Trump’s Iran decision, MAGA and visa vetting
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Today, Trump risks alienating his MAGA base as he continues to weigh joining Israeli strikes on Iran. And the U.S. is reviewing the online presence of foreign students for any hostile stance. It's Thursday, June 19th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Kim Van Al in Whanganui, New Zealand.

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I have ideas as to what to do, but I haven't made a final. I like to make the final decision one second before it's due, you know, because things change. I mean, especially with war, things change. President Donald Trump keeps the world guessing whether the U.S. will join Israel in airstrikes on Iran.

He says the door hasn't entirely closed on diplomacy and that the Iranians want to come to the White House for talks. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, however, has rejected Trump's earlier demand for unconditional surrender.

A week of Israeli air and missile strikes has wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military, damaged its nuclear capabilities and killed hundreds of people. Retaliatory Iranian strikes have killed two dozen civilians in Israel. Now, Trump, considering striking Iran directly, isn't going down well with some of his most loyal supporters. They feel US involvement in Iran would betray the MAGA movement.

The president ran on promises to put America first and stay out of endless wars in the Middle East. That rift on full display in a clip that's gone viral of Tucker Carlson clashing with Republican Senator Ted Cruz. You don't know anything about Iran. So actually the country... Okay, I am not the Tucker Carlson expert on Iran who says... You're a senator who's calling for the overthrow of the government and you don't know anything about the country. No, you don't.

Steve Holland is at the White House. The broad sweep of the MAGA voices who are speaking out against this, these are people with huge audience numbers, with deep influence across the conservative landscape. Tucker Carlson has a popular show that streams on X. Marjorie Taylor Greene, this longtime Trump ally with a large megaphone. And she says, you know what? We don't want to get into another foreign war. And a lot of people are going to listen to that message.

I went to an event with Steve Bannon, who's a longtime Trump ally, and he said, you know, we just can't do this again. It'll tear the country apart. We can't have another Iraq. What sort of broader impact could this rift have on the Republican Party?

It could have a ripple effect through his conservative movement and undermine his efforts for Republicans to win elections in 2026, the congressional elections. If they feel like they're disenfranchised, they will go elsewhere or just not vote. And you could see Democratic sweeps on that election day. So it is something that Trump is aware of and needs to worry about. Could some of the outspoken critics influence Trump's thinking on this?

It very well could influence his thinking. His gut feeling about these things is just don't get the United States involved in any more military adventures. We'll see what he comes up with. I wouldn't be shocked if he backs off in the end and lets Israel do the job. Trump's will-he-won't-he continues to rattle markets and investors, who are otherwise focused on a series of central bank meetings.

Analysts are warning that any sign of escalation in the Middle East could spark a knee-jerk reaction in the markets. And about those central bank meetings, the optimism around the Fed signalling rate cuts later in the year was immediately reeled in by Chair Jerome Powell's expectation that tariffs will add to inflation pressures. European nations, meanwhile, are attempting to negotiate with Tehran.

Reuters has learned that Germany, France and Britain plan to hold nuclear talks with Iran on Friday in Geneva. The talks have been closely coordinated with the US. Israeli gunfire and strikes killed at least 140 people across the Strip in just the past 24 hours, that's according to local health officials. It includes some 40 people killed on Wednesday as they were lining up for food.

Palestinians seeking aid have been killed almost daily in the last three weeks, since Israel partially lifted a total blockade. The Israeli Defense Force said that despite repeated warnings, individuals approached some troops in a manner that posed a threat to the forces. Palestinians in the Strip say their plight is being forgotten as attention shifts to the conflict between Israel and Iran.

A federal judge in Texas has thrown out a Biden-era rule that was meant to keep information about legal abortions or gender transition treatments private. The rule stopped health care providers and insurers from sharing details with state law enforcement. Japan's Nippon Steel has officially acquired U.S. Steel, giving an unusual degree of power to President Donald Trump.

Under a national security part of the agreement, President Trump has the authority to name a board member as well as a non-economic golden share. That means the US has veto authority over a raft of corporate decisions, from cutting production capacity to moving jobs overseas. And the largest ever sale of a professional sports team.

The Buss family is entering an agreement to sell a majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers, ESPN has reported. It's the end of an era for one of the NBA's most influential owners. Mark Walter of holding company TWG Global is set to take the majority ownership under the agreement, which values the Lakers at $10 billion. The Trump administration is significantly tightening its social media vetting of student visas.

They're now looking for anyone who they say may be, quote, hostile toward the United States. Consular staff can also ask applicants to make private social media public or probe why someone doesn't have an online presence at all. And the move could extend beyond just student visas.

Humira Pamuk is in Washington. U.S. consular officers are now required to conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting of all student and exchange visitor applicants to identify those who bear hostile attitudes towards our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles. Now, in a way, that is very definitive, but it's also very vague because

What is an example of hostile attitude towards the United States, right? So it is going to be up to the consular officer after a long examination of a candidate's entire online presence, social media presence, and decide whether or not they're eligible for a visa. So might this extend beyond just student visas?

Yes, absolutely. Because in a separate cable that was issued late last month in

In May, Secretary Rubio also directed consular officers to begin additional vetting of visa applicants looking to travel to Harvard University for any purpose. And one super interesting thing in that other cable was saying that the implementation of that order was going to serve as a pilot for expanded screening and vetting of visa applicants.

And it actually didn't say student visa applicants. It just said visa applicants, which makes us think that the possibility of measures taken against Harvard and visa applicants trying to go there will likely be used as a template for other universities or perhaps other types of visas.

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And for today's recommended read, how Oklahoma is hoping to be America's answer to China's rare earth dominance. There, beneath the Wichita Mountains, is a two-story warehouse containing the only machine in the U.S. capable of refining nickel.

That's a crucial energy transition metal. We'll put a link to that story in the pod description. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. And don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.