Trump Secures Major NATO Win, Admin Pushes Back Against Intel Leaks to Media: AM Update 6/26
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Good morning, everyone. I'm Megyn Kelly. It's Thursday, June 26th, 2025, and this is your AM Update. We will learn more and more about it, but the baseline is real damage was done. Of that, we're very confident. Trump officials slamming reporting by CNN and The New York Times, casting doubt on the level of damage inflicted on three key Iranian nuclear facilities.

Moments of levity at the NATO summit as President Trump secures a huge win. Closing arguments in the Sean Diddy Combs trial set to begin today. And House Speaker Mike Johnson's message to Democrat Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update.

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The Trump administration slamming reporting from CNN and the New York Times casting doubt on the effectiveness of the U.S. strike on three key Iranian nuclear facilities. CNN reporting an early U.S. intel assessment suggests the strikes did not destroy the nuclear sites, citing descriptions provided by, quote, people familiar with the assessment. CNN omitting from its initial report that these conclusions were deemed, quote, low confidence. The New York Times citing, quote, officials familiar with the findings, quote,

Reporting the initial damage assessment suggests President Trump's claim that the nuclear facilities were obliterated is an overstatement and saying much of the stockpile of enriched uranium was moved to another location prior to the strike. The Times, too, failing to reveal in its initial report that these conclusions were deemed, quote, low confidence.

President Trump on Wednesday from the NATO summit in the Netherlands saying the papers have it wrong, citing new information that supports the administration's view that key sites were in fact destroyed.

Since then, we've collected additional intelligence. We've also spoken to people who have seen the site, and the site is obliterated. And we think everything nuclear is down there. They didn't take it out. We think we hit them so hard and so fast they didn't get to move. And if you knew about that material, it's very hard and very dangerous to move.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio from The Hague providing more detail on the damage each facility sustained. So in Esfahan, there was this conversion site, which is how you turn this metal into something that's useful. That's wiped out, and so they can't do that today.

Beyond that, all of the support structures around it as well. In Natanz, which is also an underground facility, basically the Israelis have put a lot of damage on it. And then the United States went in with two additional heavy munitions that penetrated into the ground and did more damage. The hard one, the one that was really difficult, is Fordow because it's buried underneath a mountain. There's no doubt in our minds it's very significant, substantial, lasting damage was done to their program. We will learn more and more about it, but

But the baseline is real damage was done. Of that, we're very confident. We dropped 12 of these things into these holes. I mean, it's not like we just did a couple and see how it went. The CIA, too, releasing a statement on Wednesday afternoon, quote, CIA can confirm that a body of credible intelligence indicates Iran's nuclear program has been severely damaged. Key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, a nuclear watchdog tasked with monitoring Iran's nuclear program, supporting the administration's assessment. The organization's director general saying in a statement, quote, "...during these attacks, we have seen extensive damage at several nuclear sites in Iran, including its uranium conversion and enrichment facilities."

The Israeli Atomic Energy Commission, concluding the U.S. strikes in combination with the Israeli strikes, quote, set back Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years. And a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday saying, quote, our nuclear installations have been badly damaged.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday providing additional context to the CNN and New York Times reporting and putting the leakers on notice. When you actually look at the report, by the way, it was a top secret report. It was preliminary.

It was low confidence. All right, so this is a make assessments based on what you know. They don't said it could be very devastating, very moderate and severe, and we believe far more likely severe and obliterated. We're doing a leak investigation with the FBI right now because this information is for internal purposes, battle damage assessments, and CNN and others are trying to spin it to make the president look bad when this was an overwhelming success.

As for future plans to reach a new nuclear deal, President Trump's saying Wednesday it's not necessary. They fought, the war's done, and, you know, I could get a statement that they're not going to go nuclear. We're probably going to ask for that, but they're not going to be doing it. But they're not going to be doing it anyway. They've had it.

They've had it. Now, maybe someday in the future we'll want that. But I've asked Marco, do you want to draw? I just asked him the question as we were walking on the stage. You want to draw up a little agreement for them to sign? Because I think we can get them to sign it. I don't think it's necessary.

On Wednesday, the NATO summit concluding at The Hague, the meeting between member nations striking a particularly collegial mood in contrast to the typical media portrayal of President Trump as a bully and unreliable ally to the U.S.'s longstanding partners. President Trump securing a key victory at the summit with NATO's allies agreeing to boost defense spending targets to 5% of their respective GDPs, more than doubling the longstanding benchmark of 2%.

President Trump touting the win at a NATO press conference. And following my election last November, almost all have accelerated plans to reach the 2 percent, 3 percent, 4 percent, and then ultimately very quickly 5 percent. When the allies reach this number, it will add more than $1 trillion a year to our common defense. And this is a monumental win for

President Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Ruda appearing to really hit it off throughout the summit. This moment between Mr. Trump and Mr. Ruda, who is the former prime minister of the Netherlands, discussing the recent ceasefire deal with Israel and Iran, quickly

quickly going viral. They've had a big fight, like two kids in a schoolyard. You know, they fight like hell. You can't stop them. Let them fight for about two, three minutes. Then it's easier to stop them. And then daddy has to sometimes use strong language. President Trump asked about that comment later in the day. Mark Rutter, the NATO chief, who is your friend, he called you daddy earlier.

Do you regard your NATO allies as kind of children? No, he likes me. I think he likes me. If he doesn't, I'll let you know. I'll come back and I'll hit him hard, okay? He did it very affectionately. Daddy, you're my daddy. Do you regard your NATO allies, though, as kind of like children? And they're obviously listening to you and they're spending more. And you're obviously appreciative of that.

But do you hope that actually they're going to be able to defend themselves, defend Europe on their own? I think they need help a little bit at the beginning, and I think they'll be able to. And I think they're going to remember this day. And this is a big day for NATO.

Secretary General Ruda also asked on Wednesday about his attitude toward President Trump. The language that you have used when talking to Donald Trump has been notable because of its flattery. Today, you called him daddy and you sent a text message to him that was gushing with praise. Is this the way that you feel you have to act when

when doing business with the US president through flattery and praise. When he is doing stuff which is forcing us to, for example, when it comes to making more investments, I mean, would you ever think that this would be the result of this summit if he would not have been re-elected president? So doesn't he deserve some praise? And when it comes to Iran, the fact that he took this decisive action,

very targeted to make sure that Iran would not be able to get its hands on a nuclear capability. I think he deserves all the praise. The media was quick to mock the friendly exchange without crediting Mr. Trump for his accomplishments. Contrast that with the New York Times in 2018 after Mr. Trump's NATO appearance, which the Times called, quote, an assault on norms that left NATO, quote, distracted and shaken.

The Times accusing Mr. Trump of, quote, stirring discord by threatening to leave NATO if other nations did not pay their fair share. The Times describing the day as unsettling for NATO members, adding, Mr. Trump got little in the way of concrete results. After Wednesday's successful summit, the Times focused on how nations are unlikely to actually live up to the 5% spending pledge and on how not enough attention was paid to Ukraine. Good grief.

Late Wednesday, President Trump announcing that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will be holding a major news conference this morning at 8 a.m. along with military representatives, the purpose of which is to, quote, fight for the dignity of our great American pilots. The president claiming these pilots were, quote, very upset about the fake news by CNN and the failing New York Times. He added the news conference will prove both interesting and irrefutable.

Coming up, House Speaker Mike Johnson weighs in on the looming deadline to pass President Trump's big, beautiful bill and gives his thoughts on rising Democrat star Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. Hint, you can't get enough of her.

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The prosecution in the Sean Diddy Combs trial informing the judge ahead of a Wednesday meeting on jury instructions that they are dropping three alleged predicate acts supporting the racketeering conspiracy charge against the mogul. Contrary to what some in the media reported, however, no charges have been dropped against Combs. He is still facing the same charges of sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy.

In order to secure a racketeering conviction, prosecutors must prove Combs was the head of a criminal enterprise engaged in a pattern of criminal activity involving two or more predicate crimes.

This latest move simply removing three predicate acts from the list of what jurors will be asked to consider, namely attempted kidnapping, attempted arson, and aiding and abetting sex trafficking. The prosecution is not abandoning its allegations that Combs committed actual arson, actual kidnapping, and actual sex trafficking. It's only dropping its predicate act allegations that he attempted or aided and abetted those crimes.

Closing arguments set to begin today. Combs has denied all charges. House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday joining the Megyn Kelly show as the self-imposed deadline to pass President Trump's one big beautiful bill rapidly approaches. Republicans in Congress aiming to pass the bill by July 4th through a special process known as reconciliation, allowing the House and Senate to pass a budget bill with a simple majority and avoid the 60 vote threshold required to overcome a filibuster in the Senate.

House and Senate Republicans working for months on the legislation, aiming to provide funding to complete the southern border wall and fully support the Trump administration's mass deportation effort with new ICE agents and new immigration judges. The bill also would make the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent and deliver on a number of other Trump campaign promises, including no taxes on tips and no taxes on overtime.

Republicans also aiming to deliver on Medicaid reform. Democrats criticizing the bill as an effort to give tax cuts to the wealthy at the expense of the nation's most vulnerable. A bill that will throw 13.7 million Americans off the table.

off their health care coverage in order to help pay for tax cuts for billionaires. Policies that are giving tax breaks to billionaires, racking up deficits, taking away Medicare, Medicaid from ordinary people. People will lose their coverage. And why?

Why is that? To give tax breaks to the highest end? Speaker Johnson responding to those allegations. What we're doing is restoring common sense. Medicaid is intended to be a temporary safety net for people who desperately need it. You're talking about the elderly, disabled, you know, young, single, pregnant moms who are down on their luck, right? But it's not being used for those purposes because it's been expanded under the last two Democrat presidents and to cover everybody. So you've got a bunch of able-bodied young men, for example.

who are on Medicaid and not working. So what we're doing is restoring work requirements to Medicaid. Okay, this is common sense. It's about an 85% approval rating in public polling because it makes sense. If you are on the public wagon, you need to help pull it. And Megan, all we've done in the bill is add 20 hours a week, okay, a requirement to work for 20 hours a week or be in a job training program looking for a job.

or volunteer in your community. Over the last several weeks, the Senate negotiating over its version of the BBB, MK Media star Mark Halperin of the show Next Up with Mark Halperin calls the passage of the bill a make-or-break moment for the president's second term. Speaker Johnson on the likelihood of meeting the president's July 4th goal. The

The president and I talk about this multiple times every day, and he wants to have a signing ceremony on Independence Day. I mean, it would be epic. It'd be awesome. This would be the most consequential legislation that Congress has passed in generations. And if the Senate does their job as expected by this weekend, we'll stay through and get this thing done. So as quickly as possible under the procedure, I have to let the bill procedurally, I have to let the bill lay over for 72 hours once it's delivered to us, obviously, so everyone can read it and go through it. And then we'll pass this thing.

A Senate GOP aide telling AM Update the Senate will likely proceed to the bill on Friday, debating and voting on amendments, planning to vote on final passage sometime this weekend.

Speaker Johnson also discussing his Democrat colleagues' reaction to President Trump's authorization of the U.S. military strike on key Iranian nuclear facilities. Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett criticizing the order, saying President Trump unconstitutionally bypassed congressional authority. I'm the one that's supposed to make the fucking decision or at least get a vote.

The speaker's reaction? I would like Jasmine Crockett to have the platform everywhere to talk all the time. She's the best gift to us possible. I want her to be the face of the Democratic Party. She and AOC can lead them into oblivion. That's fantastic. More Jasmine, okay? Because it puts on display what these people actually believe, where their party is headed. They have no leader. They have no platform that they can run on. All of their policies have been repudiated. All they have, they're a one-trick pony. All they can do is criticize Trump and the Republicans.

And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megyn Kelly. Join me back here for The Megyn Kelly Show, live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel 111 at noon east, on youtube.com slash megynkelly, and on all podcast platforms.

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