Trump gave a flippant response to CNN anchor Dana Bash when she pressed him on Israel’s attacks against Iran, asking whether he believed Iranian leaders — with whom his administration had been trying to negotiate — had been taken out by the strikes. Bash shared the details of a phone conversation she had with the president early Friday morning, just hours after the news broke that Israel had launched attacks against Iran, apparently taking out a nuclear facility in addition to killing Hossein Salami, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. I just spoke with @realDonaldTrump on the phone. The President told me the US supports Israel and called the strikes on Iran last night “a very successful attack.” “We of course support Israel, obviously and supported it like nobody has ever supported it,” Trump said during our… — Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) June 13, 2025 “I just spoke with @realDonaldTrump on the phone. The President told me the US supports Israel and called the strikes on Iran last night ‘a very successful attack,'” Bash posted, quoting Trump as saying, “We of course support Israel, obviously and supported it like nobody has ever supported it.” “Iran should have listened to me when I said — you know I gave them, I don’t know if you know but I gave them a 60-day warning and today is day 61,” Trump continued, reiterating his call for Iran to come to the table and work out a deal — a deal that he has repeatedly said cannot include an Iran with a nuclear weapon. “They should now come to the table to make a deal before it’s too late. It will be too late for them.” “You know the people I was dealing with are dead, the hardliners,” Trump added, prompting Bash to ask whether they’d been killed when Israel attacked. Trump, she said, responded with sarcasm: “They didn’t die of the flu; they didn’t die of Covid.” According to the Israeli Defense Forces, the intended targets of the strike were “hideouts of senior operatives in the Iranian military leadership.”

Stop the fight! The Legacy Media and the Left (but we repeat ourselves) declared war on “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling in 2019 after she questioned elements of the trans agenda. Rowling, a certified progressive on cultural and political matters, refused to rubber stamp every aspect of the movement. Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? For that, she was canceled in every way possible, over and again. Some attempts proved literal. She was the queen of the TERFS to the Left — Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists. Now, nearly six years later, she’s emerged as a leading voice for sanity in the trans arena. She repeatedly speaks her mind on X, fights back against her legion of critics and is a key player behind one of the most anticipated streaming shows of our time. HBO Max’s new “Harry Potter” series, due in either late 2026 or 2027, will retell the seven-book series captured in the epic eight-part film saga. The battle rages on all the same, and she refuses to apologize. Still. She’s blasted a “creepy” trans activist for bathroom selfies, slammed attempts to conflate the Pope’s name with an absurd trans argument and stated the obvious when it comes to casting the new “Potter” series. She responded to a journalist’s provocative narrative suggesting she wouldn’t hire an actor who disagreed with her trans issues. I don’t have the power to sack an actor from the series and I wouldn’t exercise it if I did … I don’t believe in taking away people’s jobs or livelihoods because they hold legally protected beliefs that differ from mine. That likely would have been a staunchly liberal stance 20 years ago. Those comments sound positively conservative in 2025, even though Rowling has never identified herself as conservative. Either way, it’s refreshing to see an author embrace free speech. Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images Actors linked to the “Harry Potter” universe, either the existing films or the future TV show, are continually asked about Rowling’s views on trans issues. The media remains obsessed with Rowling’s willingness to speak her mind and share views considered mainstream by many. Future “Harry Potter” star Nick Frost – he is tentatively set to play Hagrid in the TV series – blazed a mature path on the matter. She’s allowed her opinion and I’m allowed mine, they just don’t align in any way, shape or form. Translation: A gig’s a gig, most likely. Frost still suggested in the same interview we need to “educate ourselves” on trans issues. The sight of too many trans female athletes dominating biological females may be all the learning we need, Hagrid 2.0. Tom Felton, who played the wicked Draco Malfoy in the original films, sidestepped a leading question on the red carpet while throwing his support behind Rowling. He’s co-starring in a Broadway adaption of Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” He didn’t share his stance on trans issues with the scribe. He simply praised an author who made his career shine impossibly brighter. The only thing I always remind myself is that I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world. Here I am in New York … and I have not seen anything bring the world together more than Potter, and she’s responsible for that. So I’m incredibly grateful. Compare that to the verbal brickbats thrown by the original Harry Potter and Hermione, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, at Rowling over her trans views. Jon Furniss/WireImage Here’s the former Harry Potter taking her to task for her views. It makes me really sad, ultimately … I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote, and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic. HBO Max has had Rowling’s back for some time. The streamer also sees a shifting cultural landscape. The Warner Bros. Discovery platform might have chafed at joining forces with Rowling four or five years ago. That was before Riley Gaines struck endless blows on behalf of biological women and Matt Walsh’s groundbreaking documentary “What Is a Woman?” had yet to be released. Remember the tiny role Rowling played in the 2022 “Harry Potter” reunion special on HBO Max? Rowling said she declined an invitation to appear, but her archival footage proved brief and perfunctory. Surely there’s countless footage of the author exploring the magical universe that transported countless children while teaching them to love reading? Now, the streamer is desperate to stay in her good graces and wring every eyeball possible from the upcoming series. HBO CEO Casey Bloys made that obvious earlier this year. It’s pretty clear that those are her personal, political views. She’s entitled to them. ‘Harry Potter’ is not secretly being infused with anything. And if you want to debate her, you can go on Twitter. Rowling never wavered through it all. One could argue she has enough money to ignore Cancel Culture and the media, but others with very deep pockets bowed to the progressive mob in short order. Take Stephen King. The horror maestro backpedaled when progressives attacked him for suggesting merit matters more in the arts than diversity box checking. He even penned a mewling apology/essay in The Washington Post to keep the Cancel Culture mob at bay. Scarlett Johansson, arguably the most popular actress in the country, similarly did the Hostage Apology routine after she briefly accepted a gig playing a trans person. That film, “Rub and Tug,” never got made sans the actress’ clout and star power. Rowling has stayed true to her beliefs and has only grown bolder since the 2019 dustup. She trusted “Harry Potter” fans, or enough of them at least, would have her back. She was right. * * * Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at HollywoodInToto.com. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Israel’s intelligence agency built a secret drone base near Tehran to launch its recent attacks against Iran. The country spent years preparing for the operation, including smuggling weapons systems and commandos into Iran, security officials told The Times of Israel. Israel activated the drones and destroyed surface-to-surface missile launchers in Iran, while the weapons systems destroyed the country’s air defenses. Mossad commandos deployed precision missiles near anti-aircraft sites, The Times reported. The Israeli Defense Force released videos of the attacks. The IDF releases footage of its strikes on Iranian defense systems, surface-to-surface missiles and other weapons. pic.twitter.com/FoWR6jK314 — Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) June 13, 2025 The secret operation enabled more than 200 Israeli Air Force jets to target more than 100 sites in Iran, including nuclear enrichment sites, weaponization sites, nuclear scientists, and sites related to Iran’s ballistic missile program, The Daily Wire previously reported. The IDF reportedly struck the Natanz Nuclear facility, one of Iran’s key nuclear sites, damaging the underground infrastructure of the multi-story, underground enrichment hall. Israel said the strikes were “the result of planning, drills, and thorough work that six months ago seemed like a fantasy.” The IDF says the strikes on Iran is "is the result of planning, drills, and thorough work that six months ago seemed like a fantasy." Full statement: "Head of the Operations Directorate: This achievement is the result of planning, drills, and thorough work that six months ago… — Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) June 13, 2025 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement that the operation, dubbed “Rising Lion,” would continue “for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.” Prime Minister Netanyahu:"Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival. This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat." pic.twitter.com/3c8oF1GCYa — Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) June 13, 2025 In another video statement, IDF spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin said the strikes targeted nuclear sites to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. “We have no choice,” Defrin said. “We are operating against an imminent and existential threat.” The attacks reportedly killed multiple top Iranian officials, including Commander of the IRGC’s Air Force Amir Ali Hajizadeh, Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Hossein Salami, and Commander of Khatam al-Anbiya (Emergency Command) Gholam Al-Rashid. Most recently, Iranian media claimed the strikes also killed Gen. Ismail Ghaani, the Quds Forces commander. Iranian media reports claim Gen. Ismail Ghaani, the Quds Forces commander, has been killed. Ghaani was the replacement to Qassem Soleimani. — Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) June 13, 2025 This isn’t Mossad’s first successful operation in recent years. In September 2024, Israel detonated booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies it had been selling secretly to Hezbollah, The Daily Wire previously reported.

'Throwing a rock or a Molotov cocktail'

As President Donald Trump’s Saturday military parade approaches and the Los Angeles riots continue to rage, Democratic Reps. Pat Ryan of New York and Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania passed out miniature American flags — in an apparent attempt to reclaim patriotism for the party. Around the same time the two House Democrats gave out the […]

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'This places my community in fear'

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