, dressed in dark clothing, standing near the
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front door. Records ad Bolter fired several shots into the house,
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then rushed inside and shot the couple. According to the complaint,
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he fled out a back door before he could be apprehended.
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Thompson said the Hartman's family dog, who also appeared to
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have been shot, was gravely injured and later had to
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be euthanized. Investigators said they discovered a nine millimeter beretta
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they believed the gunman used in the shooting, disassembled and
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abandoned outside, as well as a face mask, according to
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the complaint, In Bolter's car, they found five guns, including
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assault style rifles, plus ammunition, and a notebook listing more
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than forty five other Minnesota state and local officials. Thompson
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said as authorities scrambled to find Bolter in the hours
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it followed, police pulled his wife over as she was
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driving with the couple's children near Anemia, more than seventy
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five miles from the scene of the final attack. According
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to the complaint, she gave them permission to search her
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cell phone and the vehicle without a warrant. They found
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two handguns, ten thousand dollars in cash, and passports for
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her and her children in the car. Ukes Bolter's brother
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in law told The Washington Post on Monday that the
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family would have no comment. At a home in Minneapolis,
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where Bolter lived part time with roommates while working in
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the city, investigators found another handwritten list containing many of
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the same lawmakers names that were detailed in the notebook
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found in his car, as well as those of Democratic
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lawmakers from other Midwestern states. The complaint states. Scrawled notes
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next to Hartman's name read married, mark, two children, eleventh
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term and big house off golf course, two ways in
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to watch from one spot, evidence suggesting that Bolter had
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surveiled the house before Saturday's shootings. Authorities said. As a
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man hunt continued into a second day, Bolter traveled to
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Minneapolis to meet with a stranger whose e byke he
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had arranged to buy. Authority said the man, whom authorities
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did not identify Monday, told law enforcement that Bolter arrived
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to the meeting wearing a case hat and carrying two
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Duffel bags in addition to the bike. He offered to
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buy the man's Buick sed Anne, paying nine hundred dollars
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in cash for both, the seller told authorities. According to
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the complaint, Sunday afternoon, investigators found that car abandoned along
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Highway twenty five, about two miles from Bolter's home in
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green Isle in rural Sibley County. Drew Evans, superintendent of
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the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said Monday that the
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discovery led them to Bolter. Just after nine p m.
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An officer spotted Bolter running through the nearby woods. According
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to the complaint, he surrendered after what Evans described as
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a relatively short period of negotiations. They were moving in
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and he was co operating, Evans said, adding I believe
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he was in a position where he just had to
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give up. Thompson, speaking at Monday's news conference, said it
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was still way too speculative to say what allegedly motivated Bolter,
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though he acknowledged that nearly all of the targets on
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Bolter's alleged hit lists were Democrats. Investigators had found no
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writings indicating any ideology and had seen nothing like an
23:10
un obamber style manifesto in his writings. Interviews, and a
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review of Bolter's online presence paint a portrait of a
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man who bounced from jobs at funeral homes to a
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nascent attempt to launch his own security firm in Africa.
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He was avid about his Christian faith and sometimes complained
23:28
about Democratic politicians, his friend and roommate David Carlson, told reporters.
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During his federal court hearing Monday, Bolter told US Magistrate
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Judge John F. Dougherty that he could not afford his
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own attorneys as he was making roughly five hundred forty
23:43
dollars a week from a job he held part time.
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He said he had between twenty thousand and thirty thousand
23:50
dollars in savings and owned seven cars registered in his name,
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though some, he added, were being used by a couple
23:57
of my kids. Although state in federal law enforcement officials
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were united as announced Bolter's apprehension Sunday night, a legal
24:05
tug of war appeared to emerge Monday, over who would
24:08
be the first to take him to trial. Originally Booked
24:12
in the Hennipon County Jail, Bolter had been scheduled to
24:15
make his first court appearance on the state murder charges
24:18
Monday afternoon. Before that hearing could happen, federal authorities arrived
24:23
to take him into custody and transport him to his
24:25
federal court hearing in Saint Paul. Moriarty, the county attorney,
24:30
told reporters her office had been abruptly informed of the
24:33
transfer that morning, and said that typically the suspect would
24:37
have made his scheduled state court appearance first. When a
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reporter pressed her on whether he was going to appear
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in court in Minneapolis, Moriarty left the lectern. Ultimately, Bolter
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did not appear at his state court hearing later that
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afternoon and was not represented by an attorney. Tensions have
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been high in recent months between the Justice Department and
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Minnesota officials, including Moriarty, who have been publicly critical of
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the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration and other measures. Last month,
25:09
the Justice Department announced it had opened a racial discrimination
25:12
investigation into Moriarty, a Democrat, and the Hennepin County Attorney's
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office over a new policy that would take an individual's
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race into consideration during plea negotiations. Speaking Monday at a
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news conference on the Bolter case, she urged an end
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to the type of divisive political rhetoric. Sheep lame for
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the weekend's attacks. It is a frightening time we are
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living in, Moriarty said. Political violence is prevalent, and the
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way that we talk to and about each other has
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raised attention to unfathomable levels. We cannot continue on this way.
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The Hortman's children, Sophie and Colin, echoed that call for
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unity in a statement Monday. There first since the death
25:56
of their parents, hope and resilience are the enemy fear.
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It read. Our parents lived their lives with immense dedication
26:04
to their fellow humans. This tragedy must become a moment
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for us to come together. The best way to honor
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our parents memory is to do something, whether big or small,
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to make our community just a little better for someone else.
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Marley reported from Minneapolis and Roebuck from Washington. Annie Gowen
26:25
contributed to this report. Next is an item entitled Arab
26:30
Gulf States work to mediate Innerran conflict by Kareem Fahim
26:36
and Susannah George. Our reigning officials have told mediators they
26:40
are open to resuming nuclear talks with the United States,
26:44
but they first want Israel to stop its attacks, two
26:47
officials briefed on the matter said Monday, as fighting between
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the regional art tribals continued for a fourth day, Tehran's position,
26:56
one official said, was that we never left the negotiating table,
27:00
but no negotiations while we are under fire. Ahman and
27:05
Qatar were leading efforts to begin ceasefire talks, the second
27:08
officials said, part of a frantic drive by Persian Gulf
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states to tamp down the intensifying conflict on their doorsteps
27:16
that began Friday when Israel began striking Iran. Both officials
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spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive
27:24
nature of the discussions. The escalating conflict has fed a
27:28
growing dread in the Persian Gulf, fueled by the region's
27:32
proximity to the conflict, memories of terrible wars passed, and
27:36
confusion over how far Israel, Iran, and the Trump administration
27:41
are willing to escalate. President Donald Trump on Monday indicated
27:45
he had received messages that Iran was seeking to halt
27:48
the fighting, but did not say whether he had asked
27:52
Israel to stop or divulge where the United States intended
27:55
to intervene militarily on Israel's behalf. On Monday evening, Trump
28:00
posted about the conflict on his social media site. What
28:04
a shame, What a waste of human life, he wrote,
28:07
simply stated Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I said
28:11
it over and over again. Every one should immediately evacuate Tehran.
28:16
It was unclear what prompted him to call for an
28:19
evacuation of the city, which has a population of nearly
28:22
ten million. If the conflict drags on, it may be
28:26
inevitable that the Gulf will somehow be dragged in, Annals
28:30
said on Monday. In another round of bloody strikes, an
28:34
Iranian missile barrage struck the port city of Haifa, and
28:38
Israel struck Iranian missile batteries as well as the headquarters
28:42
of Iranian state television. At least two hundred twenty four
28:45
people in Iran and twenty four people in Israel have
28:49
been killed in the attack since Friday. According to officials,
28:53
we have been working for years to avert such a showdown,
28:56
because we will be the ultimate victims, said butter Oushaeff,
29:00
a professor of history at Kuwait University, who described a
29:03
sense of panic in the region as supermarket isles started
29:07
to empty and social media lit up with talk of
29:10
bomb shelters. This is the worst nightmare come true, he said.
29:16
For a time, Gulf states had reason to hope they
29:18
would be spared the conflict's violent fallout. Some of the
29:22
monarchies had pledged to Iran that they would not participate
29:25
in attacks against it, and as a block, they kept
29:29
lines of communication to all sides, having cultivated relations with
29:33
both Iran and Israel as part of the recent Gulf
29:36
push to forge a security policy independent of the United
29:40
States and insulate the region if war broke out. Now,
29:45
Gulf states have been left to wonder what Prime Minister
29:48
Benjamin Metnyahu's government intends, as Israel broadens its target list
29:53
and offers shifting accounts of its war aims, from degrading
29:56
Iran's nuclear program to welcoming, if not push for regime change.
30:02
Gulf states are also bracing to see how Iran's response
30:06
will evolve, especially if it feels a government's survival is
30:10
at stake. The worries are for the days ahead, if
30:14
Tehran lashes out of targets beyond Israel, and for the aftermath.
30:18
Amid fears that Iran, acutely aware of its insecurity, might
30:23
double down on its nuclear program. Had the Israelis just
30:27
provoked the Iranians in a rush to the bomb, said
30:29
Ali Shihabi, a Saudi author and political analyst. Obviously that's
30:34
a concern. There was the question too, of whether the
30:39
United States would join Israel in attacking Iran, which analyst
30:43
said could lead to the most catastrophic and unpredictable of
30:47
consequences for the country's ninety million people and the region beyond.
30:52
If America is wise, rational and prioritizes the interests of
30:57
all in the region, it will not get involved and
31:00
will force Israel to stop. Hamud Ali Talib wrote Monday
31:04
in the Saudi daily Okhaz. If the United States was
31:08
lured in, he added, we will enter a phase worse
31:12
than any of the region has ever experienced. The Trump
31:16
administration is already involved as Israel's main weapon supplier and
31:21
by assisting in shooting down Iran's missiles, As some of
31:25
the President's allies have urged him to intervene more forcefully
31:29
on Israel's behalf. Trump has continued to hold out the
31:33
possibility of a nuclear deal with Iran, while also praising
31:36
israel strikes and threatening the full strength and might of
31:40
the U. S Military if Iran attacks American interests. On Monday,
31:46
at the Group of Seventh summit in Canada, Trump answered yeah,
31:50
when asked by reporters if mediators had signaled that Iran
31:53
was seeking to end the conflict, They'd like to talk,
31:57
but they should have done that before. He said, they
32:00
should talk immediately before it's too late. I asked what
32:03
it would take for the United States to intervene militarily,
32:06
Trump responded, I don't want to talk about that. US
32:10
officials said Monday that the Pentagon was expanding its military
32:14
presence in the Middle East and Europe, with a fleet
32:16
of American refueling planes and an additional aircraft carrier among
32:20
the resources dispatched. The move puts those aircraft closer to
32:25
the region to defend you as interests if needed, said
32:28
one official familiar with the discussion, who spoke on the
32:31
condition of anonymity because of the issue sensitivity. While Trump
32:35
had been unpredictable. There was also a sense in the
32:39
Gulf that pledges the president made during a recent trip
32:42
to the region to strive for stability and ending wars
32:46
were part of his doctrine. Safe said he is tweeting
32:49
about having peace and making the Middle East grade again.
32:51
He said he has leverage over Israel and he needs
32:55
to use it. Safe added if the president was a
32:59
wild card, there was more confidence that Tehran might not
33:02
target its immediate neighbors, a result of warming ties, including
33:07
between Saudi Arabia and Iran after relations reached a nigher
33:11
nearly a decade ago. In April, Saudi Arabia's defense Minister
33:16
Khalid bin Salman traveled to Tehran, a sign of sawing
33:20
relations between the regional archrivals, where he delivered a message
33:24
that the Israelis were looking for an excuse to attack
33:27
and that Iran should negotiate with the United States over
33:30
its nuclear program. Shi Hadi said the Saudis also pledged
33:35
that they would not participate in any way in military
33:39
operations against Iran. He said, the Gulf has built good
33:43
ties with Iran over the last year or so, so
33:45
I don't think the Iranians want to put that at risk.
33:48
Shihabi said the danger that Iran allied groups in the
33:52
region might accunilatterally had also been diminished. He said they
33:56
have mostly been defanged except the Huthis, a rebel militia,
34:00
and Yemen that had no desire to start a fresh war.
34:03
He said Golf entreaties to be left out of the fighting, though,
34:07
would depend on where the Iranian threat perception takes them.
34:11
Seif said if the regime felt its existence was threatened,
34:15
it could take more drastic measures, like blocking the Strait
34:18
of Hormones, a critical waterway, or attacking US bases in
34:22
the Gulf. This is uncharted territory, he said. As the
34:27
unknown unfolded, authorities in Gulf states scrambled to reassure their
34:32
nervous populations. In a message on x on Sunday, Qatar's
34:36
Ministry of Environment and Climate Change told citizens that radiation
34:41
levels in the air and territorial waters of the State
34:44
of Qatar are within normal limits. The ministry said it
34:48
was closely monitoring such levels around the clock. In Kuwait,
34:52
the Army issued a statement Monday confirming that the missile
34:56
launches lighting up the nighttime sky in Iran and arking
34:59
towards Israel were not entering the country's airspace and posed
35:03
no threat. Abdu Klek Abdullah, a political scientist in the
35:08
United Arab Emirates, said the crisis had presented the Gulf
35:12
with challenges and opportunities awakened. Iran was good for the region,
35:17
he said, citing Tehran's funding of regional proxies and decades
35:21
of expansion, but Israel was emerging more emboldened militarily to
35:26
the detriment of the region, including the Palestinians, whose plight
35:30
won't be solved anytime soon. He said the idea that
35:34
Iran's government with collapse was wishful thinking in Tel Aviv
35:38
and many quarters of the region. He said, when the
35:41
hostilities end, it is likely that Iran is going to
35:44
look inward rather than try to project its power regionally.
35:48
He said, everyone is talking to everyone to end the fighting.
35:52
He said the phones are burning. Those who assumed people
35:56
in the Gulf were happy with the strikes against Iran
35:59
should think safe. Said this is such an intertwined, interconnected region.
36:05
An Israeli strike on Iran's oil and gas industry Saturday
36:09
impacted a gas field that Taran shares with Ktar the
36:13
Bushere nuclear power plant, which Israel has not targeted on
36:17
Iran's western coast since less than two hundred miles from Kuwait.
36:22
We all are impacted safe, said Danlmouth and Washington contributed
36:27
to this report. Next from Today's front page, Poorest households
36:33
may feel more pain than gained from bill by Theodoric
36:37
Mayor and Jacob Bogage. President Donald Trump and his Republican
36:41
allies in Congress have pitched their sweeping tax and spending
36:45
bill as a way to help the working class voters
36:48
who played a crucial role in electing Trump. But funding
36:52
cuts to Medicaid and other programs included in the legislation
36:55
would hurt low income households financially more than the tax
36:59
cuts would boost their finances. According to non partisan analyzes
37:03
of the bill, the biggest benefits would accrue to the
37:06
highest earning households. The analyzes found the bill's potential to
37:11
hurt working class Americans has complicated its past the passage
37:15
in the Senate, where several Republicans have raised concerns about
37:19
the effects of the Medicaid cuts in particular. It also
37:23
spotlights attentions in a party that increasingly relies on working
37:27
class voters but has continued to pursue tax policies that
37:30
would mostly help affluent voters, who have trendered toward Democrats
37:34
in the Trump era. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act,
37:38
Trump's top legislative priority, would direct twelve thousand dollars a
37:42
year in additional resources, on average to the ten percent
37:46
of households with the highest incomes. According to an analysis
37:49
released last week by the non partisan Congressional Budget Office,
37:53
it would make the ten percent of households with the
37:56
lowest incomes worse off by nearly one thousand, six hundred
38:00
dollars a year. Most households would be better off, the
38:03
analysis found, but the thirty percent of households with the
38:07
lowest incomes would be worse off. Another analysis of the bill,
38:12
conducted by the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Budget Model, found
38:16
it would hurt the bottom sixty percent of households financially
38:19
when taking into account how much it would force the
38:22
government to borrow over the next decade. A third analysis
38:26
conducted by Yale's Budget Lab found the bill, when combined
38:30
with the effects of Trump's tariffs, would make all but
38:33
the top twenty percent of households worse off. The tariffs
38:37
wipe out any gains that middle income Americans would see
38:40
from the bills, according to the analysis. Although it's tough
38:43
to measure the effect of the on again, off again
38:46
tariffs because Trump has repeatedly changed them and some are
38:49
under challenge in court, Wharton's model considers economic growth from
38:54
the tax cuts as part of its analysis. Yale's does not.
38:58
Republicans reject themmocratic attacks that the bill is written to
39:01
benefit billionaires, pointing to provisions that would help working class Americans.
39:07
The bill would deliver on popular Trump campaign promises by
39:10
eliminating taxes on tips and overtime for workers who are
39:14
not highly compensated. It would also create a new four
39:17
thousand dollars deduction for seniors with incomes below seventy five
39:21
thousand dollars one hundred fifty thousand dollars for couples, inspired
39:25
by Trump's campaign pledge not to tax Social Security benefits.
39:30
Representative Jason T. Smith, Republican from Missouri, chairman of the
39:34
House Ways and Means Committee, said last month that it
39:37
would help low and middle income seniors like my aunt,
39:41
who worked as a wal Mart Greeterer to supplement her
39:43
Social Security check. When billionaire Elon Musk derided the bill's
39:48
impact on the national death this month, House Speaker Mike Johnson,
39:52
Republican from Louisiana, shot back that he was not seeking
39:56
the erstwhile Trump ally's approval. I did didn't go out
40:00
to craft a piece of legislation to please the richest
40:03
man in the world, Johnson told ABC News. What we
40:07
are trying to do is help hard working Americans who
40:10
are trying to provide for their families and make ends meet.
40:13
The bill's text is full of populous language and branding.
40:17
The subhead for the section phasing out clean Energy tax
40:20
Credit reads working families over elites. Stephen Miller, a White
40:26
House Deputy chief of Staff, told The Charlie Kirk Show
40:29
this month that the bill includes populous tax promises to
40:33
forge that deep alliance with the working class of this country.
40:37
Even Democrats have praised an initiative in the bill championed
40:40
by Senator Ted Cruz, Republican from Texas, to provide one
40:44
thousand dollar investment accounts to babies called Trump accounts. I
40:49
wish we'd have done it. Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat from
40:52
Illinois said, though he added there were precious few other
40:56
policies in the bill that help working families. Still, bill
41:00
the benefits of those programs for the poorest households would
41:03
be more than offset by cuts to Medicaid, the Supplemental
41:07
Nutrition Assistance Program, and other safety non initiatives. According to
41:11
the analyzes, Senator Susan Collins, Republican from Maine, Lisa Murkowski,
41:17
Republican from Alaska, and Josh Holly, Republican from Missouri have
41:21
expressed concern about the Medicaid cuts, and Holly has tried
41:26
to convince Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Republican from South Dakota,
41:30
to rewrite the bill to make it more populoist. By far,
41:34
the most popular parts of this package are what the
41:37
President ran on, no surprise, and is what he ran
41:40
on for working people, Holly said in an interview. Acnipiac
41:45
University poll conducted this month found twenty seven percent of
41:49
registered voters approved of the bill and fifty three percent
41:52
opposed it, which Holly said should be a warning to
41:55
Senate Republicans as they rework the measure that the House
41:58
passed last month. Thoon and Senator Mike Crappo, Republican from Idaho,
42:04
chair of the tax writing Senate Finance Committee, have said
42:08
they want to make permanent three business tax breaks set
42:11
to expire after several years in the House bill, but
42:14
that could require more cuts to offset additional lost revenue.
42:19
Why is it so important to make a whole host
42:21
of these business tax cuts permanent? Holly said that costs
42:25
a gob of money. Could we better direct that towards
42:28
working people? Holly has pressed Thoon and Crapo to make
42:32
the child tax credit, which the bill expands to two thousand,
42:35
five hundred dollars, more generous. Senator Katie Boyd Britt, Republican
42:40
from Alabama, has pushed to expand two other child care
42:44
tax credits to help families, but those provisions cost money,
42:49
and Thoon is under pressure not to make the bill
42:51
more expensive. The bill would add three trillion dollars to
42:55
the debt over the next decade, according to the CBO.
42:59
It barely passed the House last month after deficit hawks rebelled,
43:03
and will have to go back through the lower chamber
43:06
if it passes the Senate. Republicans have not included two
43:11
populist ideas that Trump pitched to help pay for the
43:13
legislation closing the carried interest loophole and raising taxes on
43:19
the wealthiest Americans. The first provision allows private equity partners
43:23
and hedge fund managers to pay the lower capital gains
43:27
tax rate on most of their compensation, rather than higher
43:31
rates on earned income. Democrats tried and failed to close
43:35
it during the Biden administration when they controlled Congress. The
43:39
problem with even a tiny tax increase for the rich,
43:42
which I and others would graciously accept in order to
43:45
help the lower middle income workers, is that the radical
43:48
left Democrat lunatics would go around screaming read my lips.
43:52
Trump wrote last month, referring to President George H. W.
43:56
Bush's nineteen eighty eight pledge not to raise taxes as president,
44:00
which he later broke. Senate Republicans have worked to weaken
44:04
one expensive tax break in the bill that would help
44:07
affluent Americans, the state and local tax deduction. A handful
44:12
of House Republicans from New York, New Jersey, and California
44:16
demanded the bill raise the current limit on how much
44:19
taxpayers can deduct in state and local taxes to forty
44:23
thousand dollars for households making under five hundred thousand dollars.
44:27
Many Senate Republicans would like to strip that plan out
44:30
because it would not help many of their constituents, but
44:33
they are more likely to scale it back than eliminate it.
44:37
Senator Mark Wayne Mullen, Republican from Oklahoma, who is a
44:41
liaison to the House Republicans who care about the deduction,
44:44
said scrapping it would be an easy way to reduce
44:47
the bill's costs, but it would jeopardize the bill's passage
44:51
in the House. The problem we have is we still
44:54
got to get the votes over there, Mullin said. Even
44:58
as Republicans have talked the bill's populous provisions, some have
45:02
also made a more traditional GOP case for it, arguing
45:06
that it will create jobs and turbocharge the economy for
45:09
rich and poor Americans alike. The wealthy are the job generators, too,
45:14
Senator Jim Justice, Republican from West Virginia said, and if
45:18
they reinvest those dollars, we know how valuable that is
45:21
to all of us. Liz Goodwin contributed to this report
45:26
and the final item from today's from Pages entitled Trump
45:30
spurs effort to reward loyalty in Federal Workforce by Merrill
45:35
Cornfield and Hannah to Tansen. President Donald Trump is accelerating
45:40
efforts to transform the non partisan, merit based federal workforce
45:44
into one that demands and rewards loyalty to the president.
45:48
According to civil servants, public service experts, and employment attorneys,
45:53
the ongoing shift would ditch decades old rules that were
45:57
intended to ensure that federal hiring, retention, and promotion decisions
46:02
are based largely on employees' skills and experience, say the
46:05
workers experts and attorneys. The House passed budget proposal under
46:10
consideration in the Senate would give new federal workers an
46:14
ultimatum to accept at will status, meaning they could be
46:17
more easily fired or pay a higher retirement contribution. The
46:22
administration also unveiled a plan to require job applicants to
46:26
write short essays describing how they plan to advance Trump's priorities.
46:31
And Trump has revived his previous efforts to reclassify thousands
46:35
of federal employees and blur the line between political appointees
46:40
and career professionals. These employees could be replaced with partisan loyalists,
46:46
people who will obey any order regardless of the Constitution,
46:50
said Joel Spielberger, senior policy council at the Project on
46:53
Government Oversight. This elevates loyalty to an individual president over
46:58
the oath of office and the best interests of the public.
47:02
Many civil servants now fear the changes will further up
47:06
end a workforce that has historically prized competence and neutrality.
47:10
In interviews with thirteen federal employees across seven agencies, almost
47:15
all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity out
47:18
of concern for retaliation, workers described the transformation as a
47:22
direct assault on the foundational principles of public service. They
47:27
said the administration's moves appeared designed to hollow out a
47:31
government staffed by experts and replace it with one filled
47:34
by political allies. The Trump administration argues that the government
47:39
had stopped hiring based on merit, pointing to agencies that
47:43
released demographic recruitment and workforce data and carried out diversity,
47:47
equity and inclusion, or DEI policies. The Office of Personnel
47:52
Management issued a federal hiring overhaul on May twenty ninth,
47:56
telling agencies to end DEI programs and to limit disseminating
48:00
information regarding the composition of the agency's workforce based on race, sex, color, religion,
48:07
or national origin. The plan would also require the government
48:11
to recruit people early in their careers, those with expertise
48:15
in STEM and veterans. Before this new plan, federal hiring
48:21
was not merit focused and relied on subjective self assessments,
48:25
academic pedigree overlong federal resumes, and DEI criteria. OPM spokeswoman
48:31
mclaorin Pinover said in a statement to The Washington Post.
48:35
With a merit hiring plan, the Trump administration is prioritizing
48:39
the most capable and patriotic candidates for objective, skills based
48:43
assessments in order to deliver results for the American people.
48:47
Conservatives have celebrated the shift in hiring and firing practices.
48:51
Senator Rick Scott, Republican from Florida, who had proposed legislation
48:55
to label federal workers as at will, told the Post
48:59
that he thought the government should operate like a business.
49:02
In business, you are expected to have a better product,
49:05
better services, better prices, Scott said, you should have the
49:09
exact same expectation for your federal government. But I shook coffee,
49:14
a communications specialist at the Food and Drug Administration, who
49:18
is now on administrative leave after being fired, said she
49:21
felt ill when she read through the Opium memo outlining
49:25
how Trump aims to overhaul federal hiring. That memo details
49:29
this administration's sordid strategy to turn a non partisan federal
49:33
workforce into a merry band of MAGA loyalists. Coffee said,
49:38
the directive is clear. The civil service is to serve
49:41
the president first and foremost, and the American population last.
49:47
Staff at other agencies echoed those concerns and said they
49:51
feared that no one with other options will want to
49:53
work for the government. Computer developers who can pick and
49:57
choose from a plethora of possibilities anywhere, will turn up
50:01
their noses at a government job once attractive for its stability,
50:04
said one Social Security Administration worker. The same for scientists,
50:09
said some one formerly with the Environmental Protection Agency. Did
50:13
it for lawyers, said a Labor Department attorney. What is
50:16
the draw any more? If the mission is rooted in
50:19
who the president is and your job can be taken
50:22
without warning a process, The Labor Department attorney asked, who
50:26
in their right mind will ever take a gamble on
50:29
a government job again? For decades, the civil service has
50:33
been protected by laws such as the eighteen eighty three
50:36
Pendleton Act and the nineteen seventy eight Civil Service Reform Act,
50:40
which sought to ensure that government workers were hired for
50:43
their skills, not their politics. The Pendleton Act made it
50:47
illegal to fire or demote government officials for political reasons,
50:51
and required examinations for federal workers based on merit. The
50:55
Civil Service Reform Act established the Merit System's Protection Board,
50:59
a quasi judicial body that hears workers' complaints about workplace practices.
51:04
That board is without a form after Trump fired its
51:07
democratic chair. The Trump administration plan includes new essay questions
51:13
that require job applicants for any GS five physician or
51:16
hire to explain how they would implement Trump's policy priorities,
51:21
which federal workers fear will lead to further politicization of hiring.
51:26
How would you help advance the President's executive orders and
51:29
policy priorities? In this role asks one prompt identify one
51:33
or two relevant executive orders or policy initiatives that are
51:37
significant to you, and explain how you would help implement
51:40
them if hired. An OPM official who spoke on the
51:44
condition of anonymity to speak candidly about the hiring process,
51:48
said that applicants will not be screened out or scored
51:51
on their answers to the essay questions, and that no
51:54
applicant is required to agree or disagree with the policies.
51:58
They're just a way for jobs seekers to introduce themselves
52:01
to hiring managers and agency leadership, and people will not
52:05
be screened out based on them or ranked or scored.
52:07
The officials said. Many of Trump's policies to remake the
52:12
workforce were crafted during his years out of office by
52:15
former aides now returned to power, including Russell Vote, director
52:20
of the Office of Management and Budget, and James Scherrick,
52:23
who serves on the White House Domestic Policy Council. One
52:26
of Trump's most significant moves is the attempt to reinstate
52:30
Schedule F, an order originally issued in his first term
52:34
to reclassify tens of thousands of policy related civil servants,
52:39
effectively removing their protections. President Joe Biden rescinded the order
52:43
in twenty twenty one and replaced it with an administrative
52:47
rule intended to block its return, but Trump's order and
52:51
subsequent rulemaking aimed to override that safeguard. Labor unions and
52:56
other groups representing federal employees have southed the admministration, arguing
53:01
the moves strip workers of statutory and contractual rights. Supporters
53:06
of Trump's plan argue that a president should have more
53:09
direct control over the workforce to ensure that policies are
53:13
carried out. Trump himself has claimed that career civil servants
53:17
obstructed his first term agenda and investigated him unfairly. Others
53:23
have said that protections for federal workers have stymied innovation
53:26
and led to complacency within government. Vincent Bernuccio, president of
53:31
the Institute for the American Worker and a member of
53:34
the transition team for the Labor Department in Trump's first term,
53:38
said that it is costly and time consuming to try
53:40
to fire workers, and that a new rule to reclassify
53:44
policy related positions would make it easier for the administration
53:47
to ensure its reforms aren't hindered. These career employees could
53:52
throw sand in the gears for policies they don't like,
53:55
Bernuccio said. He added that the rule change would affect
53:59
only career federal employees and policy making roles, which the
54:03
OPM has estimated is about fifty thousand positions, or about
54:07
two percent of the federal civilian workforce. The sky is
54:11
not going to fall, Bernuccio said. However, other experts said
54:16
that efforts to make firing practices conform with the norms
54:19
in private industry, where employers can more freely hire in fire,
54:24
could lead to less interest in public jobs when companies
54:27
can pay more and would have the same protections. Donald Kettle,
54:32
professor emeritus and former public policy dean at the University
54:35
of Maryland, said that while a private company's line of
54:39
business might change on a dime, that sort of environment
54:42
doesn't exist in the federal workplace, where government employees with
54:46
in depth knowledge of their agency's policy and history are
54:50
highly valuable. It's a bogus argument that doesn't hold water,
54:54
Kettle said Max Steyer, President and CEO of the Partnership
54:59
for Public BBLIC Service, warned that the shift, as well
55:02
as the essay questions that new hires would be required
55:05
to answer, will inject unprecedented partisanship into the federal bureaucracy,
55:11
there clearing the shelves and restocking with a different flavor
55:15
of civil servant, he said. Employment attorneys also warned that
55:19
the essay questions could lead to claims from workers, especially
55:23
those who do not work on policy, that they were
55:25
discriminated against in hiring based on their political beliefs. Courtney Mickman,
55:31
an employment law attorney and former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
55:35
administrative judge, said such questions are typically avoided for that reason.
55:41
It is very atypical to have these types of questions
55:44
included as part of the hiring process, particularly outside of
55:48
any policy type of position. Mickman said, depending on how
55:52
individuals respond, there's a potential for political affiliation discrimination to occur.
55:59
One staff read these so the new hiring process immediately
56:03
recalled the years he spent as a federal hiring manager
56:07
before Trump. The staffer said hiring questions were all based
56:10
around skills and experiences and were designed to be deliberately
56:15
non political. For example, managers were not allowed to ask
56:19
applicants whether they agreed with climate science or how they
56:23
felt about state sovereignty under the Clean Air Act. When
56:27
the staffer read through the details of Trump's new vision
56:29
for hiring, he came away convinced the program is designed
56:33
to pick out only applicants who believe the same things
56:36
Trump does. These questions would only yield candidates who actively
56:42
seek to undermine or thwart the laws and regulations we
56:45
have to operate under, the staffer said. Now from the
56:49
interior of today's paper, an item entitled Jurors are deliberating
56:53
in Karen Reid's retrial. Here's what to know by Kim Belware.
56:59
For the second time in less than a year, a
57:01
Massachusetts jury is deliberating whether Karen Reid is guilty of
57:05
killing John o'keef, her police officer boyfriend, in a dramatic
57:09
murder case that continues to sharply divide a Massachusetts community.
57:14
Jurors entered deliberations Friday afternoon as they decide whether they
57:18
believe the prosecution's theory that Read, a former equity analyst
57:22
and adjunct professor at Bentley College, killed o'keef in a
57:26
fit of rage amid a souring romance, or the defenses
57:30
that members of the tight knit Boston law enforcement community
57:33
framed Read in a cover up. The complex case became
57:37
a source of national interests among true crime fans, with
57:41
supporters of each side demonstrating at the courthouse and passionately
57:45
arguing online. Read's initial trial ended last July in a
57:49
mistrial when the jury deadlock, and unfortunately will not be
57:53
able to complete this item due to the constraints of time.
57:57
This concludes the readings of the Washington Post for to
57:59
Day day Tuesday, Tune seventeenth, twenty twenty five. Your reader
58:04
for to day has been Cindy Fraser. If you have
58:07
any questions, comments, or suggestions concerning this program, please feel
58:11
free to call us at eight five nine four two
58:13
two six three nine zero. Thank you for listening, and
58:17
now please stay tuned for continued programming. FUN Radio I