DEBBIE ELLIOTT, HOST:
Now, for more, we turn to NPR's senior political editor and correspondent, Domenico Montanaro. Good morning.
DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE: Hey, good morning, Debbie.
ELLIOTT: So what do you make of the Trump administration? You know, the White House said the U.S. wasn't involved in the Israeli attacks, but did it sign off on the strikes in some way?
MONTANARO: Yeah, and we don't know that yet. Both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the White House was given a heads-up, but we don't know the full picture here. There's always, you know, a lot of spin going after these kinds of events. Trump told ABC News that the attacks were "excellent," quote, and that there's more to come. He said they gave Iran a, quote, "chance, and they didn't take it." He told the New York Post that he, quote, "always knew the date" for the strikes.
Now, we don't know here if the Trump administration is playing good cop, bad cop with Iran and trying to still maintain some leverage for a nuclear deal. We don't know if the White House wanted Israel to hold off. But it's hard to see how this makes it easier for Trump to get an Iran deal - nuclear deal done because Iran now says talks with the U.S. are meaningless. And Trump was on social media yesterday, on his platform, trying to use the strikes as leverage, saying that there's still time to prevent the, quote, "next already planned attacks" from happening.
ELLIOTT: Now, what about the politics? As Mr. Miller just mentioned, a lot of Trump's MAGA base is against getting involved in any military conflict with Iran. Is there a split here on the right?
MONTANARO: Yeah, I mean, there's been a split on the right when it comes to foreign policy since Trump came on the scene. I mean, the glue that's really held the Republican Party together has been culture war issues - you know, whether it's hard lines on immigration, blocking trans rights, not really international affairs. They've ranked low, not just among Republicans, but in voters' concerns generally. But there's been a split for sure within Republicans on how to handle it.
You know, Trump doesn't really have a clear ideology on foreign policy, other than being transactional. We certainly saw that on his trip to the Middle East, for example, where he was less focused on spreading American ideals than making financial deals. I'm not sure, though, how much of this is going to affect him really with his base. You know, for some on the right, in the MAGA base, they don't want any involvement globally. They'd be unhappy, for example, with more funding to Ukraine. But this is their guy, and they're not going to abandon him. And some are sounding off, hoping to influence policy, but he's going to do what he wants.
ELLIOTT: Another big story this week - the conflict over immigration raids and Trump's deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles. What's next in California's lawsuit over that?
MONTANARO: We know there's a hearing on Tuesday to see whether or not the National Guard will be returned to Gavin Newsom's control, the governor of California. So we'll see how that winds up. There was a ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that put a stay on a lower court ruling that had granted that power back to California. So this is another example of the lower courts intervening, being somewhat of a check on Trump. But overall, I think that this immigration issue has actually started to move Democrats out of this slumber that we'd seen in the first few months of the Trump administration, and them not knowing how to attack Trump, what message to use. The harshness of some of his deportation policies - of going after day laborers and cooks and farmworkers - certainly seems to be a bridge too far, even for some within Trump's own party. You know, polling's been...
ELLIOTT: Yeah.
MONTANARO: ...Kind of all over the place.
ELLIOTT: And the president has indicated he's going to reverse himself on that.
MONTANARO: Yeah, I mean, absolutely. And I think that is an indication of where the politics of all of this is.
ELLIOTT: And today is President Trump's 79th birthday. It's also the day of his military parade in D.C. and protests around the country. Why is this celebration so controversial?
MONTANARO: Well, it's not something we've seen, really, in the United States for decades, where we're celebrating big military marches down main avenues in the Capitol, with tanks and weapons all for - you know, all for show, really. It's not something that the U.S. does. Of course, people on the left already see Trump moving with autocratic tendencies look a lot like something out of North Korea or Russia. Of course, it is ostensibly for the U.S. Army's 250th birthday. It happens to be on Trump's birthday. You know, and that's why you see a lot of people on the left now having these protests today - these no more kings protests - around the country, with the left, again, seemingly finding its voice a little bit, similar to Trump's first term.
ELLIOTT: That's NPR's Domenico Montanaro. Thanks so much.
MONTANARO: Hey, you're welcome.
(SOUNDBITE OF HERBIE HANCOCK'S "WATERMELON MAN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
