The Politics Surrounding U.S. Involvement In Iran
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Friday, June 20th, 2025. I'm Jessica Rosenthal. New polling data shows how Americans feel about U.S. involvement in Iran. You know, Iran seems to signal we've got surprises and there are things all over the world you don't know that will happen. And I think there are real worries about the homeland. We speak with Fox News Sunday anchor Shannon Breen.

I'm Dave Anthony. The stock market has recovered from April's huge sell-off, but now there's a new uncertainty. Going into the summer, we're in pretty good shape, but there's been one big gigantic wild card out there right now, and that is oil prices because of what's going on in the Middle East. And I'm Tommy Lahren. I've got the final word on the Fox News Rundown. ♪

The latest Fox News poll results show Americans do believe Iran poses a serious threat. 73% believe this, but just 49% want to see Israel strike Iran's nuclear facilities, with just a third of Democrats and independents supporting such a move.

While 78% of those surveyed said they were extremely worried about Iran having a nuclear bomb, six in 10 voters believe striking Iran's nuclear facilities would make the world more dangerous. President Trump has voiced his opinion on this over the years, reflecting from the Oval Office just this week about his longtime stance. I don't want to get involved either, but I've been saying for 20 years, maybe longer, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I've been saying it for a long time.

And I think they were a few weeks away from having one. And they had to sign a document. I think they wish they signed it now. It was a fair deal. The debate has certainly riled up Republicans with House representatives like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massey and a number of conservative social media voices demanding the U.S. stay out of the conflict. Founder of Americans Against Antisemitism Dov Heikin told Fox News the Republican infighting on this is misplaced.

This is not about getting America involved in a war, a war against who, Iran? They don't have an air force. They don't have a Navy. We're not going to be fighting them, for God's sake. So then if many Americans fear U.S. involvement escalates things, but they're afraid of a nuclear-armed Iran, what should happen next?

It just makes me think about what President Trump has been saying for months is that he wants diplomacy on this and he thought that they were making progress at some point. Fox News Sunday anchor Shannon Bream. Obviously he soured on that to the extent that on day 61 after the 60 day period he gave them, Israel acted and they were in conversation with the US and now he's deep in conversation about whether the US gets directly involved. But he continues to say

The door's open for talks. The door's open for a deal. Let's do that. I think most Americans probably are signaling, hey, can we find a diplomatic situation to this that will resolve it versus military action? We've been talking to Iran about its nuclear program for over a decade.

And just last week, the IAEA, not really a pro-Trump organization, said, you know, Iran is not in compliance with its nuclear program. They found Tehran's been unable to prove that nuclear material was not being diverted for military use and that they failed to provide them with explanations for uranium particles being discovered at undeclared locations. So is the belief even outside the U.S. that just continuing to talk to this regime will at some point work?

Yeah, that's the question. Because after that IAEA report came out, there were scores of pieces that were written about what the IAEA has found numerous times with respect to conversations with tracking Iran's nuclear program, that sites are dismantled and destroyed. They're moved. Access for inspectors is denied. I mean, there are all these things that have been happening over time. And, you know, we heard the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu say, I

I think that Iran was stringing Trump along and you don't do that to President Trump. It's not going to work in the long term. And it seemed like President Trump, his last couple of days, his public statements on Iran suggesting that they were stringing him along as well. So a lot of folks around the world, well beyond the U.S. borders, think that Iran is just constantly about buying time so they can get to that next level of enrichment or, you know, the ability to actually weaponize what they've got so far.

There does appear also, Shannon, to be a split among Republicans on this. So many, especially on social media, saying things like, I'm not dying for Israel. You know, there's this fear that any sort of American participation escalates things in a certain way. How big a deal do you think are the politics on this, or does it

does it really depend i think that they're huge because you know you have this internal gop mega world kind of conversation about the president's always been about let's get out of these conflicts we're in let's not start any new conflicts but he's also always been about the fact that the world cannot afford for iran to have a nuclear weapon so i think this is the calculus inside the white house these constant meetings with the situation room are about can the us if they get involved

with very targeted strikes, take out Fordow, take out whatever's underground, whatever is at the heart remaining of the nuclear program in Iran.

I think what President Trump would want to do is say, hey, if we're going to do this, we're going to act decisively. We're not getting dragged into something that's going to mean troops on the ground, boots on the ground, U.S. lives directly involved. But there's also this calculus that it doesn't take a lot here in the U.S. homeland, sleeper cells. We don't know. There are millions of people here in this country that we don't know who they are or where they came from or what they're doing now.

Unfortunately, when you think back to 9-11, it didn't take a big group of people to wreak enormous destructive tragedy and havoc on this country. So, you know, Iran seems to signal we've got surprises and there are things all over the world you don't know that will happen. And I think there are real worries about the homeland. Let me ask you about some other aspects of the Fox polling we got because independents and Democrats are nearly even in their agreement that

in not just opposing Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, but on being extremely concerned about high grocery prices and on worries about the future of the U.S. Independents are the most concerned about government spending, more so than either party in the polling. The big, beautiful bill, nearly 60 percent of all voters oppose it. What do we make of independent voters' responses and what Democrats may see in all of this data?

I think that Democrats, they feel like they are winning the messaging battle. You've seen some of the ads that are out there. They're reminiscent of the guy who looked like, quote unquote, then Speaker Paul Ryan taking grandma to the cliff and tossing her out of her wheelchair.

You know, the Dems are very good with messaging and ads in these different groups that have come out to talk about all kinds of things, including immigration rates and the economy and those things. But when Republicans are very specific about certain things with regard to the big, beautiful bill, like, hey, yes, we're going to have to trim Medicaid. But the way we want to do it is by taking people off of it who are in this country illegally. That pulls really well for Republicans.

But overall, people seem to be getting the message that Democrats are selling, which is this bill is about giving tax breaks to high earners and billionaire friends of Republicans. And it's going to hurt your family. Whereas, you know, the CBO and the IRS data we have from the last round of tax cuts that they want to extend from 2020.

2017 said they actually benefited all taxpaying levels of people that are, you know, actually coughing up part of their paycheck into the to the national treasury. And you may not agree with how they're spending it, but there were benefits to just about every bracket of taxpayers. So Democrats are good at messaging and they are definitely beating out Republicans when it comes to messaging on this particular bill.

Let's talk a little bit more about Democrats, because there's a piece in The New York Times claiming the DNC is needing money. They need cash. They're at the point where they're talking about borrowing. I assume you've read the piece. There's a lot of quotes from DNC Chair Ken Martin. What do you think this means, this money crunch for the Democrats? Well, and he is brand new as the chair of the DNC, relatively new, and he's taking a lot of incoming heat now from the party. They've had, first of all, I don't know that they've

really settled on an analysis from 2024. And so people don't know the way forward necessarily who's leading the party. I think that leads to some softness in some of the fundraising. They've also had this very public spat between the old and new wing, like the Carvels versus the David Hoggs.

And now Ken Martin is being criticized from some within the party about some of the most recent voting shenanigans they've had inside the DNC, as critics would call them, and that he's not a strong leader, that they need to see more out of him. So it still feels like there's a lot in the public sphere of this idea of resistance where people are angry over the economy and wars and all these other things. So you're going to you're going to take that out on the party in control.

But on the flip side of that, it doesn't look like Democrats have learned how to exactly. They are going to harness that behind any one specific leader or message or moving forward. And so Ken Martin's kind of caught in the middle of all of that. And it doesn't seem like the dust has settled just yet on those election losses from last fall. Yeah. Do you think that any struggles there?

Yeah.

No, I do think it is more broadly that the party doesn't seem exactly unified on issues or on leadership. Either, you know, Gavin Newsom has tried to step up in recent weeks with the ICE raids and the riots out in California to say he's going to kind of be the opposition to President Trump. They feel like frenemies to me, like they work together when they need to, when stuff needs to get done. But they both also see each other as kind of really good punching bags. And so I'm

I think there was a moment kind of he was sparking up a couple of weeks ago. But he's also tried to do this thing where he's moderated to the middle a little bit on some issues, especially about trans athletes in sports and women's sports leagues and those kinds of things. So he took some heat from the left on that. So now he's gone back to full anti-Trump opposition resistance leader.

So he's kind of having a moment, but I don't know that Democrats have solidified around any particular leader. And I do think that that leads to things beyond Ken Martin. I mean, sort of a listlessness about exactly where they're going and who's leading the charge.

All right. Finally, we have to get the Supreme Court reaction from our Supreme Court expert here. We had several rulings released Wednesday, but the big one was six to three decision upholding Tennessee's law that bans medication and surgery to help minors transition to become transgender. Talk to us a little bit about what the argument was here, what the majority found, and I think what Justice Sotomayor wrote in response in her dissent.

Yes. So the whole idea was what the really the wonky part of this fight was what scrutiny level should be used to look at laws like Tennessee's law. Is this some kind of potential discrimination based on sex or gender or protected class?

And what Tennessee has argued is, listen, we're a government entity as a state. We have a state interest in protecting the health and welfare of young people who may detransition at some point, may not understand the full import of what they're doing at this young age. So it's an age-based restriction has been their argument. The other side was arguing, no, you're discriminating on the basis of their trans identity or of their gender.

gender identity. So what the majority ended up saying is the lower courts use the right level of scrutiny. It doesn't have to be any higher. This is not a protected class per se. And basically the law is about age. It doesn't mean that adults can't get these surgeries, these treatments. This is just about kids. So the court supported that.

The dissent, not surprisingly, was very upset and said you were doing harm to young people and to families who love them. They also argued that the majority was doing harm to the Constitution, that there should have been a higher level of scrutiny and that this law could not have survived it. So we know there are more than two dozen states who have laws similar to Tennessee's. And so they're going to feel like they're in a pretty good position because the Supreme Court is the highest law of the land.

Yeah, I was going to say, it does seem it's like 27 states have similar laws or 26 states. So far reaching ruling, it would appear. Fox News Sunday anchor Shannon Vreem. Thank you so much for your time. Thanks, Jessica.

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It's Will Kane Country. Watch it live at noon Eastern, Monday through Thursday at foxnews.com or on the Fox News YouTube channel. And don't miss the show. Listen and follow the podcast five days a week at foxnewspodcasts.com or wherever you download your favorite podcasts. This is Tommy Lahren with your Fox News commentary coming up. Summer starts tonight after a crazy spring in the stock market, which was closed yesterday for the Juneteenth holiday.

The Dow is still down slightly for the year, but it has rebounded almost 4,000 points from April's huge two-day sell-off when the market lost a record $6.6 trillion, reacting to President Trump's tariff on imports, including massive ones on China. It's to be expected where this is a...

patient that was very sick. We inherited, we really inherited a terrible economy, as you know, with a lot of problems. The president told reporters back on April 3rd. It was a sick patient that went through an operation.

On Liberation Day. Well, then he put many of the tariffs from Liberation Day on hold and then reduced the ones on China. And he keeps negotiating trade deals with numerous countries. And since that April plunge, the S&P 500 is up 18 percent. The Nasdaq's surged up more than 25 percent and both are slightly higher for the year now.

It's been one of the most news-driven environments we've ever seen, whether it's what's going on with Iran now or the tariffs. And leave no doubt, the tariffs were huge. That's Gary Kay, president of Cult Bomb Capital Management and a Fox News contributor. And fortunately, the president pivoted from Liberation Day. I do not think the market would be in good stead right now if they continued with the 145%

tariff on China, as well as all the tariffs on all those countries from that day. So I think the great part about leaders and leadership is knowing when you have to pivot, and they did that. And the market's been acting pretty darn well. There are certain areas of the market that I follow that are most meaningful, and that is the semiconductors and the big banks.

And all I can tell you is right now, Bank of New York went into new yearly highs yesterday. JP Morgan is a stone's throw away and others also. And the semiconductor stocks, which were dead, have been

coming on very very strong just remember the reason why they're important is because they're in everything and it tells you a lot about the economy so going into uh the summer we're in pretty good shape but there's been one big gigantic wild card out there right now and that is oil prices because of what's going on in the middle east

If oil prices keep going up or if there is a blockage of the straight-up Hormuz by Iran, I think all bets are off and I think markets can get in trouble very quickly. And that's what we mean by the news-driven environment. Right. Uncertainty has never really been a friend of the stock market. So how do traders handle the day-by-day not knowing what the U.S. might do in this conflict?

So it's a real tough environment. But if people look past this, and eventually I think we will get past whatever happens in the Middle East, you go back to what really drives markets, and that is, are interest rates stable and are earnings in good shape? And I can tell you that earnings are pretty darn decent out there, and interest rates, I love the fact that they're stable.

And I think if we can get past the Middle East problem, and it's a problem, I think the markets will break out above the December, January, February highs, and we'll have a good rest of the year. But again, I can't say it loud enough. It is a big, big wild card because you're dealing with some crazies over in Iran that I think they kill themselves in order to destroy. You know, you talked about interest rates and the stability.

President Trump has been railing against the Federal Reserve chairman for days. And again on Thursday, he posted that Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, is one of the dumbest people in government. He calls him an American disgrace. He's costing the country hundreds of billions of dollars. The president wants a big, big rate cut, but he's not getting it. Does the market like what Chairman Powell is doing?

Well, most people that know me know that I have been the biggest critic of Jay Powell. And that's because he really has missed the boat on everything.

But right now, he's in line with the market itself. The 10-year yield is around 4.4. He's at 4.25, so he's a little underneath. He definitely has room to cut rates right now, but I don't think like the president's saying, and here's why.

When Jay Powell dropped from five and a quarter down to four and a quarter, just remember, he's the short-term rates, not the long-term. The long-term rates that matter most to your mortgage and loans went from three and three quarters up to almost five.

So when the market believes that the Fed is no longer fighting inflation, which you know is not a very good thing, interest rates, which matter most, tend to go higher, even though J-PAL would be lowering these short-term rates. And I know that sounds a little bit crazy, but that's really how it works. So I think the president is right on one end that J-PAL should cut rates.

I'm not so sure he's right on cutting a point or two points. And the president should recognize that the markets are pretty smart and the markets are acting much, much better. And sometimes you leave well enough alone. But as you know, the president is on a tangent here and he is going to keep biting away at him no matter what. He's not going to care about what I think. OK, now in the tariffs.

We have, you know, more of them may go into effect as we get into the summer and into the fall. Yeah. We also don't know what exactly is going to happen to prices. People have talked about prices going up. They've been passed along to consumers, passed along to businesses. What does the market, in your opinion, what are people thinking is going to happen? And how would tariff price increases affect stocks? Yeah.

Well, I think the market right now, and this is what I call don't blink, actually believes that the president gets it and the treasury secretary gets it, that two higher tariffs are too much.

And that's why they came down and the markets knew it. So the hope is that if there's going to be these global tariffs, they're going to be 10 percent or something to that effect, which for me is an absolute no biggie. And the reason why is.

So easy for most to work around those tariffs. So easy to negotiate with the countries on that 10%. But if we continue to have, I think China's still about 50%, that's troublesome. Why? Because that means all these products coming in, the companies that are taking in those products, there's a 50%.

percent tax on him that's paid to the Treasury and I know they've been saying that's great news because that's money into the Treasury but that's just the tax hike on our businesses which potentially get pushed on to the consumer hope

Hopefully, whatever trade deals end up happening, that these tariffs are moderate. Because I will promise you one thing. If we ever go back to the tariffs that were on that Liberation Day, I think there's trouble ahead. You can't have gargantuan tax hikes on the economy when you are a Republican Party saying you are the party of tax cuts.

So something to watch very closely. But right now, the storm is past. It's calm right now. And let's hope cooler heads prevail as we get towards, I believe it's July 9th. That's the 90 days. And again, as I've been saying every day, don't blink because we really don't know what the outcome is going to be. Now to another investment growing in popularity.

Cryptocurrency. President Trump's been outspoken supporting it. The Trump Organization is even involved in a crypto venture. Back on Tuesday, the Senate passed what's called the Genius Act, which establishes regulations for what are called stablecoins.

which unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum have their values tied to another asset like the U S dollar. The house will consider the legislation next. So this new environment of payments and things like that, I think it could be not a hundred percent sure, uh, the shape of things to come and stable coin would be backed by just what the word says. Stable, uh,

the dollar as well as short-term treasuries and things like that and that coin you would pay through it how i don't know just yet instead of having to deal with mastercard and visa it would help out i guess countries that don't have

a lot of the credit card business flowing too well. So again, the market believes it in the short run. Who knows in the long run? But it certainly woke things up in the last few days and it may just continue. So this move toward a stablecoin that is tied to a U.S. currency,

Does it make it more attractive to you and to other investors than, say, Bitcoin or Ethereum or the other cryptos?

You know, potentially. You know, just remember something very important about the cryptos that's not talked about. I'm a big believer always looking at both sides. While you have Bitcoin up near all-time highs, Ethereum's not even close. And you've had people come out with over 30,000 coins that are at zero. So you've got to recognize...

what's working and what is not and be very very careful about. I remember they came out with the Dogecoin that was started as a comedy act that went up and then down and up and down so you just got to be very careful about that. The stablecoin is a little interesting here because it's not going to be moving up and down like crazy but would be an entity for commerce.

Remember Bitcoin we were told was going to be something for Commerce the problem was

I believe there were some companies that started accepting it, and then all of a sudden Bitcoin dropped 50%. And I don't think people want to deal with commerce with something that moves like that. So the word stable could have a big effect on commerce, and I think that's what people are looking at right now. Some people have not gone into crypto investing yet. They don't understand it. Is that a wise? If you don't understand it, should you stay out of it?

Yeah, probably. And the reason being, there's enough out there in the markets

And just remember, Bitcoin does not have a product or a service, does not have earnings or sales, does not have offices. So it is an asset which has a finite amount of these coins. And you have entities like MicroStrategy that are borrowing a lot of money and issuing a lot of stock that just keep buying it. So the worry about that is it's somewhat schemish.

Uh, we'll see in time. Uh, so, you know, and just remember there's enough stocks and great companies out there that you don't necessarily have to deal in the Bitcoin. And may I state for the record, I wish I bought it 10 years ago. Uh, I'd probably be, uh, in Bora Bora right now with my feet up. So you always got to know what you're getting into. And look, I'm just looking at Royal Caribbean cruise lines is near an all time high. Uh,

IBM, all-time high. Disney, which was dead in the water, acting strong again and coming on strong. Microsoft, all-time high. These are companies with meat, with earnings and sales and great products and great margins. So you can always go elsewhere. It's all to each his own. And remember, the last bear market in Bitcoin saw it drop 75%.

So you just got to be careful with everything. Always look over your shoulder. So as the summer starts, cautiously optimistic because you don't exactly know what's going to happen in the Middle East? I am actually very optimistic if we can get past the Middle East. The market's acting just terrific here considering what we are seeing. But who knows what's next?

He's known as Gary Kay. Gary Kaltbaum, president of the Kaltbaum Capital Management Group and also Fox Business contributor. Great to have you on the show. Thanks so much. Pleasure is always mine. Thank you.

And now, some good news with Tanya J. Powers. What do you want to be when you grow up? That's the question that gets asked of kids, and they may or may not have an answer. But Kristen Waller did. She wanted to be a nurse. And her certainty came from her experience with her cancer diagnosis as an infant.

She was treated for a germ cell tumor at Texas Children's Hospital, undergoing surgeries and chemotherapy. It inspired her to pursue a career as a nurse and to return to the place that helped her. Ever since I can remember, my dream has been to work at Texas Children's in the cancer center and give back to who gave to me. Kristen has battled cancer twice in her life. The end of 2022, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I beat that as well.

Now, she not only helps kids going through cancer, she's working alongside the doctor who was her childhood oncologist and helped save her life. It's great to get to see him and he's gotten to see how I've grown as a nurse and a professional and it's something very special.

From patient to caregiver, Kristen says she loves being able to give back, offering hope to those facing similar challenges. My job is my biggest passion, and the kids are what bring me back here every day. Tanya J. Powers, Fox News.

What'd you get up to last night? Woo!

How much? Your friends and neighbors. Now streaming on Apple TV+. Kudlow on Fox Business is now on the go for podcast fans. Get key interviews with the biggest business newsmakers of the day. The Kudlow podcast will be available on the go after the show every weekday at foxbusinesspodcasts.com or wherever you download your favorite podcasts. Subscribe to this podcast at foxnewspodcasts.com. It's time for your Fox News commentary. Tommy Lahren.

What's on your mind? I'm proud of my state of Tennessee for being one of the first in the nation to stand up to the extreme trans movement and outlaw so-called gender-affirming trans treatment for minors. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court upheld that ban, effectively and thankfully paving the way for 26 other states with similar laws to protect children.

Critics are calling this a setback for trans rights, but that's baloney. The Tennessee ban and others just like it prevents children from falling victim to the trans social experiment that often ends in heartbreaking and irreversible surgeries as well as other medical interventions that stop or prevent puberty. If you're an adult and you want to medically or physically change your body, your gender, that's fine. Have at it. But to allow minors to be part of this, in my opinion,

is child abuse. Thank you to Tennessee and to the Supreme Court for doing the right thing for children. I'm Tomi Lahren and you can watch my show Tomi Lahren is Fearless at Outkick.com.

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