Today in Politics, Bulletin 404. 6/23/26 Ron Filipkowski Jun 23 ∙ … Trump continued to rant and rave today about the Reflecting Pool to reporters and on Truth Social. Even when reporters tried to ask him about different subjects, he continued to return to the alleged vandalism that ruined his perfect project. Meanwhile, Iran continues to reap the rich rewards of their deal with JD Vance while denying several claims from Trump and Vance about conditions in the agreement. … Trump posted: “6 people have been arrested, and 7 people have been cited, for the damage they did to our Country’s now beautiful Reflecting Pool. The 350 foot gash, made by a very sharp knife or razors, is actually numerous slashes over a very long 350 foot length. It was purposefully and criminally done, and somebody had to work very hard, probably in the dark of night, to create such a condition. Likewise, the small area at the bottom of the Pool was cut and powerfully lifted off the surface leaving very jagged, uneven edges.” … Reporter: “You mentioned yesterday that the Interior Dept has video and photos. We reached out to them and they haven’t shared it with us. Trump: They will share it. They’ve arrested I think 6 people on the reflecting pool. So, the reflecting pool looks fantastic. Somebody went in with a knife and cut it, a 350 foot slit.” … Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) on CNN: Q - “Do you believe there’s evidence of a 300-foot cut at the bottom of the reflecting pool? Sessions: I don’t know. I would say the president evidently has got proof.” … Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) to NBC: “I’d like to think a $15 million membrane could withstand a pocket knife. Damaging the reflecting pool is something that Pirro wants to prosecute to the full extent of the law - yet they’re releasing people who pled guilty to assaulting a police officers. What freaking parallel universe did I just wake up in?” … Trump: “In describing the Vandalism that took place at the Reflecting Pool, ABC FAKE NEWS, one of the worst in the business, even paying me $16,000,000 for past bad and inaccurate reporting, failed to report that their close ‘friends,’ Dumocrats Obama and Biden, spent over 100 Million Dollars on the Reflecting Pool, and it never worked. In fact, it was rarely open due to leaks and ‘stench.’ I spent approximately 16 Million Dollars, and it came out great, except for the Vandalism, which we are now fixing. We are preparing lawsuits against ABC for false reporting. I like their money, which will be given to the US Treasury!” … Obama and Biden did not spend anything close to $100 million on the Pool. … Karoline Leavitt is now back from maternity leave and went on Sean Hannity’s Fox show: “The vandalism is very real. There have actually been 6 arrests at the Reflecting Pool where, again, these deranged individuals—many of them longtime donors to the Democratic Party, to Barack Obama, to ActBlue—have been vandalizing and desecrating our federal monument.” … “And that’s why President Trump is not going to stop with this effort. They’re not only holding those people accountable, but they’re going to fix the pool and continue to make it beautiful after this despicable vandalism, just in time to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday next week.” … Hannity: “Democrats are obsessed with a pool that actually reflects a lot more than the Washington monument. Tonight, it serves as a reflection into the lack of a soul of a party, the Democratic Party.” … Trump has talked about the Reflecting Pool nonstop for a month, but we are obsessed with it. … One of the people arrested for vandalism, 3-time Olympian David Hearn, described what happened on MS NOW: “As soon as I left the side of the Reflecting Pool and went back to my bike that was laid down on its side on the edge of the grass, 3 National Guard troops sort of materialized and started talking to me. I didn’t think I’d done anything wrong, so I had no reason to think I was going to be arrested. I furnished my ID and before I knew it, I was being handcuffed and arrested.” … Q - “Am I right that you were detained for 5 hours after this arrest? Hearn: Yes. I was in the lockup. I was photographed and they put me back in, fingerprinted, put me back in, and I had not been able to allow to make a phone call. No, nobody really knew I was there. I was held incommunicado that whole time, was never read my rights.” … Fox host on Hearn: “Records shows he has ties to a major left-wing fundraising network. They show he donated to ACTBlue 10 times.” … Workers began constructing a fence around the pool this afternoon so people cannot get near the water or see it except through a chain-link fence. … Meanwhile, the Trump’s Duck Holocaust continues to get worse. … WaPo: “When the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool was replenished this month after a $14 million-plus renovation, ducks quickly took to the water. A duck carcass was photographed floating in the algae-filled water, days after the ‘American Flag Blue’ paint began peeling off the bottom of the pool. Then, two other dead ducks were found in a pond at Constitution Gardens on the National Mall - roughly 250 feet from the Reflecting Pool.” … “City Wildlife, one of the lead animal rescue and rehabilitation groups in the area, said a staffer collected their bodies Sunday and brought them to their facility. Animal experts said ducks, which know no boundaries, typically go back and forth between the two water spots of the Reflecting Pool and Constitution Gardens. Certain types of algae are part of a duck’s natural diet, but if the birds consume blue-green algae, it can be toxic. … City Wildlife President April Linton: “They walk and fly back and forth. They could have had exposure to the Reflecting Pool. It could be something related to peeling paint or algae.” Linton said the veterinary staff at City Wildlife plans to conduct necropsies on the two dead ducks they have received and hope to have results as soon as this week. … Trump also raged on Truth Social and to reporters about Iran: “Despite their protestations and false statements to the contrary, coupled with the drumbeat of the Fake News, which is doing everything possible to make the US Victory as small and insignificant as possible, Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future (Infinity!!!). This will insure ‘Nuclear Honesty.’ If they did not agree to this, there would be no further negotiations!” … “The Money and/or Sanctions that the US Treasury is releasing goes into escrow, controlled by the USA, and will be used for the purchase of food and medical supplies, exclusively from the US, including Corn, Wheat, and Soybeans from our great American Farmers.” … That is not in the agreement, and Iran is denying it. … UN Amb Mike Waltz on Fox: “Iran is going to buy American crops. Host: Where is that in the agreement? Waltz: This is an MOU, just 14 points, the details of which are being negotiated right now as we speak.” … Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei held a press conference: “Regarding Iran’s released assets, previously illegally blocked by the US, we will decide how to utilize them as we deem fit; there are NO restrictions in this regard.” “We did not have a meeting with IAEA Chief Rafael Grossi in Switzerland, nor do we plan to allow its inspectors to visit nuclear facilities damaged in the recent conflicts. There is no protocol in this regard. As a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and as a country committed to safeguards agreements, we will continue the current procedure.” “The US commitment to stop the war in Lebanon is an integral part of the MOU. There is no excuse or justification for the continuation of the Zionist regime’s illegal and aggressive actions in Lebanon.” “We did not discuss our missile capabilities during the negotiations with the US, and we will not discuss this issue with anyone in the future.” “The parties to the MOU are trying to achieve all of its clauses before starting negotiations on the nuclear issue.” … Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran’s Ambassador to the UN: “Main talks on the Strait of Hormuz will be between Iran and Oman, followed by parallel discussions with the parties to the MOU.” “If Israel violates the MOU in any form, including by attacking Lebanon and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran will respond.” … Parliament speaker MB Ghalibaf: “In the middle of the discussions, I learned that Trump had made threatening remarks regarding our president, the negotiating team, and possible attacks on our territory. I told Vance: ‘We are here engaged in talks, and according to the signed understanding, the first clause states that there should be no threats or coercion. Yet today your president has issued threats. Understand that we never negotiate under threats or pressure.’” … “We ended the negotiations, left the meeting, and did not return. The American side sought another meeting through the mediators, but we refused. The Qatari and Pakistani mediators then came to us, and we told them that we would speak with them, but not with the American side directly. The outcome of these discussions and the 80-minute negotiations was the statement later released by the Pakistani and Qatari side.” … “Everyone should know that management of the Strait of Hormuz will never return to the way it was before the war.” … Ghalibaf said the agreement released $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets - two separate $6 billion Iranian asset tranches was finalized in Switzerland with Qatari involvement. He said sanctions on Iranian oil exports have been suspended until a final deal is reached.” … Former Mike Pence chief of staff Marc Short: “Sadly, the Iranians were more accurate about the MOU than many denials from WH.” … Trump was asked today about Iran’s assertion that it has not agreed to IAEA inspections: “They’re wrong. They’re wrong. They know they’re wrong. They told us inside, and we have it down: 100% inspections. And if they were right, I cancel the meetings right now.” … Iran expert Danny Citrinowicz: “The most realistic end state remains a comprehensive agreement under which the US lifts economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for a robust and intrusive inspection regime over Iran’s nuclear facilities. In many respects, this framework has long fallen within the boundaries of what Iranian decision-makers could accept. Even before the war, there were indications that Tehran was prepared to consider enhanced monitoring and verification measures, provided they were accompanied by meaningful sanctions relief.” … “The challenge is timing and leverage. From Tehran’s perspective, the issue is not whether inspections can be accepted in principle, but under what conditions. Iran is unlikely to agree to far-reaching monitoring arrangements before a broader political understanding is reached because it views its remaining leverage as one of its most valuable negotiating assets.” … “The central question, therefore, is not whether inspections are possible. It is whether Washington and Tehran can reach a political understanding that makes those inspections worthwhile for both sides. Without such an understanding, neither side is likely to surrender its most important sources of leverage before the negotiations are complete.” … Fox Pentagon correspondent Jennifer Griffin: “Pentagon #2 Steve Feinberg called Congressional appropriators and said the Pentagon will need ‘about $80 billion’ in supplemental funds to cover the cost of the Iran War. Pentagon officials including Secretary Hegseth and Pentagon Comptroller testified to Congress recently that the war had cost $29 billion. Most believed that was a vast underestimate of the actual cost of the war, especially given the vast stockpiles of SM3 , Patriot, THAAD missiles and Tomahawks used to bomb Iran. … “The President will meet with Defense Contractors Weds to urge them to speed up production of these depleted missile stockpiles BUT the contractors have already indicated that without Congress appropriating money (defense budget always delayed and usually ends in CR) the Pentagon can’t sign contracts and the defense contractors can’t make the weapons on spec. They need contracts.” … Journalist Paul Farhi: “So the war has cost at least $109 billion (so far), not including tens of billions in indirect costs (higher gas, fertilizer, commodities prices, stock-market losses, etc). Plus, 13 American lives and countless Iranians. This is in less than 4 months.” … Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman: “For what it’s worth, I think it will be nearly impossible to pass an $80 billion war supplemental outside of reconciliation. Democrats are never going to vote for this thing. I honestly don’t know what the admin is thinking.” … Tucker Carlson said he’s done with the Republican Party: “I’m out. And if I’m out, then I think a lot of other people are out. I would not support the Republican Party. There’s no chance I would support the Republican Party. How could I or any American voter support a political party that’s not loyal to the US. That puts the interests of Israel above those of its own citizens. It’s not possible to vote for people like that, and I’m not going to.” Reminder there is no Bulletin tomorrow because I do my weekly podcast Uncovered where we do a deeper dive into the top stories of the week. These last 3 days were some monster Bulletins, so I can definitely use a day off from writing. If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here. Thank you to everyone who reads, shares and subscribes to my work and others at Meidas. I try to be very consistent and do my 100% best for you every single day because I don’t ever want to let you down. Thank you to so many who have been with us since the first Bulletin and to all who joined along the way. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribed … CNBC: “Voters in NY, MD, UT and SC head to the polls Tuesday in primaries that will test the power of outside money, party establishment and the political figures trying to bend both to their side: “The marquee race is in NY’s 12th District, where Democrats are choosing a nominee to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler in one of the safest blue seats in the country. The crowded Manhattan primary includes Assemblymen Alex Bores and Micah Lasher, along with Jack Schlossberg, a grandson of JFK. “In MD’s 5th District, Steny Hoyer’s retirement has triggered a 24-candidate primary. The field includes state Del. Adrian Boafo and former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who rose to national prominence after defending the Capitol on J6. Boafo, a former Hoyer aide, has the clearest establishment lane, with endorsements from Hoyer, Gov. Wes Moore and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks. He has also benefited from $8.8M in outside spending, including $4.9 M from the crypto-backed Protect Progress, $2.9 M from AIPAC and $500,000 from Hoyer’s leadership PAC.” “Utah’s races are Tuesday’s clearest examples of how redistricting is reshaping the fight for the House majority. A court-ordered map created a Democratic-leaning Salt Lake City-based 1st District, giving the party a rare chance to break into UT’s all-Republican House delegation. Former Rep. Ben McAdams, the last Dem to represent UT in Congress, is running against state Sen. Nate Blouin, tax attorney Michael Farrell and political newcomer Liban Mohamed.” “So far this primary season, Trump’s endorsement has carried major weight. But in upstate NY, it is running into the state GOP machine. In the 21st District, the race to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik has become a fight between state Assemblyman Anthony Constantino, the Sticker Mule CEO backed by Trump, and state Assemblyman Robert Smullen, a retired Marine colonel backed by the state Republican establishment.” … Sen. Ted Cruz was campaigning today in SC for gubernatorial candidate Alan Wilson: “We should abolish the IRS. There are 93,000 employees of the IRS. We should put a padlock on that building and put every one of them down on our southern border.” … NBC: “The ACLU will spend more than $50 million on the 2026 midterm election, with half going toward efforts to ensure smooth administration of elections as Trump seeks to exert more control over the process. ACLU officials said they will train and deploy more than 100 paid staff members and more than 3,000 volunteer leaders to encourage people to vote and to ensure voter access while monitoring ballot counting and certification.” … “Those people will coordinate thousands of other volunteers. The ACLU said it has already trained 5,000 people on election work and plans to train 5,000 more. AZ, GA, MI, NV, NC, PA and WI — all critical battleground states — are expected to receive the bulk of the investment.” … Deidra Schifeling, the ACLU’s chief political and advocacy officer: “We are in a really unprecedented situation here with this admin’s abuses of power and concerted attempts to suppress voters, to gerrymander, to basically co-opt our democratic system. Where it is clear that the admin is undermining the legitimacy of our democratic process and trying to co-opt it or sabotage it, we will be ready to react to that in a variety of ways.” … Forbes: “Donald Trump Jr. held a private meeting with Indian billionaire Gautam Adani while visiting the country in Nov last year, as the billionaire faced federal fraud and bribery charges in the US - dropped by the Trump admin last month. The previously undisclosed meeting took place in Ahmedabad, in the Western Indian state of Gujarat, although the details of what was discussed are unknown.” … “Adani and his company have vehemently denied the federal charges, which were dropped last month following reports that the billionaire’s lawyers offered to invest $10 billion in the US. Citing an unnamed person close to the president’s son, the report said Adani’s younger son, Jeet Adani—who was involved in a push to end the federal case—met with Trump Jr. in Mar-a-Lago last year.” … “Adani publicly praised Trump after his re-election, calling him the ‘embodiment of unbreakable tenacity, unshakeable grit, relentless determination,’ as he and his family were engaged in a major push to drop the charges brought against him by the Biden DOJ. According to the WSJ, Adani hired Boris Epshteyn, a key adviser and personal lawyer of Trump, to help with his defense.” … WaPo: “DOJ took the extraordinary step of seeking to force reporters for WaPo and the WSJ to testify before a federal grand jury - but withdrew the subpoenas earlier this month after they were challenged by the news orgs. The grand jury subpoena to WaPo reporter Ellen Nakashima this spring was related to sensitive reporting about a national security matter. DOJ also issued subpoenas to appear before a grand jury to 3 WSJ journalists, who also reported on national security issues.” … “WaPo was fighting the demand in federal court in sealed proceedings when the govt rescinded Nakashima’s subpoena. DOJ also withdrew the WSJ subpoenas, which the news org had challenged in the same federal court. None of the journalists testified before the grand jury.” … “While the journalists are no longer scheduled to appear before a grand jury, DOJ’s action reflected a new front in the Trump admin’s aggressive tactics toward the media as it attempts to crack down on govt leaks to the press and content that admin officials think is unfair to the president.” … Sen. Susan Collins did an extremely rare interview since she is up for reelection, but did it on Fox: Q - “In 1996, you said you would only run for two terms and yet now you are running again. Did you break a promise you made? Collins: I underestimated how much seniority, experience, and knowledge matters in the senate.” … Q - “Is your vote for Kavanaugh troublesome for you now that Roe v Wade was overturned? Collins: I disagreed with the Supreme Court, but the fact is that whether Justice Kavanaugh was confirmed or not, Roe v Wade would've been overturned.” … Maine Democratic Party: “Days before the anniversary of Roe's overturn, Collins goes on Fox and lies about her role in it. The vote was 5-4. She confirmed the deciding justice.” … Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) to Meidas on concerns about Bill Pulte as interim DNI heading into the midterms: “Pulte could claim, whether there’s a source of intelligence or not, that China is going to do X. He could claim that there might be a terrorist threat around polling stations. All of it could be used as an excuse to try to shut down the election.” … CNN: “Firings at the Office of the DNI started today, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. ‘The deep state firings have begun,’ the source said, declining to give details.” … Politico: “The president was invited to GOP senators’ Wed lunch to push for his No. 1 priority, the GOP election bill known as the SAVE Act. But several outgoing Republicans who have clashed with Trump said they will be there to deliver a reality check: The bill isn’t passing, and it’s time to move on: Sen. John Cornyn: “I’m going to be there front and center. It will be important if it actually is a constructive exchange of different opinions, and hopefully we can all get on the same page. Right now, we’re not in a great place.” Sen. Bill Cassidy: “I’m a co-sponsor, but it doesn’t have the votes, and so it’s time to talk about something else.” … Punchbowl: “John Thune’s Senate GOP conference is preparing for a beating from Trump. Yet if he plays his cards right, it could be an opportunity for Thune and Senate Republicans to finally get through to Trump about what they see as unrealistic demands.” … “It may be difficult to think about Sen. Rick Scott’s invitation to Trump as a positive for Thune, who’s been at odds with Trump over numerous legislative issues in recent weeks. Scott didn’t even tell Thune in advance that he was inviting the president to the Capitol. GOP senators expect that Trump will berate them for not bending to his will on Iran, the filibuster, the SAVE Act and more.” … “But the meeting will be the first time in months that Trump will be in a room with the entire Senate GOP Conference. It’s an opportunity for Thune to lean more on his colleagues - and, for once, not have to be the guy who tells Trump ‘no.’ Or as Thune quipped, deliver ‘the bad news.’ Thune and his allies will have a chance to get Trump to see that there simply aren’t 50 votes for getting rid of the filibuster or for passing the SAVE Act, and that continuing to focus on this is a political loser.” … Thune: “I hope that people, on that issue, speak up. Because I’m not saying anything that isn’t a view that wouldn’t be shared or articulated by a lot of my colleagues. It’s always helpful if others would speak up, and it’s not just me.” … Status: In addition to well-chronicled ratings drops for the CBS Evening News since Bari Weiss took over, CBS Mornings has now also seen its ratings decline since Weiss fired 60 Minutes veteran Scott Pelley as part of her controversial gutting of the magazine show. On June 3, the day Weiss fired Pelley, CBS Mornings averaged 1.8 million total viewers. The day after Pelley’s firing, CBS Mornings slumped to an average of 1.59 million total viewers.” … The concerning 11% drop in total audience and the staggering 28% decline in the advertiser-coveted 18-48 demographic has reportedly “alarmed” some officials at the network. The show regained some viewers in the following days, but CBS Mornings’ viewership from June 3-June 14 was still down 6% from its year-to-date average. … The program is on track for its worst June ever, averaging just 1.7 million total viewers and 275,000 in the key demographic. It has already recorded its worst May on record and its lowest-rated quarter. … Stat News: “Millions of Americans with obesity are eagerly awaiting a powerful new drug from Eli Lilly called retatrutide, which has demonstrated bariatric-surgery levels of weight loss. Some aren’t even waiting for approval from the FDA, instead racing to acquire it through sketchy means.” … “But STAT has learned that Eli Lilly and the FDA have allowed one person to gain access to the drug through the FDA’s ‘compassionate use’ program, a pathway that gives patients with serious and immediately life-threatening medical issues access to experimental treatments.” … That application drew interest from top health officials. Given the demographics and the peculiar nature of the application, I asked the WH if this patient was Trump, who turned 80 a week ago. I did not get a direct answer. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Trump was notably one of the first people administered an antibody treatment from Regeneron after he contracted the virus, via this same compassionate use pathway.” … “18 bioethics experts, obesity clinicians, and current and former govt officials told me the application struck them as unusual. They questioned why Lilly would offer compassionate use for a single patient when obesity is such a widespread condition. Lilly posted its program for retatrutide in early June, but unlike postings for other drugs, it contains no info about the disease conditions or which patients might qualify.” … Trump today at his rally in PA: “Eli Lilly - great company, drug company. A friend of mine, who’s extremely fat, sloppy, but very brilliant—he’s a brilliant businessman, but he’s a slob. There’s no question about it. A very neurotic person, which you need sometimes to be successful. He said, ‘I bought the fat drug.’ I said, ‘I didn’t know you used it, because it’s not working.’” … “I use him as an example. He’s begging me not to use his name, so I won’t. But he’s a very successful guy. He’s actually a pretty well-known guy, a brilliant business guy, worth a lot of money.” … The conservative National Review, which was founded by William F. Buckley: “The massive banner on the Dept of Labor building is of our current president, Donald Trump. Last year, a dept spokesman said the banner cost taxpayers about $6,000.” “To clarify, the giant Trump banner on the Labor Dept building is different from the large banner of Trump’s face on the DOJ building.” “This is separate from the large banner with Trump’s face that was put up on the Dept of Ag building in May 2025. The banners and the supplies used to hang them cost taxpayers a total of $16,400.” “Which is different from the large posters declaring ‘Thank you, President Trump’ being put up at sites where the National Park Service is improving facilities, such as Columbus Circle and Logan Circle.” “This is separate from the as-yet-uncompleted plan to put a large banner on the HQ of HHS, with the slogan, ‘Make America Healthy Again.’ The contract for these banners was awarded Aug 2025, to a small business in TX with no apparent expertise or experience producing large banners. The contract award obligated $33,726.” “This is different from the decision to put Trump’s face on National Parks passes; the National Park Service announced that if you put a sticker over Trump’s face, the pass is no longer valid.” “This is separate from the renaming of the US Institute of Peace after Trump.” “Or the adding of Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center, which was recently removed.” “This is separate from the new Trump passports.” “Or the US Mint’s new commemorative gold coin, which may be using gold from a Colombian mine controlled by a drug cartel.” “Or the president’s signature adorning US currency for the first time.” “Or the Trump accounts.” “Or the Trump Gold Card US residency visa.” “Or the TrumpRx program to help people purchase prescription medication.” “Or the Trump-class battleship.” “Or the US Air Force’s sixth-generation fighter, the F-47, named so because Trump is the 47th president. … “Call it Orwellian, call it something out of North Korea, call it whatever you want, but massive posters of the leader’s face all over govt buildings and seemingly every citizen interaction with the federal govt is not American.” … After all the other scheduled artists canceled, Kash Patel’s girlfriend Alexis Wilkins announced today that she will be performing in their place at Trump’s America 250 event on the National Mall in DC. At least they finally got a major star to commit. Invite your friends and earn rewards If you enjoy Meidas+, share it with your friends and earn rewards when they subscribe.