Dedication ceremony for Obama Presidential Center under way in Chicago
Meanwhile, in Chicago, thousands of invited guests, led by former presidents and heads of state, converged on a lakefront park to dedicate the Obama Presidential Center, a sprawling campus of granite, nature and art designed as a hub of civic life and culture honoring the 44th president of the United States, Reuters reported.
Former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama were joined at the event by the other three living former presidents — former presidents Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Joe Biden — and their wives, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Jill Biden.
Obama’s two daughters, Malia and Sasha, sat with their parents on the main stage of the ceremony.
Reuters reports that the roster of VIPs in attendance also included former vice-president Kamala Harris and her spouse, Douglas Emhoff, former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi and such foreign dignitaries as former German chancellor Angela Merkel and former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.
The occasion, under partly cloudy skies, marked the ceremonial opening of the Obama Center, an $850 million development that local historians say marks the greatest single investment in a century in Chicago’s long-neglected South Side.
Key events
Trump administration reverses decision to scrap ocean monitoring system
Maya Yang
The Trump administration has reversed its decision to dismantle a $368m deep-sea observation system following an outcry from lawmakers and ocean experts.
The National Science Foundation announced today that it would halt plans to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative, stating: “effective immediately, [it] will not proceed with further removal or descoping of equipment from the remaining arrays and will continue operations including planned maintenance.”
The agency added that it “appreciates the concerns raised by the range of stakeholders that have informed us they rely on data” from the OOI.
The NSF also said it would “issue a Dear Colleague Letter to collect input from stakeholders and convene an expert panel to assess observational needs, evaluate available data sources, consider responses … and help the agency identify a sustainable path for NSF’s ocean observing systems”.
The OOI comprises more than 900 instruments that collect data on ocean health, including current patterns, climate variability and marine biodiversity. Its observation arrays are located off the coasts of North Carolina, Oregon, Washington and Alaska, as well as in the Irminger Sea, a marginal sea between Greenland and Iceland.
The NSF’s announcement follows widespread backlash from scientists and ocean experts who depend on the OOI’s data for research, including estimates of ocean heating rates amid the climate crisis. Experts warned that losing the system could undermine forecasts and early-warning systems for storms and other severe weather events.
The reversal also came a day after the Senate passed a bipartisan bill introduced by the Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley and Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski that sought to halt what they described as the “reckless dismantling” of the OOI.
According to the bill, no federal funds may be used to decommission the OOI until the NSF “conducts a thorough review and assessment of the network with robust stakeholder engagement”.
“Dismantling the [OOI] is supreme stupidity, costing taxpayers millions of dollars and destroying a vital source of climate data. Our simple, bipartisan bill blocks this incredibly shortsighted decision and preserves these critical ocean monitoring sensors that keep coastal communities and fishers safe,” Merkley said yesterday.
Trump administration quietly shifts $352m in federal funds for White House ballroom
Joseph Gedeon
Donald Trump’s administration has quietly redirected $352m in federal funds designated for the Secret Service toward the president’s controversial White House ballroom project, despite repeated promises by Trump that the construction would be financed by private donations
The funds were drawn from the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Trump’s signature tax legislation passed last summer on Republican-only votes. The law stipulates the money may only be spent on Secret Service personnel, training facilities, technology and related costs, not construction.
About $340.8m of the funding was placed into an account labeled “Procurement, Construction, and Improvements” on 12 June, according to the office of management and budget (OMB) database. Another account labeled “Operations and Support” was also approved the same day, adding another $10.75m to the budget.
The move came after Congress explicitly refused to provide $1bn in funds for the “East Wing Modernization Project”, the Trump administration’s official name for a 90,000-sq-ft ballroom being built on the site of the White House’s demolished East Wing.
The administration argued the funds were needed for legitimate security upgrades, pointing to recent threats against Trump, including an alleged plot to attack Sunday’s UFC Freedom 250 event on the White House south lawn.
“The East Wing Modernization Project is inextricably tied to the security of the president, the White House grounds and the certain security infrastructure assets,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said. “President Trump and generous American patriots are funding the ballroom to the tune of approximately $400m, which will be a secure and appropriate venue for presidents for generations to come.”
Those disrupted attacks, Ingle said, “proves exactly why” the project is needed for events at the White House, which include “drone-proof structures and drone ports among other critical security enhancements”.
Senior legislators were unconvinced. “That’s a big problem,” Thom Tillis, a Republican senator from North Carolina who is retiring at the end of the year, told Notus.
That sounds like a different way to fund the East Wing project. On its face it doesn’t sound right.
Brian Schatz, a Democratic senator from Hawaii on the appropriations committee, also told the outlet:
I don’t know whether it’s the ballroom, but it sounds like the ballroom.
The art of the fail? Trump’s Iran deal – podcast
Donald Trump is claiming his Iran peace plan is a victory for Washington, despite the 14-point agreement revealing significant concessions to Tehran. Under the deal, Iran will reopen the strait of Hormuz in exchange for sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets, while talks will continue over the fate of Iran’s nuclear programme.
In today’s edition of The Latest podcast, Nosheen Iqbal speaks to the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour.
Iran has announced plans to introduce a system of maritime fees in the strait of Hormuz in two months, after the 60-day period of negotiation that has been triggered by the signing of the memorandum of understanding, my colleague Patrick Wintour reports.
Claiming a historic victory over the US, Tehran said the strait was under its control and a European plan for a naval mission to escort ships though the strait would not be welcome.
It comes as the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reports that Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “will maintain the security zone in south Lebanon as long as our security needs require it”, referring to the more than 600 sq km of Lebanese territory occupied by Israeli troops along the border.
On Iran, Netanyahu stated that Israel would continue to “adhere to the supreme objective” of not allowing Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons.
Iran insists the deal referring to territorial integrity of Lebanon requires a full Israeli withdrawal, making Donald Trump accountable for Israel’s withdrawal.
Here’s Patrick’s report:
Politico also quotes Senate majority leader John Thune as saying he anticipates an administration briefing on the US-Iran memorandum of understanding “early next week”.
Thune said he felt the deal is “good for Americans” because it opens up the strait of Hormuz, but warned on the $300bn fund:
I don’t think there ought to be any financial incentives or any financial relief given to Iran absent their commitment to end the nuclear program.
As they gear up to face tough midterm elections in November, some Republicans are relieved at the memorandum of understanding with Iran – though many are still privately questioning what the purpose of Trump’s war actually was.
After the president said yesterday that if he had not struck a deal, “the alternative would be a worldwide depression”, one House Republican told Politico:
The president didn’t mean to, but he effectively acknowledged he lost the war. It’s no longer worth the economic price.
GOP Senate armed services chair slams US-Iran deal as ‘completely out of step with the president’s goals’
While JD Vance was briefing reporters earlier, Republican senator Roger Wicker, who is chair of the Senate armed services committee, said he was “concerned that the memorandum of understanding negotiates away the victories of Operation Epic Fury in ways that are completely out of step with the president’s goals.”
The $300bn fund for the reconstruction and economic development of Iran included in the memorandum, “though not funded by US taxpayers, would make Iran’s payoff under President Obama’s 2015 deal look like a pittance by comparison,” Wicker added in his statement.
He also said it would be an “error” to “force” Israel to stand down against Hezbollah, and added: “I also oppose the US lifting of any sanctions on Iran, or unfreezing Iranian funds, in exchange for Iran’s mere agreement to negotiate for another 60 days.”
He joins a handful of other Republican senators speaking out against Trump’s deal (see my earlier post). When asked about that criticism earlier, Vance said those Republicans should “have a little bit of faith in the president of the United States”.
“The idea that he is going to strike a deal that’s bad for the American people, it’s preposterous” he said.
Back to Donald Trump for a second (sorry), the president has reiterated that the United States expects “a complete ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Israel.”
“We encourage everyone in the Middle East Region to maintain their commitment to allowing our negotiations to beautifully unfold,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The Associated Press reports that Michelle Obama spoke directly to her husband when she stepped up to the podium.
“Eight years in the crucible and not once did you melt in the heat. Not once did you let it harden you. Instead, you used it to reveal your truest essence,” she said. “Your stubborn optimism and unflinching courage. Your dazzling brilliance and unpretentious decency. Your ferocious work ethic and absolutely unshakable moral fiber. And to do it all as a first.”
She ticked off highlights from her husband’s eight years in office, including ordering the raid that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden, “standing up for marriage equality” and “listening to science.”
“And you did it all with such grace and class and cool,” she said. “You made the hardest job in the world look like a walk in this beautiful park.”
Obama appeared to wipe away a tear as she praised him, the AP reported.
Michelle Obama also referenced the current “anxious and divisive times” and warned against being cynical or complacent as “everything feels so upside down.” She pitched the center as “a respite from all that.”
It’s not every day that this many celebrities gather together (in a way that benefits this blog, at least). So here are even more photos of the scene in Chicago at the Obama Presidential Center:
It appears that president Donald Trump didn’t make it to the event at the Obama Presidential Center. It’s unclear whether he was invited.
Either way: Trump’s absence is not exactly surprising.
The latest conflict between them came when a UFC fighter said disparaging comments about the former first lady at the White House and Trump did nothing about it.
David Smith
For the Obama Presidential Center on the South Side of Chicago, Barack and Michelle Obama commissioned original works by 30 artists from diverse backgrounds, a bold move never seen at such scale at a presidential library. It also forms a quiet rebuke of Obama’s successor, who has filled the Oval Office with stiff presidential portraits while plotting the demise of cultural stalwarts such as the Kennedy Center and Smithsonian Institution.
“They love art,” said Valerie Jarrett, chief executive of the Obama Foundation, reflecting on how the Obamas took a similarly inclusive approach to curating the White House. “We want people who come here to look at a piece of art, stand next to a stranger, have a conversation about that piece of art and how it touches them each in their own individual ways.”
The privately funded $850m presidential centre, opening nearly a decade after Obama left office, sits on a 19-acre campus in Chicago’s Jackson Park, close to where he lived as a young man and entered politics. It includes a new branch of the Chicago Public Library, an NBA-regulation basketball court, a recording studio and a sledding hill built because a young Michelle Obama never had one growing up on the city’s famously flat South Side.
The new artworks are dotted throughout. Jarrett insisted: “None of the art makes political statements.” But that depends on the definition of “political”. It does engage with the roots of African American history, the struggle for civil rights and the specific cultural legacy of Chicago.
Here are some more photos from the dedication ceremony of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago:
Dedication ceremony for Obama Presidential Center under way in Chicago
Meanwhile, in Chicago, thousands of invited guests, led by former presidents and heads of state, converged on a lakefront park to dedicate the Obama Presidential Center, a sprawling campus of granite, nature and art designed as a hub of civic life and culture honoring the 44th president of the United States, Reuters reported.
Former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama were joined at the event by the other three living former presidents — former presidents Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Joe Biden — and their wives, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Jill Biden.
Obama’s two daughters, Malia and Sasha, sat with their parents on the main stage of the ceremony.
Reuters reports that the roster of VIPs in attendance also included former vice-president Kamala Harris and her spouse, Douglas Emhoff, former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi and such foreign dignitaries as former German chancellor Angela Merkel and former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.
The occasion, under partly cloudy skies, marked the ceremonial opening of the Obama Center, an $850 million development that local historians say marks the greatest single investment in a century in Chicago’s long-neglected South Side.
‘I might not attack the only powerful ally I have left,’ Vance says in excoriating rebuke of Israeli critics of US-Iran deal
And finally, asked about reports that Benjamin Netanyahu is fuming over the deal with Iran, Vance issues an extraordinary rebuke to Israeli critics, particularly members of Netanyahu’s cabinet who have lambasted the deal and Trump. He says:
Donald J Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time.
If I was in the Israeli cabinet, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.
He adds that over the last three months of war, two-thirds of the weapons used to defend Israel were produced in the US.
The problem for Israel is not Donald J Trump and anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the President of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in.
Vance says he is planning to lead the US negotiating team as they try to reach the final agreement with Iran.
Asked if he’s still going to Switzerland tomorrow for the formal signing ceremony, Vance says: “I may, it just depends exactly on when the Iranians can get there.”
Vance says he plans to go to Switzerland for talks with Iran this weekend, but that the plan could change.
“We think these technical negotiations are going to start sometime this weekend. That’s still the plan, but that could change,” he says. “I suspect this weekend but I’m not sure.”
Vance also dodged a question about whether Cuba is “next”, telling reporters to “ask Marco [Rubio]”.
