June 17, 2025

Trump Warns Tehran, Hints at War, and Launches a Cell Phone?

Show Notes
Transcript

President Trump cuts his G7 trip short to issue a dramatic evacuation warning to Tehran, escalating tensions with Iran amid rising hostilities with Israel. As nuclear threats loom and generals fall at record pace, Trump says he’s “not in the mood to negotiate”—but also floats backchannel talks. Meanwhile, he launches Trump Mobile with the $499 “T-One” phone and a $47.45/month plan referencing his presidential number. Yes, we’re juggling war, telecoms, and nuclear diplomacy… all in one episode.

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Caalaruga Shark Media.

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From Washington, d C, where he got you to stop

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talking about the parade.

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This is valid, that's right.

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But let me tell you about this cool new Trump

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phone I got. President Trump is back in Washington after

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cutting his Canadian G seven summit short, and he's got

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some travel advice for the residents of Tehran.

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Pack light and pack fast.

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Trump posted on truth Social urging everyone in Iran's capital

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to evacuate immediately, telling the city's roughly ten million residents

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they should immediately evacuate Tehran now. When the President of

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the United States suggests you might want to find somewhere

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else to be, that's not exactly a gentle recommendation. The

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President had been telling Iran for days that they should

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make a deal, but his messaging has escalated from let's

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talk to you might want to consider relocating. He warned

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people to leave before it's too late, which is the

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kind of phrasing that makes real estate agents very nerds.

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French President Emmanuel Macrone told reporters that Trump was rushing

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back to Washington to work on a ceasefire. Trump's response

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was swift and definitive wrong. He posted on truth Social

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that Macron has no idea why I am now on

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my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to

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do with a ceasefire much bigger than that. That's quite

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the correction. Trump essentially told the French president, thanks for playing,

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but you don't know what you're talking about, which is

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probably not what they teach you in diplomacy school. Trump

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explained he was returning to hold meetings in the White

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House Situation Room and wanted to be more well versed,

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not having to use telephone so much. Apparently the president

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prefers his crisis management to be done in person, which

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makes sense. Some conversations are just too important for zoom.

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He's been consistent about one thing. Iran cannot have a

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nuclear weapon. I set it over and over again. The

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all caps approach really drives the point home. When a

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president starts typing in all capitals, you know the situation

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has moved beyond strongly worded letters. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

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described the growing US military presence in the region as defensive,

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which is military speak for we're just here to keep

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an eye on things. He also said Trump still wants

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a deal over Iran's nuclear program, though at this point

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that negotiation would have to happen over a very long table. Meanwhile,

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both progressive and conservative lawmakers are working on a resolution

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that would require congressional approval before Trump could attack Iran,

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because apparently, even in the middle of an international crisis,

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Congress wants to make sure the paperwork is in order.

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The timing is particularly interesting. Trump told Canada's Prime minister

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that Iran should talk immediately before it's too late, which

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sounds less like diplomacy and more like a final warning

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when the leader of the free world starts giving you deadlines,

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and that's generally not a good sign for your weekend plans.

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This all comes as Israel has stepped up attacks on

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Iranian cities, and both countries are exchanging what military analysts

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politely call volleys of air strikes, which is a fancy

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way of saying that they're trying to blow each other

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up with increasing enthusiasm. Trump told reporters on Air Force

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One that he wants something better than a ceasefire between

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Israel and Iran, which is interesting phrasing. That's like saying

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you want something better than a truce. It's either peace

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or someone's getting their nuclear facilities turned into very expensive

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parking lots. The president said he wants a real end,

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not a ceasefire, and that Iran should give up and

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abandon their nuclear program. He also mentioned he's not too

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much in the mood to negotiate.

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Now.

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I don't know about you, but when someone says they're

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not in the mood to negotiate while sitting on the

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world's largest military that's what we call a strong opening position. Meanwhile,

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this has become the most intense war ever fought between

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Israel and Iran, which is saying something considering these two

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countries have been giving each other the stink eye since

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the Carter administration. Israel announced Tuesday they killed another Iranian general,

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Major General Ali Shadmani. This guy had been on the

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job for exactly four days. The general he replaced, Lieutenant

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General Golamali Rashid, was killed on Friday, the first day

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of hostilities. So Iran's military leadership is currently experiencing what

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you might call rapid turnover. Israel has now taken out

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at least eleven senior Iranian generals, which has to be

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some kind of record. Iran's military chain of command is

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getting rearranged more often than deck chairs on the Titanic.

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The casualties are mounting on both sides. Iranian health officials

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report at least two hundred and twenty four people killed

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and over fourteen hundred injured. In Israel twenty four dead

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and around six hundred injured, and yet Iranian Foreign Minister

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Abbas Arrakchi is signaling openness to resuming nuclear talks with

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the United States. That's like asking someone out on a

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date their houses on fire. Trump has been encouraging his

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Middle East Envoy Steve Whitkoff and Vice President JD Vance

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to potentially meet with Iranian officials this week, which should

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be interesting. Trying to schedule a diplomatic meeting while missiles

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are flying overhead is the ultimate test of calendar management skills.

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The G seven leaders issued a joint statement calling for

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de escalation. Though Trump initially refused to sign an earlier draft,

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he eventually came around, probably after someone explained that de

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escalation doesn't mean boring. Israeli officials want the United States

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to join their military campaign against Iran's nuclear program. They've

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been making the case that only America has the planes

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and bombs needed to hit Iran's most deeply buried nuclear facility.

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That's quite the sales pitch. Hey, we need to borrow

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your really big bombs to hit this really deep bunker.

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Trump hasn't said whether the US would get involved militarily,

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which is probably the right move. The last thing the

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situation needs is more confusion about who's shooting at whom.

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World War III is distracting us from making fun of

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the Trump Phone. The Trump Organization announced Monday that they're

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getting into the mobile phone business, which raises the obvious

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question what could possibly go wrong? Eric Trump and Donald

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Trump Junior unveiled Trump Mobile exactly ten years after their

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father rode down that golden escalator to announce his first

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presidential campaign. The timing is either incredibly sentimental or incredibly calculated,

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probably both. The centerpiece of this venture is a four

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hundred and ninety nine dollars gold toned Android phone called

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the T One, which will supposedly be designed and manufactured

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in the United States. Now, there's just one tiny problem

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with this plan. The United States doesn't really make smartphones anymore.

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In fact, only one phone costing two thousand dollars is

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currently manufactured here, which makes the Trump family's pricing strategy

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either very ambitious or very optimistic.

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Trump Organization is licensing.

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The family name to a separate company called T one Mobile, LLC,

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which incorporated in Florida in late April. So technically, the

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Trumps are just lending their name to the venture, which

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is the business equivalent of saying I'm not touching you

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while holding your finger an inch from someone's face.

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But here's where things get interesting.

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The company is offering a flagship forty seven plan for

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forty seven dollars and forty five cents a month, a

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reference to Trump being the forty seventh president. The plan

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supposedly includes twenty four to seven telemedicine services, which sounds

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great until you realize that telemedicine typically costs much more

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than forty seven dollars a month by itself. Don Hendrickson,

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a Trump Mobile team member, claims subscribers could connect with

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a doctor and obtain and fill a prescription at a pharmacy,

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all at no additional cost. That's quite the promise. Most

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people pay more than forty seven dollars just to park

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at a doctor's office, let alone get a consultation and

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prescription fill. The company's website mentions that an independent third

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party would handle the telemedicine service, which sounds like they're

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still working out the details. Eric Trump told Fox Business

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that they don't want to manufacture overseas, saying we don't

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want to do that in India, which is admirable except

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for the small matter of how exactly they plan to

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build smartphones in a country that doesn't have the infrastructure

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to build smartphones. Portions of today's show were made with

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the help of AI