Tuesday Afternoon Breaking News Updates with Ben - 6/23/2026
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to Ben on Breaking News. I'm Ben Maiselis, and this is your Breaking News. The most breaking news, moments ago, the Senate voted to block Donald Trump from resuming the Iran war. The Senate joined with the House of Representatives to pass the first War Powers Resolution since the start of the conflict. It is a concurrent resolution, and under our very flawed system of laws, while this can't be vetoed, Donald Trump then just says, I'm not going to follow the concurrent resolution. And because it's a concurrent resolution and the Supreme Court gave Donald Trump absolute immunity, Donald Trump's just going to say, I'm going to not follow the law.
What recent Senate decision affects Donald Trump's actions regarding Iran?
And I'm just going to ignore this and I don't treat this as having any force and effect of law. Now, there is this memorandum of understanding that was signed by Donald Trump and Iran. Donald Trump, of course, is misrepresenting and lying about what the MOU says. You know, the thing about having a written document. An memorandum of understanding. And then the subsequent joint statement that came out of the Switzerland talks is that we can read it, we can see it. And so when Donald Trump says, well, here's what's actually in the memorandum of understanding, we can say, okay, well, show me in the MOU where it says that if... The parties agreed to it. It should be in the MOU. And so far, everything that Iran has said is in the MOU.
We can see in the MOU for ourselves to determine if that's a reality. And Iran is turning those words, the paper, into liquidity. Right. The Treasury Department revoked all of the sanctions that would otherwise block Iran from exporting oil, petrochemicals and other resources that Iran has. This overturns 40 years of American foreign policy. Now, this general waiver, as it's called, extends to mid to late August. But Iran was ready to go immediately with all of its tankers, its VLCCs, those massive tankers. They were ready to go. The blockade goes away from the United States. The sanctions waiver is approved by the Treasury Department and bang. dozens of tankers loaded with iranian oil get out right away now there are some other countries having their tankers get out as well from the strait of hormuz under the control and auspices of iran and oman but iran and oman have declared after a joint meeting that was held in the past
12 hours, that the Strait of Hormuz is part of their territorial sovereign rights, that they say, we control the Strait of Hormuz. And Iran will, of course, prioritize the Iranian oil over the other ships. I think it is a positive development that there are ships that are leaving the Strait of Hormuz other than the Iranian ships. But this is under the control of Iran and Oman now. And if Iran wants to shut it down, Because there is noncompliance with other terms of the MOU, Iran has showed that it's ready, willing, and able to do so. Now, the Trump regime, in the ultimate projection, they are saying, well, you know, Iran has to say certain things for their domestic audience because it's all complicated there in Iran.
So Iran is making up things for their domestic audience and lying.
How does Trump's immunity impact the War Powers Resolution?
Iran's going to use all of the money they're getting. Oh, by the way, in addition to the general waiver I just mentioned, $6 billion of Iranian funds have been unfrozen. Another $6 billion will be unfrozen shortly. Iran was able to extract that from the MOU and from the technical talks that took place in Switzerland. And so you have Donald Trump out there saying, look, you know, Iran, Iran is saying all of these things to their domestic audience because they need to maintain their power. And they don't really mean all these things. Iran, of course, is going to use all of the funds to buy corn from the United States and agriculture and medical supplies. And really, this is going to benefit the American farmers, Donald Trump says, because our deal with Iran is that Iran's going to buy American produce.
And Iran's like, yeah, that's not the deal. We're not doing that. If that was a requirement, then where is it in writing?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–0:47
2
What recent Senate decision affects Donald Trump's actions regarding Iran?
0:47–3:51
3
How does Trump's immunity impact the War Powers Resolution?
3:51–5:27
4
What does the memorandum of understanding between Trump and Iran entail?
5:27–9:18
5
How has the Treasury Department's actions changed U.S. sanctions on Iran?
9:18–15:15
6
What implications does Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz have on global trade?
15:15–22:50
7
How is Trump's foreign policy affecting American farmers?
22:50–35:06
8
What are the economic consequences of Trump's negotiations with Iran?
35:06–1:03:28