Latest news with #JointChiefs


Fox News
a day ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump's 'unprecedented' pick for top military post brings outsider vision to Pentagon
Who is Dan "Razin" Caine? The retired fighter pilot and CIA vet-turned chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has brought vision, grit and outsider energy to America's top military job after President Donald Trump tapped him for the position in an "unprecedented move." Now his military experience and journey to the top are the focus of a Fox Nation original explaining who he is. Hosted by Marine Corps veteran and Fox News contributor Johnny "Joey" Jones, the special installment features perspectives from military analysts and experts familiar with Caine and the gravity of his role, including the likes of former Navy fighter pilot Matthew "Whiz" Buckley, former senior enlisted advisor to the chairman Ramon "CZ" Colon-Lopez and former State Department senior advisor Christian Whiton. "Whenever something goes wrong in the world, the first question that the president asks is, 'Where is the nearest aircraft carrier?' And the person he's going to ask that of is his chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff," Buckley said. As Jones put it, Caine is "the guy in charge of the guys in charge." His role was created decades ago to unify U.S. defense organizations and was first held by legendary World War II general Omar N. Bradley. Fast-forward to February 2025 when, during his second administration, President Donald Trump appointed Caine to the position in a shock to the establishment. Sitting before the Senate during his confirmation hearing this year, Caine acknowledged the fact. "I acknowledge that I am an unconventional nominee, but these are unconventional times," he said. His appointment marked the first time a president had pulled an officer out of retirement for the role, and Trump was quick to tout his confidence that Caine, along with other Defense Department leaders, would fulfill his "peace through strength" mission. But before stepping into the largest role of his life, Caine offered a life of service to the country in other ways. As the new special explores, after graduating from Virginia Military Institute in 1990, he followed in his father's footsteps and became an F-16 fighter pilot. He logged thousands of flight hours and eventually earned his nickname. "We're all familiar with what 'raising Cain' means, meaning that you're going haywire…" Colon-Lopez said. "But in that calm, poised shell that you see, there's fire inside there, and it's almost like a volcano waiting to erupt, and when that man goes off, he goes off," he added. Colon-Lopez went on to call Caine's nickname "well-earned," saying he feels for any enemies that try to test him. During the first Gulf War, he was tasked with a top-secret mission to neutralize the threat of Saddam Hussein's scud missiles, minimizing their threat in the second Gulf War while, at the same time, gaining experience by communicating across departments. On September 11, 2001, Caine led F-16 combat patrols over Washington, D.C. with a critical mission to defend the nation's capital in the midst of fear and uncertainty. The mission left him with a heavy call to make should he or his crew encounter any commercial airlines flying illicitly. Beyond that, he became a White House fellow and helped coordinate the federal response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, worked with the Department of Homeland Security, specializing in counterterrorism, before serving part-time in the National Guard and delving into entrepreneurship and national security roles in the private sector. More recently, Caine stood beside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon following Operation Midnight Hammer, the U.S.'s surprise attacks on key Iranian nuclear sites, detailing the intricate operation before the American public. For more information about Caine's expansive list of skills and accomplishments as well as the top-secret efforts he guided, subscribe to Fox Nation and begin streaming "Who is 'Razin' Caine?" today.


CBS News
2 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Iran's foreign minister doubtful talks with U.S. will resume quickly, but says "doors of diplomacy will never slam shut"
"Doors of diplomacy will never slam shut," Iran's foreign minister says President Trump recently indicated diplomatic talks with Iran could restart as soon as this week, although the White House noted no talks were officially scheduled. After U.S. airstrikes on some of Iran's nuclear facilities, followed days later by a ceasefire to end what Mr. Trump called the 12-day war between Iran and Israel, Iran's foreign minister seemed less certain about a speedy return to diplomacy. "I don't think negotiations will restart as quickly as that," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS News through a translator. "In order for us to decide to reengage, we will have to first ensure that America will not revert back to targeting us in a military attack during the negotiations," Araghchi said in his first interview with an American media outlet inside Iran since the bombings. "And I think with all these considerations, we still need more time." However, Araghchi also insisted, "The doors of diplomacy will never slam shut." Mr. Trump said during a televised address following the American strikes on June 21 that Iran's Fordo nuclear enrichment site and the Isfahan and Natanz nuclear facilities had been "completely and totally obliterated." Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a news conference, "Initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction." Rafael Mariano Grossi, the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency told CBS News the U.S. strikes caused "severe damage, but it's not total damage." Grossi said Iran could likely start enriching uranium again within a few months. "One cannot obliterate the technology and science for enrichment through bombings," Araghchi said. "If there is this will on our part, and the will exists in order to once again make progress in this industry, we will be able to expeditiously repair the damages and make up for the lost time." When asked if Iran intends to continue enriching uranium, Araghchi said the country's "peaceful nuclear program has turned into a matter of national pride and glory. We have also gone through 12 days of imposed war, therefore, people will not easily back down from enrichment." After 12 days of missile exchanges between Iran and Israel, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared victory, writing on social media, "I offer my congratulations on the victory over the fallacious Zionist regime," and claiming Israel's government was "practically knocked out and crushed under the blows of the Islamic Republic." Mr. Trump responded on social media, calling Khamenei's declaration a lie, saying Iran had been "decimated" and claiming he prevented both the U.S. and Israeli militaries from assassinating the supreme leader. Mr. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are set to meet at the White House next Monday. Mr. Trump has also indicated he could order strikes on Iran again should it resume enriching uranium beyond a certain level. Araghchi questioned the legality of such action and said Iran was prepared for more attacks. "We showed and proved during this 12-day imposed war that we have the ability to defend ourselves, and we will continue to do so should any aggression be launched against us," he said. and contributed to this report.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
A week of shifting descriptions of Iran attack spark ongoing questions
A week after President Donald Trump ordered a U.S. attack on three Iranian nuclear sites, the explanations and descriptions of what happened voiced by him, top aides and early intelligence reports paint contrasting pictures of the extent of the damage to Iran's nuclear program. While the president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth repeatedly claimed that Iran's nuclear program has been "obliterated," preliminary assessments — including from the Pentagon's own intelligence wing — painted an evolving picture as the week went on. Trump said he ordered the attack on June 21 to strike a uranium enrichment site located in 300 feet deep in a mountain in Fordo in northwestern Iran, an uranium enrichment site in Natanz and the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center following reports that Iranian officials failed to comply with international nuclear regulations. And as those early damage assessments cast doubt on the extent to which Iran nuclear program was crippled, several of Trump's top aides and allied lawmakers also appeared to scale back the stated goals of the attack. Here are some of the accounts and characterizations over the last week. On Sunday morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed Trump's statement from Saturday night, just after the strikes, that the sites had been "obliterated." MORE: 'Way too early' to know full damage done to Iran nuclear sites, Joint Chiefs chairman says "It was clear we devastated the Iranian nuclear program," he added. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, however, declined to go as far, saying it would take more time to assess the extent of the damage done. Hegseth acknowledged that damage assessment was ongoing but stuck by the description he and Trump were using. "All of our precision munitions struck where we wanted them to strike and had the desired effect, which means especially the primary target here, we believe we achieved destruction of capabilities there," he said. Officials and inspectors from outside Iran have not been able to gain direct access to the bombed sites to make a first-hand assessment. MORE: Centrifuges at Fordow nuclear facility 'suffered a great deal,' IAEA director says Trump officials had a more nuanced take after news reports surfaced Tuesday about an initial Defense Intelligence Agency assessment that said the attack set back Iran's nuclear program only by months. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the leaks of the military's report but did not go as far as to claim that the sites were obliterated. Instead, he insisted that "very significant, substantial damage was done" to key components of Iran's nuclear program, "and we're just learning more about it." At the same time, Rubio provided more details about the attack, including that the bunker-buster bombs were dropped on ventilation shafts leading deep inside Fordo's heavily fortified facility -- buried, officials and experts said, 200 to 300 feet inside a mountain. He ultimately acknowledged that it was difficult to get a read on damage inflicted to Fordo at this point, but asserted "the bottom line is real damage was done." That same day, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard claimed in a statement that the three facilities were destroyed. The director general of the U.N.'s nuclear oversight agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said Wednesday that he believed some of Iran's enriched uranium had been moved from the sites before the attacks. Trump refuted that analysis. "It would have taken two weeks, maybe. But it's very hard to remove that kind of material, very hard and very dangerous. Plus, they knew we were coming, and if they know we're coming, they're not going to be down there," he said Wednesday. Trump reiterated that the sites and the uranium were buried under rubble and inaccessible, adding that trucks seen in satellite images at the plant before the attack -- which some speculated could have been used to move the nuclear material -- were construction vehicles being used to cover the ventilation shaft openings with protective concrete. According to the two people familiar with the DIA's classified report, the bombing sealed off the entrances to two of the three nuclear sites targeted in the attack but most of the damage was done to structures above ground, leaving the lower structures intact. The assessment also found that at least some enriched uranium remained – possibly moved from the nuclear sites ahead of the blasts. The next day, on Thursday, Hegseth held a news conference where he slammed the news media over reporting but did not make the same assessment on the nuclear materials. Asked twice during the briefing if he could be more definitive about whether the enriched uranium was moved before the attack, Hegseth said the Pentagon was "watching every aspect." At that same Thursday briefing, Caine noted it's not his job to assess the damage, saying, "We don't grade our own homework." Hegseth also highlighted what appeared to be a different goal of the mission, arguing the attack had succeeded because it led to stopping the fighting between Iran and Israel — rather than the facilities' destruction because it destroyed Iran's nuclear program. "We got that peace, that ceasefire, that option because of strength, because of [Trump's] willingness to use American military might that no one else on the planet can do with the kind of planners and operators that the chairman just laid out," he said. Then, on Friday, Trump echoed that sentiment. "They put out that fire once that happened, once those bombs got dropped out, that war was over," he said. Still, the president claimed again that the sites were obliterated during a news conference. MORE: Secrets on Iran nuclear strike spill into open as Pentagon defends bombing "We finished them off," he said, adding, "I don't believe that they're going to go back into nuclear anytime soon." Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister said on Iranian State TV Thursday, however, the facilities were not destroyed and his country will have leverage in negotiations. On Capitol Hill on Thursday, after administration officials gave lawmakers a classified briefing on the strikes, Republican lawmakers acknowledged that the U.S. strikes may not have destroyed Iran's cache of enriched uranium. But they said that wasn't part of the mission. "The purpose of the mission was to eliminate certain particular aspects of their nuclear program. Those were eliminated. To get rid of the nuclear material was not part of the mission,' Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., told CNN. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the "program was obliterated at those three sites," but added, "I don't know where the 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium exists. But it wasn't part of the targets there."
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
A week of shifting descriptions of Iran attack spark ongoing questions
A week after President Donald Trump ordered a U.S. attack on three Iranian nuclear sites, the explanations and descriptions of what happened voiced by him, top aides and early intelligence reports paint contrasting pictures of the extent of the damage to Iran's nuclear program. While the president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth repeatedly claimed that Iran's nuclear program has been "obliterated," preliminary assessments — including from the Pentagon's own intelligence wing — painted an evolving picture as the week went on. Trump said he ordered the attack on June 21 to strike a uranium enrichment site located in 300 feet deep in a mountain in Fordo in northwestern Iran, an uranium enrichment site in Natanz and the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center following reports that Iranian officials failed to comply with international nuclear regulations. And as those early damage assessments cast doubt on the extent to which Iran nuclear program was crippled, several of Trump's top aides and allied lawmakers also appeared to scale back the stated goals of the attack. Here are some of the accounts and characterizations over the last week. On Sunday morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed Trump's statement from Saturday night, just after the strikes, that the sites had been "obliterated." MORE: 'Way too early' to know full damage done to Iran nuclear sites, Joint Chiefs chairman says "It was clear we devastated the Iranian nuclear program," he added. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, however, declined to go as far, saying it would take more time to assess the extent of the damage done. Hegseth acknowledged that damage assessment was ongoing but stuck by the description he and Trump were using. "All of our precision munitions struck where we wanted them to strike and had the desired effect, which means especially the primary target here, we believe we achieved destruction of capabilities there," he said. Officials and inspectors from outside Iran have not been able to gain direct access to the bombed sites to make a first-hand assessment. MORE: Centrifuges at Fordow nuclear facility 'suffered a great deal,' IAEA director says Trump officials had a more nuanced take after news reports surfaced Tuesday about an initial Defense Intelligence Agency assessment that said the attack set back Iran's nuclear program only by months. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the leaks of the military's report but did not go as far as to claim that the sites were obliterated. Instead, he insisted that "very significant, substantial damage was done" to key components of Iran's nuclear program, "and we're just learning more about it." At the same time, Rubio provided more details about the attack, including that the bunker-buster bombs were dropped on ventilation shafts leading deep inside Fordo's heavily fortified facility -- buried, officials and experts said, 200 to 300 feet inside a mountain. He ultimately acknowledged that it was difficult to get a read on damage inflicted to Fordo at this point, but asserted "the bottom line is real damage was done." That same day, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard claimed in a statement that the three facilities were destroyed. The director general of the U.N.'s nuclear oversight agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said Wednesday that he believed some of Iran's enriched uranium had been moved from the sites before the attacks. Trump refuted that analysis. "It would have taken two weeks, maybe. But it's very hard to remove that kind of material, very hard and very dangerous. Plus, they knew we were coming, and if they know we're coming, they're not going to be down there," he said Wednesday. Trump reiterated that the sites and the uranium were buried under rubble and inaccessible, adding that trucks seen in satellite images at the plant before the attack -- which some speculated could have been used to move the nuclear material -- were construction vehicles being used to cover the ventilation shaft openings with protective concrete. According to the two people familiar with the DIA's classified report, the bombing sealed off the entrances to two of the three nuclear sites targeted in the attack but most of the damage was done to structures above ground, leaving the lower structures intact. The assessment also found that at least some enriched uranium remained – possibly moved from the nuclear sites ahead of the blasts. The next day, on Thursday, Hegseth held a news conference where he slammed the news media over reporting but did not make the same assessment on the nuclear materials. Asked twice during the briefing if he could be more definitive about whether the enriched uranium was moved before the attack, Hegseth said the Pentagon was "watching every aspect." At that same Thursday briefing, Caine noted it's not his job to assess the damage, saying, "We don't grade our own homework." Hegseth also highlighted what appeared to be a different goal of the mission, arguing the attack had succeeded because it led to stopping the fighting between Iran and Israel — rather than the facilities' destruction because it destroyed Iran's nuclear program. "We got that peace, that ceasefire, that option because of strength, because of [Trump's] willingness to use American military might that no one else on the planet can do with the kind of planners and operators that the chairman just laid out," he said. Then, on Friday, Trump echoed that sentiment. "They put out that fire once that happened, once those bombs got dropped out, that war was over," he said. Still, the president claimed again that the sites were obliterated during a news conference. MORE: Secrets on Iran nuclear strike spill into open as Pentagon defends bombing "We finished them off," he said, adding, "I don't believe that they're going to go back into nuclear anytime soon." Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister said on Iranian State TV Thursday, however, the facilities were not destroyed and his country will have leverage in negotiations. On Capitol Hill on Thursday, after administration officials gave lawmakers a classified briefing on the strikes, Republican lawmakers acknowledged that the U.S. strikes may not have destroyed Iran's cache of enriched uranium. But they said that wasn't part of the mission. "The purpose of the mission was to eliminate certain particular aspects of their nuclear program. Those were eliminated. To get rid of the nuclear material was not part of the mission,' Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., told CNN. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the "program was obliterated at those three sites," but added, "I don't know where the 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium exists. But it wasn't part of the targets there."


American Military News
4 days ago
- Politics
- American Military News
Video: Massive intel operation that led to Iran strikes revealed by top Pentagon official
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine announced on Thursday that President Donald Trump's military strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities came after two agents spent over 15 years gathering intelligence and developing the GBU-57 'bunker buster bombs.' During a Thursday press conference, Caine explained that two unidentified agents in the Defense Threat Reduction Agency worked for over 15 years to gather intelligence and develop the GBU-57 bombs that were used in the U.S. military strike against Iran's Fordow nuclear facility. Caine noted that the Defense Threat Reduction Agency is the 'world's leading expert on deeply buried underground targets.' Caine explained that a Defense Threat Reduction Agency officer was tasked to study and understand a 'major construction project in the mounts of Iran' in 2009. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff noted that an 'additional teammate' worked with the agent for over 15 years on the intelligence mission. 'For more than 15 years, this officer and his teammate lived and breathed this single target, Fordow, a critical element of Iran's covert nuclear weapons program,' Caine said. Caine told reporters that the two agents documented everything at the Fordow nuclear facility, including the construction, electrical systems, ventilation, exhaust shaft, weather, discard material, and geology. Caine said the agents watched 'every nook' and 'every crater.' READ MORE: Video: Vance slams media over negative coverage of US military strikes on Iran 'They literally dreamed about this target at night when they slept,' Caine said. 'They weren't able to discuss this with their family, their wives, their kids, their friends, but they just kept grinding it out, and along the way, they realized we did not have a weapon that could adequately strike and kill this target.' Caine told reporters that the agents then worked with the 'industry and other tacticians' on the development of the GBU-57 bombs, conducted hundreds of tests, and dropped the bombs on 'extremely realistic targets' in order to 'kill this target at the time and place of our nation's choosing.' After over 15 years of working on gathering intelligence and developing the GBU-57 bombs, Caine said the work of the two agents finally paid off when Trump ordered the strikes on Iran's three nuclear facilities last weekend. Caine told reporters that he met with the two Defense Threat Reduction Agency officers on Wednesday and that one of the agents told him, 'I can't even get my head around this. My heart is so filled with the pride of being a part of this team. I am so honored to be a part of this.' 'Operation Midnight Hammer was the culmination of those 15 years of incredible work, the air crews, the tanker crews, the weapons crews that built the weapons, [and] the load crews that loaded it,' Caine added. IRAN WAR: The attacks on the bunkers in Iran were planned over years. General Dan 'Razin' Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, revealed that the recent destruction of Iran's nuclear infrastructure was the result of over 15 years of rigorous planning, deep strategic analysis, and… — @amuse (@amuse) June 26, 2025