Trump's Trials - Trump administration defends its strikes on three nuclear targets in Iran

Episode Date: June 23, 2025

President Trump says U.S. military strikes on Iran "obliterated" Tehran's nuclear program. Although it will take time to know the full extent of the damage. Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers have been critical of the action.Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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Israel has struck a prison in Iran that according to Israel and Iranian state media. Iranian state media also says Israel has struck the Fordo nuclear site. The Israeli military has not yet commented. President Trump says Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been obliterated, but that's something that experts question. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN watchdog agency Rafael Grossi, is calling for a ceasefire. We have a window of opportunity to return to dialogue and diplomacy. If that window closes, violence and destruction could reach unthinkable levels.

With us now is NPR White House correspondent Deepa Shivram. Good morning, Deepa. Hey, good morning. So what has the White House said since the strike, and are they worried about any kind of retaliation from Iran? So we really haven't heard much from the president on this issue, but administration officials like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held a briefing yesterday morning. Vice President JD Vance also spoke to several of the Sunday shows defending the president's decision. Here's Vance speaking to NBC's Meet the Press

yesterday. We have no interest in a protracted conflict. We have no interest in boots on the ground. The president has actually been one of the fiercest critics of 25 years of failed foreign policy in the Middle East, which is why he did what he did. And Vance said it would be, quote, a catastrophic mistake if Iran were to retaliate against the U.S. in any way. Iran, though, has said it reserves all options in responding to the U.S. And Iran's parliament also approved closing the Strait of Hormuz, which could impact oil

prices, but that decision is not yet final. And how has the news been playing out in Washington over the weekend? Most congressional leaders weren't even briefed on the attack until after it happened. How have they responded? Well, predictably, Democrats have been extremely critical of the strike. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for example, said it was grounds for impeachment. And also, predictably, most Republicans have stood behind the president. But there have been a few that have said that the White House's decision was unconstitutional

because it's Congress that has the authority to approve the use of force, not the president. Though I will say it's been decades since Congress actually used that authority. So someone like GOP representative Thomas Massey, he posted on social media about the constitutionality of Trump's decision and then yesterday Trump went after Massey in a lengthy social media post saying he would campaign to unseat him and called him weak and ineffective. But I will say when it comes to public opinion though, one poll before the US strike on Iran showed that most Americans think the US military shouldn't get involved in the conflict.

In the aftermath of the attack though, it's probably too soon to tell what public opinion will say. But one thing to keep in mind is that President Trump is someone who ran his campaign talking about how the U.S. wouldn't get involved in more foreign wars. Just yesterday, though, the president posted on social media raising the idea that there could be a regime change in Iran and advocating for a regime change could potentially

get the U.S. more involved in a conflict that there might not be public support for. The president is supposed to leave tomorrow for the NATO summit in the Netherlands. How is Trump's decision going to come up among European allies? How do you think it's going to play out? Kirsten Khire Yeah, well, there are some NATO allies who have spoken out about the threat of Iran's nuclear program already. So it's possible that Trump received some support from European allies about his decision to strike Iran.

For example, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer posted on X and said that the US took action to alleviate the threat of Iran's nuclear program. But I will say the main focus of the summit will be trying to get NATO members to spend more on their defense, which is something Trump has been really critical about for years. That is, NPR's Deepa Shivram. Deepa, thank you. Thank you. Before we wrap up, a reminder, you can find more coverage of the Trump administration

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