Trump's Whiplash Foreign Policy, Iran War Escalates, Graham Platner Drops Out
Up First from NPR
NPR
4.6 • 59K Ratings
🗓️ 9 July 2026
⏱️ 12 minutes
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Summary
The U.S. struck Iran for a second straight night, hitting some 90 military targets near the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran fired back at American bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, putting Israel's military on full readiness and leaving the region bracing for more.
And Graham Platner has suspended his Senate campaign in Maine, still denying the rape allegation that brought him down, and now Democrats have until the end of the month to pick someone new for a race they think they can win.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Rebekah Metzler, Tina Kraja, Jason Breslow, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Nia Dumas
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(0:00) Introduction
(01:58) Trump's Whiplash Foreign Policy
(05:31) Iran War Escalates
(09:10) Graham Platner Drops Out
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | President Trump went from praising Iran's leaders to calling them scum in a matter of weeks. |
| 0:06.7 | He used a similar strategy at the NATO summit, berating allies, then telling them he felt the love in the room. |
| 0:12.2 | Is the whiplash part of his strategy or just a sign of his short fuse? |
| 0:15.9 | I'm Michelle Martin. That's A. Martinez. And this is up first from NPR News. |
| 0:22.1 | The U.S. struck Iran for a second night in a row, and Iran fired back at U.S. bases again. |
| 0:27.4 | Israel's military is preparing for the war to escalate while the ceasefire deal in Lebanon is also falling apart. |
| 0:33.2 | Is the Middle East going back to all-out war? |
| 0:35.7 | And Graham Platner is out. |
| 0:37.8 | The main Democrat suspended |
| 0:39.1 | his insurgent Senate campaign last night, |
| 0:41.1 | saying it's not an admission of guilt to the allegations he committed sex crimes, |
| 0:44.9 | but an acknowledgement of political reality. |
| 0:47.1 | Democrats have three weeks to find a replacement. |
| 0:49.8 | Stay with us. |
| 0:50.3 | We've got the news you need to start your day. |
| 0:58.0 | Thank you. With us, we've got the news you need to start your day. Three weeks ago, President Trump praised Iranian leaders as brave people who wanted to change the direction of their country for the better. |
| 1:05.3 | And we're dealing with people that I think are very rational people. |
| 1:08.5 | I mean, they were nice to deal with. They were strong people, smart people. |
| 1:12.9 | I think actually they're smarter than the first and second group. But yesterday, in a dramatic |
| 1:18.2 | shift in tone, President Trump in Turkey, railed against those same Iranian leaders accusing |
| 1:23.1 | them of lying and failing to uphold commitments of their ceasefire agreement. To me, I think it's over. |
| 1:30.5 | I don't want to deal with them anymore. They're scum. |
... |
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