Israel reported strikes from Iran yesterday for the first time since a delicate ceasefire went into effect in April. Iran has for weeks demanded Israel cease its attacks on Lebanon.<\/p>\n
The Israel Defense Forces said they intercepted all of Iran\u2019s strikes and later in the day struck military targets in Iran.<\/p>\n
Read more from<\/a> Lior Soroka<\/b> in Tel Aviv and Sammy Westfall<\/b>.<\/p>\n Four months ago, Minnesota was the site of the largest immigration enforcement operation in the country\u2019s history. Operation Metro Surge captured national attention as federal agents roamed the streets and detained immigrants. The fatal shootings of Ren\u00e9e Good <\/b>and Alex Pretti <\/b>galvanized aggressive pushback from Democrats, leading to the longest partial government shutdown ever.<\/p>\n Operation Metro Surge formally ended in February, but the state\u2019s Democratic electorate is still fired up. An unprecedented number of new participants served as delegates to the state\u2019s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party convention this year, and the wave of angry Democrats is giving a boost to the party\u2019s left flank.<\/p>\n That\u2019s benefiting the Senate run of progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan<\/b>, who is up against centrist Rep. Angie Craig<\/b>. Flanagan is running on a platform of tearing ICE apart, creating Medicare for All and barring corporate money from campaigns. The base is eating it up, and she handily won the endorsement at her party\u2019s convention last month.<\/p>\n \u201cFolks want someone who is going to rip ICE apart and hold them accountable. And that\u2019s our campaign,\u201d Flanagan told us.<\/p>\n Operation Metro Surge still dominates political speeches and ads in the primary race. That anti-ICE sentiment is coming to haunt Craig, who voted last year for the Laken Riley Act, a Republican-led bill that amped up detention requirements for undocumented immigrants arrested for theft. Craig later expressed regret for voting for the bill.<\/p>\n But not so fast, says Craig. A winner in a deep blue Democratic Party convention does not a general election winner make.<\/p>\n \u201cMinnesota is a purple blue state,\u201d Craig told us. \u201cWe could lose if we\u2019re not careful.\u201d<\/p>\n Republicans still have a lot of sway in rural Minnesota. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer<\/b> is from there, mind you. The state legislature is closely divided between the two parties.<\/p>\n Craig rose to prominence winning a red-leaning district in 2018 on a message of being a bipartisan when she can, a fighter when she must. It\u2019s the kind of message she says would do better in a general election. She has the backing of a number of her colleagues in the House, including former speaker Nancy Pelosi<\/b> (D-California) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries<\/b> (D-New York).<\/p>\n Craig <\/b>also has the cash advantage, with more money going toward her candidacy than Flanagan\u2019s by a comfortable margin.<\/p>\n But Flanagan\u2019s supporters \u2014 Flana-fans, if you will \u2014 say that\u2019s part of the problem. They\u2019ve criticized Craig for accepting money from corporate and pro-Israel PACs and from donors who have given to President Donald Trump<\/b>\u2019s White House ballroom.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are not working for the people, right? If you are taking money from any corporate, big companies, or it could be big groups, You will work for them,\u201d Ahmad Nawaz<\/b>, a pro-Flanagan DFL delegate, told us.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a similar dynamic that has been playing out in Michigan with Rep. Haley Stevens<\/b>\u2019s run in the Democratic Senate primary, as we wrote about last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n Craig said her record advocating for farmers as the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee and for immigrants in her votes to withhold DHS funding prove she isn\u2019t beholden to corporate interests. And she redirected the ire right back at Flanagan.<\/p>\n The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association \u2014 which has been the biggest spender on pro-Flanagan ads in the race \u2014 <\/b>has accepted oodles of cash from corporate interests, including Meta, Lockheed Martin and PhRMA.<\/p>\n \u201cPeggy Flanagan is the biggest hypocrite in the entire universe on this topic,\u201d Craig told us. \u201cI take corporate PAC money, and I use it to beat the hell out of Republicans and help Democrats hold the majority. She took corporate PAC money, and now she\u2019s saying, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s a terrible thing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Flanagan\u2019s team stressed that she did not have unilateral control over who could donate to the DLGA when she was chair and has led a different fundraising operation since running for Senate.<\/p> Read more Trump\u2019s birthday spectacle contrasts wildly with Biden\u2019s understated 80th<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cMore than a year ago, Peggy Flanagan made the decision not to accept corporate PAC money because she wanted Minnesotans to know that the only people she would be accountable to are them,\u201d Alexandra Fetissoff<\/b>, a Flanagan campaign spokesperson, told us.<\/p>\n Flanagan winning her party\u2019s endorsement will mean she can campaign with DFL infrastructure, including its voter rolls and the support of other DFL-endorsed candidates. Other candidates have gone on to win the primary without the endorsement in the past, including Flanagan herself when she was part of the 2018 gubernatorial ticket with Gov. Tim Walz<\/b>.<\/p>\n The two candidates are running to replace retiring Sen. Tina Smith<\/b>, who has endorsed Flanagan. Walz has avoided weighing in. Minnesota\u2019s other senator, Amy Klobuchar<\/b>, is running to replace Walz this year, meaning her seat could be open early next year if she wins the governor\u2019s race.<\/p>\n Republicans are also split in the primary. The state\u2019s Republican Party voted to endorse former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze <\/b>while national Republicans are backing former sports commentator Michele Tafoya<\/b>.<\/p>\n The primary is on Aug. 11.<\/p>\n Read more about the race here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Remember when President Donald Trump<\/b> said he would not get the country into overseas wars?<\/p>\n Trump doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst of all, I didn\u2019t guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world? I built our military,\u201d Trump said during a testy interview<\/a> on NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press\u201d with Kristen Welker<\/b>. \u201cWhen you say I promised, I didn\u2019t promise anything. I don\u2019t like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. We\u2019ve been doing this for three months.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump repeatedly vowed on the campaign trail not to get involved in forever wars, and said during his Election Day victory speech that he wouldn\u2019t start new wars at all.<\/p>\n \u201cThey said he will start a war. I\u2019m not going to start a war. I\u2019m going to stop wars,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n The conflict in Iran is profoundly unpopular in the U.S., especially after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, choking access to critical global trade. A fifth of the world\u2019s seaborne oil traffic passed through the strait during normal times, and other essential materials from fertilizer to aluminum are also being choked off from the closure.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has said reopening the strait is a requisite for lasting peace in the region. Trump has expressed frustration with Israel<\/a> for not doing more to uphold peace, particularly as it continued to strike Lebanon. Iran refuses to accept a lasting peace agreement without a ceasefire in Lebanon.<\/p>\n Aside from Trump\u2019s eyebrow-raising pivot from his campaign message, the rest of the \u201cMeet the Press\u201d interview was also quite something. He stormed out at the end in frustration over Welker\u2019s questioning on his refusal to accept the 2020 presidential election.<\/p>\n He also grew frustrated over the $1.8 billion weaponization fund, which the Justice Department retreated from following opposition from Republican senators. Trump said he still wants to see the fund created.<\/p>\n \u201cMe, personally, I think the weaponization fund is a great idea, and so do many other Republicans. You have to get it approved. If they get it approved, that\u2019s great. If they don\u2019t get it approved, I\u2019d be disappointed,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n Read more from<\/a> Isaac Arnsdorf<\/b> on the interview.<\/p>\n Minnesota Star Tribune:<\/b> Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey<\/b> has an openly tumultuous relationship with the city council. They\u2019ve started couples counselling to overcome their differences<\/a>.<\/p>\n Orlando Sentinel (Florida): <\/b>Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings<\/b> ended his run for Florida governor<\/a> following a cancer diagnosis.<\/p>\n Anchorage Daily News (Alaska):<\/b> The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has long been the subject of debate over whether the massive swath of protected land should be open to oil drilling. But despite permission from the federal government, few oil companies have shown interest in drilling<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our colleagues Liz Goodwin<\/b> and Riley Beggin<\/b> wrote about the fierce opposition to data centers among voters<\/a>. What have your experiences with them been? Is there one near you? How has it impacted you? Do you have thoughts about a future data center in your area?<\/p>\n Let us and your fellow Early Brief readers know at earlytips@washpost.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Thanks for reading. You can follow Matthew and Dan on X: @matthewichoi<\/a> and @merica<\/a>.<\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/e7c1b83529b4e27568d51871cf974678-1024x683.jpg\")
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