Japan said the Trump administration did not directly ask it to hike its defense budget to 5% of GDP and denied that the demand had prompted the postponement of a key bilateral security meeting. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/06/23/japan/politics/japan-denies-us-demand-over-defense-spending/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #usjapanrelations #us #defense
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Monday canceled his trip to a NATO leaders’ summit this week, a day before his scheduled departure from Tokyo, following U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites Saturday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/06/23/japan/politics/ishiba-nato-trip/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #shigeruishiba #nato #us #defense #defensespending #takeshiiwaya
#Hegseth said that a choice to move a number of B-2 bombers from their base in Missouri earlier Saturday was meant to be a decoy to throw off #Iran.
He added that the #US used other methods of deception as well, deploying fighters to protect the B-2 bombers that dropped 14 #BunkerBuster bombs on Iran’s most powerful #nuclear site. He said that all of these tactics helped the U.S. drop the bombs without tipping off Iran’s fighter jets or its air missile systems.
The #Trump admin said that its attack on 3 #Iran #nuclear facilities was not about toppling the country’s government.
“This mission was not and has not been about regime change,” #Defense Secretary #PeteHegseth said at a Sunday news briefing.
Air Force Gen. #DanCaine, the chairman of the #JointChiefs of Staff, stressed that the goal of “Operation Midnight Hammer” had destroyed the nuclear sites in #Fordow, #Natanz & #Isfahan.
#Trump Secretary of #Defense#PeteHegseth said Sunday that despite a surprise attack overnight on Iranian #nuclear sites, America “does not seek war.”
#Hegseth said it was important to note that #US strikes did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people, a veiled effort to indicate to #Iran that they don’t want retaliation on American targets in the region.
#Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the time for #diplomacy had passed & that his country had the right to defend itself, saying the #US had “crossed a very big red line.”
#Trump#Defense Secy #PeteHegseth echoed his remarks in a press conference.
“I can only confirm that there are both public & private messages being directly delivered to the Iranians in multiple channels, giving them every opportunity to come to the table,” #Hegseth said.
There were numerous scenes of protesters throwing rocks or other objects at law enforcement officers & setting cars ablaze, including a number of self-driving #Waymo taxis. At the same time, false images spread to revive old #ConspiracyTheories that the #protests were a planned provocation, not a spontaneous response to the #immigration raids.
#MediaLiteracy#SocialMedia #moderation#TrumpLies#Trump #propaganda #disinformation#LosAngeles#LAprotests #immigration #protests
The confrontation escalated on Monday as new #protests occurred & #Defense Secy #PeteHegseth announced—on X—that he was mobilizing 700 #Marines from a base near #LosAngeles to guard federal bldgs. They are expected to join 2k members of the #California#NationalGuard whom #Trump ordered deployed without the authorization of the #state’s #governor, #GavinNewsom, who normally [legally] has command of the #troops.
#MediaLiteracy#SocialMedia #moderation #propaganda #disinformation#LAprotests