Trump TRIED REALLY HARD to Not Go to War with Iran
A condensed overview of 26 hours of Fox News for the week ending 6/15/25
Last week as Fox News tried to hype up mostly peaceful protests against ICE raids across the country the network was hit with a giant asteroid of a story - one that was too big to ignore and incredibly hard to spin. Israel, seemingly frustrated with Trump’s lack of progress with a diplomatic solution, launched Operation Rising Lion and struck Iran’s nuclear sites.
Iran immediately retaliated striking Israel. As of today 224 Iranians have perished along with 24 Israelis.
Israel’s actions push the world dangerously close to an expanded global conflict. President Trump has made things worse by recklessly tweeting things that imply that the United States is prepared to enter a full scale war with Iran.
Trump posted on social media for Iran’s "unconditional surrender" and said the U.S. knew where Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was located, but would not kill him, "for now.” In social media posts Trump has also used the pronoun ‘we’ when referring to the actions of the Israeli government.
The folks at Fox News had nothing more than “Trump tried really hard,” as the network tried to spin the incredibly dangerous situation in a positive light.
If any other politician including beloved Republicans such as Sen. Ted Cruz or Gov. Ron DeSantis had nothing more to offer than “I tried really hard,” I cannot imagine Fox News hosts would be so forgiving.
President Donald J. Trump has sold an image of himself as a great dealmaker who can solve any world problem through the force of his personality and personal relationships with world leaders.
So far the war in Ukraine that he claimed he could end in a day still rages on, hostages he said he could release from Gaza are still trapped in unknown locations and dozens of trade deals are still in limbo.
Trump’s seminal book “The Art of the Deal,” was really written by Tony Schwartz, a journalist and ghostwriter who has since evolved into a fierce critic of the president.
Trump is more of a showman than a dealmaker. He could sell his followers a broken down Ford Pinto hatchback but would be long gone when the gas tank exploded. For the moment he is also the leader of the free world.
Shows I covered on Fox last week:
Fox & Friends
Fox & Friends Weekend - Saturday
The Fox Report with Jon Scott
The Big Weekend Show
The Five
Hannity
250 Army Parade special
Hannity Made Excuses for Trump
On Thursday night Sean Hannity switched his programming from nonstop coverage of the protests in Los Angeles to the crisis in the Middle East.
“The time was running out, a nuclear conflict in the region would have been devastating, not only for the Israelis, but for American interest for the Gulf Arab states as well,” said Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of State.
Later Sean Hannity praised President Trump.
“It was president. So I give the president a lot of credit for trying the peace option . . . now, Israeli military officials, they are reporting that Iran had enough fusion material to make 15 nuclear weapons within days.
Trey Yingst the Fox News correspondent reporting from Israel tried to interrupt him.
“Sean.”
“I would argue that that option and I got to give president, credit to the president, credit to Steve Witkoff. They've given them every opportunity,” said Hannity.
Hannity then spoke to Peter Doocy.
“And so I would listen, Peter, he's he's done everything humanly possible, along with Steve Witkoff, to give an off ramp to the Iranians. They chose not to take it, and they got very arrogant about it. And this is the inevitable result,” said Hannity.
He then spoke to Aaron Cohen, a former IDF Special Operations veteran.
“Aaron what are you seeing tonight? It looks like a full on, assault. And it looks like they're going for everything. Not only their nuclear sites, but also their long range missile sites. The story that emerged out of Axios today, as confirmed by my sources, was basically laying out a scenario that that was their plan B to overwhelm the Iron Dome that has been taken care of also tonight, or is being taken care of,” said Hannity.
Cohen responded.
“Yeah. Sean. So, Israel striking means that they didn't have a choice. This means that this was, an intelligence driven operation. It likely means that Iran was probably weeks away from going nuclear. And that's the reason why Israel went in as hard as they did in. And when they did. And so, Iran is likely at the point where they're enriching uranium somewhere close to that 85%, and there's hiding sites, stalling negotiations with the president. They backed out of that and building a launch ready missile arsenal. That means that if Israel waits, it wouldn't be off. It wouldn't be off the table. Iran would have used these weapons against Israel.”
Cohen was careful to use language such as ‘likely’ which is rare for the network. Cohen is no longer part of the IDF so he can only give his educated opinion about the motives of the Israeli government.
Rachel Campos-Duffy Blamed Biden
On Saturday morning Rachel Campos-Duffy, one of the co-hosts of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” was quick to blame former President Joe Biden.
“Another thing that needs to be pointed out, and I don't think we talk enough about it, which is the fact that Joe Biden and his administration funded the Iranians essentially, they throttled American energy production . . . they opened the oil spigots, which, of course, also dumped a lot of money into this, into the hands of the Iranians and they were able to give it to some of their their proxies. So, so much of this, is also on the shoulders of the Biden administration.”
During the last two years of the Biden administration the United States was producing more crude oil than any country in the history of humanity.
Rachel Campos-Duffy Made More Excuses for Trump
Later during the same program Campos-Duffy also defended Trump’s role in the escalation.
“As tensions in the Middle East grow, stoking fears of a potential worldwide conflict . . . there have been some mixed messages. I mean, initially Marco Rubio came out and said we had nothing to do with this. The next comments from Trump, implied that he did know that this was going to happen, but also from Donald Trump an assurance that he was saying that, you know, look, it's not too late for a peace negotiation. So that was also very heartening,” said Campos-Duffy.
Her co-host Charlie Hurt corrected her a bit.
“And not necessarily mutually exclusive. I read Rubio's statement as saying it was a unilateral action, meaning Israel completely made the decision on its own. Clearly, Israel gave the heads up and, America knew what was going to happen,” said Hurt.
Campos-Duffy praised Trump again for his peace-making skills even though he had failed spectacularly with Iran.
“And Donald Trump has proven time and time again he has tried to bring about peace. And frankly, the biggest proof that you have that Donald Trump didn't really want this. I can't think of anything worse for the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ than having this war happen. And, you know, kind of take it off of the news. So, I don't think this is anything that Donald Trump wanted . . . I think he truly wanted to have another presidency without another war starting on his watch,” said Campos-Duffy.
Johnny Joey Jones Makes Things Up
Also, on the same four-hour episode of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” Johnny Joey Jones, a decorated veteran and sometimes Fox News host openly speculated about Trump’s actions while providing no proof of anything.
“Maybe Donald Trump has been on the phone and got to him and said, listen, we will wipe you off the face of the earth if that's what we have to do. But saying that knowing and hoping that that's that means it prevents that from happening . . .You don't think it might be good cop bad cop, though? You don't think it might be Israel does this. So, Donald Trump can say, let's get to negotiate,” said Jones.
“I mean he obviously realizes the reality on the ground,” said Charlie Hurt.
They were both making a number of assumptions about the president.
Trey Yingst Was the ONLY Person Who Had Useful Information
The only person who provided useful information about the conflict was Trey Yingst, the Fox News correspondent reporting from Israel. He appeared on “Hannity” on Thursday the night Israel attacked Iran.
On Thursday night he provided specific information about Israel’s decision to attack Iran while reporting remotely on “Hannity.”
“Remember the Iran nuclear deal that President Trump pulled out of during his first term had Iran enriching uranium up to 3.67%. We know that Iran has, in part, gone up to 60%, getting closer and closer to weapons grade material. And that's part of the reason that the Israelis felt that they needed to act tonight with the ongoing nuclear talks stalled between the Americans and the Iranians.”
Later during the same program he mentioned nuclear watchdog group at the United Nations.
“Earlier this morning, there was a vote at the International Atomic Energy Agency. And for the first time in 20 years, they passed a resolution saying that Iran was not complying with their nuclear obligations. Iran immediately responded to that resolution, saying that they would start enriching uranium at a third nuclear site. And so it was very clear that going into this six rounds of talks this weekend between the Americans and the Iranians, that the playing field was already difficult for the Trump administration. President Trump spoke earlier today extensively about wanting diplomacy to prevail, but the military option was always on the table. As for the possibility of diplomacy, President Trump wanted to emphasize that this is still possible, despite the fact that there could be a military option on the table.”
Pete Hegseth Seemed Absolutely Terrified
During the last hour of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, visited his co-hosts at his old job at Fox. When the
“Thank you for coming back. It’s probably a little bit different being in that seat as opposed to this one. But in all seriousness, Americans are concerned. They see what's happening in Israel. They see what's happening with Iran. What's the latest you can tell us?” asked Jones.
As Hegseth spoke he looked visibly nervous. His speech was rapid. His voice went up in pitch at the end of nearly every phrase as if he was asking a question.
“Well, I can I can assure you and the audience we're monitoring this in real time. The Defense Department has been, tracking it at every level. And to include when it started and throughout. Had a meeting just this morning. And the president has been leading the way on, setting the tempo of how we, look at the region and ultimately recognize, you know, a couple of days ago, Israel, believed in its own self-defense. It needed to take action against nuclear capabilities and ballistic missiles. And we saw the response from Iran. We've we've seen that, the U.S. is postured to defend our people, in the region, we've got significant assets in the region. We are robustly postured to ensure that our people, our bases, our interests are safe. And we're continuing to monitor any, any forces we would need to do that. Capability, capabilities we would need to do that. We will we will keep Americans safe. And you saw what Secretary Rubio said in his first statement opening, ultimately, it should be clear to Iran, that they should not, turn their gaze to the United States. That would be a bad idea. And the president continues to message that he prefers peace. He prefers a solution, to this that is resolved, at the table. Iran still has an option for that. But Israel took what it believed it needed to do in self-defense strikes. And based on that first day, they were quite effective.”
Stories Fox News Ignored
Every week I compare the hours I’ve watched on Fox News to five hours of the PBS News Hour. The following list are stories that PBS covered that Fox News did not. Source - PBS News Hour transcripts.
Updates in the Israel-Hamas War
On Monday in Gaza, Palestinian health officials say gunfire killed 14 people as they were heading to an aid center. It's the latest in a series of shootings that have killed more than 100 people since the rollout of new food distribution locations last month. Israel's military has not commented on the latest shooting. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which runs the sites, says there has been no violence in or near the aid distribution centers themselves. (PBS News Hour)
On Tuesday in Gaza, Palestinian eyewitnesses say Israeli troops once again fired towards crowds who were trying to get food from a distribution site. Hospital officials say at least 36 people were killed and hundreds more injured. The Israeli military says it fired warning shots at people it called suspects, saying they were advancing on Israeli troops. So far, at least 163 people have been killed in shootings near such aid sites. (PBS News Hour)
The U.K., Canada and three other nations sanctioned a pair of far right Israeli officials for allegedly inciting extremist violence in the occupied West Bank. The measures against security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich include travel bans and asset freezes. (PBS News Hour)
On Thursday in Gaza, there were conflicting claims over clashes involving Hamas and an aid group working in the area. The territory's Hamas-run police force says it killed 12 members of an Israeli-backed militia today. But an aid group backed by Israel and the U.S. says at least five of its workers were killed when Hamas attacked their bus. Neither of these claims has been independently verified. (PBS News Hour)
Updates in the Ukraine-Russia War
Ukraine says that Russia launched nearly 500 drones and missiles Monday night, the biggest such attack in their three-year war. The Ukrainian Air Force claims to have shot down more than half of the drones and says only a handful reached their targets. Elsewhere, Russia and Ukraine carried out the first stage of their latest prisoner swap. (PBS News Hour)
On Tuesday Russia slammed Ukraine with a wave of drones and missiles for a second straight day, killing three people and injuring at least 13. Russian forces also struck the southern port city of Odesa, damaging a maternity hospital. All told, Moscow fired over 315 drones in the attack. In the meantime, both sides say they exchanged a new group of sick and wounded prisoners of war. (PBS News Hour)
On Thursday Russia hit Ukraine with a barrage of drones that killed at least three people. The strikes jolted residents awake in the northeastern city of Kharkiv.(PBS News Hour)
Also on Thursday Russians celebrated Russia Day with concerts and other public gatherings. The holiday marks the anniversary of Russia's declaration of sovereignty in 1990. It comes as Ukraine's military claims that over a million Russian troops have been killed or injured during their three-year war. That estimate is in line with Western intelligence estimates, though Russia hasn't provided any such numbers since early in the conflict. (PBS News Hour)
Dozens of scientists at the National Institutes of Health issued a rare public criticism of the Trump administration's public health policies. In a four-page letter, around 90 staffers wrote "We dissent to administration policies that undermine the NIH mission, waste public resources and harm the health of Americans and people across the globe." The letter addresses the termination of some 2,100 research grants worth more than $12 billion. (PBS News Hour)
In Austria officials say at least 10 people are dead after a gunman opened fire at a high school in the city of Graz before taking his own life. Authorities say at least 12 others were injured in the shooting in the country's second largest city.
They say the 21-year-old suspect was a former student who never graduated, though details on a possible motive were not immediately available. The attack is believed to be the deadliest such incident in Austria's postwar history. (PBS News Hour)
A new report from the United Nations says economic uncertainty is the top factor for what it calls a global fertility crisis. According to its State of the World Population report, 39% of respondents across 14 countries say financial pressures are the main reason for having fewer children than they'd like. (PBS News Hour)
The World Bank is cutting its global growth forecast due to President Trump's trade wars. The lender now expects the world's economy to grow 2.3% this year, which is down from an earlier forecast of 2.7%. (PBS News Hour)
The U.S. Labor Department reported that inflation rose 2.4% in May compared with the year ago. That's up slightly from a month before, but actually less than expected, as higher costs for groceries and large appliances were offset by falling prices for cars and hotel rooms. Economists say the data suggests that companies have been holding off on passing on the cost of tariffs to consumers, at least for now. (PBS News Hour)
A federal judge in Massachusetts blocked part of President Trump's executive order aimed at overhauling elections. The judge found that the Constitution does not grant a president specific powers over voting. Mr. Trump signed an order in March that would have required proof of citizenship for federal elections. It also barred states from accepting mail-in ballots that arrived after Election Day. The decision comes after a federal judge in Washington, D.C., also blocked the proof of citizenship requirement. (PBS News Hour)
The EPA is seeking to roll back Biden era rules that limit the greenhouse gas is emitted from U.S. coal and gas power plants. The agency also aims to loosen regulations on emissions of certain toxic substances like mercury. They're the latest efforts by the Trump administration to reverse policies aimed at curbing climate change. (PBS News Hour)
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dodged questions at the Senate Appropriations Committee about the Trump administration's plans to use a luxury jet from Qatar as Air Force One. The Pentagon said last month it had taken possession of the Boeing 747 jet, but there has been no formal agreement signed between Qatar and the U.S. that would finalize the transfer. (PBS News Hour)
The Supreme Court ruled that a family had the right to sue the FBI after agents mistakenly raided their home in 2017. The justices agreed to revive the suit after lower courts ruled in favor of the agents, which could make it easier for others to sue the government in such cases. (PBS News Hour)
The Supreme Court also sided with a student who has a rare form of epilepsy and who claimed her Minnesota school district didn't do enough to accommodate her condition. That decision could open the door for other families to go to the court over access to education. (PBS News Hour)
Funk legend Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone died. He was the creative powerhouse behind hits like "Everyday People" and one of the most prominent musicians of the 1960s and early '70s. As a singer, songwriter, and producer who played multiple instruments, Stone drove the band's unique sound, which covered everything from dance tracks to unifying anthems. Their music influenced generations of funk, soul, and rock musicians and fans. Sly Stone was 82 years old. (PBS News Hour)
And former MTV host and V.J. Ananda Lewis has died after a battle with breast cancer. She helped to lead one of MTV's flagship programs, "Total Request Live," or "TRL," the iconic daily top 10 music video countdown, along with other shows like "Hot Zone." Her fame at the peak of MTV's prominence led to her own syndicated talk show, "The Ananda Lewis Show," when she left the network in 2001. Lewis revealed her cancer diagnosis in 2020, saying that she had long avoided mammograms due to a fear of radiation exposure. She then used her platform to urge women to get screened. Ananda Lewis was just 52 years old. (PBS News Hour)
By the Numbers
This graph covered stories from Saturday 6/14/25. The shootings involving lawmakers in Minnesota happened the same day. I did not cover PBS on Saturday as PBS News Hour Weekend airs on Sundays.
I did not include the transcripts from the ‘250 Army Parade’ special as Fox News covered it but the PBS News Hour just included a live feed from the event with no commentary.
