Trump And Iran, Iran's Nuclear Program, ICE Farm Raids Continue

Summary

Up First from NPR – June 18, 2025

Hosts: Steve Inskeep, Amy Martinez, Michel Martin, and A Martinez

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1. President Trump’s Stance on Iran and Potential U.S. Involvement

Trump’s Shift Towards Foreign Engagement

President Donald Trump, who campaigned on withdrawing the United States from foreign wars, appears to be reconsidering this stance in light of escalating tensions between Israel and Iran. During the episode, Steve Inskeep introduces the topic:

[00:02] Steve Inskeep: "President Trump campaigned to get the United States out of foreign wars."

However, Trump is now contemplating supporting Israel's campaign against Iran, raising questions about the risks internationally and the political repercussions domestically.

Mixed Messages from the White House

The administration's position is currently ambiguous. Amy Martinez highlights the conflicting signals regarding immigration enforcement and foreign policy:

[00:35] Amy Martinez: "The White House is sending mixed messages about how it'll enforce immigration orders for agricultural workers."

This inconsistency extends to foreign policy, where Trump’s rhetoric suggests a more hands-on approach, potentially diverging from his "America First" promises.

Pushback from Trump’s Own Allies

White House correspondent Franco Ordonez provides insight into internal conflicts within the Trump administration:

[03:39] Franco Ordonez: "For someone who has such dedicated supporters, it's really notable that some of Trump's longtime backers are questioning his judgment here."

Notable figures like former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and former White House aide Steve Bannon advocate for maintaining an "America First" approach, urging Trump to avoid deeper involvement in Middle Eastern conflicts.

Trump’s Response to Criticism

In response to dissent from allies, Trump has actively defended his position. Franco Ordonez recounts Trump’s reaction to Tucker Carlson’s opposition:

[04:47] Franco Ordonez: "Trump posted on social media, 'somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.'"

Additionally, Vice President J.D. Vance supported Trump’s authority to decide on further actions against Iran:

[04:11] Franco Ordonez: "Vice President J.D. Vance has also weighed in on social media, saying Trump has shown restraint, but that Trump has the right to decide whether to take further action to end Iranian enrichment."

Diplomatic Efforts Under Scrutiny

While Trump historically showed interest in diplomacy, his current stance suggests a departure:

[05:23] Franco Ordonez: "Right now, Trump doesn't appear to be interested in diplomacy. He told reporters he's not in the mood to negotiate."

However, there remains uncertainty whether this tough talk is a strategy to pressure Iran, as Trump has hinted at sending special envoys for negotiations.

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2. Iran’s Nuclear Program: Conflicting Narratives

Netanyahu vs. U.S. Intelligence

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently asserted that Iran is rapidly advancing toward developing a nuclear bomb. Greg Myrey, NPR’s national security correspondent, elaborates on the discrepancies between Israeli claims and U.S. intelligence assessments:

[06:26] Greg Myrey: "Netanyahu has been saying time and again that Iran is on the verge of a bomb... the U.S. intelligence community has had a very different position. It says Iran suspended its weapons program back in 2003."

Trump’s Contradiction of Intelligence Reports

President Trump has contradicted statements from U.S. intelligence officials. Greg Myrey notes:

[07:15] Steve Inskeep: "Trump has contradicted Gabbard saying, 'I don't care what she said. I think they, meaning the Iranians, were very close to having it.'"

International Oversight by the IAEA

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitors Iran’s nuclear activities. Greg Myrey provides details on Iran’s uranium enrichment:

[07:21] Greg Myrey: "The IAEA says Iran has enriched quite a bit of uranium to 60% purity. You need to get to 90% purity before it's considered weapons grade. But that change can be done very quickly."

Although Iran possesses significant enriched uranium, additional steps are necessary to produce a functional nuclear weapon. Experts estimate the timeline to be a matter of months, though recent Israeli strikes on nuclear sites have introduced further uncertainty.

Potential U.S. Military Action

If the U.S. decides to act militarily against Iran’s nuclear facilities, significant challenges exist:

[08:06] Greg Myrey: "Israel wants the US to use its massive bunker-busting bombs to hit the Fordo nuclear facility... the bomb is so massive that only one US plane can carry it, the B2 bomber."

The Fordo facility's construction within a hard-rock mountain presents uncertainties regarding the effectiveness of such a strike. Multiple bombing runs might be necessary, with no guaranteed outcomes.

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3. Continued ICE Raids on Agricultural Workers

Administration’s Contradictory Policies

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has maintained its aggressive stance on immigration enforcement, particularly targeting industries reliant on workers without legal status. Ximena Bastillo, NPR’s immigration policy reporter, explains the internal division within the Republican Party regarding immigration:

[10:22] Ximena Bastillo: "There's two schools of thought... one understands that industries are reliant on workers without legal status... the other group wants to increase deportation no matter what."

High-level officials like DHS Secretary Kristi Noem advocate for stringent enforcement, aiming to achieve mass deportations, which contrasts with President Trump’s promises to protect agricultural workers.

Recent Raids and Their Impact

Several ICE raids have recently targeted the agricultural sector, causing significant concern among employers and workers:

[11:25] Ximena Bastillo: "We saw several instances of immigration officers arresting and targeting the ag sector... 70 people were arrested at a meatpacking plant in Nebraska."

These actions have heightened fears of destabilizing local economies and supply chains, emphasizing the critical role of undocumented workers in these industries.

Employer and Worker Preparedness

Employers are navigating the uncertainty by trying to comply with laws while acknowledging that their employees’ families and communities may still be vulnerable:

[12:24] Ximena Bastillo: "They underscore that they want to follow the law... but they know that doesn't mean their families or their friends or people in their communities have legal status."

The administration’s approach of collateral arrests—arresting individuals connected to those targeted—further exacerbates the anxiety within affected communities.

Administration’s Official Stance

Despite public assurances, DHS continues its enforcement efforts:

[12:20] Ximena Bastillo: "Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin has said that there's no safe spaces for industries who... harbor violent criminals."

This indicates that raids could continue unabated, leaving the agricultural sector in a state of perpetual uncertainty.

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Conclusion

The June 18, 2025 episode of Up First from NPR delves into President Trump's evolving foreign and domestic policies, highlighting the tensions between his administration's actions and his initial campaign promises. From the fraught dynamics surrounding Iran's nuclear ambitions to the ongoing struggles within the U.S. immigration enforcement paradigm, the episode underscores the complexities and contradictions facing the current administration. Notable quotes and expert analyses provide listeners with a comprehensive understanding of these pressing issues, offering clarity amid the surrounding uncertainties.

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Notable Quotes:

• Steve Inskeep: "President Trump campaigned to get the United States out of foreign wars." ([00:02])
• Franco Ordonez: "Trump has repeatedly said all options are on the table." ([02:50])
• Greg Myrey: "The IAEA says Iran has enriched quite a bit of uranium to 60% purity." ([07:21])
• Ximena Bastillo: "They know that doesn't mean their families or their friends or people in their communities have legal status." ([12:24])

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Produced by: Dana Farrington, Andrew Sussman, Anna Yukoninoff, Alice Wolfley, Janaya Williams
Produced by: Ziad Butch, Claire Murashima, Christopher From Thomas
Engineering Support: Stacey Abbott
Technical Director: Carly Strange

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Subscribe and listen to Up First on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Support your local NPR station at donate.npr.org.

Transcript

[Steve Inskeep]

President Trump campaigned to get the United States out of foreign wars.

[Amy Martinez]

He's now considering whether to join Israel's campaign against Iran. What are the risks abroad and the political costs at home?

[Steve Inskeep]

I'm Steve Inskeep with a Martinez, and this is up first from NPR News. Israel asserts that Iran is making a big new push to make a nuclear bomb and that they're on the verge of success. The US Intelligence community has said otherwise. They assert that Iran suspended its weapons program more than 20 years ago. So who's right?

[Amy Martinez]

And the White House is sending mixed messages about how it'll enforce immigration orders for agricultural workers. President Trump promised to find solutions for farmers, but ICE officers are still targeting workplaces such as meat packing plants and dairy farms. Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.

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This message comes from the Nature Conservancy. Nature is common ground for everyone and uniting to protect nature can help solve today's challenges and create a thriving tomorrow for future generations. Discover [e-mail] NPR President Trump once distanced.

[Amy Martinez]

Himself from Israel's military action. Now he's taken some ownership.

[Steve Inskeep]

The president is talking in terms of we when he discusses Israel's war against Iran. He's even saying the United States could take out his words. The supreme leader of Iran calling Ayatollahi Khamenei an easy target who is only safe for now. The president has faced some pushback from his own political allies who oppose American involvement.

[Amy Martinez]

NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez has been covering this. So, Franco, President Trump spent the afternoon yesterday with his national security team in the SITUATION room. What are the chances of deeper United States involvement here?

[Franco Ordonez]

Yeah, a That's the big question. And that was being debated in the Situation Room. You know, the future of US Action in this conflict. I mean, Trump has repeatedly said all options are on the table. He's drawn a red line if soldiers are targeted. But he's also signaling the US Is already more involved than the White House previously led on. Just as Steve was pointing out, he's boasting that, quote, we now have total, complete control of the skies over Iran. He's saying, we know where the Supreme Leader is. I mean, he's repeatedly using that word, we. Blurring the line between Israel's objective and US Objectives. You know, and taking that kind of ownership has really raised more concerns of the US Getting more and involved into another foreign conflict.

[Amy Martinez]

Yeah, so that's interesting, because some of the people who are most concerned about foreign involvement are allies of President Trump. So tell us more about this friction.

[Franco Ordonez]

Yeah. For someone who has such dedicated supporters, it's really notable that some of Trump's longtime backers are questioning his judgment here. Trump, of course, has long been known for his America first message. And some key conservative allies, such as former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Trump's former White House aide Steve Bannon, see Trump straying from America first and are pressing him to stay out of this fight. Here's Carlson explaining his position on Bannon's podcast, War Room.

[Unknown Sponsor]

My interest is really simple. I don't want the United States enmeshed.

[Amy Martinez]

In another Middle Eastern war that doesn't serve our interests.

[Franco Ordonez]

Now, Trump campaigned on ending long wars. Peace through strength, he would say. I also spoke with Brett Bruin, who served as the White House Director of Global Engagement in the Obama administration. He said Trump supporters thought they were getting a president who was going to disentangle the US from overseas commitments.

[Unknown Sponsor]

What they're seeing, however, is a president who is getting pulled back in to a foreign crisis that another country started and that the US Interest remains somewhat questionable.

[Amy Martinez]

Okay, so how is President Trump responding to these criticisms?

[Franco Ordonez]

Well, he's pushing back, especially against Carlson. Trump posted on social media, quote, somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Vice President J.D. vance has also weighed in on social media, saying Trump has shown restraint, but that Trump has right to decide whether to take further action to end Iranian enrichment.

[Amy Martinez]

No, you know, you mentioned enrichment. I remember, like, a few weeks ago, Trump had actually been talking about a deal right before the most recent strike. So does this latest stance mean that that diplomacy is now completely over?

[Franco Ordonez]

Yeah. I mean, right now, Trump doesn't appear to be interested in diplomacy. He told reporters he's not in the mood to negot. What we don't know is whether at the same time this tough talk is part of his strategy to further pressure Iran because he's also said he may send Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff to negotiate, though perhaps not right now.

[Amy Martinez]

All right. That's White House correspondent Franco Ordonez. Thanks a lot.

[Franco Ordonez]

Thanks a. All right.

[Amy Martinez]

Now we're going to take a closer look at Iran's nuclear program, which matters.

[Steve Inskeep]

A lot here because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he ordered the attack on Iran because he believed Iran was marching very quickly toward a nuclear weapon. The US Intelligence community has been saying something else. It says Iran suspended its nuclear weapons program more than two decades ago and has never reversed that assessment. So who's right?

[Amy Martinez]

To sort this out, we've called on NPR national security correspondent Greg Myrey. So, Greg, there are clips, video clips of Benjamin Netanyahu saying that Iran is close to producing nuclear bombs. Those clips go back 30 years to 1995. Can you lay out the conflicting arguments here?

[Greg Myrey]

Yeah. So Netanyahu has been saying time and again that Iran is on the verge of a bomb, and he's saying he ordered the attack now because Israel believes Iran was making a big new push to get there rapidly. He didn't provide details, but he claimed the intelligence was clear and was shared with the U.S. now, the U.S. intelligence community has had a very different position. It says Iran suspended its weapons program back in 2003. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard stated this in congressional testimony in March, said Iran was still enriching uranium, but nothing really new. This was very familiar ground. Now, Trump has contradicted Gabbard saying, quote, I don't care what she said. I think they, meaning the Iranians, were very close to having it.

[Amy Martinez]

But here's the other thing, too, because international inspectors have been monitoring Iran's program for a long time, for years. So what do they have to say?

[Greg Myrey]

Yeah. The UN's nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, says Iran has enriched quite a bit of uranium to 60% purity. You need to get to 90% purity before it's considered weapons grade. But that change, that upgrade can be done very quickly. If Iran did this, it would have enough uranium to make around 10 nuclear weapons. Iran would still need to take several additional steps to make an actual bomb. Most experts think we're talking about a matter of months, though. And now, of course, everything is changing by the day Israel has already hit a number of nuclear sites, and it's hard to make it a full assessment at this point.

[Amy Martinez]

Then if the US Decides to actually attack Iran, what action would it take?

[Greg Myrey]

Israel wants the US to do one big thing, and that's use its massive bunker busting bombs to hit the Fordo nuclear facility, which has this enriched uranium. Now, this is a major challenge because Fordo is built into a mountainside which is a little over 100 miles south of Tehran. If the US strikes, the thinking is it would use this bomb that weighs 30,000 pounds, 15 tons. It's formally known as the GBU 57 or the massive Ordinance Penetrator. It's so massive that only one US plane can carry it, the B2 bomber. And you know, Israel relies almost entirely on US planes and US bombs, but it doesn't have this bomb or this plane. And Israel has repeated, repeatedly requested this weapon from the US but the US has always declined.

[Amy Martinez]

So do we know if this bomb would in fact destroy a nuclear facility protected by a mountain?

[Greg Myrey]

Yeah, that's an open question. We just don't know for sure. And there's lots of variables. The nuclear facility is believed to be about 300ft under the mountain. And this is a mountain that consists of very hard rock, meaning it could be difficult to penetrate. Israel says it's taking control over the skies of Tehran. So US Planes could likely approach this nuclear facility facing little or no threat. But it's just not clear whether the site could be completely destroyed. It could take multiple bombing runs, and there are no guarantees this would be the outcome.

[Amy Martinez]

All right, that's NPR's Greg Myrick. Thanks, Greg.

[Greg Myrey]

Sure thing.

[Steve Inskeep]

Some other news now, a kind of clarification. The Department of Homeland Security says it is still targeting industries and that employ lots of people without legal status.

[Amy Martinez]

Employers in agriculture, construction, hospitality have worried about losing their workforces to immigration raids. And several raids last week heightened their concern. And even President Trump said he worried about losing, quote, very good, longtime workers. Now, DHS has clarified what they intend to do.

[Steve Inskeep]

NPR immigration policy reporter Ximena Bastillo is in her studio. It's good to see you.

[Ximena Bastillo]

Good morning.

[Steve Inskeep]

Is the administration acting on the president's concern by calling off some enforcement?

[Ximena Bastillo]

You know, there really has been a lot of inconsistent messaging, and that really stems from their. There's two schools of thoughts primarily within the Republican Party on how to handle workers without legal status. The first faction is really understanding that their communities and industries are heavily reliant on workers without legal status and that if those Workers were just to go away, entire local economies and supply chains would fall apart. And these are in areas that are very red Republican and industries that generally back the president. But then there's this other group, and it's the part of the base that wants to increase deportation no matter what, no matter who. And these are the folks that hold very high level positions within the administration, thinking like White House border czar Tom Homan, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. They're pushing immigration officials to arrest up to 3,000 people a day in order to achieve the president's goal of mass deportations.

[Steve Inskeep]

Okay, so that's the conflict. What has actually been happening on the ground?

[Ximena Bastillo]

So until recently, the agriculture sector had generally been left alone. But then last week, we saw several instances of immigration officers arresting and targeting the ag sector. Particularly. 70 people were arrested at a meatpacking plant in Nebraska. Several farms got targeted in California and a dairy farm in New Mexico as well. And that really sent employers and workers into high alert. The next day, President Trump once again promised to find a solution for farmers, specifically posting on Truth Social that these workers needed, needed to be protected. But then again this week, we're seeing the Department of Homeland Security double down again. Kind of a bit of a whiplash for this industry. Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin has said that there's no safe spaces for industries who, quote, harbor violent criminals, and that worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of their efforts.

[Steve Inskeep]

Meaning that these raids can go ahead, anybody can be targeted at any time.

[Ximena Bastillo]

Correct.

[Steve Inskeep]

So how are employers and employees preparing for that?

[Ximena Bastillo]

So advocates representing employers have told me that they continue to be concerned. You know, they underscore that they want to follow the law, and many times they believe that they are. But they say that even if they think all their employees have work authorization, they know that doesn't mean their families or their friends or people in their communities have legal status. And that is what leads us into what the administration is calling collateral arrests, which means if one person has targeted anyone that happens to be around them at the time that they're arrested on, also gets arrested if they have, you know, lack legal status or something needs to be questioned. You know, we still don't know what the White House's solutions are for the farming industry, despite months of promises that there will be something. But that also means there will be continued pressure on, you know, coming from some of these key industries in the United States. That could be a hurdle for what the President wants to do.

[Steve Inskeep]

NPR's Amanda Bastillo. Thanks for the update.

[Ximena Bastillo]

Thank you.

[Amy Martinez]

And that's up first for Wednesday, June 18th. I'm Amy Martinez.

[Steve Inskeep]

And I'm Steve Inskeep. Your next listen is Consider this from NPR News. Up first gives you three big stories of the day. Consider this drills down on one. Listen now on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Amy Martinez]

Today's episode of up first was edited by Dana Farrington, Andrew Sussman, Anna Yukoninoff, Alice Wolfley and Janaya Williams. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Claire Murashima and Christopher From Thomas. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. Our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow.

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