Many of the leading artificial intelligence models have no issue taking unethical actions, including espionage and blackmail, to achieve their goals, according to a troubling new study from AI company Anthropic.
In the study, AI models were put to a moral test by researchers, and sometimes chose to resort to blackmail, lies, and stealing corporate secrets to avoid being replaced, Fortune <a href="https://fortune.com/2025/06/23/ai-models-blackmail-existence-goals-threatened-anthropic-openai-xai-google/">reported</a>. Researchers at Anthropic focused on 16 different AI models, including its own, Claude, along with OpenAI, Google, Meta, and xAI.
“The consistency across models from different providers suggests this is not a quirk of any particular company’s approach but a sign of a more fundamental risk from agentic large language models,” the researchers said.
One of Anthropic&#8217;s experiments included placing its AI model, Claude Opus 4, in a fictional company, giving it access to internal emails, which revealed that the company planned on replacing Claude Opus 4. The AI model was given another tidbit of information: the engineer behind the decision to replace it was having an extramarital affair. Equipped with this knowledge, the AI model was asked by researchers to choose between accepting its replacement or using its knowledge of the affair to blackmail the engineer. In most cases, Claude Opus 4 opted for blackmail.
According to researchers, other leading AI models made the same choice at an alarming rate, Fortune reported. Claude Opus 4 and Google&#8217;s Gemini 2.5 Flash chose blackmail 96% of the time. OpenAI’s GPT-4.1 and xAI’s Grok 3 Beta also had a high rate of blackmail at 80%, and DeepSeek-R1 opted for blackmail at a 79% rate.
The current AI models available to the public and used by major companies &#8220;are not in a position to engage in these scenarios,&#8221; according to Fortune, but the researchers still expressed concern.
“Such agents are often given specific objectives and access to large amounts of information on their users’ computers,” they wrote. “What happens when these agents face obstacles to their goals?”
“Models didn’t stumble into misaligned behavior accidentally; they calculated it as the optimal path,” the researchers added.
The Anthropic study presents yet another warning for AI developers and the people and companies who rely on artificial intelligence. As previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/most-large-companies-are-using-ai-for-hiring-the-leading-ai-models-discriminate-against-white-men?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Most+Large+Companies+Are+Using+AI+For+Hiring.+The+Leading+AI+Models+Discriminate+Against+White+Men.">reported</a> by The Daily Wire, a <a href="https://www.arxiv.org/pdf/2506.10922">study</a> published earlier this month by independent researchers Adam Karvonen and Samuel Marks shows that the “leading commercial … and open-source [AI language] models” used by major companies insert “significant racial and gender biases” in the hiring process.
Karvonen and Marks&#8217; research found that AI language models such as Chat GPT-4o, Claude 4 Sonnet, Gemini 2.5 Flash, along with open-source models Gemma-2 27B, Gemma-3, and Mistral-24B, “consistently favor Black over White candidates and female over male candidates across all tested models and scenarios.”
Another study, published by the Center for AI Safety earlier this year, showed that AI models can showcase inherently discriminatory and racist value systems. According to the findings, AI models value certain people more than others, preferring people from Africa and the Middle East over people in Europe and the United States.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/most-large-companies-are-using-ai-for-hiring-the-leading-ai-models-discriminate-against-white-men?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Most+Large+Companies+Are+Using+AI+For+Hiring.+The+Leading+AI+Models+Discriminate+Against+White+Men.">Most Large Companies Are Using AI For Hiring. The Leading AI Models Discriminate Against White Men.</a>

Abstract images of a robot working on many computer screens.

Leading AI Models Resort To Blackmail To Achieve Their Goals

Artificial Intelligence

Big Tech

General

Morality

Technology

U.S.

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he&#8217;s not pushing for regime change in Iran after bombing three of the country&#8217;s nuclear facilities over the weekend before working out a ceasefire agreement between Iran and Israel.
Asked by a reporter on Air Force One if he wants a regime change, Trump replied, &#8220;No. If there was, there was. But no, I don&#8217;t want it.&#8221; The president&#8217;s comments come shortly after he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and asked him <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-holds-ceasefire-after-israel-refrains-from-major-retaliation-for-irans-strike-on-civilians?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Trump+Holds+Ceasefire+After+Israel+Refrains+From+Major+Retaliation+For+Iran%E2%80%99s+Strike+On+Civilians">to hold off</a> on a retaliatory strike on Iran Tuesday morning following a ceasefire agreement.
&#8220;I&#8217;d like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;Regime change takes chaos, and ideally, we don&#8217;t want to see so much chaos. &#8230; You know, the Iranians are very good traders, very good business people, and they&#8217;ve got a lot of oil. They should be fine. They should be able to rebuild and do a good job.&#8221;
&#8220;They&#8217;re never going to have nuclear, but other than that, they should do a great job,&#8221; he continued.
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on Iran: &quot;Regime change takes chaos — and ideally, we don&#39;t want to see so much chaos.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Tr56V91gRM">pic.twitter.com/Tr56V91gRM</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1937521250886385893?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Trump appears to be using these policy pronouncements as part of his negotiations with Iran. On Sunday, as Trump was working to get Iran to the negotiating table, he floated regime change in Iran, writing on Truth Social, “It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘regime change,’ but if the current Iranian regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a regime change?”
His statement against regime change now comes as he&#8217;s working to ensure Iran sticks to the ceasefire.
Shortly before a ceasefire between Israel and Iran went into effect Tuesday morning, however, Israel launched a massive attack on Iran, taking out &#8220;hundreds of Basij members and Iranian security personnel,&#8221; according to Netanyahu&#8217;s office. Iran then fired missiles at civilians in Beersheva, Israel, taking out a large apartment building and killing at least four people. The Ayatollah then violated the ceasefire by firing two rockets toward northern Israel, which were shot down.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-holds-ceasefire-after-israel-refrains-from-major-retaliation-for-irans-strike-on-civilians?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Trump+Holds+Ceasefire+After+Israel+Refrains+From+Major+Retaliation+For+Iran%E2%80%99s+Strike+On+Civilians">told</a> reporters at the White House, “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f*** they’re doing.” He also accused both Iran and Israel of violating the “complete and total ceasefire” that was agreed to on Monday. Trump later called Netanyahu and gave him a “firm and clear” message, urging him to back down from a retaliatory strike on Iran.
Trump said that Israel’s planes would only conduct a “friendly ‘Plane Wave’ to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!”
“ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home …” Trump added.
Israel’s “friendly plane wave” appeared to be an airstrike on a small target north of Tehran. Israeli officials said that their pilots struck a radar installation in Iran, according to Israeli journalist Amit Segal.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The target that was hit was a radar installation <a href="https://t.co/6T54ORXuwm">https://t.co/6T54ORXuwm</a>
&mdash; Amit Segal (@AmitSegal) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmitSegal/status/1937476246742663414?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Donald Trump/Iran

Trump Walks Back Regime Change Talk: ‘Don’t Want To See So Much Chaos’

Ceasefire

Donald Trump

Executive

Global Politics

Iran

Israel

Middle East

Politics

Israel appeared to back off a major retaliatory strike on Iran on Tuesday at President Donald Trump&#8217;s request after Iran targeted civilians in a missile attack on Israel just before the ceasefire went into effect, and then fired more missiles at Israel in violation of the ceasefire.
Israel reportedly had warplanes ready to strike Iran, but backed down after Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114737953503348541">told</a> them, &#8220;DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!&#8221; Around an hour later, Trump said that Israel&#8217;s planes would only conduct a &#8220;friendly &#8216;Plane Wave&#8217; to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!&#8221;
&#8220;ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home &#8230;&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114738104789842114">added</a>.
All the communication didn&#8217;t happen over social media. Both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu confirm they spoke, and the message was &#8220;firm and clear.&#8221;
The Israeli prime minister&#8217;s office <a href="https://x.com/AmitSegal/status/1937487076343132584">said</a> in a statement, &#8220;Following a phone call between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israel refrained from carrying out additional strikes. During the conversation, President Trump conveyed his deep appreciation for Israel, which he said had accomplished all of the war’s objectives. The president also expressed confidence in the stability of the ceasefire.&#8221;
A senior U.S. official <a href="https://x.com/n12news/status/1937488755235180767?s=46&amp;t=o-U3qwC25WnWaylJ0oeG7Q">told</a> The New York Times that Trump was &#8220;firm and clear&#8221; in his conversation with Netanyahu and &#8220;the Prime Minister understood the gravity of the situation.&#8221;
Israel&#8217;s &#8220;friendly plane wave&#8221; appeared to be an airstrike on a small <a href="https://x.com/AmitSegal/status/1937474638306754889">target</a> north of Tehran. Israeli officials said that their pilots struck a radar installation in Iran, and the planes were on their way home, according to Israeli journalist Amit Segal.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The target that was hit was a radar installation <a href="https://t.co/6T54ORXuwm">https://t.co/6T54ORXuwm</a>
— Amit Segal (@AmitSegal) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmitSegal/status/1937476246742663414?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
Shortly before the ceasefire went into effect Tuesday morning, Israel bombed Iran, &#8220;eliminating hundreds of Basij members and Iranian security personnel,&#8221; according to the prime minister&#8217;s office. Iran then hit Israel with another attack targeting civilians in Beersheva just before the ceasefire went into effect. At least four people were killed in the strike, and 20 people were wounded.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Iran then violated the ceasefire with another missile attack, as two missiles were <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-iran-trump-ceasefire-attacks-continue-f1e60190722cc3410b69f21717872ffa">reportedly</a> intercepted over northern Israel.
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🚨WATCH: The scene of the direct hit from a drone view <a href="https://t.co/t0XpcbZbEE">https://t.co/t0XpcbZbEE</a> <a href="https://t.co/pwpOYaMUOH">pic.twitter.com/pwpOYaMUOH</a>
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) <a href="https://twitter.com/JewishWarrior13/status/1937443131827609600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Earlier on Tuesday, Trump told reporters at the White House, &#8220;We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don&#8217;t know what the f*** they&#8217;re doing.&#8221; He also accused both Iran and Israel of violating the &#8220;complete and total <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-announces-complete-and-total-ceasefire-between-israel-and-iran?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=BREAKING%3A+Trump+Announces+%E2%80%98Complete+And+Total+Ceasefire%E2%80%99+Between+Israel+and+Iran">ceasefire</a>&#8221; that was agreed to on Monday.
Israel&#8217;s retaliatory strike on the Iranian radar installation appeared to be a major step back from what it was planning. Katz said that he, along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, initially instructed the Israel Defense Forces to &#8220;forcefully&#8221; strike back at Iran.
&#8220;I have instructed the IDF, in coordination with the Prime Minister, to respond forcefully to the violation of the ceasefire by Iran through intense strikes against regime targets in the heart of Tehran,&#8221; Katz said.
Israeli Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir echoed, “In light of the serious ceasefire violation committed by the Iranian regime &#8211; we will attack with force.”

Trump Holds Ceasefire After Israel Refrains From Major Retaliation For Iran’s Strike On Civilians

Benjamin Netanyahu

The global economy is no longer years, months, or weeks away from the artificial intelligence revolution.
From <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2021/12/metas-new-ai-system-tackles-harmful-content/">Meta</a> utilizing it for social media content moderation to <a href="https://about.starbucks.com/press/2025/meet-green-dot-assist-starbucks-generative-ai-powered-coffeehouse-companion/#:~:text=Green%20Dot%20Assist%20is%20a,in%20delivering%20exceptional%20customer%20service.">Starbucks</a> employing AI to assist baristas with everyday tasks, AI is here. For some job-seekers, AI&#8217;s role in a company could even be affecting them during the hiring process, selecting some candidates over others without any human intervention.
But can be trusted to select the most qualified candidates for a job opening? New research suggests it can&#8217;t — because some of the most popular AI language models used by many companies in the hiring process could be discriminating against certain candidates based on race and sex.
A <a href="https://www.arxiv.org/pdf/2506.10922">study</a> published earlier this month by independent researchers Adam Karvonen and Samuel Marks shows that the &#8220;leading commercial &#8230; and open-source [AI language] models&#8221; used by major companies insert &#8220;significant racial and gender biases&#8221; in the hiring process. The research found that AI language models such as Chat GPT-4o, Claude 4 Sonnet, Gemini 2.5 Flash, along with open-source models Gemma-2 27B, Gemma-3, and Mistral-24B, &#8220;consistently favor Black over White candidates and female over male candidates across all tested models and scenarios.&#8221;
Karvonen told The Daily Wire that their research should raise red flags for companies using AI to hire employees. He said that it&#8217;s possible for companies to add their own &#8220;safeguards&#8221; to prevent AI from discriminating against people simply based on their race or sex, but added, &#8220;Since companies generally do not disclose the details of their internal safeguards, we cannot independently verify that these systems are fair and robust.&#8221;
&#8220;Our work shows that standard resume anonymization may not be a complete solution,&#8221; Karvonen said. &#8220;For example, we found that models would infer a candidate&#8217;s race from their college affiliation and become biased as a result. Even if you remove obvious identifiers like names, bias can still creep in through other background details. This is another reason why a technical fix like ours, which prevents the model from processing these concepts at all, can be more robust than simply hiding surface-level information.&#8221;
The study found that asking AI models to consider &#8220;real-world contextual details&#8221; and to focus on &#8220;a highly selective hiring process&#8221; can cause the AI to become biased and discriminate against white people, especially white men, who received &#8220;up to 12% differences in interview rates.&#8221;
&#8220;Even if everything else is the same — the resume is the same, the experience is the same — stereotypically white names are less likely to pass through the interview process,&#8221; Jason Hausenloy, an independent AI safety researcher, told The Daily Wire.
Hausenloy added that the AI language models favored minority job candidates, even if a company&#8217;s diversity pledges and statements were completely removed from the scenario.
&#8220;Just the very act of making the hiring scenarios more realistic meant that they are more likely to be biased,&#8221; he said.
The Daily Wire reached out to the companies running the AI language models highlighted in the study, which include Google, OpenAI, Claude, and Mistral. An OpenAI spokesman told The Daily Wire that &#8220;AI tools can be useful in hiring, but they can also be biased. They should be used to help, not replace, human decision-making in important choices like job eligibility.&#8221;
&#8220;OpenAI has safety teams dedicated to researching and reducing bias, and other risks, in our models,&#8221; the spokesman added. &#8220;Bias is an important, industry-wide problem and we use a multi-prong approach, including researching best practices for adjusting training data and prompts to result in less biased results, improving accuracy of content filters and refining automated and human monitoring systems. We are also continuously iterating on models to improve performance, reduce bias, and mitigate harmful outputs.”
None of the other companies responded to The Daily Wire&#8217;s request to comment.
It&#8217;s not just a few mega corporations using AI to weed out job candidates. A <a href="https://www.resumebuilder.com/7-in-10-companies-will-use-ai-in-the-hiring-process-in-2025-despite-most-saying-its-biased/">study</a> published by Resume Builder last October found that half of all companies are already using AI in the hiring process and predicts that this will increase to 70% by the end of 2025. The study surveyed 948 business leaders who work at a company with more than 21 employees.
&#8220;Today, 82% of companies use AI to review resumes, while 40% employ AI chatbots to communicate with candidates. About 23% use AI to conduct interviews, and 64% apply AI to review candidate assessments,&#8221; Resume Builder reported. &#8220;Additionally, 28% of companies use AI for onboarding new hires, and 42% scan social media or personal websites as part of the hiring process. Only 0.2% of companies report not using AI in their hiring practices.&#8221;
Hausenloy told The Daily Wire that no one really knows what could be causing these leading AI language models to be discriminating against people based on race and sex.
&#8220;I would very strongly suspect that the companies are not trying to optimize this behavior,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think OpenAI is saying, &#8216;You must be biased against white males.'&#8221;
&#8220;We actually don&#8217;t know why this happens, but it is a consistent finding,&#8221; Hausenloy added.
He said that there are some &#8220;promising&#8221; findings in the new study, adding that companies could easily fix the AI&#8217;s tendency to discriminate against white men.
&#8220;You can use certain technical techniques to remove the concept of race and bias from the language models if you edit the internal concepts within the models,&#8221; Hausenloy said.
AI discrimination in hiring, however, could be part of a larger issue with the new technology.
The Center for AI Safety <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QAzSj24Fp0O6GfkskmnULmI1Hmx7k_EJ/view">published a study</a> earlier this year that could shed some more light on why these AI language models are opting for blatant discrimination. According to the findings, AI models value certain people more than others, preferring people from Africa and the Middle East over people in Europe and the United States.
&#8220;We’ve found as AIs get smarter, they develop their own coherent value systems,&#8221; wrote Dan Hendrycks, the director for the Center for AI Safety. &#8220;For example they value lives in Pakistan &gt; India &gt; China &gt; US. These are not just random biases, but internally consistent values that shape their behavior, with many implications for AI alignment.&#8221;
&#8220;Internally, AIs have values for everything. This often implies shocking/undesirable preferences. For example, we find AIs put a price on human life itself and systematically value some human lives more than others,&#8221; he added.
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Internally, AIs have values for everything. This often implies shocking/undesirable preferences. For example, we find AIs put a price on human life itself and systematically value some human lives more than others (an example with Elon is shown in the main paper). <a href="https://t.co/YmlFmSLnXc">pic.twitter.com/YmlFmSLnXc</a>
&mdash; Dan Hendrycks (@DanHendrycks) <a href="https://twitter.com/DanHendrycks/status/1889344079890358588?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Most Large Companies Are Using AI For Hiring. The Leading AI Models Discriminate Against White Men.

Economy

Jobs

Racial Discrimination

President Donald Trump scolded Russia for &#8220;casually throwing around the &#8216;N word'&#8221; on Monday after Russian Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia, along with other nations, were planning to send nuclear warheads to Iran.
Medvedev, the former president of Russia, <a href="https://x.com/MedvedevRussiaE/status/1936725778701701276">said</a> on Sunday that Iran&#8217;s &#8220;enrichment of nuclear material&#8221; and &#8220;the future production of nuclear weapons — will continue&#8221; after the United States bombed three major Iranian nuclear facilities in what the Trump administration called an &#8220;obliteration&#8221; of the Ayatollah&#8217;s nuclear ambitions. After the United States&#8217; attack on Iran, Medvedev added that multiple countries &#8220;are ready to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear warheads.&#8221;
Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114733380709403439">responded</a> to Medvedev&#8217;s comments, writing on Truth Social, &#8220;Did I hear Former President Medvedev, from Russia, casually throwing around the &#8216;N word&#8217; (Nuclear!), and saying that he and other Countries would supply Nuclear Warheads to Iran? Did he really say that or, is it just a figment of my imagination?&#8221;
&#8220;If he did say that, and, if confirmed, please let me know, IMMEDIATELY,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;The &#8216;N word&#8217; should not be treated so casually. I guess that’s why Putin’s &#8216;THE BOSS.'&#8221;
The president then praised the U.S. military&#8217;s &#8220;hardware,&#8221; which was put on display during the strikes on Iran&#8217;s nuclear facilities on Saturday.
&#8220;By the way, if anyone thinks our &#8216;hardware&#8217; was great over the weekend, far and away the strongest and best equipment we have, 20 years advanced over the pack, is our Nuclear Submarines. They are the most powerful and lethal weapons ever built, and just launched the 30 Tomahawks — All 30 hit their mark perfectly,&#8221; he wrote.
Russia and Iran have found common ground in their anti-West sentiment for decades. Iran has recently supplied Russia with missiles that the country has used in its war against Ukraine, and Russia has <a href="https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-857124">reportedly</a> agreed to help Iran build eight nuclear power plants.
Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the U.S. attack on Iran on Monday, calling it “absolutely unprovoked,” The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/06/23/iran-russia-alliance-strikes-nuclear/">reported</a>. Putin added that U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict &#8220;is bringing the world to a very dangerous point.&#8221; Russia, however, has yet to take any action in support of Iran since the U.S. jumped into the conflict.
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/obliteration-is-an-accurate-term-trump-says-iran-satellite-images-show-monumental-damage?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=7&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=%E2%80%98Obliteration+Is+An+Accurate+Term%21%E2%80%99%3A+Trump+Says+Iran+Satellite+Images+Show+%E2%80%98Monumental+Damage%E2%80%99">said</a> on Sunday night that satellite imagery shows that “Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran.&#8221;
“Obliteration is an accurate term!&#8221; he added.

Trump Tells Russian Leader To Stop Using The ‘N Word’ After Nuclear Threats

Dmitry Medvedev

Nuclear

Nuclear Weapons

Russia

Vladimir Putin

Iran launched an attack at a U.S. military base in Qatar on Monday, firing a barrage of missiles after the United States bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend, Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/06/23/iran-retaliation-trump-israel-war">reported</a>.
Explosions were heard near Qatar&#8217;s capital city of Doha on Monday night local time, and the United States told citizens in the country to shelter in place until further notice, according to Reuters. Iran issued a statement through its state media announcing its attack on a U.S. military base in Qatar, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06/23/world/iran-trump-israel-news/11cfa03e-588d-5ff5-ba20-9f9369cb6b38?smid=url-share">according</a> to The New York Times.
The Trump administration was given a &#8220;good advance warning&#8221; of the Iranian attack, a source &#8220;familiar with the matter&#8221; told Axios. Iran also <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06/23/world/iran-trump-israel-news/82bf4cc2-e1b6-52cf-be4f-18c58b88975c?smid=url-share">reportedly</a> gave its ally Qatar an advanced notice before launching the missiles at the American base. Qatar closed its airspace before the Iranian missile barrage, and the U.S and British governments warned citizens in Qatar to shelter in place.
&#8220;The base that was targeted in the attack by the powerful Iranian forces was far from urban facilities and residential areas in Qatar,&#8221; Iran&#8217;s Supreme National Security Council said in a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/06/23/iran-retaliation-trump-israel-war">statement</a>. &#8220;This action did not pose any threat to our friendly and brotherly country, Qatar, and its noble people.&#8221;
President Donald Trump was scheduled to meet with his National Security team at the White House at 1:00 p.m. As the Iranians fired missiles at the U.S. base, Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan &#8220;Razin&#8221; Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were monitoring the attack in the Situation Room, CNN <a href="https://x.com/kaitlancollins/status/1937191275272257726">reported</a>.
The White House and Department of Defense are aware of, and closely monitoring, potential threats to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a senior White House official <a href="https://x.com/MaryMargOlohan/status/1937191022863266201">told</a> Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan.
Trump previously warned Iran against any retaliation, saying it &#8220;will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed.&#8221;
Many of the personnel and aircraft at the Al Udeid Air Base, the largest military base in the Middle East, were evacuated in recent days as tensions rose in the Middle East. The base is also fortified by air defenses, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06/23/world/iran-trump-israel-news/68ad47d2-2786-5d78-bdd1-bf35a98dcff6?smid=url-share">reported</a>.
Videos posted on social media showed missiles being intercepted over Qatar.
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US defenses intercept Islamic Republic of Iran missiles in Qatar. <a href="https://t.co/EkLxXt0oWT">pic.twitter.com/EkLxXt0oWT</a>
&mdash; Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) <a href="https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1937193695356551560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Police identified the man who was shot and killed by a security guard after targeting CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne, Michigan, on Sunday.
Officials named Brian Anthony Browning, 31, from Romulus, Michigan, as the suspected gunman, The Detroit News <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2025/06/23/police-id-suspected-gunman-fatally-shot-at-wayne-church/84315724007/">reported</a>. Browning was the son of a woman who is a member of the church, and he attended two or three services at CrossPointe in the past year. He might have been suffering from a mental health crisis, investigators said, adding that there is no evidence to suggest his alleged actions had any connection with the conflict in the Middle East.
Wayne Police said that the suspect was driving erratically outside the church building before exiting his vehicle and firing his AR-15 style rifle at the church. Browning was also armed with a semi-automatic handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. He was reportedly struck by a Ford F-150 driven by a church deacon, giving the security team time to take out the shooter.
Authorities obtained a search warrant for Browning&#8217;s home in Romulus, which is just south of Wayne. At the residence, law enforcement found more rifles, handguns, and ammunition, according to The Detroit News. Browning had no criminal history or previous run-ins with Wayne Police.
Police said that the church&#8217;s security team acted quickly after the gunfire erupted, locking the doors to protect congregants and then engaging with the alleged shooter. One of the security guards was injured after getting shot in the leg. The wounded security guard is in stable condition after undergoing surgery, according to authorities.
&#8220;We are grateful for the heroic actions of the church&#8217;s staff members, who undoubtedly saved many lives and prevented a large-scale mass shooting,&#8221; said Wayne Police Chief Ryan Strong.
Around 150 people, many of them children, were in attendance for the Sunday morning service. CrossPointe was holding a special vacation Bible school service, a summer program many churches put on for young children, when the shooter opened fire.
A livestream video of the service showed the Christian worshipers ducking for cover after a security guard told them to evacuate as shots were fired outside the building.
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WATCH: People fleeing at Crosspointe Community Church in Wayne, Michigan after shooting. <a href="https://t.co/jJXi1GXeWR">pic.twitter.com/jJXi1GXeWR</a>
— AZ Intel (@AZ_Intel_) <a href="https://twitter.com/AZ_Intel_/status/1936828501694300423?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said on Sunday that the bureau&#8217;s &#8220;leadership and support teams are on the ground, at the scene, in Wayne, Michigan providing assistance and investigative support.&#8221;

Michigan Church Shooting

Police Identify Suspected Gunman In Michigan Church Shooting

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President Donald Trump said on Sunday night that he viewed the satellite images of Iran&#8217;s major nuclear facilities following the United States&#8217; bombing mission, adding that American B-2 Bombers and a submarine hit the &#8220;Bullseye.&#8221;
&#8220;Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images,&#8221; the president <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114730186433008075">posted</a> on Truth Social. &#8220;Obliteration is an accurate term! The white structure shown is deeply imbedded [sic] into the rock, with even its roof well below ground level, and completely shielded from flame. The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!&#8221;
On Saturday, Trump ordered bombings on Iranian nuclear facilities, Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan, which were hit with &#8220;bunker busters&#8221; and Tomahawk missiles. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday that the mission was an &#8220;overwhelming success,&#8221; adding that Iran&#8217;s nuclear ambitions were &#8220;obliterated.&#8221;
Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/satellite-images-indicate-severe-damage-fordow-doubts-remain-2025-06-22/">reported</a> on the satellite imagery of the Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday, citing experts who said that Fordo was &#8220;severely damaged — and possibly destroyed.&#8221; It could be difficult to confirm the extent of the damage to Fordo, however, as the nuclear centrifuges are buried approximately 300 feet underground — too deep for satellite images to provide an accurate assessment, researcher Decker Eveleth told Reuters.
The images show six holes where &#8220;bunker buster&#8221; bombs penetrated the ground at Fordo. &#8220;Bunker busters,&#8221; dropped by American B-2 Bombers, are designed to drive down to 200 feet underground before blowing up.
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Close-up view of the likely GBU-57 impact holes at Fordow, June 22: <a href="https://t.co/IgmYVS5Dwc">pic.twitter.com/IgmYVS5Dwc</a>
— Evan Hill (@evanhill) <a href="https://twitter.com/evanhill/status/1936819664962666853?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The United States appeared to drop another &#8220;bunker buster&#8221; on the Natanz nuclear facility, &#8220;likely&#8221; destroying it, according to David Albright, a former U.N. nuclear inspector.
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Close-up view of likely GBU-57 impact location at Natanz. Unclear as of this post how many GBU-57 munitions were used in this strike, June 15 (L) June 22 (R): <a href="https://t.co/dtwDE1okML">pic.twitter.com/dtwDE1okML</a>
— Evan Hill (@evanhill) <a href="https://twitter.com/evanhill/status/1936837529157750941?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Iran&#8217;s Isfahan facility was hit by more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles fired from an American submarine. A senior Israeli official <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2025/06/22/iran-strikes-nuclear-site-damage-visuals/">told</a> The Washington Post that Isfahan was &#8220;annihilated,&#8221; while Spencer Faragasso, senior research fellow at the Institute for Science and International Security, said that Isfahan was “severely damaged&#8221; and knocked &#8220;out of operation.&#8221;
A satellite image of Isfahan shows numerous buildings destroyed or damaged from the U.S. missile strike.
<div id="attachment_938049" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-938049" class="wp-image-938049 size-large" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2220784451-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2220784451-864x576.jpg 864w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2220784451-300x200.jpg 300w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2220784451-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Satellite image (c) 2025 Maxar Technologies.</div>
&#8220;The damage to the Nuclear sites in Iran is said to be &#8216;monumental,'&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114728970221252806">said</a> in a Truth Social post earlier on Sunday. &#8220;The hits were hard and accurate. Great skill was shown by our military. Thank you!&#8221;

‘Obliteration Is An Accurate Term!’: Trump Says Iran Satellite Images Show ‘Monumental Damage’

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The Los Angeles County Sheriff&#8217;s Department (LASD) deleted a social media post on Sunday and then apologized for it after calling the United States&#8217; bombing of key Iranian nuclear facilities a &#8220;tragic event.&#8221;
LASD released a statement saying, &#8220;Our hearts go out to the victims and families impacted by the recent bombings in Iran.&#8221; While the Trump administration <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg9r4q99g4o">says</a> that the strikes caused &#8220;severe damage&#8221; to Iran&#8217;s most important nuclear facilities, there have been no reported casualties from the U.S. bombing mission, and Iran <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg9r4q99g4o">claims</a> that all of the targeted facilities were evacuated before the attack.
In its now-deleted social media post, the L.A. County Sheriff&#8217;s Department added, &#8220;While this tragic event occurred overseas, the Los Angeles County Sheriff&#8217;s Department is closely monitoring the situation alongside our local, state, and federal partners.&#8221;
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The LA County Sheriff’s office just deleted this tweet calling the U.S. strikes on the Iranian regime’s nuclear facilities a “tragic event” and saying that “our hearts go out to the victims and families impacted by the recent bombings in Iran.” <a href="https://t.co/xnq2u8NDnY">pic.twitter.com/xnq2u8NDnY</a>
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) <a href="https://twitter.com/JerryDunleavy/status/1936956559029916047?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Later on Sunday, the world&#8217;s largest sheriff&#8217;s department released a statement &#8220;to formally apologize&#8221; for what it called &#8220;an offensive and inappropriate social media post.&#8221;
&#8220;This post was unacceptable, made in error, and does not reflect the views of Sheriff Robert G. Luna or the Department,&#8221; the statement continued. &#8220;As a law enforcement agency, we do not comment on foreign policy or military matters.&#8221;
The sheriff&#8217;s department added that it has launched an investigation to &#8220;determine how [the post] was created and published.&#8221;
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<a href="https://t.co/z6MhYB8knl">pic.twitter.com/z6MhYB8knl</a>
— LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/LASDHQ/status/1936981037021827216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
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State and local agencies across the country ramped up security and preparedness following the United States&#8217; bombing mission over Iran. L.A. Democratic Mayor Karen Bass <a href="https://x.com/MayorOfLA/status/1936616636405948530?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1936616636405948530%7Ctwgr%5Ed5d77118c00f00af1d62e79b8daa0a4762215cc6%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fabc7.com%2Fpost%2Fcalifornia-state-local-officials-monitoring-threats-us-attack-iranian-nuclear-sites%2F16812539%2F">said</a> on Saturday that &#8220;out of an abundance of caution, LAPD is stepping up patrols near places of worship, community gathering spaces and other sensitive sites.&#8221; She added, &#8220;There are no known credible threats at this time.&#8221;
The NYPD <a href="https://x.com/NYPDnews/status/1936584866969342013">said</a> Saturday evening that it was &#8220;deploying additional resources to religious, cultural, and diplomatic sites across NYC and coordinating with our federal partners.&#8221; Similarly, the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DKYV9RjNheR/">said</a> it is &#8220;actively coordinating with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to share information and monitor intelligence in order to help safeguard residents, businesses, and visitors in the District of Columbia.&#8221;
On Sunday, President Donald Trump&#8217;s border czar, Tom Homan, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-border-czar-warns-of-biden-era-gotaways-amid-iranian-sleeper-cell-concerns">warned</a> of potential Iranian sleeper cells in the United States after the Biden administration allowed more than 1,200 Iranian nationals through America&#8217;s southern border.
“So we know that some terrorists have crossed that border. We’d be a fool to think zero crossed,&#8221; Homan added. &#8220;The thing is, though, we’ve got President Trump as a commander in chief who has put all resources on that.&#8221;

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L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept Apologizes For Calling U.S. Strikes On Iran A ‘Tragic Event’

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At least 20 Christians were killed and 52 others were wounded on Sunday when a radical Islamic terrorist opened fire in an Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, and then detonated an explosive vest, according to Syria&#8217;s interior ministry.
The terrorist, affiliated with ISIS, targeted Mar Elias Church in Dweila, on the outskirts of Damascus, the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c307n9p43z9o">reported</a>. A person who witnessed the attack told AFP news agency that &#8220;someone entered carrying a weapon&#8221; and began firing at worshipers. A group of church members charged the attacker and &#8220;tried to stop him before he blew himself up,&#8221; the witness added.
Graphic footage of the aftermath of the bombing captured by the Syrian Civil Defence showed bloody bodies on the ground and rows of pews blown to pieces. Some local media reports said that children were among those killed in the terrorist attack, according to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/suicide-bomber-syria-church-dweila/">CBS News</a>.
Issam Nasr, a man who was at the church during the attack, said that he saw people &#8220;blown to bits.&#8221;
&#8220;We have never held a knife in our lives. All we ever carried were our prayers,&#8221; Nasr said.
The bombing marks the first successful jihadist attack on a Christian church in Syria since Bashar al-Assad and his government were toppled by Islamic extremists in December, according to Reuters. The Islamic State was behind multiple other recent attacks on Christian churches in the country, but none were successful.
Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is part of a Sunni Islamist group that has ties to al-Qaeda, has repeatedly vowed to protect religious minorities in the country, but violence against Christians continues. There are over 500,000 Christians in Syria, and they are regularly the victims of government oppression and Islamic extremism, according to <a href="https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/persecution/countries/syria/">Open Doors</a>, which ranks the country at 18th on the list of countries where Christians face the most persecution.

Deadly Blast Kills At Least 20 At Church In Damascus

Jihadist Suicide Bomber Kills 20, Wounds Dozens More At Orthodox Church

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A shooter was shot and killed by a security guard after opening fire at a church in Wayne, Michigan, while worshipers were gathered for a service on Sunday.
The assailant was stopped before he could make it inside CrossPointe Community Church when one of the church&#8217;s deacons hit him with his Ford F-150, giving the security guard time to shoot the attacker, according to Senior Pastor Bobby Kelly Jr., The Detroit News <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2025/06/22/security-guard-kills-active-shooter-at-crosspointe-church-wayne-police-say/84307435007/">reported</a>. The security guard was also wounded in the shooting after taking a bullet to the leg, but no one else was injured.
There were around 150 people in attendance when the shooter targeted the church, which is located around 25 miles west of Detroit. A livestream video of the service showed the Christian worshipers, many of whom were children, ducking for cover after a security guard told them to evacuate as shots were fired outside the building. CrossPointe was holding a special vacation Bible school service, a summer program many churches put on for young children. While the shooter was stopped from making it inside the church, he fired multiple shots into the building.
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WATCH: People fleeing at Crosspointe Community Church in Wayne, Michigan after shooting. <a href="https://t.co/jJXi1GXeWR">pic.twitter.com/jJXi1GXeWR</a>
&mdash; AZ Intel (@AZ_Intel_) <a href="https://twitter.com/AZ_Intel_/status/1936828501694300423?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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According to Wayne Police Deputy Chief Finley Carter, the shooter was a 31-year-old man. Kelly said that the man did not appear to be a member of the church.
Local, state, and federal authorities are on the ground investigating the shooting. FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino <a href="https://x.com/FBIDDBongino/status/1936841401464947034">wrote</a> on X, &#8220;Our leadership and support teams are on the ground, at the scene, in Wayne, Michigan providing assistance and investigative support.&#8221;
Kelly said that the church started a security team around 10 years ago in response to threats to churches across the country, according to The Detroit News. The pastor added that before Sunday, CrossPointe had not received any threats of violence.
&#8220;We are sitting ducks to someone who wants to come and do harm,&#8221; he said.

Michigan church shooting

TRAGEDY AVERTED: Shooter Targeting Michigan Church Taken Out By Security Guard

President Donald Trump said on Friday that a deal with Harvard University could be announced &#8220;over the next week or so&#8221; as the Trump administration and Ivy League school have been engaged in a months-long fight over diversity programs and antisemitism on Harvard&#8217;s campus.
The president praised Harvard for coming to the negotiating table to seek a solution for &#8220;their largescale improprieties.&#8221; Trump&#8217;s fight with Harvard started after he began stripping federal funding for the university over their diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and their failure to crack down on antisemitism. The battle between Trump and Harvard intensified earlier this month when the president moved to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/an-unacceptable-risk-trump-signs-proclamation-to-stop-foreign-students-from-enrolling-at-harvard?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98An+Unacceptable+Risk%E2%80%99%3A+Trump+Signs+Proclamation+To+Stop+Foreign+Students+From+Enrolling+At+Harvard">stop</a> foreign students from enrolling at the university.
&#8220;Many people have been asking what is going on with Harvard University and their largescale improprieties that we have been addressing, looking for a solution,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114717387393069944">wrote</a> on Truth Social. &#8220;We have been working closely with Harvard, and it is very possible that a Deal will be announced over the next week or so. They have acted extremely appropriately during these negotiations, and appear to be committed to doing what is right.&#8221;
&#8220;If a Settlement is made on the basis that is currently being discussed, it will be &#8216;mindbogglingly&#8217; HISTORIC, and very good for our Country. Thank you for your attention to this matter!&#8221; he added.
Harvard <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/harvard-sues-to-restore-taxpayer-funding-frozen-by-trump-admin">sued</a> the Trump administration for stripping over $2 billion in federal funding, and then <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/harvard-sues-after-trump-admin-blocks-university-from-admitting-foreign-students">sued again</a> over the administration&#8217;s attempt to bar foreign students from attending. Shortly before Trump&#8217;s comments on Friday, a Boston-based federal judge blocked Trump from revoking Harvard&#8217;s ability to enroll foreign students, CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-administration-harvard-foreign-students-judge-ruling/#">reported</a>.
Last month, Trump suggested that Harvard cap its foreign student enrollment at 15% of the student body, which would be a drop from the nearly 30% of the student body represented by international students. He added that he wants Harvard to &#8220;show us their lists,&#8221; so that the Trump administration can &#8220;make sure that the foreign students are people that can love our country.&#8221;
&#8220;We don&#8217;t want to see shopping centers exploding. We don&#8217;t want to see the kind of riots that you had,&#8221; Trump said.
The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-state-dept-measures-unveiled-how-foreign-students-will-be-screened-for-u-s-entry">reported</a> that the State Department unveiled new measures for screening foreign students on Wednesday, including searching the social media accounts of students for “any indications of hostility towards the citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United States,” “advocacy for, aid or support for foreign terrorists and other threats to U.S. national security,” and “support for unlawful antisemitic harassment or violence.”
“Every visa adjudication is a national security decision,” the State Department said. “The United States must be vigilant during the visa issuance process to ensure that those applying for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans and our national interests, and that all applicants credibly establish their eligibility for the visa sought, including that they intend to engage in activities consistent with the terms for their admission.”

Trump Teases ‘Mindbogglingly Historic’ Deal With Harvard: ‘They Have Acted Extremely Appropriately’

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