The Trump administration’s successful surprise strikes on Iran on Saturday night were executed without issue after the National Security Council saw massive overhauls earlier in 2025, and the national security advisor was replaced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to fulfill an additional job role that critics said would likely end in failure. 

President Donald Trump made a surprise announcement on Truth Social Saturday evening announcing the U.S. military carried out successful strikes on a trio of Iranian nuclear facilities as tensions and conflict heightened between Iran and Israel since June 12. 

‘A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan,’ Trump said from the White House in an address to the nation just hours after the Truth Social announcement. ‘Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity, and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success.’ 

By Monday evening, Iran and Israel agreed to a ceasefire with Trump declaring the ’12 Day War’ was over following the U.S. strikes. 

The operation, which was also praised by Pentagon brass as a total success, was executed after the Trump administration slashed the National Security Council and replaced former national security advisor Mike Waltz with Rubio, who currently serves four different roles within the administration. 

Democratic lawmakers and former National Security Council staffers seethed against potential and finalized cuts to the council, alleging that Trump was politicizing and potentially crippling national security. 

The Trump administration and its supporters, however, viewed the overhauls as the president coming through on his campaign promise to strip Washington of the ‘deep state’ and streamline the office. 

The National Security Council operates within the White House to advise the president on foreign policy issues. 

It is chaired by the president, with other members including the vice president, the secretaries of state, treasury and defense, and the assistant to the president for national security affairs. Other staffers on the council include foreign policy experts who frequently join the team on loan from the Pentagon or State Department.

The Trump administration has made a handful of cuts to the National Security Council since Inauguration Day, most notably trimming roughly half of the National Security Council’s 350-person team in May, Fox Digital previously reported. Waltz, who served as Trump’s national security advisor for roughly 100 days, was removed from the post May 1 and named Trump’s nominee to serve as ambassador to the U.N. following a Signal chat leak with a journalist. 

Following Waltz’s departure, Trump named Rubio as his acting national security advisor, and he carried out a massive overhaul to the office, including trimming it of more than 100 staffers ahead of Memorial Day. 

‘The NSC is the ultimate Deep State. It’s Marco vs. the Deep State. We’re gutting the Deep State,’ a White House official told Axios in May as Rubio took a hatchet to the NSC staff. 

A White House official told Fox Digital on Monday that Rubio’s joint roles have allowed for ‘greater coordination between the State Department and White House,’ which they said has led to ‘more efficient execution of the president’s foreign policy agenda.’ 

Democrats, however, predicted that Rubio serving simultaneously as chief of the State Department and Trump’s national security advisor, would prove to be a failure. They argued that he would be unable to juggle the high-profiled roles, in addition to serving as acting archivist of the U.S., as well as acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

‘There’s no way he can do that and do it well, especially since there’s such incompetence over at DOD with Pete Hegseth being secretary of defense and just the hollowing out of the top leadership,’ Illinois Democrat Sen. Tammy Duckworth said on CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ last month. ‘There’s no way he can carry all that entire load on his own.’

‘I don’t know how anybody could do these two big jobs,’ Democrat Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said Sunday on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’

Fast-forward less than two months; Trump and his national security team executed ‘Operation Midnight Hammer’ in Iran, which has received widespread support among Republicans and a handful of Democrats. Historic critics of the president, such as Democrat New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, however, have railed against the operation as bypassing congressional authority. 

‘The success of Operation Midnight Hammer speaks to the unmatched capabilities of the United States military, as well as President Trump’s brilliant foreign policy strategy, which included working closely with his national security team to flawlessly execute this mission and obliterate Iran’s ability to possess a nuclear weapon,’ White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox Digital on Monday. 

‘As usual, Democrats and the legacy media were wrong – President Trump has rightfully placed immense trust in his top officials, including Secretary Rubio, Secretary Hegseth, and Director Gabbard, to help him make the world safer,’ she added. 

Trump repeatedly met with the National Security Council and other administration leaders between June 12 and last Saturday, when the strikes were ordered on Iran. 

Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Vice President JD Vance were fixtures of the discussions, with photos showing them criss-crossing in and out of the White House last week as they reported to the Situation Room to meet with the president. The trio of U.S. officials flanked Trump as he addressed the nation about the operation Saturday night. 

‘For 40 years, Iran has been saying, ‘Death to America. Death to Israel.’ They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs with roadside bombs,’ Trump said in his address Saturday with the trio standing behind him. ‘That was their specialty. We lost over a thousand people, and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate, in particular.’

‘Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,’ Trump said. ‘And Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.’ 

The operation itself was cloaked in secrecy and took Iran and the world by surprise. Trump had said on Thursday – via comment from press secretary Karoline Leavitt – that he would make a decision on Iran within two weeks, which signaled a longer time frame than 48 hours for such a mission. 

There were no media leaks or speculation that such strikes were imminent, while earlier on Saturday, six B-2 stealth bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri were spotted en route to a U.S. Air Force base in Guam, which signaled the U.S. was likely making moves on Iran, but not in just mere hours from when news broke of the stealth bombers. The bombers were later revealed to be decoys. 

Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held a press conference Sunday from the Pentagon, where they celebrated that strategic deception and misdirection played a key role in the operation. 

‘At midnight Friday into Saturday morning, a large B-2 strike package comprised of bombers launched from the continental United States,’ Caine said on Sunday. ‘As part of the plan to maintain tactical surprise, part of the package proceeded to the west and into the Pacific as a decoy – a deception effort, known only to an extremely small number of planners and key leaders here in Washington and in Tampa.’ 

Hegseth said in his remarks before the media Sunday morning that the U.S. military had leveraged ‘misdirection’ and total secrecy, aside from top national security officials, to carry out the strikes ‘without the world knowing at all.’

‘It involved misdirection and the highest of operational security. Our B-2s went in and out of… these nuclear sites, in and out and back, without the world knowing at all,’ Hegseth said. ‘In that way, it was historic.’

It was the longest B-2 spirit bomber mission since 2001, the second-longest B-2 mission ever flown and the largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history, Hegseth and Caine said during the Sunday press conference. 

Rubio spoke to the media on Sunday morning shows, telling ‘Sunday Morning Futures’ host Maria Bartiromo that the ‘most important thing’ Iran should realize following the strikes is ‘the game is up’ and it’s time for peace. 

‘They have played the world for 40-something years with these nuclear talks and delaying things… they’re not going to play President Trump, and they found out last night that when he says he’s going to do something, he’ll do it. And he doesn’t want to do it. It’s not his first choice, but it’s the only choice. That’s the choice the Iranian regime left us, because they play too many games,’ he said. 

Trump celebrated on Monday evening in another Truth Social post that Iran and Israel had reached a ceasefire deal and that the 12 Day War had ended.

‘On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, ‘THE 12 DAY WAR.’ This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will! God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and GOD BLESS THE WORLD!’ he wrote. 

Tensions are still flared in the Middle East, as both Israel and Iran accuse each other of violating the ceasefire on Tuesday morning, with Trump urging them to put down their weapons while triumphantly declaring Iran’s nuclear capabilities have been crippled. 

‘IRAN WILL NEVER REBUILD THEIR NUCLEAR FACILITIES!’ Trump posted on Tuesday morning while heading to a NATO summit at the Hague in the Netherlands.

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump, fresh off announcing a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, is off to The Hague, Netherlands for the yearly summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a conference where he’s hoping to drum up another foreign policy win by pushing European leaders to increase defense spending.

The president is expected to land in the Netherlands on Tuesday and return to the White House on Wednesday. 

It’s Trump’s first NATO summit since becoming president for a second term. In the past, he’s railed against NATO members for ‘freeloading’ off U.S. military protection. This time, European allies are eager to prove him wrong. 

NATO reached an agreement for all nations to boost their defense spending to five percent of their gross domestic product, except Spain. 

Trump initially made the demand, which is expected to be finalized at the summit. 

‘This summit is really about NATO’s credibility, and we are urging all of our Allies to step up to the plate and pay their fair share for transatlantic security,’ U.S. NATO Ambassador Matthew Whitaker said.

Spain complicated the consensus when Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez demanded an exemption from the new spending target – which would be a sharp increase from the 2 percent target Spain has had trouble meeting. 

‘We fully respect the legitimate desire of other countries to increase their defence investment, but we are not going to do it,’ Sanchez said. 

Trump is expected to meet with Rutte and other world leaders and hold a press conference. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also expected to attend, continuing his push for Ukraine’s admission into the alliance and its collective defense pact.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte boasted that allies were ‘stepping up to equal sharing of responsibility for our shared security.’

Trump has said he does not think the U.S. needs to hit the 5% target. ‘I don’t think we should, but I think they should,’ he told reporters last week. 

The President’s time at the summit will be brief, spending approximately 24 hours on the ground. His meetings ‘will focus on issues of shared concern and reaffirm the United States strong ties with our allies and partners,’ according to an administration official.

But they come after Trump can boast of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. 

‘It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!), for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered, ENDED!’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. 

Rutte has suggested NATO would stand behind the U.S. after Iran launched a counterstrike on its air base in Qatar, following American attacks on three Iranian nuclear sites.

‘My biggest fear would be for Iran to own and be able to use a nuclear weapon,’ Rutte told reporters ahead of the summit.

He defended the U.S. strikes on Iran after being asked about parallels between the U.S. and Russia when it invaded Ukraine in 2022. 

‘This is a consistent position of NATO: Iran should not have its hands on a nuclear weapon,’ he said. ‘I would not agree that this is against international law — what the U.S. did.’

Rutte had wanted the summit to be a show of NATO unity to Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. But conflict between the U.S., Israel and Iran makes the conference less predictable. 

The Iraq War in 2003 deeply divided NATO: France and Germany were opposed to the invasion while Britain and Spain joined the coalition forces. 

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, called the prospect of caucusing with Democrats an ‘interesting hypothetical,’ but she fell short of fully committing to doing so if the Democrats pick up three seats in the 2027 midterms. 

‘It’s an interesting hypothetical,’ Murkowski said on the ‘GD Politics’ podcast with Galen Druke. ‘You started off with the right hook here, is if this would help Alaskans.’ 

The senator is promoting her new book, a memoir titled, ‘Far From Home.’ She was repeatedly asked if she would caucus with Democrats if the party divide in the upper chamber of Congress becomes 50-50 after the next election. 

‘That’s why this book is kind of scary, because now people know what motivates me, and it’s this love for Alaska and what I can do,’ she said. ‘So, that’s my primary goal. I have to figure out how I can be most effective for the people that I serve.’

Murkowski said the ‘problem’ she had with Druke’s hypothetical was that ‘as challenged as we may be on the Republican side, I don’t see the Democrats being much better.’ 

She said the Democrats also have policies that she inherently disagrees with. 

‘I can’t be somebody that I’m not,’ Murkowski said, describing how she received pressure to run as a Libertarian after narrowly losing the GOP Senate primary in 2010. She went on to win as a write-in candidate in a historic victory, launching her Senate career. ‘I can’t now say that I want this job so much that I’m going to pretend to be somebody that I’m not. That’s not who I am.’  

Druke, arguing that Murkowski would not have to become a Democrat to caucus with them, asked, ‘Is there world in which by becoming unaligned or an independent that you could help Alaskans, you’d consider it?’  

‘There may be that possibility,’ she said, noting that the Alaska legislature currently features a coalition with members of both parties.

‘This is one of the things that I think is good and healthy for us, and this is one of the reasons people are not surprised that I don’t neatly toe the line with party initiatives, because we’ve kind of embraced a governing style that says if you’ve got good ideas, and you can work with her over there, it doesn’t make any difference if you’re a Republican or Democrat,’ Murkowski said. ‘We can govern together for the good of the state.’ 

‘If Democrats won three seats in the next election and offered you a way to pass bills that benefit Alaskans if you caucused with them, you’d consider it?’ Druke pressed. 

Murkowski said in response that a coalition is ‘not foreign to Alaskans,’ but it is at the federal level in the U.S. Senate.

‘I’m evading your answer, of course, because it is so, extremely hypothetical, but you can tell that the construct that we’re working with right now, I don’t think is the best construct,’ Murkowski said, adding: ‘Is it something that’s worthy of exploration?’ 

Murkowski joked that Druke was trying to ‘make news’ and said the rank-choice voting system in Alaska means candidates are more likely to get elected if they are not viewed as wholly partisan.

‘It is a different way of looking at addressing our problems rather than just saying it’s red and it’s blue,’ she added. 

Druke hammered the senator again, saying, ‘Was that a yes? There’s some openness to it?’ 

‘There’s some openness to exploring something different than the status quo,’ she said. 

Murkowski, one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict President Donald Trump during his second impeachment trial after the Jan. 6 riot, recently called the July 4 deadline that GOP leadership wants to pass Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ by ‘arbitrary.’  

‘I don’t want us to be able to say we met the date, but our policies are less than we would want,’ Murkowski told Axios. ‘Why are we afraid of a conference? Oh my gosh.’ 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., are hesitant about going to conference with the upcoming debt ceiling ‘X date’ approaching and the party lines so tight. 

Murkowski, a critic of Trump’s foreign policy, particularly on Ukraine, told the Washington Post that she was in a ‘lonely position’ in the Senate, and sometimes feels ‘afraid’ to speak up among Republican colleagues out of fear of retaliation. 

‘We used to be called the world’s greatest deliberative body,’ she told the Post in a recent interview promoting her book. ‘I think we’re still called it, but now I wonder if it’s in air quotes.’

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, has bowed out of the race to become the top Democrat on a key committee that is currently probing former President Joe Biden’s alleged mental decline.

Democratic firebrand Crockett was gunning to become the next ranking member, a title given to the senior member of the minority party, on the House Oversight Committee.

‘It was clear by the numbers that my style of leadership is not exactly what they were looking for, and so I didn’t think that it was fair for me to then push forward and try to rebuke that,’ Crockett told reporters.

House Democrats held the election during their weekly closed-door caucus meeting Tuesday morning.

However, in a smaller election by a key House Democratic panel on Monday night, Crockett and two others lost to Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif. Crockett signaled she came in last of the four, telling reporters on Tuesday, ‘They were clear that I was the one that made the least sense in their minds.

‘I accept that, and I think that you have to make sure that you are going to be able to work with leadership if you are going to go into a leadership position,’ she said. ‘I think the people may be disappointed, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to move forward in this country, we’ve got ot move forward for this world, and I don’t want to be an impediment.’

She promised to still be ‘loud and proud’ and a ‘team player’ for Democrats.

The House Oversight Committee, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., played a marquee role in the last Congress as Republicans pursued an impeachment inquiry against the previous president.

Comer’s panel is back in the headlines now for another Biden-focused probe, this time looking into allegations that former senior White House aides covered up signs of the elderly leader’s cognitive decline.

The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee is expected to act as a foil to Republicans’ anti-Biden pursuits.

In addition to those issues, however, the committee is also charged with overseeing the federal workforce and the U.S. government’s ownership and leases of federal buildings – both key matters as President Donald Trump and Republicans seek to cut government bloat.

Crockett is already a member of the committee and has been known to make headlines during its hearings. She infamously got into a spat with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., during an oversight hearing last year after Greene mocked Crockett as having ‘fake eyelashes.’

Crockett retorted that Greene had a ‘bleach blonde, bad-built butch body.’

However, in her pitch to House Democrats, Crockett styled herself as a serious but potent messenger.

‘Our work cannot be solely reactive. We must also be strategic in laying the groundwork to win back the House majority,’ she wrote in a letter earlier this month. ‘Every hearing, every investigation, every public moment must serve the dual purpose of accountability and must demonstrate why a House Democratic majority is essential for America’s future.’

The previous ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, the late Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., died late last month after battling esophageal cancer.

A House lawmaker is nominating President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize after he brokered a ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran.

Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., wrote to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, declaring Trump had an ‘extraordinary and historic role’ in having ended ‘the armed conflict between Israel and Iran and preventing the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism from obtaining the most lethal weapon on the planet.’

Trump declared the ’12 Day War’ was ending late on Monday afternoon with a ceasefire that was meant to go into effect overnight Tuesday.

It ends just over a week after Israel first launched a preemptive strike against Iran, arguing Tehran was dangerously close to obtaining a nuclear weapon.

The two countries subsequently traded rocket fire over the following days, and over the weekend, the U.S. launched its own airstrikes on three of Iran’s key nuclear facilities.

Iran responded by shooting rockets at a U.S. air base in Qatar on Monday, but not without giving advance notice to U.S. and Qatari officials. No injuries were reported in that attack.

‘President Trump’s influence was instrumental in forging a swift agreement that many believed to be impossible. President Trump also took bold, decisive actions to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions and ensure that the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism remains incapable of acquiring a nuclear weapon,’ Carter wrote in his letter.

He said Trump’s leadership through the crisis ‘exemplifies the very ideals that the Nobel Peace Prize seeks to recognize: the pursuit of peace, the prevention of war, and the advancement of international harmony. In a region plagued by historical animosity and political volatility, such a breakthrough demands both courage and clarity.’

‘President Trump demonstrated both, offering the world a rare glimpse of hope. For these reasons, I respectfully submit this nomination for Donald J. Trump, 47th President of the United States, to be considered for the Nobel Peace Prize,’ Carter finished.

It is not the first time Trump has been nominated for the prize, though he has yet to win.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., tapped Trump for the prize just earlier this year, arguing his 2024 electoral victory had an ‘astonishingly effective impact’ on peace in the world.

According to the Nobel Prize website, there have been 338 candidates nominated for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize so far.

Carter, who is also running for Senate in Georgia, has introduced several notable bills this year backing Trump, though many have been seen as largely symbolic.

The Georgia Republican introduced legislation to rename Greenland ‘Red, White, and Blueland’ after Trump expressed interest in taking the territory. He also authored a bill aimed at letting Trump sell off a federal building in California named after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

However, as for the conflict in the Middle East, it appears the tenuous peace is in danger of fraying as of Tuesday morning.

Carter’s nomination for Trump comes shortly after Israel accused Iran of breaking their ceasefire agreement, which Tehran has denied.  

President Donald Trump expressed deep frustration with both Israel and Iran on Tuesday, saying the two countries ‘don’t know what the **** they’re doing.’

Trump made the comments while departing from the White House for a NATO summit Tuesday morning. Both Israel and Iran fired missiles at one another following the imposition of a ceasefire on Monday night.

‘I’m not happy with Israel. You know, when I say, okay, now you have 12 hours, you don’t go out in the first hour and just drop everything you have on them. So I’m not happy with them. I’m not happy with Iran either, but I’m really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning,’ Trump said.

He continued, ‘We basically have two countries that have been fighting for so long and so hard that they don’t know what the **** they’re doing.’ 

‘I’m gonna see if I can stop it,’ he added.

‘ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!’ Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after boarding Marine One.

Minutes later, he announced that Israel was canceling its plans for an attack Tuesday morning.

‘ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly ‘Plane Wave’ to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect! Thank you for your attention to this matter!’ he wrote.

He then topped it off with a post stating: ‘IRAN WILL NEVER REBUILD THEIR NUCLEAR FACILITIES!’

Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran on Monday night, dubbing the conflict a ’12-day war.’

Qatar’s prime minister secured Iran’s agreement to the U.S.-proposed ceasefire after Iran’s limited strikes on America’s Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

A senior Israeli official told Fox News on Tuesday that Iran had launched two missiles toward Israel following the announcement of the ceasefire ‘and we believe they are trying to fire more in the next couple of hours.’

‘Unfortunately, the Iranians have decided to continue to fire toward Israel,’ the official said to Fox News Chief Foreign Correspondent  Trey Yingst after Trump unveiled the deal Monday.

‘Now we will have to retaliate, this will happen of course,’ the official added. ‘It could end within several hours, but they [the Iranians] need to make a decision.’ 

Israel has yet to confirm that it has canceled its follow-up attack.

As the dust still settles following the U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear sites, analysts say the next steps will determine whether the Islamic Republic’s atomic ambitions have truly been crippled. 

Commenting on the mission, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that: ‘The damage to the Nuclear sites in Iran is said to be ‘monumental.’ The hits were hard and accurate. Great skill was shown by our military. Thank you!’

Also on Sunday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine told reporters, ‘Final battle damage will take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction.’ He added it was far too early to comment ‘on what may or may not still be there.’

A senior Israeli security source told Fox News Digital, ‘It’s still too soon to know for sure, but it appears the sites were seriously damaged — it looks excellent.’

‘History is being written,’ said Reserve Brig. Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser, head of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and a former IDF intelligence chief. ‘This is a powerful development that significantly weakens the Iranian threat and highlights the deep cooperation between Israel and the United States. But the journey is far from over.’

According to Kuperwasser, the strikes caused heavy damage to core parts of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. ‘But I don’t think the program is destroyed,’ he told Fox News Digital. ‘They still have enriched uranium, the ability to produce centrifuges, and scientists. We killed many, but not all. And even the bombed facilities — we don’t know for sure that nothing remains.’

Kuperwasser emphasized that while Tehran may retain some nuclear assets, a key strategic threshold has now been crossed. ‘Until now, everything was covert: sabotage, diplomacy, sanctions. But now, military action has proven far more effective. If Iran tries to restart its program, they know we — and the Americans — are prepared to strike again.’

Sima Shein, a former senior Mossad official and Iran expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), agreed that Iran’s capabilities have been degraded, but not eliminated.

‘There’s no doubt these were the three most important sites,’ Shein told Fox News Digital, referring to the U.S. strike Saturday night that hit Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow, but claimed ‘Iran has dispersed its enriched uranium — both 60% and 20% — across various unknown locations. They’ve likely hidden advanced centrifuges as well, because production oversight hasn’t existed for years.’

She added that if a future diplomatic agreement is reached, the first condition must be ‘full disclosure and removal’ of all remaining fissile material.

Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told Fox News Digital that all remaining Iranian nuclear facilities must be completely dismantled and referred to FDD expert’s plan, which outlined a strategy for the permanent dismantlement of Tehran’s nuclear weapons enterprise. 

The report calls for the destruction of all enrichment sites, the removal or seizure of enriched uranium, the dismantling of advanced centrifuges, and a permanent halt to weaponization efforts. It also demands unrestricted inspections, irreversible disarmament, and strict enforcement through snapback sanctions. FDD argues that anything less would leave Iran capable of rebuilding its nuclear program.

Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence and president of the Mind Israel think tank, called the American strike a ‘game-changer.’

‘Trump’s doctrine of ‘peace through strength’ is in action,’ Yadlin said. ‘Geopolitically, this changes the entire war — and sends a message to China, Russia, and others.’

But Yadlin also believes Iran’s nuclear capabilities haven’t been wiped out completely. ‘There are two possible Iranian responses: retaliation and changing nuclear policy. Retaliation may come via terror attacks in the Gulf, or pressure through proxies like Hezbollah or the Houthis. But I think the more likely shift is in nuclear posture — perhaps withdrawing from the NPT.’

‘They’re in a dilemma,’ Shein told Fox News Digital. ‘They don’t want to drag the U.S. further into military conflict, and they can’t risk harming ties with Gulf neighbors. A military retaliation — like closing the Strait of Hormuz — would invite overwhelming force. Expelling inspectors or quitting the NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty] may be their next moves.’

Kuperwasser added that military pressure alone may not bring lasting resolution — unless paired with either a diplomatic agreement with intrusive inspections, or a credible threat of continued strikes.

‘If there’s an agreement, it must be based on verification — not trust,’ he said. ‘Anywhere, anytime inspections. But if they refuse, we can continue striking any new facility they build.’

As Israel and the U.S. prepare for potential cycles of response and counter-response, Kuperwasser believes the Israeli public is ready.

‘These are historic times,’ he said. ‘We understand the sacrifice — and we’re ready to see it through.’

Roughly three-quarters of the nation’s health insurance providers signed a series of commitments this week in an effort to improve patient care by reducing bureaucratic hurdles caused by insurance companies’ prior-authorization requirements.

Director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Dr. Mehmet Oz, alongside Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced the new voluntary pledge from a cadre of insurance providers, who cover roughly 75% of the population, during a press conference Monday. The new commitments are aimed at speeding up and reducing prior-authorization processes used by insurers, a process that has been long-maligned for unnecessarily delaying patient care and other bureaucratic hurdles negatively impacting patients.   

‘The pledge is not a mandate. It’s not a bill, a rule. This is not legislated. This is a opportunity for industry to show itself,’ Oz said Monday. ‘But by the fact that three-quarters of the patients in the country are already covered by participants in this pledge, it’s a good start and the response has been overwhelming.’

Prior-authorization is a process that requires providers to obtain approval from a patient’s insurance provider before that provider can offer certain treatments or services. Essentially, the process seeks to ensure patients are getting the right solution for a particular problem.

However, according to Oz, the process has led to doctors being forced to spend enormous amounts of man-power to satisfy prior-authorization requirements from insurers. He noted during Monday’s press conference that, on average, physicians have to spend 12 hours a week dealing with these requirements, which they see about 40 of per week. 

‘It frustrates doctors. It sometimes results in care that is significantly delayed. It erodes public trust in the healthcare system. It’s something we can’t tolerate,’ Oz insisted.

The pledge has been adopted by some of the nation’s largest insurance providers, including United Healthcare, Cigna, Humana, Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Aetna and many more. While the industry-led commitments aim to improve care for patients, it could potentially eat into their profits as well if patients start seeking care more often.

The commitments from insurers cemented this week include taking active steps to implement a common standardized process for electronic prior-authorization through the development of standardized submission requirements to support faster turnaround time. The goal is for the new framework to be operational by Jan. 1, 2027.

Another part of the pledge includes a commitment from individual insurance plans to implement certain reductions in its use of medical prior-authorization by Jan. 1, 2026. On that date, if patients switch insurance providers during the course of treatment, their new plan must honor their existing prior-authorization approvals for 90-days while the patient transitions.

Transparency is also a key part of the new commitments from insurance providers. Health plans enjoined with the commitments will pledge to provide clear and easy-to-understand explanations of prior-authorization determinations, including guidance for appeals. The commitment also states that by 2027, 80% of electronic prior-authorization approvals from companies will be answered in real-time.   

Oz, during the Monday press conference, compared the industry-led pledge to the Bible, saying, ‘The meek shall inherit the earth.’

‘I always grew up thinking ‘meek’ meant weak, but that’s not what meek means. ‘Meek’ means you have a sharp sword, a sword that could do real damage to people around you, but you decide, electively, to sheathe that sword and put it away for a while, so you can do goods, so you can do important things where once in a while we have to get together, even if we’re competitors, and agree,’ Oz said Monday.

‘That’s what these insurance companies and hospital systems have done,’ he continued. ‘They have agreed to sheathe their swords to be meek for a while, to come up with a better solution to a problem that plagues us all.’

A former Clinton-era National Security Council staffer broke with his party and heaped praise on President Donald Trump’s successful strikes on Iran over the weekend, while remarking former Vice President Kamala Harris would have likely lacked the ‘courage’ to execute such a mission if she were commander-in-chief. 

‘I am not a fan of many of Donald Trump‘s actions, but I will speak openly and honestly when he takes bold steps defending America’s interests, as he did tonight,’ Jamie Metzl, founder of the international social group One Shared World, posted to X on Saturday evening. 

Metzl served on former President Bill Clinton’s National Security Counci and was former President Joe Biden’s deputy staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and he heaped praise on Trump repeatedly on X over the weekend, while also taking a shot at Harris’ lack of ‘courage and fortitude.’ 

‘But I’m not a blind tribalist and am perfectly comfortable praising President Trump for bold and courageous actions in support of America’s core national interests, as he took last night,’ Metzl posted to X on Sunday morning. 

‘Although I believe electing Kamala Harris would have been better for our democracy, society, and economy, as well as for helping the most vulnerable people in the United States and around the world, I also believe VP Harris would not have had the courage or fortitude to take such an essential step as the president took last night,’ he added. 

Metzl continued in his X messages that ‘Iran has been at war with the United States for 46 years,’ and was aiming to build a nuclear weapon with the intention of wielding it over the U.S and its allies. 

‘Iran has been at war with the United States for 46 years. Its regime has murdered thousands of American citizens. Its slogan ‘death to America’ was not window dressing but core ideology. It was racing toward a nuclear weapon with every intention of using it to threaten America, our allies, and the Middle East region as a whole. No actions like this come without risks, and I imagine the story will get more complicated over time, but that’s why these types of decisions are complicated,’ he wrote. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Harris’ office regarding Metzl’s post, but did not immediately receive a reply.

Metzl’s comments are among a cacophony of Democratic elected officials and traditional anti-MAGA voices who have come out to praise Trump since the successful attack on Iran, dubbed ‘Operation Midnight Hammer.’ 

‘The destruction of Iran’s nuclear program is essential to ultimate peace in the Middle East. This is not a Democratic or Republican issue — dealing with the Iranian threat is central to America’s national security. The world is safer because of the actions of our brave service members. I’m praying for the safety of our service members in the region,’ New Jersey Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer said in a statement over the weekend, for example.

‘As I’ve long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS,’ Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman wrote on X on Saturday. ‘Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities. I’m grateful for and salute the finest military in the world.’ 

While New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, a frequent Trump critic, wrote in an opinion piece that Trump made a ‘courageous and correct decision that deserves respect, no matter how one feels about this president,’ while fellow Times columnist David French also said it was the ‘right decision’ on social media. 

Other Democrats and frequent Trump critics, such as New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, have slammed Trump over the strikes, arguing they bypassed Congress.

Trump announced the Saturday evening strikes on Iran in a Truth Social post that was not preceded by media leaks or speculation that strikes were imminent. The unexpected social media post was followed just hours later by a brief Trump address to the nation while flanked by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance. 

‘A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan,’ Trump said from the White House late on Saturday in an address to the nation regarding the strikes. ‘Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity, and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success.’

The strikes ‘obliterated’ Iranian nuclear facilities and backed the nation into a corner to make a peace deal, Trump said. This mission was also celebrated by Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine as one that was cloaked in secrecy and intentionally deceptive to confuse the enemy. 

‘It involved misdirection and the highest of operational security. Our B-2s went in and out of… these nuclear sites, in and out and back, without the world knowing at all,’ Hegseth said. ‘In that way, it was historic.’

The operation included the longest B-2 spirit bomber mission since 2001, the second-longest B-2 mission ever flown and the largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history, Hegseth and Caine said during the Sunday press conference. 

Operation Midnight Hammer followed Israel launching preemptive strikes on Iran on June 12 after months of attempted and stalled nuclear negotiations and subsequent heightened concern that Iran was advancing its nuclear program. Netanyahu declared soon afterward that the strikes were necessary to ‘roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.’

Fox News Digital’s Hannah Panreck contributed to this report.

Iran launched a retaliatory attack on Al-Udeid, the American airbase in Qatar on Monday, which President Donald Trump characterized as a ‘very weak response.’ 

‘Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered. There have been 14 missiles fired — 13 were knocked down, and 1 was ‘set free,’ because it was headed in a nonthreatening direction,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. 

A U.S. defense official told Fox News Digital Iran had used short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles to attack Al-Udeid base, but no casualties had been reported. 

Iran has ‘gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE,’ Trump predicted, thanking Iran for giving the U.S. ‘early warning’ of the attack to minimize casualties. 

‘Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same. Thank you for your attention to this matter!’

Qatar’s foreign ministry called the attack ‘brazen aggression,’ but said it had successfully intercepted Iranian missiles. 

‘The State of Qatar strongly condemns the attack that targeted Al-Udeid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. We consider this a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar,’ spokesperson Majed Al Ansari posted on X. 

‘We reassure that Qatar’s air defenses successfully thwarted the attack and intercepted the Iranian missiles.’ 

After the strike, the U.S. embassy in Kuwait issued a security alert limiting base access to only essential personnel and the embassy in Bahrain shifted some of its employees to telework. 

Just before the attack, Iran’s President Mahmoud Pezeshkian issued a warning promising not to let Saturday’s strikes on its nuclear facilities go ‘unanswered.’ 

‘We neither initiated the war nor wanted it; but we will not leave the aggression against #GreaterIran unanswered. We will stand by the security of this #belovednation with all our being and respond to every wound on Iran’s body with faith, wisdom, and determination,’ he wrote on X. 

But Iran reportedly gave both U.S. and Qatari officials advanced notice of the attacks. It would be a strategy similar to the response to the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, where Iran needed to symbolically respond without escalating the conflict beyond what it could handle. 

A spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces said its Revolutionary Guard Corps carried out the attack: ‘We warn our enemies that the era of hit and run is over.’

Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain and the UAE all closed their airspaces amidst the attack. 

The base is home to 10,000 American forces and is the U.S.’s largest military installation in the Middle East. Located southwest of Doha, it serves as a hub for logistical operations for the U.S. mission to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria. It also hosts Central Command’s (CENTCOM) Forward Headquarters, as well as its air forces and special operations in the region. It also has been used as a headquarters for British involvement in airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq.

President Donald Trump visited Al Udeid last month on May 15, where he inked a $1 billion military sales agreement with Doha. 

Qatar has walked a tight line between friendly relations with the U.S., through efforts to expand the base, and with Iran. Prior to the attack, Qatar suspended all flights and promised to ‘take all necessary preventive measures.’ 

The attack was not entirely unexpected – satellite images showed the U.S. moved most of its unhangered aircraft out of Al Udeid last week. 

Iran vowed to retaliate against the U.S. after American B-2 bombers dropped 14 bunker buster bombs on three Iranian nuclear sites. 

‘The criminal US must know that in addition to punishing its illegitimate and aggressive offspring, the hands of Islam’s fighters within the armed forces have been freed to take any action against its interests and military, and we will never back down in this regard,’ Abdolrahim Mousavi, the new chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, warned in a statement. 

But Trump warned Iran after Saturday’s strikes on its nuclear hubs: ‘Any retaliation by Iran against the United States of America will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed tonight.’

The air base also hosts an array of military assets: B-52 strategic bombers, C-17 Globemaster transports and RC-135 Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft, in addition to 379th Air Expeditionary Wing’s airlift, aerial refueling, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. 

Fox News’ Thomas Ferraro and Liz Friden contributed to this report.