• A tenuous Middle East ceasefire: On Monday at 6 p.m. EST, Donald Trump announced a “Complete and total CEASEFIRE,” which was to take place between Iran and Israel approximately six hours later. He christened the conflict “The 12-Day War.” Both nations unleashed a final volley of attacks on the other, including an Iranian ballistic missile strike that killed three Israelis in Be'er-Sheva. At 1 a.m. EST, Trump posted to Truth Social that the ceasefire was now in effect and hostilities should end. Israel announced this morning that Iran had launched an attack two hours after the ceasefire was to take effect. Iran denies that the attack occurred. At approximately 7:30 a.m. EST, Trump posted that Israel would turn its retaliatory planes around and do a “Plane Wave” to the people of Iran. Whether the ceasefire will hold or negotiations have failed is unclear.

• Fordow material moved? A couple of days before the U.S. struck Iran’s most heavily defended nuclear site of Fordow with massive bunker-busting bombs, 16 trucks were seen outside the facility’s main tunnel entrance. While the Trump administration declared that the strike was successful, some have questioned whether the Iranians were able to remove sensitive equipment and material before the strikes. Former UN weapons inspector David Albright surmised, “It’s still a mystery exactly what was in those trucks. But any highly enriched uranium at Fordow was likely gone before the attack.” However, Sen. Markwayne Mullin says U.S. intelligence believes Iran actually moved more material to Fordow “because they believe Fordo was impenetrable.” If anything was missed, Mullin added, “We will finish the job.”

• Strait of Hormuz conundrum: On Sunday, following the U.S. strikes destroying its most protected nuclear development sites, Iran’s parliament voted to retaliate by closing the Strait of Hormuz. The waterway is a key shipping passage linking the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and on to the open ocean. The problem for Iran is that closing the Strait would produce more self-inflicted harm than any to the U.S. or Israel, as it would quickly turn neighboring countries against Tehran. It would also damage Iran’s already weakened economy. Such an act would be Iran cutting off its nose to spite its face. Furthermore, China, Iran’s primary oil importer, is warning Tehran against closing the Strait. Finally, should Iran move to close the Strait, it would likely see its navy quickly sunk by the U.S.

• Deportation win at SCOTUS: “Fire up the deportation planes,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in response to the Supreme Court decision on Monday to stay a lower-court order that required deportees to be given “meaningful” notice of their intended destination. Judge Brian Murphy of Boston had prioritized the safety and security of criminals who invaded the U.S. under Joe Biden over that of American citizens. SCOTUS has set that right in a 6-3 decision, with left-wing justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting. Murphy attempted to protect the illegals almost immediately, sidestepping the decision and denying the motion to enforce the deportations because the issue was not “properly before the [Supreme] Court.” Stephen Miller called the sidestep “a radical escalation of the communist coup taking place within the judiciary.”

• Judge frees federally charged anti-ICE rioters in Portland: At least four antifa-affiliated rioters have been released without bail ahead of a trial by Portland Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman. Joshua Cartrette, Ginovannia Brumbelow, Deni Wolf, and Eli McKenzie are surely grateful to Judge Beckerman. Cartrette, a convicted felon, is charged with assaulting a federal officer. Brumbelow allegedly used a pointed stake to bash the back of a CPB agent’s head. Wolf allegedly punched an officer hard enough to knock off his mask and was armed with a knife. McKenzie is only charged with failing to obey a lawful order. Beckerman has a history of donating to Democrat causes and tossing court cases brought by Republicans alleging election irregularities.

• ICE hits new record in arrests and detentions: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has now topped 1,100 daily deportations of illegal aliens. ICE has also increased its arrest and detention numbers to nearly 1,200, with detentions rising to more than 56,000. Furthermore, the percentage of illegal aliens without criminal records who are being arrested and deported has increased to roughly 30%. Of course, the act of entering the country illegally is a crime punishable by deportation. Whether an illegal alien has gone on to commit other crimes, the fact that they are in the country illegally increases criminal activity, such as businesses illegally hiring low-wage workers, often off the books. There is also the issue of billions in taxpayer funds being diverted away from American citizens toward illegal immigrants. ICE arrests also encourage more illegal aliens to self-deport, helping the Trump administration with its immigration enforcement efforts.

• SCOTUS rules in favor of oil companies’ lawsuit against CA: In a 7-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last Friday that oil companies that raised a lawsuit against California over its anti-fossil fuel EV mandate could move forward in challenging those regulations. The Court’s decision overturns a lower court’s ruling. Writing for the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted, “The government generally may not target a business or industry through stringent and allegedly unlawful regulation, and then evade the resulting lawsuits by claiming that the targets of its regulation should be locked out of court as unaffected bystanders.” He further observed that the EPA has revised its interpretation of the Clean Air Act, which had previously granted California a waiver to impose regulations that exceed federal standards. The Court didn’t strike down California’s anti-fossil fuel vehicle regulations; instead, it validated the right of companies to legally challenge those regulations.

• Governor Hochul reverses Cuomo-era anti-nuclear stance: “If we don’t increase our capacity over the next decade, we will see rolling blackouts,” warned New York Governor Kathy Hochul when discussing her plan to build a new nuclear power plant in upstate New York. Hochul pointed out that Andrew Cuomo’s shutdown of the Indian Point nuclear plant four years ago, under pressure from supposed environmentalists, including RFK Jr., was a shortsighted decision that led to more greenhouse gas emissions in downstate New York. The proposed new plant will only generate about half as much energy as Indian Point, but a Democrat embracing nuclear power is a hopeful sign for American energy production in the next decade. Climate cultists will surely oppose this new plant just as they opposed the Indian Point plant. The question is whether Hochul has the backbone to move forward in the face of her party’s opposition.

Headlines

• Nine in 10 MAGA voters back Trump strikes on Iran (Washington Free Beacon)

• LA County Sheriff’s Dept. apologizes for calling U.S. strikes on Iran a “tragic event” (Daily Wire)

• Riots, years of protests lead Republicans to seek federally criminalizing blocking traffic (Fox News)

• New York mayoral hopeful would go all in on transing the kids — to the tune of $65 million (Daily Wire)

• Lockheed Martin awarded bonuses based on race (Daily Signal)

• Humor: Obama distraught as Trump bombs cool nuke factory he paid for (Babylon Bee)

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