Trump Declares Early Victory, Lebanon Asks Israel To Talk, New York Protest Attack

0:02Ayesha Rascoe:President Trump says the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran is a success, but that the U.S. will go even further.

0:08Michel Martin:He compares the endgame to Venezuela, where the leader changed while the regime stayed. How does this war end?

0:14Ayesha Rascoe:I'm Leila Fahdil, that's Stephen Skeep, and this is Up First from NPR News. Lebanon's government is asking Israel to talk. The country's president says Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into a war it did not choose. Will Israel come to the table?

0:30Michel Martin:Also, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks of an alleged act of terrorism.

0:35Rachel Martin:New York City will never tolerate violence, whether from protests or counter-protests.

0:40Michel Martin:People were protesting the Muslim mayor. Then police say two teenagers allegedly inspired by ISIS tried to deploy improvised explosive devices. Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day.

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2:24Ayesha Rascoe:President Trump took questions from reporters at a press conference on Monday for the first time since the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran. The administration took several days to explain what its objectives were in this war. And Trump has given conflicting reasons for why he launched the strikes. On Monday, he said this.

2:44Rachel Martin:We're achieving major strides toward completing our military objective. And some people could say they're pretty well complete. We've wiped every single force in Iran out.

2:58Michel Martin:That was one of several contradictory statements by the president throughout the day, suggesting the war's end was near or not near. NPR national political correspondent Mara Eliasson has been listening to it all. Mara, good morning. Good morning. What do you make of the president's many words?

3:12Rachel Martin:I think that the dominant message was declaring victory. And after you declare victory, you tend to look for an off-ramp. He said, quote, this was just an excursion. We're close to finishing very soon. He said, we've already won. But then in the next breath, he said, but we haven't won enough and we're determined to achieve total victory. Here's a little sample of that. We could call it a tremendous success right now as we leave here. I could call it or we could go further. and we're going to go further. But he didn't say what going further means. President Trump's model, at least in past military excursions, have been one and done.

3:52Venezuela, very quick, got out.

3:55Rachel Martin:Same with the Iran bombing in June. It sounds like that's what he wants to do now.

3:59Michel Martin:Mara, I just want to note that the president's remarks have been moving markets. Before this press conference, in the afternoon, while the financial markets were still open, Trump told CBS the war was, quote, very complete. Stocks immediately soared. Somebody made billions of dollars. And then he comes to the press conference. He declares victory, but also hedges. I mean, I guess we could blame us, the media, in a sense, because Trump always says many, many words and people grab a few and try to interpret them. But are you able to get a through line from all of these different statements?

4:30Rachel Martin:Well, yes, there were some things that were different about yesterday. He wasn't talking about unconditional surrender or regime change. He was asked, what does victory mean for you? Here's what he said. where they're not going to be starting the following day to develop a nuclear weapon. And that shouldn't be hard to claim. He also talked about, instead of regime change, having an internal candidate that he would approve to be Iran's new leader. And he compared it to Venezuela. He said the Venezuela model has worked really well. In other words, leave the regime in place, but the leader changes.

5:05Rachel Martin:Now, Venezuela is a small, weak country in the United States' backyard. Iran is very different, a big country with regional ambitions. He was also pressed on why he had promised the Iranian people he would come to their aid. And he was asked, aren't you betraying them if you don't push all the way for regime change? But he didn't answer that question.

5:22Michel Martin:I guess this is a good point to remember that a war has two parties, has two people with a vote, as military people will say. How does this look to Iran?

5:31Rachel Martin:Well, I think their objective is to survive and to make the cost of continuing the war as high as possible for the U.S. and Israel. That means keeping the gas prices high, keeping the Straits of Hormuz strangled, if not closed. And the president did talk about that yesterday. He said he wants to keep the Straits of Hormuz open and he might have military escorts for oil tankers through the Gulf. But right now, the price of oil in the United States, the price of gas at the pump is going up. And if it keeps going up, that could make continuing the war politically difficult for the president.

6:02Michel Martin:Mara, the president also talked about an Iranian girls school that was hit very early in the war. What is he saying about that?

6:10Rachel Martin:He seemed to suggest that Iran did this himself. That's something no one else in his administration, including his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has claimed. He said it's easy to get a tomahawk missile, although we know Iran does not have tomahawk missiles. But he seemed to suggest that Iran got a tomahawk and used it against its own civilians, but he also said that the U.S. was investigating and that he would support the conclusion of that investigation.

6:34Michel Martin:Okay, so statements that have yet to be supported by evidence. Mara, thanks so much. You're welcome. That's NPR's Mara Liason. Now, we do not know how this war ends, but we do have some idea of the scale of its destruction so far. Iranian health officials contend the United States and Israeli campaign has killed 1 ,200 people in Iran. Lebanese authorities report 500 deaths in an Israeli offensive there. And we go next to Lebanon, where NPR's Hadil al-Shalchi has been sometimes underneath the bombs and covering this from Beirut. Hi there, Hadil.

7:07Ayesha Rascoe:Good morning.

7:08Michel Martin:Okay, so we heard from President Trump. What do you hear from the other side in this war?

7:12Ayesha Rascoe:Well, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said that President Trump is trying to put, quote, psychological pressure on Iran, and they vow to continue standing up to the U.S. and Israeli aggression with, quote, courage and strong will. It also said that the Iranian armed forces are waiting for the U.S. Navy at the Strait of Hormuz. Their reaction elsewhere in the region has been pretty muted, but we know that the Gulf is calling for an end to the war and a return to negotiations. The price of oil, as you just heard from Mara, soared yesterday as Iran targeted oil installations in the Gulf.

7:44Michel Martin:Now, where you are in Beirut, we know there have been Israeli airstrikes, there's been an Israeli ground force that has moved into southern Lebanon, and the president of Lebanon wants direct negotiations with Israel. What does that mean?

7:58Ayesha Rascoe:Yeah, so Lebanon and Israel have been at war for decades. The first ever direct talks were just three months ago, actually. And then yesterday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called for more direct negotiations with Israel and for an end to the bombing. He asked once again for help from the international community to provide the Lebanese armed forces with equipment and what he called logistical support to help in the Lebanese government's campaign to try and disarm and distance itself from the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah, which operates mainly out of southern Lebanon. Now, just last week, security authorities in Lebanon actually issued arrest warrants.

8:33Ayesha Rascoe:It's unprecedented for those who they believed launched the rockets into Israel, which dragged Lebanon into this war. And the justice minister even proposed to the Lebanese cabinet to issue an arrest warrant for the leader of Hezbollah, Naim Qasem. Now, these are some of the strongest rebukes ever by the Lebanese state towards Hezbollah. But again, whether they're able to follow through remains to be seen. You know, the Lebanese army says it's outgunned by Hezbollah. And there are actually questions about political will within the army to go through with the disarmament.

9:04Michel Martin:So how has Israel responded to this Lebanese effort at peace?

9:07Ayesha Rascoe:So an official briefed on the matter speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic affairs told NPR that Israel sees positive signs from the Lebanese government in its approach to Hezbollah, but that the war is continuing and will continue. Hezbollah is still showing it has capabilities, the official said, with rocket fire toward Tel Aviv yesterday. They also said that Israel has no patience to enter a war with Hezbollah every few months. But let's remember that Israel has been striking southern Lebanon for 15 months now, even though a ceasefire was brokered last year. The Israeli military is also pushing further into Lebanese land.

9:45Ayesha Rascoe:And there are fears for a wider ground invasion into Lebanon.

9:48Michel Martin:Now let's talk about Iran itself. Of course, the Israeli campaign continues there. The U.S. campaign continues there. They have a new supreme leader. President Trump has talked about assassinating him, too. What are the Israelis saying?

10:01Ayesha Rascoe:The Israelis are being a little bit coy about that particular point. In a post on social media yesterday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry posted a photo of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei carrying a gun with his son, who is the new supreme leader, also carrying a gun. And the caption was, like father, like son. But when asked whether Mushtaba Khamenei should be worried, the Israeli military spokesperson said that they don't comment on specific targets and they, quote, leave some room for surprise. What we do know is that the war continues. Bombs fell on Tehran just this morning.

10:32Michel Martin:NPSD, El Al-Shalchi, thanks so much.

10:34Ayesha Rascoe:You're welcome.

10:40Ayesha Rascoe:Two Pennsylvania men have been charged with terrorism-related crimes following an attempted attack using explosive devices over the weekend in New York City.

10:49Michel Martin:Okay, there were no injuries. The device didn't go off. But federal investigators assert that the suspects, both of them teenagers, teenagers were motivated by ISIS. That group has worked to radicalize young Muslim men around the world. NPR's Brian Mann is covering this story. Brian, good morning. Good morning, Steve. What do you know about the suspects?

11:06Rachel Martin:So Amir Balat, who's 18, and Ibrahim Khayyumi, 19, are both from Pennsylvania. Neither have criminal records. Investigators said they arrived in New York City Saturday, apparently drawn by an anti-Muslim protest organized by a far-right group. It had been widely publicized. Authorities said yesterday the men were caught on camera throwing improvised explosive devices at the anti-Muslim protesters. Jay Clayton is U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York at a press conference yesterday in Manhattan. He said the two suspects planned for this to be a deadly attack.

11:38Ayesha Rascoe:These were ISIS-inspired actions.