President Trump predicted death and destruction in the morning, then talked of peace in the afternoon. The street wall officially opened as soon as we signed, which could be said very soon. Iran says it hasn't agreed. Did anything change except the stock market? I'm Leila Falde, that's Stephen Schiepp and this is up first from NPR News. The president once referred to the Iran negotiations as quote, boring. Other projects capture more of his interest. He talks nonstop about his building projects in Washington. This weekend he hosts a UFC event on the White House lawn, available to people who pay for Paramount Plus. Our correspondent reviews what's on Trump's mind judging by what he says. Also, the president nominated a new director of national intelligence, a pick that came too late. Congress was so unhappy with his last pick it led a major surveillance law expire. Stay with us, we've got the news you need to start your day. The fatal shooting of a teenager at a protest in Seattle has gone unsolved for six years. This is open in your face. How are there no answers? Our investigation has uncovered new evidence and witnesses who say they've never talked to police. Did police ever call you? Not once. Listen to We Keep Us Safe, a new true crime series on the embedded podcast from NPR. Judging by his words, President Trump shifted from one reality to another in the course of a day. The president said Thursday morning that the U.S. was planning new strikes on Iran. By the afternoon, the president talked of a peace deal already agreed to that could be signed, quote, soon. There's no confirmation that either of the president's contradictory claims were true. Iran says it has not agreed yet. This is the latest of the president's many sudden shifts on Iran, which again moved the stock market. NPR International correspondent Aya Batrao has been trying to sort out what, if anything, is really happening. Good morning. Good morning, Steve. I should say good afternoon to the Middle East where you are. Setting aside the president's words, what has actually happened in the war this week? It's been a week of whiplash attacks that threaten to unravel the entire ceasefire. That's because this is a tenuous ceasefire that's neither a full peace nor a full blown war and it can quickly spiral. After Israel bombed Lebanon's capital Beirut on Sunday, we saw Iran firing missiles at Israel in defense of the Iran-backed Hezbollah. Then Israel bombed Iran and even Yemen's Houthis started launching missiles at Israel. And then Iran downed an American helicopter on Monday as the US is trying to move ships through the Strait of Hormuz and twice the US attacked Iranian military sites this week in Iran, including hitting water reservoirs at thousands of people in Iran rely on for drinking water. We also saw the US disabling three ships heading to Iranian ports as part of a naval blockade on Iran. But Stephen, one of those attacks, three Indian sailors were killed. And throughout all of this, Iran is attacking US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan. Wow, pretty violent week. But the president is now making this statement. He has said multiple times that peace is at hand. What is he saying this time? He's basically calling it a done deal now. Here's what he told reporters at the White House yesterday about Iran. And they've all approved the deal. Everybody's approved the deal. Now we'll get it finished up and hopefully that will be done. So Steve, while he's saying everyone has approved the deal, he's leaving out a clear timeline for when that can happen. He says it could happen in the next few days with the two sides signing a deal in Europe. But Iran says it's not yet done. Iran's foreign ministry says a deal has not been finalized. And Iranian media say that two weeks ago there was almost a deal in place, but they say Trump added new demands. But what we know is Trump does want this war to end. This war is unpopular among Americans. This week inflation hiked past 4% in the US. That's the highest in several years with gas prices up. So Trump's singular focus now is on getting the Strait of Hormuz open again. And any deal that extends the ceasefire so both sides can lift their blockades in the Gulf won't include nuclear talks. That'll come later. But for that oil to flow through the Strait again, Iran has its demands. They continue to demand an end to the Israel's war in Lebanon, which Israel so far isn't willing to do. They want insurances that they won't be bombed again. And they want the US to unfreeze billions of their dollars. You're telling us all this, of course, from Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. What do some of Iran's neighbors like the one you're in? Think of all this. Well, Qatar, for example, has been taking on a bigger role in mediating. This week, Qatari officials were in Iran. And yesterday, Trump and Qatar's Amir held a call in which messages from Iran were exchanged. And it's possible that is why Trump called off more attacks. But the United Arab Emirates, where I am, Steve, has also shifted its tone from being hawkish on Iran to aligning more with other countries in the region about ending this war. So this really leaves Israel as the only country railing against a diplomatic track. We've seen how that's led to heated conversations between Trump and Israel's prime minister. And both men face elections this year, in which this war is playing a big part. NPR International correspondent Abba Trawey in Dubai, thanks so much. Thanks, Steve. On Sunday, the UFC will hold seven fights on the White House lawn. It is billed as a celebration of America's 250th birthday. Sunday also happens to be flag day. And President Trump's 80th birthday. Trump has been preparing for the fights and other projects in a politically weak moment. The war in Iran is dragging on, though he says yet again that a peace agreement is coming soon. Inflation is over 4 percent, and his approval ratings are the lowest they've ever been. And here's Daniel Kurtzleben has been trying to assess what is on the president's mind based on his words. Daniel, good morning. Good morning. Okay, what's the president excited about? Well, he's certainly excited about this fight, as well as the other events that are planned for America's 250th. There's also going to be a rally on the Mall where Trump will speak, and an Indy car race on the streets of D.C. And then there are his building projects, which he's certainly excited about. He's torn down the East Wing to build a ballroom and military complex. He wants to build a massive arch near Arlington National Cemetery and a pedestrian bridge next to the Lincoln Memorial. And he just completed work on the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. And you just get the sense that all of that is what excites Trump right now. At all these events, whether he's signing a bill, talking about coal power, or even at a farmer's round table in Wisconsin, he just can't seem to help himself. He goes on these long tangents about these projects. But also, the time he's devoting to these things is especially striking when you think about how amid all of this, he declared the Iran negotiations boring. Or you think about the priorities that have fallen off the radar. He had vowed to end the Russian war in Ukraine. He had pushed a healthcare overhaul. Those things have pretty much gone quiet. How unusual is it for a president to have so many, I guess, you'd call them side projects? Taken together very is what a Princeton political historian Julian Zelzer told me. Now, the White House has said there's precedent for a lot of what he's doing, like holding public sporting events on the White House lawn, or President Theodore Roosevelt holding and even participating in boxing matches at the White House. However, here's what Zelzer had to say about this weekend's fights. In addition to just how big it is and how much space it's literally and symbolically taking in his presidency at a moment, the nation's in the middle of a war, it also raises all these conflict of interest questions, which are also different than having a boxing match in the White House. In fact, a watchdog group filed a lawsuit just last week aiming to stop this weekend's fights, noting how much UFC could profit off of it and also pointing out that Trump owns stock in the company that owns the UFC. Now, when I asked the White House about the spokesperson, Davis Ingle, insisted there's no conflict of interest. And he said the president's assets are in a trust run by his children. Okay, so this appears to be a for... It appears to be, it is. It's a for-profit event. With that said, wouldn't you expect the president to try to put on some kind of show for the 250th? Sure. Though you can see sharp contrasts when you look back to, for example, the Bicentennial in 1976. Back then, President Ford did this big tour of historic sites, including this sweeping speech at Philadelphia's Independence Hall. Because the United States today remains the most successful realization of humanity's universal hope. The world may or may not follow, but we leave because our whole history says we must. It's a real contrast to a cage fight, but it also raises the question of how ultimate fighting connects to American history, whether that matters. And it's also just a pretty incredible illustration of Trump's effect on politics. And Paris, Danielle Kurtz, Laban, have a nice weekend. You too. Some other news now. President Trump has named Jay Clayton to be the next director of national intelligence. Clayton appears to be an uncontroversial nominee. He has a national security background, which the law requires for this job. He's a federal prosecutor. He also previously led the Securities and Exchange Commission. This pick came too late to avoid some big collateral damage. NPR Congress reporter Eric McDaniel is here in the studio to talk us through this here in Studio 31. Eric, thanks for coming by once again. Happy to. You're getting to be a regular here. Appreciate that. Tell us more about Jay Clayton. Well, in addition to being a federal prosecutor, like you mentioned, and former SEC head, Clayton was an accomplished attorney in the private sector. He currently serves as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. And while there, his office has done a couple high-profile things, not least of which is the indictment of former Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro. Clayton has been confirmed by the Senate before for the SEC, which is a good sign for his ability to be confirmed again. Not to mention his nomination follows up a pick last week by President Trump for an acting DNI, a different guy that went over like a lead balloon in the Capitol. As this is happening, I'm thinking of the nominations for attorney general at the start of the administration. Matt Gaetz was the nominee. Congress was horrified. Trump countered with Pam Bondi. Are you saying in the same way that Jay Clayton looks better by comparison? I mean, members of Congress are making the comparison that Clayton seems more qualified, including top Democrats on the intelligence committees. Last week, the president named Bill Pulti to replace the current director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, on this temporary basis. Pulti's the current director of a federal housing finance agency, but he's best known as the guy who's used mortgage documents to allege that the president's perceived foes have committed fraud, all of them deny wrongdoing. We heard Senator Mark Warner on NPR saying that Pulti was the kind of person who would weaponize intelligence agencies against the public, really. Right. In fact, it led Democrats like Warner to block the extension of a big deal spy tool, section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, according to its parents. It allows the government to collect electronic communications of foreign nationals located outside of the US each year, thank calls, texts, emails, and it's lapsing today in large part because of how mad folks were about the president naming Pulti in this acting capacity. And now with the house on recess for a week, things aren't moving quickly to bring it back. So it would be a while before Jay Clayton is confirmed, which means he can't do the job. Does that mean Bill Pulti, this person lawmakers objected to, will be the acting director for a while? You know, it was unclear for a few hours, but President Trump actually addressed it in the Oval Office yesterday afternoon. He said Pulti would still be there for, quote, a short while, although he didn't say how It probably depends on that confirmation timeline. Okay, let's get back to this surveillance tool, this law. How big a deal is it that it's lapsing for the moment? Symbolically, it's a huge deal, but practically, probably not a huge deal. It's bad symbolically because it shows the president is making decisions in a way that make Congress's job really hard. There's no reason he had to announce Pulti as the acting director of national intelligence when he did. He could have waited until this was renewed. He stepped on a rake for no reason, and it ultimately led to FISA expiring. Practically though, FISA can still be used for many months under existing court authorization, so unless telecom companies stop providing electronic communications to the government, which I think is unlikely, but not totally impossible, the government will still be able to use it without issue to keep track of big threats like to the World Cup or America's 250th celebrations. So what's the timeline then for Clayton to get permanently confirmed and for this to be resolved? Even just a few hours of being named senators had set the first hearing for Clayton, which is next Wednesday. I can't imagine he'll have any trouble ultimately getting through. Republicans can do this in a party line way, but I do expect he'll face some very tough questions from senators. Okay, Congress reporter Eric McDaniel, thanks so much. Thanks so much. And that's a first for this Friday. It's Friday, June 12th. I'm Steve Enskeep. And I'm Leila Faldil. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Tina Crye, Rebecca Metzler, Jason Breslow, Mohamed El-Bardisi, and H.J. Mai. It was produced by Ziad Baj and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carly Strange, and our executive producer is Jay Shaler. Join us again tomorrow. This week on the NPR Politics Podcast, Republicans in Congress passed $70 billion in funding for immigration enforcement, $38 billion to ICE alone. That represents a massive increase, with little oversight attached to how the money is spent. We unpack how the move limits the power of Congress and what it could mean for the midterms this week on the NPR Politics Podcast.
