Trump Touts Progress In Iran Talks, UFC White House Freedom 250, DNI Nomination
Up First from NPR
NPR
4.6 • 59K Ratings
🗓️ 12 June 2026
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
The UFC holds seven fights on the White House lawn Sunday for America's 250th birthday, one of a growing list of side projects taking up President Trump's time as a watchdog group sues over his stake in UFC's parent company.
President Trump named federal prosecutor Jay Clayton to be the next Director of National Intelligence, after the backlash over his temporary pick was so fierce that Congress let a major surveillance tool expire.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Tina Kraja, Rebekah Metzler, Jason Breslow, Mohamad ElBardicy and HJ Mai.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Nia Dumas.
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
And our Executive Producer is Jay Shaylor.
(0:00) Introduction
(01:59) Trump Touts Progress In Iran Talks
(05:46) UFC White House Freedom 250
(09:41) DNI Nomination
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | President Trump predicted death and destruction in the morning, then talked of peace in the afternoon. |
| 0:07.4 | The straight wall officially open as soon as we sign, which could be soon. |
| 0:12.1 | Iran says it hasn't agreed. Did anything change except the stock market? |
| 0:15.9 | I'm Leila Faudil. That's Steven Ski, and this is up first from NPR News. |
| 0:21.9 | The president once referred to the Iran negotiations as, quote, boring. |
| 0:26.5 | Other projects capture more of his interest. |
| 0:28.7 | He talks nonstop about his building projects in Washington. |
| 0:32.1 | This weekend, he hosts a UFC event on the White House lawn, available to people who pay for Paramount Plus. |
| 0:38.5 | Our correspondent reviews what's on Trump's mind, judging by what he says. |
| 0:42.4 | Also, the president nominated a new director of national intelligence, a pick that came too |
| 0:46.5 | late. Congress was so unhappy with his last pick. It let a major surveillance law expire. |
| 0:51.6 | Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day. |
| 1:04.8 | Judging by his words, President Trump shifted from one reality to another in the course of a day. The president said Thursday morning that the U.S. was planning new strikes on Iran. By the afternoon, |
| 1:12.1 | the president talked of a peace deal already agreed to that could be signed, quote, soon. There's no confirmation that either of the |
| 1:18.3 | president's contradictory claims were true. Iran says it has not agreed yet. This is the latest of the |
| 1:25.2 | president's many sudden shifts on Iran, which again moved the stock market. |
| 1:30.2 | NPR international correspondent A. Abatrawi has been trying to sort out what, if anything, is really happening. |
| 1:35.1 | Hey, good morning. |
| 1:35.8 | Good morning, Steve. |
| 1:36.7 | Or I should say good afternoon in the Middle East, where you are. |
| 1:39.2 | Setting aside the president's words, what has actually happened in the war this week? It's been a week of |
| 1:46.0 | whiplash attacks that threatened to unravel the entire ceasefire. And that's because this is a |
... |
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