June 26th, 2025: Iran's Secret Nuclear Fortress 'Pickaxe' Draws Scrutiny & ICE Rescues Trafficked Kids
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It's Thursday, the 26th of June. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. And yes, if you're wondering, I still am on the road. Let's get briefed. First, President Trump says the U.S. no longer needs to pursue a nuclear deal with Iran after this past weekend's strikes on their facilities. But lingering questions remain about the status of Iran's enriched uranium stockpiles and

as well as, of course, the extent of the destruction of Iran's nuclear facilities. We'll look at reports that the mullahs may have moved some of their enriched uranium to a secret underground fortress dubbed Pickaxe Mountain. It's a catchy name. Later in the show, news out of Gaza, where seven IDF soldiers were killed in a Hamas attack on Tuesday, marking the deadliest day for Israel forces in months.

It comes as President Trump says, quote, great progress is being made towards a truce in Gaza following the surprise ceasefire brokered between Jerusalem and Tehran. Plus, border czar Tom Holman says thousands of children that vanished after being trafficked across the U.S.-Mexico border under the Biden administration are being rescued by ICE agents. We'll have those details later.

And in today's back of the brief, a senior official in Los Angeles County is under FBI investigation after calling on local gang members to protect their turf against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. But first, today's PDB Spotlight.

We'll begin with the latest on Iran, as questions continue to swirl regarding the fate of their uranium stockpiles, with some speculating it may have been moved to a secret underground fortress buried even deeper than the Fordow complex. Speaking from the NATO summit on Wednesday, President Trump said he no longer thinks a new nuclear deal with the mullahs is necessary following this past weekend's precision strikes on their facilities and the ceasefire that followed.

The president continued to push back on conflicting reports that the operation failed to destroy the regime's enrichment sites and uranium stores, saying the Iranians would not have had the time to smuggle out materials given how fast his administration acted.

Regarding next steps to solidify the military achievements of the U.S. and Israel, Trump said that plans are underway for members of his administration to speak with Iranian officials sometime next week, though he didn't elaborate. He did, however, say that their enrichment capabilities will be gone, quote, for years to come and predicted that the U.S. will likely, quote, end up having somewhat of a relationship with Iran, end quote.

But as we've been closely tracking here on the PDB, regardless of how much damage was done to Iran's three main nuclear sites, major concerns remain about how much of Iran's more than 900 pounds of 60% enriched uranium may have survived the bombardment.

Speculation continues that the regime moved at least some of the material ahead of the strikes, and those fears were compounded on Wednesday after the Iranian parliament passed a bill suspending all cooperation with the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, known as IAEA.

So, if Iran is still in control of some or even most of its nuclear material, as leaked US and Israeli intelligence alleges, the big question is, where is it now being stored? One location on the radar of nuclear watchdogs is a hidden nuclear fortress known as Pickaxe Mountain, located just minutes away from the more well-known Natanz nuclear site, which of course was bombed as part of Saturday's operation.

Pickaxe Mountain, not to be confused with Brokeback Mountain, came to the attention of the IAEA after satellite images were released earlier this year, showing a new deeply buried tunnel and security perimeter near the Natanz facility. That's according to a report from the New York Post. Rafael Grossi, the director general of the IAEA,

asked the Iranians about that activity in April and said he was bluntly told, quote, it's none of your business, end quote. Well, that's how the nuclear watchdogs inspection program has kind of run for the past decades. Grossi said there's no way to be certain, but he can't exclude the possibility that Pickaxe Mountain underground tunnels could be used to store materials. So what exactly do we know about this covert site?

Located in the central Isfahan province, the installation has been quietly reinforced and expanded over the past four years, though it's still undergoing construction, according to an analysis by The Telegraph. Its capabilities are unknown, but a former Mossad analyst and 30-year veteran of Israel's military establishment told the paper that Iran has a number of hidden sites housing hundreds, if not thousands,

of advanced centrifuges capable of producing weapons-grade uranium, and that Pickaxe Mountain may be one of those secret facilities. An analyst for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies concurred, saying, quote, "A key question is whether Iran will, or maybe already has, hidden fissile material in Pickaxe or some other unknown facility," end quote.

Now, as our listeners know, much of the focus of the U.S. strikes was on the Fordow nuclear complex, as it was fortified at least 60 meters underground, making it difficult, of course, for even the largest American bunker-buster bombs to penetrate.

But the sprawling installation at Pickaxe Mountain is reportedly buried even deeper, with some estimates putting it roughly 100 meters beneath the surface. The mountain housing that site is also 50% taller than the mountain at Fordow, providing greater protection, of course, and potentially larger underground chambers for Iran's nuclear operations.

Given the size and depth of the facility, many experts believe it could be housing centrifuges capable of further enriching the regime's existing stockpiles of near-weapons-grade uranium.

Indeed, intelligence assessments suggest that Iran has employed a "dispersal strategy" in recent years for their nuclear program, spreading out their operations across multiple sites to create redundancies in the event of strikes by the US and Israel. The assessments estimate that as many as 6,000 advanced centrifuges have been deployed to various sites, including many that have never been made accessible to IAEA inspectors, and would include Pickaxe Mountain.

The status of the facility is unknown and its capabilities will likely remain a mystery for the foreseeable future, barring any further diplomatic breakthroughs that allow the IAEA to inspect the site. But analysts say that security measures around the mountain site suggest the Mullahs expect it will soon be operational.

According to The Telegraph, a close advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ominously warned this week, quote, even assuming the complete destruction of the sites, the game is not over because enriched materials, indigenous knowledge and political will remain intact, as does the current regime.

All right, coming up next, in the latest news out of Gaza, seven IDF soldiers were killed in a Hamas attack on Tuesday, marking the deadliest day for Israeli soldiers in months. Plus, border czar Tom Homan says thousands of children that vanished after being smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border under the Biden administration are being rescued. I'll be right back.

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In its deadliest day since the March ceasefire unraveled, seven IDF soldiers were killed in a Hamas attack in southern Gaza on Tuesday.

The soldiers, all members of the IDF's 605th Combat Engineering Battalion, were conducting operations via an armored vehicle in Kanyunas when a Hamas-planted explosive tore through the vehicle's hull, igniting it in seconds. Efforts to extinguish the blaze failed, and the burnt remains of the vehicle were later towed out of Gaza. Among the dead were a lieutenant, three staff sergeants, and three sergeants. The oldest was just 21 years old.

Hamas immediately claimed responsibility, boasting it had also fired an anti-tank missile at a second vehicle sent to aid the stricken unit. Nearby, the same battalion took a further hit as two soldiers were wounded, one seriously, after terrorists fired a rocket-propelled grenade at an IDF bulldozer. Israel's leadership responded with an outpouring of tributes. Prime Minister Netanyahu called the fallen, quote, "...heroic soldiers who fell in the battle to defeat Hamas and free our hostages."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog posted on X that he shared the soldiers' families, quote, "...unbearable grief at this difficult time." Defense Minister Israel Katz praised the men as having died, quote, "...defending the state of Israel and attempting to return our hostages."

Tuesday's losses bring the IDF's total death toll in the enclave and along the border to 440 since the start of the war nearly 20 months ago. The deadly terror bombing comes as diplomatic efforts appear to be intensifying. Speaking ahead of Wednesday's NATO summit, President Trump hinted that a deal in Gaza may be within reach. The president told reporters that, quote, I think great progress is being made, adding that his envoy, Steve Witkoff, replied,

reported back from the region saying "Gaza is very close to a deal"

Qatari and Egyptian mediators agreed, Doha announced plans for a renewed push toward a truce, and a Hamas official told AFP they "communications with the mediators have intensified in recent hours." But, as you might imagine, deep divides remain. Netanyahu has made clear that any deal must include Hamas disarming, relinquishing future political control of Gaza, and releasing all remaining hostages. Hamas has rejected those conditions,

demanding a full IDF withdrawal and a permanent ceasefire in exchange for hostage releases. So, yeah, not sure why folks are implying that the two sides are close to a deal. As of today, 50 hostages remain in the Strip. Of the 251 abducted during the 7th October 2023 terror attacks, 20 are believed to be alive and 28 are confirmed dead. The fate of the other two is unknown, but officials fear the worst.

Jerusalem has not publicly commented on the latest ceasefire push, but made clear its position The hostage mission continues "on the battlefield and via negotiations"

All right, shifting to the US. In a damning revelation, thousands of migrant children who vanished after illegally crossing the southern border under then-President Biden have been rescued from sex traffickers, forced labor, and violent abuse. On an episode of the New York Post's Pod Force One podcast, former ICE director and current border czar Tom Homan revealed that federal agents are finding children in horrifying conditions.

Some were trafficked for sex while others were forced into enslaved labor on U.S. farms and ranches One 14-year-old girl was found pregnant, living with adult men According to Hohmann, "there were 300 missing children under the last administration" He noted that while some minors had simply avoided immigration court in fear of deportation, many, he said, were trapped in nightmarish conditions

Homan's revelations track closely with a blistering 2023 report from the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general. The report torched the Biden administration for losing track of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children, many handed over to unvetted, unrelated adults with virtually no follow-up.

To grasp the scale of the Biden administration's problem, DHS investigators found that over 31,000 addresses provided by sponsors were either bogus, incomplete, or outright undeliverable. At one field office, 80% of the addresses on record proved to be wrong.

And it gets worse. In just one week in November of 2023, more than 2,400 children were released into the country, but only 1,000 were placed with parents or legal guardians. Three were released to their spouses. Yes, spouses. One of those spouses was reportedly 40 years old.

The numbers are staggering. In 2023 alone, over 14,500 children were handed off to distant relatives or complete strangers. Another 9,600 followed in 2024.

Holman said on the podcast that ICE agents recently were sent to verify sponsor homes, reporting conditions that would alarm even seasoned investigators The agents found neighborhoods riddled with gang activity, drug operations, and in some cases, clear evidence of children being recruited into criminal activity

According to Trump's border czar, one address was a motel with no kitchen that was used five separate times to house migrant children At another address, police repeatedly responded to stabbings and shootings

He said the root cause was political expediency. Homan stated, "The Biden administration didn't care about the invasion itself. It was the optics, blasting Biden's decision to prioritize quick releases from border holding facilities over the vetting of sponsors."

By contrast, Homan pointed to Trump's first-term safeguards that were later scrapped by Biden, most notably a DNA testing system that revealed as many as 30% of adults traveling with children had no familial relationship at all. Homan said, quote, a lot of parents paid cartels to get their kids across. Homeland Security investigations confirmed that kids were being rented to adults to cross, then sent back and reused, end quote.

As for Democrats, Holman said their silence has been deafening. Holman reserved sharp criticism for California Senator Alex Padilla, accusing him of selective outrage. He said on the podcast, quote, they're yelling about ICE enforcement while sex trafficking of women and children has skyrocketed. Not a word from Democrats on that, end quote.

Trump's border czar ended with a vow, stating, quote, we're going to find every one of these kids. President Trump made a promise. We're going to keep that promise, end quote. All right. Coming up next in the back of the brief, a senior official in Los Angeles County is under FBI investigation after calling on local gang members to protect their gang territory against ICE agents. I'll have those details next.

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In today's Back of the Brief, a Los Angeles County official is allegedly under federal investigation after a now-deleted social media video showed her calling on violent gangs to go head-to-head with federal immigration agents.

Cynthia Gonzalez, the vice mayor of Cudahy posted the video late last week, directly invoking notorious gangs like 18th Street and Florencia 13.

In the clip, she demanded they "protect their turf" from what she called an invasion by "the biggest gang there is," referring to ICE agents. In the video, Gonzales taunted the gangs for their inaction, saying "18th Street, Florencia, where's the leadership at? Because you guys are all about territory. Now that your hood's being invaded, there ain't a peep out of you."

She then appeared to escalate, chastising the violent gangs for staying quiet, adding, quote, don't be trying to claim no block, no nothing. Boy, she's really gone street with her language, hasn't she? If you're not showing up right now, she said, trying to help out and organize, I don't want to hear a peep out of you once they're gone, end quote. Now, toward the end of that rant, she called on gang leaders to, quote, oh, wait, and here, kids, earmuffs. All right. All right.

You get him? Good. Toward the end of the rant, she called on gang leaders to, quote, get your fucking members in order, end quote. That definitely sounds like a drunk tweet. For background, 18th Street is estimated to have 50,000 members and has been linked to drug trafficking, murder, and violent assaults. Florencia 13 has made headlines for fentanyl distribution, extortion, and a string of homicides, according to the Justice Department.

As you can imagine, the video vanished from social media shortly after she posted it, possibly when she sobered, but not before it caught the attention of the feds. According to Fox News, FBI agents showed up at Gonzalez's home, and she's now reportedly under investigation for inciting violence against federal officers.

In a social media post of their own, DHS issued a sharp rebuke on X, calling Gonzalez's comments "despicable," adding she was "calling for criminal gangs, including the vicious 18th Street gang, to commit violence against our brave ICE law enforcement." The post went on to say that rhetoric like hers has led to a "more than 500 percent increase in attacks against ICE agents."

Gonzalez's insanely moronic video comes weeks after the PDB's coverage of anti-ICE protests in LA that, while billed by rioters and progressives as peaceful, left nearly a dozen deputies injured and stuck taxpayers with over $32 million in damages.

And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Thursday, the 26th of June. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. And, of course, as you may well know, to listen to the show ad-free, just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe,

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