President Donald Trump refused to mete out consequences for the horrific U.S. missile strike in Iran that killed more than 175 people, most of them children. During a press conference Wednesday at the G7 summit, Trump was asked whether he planned to hold anyone accountable for the attack on a girls primary school in Minab that killed dozens of young girls between the ages of seven and 12.“No, if it was a fault—and as you know that’s under investigation—it’s such a strange question to be asked at this state because we’re talking about a long time ago,” Trump said. “Nobody did that on purpose.”A preliminary inquiry found that the strike was the result of using outdated intelligence. Trump seemed to suggest that because the strike had been made in error, there was no reason to punish anyone.Clearly, a deadly mistake warrants a response, and failing to respond in a timely manner is not in itself an excuse for doing nothing. If Trump were a real leader who valued human life, this would be unacceptable. Instead, Trump insisted that one would have to examine how many soldiers Iranians had killed and chalked it all up to the cost of doing business. “No mistakes are made. Yeah, war is nasty. But I know it’s under investigation, I could have a report for you tomorrow,” Trump said, adding that the question would be better directed to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. NYT: Now that you're approaching a new phase in this conflict in this Iran, can you now say whether you will hold anyone in your administration accountable for the strike on a school that killed more than 100 children?TRUMP: No. It's such a strange question to be asked. It's a… pic.twitter.com/vh0plTlYKZ— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 17, 2026More than 100 days after the strike in Minab, the DOD’s investigation is now complete and awaiting sign-off, military officials told The New York Times Tuesday. The report became delayed as a result of the slow-moving bureaucratic review process, the Pentagon’s efforts to save its own skin, and intelligence and targeting agencies that couldn’t believe their data could possibly be wrong.
“Racist violence and rhetoric hasn't really been effectively shut down, and in fact is often valorized and legitimized by the media and other parts of the political establishment.”
Rania Khalek , June 17, 2026
President Trump said Wednesday that Iran could have its own nuclear program.“It is a little hard that when you say that somebody wants it, other people have it, other adjoining states have it, and you’re not letting them have it for purposes of electricity and things like that. It’s always a little tough. You have to use a little common sense,” Trump said at the G7 summit in France, alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.Trump leaves door open to Iran enriching: "It's a little hard when other people have it, other adjoining states have it, and you're not letting them have it for purposes of electricity and things like that. You have to use a little common sense." pic.twitter.com/oVfBz4nuI8— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 17, 2026It seems to be a sharp departure from Trump’s previous claims during the war. After months of insisting that the purpose of the war was to get rid of any nuclear capability, demanding “zero enrichment,” Trump is now saying that the country can use nuclear power for electricity.One wonders what Republicans in Congress—let alone the international community—will think of Trump’s latest concession. If a final peace deal between Iran and the U.S. doesn’t have any restrictions on the country’s nuclear program, it will be effectively worse than the 2015 JCPOA agreement with Iran.That agreement was drafted not only between the U.S. and Iran, but the other members of the U.N. Security Council, including China, Russia, the U.K., and the European Union. This deal was negotiated without Congress even being aware of the details. Iran will likely be receiving $300 billion in reconstruction funds, and now they might have a nuclear program too. What did the Trump administration accomplish?
President Trump has given up his efforts to destroy Iran’s ballistic missile stockpile, reneging on one of his central aims in “Operation Epic Fury.” “We’ll be working on a parallel effort with the Gulf nations to address nonnuclear issues, such as [Iran’s] conventional ballistic missiles,” Trump said at the G7 summit on Wednesday. “I mean, they have to have some. Because other people have some. You gotta have some. Somebody said ‘You shouldn’t give them more … sir, you shouldn’t let them have any missile.’ … What am I gonna do? I’m gonna let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but they can’t have them?“It doesn’t work that way,” Trump continued. “Missiles, they hurt a little location. But they don’t blow up the planet.”Trump says that Iran "has to have" ballistic missiles, adding "what am I going to do? Am I going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles but they can't have them?" pic.twitter.com/32nPskhLpb— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 17, 2026“One of the goals of Epic Fury, you said going into it, was to destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles and its capabilities to build more,” a reporter asked Trump moments later. “Why is it acceptable to you now that they keep some of that capability?”“What are they keeping? They have less than other nations now. We knocked out probably 84, 85 percent of their missiles. The rest of them are underground; they can’t even get ’em out,” Trump replied. “They’re gonna have a hard time rebuilding.”Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Iran secures virtually nothing he sought at the beginning of this war. The Strait of Hormuz was already open, and Iran wasn’t anywhere close to obtaining a nuclear bomb. Now, even as the Strait of Hormuz is set to reopen, it appears that the president is back at square one—all while allowing Iran to retain their missile stock that he claimed to have destroyed.Reporter: One of the goals of Epic Fury was to destroy Iran's ballistic missiles. Why is it acceptable to you now that they keep some of that capability?Trump: What are they keeping? They have less than other nations now. The rest of them are underground. They can't even get… pic.twitter.com/3LVPRJlRtE— Acyn (@Acyn) June 17, 2026