博客

Trump’s name remains on Kennedy Center as appeals court weighs emergency request

2026-06-12T17:39:44-04:00 / Fox News

Scaffolding was erected around portions of the signage as the board sought an administrative stay by 7 p.m. Friday

By Jasmine Baehr, Bill Mears Fox News

Published June 12, 2026 5:39pm EDT

President Donald Trump’s name remained on the Kennedy Center’s facade late Friday afternoon, ahead of a 7 p.m. deadline imposed by the District Court of Appeals to remove it.

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

blob:https://www.foxnews.com/05e25234-bf86-4cd9-8625-9f50e358100b

Listen to this article

4 min

The Kennedy Center board on Friday asked a federal appeals court to temporarily block a judge’s order requiring references to President Donald Trump’s name to be removed from the institution’s signage and official materials, as signage bearing Trump’s name remained visible on the building’s facade late Friday afternoon.

In an emergency motion filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the board requested both a stay pending appeal and an immediate administrative stay, arguing that physical changes to the building should not occur before appellate judges review the dispute.

The filing asks the court to issue an administrative stay by 7 p.m. Friday.

Fox News Digital observed Friday afternoon that Trump’s name remained mounted on the Kennedy Center facade as of 5:30 p.m. ET, with scaffolding erected around portions of the signage.

Earlier Friday, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper denied the board’s request to pause enforcement of his ruling while the appeal proceeds, finding that the defendants had not demonstrated either a likelihood of success on appeal or irreparable harm.

OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE WITH TIES TO ANTI-TRUMP CONSPIRACY THEORY HIT WITH MISCONDUCT COMPLAINT

People watch construction workers build scaffolding near the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts sign in Washington, D.C. The Kennedy Center board sought an emergency appeal to block a court order requiring the removal of Trump’s name, but a judge denied the request.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The Kennedy Center board argued in its emergency filing that removing and potentially reinstalling signage would force it to incur costs that could not be recovered if it ultimately prevails on appeal.

The board also argued that removing Trump’s name could impair fundraising efforts and create public confusion if the Center’s name changes again following a successful appeal. The motion further contends that the case raises significant questions regarding the board’s authority and whether Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, had standing to bring the lawsuit.

The latest filing stems from Cooper’s May 29 ruling that Congress, not the Kennedy Center board, has authority over the institution’s name. The judge ordered the removal of Trump’s name from physical signage, digital materials and official branding and directed the Center to comply within 14 days.

BOARD VOTES KENNEDY CENTER TO BE RENAMED ‘TRUMP-KENNEDY CENTER,’ LEAVITT SAYS

Construction workers build scaffolding near the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts sign in Washington, D.C., on Friday.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

In a lengthy opinion, Cooper wrote that the Kennedy Center’s governing statute “makes crystal clear” that the institution is to be named for President John F. Kennedy and cannot be formally renamed through unilateral board action.

The judge concluded that Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name and that only Congress can change it.

The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by Beatty, who serves as an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board.

Following the May 29 decision, Kennedy Center Vice President of Public Relations Roma Daravi said the board intended to appeal.

EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP-LED KENNEDY CENTER NEARLY DOUBLES FUNDRAISING FROM BIDEN ERA, SMASHING RECORD WITH $23M HAUL

Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, speaks near scaffolding at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Friday, as construction workers work nearby.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“We will review the decision carefully though the reality remains — the Center requires an urgent and significant restoration — a truth that even the plaintiff acknowledges,” Daravi told Fox News Digital at the time.

“With $257 million secured by President Trump and approved by Congress, the resources are in place, and we remain committed to pursuing every lawful avenue to ensure the Trump Kennedy Center is restored as a national cultural landmark for all Americans to enjoy.”

Beatty praised the ruling, saying in a statement that the Kennedy Center “belongs to the American people, not to Donald Trump.”

Trump’s name was added to the venue in December after a unanimous vote of the board. Signage bearing the president’s name was installed above the existing Kennedy Center lettering shortly afterward.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

As of Friday afternoon, the appeals court had not publicly ruled on the emergency request, leaving unresolved whether Trump’s name would remain in place beyond the court-ordered compliance deadline.

The emergency appeal asks the D.C. Circuit to preserve the status quo while it considers the board’s broader appeal of Cooper’s ruling.

The White House and a representative for the Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this reporting.

Jasmine Baehr is a Breaking News Writer for Fox News Digital, where she covers politics, the military, faith and culture.

位于伊朗南部的格什姆岛，是波斯湾和伊朗最大的岛屿，扼守波斯湾进出印度洋的海上咽喉要道。 （路透社示意图）

伊朗媒体称，伊朗霍尔木兹甘省锡里克地区及格什姆岛附近传出的爆炸声，实为海上警告性射击所致，相关地区未发生袭击事件。

新华社引述伊朗迈赫尔通讯社报道，星期六（6月13日）凌晨，伊朗锡里克沿海及格什姆岛一带居民听到数次爆炸声。经媒体向相关部门核实，这些声响来自海上警告性射击，上述区域未发生任何冲突或军事打击。

报道说，霍尔木兹海峡海域当前通航形势敏感，海域内军事力量发出的警告性射击声有时会传至较远的沿海地区。霍尔木兹甘省有关部门说，当地安全局势总体稳定，并呼吁公众不要轻信谣言，应以官方渠道发布的信息为准。

As SpaceX IPO launches, Texans near its Starbase HQ offer mixed opinions of the rocket company

June 12, 2026 2:27 PM EDT / CBS News

SpaceX’s headquarters in Starbase, Texas, which sits at the state’s southern tip in the Rio Grande Valley, emerges almost unexpectedly after miles of long, dusty dirt roads.

Before SpaceX arrived, the area was known primarily for its coastal wildlife, especially bird watching. Locals say there were a few dozen homes, mostly winter residences for retirees, while the nearest major city, Brownsville, is more than 20 miles away on the border with Matamoros, Mexico.

The cities are a study in contrasts. Starbase is a company town. Its residents are largely transplants from cities like Austin and San Francisco who come not for the birds but for the work. Brownsville’s predominantly Latino population works mostly in farming and shrimping.

Yet Starbase and Brownsville also share resources, with some SpaceX employees living in Brownsville, which has a population of roughly 192,000, and sending their children to school in the city.

SpaceX employ over 4,000 workers at its Starbase facilities, with roughly 70% coming from the local area, according to company records. The company plans to nearly double that workforce to around 8,000 employees this year.

SpaceX’s growth took a major leap forward on Friday when its shares went public in the largest-ever initial public offering. The IPO instantly lifted the company’s market value to more than $2 trillion and made SpaceX founder Elon Musk the first person to be worth at least $1 trillion.

SpaceX’s Starship 39 rocket launches from the company’s Starbase facility during a test flight, as seen from South Padre Island, Texas, on May 22, 2026. RONALDO SCHEMIDT /AFP via Getty Images

Marco Colorado, who owns El Buen Pescador restaurant in nearby Port Isabel, Texas, said SpaceX has been good for business, bringing employees from the company along with other visitors drawn to the area by the rocket launches.

“Whenever there’s a launch or an event going on, we get flooded,” Colorado said. He noted the SpaceX crowd is easy to spot — they often pull up in Tesla vehicles.

At Double Day Bar of Champions, a restaurant and bar in nearby Port Isabel, Texas, that also hosts a sports paraphernalia museum, owner Mikael Hinojosa has seen a similar surge.

Hinojosa described the SpaceX-driven business as “a new type of tourism.” On rocket launch days, patrons gather on the patio to watch liftoffs, then move indoors to follow along on TV as the rockets tear through the sky.

View of SpaceX’s headquarters outside Brownsville, Texas, on May 28, 2025. SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images

“It’s been positive for the business, but there’s a downside to it. In our museum, cannonballs fall over when there’s a launch. We don’t want to ruin the tourism we already had,” Hinojosa said.

Others in Brownsville are more openly critical of the impact Starbase and SpaceX have had on the local community. Environmental activist group Save RGV (for Rio Grande Valley) contends the company’s rocket launches have left nearby homes covered in debris, disrupted native wildlife and harmed air quality.

Etienne Rosas, a Brownsville native who ran for Congress earlier this year in Texas’s 34th district, also said SpaceX’s growth has triggered a surge in housing prices throughout the Rio Grande Valley as employees bought homes. In 2026, the average home price in Brownsville is $196,920, up nearly 75% from $112,705 in 2018, according to Zillow.

“While SpaceX has created more economic momentum, there’s been a huge gap widening in equality,” he said.

SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment.

SpaceX’s arrival has also reshaped downtown Brownsville, drawing new investment and development aimed at a tech-oriented demographic. Yet Rosas said the jobs and investment have come at a cost to families who have lived in the region for generations.

“Brownsville had a certain dynamic pace, and now that’s gone,” he said.

Progressive Talarico knifes Biden’s open border, tries moderating stance on key issues in Texas Senate race

2026-06-12T15:15:49-04:00 / Fox News

James Talarico’s campaign could not produce evidence he ever publicly clashed with Biden on the border before his campaign

By Peter D’Abrosca, Fox News

Published June 12, 2026 3:15pm EDT

Kayleigh McEnany: Talarico’s claims are ‘blatant mistruths’https://www.foxnews.com/video/6397473843112

‘The Five’ co-hosts discuss President Donald Trump’s comments about Texas Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico and the candidate’s campaign.

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

The Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas torched former President Joe Biden’s open borders policies as he races to clean-up past comments amid criticism he is too radical to be elected in Texas.

James Talarico hardened his stance on border security and pitted himself against the former president during a podcast interview on “Cogdell Law Uncensored” earlier this week.

The Democrat member of the Texas legislature has a far-left track record that includes calls to “tear down” Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE), an agency which he has called “secret police,” and claiming the border should act as a “welcome mat” for illegal immigrants.

He is now the Democratic nominee taking on Trump-backed Republican Ken Paxton in the race for a Senate seat in Texas in November.

Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico addresses supporters at a rally in Houston.(F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

JAMES TALARICO SAYS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION WAS CONVINCED BORDER SECURITY WAS ‘RACIST’

“I called out Joe Biden for failing to secure our southern border and I got a lot of heat from my own party for doing that,” he told podcaster and attorney Dan Cogdell. “But I remember talking with my colleagues in the legislature who represent border communities and they told me about the utter chaos caused by President Biden’s policies.”

Those calls and his more moderate immigration stance emerged only after Talarico launched his Senate bid in the most populated U.S. red state where the most illegal immigration happens.

When asked repeatedly by Fox News Digital, Talarico’s campaign officials could not produce evidence to support the progressive candidate’s claims he was ever at odds with Biden on the issue of border security before his Senate campaign began and while Biden was still in office.

Millions of illegal aliens poured undetected into the United States during the previous presidency, while Talarico occupied his seat in the Texas House legislature.

Talarico said in the podcast: “The Democratic Party, we’re the ones that should be about making government work for people and our immigration system is a prime example of government not working for people. So I’m a border security Democrat. I believe we’ve gotta have a sane, orderly process to ensure that we know who’s coming into our country.”

President Joe Biden speaks during an official transition event to thank Ron Klain for his work and to welcome his successor Jeff Zients.(Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

While he has accused ICE of “terrorizing our country,” called for Americans to “stand up and fight back” and in 2019 slammed Texas Republicans for passing an “anti-immigrant bill” that funded President Donald Trump’s border wall project, Talarico said on the podcast this week that public safety should be a priority.

TEXAS DEM TALARICO’S ‘CULTURE OF VIOLENCE’ REMARKS RESURFACE AS HE DENIES DEFUND POLICE TIES

“But I also think we need to keep out folks who want to do us harm, and public safety is the most important thing the government does,” he said.

Under Trump, ICE has been tasked with zeroing in on the “worst of the worst” illegal aliens for arrest and deportation, especially those with violent criminal records.

“James has never supported abolishing ICE and supports more border security — which is why he’s authored legislation to modernize our ports of entry and called for more Border Patrol agents,” Talarico’s press secretary JT Ennis told Fox News Digital.

“Both parties have failed us on the issue of immigration, so James is running for Senate to keep our country safe by deporting criminals instead of hunting down moms, babies, and small business owners who have been contributing to our economy for decades.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during a runoff election night event in Plano, Texas, on May 26, 2026.(Antranik Tavitian/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Speaking to Cogdell, Talarico also pitched himself as a defender of the Second Amendment while simultaneously calling for strict gun control methods.

TEXAS DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATES SIDESTEP ISLAMIC TERRORISM CONCERNS FOLLOWING DEADLY AUSTIN ATTACK

“I am a believer in the Second Amendment. I don’t pick and choose between the Bill of Rights. I believe in the Second Amendment just as much as I believe in the First,” he said. “We have a right to bear arms, to protect ourselves, our families. We have a right to own weapons for sport or for hunting, but like any freedom in the Bill of Rights, it’s not absolute.”

“We’ve gotta keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals. We’ve gotta make sure that we’ve got safe storage laws and background checks so that we’re keeping everybody safe,” the candidate qualified.

He positioned himself during the conversation as a moderate Democrat, chastising people on the political left who are “trying to take away people’s guns” and people on the political right who “don’t want to see any regulations.”

MS NOW ANALYST ADMITS TALARICO ‘NOT A MODERATE,’ HAS PROGRESSIVE VIEWS LIKE CROCKETT

But only a few months ago, Talarico said he favored “red flag laws,” which allow judges to order Americans to be stripped of their firearms if they think a person is a danger to themselves or others. Talarico also once accused Republicans of loving guns more than children.

Democratic Texas State Rep. James Talarico speaks during a campaign launch rally in Round Rock, Texas, on Sept. 9, 2025.(Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

“You can’t be the party of freedom and control women’s bodies,” he said at a 2024 event with the Travis County Democratic Party. “You can’t be the party of family and love your guns more than our kids. You can’t be the party of faith and worship at the feet of Donald Trump.”

Ennis said that the candidate has “always believed, like the vast majority of Texans, that we must protect the Second Amendment while also enacting popular, common sense measures like universal background checks that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals.”

MARK HALPERIN: IS DEMOCRAT JAMES TALARICO THE REAL DEAL — OR BETO 2.0 HEADED FOR A TEXAS FLOP?

Talarico also distanced himself from child sex change surgeries, sometimes called “gender affirming care,” and said he does not support them despite often earning criticism for his comments regarding children who identify as the opposite of their biological sex.

“I oppose gender reassignment surgeries for minors,” he told Cogdell, claiming “the people that are in power” are trying to distract from “corruption in our government.”

“So they’re gonna use a tried and true playbook to get out of this,” he said. “Distraction and division. That is how corrupt public officials stay in power.”

‘GOD IS NON-BINARY’: TEXAS DEM NOMINEE TALARICO’S PAST REMARKS ON ABORTION, RACE AND GENDER DRAW SCRUTINY

Talarico’s emphatic support for transgender children has raised eyebrows since he’s entered the national spotlight.

He has said he loves them on multiple occasions, including on a podcast in 2023 when he was asked to name something that he loved other than his friends and family.

“I love, I’m just saying this because it’s all on my mind, the trans children who showed up yesterday at the state capitol to advocate for their humanity,” he said on the Superbloom Podcast.

At the time, he had voted against a state bill to ban cross-sex hormones for minors.

Rep. James Talarico, Vanessa Fuentes and Jessica Weitz attend the Featured Session: State Of Being: How To Care in 2024 at the SXSW Conference and Festivals held at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas, on March 8, 2024.(Jason Bollenbacher/SXSW Conference & Festivals)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“I just want to say, I love you and so do a lot of people in this room, and so do a lot of people around this big state. I know it may not seem like it tonight, but you are loved beyond measure,” Talarico also said in 2023 on the Texas House floor, according to the Houston Chronicle.

“James opposes gender reassignment surgery for minors,” said Ennis. “While billionaire-bought politicians like Ken Paxton spread lies to divide Texans, James will continue to stand up against both political parties to fix this broken, corrupt political system and support Texas families.”

Paxton’s campaign did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Talarico’s apparent flip-flop on the border, Second Amendment or transgender youth

Peter D’Abrosca is a reporter at Fox News Digital covering politics.

Follow Peter on X at @pmd_reports. Send story tips to peter.dabrosca@fox.com.

US judge won’t block Trump’s White House UFC mixed martial arts event

2026-06-12T17:04:24.213Z / Reuters

A view of the setup ahead of the UFC Freedom 250 fights on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 11, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci Purchase Licensing Rights

WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) – A federal judge declined on Friday to block President Donald Trump from hosting a ​special Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts event on the White House grounds, letting the fights set to be ‌held on Sunday inside a towering new structure proceed.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta

ruled against two Washington-area residents who argued in a lawsuit that Trump’s administration exceeded its authority in staging the event, dubbed “UFC Freedom 250,” by among other things failing to obtain congressional authorization. The plaintiffs had sought a judicial order to block the ​event.

The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.

Mehta said the two challengers “fall short of showing they are ‘directly affected’ by defendants’ actions” and had unreasonably delayed bringing their lawsuit.

A ​White House spokesperson in a statement said the judge “rightly rejected an untimely and frivolous” effort. Brett Shumate, the ⁠head of the Justice Department’s civil division, said in a post on social media: “Fight’s on.”

Lawyers for the plaintiffs said they were disappointed ​but respected the ruling.

“This isn’t a case about a sporting event, it’s about corruption, as a handful of people and companies stand to ​profit from our public monuments,” they said in a statement.

The UFC event is scheduled to take place on Trump’s 80th birthday as part of the Republican president’s plans to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. The event features mixed martial arts bouts contested in an octagonal cage situated inside ​a 92-foot-tall (28-meter-tall) claw-like structure erected in recent weeks on the White House’s South Lawn.

The plaintiffs sued on June 6, arguing that professional sporting ​events are barred at the site and that the arena constructed for the fights lacks required authorization from Congress.

“This nation’s public monuments should not be ‌loaned out ⁠for private exploitation,” the lawsuit said.

The UFC’s parent company is publicly traded TKO Group Holdings

(TKO.N). TKO is also the parent company of the professional wrestling organization WWE. Longtime former WWE executive Linda McMahon serves as Trump’s education secretary.

The plaintiffs objected to the commercial motives of the event, which is being held on federal land, and called it “deeply corrupt.”

The Trump administration said

in a court filing that the plaintiffs had not ​shown how they would be harmed ​by the UFC event. There ⁠is a history of holding public events on the White House South Lawn, the Justice Department told Mehta.

The administration said more than 4,000 spectators are expected to attend.

Trump’s ties with UFC date back to ​the early 2000s, when he agreed to host events at his since-bankrupt Taj Mahal casino in ​Atlantic City, New Jersey. ⁠UFC Chief Executive Dana White is a close Trump ally.

Trump is facing other lawsuits over construction projects on the White House and elsewhere in the U.S. capital, including his plan to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom on the site of the East Wing that he had demolished, and his proposal ⁠to close and ​renovate the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario, Will Dunham and Andrea Ricci

Former SpaceX welder expected to become a millionaire after historic IPO

2026-06-12 13:23:00-0400 / CBS News

By Jo Ling Kent Senior Business and Technology Correspondent

Journalist Jo Ling Kent joined CBS News in July 2023 as the senior business and technology correspondent for CBS News. Kent has more than 15 years of experience covering the intersection of technology and business in the U.S., as well as the emergence of China as a global economic power.

Read Full Bio

Maya Blackstone

Updated on: June 12, 2026 / 2:46 PM EDT / CBS News

Before Juan Hernandez became a welder at SpaceX, he had never heard of the company.

“It was just another contract job for me at the time,” he told CBS News correspondent Jo Ling Kent in a broadcast exclusive interview.

Now, just over ten years later, that leap of faith could pay off in big ways following the company’s $75 billion initial public offering. The record-breaking offering could make Hernandez a millionaire by the end of the day.

SpaceX shares started trading on the Nasdaq late Friday morning under the ticker symbol SPCX, marking the long-awaited Wall Street debut of the rocket and satellite company.

Hernandez, who started at SpaceX in 2015, worked at the rocket and satellite company for a decade. Courtesy of Juan Hernandez

Hernandez first heard about SpaceX from a friend who was hired as a welder there. He knew Hernandez’s background and figured he’d be a good fit for the job.

“I thought in my head, I don’t know what SpaceX is, but let’s go,” Hernandez said.

When SpaceX hired Hernandez in 2015, he said they offered him $10,000 worth of stock. At the time, he didn’t think much of it. His other jobs, for which he was paid hourly, had never offered him stock before.

“It wasn’t a big deal. I didn’t know anything about it then,” he told CBS News. “I didn’t know it was gonna be this big, at this point.”

Rising through the ranks

Hernandez, who now works at Blue Origin, has around 6,500 SpaceX shares. If those trade at the offering price of $135, that means his wealth could skyrocket by nearly $880,000. Given the stock’s performance on Friday, he’s likely to make even more.

During his ten-year run at SpaceX, Hernandez worked as a welder, preparing rockets for takeoff by building the structures that lifted them onto the launch pad and the infrastructure that held them in place. He eventually rose through the ranks to become a supervisor.

He said offering employees a stake in the company helps them feel they have skin in the game and pushes them to succeed.

“They will perform a lot better because, I mean, it is, it’s their company as well,” he said.

Even through the life-changing event, he’s staying humble.

As an immigrant, Hernandez said he was taught to work hard, something his newfound wealth won’t get in the way of. He said he plans to keep working and pass on the lessons he’s learned to his children.

Hernandez with his wife and three kids, ages six, 10 and 16. Courtesy of Juan Hernandez

He’s now teaching his three kids, including his 16-year-old daughter, how to invest based on what he learned owning SpaceX stock. His daughter is already a stakeholder in Meta and a handful of other companies.

“She’s a little entrepreneur herself,” he said.

If given the chance to talk to Musk, Hernandez said he’d thank him for helping him realize a dream he didn’t know he had.

“He made it a possibility for somebody like us, you know, the cook or … electrician,” he said. “He’s making all these lives much better and meaningful for their families as well.”

Edited by Aimee Picchi

Emily Pandise contributed to this report.

Can Trump get a good Iran deal? Here are the major pitfalls that lie ahead

2026-06-12T18:35:03.340Z / CNN

• An interim agreement with Iran may be closer than ever, but the Trump administration faces major challenges ahead.
• Key sticking points include dismantling Iran’s nuclear program, handling enriched uranium, unfreezing billions in frozen Iranian assets and the funding of proxy groups.
• On each point, Trump will have to make the case to the American public on why it improves on former President Barack Obama’s Iran deal.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

There is suddenly newfound optimism about the Trump administration reaching an agreement with Iran to extend the ceasefire and to start to bring the war to an end — and not just inside President Donald Trump’s head this time.

Even Iran’s foreign minister says an agreement “has never been closer.”

But it’s important to note that, even if there’s good reason for the optimism, this would not be a peace deal, in and of itself. It’s the first step in a much longer process.

Getting here was likely the easier part; what comes next will be even harder.

The interim agreement under discussion would essentially involve the two sides coming to terms on some of the easier points — like ending Iran’s throttling of the Strait of Hormuz and the nearby US blockade — while setting a 60-day clock and a set agenda for resolving the more difficult ones.

The Trump administration is also claiming Iran has agreed to some very big concessions, but Iranian media is pitching a much different version of a tentative agreement.

Friday morning reinforced the fraught nature of what lay ahead. After media outlets connected to the Iranian government reported details of a potential agreement that looked very favorable to Tehran, Trump ripped into its leaders as “very dishonorable people to deal with,” with whom “there is no such thing as dealing in good faith.”

So what would Trump be trying to iron out with his irredeemably dishonest counterparts?

Let’s look at some of the potential sticking points, and why Trump could have some trouble selling the ultimate terms to the American public as a real accomplishment.

This is the most important aspect of any potential peace deal, and it’s extremely complex.

The Trump administration is telegraphing that Iran is agreeing that its nuclear program will be dismantled and committing “indefinitely” to not building a nuclear weapon. But even if that’s true, the details on how that would happen and how to enforce it in the future are critical — and have become a major point of contention before. It’ll surely take weeks just to iron that out.

A senior administration official on Friday cited a new “inspection regime,” but details are thin so far.

For example, would Iran give up all of its nuclear program, even the parts that could seemingly be used for civilian purposes? Or would it just agree not to enrich uranium beyond a certain level, theoretically preventing it from having access to weapons-grade uranium?

It sounds like the latter, with the official saying Friday that “we’re not bothered at all by the idea of civilian power plants in Iran.”

And, crucially, how would inspectors ensure Iran is abiding by any agreement?

Trump has played up the idea that Iran committing not to build a nuclear weapon would be a major win. But in fact, Iran has claimed for many years that it isn’t doing that.

The real crux here would be how the Trump administration would ensure compliance. Adding to the complications, the US president will need to make clear how the deal would be better than the one the Obama administration negotiated, since he’s constantly derided that as too weak. That one had restrictions on Iran’s uranium enrichment and had the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog verifying compliance.

The big hurdle here: There are many Iran hawks in Trump’s own party who say Tehran simply can’t be trusted to abide by the terms of any deal. Trump’s comments Friday about how unreliable Iran is obviously underscore that problem.

The uranium that is already highly enriched causes its own issues. The Trump administration has said Iran needs to turn it over, but it’s buried deep in the ground after US airstrikes a year ago.

And Trump has repeatedly and conspicuously alluded to the possibility that the US might not ultimately obtain those materials.

He’s floated the idea that the US military could merely “entomb” the areas and monitor them. “That’s so far ⁠underground, I ​don’t care about that,” he said at one point back in April.

There is also some talk about how the uranium could instead be “downblended” so it’s not so highly enriched, but would remain in Iran’s possession as fuel.

The senior administration official said Friday that the interim agreement involves the uranium being “destroyed on-site and then taken out of the country.” But they conceded that it’s “going to take a little bit of time to figure out” exactly how that will happen.

It’s difficult to see how Trump could sell this as a major win without getting the enriched uranium that Iran already has.

This is where Trump’s old rhetoric could really come back to bite him.

Back in 2016, he and his fellow Republicans lambasted the Obama administration for giving Iran $400 million in cash in a transaction tied to a hostage release and the nuclear deal.

The money wasn’t strictly a gift. It was instead used to resolve claims at an international tribunal at The Hague over a failed 1979 arms deal. But the optics were terrible, and Trump and others claimed the money would be used for terrorism.

(The $400 million was actually the first installment in $1.7 billion that was due to the Iranians.)

Today, Iran appears to be insisting on unfreezing a much larger sum of its assets: $24 billion.

When the potential unfreezing of the assets was first reported in April, Trump assured: “No money will exchange hands in any way, shape, or form.”

But he might be playing a semantic game, differentiating between unfreezing assets and handing over cash. That seems to be the fine line the Trump administration might walk, at least judging by Vice President JD Vance’s X post Friday.

Vance reiterated that Iran wouldn’t get “cash,” but added that “no funds are being released for simply signing a deal or attending a meeting.” That sounds like funds would indeed be unfrozen at some point.

But technically speaking, the 2016 payment was also money that was supposed to be in Iran’s possession.

Based on Iran’s public red lines, it seems like money has to be involved somehow. But if it is, Trump is opening himself up to similar claims that he’s giving Iran money that could be used for terrorism.

While many of the details risk looking somewhat like Obama’s Iran deal, the Strait of Hormuz presents a new variable in these negotiations.

After all, the war has given Iran a major strategic victory there. It has proven Iran is capable of effectively shutting down the strait — and negatively impacting the entire world economy — as a leverage point.

The big question here is not so much whether Iran relinquishes its effective control over the strait for now; the Trump administration would surely demand as much. It’s how the deal addresses Iran’s seeming ability to lock down the strait in the future.

If this issue is left unaddressed and the rest of the deal looks a lot like the Obama nuclear deal, it will be pretty easy for Trump’s critics to argue it’s a worse deal.

Early on, Trump and those around him said one of their most important goals was making sure Iran can no longer fund its proxy groups — like Hamas and Hezbollah — which spread terror in the region.

When Trump falsely claimed two months ago that Iran had agreed to all of his demands, he said that included a commitment to stop backing all proxy groups.

But then, Trump and the administration largely stopped talking about the issue at all.

A senior administration official told CNN on Friday that Iran is agreeing not to fund terrorist groups. But again, even if that’s true, the devil is in the details — like what that means in practice and how it’s verified.

And if Trump doesn’t get something solid on this front, it will mean he’s failed to accomplish one of four key goals he laid out at the start of the war.

Unearthed DOJ emails expose turmoil over Biden-era memo urging crackdown on parents

June 12, 2026 1:28pm EDT / Fox News

A deputy assistant attorney general warned the 2021 directive would ‘completely and totally nuke’ election threats efforts

By Robert Schmad, Fox News

Internal DOJ emails obtained by Fox News reveal officials’ serious concerns about the Merrick Garland memo from 2021. One employee suggested renaming the directive the ‘Anti-MAGA Task Force,’ highlighting its perceived political nature. The memo targeted parents who spoke out at school board meetings regarding COVID-19 rules and critical race theory.

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

blob:https://www.foxnews.com/68c35efb-f9f6-4cc0-816a-36f67a00c31d

Listen to this article

3 min

A controversial memo issued by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2021 aimed at addressing the alleged threat posed to school boards by dissatisfied parents caused an internal revolt at the Justice Department, according to documents obtained by Fox News.

As parents across the nation took to school board meetings to vent their dissatisfaction with COVID-era learning restrictions as well as how race and gender were being taught in classrooms, the National Association for School Boards appealed to the Justice Department for assistance, claiming that some actions taken by angry parents could be classified as “domestic terrorism.”

The Justice Department in October 2021 issued a memo to coordinate a response to what the department described as an “increase in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members, teachers and workers in our nation’s public schools” by parents.

Newly released emails, however, indicate that high-ranking officials at the DOJ were skeptical of this move, predicting that it could transform into a political headache for the Biden administration.

MAJOR PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD SIMULATES PARENT ‘TERRORIST’ ATTACK AFTER FATAL ACCIDENT KILLS STUDENT

Attorney General Merrick Garland takes questions during a news conference at the Department of Justice Building in Washington, D.C., on May 23, 2024. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit seeking to break up Live Nation, alleging the Ticketmaster parent company violated antitrust laws and harmed consumers.(Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

“I don’t think it’s possible to state how strongly I object to this. It will completely and totally nuke our election threats efforts, and will damage the reputation of the Public Integrity Section into the bargain,” one deputy assistant attorney general wrote on an internal email chain. “It’s like they’ve affirmatively trying to make this thing not work and look political.”

“If they do this, they might as well rename the damn thing the Anti-MAGA Task Force,” they continued.

“Exactly!” the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section chief responded. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

Some at the DOJ also questioned whether or not the agency had the authority to address purported threats to school board members in the way that was being proposed.

ANDREW MCCARTHY: BIDEN-HARRIS JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TANGLES WITH RED STATES ON ELECTION DAY

US Attorney General Merrick Garland addresses staff on his first day at the US Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on March 11, 2021. Garland was confirmed by the Senate with a 70-30 vote on March 10.(Kevin Dietsch/AFP)

“We will not do this,” one principal deputy assistant attorney general wrote. “There is no conceivable connection to public integrity (indeed, I’m not seeing a federal interest of any kind.). And if they’re going to make the AG’s memo to the field about this and election threats, I’m going to strongly recommend that they not send it.”

The Public Integrity section chief chimed in that the memo could turn the Justice Department and the FBI into the “threat police” and that it contained “no limiting principle at all.”

After sparking a firestorm of criticism from GOP lawmakers, state officials, pundits and parents’ groups, the NSAB formally apologized for its letter to the Biden administration calling for legal scrutiny to apply to disgruntled parents.

CNN HOST RECALLS HOW COVID CAUSED THE ‘RADICALIZATION’ OF PARENTS

Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 12, 2024, praising the department’s staff amid ongoing political accusations.(Ting Shen/Bloomberg)

“On behalf of NSBA, we regret and apologize for the letter,” the organization wrote in a memo to its members. “There was no justification for some of the language included in the letter. We should have had a better process in place to allow for consultation on a communication of this significance. We apologize also for the strain and stress this situation has caused you and your organizations.”

Though Garland was pressed to retract his memo or apologize, he instead opted to defend his decision.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“The obligation of the Justice Department is to protect the American people against violence and threats of violence and that particularly includes public officials,” he said of the memo.

The DOJ and Garland did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Friday.

Fox News’ David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

Judge keeps order in place to remove Trump’s name from Kennedy Center

2026-06-12 17:18:35 UTC / Reuters

By Blake Brittain

June 12, 2026 5:18 PM UTC Updated 2 hours ago

[1/2]Dark storm clouds gather over the Kennedy Center in the hours before a federal judge’s deadline to remove U.S. President Donald Trump’s name from the facade of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 11, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) – A federal judge ​in Washington on Friday ‌declined U.S. President Donald Trump’s request to temporarily pause ​an order to ​remove Trump’s name from the ⁠Kennedy Center for ​the Performing Arts.

U.S. District ​Judge Christopher Cooper said he would not lift the order ​while a federal ​appeals court considers his ruling ‌that ⁠only Congress could rename the famed venue in the nation’s capital ​memorializing former ​President ⁠John F. Kennedy.

The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue

The Trump administration ​has also appealed the ​order ⁠to the U.S. Court of Appeals for ⁠the ​District of ​Columbia.

Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; ​Editing by Mark Porter

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Judge rejects bid to stop UFC fight at White House

2026-06-12T17:18:07.726Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/12/politics/white-house-freedom-250-ufc-fight-lawsuit

• A federal judge has rejected a request to block the UFC fight at the White House this weekend.
• Two Virginia residents argued the event circumvents federal permitting rules by claiming exemptions meant for America’s 250th birthday celebrations.
• The judge ruled the plaintiffs lacked legal standing to challenge the event, which has cost UFC more than $60 million.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

A federal judge has rejected a request from two Virginia residents to block President Donald Trump from hosting a UFC fight at the White House this weekend.

Friday afternoon’s decision from US District Judge Amit P. Mehta came in a case brought last weekend by two people in Virginia who argued the privately run event cannot be lawfully held on the White House’s South Lawn or the Lincoln Memorial, where other aspects of it are expected to take place Friday before the main event on Sunday.

The appointee of former President Barack Obama concluded that the two plaintiffs do not have the legal right — known as “standing” — to challenge the event. As a result, he made no ruling on the legality of the planned fight.

But he nonetheless acknowledged the administration’s claim that a ruling halting the event would cause substantial harm to the people involved in the event, including Trump, the fighters and thousands of spectators.

“And then there is the $60 million that the UFC and UFC-affiliated organizations have expended to put on the event,” the judge wrote. “The potential loss of those dollars resulting from a last-minute, court-ordered stoppage cannot be ignored.”

The plaintiffs – a political activist and a Vietnam War veteran – had argued that the event is being unlawfully held at the White House because officials are leaning on a federal rule that exempts events around America’s 250th birthday from having to follow certain permitting regulations.

The UFC event, they say, is not being held in honor of the country’s founding but is instead intended to celebrate Trump’s birthday, which also falls on Sunday. As a result, officials and the event’s private organizers should have had to jump through ordinary regulatory hoops, like conducting an environmental assessment, before moving ahead with it, the plaintiffs argued.

“The event is neither ‘for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of American Independence’ nor, crucially, being ‘planned, organized, and executed’ by the federal government,” lawyers representing the two plaintiffs wrote in court papers.

They zeroed in on the fact that the event is largely being executed by private entities and is not “official” in nature. The fight, they say, will instead enrich Trump, who has reportedly purchased stock in UFC’s parent company. The plaintiffs had asked Mehta to temporarily intervene to stop the event from taking place this weekend while more legal proceedings play out.

According to court documents provided by the Trump administration in this lawsuit, the event has cost UFC more than $60 million.

The UFC is responsible for “production, labor, construction, and promotion costs,” while the federal government is providing “emergency equipment and services, including first aid/medical services, law enforcement, and security,” White House management and administration director Joshua Fisher said in a sworn declaration. That includes “a substantial volume of perishable food items for the anticipated 4,000 South Lawn guests and over 120,000 Ellipse guests.”

It’s not yet clear how much those federal services are costing taxpayers.

In court filings defending the project this week, Justice Department lawyers told Mehta that he should not intervene on behalf of the two Virginians because, they argued, such a ruling would unfairly burden a host of parties on the other side of the case.

They pushed back strongly on claims that the administration was skirting federal permitting rules and violating various laws in its effort to stand up the event. Federal law, they asserted, does not require Congress to approve “temporary structures” on the White House grounds like the “claw,” as the Virginias had said.

“Temporary structures are ubiquitous on the White House grounds, erected for nearly every special event, yet nobody has ever before suggested that Congress somehow needs to pass legislation for every concert tent or Easter egg roll kiosk,” DOJ argued.

The administration said workers were expected to begin disassembling the “claw” starting Monday.

This story has been updated with additional details.