THE WAR ROOM: President Trump announced yesterday afternoon that Israel and Iran had agreed to a ceasefire, although neither country confirmed it and the shooting continued.

  President Trump expressed anger this morning that the two sides traded fire after the deal was made. The President’s last words to reporters this morning were, “They don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.”

  Trump’s announcement came hours after Iran fired missiles at a US military base in Qatar in what appeared to be a pro-forma retaliation for the US bombing their nuclear facilities. Iran gave advance notice of their attack and no one was killed or wounded at the Al Udeid Air Base, the largest US base in the Middle East that is the station for 10,000 American troops.

  The President said on his Truth Social feed that, “This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will!” 

  It’s impossible to know who or what to believe. If Iran agreed to a ceasefire it could be a concession to defeat or an attempt to preserve what’s left of their effort to make a nuclear bomb. In the days before the US dropped bunker busters, a lineup of trucks was seen in satellite photos presumably removing valuable equipment from the Fordo nuclear development plant.

  While Trump claims that Fordo and two other facilities were “obliterated,” no one outside Iran knows for sure. Yet the President is condemning anyone who doubts him, posting that; “The sites that we hit in Iran were totally destroyed, and everyone knows it. Only the Fake News would say anything different in order to try and demean, as much as possible.”

  Trump’s entry into the war has also left a crack in the walls of his MAGA castle. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene posted that: “MAGA is not for foreign wars. We are not for regime change. We are for AMERICA FIRST. The United States should not be involved in fighting nuclear-armed Israel’s war with Iran.”

THE SUPREMES: The Supreme Court ruled yesterday to allow the Trump administration to deport illegal immigrants to countries they didn’t come from. The court paused a lower court ruling that said those immigrants must be given a hearing to argue that they would be harmed or in great danger being sent to a strange country.

  The court’s decision, with the three liberals dissenting, gave no reasoning.

  Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement, “DHS can now execute its lawful authority and remove illegal aliens to a country willing to accept them. Fire up the deportation planes.”

  In a dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that, “Congress expressly provided noncitizens with the right not to be removed to a country where they are likely to be tortured or killed.” She went on, “The government has made clear in word and deed that it feels itself unconstrained by law, free to deport anyone anywhere without notice or an opportunity to be heard.”

TRUMP WORLD:

— The Trump administration announced that it will open up 58 million acres of back country in national forests to road construction and development, removing protections that had been in place for 25 years.

  Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced plans to repeal the 2001 “roadless rule” that had preserved about a third of the wild land in national forests. “Once again, President Trump is removing absurd obstacles to common-sense management of our natural resources by rescinding the overly restrictive roadless rule,”  Rollins said in a statement. She claimed the repeal “opens a new era of consistency and sustainability for our nation’s forests.”

  Environmental groups said the plan could destroy some of America’s untouched landscapes and promised to challenge it in court.

— For the second time in a week, a federal judge in Boston blocked attempts by the Trump administration to bar international students from attending Harvard, throwing out a presidential proclamation that would prevent new foreign students from enrolling at the school.

  Trump had sought to bar the students under a law designed to safeguard national security. Judge Allison Burroughs ruled that such presidential power was intended to be used against foreign enemies, not international students.

— Work has begun on the orders of President Trump to pave over the famous Rose Garden at the White House.

LIKE A HEAT WAVE: The temperature in New York City is expected to hit 101 today as the massive heat wave passes over the East. Philadelphia is expected to hit 100, breaking its record yesterday of 99. Other predicted highs: Washington DC 99; Hartford, Conn. 100; Providence, 100; Boston, 100; Bangor, 96.

THE SPIN RACK: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday vetoed a bill that would have banned intoxicating products made from hemp, a legal cannabis plant despite safety concerns.  The state has a billion-dollar industry in the sale of largely unregulated gummies, drinks, vapes, and joints at smoke shops and gas stations. — The first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory high in the Chilean Andes have revealed millions of stars and galaxies and thousands of asteroids light-years from Earth. The 27 ½ foot telescope will give  astronomers an unprecedented look at the cosmos.

BELOW THE FOLD: In Venice, Italy where residents are already frustrated with the crush of foreign tourists, protests have sprung up over the lavish multi-day wedding under way there for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his squeeze, Lauren Sanchez.

  Details of the wedding are not public, but it’s already begun, including a big pajama party. Protesters are unhappy about what they say will be the “privatization” of their city, although the city says it won’t be that disruptive.

  Yesterday, activists from Greenpeace Italy and the UK group “Everyone Hates Elon” hung a banner in St. Mark’s Square, with a picture of Bezos laughing and the words: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax.”

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