Today in One Sentence. Israel and Iran paused direct attacks after trading strikes for the first time since the April ceasefire; Trump denied that he ever promised not to start a war while defending his three-month war with Iran that he launched without congressional approval; Trump abruptly ended a “Meet the Press” interview after Kristen Welker pressed him for evidence supporting his false claims that the 2020 election and California’s primary were “rigged”; the House passed a Ukraine aid and Russia sanctions bill; the Senate passed the $70 billion immigration enforcement bill without restrictions on Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund; a federal judge voided Trump’s $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications; Trump wants his acting director of national intelligence to “start the process” of firing “a lot of people” in the intelligence community; a federal lawsuit seeks to block Trump’s UFC fight on the White House South Lawn arguing the June 14 event violates National Park Service rules, lacked environmental review, and uses federal landmarks for a private, for-profit sports event; and 66% of Americans say a democratically elected government is important to the nation’s identity – down from 80% in 2021.

1/ Israel and Iran paused direct attacks after trading strikes for the first time since the April ceasefire. Trump twice told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop firing and warned him that Israel could be “on your own very soon.” After Iran fired missiles at Israel in response to Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut, Trump called Netanyahu Sunday night to tell him not to retaliate further. Netanyahu reportedly said Israel had to answer a direct attack and then struck Iranian air defenses and a petrochemical facility, prompting more Iranian missiles toward Israel. Trump then demanded on Truth Social that “Israel and Iran must immediately stop shooting,” and called Netanyahu again Monday morning, and said he told him: “Bibi, you better be careful, or you will be on your own very soon.” Netanyahu later said “the fire on this front has been contained,” but warned Israel would “respond with force” if Iran attacks again. Iran’s armed forces said they were suspending operations, but threatened “more severe and crushing measures” if Israeli strikes continue, including in southern Lebanon. Trump, meanwhile, claimed “final negotiations” with Iran were still proceeding, but Iran’s ambassador to the U.N. said the two sides “have not yet reached a final text.” (New York Times / Axios / Associated Press / NPR / ABC News / NBC News / CNN / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / Politico / New York Times / Washington Post)

2/ Trump denied that he ever promised not to start a war while defending his three-month war with Iran that he launched without congressional approval. “I didn’t guarantee no war,” Trump said. “I didn’t promise anything.” However, as a candidate, Trump said “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars,” and told voters: “I will not send you to fight and die in stupid foreign wars that never end.” Trump insisted Iran “is not an endless war” because “we’ve been doing this for three months,” claimed “the threat is largely over,” and said the U.S. may keep 50,000 troops in the Middle East because “maybe we may use them.” (NPR / New York Times / Politico / The Hill)

3/ Trump abruptly ended a “Meet the Press” interview after Kristen Welker pressed him for evidence supporting his false claims that the 2020 election and California’s primary were “rigged.” Trump claimed California officials were “cheating on the election” because ballots were still being counted days after the primary even though state law allows mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to be accepted for up to a week. “All I have to do is look, and I listen,” Trump said. “But that’s not evidence,” Welker replied. Trump then accused Welker and NBC of being “crooked,” saying “You’re either crooked or you’re stupid” and that “You’re a one-sided crooked network. Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough.” Before removing his microphone and walking off the set, Trump said: “A country can never be great with a dishonest press.” (Washington Post / Politico / BBC / The Hill / Axios)

  • The U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles opened “multiple election fraud investigations” into California’s primaries and sent a prosecutor to observe ballot processing in Los Angeles County a day after Trump claimed, without evidence, that Democrats were trying to “steal” the races for governor and L.A. mayor. Bill Essayli, a Trump-appointed federal prosecutor, didn’t provide details, but claimed California’s mail-voting system has “serious structural vulnerabilities.” (NBC News / Associated Press / The Hill)

4/ The House passed a Ukraine aid and Russia sanctions bill. 18 Republicans joined Democrats to pass the Ukraine Support Act, 226 to 195, after lawmakers used a rare procedural move to bypass Republican leaders who had kept it off the floor. The bill would authorize up to $8 billion in loans for Ukraine and NATO allies, provide roughly $1.8 billion in military and security aid, while imposing new sanctions on Russia’s energy, finance, and mining sectors, as well as companies and people helping Moscow evade sanctions. The bill, however, faces a difficult path in the Senate and would likely be vetoed if it reached Trump’s desk. (New York Times / Reuters / ABC News / Washington Post / NBC News)

5/ The Senate passed the $70 billion immigration enforcement bill without restrictions on Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, sending the package to the House after Republicans defeated bipartisan attempts to block or limit the taxpayer-funded payout program. The bill, approved 52-47 with Lisa Murkowski the only Republican opposed, would fund ICE and Border Patrol through the rest of Trump’s term using budget reconciliation that bypasses the filibuster. The House is expected to take up the bill next week. Meanwhile, Trump refused to rule out using the fund to compensate Jan. 6 defendants who attacked police, saying he “wouldn’t be inclined” to approve payouts for them, “but I have to see it.” Although acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers the administration was “not moving forward with the fund, period,” Trump said “I love the idea” and “if it was up to me, I’d pay them the kind of money that they deserve.” (New York Times / NBC News / The Guardian / NBC News / Politico / ABC News)

6/ A federal judge voided Trump’s $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications, ruling that the charge was an unlawful tax that Trump had “no power or delegated authority” to impose without Congress. Judge Leo Sorokin said the policy violated the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act, and vacated it “in its entirety.” The fee had raised the cost of new H-1B petitions from several thousand dollars to $100,000 for a program used by tech companies, hospitals, universities, and other employers to hire skilled foreign workers. The White House claimed Trump had “clear legal authority” to restrict entry and said the administration was “confident this order will be reversed on appeal,” pointing to a separate December ruling that upheld the fee. (CNN / CNBC / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / New York Times)

  • A federal judge ordered U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to resume processing asylum and immigration applications after striking down Trump administration policies that had frozen decisions for people from 39 travel-ban countries and stopped asylum adjudications worldwide. Chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell said the agency acted without legal authority and “placed the lives of countless individuals on hold — solely by virtue of their countries of birth.” The policies, adopted after an Afghan national was accused of shooting two National Guard members in Washington, left immigrants waiting indefinitely for asylum, work permits, green cards, and citizenship decisions, including lawful permanent residents whose naturalization applications had stopped moving. (Reuters / CNN / The Hill / New York Times)

  • The Trump administration moved to strip citizenship from 17 naturalized Americans accused of hiding crimes, fraud, or false identities when they applied. The Justice Department called it the largest denaturalization push in decades, but the cases still require federal judges to revoke citizenship through a rarely used, difficult court process. (New York Times / CBS News / NOTUS)

7/ Trump wants his acting director of national intelligence to “start the process” of firing “a lot of people” in the intelligence community. Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has no national security experience, but can serve for up to 210 days without Senate confirmation. Trump doesn’t plan to nominate Pulte for the role permanently, calling that an advantage because “you’re less shackled.” Trump also said ODNI, which oversees 18 intelligence agencies and units, is “unnecessary and/or too big,” “should maybe even be terminated,” and that Pulte should consider releasing classified documents related to the 2020 election. (Wall Street Journal / The Guardian / Reuters / The Hill)

  • The Senate blocked Trump’s effort to extend Section 702 of FISA after seven Republicans joined almost every Democrat to stop a three-year renewal of the warrantless surveillance program, which is set to expire June 12. Section 702 lets U.S. intelligence agencies collect communications of foreign targets overseas, but it also sweeps up Americans communicating with them. (New York Times / CBS News / Wall Street Journal)

8/ A federal lawsuit seeks to block Trump’s UFC fight on the White House South Lawn arguing the June 14 event violates National Park Service rules, lacked environmental review, and uses federal landmarks for a private, for-profit sports event. The Public Integrity Project sued the National Park Service, Interior Department, and Doug Burgum on behalf of two Virginia residents, saying the 92-foot “Claw” structure was built without congressional approval and that ceremonial weigh-ins at the Lincoln Memorial would turn “sacred ground” into a backdrop for “a for-profit cage fight.” The suit also claims UFC, Dana White, and Trump stand to benefit financially, citing VIP and sponsorship packages and Trump’s recent financial disclosure showing a $15,000-to-$50,000 investment in UFC parent company TKO. The White House called the lawsuit “obstructionist, baseless, and dilatory,” saying the event is “no different” from other White House-hosted events. (Politico / NBC News / CNN)

poll/ 66% of Americans say a democratically elected government is important to the nation’s identity – down from 80% in 2021. (Associated Press)

The 2026 midterms are in 148 days; the 2028 presidential election is in 883 days.