Trump ‘Not Happy’ With Iranian Leader; Hegseth Details Successes Of Operation
President Donald Trump expressed his dissatisfaction with Iran’s selection of Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader, who was appointed after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in an airstrike at the start of Operation Epic Fury.
Trump stated that he does not believe Mojtaba Khamenei “can live in peace” and commented that the timeline of the U.S. operation has exceeded expectations regarding results at this early stage. U.S. and Israeli operations in Iran are “way beyond expectation in terms of results this early.”
Trump warned in a Truth Social post on Monday that Iran will be struck “twenty times harder” if the regime does anything to obstruct the flow of oil within the Strait of Hormuz. The president also said the U.S. would “take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back” as a nation, but that he does not want the situation to get to that point.
The U.S. and Israeli militaries launched Operation Epic Fury on February 28, targeting over 5,000 locations and damaging or destroying more than 50 Iranian ships within the first 10 days, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
The operation focused on various strategic points, including command and control centers, headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), intelligence sites, integrated air defense systems, ballistic missile sites, and facilities related to the Iranian Navy, submarines, and military communications.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth shared an update on Thursday on the United States’ “highly successful” campaign against Iran.
“To date, we’ve struck over 7,000 targets across Iran and its military infrastructure. That is not incremental. That is overwhelming force applied with precision. And again, today will be the largest largest strike package yet, just like yesterday was,” Hegseth said.
“As I’ve said from day one, our capabilities continued to build, Iran’s continue to degrade. We’re hunting and striking death and destruction from above. Iran’s air defenses, flattened. Iran’s defense industrial base, the factories, the production lines that feed their missile and drone programs, being overwhelmingly destroyed. We’ve hit hundreds of their defense industrial base directly,” he added.
“Their ability to manufacture new ballistic missiles has probably taken the hardest hit of all. Ballistic missile attacks against our forces down 90% since the start of the conflict, same with one-way attack UAVs, think kamikaze drones, down 90%. Now, the Iranians will still shoot, we know that, but they would shoot a lot more if they could. But they can’t,” he said.
“We have damaged or sunk over 120 of their navy ships with battle damage assessments pending for many more. See, oftentimes you have to wait a few days on battle damage assessment to get the real number. Their surface fleet is no longer a factor, their submarines, they once had eleven, are gone. Their military ports are crippled. Iran has terrorized the United States and our interests for 47 years,” Hegseth declared.
“Their core industries, not steel or agriculture, tourism, their core industries are state-sponsored terrorism, proxy militias, underground networks, ballistic missiles and a violent, Messianic, Islamist ideology chasing some sort of apocalyptic end game. A regime like that refusing to abandon its nuclear ambitions is not just a regional problem, it’s a direct threat to America, to freedom and to civilization,” he said.
Hegseth added, “The world, the Middle East, our ungrateful allies in Europe, even segments of our own press should be saying one thing to President Trump: Thank you. Thank you for the courage to stop this terrorist state from holding the world hostage with missiles, while building or attempting to build a nuclear bomb. Thank you for doing the work of the free world.”
Nearly 150,000 California Mail Ballots Rejected In Primary
California election officials are examining why nearly 150,000 mail-in ballots were rejected during the state’s June primary, with late-arriving ballots accounting for most of the increase.
The higher rejection rate comes despite years of election law changes designed to make voting more accessible and ensure more ballots are ultimately counted.
According to data compiled by the California Secretary of State’s office, 148,241 mail-in ballots were rejected during the June primary, representing 1.73% of all mail ballots returned.
That marks an increase from the 2024 primary, when 108,982 ballots were rejected, or 1.56% of all mail ballots cast.
The largest reason for rejection was ballots arriving too late to qualify under California law.
State data shows that 93,479 ballots were rejected because they failed to meet the state’s deadline requirements.
California allows mail ballots to arrive up to seven days after Election Day, provided they are postmarked on or before Election Day.
Voting experts believe many of the rejected ballots received postmarks dated after Election Day, making them ineligible to be counted even if they arrived within the seven-day grace period.
Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, said the timing of postal processing appears to be a significant concern.
“Ballots rejected due to lateness are caused primarily to being postmarked too late to count, not because they arrived too late to count,” Alexander said.
Election experts have questioned whether recent operational changes within the U.S. Postal Service may be contributing to delayed postmarks.
Earlier this year, a group of mostly Democratic U.S. senators wrote to the Postal Service expressing concern that mail-processing changes could affect ballot handling during federal elections.
Updated Postal Service procedures mean postmarks may reflect when mail is processed at regional facilities rather than when it first enters the mail system.
Because processing centers have been consolidated in some areas, election officials have warned that postmark timing could be affected.
Before the June primary, California election officials encouraged voters to mail ballots as early as possible because of potential postal delays.
The June election also featured a highly competitive race for governor, which some experts believe encouraged many voters to wait until the final days before casting ballots.
In addition to late-arriving ballots, approximately 44,000 ballots were rejected because election officials determined the voter’s signature did not match the signature on file.
Another 8,300 ballots were rejected because the return envelope did not contain a signature.
State records also show that 743 ballots were rejected because those voters had already cast another ballot.
Other rejected ballots involved missing ballots inside return envelopes or multiple ballots submitted in a single envelope.
The highest rejection rate in the state occurred in Tulare County, where 3.52% of returned mail ballots were rejected.
Alpine County and Merced County followed closely, each recording rejection rates of 3.36%.
California has frequently faced criticism for taking weeks to complete vote counting after major elections, largely because state law permits ballots meeting certain requirements to continue arriving after Election Day.
Following the June primary, President Donald Trump again criticized California’s election system, while the Department of Justice opened an investigation into election administration in Los Angeles County.
Election experts emphasize that the increase in rejected ballots should not be interpreted as evidence of widespread voter fraud.
A 2025 report by the Brookings Institution found documented cases of mail ballot fraud remained extremely rare, estimating roughly four cases for every 10 million mail ballots cast, The Associated Press reported.
State officials have not identified evidence of widespread fraud connected to the June primary, but the increase in rejected ballots is expected to receive additional scrutiny as election administrators evaluate whether changes in postal operations, voter behavior or election procedures contributed to the higher rejection rate.
